hey all, here's chapter 31. this story's almost over…we promise! review for us when finished, ok?

thanks to the reviewers!

-Kristine and Cimmy

disclaimer: see previous chapters

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 31: Um, Yeah, Fun, Right?
By Cimmy and NYgoldfish54

Adam's POV

We have all decided to spend tonight together, since it's the last time we'll be able to hang out all of us at the same time. And for once, everyone's present. Except for Cecilia, I haven't seen her in a while. We were dancing earlier, but then she bounced off to find Anthony, surprise, surprise. Although I'm busy watching Portman torture his new victim. 'Bonnie'.

"A bet is a bet," Portman exclaims again, stomping his foot to really prove his point.

"Can't I just pay you instead?" Fred asks, trying to whimper himself out of the situation.

I just watch as they keep throwing the same words back and forth a few times. "Bonnie, you lost the bet!"

"Don't call me that! People confuse me with Connie, and that's insulting her," Fred tries, but Portman shakes his head, not falling for it.

Instead he pours up another glass of wine. I still don't understand why we ordered wine, because no one seems to like it. Especially not Fred. Portman has been trying all night to get Fred drunk, and now he's about to succeed. "If you don't do it, we'll never trust you again," Portman explains harshly. "You'll break a promise."

"I don't like wine," Fred speaks up, obviously trying to gather some courage so he can stand up for himself against Portman.

"That's the whole point, Bonnie."

"Seriously, that's getting annoying," Connie says from across the table. "People actually are looking for me when you say that. Can't you call him something else?"

Before this insanity begun, it was Connie, Fred, Guy, Sammie and I sitting around the table. Then Portman showed up, while Fulton was away ordering more drinks. So Portman tricked Fred into some stupid drinking game, assuring him that the teasing would stop once Fred won. Which Fred of course didn't.

I was talking to Connie at the time, while Fred tried to make the stake higher, so he wouldn't have to drink anything at all. Until he'd lost so many times that he either had to drink a whole bottle of wine, or Portman would have to promise not to call Cecilia Psycho ever again. And then Fred lost once more.

God, sometimes he's too stupid for his own good.

Charlie comes up to the table, looking for Lex, and I decide to get the hell away from there before Portman makes Fred cry. Although, Charlie seems to be in a bad mood, so I should probably stay away from him too.

Despite the bitchy attitude he's showing off, I follow him over to the bar to order some more drinks. If I get drunk enough, maybe I won't hear his complaining? "So, how are things with Lex?" I ask politely.

"Shouldn't you know? You know everything else," he growls, trying to finish his drink in one sip. Okay, so he's officially depressed about something.

"I am sorry about that," I apologize. I am sorry; it wasn't very nice of me to air that sort of information to everyone. But I had to say something; I was dying of repressed gossip. "I told you I was. And you were the perfect captain and friend, and forgave me for it, remember?"

He suddenly doesn't seem as angry anymore. "You want something more to drink? I'm buying." Wow, talk about a change in mood. "Champagne?"

I start to laugh, and he does to. "Nah, but another Bacardi would be cool. Or three, maybe?" Since I'm still not sure if he'll punch me later when we get back home, I decide to leave my wise-cracking out of this conversation. I'll save that for later.

"Yeah, or maybe you're just pushing it," Charlie rolls his eyes. I'm surprised when he still buys me my bottle. He even gets one for Cecilia when she shows up a second later. Something must be terribly wrong.

"You wanna watch Portman make hell?" I suggest, nodding towards the table where Portman is still shouting about 'Bonnie'. "He's going to force Fred to drink a whole bottle of wine. Pure entertainment."

"Maybe later," Charlie mumbles. "I have to go find Lex." For some reason, he grabs Cecilia and drags her along with him. He's using her as bait. Where would he be without her? Sane? "Come with me, Psycho. Let's get horribly drunk."

They disappear, and I go back to my other mentally instable bunch of friends. Except for Connie, Guy and Sammie, I'm also surrounded by Matt, Fulton and Ken. "You know what?" Portman shouts, scaring Fred, who looks sort of edgy right now. "I have a challenge for you."

"Whatever it is, I refuse to do it," Fred hisses, sipping on his glass of wine. Then he mutters some nasty things in Swedish, so it's best to stay away.

