note: So thanks for the reviews, everyone. Just so you lot know, there's only one more chapter after this, so no mas after the next chapter. Anyhoo, enough rambling.

Don't own MSB.

Enjoy!

different names for the same thing
by, the ultimateSora

chapter five

After Arnold dropped Phoebe off at her house, she jumped in her Jeep before D.A. knew she was home, and she took off for Archibald's, not knowing a 2003 Toyota Land Cruiser was following her. She parked in front of Archibald's house, and she got out, walking up to the front door. Archibald answered when she knocked, and when she threw herself in his arms, he returned the hold. Arnold was parked down the driveway, and he drove off, deciding to return when Phoebe wasn't there.

Inside the house, Phoebe and Archibald pulled at one another's clothes, their lips not straying far from each other. She was throbbing between her legs, her muscles strained, and her back was pocked with bruises and carpet burns from the night before but she didn't care. She needed him. She kissed whatever bare skin of his was showing, and when they were naked, she pulled him to the couch. She moved to be on top, but he pulled back.

"Phoebe, wait."

"What is it?" she asked, breathing hard.

"Before we make love, I want to clear some things up." He held her upper arms, giving them a gentle squeeze. "I thought about you a lot this weekend, and I care about you, Phoebe. Deeply, but to be honest, I'm not comfortable about loving you just yet."

She shook her head and put her hands on his chest. "Oh, Archibald, that's fine...really! I know you care for me, and if it'll take time for you to love me, that's fine. I just wanted you to know how I feel."

He sighed and looked down. "I also...just wanted you to know...I'm still uneasy about the age difference."

"You know I don't care about that."

He nodded. "I know you don't, but...sometimes, when I think about you...I'll see you as you are now...and then...then I see the little girl I used to teach."

She stepped back. "Oh...oh, Archibald, I didn't know..." She took a deep breath and stepped closer. "But you know..." She grasped his hard-on. "I can make you forget what I looked like twelve years ago."

With her other hand, she cupped his neck, pulling him in for a deep kiss. She stroked his erection with a slow motion, and she used her whole body to direct him back to the couch. Archibald sat down, and Phoebe straddled his lap, guiding him in her as she moved her hips down, wincing some from the pain, her insides feeling raw. She held his neck in her hands, her thumbs stroking his cheeks, and she kept her movement slow.

"Oh, Archibald..." she moaned. "I've missed you."

He gripped her butt, helping her move faster, and he leaned forward to kiss her shoulder. She yelped when he picked her up and, staying inside of her, set her on her back on the couch, him on top. He kept his rhythm slow, but with each thrust, he pumped hard and eased back. Every time he pushed in her hard, she let out a high-pitched gasp of both pleasure and pain, and he made each pump harder, just to hear her make that sound. She smiled up at him, running her hands along his chest, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. She pressed her lips on his collarbone, moaning against his skin, as he made his rhythm faster. The skin of her back was in agony, the carpet burns beginning to bleed a little from being rubbed raw on the couch, but Archibald distracted her from that.

When they were done, he laid back on the couch, and Phoebe moved so she could lay somewhat on top of him, her leg slung over his hips. She ran her finger along his chest hair and heaved a sigh. "Archibald...I have to confess something."

He ran his fingers through her hair. "What is it?"

She propped herself up some and took a deep breath. "Arnold and I...we...on this trip...we slept together this weekend." All he did was nod. When he was silent for a moment, she said, "Archibald...please say something. Anything."

"Well, what should I say? I told you that we weren't exclusive."

She moved up to see him better. "Don't think this means I don't love you."

"Is Arnold your ex? The one you dated for two years?"

She nodded. "But that was in high school."

"Do you still love him, Phoebe?"

She swallowed hard, focusing her attention away from his face. "I...don't know, really. When I was with him, I felt like I did, but now, I don't think I do." She kissed his chest. "I love you."

He sat up, pulling from her hold, and he reached for his discarded boxers. "I think you should go home. We both have class tomorrow."

