Hi! This update has taken longer than expected, but here it is! This is probably my favorite chapter so far.


Zane entered first, being already familiar with the layout of the Gilbert home, and Emma followed a few seconds after and shut the door.

"What's this about, Zane?" She asked in an accusatory tone.

"Do you have to always talk to me like that? Like my mere presence offends you?"

He looked at her, something akin to disgust in his tone and turned around to look out her window. Emma stared at his back, not sure how to take his tone, and not liking the small hint of an insult behind it.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because every time I see you, you can't help but do something selfish."

"Yeah, well I'm coming to you now for help. I came here to talk to you, and for you to listen to me. But I suppose you don't remember when we actually used to be close, do you?"

"Don't twist this around to be about me."

Zane let out a heavy sigh and turned around to sit on the window seat so he was facing her. If both wanted to be honest, they had no idea how they got to the point where they were basically rivals at best. There was once a time where they were friends. Good friends. Being that their fathers were business partners, they spent a fair amount of time with one another when they were younger. And with Zane being only a year older than her, compared to the children of their fathers' other associates, they had been closer with one another than they had with the younger children. That closeness changed once they were in high school, and all but diminished when Zane began acting like an irresponsible, money-flaunting, self-entitled person. It wasn't until Zane learned their secret that Emma started thinking that maybe he was starting to become the friend that she could one day trust again.

Emma walked toward where he sat and took a seat on the edge of her bed directly in front of him. She could see the dark sky behind him, and wondered by his wind-tossed hair whether he came straight from home or if he'd walked around for a bit beforehand. Looking at his face once more, she let out a sigh.

"Fine; I'm sorry for the way I asked before. But you can't say it wasn't justified."

"I agree." He looked up, and a hint of a smile graced his lips before disappearing again. "And I'm sorry for coming here so late, especially unannounced. I know this is the night before you leave and you want to be with you family…"

"It's fine." She brushed the concern off, and instead concentrated on trying to get him to meet her eyes. "What's going on, Zane?"

As soon as the words left her lips, he stood abruptly, like it took all of the energy he had to keep still for as long as he had.

"It's Rikki. She won't talk to me." He began pacing around her room, running his hand through his already disheveled hair. "I mean, when she broke up with me I deserved it. I know that, and I accept that. But after a while I thought we could have put that behind us so that we could go back to being friends, or at least a shadow of that. If we were still talking, then I know she would have an easier time forgiving me and then I could ask her for another chance. But these past few weeks…"

He stopped pacing and looked down at the floor.

"She will barely even look at me, much less talk."

"Maybe she's just been busy. She hasn't said much to Cleo and I either. She's been putting in a lot of time at the café so she has money for school." Emma spoke softly, hoping that her words gave him some sort of comfort. He wasn't the only one who could barely get in touch with Rikki. It seemed that the only times she saw the other blonde was when they made trips to Mako, or when she visited the café.

"It's not just that. She isn't just working there to have play money. She's doing it because she's not sure how she'll afford it. She hasn't heard from the loan company yet about how much she'll get in aid, and her father has told her that if they can't come up with the rest of the money then she'll have to take the year off."

Emma wished she could say she was surprised, but she knew as well as everyone else that Rikki's financial situation had never been very good. What she was surprised at, however, was how much Zane knew about it.

"If you and Rikki haven't been speaking, how do you know all of this?"

Zane had the decency to look ashamed. "I've had some friends of mine keep an eye on her. One of them overheard the conversation between her and her dad a few weeks ago."

Emma looked scandalized, and Zane put his hands up to delay the lecture she was going to give him.

"I know it was wrong to spy on her, but what else could I do? Every time I've tried to approach her all I've gotten is silence or her turning her back to me. I'm out of options."

"You know the sure fire way to get her to talk to you again? Actually let her do the talking. You've just said she's got a lot on her plate. Don't you think she's got bigger concerns to worry about without you adding to them? She just needs her space."

