Pippa had been sitting in the lunchroom for half an hour, barely listening to the conversations going on around her. She was bent over her calculus textbook, scribing questions sloppily into her notebook. She'd only acknowledge the people around her if she was stuck on a problem and required her friends' help. Her auburn head had popped up for the fourth time before someone spoke up.

"Oh, would you give it a rest," Claude shook his head, reaching over and shutting Pippa's book. Her protest was interrupted mid-breath when he continued talking. "Every time I see you, you're working. Why can't you just—" He pushed her untouched tray of food closer to her. "relax, for five minutes, please."

Pippa sighed, slouching over again and snapping her notebook closed. "I know, I know…" She pressed at a kink in her neck. "But I didn't get around to finishing my homework last night. Or starting it… actually I deliberately avoided it." She ran a hand through her short hair and let out an exasperated groan. "Why do I do this to myself?!"

"I don't know why you're even worrying about homework anymore." Claude commented. "We're seniors. We did all the important work and tests last year. So what if one math assignment's a day late. You're still going to college."

She stabbed some of the slimy chicken on her plate with a grimace.

"You look exhausted." Monty said, arriving at the table with his own lunch tray and sitting down next to her. "Rough night?"

"I couldn't sleep."

He gave her a sympathetic look. "Want me to get you some coffee?"

"That," She rubbed her sunken eyes "Would actually be amazing, thanks."

"Caramel latte, extra chocolate sauce?"

"You know me so well." He returned her smile and left the lunchroom, heading off to the Starbucks next door.

Claude watched Monty turn the corner and then let out a huff. He crossed his arms, leaning them on the table. "You're killing him, girl."

"What did I do?" She turned to him. "He offered."

"You know what I mean." His brown eyes bore into her. "He's had a huge crush on you forever."

She knew.

"How can you not wanna tap that?" Alyssa, the brunette to her left finally spoke up. She had her green eyes focused on her phone. She'd been texting an estimated six guys for the past thirty minutes. "Monty got hot."

He did.

"And he's a total gentleman." Claude reasoned. "I can't believe you have him this far in the friendzone."

"Oh, God," Pippa rolled her eyes "I can't believe you'd use a term as misogynistic as 'friendzoning'. What is this, 2013?"

Claude held up his hands in defense. "Okay, but that is essentially what you're doing."

"I am not; stop being an idiot. And anyway, if I did have him in the 'friendzone', that would imply that I had no desire to be with him at all."

"Wait, you do want to be with him?" His face showed obvious confusion.

"Well, yeah…" She had to admit it. Ever since last summer, when Monty spent the vacation down in Brazil, got tan, fit, tall, lost the gaudy red glasses and bribed the Gods of Puberty with sacrificial lamb and fine wine, Pippa had started to see him in a different light. "He's attractive and nice to me and we have a lot in common. I've known him since forever and…"

"So why don't you go out with him?" Claude exclaims, exasperated.

"Because she's too in love with Jamie." Alyssa answered, still not looking up from her phone.

"Wow thanks for keeping that a secret." Pippa grumbled sarcastically. "And I'm not in love with him. You're such a drama queen."

Claude knit his dark eyebrows. "Jamie Bennett?" The way he says the name sends and uncomfortable feeling to the pit of Pippa's stomach. "You're still not over that guy?"

"Oh, hell no." Alyssa finally looked up from her phone, leaning into her conversation with Claude like Pippa wasn't even there. "She was bugging me all night, texting me that she was 'worried about him.' I told her to get over it; if he's off'd himself, there's nothing she can do about it. It wouldn't even be her fault."

"Woah, you think he'd actually do something like that?"

"Dude, where have you been? Didn't you hear about his suicide attempt last year? That kid has gone crazy. Well… crazier. Remember when he used to believe in Santa Clause. In, like, freshman year? He's got some childhood trauma or something going on because that's fucked up." She took a sip of her soda. "I can't believe you're still into him." Alyssa directed her attention back to Pippa, who had been slowly attempting to shrink away from the conversation.

"Can you guys just…" She let out a frustrated groan, unable to finish her sentence. Luckily, she didn't have to. Monty returned, handing her coffee with an elegant bow.

"Your latte, Highness." He gave her a million dollar smile. Her guilt only grew when Claude and Alyssa sent her matching accusing looks.

"Thanks, Monty." She took a sip, grabbing for her wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

"No way." He shook his head, pressing her hand back down into her bag. "It's on me today, princess."

Oh God stop calling me stuff like that! Her mind screamed. It's not that she didn't enjoy it; she felt her cheeks flushing. But the more he treated her like a queen, the guiltier she felt. Why did she have to be so hung up on Jamie?!

"I know someone else who'd like to be on you." Pippa heard Claude whisper and discreetly kicked him in the shin under the table.

"Thanks so much." Was all she said, avoiding her other friends' disappointed looks.

"What were you guys talking about?" He addressed the other two at the table, an innocent look on his flawless face.

