I'M FINALLY UPDATING! Seems I always come back saying that, huh? Anyway, yay for inspiration! This chapter took me a while, but I find it satisfactory. I must say one thing, though... WARNING! I have to say, this chapter has a warning on it for language and (certainly not graphic at all) sexual content. Shame me! I'm sorry if I offend anyone! I love you guys...

By the way, if I hadn't stated it before, all the chapter titles are X Japan songs. So that's why some of them sound weird... like this one... ;

Thanks to everyone who reviewed... wait a sec! Only iliveinmiddleearth reviewed chapter 4! Oh, I am saddened! Guys! I need your support! Well, thank YOU, iliveinmiddleearth! I love you! Love love love! And to the rest of you, you are probably busy living your lives and doing constructive things, so worry not! There's life besides fanfiction, contradictory to what I say! I hope you return to me!

ENJOY!

CHAPTER 5: LOVE REPLICA

Time went on for a few months. Everything went fairly normally. Mort was getting more engrossed in his writing than ever. He and Skye had gotten a lot closer, he had even told her he loved her. Skye was turning out to be a little clingy, actually, but it didn't bother Mort very much. He enjoyed the love. Skye and Mischa hung out every once in a while, but Mischa would always want to go to Skye's place. She knew it was just to stare at Mort, but all in all, Mischa was a really nice girl.

Skye had driven the thought of the screwdriver out of her mind. Obviously he was framed or… there… was a logical explanation…. Anyway, she didn't want to ask him about it. His temper, you know…

Skye's mother sent her a cell phone so she could call in case of any kind of emergency, which was kind of annoying because her mother called constantly. This wasn't making Skye feel any better. Every time she talked to her mother, she seemed to get more and more depressed. Mort was there for her, but not enough. He was busy on his new book and she didn't blame him. She had started reading his book Everybody Drops the Dime, particularly Secret Window. It intrigued her to no end.

One day, while she was cleaning Mort's bookshelf while he was out, she came upon something stuck behind the books. She pulled it out curiously and read over it. It seemed like an early manuscript of Secret Window, from the story, but… the characters and ending were different. Plus, it was titled Sowing Season. She liked the title Secret Window better… But… the ending… it was fascinating. The character… killed his wife and buried her in the garden. Twisted, but what a great ending. She replaced it behind the books and went on cleaning.

Because of all the calls from Skye's mother, Skye was starting to listen to music a lot more than she used to. Preferably "Scars" by X Japan or "Obscure" by Dir en Grey. She seemed to be more depressed, even though she should be happy because she had Mort. She started noticing a bit more odd behavior on his part, but didn't think it to be anything important.

One night, Skye and Mort had gotten into a bit of a rather difficult situation to get out of… Started out as a simple kiss, but ended up on Mort's bed. She was trying to get herself to say something, do something to get out of this, but was having a hard time with self control. She still had time to back out, but… that darn self control. Her hand just happened to fall off the side of the bed, and she felt something. There was something hidden under the mattress, sticking out just a little. It felt like a book… But this was the least of her worries right now.

"…Mort, we shouldn't be doing this…" she told him between kisses.

"Well, why shouldn't we, sugar?" he asked, with a bit of a… southern accent…?

She laughed. "Got a bit of an accent for a second there -- what's up with that?"

He cleared his throat. "I was just… joking around, of course." he replied a little uneasily.

"Um… look, I really… this just isn't…" she hesitated and struggled for words. "…We shouldn't be doing this." She pushed him away and got up. "I'm… sorry…" She quickly turned and started to leave.

"Skye!" he called. She turned and looked at him. "It's alright." She smiled a little, and left the room.

She rushed to her room and readied for bed. Her mind buzzed. That was a pretty close call there… Something serious could've happened. But then… he wasn't even angry when she… erm… denied him, for want of a better word. He hadn't lost his temper in a really long time and… certainly when he did, it wasn't directed at her. He was Mort. She knew him. She could trust him. The thought of the blood-encrusted screwdriver popped into her head for a fleeting moment, but she dismissed it. Too complicated. She loathed change when it came down to it, and decided to keep her mouth shut about it.

