"Talk about what?" I asked uncertainly, my heart in my throat.

Chris looked around at all the houses and people driving past us, and ran his hand through his hair. "Not here," he said evasively, and led me to the lake, where we sat on a log, waiting for him to speak. He didn't.

"Chris?" I pressed, needing to know why he brought me out here, needing to hear that he wasn't dumping me.

He looked at me, pain and confusion evident in his eyes. "Teddy called me, at like 7:30 in the morning. I'd fallen asleep after you left and I was pissed that he woke me up. And then he started going on about how he saw something I should know about. Do you know what I'm talking about, Callie?"

I stared at him blankly, wondering why his voice sounded so injured. 7:30…That was just after I had walked to the store to get some food. Chris wasn't upset that I didn't ask him to walk me there, was he? He wouldn't be acting this serious and making such a big thing out of it. He would have just reminded me of how dangerous and careless it was. "No," I responded, in honest perplexity.

Chris sighed impatiently. "The least you could do is tell me the truth, Callie! Teddy told me he saw you and Ace getting friendly in an alley by the corner store. Ace of all people! How could you do this Callie? How could you do this to us?"

My mouth dropped open as I remembered that event. How could Teddy mistake an argument with "getting friendly"? That idiot! "Chris, Teddy's wrong! I was talking to Ace earlier on my way to the store but-"

He cut me off, looking very angry. "So you admit it? God Callie, I thought you were better than that. I really liked you, and I thought you liked me." And then he stormed off, just like that, not letting me finish my explanation. What a jerk, I thought angrily.

I stayed there on that log after he left, trying my best not to cry. I just stared at the water in front of me, watched a lone duck swim by, and suddenly burst into tears. I had my face in my hands, sobbing softly when I heard someone approaching.

I had half-expected it to be Chris coming back to apologize to me, say he got everything wrong and that he never should have doubted me. I hadn't expected it to be Ace. He was just full of surprises today, wasn't he?

"What did that little Chambers shit do to you?"

I looked up, my face streaked with tears and my eyes red-rimmed. Ace was standing beside me with a furious expression on his face. I realized he must have passed Chris on his way here. I wanted to tell him to go away, but I found myself telling him what happened. "Teddy saw us talking today and thought I was cheating on Chris. Now Chris is mad at me and he didn't even let me explain!"

Ace sat down in the space Chris had vacated, and said in a strangely indifferent tone, "I'll kill him."

I looked at him in surprise, wondering if he was being serious or not. I couldn't find anything in his face that pointed towards joking, so I quickly said, "No, don't. He's just been misinformed, I-I'll sort this out." I wiped my eyes on my sleeve again.

Ace scowled at me. "Fine, I won't kill him. But I can't promise I'm not gonna go talk to him."

Ace was going to talk to Chris for me? I assumed he meant he was going to scare him, or maybe beat him up, but still…I must really remind him of his sister. "Okay," I agreed shakily. "Just as long as you promise me you won't hurt him."

He lit up another cigarette, and held one out to me. "Want one?" I shook my head; I didn't feel like smoking was going to make me feel any better this time. "Good, you're too young to smoke." Ace's brotherly protectiveness was really starting to amuse me, even under these conditions. "Why do you care so much that he doesn't get hurt, when he hurt you? He deserves it."

I sighed, wondering how I was supposed to explain this to Ace when I wasn't even sure of the answer myself. "I don't know," I replied truthfully. "Maybe because he's one of the first real friends I've ever had. Maybe because he has always been so nice to me. Or maybe I love him." I said the last part real quietly, hardly audible, but Ace picked up on it.

"You love him?" Ace looked at me withincredulity in his eyes. "You're only sixteen!"

"Well I don't know!" I snapped back at him, at the end of my rope. "You asked why I care so much, and it seems to fit, doesn't it?"

"Sorry," he grumbled, standing up. He awkwardly put a hand on my shoulder, like he wasn't used to comforting someone. Well, he probably wasn't used to it. It made me wonder who comforted Ace when his sister died, while his father was out drinking his sorrows away. "I'll walk you home, and then go next door and knock the real story into Chambers." I narrowed my eyes at him and he added hastily, "With words. Knock into him with words."

I smiled weakly, wiping away the remnants of any tears. "Okay. Thanks, Ace."

When I got back to my house, Ace went straight over to the Chambers house. To take my mind off things I decided to paint the stripes on my bedroom walls. I ended up crying the whole time I did it. I had just finished and was washing the spatters of light blue, dark blue and orange paint off my hands when someone knocked at my door. I dried my hands off quickly, rushing to the door to answer it. It was Gordie, and he looked mad.

