Ok. So the next chapter's up! OH! I gotta thank my Beta Reader Vanilla Chinchilla. And all you awesome people who have put up with me this long.

The rain was coming down in thick sheets; drenching the streets, trees, and whoever cared to pass by. A sharp bolt of lightning ran through the skies; thunder erupted, shaking the ground with its might. The wind blew harshly rattling the trees with their fury.

Brittany stood under the cover of a building's canopy, with her head down. She was completely drenched to the bone, her knees shaking as a gust of wind zipped past her. Her hair was dark and wet, and hung over her face like a mask. Her wet clothes clung to her body for dear life.

Brittany pulled at her hair, running her fingers through it with her right hand. She combed it back, tucking a lock behind one ear before releasing a heavy breath. Brittany had stopped running a while ago… once she figured she was far enough away from him… from everything.

She supposed she deserved it. If she thought about it long enough then… she deserved to be standing out here… alone…wet… and cold. All this time... She'd only thought of herself. But, she was always doing that… wasn't she?

It's not that Brittany was self-centered. Her thoughts and opinions were just very important and sometimes she voiced them a little loudly. And sometimes her notions and ideas were deemed even more valuable than say, everyone else's. But that didn't make her self-centered… did it?

Brittany couldn't help but be who she was, who she was born to be. Was it her fault that she was cursed with undeniable beauty? Could she simply turn off her brilliant charm and cunning wit? And even if she could… why would she want to? Why fix, what isn't broken? It wasn't as if… she had done all those things without any regard to anyone else… had she?

She was tired of dealing with Alvin… so she broke up with him. She wanted new attention so she started dating Stephen. She missed Alvin so she went behind Stephen's back to see him. Those were all horrible things… and maybe a little selfish. But... She realized what she was doing was wrong, ended it with Alvin and told Stephen the truth.

She wasn't heartless.

But even realizing all this… even sitting here- sorry- STANDING here, with the rain coming down around her, and thunder shaking everything in sight… she couldn't help but feel sorry for herself. No. That's not true. Brittany didn't feel pity. She felt… enraged sadness.

Alvin.

ALVIN.

How could he do this to her?

Of course she didn't expect him to sit around and wait forever. Who does that? But she defiantly didn't expect him to hook up with some random girl. She hadn't spoken to Alvin in weeks so maybe, maybe this girl wasn't so "random". But that didn't stop her from asking…

"Why?"

She didn't think he'd really do that to her. She told him she loved him. And didn't he know? Didn't Alvin know that he would always have a place in her heart? Always. Even when they finally grew sick of each other and parted ways… even when they screamed the nastiest things at each other and stormed away… Somehow they'd retrace those steps and find their way back to each other.

They belonged together.

Didn't he know that?

Hadn't that been what he'd been trying to tell her for months now? Did he suddenly forget?

The question repeated itself over and over in her head until she finally gasped.

"What if… he forgot?"

No. Brittany shook the thought from her head. She'd already been through this a million times by now. Brittany knew Alvin better than anyone. And she knew… him; he could be impossibly stubborn, it took him forever to say what he was feeling, he was afraid of rejection, no, he didn't believe he could be rejected and he didn't want to find out.

And she knew… he hadn't forgotten.

He just got tired of waiting.

Brittany started into the rain again, her feet dancing in the puddles as she made her way quickly down the street. Her eyes skimmed the roads for any familiar landmark or sign… but she found nothing. When she'd taken off running, she'd stupidly not watched where she was going. Brittany hadn't cared at the moment.

And now, hopelessly she was lost. Lost in some concrete jungle while a storm raged around her. She was hesitant at first, but after coming up with no other option Brittany reached into her pocket for her phone. She flipped it open just in time to her a loud BEEP as a notice popped up on the screen informing her of a low battery. Of course. She thought.

What he'd done hurt… This was worse than that time at the Winter Dance when she ripped a seam in her dress and was forced to parade around in Jeanette's old gym clothes (the only other thing available) until Miss Miller came to pick her up. This was even worse than when she not only missed several notes during a live concert but finished the jam by breaking a heal and stumbling off stage, her face turning bright red for all of the world to see. That was bad, but this was far worse…

But what Alvin had done to her was so much worse…but… hadn't that been what she'd done to him? Just weeks after the break up with Alvin… hadn't she gone to a party and scoped out another guy? Given, she was still putting herself together… and it took even longer for her to finally replace all those missing pieces. But even so… hadn't she flaunted said guy right in front of Alvin? Hadn't she nuzzled up close to this total stranger (who could have been anyone) and prayed that Alvin was staring right at them?

The facts stood before her like the front page of IT magazine, screaming from the top shelf of a news rack, begging to be brought down. But she wouldn't listen.

The question is… if she knew all this from the beginning… why hadn't she done anything. Why hadn't she let Alvin back into her life from the start? There had been reasons, several in fact… Reasons she'd listed in bold letters with a pink sparkling gel pen; reasons why Alvin just wasn't right for her. So why now… could she not think of a single one?