The next day, she went in for breakfast and Mort, as usual, had already been up to make it. Darn tasty looking pancakes were sitting on the table and Skye made a beeline for them.

"Morning." she greeted, still a little timid from yesterday's event.

"Oh, morning." he greeted cheerfully. "I went into town earlier and bought something to add to breakfast."

"Yeah?" she asked, wondering where he was going with this.

He picked up a bowl and placed it in front of her, a look of self-satisfaction on his face. She looked down at it and registered--

"Strawberries!" she exclaimed happily. "Did I tell you about that? My strawberry infatuation?"

"You did." he replied, smiling. "Took me a good half hour to pick out the best ones."

She smiled widely. What a sweet thing of him to do! She popped a strawberry in her mouth and chewed it gleefully.

"Oh, these are perfect." she told him. "Thank you."

He smiled and continued with the making of breakfast. "So, how are your Japanese rocker friends?"

She laughed and looked up at him. "Oh, they're pretty good. Gackt recently turned 465 years old."

"Really?" he asked. "Well, I think he's too old for you."

She laughed and went on with her breakfast.

As the day progressed, he seemed to be doing a lot of really sweet little things for her. After breakfast, he even told her that he would be spending the entire day with her. She wondered if he just felt guilty about yesterday, but it didn't matter. Fact was, he was a total sweetie. They didn't have a lot to do, really, but ended up finding something amusing. Skye had laughingly suggested a good round of Mortal Kombat on her PS2, but they actually ended up playing it for a few hours. Mort was awful at it, but had a lot more fun than he thought he would.

"As Sub-Zero or Frost, there's just no stopping me." Skye told him, laughing.

"Hey, I wasn't so bad with the vampire lady." Mort said, laughing as well. "But you made me quit the match and pick a different character because you didn't like her revealing outfit!"

"Well, it made me uncomfortable!" she replied with a smile. "I don't like the idea of my boyfriend being able to control a woman who looks like that! Besides, you weren't all that great as her -- you kept doing that cheap trick move where you do the blood-sucking thing! That's cheap."

"That's cheap!" he exclaimed, laughing. "You impaled me twenty times!"

"With a legal sword."

"I had legal fangs."

"Ohh, you're too clever to argue with!" she concluded, laughing. She turned off the PS2 and sat back down on the couch, next to him. Just then, Skye's cell phone rang. She was tempted to ignore it, but knew her mother would call the S.W.A.T. team if she didn't answer it… Skye reluctantly got up and picked up her phone. She sat back down on the couch. Just as she was about to answer it, Mort snatched it away from her and answered it instead.

"Hello?" he asked, knowing perfectly well who it was.

"…Hello? Is Skye alright?" Skye's mother asked, panicking like an idiot.

"Of course she is." he replied.

"Well, then, why are you answering her phone?" she asked cautiously.

"Because she's busy right now." he told her.

"Busy?" she asked irritably. "Busy with what?"

"Well, living, I'd gather." he answered with cheek. "She's got a life, you know. Can't have her phone with her every moment of the day, can she?" Skye looked horrified.

"I really dislike your attitude, you know that?" her mother stated angrily. "You have no respect! And I really hate this business of my daughter living in the same house with you! How old are you, anyway?"

"What if I told you I was 465?" he asked, smiling at Skye. Skye laughed quietly.

"What kind of answer is that!" her mother yelled angrily.

"You don't have to snap, it was just a question." Mort said calmly. "Anyway, that's personal."

"Personal! Isn't it printed in all your books!"

"Well, then, why don't you go read one and find out?" he suggested and ended the call. Skye had her mouth open, staring at him, marveling at his bravery. "Hey, you're scared of her, baby, I'm not." She had to laugh at what he'd said to her.