"You have to act sober," Portman says with a laugh, while stealing something out of Fred's pocket. Fred throws himself after him, but misses and ends up on the floor. "Cool phone!" Portman decides to poke at Fred's cell phone for a while, keeping it away from Fred.

"Give me that," Fred begs, I swear I see some tears in his eyes. Or it could be my sight that's getting blurry.

"You'll get it back when you've finished your bottle of delicious wine. I'll just hold on to this for a while... Hey, can I call home?"

Fred tries to grab his phone again, but Portman firmly shoves him away. "No, you may not call home," Fred whimpers. "I'm almost done."

Portman looks close to proud when Fred forces the last contents in the bottle down his throat. "Oh, goody. Now, go ask Lex to dance. Or Cecilia. But don't act drunk. Be polite and stuff."

"What? They'll notice right away!" Connie laughs, looking at Fred, who's put his head against the table. "Portman, you're not being very nice. You're being a bully. Fulton, tell him to stop."

"Hey, I can take care of myself," Fred exclaims, once again making a dive at Portman to collect his cell.

"Just do it, you baby," Portman sighs. "It's a challenge. You can't turn down a challenge! Don't you know that? Haven't you been part of the Ducks long enough yet, huh? Huh? Huh?"

"Yeah, just give me back my phone!" Fred stands up, but sits down again just as quickly. "I think I have to throw up. I don't like wine."

We all take one step back, just to be cautious. If he put his threat into action, I don't want to stand too close. But he doesn't. He just shoots Portman some evil glares, but Portman looks just as happy anyway. "It's just for fun, Bonnie. Just act normal. They won't notice a thing."

Probably because they are being just as drunk as he is. "Give me back my phone," Fred repeats. And I think he says the same thing in that other language too, because I just assume he is.

"I'll dance with you," Connie offers and gets up. Guy seems less then amused, but moves out of her way when she goes over to grab Fred's hand. "But maybe it doesn't count, since I already know that you have a whole bottle of wine running through your blood."

"I can't act normal," Fred mutters.

"We know, but try," Portman sniggers, shrugging at Connie. "It could count…if you act, too."

I sit down on Fred's empty chair, finishing my drink. "So, what was the bet anyway?"

"I don't remember. But I know that he lost," Portman laughs. How nice, he probably just made the rules up as the game went along. "He lost, and had to drink that disgusting bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. And now he has to act normal for the rest of the evening, or else he won't get his cell phone back. It looks expensive."

Fulton tries to get him to stop shaking the valuable gadget before it breaks. After a short tiff, Fulton succeeds with rescuing the device from a safe death. We all sit down to continue with what we had been doing before Portman showed up.

"Why is there a bottle of wine on the table?" a voice comes from behind. It's Lex, with Charlie and Cee as company. Charlie shoves Cecilia down on one of the chairs, and she slumps down without putting up a fight.

"No reason," Portman quickly says before any of us can explain the matter. "Right, guys?"

We all just nod, not really caring if Fred comes off as drunk or not. If Portman wants to use him for his own personal entertainment, who are we to stop him? Okay, we could do it to save Fred, but it's much more fun this way.

"Where's Fred?" Lex goes on, making Charlie wrinkle his nose. "You guys haven't been mean to him, have you?" She's mainly addressing Matt but Portman is the one who shakes his head. "Oh, good. Why are you so upbeat?"

"No reason," Portman echoes himself.

"You didn't kiss him again, did you?" Lex laughs.

"Of course not. That was an emergency," Portman explains.

"Yeah? Do you always solve emergencies with kisses?" I ask, smiling at the thought.

"Only when he panics," Fulton answers instead. "That's how we got together in the first place."

"No, it wasn't!" Portman objects.

"Well, you've been busy anyway. First it's Fulton, then it's Cecilia. And then Fred. Maybe you should cool it?" Guy suggests, probably nervous that Portman might go after Connie next. For some reason, he looks quite repelled, but I hope it's just because he's thinking about Connie and Portman.

Portman keeps assuring us about how the crisis made him do it, while we laugh and point at him. "I won't do it again anyway. Especially not with Psycho." Cecilia opens her mouth to say something, but Charlie covers her mouth before she gets the chance to. "Though Fred was a good kisser, granted."

