A/N: Sorry it took SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long!!!!!!! I'll update quicker next time! promise. I've posted the first v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.short first chapt. of the diary story that was inspired by cheese-cream-girl. yeah. xx

x Disclaimer x : I don't own A.N.Y.T.H.I.NG. but the plot and OCs [ie: Vicki and Noel (and to a certain extent) Nessa.

x henna

Chapter six: Not ready, not just yet…

We carried on walking, again, arm in arm; home.

I looked up at him, once more; "You know this morning…when you were standing by my room while I was on my cell…?" he grinned down at me, remembering the time and said, "Yeah…what about it?" I smiled and replied, "Did you hear what I was saying?" I was nervous; if he'd heard me saying that I had a major crush on him; my life would be over. His grin got wider, if it was possible; "I heard most of what you said…yeah…" I held my breath… "From the bit when you said you'd moved here and how you met me and how you said that you had met me, then your cousin getting all excited and about us two…dating…and then I saw you starting to look up and went into my room again, then you went back inside and talked, then I came back again…"

"Oh, so you heard me saying that…all of that?" I bit my lip; I was still nervous; if he'd heard me, I seriously didn't know what would happen…

"Yup, I heard you say it all…" I swallowed, I had to come out and say it; "Even what I said about really liking you…?" There. I said it. I just had to wait for an answer now. He didn't talk for a few seconds, then… "Yeah; I heard you say that too." Okay; he'd heard me say that; what I was gonna do about it, I had no idea; but what was he gonna do about it, was what I needed to know… "And…" I encouraged him.

He stopped walking and looked down at me; those big blue eyes really didn't help; "I just wanna say…" I held my breath, again… "That I really; and I mean really like you too…" My heart stopped for a few seconds. He felt the same way about me. Oh My God. He felt the same way about me; so now I didn't need to worry about my life being ruined and me dying unloved…Oh My God! He liked me! He really liked me!

He cut my thoughts off by leaning down and placing a soft, yet passionate kiss on my lips, I closed my eyes; this was the one moment I didn't think would come; yet, I'm standing here living it… I wrapped my arms around his neck while he winded his around my waist; I kissed him back, loving this moment; but feeling afraid; hoping that this wasn't a dream, that I wasn't gonna wake up and find myself in bed, regretting ever having lost Troy, or something equally depressing and stupid…

I brought myself out of my thoughts and focused on right here, right now; and Troy. I smiled into the kiss and pulled away, reluctantly…

He looked down at me, a huge smile plastered on his face; "Wow…" I smiled, "Speechless right now; didn't know that you were such a good kisser, Bolton!" I grinned, seriously. He looked at me thoughtfully then said, "So…where are we at now?"

I placed a confused look on my face; but knew exactly what he was saying…he grinned, "Where are we at right now? After that amazing kiss…" I gazed up at the stars, my dad was there, somewhere; looking down at us, right now…and in a sudden rush; I realised that I wasn't ready for this; not ready for commitment, I mean; I'd only just moved here…I wasn't ready to settle in, I needed time.

I looked up at Troy, my eyes filled with tears; "I-I'm sorry…Troy…"

He looked really confused; but all the same, he wrapped his arms around me; trying to calm me from the tears that were threatening to fall…

"I-I don't thing I'm r-ready to c-commit myself, j-just yet…I d-don't think I'll be able to handle a relationship right now…as much as I want to…" I smiled; my heart was aching for Troy; but I couldn't… "I just don't think that I'm ready yet…" My tears were surrendering…no longer were they falling… "I don't think I'm ready…just give me some time…okay…?"

He nodded slightly; "I know what you mean; you need time to work yourself out; to settle in; to put your life in place; I guess it'd be hard; but it would be worth it..." I smiled up at him in his embrace; "Thanks for understanding me…if nobody's there for me; I can reassure myself that you will be…" He grinned down at me, "Anything for you…"

He placed a soft kiss on my forehead; I close my eyes and inhaled his sweet scent…I smile was playing at his lips, as he looked down at me, "Hey Brie! Don't fall asleep on me! Especially on the road!"

I opened my eyes, annoyed, "Trust you to ruin a perfectly good moment…" He grinned, "That's why you love me…right?"