"Oh, 465... she must really think you're crazy." she laughed.

"Who cares?" he dismissed and kissed her.

The rest of the day was rather romantic. And rather peaceful, seeing as how Skye's mother hadn't bothered to call back -- yet. Skye was happy -- really happy. Things were changing. And they'd change even more. Before Skye went off to bed, Mort gave her a Hollywood-worthy goodnight kiss, which, after concluding, made her accidentally walk into the door frame instead of the door. Luckily, Mort had already made it upstairs by the time this happened because she was kind of stunned for a minute. She entered her room happily, rubbing her door frame attacked forehead, and went over to her CD player. She got out a CD and stared at it. She was in love, so it was okay to listen to this kind of thing… Against her better judgment (but much to her enjoyment) she listened to the entire Gackt "Love Letter" CD before going to bed contently.

The next day, Skye went out into town to buy a few groceries. She entered the Robbins's store and greeted Mischa cheerfully. Skye bought a few things and summed up the previous day to Mischa who was thoroughly jealous.

Back at the cabin, Mort was sorting through the laundry absentmindedly. He was idly separating Skye's clothes from his, thinking about his life. Fact was, he couldn't deny that he didn't want to be… closer to Skye, but if she wasn't ready yet, he didn't really want to push her into it. …But it had been months. They'd been together for months. There are plenty of people who jump in after a few weeks… Honestly, didn't she think he loved her? Didn't she believe him? Well, maybe it had nothing to do with that. She's hardly dated, let alone… the other one…

In the end, Mort decided to just wait until Skye was okay with it. At that moment, though, he ran across one of Skye's brightly colored bras in the laundry. He curled his lip at his bad luck that this would come up right now -- when he was thinking about this particular subject… He coughed uncomfortably and dropped the item into the pile with the rest of Skye's things.

After a little while, Skye returned to the cabin and put away the groceries. Mort was up at his computer, staring blankly at the screen. It had started to storm outside and the pleasant sound of rain could be heard beating against the windows. She climbed up the stairs and stood behind him, putting her arms around his neck.

"Hey." she greeted.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, not having noticed her. "Hey, yeah." He quickly hit the save button and closed his laptop. "Can't read it yet -- works in progress."

"Ah, got it." she replied. "I'm glad you're inspired. You know, I finished Everybody Drops the Dime. There was a lot of good stuff in there. I loved it."

"Yeah?" he asked, standing up and putting his arms around her. "What was your favorite?"

"Definitely Secret Window." she told him. "It was fascinating!"

"Yes… yes, that's a good one…" he said a little hesitantly. "…Er… anyway, any more calls from dear old mum?"

"Not today -- guess I got lucky--" Just as she said it, though, her cell phone rang. She sighed heavily and pulled her phone out. "Damn it…"

"Good luck." he bid, giving her a short kiss.

"Thanks." she replied, putting the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Skye, it's your mother."

'Big surprise.' Skye thought.

"I've decided something." her mother continued. "Your sister and I are going to come and visit you. We'd like to see your living conditions and meet this Morton Rainey."

Skye rolled her eyes. "Mother, please… I'm a grown woman -- you'll be embarrassing me."

Her mother scoffed. "All you care about is yourself, Skye! Well, we care about you and are coming up there. I have the address and all, so expect us sometime soon."

CLICK.

"What!" Skye exclaimed. "No! Wait! Damn it!" She shoved the phone back in her pocket.

"Bad news?" Mort asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"Yes -- very." Skye told him glumly. "My mother and sister are coming up here to visit… Oh, gosh, I'm sorry about this --she's so stupid!"

"Oh, it's alright, it's not your fault." he replied. "Don't worry about it. She'll come up and visit and then she'll leave. Simple as that."

"I doubt it…" she sighed. "Well, then, we'll just… wait, I guess. But remember: when she comes, don't show any affection towards me at all."

"Well, that'll be difficult, but I think I can refrain for a little while. I guess I've just got to stock up, then, huh?" he asked with a smile, kissing her neck; she laughed and held him closer.

