i swear, i never planned on waiting this long to post. seriously, i'm so sorry.
it's kind of short, and not much happens, but i didn't really know what to write in this one anyways, this chapter is just a lead-up for the next one, which will be better, promise.
i love yous.

(review, please?)

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FiveFiveFive
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"Massie!"

There was a loud crack against the moonlit bay window, and Massie jumped at the sudden noise.

"Block!"

She rubbed at her eyes and squinted into the darkness, waiting for her vision to focus. Another crack, louder this time, echoed across the quiet room. Sliding out of bed, Massie scooted over to the window, a tad scared to see what was outside, and even more annoyed that there was something outside. She hadn't slept in days, for goodness sakes! She'd been too busy thinking about the fight her and Dempsey had gotten into a few days beforehand. They hadn't spoken for a whole-Massie checked the digital clock sitting on her bedside table-thirty-three hours. God, that was a long time.

"Jesus, Massie, if I break this window, I swear I'll deny anything of it. I am not going to be sued!" For a quick second, with Dempsey still on her brain, a quick flash of hope skittered across her mind that maybe it was him, coming to apologize. But the voice wasn't Dempsey's. It wasn't deep enough to be his.

"Open the damn window, Block!"

Now Massie was fully awake, at the window, and seriously annoyed at the boy below her's snappy tone. She pulled the purple curtains that hung above her window aside and found Cam, her neighbor, shirtless in her back lawn.

"What are you doing?" she asked, the annoyance slowly leaking from her voice, surprise taking its place. She bent down a little so that he couldn't see her bare legs from where he was standing. "This isn't your house!" she whisper-yelled at him. He was new, after all. Maybe he still got the houses mixed up?

The grin Cam flashed her was one full of accomplishment. It was white and full and amazingly bright in the darkness. "Come down," he said. Massie watched him raise one eyebrow. "Or I can come up." His mismatched eyes practically glowed.

Massie frowned and glanced at the clock again. It was one thirty in the morning; definitely not the time to take a stroll through the neighborhood. Plus, it was weirdly cold out for a Summer night. Tearing her eyes away from her cami and pants-less legs-her normal sleeping attire-she caught Cam's eyes and, against her better judgment, said, "You come up here. Meet me at the back door."

His eyes widened and his lips lost the smirk. Glancing at her, confused, he nodded and made his way to the back door. Massie turned away from her window and snatched a pair of dirty sweat pants from off of her floor, pulling them on. Her decent down the stairs was fast and quiet. Her parent's were gone again on a business trip, but old habits die hard: She still felt having anyone sneak in was supposed to be a secret, sneaky thing. Stupid boy! She silently cursed both Cam and herself. Stupid me! I don't even know this guy and he's coming into my house at latelatelate hours.

When Massie finally reached the back door, tapping lightly through the kitchen along the way, she slowly opened the door and found that same shirtless boy, still standing there. This time his smile was more amused than cocky. That is, until he caught her staring at his abs. Massie was fully aware of the fact that this would be the second time such a thing happened (the first being in his kitchen), but, at the moment, she was too tired to care.

She pulled the door open wider. "Hurry up."

Cam ducked his head and slid into the bare kitchen. He stood awkwardly to the side while Massie relocked the door. "You know, I don't appreciate being woken up," she told him, more fact than fight.

He bit his lip and shrugged. "Sorry, I just couldn't sleep."

"So you felt the need to make sure I didn't too? Look, kid, I don't even really know you. Where did you ever get the idea that I wouldn't mind if you threw crap at my window and slithered your way into my house at night?"

Whoa. That had came out more bitchy than she had meant it too. Oh well. She wasn't very good when she was woken anyways. Plus, his curious eyes on her body made her nervous.

"Um," he rubbed the back of his neck and surrendered an embarrassed laugh, "sorry? I didn't know it would upset you; I can go if you want."

Now she felt guilty. "No, it's okay. I just still don't really get why you're here. . ."

