Disclaimer: I own nothing that incorporates with "NDSSG". The feedback is still PHENOMENAL as always. And I was so inspired I managed to wrack up another rather lengthy chapter for you guys. (it's literally 12 pages on Microsoft word). But it should appease you if I don't update quickly. Enjoy as always! And remember to review!

Chapter 3: Survival Guide To: Old Flames

"Oh it's perfect! Jennifer will love this. You'll look so adorable together!" Mrs. Bigby raved.

"I don't know…you don't think it makes me look too James Bond-ish?" Ned said whipping around with his hands in the form of a gun.

Mrs. Bigby rolled her eyes and lightly tapped the back of his head. "Neddy please, for once you're going in nice formal clothes. No more of these flannels under the tux jacket." She said.

"But I like that style! It makes me who I am." He said defiantly.

"Well for one night, you'll be the formal, Bigby, Ned Bigby." Mrs. Bigby said creating the gun form with her hands and going back to back with Ned.

"Fine." He said laughing slightly."

Ned changed out of the tuxedo, which would be a complete surprise to Moze, as he and his mom had decided. While waiting in line to pay, Ned felt around in his pocket and realized he had left an important item that he needed to get fixed in the car.

"By the way mom?" He said

"Yes?" She replied.

"Do you know any jeweler stores in this mall?" He asked, trying to be nonchalant.

"Actually I do. One of my co-workers actually owns one in this mall. Why? You're not planning on grabbing a ring and hitching with Jennifer are you?" She joked..

Something about that idea trembled at his mind. He shook away his nerves.

"More like a surprise that I stashed in the car for Moze. Do you think I could get something done to it?" He said.

And without another word, Mrs. Bigby graciously paid for Ned's outfit and they both went back to the car to retrieve the surprise. "Make me proud Ned." She said. Holding the box in his hand, Ned felt confident. He walked up to the jewelry handing them the box.

"And what would you like to have done sir?" The teller asked.

"I need this," Ned handed him a piece of paper. "Inscribed into those items please."

"Right away." The teller replied.

"When will they be ready?" Mrs. Bigby asked. "And how much?"

"This will be around fifty dollars each. And if you want diamonds encrusted into the mold, it'll be an extra seventy five." The teller said.

"Put diamonds on this one then." Ned said, pointing to one of the items.

Mrs. Bigby smiled and took out her checkbook. Ned then stopped her. "I'll pay for it." He said, taking out an envelop that contained quite a bit of money.

"Ned, Moze, and Cookie Inc. always springing well at the last minute." He said kissing some of the wads goodbye.

"That'll be $175." The teller said. "And these will be done within a week."

"Perfect." Ned said smiling. Walking out of the store, he discarded the original box and dug his hands into his pockets, Mrs. Bigby had put her arm around him, messing with his hair a little, beaming with admiration, he felt fulfilled.

Ned and Mrs. Bigby walked over to the food court, arguing on the way on what they wanted to eat. Ned was feeling a need for fast food, while Mrs. Bigby wanted a contemporary snack of soft pretzels and a smoothie. Eventually they agreed on one of the many food types they could never pass down. They sat at one of the tables at the food court, enjoying Chinese food. They tapped their chopsticks together, continuing to enjoy their meal as Ned would make little ninja noises and swipe away at the rice. In between bites, Ned looked around anxiously to see where Moze was. She had been separated from them for about an hour and though he knew that girls loved to shop, Moze wasn't the girly girl type to shop for an hour straight. Soon his mind started to formulate the idea that possibly Suzie was in the mall, and she had tried to pursue her before he had the chance to talk first.

"Or maybe, she was possibly abducted by aliens!" Ned thought to himself.

"What ever you're thinking, it wasn't aliens..." Moze said behind him.

Turning back he looked up and saw Moze staring down at him. "How'd you know I was thinking that?" Ned asked.

"Because you do this questionable tilt with your head when you think up of stuff like this. You've done it for years." She said laughing, as she kissed him on the cheek and took her seat next to him.

"See Neddy, I knew you'd find a girl who knew you inside and out someday." Mrs. Bigby said, chomping down on an egg roll.

"Lo mein?" Ned said quickly before his mom could say anything else that would be crucially damaging.

"Gladly." Moze replied taking the last pair of chopsticks on the tray and picking at the container.

