A/N: I'll admit, this is totally a filler chapter. I've been sick again, so writing has been hard, especially when I'm working on so many projects at once. But I wanted to write something today. I'm still here and still working on my story! It'll probably be coming more slowly, since I've had more bad days than good days lately, but I'll try to write on my good days if I have time. Hope it's not too bad! :)

Wake up

Months have changed,

Have fucked me up

-Holiday, Albert Hammond Jr

Andrew hadn't expected to wake up the morning after Lyle's party to a phone ringing at 8 a.m. And the very last thing he'd expected was for John Bender to be on the other end of the line when he answered.

"Rise and shine, Sporto." A husky-voiced Bender greeted him sarcastically.

"Bender? What the hell, man? What are you doing calling me so early? I didn't even know you knew there was an eight a.m."

"Haha. You know me so well." Was Bender's response.

"What do you want?" Andy asked.

"Touchy, touchy. Maybe I was just calling to see how you were doing after last night's festivities."

"You expect me to believe that, man?"

"You don't?"

"No way. If you were asking about Allison, then maybe. But not me."

Bender sighed, pretending to be exasperated. "Fine. You caught me."

"What is it?"

"I need you to tell me everything you know about Claire's friends. "

"What? Why? Oh, I get it. She asked you to go to that dinner tonight. The dinner party that Annabelle McClain throws every year after Halloween."

"Yeah. You go to that?"

"Yeah. But I wasn't invited this year. For obvious reasons."

Bender was silent for a moment. He didn't know why, but that kind of pissed him off a little bit. He and Andy had never been the best of friends; in fact, they bickered more than anything. But underneath all that, they were friends. Bender liked having Andy as an adversary, without there being any real danger of either of them taking it seriously. But now? Andy just sounded defeated. And this bugged Bender. It was as if those asshole former friends of Andrew's had crushed his spirit. And, as far as Bender could see, it was way past time someone dealt with them. Might as well be him, if it wasn't going to be Andrew.

"Well, you're fucking invited now, Sporto. I'm inviting you. You and Klepto can be me and Cherry's guests."

"You can't just invite people to someone else's party, Bender."

"Do you really think this Annabelle chick cares if you come? She invited me, Sporto. I think if she's okay with me being there, she probably won't give a shit about you coming."

Andy sighed. Even he couldn't argue with that logic. "Okay, but no Allison. I think she's had enough of Claire's group for one weekend."

"Fine," Bender said, "Now, what the hell are these preppies like? What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

"Well, usually it's six jocks (my former friends), two cheerleader types, and then Claire and her friends. But I overheard them talking when they kidnapped Allison last night, and this year Annabelle just invited Claire and Caroline Mumford….you do know who that is, right?"

Bender rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know who she fucking is, Tights. I may not be Prom King, but I'm not a complete fucking leper."

"Well, they're the only girls Annabelle invited this year."

Bender wasn't sure how he felt about this. He'd been impressed by Claire asking him to a richie event, thinking she was trying to show him she didn't care about what other people thought of her dating him, but now that he knew most of her friends weren't even going to be there, he wondered if maybe this changed what Claire's invitation had really meant. Did she only invite him because she thought Annabelle was "safe" and wouldn't rat her out to her other friends and ruin her reputation? Was this her way of just shutting him up, making him think she had grown when she really hadn't?

Bender shook his head, barely even listening to what Andrew was saying anymore, trying to not to let his own fucked up thoughts get in the way of how well things were going with him and his Cherry. Maybe it wasn't because Annabelle was safe. Maybe the other girls weren't invited because she and Claire didn't care what they thought, and she didn't want anyone in her life who wouldn't approve of Bender and the others.

One thing was for sure; dinner that night was going to be interesting, and he would need someone there to laugh at the rich preppies and their silliness, with him.

"Hey, Sporto?" he asked. "Maybe you should call Cherry and ask her to find out if it's okay for you to come and bring Klepto with you. It'll be weird if I'm there with Cherry and you show up alone."

