ducks in nervously Well, ah…I'm back. Ah….right, excuses. I have three. No, really, I do. This first is easy--I lost my muses. They took a vacation all summer, and left me with a pencil, an empty sketchbook, a computer screen, and the quote "A blank page is God's way of showing you how hard it is to be God." running through my head. The second is that I started college at SCAD, a real art school, and have now realized that the idea of Gabby having as much free time as she did while on a quarter system, in an art school is preposterous. You hit the ground running and weekends are for catching up on sleep, not going on boat rides as she did, or writing anything for yourself, like I wanted to. Thirdly, when my muses came back (midway through the very busy quarter), I remembered something--I had written this chapter long ago, back when I wrote the first two. This had the scene that made me go "hmm…I think I'll write a fic." So I searched for it frantically, but alas, could not find it. So I figured it was on mum's computer and had to wait till the quarter ended to come home and find….it was gone. shrug So, I had to write a new one. Yup. (Hm…and I did so want to find an apropriate Jim Croce song for the title…if that man didn't write the best hopeless romance songs on earth…Ah well, title is reference to the Matchbox 20 song).

So…here it is. I'm not horribly horribly pleased with this one. Not compared to the last chapter. I kinda think I should've left it there, but then, I've never known when to shut up (as evidenced by my AN's). Right.

It was mid-November, almost three months later, and still it all echoed in her mind. The late autumn wind blew dead leaves around in fitful, dancing gusts. Gabby sat on a bench in Central Park, sketching trees and people for her Drawing class with a fixed detachment, occasionally remembering herself enough to shiver and adjust her scarf. As she scanned the scenery around her for her next subject, her eyes lit on a couple walking, pressed close together and sharing a bulky scarf, laughing happily about something. She looked away and closed her eyes. Dmn it, she thought, resting her forehead on her fist. Happy couples were an anathema to her on a good day, but ever since...ever since that night, morning, week, whatever... it hurt that much worse. And of course, they were everywhere. She opened her eyes and stared dully at the scrawlings in the sketchbook on her lap. What was wrong with her? Jason had shone himself for the jerk he was--that much she could've handled. But Todd just leaving like that. The scientific method said that the faulty part must be herself...She narrowed her eyes, trying to stay the tears that threatened to gather.

"Told ya I'd pay ya back." A gloved hand entered her line of vision and dropped a handful of crumpled bills onto her sketchbook. She blinked, the voice taking a second to register in her mind. Her head swung up. All she could see was the back of someone rapidly walking away from her. She stood quickly and clumsily, barely managing to catch her sketchbook and close it around the bills before they hit the ground, and ran.

"Todd! Wait! Todd!" He stopped, but did not turn. She caught up with him and put a hand on his shoulder, uncertainly. "Todd?"

Releasing a long breath, he turned slowly to look at her, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, an unreadable expression on his face. He stared at her for a long time, gnawing his lip nervously. At last he spoke.

"Hi."

The awkward silence took over once more. Gabby could only stare at him, blinking rapidly, as her suddenly blank mind attempted to race and tripped over itself. She had no idea what it was she wanted to say. Why did you leave me? was at the top of the list, but she thought she already knew the answer. Besides, where did she get off demanding answers from a guy she'd only known for three days anyway? Maybe "hi" really was all there was to say. Mortimer dropped his eyes and started to turn to leave, and suddenly, she knew that she couldn't let him just go. Still not knowing just what she was doing, her hand shot out and caught him on the shoulder again. He stopped, surprised.

"I, ah..." She withdrew her hand and gestured lamely. "I missed you." Mortimer looked even more surprised. His eyes darted to anywhere that was her as he shifted nervously.

"'M sorry," he mumbled after a pause. Every now and again, he would glance up at her face, dropping his eyes just as quickly.

"You left," she said finally, trying not to sound accusing. It was more like a question--a hundred questions--in the form of that two word statement.

"I didn't mean to, I ju--" he stopped, raising a hand and letting it drop to his side uselessly. "I had to."

"Yeah," said Gabby, noncommentally. "In the middle of the night?"

"Technically, at about four-thirty in the morning." He looked up at her with a worried, cynical grin.

"I'm that bad when I'm drunk, huh?"

"Hm?" He looked confused. "Nah. You were asleep most o' th' time."

"Ah. Bet I said some stupid stuff when I was awake."

"Eh...kinda stupid."

"I'm sorry." Now Gabby dropped her eyes. She knew it had been her fault.

"Wha--why?"

"Whatever I said. That made you leave." Mortimer blinked, nonplussed.

"Nah. No. You didn't say anythin', Gabby. Nothin' that..." He broke off and sighed, turning away again. "Look, I should probably just leave you alone and--"

She kissed him.

She spun him around and before he could tell what was going on, she had her mouth firmly over his.

Mortimer stood there for a moment, shell-shocked. She's kissing me, he thought. She's kissing me! She's... He closed his eyes and returned the kiss with equal passion. Hesitantly, he circled an arm around her waist and raised his other hand to her hair, holding her close to him. She's kissing me. Oh God. She's actually kissing... Her arms were around his neck, clinging desperately. A tumult of emotions raged through his mind, doubts, worries, passions, but at the center of it all was a sense of peace. I think... He felt Gabby lick his lower lip tentatively, trying to deepen the kiss, and everything suddenly slammed into focus. His eyes snapped open. An image sprang to mind of her disgusted by him, by the taste of him, by everything about him. He was Toad. He was Mortimer now again, for the first time in years, but he was Toad--slimy, green, and not something for a Princess --in his mind-- to kiss. Not like that.

He turned his head to the side and put a hand on her chin, gently pushing her away. Gabby stared up at him, confused and a little hurt. He shook his head.

"Y-you don't wanna do that," he said softly. Gabby opened her mouth angrily to protest, then closed it again with a sigh, and pressed her face against his hand. Mortimer caressed her cheek for a moment, his eyes never leaving her. Then he closed his hand and dropped it, still staring at her. "G'bye Gabby."

"Don't--" The word came out broken, pleading. He paused for just a second, then turn.

"'M sorry..." he whispered to the ground, and started walking again, reluctantly. Gabby stared at a few clumps of dead grass blankly, then raised her eyes to watch his retreating form.

"Hey. You...y'ever wanna stop by, y'know..." Mortimer paused briefly, his back still to her. "Just to stop by or anything like that...well...You know where I live." She shrugged, knowing he couldn't see it, and not knowing exactly what she wanted. Mortimer waited for a few heartbeats, then nodded once, and kept walking.

That is not the end, worry not. I shall do more, and probably finish this one up at least within the break.

Wow…102 reviews? I can't believe you guys. Thank you just isn't enough. They make my day every time and were the inspiration my muse used to kick me in the pants and force me to write ("Lookit that! Over a hundred reviews! They deserve a bloody update, you jerk! And candy!" "Are they paying you to say this, Luki?" "Wha-no! 'Course not!"). So thank you all very much, and, for fear of having LostMuses' migraines transferred to my nose ( I thought I'd been sneezing a lot recently…), I shall go back to writing now. Hope you all had a nice Turkey Day (if you're the type to celebrate, and if not, I hope you had a very pleasant Thursday).