A/N: Well, here it is: Chapter 5! And you didn't even have to wait that long for it! Not much to say about this one. I admit, I did sort of ramble on in some parts, or at least that's what it feels like I did. But I think it turned out okay overall. Let me know what you think with a… well, you know the drill.

My God, I thought you were someone to rely on

Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on.

After racking her brain for three days trying to figure out what to get Alvin for Christmas, Brittany finally decided on the most impersonal thing she could think of: a twenty dollar gift certificate to the local Wal-Mart.

So that's why Brittany found herself standing in front of a shelf at the superstore on another snowy December afternoon. She looked through all the different patterns on the cards, trying to pick out the plainest design, just to remind Alvin that didn't give a crap about him or his stupid gift.

She finally chose a simple, solid blue card. No fancy script, no cute design; just a plain, boring card. When she reached for it, she heard someone call her name…

"Brittany! Oh my God, is that you?"

Brittany winced as she heard the familiar shrill voice. She turned around, and her fear was confirmed: standing a few feet away was her former classmate, Tessa Chandler.

Tessa was by far the perkiest person Brittany had ever known. The former cheerleader had been voted Most Talkative, Most School Spirit, and Best Smile in high school, winning each category by a landslide, and rightfully so. Brittany found Tessa's constant peppiness irritating, but since Tessa was pretty, she was automatically a member of the popular crowd, the same crowd Brittany associated with. Therefore, she was forced to deal with Little Miss Sunshine on a daily basis throughout her teen years, which nearly drove Brittany to insanity a number of times.

Tessa's naturally blond ponytail bobbed up and down as she skipped toward Brittany. She wasted no time embracing Brittany into a warm hug, and Brittany reluctantly hugged back. Tessa smelled strongly of cotton candy scented perfume and strawberry lip gloss, which instantly brought back memories of the millions of other hugs Brittany had received from Tessa over the years.

"Oh my gosh!" Tessa gushed as she pulled away. "I haven't seen you in, like, forever! How are you?"

"I'm great," Brittany replied with false enthusiasm. "How are you?"

"Never been better!" Tessa said with a wide smile. "So where have you been all these months?"

Brittany briefly told Tessa about the time she spent in Europe, and that between illnesses and previous commitments she hadn't been able to make it home until recently.

"Oh," Tessa said, nodding. "I see. I know it was probably hard to come back to Alvin, after what he did to you."

"Yeah," Brittany said, forcing herself to remain calm about the fact that it seemed like the whole city knew what Alvin had done to her.

"And plus the whole thing with Eleanor," Tessa went on. "It's probably weird knowing that your sister has hooked up with your ex-boyfriend, especially since you guys dated for, like, ever."

Brittany's lips parted, as her mouth suddenly felt very dry. Her mind raced to catch up with what her ears had just heard; for a moment, she couldn't quite piece it together… Sister. Ex-boyfriend. Hooked up.

Oh. My. God.

Tessa looked worried as she studied Brittany. "Brittany? Are you okay?" then Tessa gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my gosh! You did know about Alvin and Eleanor, right?"

Brittany took a deep breath, hoping that she wouldn't puke all over Tessa's stylish white overcoat. She then realized how foolish she would look if it looked like she hadn't known about Alvin and Eleanor.

"Of course I knew," Brittany said, putting her good acting skills to use. She still felt like she was going to barf. "I just don't like being reminded. It's still kind of weird for me, you know?"

Tessa nodded. "I understand. I'm just glad you already knew! I wouldn't want you to find out like this!"

"Yeah," Brittany muttered. "What a relief."

"Well," Tessa said, flashing her signature toothpaste-commercial-smile. "I have to go now, I'm late for a hair appointment. We've got to hang out sometime. You still have my number, right?"

"Of course," Brittany said, although she had no intention of calling up Tessa.

"Awesome!" Tessa squealed. She gave Brittany a quick hug before saying good-bye and running off, probably to unknowingly annoy another person.

Brittany knew she should get going too, but her legs wouldn't move; her whole body felt numb as she desperately tried to process the disturbing information she had just heard.

Eleanor and Alvin. Hooking up? It just didn't make sense.

Or maybe it did, a little. Alvin and Eleanor had both been attending local colleges, and they both lived at home through most of the year, which meant they had plenty of opportunities to see each other. And Alvin was notorious for hooking up with any girl he could get his hands on; and in recent years, Eleanor had made a graceful transformation to chubby, pig-tailed cutie to beautiful, blonde bombshell. It did make sense that Alvin would go for a girl like Ellie.