On the other side of town, just like Andrew, Claire Standish also woke up to a ringing telephone.

It was Brian. He sounded frantic.

"Claire? Claire! Is, um, how…is everything okay?"

Claire was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and hadn't even sat up in bed yet. "Who's this? Brian? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. Are you guys okay? I-I wanted to, um, call you when I got home last night, but I figured it was way too, uh, too late to call."

"Oh," Claire said, still confused as to the point of Brian's frantic phone call. "Did you have fun last night, Brian?" she asked, trying to keep him talking and calm him down.

It worked. Brian's mind rushed back to last night's events. Saidie in his lap. Bender and Claire getting along and laughing together. Bender looking genuinely happy. Laughing and bonding with Freddie as they snuck him back into his house. It had been perhaps the best night of his life.

But that just reminded him of why he was calling.

"Um, yeah, it was great. The best. Um, i-is Saidie still there with you?"

Claire was wide awake at that. She'd forgotten that the other girl had spent the night at her house. That there was another person in her bed. She had plenty of guest rooms, but she'd made Saidie sleep in her room with her so she could keep an eye on Saidie in case she got sick during the night. Which she had.

When they'd gone to bed the night before, she'd lay in bed awake for a while, wondering how many times Saidie had shared a bed with Bender, and what had gone happened on the nights when he snuck into her bedroom instead of sleeping on her couch.

But she'd quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head. No one who'd seen the way Bender looked at Claire could doubt that John Bender was crazy about her. He looked at her like she was the only girl in the room, once you got past all his macho bravado. And Saidie had changed her whole image in an attempt to impress Brian. You didn't do that unless you were completely all-in over a person.

She was being crazy. She knew that. Bender had agreed to go to a richie dinner with her, and he hated the richies. He didn't have to tell her how he felt. That alone proved it.

"Yeah, she's here." Claire responded.

"Is she okay? I was so, so worried about her."

Ah. Now it all made sense. He was calling to check on his girlfriend.

In a way, Claire felt a sense of envy. Sometimes when she watched the way Brian was with Saidie and the way Andrew was with Allison, she wished Bender were more like that with her. Their relationship was the exact opposite. They argued, made up, made out, and then argued some more. Their version of quality time together was getting hot and heavy in her car or ducking into closets and hidden places and making fun of each other.

Bender was never going to be the kind of guy who'd bring her flowers. Or say sweet little nothings to her. That wasn't who he was. He'd told her on more than one occasion that she loved that about him, and that if he were some hopeless romantic pining after her and showering her with affection, she probably wouldn't want him.

He was right. Claire didn't need another person in her life telling her how wonderful she was and enabling her. Allison needed that. Allison needed to be showered with love. That's why she and Andy were so perfect for each other. He gave her all the attention she needed but wasn't getting at home.

But Claire needed someone who could call her on her crap. Someone who challenged her to be better, but accepted the things about her that made her who she was deep down. Bender was not like any guy she'd ever known. He was always honest with her, brutally so, and despite how he looked on the outside he was the one guy she'd ever known who defied every single expectation she had, and every single stereotype placed on him.

And she wouldn't have him any other way.

"Um, yeah, she's fine. She's still asleep. She's probably going to have, like, a major headache when she gets up, but she'll be okay."

She could practically hear the relief in Brian's voice. "Oh. Well, um, don't wake her up on my account. And Claire? Thanks for being so nice to her, okay?"

Claire blushed at her dear friend's words, and he hung up before she could say anything else.

Claire looked over at the girl beside her. She was sure Saidie's parents would be looking for her. It was time for them to get up and get started with their day. Tonight was going to be a big night for Claire, and she wanted to go shopping for a new outfit. Claire figured she should look nice for Bender; that way, no matter how the night played out, at least he'd remember that about her.

As she walked around to face Saidie at the other side of her huge bed, and end their impromptu sleepover, she couldn't have known that this would end up being only the first of many they would have.