After a little while, they went downstairs and idly flipped through channels until they settled on watching Rear Window (how lucky to find a great Hitchcock on TV!). Toward the finale of the movie, they'd lied down to watch the rest of it. By the ending, however, they both fell asleep.

The morning came and Mort woke up tiredly. He had an arm around Skye, who was still asleep. He once again started thinking about his and Skye's relationship. And again, he couldn't deny wanting to be closer to her. He watched her sleeping peacefully and felt kind of bad for thinking so much about it. Just then, she turned over and snuggled up to him more, putting her arms around him. He looked down at her and smiled.

A little while later, Skye stirred and woke up, looking up at Mort.

"Oh… hi… fell asleep on the couch again…" she said, letting go of him and yawning.

"Yeah… good movie last night, though." he replied.

"Oh, definitely." she agreed. "I love that one." A bit of awkward silence passed. "Well, I suppose we should start breakfast, then…"

A few days went by. Skye was growing nervous about her mother's visit. She was going to find something wrong and forbid Skye to stay there any longer. Unfortunately, Skye could do nothing but wait. She soaked up Mort's affection like a sponge, though, because she feared the entire relationship might end. But… she was 22, after all… Maybe things would turn out alright… Besides, she really loved Mort… Maybe destiny would intervene and save their relationship! …Silly to hope, but it was holding Skye up.

One night, however, Skye began to grow incredibly anxious. She and Mort were sitting on the couch, talking about her mother's arrival. Skye was dressed quite casually on this day: just a black spaghetti strap shirt and normal jeans.

"…I just wish I could do something…" Skye said, Mort's arms around her.

"You can, Skye." he stated. "Just tell her off. She can't control your life forever."

Skye sighed. "I just can't do that… I… well… I still need her guidance every once in a while… like… applying for college stuff and… and I can't get loans on my own… I really do need her money…"

"You don't -- I told you I'd help you."

"No, I… I can't let you do that… Love is one thing, money is another…" she told him. "I just… don't want to let you do that…"

"Well, then, when your mother comes, we'll just tough through it." he stated. "It'll be over before you know it." She nodded.

Rain started falling outside and thunder sounded. The sweet, crisp smell of rain filled the house and refreshed the air. They looked at each other for a few moments and then lied down.

"Why do you have to be so beautiful?" he asked, gazing into her eyes. She smiled. "…I love you, Skye."

"I love you, too, Mort…" she replied, putting her arms around him. He kissed her.

Oh, my. It was that situation again… Decisions, decisions… Self control seemed like it had been fairly obliterated… Shame! No way, Skye should just get up now and go… take a cold shower or something! Yeah… Of course… it wouldn't be so hard to just… well… run to the store in the morning and grab a morning-after pill… Yeah, that wouldn't be so hard! Oh, my… Why be ashamed? They were in love, after all… And there's no doubt it would make her feel a lot better with all this stupid emotional stress…

'Okay, I give in…' she thought. 'No shame. I'll go to the store tomorrow and all will be fine and dandy… I really do love him…'

He slid his hand up the back of her shirt and pulled it off. He kissed her neck.

"Um… shouldn't we do this upstairs…?" Skye suggested.

He looked at her. "Are you sure about this?" She nodded. "Well, alright, then. Yeah, upstairs. Not your room because we'd be surrounded by Japanese cross-dressers -- and that's just weird." She laughed, and they made their way upstairs.

The next morning, Skye woke up in Mort's arms. She eased out of his grasp and sat up, looking around, a little disoriented. She stood up and put on Mort's bathrobe that was next to the bed. She looked outside and it was still raining. At this rate, it seemed the entire country would be flooded soon! Honestly! Just then, Mort woke up.

"Hey." he greeted tiredly.

"Hey."

"I like that look -- it suits you." he said, referring to the bathrobe. He held out his hand to her and she took it, sitting down next to him. She smiled. "It doesn't match your hair, though." She chuckled and kissed him.

