I wish I owned South of Nowhere, but I don't.

Alright! Thanks to everyone who's read this from the beginning, and thanks to everyone who's just started. Thanks to the people who reviewed, favourited, and alerted, thanks to the people who didn't. Thanks to the people who like this, and thanks to the people who didn't but still gave it a read. I love you guys :3

Anyway, it has been brought to my attention that my chapters are extremely short, so from here on out, I'll try to make them longer! (See? Reviewing= goodgood)

Cool air hits my body, jolting me awake. My eyes fly open, and I see Chelsea standing above me, looking slightly annoyed. I close my eyes again, and feel blindly for my comforter. My fingers find the edge of it and pull it up to my chin. I'm drifting off again when the blanket's yanked off of me again. Frowning, I pull myself up so I can scowl at my room mate.

"Spencer. Get. Out. Of. Bed. This. Instant." Okay, so maybe she's a little more than slightly annoyed. Chelsea doesn't get mad all that easily, and she's glaring daggers at me. Out of sheer terror, I manage to drag myself off my bed.

"You okay?" I ask, looking warily at her through half-closed eyes.

She rolls her eyes in response. Not a good sign. "Spencer, do you know how many times I woke you up this morning?" She asks, sounding so much like a reprimanding mother it makes me cringe. I shake my head. "Four. Four freaking times! And you kicked me in the stomach!" I bite my lip and look apologetically up at her. I'd apologize now, but you don't want to interrupt her when she's on a tirade. Her face and voice soften when she sees my expression. "You'll be late if you don't hurry," she says, pointing to the clock. 6:47. I have a photography class at 8, and a bus to catch at 7:15.

"Chels, I'm sorry," I say, and watch all remnants of annoyance disappear from her face. She's such a softie; she can't stay mad at anyone for any length of time.

"It's alright, just go. Don't want to be late again," she says, smiling. I hate morning classes with a passion.

I shower and dress in light speed. I pull on some comfy clothes and stumble, still half-asleep, to the kitchen. I have ten minutes before I need to be out the door. Chelsea pushes a bowl of Captain Crunch –my favourite- into one hand, and a spoon in the other. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's a godsend.

I eat quickly, and put my dishes away. Check the clock on the stove. Still have three minutes. As I grab my stuff, I stifle a yawn and turn to face Chelsea. "When are you working today?" She works at a little art gallery not too far from our house. She thought working there would be a great way to learn about the art world outside of class, and applied within weeks of us moving here.

"8:30. And classes starting at noon."

"Ooh, busy day. Well have fun!" I call over my shoulder as I slip out the door. I make it to the bus stop right on time. I flash the driver my pass and sink onto a seat. I pull out my phone to check the time. Alright, that's a lie. I want to see if Ashley has texted me yet. She hasn't. Disappointed, I push my phone back into my pocket.

Near the end of my French class, my phone illuminates in my pocket. I glance at it, and try to contain the smile already tugging at my lips. It's from Ashley.

9:40

Morning (: How's class?

Ashley

The professuere, Madame Moreau, is droning on about conjugating verbs. I send a quick reply.

9:42

Morning? As in good? They're never good :P Boring, as always. What are you up to?

Spence

It only takes a minute before I get a message back.

9:43

Take it you're not a morning person? What class? Nothing really, haha.

Ash

I love that she doesn't use shortcuts in her texts. Those just bother me. I don't use them, ever, even if it means it'll take longer to write.

9:45

Not exactly. XD French. Hate it. Haha, well I'm jealous. That sounds much better than this. :P

Spence

9:48

(1/2)I'm not either. My sister came over super early so she could tell me all about her boyfriend. Don't know why it couldn't wait. :P

(2/2)French? Awesome! I definitely think you should teach me some sometime.

Ash

9:52

Haha, that sucks. At least I'm not the only one suffering :P If you want, but I'm not very good at it.

Spence

9:56

Rude, much? XD Oh, shut up. I'm sure you're great.

Ash

We text back and forth for the remainder of the morning. I'm afraid I can't recall a single thing from any of my classes. We ironed out the details for the day. She'll meet me at my house at around 2, and we'll do the interview. I'm a little nervous that once the interview is done, we won't talk anymore. The voice of reason tells me to calm down though, and that we'll definitely still talk and hang out. I mean, I've never had such an instantaneous connection with someone before. We just click.

I throw all my stuff into my bag and prepare to leave my last class of the day. I sling it over my shoulder, walking for the door. Once outside, I begin to walk towards the bus stop. I freeze when I see a familiar face smiling at me from a few feet away. Stunned, it takes me a moment to get my feet to communicate with my head. Finally, my legs decide to listen and carry me over to her.

"Ashley? What are you doing here?" I ask incredulously.

"First off," she says, handing me a cup of coffee. "Caffeine. I didn't know what you like, so I got you the same as me. Half coffee, half French vanilla. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's great," I say, still shocked. "Thanks," I take a sip of the warm beverage. "Mmmm," I hum. "This is delicious."

"Oh, good. I was really hoping you'd like it. Well I figured you'd rather have a ride than have to take a bus, so here I am," she smiles.

"Oh, jeez. That's so nice. Thanks," I say, falling into step beside her as she navigates to the parking lot.

