Author's Note: Oh my God, I'm actually updating twice in one week! Trust me when I tell you this will most likely never happen again. It's only a fluke; I've been feeling a little sick lately so I stayed home today –giving me the opportunity to work on my story for a bit. Hope you all like the update. The love of my life reviews. And the ending to this chapter especially cliff-like this time, by the way… Enjoy.

Chapter 4: Ice Cream

May, 2004

She always liked being there –the Stevens' house. To Tawny, it was a home away from (the cramped, drab apartment her and her father called) home.

"Tawny."

She was sitting in the Stevens' living room, waiting for Louis to finish getting ready. It was the night of the big 8th grade formal, which Tawny found ridiculously stupid. Still, Louis had asked her to go to it with him and she said yes.

"Tawny!"

They had been dating for almost three months now. Tawny thought they were good together. But I wish things weren't so weird between me and Ren. The pale girl sighed; she missed the way things used to be.

"Tawny!"

"Huh?" The small girl looked up, startled out of her thoughts. Louis was standing in front of her dressed in black dress pants, a ridiculous shiny red dress shirt, a hideous Three Stooges tie, and what too closely resembled clown shoes. Still, it was cute when he made an effort –and for him this was making an effort- so a smile couldn't help but form on Tawny's lips when her eyes met his.

Louis smiled warmly back at the brunette. "Glad to have you back on this planet," he chuckled. "Hey, um… would you mind waiting a couple more minutes. I just have one more thing to do before we can go."

Tawny nodded. "I don't mind."

"Great," Louis said, darting back out of the living room. Before he made it even halfway down the hall, however, he stopped and turned around. He walked back over to his date and knelt down in front of her. "You look… um…" He chuckled nervously. "You look beautiful, by the way," he said, placing a delicate kiss on her forehead and then quickly exiting the room again.

Tawny smiled –Louis was sweet.

With him gone again, Tawny continued to wait alone in the living room. She fidgeted in her dress. It was black and strapless –she hated strapless. She loved sleeves. Of course, it was hard enough to find a long-sleeved dress during the winter –damn near impossible to find one in May. It probably was for the best though. Long sleeves would've been too hot. Not that being hot would've made the dress any more uncomfortable than it already was. Tawny continued to shift around in it.

While she was waiting (and fidgeting), Tawny noticed Ren and Ruby in the hallway. They noticed her as well, but of course Ren pretended not to. She quickly moved her gaze from Tawny down to a very intriguing floor tile. Tawny just rolled her eyes, knowing full well that Ren was trying to ignore her, and walked over to the two older girls.

"Hey, Ruby," she greeted the redhead.

"Hey, Tawn, you're lookin' extra special tonight. Date with Louis?" Ruby asked amiably. Since Ren and Tawny had stopped really talking to each other, Ruby had suddenly taken a liking to Tawny –or at least stopped hating her.

In response to the redhead's question, Tawny shook her head. "No date, not technically. We're going to the formal tonight."

Hearing these words, Ren looked up (apparently not finding the floor tile as intriguing anymore). "You're going to the formal together?" she asked, not even trying to hide the hurt in her voice.

"Well, we are dating," Tawny pointed out.

Don't remind me, Ren thought bitterly. She knew that they'd been dating and she had expected that they'd go to the formal together but still… "You never told me," she stated, a hint of both anger and hurt in her tone.

Tawny glared at the older girl who, even with Tawny in heels, was still slightly taller. "I never told you?" She shook her head and laughed bitterly. "Ren, if you mean I never told you that me and Louis were dating than you're wrong. I did tell you –you just didn't seem like you wanted to listen…" she paused for a moment to sigh. "But if you're talking about me not telling you that me and Louis were going to the stupid formal together than I guess you're right. Because, seriously, when could I tell you? You're always avoiding me for Christ's sake," Tawny spit, venting the frustration she'd been holding back for awhile now.

Ren shifted her gaze back down to the floor. "Louis and I," she mumbled, not having anything else to say.

"What?" Tawny asked in disbelief. Ren couldn't have said what I think she did, Tawny thought.

Ren continued to stare at the floor, avoiding making eye-contact with Tawny. "You said, 'me and Louis'. It should be, 'Louis and I'."

At this, Tawny had well passed her boiling-point. Luckily, Louis came back downstairs before she had time to explode. Oblivious to the tension in the room, he brushed passed his sister and Ruby to stand in front of Tawny.

"Here," he said, holding out a small box with a bow on it. "Mom wouldn't let me get you a corsage 'cuz she said I'd probably forget to give it to you and it would just end up rotting in my room. So, I got you this instead…" He opened the box, smiling hopefully at Tawny, revealing an expensive looking (at least for a 14 year old boy) bracelet.

Tawny stared at it for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"I know you like purple," Louis babbled, anxiously waiting for Tawny to say something. "And… and amethyst is your birthstone so… I mean, if you don't like it that's okay, I guess… I can always take it back to the jewelers… It's just I… I really like you Tawny and I just wanted to-"

"Thank you," Tawny finally said, stopping the curly-haired boy from babbling on any further. She would've said more, but she was too surprised. She never thought Louis really listened to her when she talked to him –but apparently she was wrong. She couldn't have mentioned her favorite color more than once or twice –but he remembered nonetheless. "I love it," Tawny said, giving Louis a kiss on the cheek and slipping the bracelet on her wrist.

