Erin looked up at Connor, who was staring down at her with dark eyes.
He looked mad at her, angry with something she said.
Erin looked from Theresa to Connor, water welling up in her eyes.
Then, she huffed, defeated, and let her head bury itself into her arms on the table in front of her.
Theresa looked at Connor, who hadn't taken his eyes off Erin .
Was this the wrong idea? Connor had been stuck when Erin came in. He'd come to the Art Hall that morning to relax and draw. So when Erin stopped by, it was either let her see him or let him hide until she was gone.
Theresa hadn't planned on Connor coming out from behind the curtains.

Then, Erin looked up.
"I'll see you later," she said to no one in general, stood up, and started toward the door.
" Erin ," Connor called, but she didn't stop. Erin walked out the door without a second glance.
He looked down at Theresa, who was frowning at him.
"What?" he asked.
"You made this mess." Theresa growled at him. "Now you go after her and fix it." she added, and looked down at her work.

Erin stomped out the door, pulling her ipod out of her shirt and stuffing it in her ears.
She put it on random, and started running, faster than she normally would have started.
First off....why would Theresa do that? I just told her everything that went on, and she has the nerve to let Connor pop out of the cabinet like a Christmas present from no where.

The first song that came on her ipod was Need you now by Lady Antebellum

Picture perfect memories,
Scattered all around the floor.
Reaching for the phone cause, I can't fight it any more.
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time.

Erin could hear Connor saying her name in her memories. Calling her from upstairs, saying her name while they were reading The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants, laying on his chest.
Him holding her hand while she walked on the log, grabbing her waist at the slightest hint that she might fall. Telling him the story about her dad, that heartbreaking time for her which she still wasn't completely recovered from.
Andy was right... She thought to herself, rounding a corner.
' Erin ...'

It's a quarter after one,
I'm all alone and I need you now.
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now.

Erin thought back to the first time she and Connor were in the Art Hall alone. Secretly, Erin had had a hard time keeping her eyes off of Connor, who was so studious and concentrated, drawing his secret drawing. Once or twice, he had caught her eye, and she'd blush and return to drawing her lines for her comic strip.

Handing her the picture he'd made her and feeling her stomach drop all over again. The beauty of the colors he'd blended together so perfectly, the amazing replication of a face that seemed to belong to her but was too beautiful to possibly belong to her, feeling the empty feeling stomping away from him and toward the main office to switch her cabins.

' Erin ….'

Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door.
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before.
And I wonder if I ever cross your me it happens all the time.

Walking into D-13 to get her stuff and leave hoping that she didn't see him. Chris kissing her and feeling the void in her heart like a ripping black hole in her body. Ripping Connor's picture; breaking her heart.

' Erin !'

It's a quarter after one,
I'm a little drunk,And I need you now.
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now.

Erin slowed a little. That voice was so close, like her subconscious was screaming at her, creating voices in her head. This was how people described dying. The voices of the one they love saying their name in their heads, so clear it was like they were right next to them.

' Erin !'

Yes I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all.

She was dying. There was a hole in her heart that kept getting bigger, and soon, it was going to consume her. The black hole was going to suck her away from the inside out. She was already becoming an empty corpse, walking around without purpose, just pretending to be there. She was observing activities without care, without really understanding them. She was eating just to fulfill her human body, since that all she was now.

' ERIN !'

It's a quarter after one,
I'm all alone and I need you now.
And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without,
I just need you now.
I just need you now.
Oh baby I need you now.

No wait. That voice was real. There was nothing imaginary about it.

Erin stopped, took long steps to come to a halt, and turned around.
Connor was jogging up to her, slowing down as he came.
So she wasn't dying. Connor had been calling her the entire time. But that didn't change the way she felt about herself. She still hurt; the black hole was still eating her.

Connor came up to her, breathing slightly heavy, but still regulated, and pulled her earphones out of her ears.
The sad song had disappeared from her ears, and now Connor's voice filled her ears.

"I've been calling you for like three minutes." he told her. "You're actually really fast." he added with a slight grin.
Erin didn't smile. Was there any reason to? All he was going to do was apologize to her for eavesdropping.
"You don't have to apologize," she informed him, feeling the wetness on her cheeks suddenly.
She hadn't realized she'd been crying. It must have been the song.
Connor's eyes went from her face to her eyes. "I'm not sorry," he said to her bluntly, touching her arm.
Erin wrenched herself from his touch. "Well, you don't have to explain why you're not sorry either," she snapped.

Connor smiled at her, and for some reason, his happy smirk made Erin want to slap it straight off his face.
How could he be happy? She was having the worst time of her life at a camp that was supposed to leave her happy and relaxed; all because of him.

"What do you…"
"Just listen to me." Connor interrupted her, not giving Erin the chance to be nasty.