I shook my head, "No I love you because you're all mine. Not yet, but you will be, in a short while; I'm just happy keeping you waiting…"

He moaned, "No…not the waiting thing…Chad went through it with his current girlfriend; Chanel; who kept him waiting and waiting and wanting, that he gave up and just asked her out whether she liked it or not. Now they're together after nearly half a year of annoyance…I swore to myself, after I saw that, that I'd never fall into that kind of situation…ever. Contradicting that, I'm standing here, with a girl so beautiful, that she's gonna keep me waiting and waiting and wanting, but for me it's gonna be different. I not gonna give up like Chad. I'm gonna hang on, just about." I giggled; "Poor Chad…" I murmured, but just loud enough for him to have heard me, he placed an offended look on his face, "And what about me?!" I shrugged, "I can only say 'Poor Troy' when I mean it; right now, you're okay…considering that I'm standing here in your embrace."

He smiled, "What about us…?" I looked up at him, a bit confused, "What do you mean, what about us?"

"I mean that what about us, right now; not officially together, but we have this thing, right? We could be like…friends with benefits, or something…I dunno…?" I nodded, smiling, "Yeah, I think you're right; not officially together; no commitment, but together. I like it."

"So, we're friends with benefits; until I propose to you, that is!"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, that…" I smiled, "So Mr. soon-to-be-boyfriend…do you wanna go home?" He grinned and nodded, "Okay, we could tell Vicki about our little thing…see what she says on it…?" I nodded as he wrapped his arms around me again; I closed my eyes and laid my head on his shoulder, once more, and got comfortable, as if I was gonna sleep there. He just smiled and rolled his eyes, squeezing my arm…we carried on walking.

We just reached the house; we saw that the hallway and living room lights were on; I yawned, and then said, "We are dead. See you in heaven, Troy." He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, meet you up there." I grinned and cuddled him. He smiled, wrapping his arms around me, enveloping me in a tight hug.

I reached out and knocked on the door.

The light in the hallway flickered on and off, we saw that no-one was coming down the hallway, I thought, perfect time for a make-out session, when nobody's answering the door…I looked up at Troy who was looking down at me, obviously, thinking the same thing!

He leaned down and fully kissed me on the lips, while his arms, automatically, went around my waist, I kissed back, putting my arms around his neck, pulling him closer…

It got a bit too heated, and we got a bit too busy with each other, that we didn't realise that the door had opened and my mom, Troy's mom and dad, Vicki and Mollie were standing at the door, grinning, waiting for us to stop making out and come inside.

As we pulled away, still oblivious to the crowd of people in the doorway, he looked down into my eyes and whispered, "You're too beautiful…" I smiled and replied, "And you are a great kisser…" he grinned, "That I am, yeah!" we laughed, still unaware of our families standing there!

Troy started flipping my cell phone up and down after getting it out of my back pocket, then after 2 seconds, he put it back into my pocket, but kept his hand there. I rolled my eyes as we both turned around to ring the bell again, what was taking so long?

My jaw dropped to the floor. How long had they been standing there, we didn't even realise…they all had these weird grins on their faces; even Mollie! I glanced at Troy, who was equally shocked! He pulled me close by him, not pulling his hand out of my pocket.

He was the first to speak, "H-how long had you guys been standing there?" I bit my lip; they probably saw everything, the make out session, the 'you're too beautiful' thing and, Oh My God; the pocket thing too! I mentally kicked myself and Troy for not waiting till we got some real privacy! Even the neighbours must have seen.

Vicki replied to Troy's question half a minute after he asked it, "Aunt Lucy came to open the door, I followed her because I wanted to see who it was, Mollie followed me because she's been doing that since this afternoon! And then Gina followed Mollie because she had to feed her and Uncle Jack tagged along because he wanted to know who it was.

We opened the door to find a couple on out doorstep, making out very heatedly; I was about the scream at them to go and get a room or something, then I noticed that it was you two! I grinned and whispered to Gina, Uncle Jack and Aunt Lucy that their kids have found something to do this summer, they silently laughed and Mollie looked like she was grinning too, but I doubt it…Then you guys broke up, I muttered finally, just low enough for 'the doorstep crew' to hear, and not you! Then you whispered sweet nothings into her ear" she nodded at Troy, "and then you did the old 'hand-in-back-pocket' thing, which I found very cute. Then you kinda noticed us and your jaws' dropped a feet down, then you both went red and I started telling you this and I was also wondering when you two would stop making out, it was boring me after about 6 minutes!"