Fulton rolls his eyes, shoving at Portman's arm. "I bet. Give back his phone now."

"I was kidding!" Portman grins, ducking for Fulton's next slug.

Sammie appears on my left, tapping my arm. "You wanna dance?" At first I hesitate. Dwayne told us that he likes her, and I shouldn't interfere with his plans. He's nowhere to be seen, though. He was following her around like a puppy just a few hours ago. Maybe he's lost interest?

For God's sake, it's just an innocent dance! I'm just making excuses because I'm too shy to accept. Maybe if I pretend that she's Cecilia? I know her a lot better then I know Sammie. The word 'unfortunately' pops into my brain, but I shrug it away. Cecilia is after all one of my closest friends. Man, that word keeps showing up again.

I let myself be pulled out on the dance floor, where the music, of course, has to change to a slow song. I hope Dwayne isn't somewhere close, or else I'm forced to come up with some stuttering excuse for why I'm dancing with Sammie. Dwayne probably won't mind too much, he's not the jealous type of guy, but I would still feel bad.

Guy is throwing suspicious glimpses at Connie and Fred, now when they're forced to wrap their arms around each other. I guess Guy assumes that Fred needs a new target for his random love affection. Fred's not that bad, so I'd give him a break right about now. Don't we all get a bit confused from time to time?

"He's nice, that guy," Sammie murmurs into my ear.

"What guy?" I reply, still trying to shake off the thoughts of another love triangle.

"Your friend, Dwayne. He's a gentleman, I like that. Do you think he'll ask me out?" she goes on, looking a bit amused. I wonder if she's just joking, or if she's being sincere. I wouldn't like if Dwayne ends up brokenhearted. But she doesn't seem like that kind of girl. I'm just exaggerating because I'm nervous. "He better hurry up in that case. We're leaving in two days."

How did she know about his plans to ask her out? Word spreads quickly around here. I better keep my mouth shut. "Dwayne takes his time. When he does something, he wants it to be done right," I explain, not really sure if I'm making this up or not. I never really know how the others get their girlfriends, and how I ever get around to dating is a big mystery in life.

"Really?" Sammie muses. She seems thrilled about the fact that I just promised her that Dwayne would make a big deal about asking her out. Dwayne is so going to kill me for this.

I turn my attention to Connie and Fred instead. The two of them are right next to us, bickering about something. It sounds like bicker, but I think Connie's the only one who's talking.

"May I cut in?" Dwayne says, making me jump with fear. Oh, no. Although, he doesn't look angry. I should give him some credit, he's such a good friend. Now I have to go and cry, he really startled me... Dwayne doesn't even notice me, his eyes are fixed on Sammie's face.

Ah, young love. I think I have to throw up.

Now I'm abandoned, right in the middle of the dance floor. I'm too stupid to move, so I just stare at Dwayne and Sammie for a while. I can see that she's whispering something to him, but I'm too far away to hear what it is. But he seems happy about it, so I guess my work here is done.

"You have to stand up for yourself!" Connie exclaims from my right. She's also wrapped her arms around Fred's shoulders, but he doesn't seem too excited about that. "Don't let Portman bully you around like that. Or at least bully him back."

Connie is obviously back in her therapist role, now when the vacation is almost over. I decide to leave them both to their destiny, Fred could use some sense kicked into him. Instead I go over and shove at Dwayne. "We need to talk."

"I'm busy. Dance with someone else," he suggests.

"I'm not here to dance with you," I roll my eyes. "I think you need to know something."

Sammie lifts her head from Dwayne's shoulder. "If you want to talk, it's okay. I'll go order some more drinks."

"No!" Dwayne whines, giving me a very icy stare. "Adam is leaving now."

I keep standing behind Sammie's back, mouthing my words to Dwayne, even when he's trying to turn the other way. I find myself spinning around them, desperately trying to get his attention. Which I have, but he's doing very well with ignoring me. Eventually, Connie digs her fingers into my arm, tearing me away from them. "Get your own girl, Banks," she suggests. "Dwayne likes her."

"I'm not trying to steal her!" I wave with my hands to really prove how dramatic I can be. "I told her that he's going to make some spectacular scene about asking her out, and I think he deserves to know that. Think how disappointed she'll get when she finds out that he's not planning anything special!"