"Nothing." Alyssa shrugged, the small birds tattoo on her shoulder moving with her muscles. She turned her attention back to her phone. "Just Jamie Bennett."

"Oh yeah," His interest piqued "How is that guy? I haven't talked to him in ages. Pippa, you're still in touch with him, right?"

She could tell the conversations about to go back to what it was, so she didn't answer. Instead, Pippa put on her purple sweater, shoved her books back into her bag, swung her bag over her shoulder, and stood. "Ah, y'know, sorry to eat and run, but I just remembered that I forgot a file in the library. I'll catch you guys later." And just like that, she was gone.

I swear to god. Sometimes I want to fucking stab those guys. How dare they talk about Jamie like that? If she wasn't such close friends with them, she would have told them off for engaging in such sickening conversations. Claude used to be friends with Jamie, too. Why didn't he defend him when Alyssa was making fun of him?

"Fucking assholes." She muttered, the coffee in her hand losing its appeal. She tossed the Styrofoam cup into the nearest trash bin and thought about what to do next.

She considered actually going to the library, so maybe she could distract herself again with homework. She didn't even care that the bell had just rung. She just needed someplace to calm down, and her physics classroom wasn't an option. So she strode down the halls, occasionally bumping shoulders with a few people before turning toward an empty hallway. There weren't any gym classes immediately after lunch, so she could walk in peace. She was about to turn a corner when something stopped her dead in her tracks. A laugh. And not just any laugh. One that she hadn't heard in about seven years.

"Alright, okay, sorry. I didn't think to watch where I was stepping." The voice was about a hundred feet away around the corner.

That was definitely Jamie's laugh, though hearing it was an incredibly alien sensation. And that was Jamie's voice, but not the angry, sarcastic tone Pippa had grown accustomed to. He sounded amused; definitely not an emotion she was used to him wearing. And those were Jamie's footsteps—heading right for her!

She didn't move. She stopped, listened, waited for him to be the first one to make a move.

"It's your fault for never wearing shoes." He seemed to be half-heartedly arguing with someone. Who, exactly, Pippa didn't know. He might have been talking on the phone, because there was silence in between his statements where someone should have replied.

"Yeah, well, maybe next time you've got your tongue down my throat, you might wanna be a little more conscious of where you put your feet."

Wait… what was that?

All of her thoughts stopped immediately when Jamie rounded the corner and saw her, freezing as well. She'd only seen his smile for an instant before it melted away, revealing slight shock and… fear?

"Pippa," He said her name like he was surprised to see her.

She doesn't know if she should be angry with him. He's really done nothing wrong… except, y'know… disappear without a single word for the fifth time in the past two years. Although, she had been a bitch to him the last time they spoke and—

All those thoughts that had been running through her head for three days crashed down on her at once. She couldn't focus on anything for a while as she stood there, staring at him. She just took in his appearance.

He looked less tired than usual. His posture was straighter and he looked like he had spent extra time combing his hair this morning. He looked… healthier.

A sense of relief washed over Pippa as she thought that maybe Jamie's therapist had finally gotten through to him. That's why he was away for so long. His mother probably put him in special therapy, or whatever, for a few days and they had managed to fix him!

But then Pippa's brain started working again. She connected the dots. His one-sided conversation. He wasn't holding a phone. He was alone. And he was talking to himself. Not exactly a symptom of a recovered therapy patient.

She felt extremely disappointed as quick as she had felt relief. And just as fast, she realized it didn't really matter. Because all she wanted to do right now was hug him.

She quickly closed the space between them, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and pressing their chests together firmly. Jamie hesitated a bit before returning the embrace, his arms wrapping around her waist.

"I'm glad you're safe." She whispered into his ear as her chin rested on his shoulder.

He didn't answer and instead waited for her to let go. Pippa took a step back, clearing her throat.

"I'm sorry I said all those things to you the other day." She had prepared this apology and gone over it a million times in her head. "When you disappeared, I was so worried it was because of me and what I said. I shouldn't have made you feel wrong for believing in what you do and I hope that you can forgive me for being so out of line."

Jamie was taken aback by the professionalism of the apology. He stuttered out his first words. "What? No, Pippa, it's alright, really. Uh, you weren't why I went away, I… wow, I can't believe you thought that. That was… really bad timing on my part…" He rubbed the nape of his neck. "You… uh, you don't need to worry about the things you said. I… really haven't given them much thought… I've been… kinda distracted…" He cast a small smirk to his right, but there's nothing there.

"Alright…" She tried to understand what's so funny, but quickly gave up. "Well, will you at least tell me where you were?"

This stops him. He fumbled with his words some more and kept glancing to his right. There's about a twelve seconds of him going "Uh, um… Ah," before he remembered how to speak.

"I will tell you." He finally decided, sending one last look to the air on his right side. "But… I guess you could say it's a bit of a secret."

"You're really a spy, aren't you."

This made Jamie chuckle, an action Pippa wells with pride for being the cause of it. The mood lightened considerably.

"Can you come over to my house after school? I'll tell you then."

