A/N: I'm so so sorry about having this out so late. On the weekend I worked on Chapter four of Irreplaceable, and didn't have the time to finish this. Unfortunately, I've also been grounded off the computer, so the updating will be slower. On another note, MAJOR thank you to the reviewers. Those of you who left super long ones are extremely awesome. I absolutely love reading them. I got seventeen reviews last chapter. That is just, Wow! Awesome. But, on with the chapter, get ready for a big surprise near the end. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, sans plot.

Anyone But You

Chapter Six

I can remember spending the better half of that day just sitting. I was sitting in my room, on my bed, staring down the tape measure. It was almost as if I expected it to suddenly get up and move, anything to explain why it was now in my room. The thing is, it didn't. It didn't do anything unordinary, or odd at all. It just sat there on the ground next to my desk, exactly where it had been since this morning.

I probably looked really crazy just staring at it, but I didn't care. It wasn't so much that it was weird either that the tape measure was there. I had gone out to the store with Shane for so long yesterday, and everyone had already been back by the time we were home, so anyone in my family could have moved it. If we were redoing the bathroom, it wasn't so odd to think that my parents wanted to redo our rooms too. We had probably been too busy for them to mention it to us. But still, I stared. Mostly it was because I needed something to stare at, something to question. Ever since Friday night I was on edge- expecting something. I mean, after being a major witness to a crime, with evidence, it usually makes you a prime target. But nothing. Absolutely nothing was happening. Lola and I hadn't been killed or kidnapped, there were no threatening phone calls, no break ins, no letters- nothing. The waiting was killing me. It was as if I wanted it to just happen already so I wouldn't have to keep waiting for it. I wouldn't have to keep my guard up and be suspicious of every single tiny thing, like this stupid measuring tape.

But I needed it too. The measuring tape, which was more likely than not just a remnant of my parents remodeling ideas, had given me a bit of peace. I had been expecting something, and I'd found whatever I needed in it. Casting all rational thinking aside, I let myself believe that this was the effects of Friday night. I'd been a witness and had incriminating evidence, so the killer was back to move a tape measure around my house. Although, now that I thought about it, it sounded stupid. I was just desperate to find something to take me off edge and put my mind at rest.

I was still curiously watching it when the phone went off next to me. It provided a distraction from concentrating on aforementioned object, so my eyes naturally darted over the the caller ID screen. I waited a moment until I saw Jason's name come up on the screen. I reached out, grabbing the phone, and pressed the talk button, bringing the speaker to my ear.

"Hey Jason," I answered, my eyes going directly back to the object laying abandoned near my desk. Come to think of it, if my parents were remodeling, why would they leave it on the floor?

"Hey Nate," Kevin greeted, "Where are mom and dad?"

"Around, I think... why?" I asked.

"Lola invited us all over for dinner tonight."

"What?!" I choked on my own spit. If I needed any kind of distraction this was a pretty good one. Well, not so much going to Lola's, but the complete shock of the idea was enough to jolt me out of any obsession with a random object. No way was I going to Lola's. I had to see her enough at celebrity events with Hannah, and then sometimes outside of 'work' when she was with Jason and Shane. I didn't want to add to that and actually go to her house. It would have been a lot more than awkward too.

"Yeah, so go ask mom and dad if they're busy." Jason asked. Well, he didn't really ask so much as ordered. I told him to hold on a minute and then put the phone down on my bed. Getting up, I went downstairs into the kitchen where my mom usually was to ask her, like Jason wanted. Just like I'd suspected, when I walked downstairs I saw my parents at the kitchen table.

"Hey Mom," I asked, walking into the room. Both Mom and Dad looked up at me questioningly.

"Are we busy tonight?" I grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, biting into it and leaning against the counter for their answer, "Jason wants to know. Something about Lola inviting us all over for dinner." My mom instantly lit up when I'd said it, and I, of course, frowned. More than likely she was going to say yes to Lola's offer and I'd be forced to go too. It was kind of apparent they either Lola's mom had been the one extending the invitation, or that I was excluded from the event. I would have preferred the latter, that way I wouldn't be expected to attend.

