Author's Note: YAY! I finally updated! Big thank yous to dongsang (your review was so sweet, thank you so so much), NC Ace (WooT for hyperness...Sprite does the job for me...hehe), and aZn sIsTeR 92 (my summer's been okay, not terrific, thanks for asking though; how's your summer been?). You guys rock for reviewing the last chapter. This chapter is the heaviest of the three. But after this we are done with Lori's flashback and into the real story again. Bare with me as I figure out how the story is going to come together. Read and enjoy and drop a review!

"Would you like to come to my house and hang out for a while?"

We were already wheeling our bikes into Robbie's neighborhood. This time, the colorful front gardens seemed to be cheering for me, smiling at me, warming me up. Does that mean mom is happy? I soaked in all the colors from the various front gardens.

"Sure, I guess."

We walked for a couple more minutes before Robbie turned up the walk to a medium side house that was white with green outlining. The front garden was well kept with a nice green lawn and flowers growing along the front porch. They had no roses. That's what this place needs, I thought.

"Did you guys ever think about planting roses here?" I asked, gesturing to the front yard as Robbie rooted through his pockets for his house key. He looked up to where I was pointing to whenhe found it.

"Uh, I don't think so. Why?"

"I think it would make your yard beautiful if you did."

"Maybe I'll tell my mom then. If it was beautiful, then it would remind me of you." I turned and smiled at him as he took my hand and led me into the dark house. "My parents are going to be away for a while, some other friend's party or whatnot. They get invited to so many of those, it gets annoying."

My brain tensed up when he said that. I slapped it mentally. "That's cool, I guess." We walked into the kitchen and he turned on the lights.

"Sometimes," Robbie grumbled, opening a large bag of chips. "Want some?" he asked, holding it out to me. I reached in and took a handful and started to munch. "So, you like roses?"

"I love roses," I said, smiling at him.

"Do you have any in your front yard?"

Something struck unpleasantly in my stomach. I practically choked on the chip I was eating. I coughed a few times, trying to get it dislodged from my throat. He looked at me suddenly with concern. "Do you need some water?"

I shook my head and swallowed the chip with difficultly. "No, no," I croaked, "I'm fine." I didn't take more chips. "And yes, I do have some in my front yard. Roses, I mean."

"Since you like roses so much maybe I should get you some," he said, tweaking me playfully on the nose.

"Be better than chips," I said, grinning at him.

We talked for a long time like that, him munching on chips, me not. Then he said he wanted to show me something in his room. I said fine fine, whatever. He grabbed one last chip before heading up the stairs. I followed him in the dark, watching his dark form walk through the halls and finally turn to open a door. I walked inside and waited for my eyes to adjust. I said if he wanted to show me something, he was going to have to turn on the light because I wouldn't be able to see it. He said that wouldn't be necessary. And before I knew what was going on, he had me up against his door that he had just closed and his mouth was over mine. At first I tensed up, Alice's words ringing through my head. Then I relaxed and wrapped my arms around his neck.

I didn't even notice the silence. At one point we had to break apart because we had knocked into his desk and I had hit it with my knee, quite painfully. He laughed softly at me as I bent down to rub it and then we were kissing again. His hands slid across my waist easily as my hands ran through his cool silky hair. Then the backs of my knees hit something, not exactly hard, and we both toppled over, him on top of me. I realized we had stumbled onto his bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked me with a laugh. He was breathing hard and so was I. "You took quite a fall there."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just kind of surprised." I didn't say anything else. He started kissing me again. I loved him more and more with every kiss. His mouth traveled down and he started kissing my neck as I breathed in fresh air. I felt his warm hands up the back of my shirt. Suddenly I realized they were crawling up and I jumped back, startled.

"What's the matter, baby?" he said breathlessly. I gazed at him with a little bit of mistrust.

"What were you doing?"

He sighed and moved closer to me again, pushing me down. "I'm sorry. It was a reaction. I won't do it again, I promise."

He kissed me again. Once again it lasted for a long time. But I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking about what he said and what Alice said. Or, rather, what Alice didn't say. I realized suddenly how heavy he was on top of me, and how I couldn't make him budge at all. Then I felt one of his warm hands on one of my belt loops. He was pulling it. And then his hand tried to go in my jeans. My eyes flew open and with strength I didn't know I had I pushed him off of me. He went flying into his desk and practically broke his hipbone colliding into it. "What was that for?" he asked angrily.

"You know what that was for, you perv," I practically shouted at him. I got up and ran for the door. He met me halfway there and pinned me to his closet door. I rammed into it painfully with my back. I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut because of the pain.

"It's too late, my sweet Lori. It's too late." He pressed himself against me hard.

"No, its not too late. Its not!" I screamed at him, wriggling one of my hands free and punching him in the face. He reeled back, clutching his face and then roared, coming at me again. His hands found my shoulder and he rammed me into the wall again with all his strength. Pain lanced through me everywhere as I rallied my failing strength and pushed him as hard as I could into his desk. He grimaced because of the pain and punched me in the stomach. I doubled over and tried to breathe as I backed away from him. As he flew at me again, I kicked in him in the stomach. He fell into me and I hit him in the face. He reeled back again, panting and in pain. He buckled to his knees and clutched the edge of his desk to keep his balance. And then, I yanked open the door and ran.

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The front gardens were a blur again as I raced past them on my bike, the rushing wind cooling the pain that was everywhere in my body. The blur was mocking again. You were stupid, Lori. Stupid for trusting him. You were an idiot, Lori. An naïve, stupid idiot. And this time I had to agree with them. Yes, I was an idiot. The biggest idiot on earth. The colors of the front gardens became sneering faces that were pointing and laughing. Some had looks of sympathy. I tried to block them out and finally gave up and gave in.

Never again, I vowed to myself, never, never again.

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Lori looked up and saw that Angela was drying her eyes on her blanket as well. Lori wiped her own eyes and looked down. "I'm sorry I had to burden you with that, Angie. I just couldn't keep it all to myself anymore." She leaned against the wall and hugged her knees. "In times before, I had needed to talk, just like now, but there had been no one there to listen. No one there willing to listen. But now…" Lori looked up and glanced at the dark figure of Angela. "Thank you so much for just listening."

"Don't worry about it, Lori," Angela said soothingly, patting the blanket back into place. "I hope now we can be better friends. I also won't tell anyone, I promise to you. And if you ever need to talk again, you know who to find. I am best at listening." Angela paused and glanced at the dark figure of Lori in the dark room. "I was wondering…" she started hesitantly. "Would you by any chance need a hug?"

Lori laughed out loud in the dark for the first time. "I would love a hug, Angie." They leaned into each other and gave each other a hug, squeezing each other tight. Suddenly, they both lost their balance and they tumbled inward in a flurry of legs, arms, and blankets. There was a sound like a muffled racket as they untangled each other and stuffed blankets in their mouths to keep from laughing. Now the tears in Lori's eyes were from the laughter that was making her stomach hurt. They finally settled down in their laughing spree after a couple of minutes and laid back on the ground right next to each other.

"I don't think I've laughed that hard in years," Lori said finally, still clutching her stomach.

"I don't think I have either," Angela said in a winded voice. "Next time, think six-pack abs. You'll have motivation."