Author's Note: As always, I take way too damn long updating this, which makes me feel bad since a few months before I was promising you guys that this summer I was going to update regularly. Now, summer's come to an end and I've only released three chapters, which is like one every month. I fail. Um, I did write a one-shot though, if you haven't checked it out. It's called Wishes, and features Lily van der Woodsen from the Gossip Girl TV series. :) Anyway, personally I feel writing has become a chore, but I hope it does not come out that way in this chapter because despite my lack of motivation to write, I do love this fanfic. Also, it's the reviews that keep me going. Just before I start a chapter I always read through them again.

So here we have a relatively short chapter. There is not much interaction between Sandy and Kirsten, but do understand that this simply cannot be smut all the time. I am using this chapter to set up another encounter between them in the next one, so watch out for that. I hope I kept things interesting enough!

LOVER I DON'T HAVE TO LOVE

"I hate men."

Kirsten nearly choked on her Sprite. "Well, look who's talking!" She said rather sarcastically, not knowing why she was even surprised at her best friend's blunt manner. She should be used to it by now, after having been roommates with Larissa for more than a year.

It was Sunday afternoon. Kirsten had arrived from New York over two hours ago to an empty dormitory, but Larissa had shown up an hour later, conveniently after Kirsten finished unpacking and sorting out their clothes. Now the two girls were catching up with each other, enjoying what was left of their long weekend before they go back to school in the morning.

Kirsten sat at the foot of Larissa's bed and eased herself to a lying position, all the while keeping her eyes on Larissa. If Larissa was at home on a beautiful Sunday afternoon instead of hanging out with boyfriend-of-the-moment, Kirsten knew that must mean something serious.

She sipped her soda through a red straw as she regarded the other girl with an amused, yet concerned look. "Okay. Spill the beans, what happened?"

"Paul."

Kirsten was thankful for distraction in the form of Larissa. It would help get her mind off what she had been doing on her first day in New York, which had been plaguing her ever since. Even she couldn't quite believe herself, couldn't believe what she was getting herself into. It was so unlike her, and yet the mere thought of it thrilled her. She couldn't help but wonder if Sandy was back in Berkeley now.

She hadn't been able to see him after he left her apartment that night. Though her parents were in the hospital day and night, Kirsten couldn't bring herself to give Sandy another call. She wanted to focus her attention on her family, especially her mother, who she missed very much ever since she left for Berkeley. Whenever her mother was asleep, or taken away for some tests, she simply sat in the private room and reasoned with herself that she had her fun for one day. She also knew Sandy was going to spend his few days in New York with his family for Thanksgiving.

Besides, Sandy, she could see every day in Berkeley if she wanted to (and if he wanted her to, she told herself). However, despite what little they knew of each other, they were only in New York for a few days and Kirsten knew they had a common reason: to spend time with family they rarely saw.

Still, even though they didn't get together after their Friday encounter, it didn't mean she wasn't thinking of him. Kirsten found herself questioning why she thought about him so much when he wasn't supposed to mean anything to her. When Rose asked her daughter if she had a new boyfriend, she immediately thought of Sandy. But of course, she could never dare explain what she had with Sandy to her mother, so she kept her quiet.

Larissa had jumped from the bed and was now agitatedly pacing her tiny bedroom in a mere five steps. As it turns out, the road trip hadn't gone very smoothly, and Larissa had caught Paul kissing another girl while they were at a bar. Kirsten recalled what Sandy said about Paul being a decent guy, and to be honest she didn't quite know what to think anymore.

But as she did not know Paul, Kirsten decided to turn back to Larissa. "I don't know why you're still so hung up on him." She said, choosing to be blunt. This was nothing new to the both of them. Kirsten had been there through every break-up Larissa had, even though her friend mostly moved on pretty quickly one relationship after another, not really taking anything or anyone that seriously. In fact, if there was only one thing Kirsten was surprised about, it was why it wasn't Larissa being caught kissing another guy.

"I mean, I know it blows, but you usually take these things into stride." She went on, taking another sip from her soda. "Come on, aren't you the one who always tells me there are more than enough guys in Berkeley to go around with?" Kirsten stifled a chuckle as she threw back Larissa's words when her friend was drunk not too long ago.

She expected an annoyed look, at worst having a shoe or a pillow thrown at her. But instead, she saw Larissa sober up and her eyes fill up with tears, and at once Kirsten knew.

