"How long are you going to be gone for?" Annie asked.

"I don't know," Jeff said in annoyance as he pulled some dress shirts from their closet. "Hopefully I'll be back by Monday, but it could be later in the week."

Annie sat on the bed as Jeff packed, hating that Jeff had to pick the worst possible time to leave on business. "They do know you have a wedding in almost two weeks, right?"

"They're well aware. Anything else you want to ask me?"

Annie glared at Jeff, hating the snippy tone he kept using with her. "What about Lexi?"

"What about her?"

"What's going to happen to her while you're in Boston?"

"What do you mean what's going to happen to her. She's going to go to school and study to get her grades up."

"Do you think…" Annie said slowly. "Do you think her staying here is the best thing, considering everything?"

"What are you getting at," Jeff stated with a warning in his voice.

"Just…maybe she can stay with Cassidy while you're gone."

"Lexi's still punished. I'm not giving her a free pass to go hang out with her friend just because I'm not here."

"What about Chilton?" she asked.

"He has his dying mother to deal with. I'm not going to bother him," Jeff stated with barely masked anger, his back turned as he riffled through his underwear drawer.

"Well maybe we can-"

Annie flinched as Jeff loudly slammed the drawer shut and turned towards her. "Enough, alright. I'm not having this discussion. Lexi's staying here while I'm gone and that's final."

"She's going to have free reign to treat me like shit. How the hell am I supposed to handle that?"

"She's a kid, you're an adult. Get over it," Jeff said, mirroring what Annie told him the night they took Lexi in. He then felt guilty as he saw her eyes tear up, shocked that she was crying over this. He put his arm around her as he sat beside her on the bed. "Hey, I'm sorry."

"I just hate all of this Jeff," she said thickly through her tears. "We're getting married in a couple weeks and there's still so much to do, and your daughter hates me, and now you're leaving and I have to deal with all of this by myself."

"I know," he told her, hating that he was adding to the stress she was feeling. "I hate that I have to go. But it shouldn't be longer than a few days."

"How do you know?" she asked. "You said yourself it could go longer."

"Yeah, but I'm not going to let my job ruin my life. I love you, and I'm not going to let anything get in the way of our wedding. I know I said I could be gone longer then Monday. But I promise you that no matter what I will be back by next Friday, eight days before our wedding. I doubt it will come to it, but if it comes down to quitting my job to get back by then, you come first."

"Really?" she said, feeling a bit of relief go through her.

"Absolutely. I survived moving to Denver and looking for a whole new job when it didn't work out with my old firm. I can do it again. And as for Lexi, I already talked to her and asked her not to push your buttons. And surprisingly she agreed. I'd say just keep to yourselves while I'm gone. You do your thing and she does her thing, as long as that thing is working to improve her grades." He pulled her into a hug before glancing at the alarm clock. "I really have to get going if I'm going to make my flight."

"Okay." Annie said as she got up to help Jeff finish packing. She glanced down at her stomach, really wanting to tell Jeff she just found out she was pregnant. But this wasn't news to spring on him just before he was about to leave. Instead she reluctantly decided to keep it to herself until he got back.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie opened the door to the apartment after dropping Jeff off at the airport. She stood in the living room, trying to decide how to best handle the Lexi situation. Though essentially ignoring her felt like accepting defeat at forging some kind of relationship, Annie wasn't up to getting into any fights with the girl without Jeff being here. The best thing for the two of them was to stay out of each other's way for the time being. Though at the same time she still had to make sure Lexi was studying and behaving herself. This balancing act could prove difficult.

Feeling her stomach growl Annie went over to the refrigerator and searched through it for something to make for dinner. She found some leftover flank steak and half a Tupperware container of mac and cheese. She nuked those items and sautéed some green beans and in no time dinner was ready.

"Lexi!" Annie looked over as the bedroom door opened and Lexi appeared. "Dinner's ready. We're having left overs."

"Okay," the girl responded. She joined Annie in the kitchen and served herself as Annie got some juice for them. She expected Annie to ask her how school was, but Annie didn't say a word as she dug into her own dinner. Instead they sat in silence as they ate their meal.

She thought this would make her happier, since she hated Annie keeping tabs on her life. But now that she was getting what she wanted, Lexi found herself uncomfortable with the two of them not saying anything to one another. "How was your day?" she suddenly asked.

"My day? It was okay," Annie said. "Nothing interesting happened at work."

"So you're okay. Everything's alright?"

"Yes," Annie said carefully. "I'm fine."

Lexi opened her mouth, wanting to say that she knew Annie had been crying earlier. But after purposely being distant for so long, Lexi had no idea how to try to get Annie to open up to her. So she just ate her dinner, hating how tense and hanging things were.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Do you have any plans tonight?" Lexi asked Cassidy the next day at school.

"I don't know. Not really."

"Good, because we're going out tonight. It's Friday and my dad's out of town and I'm ready to cut loose."

"Aren't you still grounded?" Cassidy asked her friend.

