Hey, errbody, lol. Hope all is well with you all. That was a lot of 'all's' in there, huh?

I decided to update this while I have the chance cause TS/Hurricane Isaac is headed straight to us in La. Fingers crossed that this thing doesn't do too much damage : )

Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Special thanks to anon1 (anger-psycho-rage, yeah. That really describes Sky's bad moods. Love it, lol!) xLifeFullOfLaughterx (thank you so much. Glad you enjoy my wacky writing) and Esha (love ya, girl).

Anyway, on with the chapter. Enjoy.

Ch. 18: Friends in Limbo

December 2006

Sky's POV

"Please take it, Sky. Pleeeeeeease?" That's Shelly. She's shoving an adorable stuffed panda bear in my face. Yep. This is her apology.

"Shelly, you cannot butter me up with a panda teddy bear. No matter how adorable he is." I'm still mad at her for her betrayal a few weeks ago at the club. So, I've been giving her a very hard time.

"How many times do I have to apologize, Sky?" She whined as she sat the panda on my bed. "About eight hundred more times. Then we'll be cool." I grinned at her. "Come on. It wasn't really that bad, was it?" She questioned me for the thousandth time.

"You should be thankful that I let you in my house, Martinez. Don't push me." I grouched as I made my way out of my room and into the front. "Yeah. And speaking of that, why exactly did you call me over?" She asked as she followed me.

"We're going to the animal shelter." I replied. "Oh, cool." She tried to act nonchalantly, but I know that she wants to do a little dance. Shelly freaking loves animals. I think she loves them more than people.

"I'm getting a dog." If going to the shelter didn't make her squeal, then I know that this would. "And where is the dog gonna live?" She asked. "Did you read the lease? We can have pets. Seven pounds or less." I grinned.

"Dammit, if I would've known that, I could've brought Leiko." Leiko is her little terrier. She left him in California with her sister when we came to Louisville. She misses him like crazy.

"Get your sister to bring him over." I suggested as I started to search for my shoes. "Nah. He'd be miserable here by himself. And anyway, who's gonna take care of him while we're on the road?" Huh, I didn't even think of that.

"Angie can watch Leiko and my new dog." I was referring to our friend Angela, who also lives in the apartment complex. She's one of those animal lovers, too. So she agreed to take care of my dog when we're on the road. And I offered to pay her, so that helps.

"Nope. Leiko's content at home. He's fine where he is." She sighed. I could see the sadness in her eyes. "You're right. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I know you mean well." Ugh. Did she have to say that. Now I feel bad for making her suffer for three weeks after that incident at the club. I guess I gotta suck it up.

"And I know you meant well a few weeks ago. Consider yourself forgiven." I smiled at her. "You're really a softy deep down, aren't you?" She laughed as she gave me a hug. "No, I'm not. You just have the power to thaw my ice cold heart." I winked.

"So what'd you do while you gave me the cold shoulder?" She asked me as we headed out my apartment. "I read about mobsters, for the most part. And when you were in Cali, my new friend Lori and I watched all three of The Godfather movies." Shelly never watches the third one with me. Yeah, I know it wasn't great, but it's Pacino, dammit.

"I almost forgot you were obsessed with Al Pacino." She faked a gag or two as we made our way down the stairs. "I'm simply a fan of Pacino. But I do have a weird obsession with The Godfather trilogy. It's probably worse than my Chucky obsession." I grinned. Shelly scoffed.

"You know what, I think I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one." She said.

"I second that emotion." My heart started to ache as soon as he spoke. "What's up, Punker?" Shelly stopped at the edge of the sidewalk and turned around to talk to him. I should've stayed mad at her, that way I could just leave her and not bat an eye.

"Nothing much. Just enjoying my day off. Where are y'all off to?" He casually asked. "Animal shelter. Sky decided that she needs a dog." Shelly blabbed. Remind me to revoke my forgiveness.

"You mind if I tag along?" He asked, giving us that crooked smile of his. And I'm weak, so it melted me. "Sure, the more the merrier." I smiled at him. My smile got wider when he made his way over to me. His closeness disoriented me so much so that I almost tripped over the damn sidewalk.

"Hey, Danny." He sweetly said to me as a few stray pieces of hair fell out of his messy ponytail and landed adorably in his face. "Hi, Punkin." I knew I was blushing, so I turned my head and started to twirl a piece of my hair with my finger.

"Nice shirt." He said. I was so out of it, I had to look down at it myself. "Oh, yeah." I chuckled. I had on a pink muscle shirt that said 'My eyes are up there'. It's freaking wintertime, and it's warm outside. That's the south for ya.