"Of course we're not busy! You tell Lola that we'll all be there." Mom confirmed. Damn. I really did not want to go to this thing.

"Sure," I grumbled, "I'll get the details from Jason."

After getting her address and the times from Jason, Jason said he'd be over soon. When he came over, we were all ready and we headed over to Lola's for an tense evening. Or maybe it would just be tense for me, considering, oh, I don't know, we had a serious dislike for each other. I wasn't sure that was ever going to change either. I had given her a huge opportunity to be my friend and end this, but it was obvious she rejected that. I don't know what she really got out of keeping this rivalry going, but nonetheless she did, and she kept it going strong. It wasn't even really that I disliked her. I could grow to like her eventually, if she cut the mean act, but it actually seemed to be getting worse. I wasn't sure if it would ever end.

A dull greeting, an awkward tour, and a few games of guitar hero later, we were all seated around the dining room table. So far, the night hadn't gone as horribly wrong as I'd expected it to. There had been that one moment in her bedroom with the drawn-all over poster of me and my brothers, but luckily, it had been cut short. Unfortunately though, I was now sitting across from Lola as the food was being passed around the table. Frankie sat to one side of me, and my Mom to the other. Thankfully, our parents were in such close proximity, so I was almost sure that Lola wouldn't pull a whole dramatic action scene, chock full of yelling and insults directed towards me. Oh how wrong I had been.

"So Lola," I looked up from my food when my dad started talking, "Your mother tells us you're going to University in the fall." Hearing that the question was directed towards Lola, I let my head drop down to my food again. This could be good news however. Maybe Lola would go to some far away university in New York or Boston and I wouldn't have to see her for another couple years. If she wasn't going to give up her hatred, then maybe she'd just leave me alone? I almost started to get excited about the prospect of a few Lola-free years until she ruined it for me with her next statement.

"Yes. Pepperdine, actually, right here in Malibu." Damn. I had been so close. Apparently she was staying in Malibu, which would be of no help to me. Actually, it pretty much guarenteed she'd be around for the next few years. I'm sure Jason and Shane liked the idea, but of course, I did not. A question later and Lola had revealed her major. She was apparently going into Law because she was "a bit" aggressive. A bit was an understatement, if I was concerned. Actually, just aggressive would be putting it lightly.

"Got that right," Practically spilled from my mouth. I didn't think anyone had heard it because there wasn't any immediate response. I was kind of glad about that too. I didn't think my parents would appreciate the outburst, and I was sure Lola would flip.

"Excuse me?" Oh no. Please don't tell me she heard me.

"Hmm? What?" I answered awkwardly, trying to act like nothing had happened. I was silently praying she would drop it then and there because I didn't want to get into it in front of my parents. No doubt she would start it, but whatever I said I couldn't be accountable for. She just brought out the worst in me.

"Wanna repeat that?" She asked me, raising her eyebrows accusingly.

"What are you talking about?" I tried to deny. I pretty much pretended like I hadn't said anything. No one else had heard it, there wasn't any witnesses to back up her claims.

"'Got that right'. Ring a bell?" She just had to push, didn't she? I leaned farther across the table, a slight glare being sent her way. We couldn't even have a nice, quiet dinner with our families without her taking offense in the slightest comment. I didn't even see why it mattered anyways. She was the one who said she was aggressive in the first place; I just merely agreed.

"So what? You admitted it yourself." I told her, my eyes naturally rolling. She was taking this was too far and blowing it completely out of proportion. I had said one comment to myself and she was already off the walls. Had I not come across a poster of me in her room with devil horns and a pitchfork? Wasn't that a little more offensive than me agreeing with her?

"I don't need this," I muttered to myself. And it was true, I didn't. I didn't need to be talked down to for saying she was aggressive. She was pretty much proving it right now.