Troy smiled at her sheepishly, not removing his hand from my pocket, even after the comment.

Vicki winked at me and nodded to the living room; she obviously needed details! My mom and Troy's mom just silently smiled, happy for us.

"We had dinner at LD." Troy announced to the doorstep crew, I nodded, "It was great, so…we don't need to eat dinner…"

We were in the living room, Troy and his dad wouldn't budge, they said that if we wanted to talk, it would be in front of them.

Lucy gave her husband a stern look, and then a few seconds later, he dragged his son out of the room, much to Troy and my disappointment…

Vicki pulled me down onto the couch…she was grinning, "I need to know everything!"

I pursed my lips and pretended to zip them with my right hand.

She put a stern look on her face and playfully slapped my hand, "C'mon! Spill!" I sighed, I guess she was gonna make me tell her in one way or another…I smiled, "Okay, where shall I start from…?"

Her grin got wider, "I knew you'd give in! From when he asked you out! Duh!" My smile faded, "Well...uhhh…that's kinda not the best subject to discuss…" I bit my lip, "Why? You obviously are dating! You are, aren't you…?"

"Yeah…Gabi, hun; you are dating him, aren't you? Because you sure looked like it when we saw you on the doorstep…?" my mom added in.

Lucy just nodded, her smiled became a frown of worry…but she was happy for us, whatever our relationship was.

"Well…It's kinda different…we kinda kissed, down the road...then he asked me about our relationship at that moment; then I was suddenly all crying…I couldn't handle commitment and a relationship right now…I needed to settle in a bit before that, and he was all fine with it and-"

"So you're not dating?" Vicki interrupted, I gave her a small smile, "No, w-we're not…" those stupid tears had come back, threatening to fall, once again… Vicki and the two moms pretended to ignore them and Vicki carried on, "So what were you guys doing…? I mean, you were making out on the front step!" I grinned, sheepishly; "Care to explain that?" I smiled; "Ummm…yeah…" she raised her eyebrows, "Okay…go on…"

"We're not dating, but we're not just friends either…"

She nodded and smiled, understanding my issue; Thank God! "So you're relationship is kinda…in between…?" I nodded, "Yeah…you could call us 'Friends with Benefits' or something…"

She grinned, "You remind me of someone…"

"Who?" Who could I remind her of…?

Her grin got wider, "My best friend, Nat." I smiled, "Oh…who's that?"

"Natalie Rose Roscoe. Her full name; but she likes everyone to call her Nat. I met her in kindergarten and have been her best friend, ever since. We're even dorm mates! Which, I personally, find very lucky. We were both crushing on Mitchell in high school, but I got him first…that caused our first huge argument; in which she didn't speak to me for a whole 2 months, until she totally gave up and was all like, 'Okay, you win; I'm sorry for being jealous, just because I was crushing on Mitchell, but you won his heart first…' and then we promised that no boy would come in between us; and that was true, that was our last fight till this day. Seriously. We totally got over it, and now, it feels like that was all a bad dream; I mean, even when Mitchell and I got really serious 3 years into our relationship, near the end of our senior year; we even decided that Nat would be my maid of honor and my wedding and that I would make sure that she would get the bouquet. At that time, she was also in a serious relationship with her current boyfriend, Steven Perkins. Unfortunately, not all of us are so lucky…" I knew exactly what she meant by the latter; but I was confused, "How do I remind you of Nat?"

She smiled, "When she got over Mitchell, she started crushing on Steven the next day; literally. A few weeks later, she found out, through one of Stevens friends, that he had a major crush on her too; he had picked up the courage to ask her out; but she didn't realise that she's just gotten over one guy, she didn't think she could handle anything big right then; they, then decided that they were 'Friends with Benefits'. That went on for about…a month; in which the acted exactly like a couple, but denied it and said they were just friends when they were asked about it. After that, Steven formerly asked her to be his girlfriend, dinner and all; then she was all, 'Oh My God! Yes! Yes! Yes!' So basically, yeah; that's how you remind me of Nat. You two have seriously gotta meet one day…"

I grinned, "I'll look forward to meeting her…whenever…" She smiled, then we turned to Lucy, "What about you, Aunt Lucy; we've all spilled, well, mainly me about Nat; but whatever; what about you?"

