(Odd P.O.V.)

She leans in and kisses me gently on the lips….

I'm too shocked to move, I can't even get myself to return the kiss.

Why is she kissing me? I thought she didn't love me….

After a second, she stops and pulls back. She has an expression on her face that I can't read.

"A-Avery?" I stutter. She looks at me for a second longer, then just turns around and runs off back towards the dorms. I just stand there in shock. I'm finally brought back to reality by Jim coming back out and yelling at me.

"Della-Robbia! Get in here! We're playing dodgeball, losing team does 100 pushups!" He yells. I run over to the door and walk inside slowly. Jim puts me on the opposite team as Ulrich. He knows if we're together that team would win easily. I play, but my heart isn't in it. I think Avery stole it with the kiss she gave me and ran off with it. Ulrich notices and goes easy on me. Normally this would be an all out slug-fest between Ulrich and me, but this time my mind is elsewhere. After getting out the fourth time (if a teammate catches a ball then you're back in), everyone seemed to be saying 'what's wrong with Odd?' Without my help, Ulrich dominates. My team is decimated and we lose. I don't even remember doing the hundred pushups or going to the locker rooms to change. It was all a blur, but not bliss. No definitely not bliss. I was in turmoil the entire time, trying to figure out the reason why Avery would kiss me and then run away again. I just cannot figure it out.

The rest of the day is a complete blur as well, even lunch and dinner. The first thing I remember clearly is going back to my dorm and playing that song. The one I made that first day when Avery first arrived. I sit, and I play it, over and over again. I try to make up words for it, but I can't come up with any that can fully describe the feeling I have. So I leave it blank. I play the song again and as soon as I finish, I set my guitar down and bury my face in my hands.

"That was a good song. Did you make it?" Ulrich says. I didn't hear him come in.

"Yah. I made it the first day Avery moved in. She… she kind of inspired me."

"It's cool. It sounds like-."

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams, I know."

"You said that Avery inspired you?"

"Yah. I was just thinking about her and playing randomly. It ended up as this."

"What happened between you two after I left?" I flinch. "Come on Odd, it couldn't be that bad…." I feel tears start to come to my eyes. This is the closest I've come to crying in years. I hold them back though, it won't help to cry.

"Avery asked me if I loved her."

"And you said yes… right?"

"Right. She said she wanted to check something and asked if she could."

"And you said yes again…."

"Yah. She kissed me."

"Alright! That's good! Right?"

"No. After a second she pulled away. She looked at me with an expression that looked like relief and sorrow mixed. Then she ran away."

"She ran away?"

"Yah. She ran. Do you have any idea why? I'm totally stumped. I mean I tell the girl I love her, but she tells me to beat it. Afterwards, she kisses me and then runs. Girls confuse me."

"Did you kiss her back?"

"No… not really."

"Well there's your problem. She was probably looking to see if you really loved her, to see if you would kiss back. You didn't so she felt foolish and ran."

"You're probably right. Wow Ulrich, you're like Dr. Phil now. How do you know all this stuff?" I ask looking at him. He just starts laughing.

"I have no fucking idea. It just comes to me." He says and we laugh together. After that we change and go to bed. Wonderful sleep becomes horrible nightmares for me, I'm tortured by the fact that Ulrich's probably right. She wanted to find out if I really loved her and I screwed up. I doubt I can ever go back to my normal life after this. I must have woken up at least twice times in a cold sweat.

At 3:30, I can't take it anymore. I grab a fresh change of clothes and head for the showers. Because of it being so early, absolutely no one is up. I take a nice warm shower, I feel the water run over my face and hair, it feels so soothing. After a while, I get out and get dressed. It's about 4:00, and I know I'm not going to be able to get back to sleep. I wander aimlessly throughout the halls. I know I wont get caught, Jim is asleep. If the security camera catches me, who cares. I end up downstairs on the floor with the girl's dorms. I look over at Avery's dorm.

It this one girl who is causing me all this turmoil, this one girl who's been haunting me. Why does this always happen to me?

I slump down against her door. I just sit there thinking. I must have been sitting there for half an hour before I hear it. I put my ear to the door to confirm it. Yes, someone inside is crying. I also hear her saying things, mostly mumbling. I stand up and knock on the door.