Not a single one. She sometimes wished she carried around little notebooks to jot down ideas like Jeanette and Simon did for their own little theories. Both of the blue clad chipmunks were constantly pulling out little notes, pictures, or memoirs when they needed to remind one of their siblings of a certain event.

"Don't you remember? You said that last week and now…"

"Remember what happened last time when…"

"Just last month you were convinced that…"

Usually she found this annoying, irritating, and aggravating… but now she wished she'd written SOMETHING down. Some reason she had for acting so naïve and stupid. Then again, if they really were good reasons, then she wouldn't have any trouble recalling them.

Brittany held up her phone again, waving it around in the air… struggling to get at least one bar. That's all she needed. ONE BAR. She watched as rain dropletts coated the top, dripping off its soft protective casing. She smiled thankfully, remembering the purchase at the mall just a few weeks prior.

"It protects the phone from scratches in case you drop it… and as long as you don't completely submerge it in water… It should work just fine." The sale girl preached to her.

Perfect, now if only she could just get some service. Brittany was about to give up, or at least take a break for a little while… when suddenly… there it was… YES! Her feet froze in place and her fingers began rapidly pressing upon the keys, for fear that if she took too much time the service bar would disappear.

Brittany grinned victoriously as the phone began ringing. She held the phone up to her ear bravely, releasing a heavy breath as one of her sisters picked up. Brittany opened her mouth and was about to tell Eleanor exactly what had happened when-

There was another loud BEEP as a notice on her screen proclaimed LOW BATTERY before going completely black. Brittany gulped. She tried over and over… holding the red power button for several seconds before releasing it… but nothing happened.

That was it. Her last glimmer of hope, shut down. It sucked. This day sucked. This had to be one of the worst days of her life! There was no doubt in her mind. She was so angry and so frustrated… she just wanted it to be over. What was she going to do now? Cold, wet, heartbroken and lost in some unknown part of town; what was there to do?

Brittany let out an aggravated cry, flinging her phone down in frustration. It hit a patch of grass with a soft thud and was threatening to slip down into a puddle of dark mud when Brittany gaped, suddenly changing her mind. Her eyes widened in horror and she dove for the stupid thing. Brittany managed to grasp the tiny piece of plastic just in time. She held it tightly in her hand as she made her way back towards a cluster of shops and wished she'd at least thought to bring her purse.

Her lovely soft, pink tote bag… stocked with eye shadow, mascara, spare hairpins, a brush, and best of all… a wallet stuffed with well enough money to purchase a dry outfit to wear. Brittany sighed. But she'd just been going for a walk and hadn't thought to bring… well… anything.

"Brittany!"

She heard his voice before she saw him, rounding up the hill. And as soon as she recognized it, placing the voice with a face… she immediately turned on her heel, starting in the opposite direction.

"Brittany!" He called again, but with no avail.

She ignored him.

How did he find her? Why was he looking? None of these questions plagued her mind. She didn't care. She didn't care what his reasoning was and she didn't WANT to know. Maybe she was just afraid of what he'd say if he told her. Perhaps the girl meant something to him. Perhaps… she meant a lot.

Maybe he dreamt of her at night and thought of her every morning when he woke up. Maybe he walked her to the library and she sat with him at the park. Maybe she watched him play basketball and cheered when he scored. Maybe he smiled at her, giving her one of his famous smirks.

"Would you stop?" She Alvin demanded.

Brittany huffed, taking a risky glance over her shoulder. Alvin didn't look like he had been in the rain very long but he was wet. He didn't take notice to the water which was slowly dripping from the bill of his cap; instead he had his gaze locked hard on Brittany, and was looking pretty determined to catch up. She groaned, clenched her fists, and completely turned around so he could see the look on her face, which was probably a mess of running mascara.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed as loud as she could. "GO AWAY!"

"I can't do that!" He shouted back. "Why can't we just talk?"

"Because I don't want to TALK to you! I don't care!" She shouted. "Do whatever you want! I don't care!"

Even as she said the words; her lips were trembling slightly, her eyes burning as they built up tears. She didn't care. She didn't. Why did it matter so much to her that he had…found someone else… She closed her eyes, leaving them shut for several seconds before blinking them open again.

"I don't believe that!" He shouted.

She blinked again, this time her eyes focused and furious. Brittany gave him one of her most determined looks, narrowing her eyes and clenching her teeth.

"Then let me make it clear!" She exclaimed. "I DON'T CARE!"

"I came after you!" Alvin pointed out. "Doesn't that mean anything?"

"Just that now we're BOTH lost!" Brittany snapped. "Great job, Seville! My hero!"

"You're lost?" Alvin questioned. "Is that why you've been walking around in circles all this time?"

Brittany took in a sharp breath. She'd been walking around in… circles? Brittany swallowed, quickly recovering.

"I'm not lost!" She said, firmly stamping her foot. "And I don't need YOUR help!"

"It doesn't look that way."

"JUST GO!"

"I'm actually trying to be nice!" Alvin cried. "Don't make me regret it."

"I don't care!" Brittany stormed. "I don't want you to be nice! I just want you to GO! Leave me alone!"

She turned her head away from him, and continued on her way.

