Hey guys. Told you I'd update soon. I'm making real progress with this fanfic. Okay, so in my last chapter Tanner freaking kissed Melody to which she responded by stomping on his foot and refusing to ever join him. Since he doesn't take rejection very well, he lost his temper and almost strangled her. This chapter occurs around the same time as that one. However, we follow Willow and have some Skye in here too. More sad stuff. Sorry. It's gotta get worse before it gets better. My next few chapters will be very depressing, just warning you. Even the slightly happier chapters are filled with sadness. I think it's the sucky weather over here that's making me all emo-ish. Oh well. What can you do? So, let me get on with the usual stuff. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are amazing. So, here we go with this chapter. It'll be interesting.

Willow was alone, walking down the long, lonely hall. She was used to be alone. Flint hated her and, to be honest, she thought the kid was a weirdo anyway. Tanner wanted nothing to do with her anymore. Skye was off by himself somewhere. She had tried reaching out to him. She remembered when they were younger and used to talk all the time. Now, even when they were on the same side and Willow was trying to be nice, he was silent. So, being alone was something Willow was used to.

As Willow began to pass a door, she heard a thud from the room beyond. She peeked into the tiny window cut out of the metal door. She saw that Tanner had shoved Melody up against the brick wall. Had he given up on getting her to join them? Was he going to kill her? Willow's heart soared at the aspect of that. Maybe with Melody gone Tanner would love her.

However, Willow's hopes were dashed in an instance. The reason being, Tanner was now kissing Melody very passionately. Her stomach lurched. She had always wanted Tanner to look that way when he was kissing her. Her heart felt like it was being ripped apart.

She bolted down the hall as fast as she could. When she came to the last door, she swung it wide open. There was a stairwell leading downwards. She ran the steps two at a time. She felt tears streaming down her eyes and got angry with herself for being so weak.

She kept running until she reached a bathroom. She hurried herself into one of the stalls and then locked herself inside. Instead of sitting on the toilet, she sat on the ground and hugged her knees, still crying.

How? Why?

How could Tanner love Melody?

Why would Tanner love Melody?

How could he kiss her?

Why wouldn't he kiss Willow that way?

How could she sit there and cry?

Why wasn't she ripping Melody to shreds?

Willow felt herself spiral into rage. She felt herself morph, but she didn't care. It didn't hurt anymore. She wiped her tears with the back of a furry hand and unlocked the stall door, throwing it open. She stood up and walked to the mirror.

She looked into it and saw a wolfy face looking back at her with angry eyes. Willow stared at herself and then, in a fit of rage, punched the mirror, making it shatter. She drew her hand back and picked the shards out of her hand. It actually didn't hurt too badly.

It made no sense to Willow. Why would Tanner kiss Melody? She was weak and it was obvious that she wasn't going to be joining them. Melody was too stubborn to change.

But, maybe that was the reason. Maybe Tanner was trying to persuade her to join them. If that was the case, did it work? Willow knew that if it were her, she would give in if Tanner kissed her like that. However, Melody was different. Maybe it hadn't worked.

What was another reason? Maybe Melody had actually finally agreed. Maybe she had given up. But, would Melody give up or would she rather die than surrender? And if she had given in then why would she allow Tanner to kiss her? Did she love him? Tanner had said that Melody's feelings for Skye were all a lie, but did that mean she was actually in love with Tanner?

"Ugh." Willow groaned. She didn't want to think about any of that. It was too confusing. There were too many questions and too many possible answers. There was no way to tell without having all of the facts.

Willow took a few deep breaths and then looked into the shattered mirror one last time. She was back to her normal self. She sighed and decided to head back to her room. Maybe she could get some sleep and things would make a little bit more sense in the morning.

She walked the familiar path to the room she shared with the three boys. She sighed as she opened the door. She closed it softly and then turned around to find Skye, lying on her bed and looking at her, surprised.

"Hi Skye." she mumbled quietly.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, shocking her. She hadn't expected that reaction at all.

"Nothing." she whispered. She looked at him for a moment and then, suddenly, she found herself sitting next to him and spilling out her guts.

"I walked past Tanner kissing Melody." she told him.

Tanner kissed Melody? Is that what had happened down in that room? Is that why Tanner had tried to strangle her and then threw her at him? And why was Willow upset about this?

"Why do you care?" he asked, curiously.

She sighed as if she was exasperated that she had to point this out to him. "I love him, that's why. I thought you would have figured that out by now."