And the fact that it made sense made Brittany feel sicker. Because while it was a typical Alvin move to go for an ex-girlfriend's sister, it was disappointing that Eleanor would do such a thing. Why would Eleanor willingly have a fling with the guy who ripped out her sister's heart and broke it in a million pieces? And what was worse was that Eleanor had never even told Brittany about it. No one had told Brittany about it… she had to find it out from a former "friend" who she hadn't spoke to since her high school graduation.

But then again, maybe it wasn't true. Maybe Tessa had gotten the wrong information; she was kind of a ditz. This was the same girl who, when assigned to do a report about Civil Rights in History class, wrote a 2,000 word essay on the Civil War.

"I could have sworn she said war, not rights!" Tessa had whined when the teacher handed her paper back with a fat red "F" at the top.

But Brittany had a gut feeling that this Alvin/Ellie thing was true. The clues fit together perfectly; Eleanor and Jeanette being weirdly secretive, Eleanor and Alvin whispering about her, and the fact that tomboy Eleanor was suddenly wearing make-up for casual occasions.

And what exactly did Tessa mean by "hooked up?" Hooking up can mean a lot of things. Did they just kiss? Did they go on a date? Did they make out? Did they have sex?

Brittany shuddered at the thought.

"Excuse me, miss," a middle aged man said as he accidently bumped into Brittany as he made his way through the crowded aisle.

Brittany realized she had been standing in the same spot for about five minutes, staring at the colorful rows of wallet-sized gift cards. People probably thought she was insane.

Brittany decided to follow a philosophy she had come up with when she was in middle school: Don't let people see that you're down. You're fabulous, and you should let everyone know it, no matter what mood you're in.

So with her head held high, Brittany made her way to the check-out line, her high heels click-clacking on the tiled floor with every confident step. She was eager to get home and confront her lying sister about this whole Alvin thing. She needed to know the truth once and for all.

…

Brittany, who had driven well over the speed limit the whole way home, quickly turned the car in the short driveway. During her drive home from the store, she had been thinking about what to say to Eleanor; how should she approach the situation? She finally decided that she was just going to come out and say it: "How could you hook up with Alvin after the terrible thing he did to me, your own sister?"

And Brittany was actually looking forward to it. She wanted to see the ashamed look on her sister's face. She wanted Eleanor to feel guilty. She wanted her to feel just as badly as Brittany had felt when she learned that her sister, one of her best friends, had been going behind her back all this time.

Brittany put the car in park and climbed out of the seat. She knew she was bringing out Old Brittany; New Brittany would probably handle this in a much calmer manner. But it was Old Brittany who had been scorned by Alvin; therefore Old Brittany had to settle this.

Brittany shook her head, realizing that it was really weird that she kept referring to herself as "Old" and "New" Brittany. She wondered if she had some weird schizophrenic problem or something.

"Brittany!"

Jeanette burst out of the front door and hurried to her sister. As Jeanette got closer to Brittany, Brittany could tell something was majorly wrong. Jeanette looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"Jeanette?" It didn't take long for Brittany to become overly concerned. Something was definitely wrong. "What's the matter?"

Jeanette struggled to catch her breath. "Miss Miller," she struggled to get the words out. "She's… she's gone!"

"Gone?" Brittany felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach. "W-what do you mean gone?"

"She's not here!" Jeanette wailed. "She didn't leave a note or anything. Her cell phone is still here, and she didn't take the car…"

"Damn it, Jeanette!" Brittany's hand rested on her chest, relieved at what Jeanette had just said. "Don't do that! You scared the crap out of me!"

"But…"

"For a second there I thought you meant she was dead," Brittany said, her breathing slowly returning to normal.

Jeanette ran her hands through her dark hair and sighed. "This is really serious, Brittany," she wailed. "I don't know where she could have gone! It's dangerous for her to be out on the streets alone, especially for someone in her condition…"

Brittany interrupted her sister by grabbing her bony shoulders.

"Jeanette," she said, "calm down. We don't know she's on the streets. She might just be out taking a walk or something."

Jeanette's teal-colored eyes got misty as she gave Brittany one of the saddest, most scared faces she had ever seen. "Exactly," Jeanette said, sounding miserable. "We don't know. We don't know where she could be, Brittany. We have to find her. Believe me," Jeanette looked Brittany directly in the eyes, "this is serious."