"How could you do that to Chris! You know what he has to go through at home everyday, and then you go and add this to-" He stopped abruptly, probably noticing my red, puffy eyes and the shaking hand that clutched the doorframe. He looked uncertain of what he was saying now.

"Let me guess," I ventured crossly. "You either heard Chris' or Teddy's version of what happened, am I right? Because I'm guessing you didn't hear Ace's, and you sure as hell didn't hear mine." He looked slightly confused and nonplussed, but he nodded his head. "Come in if you want to hear what really happened."

So he did come in, and as we sat in my living room I told him the true story. I left out the part about me reminding Ace of his sister, not sure if it was really something I should tell him. He actually believed what I told him. I had expected him to defend Chris all the way. "Chris can be pigheaded sometimes, although he'd rather die than admit it. Have you tried to talk to him again?"

I shook my head, and explained that Ace was over there talking to him now. "Ace?" he repeated, looking at me as if he was now unsure of my sanity. "He'll beat the living shit out of Chris!"

I shook my head, trying to get him to calm down. "No, he promised he wouldn't." Gordie looked like he was about to oppose that too, but I quickly told him about the whole Ace's sister thing, sensing it was the right time. "He listens to me because I remind him so much of her," I finished.

Gordie nodded his head, understanding now. "I knew Becky from school. None of us were really friends with her though. She died just before the summer we found Ray Brower's body. Ace was meaner and more ruthless that summer because of it." He tapped his fingers on the coffee table thoughtfully. "So that's what you and Ace were talking about. And Chris has no idea."

Another knock came from my front house, rough and loud. Probably Ace, I thought. And hopefully he's a bringer of good news for once.

"I did as much as I could," he said gruffly when I opened the door. "With you not letting me hit him and all. What's he doing here?" Ace was looking over my shoulder at Gordie, who hung back, still not completely trustful that I had Ace under control. Hmm, under control. I like the sound of that; makes me sound like a Disney villain or something!

"He came over to rag on me about Chris, but he believes me now. So Chris wouldn't listen to you?"

"Well I wouldn't say that exactly. I think if you go and talk to him yourself he might. He's not so sure and full of himself anymore. Or you could just let me-"

"NO Ace, give it up already! I'll go talk to him again." I slipped my feet into my shoes and rubbed at my eyes again, trying to get rid of any tear-tracks. "How do I look?" I asked Gordie, turning back to him.

He grinned at me. "Like you just had a huge allergic reaction to something. But don't worry, if Chris sees how upset you've been, maybe it'll help. I'll come with you."

I nodded and looked at Ace. He nodded that he was coming too, and we set off to the house next door, but not before I grabbed the clothes I had borrowed from Chris. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Thoughts kept racing through my head; what if he wouldn't answer the door? What if he wouldn't give me a chance to explain again, and I left, feeling humiliated? I stopped these thoughts as Eyeball answered the door.

"Hey Ace, ya back already?"

Ace shrugged noncommittally, and glanced over to me. "Chris still here? Callie needs to talk to him."

Eyeball looked from Ace to me, and back again, with a funny look on his face. "Yeah, he's here. Prolly still can't believe you didn't whip him good. Why didn't you, anyway?"

Ace just ignored him and turned back to me. "I'll be in the living room with Eyeball if ya need me," he said in a low voice so his Cobra wouldn't hear. I nodded mutely and they headed into the house. I stood there with Gordie for a few more seconds until he spoke.

"Do you want me to come in with you, make sure he doesn't slam the door in your face?"

"Sure," I replied softly, wincing at the thought of Chris doing that. "Thanks."

"No problem. Besides, I can't let my best friend make the biggest mistake of his life over something stupid Teddy told him."

And so we headed to Chris' room, unsure of what would happen once we got there. Gordie stepped in front of me and rapped on the bedroom door, so I was only partly visible behind him.

Chris opened the door, his hair slightly disheveled and I had a sudden urge to reach over Gordie's shoulder and brush it down. But I can't do that, I told myself, because we're not together right now. He nearly hates me. "Hey man," he greeted Gordie, and was about to say something else when he caught sight of me. "Oh."

Gordie, sensing the building tension, had the good grace to step in. "You need to hear her side of the story, Chris. Don't blow everything away before you've even given her a chance. I mean, c'mon. It's Callie."

Chris looked uncomfortable, and he kept looking at Gordie, like they were communicating with their eyes. Maybe they were. I mean, when you've been friends with someone your whole life, you can do that kind of thing, right? Finally he spoke, but still looked reluctant. "Fine," he said, holding the door open. "Come in."

I looked at Gordie, who still stood between me and the door, and he smiled encouragingly, saying, "I have to get going now, but all see you guys later." As he stepped around me he whispered discreetly, "Good luck."

