Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter. You're awesome. This story is going to be an interesting one for me to write, because not only does it involve me having to do a lot of research, but it also involves me writing about something I don't know much about. Anyway, you'll see why he's acting the way he does in this chapter.

Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

I arrived home and got out of the car, glancing over at their house. It seemed quiet over there, no cars were in the driveway, and no lights were on. I sighed, going up to my own room and sitting on the bed. Was it bad I couldn't get the boy I'd only met a day ago out of my head? He was just hanging out in there, making himself at home.

After finding myself home alone again, I decided that I would order myself a pizza, grab that book I was reading, and watch his window. It was creepy, I was well aware. But I needed to know more about the boy, his odd behavior, and his family. And since I didn't know him well enough to just go knocking on his door and demanding he hang out with me, I was forced to stare through the window and hope somehow he'd see me.

This went on for hours. By three in the afternoon, I was growing frustrated. It had been almost two hours and not a single thing had changed over there. I had finished my first book and was well into the second, but was growing bored. I needed someone's attention, or someone to talk to.

Laura.

After all, what were best friends for?

I rang her phone, waiting for her to answer. Much like I expected, she answered on the second ring. "HELLO!"

"Hi," I laughed. "Entertain me."

"Excuse you?"

"You heard me," I said, flopping onto my bed, smirking at the phone. "That's what you're good for."

"Excuse you," she said again, though she laughed. "I'm pretty bored myself. But I'm supposed to be doing chores. Thanks for the distraction."

"Just don't blame me."

"Oh, I plan to," she laughed. "What's up?"

"I'm thinking about Riker," I admitted. "And his family. And how weird he is."

"He's weird?"

"You didn't really see him last night," I explained. "You were a bit busy trying to win over Wes."

"Which worked out so perfectly," she sighed happily. "I'm thinking about wearing that blue dress I bought last week, what do you think? Or will it make me look washed out?"

"No, wear it. It makes you look curvy as hell, too," I explained. "He'll love it."

"Good. Thanks. So what now? He's weird. What makes you say that?"

"He like broke out in a coughing fit in front of me, darted off, and when he came back, he said he had a cold. I've never coughed like that when I was sick. And then he and Rydel were giving each other looks. And then there is the whole thing from yesterday at their house when Stormie was all over both of them for wanting to go to the party." I took a breath, shaking my head. "Maybe I'm crazy."

"No, you're right, that's definitely weird. But hey, who knows. Are you sure someone didn't lace his drink?"

"No," I admitted. "But it would have had lasting affects, or done something other than make him cough, wouldn't you say? I mean, he seemed fine otherwise. A little dizzy, but I credited that to him nearly coughing up a lung."

She sort of laughed. "You're terrible when it comes to comparisons, Rem. Well, why don't you just ask Rydel? She seems more willing to talk than he does. Maybe he's just shy, or maybe he likes you, ever think of that?"

"Oh, shut up. We've just met. Why would he like me?"

"It's obvious you've got a thing for him," she giggled.

"I do not."

"You do so," she argued. "You've been talking about him since we got on the phone."

"So, I'm curious!"

"No, no. It's different. I can tell."

"I know nothing about him," I defended. "It's not possible."

"Oh, come on. Give it in. You think he's hot. That's all you need. And he's got that mysterious thing going for him, which totally makes it even sexier. Just give him time. Maybe he's shy, and doesn't want you to think he's weird for being shy."

"I already think he's weird," I whined. "But I still want to know him."

"Go hang out with Rydel," she edged, and oddly enough, the girl and her family entered their house. "She'll be the easiest way to get to him, and besides that, she's awesome."

"Alright, well they just got home, so maybe I will. Wish me luck."

"You don't need it," she muttered.

She hung up before I could say another word, and I stared at the phone, wondering why the girl never said goodbye. Heading out of the house a few minutes later, I was nearly tackled by Rydel who happened to be on her way over to mine.

"You're home!" she cheered. "I was hoping you would want to hang out today. I know It seems needy, but I don't know anyone else and it's so nice to have someone so close!"

I really couldn't say no. I forced a smile and then noticed how infectious hers was. She guided me into her house and up the stairs to her room, where she sat on her bed, motioning for me to follow.

