Cappie's POV

I hate Max. I hate him and I don't even know his last name. I have no real reason to hate him. He hasn't done anything to me or against me. But I can't stand the man.

Well, that isn't really true, about him not doing anything to me. He just doesn't know he's doing anything to me. He's intruding on my territory and he has no idea. And for that, I hate him.

My territory, of course, is anything having to do with the Cartwrights. Either of them, both of them. They are mine and I don't appreciate someone honing in on my turf. God, now I'm a member of the cast of West Side Story.

Of course, I can't say a word without sounding like a big, whining baby. I don't even have any real claim on either of the Cartwrights. So really all this is my own personal issue.

So I sit back and hate in silence. Wait, don't they call that brooding ? I think so. Okay, so I'll brood in silence. I'll paint on a smile and pretend that I think he's swell. I'll be as supportive and encouraging as I possibly can be.

Why ? Well that's simple. Because if I don't, if I tell either Casey or Rusty how I really feel about Max, I'm taking a chance of having either or both of them walk away from me. And that is something I will not let happen. Both of them are too important to me to lose.

I had no idea when all this had even happened to me, when I had been bitten by the Cartwright bug. I made of point of not getting too close to people. Oh, I was friendly and social, perhaps to the point that it wasn't good for me. But I did my best to not let anyone get to me to the point that it became imperative to my happiness that they stayed in my life. Because, really, that was just a binder and a cleaning spree in the making.

People never stayed in my life for long. They always left, or I did. Moving around so much growing up affected me more than I realized. Come to think of it, Dr. Phil could have a field day with my psyche. There were all kinds of twists and turns running around in there that I didn't even realize.

But Dr. Phil would have to wait. Because right now, at the present moment, I was being a good friend, for the fourth night in a row. A pool game, a movie, and a night out at Dobbler's and I was beginning to see a pattern forming. Not that I was complaining, oh no, far from it, I was relishing every moment I got to reacquaint myself with the fairer Cartwright.

" You're so quiet tonight." She said as she rested herself on the pool table in the game room of the Kappa Tau house. " What are you thinking about ?"

I was thinking about how great she would look if she were doing that naked, not that she didn't look great leaning there in her so tight white jeans and her pink tank top, but in my opinion, anything she was doing, she'd look better doing it naked. Probably not the friendliest way to see it, but it was honest.

Still, honest wasn't my best answer, so I lied. " I was thinking I was hungry. Pizza ?"

She thought about that for a minute while she took a drink from the beer in her hand. It was so strange to see this new side of her. She had a certain freedom to her now. It reminded me of Myrtle Beach and how incredibly beautiful she was on the beach that night and how great she tasted when I kissed her and how wonderful and right it felt to have her back in my arms.

I banished such thoughts from my head, pushed them back into that place that I only explored when I was alone. That wasn't what she needed me to be for her right now. She had a boyfriend. I winced inwardly as I thought about the little douche bag.

Where the hell was he anyway ? You would think he would be the one helping her get through this monumental change in her life. Wasn't he aware of what she was going through ? Did he know how much losing the election had meant to her ?

" I think pizza sounds good." She finally answered with a chipper little smile.

" In or out ?" I smirked.

" I think in. I was hoping you'd play Killquest with me tonight."

My eyes widened in astonishment. " You want to play Killquest with me. Casey, you hate video games. "

" No, I don't. Video games are okay. I'm just not as obsessed with them as you are." She smiled.

" I am not obsessed. " I protested, knowing I was lying even as I did.

One of the pledges took that moment to enter the game room and I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye. " Pledge, order us a pizza and bring it my room when it gets here along with a couple of beers."

The little guy nodded, said, " Right, Cappie." and took off in search of a phone.

I circled my arm around her waist and lead her to the staircase.

" Wow that was impressive." She smirked at me.

I shrugged. " It's good to be the king."

A dark shadow took over her face and I realized what I had said a moment too late, as usual. " I'm sorry, Case."

She waved off my apology like it was no big deal, but it was a lie. I could see it in her eyes.

" You know, it also sucks to be in charge." I offered. " I mean, if we were more organized and did things like we were supposed, I would be doing something with the pledges right now. Something mind-numbingly unpleasant like study hours. Instead, because I'm a slacker and could care less whether they pass or fail, I get to spent the evening kicking your ass in Killquest."

