Yay, new chapter, happy day. I know I've been saying I didn't think I'd get another chapter done until tomorrow night, but then I wrote this when I should have been working on my paper. Oh well. Anyway, this chapter is rather depressing. There is sadness and anger, and Kiri punches someone in the face. Yippie. Now I need to go actually write my paper. Enjoy.

Disclaimer

The next day, Kiri was late to the study group, and when she walked in she threw a glare at John before moving to stand next to Helen.

"Nikola said he won't be coming anymore. He wanted me to tell you that he's been officially expelled, and so there is no reason for him to keep coming," she told the group. With that, Kiri left, leaving the other four to stand there in stunned silence. The only one who didn't look surprised was John, who was smirking as he turned back to his experiment. Helen made a move to follow Kiri, but James caught her arm.

"Wait. Give them some time," he instructed, pulling her back.

"But you don't understand, James." Her voice dropped to an almost silent whisper. "Father picked John." Realization dawned on James's face, and he let her go. Helen made the short journey to Nikola's apartment, where she walked in to find Nikola and Kiri sitting on the couch together. Nikola was reading a letter while Kiri read one of his old physics textbooks.

"Nikola?" Helen walked farther into the room, until she was standing just a few feet away from him. He jumped up, surprise on his face.

"Helen! What are you doing here?" He glanced down at Kiri as though she would know, but the sixteen-year-old just shrugged.

"Kiri told us you weren't coming, and I wanted to talk to you. Why aren't you coming back?" Her hands fisted at her side, and she glared at him. Nikola took a deep breath before turning to Kiri.

"Could you give us some time, sestrice?"

"Of course. I'll be in my room." Kiri stood and bounced away down a hallway. Helen looked on in confusion.

"Since when has Kiri had a room here?"

"I was only able to keep this apartment due to contributions from a benefactor. Now that I have been expelled, I doubt this benefactor will continue paying, so Kiri agreed to move in to help with the rent."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Helen moved towards Nikola, who took a step back. A look of hurt crossed Helen's face as she backed up as well.

"I did not see a need." Nikola turned away, his entire body tense.

"I am your friend, Nikola. I should know when you're having trouble." Helen moved closer again, tentatively placing a hand on Nikola's shoulder. He shrugged her off, moving to place the table between them.

"Why are you here, Helen?"

"I wanted to know why you aren't coming to the lab today." Nikola's continued coldness was making Helen angry, and she walked away from him, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"I've been expelled! There's no reason for me to go our little study group anymore."

"And what about James and Nigel? What about me?" At the despair in her voice, Nikola turned, and Helen could see that he was trying to mask his emotions. Already, a solitary tear was winding its way down his face.

"Your father has made it clear he doesn't want my name tainting yours."

"And what about what I want? Do you think I wanted Father to pick John over you?"

"I don't see you rejecting him."

"Please, I have lost my love. Don't make me lose my friend." Tears were beginning to spill out of Helen's eyes now, and she was gripping onto the back of the couch like it was her lifeline. As she stood there, she could remember the first time she'd been in his apartment, almost a year ago. They'd been so happy then. It was hard for her to believe it all could have gone south so quickly. She was snapped out of her reverie by a gentle hand on her face, wiping away the tears.

"I will always love you, Helen. Even if you marry and have children with him, I will always hold you in my heart." His eyes conveyed the sincerity of his words and for a second Helen wanted nothing more than to kiss him. Instead, she pulled away, her eyes full of venom.

"Stop this, Nikola. We can never be, so don't entertain these foolish notions." With that, she left, leaving Nikola looking even more broken than before. He slumped down on the couch, and Kiri wandered out of her room to stand over him.

"Nika, I have to go. Will you be alright?" She asked gently, her eyes apologetic.

"I'll be fine, Kiri. Don't be gone too long though. And be careful." Nikola sat up to watch as she pulled on her boots and coat. She rolled her eyes as she left.

"I know, I know. I'll be back before dark, don't worry." She closed the door and made her way back to the lab, where she knew the study group would be just finishing up. Standing out of view of the door, she listened as she heard James and Nigel leave together, John closely following. Kiri walked out of the shadows, standing in front of the three men. She noticed Helen wasn't with them, and smiled.

"Kiri, what are you doing here?" James questioned. Kiri ignored him and moved closer to John.

"I'm sure Mr. Druitt knows." Without warning, she swung, punching John directly in the nose. There was a sickening crunch, and John's hands went to his face.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Nigel took a step towards John, but James reached out to stop him.

"Kiri, what aren't you telling us?"

"He's the one who told the administrators about Nikola's gambling, and the lie about having relations with women," Kiri snarled, moving as though to punch the taller man again. James grabbed her, pulling her back.

"I understand that this is bad, but that was weeks ago. Why are you just attacking him now?" he asked while Nigel went to make sure John didn't try anything.

"Helen and Nikola had a fight, because Nikola's not coming to the lab and he's upset that Gregory picked John and Helen's upset that Nikola is upset and they were yelling and-" Kiri was at this point close to hyperventilating, and James pulled her into a hug.

"It's going to be alright, Kiri. Why don't you go talk to Helen, and I'll talk to Nikola. We'll see if we can get this sorted out, alright?" He looked down at Kiri, who nodded as she tried to fight back tears.

"Nikola's at home," she said. James gave her a squeeze, and they split up, Kiri heading towards the park, where she knew Helen liked to go to think.