She looked surprised, "I-I'm too old for that stuff! Seriously! I'm 34!" We shrugged, I carried on after Vicki, "That is not old. That is my mom's age. You and she are, in no way, old. Spill, we both have, it's your go!"

She smiled, then looked at Vicki, "You're the most humorous niece I have!"

She just rolled her eyes, "Aunt Lucy; I'm the only niece you have, let alone humorous." I smiled and interrupted; "You're so good with each other that Vicki could be your daughter, but the way you act with each other would never change. Seriously."

Lucy smiled, "I practically am her mom! You see, her mom ran away with some guy leaving her with her dad and younger brother; it was me who brought them up, helping her dad settle too. She had a rough childhood, her mom leaving them all; but as soon as her brother was six, she was twelve, their dad re-married, but not for love, for his kids; he married his college friend, who had gone through everything with him. Then his son, Matthew, but we all call him Matt; and Vicki got a mom. Diana was very good with the kids, as she met them often and built a relationship with them; it was easy for the kids to understand the two's marriage.

We have no idea about where Annie, short for Anastasia, is right now. She's probably still in the country, she wouldn't leave it even if she was forced; we were born and brought up as a British family, until Annie and I were nine, that's when our parents decided to move here. I wasn't happy at first, but I thought, cool; I liked it here better than over in London, I had a bigger room; not to mention a much bigger house! A bigger back yard; or a bigger garden. Annie and I attended East High, we were really happy with our lives, and I graduated and got into Princeton, which is where I met Jack. I had thought that my sisters life was going just as well as mine; I mean, she'd applied for exactly the same universities as I had; U of A, USC, Princeton, Yale and University of New York. She got into U of A and USC, she chose to go to California at USC, I was happy for her; I was off in New Jersey on the other side of the country doing really well in my studies and having a very serious boyfriend who wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I thought that my sister would have all that I had; great grades, boyfriends and a great time in Los Angeles.

I was wrong; I knew it from the minute I stepped back into my house, home from graduation. My sister wasn't there, and she graduated 2 weeks before I did, she'd said so herself, she'd told me that she was home. I'd shrugged her late arrival home due to lateness in flight or something. Until I found out that she'd landed at Albuquerque International Airport hours before I had.

I called my mom who claimed that she was with Annie at the Memorial down in the city center; I got really worried, I asked if something was wrong and mom said that I should come and see the shame that she had to face for myself. I didn't know anything; I was too worried about mom and Annie for anything.

I reached the memorial and asked, at the reception, where Mariana Williams, my mom, was admitted; she said that my mom wasn't a patient in the hospital; I tried asking about Annie; she said to go up to level 6, room 720; I realised that that was the pregnancy ward and knew, immediately what was going on.

My mom was waiting outside the room, was as white was chalk; she saw me and ran up to me, hugging me; I knew already, but I asked her what was wrong anyway. She answered that my sister was giving birth. I asked if she'd known anything about the father; mom shook her head, she said that Annie had flown in with him, but she had no idea where he'd gone after that. Then I'd asked what had happened. She told me a long story about how she picked Annie up from the airport; knowing that I'd want to come home ad surprise her; she was shocked to see Annie pregnant. She didn't say anything, but questioned Annie, who answered truthfully about her fiancé and how she didn't keep much contact with any family because she was scared about what they'd say. Then mom said that she'd taken her home, upset a bit; Annie had told mom that she was due any time soon. Mom said okay; mom had gone to do something in the kitchen when she heard Annie scream from the living room; Annie was giving birth 1 week earlier than the doctors had said.

Mom and I had to wait there for 2 days, both of us going home at different times throughout the days, while poor Annie was in that room in pure torture in labour with her week premature child, you."

Lucy nodded at Vicki who had tears forming in her eyes, "I-I made my mom go through all that for two whole days!?"

