Author: fraidy bat

Rating: T

Pairings: Olivia/Viola, Viola/Duke, Sebastian/Yvonne implied

Summary: 98 percent of the time still leaves two percent in which anything can happen. A sequel to He's Not You. Viola POV.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from She's the Man. None of it belongs to me.

Notes: Nobody panic, okay? ;)

Chapter 4

"I don't know why you had to insist on driving," I said, looking over at Duke from the passenger seat of his car. "At least pretend you don't already know where we're going."

Duke grinned and watched the busy Sunday afternoon shopping traffic weaving ahead of us. "Everybody already knows that I know, Viola."

"Yeah, but just imagine how disappointed people will be when they all yell 'surprise!' and you don't get scared and scream like a girl," I pouted.

"They'll get over it. Besides, it's my birthday, and embarrassing myself is not what I had in mind," he said, laughing a little.

"If you don't act even a little surprised, my mother might never forgive you." It was a dirty trick, but it was probably going to work.

A wary look came into his eyes, and I saw his Adam's apple bob up and down when he swallowed.

"W-why not?"

"Oh, you know my mom, she loves parties and planning and for things to be perfect, and if you aren't surprised at the surprise party she planned for you, her heart might break into a thousand pink, frilly, Martha-Stewart-wannabe pieces," I said breezily, nonchalantly gazing out the window. "Minus the prison time, of course."

"Prison time?" exclaimed Duke, starting to sound slightly alarmed.

"Martha Stewart. Not you, dummy."

Duke frowned and gripped the steering wheel extra hard. "Fine. Two blocks from your house, we'll switch and you can drive."

"And?" I inquired sweetly, hanging off his shoulder.

"And I'll…act surprised," he grumbled, but I could tell that he was trying not to smile.

I felt very reassured at this concession. Everything was starting to feel a little more normal, more like it was in the beginning. I was doing everything I could to banish the empty air that always seemed to settle between us now, and this birthday party for Duke felt like a big opportunity. I could show Duke how much I loved him and how much our relationship meant to me.

Yes. I can.

I would give him the very nice watch I bought him with my father's guilt money, and he would love it. We would be together, happy, surrounded by all of our friends at this perfect event. Duke would act surprised, Sebastian would play his guitar, barbecue and cake would be consumed, and things would get back on track.

Even as I tried to lift my own spirits through sheer force of will, I felt the now-familiar downward tugging of the thing that would not leave me the hell alone. It had been almost four weeks since I sat in the desk behind Olivia in McCoy's government class, and almost three weeks since I even realized someone named Greg Valerio existed, and I was really starting to dislike that guy. He just seemed so…phony. A little slimy, even. Olivia continued to reward his juvenile attempts at humor with soft laughter and short chats after class. She didn't totally ignore me again after the very first time, but her attention was definitely divided. I would do my best to send Greg the strongest "go the hell away" vibes I could muster, but it always seemed to take too long for him to shuffle off.

I couldn't understand why Olivia would give him the time of day, let alone encourage his behavior. He was probably just another obsessed psycho like Malcolm, or some horny jerkoff looking to get into her pants so he can brag to all his friends.

In fact, 'dislike' was not the right word. I loathed Greg Valerio. Despised. Wanted him to fall off the face of the Earth and leave Olivia alone. He irritated me in the worst way.

I was so darkly absorbed in my near-hatred for Greg that I didn't realize Duke had pulled the car over until he gently poked me in the ribs.

"Working out the secrets of the universe there?" Duke asked as his mouth curved into a half smile. "It's time for you to drive."

"Oh. Right." I flashed him my best 'I love you' smile and switched seats with him. I inwardly berated myself for letting my mind wander off when it this entire day should be about Duke.

Pulling into the driveway and putting the sedan in park, I rounded on Duke and whipped a strip of black cloth out of my pocket. "Blindfold, champ."

"Aw, come on." Duke got out of the car and started toward the front door. I darted in front of him and jutted my lower lip out.

"Please, baby? Please?"

