I'm intrigued to see what you guys will think of this chapter. For the most part, it's a filler chapter, and it mentions the events of the previous chapter once, and then that's it. I wanted this chapter to be one where she like distracts him from his troubles, and for the most part, I think just that happens, but I promise that since the funerals are done, I'm not going to completely forget about the parents. There's another mention of them in the next chapter. :) Aside from a filler chapter, I feel like a couple major things happen towards the end, but I hope you guys like it!


Dad, Douglas and Mom are gone bright and early Saturday morning, and when I mention going to Steve's house, Imogene seems a little more than excited. "Imogene, are you doing something Mom wouldn't approve of?" She shakes her head quickly and bites her bottom lip hard.

"No, but if you're going to Steve's, this will give me a chance to hang out with this boy I've been talking to. He asked if I wanted to go to the movies with him, and I want to call him and ask him if he still wants to go." She explains.

"Ooh, Imogene," I tease. "Is he cute? What's his name? Do I know him?"

"I don't know if you'll know him. His name is Paul. He moved here recently from Michigan. Eileen, you would freak. He's seriously so cute, and I can't even believe that he took an interest in me." I take a seat on the opposite end of the couch, eager to hear more about this boy that pursuing my sister.

"What does he look like?"

"I don't think your boyfriend would be too happy to hear you getting this excited over another guy," Imogene warns seriously. I roll my eyes, showing that I don't mean any harm, and cutting the act instantly, my older sister starts to laugh. "I think he's really cute. He has sandy brown hair, and oh, Eileen, he has the prettiest blue eyes. Carolyn described them as the color of the sky. He has these really kissable lips, and I can assure you that he works out. He's muscular, and I would love to feel his arms around me."

I start to laugh at how infatuated Imogene sounds with this guy, and before she can continue, Steve arrives, and I have to cut her off. "I'll see you later, but have fun with your man while I'm gone!" I wink while walking through the door.

"I would've been here earlier, but my old man was takin' forever to leave." Steve grumbles, watching me climb into his truck. I shut the door behind me, and he begins to pull out of our driveway.

"It's fine," I answer, reaching for the seatbelt. "Imogene was telling me about this boy that's trying to date her." He pulls onto the road, and seconds later, we're heading back to his house. It's going to be my first time here, and to say I'm nervous would be an understatement.

XxXxXxX

Steve is silent for the whole ride, and it makes me slightly uncomfortable. I don't expect him to be over their deaths, but him not talking to me is so unusual – so rare – that I really don't like it, and I wish everything was back to normal.

And after thinking over how selfish that sounds, I feel bad.

"How're you feeling, Steve?" I ask quietly, and in response, he sighs. I'm pretty positive he doesn't want to talk, but I can't stand to see him upset, and I feel like I should try to take his mind off things.

"I dunno," Steve answers truthfully. "I still can't believe this whole week has actually happened. I can't believe they're actually gone." His grip on the steering wheel tightens, and within seconds, his knuckles begin to turn white. "I just wish this wasn't consuming my every thought." He mutters under his breath, and I'm not too sure if he wanted me to hear or not, but either way, it brings a small smile to my face.

There's the Steve I know. The Steve that isn't too keen on displaying emotion.

"Well then, Mr Randle," I smile. "My goal is to make you forget for a little bit. You'll be happier than ever, and no sad thoughts will cross your mind ever." He snorts, rolling his eyes.

"How you plannin' on doin' that?"

"If I were you, Steven, I wouldn't doubt me. You should know by now that I'm a fun person to be around. I don't fear anything, and I'm a big risk taker. I'm also the funnest person you can ever hang out with." Steve shakes his head.

"You know English ain't my strong spot, but even I know that 'funnest' ain't a word," he shares. "'Sides, I always have to talk you into doin' bad things. You ain't never excited to join me." We slip through the remainder of the middle class area, and within seconds, the scenario has changed.

The houses are more run down, and the yards aren't nearly as clean and trimmed. It stills makes my heart ache.

"But when I do, I'm a lot of fun, right, Steve?" I look over at him, tearing my attention away from the surroundings; he looks deep in thought – almost like he's trying to think of how to answer.