"And I don't need you muttering stupid comments in my house. If your going to say something about me, at least say it to me." She spat across the table. Apparently she had a keen ear, because she'd heard my second 'stupid comment'.

"Let it go! Jeeze!" I defended myself. She really needed to lay off. This was totally uncalled for for some tiny sentence I'd said. She should have dropped it ages ago.

"No! I won't." She then stood, pushing back her chair and leaning onto the table, "I think by now it's common knowledge that the both of us hate each other, so the least you can do it cut your stupid little nice act because I'm not falling for it. If your going to say something, just say it. Do you honestly really think I care what you have to say to me?" Apparently letting it go was out of the question.

"Lola, sit down. Stop being a Drama Queen." I crossed my arms, leaning back in my chair. She looked pretty crazy and over dramatic, standing over the table throwing insults at me. I, on the other hand, was trying to stay calm and not give in to her antics. She always did this to try and get me to insult her back, or at the very least to annoy me. I wasn't going to let her win, especially not with our parents watching us.

"I can't even have a conversation with your father without you being a jerk about it. You know," She turned towards my parents, her eyes visibly softening, "I really feel for you, having to live with this thing every day. I honestly don't know how you do it. He's inconsiderate, and a major idiot. At least if your son is going to hate me, tell him to do it properly instead of muttering incoherent, immature shit under his breath." Oh no way. She claimed that I hated her. Yeah, I definitely hated her, that's why I was the one being civil and not yelling at her from across the table, right? Thats why I was the one who actually took care of her when she needed me. That's really grounds for hate. Lola needs a dictionary, and she needs to realize that I don't hate her. Maybe I don't like her because of all the things she's done to me, but that surely didn't mean I hated her. If anyone hated anyone, it was her hating me for no reason. At least I had a good reason to hate her, even though I didn't.

"Me hate you?!" I finally broke. I pushed my chair back and stood up, much in the same way Lola had done moments before. "I'm trying to be nice to you. With all the stuff you've done to me you'd think I would have stopped by now! I even took care of you Friday night and did I hear one thank you? No! I didn't! Your mom had to say it for you." By now, my chest was almost heaving as I took the air in. I had practically yelled my entire defense to her.

"I never asked you to do that," She turned to me, her eyes narrowing dangerously, "I would have rather died that night then had to be near you." Final straw. She moved towards the dining room door to leave, thinking she had the last word, but oh no. I wouldn't let her get away with that.

"Yeah?" I yelled, "Well, I wish you would have!" She stopped when the words left my lips and turned around. My head reeled as I replayed what I'd just said.

"Go to fucking hell, Gray," She spat, and my words came back to me. Somehow I wished I could rewind those last few moments or that I could suck the words from the air right back into my mouth. I really, honestly, truly regretted saying what I did. Even if I disliked her, or hated her like she thought, I could never have the heart to wish something as permanent as death on someone. It made me feel no better than the face of the killer I'd caught on tape. If she had died that night, I- I didn't even want to consider that thought.

"Lola- I, um, I'm sor-" I tried to apologize the best I could, stumbling on my words. She cut me off mid sentence though.

"No." She shot back, "Don't apologize, because you know what? I wish you were dead too." And then she'd stormed out, leaving me speechless. I really hadn't meant what I'd said, but it was clear that she did. Instantly my chest constricted. Even if she had been just as brutal as I had been, I still felt awful about saying it, and she didn't even give me a chance to apologize.

Slowly I turned away from where Lola had been and saw the looks on the faces of my family and Mrs. Luftnagle. Jason looked pretty upset, having to watch one of his best friends leave with tears in her eyes, and also disappointed at the fact that it was clear neither of us were trying too hard to get along. I couldn't even decipher the look on Shane's face. He kind of looked confused, but also a bit curious. I couldn't see why he would be, other than the tiny hint that me and Lola had been through a lot more than we were telling people. Mom and Dad looked shocked, unable to believe the things that we'd just said to each other. Lola's mom was panicked, not sure where to look or what to do.