After a heavy and melodramatic rolling of the eyes, he consented. Once the blindfold was secured, I led him up the steps and to the door. The house on the other side was eerily quiet. They know we're here.

I laid a hand on the door handle. It was unlocked, so I slowly swung the door inward and nudged Duke through. As soon as both his feet were in and I shut the door behind us, the crowd of people packed into the entryway of my mother's house erupted in unison:

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

I felt Duke's muscles jump a little under my hand, and he whipped the blindfold off to reveal a very convincing pleasantly surprised expression. Secretly, I think he really was a bit startled by all those people shouting at once, and him in a blindfold. Not that he would ever admit it. Guys from the soccer team and guys he knew from class began to crowd around him, clapping him on the shoulder or giving him those masculine guy-hugs that I found kind of amusing.

Girls began to advance on him, too. Some of them I knew, some I didn't. How many people did Sebastian invite to this party, anyway? Most of them gave him a little hug and said happy birthday, but a few were coming quite close to flirting with him. Truthfully, it didn't bother me that much. I was used to other girls doing double- and triple-takes with my boyfriend.

Now the crowd was starting to thin out and flow into other parts of the house, and it was like something out of a movie. I felt the brief impulse to turn around and look for Charleton Heston in his Moses costume behind me, parting the sea with his big staff. The mass of people seemed to split exactly in the middle, leaving a clear path to the grinning person waiting at the other side.

It's a damn good thing I already had a hand on Duke's arm, because the sight of Olivia standing there threatened to make me lose my balance and fall right over. She wore a black halter-top that showed way more skin than usual, and what beautiful, smooth, perfect skin it was. The tiny pair of shorts she had on accentuated all the right (wrong?) things, and even her feet looked adorable in the black flip flops she wore. After more than five months of friendship, I'd seen her in countless outfits (sweats, debutante gown, workout clothes, pajamas, jeans, t-shirts, mini-skirts, tank tops, sweaters, and so on), but for some reason, today in the entry hall of my mother's house, it was as though I was seeing her for the very first time.

She was here for Duke's party because this was Duke's day, but she was looking at me. The smile, the look in her eyes, the mysterious and indescribable allure that apparently came with this particular black halter—it was all for me. My face felt hot, and I realized the rest of me was starting to feel pretty warm, too. There was an ache in my chest that got worse with every second I spent looking at her. She waved and finally broke eye contact with me, and I wondered how long I had been staring at her.

She is so beautiful, I thought before I could stop myself.

As Duke waved back, I noticed that Kia and Paul were with her. My feet were moving; we were drawing closer to them.

"Hey, Duke. Happy birthday!" Olivia said brightly, standing on tiptoe to give Duke a light kiss on the cheek. I felt numb.

"Yeah, happy 18th, man." Paul punched Duke playfully in the shoulder. "I'd kiss you too, but Viola would murder me."

"Yeah, thanks," Duke said in mock discomfort.

I was barely keeping up with the conversation. Normal brain function had come to a screeching halt. I wanted to rewind and start this all over. Come in the door, everyone yells surprise, and don't look at Olivia that way. My heart was racing, and I searched for an escape route; I needed to get a hold on myself.

I felt a hand come to rest lightly on my arm. It was Kia, and the concerned way she was looking at me made me suddenly wonder if she was reading my mind. People were talking and laughing all around me, Duke included, and no one seemed to have noticed the trouble I was having except Kia. I forced a smile for her and turned my attention to Duke once more.

Don't look at Olivia, don't look at her, don't look…

"Oh hey, have you guys met my friend Greg?" I heard Olivia say, and felt instead of saw another person join our small group. Looking at Olivia right now was hard enough. I really didn't want to look at Greg, or meet him, or shake his hand, but I wanted even less to look like a complete jerk in front of everyone, so I reluctantly tore my eyes away from Duke.

This was the first time I'd really gotten a look at him that wasn't stolen in class or in the hall, and he was taller than I thought. I knew the ridiculous grin, though. That looked even more absurd up close. I had the unexpected and somewhat disturbing urge to knock every one of his straight white teeth out, preferably with a baseball bat.

