A/N: I took a risk. I slightly altered a song title to make it the chapter title. Kill me for it? You'll have to read to see why it is called this. Tell me if you don't like it! It seems the many visitors to this story wished not to pursue their business with Sadie, Max, Patrick, Bob, Joan, Martha, Prudence, Anna, Molly, Daniel, (I hate to say it) Tim, and other characters. I was hoping for at least a review! Okay, I shouldn't be so pushy, but I literally spazz out and get all excited when I see people have looked at my story and get even more excited when they review! And okay, there were some typos in the last chapter, but I fixed them!

Chapter 19 – P.S. I (Don't) Love You

"What the hell is going on here?"
Angry. He was very angry. Fuming, actually. All four parents stared at us in disbelief. Max and I didn't know what to do. We were all frozen and staring at each other. How the fuck were we going to get out of this one? I eventually let go of the bottle so that Max was the only one holding it. We recovered from the initial shock and he put the bottle down on the table. I tucked some of my hair behind my ear and Max fiddled nervously with his fingers.
"Uh… it's probably not what it looks like…" Max stuttered.
"I know exactly what it looks like!" Bob yelled.
"You see… uh, we had an allergic reaction to something in Mum's spaghetti the other night and we were just trying to find out what it was."
They so didn't believe us.
"We were trying every ingredient to see if we had a reaction," I added, indicating the other ingredients on the table. They had to believe us. I mean, why else would we have mince, a tomato, an onion, basil, olive oil, tomato soup, Turkish bread and wine out? Our parents looked at the table. Bob raised his eyebrows.
"We were fighting over who was going to taste the wine because we know we are trustworthy…" I trailed off, figuring my explanation wasn't going to get us anywhere.
"Then why didn't you tell me about your reaction?" Joan wanted to know.
"It's no big deal…" Max argued.
"Maybe your father should have you two tested."
"NO!" we both yelled at the same time. They looked taken aback.
"I mean, it really won't be necessary," I assured them.

Just then, thunder sounded outside. I looked at Max alarmingly and he looked equally as alarmed. I gave him a look to ask him whether it was him or not, and he nodded. I quickly turned back to our parents to explain further.
"Actually, we really don't think that it is anything, so we'll just clean up and leave you alone!"
Max and I hurriedly gathered up all the ingredients and took them into the kitchen and put them on the bench.
"Hold it!" this was a stern side to Bob, "Where do you think you're going? We haven't finished our discussion!"
Max and I ignored them and I grabbed his wrist and ran outside to the backyard. His skin was burning hot!
"So now we know it's the basil," I settled.
"I know… and now I can feel the rain coming on," Max commented disappointingly. My expression slowly changed into a small smile. He looked uneasy at my mischievous smile. He cocked his head on the side, wondering what I was smirking about.
"Past Masters Volume 2," I softly and cautiously named. He looked defeated.
"You always notice!" he complained, "What's the score now?"
"I don't know, I left my notebook inside. But I'm pretty sure it's me, five and you, four."
It started to sprinkle, but neither of us moved under cover.
"So now we know."
"Now we know."
"Stay clear of basil."
"Yep."
We just stood awkwardly in the sprinkling rain before Max had the sudden urge to lean closer and plant a kiss on my lips. Because of my superior vision, something bright caught the corner of my eye, and I think it did Max's too. We pulled away and looked to the kitchen window where we could see some prying parents scurrying out of view.

"What the hell?" Max exclaimed, a small smile forming on his lips.
"Oh, I don't care, they can watch all they want!"
I practically flung myself on him and we kissed again, more passionately this time. But suddenly I was filled with dread. Not dread. Regret. No, not regret either. Disgust. Disgust is exactly what I felt. Max must have seen me feel it, for he looked worried as he stared at me after we pulled away.
"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding frightened as usual.
"The other night… Friday. Our first kiss," I started to fill him with my woes.
"What about it? It was great. Didn't you like it?"
"No, no, I loved it! Absolutely loved it! I mean, I had been waiting for it, but not expectantly, and it was very sudden. And we had nearly kissed before, but then we realised it was too fast. But Friday was perfect timing, and it felt great and not wrong or ill-timed at all."
"Then what's the problem?"
"I only wish it had been my first kiss."
I said in gloomily. Max looked shocked and about five other different unidentifiable emotions.
"It wasn't your first?"
"No, my first was less than desirable."
"Who was it?"
"What the hell, you were there!"
"I was?"
"Well, afterwards. Remember, you beat the crap out of him and we got arrested?"
That seemed to jog his memory.
"Tim," he spat at the detested name like it was poisonous and evil, which it was, "I wish he didn't kiss you. I wish we kissed before then so that ours was the first. I don't blame you at all, I blame him one hundred percent. It was my first, and it was more beautiful than I expected."
Beautiful. That's not an adjective I would expect from him, describing our kiss. There was another flash of light in the corner of my eye and we then realised what it was – our parents were taking pictures! Oh, please. How pathetic! Apparently, their teenage children's lives were the only source of entertainment for them. The rain had stopped now and Max was back to normal.
"Let's go inside," Max suggested.