Ned looked at her and saw that though Moze seemed normal, there was something tense about her. Something was wrong, he could always tell when something was wrong. Even when Moze never wanted to speak of it, she didn't need to say any words, he could just feel it in her presence. He wanted more than anything to just be alone with her, to figure out what was wrong, to help her.

"You alright Moze?" Ned asked.

"Oh me? Yeah I'm just fine." Moze said covering up her eyes a little by pinching at the bridge of her nose.

Ned looked closer and could have sworn he saw a tint of red in her eyes, and a tearstain upon her right cheek.

"Alright guys, how about we take this stuff back to the car? And maybe we can have free leisure voyage time. I'll go my way to get these great curtains on sale!" Mrs. Bigby said.

Ned sat amazed. It was almost as if his mom was reading his mind, Then again, maternal instinct never was a factor that failed.

"Not at all. Let's go for it." Moze replied.

"Do you mind if we do some separate leisure voya-"Ned began.

"Don't be silly Ned." Moze started "Lets go with her to the curtain shop. I heard it's got really nice material. Maybe they'll need help cleaning!"

Ned looked at her completely puzzled. He knew usually Moze never was concerned about cleaning profusely unless she had something to hide. And still with those next couple of hours of going to stores his mother wanted to go to, Moze still didn't spill on what was bugging her.

"Just give it time…that's all it needs." Ned muttered under his breath.

The rest of the day, nothing still, and when they had departed from each other, the kiss was passionate with a hint of grief. It was then he knew that something was wrong, she just wasn't willing to say just what it was.

It played in her head over and over. Faymen Phorchin. How could he have returned so suddenly? So abruptly? She pictured the scene, her walking awkwardly around the mall, away from the level that the food court was on, stepping away from the escalator, turning around to see his smiling face after hearing his words "Thought you could get rid of me didn't you…". Telling her to pardon him for his manners to try to play a prank on her, a very poor one at that. In actuality it was creepier than it was funny. It was strange to be walking side by side with Faymen once again. It was even worse that every few seconds he would try to put his arm around her or hold her hand. She felt a pang of guilt and confusion consuming her. When she let go of her feelings for Faymen the day she found out Ned liked her, she gave away all inhibitions for him. She did like Faymen but she found that her feelings were not as strong for him as they were for Ned. Faymen didn't even know that Ned and Moze were going out.

"Jennifer, I wanted to give you this." Faymen said, taking a box out of his pocket. "Now that I am back, I want to give you the sacred stone, to keep this time. So then I will always come back to you.

"Faymen, I-" Moze began.

"Shh, no words my love. Just kiss me." Faymen said coming in for a kiss.

"Faymen, wait! Please!" Moze said pushing him away.

She looked down to the box to see the beautiful stone necklace with all its vibrant colors. Then she looked back up to the troubled Faymen. She sighed and tried to choose her words carefully.

"Faymen, I need to tell you the truth. And I really hope you don't hate me for this." Moze began.

"I'm listening, what's wrong Jennifer?" Faymen said concerned.

"When you left, I-…well, I-I found someone new." Moze continued. She waited for the information to sink in and went on. "It's actually someone you know. Someone you always told me you were jealous of…"

"You're now steady with Ned?" Faymen asked.

Moze nodded and handed back the box to Faymen. "We've been going out probably a couple of days after you left. After the big field trip to the museum…" She said.

"I see.." He said quietly.

"I don't want there to be any hard feelings on this Faymen. I did like you. And I know you liked me as well… but-" She said.

"Jennifer, it was more than liking you. I was crazy about you. As vice principal Crubbs said, I had puppy love for you. I couldn't eat, sleep, or concentrate. Even while I was gone for that short time in Brazil." He said.

"Extremely short Faymen…you were probably gone for maybe a week and a half." She said.

"Well…we are fast." He said.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" She asked.

"The truth is Jennifer, when I told you that the two loves of my life was soccer and you, I didn't realize which one was stronger, until I had left. You never left my mind, and I failed miserably at giving soccer everything I had. And I realized it was because I had left everything with you." He said. "Jennifer, I'm close to being laid off. And I came back here to America to see you to heal myself. Thinking if I knew I had you to come back to, I would play better, to play for you."

"Faymen…look, I think it's sweet of you to say all of this. But the truth is for me, before you left, I wasn't sure how I felt about you versus how I felt about Ned. That's why I did that Teen Zine quiz on you. You aced it, but it was just a stupid test out of a stupid magazine. And soccer is your part of your dreams, don't let someone like me consume your dreams. Can you understand that?" She said.