I timidly stepped into Chris' room, and he shut the door behind me. "I brought your clothes back," I said, thrusting out the hand that clutched the garments. He stared at them, maybe just remembering how different this morning had been, when we were in his room like we were now. Maybe he was thinking about how long ago that seemed, even though it was less than half a day. He took them, tossing them on his dresser, and sat down on his bed, gesturing for me to sit next to him.

So I sat, and watched him as he cleared his throat and said, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to explain earlier. I was just mad." He looked at me imploringly and asked, "Will you tell me now?"

"You promise to listen?" He nodded so I continued. "We didn't have very much food at home so I went to the store. One the way there Ace stopped me, demanding to know why I was climbing out of your window wearing your clothes earlier. So we started arguing and I set him straight, told him what really happened."

"Why did he care?" Chris snorted disbelievingly. "I mean, c'mon its Ace we're talking about. Head hood of Castle Rock."

"I'm getting there. I asked him that, and after some cajoling he told me about his sister, and that I reminded him of her."

Chris' face filled with a new understanding. "Yeah, I knew sorta knew her. Now that you mention it, you do look like her."

I nodded. "Ace was just being over-protective. It's also why he came over to talk to you, and didn't hit you." I looked into Chris' eyes suspiciously, and added, "He didn't, did he?" When he shook his head no, I resumed talking, pleased that Ace had listened to me. "He had seen me sitting on the log afterwards, crying, and so he helped me. What Teddy told you was "getting friendly" was actually an argument between Ace and I, which then turned to talk of his sister. Surely you can't find any wrong in that?"

Chris looked down guilty, and shifted on the bed. Then he raised his blue eyes back up to me, and I saw soreness there. "Why didn't you ask me to walk you to the store? I would've come with you, you know that."

Uh oh, maybe he was more hurt about that than I originally thought. "Yes, I know that," I began softly. "But I really didn't want to wake you up again, and I thought it was just one little walk, I could use the alone time, think about some things."

He got up and paced the room twice. If I hadn't been so anxious to hear what he was going to say, I would have found it funny. He said the next words as if it was physically painful for him. I think they hurt me more. "Callie, I'm sorry but I need some time right now to think about things too. Could you maybe just leave?"

I could feel my heart plummet straight down to my toes from its previously hopeful perch in my chest. I fought to control the tears that sprang into my eyes as I silently left the room, and asked myself over and over again what he could possibly have found fault in. I hadn't done anything wrong!

When I stepped into the living room I saw Ace was sitting there by himself. He stood up as soon as he saw me, noticing that I was not happy at all. "What happened?" he asked, slinging an arm around me as we walked back to my house.

"He said he needed time to think about things," I sniffled, swiping furiously at my eyes. "I don't even know why."

Ace left when we got to my front door, but not until after my reassurances that I'd be okay, just eat some ice cream and watch TV. Gordie phoned about a half an hour later, clearly surprised that I was even home. He had expected me to be "making up" with Chris next door. When I told him what Chris had decided to do, he hastily bid me farewell, claiming there was 'something burning in the kitchen.'

I flopped down onto the guest room bed, still sobbing. Suddenly a surge of anger overcame me and I had to do something with it. So what did I do? Punched a wall. Not so smart when you're angry, are you? So four bleeding knuckles and a chipped wall later, I felt much better. Except then I had to go and bandage them up, which reminded me of when I took care of Chris, and that set me off crying again.

When my mom returned home from work around 5:00 p.m., I had to explain to her what had happened to my hand, and then I had to tell her EVERYTHING, and guess what I did? Ended up crying my eyes out for the millionth time that day. I felt so angry that a guy could have so much control over my feelings, I felt so weak. But I needed him. I needed Chris, and I hated to admit it.

I turned in early, after reading for a bit on the bed, beside the window with it open, breathing the fresh summer night air. When I found myself falling asleep there, I quickly slid it shut and curled up in the bed, flicking the light off. The day had been too much for me, and I need all the sleep I could get. Unfortunately that didn't seem to be in everyone's plans.

A few hours later I awoke to a tapping sound coming from the window. Still groggy with sleep, my thought was that it was an evil bird trying to keep me from getting my rest. I turned away from the window, muttered, "Go away."

Imagine my surprise when the tapping ceased, and the window was pushed open, smooth as silk. Would you not be wondering what kind of axe murderer (or in my mind, my dad) was going to kill you because you were too stupid to lock the damn window? I was even more startled and bewildered when a form came through the window and landed smack dab on me, elbowing me in the ribs as it did so. I was about to scream bloody murder, when the figure sat up and I could see by the moonlight that was streaming through the window, it was Chris.

"Sorry about that," he whispered apologetically, rubbing his . "I wasn't expecting the bed to be right beside the window. I'm used to your room."

