Plot belongs to gaara king of the sand. I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes. It's almost half four in the morning here, I'm not wearing my glasses and I haven't slept in almost twenty four hours. XD Well, I'm now on a school holiday so I've got another week to relax at least. Enjoy the chapter!

And he's sparkling?!

Oh. My. God.

My mouth drops open, and he looks over into my eyes. Gaging my expression, his eyes nearly pop out of his head as I watch his skin glitter as if reflecting the bright sun. I attempt to see what his eye colour is, but the sparkling from his skin is so bright I can't tell what the colour is. But then he looks straight into my eyes and says in a low, silky voice: "I'm not sparkling. I am perfectly normal. You just met me. Nothing is out of the ordinary."

"Of course it is!" I hiss back, looking at him as if he's mad. "You're sparkling!"

Now his mouth has fallen open, and it closes several times as if he wants to say something, but suddenly, Louise laughs. "Bell, I don't know what kind of game you're playing but he's not sparkling! Come on, let's go inside."

Reluctantly, I follow Tom inside, and it's only when he is safely inside the shade of the house that his skin turns to normal... Well, kind of normal. It still has a quality to it as if it's glowing, but not too obviously. In fact, it's only now that I notice how pale he is. Unusally pale, especially for a place like this (or anywhere else, for that matter). Almost as pale as...

No, I will not think of them now. This is about Louise.

It might just be a skin condition, that she knows of but ignores because she apparently loves him so very much. It might just be that he's some kind of weird dancer and uses copious amounts of body glitter, but if that was so then why aren't the electric lights making him sparkle too? Because they're not; the orange lamps of the hall make him seem vaguely normal, and then harsh, white clinical lights of the kitchen just seem to reflect off his skin as if he's made from the purest stone.

Not glitter, then...

An allergic reaction to the sun, perhaps?

Maybe. I will ask, later, when Louise and her clearly clouded judgement aren't around to defend him. When he and I are alone, or with a sane person, I will ask, and he better hope I like his explanation. No one is going to get this close to my best friend and mess with her head so much without a reasonable explanation.

We settle awkwardly at the kitchen table, a mug or glass of something or other in each of our hands. Tom has water. Louise has juice. I don't know what I've been handed. I don't remember asking for anything. Instead, I am observing Tom. He has thick brown hair that goes just past his ears. His jaw line is strong and I can see that it is even more so now as it is tensed in irritation. His eyebrows are thick and knitted together in frustration. He is staring down at his glass so I can't see his eyes... Come on... Look up.

"Do you two know each other?" Louise asks suddenly, and my eyes snap to hers in shock. I forgot that we were in her house, let alone that she was in the room.

Tom looks at her as well, but now his hair is covering my view of his eyes. "What?" I say uncomprehendingly.

"Do you two know each other?" She repeats, frowning at us. "You're very hostile considering you've just met."

"No," I grind out, glaring over at Tom. "We don't know each other."

"Not at all," Tom adds, glaring right back.

"Oh," Our mutual friend says quietly, slumping in her chair, disappointed that her best friend and her boyfriend have decided to despise each other the moment they met.

It's then that I realise, why do I hate him? He has never done anything to me. For all I know he has a skin condition and Louise really loves him, and he really loves her. For all I know he will make the future better. But to me... The future has always been a fixed thing when it comes to Louise and John. Yes, their future's changed, leaping from a deep, dark pit of tragedy and loss almost instantaneously into a shallow, bright pool and love and hope. But no matter what happened, they remained together. They never broke apart, and I knew that if they did ever break apart I would have to somehow eliminate that complication.

And here he is.

And the sad thing is, Louise seems oblivious to his flaws. She seems oblivious to how strange he is. The only reason the only thing I am taking into account is the sparkling thing is because I have every other oddity before, on seven other people. They are nice enough people, in fact the parents are downright lovely, but this man is so... So... Mysterious that I can't help but scrutinise every little perfection of his as if it's a flaw.

If only I could see his eyes. I'm not sure why, but his eyes are important. His eyes mean something, but I'm not sure how. I'm not even entirely sure what I'm expecting to see. Perhaps I'll see black, and then I'll hang around a small while longer and see if they change as Edward's do, or maybe I'll another colour, another odd colour. Maybe gold... Or maybe something else. I'm not even sure what I'm hoping for, either.