"Well, she really wasn't kidding when she said you two didn't get along," Mrs. Luftnagle tried to ease the tension with a joke of some sort. It didn't really work. I smiled lightly at her attempt, but no one laughed. Mom and Dad kind of burst into action, and we all excused ourselves to the door. It was kind of obvious that Lola wouldn't be coming down any time soon, and the situation had become extremely awkward, effectively ruining the night.

"I'm really very sorry about Lola," Mrs. Luftnagle gushed as we all stood by the door, ready to leave, "She's usually not like this. She's just been very touchy ever since..." She trailed off, but we all understood. It was understandable that she'd be on edge since that night, but this definitely wasn't because of it. Murder or not, I didn't have a doubt in my mind that she still would have blown up on me. That was just the kind of relationship we had.

Once we were in the car, I thought I was home free. It was silent on the way home, and once we drove into the driveway, Jason got in his own car and went to his apartment. Me and Shane both climbed out with Frankie and went into the house first. I was almost up the stairs to my bedroom when I heard Mom calling me back downstairs by my full name. This definitely wasn't good. So, slowly I made my way downstairs, Shane giving me a silent 'good luck' look, and then made my way into the living room, where I was sat down on a sofa.

"Explain." Was all my mom said before I broke down and explained most of mine and Lola's rivalry.

"Look! We just don't get along, it's been this way for ages. You know she once cut the curl out of my hair? I'm serious!" Was how the rant ended. My parents both looked a little overwhelmed at the new information. They exchanged glances, and my mom turned to me, a little less angry.

"Fine." She breathed, "Go upstairs to bed. Your grounded, and your going to apologize to her tomorrow."

"Fine," I secretly rolled my eyes, pushing myself off the couch and bounding upstairs into my bedroom. Again, it wasn't late, but I was still pretty tired. I pulled back the covers on my bed and flopped into them. I could hear music or the television, or something coming from Shane's room across the hall, but didn't question it. It was pretty normal for him to be doing either of those things since it was pretty early. I, however, was pretty intent on getting a good night's rest. I would need it if I was going to have to face Lola again so early in the morning, and, dare I say it, apologize. I didn't even see why I had to. I had already tried apologizing to her at dinner but she wouldn't have any of it.

I dug myself deeper into my bed, surveying my room. My eyebrows scrunched up as I noticed the missing tape measure that was on the ground near my desk for most of the day. I couldn't imagine where it had gone to, but I didn't really take it seriously anyways. I had probably kicked it somewhere accidentally while I was walking around my room. It was pretty insane to think that it could move on its own and even more insane to think that the killer would 'torture' me by moving an object around my house. I was he could do a lot better than that. And as I thought about this, I found myself drifting off into sleep. I noticed that the distinct smell of strawberries and apples was now gone, and I found myself missing it.

It was around two in the morning when I was jolted awake again by the sounds of shuffling. I stretched my arms a bit trying to get into another comfortable position. I heard the creaking of the floorboards start up again, and then the strumming of a few chords on my acoustic guitar. I could hear the tinniest difference in the sound, thanks to the disc hidden inside, but to anyone else it wouldn't have been noticeable. Thats when my eyes scrunched up together. Who would be playing my guitars so early in the morning?

I turned in my bed, laying still. I cracked my eyes open and watched the dark figure loosen the chords on my guitar so that they slacked. The person reached their fingers into the sound hole, sliding out the hidden CD from inside the instrument. I was half asleep, so I wasn't totally aware of what I was doing, so instead of laying flat against my bed quietly, I pulled myself into a sitting position.

"Hey, don't do that," I mumbled to whoever it was. I didn't want them to take the disc or I would have one less piece of evidence, "I need those." I yawned as the figure's head shot over to me. I wasn't adjusted to the darkness yet, so I couldn't make out who it was. In my half asleep state, I figured it was Shane, since he was about the same height and a probable candidate for being in my room at such an hour. If I had been fully awake, I probably would have thought differently.