"I don't care about her!" He called from behind.

Brittany blinked, spun around to face him, and walked back. "Then why did you KISS her!" She croaked. "I saw you two… you were on a date or something…"

"You don't know anything!" Alvin huffed. "I'm WAY too complexed to be figure out that easily."

"Yeah, right" Brittany said, rolling her eyes. She turned and began walking away again, shaking her head.

"I pushed her away!" Alvin began. "I pushed her away, saw you, and took off running."

That stopped her. She slowly turned to look at him.

Alvin edged a little closer. "If you had stopped to talk to me for a second before going off like that then you would have seen it yourself."

Brittany watched his eyes, as if daring them to lie to her. Alvin blinked. Brittany shook her head.

"You didn't push her away till AFTER you saw me." She stated. "If I hadn't come in when I did-"

"How do you know?" Alvin asked.

"Because I know you!" Brittany exclaimed.

Looking up at the sky, she realized the rain had finally stopped. The dark clouds already seemed to lose interest in what was going on below and slowly parted… allowing the sun to break through their tight grasp.

"I'm right aren't I?" Brittany asked with a shaky voice.

Alvin glared at her. "I don't have to answer to you!" He cried. "I don't even know why I followed you! We're not together and you don't want to BE together! So don't even try to tell me what to do!"

"Whatever." Brittany grumbled. "Like I said, do what you want… I don't care."

The distance between them seemed to stretch immeasurably. Brittany counted the seconds as they drifted into awkward silence. He looked down and away from her, but then slowly brought his head up. His eyes matched hers and she could feel them questioning her.

"Why were you there, anyway?" Alvin finally asked.

Brittany raised an eyebrow. "That's none of business!" she snapped.

"The game shop's not on the way to anything" Alvin continued as if she hadn't said anything.

"I heard the music and decided to check it out. But so what? Why does that matter?" She exclaimed.

"You hate video games…" He stated.

Brittany swallowed as he took a step closer.

"So why were you at a video game store?" He questioned.

"I was just hanging out"

"You weren't with any of your friends... you came alone…" He continued. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to!" Brittany protested.

"You walked all the way to a video game store… that wasn't next to one shopping center… because you wanted to?" Alvin questioned.

"It was a present for Jeanette!" Brittany cried. "A project for the computer!"

"A present? For what? A late St. Patrick's Day gift?" Alvin challenged. "It's the end of March!"

"She asked about it and I was trying to do something nice for my sister!" Brittany exclaimed. "What of it?"

"You went to buy Jeanette a present, at a video game store, in the middle of March… with no purse?" Alvin asked her.

"I-"

"You came to see me!" Alvin cried.

"No! How could I possibly know that-"

"You came to talk to me!" Alvin exclaimed.

"I-"

"But why… why would you have come to see me?" Alvin asked.

"Exactly! I wouldn't have!"

"Unless…"

"Unless… what?"

"Unless…"

"Don't say it."

"You love me… don't you?"

Brittany snorted. "In your dreams,"

"That's what you were going to tell me today wasn't it… That's why you went out looking for me…" Alvin continued.

"None of that even matters anymore." Brittany said defeated.

"Huh?" Alvin asked. "Why not?"

"Because!" Brittany cried. "You were kissing another girl!"

"She didn't mean anything! I told you that. I don't-"

"I don't care!" Brittany exclaimed. "You know how I felt about you! And you still went out and found another girl."

"Brittany-"

"Well I hope you two are very happy together."

"You're not even listening!" Alvin protested.

"What's there to say?" Brittany stormed. "What could you possibly say? "

"How about… I'm sorry."

"You're… sorry?" Brittany repeated, dumbfounded.

Alvin pulled at his cap and shrugged. "Yeah, I am." He admitted before adding. "I'm sorry you're such a self-absorbed BRAT!"

Brittany scoffed, her mouth dropping in surprise. "WHAT?"

"How do you know it was a date?" Alvin asked her. "For all you know she could have been my science partner, asking me to help pick out her brother's birthday present. Maybe, she just turned to me and kissed me out of nowhere. Did you think of that?"

Brittany was silent so Alvin continued.

"And so what if I didn't immediately push her away! SO WHAT! You broke up with me months ago! I chased after you for forever and you kept pushing me away! So you have NO RIGHT to be angry or upset." Alvin declared.

No right. She had no right.

"DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!" Brittany cried finally. "I don't care! I don't care!" She repeated it once more, as if trying to convince herself of this.

Before Alvin could say another word, Brittany turned from him and proceeded in the opposite direction. He watched her walk away… not willing his feet to follow her. She wasn't far when she heard him let out a loud groan as he finally asked:

"Where are you going?"

"HOME!" Brittany cried out. "What does it look like?"

She heard Alvin sigh. "Well you're going the wrong way!"

"Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe you?" She asked. "How would you know?"

"Right." Alvin said. "Like you're so smart? You don't even know where you're going."

Alvin turned away from her, and began walking. Brittany paused, mid-stride and swallowed. She let out a final heavy breath before turning and following Alvin's footsteps.

And that's all. XD :D

Oh and send me a

~REVIEW~