A/N: I got this up a lot faster than I thought I would! Go me!

I'm breaking this up into two parts because it's long. So you guys get the lovely gift of three chapters in one day. I hope you don't drown from story overload, but since it's winter break, I've had quite a bit of time to write.

This is a little melodramatic and cheesy, but that's the HHaW! way, so I think it works. A note of caution, though: since this is a kind of sensitive topic, these next two chapters are going to be rated T, not K+. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.

"So, Ned," Sally said casually, "how long have we been dating?"

They were sitting at a small table in the corner of the gymnasium-turned-ballroom. The table was supposed to seat six people, but Patrick and Sarah were attempting to dance (with hilarious results), and no one had decided to take the last two seats. They weren't social pariahs anymore, but their little foursome still wasn't the cool place to be. Ned had been sitting with his head in one hand, staring at her most of the evening. It had made it kind of difficult to eat, in fact. Never before had she cared so much about not spilling her food.

He shook his head to clear it, tapping his lips as he thought. "Two years? That can't be right. . . ." He pondered for a moment, then shrugged. "No, that seems correct. At least one, anyway."

"And we've known each other for . . ."

"Eleven." He sat back, stunned. "Eleven. That's crazy."

She nodded, pressing her lips together as she tried to work up the courage to say what she wanted to. Though she was sixteen years old and her older sister, Veronica, had spent hours educating her on the birds and the bees, usually through offhand and somewhat sexist remarks — "Now, Sal, if a guy wants to get to second base, make sure he's either rich, or the captain of a sports team. Otherwise it's totally not worth it. Ta!" — she knew that Ned was far more innocent, and she didn't want to terrify him. Instead of speaking, she reached over and put her hand on his thigh, holding her breath for his reaction.

Of course, he didn't get it. "Hi!" he said cheerfully, putting his hand over hers. "Wanna get one of those little smoothie things?"

And just like that, she lost her courage. "Sure," she replied with a sigh, climbing to her feet and letting him lead her over to the drink table.

If she had to rely on her clueless boyfriend to pick up on her hints, it was going to be a very long night.

Patrick wasn't having any more luck, though his objective was a little different than Sally's. "How's your night?" he asked Sarah, hoping she couldn't tell that he was starting to sweat. Why couldn't people go to prom in jeans and T-shirts? It would be more fun for everyone.

But then again, Sarah would look beautiful in anything, sure, but the dress was really pretty. He'd suffer the stifling suit for her.

"It's been so much fun!" she said, trying to look everywhere at once. "Oh my gosh, it's Kira! Hi, Kira!"

One thing he'd learned about prom was that its main purpose was for girls to talk to and about other girls. That was all Sarah had done since she'd arrived, and what most of the others were doing as well.

And yet, there was one other purpose to prom. He glanced over Sarah's shoulder and saw Ned walk by with Sally, gesturing with a small smoothie cup with one hand, his other on the small of her back. They made it back to their table and she pointed toward the bathroom, giving him a kiss before disappearing into the colored gaggle of dresses and tuxes.

Patrick could do that, he was positive. If someone would give him the chance, he could get smoothie cups and kiss and be a pretty awesome boyfriend. He'd even try to learn how to dance. If only . . .

Kira finally broke through the crowd of dancers and managed a nod at Patrick before turning to her friend. "Have you been having an enjoyable evening?" she shouted over the thudding bass that never seemed to change, no matter what song was playing.

"It's the best!" And like that, they were off, talking about things that he would never understand, and didn't care to. He decided that he had to involve himself in the conversation if Sarah was ever going to notice him.

"So, Kira, are you here with anyone?" As soon as he asked the question, Patrick knew that this was a horrible thing to say. Please have a date, please have a date, please get over your irritation with the male species and have brought someone so I don't look like an insensitive idiot.

Kira smirked. "I do have a date," she said, "but she had a friend she needed to talk to."

Sarah elbowed him, reminding him to close his mouth. "Who is it?" she asked. "Do we know her?"

"Oh, I think you do."

"Hi, Ned."

"Hmm?" He had been in the process of creating a tower out of empty smoothie cup, straws, and silverware, but at the familiar voice he turned. "Jamie! Um . . . hi."

She smiled. "Wanna dance?"

"I . . ." He glanced at the bathroom, where there was no sign of Sally. "I guess."

"Great!" She took his hand and led him out on the dance floor. The song was a screeching, fast-paced monstrosity, but they settled into a half-slow-dance, half-tango that didn't fit the beat at all, but allowed them to talk without being too intimate. As they spun, Jamie said, "I know you just want to be left alone, and I'm sorry I keep showing up. I just feel so guilty about everything that's happened, and I want to make it up to you somehow. I want you guys to not hate me, you know?"