Am I hoping that he is strange? Am I hoping that Louise has herself obsessed with a strange, unknown creature of a person? No, I don't think so. I just hope that he is not dangerous enough that he will hurt her, but I am also hoping that he is strange enough, just a little bit too out of the ordinary that I can convince Louise that she shouldn't be with him, and that John is clearly the better choice for her.

I look back over at Tom, who is once again looking down at his water with such an intensity I'm worried it's about to burst into flames. His hair is once again stopping me from determining his eye colour and he is gripping the glass so hard it almsot appears to be cracking under his fingers. I switch over to Louise, and she is staring at him with such love and adoration that my plans against him immediately soften. She clearly loves him. And even as I watch, he returns the look with an even fiercer intensity than which he was staring at the glass. He reaches out and takes her hand, squeezing it gently with a small, bashful smile. She returns it, as he returned her gaze, and kisses him lightly.

But this is too much. Clearly, they do love each other very much, but as far as I know they've only been dating for a few weeks. She and Tom have practically been together since they were twelve and they have never, ever treated each other with such adoration. Louise once told me they don't show such blatant affection for each other because they don't want to be seen as love sick fools who become the opposite of who they want to be while around each other. This man... He has completely changed her.

I have to get him away from her. I have to get her away from him.

But maybe it's a good thing he has changed her... He does clearly love her, after all. Maybe he is just bringing out the best in her... no matter how stomach churning it is to watch.

I'm also worried he's dangerous. I'm not worried he'll hurt her, just that he'll hurt someone else - including John if he hurts her anymore than he already has. He clearly knows he sparkles, judging from the way he tried to 'convince' me he wasn't sparkling...

They're kissing more passionately now, and I just raise my eyebrows at them as I grip my mug of something-or-other. This goes on for a few minutes and as I watch them with what I'm pretty sure is a more-than-mildly disgusted expression, they seem to become even more oblivious to the world around them (which to be honest I'm still not entirely sure is poissble). I find out that the substance in my mug is a mix of cinnamon and orange juice, which doesn't take nice- in fact it's disgusting. Clearly Louise was a bit distracted when she got me my drink, because even though I was also distracted, I certainly did not ask for this concoction.

They continue kissing for several more minutes, to a point where I begin to wonder if Louise's parents are actually going to come home any time soon, and whether or not I should leave. But as the need to cough becomes overwhelming, I give into it, and what I thought was quite a quiet noise breaks them from their trance as if I had just grabbed a megaphone, placed it next to their ears and shouted into it as loud as I look. Louise glances at me before giggling with blushing an insane shade of red. Tom seems to swallow several times before he kisses her cheek gently, inhaling deeply before resting his head on her shoulder. He reaches out over the table and takes her hand, laughing to himself, his hair once again falling over his eyes. Damn him.

"Sorry Bella," Louise whispers in a mortified voice, lower than a whisper. I barely hear what she says. Tom kisses her hand.

"That's alright," I say easily, although it really wasn't. I lean back into the wooden chair and smile at them as best I can. "I think I should go now. I'll see you later, though."

As I get up I expect Louise to protest, so I'm surprised as a low baratone I barely recognise says, "No. I'll go. I mean, you're only in town for a few days, right Bella?"

I gulp at the emphasis on 'right'. "Right," I answer in the strongest tone I can muster. God I hope my voice didn't break.

Tom stands and nods to me as he walks past me, but he doesn't leave before kissing Louise again. I almost gag. But then he's gone, and I'm talking to my best friend. Hopefully I will be able to convince her that he isn't good for her. Maybe it's selfish, but I really want her to be with John again, and I refuse to look into her future before I at least think I've made an impression. Here goes nothing.

I barely get a word in.

The whole conversation is simply her telling me how great school is and how I'm missing so much and how absoulutely amazing Tom is. I 'um' and 'ah' in the right places and watch as her eyes light up every time Tom is mentioned. It's about nine at night by the time I make it home, and the moment I do I collapse on my bed in tiredness and despair. I didn't make an impression at all, and I still haven't looked into any of their futures. It was a wasted day, altogether.