Suddenly, Skye felt very stupid for not having thought of that before. Now it made sense why weak, sweet, sad Willow had joined the Director. What still didn't make sense was why Tanner had kissed Melody and why he, Skye, cared.

He decided to try to forget about that. So, trying to distract himself, he asked Willow, "Why do you love someone who beats the crap out of you?"

Willow sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I'm in love with the person he used to be before he joined the Director."

"Well, he's changed." Skye said. "Why don't you get over him and move on?" That would be the logical thing to do.

She sighed heavily again. "It's not that easy to move on." She looked at him, tilting her head. "You usually need someone else to help you move on." She kept her eyes on him and he began feeling uncomfortable. "Maybe falling in love with you could be easy." she whispered, coming closer to him. "Maybe it'd be good for both of us."

Skye didn't even have enough time to think. In a second, Willow had placed her lips on his and began kissing him. A burst of pain shot through Skye's heart. It didn't feel right. Willow had been right, falling in love could be easy, but he didn't want to. Not with her. So who did he want? Melody? After she had hurt him? Maybe he should try to fall in love with Willow. Maybe it would be good for him. Maybe he could forget everything. All the pain, all the suffering, all the dreams.

Suddenly, Willow pulled off him and then stared at him. She gave a weak smile and said, "Maybe falling in love with you won't be as easy as I thought."

Skye stared at her for a second and then said, "Well, I'm kinda tired. I had to wrestle Melody back downstairs." he lied.

Willow nodded sadly, grabbed a pillow and a very thin and worn blanket, turned out the light, and lied down on the floor. Even in the dark Skye could make out her body shaking from where she was obviously crying.

Skye looked up at Flint's bed above him. He felt the thoughts drift back into his head. The awful thoughts that kept him awake all night long. He found himself thinking of Melody.

He compared her to Willow tonight. Willow was beautiful in a simple little way. But Melody? Melody was strikingly beautiful. Fiercely beautiful. You couldn't help but look at her. Willow always had a sad, wistful look on her face. Melody was a generally happy person and she had the most amazing smile that Skye had ever seen. Willow lacked self-esteem. Melody radiated confidence, which made her seem even more beautiful somehow. Willow was rough around the edges. Melody shined like a bright star. Willow was a follower. Melody was a leader and a good one at that. Willow was quiet and reserved. Melody was witty, a smart aleck, kind, powerful, loud, funny, and smart. Those were the reasons he had loved her. But that was in the past. Or, was it?

Why could he think about Melody at night without getting angry, but during the day he couldn't even hear her name without loosing his temper? That was what didn't make any sense. He decided not to think too much on that.

Instead, his thoughts moved to how she had looked when he last saw her. She looked weak and scared. When he had told her that if he were Tanner he would have killed her, she almost seemed hopeful, like she wanted him to end her life. He found that very odd. He knew Melody wasn't one to give up so easily. She was a fighter by nature. He remembered that when he first saw her he was thrilled to see her broken and lifeless. But now? The more he thought about it, the more depressed he felt. It was sad to see such a once beautiful, powerful, fierce creature begging for death to come.

And what she had said right before he left. It had struck him somehow. It had tugged on his heart. Her voice cracked when she spoke and she sounded so sad. And she had said that she did love him and that she could even accept him being an Eraser. But had that been a lie? Or was what Tanner had been telling him false? He decided not to think on that either. He could spend hours wondering and never find the answer.

Why was he thinking about her at all? She hated him. He hated her. Maybe Willow was right. Maybe falling in love with her would be good for him. Maybe it would help him let go of Melody. But could he? Did he want to? He knew the answer to that. He could not fall in love with Willow. She was pretty and nice and tough (now) and right there, but she wasn't what he wanted. What he wanted was a dream that never really had been real.

Skye sighed and closed his eyes. He suddenly felt very tired for some reason. He managed to fall asleep that night, more confused then he had ever been. Even more confused then the day that he met Melody and the day that he kissed her combined.

Ooh. Raise your hand if you think Willow is emotionally unstable. Don't you kind of feel sorry for her though? And, what's up with Skye? Is he actually breaking free of whatever weird hold Tanner has on him? Stay tuned for more chapters and we'll find out the answers to these questions and more. I'll update whenever I can. However, I'm shooting for Wednesday. I still want to keep a little suspense. I have to be entertained somehow. Well, see you guys whenever. Don't forget to review.