"What? We don't hate you at all!" Well, that was true as far as he knew of. He knew that Sally didn't love his ex, but hatred was such a strong word. . . .

"Besides, I need to thank you."

That gave him pause. "For what?" he asked.

She laughed and looked down at their feet, which were stumbling inelegantly all over the dance floor. "Well, after we broke up, I was kind of going through a very anti-boy phase, and if I hadn't been so angry at you, I never would've met Kira." She took a hand off his shoulder and gestured to where she was waiting by the coats. "So I guess I owe that to you and Sally."

"Oh?" It was nice that Jamie had made such a good friend; he'd been worried about her, all things considered. "I'm very happy for you, Jame."

"Thanks." Her eyes widened as she spotted something over his shoulder. "Uh-oh."

"Can I cut in?" Sally said, stepping into Ned's line of vision before he could ask what was wrong.

Jamie let go of Ned like he was on fire. "Of course!" she said, biting her lip nervously. She had never seen Sally blow up about her, but their previous encounters had been icy at best. "H-how are you?"

"Great!" To both of their surprise, Sally was all warmth — and it was genuine. "I was actually wondering if you and Kira wanted to sit at our table with us. We have two seats free."

Jamie blinked, clearly taken aback. "Um, sure! That'd be great! Janet and her date Jack had to sit at another table, and they've been giving us the silent treatment all night . . ." She turned and hurried away, leaving Ned and Sally standing awkwardly on the dance floor.

Ned stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back. "So . . ."

She stepped closer and put her arms around his neck. "Wanna dance?" she asked.

He gulped. This was when she was going to explode. That was their formula: Jamie showed up for some reason or another, Sally overreacted, and then they made up. Still, he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, hoping that the music would slow down. Maybe he could make this dance romantic and defuse the fight before it began. However, she was quiet as they spun in a slow circle, and the pressure was killing him. "Why'd you ask her to sit with us?" he finally asked. "I thought you didn't like her around."

She chuckled. "You're kidding, right?" When his expression was blank, she turned them so that he was facing their table, where Kira and Jamie sat . . . kissing.

Had he had water, he would've spat it out at that moment. "W-what?" he spluttered. "They . . . she . . . how?" A horrible thought occurred to him and his face paled. "Did I cause this? Do I turn people . . ."

Sally laughed again, shaking her head. "I doubt it, Ned. You're too cute to turn girls off." She snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. After a moment she said, "Though there was something I wanted to talk to you about. I just . . . I don't know how to say it."

Oh no. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Sally could not have picked a worse moment to break up with him. Of all the times they'd had leading up to this night, this moment, there were countless better opportunities. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening.

As it turned out, it wasn't happening. Before Ned could blurt out something desperate, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "I love you. And I think . . . I'm ready."

Unless that meant "I'm ready to break up with you," this wasn't a bad thing. However, it still took him a rather long time to figure out what she meant by that. When it clicked — and the voice in his head, which was usually quiet whenever Sally was around, made a sarcastic little "ding!" noise as the realization dawned on him — his mouth dropped open. "Um . . . I . . . what?"

She turned bright pink. "I know that was really clichéd, but I was just thinking — I mean, we've known each other for over ten years now, and everything's so romantic, and I love you. It just makes sense, you know?"

He didn't know. Did it? Was this a good idea? As future acting mayor, he was supposed to make good decisions. He was supposed to know what the good decisions were. On the one hand, it was Sally. He'd been in love with her since kindergarten, and he was a teenage boy; that part of his brain was screaming, "WHAT IN WHOVILLE ARE YOU WAITING FOR, YOU IDIOT?"

On the other hand.

He let his arms drop from her hips, pushing her away gently. "I-I can't," he said, looking at his. "I have to go talk to Patrick."

With that, he left her standing on the edge of the dance floor. He was gone before she could call after him.

A/N: Yeah, so this chapter isn't my personal favorite (what a shocker, right? I'm usually so pleased with my work). It feels a little cheesy, but since this is such an uncomfortable moment considering how awkward these characters are and how family-friendly this fandom is . . . I went through the entire chapter without typing the word "sex," (it made me squiffy to even put it in this author's note) and that made it so much harder to write. However, this needs to be done, and if you have any suggestions for how it can be done better, I'm all ears. Otherwise, though, I hope you enjoy this chapter and its second part.