Brittany could tell that Jeanette was totally being serious. And something in Jeanette's voice made Brittany believe that this wasn't the first time Miss Miller had disappeared… which pissed Brittany off, because that meant there was yet another thing that her sisters had been keeping from her.

"Okay," Brittany said, taking a deep breath. She let go of Jeanette's shoulders. "Where's Eleanor?"

"She said she was going to run some errands," Jeanette said.

Brittany couldn't help but wonder if "running errands" was code for making out with Alvin.

"Call her," Brittany said. "Tell her what's going on and to help us look."

Brittany turned toward the Seville's house and thought of what Dave had told her before she left there a few nights ago: "I hope that you and your sisters know that the boys and I are there for you no matter what."

"Come on," Brittany said, pulling Jeanette toward the large white house across the street.

"Where are we going?" Jeanette asked, struggling to pull her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and walk at the same time.

"To get help."

…

Luckily, Dave and all three Chipmunks were home when Brittany and Jeanette came barreling in the house.

After quickly explaining the dilemma, Dave didn't hesitate to take charge.

"All right," Dave said, trying to sound calm. "Let's not panic. We'll split up and look for her. Alvin and Theodore, take Alvin's car and search the east side of town. Simon and Brittany, take the SUV and search the west side. Jeanette and I will look around the neighborhood and ask people if they saw anything, and we'll look around town too. Keep your cell phones on, and call if you find her or hear any useful information. If we don't find her in an hour, we'll call the police."

And that's how, less than five minutes later, Brittany found herself in the front seat of the Seville's black SUV sitting next to Simon. She wondered why she was always getting stuck with Simon lately. It seemed like she saw him more than she saw her own sisters.

Simon backed out of the driveway and turned west. Brittany rolled her eyes when she looked at the speedometer.

"Simon," she said impatiently, "this is kind of an emergency. I'd appreciate if you went a little faster."

"I'm going the speed limit," Simon said, nodding toward a white speed limit sign on the side of the road. He was right; he was going exactly the speed limit: thirty-five miles an hour.

Brittany slumped in her seat. She needed Fast and the Furious, not Driving Miss Daisy.

As the car (slowly) made its way through the streets, Brittany stared out the window, keeping an eye out for her former guardian. With all the commotion, she had almost forgotten about how angry she'd been about the whole Alvin/Eleanor situation. She glanced at Simon, and decided it was time to get down to the truth.

"Did Alvin and Eleanor hook up when I was out of town?" Brittany asked.

"What?" Simon blurted. His hands tightened on the steering wheel.

"You heard me," Brittany said, waiting for an answer.

"Brittany," Simon said. She could tell he was trying to sound firm, but he sounded nervous and uncertain. "I don't think this is the best time…"

"I'm still looking for her," Brittany assured him. "I can multitask. Now tell me the truth. Did they hook up when I was gone?"

Simon let out a loud sigh. It was obvious that he didn't want to give Brittany an answer, which confirmed her worst fears.

"They did, didn't they?" Brittany sunk lower in her seat. Her throat tightened like she was going to cry.

"Yes," Simon reluctantly admitted. "They did, as you so delicately put it, hook up."

Brittany stared out the window. When Tessa told her the news, she had been angry… she was mostly angry at just the idea of Alvin and Eleanor getting together. Because that's basically what it was at the time… an idea. Brittany wasn't totally convinced it was true, coming from Tessa. She still believed that it might have just been a rumor. It was typical for Alvin, one of the most popular guys in town, to be the center of a scandalous rumor.

But since Simon confirmed it, Brittany just felt heartbroken. Simon wouldn't lie to her; Alvin and Eleanor had gotten together sometime within the last year. Despite the fact that Alvin claimed to still love her, and despite the fact that Eleanor had seemed so supportive toward Brittany after Alvin did what he did, they ended up not caring about Brittany's feelings at all.

"When did it happen?" Brittany asked.

"I'm not completely sure," Simon admitted. He looked very uncomfortable. "I'm assuming it happened in late summer. Since Alvin had to transfer to a local college, he ended up living at home. Eleanor lived at her home too, and since they were the only ones home… well, I suppose one thing led to another…" Simon trailed off, leaving Brittany to figure out the rest.

"I can't believe this," Brittany groaned. "Why would they do this to me?" Another thought dawned on her. "Are they still together?"