Louis grinned goofily.

And Ren just looked on in envy.

Louis held his arm out for his date. "Shall we?" he asked in a bad British accent.

Tawny nodded with a laugh and looped her arm in his.

"Mom! We're ready!" the curly-haired boy shouted.

Mrs. Stevens came from the kitchen a moment later, complete with a brief lecture for Louis on how he doesn't have to shout when she's right in the next room. "How many times do I have to tell you, Louis? I can hear you when you talk normally. There's no need-"

"For shouting. Yeah, I know. Okay, mom," Louis nodded, used to this lecture by now. "Can we go now?"

Mrs. Stevens grabbed her keys and opened the front door, stepping outside. Louis and Tawny followed her out. Of course, in usual Louis fashion, the curly-haired boy couldn't leave without saying goodbye. "See ya later Ruby! Bye Dorkface!" he shouted as he closed the front door behind him.

"Louis! I just told you about your shouting. Why don't you ever lis-" was the last thing Ren and Ruby heard before the door shut completely.

The redhead laughed. "Wow, didn't think old Lou had it in him," she thought aloud after the three had left, leaving Ren and Ruby alone in the hallway. The redhead turned to Ren. "Never thought he could be so… romantic."

Ren rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he's a regular Prince Charming," she said sarcastically.

Ruby looked at her friend curiously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ren shrugged, "I just think you're giving Louis too much credit. It's just a bracelet."

"Please, just a bracelet? Come on, Ren, that thing must have cost him at least fifty bucks," Ruby said, following her friend into the kitchen.

"So? He stole some money from Donny to buy a bracelet. Who cares?" Ren asked, looking around the kitchen –deciding what exactly she went in there for in the first place.

"Stole? Louis might be a little… strange, but we both know he'd never steal anything," Ruby said, again giving her friend a curious look. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

The taller girl headed for the freezer, taking out every single flavor of ice cream that was in it. She got out a bowl and an ice cream scoop and started to systematically take one scoop out of each type of ice cream. "Yes, I'm sure. Nothing's wrong," she stated flatly.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Nothing's wrong? Ren, sweetie, you're making yourself a Rocky Road, Cookie Dough, Butter Pecan, Strawberry, Mint Chocolate Chip sundae in a mixing bowl. Something's wrong," she concluded. "Is it something to do with Louis and Tawny?"

"No," Ren lied, getting out the whipped cream and chocolate syrup. "It's not anything to do with Louis and Tawny. It's not anything,period." She proceeded to drench her sugary mess of ice cream with chocolate syrup. "Nothing's wrong. I'm perfectly fine."

With a heavy sigh, Ruby grabbed the nearly empty syrup container out of Ren's hand. "Honey, I've seen fine, and this…" she gestured to Ren's ice cream bowl with her free hand, "This isn't it." The redhead set the chocolate syrup down on the counter and put her hand on Ren's arm. "Now tell me, what's wrong?"

Ren stared, not saying a word, at Ruby for at least a minute. Then, removing Ruby's hand from her arm, she grabbed a spoon, took her bowl of ice cream, and walked out of the kitchen up to her room. Frustrated, Ruby called after her friend. "You can't avoid the question forever Ren!" she shouted as she followed Ren up the stairs.

"Yes, I can," Ren said, closing the door to her room in Ruby's face.

The redhead shrieked, now beyond simply being frustrated. "Fine!" she shouted through the door. "Just lock yourself in your room if that's what you want!"

"It is what I want!" Ren called back. "I'd also quite like it if you left me alone!"

"Fine! I will! I'll leave right now! Mark my words, I'll leave this instant! Yes sir-ee, I have no problem with walking out the front door right now!"

"Great," Ren shouted, plopping down on her bed, "Then, go already!"

"Fine, I will," Ruby said furiously, taking a few steps down the stairs. "Yep, I'm just gonna leave right now," she babbled to herself. "If Ren wants to keep something from me, then so be it… It's not like I really care all that much anyway… Nope, it's not like I'm dyin' to know what she's hiding… Not at all… Not one bit…" She had slowly made her way to the very last step, mumbling to herself the whole way down.

"Ruby," Ren opened her bedroom door and called down to her friend. She sighed. "I… I'll tell you."

In a split second Ruby had bolted back up the stairs and into Ren's room, closing the door behind her. She hopped on Ren's bed, grabbing the bowl of ice cream and tasting a spoonful –surprisingly, the strange concoction wasn't half bad. "Okay, spill," she commanded excitedly, patting a spot on the bed for Ren to sit down.

Ren sat down on her bed and ate a spoonful of ice cream to stall a little so she could gather her thoughts together.

Meanwhile, Ruby was waiting impatiently for Ren to spill her big secret. By the time Ren ate a second spoonful of ice cream, the poor girl was almost ready to burst. "Come on and tell me already! I'm dyin' here," the redhead said, her words coming out as a whine.

Ren swallowed her bite. She took a deep breath and started to twiddle her thumbs –staring at them intently.

"So…" Ruby urged her friend on.

"So…" Ren sighed out. The brunette looked up from her thumbs and into Ruby's eyes. She took another deep breath.

"Can you keep a secret?"