Author's Note: Yo! I am on a roll with this story. YAY! I am so hyped right now. I have inspiration music to help me along as I write! Have any of you ever seen Rocky I, II, III, IV, or V? Well, I have! I've been watching all of them for an entire week now. All of them! And there are these really inspirational songs in those movies. I mean, really. Two of them are: "Hearts on fire" and "Gonna fly now." I listen to them as I write and I get so pumped! Woo! No joke, though. I have managed to start part 7 and it's just so easy and I have all these exciting ideas. This fic is gonna be a good one. Oh, and I gave Cindy's mom a name. I was watching the Gilmore Girls when I named her, so that explains the name. LOL!

Angela Jewell - Wow. You're really close about what happened five years ago, but not entirely. But that is all I will say. I'm not gonna give anything away. That'll just ruin the fun. . .for me!

Part 6: Why Should Now Be Any Different?

Five years earlier. . . .

She had decided to walk home that day. She just couldn't stand the thought of sitting with them: Jimmy and Libby. She wondered if Carl and Sheen knew about them. Maybe not Sheen, she thought. They wouldn't want to face the risk of people finding out. Carl, on the other hand. He might be able to keep a secretJimmy could've told him. She thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. No, she disagreed. He wouldn't wantanyone to knowNot even Carl

"Cindy."

Just how long had this been going on? Since when?

"Cindy."

She sighed deeply and closed her eyes as she rubbed her temples. Suddenly she had a huge head ache.

"Cindy!"

She turned, finally hearing her name. "Huh?"

"What's up?" Nick asked as he came to her side.

She shook her head as she continued to walk, indicating nothing. Nick kept up with her as he watched her. "What's wrong?"

"I just realized something is all."

"Like what?"

She took a deep breath. "That the two people who were suppose to love and care for me the most are back stabbing me and have been for who knows how long."

Nick was silent for a moment and then he looked away. "Parents," he said as he shook his head. "I know what you mean."

"N–" She stopped herself. She didn't want to tell him the truth.

They walked in silence, each thinking of their own misfortune.

"So," Nick began without looking at her. Cindy watched him. "Where's Neutron? You two are always around each other. Whenever I see you, anyway."

She smiled. That had been her doing. She had fixed it all that way on purpose and it was a good thing that he had noticed. "Jimmy took the bus home," she said.

"He let you walk home alone?"

"I'm a big girl," Cindy replied.

Nick smiled at her.

"This is weird," he said. "This is the second time in one day that I see you alone. First, in the hall way at school and now, walking home. Are you sure it's not because you and Neutron broke up?" He said a little flirtatiously.

Cindy smiled as she looked down, but this time her smile was artificial.

She entered her dark house and looked at her sparkling wrist watch. It was midnight. She closed the door behind her and locked it. Was it too much to ask for a peaceful night!

Everything always seemed to back fire for her. It was almost as if she were being punished. But why? If anyone were to be punished it would be Libby and Jimmy both for playing her like a fool in high school.

Cindy made her way up to her room. She was thankful when she finally felt safe in her own space. She locked her door as she leaned against it, closing her eyes. It just wasn't fair. Why did she have to be the one that was suffering? Why was she doubting herself? You don't love him, she told herself. You don't.

She walked to her window and peered into Jimmy's. It was open and she stood there, watching the way the curtains swayed and rose as the breeze entered the room. She leaned her head against the window frame. In a few seconds she could see a figure moving inside. Jimmy had finally come home. He didn't bother turning on the lights and although she couldn't really see him, she knew what he was doing. She didn't bother turning away as he removed his first layer of clothing.

Goddard appeared at the window. His two front paws rested on the window sill as he peered out into the night, his tongue hanging out as he cocked his head. He barked and Cindy knew that he had seen her. She froze and then in a flash she moved away from the window.

She suddenly got angry with herself. What the hell was she doing?

She took a deep breath and let it out easy and sat down on her bed.

And then there was silence. . .

The sting of hot, bitter tears became a threat. No, she whined. Don't cry. Don't cry! But her tears didn't listen. Instead, they escaped and slowly ran down her flushed cheeks. The familiar ache in her heart began again and she clutched her chest as if willing the pain to go away. No, no, no This is wrong. All wrong She ran her hands through her hair once and on the second time she grabbed chucks and squeezed hard. No!

The tears fell one by one. Each one faster than the last. It didn't seem to end, not even when she pushed herself to stop.

She wrapped her arms around herself. "Stop," she whispered. "Please, just stop."

But her tears seemed to have minds of their own and the more she protested, the more they escaped and then more her heart swelled with a pain that she was all too familiar with. "I don't love him," she said to herself. She was fighting an inner battle she knew she could never win. Her heart told her one thing, but her mind told her another. "I'm not in love with him."

All those years of living in peace, were crashing down and fast. "I don't love him!"