"Stop breathing down his neck," Connie says. "He'll figure it out himself. Don't ruin everything for him, you're being mental."

My arm is beginning to go numb, so I yank it away from her. "I hate your nails," I state. "Cut them off."

"How else am I going to get you boys to behave?" she points out, turning back to Fred. They keep dancing, and I keep standing there like a fool on wheels…or in sneakers. It doesn't even occur to me that I could ask someone else to dance with me.

"I don't think I can dance anymore," Fred whimpers. "That wine is beginning to get to me. Connie?"

"Yeah? Please don't throw up," she begs, pushing him away a bit. I step behind her, still with the intention to keep away from his barf.

"I won't," he promises. "I just feel light-headed. I can't deal with wine. I was just going to ask if Cecilia's still here."

The room is crowded with people, but I can hear the Ducks talk from across the room. We're always the loudest in the room, doesn't matter if it's in a club, or at the library. But you seldom get thrown out from clubs. Except for that once, of course. Fine, twice.

Charlie is there, Lex is not. Cecilia is there too, next to Portman, fighting about something. Fighting as in a friendly feud, not really fighting. "She's over by our table," I say. Fred looks up at me, obviously unaware that I was standing here. "You want me to get her?"

"Nah, I'll live," he sighs. "Where's Lex?"

Connie exchanges a tired look with me. "Listen, Fred. You can't keep running after Lex anymore, she's with Charlie now. It's not fair to anyone," Connie explains, her voice is stern.

"I wasn't asking because of that," he answers, sounding irritated. "I just don't want her to talk to Cecilia anymore."

"Why?"

"Because Cecilia keeps sharing personal information about us, to Lex. I'm not sure I like that," he mutters, and now he sounds pathetic. I feel like telling him that, but I won't, for the sake of peace. "Actually, I don't want to talk to her either. They are both giving me a headache."

"That would be the wine," I say, getting a headache too, but from a different sort of 'whine'.

"You know, it's your last night here. Maybe you should talk to either one of them. Preferably Cecilia, since Charlie is already looking like lightning just struck him," Connie advises. "You love her, don't you?"

"She means Cecilia," I point out, trying to be helpful, but Connie elbows me in the ribs. Ouch.

"Of course," Fred replies, blinking a few times. "The room is getting blurry."

Connie shoves his shoulder. "So, what's stopping you? Go, find her! Spend the night with her, talk..."

"Or, you could get laid..." I interrupt, but Connie kicks me before I can continue. "Ouch!"

Connie turns back to Fred. "Ignore him. He's running some sort of anti-love campaign today. What I meant to say was that you should disregard whatever strange things she's done during the past week, so you won't spoil all night. She does love you, either way."

"You think so?" Fred murmurs.

"Of course. Trust me, I'm supposed to be the advisor of the team, remember?" Connie jokes. "But you should probably try and sober up before you get into any serious conversations. It's better to remember what you talked about, then forgetting about it the next day, don't you think?"

Fred just nods violently. Then he puts his head on her shoulder. "Can I do that later? Talk, I mean. It would probably help, but I feel a bit dizzy right now. Very dizzy."

"Sure, take your time," Connie laughs. Then she grabs his face with her hands. "Don't pass out, though. You're too heavy for me to hold on to." Fred nods again, slowly slipping down towards the floor. I have to grab his arm to keep him from falling. Connie leans down to catch him by the shoulders. "Hey, you okay? I was serious, don't pass out."

"I know," he mumbles. "I really don't like wine, it makes me queasy. I can't deal with it, somehow."

"You're not allergic, are you?" I ask, now beginning to get worried that we'll have to take him to the hospital. Wouldn't that just add fun to the evening? Sitting in the emergency room all night, all waiting to see if Fred's going to die from his wine allergy…yep, it practically screams fun!

"No, not to wine."

I put my arm under his and help him up on his feet again. "I suggest you go and sit down. I'm sure Portman will pity you enough to give your phone back."

Fred gives me a doubtful look. "This isn't kindergarten. He's holding that phone hostage until I've embarrassed myself enough." Yeah, probably, but why tell him that?

"We'll look after you," Connie smiles. "So you won't get into too much trouble. And I did help you with your girlfriend, right?"