"I don't believe so," Simon said, pushing his thick glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

Brittany buried her face in her hands. "How could they?"

Simon shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. It looked like he wanted to say something, but wasn't quite sure how to put it into words.

"What?" Brittany asked, turning toward Simon. She figured he was going to tell her another secret by the strange way he was acting.

"Well," Simon said slowly. "If you don't mind me asking… why do you care?"

Brittany blinked. "Excuse me?" Was he serious?

Simon shrugged. "It's just that you've been giving everyone the impression that you're over Alvin. You've tried changing your look and personality so you can distance yourself from him. Yet, when you find out that Alvin has been interested in another girl, you get upset."

Brittany's eyes narrowed. How dare he make her look so foolish?

"I'm not upset because of Alvin," Brittany spat. "I'm upset at the fact that my own sister has been lying to me all this time."

"Oh come on, Brittany," Simon said, rolling his eyes. "You know why Eleanor didn't tell you. Why anyone wouldn't tell you. We knew how you would react. You're upset that Alvin has moved on."

Brittany frowned. Why was Simon being so annoyingly insensitive?

And he was obviously wrong. Brittany was more upset with Eleanor than Alvin. She couldn't care less about stupid Alvin.

Or at least, that's what she told herself.

"And I didn't change myself because of Alvin," Brittany added. "That was just a personal choice. I needed a make-over."

"I don't think so," Simon said, slowly building up more confidence. "I believe that you thought if you changed yourself, you'd become a new person; a person who doesn't need Alvin in her life. That's how much he hurt you; enough for you to want to change yourself completely. You thought there was something wrong with the old you to make Alvin cheat, and you were determined to change that. Thus the new clothes and attempt at a calmer personality."

"Attempt?" Brittany blurted.

"Well, yes," Simon said with a condescending smile that reminded her of Alvin. "You tried to act differently. But the Old Brittany wouldn't completely go away, which made things even more complicated for you. Like when we were getting that Christmas tree last week. You were still your old, impatient self."

Brittany's stomach turned over when Simon mentioned "Old Brittany." Was this guy physic?

"You're spending way too much time looking into this," Brittany mumbled, offended that he was being so insulting. She had heard him say not-so-nice things to Alvin before, but he had never spoken to Brittany like this. "Are you studying me for some stupid college project or something?"

"Not at all," Simon said coolly. "It's just simple psychology. As much as you don't want to love Alvin again, you still do. He's all you've ever known. He's too big of a part in your life to let go."

Brittany swallowed hard, trying to keep herself together. Simon had it all wrong. She had let go. She had let go of Alvin months ago.

"You're wrong," Brittany said, her voice sounding much meeker than she had wanted. "Alvin hurt me, and I'm never going to forgive him, let alone love him again."

"Brittany," Simon said, sounding gentler than he had the last few minutes of his ridiculous Brittany analysis. "I'm not saying these things to upset you or argue with you. I just think you should stop pretending to be something you're not just so you won't get hurt again."

Brittany tipped her head back to stop her tears from flowing. What was wrong with her? Why was she letting Simon talk to her this way? Why was she getting so emotional? And why wasn't she arguing with him anymore?

"Yeah," Brittany finally said, her voice cracking. "Okay, Simon, if it makes you feel any better, you got me. I'm messed up. I want things to be different because I don't want to love him anymore. But at the same time, I want everything to go back to normal… I want to be able to trust my sisters again, to be close to them again. I want Miss Miller to remember me again. I want…" Brittany let the tears slide down her cheek. She might have been acting like a blubbering fool, but she had enough sense to not admit that she wanted Alvin again. "I just want things to be good again," she summed up.

"Things can be good again, Brittany," Simon said, still searching the area for Miss Miller as he drove. "Different, but good."

Brittany sniffled. "I don't even know who I am anymore, Simon. I want to be like how I was, but I just… can't." Brittany took a shaky, deep breath.

"Well," Simon said. Brittany could tell he was trying to be patient with her, but he looked a little annoyed. "If you think about Brittany, is it really a big deal? I mean, I don't blame you for being upset for a while, but I think perhaps it's time to move on."

Brittany stared at the Seville brother as he carefully drove through town. Simon may be smart… a genius, even. But he was absolutely clueless when it came to anything romantic.

