Six;

Bottle up old love and throw it out to sea

(Paper Heart-All-American Rejects

The next morning, Craig was eager to check his messages to see if Veronica had gotten online yet. And she had. However, instead of the long conversation that Craig had hoped for, she only informed him she couldn't be online long because she was technically still unpacking her bedroom but he was more than welcome to come by if he had wanted. Before signing off she offered up her address if he had actually decided to do so.

He had already decided he would the moment she had offered it. Craig wanted to show her the songs that were written last night but more importantly he just wanted to see her. He got dressed before going downstairs where he found Joey in the kitchen and Angie was seated on the couch.

"I was just about to come get you," Joey said when he noticed Craig, "You have company in the garage."

Craig was momentarily confused before realizing that Veronica had taken Ellie's place at the show last night. "Ellie?"

Joey nodded before Craig made his way out to the garage. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to Ellie which would be out of the ordinary for him. Ellie had been there for Craig when he started at the same group she attended. She helped him through and he greatly appreciated it and he gained a good friend out of it. A good friend was Craig's only intention with Ellie.

He opened the door to the garage and he was greeted by her smile.

"Hey," She quickly tucked her hair behind her ear and readjusted on the old love seat, "Sorry for having to bail out of no where on you yesterday."

Craig shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded, "It's cool, the show ended up being lame anyway."

"I mean going by yourself would be lame," Ellie watched his reaction and then she realized he wasn't alone last night, "Unless you weren't by yourself."

He shook his head, "Angie's new babysitter is new in town so I offered to be her friend. You know, I remember being the new kid once."

Talking with Ellie, Craig began to feel the emotions he was able to forget about with Veronica. He liked the feel of having a clean slate with someone. However, he couldn't ice out everyone he's ever known to avoid those emotions but it was still strange to him.

"The redhead that answered the door yesterday?" Ellie said.

Craig could only nod.

"Well, if you like her maybe she's great," Ellie said, Craig could tell she was forcing enthusiasm. She knew as well as he did that his track record with girls was garbage.

"So why did you bail on me last night?" Craig took a seat behind the drum set. Not that he would've changed too much about last night but Ellie was still his friend.

"Marco needed my help," Ellie wasn't telling the whole truth but she cracked before Craig could take notice, "and I had a conversation from England."

Craig's heart dropped. Even though he hadn't thought much about Ashley since he got to know Veronica and he much preferred her to Ashley; it still hurt. He had tried to get a hold of her for the longest time with no answer.

"Is this the first time she talked to you?" He said softly. Craig had hung out with Ellie pretty regularly with Ashley and in group.

Ellie remained quiet, not wanting to hurt Craig more than she already had by keeping this information from him.

"No."

Craig quickly stood up, "Look, El, I actually have to meet with Kevin's music guy today so, I gotta go."

She stood up, too, "I'm sorry if I upset you."

Craig had to get out of there, he didn't care if he just lied to Ellie or not, "You're fine. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure, good luck." Ellie said as she followed him out of the garage.

They parted their separate ways and Craig headed towards Veronica's house, it was only a couple streets over. When she gave him the address he half recognized it because it's the same road that his ex-best friend Spinner Mason lived on. Although Craig and Spinner haven't been the greatest friends since everyone found out he was partially responsible for Jimmy Brooks getting shot by Rick; he had spent plenty of time there to recognize the road.

It took him maybe about ten minutes to get there and the entire time he felt flustered over Ashley only speaking to Ellie. When he finally reached the road he immediately recognized Veronica's car parked in the driveway. But Veronica's car wasn't the only one near by that he recognized, there was also a obnoxiously orange Honda Civic that was parked out in front of the house directly next to her's.

The house next to Veronica's belonged to Spinner and that was without a doubt Jay Hogart's car.