author's notes: sorrry it's been so long since an update, i blame life!

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Cree and Chad walked to the Lincoln residence together after school for another one of their scheduled Teen Meetings. It was becoming a regular thing. They chatted as they walked; defeating the Kids Next Door was far from their minds.

"Marty was practically snoring," Cree recounted a highlight of the day to Chad, "And Mr. Miller was all like, 'having a good nap, Marty?' and he didn't even hear him!"

Chad laughed. "You're kidding. So what did he do?"

"He threw a chalkboard eraser at him! He got Marty right on the head--he was so surprised he almost fell out of his seat!"

"Remind me never to fall asleep in Mr. Miller's class."

"I know, right? One time--" She stopped suddenly as they neared the house.

Maurice was standing at the front door. "There you are. I guess I beat you this time."

"Is it that late already? Sorry, Honey, we must have been walking slow." She broke away from Chad to give her boyfriend a kiss.

Chad looked away from the couple, trying to convince himself that he wasn't bothered by this display. Cree and I are friends. I'm happy as just her friend. I'm glad that we can just hang out and talk. I don't wish that I could put my arms around her and pull her close to me; I don't—

"Chad?"

He turned.

"Aren't you coming in?" Cree asked.

"Right, yeah."

The meeting was business as usual, but Chad found he had trouble concentrating. He kept counting the number of times he saw Cree smile at Maurice, and every time she touched his arm, or even met his eyes.

He set his gaze on the wallpaper to stop himself from staring. What's wrong with me? I was doing so well. I got by for weeks without feeling like this. Seeing her with that—

His train of thought was cut off when something solid bumped against his forehead. His head snapped around to see Cree laughing at him. Rubbing his head, he looked at the floor to see a bread roll straggle away.

"What was that for?" he demanded in annoyance.

"I didn't have any chalkboard erasers handy," she snickered in reply.

"I wasn't sleeping."

"Yeah, but you weren't paying attention, either."

"And that bread roll is way harder than a chalkboard eraser," he grumbled, trying not to be affected by the smiling face that was now focused on him. It couldn't be normal to feel that much joy just from someone just smiling at you.

I wish she were mine.

And that's when he felt it again, that feeling that he thought he had kept in check all this time, the pain that he hoped he would never feel again, that horrible tearing, burning in his chest. Why? Why now?

Cree had stopped laughing. "Chad? Are you all right?"

"Yeah…no, I think maybe some flour or something got in my eye." He stood.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you need—"

"I'm just going to go wash my face." He left the room.

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Cree had stopped talking once Chad had left the kitchen. Maurice looked at her; she was staring concernedly at the door through which Chad had exited. Then she glanced in Maurice's direction and quickly looked away again. Which was odd, as it was something that he would do, not her.

He cleared his throat. "Um, so, Cree, what are we trying to accomplish by infiltrating a Treehouse?"

"Huh? Oh—um, you know, information on the enemy. What kind of soda do they drink, what rainbow monkeys are popular now, what they like and don't like."

"What's the use of that?"

"It's just enemy recon. From what we find out—"

She stopped when the door opened again, but it was Abby and not Chad who entered the room.

"Hi, Sis," Cree greeted her sister as she covered the plans, but then was silent.

"Hey," she replied, walking to the refrigerator. As she did so, her foot hit the bread roll, still on the ground. She stared at it. "Had a food fight or something?"

Cree didn't reply, but Maurice answered, "Cree threw it at Chad." He then stopped, realizing he shouldn't talk so freely to Abby, not in front of Cree.

Both Lincoln sisters stared at him. Cree appeared annoyed, but Abby was almost inquisitive.

"What? Well, you did," reasoned Maurice as Cree frowned at him.

She stood suddenly and headed for the door. "Don't let Abby see those plans," she warned as she passed behind Maurice.

The remaining two listened to her retreating footsteps.

Abby glanced at the face-down papers on the table. "So what's up?"

"I'll fill you in later." He kept an eye on the door. "It's a little unusual, isn't it? That Cree would leave the two of us—" He stopped abruptly when he noticed that Abby had slid into her sister's chair beside him.

"Maurice," she said with her head lowered. Her eyes were hidden under the brim of her hat. "I need to talk to you."

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Cree knocked on the bathroom door. "Chad? Are you okay? I have eye drops if you need them."

There was a pause before she heard his voice coming from the other side of the door. "That's okay, I think I'm okay now. Thanks." His voice sounded oddly flat.

"Okay, good. I'm glad. So…why don't you come out?"

There was another delay in his reply. "I…think I'll rinse my face off one more time."

"Are you sure you don't want the eye drops?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't come in."

Cree listened to the sound of running water through the door. He seemed to be doing a rather thorough job of washing, judging from the duration and all the splashing around. Then the water stopped, and there was silence for a minute. Then two.

"Chad?"

"Just a sec."

Finally the door opened and Chad emerged. He turned out the bathroom light immediately and headed back towards the kitchen.

"Hold up," Cree called.

He stopped and turned to her, but immediately bent his head down, scratching his forehead. "You didn't have to wait for me."

"I know; I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'm sorry I threw that bread at you, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay, it might not even have been the bread; my eyes were just stinging, is all." He still hadn't put down his hand.

"Let me see them, I want to make sure they're all right."

"Stop worrying about it, I'm fine."

But Cree wasn't listening—she firmly pulled his hand away from his face, and when he turned to avoid her, she grasped him by the chin and held his head in place while she examined his eyes.

This didn't last for more than a second before Chad yanked his head out of her grip and moved away, muttering, "I told you I was fine."

"Hm, your eyes do look kind of red…."

"Yeah, well…some soap got in them when I was washing my face."

"Soap? Why would you need--"

"Shouldn't we be getting back now?"

"Oh—that's right, I left Maurice with Abby, she'd better not be—" Cree entered the kitchen to find her boyfriend there alone.

Maurice looked up at them with a wide smile. "You guys sure took your time. What's the matter, Chad? You look like you've been crying."

"Shut up."

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author's notes: this was kind of a weird, transitional chapter, sorry about that. but what were Abby and Maurice talking about? answers to come in the next chapter!