DISCLAIMER: I don't own House of Anubis.

Thank you for the amazing response last chapter! Because of that, I'm updating again! We have about four chapters left to go, with an epilogue.

Patricia tried to get up by herself and ignore his hand, but soon enough, she realized it wasn't possible and latched on. "Thanks," she muttered, avoiding his eyes, heels dangling in her hand.

"No problem," he said in a low tone, scratching the back of his neck. "You, uh, going to the dance?"

"Not by choice," she rolled her eyes, still unable to look up. She didn't have to be a master of social etiquette to know that this wouldn't go right no matter what. If she struck up a conversation of him saying he liked her, they'd have to talk about that and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that yet. If they kept talking about small things and avoiding the big issue, then there would still be tension. All she could do was pray he would go soon and not bring it up.

"I am too," he replied. "Mom made me." Patricia nodded, twiddling her thumbs and staring at her bare feet, a sudden surge in the back of her mind to say 'You're not going with Mara?'

Eddie was obviously better at striking up conversations with girls he had admitted his feelings to and then been pushed away from. He spoke again, his voice devoid of emotion. "You curled your hair."

"Yeah," Patricia trailed off, not sure what to say. She bounced on the balls of her feet like she had seen him do months ago. But she couldn't resist asking, "…so what?"

"It's different," Eddie shrugged, and for the first time, she looked up at him. If he wasn't shy enough to look down at his feet, then why should she? Patricia clutched the heels tighter as she wracked her brain for something to say- how much longer could this conversation go on before they finally hit what they'd both been avoiding? Eddie continued at her lack of words, "I don't know, it just looks…" He waved his hands around her for a minute, but his motions were stiff and seemed rehearsed without his easygoing smile.

"You don't know what to say," Patricia murmured- it made her feel a little comforted. That she wasn't the only one sensing how tense it was. Eddie nodded, and she cleared her throat. Did she want to fix things? Sure, she wanted to talk to him again, wanted to be by his side again, but she wasn't sure how to initiate the conversation or what she'd even say during it.

"I don't want to go to this stupid dance," Eddie finally blurted out, locking their eyes. Patricia almost felt like sighing with relief- someone sane, thank you.

"I don't either," she said quietly.

"I didn't think you would," Eddie cracked a smile, but it looked almost bittersweet, wistful. Not carefree as usual. Not like the ones he had given Mara. Patricia forced herself to upturn the corners of her lips the slightest, but neither looked particularly happy. Eddie opened his mouth and then closed it before making a decision. "Want to ditch the dance together?"

There.

He had made the first step and both knew it, both acknowledged it.

Patricia juggled her options- awkward time with Eddie or lonely time at the dance? Eddie seemed less harsh now, but eventually, even she knew, they would reach the topic. "Sure," she let it out in a slow breath, as if she couldn't believe she had actually said it. She confirmed it, "Sure."

"Cool, where are we heading?" Was he just really good at calming his nerves or did he not have any at all? Patricia, for one, had to think it over maybe ten times before she actually said anything. If she made one wrong step, everything would crumble.

But her stomach let out a small growl and she vaguely remembered skipping dinner to get ready, being told to fill up on refreshments at the dance. She let out a nervous chuckle, "Well, I'm hungry."

"Never would've guessed," Eddie laughed slightly, but it was too formal. The kind of laugh you gave just to be polite. It wasn't him. But as he told her about a place they could go to which apparently had amazing pancakes even at night, Patricia nodded. And then she began walking with him, in silence, too scared to even say anything, not trusting herself.

It was only after Eddie ordered a large platter of pancakes and Patricia some of her own food did they finally sit down. The moody cashier, who wore a nametag that says Ben, occasionally looked over at them curiously, but both pretended not to notice. They were basically the only ones there, besides the man at the back who seemed to eat at the pace of the snail. Eddie sat on one side of the booth and Patricia the other, feeling out of place in her fancy clothes.

"So…" Eddie finally pushed his pancakes to the side and took a long gulp of his water. "How've you been?"

It wasn't supposed to be like this. They weren't supposed to be this nice- since when was Eddie this polite- since when did he talk to her like a stranger?

"Good," Patricia nodded slightly, meeting Eddie's eyes. He stayed silent and she began fiddling with her hair and clothes.

