A/N: Okay, just a couple of quick points. First of all, I wrote these really quickly, so forgive the lack of polishing. Second, even though I like to write multiple endings, as I was writing I envisioned a very specific ending to this story, so I ultimately decided to post that one first, and without the spoilery title, to give my preferred ending some element of surprise. Enjoy.

Ending 1 (author's preferred)

In that millisecond of time, in the time between when it registered in Lindsay's brain that there was a knock yet before anything else actually happened, Lindsay envisioned, in her worst-case scenario, her mother bursting through the door. If it happened just then, before Lindsay or Barry had time to do anything about it, then her mom would catch the two of them red-handed in an undoubtedly compromising position on her bed. And of course, Lindsay could only imagine what would follow- her mom completely freaking out, screaming, calling for her Dad (and inadvertently waking Sam in the process, who would of course tell Neal), kicking Barry out of their house, and swearing to Lindsay that she would be grounded for eternity (or at least for her entire senior year).

But in actuality, that worst-case scenario would have been welcomed. Because a second later, Lindsay heard the knock again. And it wasn't coming from her door. It was coming from her window.

Lindsay wondered if it was possible to push Barry off of the bed, or fake being asleep, or something equally ludicrous. But one glance towards her window told her that it was too late for that- her curtain was open enough that she could see a whole big sliver of darkness outside. The bedside lamp was on- so if it was dark outside, it and it was light in Lindsay's bedroom- whoever knocked would have seen everything. Lindsay couldn't identify the knocker in the darkness, but it could only have been one person.

"Nick!" Lindsay screamed involuntarily, hastily resting her (second) newly-acquired locket on her nightstand before quickly striding to the window towards him. She wondered if he was still there, or if what he had seen was enough to send him running off into the night.

When Lindsay approached her windowsill and shoved the window as far open as it would go, she saw Nick standing there, and his expression broke her heart into little pieces, right then. He looked absolutely crushed.

"Lindsay, how could you do this to me?" he whispered, eyes glassy and threatening to fill up with tears. "I- I- can't even believe-,"

"Nick, I'm- I'm so, so sorry," Lindsay replied, eyes welling up with tears herself. She wanted to ask him what the hell he was doing there- why he was visiting her so soon when he said he'd leave her alone until next weekend when she might actually know what she wanted- but now that he saw what he saw, it really didn't matter. "I- I- um wanted to tell you, I tried to, the last time I saw you- and-," she began.

"Wanted to? Tried to?" Suddenly, a different emotion had mixed in with Nick's disbelief- anger. His eyes darkened, clouding over, his lips thinned, and his expression suddenly became a look of pure rage.

In that moment Lindsay actually felt a little bit afraid. Her tears kept streaming over her cheeks, she felt awful. She could only think to keep saying the same thing, over and over. "Nick, I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry."

Nick snorted, scoffing at her. "Sorry? You're sorry?!" In his undeniable anger, no doubt he was having issues forming his own words- he just kept repeating whatever Lindsay was saying. He began punching his own flattened palm. Not threateningly, as if to say 'you're next', but unconsciously releasing his frustration. Still, it was terrifying. Lindsay had never seen Nick this mad- not even when he had his blowout fight with his dad over selling his drum set. He was angry then, sure, but he looked nothing like this. Afraid of angering him further, all she could do was nod. It didn't work.

"And who is he, huh?" Nick continued in a fury. "Who's this guy that you were just making out with?" Apparently, Nick didn't remember Barry or recognize him from the halls of McKinley.

"He's-" Lindsay tried to find a way to explain what Barry was to her. She went to look back at Barry but thought better of it- she didn't want to see the look on his face while she was talking to Nick. After a moment, she continued, "Um, he's an old family friend of mine. He's getting ready to go back to school. We were just saying goodbye." While not technically a lie, she neglected to tell Nick that this was not the first time she and Barry made out.

"Do you think I'm really supposed to buy that he's just a friend? What the hell, LINDSAY? How the hell could you do this to me?!" Nick's voice had been steadily increasing in volume, but now he was shouting in anger. Lindsay was sympathetic to him- seeing him like this was just horrible, twisting Lindsay's insides into knots, but out of the corner of her mind it also occurred to her that there is no way that her parents didn't hear what Nick was just saying. She was half-tempted to shush him but it was probably too late anyway.

