A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger, but it always makes things better to add a little suspense!

Martin stared down at the open desk drawer. He closed it quickly, then reopened it. Martin did this several times, trying to get his mind around what he had just seen. Finally, after the tenth time, Martin opened the drawer and reached inside, grabbing the small box and lifting it up to his face for a better look.

Yep, they were what he thought they were…condoms! Ruthie Camden was in possession of a box of condoms! Martin needed to sit down, so he pulled out the chair that had been pushed into Ruthie's desk. He sat down heavily and placed the box on top of the desk. Was Ruthie having sex? Was she having sex with Jack? The thought brought Martin's lunch higher up into his throat, threatening to spill over at any moment. He took a deep breath.

How had his relationship with Ruthie gone from one of complete honesty and openness to one of lies and secrets? Martin leaned back in the chair. I guess I started all of this, didn't I, he asked himself.

I need to respect her privacy, he told himself, placing the box back into the drawer. He picked the box back up, stood and placed it into his pocket. "The hell with that," he said aloud.

The box hadn't yet been opened, so there was always the possibility that the awfulness had not yet occurred and Ruthie's virtue could still be saved. He wasn't willing to take the chance.

Martin grabbed the geometry set, closed the now empty drawer and began to walk out of the room. He paused as he was walking past the bed and stared at the outfit. He bit his lower lip and looked around the room. He walked back over to Ruthie's desk and grabbed a marker from the middle drawer. He put the marker back. He picked it back up. He put it back. He checked the clock on the wall. If he was going to do this and not get caught, he'd have to do it quickly.

"Please forgive me," he said aloud, looking up at the ceiling. "I do this with the best of intentions."

He grabbed the marker and, picking up Ruthie's skirt, he closed his eyes and pressed the marker into the fabric, counting to ten before opening his eyes. The marker had left a large colored dot in the middle of the skirt, rendering it ruined. With one last look to the door, Martin did the same thing to the helpless cotton top, before returning the marker, grabbing his stuff and leaving Ruthie's room.

Ruthie came out of the steamy bathroom singing. She was actually looking forward to her date with Jack. Things between them were going better than even Ruthie had expected. Jack was funny and kind and always made Ruthie feel like she was the most important thing in her life. Given the last month, Ruthie felt she was deserving of this.

She walked into her bedroom and let out an ear-piercing scream.

Annie flew up the stairs, two-at-a-time, with Kevin and Lucy hot on her tail. Annie burst into Ruthie's room and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's ruined!" Ruthie shrieked. "My new skirt and top are ruined!"

Ruthie held the articles of clothing up to show her mother. Sure enough, there were two large marker stains on both the skirt and the top. Kevin gave Lucy a 'so-what' look. Lucy shrugged.

"Where are Sam and David?" Ruthie asked between clenched teeth.

"Hold on," Annie said, voice calm. "Sam and David have been out playing in the backyard all afternoon."

"Well who else would be so careless and then not admit to it?" Ruthie asked.

Annie put a hand over her mouth. Ruthie noticed immediately. "Has someone else been in my room? Savannah?"

Lucy gave Ruthie a look. "My daughter can't walk, Ruthie. How would Savannah have gotten up here?"

"Mom?" Ruthie pushed.

"I let Martin come up here to get a geometry set from your desk," Annie admitted.

Kevin let out a spontaneous laugh, immediately covering his mouth with a hand. Lucy's eyes grew large. Annie gave Ruthie an apologetic look. Ruthie looked furious.

"Martin was here?" she asked. Annie nodded. "I can't believe that he would resort to this kind of childish behavior just because he doesn't like Jack!"

Kevin, finally realizing his laughter was annoying Ruthie, escaped down the stairs, followed by Lucy. In the kitchen, Kevin laughed fully. "Point for Martin."

"Kevin!" Lucy exclaimed.

Kevin's face became serious. "Oh, come on, Luce! You saw that outfit! It deserved to be ruined!"

Lucy had to agree with Kevin on that point. Ruthie's skirt and top had been much too revealing, especially if Martin was right about why Jack was dating Ruthie.