What an eventful weekend. Well, for me anyway. I'd had my first, what I considered, real kiss. I'd had dinner at my boyfriend's house for the first time. I'd met said boyfriend's 'babies'. I'd discovered that I was reactive to basil. I'd been busted by my parents fighting over alcohol with said boyfriend. I'd learned more of his personality and seen a different side to him. But most importantly, I'd had fun!
It was Monday morning and that meant back to school. I had literally forgotten about the Prudence Problem, since I was still reeling about the kiss. And I didn't even need to think about Tim – I was at ease knowing he wasn't coming to school for two weeks and I wouldn't have to put up with his foul, ugly mug.

The morning dragged on until morning tea. I was coming back from my second period class to my locker when I turned the corner and bumped into something. Or rather someone. And this someone, I think, probably didn't want to see me. I looked down at my shorter friend (if I can still call her that). It took her a second to realise it was me. She looked up into my face and awkwardly looked around, deliberately trying to avoid eye contact with me.
"Hi…" I didn't know what to say.
"Hi," at least she said something halfway friendly to me.
But something unusual stuck out on her face. Oh my God. I couldn't believe it – someone was beating her up! I could clearly see the make-up covering up the purple bruises around her eye and on her cheeks. Anyone else wouldn't have seen it without looking really closely, but I could see it as clear as day. Who on earth would beat her up? Could it be her parents? No, they're way too nice. They wouldn't do something like that. Maybe it was a drunk abusive uncle? No, she never mentioned one… a neighbour? Someone from school? Or… I hate to say it… herself. As I wondered this, I must've had an expression of wonder, shock and bemusement on my face, for Prudence quickly said 'excuse me' before walking around me and away. But she didn't just walk away… she limped. Fuck.

"So, Patrick…" I greeted, sitting down in our big undercover court where we always sat, "Who is this mystery girlfriend of yours?"
"What?" he seemed genuinely confused.
"Don't try and hide it, I saw it on Facebook. It said that you were now in a relationship. I want to know who it is."
He didn't say anything, let alone answer my question. He looked at Anna and Molly, who were obviously as curious as I was. He looked at Anna for a while before her expression changed.
"It's me," she sighed.
"Pft!" I didn't believe it, "As if! Since when have you liked each other?"
"Since three years ago when we started at this school at the beginning of grade 8 when I first saw him."
"Neither of you mentioned this."
I held up a finger to each of them as if I were prosecuting them.
"Eh, my feelings didn't blossom till the other day when I declared my love to her," Patrick waved off casually.
"I know!" Anna gasped with an idea, "We should go on a double date! Us with you and Max! It'll be great!"
Now I may be wrong, but I could've sworn I saw a very evil look being shot to Anna from Patrick. What was that all about?
"Uh, I'll have to see if Max will agree, but I'm sure he will!" I agreed.

We ate lunch for a bit more until I brought up the touchy hot topic of our estranged friend.
"I bumped into Prudence this morning," I randomly interjected into the silence.
"Oh?" Anna asked.
"I mean, literally bumped. And guess what? She had these bruises all over her face – someone is beating her up!"
"WHAT?" Anna and Patrick exclaimed in disbelief. Molly didn't look surprised.
"You already knew about this, didn't you?" I asked her suspiciously.
"No!" she was quick to object.
"Oh yeah? Then what did she tell you the other day?"
"Nothing!"
"Oh yeah, it was nothing."
"It was none of your business!"
"And it was yours?"
"Well obviously Prue trusted me to tell!"
A deathly silence. That remark hurt. Luckily the bell rang at that moment, saving us from more tension. What was with Patrick and Anna? Talk about unlikely couple.

"What are you talking about?" I was genuinely confused.
"I don't really have feelings for you," he repeated, "I never did. I just made it up."
"Why?"
"Well maybe I did like you a little at first like the others did. But I've moved on."
I didn't know whether to be hurt or upset or to just accept it and shrug it off.
"Then why did you tell me you did?"
"I don't know! I can't control myself sometimes. I guess I just randomly blurted it out."
I looked at him like he was speaking a different language. None of what he was saying made sense. The part about him not liking me anymore did, but the reasons? Ugh, boys… so confusing.
"So let me get this straight… you originally 'loved' me or whatever, and you told me you did because you randomly blurted it out and couldn't control it? And now you are saying you never loved me, and don't, and you have moved on?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"I don't know… should I feel upset? Should I be upset that you don't like me?"
"I do like you! I just don't love you."
"Then what should I feel? Like nothing's changed between us?"
"Nothing has. We just go on normal as before. Like even after I said I loved you. Just pretend I never said it."
"So our relationship hasn't changed?"
"No, not at all! We are still the same. Nothing has changed, except I never said I loved you, right?"
"When did you say that?" I asked mockingly, smiling and playing along with this façade he was inventing.
"I'm so glad I got that cleared up!" he exhaled.
"Mmm, me too," I mumbled, still not completely understanding.

A/N: Not very eventful. The last part must be leaving you in shocking suspense! Right…? *crickets chirp* Soooo… just so you know, I actually do keep a tally. Also, happy late Australia Day from Thursday for all those other Aussies out there! Please review, it means the world to me! And I know there a quite a lot of people who read it, so please review if you read it! I like to know what my chapters are like.