She stood and moved to her vanity table. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She could hear the pounding of her heart, telling her, forcing her to listen. It was so real.

"No!" she shouted.

Her heart beat again.

"No!"

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

She sobbed. "No."

It was softer this time. Thump, thump.

"No."

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

"Stop it."

Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump-

"No!" she interrupted. "I don't love him!" And with that she slammed her fist down on her table, leaning forward for support.

"Cindy!" There was knocking at the door.

"I don't love him!" The anger was finally in full swing and with a force she didn't know she had she slammed her fist into her mirror, shattering her image.

"Cindy!"

She didn't seem to feel any additional pain, just the pain she was already feeling and that was enough. "I don't love him!" she shouted again, defying her heart.

"Cindy!"

"I don't!" She sobbed. Her breathing became ragged.

Why! Why do I feel this way!

She screamed and in a way it was a battle cry and yet it was one of those cries that just escaped and expressed more pain than anyone could ever imagine to express and with that scream she went for the next thing she saw.

"Cindy!"

Five years earlier. . .

Cindy walked up on Jimmy's porch. She knocked on the door.

"Coming!"

She only had to wait a few minutes. Becca opened the door and greeted her with great enthusiasm. "Cindy!" the small girl exclaimed as she jumped into Cindy's arms. At six she was still pretty short and light enough to hold like a baby. "Jimmy's upstairs with Libby." Cindy stopped, realization coming at her like a wave. She hesitated but nodded. "I think he's waiting for you."

"Thanks," she said with a smile. Becca skipped off as Cindy walked up to Jimmy's room. So they're together now, huh? She thought. In no time she made it to his room. The door was open ajar. She peered inside and saw Jimmy sitting laying down on his bed. Libby sat at the foot of his bed, an arm stretched out on the other side of his legs beside her as she leaned her weight on the one arm.

"You have to tell her," she urged.

Jimmy sighed as he covered his eyes. "I know, I know!" he repeated.

"You can't not tell her," Libby added.

"I know already!" Jimmy argued. "It's just not that simple." He sat up on his elbows. "I just don't want to hurt her."

"The longer you wait to tell her the truth, the more it's gonna hurt when you do tell her," Libby informed.

"Yeah, I know," Jimmy said again as he fell back. "But you have to tell her too, you know!"

"What!"

"Yeah," Jimmy argued as he sat up. "You know too."

"Obviously," Libby replied as she sat up straight.

"Then you can tell her," Jimmy said.

"I don't think so," Libby disagreed. "You have to do it."

"But you're her friend," Jimmy protested. "Her best friend!"

"No, I'm not!" Libby argued. "And besides, it has to be you," Libby said.

Jimmy sighed and again Cindy was hit with disbelief and hurt. She felt so betrayed. Why was this all happening to her? Why couldn't it just have happened to some other poor, misfortunate girl? And why the hell was she feeling so hurt by this? She wasn't in love, dammit! She didn't care about Jimmy, so why did it bother her that Libby was seeing him? She looked down hearing their voices over in her mind. But you're her friend. Her best friend! Libby was of course her best friend, but apparently, Libby didn't see it that way. No, I'm not! She didn't know what hurt her more, those words or the plain fact that Libby and Jimmy were seeing each other.

She turned away and walked back down the stairs and knew right then and there that that was the last time she'd ever step foot in Jimmy's house again.

"Can't you just try to talk to her?"

He sighed again. "Emily, look," he began. "That girl. . .she-"

"That girl is your daughter, Howard!"

He shook his head. "She broke this family when she left. And she lost that title of being my daughter when she left."

"We're not broken," Mrs. Vortex protested. "We're together again. Can't you understand that?"

"No," he said. "Because we've never been more apart." He lay in bed again, his back facing his wife as she shook her head. She looked away from him then, trying to keep herself form crying. She then snatched her pillow and walked to the bedroom door, wiping her tears away.

Upon feeling the mattress moving beneath him Mr. Vortex turned and caught his wife moving away from him. "Where are you going?" Mr. Vortex asked as he sat up in bed.

"To the couch. You can sleep alone tonight," Mrs. Vortex replied. She took a step out the door, but stopped. "Better yet," she said as she walked back to the bed. She put her pillow back on her side of the bed and took her husband's and snatched the covers away from him.

"Hey!"

"You sleep on the couch," she said as she threw his pillow and the covers out the door.

"What!"

"Go!"

"You can't be serious-"

"Now!" She pointed toward the open door.

He narrowed his eyes as he swung his legs over the bed and stood. He took his wife's pillow and walked to the door. She looked at him warningly.

"You sleep on the couch," he challenged as he threw her pillow outside.

The woman narrowed her eyes at him. She crossed her arms over her chest and challenged him herself. "You are asking for it," she said bitterly.

"Mm hmm."

