A/N: Howdy folks. Sorry that was kind of a long wait (at least I think it was a long wait (?) I lose my sense of time now and then). And it's also a short-ish chapter here… But a good chapter (hopefully). Hope you all enjoy it. Things will reach a climax in the next chapter (if things go as planned). Brace yourselves for Becka vs. Christian, round 2! Love you guys. Seriously, I do. You're reviews make my day.

Chapter 24
Christian Tells Me Something Funny and I Almost Tell Him the Truth

The chaos continues through to Friday, and eventually climaxes that afternoon with the ten of us engaging in an extremely animated game of Cranium. Halfway through the game, I slip out of the room, allegedly for a glass of water. West follows me to the kitchen.

"I have a migraine," I tell him. "Is it okay if I go lay down in your room for a little?"

"Sure," he says.

I wander up to West's room and through myself onto his bed with a groan. I don't have a migraine. But this moment of peace and quiet is worth the lie. I smile happily at West's ceiling, very pleased with my own brilliance. And the door opens.

I quickly roll over to my side, so my back is facing the door, and close my eyes, hoping that whoever just came in will think I'm sleeping and go away. Go away, go away, go away.

"Nice try, but I saw you roll over."

It's Christian.

"Go away," I say, not really meaning it, as I rolled back around to face him. "I have a migraine."

"Liar," Christian says, calling my bluff. He crosses the room and sits down on the bed beside me. "I've seen you with a migraine. This is not you with a migraine. You're much bitchy-er with a migraine."

"Uh!" I say, pretending to be insulted, and slam him with a pillow. He just swings his legs up onto the bed and settles down beside me.

"So this is fun," he says. I can tell from his dripping sarcasm that he's talking about the whole weekend with the motley crew.

"Tell me about it," I sigh, staring up at the ceiling, not so happily this time. We both sit there in the silence, that comfortable kind of silence. I break it first. "Do you remember freshman year?" I ask.

"Mmm," Christian murmurs. His eyes are closed.

"That was our best year, you know?" I continue. "Before…Elton."

"And Amy," Christian adds.

"And Sophie."

"And Jen."

He won't say it. I'll say it then. "And Chase. Especially before Chase," I finish. I watch him closely, trying to gage his reaction. But his eyes are still closed, and he doesn't seem to be reacting at all. Well, it was worth a try. New subject.

"So, uh, what do you think about Chase and Jen?" I ask tentatively. I've been wanting to know what he thinks about the match for a while now. Seems like a good time to ask.

Christian opens his eyes. "Chase and Jen?" He asks incredulously, wrinkling his nose. "You mean, like, together?"

I turn onto my stomach, so that I can get a better view of him while I'm talking. "Well, yeah. I mean, I can see it, and—"

"Are worried about Chase?" he asks curiously

"No, I'm not 'worried' about Chase, it's just—"

Again he interrupts me. The man won't let me get a word out. "Because I think, Becka, if you want to worry about something—" He stops there like he doesn't know if he should tell me what he's thinking or not.

"Come on Christian, you can't leave me there," I prod.

"Okay, I know. But just—I'm only saying this because I love you and I don't want to see you get screwed over, okay? But Sophie and Chase, Becka. Don't you ever get the feeling that they know each other a little better than they let on?"

Okay Christian, I really don't know where you're going with this one. Although he did say he loved me. Though I'm sure he means in a strictly platonic way. Damn.

I shrug. "Chase knows her enough to hate her."

"No, no," Christian says. "That's not what I mean. I mean, I think they know each other in more of a…. agreeable way," he says carefully.

"You mean like," I begin. I can't believe this. "You mean like you think they're together? Secretly or something?"

"Well. Yeah."

"That's ridiculous!" I scoff. "Really, Christian, it's laughable."

"Wait, no, think about it," he says, leaning forward. "Haven't you ever seen them whispering all conspiratorially together? And, yeah, the way he pretends to hate her so much without really having a reason? Come on, Becka, why would he do that if he wasn't trying to cover up for something?

"Um. Because. He. Hates her," I say deliberately. Christian has quite an imagination on him. Seriously, this is really, really funny.

"Oh, and the way he let you ride with me on the way here? You know, so Sophie would be riding with him?" Christian continues

Okay, now I'm starting to get mad. "I can't believe you, Christian!" I say angrily. "Chase was actually being nice and generous for once is his life and of course you've got to go and say he had ulterior motives. Really, I usually expect you to be the bigger person, but I guess in this case I'm wrong."

Christian looks both genuinely hurt and genuinely desperate. "No, Becka. I didn't mean it that way. You know I didn't mean it that way. I just—just be careful okay? That's all I'm saying." He looks pleadingly at me. And of course I cave. I know he didn't mean it that way, and after all it's just impossible to be mad at Christian for more than two seconds.

"Okay, kid. Just steer clear of matchmaking. You really suck at it," I say with a grin, which means we're okay. Christian smiles back at me. And suddenly I want to tell him. I mean, I need to tell him. Maybe not that I'm in love with him, but at least the first part of the story. Jeremy's right. Christian should know that Chase and I are not together, and that we never will be. Christian should know.

I sit up, Indian style, beside him and look at him seriously. "Can I tell you a secret?" I ask.

Christian nods slowly. "Of course," he says. He looks very curious, like he doesn't know what to expect.

"Okay." I take a deep breath. "Well. This is kind of a long story. And it's something I probably should've told you a long time ago, but I didn't. Because it's a secret. And nobody knows it but Jeremy, so you keep you're little mouth shut once I tell you. 'K?"

Christian nods again. I take another deep breath. "Alright. Well, for a while now I haven't been—"

"There you two are!" Taylor interrupts, bursting into the room.

No! Shit! Is that bad timing or what?

"You are both so bad," she continues, oblivious to the fact that she just totally interrupted a very important moment. "I can't believe you guys are hiding out in here while the rest of us suffer. Get your lazy butts downstairs."

She saunters out the door, fully expecting us to follow.

"We'd better go," I say sulkily.

"No, wait! That is so not fair," Christian says. "Can't you just tell me quickly?" He really wants to know the secret.

"No, I told you it's a long story." Christian looks pained. "I'll tell you later, I promise," I say.

And I do fully intent to tell him later, as soon as I get the chance. But you know, for me, things never go quite as planned.