The room fit the girl, despite her arrival only being a few days prior. It was decked out in glitter and shiny, sparkly things, with almost everything being in a shade of pink.

"I washed your dress," I told her. "It'll be dry later."

"Not a problem, don't worry about it. Keep it if you liked it."

"I couldn't do that," I mumbled. "It looked expensive."

"So?" She grinned and I knew there was something else.

"What?"

"Riker thinks it's your color," she laughed. "He says you looked great in it last night."

I blushed. "He did?"

"Yeah," she said again. "OH MY GOD. You're blushing!"

"I'm not!" I laughed, but I knew was. "Besides, why are you telling me this?"

"I think he likes you," she giggled. "He's always had a thing for redheads."

"Oh, stop. Besides, I don't think he does. He's been kind of awkward around me."

"Don't let that bother you," she said, her expression changing. "He's just… Riker. He'll grow out of it as he gets to know you. I promise. Besides, he's my brother. And I know him and he likes you." I forced myself to look away from her because for some reason, the thought that he liked me made me sort of happy. He was a good looking guy and he seemed normal enough, despite all the weird things that had happened. But still. It was all so new and I wasn't going to make something out of nothing.

"But anyway, I can't take the dress. It's yours, and it's expensive."

"I have lots of dresses," she shrugged. "I don't care." She didn't give up and I decided I would just drop it off one day when she wasn't there. She grinned when all the sudden, the same sounds from last night filled the hallway and Rydel's smile faded. I felt my own smirk fall and her eyes glanced into the hallway. "Um… one second."

"Okay," I said with a bit of worry in my voice, as she ran toward his room.

It continued for nearly a minute, and it seemed to get worse. I could hear Rydel whispering despite this and there was fear in her voice. I left the room and neared his, trying to remain quiet but hear what was going on. "Riker, that doesn't sound good. Maybe we should call mom. Have you been taking your medication? Look, if you want, I'll tell Remy to go home and I'll give you an extra session. It sounds like you need it…"

"No," he said through gasps. "I'm… fine."

"Riker," she scolded.

"I'm fine," he snapped. He continued to hack and then wheeze. "Just go hang out with her." She didn't leave the room. It sounded like whatever he had was much worse than a cold, and what did she mean by session? Something was definitely not right and she didn't seem to want to take no for an answer.

"Riker," she argued once more. "If you don't break it up, you'll end up back in the hospital."

"Rydel," he growled. "Go."

I gave in and walked into his room, annoyed with all the whispers. I'm not sure who was more alarmed to see me, Riker or Rydel. "Shit," he swore, still trying to contain the coughing. "Look what you did!"

"Don't blame this on me," she mumbled. "You're the one hacking in here."

"Rydel."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Riker finally stopped coughing and looked at me, his entire face sweating. I bit back a surprised gasp at how terrible he looked. His body was again shaking and I knew something more serious was wrong with him. "You don't have a cold, do you?"

He shook his head. "I really don't like to talk about it."

"Well, too late," Rydel said quietly. "She's here."

Rydel got up and went over to the box from the other night labeled "CF" and took an inhaler out of it. She helped him sit up and he took several puffs, which seemed to help him somewhat. He glanced at her, still annoyed with whatever was going on and then looked at me. "Look, this isn't something I really like to announce, and I don't want you to think I'm a freak."

"She won't think you're a freak," Rydel whispered. "I don't know why you think that to begin with but…"

"Rydel, can you go downstairs for a minute, maybe get me a drink of water?" he asked.

She got the hint and left the room, and we were alone. "Like I told you last night, what I have isn't contagious, so you don't have to worry, but I don't have a cold." He paused. "Have you ever heard of cystic fibrosis?"

I shook my head. "No, not really."

"It's a disease that makes it hard for me to breath," he said simply. "In more complicated terms, my body can't break up mucus on its own which it produces, so it builds up in my lungs. If I don't use medicines and physical respiratory therapy daily do so manually, it gets worse and to the point where I can't breathe at all, and then I end up in the hospital with an infection. It also affects my pancreas and it makes it really hard for me to gain any weight. There is a lot more to it and more than what it seems."

"Is that what your father was doing the other night?" I asked quietly.