"Yeah…technically. But I'll be back before Annie or anyone knows I'm gone."

"Wait, is this just another way to try and get a rise out of your almost stepmother?"

"No, this has nothing to do with…look, things are really tense with me and her without my dad around. And I've been cooped up doing nothing but studying for two weeks, with several more to go. I just need one night out. One night where I can hang out with friends and not be watched every moment. Come on Cass, be my partner in crime."

Cassidy fidgeted uncomfortably, torn between staying in and not sneaking out like a good girl, and having a fun night out. "Alright, I'm in. What did you have in mind?"

"You still have that fake ID we got last year?"

"Yeah," Cassidy said uncertainly.

"Good. We're going to VERITAS."

"That club on Bleaker street?"

"Yeah, that one. If I'm sneaking out and risking getting into trouble, I might as well make it worth it. You pick me up a block from my house at ten and we'll go out for a night of dancing and fun. This is going to be a great."

As the two girls finalized their plan neither of them noticed Kelly Cranston, one of Stacy's hanger oners, overhearing everything that was just said. The girl scampered away to deliver the news to the school's queen bee.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Stacy!" Kelly yelled as she ran towards the girl.

"What?"

"You know how you've been trying to get back at Lexi for that fight and everything. Well I just overheard her saying she's going out to VERITAS tonight even though she's grounded."

"Really?" Stacy said thoughtfully.

"Yeah. You wait until she sneaks out and then anonymously tell her parents that she's gone. She'll get in so much trouble-"

"Are you a child?" Stacy cruelly asked, cutting the girl off. "I don't care if she's grounded for sneaking out. I want her to pay for what she did to me." An evil smile formed on Stacy's face as a plan began to take form. "Do you know when she's going to the club?"

"She told Cassidy to pick her up at 10pm."

"Perfect. By the time I'm done with her she's going to wish she never messed with me."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Annie got home from work she checked on Lexi to see if she was doing her homework. To her pleasant surprise the girl was sitting at her desk working on math problems. "Hey. How's it going?"

"Okay," Lexi stated in a tone that clearly said the opposite.

"I know math is hard, and that most people don't find it interesting. But think of it this way. With math there's only one definite answer. Once you master how to get it, it's always the same each time you do it. And if you need any help, with math or any other subject, I'm here to help."

"Thanks," Lexi said, surprised that Annie was willing to offer her any help.

"So since its Friday and it's just us, I really don't feel like cooking. How's pizza sound? Half with peppers, half with pineapple."

"That sounds…good."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Unlike the previous night, dinner went better this time around. Neither woman said much to the other, but things seemed less tense then they had been before. In a way though, Lexi would almost have rather things be more tense, since she was now feeling guilty about sneaking out.

"Thanks for dinner," Lexi told Annie as she helped wrapped the remaining pieces in foil and put them in the refrigerator.

"No problem."

After that was done Lexi went to her room and began searching for the perfect outfit to wear. As she looked a part of her honestly considered texting Cassidy to cancel the whole thing. But she knew she needed a night out, and it would be easier to sneak out with her dad away. So she swallowed down her doubts and looked for an outfit that was sexy and would make her want to dance.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Nice outfit," Cassidy said as Lexi climbed onto her car.

"Thanks," Lexi said, pulling the skirt down a bit. "You look good to. Did you have any trouble getting out?"

"Nope. Ready?"

"Yup, let's do this."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is fun," Cassidy yelled over the club music.

"Yeah," Lexi said uncertainly. As soon as they got there Lexi began to feel guilty about sneaking out like she had. This plan had seemed so good when she first came up with it. But now all she felt like was an underdressed high schooler who was in over her head.

Screw it, she thought. You're here and Annie probably already knows you're out and is telling your dad. You might as well enjoy yourself.

"Let's get a drink." The two girls weaved their way through the crowded dance floor and made their way to the bar. "Hi. Can we have two cosmos please?"

"Let's see some id first girls." The bartender waited as they dug out there ids and handed them to him. He carefully studied the ids and the two girls before he handed them back. "Be right back." Keeping his back to them he made two what he called 'high school specials', which were nonalcoholic versions of whatever they ordered. He knew they were two kids out trying to have fun. He wasn't going to call them out on it, but he wasn't going to get minors drunk either.

"Here you go, two cosmos, enjoy."

The girls paid for their drinks and walked away, looking at everyone around them. "Do you want to go dance?" Cassidy suggested.

"In a little bit. Let's finish our drinks before-hey watch it!" Lexi yelled as someone in a hoodie pushed into her.

"Are you okay Lex?"

"I'm fine. Just some uncoordinated asshole." Lexi shrugged as she took a sip, neither girl noticing the fast dissolving pill on the bottom of the glass.

The hooded figure worked her way through the crowd, not stopping until she made it out of the club. She got in her newly repainted corvette, smiling wickedly as she lowered her hood and fingered the baggie of roofies in her pocket.

This will teach her not to mess with me. Maybe she'll get gang raped and then kill herself, Stacy thought evilly as she sped off.