All of the people who have been kind enough and encouraging enough to review have permission to come stalk and murder me…..because I am a total blond! I FEEL SOOOO BAD! I kind of actually forgot my password to fanfiction and then me freakin army email account expired and well my dad got deployed so I had no way of getting a new password or anything and then yesterday it just hit me…you all have no idea about how much of a retarded hoe I feel. (Fellow teenagers will hopefully understand the use of the word hoe there). Anyway….its really late but here ya go!

CPOV

I've pathetically been bed ridden for 24 hours now. And unfortunately that's given me plenty of time to sort out thoughts I'd rather not think about at the moment. I'm pretty sure I've perfected my list of thoughts and dilemmas; like number one. Derek had a huge panic attack that nearly gave me one and I still need to figure out why that is. Two; I totally crushed Simon after said panic attack and caused him to be addicted to the fantasy world of War Craft online (I really should apologize for that). Three; Tori has not yelled, screamed, or complained since Derek's attack 'till now. Speak of the she-devil, "ANDREW! WE HAVE TO GO SHOPPING NOW! I'M ALL OUT OF HAIRSPRAY!" I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed as Tori's freakishly high voice bounced its way to my ears. I took one of my unused pillows and put it over my right ear to muffle the conversations between her and Andrew.

Eventually the shouting stopped leaking through my pillow so I threw it off me and stared at the wall. I wanted to be mad at Derek but when I was alone I couldn't help but feel guilty that I was so mean to him. But still, he doesn't have any right to insult me beyond belief, have a life threatening panic attack, and then suddenly think everything could just go back to normal! I know we should talk things out but honestly I'm a little afraid that certain subjects that I really don't want to talk about will be breached.

I mean he must have noticed that I've been acting a little different towards him since our little trip to Andrew's house. I thought we were closer after that and that all our bickering could be put behind us, but apparently I was wrong.

I groaned and turned to lie on my back which only caused me to stare at yet another wall. I felt like I was in a box. Well I sort of was considering the room had no shape to it. My thoughts started to wonder to very inconsequential things when I heard a light knock on my door.

"Come in." my voice was strained from not using it all day. Perhaps I could actually pass as being sick so whoever it was would leave me alone. I started to turn to be able to prop my head up.

But speaking of whoever it was, I was not expecting Derek to open the door. I instantly composed myself and waited as he just stared at me. I kept on waiting for a few minutes but he just stood there with his trademark scowl on his face; not speaking or moving for that matter. He opened his mouth once like he was about to speak and then closed it again like what he was about to say wasn't worth it.

I groaned slash sighed as I threw my covers off of me and stood up. I stretched a bit and then started to walk towards Derek. He hadn't moved but his expression revealed a bit of curiosity as to what I was planning on doing. I bet he wasn't expecting me to just walk right past him and out of the room.

I inwardly smiled to myself as I felt his gaze follow me down the hall until I disappeared down the stairs. Didn't see that one comin' did ya! HAH!

Despite my lifted mood though I wasn't anywhere near happy enough to face Simon or Derek when he finally comes downstairs. So instead of staying in the house I just walked right out the back door and into the yard. I didn't really know where I was going. I just knew I was walking and that for some strange reason I just didn't want to stop. There wasn't anything at the house to keep me there so I just kept moving like I would just end up in a different town or state or life.

Eventually I wound up in the TV room where Simon was on the computer. He had a scowl on his face and was mumbling things about wizards and damned goblins (whatever the heck those were). Feeling drowsy and totally out of character I decided to go up to him and turned off the monitor screen. Simon whipped his head around with a shocked look in his eyes.

Well Chloe, you've screwed up things here and just standing here after ruining his way off coping will make you seem like a crazy bitch. SAY SOMETHING!

"Simon we need to talk." My voice was flat and scratchy. Hopefully he understood what I said. "Talk about what?" his expression had grown serious, but he refused to look at me, "I understand that sometimes a person just needs a distraction for a little, but committing yourself to over 24 hours of nonstop play on the computer is bad. I want to know what's on your mind." I had softened my voice a bit as I said the last part. I really did want to know what was bothering him. Just because I didn't like him romantically didn't mean that I didn't care about him at all!

"Really? I thought the only thing you revolved around was Derek?" I froze when he said that. It wasn't because of his icy tone or the slight malice that was in his voice. It was because that what he said was true. My world was slowly starting to revolve around the six foot hunk of agitation. All the while Simon was convinced that I liked him. Wow…I am a bitch.

"I understand that you can be mad at me, but take nothing out on your brother, Simon. It's not like he was secretly plotting his conquest over me. He was just the one who ended up to be the one." Okay I was losing my mind. This was totally unlike me. On the outside I knew I was calm and stern, but holy crap I was so embarrassed that I just said that. WHERE THE HELL DID IT COME FROM ANYWAY!

Simon's scowl deepened and I knew I needed to try a new approach with this new Chloe, "I know now that you thought I liked you and I swear it when I say I never meant to lead you on. I really did think that I liked you Simon, I really did, but when he got hurt the other day I just knew." Okay, that was a total lie. I was having totally random reveries about the whole situation at this moment, "I love both of you Simon. Just in different ways. I know I don't deserve it, but please don't be angry with me, don't be angry at Derek either. It's not his fault." I waited what seemed like an eternity before he finally turned to look me in the eye.

"I guess I sort of knew I would never get you when we all met up here. I could tell something had changed between you two, but I didn't want to believe it. I guess I'm not as mad at you and Derek as am at myself for being naïve and dense. I want Derek to be happy and if you're what makes him happy then he deserves you." He gave me a small smile and I beamed at him in return, "So we can still be friends?" I asked him excitedly suddenly feeling more like myself.

Simon nodded, "Yeah, we're cool." I leaned down to hug him sort of awkwardly at first, but managed not to make a bigger fool out of myself. I stood back up, "I'm going to get something to eat real quick, you want to come?" I was hoping he would say yes when he turned the monitor back on, "Uh, I would except that I was at a very important part of my game before you came up." I smiled a shy smile feeling guilty, "Sorry, I'll leave you to it." I turned to leave and made it to the doorway when I turned back, "Uh, Simon? You will stop playing that game won't you? I mean have you even eaten the past day. He smiled kind of sheepishly at me, "I have, and I will stop playing so much, but I've actually found that I kinda like this game. There's a bad guy that reminds me of Tori and it feels good when I kick her ass." I laughed really loud at the sly look on his face when he said that.

"That's so mean! You shouldn't say things like that!" he shrugged with a smirk and then turned around to resume playing. I started to head toward the kitchen in a much better mood. Simon wasn't angry with me anymore and I wasn't feeling so drained. Maybe today isn't totally hopeless. And that's when I got to the kitchen. Sitting in his usual chair at the large dining table was Derek… eating a damn apple.