Martin had just finished his Math homework when the doorbell rang. He closed his book and walked toward the door. Opening it, he saw Ruthie standing on his step, holding her ruined skirt and top.

"Hi," was all Martin knew how to say.

"Hi?" Ruthie yelled. "You come over to my house, invade my private space and ruin a very expensive, very new outfit and all you can say is 'hi'?"

"How are you?" he asked with a smirk.

Ruthie's eyes grew large and she threw the pieces of clothing at Martin, hitting him in the face. "Why are you trying to ruin my life?"

"I'll buy you a new skirt, Ruthie. One that covers you're a…"

Ruthie put a hand up, stopping Martin from saying what she knew he was about to. "It's not about the skirt, Martin. It's about you telling my family bad things about Jack. It's about you trying to intimidate Jack at school. It's about you ruining my outfit for my date with Jack. Why are you doing this to me?"

"He's not good enough for you," Martin said simply. "I don't like him."

"You don't even know him! And it's not your decision to make anyway! You think that by ruining one outfit you're going to stop me from seeing Jack? You won't."

Martin sighed. "I'm sorry about the skirt. It was immature and I'll replace it. But I stand by what I say; Jack is not good enough to date you."

Ruthie took a deep breath, tears forming in her brown eyes. "I'm trying really hard here, Martin. It's not easy. Jack is good to me. So you need to let this go and let me get over…"

"Me?" Martin asked with a whisper.

Ruthie didn't answer. Just when she thought that things were finally going right for her, everything got messed up again. Tears flowed down her cheeks, rosy from the anger she'd been feeling moments ago.

Martin's face distorted. "You're better than this, Ruthie. You don't have to be someone that you're not just for a guy like Jack."

Ruthie looked up. "I'm not trying to be someone I'm not."

Martin reached into his pocket and pulled out the box of condoms. Ruthie's face turned a deep shade of red. She reached for the box, but Martin pulled them away. "These tell me you are."

"They're…they're for a project I'm doing for health class," Ruthie stammered.

"Just tell me that you haven't got a need for these, Ruthie?" Martin asked.

"It's none of your business," she replied.

"Fine. Then I'll tell someone whose business it is. Maybe your father?" Martin threatened.

"Why are you trying to ruin my life?" Ruthie yelled.

Martin sighed heavily. "I'm trying to save it, Ruthie. Don't you see what I'm going through right now all because of one stupid mistake? All because I was trying to be someone that I'm not? Do you want to be going through what I'm going through?"

"I'm not having sex with Jack," Ruthie admitted. "I don't even know why I kept those."

"Where did you get them?" Martin pushed.

"Gloria Rivers gave them to me. It was some kind of joke. I got a little embarrassed and stuffed them into my backpack. I didn't want anyone to find them so I put them in my desk drawer until I had a chance to get rid of them," Ruthie confessed. "I'm not planning on having sex with Jack."

Martin breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the frame of the door. "That's music to my ears, Ruth."

Ruthie smiled up at Martin. Martin smiled down at Ruthie. This was how things were supposed to be. Easy.

The phone rang in the distance and Ruthie looked at Martin questioningly. Martin shrugged. "My dad can get it. I feel like we haven't talked in forever."

The two smiled warmly at each other. Ruthie wanted to spend the rest of the day with Martin, working on whatever kind of relationship they were destined to have. Just as she was about to suggest this, Martin's dad called in the background, "Martin! Sandy said you can pick her up at Simon's apartment."

"Sandy?" Ruthie questioned, backing away slightly.

"Ruthie, I can…" Martin started.

Ruthie smiled. "It's okay. I have to get going anyway. I have a date, remember and now I have to find something else to wear."

Ruthie had started walking down the steps, heading back to her own house. Martin felt like he couldn't let her leave, not yet. "Ruthie?" he called.

She turned around and Martin saw tears in her eyes. She was shaking her head. "I really have to go. I need to get on with things."

Martin knew what she was trying to tell him, but it didn't make it any easier.