Disclaimer—Obviously I don't own it.

Practice—Part II

"Caleb? Are you even listening to me?" demanded Cornelia, her eyes flashing with anger. Caleb looked up at the blonde with confusion written all over his face.

"Huh?" he asked. God, this date wasn't going well. He couldn't concentrate on anything, let alone Cornelia. For some inane reason, Caleb couldn't seem to get the kiss with Will out of his mind. They had kissed three more times after the first one and each time the kisses got longer and longer.

"I asked you if you wanted another drink. You've been sipping an empty cup for an hour now. Geez, what's your problem? You've barely said five words to me all evening! I thought you wanted to go on this date too!"

"I'm sorry, Cornelia. I…my mind has been preoccupied since this afternoon. I really am sorry."

Cornelia frowned and let out a frustrated breath of air. Something was seriously bothering Caleb…and she didn't like it one bit. Then again, he was from a different world from her. Maybe he didn't understand what a date was. "Its okay, Caleb. Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

"What? No! I mean, I'm fine, really. It's nothing. Nothing important. Nothing for you to be concerned about!" Caleb spat out the words as fast as he could, his face going whiter by the second. That was the last thing he needed, to talk to Cornelia. What would he say? Sorry I'm screwing up the date, but I can't seem to stop thinking about one of your friends? I made out with her this afternoon and now I'm utterly confused about the entire thing? Yeah, that would definitely go over well with the very jealous Cornelia. She would freak out. And no telling what Will would do.

Will. What was she thinking right now? After they had finally managed to stop kissing she had taken off without a word. She probably hated him now. A little practice kissing had been a big mistake. But Caleb couldn't help himself. Will had tasted so wonderful. And kissing her had felt so right.

Caleb groaned aloud and closed his eyes. This was not turning out to be a very good night. He had finally come to the conclusion that he just wasn't as attracted to Cornelia as he thought he was. But was he attracted to Will?

"Are you thinking about somebody else?" asked Cornelia suspiciously.

"No! What makes you think that?" Caleb glanced at Cornelia, hoping against hope that she wouldn't find out what had happened between him and Will earlier that day.

"Because you're distracted. You can't even look me in the eyes! Who is she?"

"Y-you think it's another girl?"

"Isn't it?" Cornelia was seething with jealously as she sat back in her seat, her arms crossed over her chest. She narrowed her eyes and studied the fast food restaurant they were in. Of all the things to happen to her this evening, this wasn't what she had had in mind. Caleb was supposed to be thinking about her. He was supposed to be romantic, charming, and perfect. Evidently, that was not going to be the case.

"I'm sorry this turning into such a crummy evening," said Caleb softly.

"Is she prettier than me?"

Caleb ignored her question. "C'mon, maybe I better take you home."

"Fine." Cornelia got up out of her seat and stiffly walked out the doors of the restaurant. Caleb took a deep breath as he slowly followed her out.

The walk to Cornelia's house was painfully slow. Cornelia refused to look at him, let alone say a single word. She was pissed. And hurt. Caleb didn't like her. He liked someone else. He hadn't denied the fact that he was thinking of another girl. And that usually meant there was someone else was in the picture.

"Thank-you for taking me out tonight…it was…interesting, to say the least." Cornelia spoke with a cold tone of voice. Her words dripped with the disdain she felt for Caleb this evening.

"Cornelia—" Caleb was instantly cut off by a dark look from his blonde date.

"When I find out who this other girl of yours is, I am going to make sure you see how completely wrong she is for you. Caleb, you and I are meant to be together. I'm not about to let you go that easily. I will fight for us," declared Cornelia solemnly.

"F-fight for us? There's an us? Since when?"

"Since now. You may not know it, but you and I are going to become the most talked about couple in town. No 'other' girl is going to take you away from me. You have until tomorrow night to tell this girl that there is no possible way for you and her to be together. You will tell her that I am the only girl in your heart. Good-night, Caleb."

Caleb watched in disbelief as Cornelia disappeared into her house, leaving him alone with mixed emotions. "Oh sure," he muttered to himself as he continued down the sidewalk. "Like it's really going to be that easy. I don't even know what Will thinks about me anymore."

Meanwhile:

Will paced back and forth across her bedroom trying to gather her thoughts together. By now Caleb and Cornelia had to be home from their date. Will paused as she mulled that term over. Date. She shuddered at the thought of Caleb kissing Cornelia.

"Man, this can't be happening. I have a boyfriend. A nice boyfriend." One who would dump her if he ever found out she had made out with Caleb for almost an hour that day. Practicing. Will snorted at the idea. Who in their right mind practiced kissing? Only the completely insane.

The phone rang, startling Will from her thoughts. She rushed over to her nightstand and picked up the phone. "Hello?" she asked breathlessly.

"Will?" Cornelia's voice wavered on the other line. Will froze. Did Cornelia know?

"Yeah?"