She grabbed the blanket hanging on the back of the couch, and she wrapped it around herself. "No, Archibald, I want to stay with you tonight."

He slipped his slacks on, and he picked up his shirt. "No, Phoebe. I would rather you went back to Providence tonight."

She bit her lip and nodded. She grabbed her clothes, putting them on as fast as she could. She headed for the door, stopped, and she turned around. "I'm coming back tomorrow."

He nodded, and she walked out to her Jeep. She drove back to Providence, parking behind Dorothy Ann's 450SL, and she hoped D.A. was in bed when she walked in the front door. She was, and Phoebe felt her way to her room in the dark.

Dorothy Ann was walking to her next class the following morning, listening to her R.E.M. mix on her iPod, when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to see Arnold, and she smiled as she pulled her earphones out. "Hey, Arn. What brings you to bother me today?"

He gave her a sarcastic smile. "Cute."

They started walking, and she asked, "So how was formal?"

He took her by surprise when he answered, "I think Phoebe's dating someone else."

D.A.'s eyes went wide. "I knew it!"

"You did?"

She shrugged. "Well, actually, I'm assuming. She's been acting weird lately."

"More so than usual?"

They both chuckled, and she nodded. "Definitely." She tilted her head. "So what makes you think she's with someone else?"

"I overheard her leaving him a voicemail." He decided to leave out his suspicion that it was Mr. Seedplot, mostly because he didn't want anyone to know Phoebe was rejecting him for a middle aged man.

They started walking. "Any ideas who it might be?"

He shook his head. "None." He hoped in their sixteen or so years of friendship she hadn't picked up on how to know when he was lying.

She hadn't. "I'm like freaking over who it is," she said. "Phoebe's had her random crushes, but you were the only one she liked for more than five minutes and actually dated. Well, you and Mr. Seedplot."

He snapped his head towards her. "What do you mean?"

"It was so obvious she liked him back in the day. I think he was her first crush, and you were her first 'boy her own age' crush."

He scratched his chin. "Seedplot, huh? Think she ever got over that?"

"Probably. She only had eyes for you from the third grade on. Well, maybe except for now."

He touched her arm and stopped walking. "Phoebe and I slept together this weekend."

D.A.'s eyes bugged out. "What? She never told me that!"

"Shh!" He lowered his voice. "But it wasn't the same. She started to be the old Phoebe some the last time we did, but before that, she was distant and not so much into it."

"Odd. Then she must be with someone else because..." She grinned. "From what I understand, Arnold Perlstein is quite endowed and excellent in bed."

His face turned beet red. "Why must girls tell each other everything?"

"Hey, I'd be happy if I were you. Carlos doesn't have...the same reputation as you."

He laughed. "Remind me not to date you then cheat on you."

D.A. laughed, and when they resumed walking, she snapped her fingers. "Hey, maybe if I get Phoebe drunk enough, she'll spill it."

Arnold laughed. "Phoebe's a lightweight. I doubt her liver will like that."

"Yeah, true."

They felt someone tug on their bags, and they turned to see Janet behind them. "If you two are now dating, that would make me happy." She popped Arnold on the arm. "Lord knows D.A. is ten times better than the 40 pound tumor you had in high school."

Arnold rolled his eyes, and D.A. said, "Well, we were actually talking about her."

Janet grimaced. "Ew."

Arnold shot Janet a look. "What is it exactly you have against Phoebe? You've never liked her."

"It's obvious, isn't it?" D.A. asked him. "Janet has repressed homosexual feelings for Phoebe that she just hasn't come to terms with."

Janet narrowed her eyes. "D.A., I'm not a fucking retard like Wanda. I know what you said, and what you said was utter bullshit. I'm not a freakin' lesbo for Phoebe."

Arnold shrugged. "I don't know, Janet. We Perlsteins are irresistible to Tereses. I bet if you approached her, she'd go out with you."

Janet plugged her ears. "La la la! I hate you guys! I'm going to class!"

She sprinted off, and D.A. and Arnold high fived. "We make a good team," she said.

He nodded. "It's weird, but yeah, we do."