"Avery? Are you okay?" I say, just loud enough so that she will hear me, but not loud enough to wake up anyone else. She doesn't answer, but the mumbling gets louder.

"Avery? Avery?" She still doesn't answer. I try the doorknob and the door is unlocked. It swings open and I see Avery thrashing around on her bed.

"No… no… no, help me… help!" She cries out. I rush over to her, she starts jerking her arms around. I grab her by the shoulders and try to wake her.

"Avery! Avery! Wake up Avery!"

"No… Odd no! No please Odd no…" I shake her shoulders roughly.

"Avery! Wake up!" Her eyes flutter open, She stares at me in shock, tears rolling from her eyes.

"Odd!" She sits up and hugs me. I embrace her back, we don't move for a couple of minutes. She seems to have fallen into a peaceful sleep, my shoulder is wet from her tears. Not wanting to wake her, I slowly lean against a wall, and she snuggles against my chest. Good thing it's dark, I must be blushing like mad. I try not to notice that she is only in her underwear. Damn, it doesn't work.

Out of the three nights she's been here, two of them I end up with her sleeping in my arms. This is getting crazy.

I sit there against the wall, just holding her in my arms. She seems to be fine now, except she's shivering slightly. I slowly reach over and grab a blanket to cover her up. I gently lay it over her, she grabs it and snuggles closer to me.

At least now I won't be tempted to look at her anymore.

Considering the fact she's laying against my chest, it makes it kind of hard to leave, so I sit there for a couple hours. I can't fall asleep again, I'm not sure I want to. It's about 6:45 when she wakes up again. Her eyes open slowly and she notices I'm there.

"Hi Odd. Wait a minute, Odd? What are you doing here?" She sits up and notices her lack of being fully clothed.

"Don't look at me! Why are you here?" She grabs the blanket and tries to cover herself. I look away.

"Sorry, it was kind of unavoidable." I look down at my shoes while she gets dressed.

"Now, why were you in my room?" She looks at me queerly.

"Uh… kind of a long story."

"Did you do… anything… to me?" She sounds scared. I look her in the eyes.

"No I did not. I couldn't help the fact that you uh… weren't wearing very much."

"You have about thirty seconds to explain or I'm calling the cops for molesting me." She says and puts her hands on her hips.

"Okay. I couldn't sleep, so I went walking. I happened to be walking by when I hear you crying in your room. I knocked and you didn't answer, so I opened the door. You were having a nightmare. When I woke you up, you kind of hugged me and wouldn't let go. I held you until you fell asleep again. You didn't move until just a few minutes ago when you woke up." Avery looks at me, she seems satisfied.

"So… why couldn't you sleep?" She looks at me with a kind expression.

"I- I was having nightmares too."

"What about?" I look at her, unsure of whether or not to respond.

"About… you." I say, looking at my shoes again. She seems startled.

"About me? What about me?" I stand up.

"Look, I'm sorry for coming in here, it wasn't my place to…" I head for the door. I stop when Avery grabs my arm.

"No Odd, I'm sorry. You were just trying to help. Please, just tell me." I turn around.

"I was having nightmares that you didn't love me, that I would never be able to be with you." Avery stares at me wide-eyed.

"Really? You had… nightmares? About me…?" She asks like she can't believe it.

"Yes. Now can I ask you something?"

"I…guess…so…."

"Do you love me? If you don't, say so. I'll take it like a man. But if you do, I'd really like to know. Ever since that kiss… it's been haunting me. Please tell me, I need to know." She looks at me with another expression I can't read. I seriously can't describe it.

"No Odd. I don't." She says after a second. "I'm sorry."

Like I promised, I took it like a man. I put on a smile, and look at her warmly.

"It's okay. Even still, I want to be your friend."

"I do too."

"I'll see you at breakfast, okay?"

"Okay. Goodbye Odd." As I left, I didn't know what to think. I'm sure that if I still had my heart, it would be in about a million pieces right now. Unfortunately for me, Avery had stolen it. I walked back up to my room and sat on my bed. I still had over an hour before school started. Breakfast wouldn't start for a couple of minutes, Ulrich wasn't anywhere to be seen. I wasn't hungry, but I decided to go down to breakfast anyway, as I told Avery I would.

I just hope I can face her like normal after all this.