Disclaimer: I redundently disclaim all things Four Brothers...unfortunately...

Sorry about the wait, and this chapter's not all that long or useful... stupid homework wasting my time, lol. Anyway, I might possibly be able to get another chappie up by monday (depending on the weekend's homework load)...

Anyway, enjoy this chappie, and I'll keep working...

Ugh, and entire day of classes. No fun. Cal figured she'd probably checked her phone every 5 minutes for the entire second half of the school day. She wouldn't have been surprised if the hinges suddenly snapped in half from over use. But the day was over, it was almost 3. She figured she better lug all her books home for the weekend. There was quite a bit of homework if she ever decided to do any of it. It was nearly impossible to toss the heavy backpack over the back seat into the trunk space. She got it nearly over, but it caught on the seat and she had to shift and shove it over.

"Don't hurt yourself, Chick."

She nearly jumped out of her skin. She bashed the back of her head on the roof of the car as she spun around to see where the voice had come from. "Jesus, Jack!" He was laughing, which made her start to smile through her startled fear. She muttered "It's not funny you bastard, that hurt."

"I think you'll live."

"Yeah, but I'll be living in pain. You sure you can live with that?"

"I don't live with you, I don't have to hear you bitch too awful long. Keys."

"You're a little late, Jack. I've gotta head home soon."

"Keys," he commanded again.

"What makes you think I'm gonna let you drive my car again?"

"Don't make me hotwire the car Chick."

"What the hell is this "Chick" thing?" she asked, completely ignoring the threat.

"You're wasting time, keys first."

"They're in the drivers seat, now answer me, where did this Chick thing come from?"

He shrugged as he adjusted the seat back again. "It seemed to suit you."

"Is that a compliment or should I be offended?"

"Both." He started the car without looking over at her.

She laughed, but said, "Put your seatbelt on, loser."

"Yes mother," she got an eye roll.

"If I were your mother I'd be saying 'don't you roll your eyes at me, young man.' And then there'd probably be something along the lines of 'what are you thinking taking that girl away from school for nonsense.'"

"You're good at that," he smiled, still keeping his eyes on the road.

"Impressive considering I haven't had a mom for ten years." She realized immediately that that statement put him in an awkward position, so she switched gears. "So where are we going this time?"

"Best pizza place in town."

"Is there a reason?"

"I owe you food and I can't afford twenty dollar sandwiches." He heard her chuckle. "And tomorrow Alex decided to treat the band to a night out, so I figure you'd need most of tomorrow to prepare yourself for us." Now she groaned.

"Oh god, you mean I have to somehow withstand Alex for an entire evening?"

"I told you he didn't get the message the other night."

"And you're encouraging him by going."

"He's buying me booze, and I'll be there to kick his ass if need be."

"Jack, I swear I'll buy you a fuckin' keg, and refill it limitless times if you stop him from coming."

"Tempting," he admitted. He pulled the car to a stop by the curb, turned it off, and turned to look at her. "But where am I gonna hide a keg in my mother's house?"

Cal sighed, breathing "fuck" as she exhaled. But she was smiling even then.

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Jack reached for the door that she held open for him. She was looking around, taking in the unfamiliar scenery. He on the other hand found himself staring at her ass in that damn skirt. He jerked himself out of it. No, she's 17. She's not allowed to have an ass yet. Damn it.

The large sweaty Italian man behind the counter yelled a greeting to him, giving him something else to focus on. "Hey Jackie-boy, what can I do ya for?"

Jack looked over at Cal as he stepped up to the counter. She was eyeing the list of fruity pies in the display case, but then glancing up at the menu. "I have no idea," he replied with a little laugh. "What do you want, Chick?"

It was her turn to roll her eyes. She was already starting to get annoyed with the nickname. That definitely made it a keeper.

"I'm not too picky," she claimed, "Get whatever."

Great, she was gonna test his ability to read her mind. What did a girl like Cal like on her pizza? The problem was he'd never known anyone like Cal, so he had nothing to compare it to. Screw it, she'd said whatever, he was getting his usual. "The usual it is, Joe."

"Gotcha," he turned to start on the pie.

"Hey, is there any way it can be done in 15 minutes or less?" He had glanced at the clock and realized just how little time there was before Cal had to leave.

"Sure, as long as you're not picky."

Jack shrugged and walked over to the fridge full of sodas. He grabbed himself a Mountain Dew and tapped Cal on the shoulder with it to get her to pick her own. She jumped a little at the tap, and scrubbed at the moisture spot it left on her shirt. But after scanning her options she dragged a cherry coke off the shelf.