Lucy nodded reluctantly, and then carried on "We brought you home on the third day and you called up Annie's fiancé who was staying at his friends house; he came over and lived with us; 'us' as in me, Annie, mom, dad and now, the baby girl, Victoria. Annie had named you after her best friend she had back to London. I helped Annie, taking care of Vicki when Annie had to go to something or other for her rushed wedding; for example, she had a dress fitting to go to on a Saturday morning and her fiancé had work; he had enough ground under his feet to support his family, thank god; or mom and dad would never had let them get married. I would go to her apartment and look after her baby.

She got married after a month or so; and I had more responsibility over her children than her; as she went on her honeymoon to Thailand; her husband paying for it all; then she got a job, one of those jobs, which needed her out of country all the time. That's when she met her boyfriend, 9 years into her marriage, she had 2 kids, Vicki and Matt; Vick was 10 while Matt was 7. They found out about Annie's affair 3 months later; Vicki fought and fought with Mark; her husband and Vicki and Matt's dad.

The fighting went on for 2 years after her secret was revealed. After that, Annie had had enough and left. She went back to London where her boyfriend was. Mark filed a divorce and she had to come back to divorce him. The case was filed as Adultery, so it was quick and short. The very day that the case ended, was the day Annie left for London. She never came back and that was the last time we saw her.

I took care of her sister's kids and my own family, including my 3 year old Troy.

About 3 years after he divorced Annie, Mark decided to re-marry, he married his best friend and colleague, Diana Winters.

She's living with him and Matt, who is 19 and will start at Yale this semester.

Diana was really the only mom that Matt knew; but he realised that his birth mother left him because she didn't care for him or his sister. He hasn't got much memory of Annie and more of Diana. He'll be moving to New Haven next week. We should go see him before he goes. Is that okay with you Vicki?"

Vicki nodded as I processed all this information about her past.

My mom was gazing at me with a concerned expression on her face.

"What's up, Gabi? You're really quiet…?"

Everyone was staring at me now…

I smiled, "What!?"

Vicki rolled her eyes, "Nothing…"

After about 5 minutes of silence, the two moms and Vicki all got up and left the room; obviously to go and discuss how to get me and Troy together.

I sighed and reached for my cell phone in my back pocket.

I couldn't find it there…I tried hard to remember where I put it…Troy had it last and then put it back in there, and then took it back with him when he went somewhere with his dad. I groaned, frustrated; I had to go find him, which meant I had to ask someone in the house, and knowing the people here, they'd get the wrong idea and grin at me and annoy me.

I rolled my eyes and left the room, empty. I went into the kitchen and saw the moms chatting about something to do with food. I cleared my throat; waiting for attention…they looked up, eventually; "What's up, Gabi?" that was Lucy, my mom was looking through a recipe book that Lucy had handed her.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you've seen Troy anywhere…?"

I waited for an answer; and just as I'd feared, Lucy smirked at me, "Oh! Ummm…no, I'm sorry, I haven't seen him around; why don't you ask Vicki?"

I shrugged and replied, "Okay…where is she?"

Lucy shrugged, "I think she went upstairs to the second guestroom. I think she's unpacking her stuff, as she's here for the next 3 weeks."

I nodded, "Okay, I'll ask her. Thanks."

They went back to their talking about food as I left the room, in search for Vicki, or, hopefully; Troy.

I walked up the stairs; slowly. I didn't want to look very eager to the two moms in the kitchen who could still see me through the open door.

I wasn't looking where I was going and kind of bumped into, the one and only, Troy.

I was about to fall down the stairs. I was high up, nearly at the landing, and if I fell from here, I would atleast break my leg or arm, if not my neck!

But that wasn't gonna happen; not now, not ever; do you want to know why?

Because my Prince Charming was gonna save me.

A/N: I Know that the ending is lameness; but I wanted to end it quickly. And I didn't have many ideas for it the ending I probably re-wrote this chapter (well, the beginning) about seven times! one was that they are offically together and everything. Another is that he never actually heard her. Another one was that he had heard but he denied it; that one went into Troy's POV for a bit, but I think that it would be a bit pointless and stuff..otherwise I was gonna go for that suspense idea...lol; but one was this and I had a little vote in my head about which one, this one got more than others. In my eyes; if you want to re-post this chapt. then I will if you want. lol.

x henna