"Okay. Lets go before I say something that gets me unforgiven." Shelly said, snapping me out of my smitten spell and back into reality. "Fine." I rolled my eyes and headed to my car.

When we got to the shelter, I started to feel giddy. For the past few months, on my off days, I'd sneak over here and play with a little brown and black Yorkshire terrier puppy. He's 11 months old now. And both his mother and brother were adopted already.

"So this explains why you were so secretive with me for the past few weeks." Shelly grumbled as we walked into the building. "Actually, I was shunning you because drunk Shelly has issues." I mumbled as I led them to the cage where they keep the little puppy. The only downfall of adopting from a shelter is seeing all of the other pets. Sitting there with their sad faces. Makes you just wanna take them all.

"That's him." I said when we made it to the cage. He was just as cute as ever. "He's so little." Phil said. "He's a cutie. Hi, little one." Shelly cooed. "Sky, you're back." That was GiGi. She works at the shelter, and she's really sweet.

"Yeah. And I'm finally ready to take him home." I smiled at her. "How sweet. He's been missing you, so this is really great news." She cheerily said as she proceeded to open his cage. She grabbed the eager little puppy and handed him to me.

"Yup." I lost my train of thought on account of the little guy licking my face. "Told you he missed you." GiGi laughed. "I can see that."

"So, what's his name?" Shelly asked me. "Rocco Lampone." I replied with a grin. Phil, understanding where the name came from, shook his head at me and goofily rolled his eyes. Shelly didn't get it. "How'd you come up with that one?" She asked as we headed back to the front.

"You mean to tell me that you don't know Al Neri and Rocco Lampone?" I asked, a little shocked with her. "Uh. No. Should I?" She replied, too much into the other dogs to see the scowl I'm giving her.

"Rocco Lampone was one of Michael Corleone's capos. He was a total badass and he was ride or die for Mike." I explained to her. "And Al Neri was Mike's bodyguard. Common knowledge to anyone who's seen the movies, Shell." Phil chuckled. "Whatever, dork." She teased.

"And speaking of Neri, Sky. Why didn't you name him that? I thought he was your favorite?" He asked me. That made me smile. I love that he remembers little things like that.

"Too soon. Richard Bright passed away in February. As a fan, that shit still hurts." I sighed as I looked down at the little puppy in my arms. "Who passed away?" Shelly asked. She can be so oblivious sometimes.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot he died. She's talking about the actor that played Al Neri. She came to my house almost in tears when that happened." He rolled his eyes at me as we continued to walk to the front.

"He was killed by a careless tour bus driver." I growled. Ugh, just thinking about that again boils my blood. "Some people are just plain stupid Sky. Tour bus drivers aren't exempt." He gave me a soft smile as we waited at the front desk.

"Alrighty. He's had all of his shots, and his leg's fully healed. I'd say little Rocco's ready to go home. Lets sign some papers, shall we?" GiGi smiled at me.

"What happened to his leg?" Shelly asked. "Oh, he's a brave little one. His original owner's house caught afire. The owners got them all to safety, except one. And he managed to sneak his way back inside the burning house to rescue his brother. It was amazing to see. His hind leg got caught in a flame as he and his brother made their way out" GiGi gushed.

"Now I understand why he's Rocco Lampone. Ride or die." Shelly grinned as she started to pet him.

I spent the rest of the day with those two and my new caporegime puppy, Rocco. I'm in love all over again when it comes to him. Smartest dog, ever. I swear.

Phil's in love with him, too. He didn't even want to leave my apartment. But he and Shelly both had to go tonight.

Jeff's at the door, and he's a little sensitive about me mentioning Phil around him. And I'm almost positive that Shelly would mention him just to piss Jeff off.

When I opened the door to let him in, the smell of alcohol slapped me in the face. After my eyes stopped tearing up, I could focus on Jeff's face. He's totally tanked.

"Jeff, you're drunk." I scoffed as I moved out of the way to let him in. "And you look hot. Come here." He grinned as he clumsily pulled me into his arms. "You smell bad." I groaned, trying to get out of his grips, but he wouldn't let me go.

"And you smell good." He slurred as he walked me to the couch. His soft lips met mine and I wasn't so worried about his liquor smell anymore. "I got a dog." I said, in between kisses. "Oh for real?" He stopped and started looking around.

"Yeah, he's in my room. Wanna see?" I grinned at him. He gave me a suggestive look and quickly got up. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Alright, where's this dog?" He asked loudly, opening my room door. He startled Rocco, and apparently he didn't appreciate it. Little Rocco calmly got out of his doggy bed, walked over to Jeff, and proceeded to attack his pant leg. That made me laugh.