Arnold watched as Phoebe left Archibald's the following night. He had to confirm his suspicion, and he drove down the dirt and sand driveway. He parked where Phoebe's Jeep had been, and he got out, smoothing down his t-shirt as he walked up the porch steps. He knocked on the door, and he saw a silhouette of a man on the other side of the curtains. Arnold's face fell when he saw that he had been right.

"May I help you?" Archibald asked, a small smile on his face.

Arnold don't know what came over him, but only a second that felt like five minutes passed as Arnold's left fist met Archibald's jaw. He stumbled back, holding his jaw, and Arnold kept both of his fists at the ready, despite being in shock that he just hit a man about twenty years older than him.

"Stay away from her," was what Arnold managed to get out.

Archibald straightened up, and he looked at him. "You must be Arnold. That's quite a left hook you have there."

He stepped closer to Archibald. "I know about you and Phoebe. Just...just stay away from her, okay?"

"I believe it's up to her, Arnold," Archibald said, his calm tone annoying Arnold.

"Do you love her?"

He raised his brows. "Excuse me?"

Arnold's fists were so tight, his knuckles went white. "I asked if you love her. Do you?"

"I care deeply for her."

Arnold shook his head. "That's not good enough. I love her."

Archibald walked past him to shut the door, and he nodded towards the kitchen. "We should talk."

"I've said all I need to say," Arnold snapped.

Archibald walked towards the kitchen. "I'll put on the tea."

Arnold took a deep breath, and he shook his head as he followed Archibald. He sat down at the kitchen table as Archibald filled the teapot with water. He saw a red lump forming on the right side of Archibald's face, and he felt bad now. "I'm...I'm sorry for hitting you."

Archibald shook his head. "It's fine. No harm done. Bruises come and go." He set the teapot on the burner, and he sat down across from Arnold. "So...Arnold, I see by your shirt you go to Brown."

Arnold nodded, looking down at his Kappa t-shirt. "I'm in my second year."

"I went to Brown. Class of 1987."

Arnold raised his brows. "That was the year I was born."

Archibald's cheeks turned pink. The teapot whistled, and Archibald got up to serve their tea. He came back to the table with their cups, handing Arnold his. "Would you like anything? Honey? Milk? Lemon?"

Arnold shook his head. "Plain's fine." He sipped the tea, not really a fan of it hot, but he didn't say anything. "Mr. Seedplot--"

"'Archibald' is fine."

He nodded. "Archibald...can I ask something?"

"Of course."

Arnold hesitated, but he went on. "Why Phoebe?"

Archibald sipped his tea and set his cup down, taking a deep breath. "She's a wonderful young woman. She's bright, caring, and she makes me feel..." He trailed off.

"Young?" Arnold finished.

"She's special to me, Arnold."

"She's also about twenty-two years younger than you," Arnold pointed out. "With all due respect, Archibald, can you really see what you and Phoebe having going beyond a secret sex life?"

Archibald furrowed his brow. "I don't think what Phoebe and I do behind closed doors is any of your business."

"I can give Phoebe more," Arnold went on. "When she's thirty, I'll be thirty. When she's forty, I'll be forty. I love her now. I know I love her. I can give her everything she thinks she wants with you."

"I honestly cannot argue with that," Archibald sighed. "But it should be up to her. She's old enough to make her own decisions. Age doesn't matter to her, so it...it shouldn't matter to me."

Arnold shook his head. "I think it does matter to you." He looked down at the cup on the table between his hands, and he looked back up at Archibald. "When I mentioned the year you graduated from Brown was the year I was born, I saw the look on your face. How does that make you feel? Two months after you graduated, Phoebe was born. You were thirty when she was seven. When you're fifty, she'll be 27." Archibald didn't say anything. Arnold pushed his cup of tea away, and he got up. "I'm only five months older than she is."

With that, he walked out to his Land Cruiser and headed back to Providence, leaving Archibald with his thoughts.

note: Oh, dramas. Sorry this was kind of short.

reviews are good.