I awoke to the sound of Jackie crying. I sat up immediately, untangling myself from Colin's sheets and glancing at the clock. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Good, I still had at least three hours before I had to be home for dinner. Glancing over at Colin, I saw that he was still asleep. I had always liked the way he looked when he was asleep. So much more innocent than when he was awake.

I hopped out of bed and looked around frantically for my clothes. How did they get so scattered about?

I grabbed Colin's T-shirt and pulled it on. It smelled like him. Like cigarettes and cologne and something else I couldn't put my finger on. I hurried over to Jackie's crib and picked her up.

"Shhh," I whispered, rocking her back and forth.

I heard Colin moving about and I turned around. He was staring at me, a small smirk on his face.

"What?" I asked.

"I missed seeing you in my T-shirts," he replied. "You look sexy."

I felt my face heating up. "Shut up."

Jackie was still crying. "Shhh," I said, turning my attention back to her.

"Crap, I'm late!" Colin exclaimed suddenly.

I glanced up. "Late for what?"

"Band practice," he said, jumping out of bed and pulling on his underwear and jeans.

"Don't go. It's just one stupid practice."

He hurried over to his dresser and pulled out a different T-shirt.

"Babe, I've told you a million times how important my band is to me," he said, pulling it on. "Besides, I think we're on the verge of hitting it big."

Why did he always think that?

"And why is that?"

"Connor's been sleeping with this girl whose uncle is a pretty big music producer."

I rolled my eyes. "Isn't that how it always is? Connor's sleeping with someone who knows someone who has some connection to the music industry?"

"Maybe once or twice," said Colin. "But this time it's different."

"I seriously doubt this time is any different. I'm sure Connor is just as much of an unreliable player as he always has been and I'm sure this girl is just as much of an unreliable skank as all the other girls. And one of them will somehow mess everything up and you're whole band will be back where you started."

"No really, I met her. She seems…nice."

"If by nice you mean a crack whore, than yes, I'm sure she's nice."

"She's not a crack whore!" protested Colin. He paused. "I don't think."

I sighed.

"Babe, just think of it like this," he said. "If my band becomes successful, then I'll be able to support you and Jackie so much better. You wouldn't even have to worry about getting a job. Unless you just wanted to occupy your time. We could get a huge flat in London. I could buy you and Jackie whatever you wanted."

I shook my head. "Colin, come back to reality."

"Well, whether you approve or not, I'm going to band practice."

"Fine," I huffed. "When will you be back?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. It'll probably be pretty late. We'll all probably go to the pub afterwards."

"So no point in me waiting for you?"

"Probably not," he replied.

I nodded. "Well, Jackie and I will probably just go back to my house then. If you do get done before you expected, you can stop by. If you're not too drunk."

"Doubt there's much chance of that," he said, chuckling. He gave me a quick kiss. "See you tomorrow."

He kissed Jackie, who'd fallen asleep in my arms, on the forehead and then he was gone.

I sighed heavily, as I pulled off Colin's shirt and put on my own clothes. I carefully fixed my hair and make-up. "Come on, Jackie," I said, picking her up. "Let's go home."

We Apparated back to my house. I pushed open my front door and walked inside. I wandered into the living room and came to face to face with none other than Teddy Lupin.

I nearly dropped Jackie in surprise. "Teddy! What are you doing here?"

"Your mum invited my grandma and me over for dinner."

"Oh," I replied. "Er, isn't it a bit early for dinner?"

"We thought we'd come a little early. Grandma wanted to chat with your parents for a little bit. And introduce him to her 'gentleman friend.' Her words, not mine."

"Gentleman friend?"

He nodded. "Remember that muggle man I told you about a while ago. The one who fancied her?"

"Vaguely."

"Well, she finally decided to give him the time of day."

"Wow," I replied. "Has she even looked at another man since your grandpa died?"

"I don't think so," replied Teddy. "Not until now anyway."

"Well, I'm happy for her," I said. "It's nice that she's found someone to spend her time with. We all need companionship. No matter how old we are."

"Yeah, I'm happy for her too," he said. "He's a really nice guy."

"Well, I should go meet him," I said, heading for the door. "Are they in the kitchen?"

"Vic, wait."

I turned. "What?"

"Well, I just thought that since we're both in here alone, we should talk."

I suddenly felt nervous. "About what?"

"I think you know."

"The kiss."

He nodded. "Yup."

"Look, Teddy, that kiss was a mistake. We need to forget about it altogether. Pretend it never happened."

"Oh," said Teddy. "Er… yeah, that's what I thought too. I just… I just thought that I should make sure that we're on the same page."

"Well, good thing we are then," I replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

Teddy's gaze dropped to my neck. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"The red mark on your neck."

I turned to look in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. There was indeed a red mark on my neck. A hickey. How did I not notice this before?

"Er, it's just a burn. I, erm, burnt myself straightening my hair this morning."

"Don't you use magic to do that?" I don't think he believed me.

"I just wanted to use a straightening iron this time. Is that okay with you?"

"But your hair isn't even straightened." He definitely didn't believe me.

"Fine!" I snapped. "You're right. It's not a burn. It's a hickey! You happy?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm bloody thrilled," he said.

I stared at him. At his turquoise hair and his tan skin and muscular build. And at his sad, blue eyes that were staring right back at me.

"Though I can't say I'm that surprised," he continued. "I saw the two of you on Easter. It was a surprise you didn't just rip off each other's clothes and go at it right there." He laughed bitterly.

"Teddy," I whispered. "Stop it."

He took a deep breath. "Sorry."

"This hasn't been easy for me," I said, my voice cracking slightly. "But Colin is Jackie's dad and I think it'll be good if the two of us can make things work."

He glanced down at Jackie, who was still asleep in my arms. "Yeah, I get that."

I felt a tear to trickle down my cheek.

"Hey, Vic, don't cry," said Teddy, reaching out and wiping my tear away.

"Do you think I'm stupid for trying to make things work with him?"

He shook his head. "I could never think you're stupid, Vic. Like you said, he's the father of your kid. It makes sense that you want to be with him."

"Yeah, but what if—"

"Do you love him?" asked Teddy suddenly, cutting me off.

I nodded slowly. But I love you too, I wanted to shout. But I stayed silent.

Several different emotions passed over Teddy's face. Anger. Jealousy. Sadness. Then it was just blank. Expressionless.

"And does he love you?" he asked.

I thought back to a few hours earlier, lying in bed with Colin. I had been about to drift off to sleep, when I heard him murmur something that I couldn't hear.

"What?" I asked.

"I love you," he said, a little louder.

I turned to look at him. "Really?"

"Never stopped," he replied.

I looked up at Teddy. "Yeah. He does."

"Well," said Teddy, his face still blank. "That's all that matters, I guess."

We stood there silently for a moment. I could hear the clock on the wall. Tick Tock. Tick Tock. I could hear Teddy's breathing and Jackie's breathing and my breathing. Everything sounded unnaturally loud.

"Come on," I finally said. "Introduce me to Andromeda's 'gentleman friend.'"

Teddy blinked. As if I'd pulled him out of some deep thought. "Oh, yeah, sure," he said. He began heading for the doorway. I stayed where I was, watching him go. I'd always loved the way he walked. There was something so confident about it. He didn't slouch. He walked with his back straight, his head held high, like he always knew where he was going. Like he knew where he wanted to be.

Colin always slouched.

Teddy turned. "You coming?" he asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah," I replied. And I followed him into the kitchen.

Well, at least Teddy was actually in this chapter. But it probably didn't cheer you up much, did it?

But I hope you guys liked it anyway. Please review!