I watched, my eyes half closed as the figured made its way to me. In seconds, I found an arm tightly around my head, a cloth pressed against my mouth. After that everything went pretty hazy. For a few seconds, everything went in and out of focus until I found myself falling against my pillow. I didn't remember much after I fell asleep that second time, but I found myself waking up in my room again later that day. The clock read two in the afternoon and I was astounded my parents had let me stay up so late.

When I woke up that morning, I didn't remember much. I recalled going to bed early in the evening, and then waking up sometime around two to a hazy figure. However, I attributed the latter to a nightmare, figuring I was due to have one sooner or later. At least it hadn't been nearly as bad as the one Lola had seemingly experienced on Friday night. My nightmare didn't seem like anything in contrast, actually, considering I hadn't exactly woke up screaming.

Shuffling out of the covers, I looked around my room. Something seemed oddly off about it. The colour didn't seem quite as bright as I remembered it to be, and the angle of the green chair wasn't how it usually was. Then again, Mom had probably come in to do laundry and moved the chair by accident. A few of my guitars were out of place, or missing as well, but Shane had most likely borrowed them, or Frankie was playing with them in his room.

I pulled myself out of bed, stretching and yawning. I made my way over to the closet and pulled open the doors. It was a lot emptier than I remembered it to be, but my clothes could have been in the washing machine, dryer, or at dry cleaning. I think I left some at Jason's too, and maybe Shane had worn something without asking. I pulled out something plain and made my way over to the bathroom. The house seemed oddly quiet, but I hardly noticed. I took my shower, dried off and got dressed. Then I remembered I would have to go tell Lola I was sorry today.

Sighing, I left the washroom and made my way downstairs. Something about the entire house seemed off to me, as if it wasn't the right colours, or things were just slightly out of place. A couple things were missing and I couldn't place why. Everything did look rather ordinary though, but there was definitely a weirdness factor to it. I merely shook the feeling off, thinking I was going paranoid thanks to last night's nightmare and walked into the kitchen. Usually my parents were there, but today it was empty. The entire house seemed to be empty now that I had noticed it.

I looked around for a note explaining why, but I couldn't find one. Perhaps they were in such a rush that they'd forgotten to tell me or leave me a message? It hadn't happened before, but I didn't doubt it. Instead of standing there wondering why my family was gone, I opted to make myself something to eat. I opened the fridge and found it almost empty. I pulled out some orange juice and poured myself a glass, then put some dry cereal into a bowl. I put everything down on the kitchen table and pulled out a seat for myself. I grabbed the cordless phone off the counter before sitting down to eat my food.

As I put a spoonful of the dry cereal into my mouth and took a sip of the OJ, I pressed the Menu button on the phone. I went to scroll through the contacts list to call Shane to see what was up and where everyone was, but the list was empty. Someone had probably deleted it by accident, nothing big. I racked my memory for Shane's number and finally came up with it. I stored it into the contact list first to make sure it was there, and then called. Instead of ringing like it usually did, it went straight to answering machine.

Hey, this is danger. Leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Huh, odd. I couldn't remember a time when Shane left his phone turned off.

"Hey Shane, it's me. I was just calling to see where you guys all went, but, uh, I guess your phones off. I'll see you when you get home?" I spoke before hanging up. I tried Jason's cell too, but his also went straight to answering machine. Was it, keep your cell phone off day or something? I thought long and hard again and finally came up with Hannah's number. I didn't know why I would call her considering she probably didn't have a clue where my family was. I was just looking to find someone who didn't have their phone turned off. My house seemed off, and everyone was gone, and now I couldn't get a hold of them either. When I dialed her number, I waited for the rings. None of them came. Instead, I heard someone pick up and I waited, figuring it was the answering machine.

"Hello?" Her voice came through, and I sighed with relief.

"Hannah?" I asked, just to make sure she didn't have one of those wacky answering machines that pretended to actually answer.