"Yes, you did," Fred smiles back. He forces himself to stay on his feet, leaning against Connie. She almost falls backwards because of his weight. "Sorry, I'm trying really hard to act normal."

Connie grins and pats him on the back. "You'll be fine. You're a good guy. You just have to work on standing up for yourself, trust your instincts. Go for it."

"Go for it?" I ask.

"Well, it's a pep-talk, stay out of this," she instructs me. "You'll get the girl, trust me."

"I will?" I go on, smiling.

"Fred will," Connie sighs, not too happy about my comments. I should've used them on Charlie, because that way I'd be less annoying right now.

"Thanks, Connie," Fred says gratefully. He lets go of her and stands up on his own. "I'll go get my cell back at once. And then I'll talk to Cecilia." Connie nods, and he leans forward to kiss her on the cheek. For some reason, she turns her head, and their lips collide. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

Fred turns around, just to find Guy standing right behind him. He doesn't look happy. "What's going on?"

"I promise, I was aiming for her cheek," Fred assures him, rushing away and runs right into a table. He falls to the floor with a crash, making us all shake our heads. He's hopeless sometimes.

Guy helps him up again, and I have to give him a hand, in case he decides to slap Fred around a little. Connie just smiles. "I'll just take your word for it," Guy says, rolling his eyes. "Where are you going?"

"I was going to get my phone back," Fred explains, rubbing his eyes. "But then the table showed up."

Someone from our table suddenly whistles loudly, so we all turn our heads up. "Hey! Bonnie! Someone's calling!" Portman bellows above the music. Fred stumbles away from us, trying to get over there as quickly as possible. "It's your Dad!" Fred stops so immediately that he looses his balance and falls again.

"I can't answer that," Fred mumbles when he's finally able to crawl up to the table. Portman is nice enough to hand him the cell phone without demanding a fee. "I'm drunk, he'll notice that right away. I can't talk to him."

"Of course you can, just act normal," Portman says. Fred doesn't seem amused at all, more like worried and concerned. I would too if any of my parents called me up while I was hammered.

"Give it a rest, Portman," Luis hisses, obviously annoyed with Portman. "Leave him alone."

"It was just a suggestion!" Portman exclaims. Then he looks at Fred who's still on the floor, gazing at the phone that won't stop blinking. "I can answer for you if you like."

Fred shakes his head, puts the phone to his ear and answers. "Yeah?"

I have to hand it to him, he manages to pull off how to not sound drunk at all, despite the wine he just swiped. We can all hear that the voice on the other end is sounding angry, but there's no way I can hear what the conversation is about. Well, it's not really a conversation, since Fred is mostly quiet, being yelled at.

Portman shows a tiny bit of regret when Fred finally hangs up. "Hey, Bonnie, is everything alright?"

"Yep," Fred replies, trying to get up on his feet. Portman decides to help him. "Is there anything more to drink?"

"You've had enough," Charlie states. Fred makes a grimace, but doesn't bitch back. "No more drinking games, you hear me? Portman, can you behave?"

Portman shrugs. "I don't know, haven't really tried in a while."

Charlie takes that as an okay answer, possibly because he's sick and tired of us all. He leaves and goes over to the bar. Lex throws an eye at him, before moving over to Fred. "What happened? Was he mad?"

"No, it's fine."

Fred leans his head against the table again, grunting something. He doesn't look up until Cecilia comes skipping, poking at him. "Fred? Is it okay if I go dance with Anthony?"

"Yeah, why not?" he mutters.

"Stay there, don't move," Cecilia cheers. "When I come back, you have to dance with me."

"I thought you didn't dance," Fred says, his head back on the table. "I'll wait here."

"Great!" Cecilia replies, overexcited because of something. Maybe because she's just a loon? "Hey, what's up? Did something happen?" Her voice changes to a more concerned one when she notices Fred's depressed behavior.

"No, I'm just waiting for Portman to buy me some more drinks," Fred announces. "Right, Portman?"

Portman growls and gets up from his chair. Well, Fred is doing a great job standing up for himself. He must be in a bad mood. "So, everything's fine?" Cecilia makes sure.