The next day, I go and see John again at his house. He tells me everything, and he tells me how sorry he is. It ends after about two hours with him crying profusely into my shoulder, hugging me tightly to him. I gently rub his back as he finally lets out every single emotion he kept bottled up, sobbing as if his life depended on it. "I can't believe I lost her Bella," He whispers, tears still flowing freely down his face. "I can't believe I lost her."

I wipe his tears away with my thumbs, hugging him again. No matter how much he screws up or what he does, I will always consider him as sort of a brother, just as I consider Louise as a sister of sorts, even if they aren't together. "It'll be aright," I shush him, hugging him tighter to me. "It's all going to be okay."

"Her... her n-new boyfriend," He sniffs, wiping his eyes roughly with the heels of his hands. "Does he treat her alright?"

I nod sadly, trying to smile but failing miserably. "I only saw them together once, yesterday, in fact... And yes, he does seem to treat her very well. He seems to love her a great deal... And.." I hesitate. John is aleady a mess, does he really need to know this part? Yes, I decide. He does. "And she seems to love him too."

He looks away from me, eyes completely red around the edges as he takes another deep breath to calm himself and run his hands tiredly down his face. "As long as she's happy," He says in a weak voice, smiling at me and placing a hand on my shoulder. Silently, he leads me to the front door and opens it for me, waving me away, clearly needing some time on his own.

Once outside, I call Louise. "Hey..." I say into the phone once she picks up with her usualy squealy greeting. "I need to talk to you... Well, no, not you. I was wondering if I could get Tom's number? I want to apologise for my behaviour yesterday and I'd like to get to know him better... No... Don't come with me I'd like to talk to him on my own."

"Ah, alright then," She replies, a bit more subdued now. "I'll text you the number in a bit."

"Thanks," I answer gratefully, walking aimlessly down the street. I look down as I walk, attempting to miss the cracks as best I can. Sometimes the pavement is so covered in cracks that I have to jump to miss them and it the concentration it takes really helps my mind off of current events. But then I remember my conversation with John (well, I didn't talk much. Why is it that when I talk to Louise and John, I don;t actually talk?) and I sigh, halting suddenly. "Hey, Lou?"

"Yes?" She asks, sounding distracted.

"I need you to listen to me for a moment," I order, and she immediately snaps to attention.

"Sure, Bella. Whatever you need," She says sincerely, and I can't help but smile.

I sigh before voicing my concerns. "I think you need to go a bit easier on John."

"What?!" Is her immediate, angry reply. "Bella, you know what he did to me!"

"Yes," I snarl, just as angrily. "But I just saw him. He's tired as Hell, Louise! He's clearly very upset. He just cried for about an hour, and do you know what he said to me, at the end when I told him and you and Tom seem to lo-care for each other very much?" Caught that one just in time. I'm not entirely sure if they've admitted they love each other yet. That would have been a bit presumptuous.

"No," She growls back in a low voice. "Of course I don't know what he said. I wasn't there, was I?!"

I swallow and take a deep breath to calm myself so I don't shout my next words into the phone. "He said: 'As long as she's happy'. Don't you get it? He loves you so much that he's not upset just because he lost you, he's upset because he hurt you. He loves you so much that he's losing sleep over the fact he has caused you pain, alright? Please, please, Lou, just go and see him. Don't give him any false hope though."

She sighs, seeming to consider it for a moment. "Fine, fine," She concedes and I cheer a barely audible 'yes!' before she continues. "I'll go see him, but you owe me big, Bella."

"I just got you to go see him," I say while rolling my eyes. "You're not the one who owes me."

She laughs. "Bye Bella."

"Bye."

The call ends, and not a mintue later I recieve a text with Tom's number. I smile in thanks to my friend, saving it to my contacts and calling it immediately. To my surprise, it's picked up on the third ring, his voice immediately greeting my ears. "Hello?"

"Tom, it's Bella," I say in a business-like tone.

"Oh," Is his articulate reply. I roll my eyes.

"We need to talk."

He sighs audibly. "Yes," He admits. "Yes, we do."

We arrange to meet at the Starbucks John works at as he's not working today and it's usually empty. When I get there he's already there, which I'm surprised about as I was only two blocks away. He's sitting in the shade and as he looks up when I stand in front of him, I finally see his eye colour.

Gold.