"Yeah," she agreed, ignoring her concerns and suspicions. She was about to say goodbye when a thought occurred to her. "Well, wherever you were, it seems to have really done the trick."

Jamie looked at her with confusion.

"You seem… happier." She clarified and relaxed when a smile dances on his lips.

"Y'know… I think I actually might be." He smiled to his right again. "Or, at least, starting to be."

Jack was mad at him. Not for stepping on his feet back in the stall; that was stupid and he could tell Jack just wanted something to complain about. But now the Guardian was genuinely ticked off.

"What were you thinking?" He had his arms crossed as he sat on Jamie's bed. The teenager paced, avoiding Jack's stare.

"I don't know… okay, I just… wasn't." They'd ditched school. Jamie had two hours to think of a plan before Pippa got there.

"Are you gonna tell her the truth?" He hated Jack's tone. "That you ran away and got together with a mythical creature immediately after you turned her down? She's gonna love that."

"Don't put it like that."

"But that's what it boils down to, doesn't it?"

He bit his lip. "Well, yeah, but…"

"But what? You think you might be able to make yourself sound less insane? Remember how she told you off last time? How well you handled that?"

Jamie kept forgetting that Jack saw his and Pippa's exchange the day after Valentine's. Still, he didn't need to keep reminding him of how embarrassing it was. "Why are you getting mad at me?!" He was glad his mother was still at work. Hearing him scream at himself would wind him up with another month of counseling.

"You're screwing up the plan, Jamie!" Jack's voice had risen as well.

"Plan? We had a plan?" He'd stopped pacing.

"Yeah! Stay here until your eighteenth birthday."

Jamie paused a moment, thinking it over before throwing his hands up exasperatedly. "How is me telling Pippa the truth fucking with the plan?"

Jack began listing. "You're gonna tell her that something dangerous may or may not happen to you in three days. You think she's going to like hearing that? She's gonna make you stay. We don't know exactly what's gonna happen, but we can't have you here when it does!"

"Oh, bullshit. It doesn't matter where I am when 'it happens', and you know it." He pointed accusingly at him. "You don't care if I'm here; you just care that I might be here with her."

Jack looked offended. He wasn't about to admit that Jamie was right. His expression quickly changed, showing more anger than before. "Are you saying I'm jealous of her?" He was.

"Well you didn't look too happy when she threw her arms around me this afternoon!" He didn't.

He tried to turn the blame away from him. "Where does she come off thinking she has the right to do that? Last time she saw you she practically laughed in your face for still believing in us. Now she's allowed to hug you like she hasn't done anything wrong?"

"She hasn't done anything wrong!" Jamie reminded him. "She was worried about me!"

"I was worried about you for seven years! But you wasted no time blaming me for my mistakes."

"She apologized! As soon as she saw me, I might add." His hand gestures remained aggressive and sharp. "You waited a week to do that after you finished stalking me."

Jack had stood up. He scoffed and rolled his head back. "Are we seriously gonna argue about that again?!"

"You're the one who brought it up!" He opened his arms, palm-up.

"I only did because Pippa hasn't cared about you in seven years. You said it yourself; she thought you were going crazy for believing in the Guardians. She hadn't talked to you in weeks and then suddenly she's compelled to confess her love to you? That's all kinds of messed up."

Jamie toned down his volume, but retained the same level of rage. "What's your fucking point?"

"What I'm saying is she's screwed with your emotions plenty of times, Jamie…" It appeared that Jack was beginning to calm down. His voice was sounding more rational, reasoning with him… "Who's to say she won't call you crazy the second my name comes out of your mouth?"

This caused Jamie to break eye contact. "You think I care if she calls me crazy again?" His voice was low. He raised his head, looking at Jack again. "I know she's been a shitty friend for a long time, but I've been worse." Jack didn't interrupt this time. "There'd be times when she'd call me and ask to hang out and I lied, saying I had homework just to stay away from her. I couldn't stand being around her because I hated how much she worried about me. She knew me so well that she could tell when my sanity was starting to get ripped away. I didn't let her help me get through this depression because I didn't want her help. I've been a terrible, moody, emotional wreck of a teenager since I was fourteen. And Pippa's had to suffer through all of it just because she cared too much to give up on me."

Jamie ran a hand over his face, exhaling his anger now that Jack had sobered. "I've been lying to her for almost seven years. I need to tell her the truth at least once. I owe her that much…" He swallowed. "I don't care if she doesn't believe me, but I have to try. Maybe it'll clear my conscience, or maybe I can finally prove I was right. Either way, I need your help." He crossed his arms, determination flickering on his face. "You in?"

Jack took a second before he tilted his head down, grinning and shaking his head. How could he stay mad at a face like that?

it's hot as dicks over here. writing during the summer sucks.

EDIT: okay someone rudely pointed out my issues with tenses in this chapter. i knew it was gonna be a problem after i just finished a book set in present tense, and my brain was having difficulty switching back to past. i thought i corrected them, but apparently i didn't. wow sorry for being human and making mistakes.