"Move on?" Brittany repeated in disbelief. "Alvin meant everything to me, Simon. I loved him. Do you have any idea how much it hurt to see him kissing another girl the way he used to kiss me? God! For a smart guy, Simon, you're pretty dumb." Brittany wiped her tears from her eyes. "You've obviously never been in love before, have you?"

Simon didn't answer. Instead, he stared straight ahead and continued to drive.

"I didn't think so," Brittany said, not caring that she was being mean.

The two rode in silence for a while, each trying to gather their thoughts. Brittany hated to admit it, but maybe Simon was right about a few things, like why she wanted to change. And she realized that throughout their conversation, she had contradicted herself a few times. She said she had no feelings for Alvin, but she basically admitted that she wasn't over him cheating on her.

And, okay, as much as she didn't want to admit that she missed Alvin, she did. A little. Okay, a lot. But it wasn't like they had been dating for a few months; Brittany and Alvin had had a special relationship ever since they were kids. Sure, they didn't always see eye-to-eye, and they had infamous childhood arguments about who was the better singer or the most popular. But Alvin was one of the first people in Brittany's life (besides her sisters) who really meant something to her. He was her first rival, her first crush, her first date, her first slow dance, her first kiss, her first boyfriend… her first love. He was the first guy to get into a fight for her, the first guy to buy her diamonds for her birthday, the first guy she made love to. Brittany couldn't help but care about him, as much she tried not to; he was just too much a part of her life, like Simon said.

Although he also happened to be the first guy to break her heart.

"I'm sorry," Simon finally said, breaking the silence. "I don't know why I starting blabbing about all these theories. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and I'm truly sorry if I did."

Brittany sighed. "It's okay. You actually… well, let's just say you weren't completely wrong about a lot of the things you said."

Simon glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "So you do have feelings for Alvin?"

Brittany wanted to say no, but what was the point? Simon would know she was lying. And she had already totally let her guard down in front of him, letting him see her act like a helpless lunatic going through an identity crisis… twice. However, she couldn't just outright tell anyone that she still loved Alvin; she still had enough pride to keep that a secret between Old Brittany and New Brittany.

"I don't know," Brittany said with a shrug. "Maybe." Brittany looked at Simon, who looked a bit puzzled by her answer. "Let's just say that I don't hate him as much as I pretend to, okay? But don't let him know that, because I do not want to get back together with him."

"Really?" Simon asked, raising his eyebrows. "You have no interest in getting back together."

"None," Brittany confirmed, even though she knew perfectly well that at the right moment, Alvin could easily change her mind with a kiss. Brittany usually considered herself pretty strong, but kissing was her weakness. When Alvin (or anyone, for that matter… not that she had kissed very many people other than Alvin) kissed her, she lost all control. It was her Kryptonite.

And she was pretty sure Alvin knew that.

"Huh," Simon muttered to himself. "Interesting."

Interesting? Brittany thought. She wondered why that was so interesting.

Simon's cell phone started to ring from the pocket of his coat. He pulled it out and placed it on Brittany's seat, right beside her lap.

"Would you mind answering that?" Simon asked.

Brittany frowned. "It's your phone."

"I'm driving," Simon said, as if that explained everything.

Brittany sighed at yet another one of Simon's weird elderly habits. But she answered the phone anyway.

"Hello?"

"Brittany?" It was Dave. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Brittany replied. "Apparently Simon can't drive and talk on the phone at the same time. Did you find Miss Miller?"

"Yes," Dave said. "We did."

Brittany's grip on the phone tightened. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Dave said.

"Thank God," Brittany said, feeling her whole body relax. "Where was she?"

"She's standing outside where the old night club used to be on Raspberry Street," Dave said. "But Jeanette and I are having trouble getting her to come home with us. She keeps saying something about meeting her friend, Eloise, here. Do you know anything about an Eloise?"

Brittany shook her head, but remembered Dave couldn't see her over the phone.

"I don't think so," Brittany said. She looked out the window and immediately realized where she and Simon were. "Simon, take a right up here."

"Why?"

"Just do it," Brittany commanded, although Simon wasn't slowing down. They were going to miss the street. "Simon! Turn!"

Simon slammed on the brakes and made a sharp right, just in time. A jeep behind them angrily honked their horn.

"Brittany!" Simon yelled. "Why are we…?"

Brittany held up a hand, signaling Simon to be quiet.

"Dave," she said. "Stay there. We're coming to help."

Thanks to all of you who have reviewed so far; I really appreciate all of them. Please continue to do so, to let me know that you're reading!