Sorry for the long wait! I'm extremely sorry.

I have a new fanfiction out and it's called An Erroneous Kiss. It's a Vampire Academy fanfiction so if any of my reviewers are VA fans, please check that out. Thanks! :)

Okay, I'm done. Haha.

Please R&R

~ C

Steamy Encounter

"You can't go to Egypt!" Liz yelled, yanking her laptop out of my hand. Macey, Bex and Jason all nodded in unison. Honestly, I wasn't even thinking of going; I was tempted to but caution and suspicion overshadowed my desire.

"I wasn't planning on going." I stated calmly. "What with everything that's going on, he couldn't have found a worse time to send it." I raked my hand through my hair and leaned back against my bed. As I sat, the note with Josh's number scrawled on it crinkled and crackled in my pocket, instantly gaining all the girls' attention.

"What was that?" Bex asked, her eyes narrowing.

I fished the note from my pocket and held it up. "This?" Bex grabbed it and Macey and Liz gathered around her, eager to know what is says. I shrugged as they conversed and grabbed Liz's laptop, inspecting the message and the possibility that it really was sent from my father. The possibility was very slim.

"This is a guy's phone number!" Macey squealed, waving the piece of parchment in the air. I cracked a grin at her enthusiasm. Jason groaned and backed out of the room, mumbling something about 'girl talk is so ugh'.

I looked up from the laptop's monitor to see all three pair of eyes staring at me questioningly. I frowned and arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Whose?" Liz asked.

I hesitated then took the plunge and told them. "Josh's." I cringed at their reactions. Bex was in bemusement and disbelief. Macey was excited and mischievous. And Liz was calculating and speculating. "And before you jump to any conclusions, I wasn't planning on calling him back anyway."

"Where did you get this? Did you go looking for him to make Zach jealous?" Macey demanded, her eyes glinting with zeal.

"I–" I shook my head vigorously and crossed my arms over my chest. The thought of making Zach Goode jealous hadn't even occurred to me! And as previously learned before, it was wrong to use a person for your own benefit. "No!" I yelled adamantly. "I just ran into him when the bitch and I went dress shopping." I groaned at the mere mention of Justine. "Worst two hours of my life! Ask me to take out a unit of spies and I'll gladly do it but ask me to be her gal pal, I'll lose it."

The girls laughed and nodded their heads in agreement. Macey held out the note for me to take and said, "You should hit him up. Easiest way to know if Zach still loves you is if he's jealous."

"It's wrong." I said firmly. "No. Besides, I don't even care if Zach still loves me or not."

My words were met with a lot of grumbling and a lot of 'yeah right's. The girls skepticism forced me to reiterated, "I don't care." In my head, though, a question mark popped up. Did I really not care what Zach's feelings for me were? Or was that just the hurt talking?

"Right." Liz muttered, staring at a piece of drywall.

"Forget that." Bex snapped. She handed me Liz's laptop and ushered me to the door. "You should fill your mom in though. Maybe she'll know what to do."

I nodded and gladly took hold of the device. The subject of Josh immediately dissipated at the mere mention of the message. I breathed a sigh of relief as I shuffled out of the room. Behind closed doors though, I could hear them say to each other, "She's totally lying."

"She still cares what Zach feels about her. She just needs to acknowledge that." Liz chimed in wistfully.

With that in mind, my thoughts were pegged with doubts and indecision.

I groaned frustratingly and shook my head to clear away the troubling thoughts. "I don't care." I repeated to the empty foyer. The boys were out in the fields today; it was their version of CoveOps. As I walked into an empty classroom to set up the video chat with my mother, my heart felt heavy and discontent.

I don't care.

Do I?

…

"Cammie, is anything wrong?" Rachel Morgan's melodic voice through the speakers soothed my worries and calmed down my hammering heart. I smiled at the pixelated image of my mother and gave a perceptible nod.

"Mom, how are you?" I asked. The situation with the message was temporarily forgotten as I took in my mother's tired eyes and hunched form. There were bags under her eyes and her cheeks were sunken and hollow.