"But Jennifer, isn't it a custom in this country that when you ace a test, you receive your reward?" He asked.

"Sometimes, but this is different Faymen, this is life." She said.

"And if I told you I would fight for you?" He asked.

"I'd have to tell you no. I think it'd be better if you just let me go. Focus on soccer, and be that amazing soccer player." She replied.

Moze and Faymen stood in front of each other for a few minutes. As bad as Moze did feel, she knew the only way to deal with an old flame that still had feelings for you but you just didn't have them back, was to tell them the complete truth, no matter how harsh it may have been.

"Please accept this Faymen. I know it hurts, but you are a great catch. Some girl out there will be swept off her feet by you, and you can give this stone to her." Moze said trying to break the ice.

"I cannot do that Jennifer." Faymen said, pushing the box into her hands.

"Faymen I can't accept this from you." Moze pleaded.

"But you must Jennifer. For just like my heart, it belongs to you. It will always belong to you. Even if I go with nothing to return the favor." Faymen said sadly

"Faymen, please don't do this." Moze said, tears of frustration were starting to form in her eyes.

"Jennifer, please don't cry." Faymen said taking her into his arms for a small embrace.

Moze shook away from the fresh memory, holding on to her puppy bear and sitting at the corner crevice of her bed. She looked over to her dresser and there in its case was the stone. She didn't want to touch it, not even look at it. She wanted to cry, but she felt she didn't have much left to shed. Moze wasn't much of a tearjerker, and even when she did cry it was short and brief, but very draining. She did her share of crying at the mall after leaving Faymen. She felt as if she was in a romantic movie gone terribly wrong, as if each of her steps were in slow-motion and he just stood watching her fade away. She still hadn't told Ned about her encounter, and she feared of the damage that it could do if he found out. She remembered the night that followed after Lisa and Cookie's first pizza date, walking home hand in hand with Ned for the first official day of them being a couple.

"So I can still tell you anything right?" Ned asked.

"Well, I am still technically your best friend. Just got a new title to me." Moze replied.

"To be honest, I shouldn't have let that whole triangle go so far. I wanted to tell you about my feelings, but when I saw Suzie-" He began.

"I know. I froze too." She replied. "And you know for a while there, I thought it was a sign."

"Telling you what?" He asked.

"Telling me that you and I were meant to just stay friends. We did take a huge step here you know." She said.

Ned and Moze walked in silence for a block or two before he finally let out the last of his small confession. "I really wished that Faymen would disappear so it'd be easier. I mean, after hiding out in the janitors room for about half the day-" He began.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Sweeney wondered why you weren't present even though he'd seen you in homeroom." She said laughing.

"Well I'm sorry, I was just a little freaked about that test of yours. Which by the way, I still hold that it wasn't Ned Bigby who took it. It was Den Ybgib." He reemphasized.

Moze laughed. "Ned Bigby, Den Ybgib, The Wild Boy-" She said, hearing an African chant song in her head as she said the last three words. "I'd take you no matter who, or what you are. I've been through it all with you.

"Yeah, and I intend to keep it that way. You're only half way there Moze." He joked.

"Really? Cause I thought after this, it was pretty much the end." She said smiling at him.

They had gotten to her front porch, facing each other, holding hands.

"I did say I'm ready if you are." He said.

"And I said bring it on." She said still smiling.

"Oh, it's already been brought." He said, with overdramatic triumph.

She laughed and they succumbed to their second kiss as a couple on the porch. They could have sworn they heard the soft music in their heads.

"I think we should revise it to best day ever." He said breathlessly.

"Agreed." She said.

"Also, we have to promise there will be absolutely no holding back. We're still the same people, just on a new step. Agreed?" He said.

Moze didn't answer him, she simply just kissed him and there they felt complete. Breaking out from the second imagination, Moze sat and thought, "I really need to stop thinking so much."

She pushed back her curtains and saw the sun was starting to set. She looked across the yard to see if Ned had ever decided to close up his blinds, but just like the typical person he was, he still hadn't gotten around to it. She could see him writing fervently on a piece of paper with a guitar on his lap. He had gotten better with taking steps to "rock out" or as he said "Just want to be a rock star." It seemed Ned Bigby was working closer to that dream. She saw him strumming away at the guitar, opening his mouth to let out a certain symphony that she wished she could hear. Truthfully she'd never heard Ned truly sing with a serious tone. He looked so concentrated. And she felt herself falling more for him with the sight of him working so hard.

