A/N: Sooo sorry it's been so long guys. I've been really busy. But I got this chapter finished for you! Sooo...please review, plus a little cameo stuck in at the end.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Tammy sat quietly on her bed, cleaning the cuts on Charlie's face with peroxide.

"This is really sexy right?" He said and laughed weakly.

"Please don't joke right now Charlie," she said. He looked at her. "I've never seen him like that."

"Yeah," Charlie whispered. "Me neither," she looked away. "Tammy, it's not like we planned this."

"Charlie, you know him," she said, "what if he does something stupid?" He sighed, it had entered his mind too.

"He won't," he said and kissed her. "I didn't want it to happen like this, really, I hate how unhappy you are." They kissed softly.

"At least we can really be together now," she said. "I do love you Charlie, so much." They kissed again and then they pressed their foreheads together.

"We have to make sure he's OK, Tam," he whispered. She nodded. "We can't if he's not." She shook her head. "What?"

"No!" She said. "I want to be with you, and I know I keep screwing things up, but let's be reasonable about this, he was probably going to freak and punch you regardless of the timing." Charlie laughed. This was why he wanted to be with her, they could have fun together even in this moment. She kissed him again. "You lost a lot of blood."

"Nah," he shook her head, "I don't even need stitches. Keep the nurse thing though," he raised his eyebrows, "it's super hot," she whacked him in the shoulder.

Dwayne lay in bed that night staring at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. Why wasn't he out in the barn with Carlyle? What she'd said that afternoon was rolling around in his brain. Sure, he sort of felt like he and Carlyle should take it slow, but for the most part he just wanted to go out and well, take her. Maybe part of him still felt like this whole thing wasn't real. Like she was still Charlie's girl, that they could ride together, and laugh and listen to music, but anything else wasn't worth thinking about. Or maybe it was Charlie's locker room stories about Carlyle that were intimidating. Sure, all the guys exaggerated but once, in a fit of melancholic jealousy after a Charlie had been bragging about a weekend they'd spent in a motel, he'd asked Carlyle how her weekend had gone, and she'd just giggled and blushed and mumbled something about hanging out with Charlie. He finally just took a deep breath and walked carefully outside and across the lawn. He carefully opened the door and saw her sit up in the shadow, the moon coming in through the window and lighting up her face.

"Dwayne?" She whispered sleepily. "What are you doing here?" He walked over and sat down and kissed her. She whimpered and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't talk," he whispered. She nodded and they kissed again and he pushed her shirt over her head. She whimpered as he lay her down under him. She wiggled a little as he tugged on her panties and they came off halting at her knees. She started shuddering and he kissed her again. "What's wrong?" He said. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"No," she shook her head, "keep doing that," she closed her eyes and he kissed her neck. Why was she nervous? She'd had sex before, lots of times. But then she realized, she hadn't been in love with anyone else when she'd had sex with them for the first time. She and Adam had just been bored, the same with those guys back home, Charlie and her had just been hurt, drunk and horny. But Dwayne was in love with her, and she was in love with him and they were well on their way to having sex with each other for the first time, in the same rushed heavy handed way she had with everyone else. "Wait," she whispered and put her hands on his chest. "Wait," she said more firmly as he stared down at her. "Not like this," she said.

"I thought," he stuttered now embarrassed as he lay on top of her naked. "I thought this was what you wanted."

"It is," she said, "I mean, it was, I thought it was," she looked at him. He rolled off of her.

"Sure," he whispered, "I get it," she looked at him.

"No! I didn't mean it like that!" She insisted, "I love you so much, Dwayne," she kissed him. "I just don't want to," she looked down. "I don't want us to be like anyone else. I think you were right before, I think we should take it slow."

"This isn't going to be like when you made Charlie earn it, is it?" He asked. She rolled her eyes.

"No!" She said, "No," they kissed again, "and when I say take it slow, I don't necessarily mean that it won't be tonight," she kissed him softly. "Just, slower," She crawled on top of him and they kissed for a while. When they did make love that night they both definitely saw the benefits of taking it slow.

