A/N: Hey, all, again I just wanted to apologize because I feel this fic is dragging a bit but I have vague plans for the future so it is going somewhere, just takes some time to get there is all.:) Thanks for bearing with me and reviewing!

Chapter 16

There's little to say about what happened during these weeks with Stacy, avoiding Ren (and her avoiding me, for that matter). Everything was very stagnant, it seemed, and no one cared enough to change it, I for one had no idea where to begin. And Stacy, well, I still don't know if she was oblivious or just doing her best to pretend she was. I'm inclined to say the latter, and give her a little credit. In that circle, Amy's circle, what went on between Ren and I was quite well known, and to be honest, I think they knew how significant the relationship was for us before either of us did.

After Valentine's Day, and the brief confrontation that followed, I didn't speak to Ren at all. I hardly ever saw her either. Ruby had approached me at one point, tried to make small talk—she was trying to get information from me, I'm sure. Ren wouldn't be telling her everything about this. Ruby was her best friend but this area was closed off for just herself and yours truly. That would drive Ruby nuts, but she'd try and respect it. She'd have to, there was no other option. She knew as much as Amy and Co. did, the finer details only could come from two sources and they weren't available.

It's hard to describe what I was feeling in this time. It was like I was lost, but I wasn't afraid. It was a monotonous routine of going through the motions, as I've said before. I went on dates with Stacy, I did my school work, I hung out with friends, I tried not to think about Ren. Some days it was easier than others, but it seemed everywhere I went there was always something to remind me of her. And often they were things I'd never have expected, things that probably wouldn't remind me of her were we still together.

Then one day, I received a note in my locker. It read:

Tawny,

I know this is out of the blue, and things have been very off between us lately, for good reason, but I was hoping you'd meet with me today (3/15) at lunch near the oak tree by the art room. There's something I want to ask you.

Love, Ren

I was grinning madly when I read this the first time, only to check myself. There was no reason to get excited. And when I started to think about it, I didn't know why I'd gotten excited. I was supremely confident she wasn't going to propose we give it another try—which for all my pride and dignity I would've agreed to in a heartbeat. There were a million things she could be asking, it could be for help with something from her psych class, it could be she thinks I'm a suitable candidate for some interview or other for the paper or yearbook. Hell, it might not even be from Ren—it could be a cold trick from Larry or an unintentionally nasty one from Louis. It could be a set-up devised by Ruby or Amy or both of them together… the possibilities really were endless and I struggled to stop deliberating them and just wait and see what Ren, if it was her at all, wanted.

I was sure I was drawing far more pleasure than is warranted out of her signing it "Love, Ren"… not 'from', not 'sincerley'… 'love'.

When lunch rolled around I was quick to move, as I had to get out of my biology class before Stacy came by to meet me. I made it out of the room and down the hall, into the staircase without her or anyone knowing. The south stairwell is rarely used because it's in an inconvenient location and nothing is by it. From there on I slipped outside into the courtyard, which I managed to cross unnoticed as well, at least it seemed so. I'm sure I was being overly paranoid about the whole thing. Anyway, I headed around the edge of the building, my heart speeding up with every step and when I drew near the oak tree I was both relieved and ill at ease to find Ren standing there waiting for me.

She was wearing a white button-up top and jeans. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun and she looked quite relaxed. That meant whatever it was she had to say to me, she felt prepared to say it—she'd probably rehearsed it.

When she noticed me approaching she looked up and I think a smile briefly formed on her lips before she resumed her 'I've got work to do' face.

"Hey," I said, trying to bring my voice above a whisper, though my nerves refused to allow it.

She could tell I was nervous, and smiled a little again.

I didn't understand how she could seem so collected. Every exchange we'd had during the past couple months had been anything but cool and collected and yet here she was, acting as if nothing was 'off' as she'd said in the note.

"So, what…what is it you wanted to talk about?" I tried to move things along, growing in my discomfort by the second.

"Well, um," Thank God she was finally seeming a little uncomfortable. "This is probably going to seem really random but… I was wondering if maybe…um…maybe we could, uh…be friends again?"

That wasn't what I had expected, though I'm not quite sure what was. "You want to be friends?"

"Yeah…" She was no longer making eye contact with me and it seemed her confidence had dropped way down. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I really miss talking with you, Tawny. You knew me…differently than everyone else and…it was nice to have someone I could talk with about all that other stuff that's not school-related or work-related…all that 'Ren Stevens' stuff, you know?"

I knew. Someone to talk about my Ren with—that's what she wanted.

Ren didn't look at me at all when asking me this. "I mean, I understand if it would make you uncomfortable and I know that you're…with her now…but I don't want to just cut you out of my life."

I didn't know if it would be a good idea, it certainly didn't seem like it was going to help me in my painfully slow process of moving on, but I couldn't refuse her.

"Sure, I think we could try. But you're going to have to actually look at me if we're going to be friends, you know."

She looked up and smiled. "I can do that."