"I can't keep this from him." She said out loud. "It wouldn't be right. And I can't ruin it. I can't ruin us. I won't let this ruin us.

Moze picked up her cell phone and pressed the speed dial number one.

"Hello?" He said.

"Hey you. See you haven't gotten your blinds situated yet." She said.

"How did you…ohhh." He said, looking out through the window.

He saw her clearly, she waved to him and he almost fell out of his chair.

"Working hard?" She asked.

"A little bit, just writing a tempo here or there." He said.

"Well…can you take a break? I kind of want to hang out. Talk a little bit." She said.

"Yeah sure. I'll meet you in…now." He said with a smile.

"Sounds great." She said hanging up the phone.

Before Ned had gotten out of his room, he had closed the blinds shaking his head, grabbed his converses and jetted out the door. Moze stuck her cell phone in her back pocket called out to her parents to say she was going for a walk around the block with Ned. Of course they would never mind. And as she opened the door, Ned was already there waiting for her. They were alone at last. For a few moments they were enjoying each others company without saying anything to each other. It was the best connection they had ever felt with anyone, to be able to be in comfortable silence without anything being awkward. Yet Ned was still worried about Moze, even as she clung herself onto him, he could have sworn he felt her trembling.

"Tell me what's wrong." He said softly into her ear.

"I don't want you to hate me too." She replied, fighting back tears.

"How could I ever hate you? You're my best friend and my girlfriend, I could never hate you." He said.

Ned laced his arm around Moze's waist and they continued their walk around the block, passing by each house that they had known since their toddler years. Moze tried so hard to sustain any sign of weakness that would show in her face. She was strong, she wasn't known to cry and truthfully the last time Ned had ever seen her cry was when she had fallen down on the sidewalk scraping her knee, and that was when they were only six years old.

"Can you tell me your tips on old flames?" She asked breaking the silence.

"Never let an old flame get under your skin." He said quietly. "Why?"

"Anything else?" She asked.

"Always be straightforward no matter how hard it is." He replied.

"And what if you're with someone and you encounter an old flame?" She asked.

"Let them down as easy as you can. Feelings may get hurt including your own, but sometimes it's for the best." He said.

"Then I did the right thing?" She questioned to herself out loud.

"Did what right Moze?" He asked.

Moze sighed, cupped her face into her hands, and then looked at him with glassy eyes. Ned took her hands away from her face and held on to them tightly.

"Moze you know you can tell me anything. What's wrong? What happened?" He asked urgently.

Moze looked at Ned with her big brown eyes and got lost into his blue eyes, feeling the strength and security to pull through with telling him about her encounter with Faymen. She had went into full detail about their conversation, about how Faymen was still in love with her, about how he had wanted her to keep the necklace, and how he wouldn't accept it back from her. About how she was supposedly the cause of why he performed so badly for his new soccer team. About how he had voiced his true opinions on his jealousy towards Ned and that if she had nothing to say about him to fight back for her, he would fight back.

"It's the guilt Ned. It's guilt that's eating me up inside, and as much I didn't want to hurt him, I thought about you the whole time. And I thought about how happy I am when I'm with you, and I thought about how I didn't want him to ruin that." She cried.

And there, for the first time in years of ever being seen, Ned saw a tear stray from Moze's eyes. He swiped them away briskly with his thumb, and kissed her tenderly.

"I just didn't want him to hate me, and then I just felt like, I was the bad person. But I know I like you, I like you more than I probably know right now, and as much as it scares me, I couldn't fight off that feeling. As much as he was pleading with me to fight it." She continued.

"Moze, it's okay. It's fine." He began.

"And then he went on about how I took a risk of everything with our friendship to go into a relationship. Ned, it just scared me." She said.

"It's fine to be scared Moze. I mean, I was scared too. I don't want to lose you as my girlfriend and I don't want to lose you as my best friend. You're the one person that's mattered over the little things in life. Moze, I don't hate you. I'm proud of you." He said.

"Then why do I feel so rotten?" She said quietly.

"Because it's always hard to face an old flame who you had feelings for. Sometimes closure is one of the hardest things to face." He replied. "But I think you did it just fine."