"Great party, dude. Happy birthday," he said, and I almost rolled my eyes.

"Thanks, man," said Duke good-naturedly. "So how do you know Olivia?"

"From class," he replied, and I watched his hand move toward the small of Olivia's back and stop just before making contact. I guess he thought better of it. I plastered on the fakest fake smile ever when he instead offered the hand to me to shake. I hesitated for a split second before giving him the worst handshake I could.

"You're Viola, right? You're in McCoy's class too." He pretended he didn't notice how limp and dead my hand was.

"Yep, that's me. Viola."

"Aren't you—" he began, eyes narrowing. I had a suspicion about what this question would be if he actually had the balls to ask it. "Are you the girl that dressed up like a guy at the beginning of the year?"

I have to admit that I was a little impressed. "Me again, yes."

His eyes widened with interest. "So that guy playing the guitar over there—" he pointed into the living room at Sebastian, "—is your brother? The one you pretended to be?"

"Uh huh."

His grin got even wider, if that was possible. "Awesome."

Risking a look at Olivia, I thought I saw a flicker of annoyance flash across her face, but I might have been imagining it. I wouldn't have blamed her for being annoyed, though. This wasn't exactly a favorite subject for me, her, Duke, my brother, or anyone else involved. We had each had this conversation with half of Illyria already, and it got old pretty fast. I almost wished Greg would've pursued the issue more, as it might have made Olivia like him less, but sadly, he let it drop.

Paul enthusiastically introduced himself. Greg, despite my contempt for him, was quite the good-looking young man, and I think Paul was immediately a little smitten. I made a mental note to talk him out of it later. Kia briefly said hello to Greg before I felt her eyes on me again. How does she know that something is wrong?

"I'm going to get something to drink, so I'll see you guys later, okay? And happy birthday again, Duke," Olivia said, smiling before heading for the kitchen. Greg followed closely after her like a lovesick puppy. It was enough to make me gag.

Did he come here with her? Did they come together

I glared at Greg's back and grumbled under my breath, but the insistent tugging of Duke's hand on my arm brought me out of my dark thoughts. He pulled me through the house, high-fiving people all the way, until we were in the sunny backyard. Andrew was proving his manhood by barbecuing the burgers and hotdogs, and Toby was acting as deejay. The bass line of the song loudly playing right then reverberated through my body, and I closed my eyes, allowing it to take over my senses.

This was not going according to plan. Paying attention to my boyfriend on his birthday should not have been a struggle, yet it was. I was doing everything I knew how to feel close to him and connected to him, but I fell just short of the mark. I loved him, but the gap between us was widening instead of shrinking. All of a sudden, I felt so sad that I had to leave Duke's side and find someplace to sit down. The relationship was ending, right there in my backyard, with all my classmates laughing and talking, and that bass line pounding in my chest. I wanted to know if Duke felt it too, this inescapable finality.

As quickly as it appeared, the sadness gave way to a stubborn anger. No, this was not happening. This was my relationship, my life, my decision. I was not going to take this lying down. I refused to let go of him that easily. We would make it past this slump because I decided we would.

So, I recommitted myself (for the hundredth time) to loving Duke and getting the old 'us' back. I got up and walked over to where he was laughing with Andrew. I put my arms around him and kissed him. I didn't let go until Andrew made an uncomfortable coughing noise.

"Get a room, guys," he said, snickering.

Duke jokingly shoved him and leaned down to kiss me again. It felt good, nice…familiar. I put everything I had into that kiss, coercing myself into ignoring the growing knot of despair inside me and the lingering pain in my chest from before, when I had seen Olivia. I fervently hoped that the ache in my chest didn't mean that the thing I was so afraid of had finally happened, that the small Olivia-shaped hole in my heart had gotten big enough to actually hurt all the time.

Don't be stupid, I told myself. This is what matters. This is where you belong.

Duke held me in his arms, and I struggled to feel anything but conflicted.