Neptune Memorial Hospital - Night

Okay, so, Aunt C, is currently working her magic on finding the connection of the dates my mother had written down before she was murdered, and I'm heading full force into the investigation. I will not rest until the person responsible is behind bars. It's a little cliche, but hey, if it works, it works.

Chris stared down sadly at his comatose grandfather. "We're close, Gramps, I can feel it." He whispered softly as he squeezed his shoulder as if to comofort his grandfather.

The doctor made his way in the room, and coughed to let Chris know that he was there.

"Hello, Doctor, how's he doing?" Chris asked.

"No change." The doctor said sympathetically.

"Will he ever wake up?" Chris asked.

"It's hard to say. He's breathing on his own, so it's a matter of time. He could wake up tomorrow, it could be a few weeks." The doctor said with a sigh. "I wish I had more for you."

"It's okay, Doc. I'll just make sure that when he wakes up, his assailant is in jail." Chris said narrowing his eyes as he left the hospital room.

Lamb Apartment - Night

Why couldn't I just stay at my place is beyond me. I guess Lamb wanted to make sure I was safe since Grandpa's accident. I guess that'd be his parental intuition.

"So, this is my place." Lamb said nervously as he set Chris' bag down on the floor.

Chris looked at the apartment. It wasn't much bigger than his and Keith's, but it was very clean.

Someone has a case of OCD.

"I'll take the couch, so you can have the bed, if you want." Lamb stated.

"It's cool, I can take the couch." Chris said not wanting to be an inconvenience.

"No...no...it's fine." Lamb stated. "I fall asleep on the couch all the time anyways, so it won't be a problem."

"Okay...thanks." Chris said awkwardly. "So, I should probably get some sleep. School tomorrow and everything."

"Right...of course. Umm...I'll make breakfast in the morning." Lamb said with a nervous smile.

"Sounds good." Chris said as he made his way into the bedroom.

Normally, I'd be sitting up pondering the awkwardness of this entire situation, but I'm too exhausted.

Chris laid down on the bed and within minutes, he was asleep.

Lamb Aparment - Morning

Chris walked out of the room looking rather tired. He didn't sleep well, obviously. The smell of bacon emanated from the kitchen.

"Morning." Lamb said already dressed for work as he placed some bacon on a plate with some eggs.

"Morning." Chris responded as he sat at the counter. "Smells good." Chris said as he took a bite of a piece of bacon.

"So, I can pick you up from school today if you want." Lamb said really trying hard to get close to him.

"I do have a car." Chris said sarcastically.

"Right." Lamb said feeling stupid. "Dinner, then." He said with a nod. "I'll see you tonight." He said with wave.

Neptune High - Morning

The girls bathroom was becoming a regular meeting place for me and Claire, only this time there was no kissing going on at all.

"I'm sorry about your grandpa." Claire said with a sympathetic smile.

"Can we just makeout now?" Chris said as he pulled Claire into a kiss.

"Hey..." Claire said as she pushed him back. "You CAN talk to me, you know"
She said seemingly worried about him.

"Let's not confuse our roles." Chris said. "You and me...we makeout in the girls bathroom. We don't chat about our lives and comfort each other in distress"
Chris said somewhat coldly.

"That all this is to you?" Claire said somewhat hurt. "Well, I'm not much in the mood for a makeout session." She said as she stormed out of the bathroom.

Great. Well, now I'm going to have to make that up to her. Why? Because I have feelings for her. Feelings I didn't even think were possible, but as my mother always said. You can't help who you love. Penny's just going to love this development.

Neptune High - Lunch

Penny made her way over to Chris and sat down at the table. "Hello, Buddy." She said rather perky. "So, I think we should have a movie fest tonight. Junk food, popcorn, and all the latest movies." She said with a smile.

"Maybe. Not sure if Lamb is gonna let me out tonight." Chris said somewhat in his own world.

"How's that going? I still can't believe that Sheriff Lamb is your father." Penny said with smile. "But at least you know now, right?"

"Right, I guess." Chris said with a sigh. He needed to get it off his chest, and he knew Penny was going to freak. "I've been making out with Claire Casablancas." He blurted out.

Penny began to laugh, but realized that Chris wasn't joking. "Eeeew! Umm...did you fall on your head? Drink the kool-aid? We hate her.

"Yeah, yeah, well, I don't know..." Chris said, but was interrupted by Penny.