"I tried to give back the necklace and everything, but he kept refusing. So it's at home on a desk somewhere, just sitting there. And I left leaving him with his silence. It hurt, honestly it hurt pretty bad to know I did that to a friend. And that necklace, it's just going to plague me." She said.

"You can survive it. A little tip though any time an old flame gives you an item to remember them, it's okay to put it somewhere you can look back in a couple of years, cause by then, it'll be a memory to look back too, with no consequences." He said.

"So I should put it with the rest of the memory items I have." She said.

"Well, if you leave it out in the open, it'll be like the tell-tale heart only in Brazilian necklace form. And if it keeps calling for you, I may be a little worried and have to send you to the nice quiet place." He said matter of factly.

Moze punched him in the stomach slightly laughing for the first time in the conversation, and then wrapped her arms around Ned. Her big brown eyes protruding into his blue eyes and she felt an overwhelming emotion overcome her, yet she contained herself. Her lips were trembling and yet no sound came out. She didn't know if it was more of a silent cry of grief or a silent cry of triumph that she got over the confrontation and Ned was still by her side one hundred percent.

"With everything that happened today, I can understand why you didn't want to talk to Suzie." She said.

Ned froze for a second, clearing his throat. He looked into Moze's eyes, deeply entranced, and sighed. He kissed her eyelids, and then kissed her lips to stop the trembling. He took her hand and rubbed her knuckles to calm her down. Moze kissed him once again, and they continued their walk around the park once again, feeling stronger than ever, and yet Ned had a cloud of guilt above him for not confessing that he had seen and talked to Suzie about an hour before he had seen Moze. Old flames, they take a literal term of meaning. They burn and keep burning. And the only way to let it die down is time itself.

"But how can I get what Suzie said out of my head." Ned thought. "When she told me…she still liked me. And that she was going to fight for me and everything else…."

"Ned?" She said, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Huh? What? Yeah the sky is pretty blue." He replied quickly.

"What's going on?" She said, arching her eyebrow.

Ned sighed and looked at Moze and said "I guess we both got the double wham on old flame confrontations today. Specifically ones who want to fight for us…"

"You saw Suzie…" She began. "And you talked to her…"

"Yeah. Pretty much." He said, letting go of her hand and scratching the back of his head. "She said a lot of pretty deep things."

"Like?" She said.

"Well…she still has feelings for me." He said.

"Kind of figured that if she's fighting back for you." She said, beginning to walk again, folding her hands together. "What else?"

"She said I was apparently one of the people she thought was worth coming back for to Polk." He said

"And let me guess, Loomer's in there too?" She said rolling her eyes. "What a joke."

"Actually…he's not. And she said you were in that list of people." He said quietly.

Moze stopped in her tracks, completely stunned. "She did?" She asked softly.

"Yeah…" He began. "And there was a complete of tears here and there, and then she tried to kiss me…"

"She did what?" She said alarmed and angry.

"Moze, relax, I didn't let her. I moved away and she fell to the floor." He said reassuringly.

"How could she just- after telling you that- what?!" She exclaimed.

"The thing with old flames is, they never seem to make any sense in the first confrontation. So maybe if I talk it out a little more, get her to move on and let go, she'll understand and learn from it." He said.

"Ned, what if she tries to kiss you again each one of those times, and actually succeeds." She asked.

"It wouldn't mean a thing. Moze, she can't kiss me and send that spark of fireworks in my head like you do." He said.

Moze edged closer to him, smiling and taking his hands in hers. "And honestly, you're a better kisser than her." He added.

"Great, stuck with the old flames who have trouble kissing." She said softly, chuckling.

"Yeah, but without learning from that, it wouldn't have gotten us here." He said. "What ever happens happens. But right now, it's you I'm focused on. And surviving the rest of the two weeks of Polk. And what ever comes our way, we can survive it."

"Everything happens for a reason?" She said.

"Everything happens for a reason." He said reassuringly, and then kissed her deeply.

They went hand in hand again, walking towards the first lit streetlight creating another beautiful memory to remember.

And voila for chapter 3. Review if you wish and I hope it met with your standards. Chapter 4 to be up and running soon. However, honestly answer: would you mind if I had it in different chapter parts? Cause right now I'm pretty much exceeded the number of pages chapter 3 is right now. (it's the prom chapter btw D) Let me know, and again I'm really flattered with all the favorite alerts and stuff, be sure to review though at the same time!