As it turned out, she was right. Because just then, there was a loud pounding on the door to her room before it swung open with a crash and Lindsay's mom and dad stood there, fuming in their pajamas.

Lindsay had been all wrong- this was her worst-case scenario. She could not possibly have felt any lower.

"What in the hell is going on in here?" Mr. Weir shouted, taking in Barry still lying on the bed (he looked like he had been frozen there), Nick standing outside the window, and finally Lindsay near Nick by the windowsill. His eyes landed squarely on Lindsay, and when he finally spoke, after several seconds, his voice was bone-chilling.

"You have exactly two minutes to get these boys out of here," her dad said in an eerily calm tone. "After which we'll discuss your additional grounding. Think this last one wasn't so fun? Well, you ain't seen nothing yet, young lady."

"Don't worry, Mr. Weir, I'm going," Nick broke in quickly. He added, "I can't even look at your daughter after what she did to me. She's a liar."

Lindsay was reminded of her conversation she had with Nick about Heidi Henderson; how disgusted he sounded when he referred to Heidi by that exact same word. And it was true. Lindsay was a liar- she couldn't even deny it, so she was forced to accept Nick's harsh words. More tears rolled down her cheeks and she wanted more than anything to be able to comfort him- and yet she couldn't. The idea that her actions had repulsed him so deeply was almost more than she could bear. "Nick-," she cried out desperately. "Please. I never meant to hurt you-,"

"Goodbye, Lindsay," Nick interrupted in disgust, obviously not caring to hear it. Then he glanced over at her parents, adding, "I'm sorry I woke you guys up, Mr. and Mrs. Weir." With that, Nick turned and disappeared from sight.

Lindsay was still bawling, sobs wracking her body, but at his words, she sniffled and looked up. She couldn't believe that Nick took the time to apologize to her parents for waking them- but it fit how sweet and tender a person he was. She was never going to be a recipient of that sweetness ever again- and for that, her heart continued to break.

As soon as Nick had exited the picture, her parents' eyes zeroed in on Barry.

All eyes on him, Barry jumped to his feet. "Well, I guess I'd better get going now," he said casually, though it was clear that he was jumpy, nervous. He continued, "Getting ready to go back to school." Though Barry could have left via the door, Barry seemed to want to take Nick's lead, exit in the same fashion. He started walking towards the bedroom window. When he reached Lindsay at the windowsill, he stopped and turned slowly to face her.

Looking at Lindsay straight in the eye, he muttered, "Since I'm only an old family friend and all- and we were just saying goodbye, nothing more- I guess there isn't anything left to talk about." The way that he was looking at her, however, made Lindsay interpret an entirely different message. That's what you get for downplaying what was between us to save your own ass.

But then Barry chuckled- and not angrily, either- he wasn't the type to hold a grudge. Lindsay had come clean with him, so he certainly didn't receive the same shock treatment that Nick did. Plus, he got to walk out of this mess and go back to college, unlike Lindsay, who would be stuck with the repercussions of this evening for a long, long, time. Barry playfully punched Lindsay's shoulder. "Good luck, Weir," he said. "You're gonna need it. Though hopefully you'll be ungrounded by the Schweiber party next year." He leaned in and briefly kissed Lindsay's cheek. "See you around, Lindsay." And with that Barry climbed through Lindsay's open bedroom window, jumping to the ground, and walking away, out of Lindsay's life.

She wanted to yell at Barry to come back- but it was no use. And as hard it was to watch both boys go, the torture wasn't over. Lindsay turned slowly to face her parents. That's when she noticed Sam was standing there, too, ducked behind them. Her worst-case scenario was complete.

Looking up at her mom and dad's expression, Lindsay sighed. "Let's just get this over with," she said.

Only two hundred and sixty-two more days until graduation, Lindsay thought, as she picked up a soccer ball to place it gingerly in the display window next to the others. She never in a million years thought she would be so excited for an event so far in advance. But that was before her parents caught her seeing two different guys on the same night, and all while she was grounded.