"You like her! Oh my god! I can't take this. The whole social order of school is changing"
She said totally overreacting.

"You done?" Chris asked.

"Yeah." Penny said still a little weirded out by the revelation, but cut Chris some slack. "So.
what about Izzy?" Penny asked.

"Well, I have to decide what I want more." Chris said with a sigh.

Izzy's Apartment- Afternoon

School was over and I had avoided Izzy as best as I could, but it wasn't right leading her on like this. I'm not sure how she feels about me, but I do care about her, but if I'm having feelings for anyone else, it isn't fair to either of us.

Chris knocked on the door and Izzy answered with a smile. "Hey, Stranger." She said as she leaned in and kissed him. "How are you?"

"I've been better." Chris said with a sigh. He hated himself right now.

"Wanna come in?" Izzy said seductively.

"About that. I...everything is changing right now, and I think we should end this." Chris said nervously.

"Oh..." Izzy said softly.

"It's me. I'm a danger, and I hurt people, and I'm confused, and I don't want to string you along while I figure things out." Chris said with a sigh.

"I understand." Izzy said obviously upset. "Well, I hope you find what you're looking for." She said as she closed the door.

Casablancas Residence - Evening

Figure things out? Hah! Like that was going to happen. Mac still hasn't come up with anything on those dates.
My grandpa is still in a coma. I'm crushing on the richest girl in school, and I'm now the sheriff's son. There's no way I'm gonna figure this out.

Chris knocked on the Casablancas' door, and Claire answered. "Hey." Chris said smiling weakly.

"What do you want?" Claire said coldly. "This is definitely something we don't do."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Chris said. "I was a jerk. I'm going through a lot right now. My life is so complicated, I don't even know I'm here. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be trying to get close to anyone, because all it'll do is bring them pain, but there's a problem." Chris said taking a breath. "I can't get you off of my mind." He said looking into her eyes for a reaction.

"Why Mr. Mars, I do declare." Claire said smirking as she kissed him. "Wanna come in?"

Chris smiled. "I do, but I have to do something. Raincheck?"

"Yup." Claire said smiling as she closed the door.

Good. Now that's taken care of.

Echolls Residence - Evening

Chris made knocked on the Echolls' door, and a maid answered. "Is Mr. Echolls in?" Chris asked.

Before the maid could answer, Logan made his way to the door, and saw it was Chris. "Mr. Mars.
To what do I owe the pleasure?" He said sarcastically.

"Can we talk privately?" Chris asked.

Logan walked outside to join Chris and shut the door behind him. "Now, I'm intrigued."

"Well, you should be scared." Chris stated.

"And why is that?" Logan said with a smirk.

"You're not my father." Chris said bluntly.

Logan's face dropped. He seemed almost disappointed. Chris saw this, and was surprised, but before he could speak, Logan was already there.

"Well, then I think the emotion I'm looking for is relief." Logan said being his usual self.

"You had something to do with my mother's murder, and now I know that's right." Chris said glaring at him.
"And I'm going to make sure you fry for it." He said. "Have a good night, Mr. Echolls." Chris said as he left Logan before he could respond.

Lamb Apartment - Night

Chris walked into the apartment to Lamb plating what looked like spaghetti. "I'm home." Chris said feeling somewhat good about the events that transpired tonight.

"Hi." Lamb said. "So, I got us a couple movies. Thought, if you didn't have a lot of homework, we could..."

"What happened between you and my mother?" Chris asked interruping him.

"What?" Lamb asked.

"How was I born?" Chris asked. "Without the disgusting details."

Lamb chuckled a bit. "You sure you want to know?"

"Yes." Chris stated.

"OKay, well, me and your mom definitely didn't get along all that well, but one night, she was upset over something,
and I wasn't having the best day, and we ran into each other." Lamb said reliving the moment. "We were drinking, and one thing lead to the other." He said with a shrug. "Truth was, I had feelings for your mother, but they weren't returned."

Chris watched Lamb as he told him the story of his conception. Knowing it was probably a sore subject for Lamb,
Chris grabbed his dinner plate and took a bite. "So...you got movies?"

Sorry for my absence yet again, but I promise I want to keep this fic going. So, like always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Any guesses on who the murderer is? Like the Chris/Claire pairing? Should Penny get a BF?
Thoughts on Logan's reaction? Please review and respond. Little spoiler: Coop is back next chapter.