A/N:  Alright, we're back.  Sorry about the longer-than-usual wait, but here it is:

23.

"Dude, that was kinda scary," Twitty said.

"I think it's gonna get even scarier," Louis informed him. Louis proceeded to tell Twitty just what he heard of the plan that was being devised by Corey to carry out on Tawny. Twitty couldn't believe it.

"You were right, man. This guy isn't just mean sometimes, he's evil. What're we gonna do?"

"I'm going to warn Tawny tomorrow before it's too late," Louis said.

"Will she believe you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just that you've come up with some pretty wild ideas before. She might just think you're exaggerating about something."

"Twitty! I know what I heard! If I heard anything else, why would they have tied me up and stuck me in a closet with all those moth balls?!" Louis exclaimed.

"Good point. Warn her tomorrow. If you need any help just let me know."

"No problem, man. Here's your house," Louis said as they pulled up to the Twitty house. "Talk to you tomorrow."

"Later." And Louis drove off to try to get some sleep.

However, sleep was not coming easy for Louis. He felt like he'd had his life threatened that night. It was like when one gets into a car wreck and is still in so much shock that one just can't get to sleep. Louis was going through that. He was struggling between trying to figure out what to say to Tawny about the whole Corey ordeal or if he should try to get some of his own feelings out. Unfortunately he just could not decide and still could not sleep. By the time it was 7:00 am, he gave up and got out of bed.

"Son! You're up pretty early for a Saturday," his dad exclaimed when he saw Louis in the kitchen.

"Oh, just thought I'd try it for a change," he said. Louis poured a bowl of cereal and went into the living room to watch some cartoons. He tried to act normal, but when trying to lift the spoon up to his face, it was shaking considerably. Yep, he was nervous. This also caught his dad's attention.

"Son, are you OK? You're shaking."

"Oh, uh, that's just my morning spasm there, Dad. Nothing to worry about." His dad turned an eyebrow up, said OK, and went away.

Louis watched TV for a few hours to try and ease his mind. But after he ate 5 bowls of "Sugar Frosted Nuts and Junk" Louis was feeling a little sick. Maybe four bowls was enough, he thought. He turned the TV off and walked through the house. Then he saw Ren coming down the stairs.

"Louis, what are you doing up before 3:00pm on a Saturday?"

Louis became very defensive and screamed very loudly, "Why is it that just because I'm up on a Saturday morning that the world is coming to an end, huh?! Everything is fine! Just fine! I don't need any help with this!!" It was a typical Louis rant. He had thrown his arms up in the air and stomped up the stairs back to his room. Ren rolled her eyes and continued on her way, oblivious to what had angered her brother so much.

Louis took a shower and got dressed. He was only putting things off now. He put on his usual attire and went down to his car to drive to Tawny's house. Once he arrived there, he didn't get out of his car yet. He was sweating. Big time. He was still really shy around Tawny when it came to any serious conversation that might have anything to do with his feelings. He cleared his throat and stepped out of the car and slammed the door, but his loose Hawaiian shirt got caught in the door and he was trying desperately to pull it out. Then Tawny, who had been watching from a window for a couple of minutes came out. Louis saw her out of the corner of his eye and frantically pulled his shirt out in big yank and tore part of it. Trying to act cool, as if everything was fine, started waving and called out, "H-Hey th-there, Tawny. W-What's happening?"

"Nothing. My mom said there was a guy sitting in a crappy-looking car on the street that was staring at the house. It sounded like a description of you. I think the proper question is, What's happening with you?" she questioned.

Louis' mind went blank. Suddenly he didn't know what to say or how to say it. "Ohh, umm, I was, um . . ." He continued on this circle of words for several more seconds and Tawny had turned an eyebrow up. Then Louis finally came up with something to say. "Well, you see, I was just in the uh, neighborhood and I saw your house here . . . and I was uh, wondering if you um, wanted to see a movie today?"

"Hmm, a movie sounds nice, but I'm working a few hours this afternoon and then I'm going to Corey's house tonight at about 8:00. But thanks for coming all the way out here just to ask," she said with a smile.

"Oh! But you can't go to his house!" Louis blurted out.

A little confused, Tawny asked, "And why not?"

"Why not? Um, that's a very good question, it's that, uh, you know, you and I just don't do very much together anymore. Just the two of us."

"Louis, I already promised Corey I'd come over tonight because I couldn't come to his party last night. Oh, by the way, how did the party go?"

Louis thought about being tied up and locked in the closet. "Oh, not too eventful," was his response.

"Anyway, I should probably get going . . ." Tawny began to say.

"But you can't!" Louis blurted out again.

"Can't what?" she asked.

"Can't . . uh, go to Corey's house tonight. Let's see a movie, for real," Louis pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Louis, I can't. I already promised. But, I have to admit, I think this is a little cute," she said running her thin fingers through Louis' wavy, messed-up hair.

Confused, Louis said, "What's cute?"

"You're jealous of me being with Corey."

Louis began laughing hard, too hard. He laughed so hard that he was trying desperately to cover up his feelings. "Whoa! Hold on there, Ha ha ha. That's a good one, Tawn! Ha ha ha! No way am I jealous here. No siree, Bob. Nope. Not jealous. No jealousy here," he said. Tawny stared at him because she could see right through him. Then Louis confessed a few feelings. Taking a hard gulp he said, "OK, here's the deal. I gotta know something. If I hadn't been acting stupid at the end of the school year and wasn't asking a bunch of girls I should never have even fooled with and if I had asked you before Corey did, would you have gone to the prom with me instead of him?" He said this and bit his lip in nervous anticipation.

Tawny didn't quite know what to say. She rolled her eyes back and forth looking for an answer. "Louis, I can't say. Everything happens for a reason, you know that. It's hard to say what things would've been like had some events happened differently. I just don't know. I think you're a great friend and a real sweetie. But I'm with Corey now and we're doing pretty good I guess you could say. I'm sorry, Louis," she said with a very sincere look on her face.

Louis gave a little half-smirk to give her a little assurance that he was not too heart-broken. "OK," he said.

Tawny felt bad for Louis. She looked him in the eye and said, "I'm sorry, Louis. I've probably put a real damper on your day now."

Louis smirked again and said, "No, I'll cheer up. Me and Twitty were gonna shoot off some fireworks at Wexler's house anyway. I'll be fine."

Tawny chuckled and said, "Alright then. I know it took a lot of guts for you to come out here and say something about your feelings. Thanks. But, I've got to get going. After work I'm still going to Corey's house at 8, but maybe I'll talk to you later?"

Louis blurted out one last time, "But he's gonna . . ."

"He's gonna what?" she asked.

Louis held back for a second, "Oh, nothing."

Louis saw her walk back into her house. When he heard the door close, his heart sank.