She opened my bedroom door and went inside to flop down on my unmade bed. " True. I bet Ashleigh is tied up with some Presidential thing tonight. And I get to be here with you. So it does have its upsides."

" That's the spirit." He told her, flopping down beside her. I tried to stop the next words from leaving my mouth, but like normal for me, my lips weren't listening to me. " So, why exactly are you here with me instead of at some robot party with Max ?"

She seemed a little taken aback by that and sat up straighter. It took her a long time to answer, when she finally did, her voice was sullen and remorseful. " I honesty don't know. I was just going for a walk and I ended up on your porch instead of at Max's dorm."

" Have you talked to him at all since the election ?" Still, the mouth trudged on without my permission.

She stared out the window across from my bed and her eyes seemed distant and remote. " Yeah, a couple of times on the phone. But that isn't really that unusual. It's not like we spend every waking second together." I sat up at hearing that, because when we were together, that is exactly what we did. But she didn't seem to notice as she continued. " We're both real busy. We have so much going on. He's got such a heavy class load and then he's the RA. I don't really know what that entails, but it seems to take up a lot of his time."

" Being an RA takes up a lot of his time ?" I asked, confused. I knew what being an RA was all about. It was not a very time-consuming activity. Other than being there if someone on your floor has a problem, there wasn't a whole lot to it.

" He says it does, yeah." She answered, giving me her eyes again. " Why ?"

I forced a smile. " It's nothing. I'm sure you're right. He sounds really busy."

I was planning on finding out what it was that was keeping Mr. Max so very busy that he didn't have a night to spare for his girlfriend that needed him. Whatever it was, it had better be very, very, life-threateningly important. Or, we were going to have a little chat.

I leaned back again, propping myself up on my elbows while my feet still rested on the floor. " So, " I began because she was still looking at me expectantly.

She was sitting Indian-style beside me, her knees was brushing my side. It was so warm and comfortable.

I suddenly felt like a complete idiot. Here I was, grabbing hold to any little piece of contact I had with her. The feel of her knee resting against my side was actually starting to turn me on. And it was her knee, innocently touching me. This was ridiculous. It was crazy. How did she always manage to do this to me ?

Then she raised her hand and pulled it through her hair, sending a warm blond waterfall over her shoulder and a shudder to run through me so severe, I was certain she could feel me shake.

If she did, she gave no indication and I was glad for that. I didn't want anything to ruin this new phase of our relationship.

" So," she said in answer. " Are we here to play or to talk about Max ?"

I jerked up in response, because honestly, I had completely forgotten what had gotten her to my room. I was just grateful something had.

I gathered the controllers, handed one to her and snapped on the game. " I'm so going to kick your ass."

" Yeah, we'll see." She smiled as she settled in.

Three hours past without much conversation other than smack talk about the game. She was, in fact, a fairly descent player. I had had no idea she even knew what the game was called, rather less how to play it.

This knowledge, she informed me had come from hours upon hours of watching me play in Freshman year. Back then I was beating Evan and my new pledge brothers here at the house.

I'm not really good at many things, but Killquest is the exception. I AM really good at it. So after trying to beat me and losing more times than she liked, we switched strategies and double-teamed the computer. I was extremely surprised to see that we worked together like a dream. We played off each others weaknesses and played up each others strengths. It was perfect. She was gifted at seeing things on the screen before I did and I was a crack shot. So the computer was no match for us.

The leftover remnants of pizza lay in its box on my bedside table along with our four empty beer bottles. The sun had long past set in my window and night was shining into the room through the blinds. The only light in the small space was my lamp and the light from the T.V..

I set my controller aside and leaned back once again. She sat hers on the floor at her feet and stretched out beside me.

" That was a great game." She smiled, as she pulled her hair over her shoulder so she wouldn't lay on it and rested her head on her folded arms.

" Yeah, we make a pretty good team."

An abrupt stillness overtook us both. I had done it again. Said the exact same words I'd uttered before in a similar situation with her and me laying on the bed during mid terms. The exact words I'd said moments before she kissed me. Just like in the bar three nights ago.

I wanted to kick myself. She looked suddenly decidedly uncomfortable.

" I'm sorry, again." I whispered, wishing I could take the innocent seeming words back and return to the comfortable companionship we had previously been enjoying.

" Cappie," she sighed as if she were about to say something important. I braced myself for the worst. "We can't keep doing this."

Yep, there it was, the worst.