Marco was supposed to be home today. Ellie couldn't wait to talk to him. She'd gotten all his postcards, of course, but he'd been out of phone contact all summer, and she hadn't even been able to send him anything as he never knew where he was going to be more than a few days ahead of time. His flight was supposed to have touched down a couple hours ago, but she'd made herself wait to call, knowing that his parents were probably fussing over him and everything. Figuring she'd waited long enough, she sprawled out on her bed and picked up her cell phone, dialing his number.

"Hello?" Mr. Del Rossi answered the phone. His voice sounded strange to Ellie, but maybe it was just that she hadn't heard it in several months.

"Hi, Mr. Del Rossi. Is Marco home?"

"There is no Marco here." Ellie was startled as the man slammed down the phone.

Okay, what was that about? Ellie frowned as she closed her cell phone and stood up. She should go over there and find out what was going on. Or maybe that would be too intrusive. Still…maybe she should try his cell. She opened her cell again and dialed his number, hoping that he would answer. She didn't know what was going on, but from the way his dad had sounded, she figured it couldn't be good.

"This is Marco's cell. I'm not turned on or Marco would be answering me. Talk to me anyway. I'm way cooler than him." Beep

"Ugh," Ellie grumbled frustrated as she closed the phone for the second time. If she went to his house and his dad was upset about something, she would probably only make things worse. And that was if Mr. Del Rossi even let her in. Maybe she should ask someone what she should do. But who? Ashley wasn't back yet. And while she and Paige were getting along a little better lately, she still wouldn't exactly consider her a friend. Usually Marco was the one she'd ask this sort of thing to, but obviously that was the problem. Maybe Craig would know what to do, she decided. He was one of Marco's best friends, and she had gotten pretty close to him over the past week.

Coming to a decision, she threw her cell down on the bed and headed off to find Craig.

Craig adjusted the cords and tried the sequence again, nodding a little at the new sound. Definitely better. He took the pencil from his mouth and jotted down a few notes on the page before popping the pencil back in his mouth to try it one more time. It was definitely better than anything he'd done all summer. Thanks to his new inspiration.

He was startled when he heard her voice calling to him. "Craig, are you busy?"

He'd been so into the new song that he hadn't heard her come in, but he was glad she was there. He quickly took the pencil out of his mouth again and set it on the table, hoping she didn't notice as he quickly shuffled the pile of pages—covering the lyric sheet of his latest song. "No, not busy at all! Come on it!" he called out, looking around to make sure that there was nothing else incriminating lying around. "Hey! What's up?" he greeted as he took the guitar strap off and set his instrument down.

"I'm not really sure," she answered carefully. "Marco was supposed to get back today but when I tried calling his house…his dad hung up on me. So I tried calling his cell and he isn't answering. I think…" she hesitated, wondering if maybe she was just overreacting. No. Mr. Del Rossi had been really weird. "I think that something is really wrong, but I don't know what to do about it. I'm really worried."

Craig frowned. "Maybe he's just sleeping or something. Jet lag and all," he suggested, even though he suspected that by the way she was clearly worried that there was something more to it. He'd been sort-of friends with Ellie for a while, and in the past week had spent a lot of time getting to know her a whole lot better and…Ellie Nash didn't usually appear worried unless there was good reason to. "So, he just hung up on you?" he repeated back to her questioningly, thinking that it didn't sound like the full story.

"Well, he also said that Marco wasn't there. It's not so much that, but…the way he said it." She shook her head. "Nevermind. You probably think that I am totally overreacting. You're right. There's probably nothing to worry about. I'm sorry for interrupting whatever it was you were doing. Thanks, but I should go now…so you can get back to your music. Are you getting anywhere with it, by the way?" she asked, feeling guilty that she'd come over only to talk about Marco.

"Actually, it's going great. Thanks for your advice, it's really working out for me," he smiled up at her. He was tempted to sing it for her, but it wasn't quite ready, and since it was about her, it just seemed that he should wait to play it when it was perfect. Besides, there was something more important afoot. "Ellie, in all the time I've known you, you've never struck me as an 'overreacting' sort. Quite the opposite actually. So, if you think there's something wrong, maybe I should try calling." He picked up his cell and dialed Marco's number. There was no answer at all at the home number, and his cell went directly to his voice messaging. Craig left him a quick message and hung up, disappointed, and a little worried. Normally he wouldn't have been, but Ellie's concern had rubbed off on him.

"Well, he should call me as soon as he gets the message," he told Ellie as he put his phone away. There was really nothing for them to do but wait until they heard back from him. Craig began to pace, his concern growing a little more as he played over Ellie's words again in his head. "You think maybe we should go over and see him?" he asked, but then thought better of it. "Maybe we should just stay here and watch a movie or something to keep our minds off it. He's probably just jet lagged and sleeping it off."

Ellie sighed, but nodded. "I don't think it will do any good to go, either. If Marco is in trouble or something, we'll probably only make things worse if we go. But I'm too worried to concentrate on a movie. I think I'll just…go." She was silent for a moment then looked back at Craig. "Thanks. You know…for everything."

Craig knew he hadn't really done anything, but smiled anyway. "Of course. Any time!" he said, pulling her into a hug. "I know. I'm worried too, but it's probably nothing. I'm sure he'll call soon." He hugged her for what he began to realize was probably a few moments too long to qualify as a comfort hug. He also caught himself looking at her lips. He was such a jerk sometimes, he berated himself. The King of Bad Timing. He redirected the kiss that he'd been tempted to give her to her forehead and released her from the hug. "I'm not really in the mood for a movie, either but we should…do something. We'll drive ourselves crazy if we just sit here waiting for him to call."