Fulton drove as fast as he could breathing heavily through his nose. He wasn't going to let himself feel. He wasn't going to let himself think about it, about them, about her. There was something dark and twisted inside of him that he wasn't going to deny. He pushed her into the back of his head and kept driving until his phone rang. He let it keep going, eventually he pulled over and looked at it. It wasn't a call at all, but a text. From her, just one word:

Please

He knew what that please meant. It was a "Please forgive me," or even a "please come back so the three of us can talk this out," it was just a "Please don't do something stupid," he sighed, "please don't hurt yourself, please don't make this harder than it has to be." He swallowed and texted back.

Don't.

He knew she would understand. That don't meant, "Don't worry, don't call, don't think I'm coming back." He sat there for a minute or two and revved the engine again. He drove for longer than he could keep track before he had to pull over again. This time to cry. He'd done what he promised himself he wouldn't. He'd let her in again.

Portman lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. Monique had gone back to France with a kiss and a wave.

"It has been such fun chere!" She said. He had no idea if this meant she was coming back next semester or staying in France, and frankly, he didn't care. He couldn't stop thinking about Julie, and what an idiot he was, pushing her towards that guy. He went for his computer, there was no point in emailing her.

Kitty on the fly? She was seen heading to a midnight flight to Aspen and her new boy. Spending Christmas with together? That's a little fast.

He groaned. He needed to get off of that mailing list, then the door opened and he looked up.

"Hi," Julie said and dropped her bag.

"Hi," he said. "I thought you were going to Aspen with Spear."

"Pierce," she said, "and I was," she said, "but I had to take a connecting flight through Midway," she swallowed and he nodded. "I couldn't go to the second plane," he smiled and walked over and took her waist.

"Why not?" He asked.

"I didn't like it, when it didn't mean anything," she whispered, "I mean I like Pierce, he's a cool guy, and the sex was OK," he looked at her. "But I didn't like it. It wasn't like with you." They kissed softly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Me too," she said.

Annie and Adam walked hand in hand through central park and she shivered.

"Here," he rolled his eyes and took his jacket off. "You didn't have to wear that super thin coat you know."

"Sure I did," she shrugged seeing a whirl of blond hair walked past her. "Hold on," she said, then she bounced and Adam saw a look on her face he'd never seen before. "Serena?" She squeaked. The blond girl doubled back.

"Annie Bryant!" She squealed back and the two girls hugged. Adam looked at her. This Serena person was hard not to look at. She was beautiful, not cute like Annie, but drop dead gorgeous. "Hi!" She said happily.

"Oh, um," Annie said, "this is Serena Vanderwoodsen," Annie said, "Serena this is my boyfriend Adam Banks."

"Hi," Adam waved.

"It's so good to see you," Serena cooed, "I'm rushing, I have to get to Brooklyn to meet Dan, but," Annie screwed up her face. "Dan Humphrey, you must know him, you two were probably in all of the smart classes together."

"I know Dan," Annie nodded. "But well, why do you have to meet him?"

"We're dating," Serena said as if Annie should know this. "It was really nice to meet you, Alan," Serena disappeared as fast as she came.

"It's Adam," he called after her mesmerized. Annie crossed her arms. "She's," he said.

"I know," Annie rolled her eyes. "That's Serena." He looked at his girlfriend again. "I shouldn't of made you come out here," he slid his arms around her.

"So, just because we didn't get to make the girls who were mean to you jealous our Christmas Eve was a total bust?" He asked. She giggled and he kissed her on the nose. "You're beautiful," he said.

"Not like Serena," she mumbled. He kissed her again. "I saw the way you were looking at her."

"She's very shiny," he said. She laughed. "But, if I were with a girl like that, I doubt I could use the quadratic formula."

"She is stupid," she whispered, "and a big slut, she slept with her best friend's boyfriend." He nodded and kissed her. "Nate's kind of stupid too though." She stopped. "You'd like him."

"Annie," he whispered. "If we spend one more minute in this park talking about people you went to middle school with, I'm going to break up with you." She giggled as he picked her up and tossed her easily over his shoulder.

Keep reviewing and I'll try not to make you wait so long between updates next time.