"I think Caleb like's someone else! He was totally not paying attention to me this evening! And when I asked him about it, he got all secretive." Cornelia was pouting by now as Will sank down onto her bed. The secret was still safe—if only by a single thread.

"Maybe he was nervous about the date?" suggested Will trying to be somewhat helpful.

"He didn't even try to make up for zoning out! No hug, no kiss, no holding hands! Just a simple good night!"

Will raised her eyebrows. No kiss? Then what had been the point of "practicing" this afternoon if he wasn't even going to try it on Cornelia. Did that mean—Will quickly brushed those nagging thoughts away as she tried to concentrate on Cornelia's babbling.

"So then I told him that he had to find this girl and tell her that he was with me, and that he could never be with her. But he didn't say anything after that!"

Gulping, Will tried to steady her racing heart before it jumped out of her chest. This meant that Caleb was going to talk to her again, and soon. "Cornelia, did you give him every chance to explain himself?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"I dunno, maybe it's not another girl. Maybe…maybe he's homesick!" Will seized the idea like a drowning person would a life vest. Cornelia's horrible date had nothing to do with Will and Caleb and those afternoon kisses. Right?

"Homesick? You think so?" Cornelia was doubtful, but the idea was appealing. Maybe she had jumped to conclusions…maybe she had been too harsh with Caleb, accusing him of cheating on her before they even became a bona fide couple.

"Yeah, you never know," continued Will beginning to believe herself. "Come tomorrow I'm sure everything will be alright."

"Oh god! Do you think I ruined everything between us tonight? I was kind of harsh on him. Maybe I should call him. Thanks, Will. You're such a great friend. See you later!" Will breathed in relief as Cornelia hung up on her.

"That was close," she murmured to herself as she replaced the phone in its cradle. Will stood to leave her bedroom when she heard something tapping on her window. She turned around only to see the one person she wasn't willing to face. Caleb.

Will hesitated before finally making her way over to the window and pushing it open. Caleb was silent as he came into her room. Nervously, he brushed a hand through his hair.

"Can we talk?" he asked quietly.

"I guess so. My mom isn't home yet. She had a dinner date with some guy. Cornelia just called."

Caleb nodded sarcastically. "She's gone crazy!" he declared after a minute. "She thinks I belong to her!"

"Well, we all kind of thought the same thing," acknowledged Will carefully. "You two were always kind of the poster couple for love-hate relationships.

"Yeah, well, that's not true anymore. I don't know how I made it through that date tonight in one piece—but I thought Cornelia was going to kill me. Did you know she's possessive?"

"Uh-huh. That's just who she is, Caleb. You might want to get used to that. She really likes you; she's starting to feel bad about how she treated you tonight."

Caleb was genuinely surprised. "Really? She said that?"

Will squirmed a little under his scrutiny. "Well, I might have told her that you may have been homesick more than anything else this evening."

"Homesick?"

"It's better than her thinking you're cheating on her with some other girl, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but homesick? You couldn't come up with a better excuse?"

"Gee, I'm sorry. Considering the fact that I kind of felt guilty while Cornelia poured her heart out to me didn't enable me to come up with a better excuse. I almost told her that you were engaged to some rebel back in your own world," shot back Will in self defense.

Caleb chuckled at the thought. That would have sent Cornelia into a full blown rage. Silence soon pervaded the room as Will and Caleb tried to find a way to start the real reason they were both so edgy. The kiss. Or, to be more exact, the kisses. Both knew that it hadn't been the most innocent of kisses either.

Will glanced up at Caleb and stared at his lips. When he caught her gaze she averted her eyes and blushed as she remembered how his lips had felt on hers. It had been an intense burning sensation. Not altogether a bad one, but definitely not something that could ever happen again. Caleb was busy studying the petite red head before him. She was beautiful…and oh so off limits. She was with that Matt guy. Of course, it was getting harder and harder to remember the reasons why. Oh yeah, because Caleb had practically been labeled as Cornelia's guy since day one.

"We need to talk about what happened," started Caleb clearing his throat.

"I know." Will refused to meet his eyes, biting her lip in thought. Caleb frowned and placed a gentle hand under her chin. Bad idea. The moment his eyes met hers his mind seemed to go blank. Will struggled to keep her thoughts in check as she found her eyes gazing at his lips once more. Was it just her, or were his lips getting awfully closer to hers?

It was no dream as Caleb pulled Will into the kiss. Her mouth opened to his of its own accord, chasing all her thoughts away. She moved closer into his arms, allowing Caleb to wrap his arms around her waist. Her hands moved up his chest and back around his neck, refusing to let go anytime soon. Somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, Will knew there was something odd about the way she and Caleb seemed to bedrawn together after so long. But as his mouth drifted to her neck, Will figured that all reason could just go to hell.

She was in heaven.

A/N—So I've received a lot of requests to keep going, and I figured I really should considering how I kind of left the story hanging. Just so you know, I have absolutely no idea where I'm going with this one. But at least it's entertaining, right? Hope you enjoy the latest chapter, until next time.