"Yeah, sure." He finally answers, and even though he's not paying attention, I throw him as nasty of a glare that I can muster up. For the remainder of the car ride, I pretend to be upset with him.

But really, I'm just happy that I appear to be succeeding at my plan of making him forget for a little bit.

XxXxXxX

Steve leads me down a hallway, and for the most part, all of the doors are closed except one. "My rooms a mess," Steve explains. "I was gonna clean it up, but then I realized it was only you, so I left it." I give him another look, letting him know his decision doesn't amuse me in the least.

"Thanks, Steve, you're the best." I answer sarcastically. He shoots me a smirk, and at the end of the hall, we reach his bedroom. He turns the knob and pushes his door open, and like Steve had warned, his room is an absolute mess.

Clothes are thrown everywhere; his bed isn't made, and needless to say, if my mother was here, she would be throwing a tantrum.

"Goodness, Steve. It looks like this place hasn't been cleaned in months!" He merely shrugs his shoulders and falls onto his bed. "You do realize that I'm going to teach you how to do your own laundry, and then after that, I'm going to make you help me clean up your room, right?" He shakes his head.

"You ain't cleanin' my room."

"If I don't do it, then no one will. If you help me, Steve, it won't count as me cleaning your room. Let's get started. Do you have a clothes basket anywhere?" Steve gets off his bed and looks around his room. He moves towards the foot of his bed, digs around a bit and before long, he pulls a blue basket out from underneath the mess.

"Here." He tosses it my way, watching me and waiting for my next action. I bite my lips hard, looking around his room, wondering where to begin.

"Help me gather up some clothes. If the clothes are white, throw them back on the ground. We're going to start with colors," Steve does as I say, and in no time at all, the basket is full. "Lead me to your washer, Steven." He rolls his eyes at my use of his actual name but slips past me. He leads me down the hall, and at the end, there's a little room with a single window, an overhead cabinet and a washer and dryer.

"It's right in here, Doll Face," He leads the way into the room, and after setting the basket on the dryer, I look around for the needed supplies. Steve seems to read my mind because he opens the cabinet above the washer and pulls out detergent. "You lookin' for this stuff, Eileen?" I nod my head, thanking him silently with a smile.

I teach him the same exact way that Mother taught me. Steve grasps the basics easily, but when I start feeding him more detailed information, I can see the color drain from his face, and I'm afraid that he'll start trying to talk his way out of learning.

Thankfully he doesn't, and after I repeat it a handful of times, he claims he understands what to do. Then, after a couple loads, I let him put his newly acquired knowledge to the test. Occasionally, he looks my way, silently asking me if he's doing everything right, and in response, I nod.

Once he shuts the lid for the third load, I start to smile. "I can't believe how well you're doing with this, Steve. I didn't think you'd understand how to do it so easily." He merely shrugs his shoulders and I wait for a cocky comment, but once again, the expected action doesn't come.

"It ain't as hard as I thought it was gonna be," he admits. "Sure, all that detail shit is a little confusin', but once you repeat it a few times, it ain't bad." Steve leans against the washer and turns towards me. I mess with the dial on the dryer, and after I set it to the desired setting, I turn it on.

"Well, Mr Randle," I begin, turning towards him. Steve stares at me, waiting to hear what we're going to do next. "It's time to begin cleaning up that pig sty you consider a room." He rolls his eyes and groans in disgust. "Do you have a duster and a vacuum cleaner?" Steve nods his head reluctantly and leads me to the necessities.

Back in his room, I give Steve instructions on how we're going to clean the place up, and through it all, he still doesn't look thrilled. "I want you to start cleaning up these books, magazines, your school supplies and whatever else is on the floor," he opens his mouth to protest, but before Steve can say a single word, I shake my head slowly. "While you're doing that, I'm going to make your bed, and then I'll help you clean up the floor. Once we're finished tidying up, you're going to vacuum, and I'll dust. And once all of that is done, the remaining laundry should be done, and then we'll put that away."

"Babe, that's a lot of work," Steve groans. "I'm really not in the mood to clean."

"With two people, it won't take that long." I bite my tongue, hoping I'm right. His room is awfully messy, and depending on if we end up getting sidetracked or not, I can't exactly say how long it'll take.