"Yep. Go, have fun." Fred waves her off, without looking at her. When he finally lifts his head from the table, eyeing her, he grabs her arm. "Your skirt is too short." Even though his words are suspicious, he seems rather content with how she looks. He's probably just surprised about the fact that she's actually wearing a skirt and top, instead of jeans and a sweatshirt.

"No, it's not. It's longer then Connie's," she points out.

"Fine. But come back and get me later. I want to talk to you." I would like to talk to my girlfriend too if she wore that outfit. But I don't have a girlfriend. Maybe I should work on that instead of stalking people?

Cecilia kisses him, bounces away towards the door and disappears. I've never seen her this upbeat about anything. Must be because of the heat. Or because she's in heat. It's something, either way.

Connie looks around for a new victim to terrorize, now when Guy has lost interest again. She spots the lonely Charlie by the bar and dashes off. Lex squeezes Fred's arm one last time before she goes after Connie, to save her from becoming a murder victim.

Now when Portman has lost both his personal yo-yo and his other entertainment box, he's forced to socialize like a normal person. Fulton is being dragged away by Connie, who's back from the bar. Charlie and Lex are gone, so I assume I have to hang out with these people.

Fred also gets up to leave, muttering something about acting normal and getting an unlisted number. When he comes back, he's bought us all drinks. Well, I can't complain about his mood now, can I?

***

Charlie's POV

I see Connie running over, and she's about to leap on me when Lex grabs her shoulders and whispers something in her ear. Connie gives Lex this huge grin and bounces away, finally stopping to terrorize Fulton. Poor Fulton. Lex looks at me and smiles. I just scowl at her.

"Come on, Charlie, let go and have some fun," she says. I don't know what to say, so I don't say anything. "What's the matter?" she asks when I don't answer.

"As if you don't know," I mutter, busying myself with my drink.

"Know what?" she looks confused. Is she kidding? I saw her and Fred before. I was sitting right there. She still wants him. He still wants her. And Fred and Cecilia slept together! What the hell else is going on without my knowing? Next thing you know, Portman and Fulton will announce they're homosexuals and that they're dating each other! Oh. Bad example. Nevermind, then.

"Charlie?" Lex prods.

"What?" I growl.

"What's wrong?" she asks in an extremely gentle voice and with a concerned face.

"What's wrong!? What's wrong!?" I explode, "I'll tell you what's wrong! Fred! That's what's wrong! You still want Fred! Fred still wants you! Fred and Cecilia slept together! What else don't I know about!?"

Lex looks rather grateful the music is so loud. Not many people turn around to stare at us. "I thought we'd been through this," she murmurs, looking at the floor.

"Obviously not well enough! You still want Fred! Fred still wants you! You're using me to make Fred jealous! Fred's using Cecilia to make you jealous!" I shout.

What I was just yelling isn't true. At least, I don't think it is. So why am I yelling this stuff at her? Where did I even come up with it? I guess she was right, before, in that Jacuzzi when she asked if I was jealous. I guess I am.

Lex rolls her eyes. "That's right, Charlie, that's right. You've got it down. It's all one big conspiracy between Fred and me to get into eachother's pants...I'll try talking to you again when you're less paranoid," she spits, and then walks away.

I'm about to let her go when I see Fred smiling and walking toward her, and my jealousy flares up again. I just can't let her go to him. No matter how innocent they seem, I just can't. If it was anybody else, I'd let her go, but not him. I won't let her go, even if means I have to admit to her- and myself- that I was wrong.

"Lex!" I call after her desperately. She turns to face me.

"What do you want from me, Charlie?" she asks in a tired tone.

"A dance," I say as I walk up to her, grabbing her hands and pulling her toward the dance floor. The first few notes of the song are familiar. What song is this? It doesn't matter. It's a slow one, and that's perfect.

"Um...ok," she trails off, but smiles at me. As the words to the song start, I realize that it's Elton John's 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' and that this is terribly cliché. Great. I'm trying to forget how my whole life is like one big, stupid Disney movie when Lex's voice cuts into my thoughts. "Feeling better now?" she asks, smiling.

I smile back at her, but shake my head no. Her smile fades as the song ends. She pulls me over to a table and shoves me down into a chair. She can be pretty strong when she wants to be. Don't get me wrong, she's not strong like Portman is, but she's strong for a girl. Especially one her size. No wonder Cecilia was in such bad shape.