"Nate?! Where-" And then the phone call cut short. When I heard the dial tone I knew we had gotten disconnected. I pulled the phone away from me, turning it off. Furrowing my eyebrows, I dialed her number again. A recorded voice on the other end of the phone told me that the number was now out of service. That was weird, considering I had just called it two seconds ago. Instead of calling again, I slowly put the phone down on the table, eying it for a moment curiously.

I let my eyes wander towards the television after a minute of two. I reached across the table for the remote and turned on the television. The tv guide channel told me instantly that there wasn't anything interesting on, but I figured that at least watching boring tv was better than being forced to apologize to Lola. Speaking of Lola, my mom had told me I was supposed to tell her I was sorry this morning, yet she had let me sleep in, and now they were gone. Maybe, by some spur of luck, I had gotten myself out of this apology.

I found myself flicking through the channels, stopping on one that looked rather interesting. The set looked oddly like my upstairs hallway and there didn't seem to be any actors in the scene. It surprised me then when a door opened and someone who looked suspiciously like Shane walked in. I raised an eyebrow, becoming confused. I then realized that the set was in fact my upstairs hallway, and that the person who I'd thought was an actor was actually my brother. I then swiveled around in my chair, turning towards the stairs that led upstairs.

"Shane?" I called out and I got no response. I turned back to the tv and watched as Shane apparently walked towards where the stairs were. I became even more confused as I watched this because in reality, Shane didn't come down the stairs. He wasn't even in this house. Maybe my parents had signed us up for some wacky reality tv show that wasn't really filmed at our house? Maybe they were on the set of our house, because these sure weren't security cameras or anything, otherwise Shane would have already been down those stairs and bounding towards me.

When I skipped to the next channel, this confirmed my suspicions. It was of the kitchen. Except in the kitchen on screen, my parents were sitting at the table. Lola was across from them, crying, and my Mom and Dad looked worried. Jason was pacing in the background. The only thing I couldn't seem to figure out was why Lola would be on our reality tv show and not me.

I flipped ahead a couple channels until it no longer showed my house. At the time I didn't really wonder why our 'Reality Tv Show' would be on several different channels, all showing different things. Instead, I had been trying to find an at least somewhat rational reason for what was going on. But the next thing I saw was one thing I couldn't explain. I had turned on the news accidentally, since it was the next channel after the twelve or so stations playing my reality show. The lady was sitting there, shuffling papers, and then she put a hand to her ear piece, listening closely to whatever was being said to her. I watched as the colour drained from her face, and she looked directly into the camera.

"Live breaking news," She announced, and then a picture of me came up to the left of her head on the background's green screen. I instantly became confused, wondering what kind of news I could have made in the short time I had been sleeping.

"Seventeen year old Nathaniel Gray, of Connect Three has been reported missing." My head tilted, and I listened to the woman explain. Pictures of my trashed bedroom came onto the screen, and then it went to some reporter. Whatever explanations I had been trying to come up with for everything that was happening ended there, because as far as I was concerned, a person wasn't missing when they were sitting in their kitchen and my room had definitely been a lot neater when I had woken up. So if what I was seeing was an actual news report and I was actually missing, then where the hell was I? Because this looked a lot like home to me.

A/N: Alright, a few questions for you guys and an explanation. Explanation first. So the idea of Shilly isn't exactly Shilly. It would definitely be one sided, with Lilly/Lola considering it, but not being serious about it. There wouldn't really be moments. I'm just not sure if I wanted to make Shane's crush a rather drawn out thing, or down play it. So now with the explanation, would you rather it be major (Drawn out) or minor (Down played)?

Also, A few questions. Once the Nilly really starts to kick in over the next few chapters (although, it already has, if you've been paying close attention to the hints) Who do you think will be the first to admit they like the other?

One more. Should there be a sequel to These words, would you want it to focus more on Joe or Lilly?

Anyways, Review please :)