I turn and head for his bed, and mumbling how much he hates cleaning, Steve begins his activities. He takes a seat on his floor and stares at the mess before directing his attention towards me. "Where exactly am I 'ppose to put this stuff?" He inquires. I look around his room; when I notice there's really no where to set it, I start to frown.

"For now, set it on the bed, and we'll worry about it later."

XxXxXxX

"Why are you staring at me, Steve?" I ask, setting his school books in a pile. Both of us are sitting against his bed, going through a pile of books he has. Then, he had randomly stopped and looked over at me, and he hasn't turned away since.

"I love you, Eileen."

My heart falls into my stomach; around me, the world stops, and I can't believe what I had just heard. His words had come out quietly, and the more I think about it, the more I'm sure I didn't hear him right. But then again, what else could he have said? Surely, I had to have heard him right.

I turn towards him, and there's a small smile on his face, signaling one thing: I, did in fact, hear him right. My heart starts to increase in speed, and I can't believe it. Soda and Sandy might have said that he really liked me, but there's no way I could have imagined that there would come a day where Steve Randle actually loves me.

"I love you too, Steve Randle." His smile grows wider. My heart melts, and I still can't believe it.

Steve turns a bit, and after I follow his action, he starts to lean towards me. I slip my arms underneath his armpits, setting my hands on his shoulder blades, meeting him halfway. Our lips connect, and for some reason, this kiss feels different than any other ones we've shared.

I can't place my finger on what feels different, but for the most part, I think I really like it.

He pulls me closer, and before too long, he collects me in his arms and pulls me onto his lap. I pull my arms away from him before wrapping them around his neck. My hands find their way to Steve's greased hair while Steve's rest calmly on my hips.

Steve starts to pick up the pace, and before I know it, his tongue is in my mouth, and I like it. I like the feeling of something new in my mouth, and I like how skilled his tongue appears to be.

I start to grind my hips against his, and the positive response I get from him send chills down my spine. Steve pulls his tongue from my mouth and moans loudly against my lips. It brings a grin to my lips, and once he's done, he breaks away.

He repositions us so that I'm lying on my back and Steve is hovering over me. He leans down to steal another kiss from me while grabbing onto my right wrist. I'm not sure what he's planning to do, but either way, I go along with it. Steve pulls my hand down to his groin and starts to kiss my neck, but before I can protest, he coaxes me to touch him through his jeans. Through the material, I can feel how hard he's getting.

And it causes a bunch of warning flags to go up.

We haven't been dating that long, and at this moment, I'm not ready to go all the way. Someday Steve can have my virginity, but today is not that day.

I pull my hand away from his groin, and I push hard enough against his chest to get him to stop. He looks at me in confusion. "What's wrong, Doll Face?" Steve asks; his voice gruff. I utter a small sigh, breaking eye contact to ease the growing guilt I'm feeling for stopping him.

"Steve, I'm not ready to go this far," I whisper. I look back at him, and although his jaw clenches a bit, he gets off of me. "Steve, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let it get that far. Don't be mad at me please." He shakes his head.

"I'm not mad." He assures, but I don't believe him. I can see right through the mask he's using; it, no doubt, makes me feel worse.

"Can you take me home?" My voice is reticent, but Steve nods his head. We both climb to our feet, and after I wash my hands off, we head for his truck. Based on how silent the walk is, I fear that the car ride will be the same way.

Boy, was I right. Our car ride was possibly ten times worse than the walk to his truck.

I walk up to my house silently. Neither of us said good-bye – heck, we didn't even finish cleaning his room – and the guilt is telling me I should've just shut up, and let him have his way. I can't stand having him mad at me, and once the thought of this event ruining our relationship presents itself in my mind, it breaks my heart.

All I want to do is eat ice cream and bawl.


How was it? For the most part, I like it, and I hope you do too. From now on, new chapters are going to be spaced out farther. I've decided to try something different with my writing process, and at the moment, it's working out well.

Either way, please review! I would LOVE to hear what you guys think of this chapter, and for the reviewer that wants to see hot, romantic moments between Eileen and Steve, was that enough for now? I don't want to move them too fast, but I promise something big will happen soon. :) Anyway, please review. I will really appreciate it!

PS - With my new process of writing, I'm hoping (and thinking) that chapters are going to get longer. :)