Zane breathed a heavy sigh, but Emma wasn't finished with him yet.

"And how dare you spy on her?"

"I'm trying to help her!"

"How?"

Zane sat down on the window seat again. "I know she's worried about money to pay for school. And I know she won't take a handout under any circumstances. So, I wanted to talk to her and maybe... trick her into telling me how much more she is trying to raise so that I could match it by telling her that I checked the old accounts from 'Rikki's' again. Maybe tell her I miscalculated something and that we had some left over cash to split."

"And you don't think she would be even a bit skeptical about that?" Emma raised an eyebrow, but Zane shook his head.

"No, she wouldn't. It would explain why I keep asking her questions, and it would also make sense if I told her that I had my dad's personal accountant check everything over and he said there was an error on our part. I could say something along the lines of having money not accounted for properly by one of our financial backers or whatnot. I don't know, but I would think of something."

"And whatever money you would give her would just be yours?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know, Zane. You know what she would do if she ever even found out about you making this plan, let alone executing it? She'd never trust you again."

"She doesn't trust me now. I wouldn't necessarily be losing anything, would I?"

They stared each other down, each willing the other to reconsider their opinions. After a few seconds, Emma looked away and moved to sit next to Zane on the window sill. Zane was caught off guard, but relaxed, remembering how comforting having her around used to be when they were friends.

"I know you don't think it's a good idea, but unless I say her father inherited a large sum of money, I'm out of options."

"I understand, Zane." Emma maneuvered to the side, leaning her back against the side of the wall so she was facing him. "Look, I may not know what happened to get you two to the place you're at right now. But I do know that if Rikki isn't speaking to you, that means she's still hurting. That's not something anyone but her can fix."

Zane just lowered his head to his hands and took a breath.

"What happened that day? The day you kissed Sophie?" Emma asked, and Zane looked up at her, moving his body position to match hers on the opposite side of the seat. "I've only heard Cleo and Rikki's version, but obviously there is more than just one side."

"That's just it. I didn't want it!" Just the memory of that day made him furious, not just for Sophie's manipulations, but of how stupid he was to believe her and not his girlfriend.

"What didn't you want?"

Emma reached over and put her hand on the one of his that was currently clenching around his knee. That small gesture…just that little bit of contact was enough for Zane to open up about every detail since Sophie came to work for him. He talked about everything from his feelings about the café, to him and Rikki arguing over accounts, to Rikki dealing with the water tentacle and how he couldn't bring himself to be bothered with it due to all of the stress he was under to keep his business above ground. It felt good to tell someone about all of his feelings, especially those pertaining to his father. Emma had been around the man enough to know the kinds of pressure he constantly put on Zane. She was probably the only one he could talk to about his father. He couldn't even talk to Nate about it, no matter how loyal his best friend was.

By the time he had finished his story, the clock read way past ten o'clock pm. Glancing at it, then back at her, he stood from his place.

"I've stayed way later than I intended to. I have to go."

Emma stood also, walking to the door to open it. She nodded and began walking out into the hall when his hand grabbing her wrist stopped her.

"Emma…" She looked up at him. "I…thank you for listening. I know a lot has changed between us, but…just, thank you."

Emma nodded. "It's fine, Zane."

She looked him in the face again and bit her lip. He still had a hold on her wrist, but tightened the grip at seeing her expression. They might not have gotten along in a few years, but he still knew her habits well enough to know that she had something to say and was debating whether or not to say it. Emma looked down at her arm before looking up again.

"I was just going to say…well, I wanted you to know that I don't hate you. There are still a lot of things about our friendship that we haven't talked about…"

"You don't have to say anymore. I understand what you mean. I just want to thank you again, and wish you good luck at Melbourne."

"Thanks."

They smiled at each other, whether for formality's sake or what, they didn't know. But a shadow of the former bond they once shared was present, and that was something that was worth being optimistic about.


Hope you are enjoying. Please review and let me know what you think so far!