"Ah, damn. I thought you was playin'." He yelped as he ran back into the front room.

'Nope. This is the puppy I was telling you about." I said as I leaned down to calm Rocco down. I got him calm enough to sleep in his little doggy bed in the den. I'm so glad that he's an independent dog.

"Oh, yea. He's cute. Now lets get back to what we was doing." He grinned, stumbling his way over to me.

Making out with a drunk guy when you're sober is not fun. I guess I know what Phil felt like all those times I came home and tried to get busy all drunk and discombobulated.

Mini Flashback

"Sky, you're drunk." Phil said, turning over in his bed. "But I waaaaaant you. Pleeeease?" I begged, pulling at his arm to turn him back on his back. "You should want to go to sleep." He grouched.

"Come on, Punkinnnn." I started to sing his little nickname. He turned on his back and frowned at me. I grinned and straddled him. "You're such a drunk." He rolled his eyes at me.

"Just a little. I can still make you happy." I started to move my hips on him. "Okay, fine. I'm gonna enable you this once. But only because you're doing that hip thing." He said right before he pulled me down to him.

Sky's POV

Yeah. Too bad I don't remember anything else that happened that night. I remember the next morning very clearly, though.

And I'm suddenly feeling the urge to relive the events of the next morning right now. "Jeff, we gotta stop. I'm starting to feel sick." I said, pushing him up. "What's wrong?" He asked, concern clear through the slurriness of his voice.

"I don't know. I'm gonna go get some water. You want anything?" I asked him as I woozily got up to go in the kitchen. "Nah. Just wanna make sure you alright." He replied.

After I took a few sips of water, I went into the bathroom. As I checked my red face, I heard a knock on the door. "Can you get that? I'll be out in a minute." I yelled to Jeff. "I got it." He replied.

Good. I can get my thoughts together for a few seconds.

Too bad my only coherent thought was this: What in the hell am I doing with Jeff?

I couldn't ponder that for more than three seconds on account yelling and barking coming from the front room.

When I got there, Jeff was yelling at whoever was at the door, and Rocco Lampone was barking at Jeff. "What is going on in here?" I asked, scooping up Rocco and calming him down.

"Your boy's at the door. Talkin' about he left some book in here earlier." Jeff scoffed, stepping away from the door. I rolled my eyes and went to the door. Of course, it was Phil. "Hey Sky. Hi buddy." He smiled as he started to pet Rocco.

"What'd you leave?" I asked. "That blue book on the coffee table. All that idiot hat to do was hand it to me." He scoffed. "Oh. Yeah. Let me get it for you." I left him at the door and shuffled over to get his book.

He smiled that adorable smile when I handed it to him. "Thank you. I thought you were alone, otherwise I would've just called you and asked you to leave it at the door." He explained. "I understand. It's no biggie. Goodnight." I smiled at him.

"Later, Danny. Keep her safe from idiots, Rocco." He winked before he turned to head down the stairs. As soon as I locked the door, Jeff started with his little interrogation.

"What's his book doin' here?" He asked first. "He and Shelly went with me when I got Rocco. And we all spent the rest of the day here." I explained. He scoffed.

"Yea right. And I guess you believe that he didn't know I was here, too." He rolled his eyes at me as he plopped on the couch. "Actually, I do. I didn't tell anybody that you were coming. With all the excitement that was going on with Rocco, I had almost forgotten that you were coming myself."

"Ooh, I feel so welcome now." He scoffed. "Your drunken sarcasm is not needed." I rolled my eyes at him. "Why are you so bent on staying friends with Pepsi, anyway?" He asked.

"Because he's the sweetest person I've ever met. Sure he has his jerk moments, but his sweetness trumps it. That and he's helped me through some of the most traumatic events in my life." I can't believe that he's asking me this. I should be asking him why he's still friends with Lori after he chased her for a year. But I just want to go to bed right now.

"He seems like an asshole to me." He grouched. "Cut him some slack, Jeff. We're basically in friendship limbo. And it's mostly for your sake." I yelled at him. I couldn't help it, it's been building up.

"For my sake? What the hell do you mean?" He asked, frowning at me. "It's no secret that he and I still love each other. Even Amy knows that. But out of respect for you, he agreed to keep his distance from us. You know, let us have a chance to have a real relationship." I continued my yelling.

"So you still love him. Well why did you still get with me?" He asked, his face turning red out of anger. "Because I like you, Jeff. I really do." I tried to force a smile, but it didn't work. "So, I'm the rebound, right?" He humorlessly chuckled.