He was waiting.

He was waiting for her to bring it up.

When she didn't, Eddie continued. "I haven't talked to you in a while."

So formal.

So polite.

Why was he not stuffing his pancake in her face?

"Me neither," Patricia said. "I've been busy…with KT and Fabian and Alfie, you know."

"Ah," Eddie drummed his fingers on the table. "So you know about Alfie's secret relationship with Amber?"

Patricia's eyes widened and she almost leaped across the table in surprise, "Amber?" It was only after he smirked did she realize he had just called her out on her lies. She narrowed her eyes, "Well, you've been busy, haven't you? With Mara, yeah? What, did you give her your shirt too after a food fight?" Patricia was too fueled to realize what she had just said, but Eddie certainly wasn't. He stiffened at the mention.

"You never gave me my shirt back, you know."

Patricia opened and closed her mouth several times before she came up with the weak comeback of, "You never asked for it."

Eddie snorted at her excuse and Patricia crossed her arms and huffed, watching his fingers rise and fall as they hit the table. He finally sighed and looked up, "So? We ever going to talk about it?"

She faltered- she hadn't expected it to come this soon. "A-about what?"

Eddie rolled his eyes, "Nice. Avoiding it isn't the answer-"

"Oh, well, look who's suddenly the wise one."

"I'm just saying-"

"I don't care what you're saying."

Eddie looked extremely frustrated by now, "Will you quit cutting me off?"

"Will you quit bringing it up?"

"Why don't you want to talk about it?"

"Why do you want to?" Patricia shot back just as quick, sinking lower in her seat. He glared at her and she returned it, an even match, one on one.

Eddie's voice went low, "You know we need to-"

"Maybe we don't, can't we just forget about it?" Patricia scoffed, pretending it was no big deal. On the inside, her question sounded more like pleading.

"Whatever," Eddie blew some air out, annoyed. Patricia nodded her thanks, sneaking glances at him before sighing. He looked so down, so depressed.

She had to ask, show she cared.

"So, did you meet your mum's boyfriend or what?"

Eddie looked surprised, "You remember him?'

"'Course," Patricia said, as if she were offended that he thought she would forget. And she was a bit- she remembered that day that he came over for comfort all too well. She remembered the crack in her voice as he had hit home, touched on a sensitive spot. Did he though

"He's pretty nice, I guess," Eddie shrugged. "He proposed to mom a couple weeks ago."

Patricia jolted up- why did she not know about this? Why did she want to know about this? "And you're okay with it?"

"He's cool. He's into sports. He asked me how I felt before proposing. It's just…"

"He's not Mr. Sweet," Patricia finished quietly. "Right."

"Let's not talk about it," Eddie scratched the back of his neck and looked to her. "What have you been up to?"

Nothing.

"Couple things here and there," Patricia lied, trying to remain inconspicuous. She twiddled her thumbs in her lap and began tapping her feet. Her mouth felt dry but she didn't want to reach for the water.

"I really want to talk about this," Eddie muttered after a minute, looking down. He spoke in a softer tone than before.

"I just don't see what there is to talk about," Patricia fibbed nervously, bare feet pressing harder on the ground, hands clutching tighter to the table. Her breaths became coming very shallow, and she tried to calm herself down.

"You pushed me away," Eddie mumbled. "There. That's what there is to talk about." He folded his hands on the table. "I told you I liked you and you pushed me away."

"I didn't-"

"And I think I know why," Eddie continued, interrupting her. "You're afraid of confrontation."

Patricia stiffened and Eddie knew he had guessed right. She spent most of her time running away from people, not opening up and talking on them. Not lowering her force field like he had wanted her to.

"I'm not-"

"So I'm going to give you a choice, okay?" Eddie asked. "You could either run out of here as usual, or we could sit here and talk about it." Patricia was muttering under her breath, taking short, quick breaths. He bit his lip, wanting her to stay. How could he even convince her though? He looked sheepish as he finally said, "And…I miss you."

He missed her.

He missed her.

Patricia let out a slow breath, trying to decide. If she ran, she'd be that scared little girl and there would be no improvement between them. If she stayed…if she stayed, she didn't actually know how it would turn out.

Maybe it was time to take a risk.

"Okay," she breathed out. "Let's talk."