"Oh? You saw that, didn't you? Sorry. Yeah, it's part of my therapy. My father refuses to let me use any of the new technology they have for people to breathe better for therapy because he thinks the way it was done when I was little is more effective. So, every night and morning, either he, my mom, or Rydel has me lie on my stomach and breathe through a machine for a while. After that, they pound on my mid back and it breaks up the mucus so I can breathe better for the day. Of course, there are medicines and machines that do that now… but you know…"

I just stared at him, unable to believe the boy went through that every day to just have some normalcy. "You think I'm a freak," he whispered.

"No," I swore, shaking my head, and tears filled my eyes. "Not at all. I think you're incredibly strong to go through that every day."

He shrugged. "It's whatever."

Rydel walked back in, as if she had been listening the entire time. Her face had softened, but she clearly meant business. "Now that she's not running and you know she doesn't care, can you please let me help you? You're still wheezing and you're in pain, I know you." He looked annoyed that she knew him so well, but nodded.

"I'll go," I offered.

"You might as well watch. It doesn't matter at this point." Rydel offered a slight smile, but Riker was shaking his head.

"No," he said, finally after considering this a moment. "Look, there is just some things I'd rather you not see. Please don't be offended."

"I'm not," I assured him. "Would you rather me wait in another room, or should I just come back later?"

Rydel nodded her head, and this seemed to satisfy her brother too. "Why don't you head downstairs and pick out a movie? There is a bunch we just bought and they're all new."

I nodded, leaving the room to let them do whatever was needed.

Rydel came down a few minutes later, after what seemed like forever to me. I had heard her brother coughing badly upstairs, but I assumed it was a good thing if it meant it was helping him. She eyed me with a smile, as I showed her the movie I had picked out.

"I'm going to wash my hands, can you just make sure he's okay?"

I nodded as she went down the hallway and I made my way toward his bathroom. I knocked once to find him leaning over the toilet, spilling the contents of his stomach. Alarmed, my eyes widened. "Are you okay?"

He jumped at my voice. "Shit."

"Sorry," I said. "Rydel wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah," he said softly, flushing the toilet. "I'm okay." He grabbed a toothbrush and smirked at me. "Scared yet?"

I shook my head. "No."

He stared at me for a long time. "Thanks."

The rest of the day was spent hanging out with both Rydel and Riker. It was clear that part of the reason he'd been so weird around me was because of his condition and now that it was no longer an issue, I saw a side of him that not too many people got to see. Rydel had set up her keyboard in the living room and he'd grabbed his bass, and they were jamming together while she sang and he danced. It was quite comical to me and I had to say, I really enjoyed their company.

"You guys are nuts," I said with a laugh, taking a sip of the soda they had supplied. Riker grinned as the song ended and he plopped down next to me.

"We're the most fun you've had in weeks, admit it."

His expression sent me giggling, and I rolled my eyes. "I don't know about that."

He leaned closer, as if he was going to whisper something into my ear.

Just then the door opened and both of their parents walked through, all eyes on us. He backed off me immediately and darted toward his bass. The moment Mark saw his bass, his eyes seemed to darken. Stormie immediately sensed this and tried to drag her husband away, but the man was staring and it made me uncomfortable.

"Riker, Rydel," he started. "What are you doing?"

"Just jamming," Rydel said easily, like she was used to this. "This is Remy. She's our neighbor and my new best friend."

He sort of smiled at me and then turned his attention to Riker. "Riker, I believe we've had a talk about this. I don't want you playing that thing when you were just released from the hospital last week."

He stood, his entire face turning red. "Dad…"

"No," he said firmly. "There isn't an argument. You're endangering your health."

"Dad," he tried again. "It's just a bass. Rydel was the one singing and I wasn't overdoing it."

His father had none of it and he literally pulled the plug from the base. "Sorry, son. I'm only trying to protect you." He left the room with the object and Riker seemed to grow angry, but instead only fell back down onto the couch while Stormie rushed after her husband, her worry obviously trying to make the situation better.

"Protect me, yeah. More like mortally embarrass me," he mumbled. He looked to me and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry. When you decided to befriend the neighbors, you probably didn't expect all of this."

"I don't care," I said honestly. "It doesn't matter. How about we watch a movie?"

Riker agreed.