A/N: We're back in business. Sorry it's been so long. I have been trying to get another chapter posted for a while now but life just got in the way. Hopefully I will be able to update more often. And I hope some of you are glad to see more of Imperfect.

R&Rplease. Your reviews mean a lot to me.

Thanks to AngelMeghan for remembering me all these months later. Your message helped get me back into action.

Just Dealing

I sat quietly contemplating how to explain that night to Chris and how to explain how Eyeball and I had started seeing each other while I was with his best friend. In the end I searched for the simplest answer. "I… I used to date Ace and you know how possessive Ace is. I just don't want him to hurt Eyeball I guess."

Chris stared at me intently, his eyes searching my face and examining my answer. He nodded thoughtfully, accepting my answer and trying to read into my answer.

"When did you and Rich get together?" He asked. He had obviously realised there was more to the situation than I was telling him.

I sighed and hung my head.

"While you were still with Ace then?"

"Yeah. It was your brother that gave me the confidence to leave Ace. He… He sees what your Dad's like. He…"

"He wants to be different. I know. I'm just not sure how different Rich is gonna be." Chris said earnestly.

"No. He is different. He is Chris."

There was a silence.

I was glad I to finally be able to tell someone about how things were with Eyeball. I had talked to Andrea a bit but the only responses I ever got were to dump him and why was I even interested in him. Even though Chris seemed more understanding he still wasn't exactly on our side. I guess that everyone was going to be against this relationship. It should be a doomed relationship. Doomed from the start, but only if we let it be. I think we could be stronger than that. I think it just takes us to stick together and tell them all we are going to work. We may not be perfect, but nothing is perfect.

"Hey, do you want something to eat? Gordie and I were going to make some sandwiches or something." Chris said breaking through my thoughts.

"No, I'm ok really."

"Oh come on. We'll get something to eat and then we'll walk you back to your place. Alright?"

"Yeah ok. Thanks Chris." I smiled. He really did seem like a nice kid.

Chris, Gordie and I sat in the Chambers' house for a few hours after that joking and laughing. We found that we got on really well and we had a lot in common. I thought it was funny how I could get on so well with these guys and the Cobras considering they were not only complete opposites but they hated each other. Yet the Cobras and these two boys were nice in their own ways and they were all a good laugh, just in totally different ways. I really fitted in with all of the boys yet I shared completely different qualities in common with each group.

It was strange how different the two Chambers boys were too. I suppose the same could be said for Andrea and I. Despite being sisters we were polar opposites. Chris was obviously struggling a lot more to be the opposite of his dad than what Eyeball was. Eyeball was afraid he would turn out like his dad but he let everyone think it didn't bother him. He let them all think he was like his dad but underneath that he was fighting to make sure he didn't turn out like his father. He was afraid that he was going to be the same as his father was despite how hard he was trying not to. The problem was he was so afraid of not being enough of a man and of anyone thinking that he wasn't enough of a man that he was letting his life waste away. He was giving people every reason to call him a hood, a J.D., and a drinker.

Chris wasn't like that. He was going to make sure he'd prove everyone wrong. He still tried to be a "tough little Chambers kid" but he was going places. By going into the college courses he was showing everyone that. He was going to be the Chambers who would definitely leave this town and make a better life for himself. He knew that your family reflected on you but he knew that they couldn't make you who you were if it wasn't who you wanted to be.

The boys both loved their family. They loved the other kids and hoped that they would have a better life. They loved their mother despite her weakness and selfishness in leaving them to cope with their abusive father on their own. And they loved or at least respected their father despite what he was and what he had put them through. Chris searched for his father's approval less than Eyeball did but he still didn't seem to hate his father even though he was obviously bitter about what his father did to him and their family. It was strange to see how they dealt with their family situation. It was their life and they accepted that. They didn't seem to be coping, just dealing.