Mrs. Vortex took a step forward, but froze when she heard, "I don't love him!" She looked up at her husband questioningly but he shrugged just as confused as she was. Shortly after she heard another shout. "No!"

Mr. Vortex looked toward his daughter's bedroom. What the hell was going on in there? Had she brought someone home with her? He became angry.

"No!"Her voice came again. He only heard one voice. Who in the world was she yelling at? In a flash his wife was at her door. He followed and was shocked to hear Cindy sobbing. "No." This time her voice was softer. Almost inaudible to them behind the door. "No,"she said again. "Stop it."

He was growing more confused with ever spoken word. His wife beside him was growing more concerned with every spoken word. She reached for the door knob, but stopped.

"No!" It was almost as if Cindy knew they were outside her door and was objecting to their entrance, though they both new that this was not the case. But then,"I don't love him!" And with that came a loud thump.

This time his wife had had enough. She knocked on the door. "Cindy!" Her voice was full of concern.

"I don't love him!" Came his daughter's voice again. It was full of anger. Just who was she talking to? Mr. Vortex could feel a growing apprehension in him that he hadn't been aware of before. And then came the sound of shattering glass and his breath caught.

"Cindy!" his wife yelled, her voice higher than before.

"Mom?" It was Ben. "Dad?" Mr. Vortex looked at his son. He was. . .afraid. The boy was afraid for the first time in years. "What's going on?"

"I don't love him!" Cindy shouted again.

This startled the boy. "Nothing, Ben," Mr. Vortex said. "Go back to bed."

"What do you mean 'nothing'!"

"Cindy!" Mrs. Vortex shouted again, tears in her eyes. She pounded on the door like a hammer on a nail.

"I don't!" came Cindy's angry, sobbing voice.

And then, it was the most horrifying thing. He had never once heard his daughter scream like that before in his life and it scared him to death.

A memory played back like a home movie in his mind. He saw Cindy as a little girl. She was running. Running away from something, tears in her eyes and fear in her voice as she screamed. "Daddy!" she cried. "Daddy!" He ran outside with his wife following close behind. Cindy ran to him and into his arms and he embraced her tight, never wanting to let her go. That day he had been so close to losing her. He had only turned around for a second and then when he turned back she was gone. Just gone. When he saw her again, she was running to him running away from something. She had said it was a monster who wanted to take her with him. That had been the worst day of his life. And that had been what he thought of when Cindy left him five years ago and it was the memory that came to him now.

Never. Never had he heard his little girl scream that way. Never.

"Cindy!" Mrs. Vortex shouted at the top of her lungs as she continued pounding away at the door.

Without thinking, Mr. Vortex moved forward, pushing his wife aside as she sobbed and he rammed his shoulder into the door once. . .twice before his son joined him and together with all their strength they rammed into the door one last time and the door broke away from it's hinges.

They both almost lost their balance, but they managed. Mrs. Vortex ran into the room, straight toward Cindy. The room was a wreck, but Cindy was in worse shape. For once she allowed herself to take comfort in her mother's company.

Mrs. Vortex caressed her daughter's hair and rubbed her back as she cradled her in her arms, soothing her, comforting her with tears in her own eyes.

Mr. Vortex stood back unable to move. It was Ben who took one step forward. But in the end he too was unable to move.

"Come on, stop it," Cindy said as she stood from the table to pour herself some coffee. "I don't need to see a psychologist."

"Cindy, please, just think about-"

"You need psycho-therapy, you psycho!" Ben put in. "Did you see yourself last night?"

"Shut up, Ben," Cindy replied, trying to keep calm, but it was obvious from the hint of anger in her voice that she was annoyed.

"Make me," he challenged.

"You asked for it, you little punk!" Cindy was ready to beat his face in. Her mother stood to stop them, but before she could her husband stepped between them.

"You're both acting like children!" he scolded. "Ben I can understand-"

"Hey!"

"But not you." It was the first time he had said something directly to her since she had come back. She was too shocked to protest, so she sat back down.

"Cindy," her mother began again as she placed the cup of coffee before her. "I just. . .I'm worried. We all are." She placed her hands on Cindy's shoulders.

"Speak for yourself," Ben replied under his breath as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

"I want to help you," Her mother added.

Cindy shrugged away from her mother and took a sip of her coffee. "I don't need any help," she said. She couldn't believe her family thought she was crazy. It angered her to think they actually thought that of her. But could she honestly blame them? Especially, after that performance she had put on the previous night.

"Then suffer," Ben replied as he got up.

"Ben," his mother sighed.

"No." He shook his head. "Suffer."

"Ben," came his mother's exasperated voice again, a little louder this time.

"And make this entire family suffer along with you. You've been doing it long enough. Why should now be any different?"

"Benjamin!"