"What the hell are you doing here?" I whispered furiously, anger building up. First he says he needs a break from me, and now he's breaking and entering my house? Well, I didn't really consider it breaking and entering, because I told him he could come over anytime. But I was still mad.

"You have every right to be mad at me," he whispered back quickly, "But I'm really, really sorry. I was a jerk to you, and you should have been treated better. Gordie yelled at me all night until I came to my senses." Ah, so that's what Gordie's 'something's burning' was. "Please forgive me, I can't stand not being with you."

I hugged my knees to my chest, staring at the boy sitting at the foot of my bed. I remember thinking he looked like Peter Pan just then, the way the moonlight illuminated his skin, and his blue eyes shone. Wendy and Peter Pan never got to stay together. What about Callie and Chris? Were they destined to be together? "If you can't trust me, then how are we supposed to make things work?"

Chris grabbed one of my hands (the one that wasn't bandaged up) and enveloped it in his larger ones, stroking it softly. I felt something inside me shift, probably the unsteady, rickety wall I had been building all night around my heart. "I really am sorry, Callie-cat. I don't know why I acted the way I did; maybe it was because when I heard it was Ace, I felt I couldn't live up to that. All the girls like Ace."

Who was I kidding? I couldn't keep Chris out of my heart, so I tore the shaky wall down and leaned forward, the side of my face pressed against Chris' chest, where I could feel his heart beat. "You don't have to live up to anyone," I murmured as he wrapped his arms around me. "Especially not Ace. You're the only one I'll ever want."

"Thanks for giving me another chance, Cal. I know I don't really deserve it." He pressed his face into my hair, breathing in the strawberry shampoo scent. "What did you do to your hand?" he asked, noticing it for the first time.

"I hit the wall," I admitted sheepishly, pointing to the chipped wall.

Chris grinned at me and said, "Well, I'm glad it was the wall you punched and not me!"

It was then I noticed the bruise Chris sported on his right cheekbone. "It looks like somebody has," I said quietly, touching it tenderly.

"Uh, yeah." He bowed his head down ashamedly, and I raised it back up with my hand. "My dad came back for the night. Do you mind if I stay here until morning?"

"Of course," I agreed, burying my face in his shirt again. "Anytime." We got under the covers and snuggled up, my head on his chest and my arm around his stomach, and his arms around me. Then he spoke again.

"Hey Callie?"

"Mmm?"

There was a moment's pause and I could hear his breathing. "I love you."

My eyes opened in surprise and I didn't know what to say. C'mon Jordans! He's gonna think you're rejecting him if you don't say something soon! "I-" I thought back to what I had said to Ace earlier. 'Maybe I love him.' I smiled, and I'm sure Chris could feel the energy and confidence radiating from me. "I love you too."

A/N: Well, there's a nice, sappy ending to a chapter! I'm not quite happy with it. I decided not to leave you guys with another cliffy after Chris told her to leave, and just get it all taken care of in one chapter. Sorry there wasn't much else going on in it, but the next chapter will definitely have more with Marianne, Chris' mum. I know Ace might seem a little OOC in this, but I mean Callie is almost exactly like his little sis, and so he feels that connection. He'll be around Callie a little more often now. Anyway I'm keeping this authors note and my replies short today, because one year ago today my best friend's mom died, and she was like a second mom to me, so I'm feeling down : ( Anyway thanks for reading, please review!

Icy-dropletz: Aww, thanks! I really really want to see Little Nikita! I'm gonna get around to it sometime lol. Well, they did breakup, but only for half a day! And I even made them get back together before the end of the chapter! Update your story soon, it's really good!

Kibel: Thanks! I noticed you have a bunch of new SBM fics up, I'll read them soon.

OTHlover04: Thanks for readin' and reviewin'!

Ccmandmfl: Glad ya liked it, I hope you keep reading! (and reviewing, lol)

ViCioUsKiTTie: Haha, dahlin'…I like it! Lol anyway thanks for R&R'n, (I think I had this update up pretty quick, don't you think? For my standards at least!) Thanks!

Screaming666: Sorry for the cliffy, hehe. At least I was considerate this time and they had their conclusion before the end of the chapter! Thanks bunches!

StormShadow21: Thank you! I hope you got (or get) lots of money too! I love Ace too! Happy belated birthday! Ooh the special edition? You have to tell me what's on it, and if it's worth getting! Anyway, thanks, and like always, please keep reading!

Tracia: Wow, you're probably the only person I've ever met (on at least) that doesn't mind cliffhangers! Makes me relieved! Anyways, thanks for the review, I hope you keep reading my fic!

By the way, I haven't forgotten about Callie's dad...All in good time!