As they moved to a booth Jack motioned to Joe about the sodas. This was an absentminded move, though. He was focused on the fact that Cal had taken off her jacket. She was wearing the white button up blouse that completed her uniform, but this was the first time he'd seen her in it.

'God, Stop!' He thought. If he didn't stop hanging around this girl he was gonna get himself into trouble. At this rate he didn't figure he could make it until she was legal.

"So I take it you come here a lot." She observed.

"It's a five minute walk from the house. It's easy to escape to, and the food's good, and cheap."

"What exactly do you escape from?" She was intrigued but a little apprehensive.

He laughed, "Not the cops, if that's what you were thinking. There's always a cop or two hanging around here."

She nodded a few times before smiling smugly, "You didn't answer the question."

"Boredom, mostly. No one else is around during the day, except on the rare occasion that Bobby's home. And believe it or not, I'm not all that fond of soap operas."

"Really?" She asked sarcastically, "I woulda pegged you for one of those guys that got hooked."

"Yeah…no."

She chuckled a little but then she switched topics, which she seemed to be really good at. "So I really have to put up with Alex tomorrow?"

"It appears that way. Don't worry about it, I really will kick his ass if he gets outta hand, I wasn't kidding."

She glanced at the ceiling and smiled to herself. "Alright, I give up, but only because it'll be fun to watch Alex cry."

"Yeah except he's the one buying my drinks…"

"Trust me, if you beat the shithead up you can have whatever you want the rest of the night."

Jack chugged half his Dew before looking down at her. "I get the feeling your relationship with him wasn't the best."

"You're a genius Jack! It's like you can read minds or something!" Her sarcasm was harsher than his, but he'd already figured this was a touchy subject.

"What did he do?" (not that he needed another reason to beat up the idiot, but he still wanted to know)

"Lots, long story, not one I've ever told to anyone before."

The pizza was suddenly being placed on the table in between them. Jack devoured half a slice before Cal even managed to pull one off for herself. Surprisingly enough, in the next 10 minutes she'd downed three slices. Not bad for someone who'd probably eaten lunch only a few hours ago. Meanwhile Jack picked up the final slice to finish up. He was about to take a bite when he noticed the girl looking up at him with a knowing smile.

"What?"

"Nothing," she tried to keep her smile from growing wider, turning her face away.

"I'm hungry," he defended.

"Maybe you should lay off the pot." He gagged on cheese. "Alex is good at convincing people to join in on his bad habits."

"I'd already started when I met Alex… and it's not that bad!"

"Depends on how much you do."

"You're a fuckin' stoner!"

"I was, when I was dating Alex. Trust me, scary things can happen if you do drugs with that boy."

Jack silently chewed for a second, letting the information settle in. "You just said drugs…as in multiple."

"I thought we decided not to talk about me and Alex." She'd leaned her elbow on the table and was nervously stroking her neck.

"You started this conversation."

"I…dabbled." She admitted without looking up. "Some of it wasn't necessarily voluntary though."

Now Jack realized why she hadn't wanted to bring this up. It was directly linked to the 'what did he do' question. Son of a bitch, it wasn't gonna take much to make Jack punch the shit out of him the next night.

Cal looked at her watch, but it was obvious she felt bad about the whole eat and run situation. Jack wiped his mouth on his sleeve and grabbed the pizza tray in one hand, his now empty soda bottle in the other. He glanced over his shoulder to see the girl pull her jacket on as he pulled out the cash for the food.

Joe leaned forward on the counter to ask "Who's the hottie?"

Hiding his embarrassment with a smile the younger man said "Shut up, Joe."

"Oooh, must be serious." The man kidded.

"She's just a friend."

"Well in that case…"

Jack cut off his friend's old joke. "She's too young for you."

"No such thing," the man claimed.

"There is if you don't want to get arrested." He left the man stunned at the counter and led Cal out the door.

It was getting colder out now that the sun was setting. Jack stuffed his hands in his pockets only to remember that her keys were in there. He pulled them out and handed them over.

"You want a ride?"

"Nah, I'm good. You're gonna be late already anyway."

She nodded and moved to the driver's side of the car. "Thanks for the pizza."

"See ya tomorrow." He waved as she got in. By the time she drove off he had to yank his thoughts back to reality. She wasn't even all that perfect. She wasn't the bombshells he'd done in the past. And yet he kept having to rein his mind in to realize this. He wondered how long it would be before he wouldn't be able to pull back anymore.

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