A/N: reeeeally sorry for the lateness guys! i've been having writer's block lately... i blame it on being back at school and not getting to wake up at noon anymore. i hope your holidays were as awesome as mine were. Happy 2005, everyone! i hope this new year brings you more love, peace and happiness.

CHAPTER FIVE - Old Friends

I hung up the phone just as the clock struck six o'clock.

"So, great! I just need that Kirkpatrick appointment to be recorded and I guess that's it. Unless..." I looked around at the other club members in my room.

"I think we're good," Karen piped up. She got up from the floor and brushed the backside of her jeans. "I guess I'll just see you guys tonight?" The others started following her lead and started getting ready to leave.

"What are we watching though?" Jenny asked as she tidied her hair in front of my mirror. "Do we just decide when we get there?" We had planned a Friday night out at the movies with the guys since we all hadn't hung out together in a while.

"In that case, I'm predicting chaos," Vanessa replied, sticking her tongue out.

"Oh, Vanessa, you'll be there to pull the troops together. I don't think we have to worry," Becca said, smiling, as she gently patted Vanessa's back. Even though Vanessa was younger than the triplets, it was a well-known fact that she was heck of a lot more mature than them... all combined. Vanessa smirked and waved as she walked out of my room. The other girls soon followed suit.

"I'm baby-sitting Shawn tonight, so I might be late," I called out after them, waving good-bye.

- -

"Just keeping swimming, swimming, swimming," Karen and Jenny belted out the tune together, giggling like a couple of five year olds.

"Cut it out!" Craig whined to the two girls at either side of him. "That's going to get stuck in my head for the rest of the night!" The girls had sly smiles on their faces as they leaned their heads right next to Craig's ears and sang even louder. Craig retaliated by playfully trying to take a bite out of Karen's shoulder.

"Dude!" Karen squealed, laughing as she pushed him away. "Our waiter should be coming any minute now. Fries taste a whole lot better than human flesh." I had an amused smile on my face as that started a whole round of dreadful Silence of the Lambs impressions from the guys sitting around the table.

We all had headed over to Phantom Pizza to satisfy our late night cravings after deciding to see Finding Nemo at the Cineplex. Tired of cheesy romantic chick flicks and predictable suspense thrillers, Finding Nemo was perfect. Insanely funny. Heck, even Adam admitted he liked it.

Our group was getting really rowdy and being the one sitting at the head of the table, I was the first one to notice our waitress approaching. I did a double take when I realized it was someone I knew.

"Hey! I didn't know you worked here," I said, surprised, but offering a friendly smile. The blonde girl in the red and white checkered uniform blinked and cocked her head to one side.

"...Charlotte Johanssen, right?" she finally said, grinning. I laughed,

"It's awesome seeing you again! How's Matt doing?" At that, her expression slightly shifted. She avoided my eyes as she looked down at the small pad of paper she had in her hands as she mumbled absentmindedly,

"Oh. He's, um, fine I guess. I don't really –"

"Haley Braddock?!" Vanessa gasped. She squealed and jumped up to smother a surprised Haley in a huge hug. "Ohmigod! I haven't seen you in ages!" Haley smiled widely as she said hi to Vanessa and the rest of the gang.

"So Hales, coming back to SHS?" Byron asked. Haley smiled wryly and opened her mouth to answer when a balding man in an apron popped his head from the doorway to the kitchen and shouted,

"Braddock! I'm not paying you to socialize! Get to work!" Haley nodded and made a face as she turned to face us.

"Thanks, guys! Way to get me in trouble," she laughed. "Let me just get your orders," she said, grinning. "Then I'll be happy to answer all your other questions." Not wanting to make things any more difficult, we just ordered three extra large pepperoni pizzas and Cokes to go around.

"Wow. How long has it been since we've seen her?" Vannessa asked incredulously as Haley went off to the kitchen to get our drinks.

"It must be since sixth grade," Becca replied, shrugging. Sitting beside her, Jordan nodded.

"I remember they moved to New York so that Matt could get into that exclusive school."

"Some sort of school for the deaf?" Adam asked. "That kind of thing?"

"Yeah," Jordan replied. "I wonder why they're back though..."

"You know, it's really not polite to talk about someone when they're not there." Surprised, we looked up and there was Haley, carrying two pitchers of Coke in each hand, a playful smirk on her face. Jordan's ears turned a slight shade of red. Haley placed the two pitchers on the table and wiped her hands on her short apron.

"I, um, was just – " Jordan muttered uncomfortably. Haley laughed.

"It was a joke, Jordan. We've been home for a while now. I was supposed to start at SHS at the beginning of the year, but the whole moving back thing got complicated with my parents having to start work right away." She grabbed a few glasses and started placing them around the table.

"Are you guys back at your old house?" Becca asked.

"Um.. Actually, no," she replied, carefully avoiding eye contact. "We - We're staying at an apartment on Kaplan Drive now. It's, uh, probably just something temporary though."

"That's good. Matt's doing okay too?"

"Oh yeah. But he's... actually not living with us anymore." I guess she noted the puzzled looks on all our faces because she gave us a half smile and sighed before she continued. "He's still in New York. In boarding school." Haley smiled but you couldn't ignore the sadness in her eyes. You could tell it really killed her to be so far away from him. We allknew how close they were. "But anyway, your pizzas should be ready by now." She excused herself politely as she walked back to the kitchen, coming back shortly with our steaming pizzas.

Everyone jumped in and started grabbing at the thick slices, talking loudly. As I waited my turn, I looked up and through the tangle of outstretched arms, I saw Haley squeeze in between Byron and Becca's seats to place the last of the pizzas on the table.

"Hey, Hales..." Byron gently grasped her arm as she pulled it up from the table. He let go and she looked down at him expectantly, pushing a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I know how it feels. Mal went to boarding school for a while and, sure, it's tough in the beginning but it gets better... eventually." He grinned at her assuringly and in return, she gave him a small smile and mouthed a silent thank you before walking away.

Byron leaned forward in his seat and looked up across the table, catching my eye as he saw me watching. I nodded my head once and gave him a half smile. I knew then that that was what I loved about him most... that he really cared about other people, sometimes above his own self.

It was then that I realized that what he said told me that day in the hallway was true for me, too.

I needed him as a friend, if nothing else.

It was hard to even imagine not having him in my life.

- -

I tossed the car keys in my left hand as I punched in the code for our security system, squinting to see the keypad through the neon green glow in the darkness. I yawned as I made it through the kitchen, careful not to bump into anything. It was late and I had just gotten in.

I grimaced once I made it upstairs and saw the light still on in my parents' room. They were waiting up for me. Of course. I sighed and walked towards their room, knocking swiftly before opening the door.

"Hey, Mom and Dad? I'm home." I stopped short and noticed that my dad was pacing around the room and my mom was sitting in front of her bureau drawer, both with worried looks on their faces. They stopped whatever they were talking about and looked up. They seemed surprised to see me. "Mom, I told you I was going to be out late," I said, exasperated. "I know there's the whole Only Child Syndrome thing going on, but please don't worry about me so much."

My mom gave me a small smile. "We know, honey. It's alright," she said quietly, surprising me with her simplicity. "It's late, you should go to bed."

I shrugged off the slightly odd feeling I was getting and said good night to both of them before heading off to my room. I soon forgot everything as I nodded off to sleep, wrapped up in this demented dream about Care Bears in army uniforms attacking Smurfs.

Those three slices of pizza I wolfed down got to me in such a bad way. I really don't recommend it. Trust me.