She smiled but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "I'm fine. Things have been crazy with the mission, that's all. How are things over there?"

I shrugged and stared down at my hands, not meeting her eyes. Even though we were thousands of miles apart, I knew she could instantly detect my mood and whether or not I'm lying to her about my troubles. "Fine. Hectic."

"And Zach?"

"I don't know, Mom. He's so confusing! I can't read him!" I blurted out. My frustrations burst from their confinements and were now threatening to overwhelm me. "He kissed me again and then he stood me up." I didn't mean to tell those things to my mother but once they were out, I felt happy and right, like a huge burden had been lifted from my shoulders.

"Sweetheart, he's conflicted." My mother said gently. "He doesn't want to jeopardize the mission but he doesn't want to hurt you either. Zach can't have it both ways. And since the mission is more important, in everyone's manner, his choice is inevitable. Do you see what I mean?"

I hate to admit it but she was right. I knew where she was coming from and I kind of understand Zach's motives for his actions. But that doesn't mean I agree with them. My mother began to smile and said teasingly, "Why do you care, Cam?"

I scowled at her but a laugh tore through my lips. "Thanks, Mom."

"Anytime, sweetheart. Now, what was that you wanted to tell me?"

I bit my lips and said, "Mom, a message came through to me. It was sent from Justine's base in Egypt. And..." I trailed off, not sure how I should deliver the news. I closed my eyes briefly before snapping them open again. "I'll just forward it to you. It was encrypted when it first came through to me. Liz was the one who unscrambled it."

I sent it to her then waited for her reaction. Her eyes widened slightly. She stared at me and I smiled sadly. "I'm not sure if it's truly from him."

"I'll take a look at it and have Joe trace the message." Rachel glanced back up at me and I saw that her eyes were cloudy. She was experiencing the same emotions I was. Judging by the look in her eyes, I knew part of her wanted to believe that it was him but another part of her was skeptical. "Cammie, don't get your hopes up, okay? Your father's been missing for the past ten years. There's a large possibility that he's – dead." Her voice choked over the last word.

"Okay, Mom." I answered then exited out of the video chat. I leaned back in the hard, uncomfortable chair and sighed softly.

"You okay?" A rough voice asked.

I stood, grabbed the nearest chair and held it in front of me defensively. When I saw it was Zach, my posture did not relax. "What do you want?" I spat.

"Are you okay?"

"Aren't you suppose to be with your fiancee?" I demanded, lowering the chair down a little bit.

He sat down beside me and I glared at him before lowering into my own seat. "So, Jake, huh?" Zach asked conversationally.

"Josh." I corrected.

"Whatever." He waved his hand dismissively and stared at me with dark eyes. "So..."

I growled, "Spit it out."

"I don't want you getting involve with him again." Zach said sharply.

I laughed bitterly. "And should I care what you want?"

"I'm serious, Cameron. I don't want to see you get hurt."

I jumped and planted myself in front of him, hands on my hips. "And why do you care, Zach? You're so confusing, Zach. One day, you're this sweet and thoughtful guy and the next you're this major asshole. I suggest you pick a legend and stick with it!"

"And how have I been an asshole?" He demanded, standing up also.

I laughed shakily, a bit maniacally. "Are you seriously asking me that? First you kissed me and then you left without a word. I was plagued by thoughts of you for five freaking years! Then you waltz back into my life, and you're getting married, and then you kissed me again and stood me up. Frankly, I don't know what–" My words broke off when his arms snaked around my face and he pulled me forward. I crashed onto him and he shifted so that I was straddling his front. The pounding of my heart escalated when he leaned forward, eyes tracing my lips hungrily. "Zach, don't." I muttered. "Zach, why do you care if I contact Josh or not?" The question popped from my lips without my permission.

"Because – I – still – care – about – you." With every pause, his head lowered until his lips finally crashed onto mine.

Well? Awesome? Disgusting? Horrible? Amazing? And my favorite made-up word: Fan-fucking-tastic? xD