"If anything, I'm your rebound, Jeff. You broke up with her just a week before you asked me out. I know you still talk to Beth on a regular. I know you still love her." And I'm definitely right, cause his face lit up when I said her name.

"Yeah. You're right. I do love her." He shook his head, the drunkenness slowly wearing off. "Well then, what the fuck are we doing with each other?" I broke into confused laughter.

"Feeding in to each other's denial." He replied. "Okay. I'm officially out of denial." I sighed as I plopped on the couch next to him. "Ditto." He grinned at me. "We're still cool?" I asked. "Yea. Friends, but not in limbo."

Six months later… July 2007

Sky's POV

"Can you believe I've managed to keep this job for a whole year, Lu?" Yep. As of today, I've been a WWE Diva and on the main roster for a full year and a month. "Congrats, kid." Luis responded. "So, I guess things are still tense between you and Karate Kid." He said, knowingly.

"Luis, not today." I sighed. Things have been pretty normal between he and I. Strike that. It's me and Phil I'm talking about. Things are never normal with us. So, I'll just say that things have been manageable between us.

"Oh. That bad, huh?" Luis chuckled. "I'm not responding to your inquiries, Luis. Next subject."

"Okay. How's that Hardy boy? Is that a good enough subject?" He chuckled. I groaned. "We're cool. I told you months ago that things were gonna be fine between us." Yep. The ship that was Jeff and I sank a few months ago. He and I decided to just be friends. And as of right now, he, Shelly, Lori, and Barbie are my closest ones.

"Eh, whatever you say. Still don't trust that guy." Lu scoffed. "Well trust this, Ramirez. Guess who's been clean and sober for a whole effing year?" I bragged excitedly. "Aww shit, miela. A whole year? I'm so proud of you!" I could hear him clapping in the background. "And I'm down to two cigarettes a day. Sometimes I don't even need one." I continued my bragging.

"Damn. I feel like a proud father or something. I'm so happy. My baby's growing up." Luis faked a sob. I groaned. "You're such a spaz, Lu." I teased, making him laugh. "So… how's your friend Lori?" He asked. Luis has an new crush in Lori. I can't say I blame him. That little spitfire is hot. She's my girl crush.

"She's good Lu. And so is her boyfriend." I laughed. "Uh huh. So when are you gonna get a boyfriend?" He asked. "The same time you get a girlfriend." I replied. "Well, I guess we're both screwed, huh?"

"I guess we are. So when were you gonna tell me that you're bffs with Punky and Jug?" Yeah. I recently found out that he and those two have been hanging out whenever they're in Cali. Not really a big deal to me, just a little awkward.

"I'm not bffs with them. We just hung out at the shop a few times. That's it." He tried to assure me. "I bet." Ah, sarcasm.

"Come on, mami. Don't be like that." He continued. I started to laugh. "Luis chill. I'm not mad. I just think it's a little weird that you and him have enough in common, besides me, that you can chill together. What do you talk about anyway?" I'm genuinely curious about that one.

"Don't worry. We don't talk about you. Now that would be awkward, little miss conceited. If you must know, we talk about traveling, ink, and comics. Happy?" He chuckled when I groaned. Leave it to me to have the most nerdiest, comic loving friends, ever.

"I guess so." I sighed. "Uh huh. What's really bothering you, miela? I've known you since birth. You can't hide shit from me." Luis is always prying. But he's right. He's always right when it comes to me. It's my fault for even calling him.

Even though something's been bothering me for a few months now, I refuse to discuss it with Lu. Whether he wants to admit it to me or not, he's officially one of the boys now. And I know that his friendship with me means more to him than hanging with Punky but I love him too much to put him in a situation where he might have to choose sides. And also, I'm pretty sure he'd choose Punky's side on this one.

So instead of spilling my guts to him, I said, "I'm mad because I actually miss Chicago." That's not a lie, actually. I really do miss my second hometown. I'd normally rag on the Chi, but I've been really homesick for the second city.

"So move back. You've got the money to get your own place. Unless you'll miss Louisville too much if you leave." He teased. "At first, I hated Kentucky. But I'm kinda digging it now." I normally don't like silence, but the solitude here is very refreshing.

"So you don't wanna move?" Luis asked, a little confused. "No. I do want to. I just don't wanna move away from… never mind. don't worry about it, Lu. Look. I'll call you later. Shelly's calling so I guess she's outside waiting for me."

"Uh huh. I caught what you didn't say, Sky. We'll talk soon. I love ya, mami." He cheerily said. "I love you, too, Luis. Kiss Diego for me." I said right before I hung up my cell. Shelly's gonna be a little pissed because I didn't answer the phone, but whatever.