He was sauntering across the foot worn stretch of grass, making his way through the lunch crowd toward his usual table. He threw a return nod to a couple of guys at the hot-rodder's table, tossed a wink to one girl, and twisted to avoid the grabby hands of another. As he walked, his gaze scanned the crowds of kids, being careful to give his attention to everyone who might be offended if he didn't, and avoid the gaze of anyone he knew would get the wrong idea. He took his heart throb status seriously, knowing these kids had influence when it came to his career. As he looked the mass of students over, his gaze lighted on a certain chick with dark hair stepping out through the school doors.

She was walking with her friend – the one with the seemingly ever present lollipop – and he waited a beat to see if she'd look over at him. When she continued on walking and talking, oblivious to his presence, he disregarded the empty feeling that suddenly flooded him; opting instead to continue to walk toward the table across the lawn where his girlfriend awaited him. A collective gasp, and a cry from where he'd just been looking caught his attention, and he spun around just in time to see Tracy crumple to the ground.

He was at her side in a second – in fact he may have leapt over a table of freshmen to get there that fast – and kneeling in front of her. She was holding the side of her face with chocolate icing oozing down her fingers.

"What the hell? Trace, are you alright?"

She didn't say anything at all and he looked up at her friend questioningly, finding her hazel eyes wide with shock and anger. "Someone hit her in the face with a piece of cake!" she said fiercely.

"Trace?" he asked, looking at her again. It was then that he saw the deep mortification on her face, saw the single tear that snaked its way down her soft cheek, both of which she was trying desperately to hide from him. He yanked a handkerchief out of his pocket and crooked a finger under her chin, tipping her face up to look at him. "Hey?" he asked gently. "You okay?"

She looked up at him then with eyes as dark as the chocolate that clung to her skin. "I'm fine," she said finally, "just… completely humiliated…"

"Nah," he said softly brushing away that heart wrenching tear, "it ain't that bad. I'm sure hardly anyone even noticed" He sucked a stray bit of frosting off his thumb, tasting the saltiness of her tear along with the sweetness of chocolate. Despite his words of comfort, he moved the side just a little so that between him and her friend, they blocked the view of her from most of the crowd. He took his handkerchief and started to gently wipe the frosting and bits of cake away from her cheek. Her skin felt unbelievably soft under his fingers as he steadied her; and that, along with her prettily blushing cheeks, distracted him a little. He tried to keep his hand steady and his face calm, but inside he was fuming.

"You don't have to…" She placed her hand over his as if to stop him, and he froze for a second; something different and discomfiting bursting through his anger momentarily.

"Hey, what else is a fella' to do when he sees a damsel in distress, Doll?" he managed to say. He wiped away the last vestiges of the dessert, all the while thinking of what he'd do if he found the person who'd done this. Tracy was the type of person who wouldn't hurt anyone, so who would want do something like this to her?

She was looking at him, all big brown eyes and slightly parted pink lips, and he was suddenly feeling very unsteady. "There yah go," he said quietly. "You may want to sneak off to the bathroom to fix your hair though, there's some unfortunate collateral damage."

She lifted a hand to her hair. "Oh, thanks…"

"Hey, no prob. Here, let me help you up." He took her hands and helped her to her feet, holding on until he was sure she was steady. He placed his hands on her shoulders for a moment and gave her a quick wink. "Okay, I'll see you later," he said when he stepped back. She straightened her clothes and her friend took her hand and led her back the way they had come.

He watched them walk away with a frown marring his features. Glancing down at the piece of cake on the ground, his frowned deepened, but after a moment of futile attempts at problem solving, he started toward his original destination.

He nodded at his friends as he arrived and climbed over the bench to sit next to Amber.

"Hey, Baby," Amber said, sliding closer to him.

"Hey," he said leaning in automatically for a kiss. He looked around still distracted by his angry thoughts and realized he had lost his lunch somewhere along the way.

"What was all the drama over there?" Brad asked from across the table.

Link was looking around to see what he could scavenge from the lunches around him but glanced up at Brad to answer. "Nothing," he said with a shrug. He was irritated and wanted to ask if anyone had seen anything; but on the other hand, he didn't want to cause Tracy any more embarrassment if people hadn't witnessed the incident.

"Well, that's good," Amber said in and oddly bright tone of voice. "That's the last thing we need around here."

"Mmm," Link said non-committal as he perused her remaining lunch. His investigation stopped when he saw the empty Tupperware. He reached out and picked it up, noting the chocolate frosting still stuck to one side. "You had cake?"

"Oh yeah," Amber said as she looked away, pressing a thin hand to her pale hair. "Sorry, I didn't save you any." She jutted out her lower lip and gave him an apologetic pout.

"But you don't eat cake…" he said, ignoring the pout.

"Sure I do… sometimes… Mary Jo made it and packed it for me; and it was really good. A little sweet every once in awhile is okay, and it was just a tiny piece." She waved him off and turned to talk to Becky some more. Link looked from her to the suspicious dish but wasn't sure what to think.

Surely she wouldn't do that? Someone would've seen her, wouldn't they? And she wasn't possibly that petty or that cruel… No, that just wasn't possible.

He shook his head and looked over to Brad who had a huge club sandwich sitting in front of him. "Hey Brad, looks like Betty Anne Johnson has a new sweater," he said pretending to look at something across the way.

"What?" Brad declared, his eyes widening and his head whipping around to look.

Link reached out and swiped half of the club and took an enormous bite.

"I don't see her… Hey!" he shouted when he saw half his sandwich in Link's hands. Link just shrugged as he munched the delicious bite he'd stolen. Everyone around them laughed; and for a little while, he forgot about being angry and about missing pieces of cake.