Helllllo!

Sorry for the absence. Really, I am. I've had school, but soon, I get a week holiday and I promise to write like mad! I think I mention this in about every AN but OH MY GOSH! 120 reviews! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! You guys are THEBEST EVER! Sorry if it feels repetitive, but it's true.

Also, the Winter Gallagher Girl Awards are on! Go to Kelsey Goode and follow the links to nominate your favourite story in the categories accordingly!

I don't know if you all got the chapter sneak peeks before you got this, but oh well. Lol.

MAJOR NEWS: I've started a new story. I will be called Playing Hide and Seek with Spies. And it IS a spy story, though it doesn't revolve around it. Nor does it revolve around romance. Or the Circle of Caven. Hmmmm... What does that mean, aye?

You shall have to read to find out (Hint hint nudge nudge ;D!)

But here we go:

CHAPTER FIVE

CPOV

"WHAT?" Grant hissed dangerously.

Kevin blinked and his 'I've-got-you-now-sucker-grin' disappeared quicker than a batch of Grant's mum, Theresa, freshly baked cookies. And with Grant and I around now, they go quickly.

The air was still and frozen just like me. The girls waited anxiously with hawk grins on their faces. This would be classic to them. And no doubt that if everything went through the way they hoped then it would be classic gossip, too.

I gave a quick glance at Grant and wished I hadn't. The blood had rushed to his face in anger and his hands were clenched in front of him. I felt sorry for the blanket he was suffocating. Even lying down you could see his muscles flex as he most likely imagined the worst pain he could give to Kevin.

If I wasn't frozen still I would have laughed in his face, which would have made me laugh harder because the look on his face was priceless.

We were all silent, waiting for something to happen. Don't ask me what, because I didn't know.

Grant took deep breaths and I stared at him through my eyelashes, needing to see his face but not wanting to directly look at him. Where Grant was involved I always treaded water carefully.

"What did you say?" he spoke slowly.

Kevin gulped, but to give him credit he didn't back down. "I said Cammie's dare is to do seven minutes in heaven with whomever I choose."

Grant closed his eyes and his fists closed tighter around the blanket if that were possible. His knuckles had turned white too.

"Are you sure that's what you said?"

He was giving Kevin a way out. For a moment I was startled, surprised that Grant would do such a thing. But then another thought made itself known: this was his team. He wouldn't choose me over his team, his long life friends, his 'crew,' would he?

Kevin glanced at me but I wasn't looking at him. I was trying to talk to Grant with my eyes. But damnit he needed to look at me for that to happen!

"Yes."

I sucked my breath in through my teeth and when Grant opened his eyes he looked lethal. Grant stood to his feet and I leaped to my feet, as did the guys surrounding Grant, and tried to push Grant back.

"Stop it, Grant," I warned. "You are not doing this! It's just a damn game! STOP!"

Grant was shaking at this point. I noticed that Zach held Grant on his right and Max was on his left. I looked at Zach and nodded to the kitchen. Zach seemed to understand and he hauled Grant back into the kitchen. The moment I couldn't hear Grant's footsteps I heaved with relief and turned to stare at Kevin.

He looked like he had wet his pants.

"Are you going to pick somebody or not? And don't think I'll forget this." I jerked my head backwards so he knew exactly what I'm talking about. I hadn't saved his pretty face for nothing, you know.

Kevin nodded his head and I glanced down at the girls who just stared back at me with open mouths. It was only a game that everybody played; a game where everybody did something they would regret; a game that always proved something of somebody. It was my turn to prove myself.

He looked around the group, his eyes skipping the girls (or else I would have let Grant kill me), until the fell on a head that I hadn't taken any notice of.

"Marc," he said.

Marc hit his forehead, sighed, and stood up. I walked down the hallway and into the surprisingly large closet. Marc followed me and the door closed with a click.

Nothing happened.

The closet was squishy and I couldn't move an inch without hitting something. The air was hot and it made me feel like I was wearing seven jumpers. I had no doubt that the guys knew this and used it to their advantage. It would have been an easy way to get a girl shirtless.

Grant's such a perve.

"So..." he dragged out the vowel.

I mimicked him. "So..."

"This is, uh –"

"Awkward?"

"Yeah," he agreed.

I blinked a couple of times and my eyes seemed to adjust to the light a little bit better. His hair looked black in the dark and I could just see his tanned skin, light enough to know that his face had cleared up in the time since my first PE lesson; but, then again, he didn't get anything near as bad as Zach or Kevin.

I moved my foot forward to stand in a shoulder width position. But when my foot hit the ground it was rubbery and round and I slipped up. My hands reached forward and hit the door; my body turned and my leg hit his shin; I felt his hands reach out to me, but he was off by miles, off in the opposite direction. His body fell and suddenly my body was squished, toys poked my back and then (it was all very sudden I shall warn you) a pair of lips were pressed onto mine.

For a moment my body reacted against my moral standards because I could feel our lips move together. My hands touched his shoulders and one of his hands went around my waist and his tongue licked my lips, asking for access. I almost gave in when I realised what exactly was happening and I pulled back, pushing God knows how many pounds off me.

"What. The. Hell?" I hissed.