"I guess cause you're technically the only one I know in this area? I called my friend Josh, but he hung up on me. And Skye-"

Massie couldn't help but perk at the sound of a girl's name. Was that his girlfriend from home?

"-well, Skye told me to eff off or she'd hurt me. Only in more vulgar, detailed words. So, I guess, here I am."

Massie narrowed her eyes at him, but she was only concentrating. Did girlfriends say things like that? She didn't think so; she never had. Cam's eyes were lighter; his hair darker. She had turned on the lights in the kitchen when she had came down, and she had the sudden urge to turn them back off.

"Are you hungry or anything? Thirsty?" She blinked away the thought and turned to the pantry, looking for anything that the boy might want. "I think my friends have cleared out most of the stuff, but feel free to look for what you need."

Suddenly the lights went out, and Massie twisted around to see Cam's hand still on the switch. "Sorry," he added quickly, "it's just too late for lights. Too bright."

Massie nodded. Man, this was awkward.

"I'm sorry, but this is really awkward." Cam stood by the door again. "I shouldn't have woken you in the first place. I didn't really think it through. There were rocks by the street, and I saw you looking out that window the day I was moving in, so I figured, you know, maybe I should wake you up and potentially damage your window and-"

Massie couldn't help but tune him out, as she threw away an empty box of cookies from the pantry, cookies that Dempsey had eaten right before their fight.

Massie had thought, that day, that when their little spat had ended, they were good. It was awkward when he left, because Derrick and Danny had sent daggers his way the whole time they were there. But even when he had left, she had felt a little strange about it. It just felt a tad off to her, for whatever reason.

"-awkwardly stand in your door with the lights off and I totally just realized that I have no shirt on and-"

Since the fight, or whatever it was they had, Dempsey had yet to call, come over, text, anything. And Massie, confused and still a little upset over the whole Alicia fiasco to begin with, didn't know whether she should contact him or just wait it out. She had decided to wait it out, but it had left her sleepless for the last two days.

"-yeah, you aren't listening to me."

Massie tossed the empty box into the trashcan.

"Hey, Massie?"

She turned toward him, upset with her thoughts. "Huh?"

"Do you want me to go?" He looked earnest and worried. "You seem kind of distracted."

Massie shook her head slowly and sighed. "No, it's okay." They'd been over this like, twelve times now. "Did you say you wanted anything?"

"Nah. Thanks though." He leaned against the shadowed walls of the kitchen and watched as Massie stared at the trashcan. "Were you craving cookies?" He grinned a little, letting her know it's a joke.

"We should maybe leave the kitchen," Massie said suddenly. She was craving something, but it wasn't cookies. "Upstairs? My room? Will that be too weird?"

Cam lifted off the wall. "Do you think there might be a reason for it to be weird?"

Massie's eyes narrowed, but she blushed too. She was suddenly very happy that Cam had turned the lights back off. "I think coming to my house was weird."

"Touché."

"Plus, I have a boyfriend."

Cam smiled. "Of course you do." He glanced down at himself. "Do you think maybe you have a shirt that I could use?"

Massie sighed, glanced around the room, nodded, pulled him through the house and up the stairs. When they had made it to her room, she opened the door and instantly regretted letting him come in. Her room was a mess, and definitely wasn't something you wanted to show a guest the first time they entered your house. "Excuse the mess," she mumbled, fishing for the shirt that Dempsey had forgotten a few weeks ago. When she found it, she tossed it at him without checking his expression and sat on her bed as he slid it on.

"Thanks," Cam said. He looked at her questioningly as he went to sit in her desk chair. He smirked when he had to knock off one of her lacy bras before he sat down. Massie's nose wrinkled and she sniffed.

"Well. . ." Cam twirled idly in the chair, checking out Massie's room.

Massie watched him. He would be the fourth boy she had ever had over at night. First two were Derrick and Danny, her friends, for movie nights and projects.

The third, and most important, most pivotal, Dempsey.

It was just too weird watch Cam wear his shirt, while he was in her room.

"I lied," Massie sighed. Cam turned to her and waited for her to finish her thought. "Take the shirt back off."