"No problem," we've stopped in front of a black convertible. "Also, maybe I didn't want to wait till 2 to see you," she says, a sly grin on her face as she slides into the driver's seat.

I'm a little taken aback. I don't know what to say to that. It takes till I'm seated in the car for me to get words out of my mouth. "Well I kinda didn't want to wait either, so I guess this worked out pretty well."

The drive isn't very long, and I'm a little sad about it. I am in love with this car. The top's rolled down, and I'm enjoying the breeze, warm sun, and amazing sense of freedom. I throw my hands in the air, loving the feel of the air rushing past my fingertips. Ashley tries her hardest not to laugh, but a chuckle still escapes.

Too soon we're at my apartment. "That was fun!" I exclaim.

She laughs. "First time in a convertible?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only a little. But yeah, that was fun," she smiles, shaking her head at my antics.

When we get inside, we head straight for the couch. I want to make sure she's okay first before I bring out the camera. I don't want to make her nervous. Also, I don't want to jump right into it, I just want to hang out with her a little longer.

"So your sister was over this morning?" I ask.

"Yep. Bright and early. Nine o'clock, if you'll believe it," She says dramatically.

I mock-gasp at her words. "Nine o'clock? But that's ridiculous!"

"I know! I'm seriously starting to regret giving her a key. It'd be fine if it was something important. But no. Just her boyfriend, Sean. He's a nice enough guy, but seriously? Hearing about him is not better than sleep."

"That doesn't sound anywhere near as good as sleep," I concede.

"I know, right? So Spence, before we do this whole interview thing, can I ask you something?

"Yeah, of course. Anything," I say, and I mean it.

"What's your last name? I actually have no idea what it is. I realized that last night, and…just…I dunno. It's weird." She laughs, and I do too. I can't believe I never told her my lat name! That would be so weird. I can picture myself trying to guess Ashley's last name, had I not known it.

"Alright, let me introduce myself properly," I hold out a hand for her to shake. "Spencer. Spencer Carlin." Her eyes go wide as I finish. Her grip on my hand goes slack. I'm freaking out a little, wondering what I did or said wrong. "Ash? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she says, recovering.

"What was that about?" I query, concern ringing in my voice.

"Oh, uh, nothing," her voice sounds high and fake, so I know she's lying.

"Ashley, tell me. Please?" I'm starting to really panic now.

"I just recognized your last name, that's all," I'm confused. Where'd she recognize it from, and why on earth did it make her react like that?

"From?" I prompt.

She looks at me hesitantly, like she's debating whether or not she should come clean. She must have realized I need to know, because, biting her lip one last time, she tells me. "Clay Carlin…the boy who died in that drive-by a couple years ago…that was your brother, wasn't it?" She asks softly.

A single tear rolls down my cheek. I can't help it. I wasn't expecting that. I can't let more tears fall. I don't want every single encounter I have with this girl to involve crying. "Yes, that was him," I say, trying to dam the tears building up inside.

"Spencer, I'm so sorry. So sorry," She says gently, pulling me into a tight embrace.

"It's fine; I'm fine," I say, not allowing myself to relax into her. If I do, I won't be able to stop crying. She pulls away and brushes my tear away with her thumb.

"No, you're not. But it's okay. You will be. I promise," she whispers the last part. She's leaning towards me, and I close my eyes, building my walls up, because I know that when she hugs me again, I'll need them. Instead though, I feel soft lips on my own. The kiss is sweet and chaste, lasting only a few seconds. My eye open, and my defences fall away.

She's looking nervously at me, wondering if she messed up. "I'm sorry! We hardly know each other. I'm so sorry. Uhm, I really didn't mean to do that. It'll never happen again, I swear," she looks panicky. To show her she did nothing wrong, I silence her with another kiss. It lasts longer than the first one, but is every bit as sweet. I wrap my arms around her and hold on tight.

We lay on the couch again, much like yesterday. But this time I'm curled up against her, and she's the strong one. I'm the one broken, in need of fixing. We need each other. She's strong for me, and I am for her.

After a half hour or so, she speaks, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Have you done anything for closure?" She asks, her fingers lightly tracing patterns on my back. I shake my head. No. Nothing.

"Well maybe you should," she suggests carefully, not wanting to upset me. "It's been two years," she adds. I want closure, I do. I'm just not sure how to get it.

"How though?" I ask, looking up at her.

"I dunno. It's different for everyone. I'm trying to get it through music. Maybe you should try through what you love," a light bulb goes off in her head; I can tell by the way her eyes light up. "Like this video project thing; maybe it would have more impact if you did it about your brother," she's still talking slowly, watching my face for anything telling her to stop. I listen though. It is time I got closure, and this doesn't sound like a bad idea. I nod again.

"You'd be okay though? I mean, it was supposed to be about you…" I trail off. She laughs, the sound beautiful and clear, and totally unexpected.

"Spencer, I'm terrified of talking while the camera's rolling. I think I'm definitely okay with it," she places a kiss atop my head.

"Okay," I say with a smile. I pull myself up and kiss her again.

Sooooooo….. whaddya think? Good? Bad? Horrible? Let me know. Tell me if you think I should continue in this direction or not. And sorry, I tried to make it longer, I did. And it is a bit longer than the other ones, but…yeah. Pretty short.