He looked at her and Cindy caught it before it was gone. Concern and. . .was that fear? He turned away and walked out. Her father was the next person to leave. Her mother sat back down as she placed her face in her hands. "What's happening to my family?" she asked.

Cindy looked at her hands. This is what she had managed to do in the little time that she was here. She had managed to break apart what little was left of her family.

They had all decided to go. They wanted to make sure it was all okay. They were pretty sure the whole neighborhood heard it. It was a little impossible not to. They made it there in just under a minute. Mrs. Vortex was standing outside. She greeted them when they all approached.

"Mom and I baked you this," Becca offered as she handed the woman a pan.

"Thank you very much," Mrs. Vortex replied.

"Jimmy told us it was better to make vanilla because that was Cindy's favorite, but Ben likes chocolate, so we made a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting." Becca nodded. Her face and voice changed only slightly at the mention of Cindy's name. "Jimmy later told me Cindy didn't like vanilla anymore, so I tried taking the icing off, but I put it back on. That's why it looks kinda messy." She shrugged as she looked down too ashamed to look at her. Or maybe it was just because she didn't care that she had messed up the icing meant for Cindy's taste.

"It's alright. I'm sure it'll-"

"It normally doesn't look that way," Becca added quickly. "It usually looks really good." Now she was truly ashamed for messing up the icing. Not for Cindy but for the family.

"We also have pie!" Hugh added with a nod as he handed the woman the pie. "Blueberry. Real good."

Mrs. Vortex nodded. "Thank you," she said taking the pie. "And don't worry. It'll taste great. I know so." She gave Becca a smile.

Becca smiled.

"So I'm guessing you all heard it last night," she began.

"Yes," Mrs. Neutron answered. "We were all so worried and we were unsure about coming over. Jimmy thought it'd be a good idea, though and Becca really wanted to see Ben. I hope you don't mind."

"It's alright." She took a deep breath. "Oh, where are my manners," she said. "Please, come inside." She lead them into the house and asked them to make themselves comfortable as she went into the kitchen. "I think I'll just cut this cake up so we could all have some."

"And then some pie!" Hugh exclaimed.

"Hugh," Mrs. Neutron urged.

Mrs. Vortex laughed. "Of course," she said making Hugh smile like a catholic school boy.

"Would you like some help?" Mrs. Neutron asked.

"That'd be nice," Mrs. Vortex replied with a smile.

Both women entered the kitchen just as Mr. Vortex entered the house.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Vortex," was his greeting. He looked up to see the Neutron family sitting in his living room. The girl gave him a warm smile and he smiled in return.

"Hi, Mr. Vortex," Jimmy greeted.

"Hello," Mr. Vortex responded. "And to what do I owe this honor?"

His wife and Mrs. Neutron came out them holding drinks and cake not too long after. "Oh, your home."

"Yeah."

"We've come to talk," Becca cut in. "We were hoping to make everyone smile."

"Having you here is enough to make this family smile," Mr. Vortex commented.

Becca blushed. "Stop it," she said playfully. That girl always seemed to be a ray of sun shine.

"Oh," Mrs. Neutron said. "This is Marcy."

She walked to the girl sitting between Jimmy and Becca. Her glasses slid down her nose and she pushed them up with her finger tips. She blushed deeply. She looked like she should be working in a library.

"H-hello."

"So you're the girl Jimmy brought home?" Mr. Vortex asked, realization in his voice.

"Correct," Mrs. Neutron replied cheerfully.

"Apparently," Becca began, "he's into the nice, quiet, shy type these days."

Mr. Vortex laughed and his wife soon joined him.

"I don't blame him," Ben joined as he descended from the stairs. He came down with a smiling face. "The shy, quiet girls are so much better. They don't bother you."

"Ben," Becca whispered happily as she watched him.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey yourself," Becca responded.

"She's not my girlfriend," Jimmy cut in. "She had no where to go and I couldn't just leave her like that."

"Mr. Neutron was nice enough to bring me to his parents' house with him so I'd have a place to stay while I was here," the girl added in Jimmy's defense.

Mr. Vortex chuckled. "Of course," he said. "So Jimmy, when is the big day?"

Jimmy sat up. "The reunion?"

Mr. Vortex shook his head.

"He's talking about the big day. Your nomination," Mrs. Vortex put in.

Jimmy smiled. "Right," he replied. "Well, it's the day after the reunion."

"He'll win," Becca said confidently.

"I'm sure he will," Mr. Vortex agreed.

The Neutrons stayed a while longer in the Vortex home until it got late. Cindy hadn't shown her face during that time. She didn't want to see Jimmy. She didn't want to see any of them. They acted as if there was nothing wrong when obviously there was. There was a lot wrong and neither one of them seemed to really care at the moment. Everything was as bad as it had been five years ago, maybe even worse. Not much had changed and she didn't think it'd be changing any time soon, anyway.