"Oh my God. You're in love with him!"

Kirsten could not have been more stunned. For as long as she knew Larissa, Larissa had never cried in front of her, and she certainly didn't expect that the first time would be over a boy. Her heart broke. She abandoned her Sprite and joined her best friend by the pillows and drew the stricken girl close to her.

"I am so sorry, Riss." She murmured, stroking the girl's hair. "If I had known… I wouldn't have teased you like that. I mean, you always claim that when it comes to relationships you get…

"Claustrophobic?" Rissa chuckled through her tears. She looked up at Kirsten with tear-filled green eyes, and one blink sent them cascading down her cheeks. "I guess we all fall sometime."

At this, Kirsten thought of Sandy. It happened in an instant, before she could even realize it. She shook herself. She justified her line of thinking by the fact that he was the last man she had been intimate with, but even that argument sounded weak to her own ears. Sandy was not forever.

Larissa heaved a sigh. "I don't… wanna date anymore, Kirsten." She mumbled through her friend's damp blouse, breaking away to get reach for a box of tissues on her bedside desk. "I hate feeling like this." Fresh tears brewed, making her eyes watery, and Kirsten hastened to wrap her arms around her again.

"It was bound to happen sometime, Riss. You know that." She said earnestly, desperately hoping her words made sense enough to comfort Larissa. "But it doesn't mean you should give up completely."

This sent Larissa thinking, and for a long while the only sound in the room was her muffled sobs . Kirsten held her tighter, hating to see her so distraught.

"You're right." Larissa finally sat up straight and wiped her tears with a Kleenex. "Still sucks, though."

"I know."

Larissa suddenly looked very interested. "Since when?"

"Oh, we are so not going there."

The next time Sandy heard from Kirsten, it had been a little over a week since the Sunday they arrived back on campus. Somehow, she found out where he was staying, and had left a note with the resident assistant of his dormitory building.

He smoothed out the paper, crumpled after having read her note so many times since it arrived last night. "An art gallery," he murmured to himself, wondering what her invitation meant. He liked to think she was supposed to be seducing him, but an art gallery threw his thoughts out of the loop.

Sandy pondered over the numerous possibilities. For one, the art gallery on campus happened to be a very public place. Not exactly up to par with her apartment in New York City, or the back of her mail truck. She had taken more than two weeks to get back to him, and the best thing she could plan was a museum tour? What exactly in the world is she thinking?

He had a good laugh as all sorts of ideas came into mind, which happened to be working overdrive ever since he met Kirsten Nichol. He could not help it – she had definitely changed something within him, and while he could not pinpoint what exactly it was, he knew he was liking this change.

It also wasn't like Sandy to let himself be distracted over a girl, he belatedly realized as he found he had been reading the same page of a textbook for more than a few minutes now. Shaking himself, he tried to focus back to his studying, but his attention just was not there. Slamming the book shut, he sat it aside and leaned back against the uncomfortable wooden chairs of the campus library with the note still in his hand.

Sandy reread the note again, and after coming up with no new ideas for what Kirsten had in mind, he refolded the paper and tucked it in the pocket of his jeans. After all that overanalyzing, he thought of how he should just be thankful she even remembered. In the span of two weeks since he last saw her, that had been one of his worries – that she forgot the pact she made with him and just leave him hanging altogether. He felt bad he was thinking of her so negatively, but he didn't want to get his hopes up too much if they were only going to be crushed down.

As he sat, a newspaper at the opposite end of the table caught his eye. He wasn't particularly interested in any studying at the moment, but reading the paper would make his stay in the library productive. Sandy reached over and settled back down on his seat with the paper, flicking through the pages without really absorbing any of the news.

Until he reached the business section, that was. His eyes were drawn to a rather familiar name on one of the headlines. Caleb Nichol. Sandy's magnificent eyebrows were knitted together as he scanned through the article. Newport Beach. Could this be…?

Sandy debated with himself as he put down the newspaper. He knew that part of the thrill of his affair with Kirsten was that they did not know a lot about the other, and they had decided to keep things that way, to stay out of the other's personal lives.

But all of a sudden, he realized he wanted to know everything about her.

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There you go! Any guesses what Kirsten has in store for Sandy in the art gallery? Let me know through your reviews / PMs / e-mails! I love hearing about them.