"What's wrong, Charlie!?" she demands, remaining standing and crossing her arms.

"You were right. I'm jealous," I admit reluctantly, looking down at my sneakers.

"Jealous?" she smiles again, "I knew it. Don't be jealous, Charlie. There's nothing to be jealous of. Really."

"It's not just that," I hear myself saying.

"What else, then?"

"Fred and Cecilia slept together."

"Yeah, and so did we," she says, confusion written on her face, "What's your point, exactly?"

"My point is that they slept together without my knowing! My point is I'm losing control over my team, my life, my friends, and my feelings for you! I don't like losing control! It's not a good feeling for me! And it's not just Fred and Cecilia, it's all of them!"

"Charlie, you can't keep track of everyone all the time. It's too much work. Fred and Cecilia slept together. It's nobody's business but theirs. Just stick with things that you can control, it's easier that way."

"I know, but I worry about them so much. What if they need me and I'm not there?" I ask her. Wow, where the hell is all this deep shit coming from?

"That's what phones are for. If they need you, Charlie, they know where to find you. I know you're captain and you feel responsible for them, but that's only on the ice. You don't have to take care of them all the time. Besides being close to impossible, it's unnecessary. They're good kids, Charlie. They don't need you every second," she's trying to soothe me, but now I just feel stupid.

"I just hate feeling like I'm out of control," I mumble, looking at my sneakers again.

"You're allowed to be out of control sometimes, ya know. You're only fifteen, almost sixteen. It happens," she says quietly.

"I know, but...I don't know...I'm just so unhappy with everything right now."

"Unhappy with everything?" Lex asks.

"Yeah, pretty much," I say. Oh no. Oh shit. As soon as I say it, I realize where this going. I didn't mean it like that...

"You're unhappy with me?" she asks, her eyes very shiny.

"No, Lex, really, I'm happy with you. Hell, I'm thrilled. You're pretty much the only thing I've got going for me now. I'm happy with you," I tell her, smiling. She smiles back at me and wipes her eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," I smile. Wow, good cover, Conway. I mean it, too. I hate feeling like I'm out of control, but with Lex it's ok. It's like I'm out of control, but in control…like this I can stop if I want. It's everything else that I can't stop. And that's what sucks.

"Ok, then...hey, Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Want me to make you happy?" she grins.

"Yeah. How're you gonna do that?" I ask in my most challenging voice. I know full well what she's talking about.

She kisses my cheek, and puts her hand on my inner thigh and begins to work her magic. Shit, we're six seconds in, and my body's already reacting to her touch. I'm not going to be able to stay down here much longer...

"Come on," she says, grinning. "Let's go upstairs."

We're kissing, waiting for the elevator in the lobby. I'm already breathing rather heavily, and I hear footsteps.

"Hey Lex!" Fred calls out to her. Dammit, Fred, not now!

"What?" she calls back.

"Wanna dance? We need to talk," he says. Lex stops to look at Fred and smiles. Oh no, not now, please not now, I really hafta get this girl up to my room now. I really want her now, Fred, you can't... really, really bad timing, Fred...

"Um...can't right now, Fred, sorry," she says, smiling at me.

"It's ok, I'll go find Connie, just thought I'd ask."

"She's tormenting the Bash Brothers, if you really want to find her," Lex says, grinning.

"Alright," Fred waves and goes back into the other room.

The elevator opens. I pull Lex inside and the door closes.

"Where were we?" she smiles.

"Right about here," I say, leaning her against the elevator wall, putting my lips back on hers, and slipping my hands up her shirt.

The door opens and we get out, and I drag her toward my room.

"No," she says, "It's gotta be my room, Robbie will be checking if I'm there."

"What about..." I say, through gasping breaths.

"I stole Anna and Sammie's cards, don't worry," she says, working the lock on the door and pushing it open.

She pulls me over to her bed, and we begin. A couple minutes later, not long after she cries out into my shoulder, I realize that she's trying very hard to tease me. She's not letting me get going, into a rhythm, on purpose. I'm liking it, but if she doesn't let up soon, I'm gonna be yelling for it. It's gonna be a long night.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
We borrowed/mentioned the song 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' by Elton John