Ellie just looked up at him in confusion. For a moment, she'd actually thought he was going to kiss her. Yeah right. Why would he want to do that? She chided herself silently, feeling foolish for even thinking it. "Uh…sure," she replied, trying to disguise her disappointment. Then she shook her head. "No. I really should go," she turned quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice how upset she was. "I am sorry for bothering you…" She had to get out. Fast. Before he figured it out.

"No!" Craig blurted out, quickly snagging her arm to stop her. "I mean…stay. You're not bothering me." He hoped he didn't freak her out, grabbing her like that. Not that he grabbed her, grabbed her. Well, okay, he sort of had, but it wasn't in a bad way. "Marco's going to call here, anyway," he reminded her. "You should stay." Because that was the whole reason he wanted her to. Right.

Ellie stared at him for a moment, then almost holding her breath she looked him intensely, straight in the eyes. "Craig…give me another reason to stay."

Craig swallowed nervously, trying to decide if she was maybe as interested as he was. He decided to take a chance. "Stay because I want you to stay," he said, cautiously stepping closer. Watching her lips, he slowly leaned in, afraid that she was going to pull away. "Ellie, I…" he hesitated just before their lips met. And cursed himself for it a moment later when his cell phone rang.

Marco? He stepped back quickly and answered, giving Ellie a grin as if to say 'see'? But his grin froze as he heard someone else's voice on the line. Someone he'd rather not hear from. The virus herself. Why hadn't he checked the caller ID? Stupid!

"Ashley," he greeted her flatly, giving Ellie an apologetic look. He heard Ash's excited voice telling him something, but he really wasn't paying attention at first. He was getting a little mad that she was seeming to act like the last time she'd spoken to him she hadn't ripped his heart out of his chest, spat on it, and stomped on it a few times. But then something caught his attention and he had to stop her and back up. "Wait…what did you say?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you in person, but I just...I'm not coming home. I got accepted for fall semester and I'm staying here. It's an incredible opportunity."

"Yeah. Incredible," he agreed, though he really couldn't get excited. "So…that's it? You're just staying there? That's…great, Ash," he feigned excitement for her. It wasn't that he wanted her back, but…it would be good to get some sort of closure. So he could move on. His eyes darted guiltily over toward Ellie.

"So…" he said at the same time that she said, "So…" He decided to let her say whatever she was going to say first.

"I um...I just thought you should know. So you don't...um...wait for me."

Wait for her? He frowned. "Wait? Ash, you dumped me, remember?"

"I didn't dump you, I just needed some space! I didn't...you know what? I don't have time for this. I'm sorry. I just though you should know. I...I have to go now. There's someone waiting to use the phone."

"Yeah..." she hung up first. "Bye, Ash," he said quietly, shutting the phone off, still looking apologetically at Ellie. He wondered if she already knew about this or if Ash called him first.

Ellie looked down nervously, feeling like she'd witnessed something that she shouldn't have. "Is everything alright?" she asked softly.

Craig looked back at her, feeling like he'd been dumped all over again. It wasn't that he wasn't over the virus. She just made him feel so frustrated. Every time he started thinking everything was fine, she had to go and…he didn't even want to think about her anymore. He wished he hadn't answered the phone. He should have just…kissed Ellie. Like he wanted to. He turned back to her. "Yeah. No. I'm fine. It's fine." He smiled as he noticed the way the sun caught her hair as she stood in the doorway. He was definitely going to be fine. He licked his lips nervously and stepped toward her again. "So…"

"So…I should really get going," she said quietly, feeling more insecure than she could remember feeling in a really long time. "Thanks for listening though. It really means a lot to know that I can come to you like this. And uh…let me know if Marco calls. Bye!" Her stomach was starting to hurt a little so she took his hand loosely before dropping it and turning again to leave.

Craig was more than a little disappointed when she still said she was going. Maybe he'd totally read her wrong before and she was totally not interested. Maybe…maybe he should just let her go. They were friends. He didn't want to ruin that. But as she turned to go again, he impulsively reached out and snagged her arm again. "Ellie, I…" He pulled her back, gently turning her toward him. He stared at her for just a moment, his eyes once again drawn to her lips. What if she didn't want this? What if…he hesitated again, his heart beating harder and faster than it had in a long time. But if he hesitated too long, he was going to lose his chance. He pressed his lips to hers, a lot harder than he intended to so after a moment, he lightened up a bit, though didn't end the kiss just yet. Softening to a gentle, what he hoped to be romantic, peck. After a few more moments, he backed up, staring at her wide-eyed, a little terrified of what her reaction might be.

When Craig kissed her, Ellie had no idea how to react. She wanted it. She was just confused by it. She was still worried about Marco, and she didn't know how to deal with…this right now. And Craig just got a call from Ashley and it was obvious to her that it was bothering him. She had no idea what Ashley said, but it could be anything. She wasn't sure if he'd kissed her to prove something to himself, or to get back at Ashley…or because he honestly wanted to. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this right now. I need…I need to go. I will call you later," she said as she quickly turned and left.

"Stupid!" Craig berated himself, flopping down on the sofa after Ellie was gone. He'd totally blown it. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He banged his head back against the back of the couch. It wasn't as effective as a wall would be, but it was the best he could do. He let out a frustrated sigh and closed his eyes for a few moments, then absently reached over for the guitar. It wasn't as good as the one that had stolen…it wasn't his, but it did the trick. He picked it up and began playing a few lines of the new song. My Inspiration. He let out another frustrated sigh as he realized how badly he'd screwed up this time. He may as well just give up! He began playing his other project song.

Influenza.