"You know, I'm liking this look for you." she told him with a smile, placing a hand on his bare stomach.

He laughed. "Well, maybe I'll try it more often." He kissed her.

Right in the middle of a long kiss, Skye's stupid cell phone rang! She sighed in annoyance.

"I've got to answer it -- or she'll think I'm dead or something." she said, getting up. She went to her jeans (which were a good distance across the room) and retrieved her cell phone. "Hello?"

"Skye? This is your mother. Well, we're outside!"

"…What?" Skye asked, praying she had heard wrong.

"Yes, we're outside the cabin, in the car." her mother told her. "Why don't you come out and let us in?"

"Oh… right… well, give me a few -- I just got up." Skye said, biting her lip in worry.

"You just got up?" her mother asked. "You're so lazy sometimes. What about Mr. Rainey? Where is he?"

"…In his room… why?"

"Well, he can let us in, then." her mother suggested.

"Er… I don't want to disturb him right now -- just give me a few." Skye stated and hung up. "…Shit!"

"What?" Mort asked warily.

"My mother!" Skye cried. "She's here! She's outside!"

"Shit!" Mort exclaimed, jumping up. "Hurry up, throw something on!"

She nodded and they both rushed to dress. There were knocks at the door -- apparently, her mother got tired of waiting… After a few moments of searching, however, Skye realized…

"More shit…" Skye told him. "My shirt's downstairs…"

"…Shit…" Mort agreed. "Erm… just… grab something out of my closet. If one of us goes downstairs to get it, they'll see us."

"Right." she said and rushed to Mort's closet to find something suitable. She grabbed a light red shirt and threw it on. "Okay, I'm going in -- if I don't come out in an hour, send a search party." she joked.

"Understood." he stated, pulling a pair of pants on.

Skye flattened her hair and made sure her makeup wasn't hideously smeared or anything, and headed downstairs into the unknown! She went to the door and opened it reluctantly.

"Hello, Mother." Skye greeted uneasily.

"Oh, Skye, it's so good to see you!" her mother exclaimed, hugging her. "…What an ugly shirt…"

"Oh… er… just something I had lying around…" Skye said, her stomach knotting. Just then, her sister walked up.

"Hey, Skye." her sister greeted.

"Hey, Jill, how are you doing? It's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah… Nice place…" Jill stated sarcastically. Skye bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything.

"Well, aren't you going to invite us in?" her mother asked.

"Of course… Come on in…" Skye said reluctantly, and let her relatives enter.

Geez, I'm such a bad influence! Okay, here's my happy-leave-it-to-beaver-scolding: DON'T HAVE SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE! IT'S BAD AND JASON FROM FRIDAY THE 13TH WILL KILL YOU! Okay, I'm off the hook now! Wahaha! Anyway... things I need to address:

"You don't have to snap, it was just a question..." Did anyone catch what that quote's from? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! ("If you had to pick only one half of your son, which one would it be?" "What kind of question is that!""You don't have to snap, it was just a question...") HUZZAH!

Yes, Gackt claims he is 465 years old. He's a psycho, but I love him. The running joke about his "Love Letter" CD is that is incredibly CHEESY! And it is... but I love it anyway. By the way, if you get curious and decide to check out some Dir en Grey stuff... DO NOT download the "Obscure" video... That thing is pure evil. The song isn't bad, just the video. Seriously frightening. I've seen a lot of stuff in my time, including all the Silent Hill games (even that sick monster orgy in Silent Hill 2!), but this is beyond tolerance. It's sick.

Um... let's see... I think that's about it... Yeah... DON'T HAVE SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE! I'm a bad influence and should be shot. Hahaha

PLEASE REVIEW! I DESPERATELY NEED IT! gets on hands and knees to beg PLEASE! Do it for Mort! He loves you! And so do I! PLEASE! I'm so pathetic...

Loveyou guys!