A/N: I was living away from home for a while, but now I'm back! And I feel energized! The point is, I have a computer again. :) I wasn't really planning on updating, but after reading Jak X Lover's review, I decided to. Thank you so much! And thanks CrazyFFKHOttsel for reminding me about Torn. He was starting to become sorta obsolete. But not anymore! He'll show up more in the next chapter, I think.Okay, enough with my annoying blather.

----O----

Keira's eyes widened.

"Eh heh… what?"

Tess beamed at Erol. "That's sweet, don't you think, Keir? Anyway, you'd probably like staying at Erol's more, his place is nicer!"

Keira would rather stay with Tess, for in her memory of Erol's house, it only had one bed. But of course, she wouldn't want to insult him. They were clearly just friends, after all.

"Yeah…yeah, thanks a lot Erol! You saved me there!" She smiled. Erol grinned back.

"Okay, let's drop your stuff off then. We can go now!" Tess clapped her hands.

"It's settled then, Keir! You have a place to stay! I'm so glad we got that figured out," she said. "Now I need to finish cleaning up after that booth over there, so I'll meet you guys later."

As they started to go, Keira glimpsed Tess wink at Erol. He blushed. Keira frowned; there was definitely something up.

xXIXx

Jak was at the gun course, blasting the crap out of wooden targets. He was angry, once again, at himself. He was obviously doing something wrong with Keira. Things were so awkward between them. Ashelin, on the other hand….

Too bad their date was put off by the incident earlier that day.

……….

Jak mentally slapped himself.

'How could I think like that! I love Keira!' He considered what he had just thought. He never fully admitted it to himself. Love was a concept that left him feeling open and vulnerable. He could feelthe darknesswithin him laughing softly.

'Anyway, I don't love Ashelin, or both of them! Just Keira! Except that-'

JAAAK! You shot an "innocent bystander" again! Fat dude this time!" Daxter's loud voice broke him away from his train of thought.

"Oh, no wonder my score isn't getting anywhere." Daxter rolled his eyes.

"So, what're you thinking about that's making you such a space cadet? Anything you'd care to share? Like your opinion on Ashelin's fine rack?" Jak winced, missing a target.

"Ah-ha! I think you agree that that's a fine topic. But seriously, I've never seen a dame with such big hooterswho wasn't stuffed! She's a hottie, Jak. If I ever drop her, I'll let you know so you can have her." Daxter didn't seem to notice Jak's discomfort. "Oh, I know, Jak! Let's play a game! We can compare Ashelin, Tess, and Keira! And that wooden babe that you just blew up."

Jak sighed.

"And don't choose Keira just to be nice, cuz' we both know that she looks like Krew compared to Ashelin. And Tess."

Jak was starting to get annoyed.

"I mean, she's a real mechanic now, so imagine how greasy it would be if you two-"

Jak smushed Daxter's yapping muzzle closed with a gloved hand. "I get it, Dax! Now can you please give me some quiet?"

Daxter rolled his eyes again. "Okay, okay buddy, I getcha. I know how hard it is to picture Ashelin's boobs when somebody's talking to you. I'll leave you alone."

Jak growled in frustration, but focused his attention on blowing up more targets.

xXIXx

Erol pinched himself, just to check. No, it wasn't a dream! Keira was really going to live with him! During the ride in the zoomer, he had planned it all out.

Keira got out of the passenger side. She had been thinking, and figured that she could avoid any thorny situations by sleeping on the sofa. That way she would feel better, and wouldn't be imposing on Erol.

Erol ran up the steps and opened the door, but said to Keira, "It's kind of messy in here. I'll be right out, just gonna clear some junk to the side." Keira nodded and sat down on the steps. Her thoughts started wandering towards Jak again, unfortunately. She shook her head, telling herself that she could ponder that later.

Meanwhile, Erol was searching for a pair of scissors. (Of course he wasn't really going to clean the place up!) Once he found them, he proceeded to punch holes in his own couch so that the sharp metal springs would protrude out. Just for extra measure, he got some coffee grounds from the trash bin and smeared them on the fabric. No way was Keira going to sleep on the couch. If he had to ruin it, so be it! (A/N: Wow, it's actually pretty fun writing this story!)

He ran back to the front door to get Keira. She followed him in, noting the uncharacteristic neatness of his home. It was a cute little place, brightened by the artwork that covered the walls. She passed through the tiny wood-panel kitchen and into the living room. She stopped and stared in horror.

"What happened to your couch!" she asked in disbelief.

"Oh, erm, a friend came over and he got a bit drunk, and, uh, I guess he messed it up," Erol lied. It was a pretty good lie, if he did say so himself. Not that he was an advocate of lying.

"So where am I going to sleep?" she asked. Erol smiled to himself. He had planned it all out.

"I could always sleep on the floor," he offered. Keira shook her head.

"No, no, I wouldn't want that!" she exclaimed. "Why don't I sleep on the floor?"

"Of course not! We could always sleep together. It's not that bad!" he said. Keira was hesitant. "Don't you trust me?" he asked.

"Of course!" Keira said. "That's totally fine!" She put her clothes in an empty drawer, along with her tools. "If it's okay, do you think you can take me later to my old garage? I'd like to fix it up as soon as possible, so I can move back to my place."

"Sure," said Erol. "I'll help you out." 'My ass,' he thought. That would mean her going back sooner. Don't get him wrong, he's not a, uh, a pervert or anything, he was just starting to get a little….obsessive.

xXIXx

It was nearingthe end of the day, and Keira was feeling a lot better. She had made a lot of progress on her garage. She and Erol had cleaned up most of the rubble; wait, scratch that, she had cleaned up most of the rubble and Erol had spilled most of the rubble. He had just gone of to put it in the dumpster down the street. The garage looked way better than before, at any rate.

Suddenly, a zoomer pulled up by the garage. It was Torn.

"Hey, I talked to Tess, and she said you're living with Erol now. Is that right?" he asked Keira.

"Oh hi Torn, yeah, I am," she responded. Torn's facial expression changed the slightest bit, but not in a readable way.

"Is Erol around?" he asked gruffly.

"No."

"Listen Keira…there's something that I don't think you know about Erol."

"You mean that he's a klutz?" she joked. "I've figured that out already, Torn. He's spilled half the stuff I cleaned up." Torn shook his head and leaned forward conspiratorially.

"This may potentially disturb you, Keira, but I think you have to know if you're going to be living with him."

Keira rolled her eyes. "Geez Torn, spit it out already. It can't be that bad."

He huffed. "Well, if Miss Smartypants hasn't figured it out already, he's-"

"Hi Torn!" Erol had come up behind the unknowing pair.

"Never mind, I'll tell you later," he whispered quickly.

"Hi Erol, I just dropped by to check on you two. I was about to go. I'll catch you guys later, okay? Bye." Torn turned to leave, but not before pinching the back of Erol's arm. Hard.

Erol flinched. "Ow, what was that for!" He yelled angrily at Torn. Torn just gave him a meaningful look and got into his zoomer.

Keira frowned. Her friends were acting strange, as if they were hiding something from her. It was starting to get irksome.

"I guess we should get back now, huh?" said Erol . Keira nodded.

Erol was euphoric. Never had he been so looking forward to bedtime.

----O----

A/N: This chapter was just to get me back on track with the story. Ithink there'll be more actual stuff going on in the next one. Oh yeah, and NO, he's not going to rape her or anything. Sheesh. I get nauseous at the very thought! Only an evil Erol would do that, and Erol's obviously not evil! –YET!- Ahem.