Erin sufficed with a "What?"
Connor drew in a deep breath. "I don't know what's wrong." he started.
You're not the only one, Erin thought bitterly.
"And I'm trying to make it better, but I don't know how. I don't know how to talk to you, how to tell you what I'm feeling." he said.
"You're so…distant. It's like we were never friends, like we never knew each other. And I don't like that, Erin ."
Erin felt her stomach weaken, not so acidic anymore. Hurt flashed across her eyes as she looked him in the eyes.

"I want to be friends, Erin. I was so…no. Let me rephrase that. I want you to want to be friends. I've been trying to understand what I did wrong, and I can't come up with anything. Did I offend you? Did you want to be with Brandon ?"
Erin shook her head quickly. "No," she told him.
"Then what did I do to make you hate me?"
Erin looked at him with watery eyes.

You made me fall for you. That was the real answer. But Erin knew she'd never say that to him. After all the pain, Erin had lied to herself so many times, that she was starting to believe the lies about not liking Connor.
Not wishing he was there. Not wishing Theresa hadn't been there.
Connor looked at her, waiting for her answer.
Erin, with disgust, turned her back on him and went to walk away when his hand caught her firmly on the shoulder and whirled her around.

"You're not leaving until I get an answer." he told her, anger making his nostrils flare.
"Why do you think I should give you one?" Erin demanded him, putting her hands on her waist.
"You're treating me like you hate me, I deserve one." Connor replied with a snap.
"I don't hate you." Erin informed him like it was common sense, squinting her eyes at him.
"It sure seems like it."
"Sucks for you."

"See!" Connor yelled. "If you don't hate me, why would you do this? I don't understand, Erin. Sometimes, I wish we'd have never met, and maybe I wouldn't hurt so bad."
Erin's expression softened as he spoke, and at the end of his sentence, her heart broke.
"You...really wish that?" she asked gently.

Connor kicked the ground. "Yeah, I do. Erin," he looked up. "I went home for a couple weeks. I couldn't handle being here, and I thought that maybe, if I left and you wouldn't have to see me, that you'd go back and be Erin again. But no. You're not Erin. And yes, I wish I hadn't have met you."
"Why?" The word barely came out in the hoarse whisper that Erin managed to choke out.
"Because. All I did while I was gone was think of you. At the pool, reading, walking, drawing, talking with you...I couldn't think of anything else. And I thought, that maybe, when I came back, we'd be cool again. But we're not. And it hurts, and I'm tired of it."

Erin looked down at her fingernails. He sounded...hurt. He was saying things that most guys wouldn't admit unless they were going to marry the girl. But he was just letting it out like it was a play-by-play in football.

"So..." Connor interrupted the silence. "I want to know why you hate me. And then I want to know if I need to go away again, and leave you alone."

Wow. What an ultimatum.

"I don't hate you." Erin started. "And...I shouldn't have reacted the way I did." she admitted. "But...there was a lot going on at that time. There was a guy who was claiming that I was dating him, wouldn't leave me alone, you and Chris were constantly going at it, Ben was harping everyone about being nice and staying away from me, and I kind of felt like the bad guy.

"And then when you painted that picture, it put everything in prospective. I wanted to be with you, and I got the jist that you wanted to be with me, but...it would've made the cabin so...uncomfortable. And to top it off, I was embarrassed."
"I was too..." Connor offered.

Erin shrugged. "It doesn't matter now. I'm over it."

Connor bent over to look her in the eyes. "But are you over us?" he asked, and took her face in his hand.

Erin watched his expression. He seemed hopeful and Erin knew in her heart that she should say yes, so he could move on and find someone that he deserved. Someone you would love him and wouldn't find the tiny, stupid things to get upset about, and someone who had a great body and a wonderful personality. Not her, who was the equivalent of a wet rag.

But how could she lie? She'd missed him too, in her subconscious, as she wouldn't think of him voluntarily. And didn't she want to let herself be enveloped into his arms again, to let her head lean on his chest and take in the smell of him?
Yes, of course.

But would that be selfish?
Yes, of course.

But would she lie?
No.

"No, I'm not. But I don't think you would want me." she warned him.
"And why, in heaven's name not?" Connor asked, pulling Erin in for a hug, but she pushed away
"I'm not the same." she replied.
"I noticed. You need sunlight."
"That's not what I mean. I'm not...Erin anymore."
"Because you've been cooped up in that stupid isolation cabin with no friends, and no interaction." Connor stated confidently.
Erin shrugged. "I think you deserve better." she replied.

"I don't want better. I want you." Connor told her softly, and pulled her chin to him relentlessly, wrapping his other hand around her head so he could keep her against her struggling, and pressed his lips to hers.

(#1. Don't complain about length. I tried, and if I add anymore, it won't make sense. #2. I interpret the massive amount of hits but no reviews as people who don't like it. So tell me if you like it. You don't have to say a lot, but I appreciate grammar, spelling, and other notifications that one might find. =D Thanks for reading!)