I couldn't see him in the dark, but before a moment I imagined him occupying a smirk on his face.

Don't think like that!

"Sorry," Marc said. I could see (more accurately hear) him try to get up as toys squeaked underneath his weight. "But to be far you kissed me back."

"And to be far I didn't want to be here in the first place."

Marc snorted. "You always could have used your IOU on Kevin now so you didn't have to do this."

"Clearly I wasn't thinking straight at the time," I snapped. Damn it. I seriously should have thought of that. I sighed, running a hand through my hair and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

I could see his white teeth when he smiled. "No worries."

"Live and forget?"

"Agreed."

It was silent for a moment before I asked, "has it been seven minutes yet?"

I could hear Marc patting his pockets as he pulled out his phone. He flicked it open and the light illuminated his face brighter than before. He gulped as he looked at me, his eyes fearful. "It's been ten."

"Shit."

(PAGE BREAK!)

My fist hit the bag again as I thought about Friday night. My body was covered in a light coat of sweat and I spun on my left foot to give the blue punching bag a round-house kick. The bag flew away, held up by a point in the ceiling.

"That's enough, Cam."

I sighed and caught the bag as it tried to flatten me. I turned to Joe. "Ten more minutes."

Joe shook his head. "No way. You're a killing machine today. And as much I would rather that you killed the bag instead of people, you're injuring yourself in the process."

I glanced out the window and took note that the sun had barely changed position as I checked a few minutes before, before glancing back at my scared hands. The skin had been scrapped and the fabric around my knuckles had broken, small drops of blood seeped through; my hands stung but I hardly noticed. I looked around Joe's personal gym and sighed at the clock.

It was only eight in the morning.

"Come here," Joe said, gesturing at the seat across from him.

I sighed and sat down on the seat. Joe pulled out bandages, some cleaning materials, and cotton wool from his first aid kit and began to dab at my hands. The disinfectant, I realised as I stared at the brown tinted bottle, stung my knuckles and a pained hiss slithered passed my teeth quietly.

"Have you spoken to your mum?" he asked, still staring at my hands.

I shake my head before realising that he cannot see me. But he seemed to have noticed anyway.

"You should call her."

"I'm fine. There's nothing new to talk to her about anyway." I breathed in deeply, dimming my anger as much as possible.

"What if she's worried?" He looked up at me then, dropping my hands into my lap and crossing his arms. He leaned back into the seat. I rubbed at my knuckles lightly; they'd be bad tomorrow.

"Then she should call me." Drop it, Joe. Please, I added silently.

"She's running an all girls boarding school, Cammie. It's not like she has that much free time. She's probably running on a tight schedule. Try calling her when it's the right time."

I stood. "Then obviously she wouldn't have enough time to answer my call, let alone listen to my countless messages, and call me back; because it's never the right time." I stalked over to the punching bag and swung at it with all my might, giving a soft cry at the end.

I could feel Joe standing right behind me. That static in the air rose. I stared at him over my shoulder, and the look he gave me was the reason why I'd known he was my God father. It was the side that people didn't see to him at school. The side that only family saw. It was love.

"Have you been calling her?" he whispered softly.

I stared down at the ground and shook my head, clenching my eyes shut as tears threatened to over flood.

"I tried" – my voice cracked – "when I first got here but she never answered. After that" – I shrugged – "I haven't tried since."

Joe shook his head. "Give your mum time, Cam. What happened at Gallagher was big for her. She is so proud of what you've done there, you know that."

"She was. And now she's not. She's so damn disappointed that she gave me away to my aunt and uncle – without hearing my side of the story!"

"You know that's not true."

I spun around fully. "Of course it's true! She hates me and she'll hate me forever! She doesn't care that I'm in pain about it, too. She doesn't care I love dad just as much as her. She just ignored me." My hands were clenched into fists as their sides and my body was quivering. "She bluntly ignored me infront of everyone! Every time I tried to talk to her; she wasn't there. I tried, Joe, I really did. But when I needed her, where was she? Gone. When I need a shoulder to cry on? Too busy. When I needed a mother to talk to?"

My breathing was laboured and I choked down the rest of my words.

I whispered, "it's not dad that's dead; its mum. She hasn't been the same since. And I know that what I was doing after that didn't help, but it wasn't mum who stayed with me when she was off at Gallagher being the headmistress. It was dad. It wasn't mum who I went to when I had troubles; it was dad. It was dad who dealt with everything about school. Dad who stayed home and made me dinner, did the washing, you practically raised me. It was dad who made me who I am today.

"And now he's gone, and she's supposed to be the only one left. But she isn't there. She never really was."

Joe pulled me into a hug, breathing into my hair. I sobbed that day. More so than I ever have before in front of somebody. Those emotions... I never wanted anybody to see them. I never wanted people to know the truth about me.

Because you can only get hurt when somebody knows you.

So, we learn a little bit about Cammie and her mum's relationship. And I know a lot of you were expecting a longer chapter, but I don't really like forcing out bigger chapters. That's just my belief. But there is a purpose to EVER chapter. Even fluff ones. I have a rough outline for this story up until about chapter fifteen, and I'm adding to it constantly.

Thank you everybody soooo much for the reviews!

Ellen.

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