A/N: This chapter's song is by OK Go. This is the penultimate (i.e. second to the last) chapter, so I hope you like it! I'm sad that it's close to ending, but at least we'll get some much needed closure. (And a happy ending, hopefully.)

Chapter 8: A Good Idea at the Time

// I appreciate your courtesy, your well-learned politesse, but you got yourself into your own mess. //

Nina's face was frozen in a scowl. She was at the breakfast table, wrapped in a thick blue blanket, with a steaming mug of coffee right under her nose. She hadn't touched it. Nina didn't cry over what she'd seen at the dojo (she hadn't shed a tear since the death of her father -- that episode woth Raven didn't count), but she was not amused. Not at all. To help her deal, she played Pearl Jam songs at full blast. This had been going on all morning.

Her sister, who in contrast to Nina was dressed for a day out with her white turtleneck, denim skirt, and kitten heels, eyed her with concern. "I can whip up some flapjacks. You want?" Anna offers. It was her weird way of coping with a loss (if you could call it that) to pretend nothing had happened. But Nina could not shake her anger. She merely glared at her sister. "Okay, no pancakes then."

Ring, ring.

They both turned around and looked at the phone. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who was on the other end. He'd been calling since last night. Nina went back to staring at her coffee with the same frown on her face.

Ring, ring.

Her sister took this nonverbal cue and moved to pick up the phone. "I'll take a message." She picked it up. "Hello? She just left to pick up some bagels, can I take a message?" She started scribbling on the pad beside the phone. Nina can see her roll her eyes. "Buh-bye."

"Will I read it to you?" Anna asks. Her sister gives a shrug, followed by what looks like a half-nod. Anna holds up the pad and starts reading. "Nina, I'm sorry. It's just that...I have needs," (Anna giggles at this) "and I couldn't help myself. I mean, you and I hadn't...you know. I hope this doesn't mean it's the end of us because I love you more than anything else in the world. I may have fucked that guy, but with you, I want to make love. I'm NOT gay, Nina, I swear. Please give me a second chance. Call me."

Now she's all-out laughing. "Honey, that boy is full of shit!"

"Men are pigs," Nina scoffed. These are the first words she's spoken for the day. "All men are pigs."

"You just made an error in judgment," she replied helpfully. "It happens."

"I took a chance, Anna. I thought that Hwoarang was the nice, safe kind of guy I could share a future with. As it turns out, I was just a beard to him." Nina tries to clear the nasty image of Hwoarang in the heat of the moment with some dark-haired guy. "I lost at the first try."

"At least now he's out in the open."

"I heard that he's never going back to his dojo since his friends now know he's a fudgepacker."

"Cum-chugger."

"Friend of Dorothy." She laughed a little.

"But what about that old guy who you told me you saw near the entrance? Did he know?"

She shook her head. "Hwoarang told him that a girl was waiting for him in there."

Raven emerges from the bedroom, working out the casual-but-sexy look in a maroon sweater and fitted denims. He hands Anna a jacket. "Ready to go?"

"See you," she said to Nina. "We ought to get you an iPod, I'm sick of this grunge shit."

Raven kissed her on the forehead. "Take care of yourself, Nina. There are other fish in the sea," he clichéd.

"Thanks, you guys."

Once the door closed behind them, Nina had only Pearl Jam and her thoughts with her. What exactly was it about Hwoarang cheating on her with a guy that bothered her THIS much? She had already established long before that her feelings for him weren't as deep as she wanted them to be (and in light of what had happened, thank God they weren't). Perhaps she really was just peeved that she'd made an error in judgment. Or that between the renowned playboy and the sweet boy-next-door type, it was the latter who cheated. Or that karma had just bitchslapped her -- she used a guy for sex, and she in turn had been used to cover up some guy's true sexual orientation.

Or, she was pissed because she left Lee, who she couldn't help but be fond of despite his nature, for this...phoney. Lee was more important to her than she cared to admit.

The phone started ringing again. She ignored it.

Now how was she going to deal? Surely she couldn't skulk around the apartment all day. She pondered this as she began sipping her now-lukewarm coffee. A little thought started flitting back and forth in her head, all, What I really need is a good lay. Which brought her mind back to Lee, which in turn made her force the thought back into oblivion. Because when she thought about Lee, she thought about the nights of passion, entangled limbs, his face in the moonlight, the way he gazed at her lovingly as she drifted off to sleep, how he would kiss and caress her all over. It made her miss him, which was the last thing she wanted.

She could just settle with the old "curling up by the fire with hot chocolate and a good book" scenario. Anything to take her mind off of things. There was one problem, however: there were no good books in the house (ones that she hadn't read, anyway). A trip to the village bookstore was in order.

"You think she'll be alright, Raven?" Anna asked as they coasted along in his Ford.

"Nina's a tough gal," he replied, not taking his eyes off the road.

She sighed. "She shouldn't have left Lee in the first place. I liked the guy."

"I didn't. But I disliked Hwoarang much, much more. I don't think either of them were right for Nina."

"Still, didn't you notice that Nina was happier with Lee? With Hwoarang, her smiles just seemed...forced."

"Well, yeah." He kept on driving.

He kept calling, but no one answered. She's probably out on a date with Mr. Perfect Boyfriend, Lee thought resentfully, putting down the headset with the biggest frown on his face.

It took him this long to realize that he had been in love with her all along, and now she was looking for love with someone else. He tried going out and partying, but it just wasn't the same anymore. None of these girls were attractive to him anymore.

Apparently, karma had bitchslapped him, too. After breaking numerous girls' hearts, he in turn was left feeling empty. As much as he hated to admit it, Nina had gotten the best of him.

She broke his heart. And who was to say that he didn't deserve it?

He shrugged on a brown turtleneck and left the mansion. Perhaps he just needed some alone time. He would forget about her.

Eventually.