A/N: Sorry this has taken longer to post than usual but I’ve has an unfortunate occurrence. Yes, concerns my boyfriend. Actually he isn’t...anymore. Backstabbing, cheating, UGH!! Anyway, I also hit a bit of writers block, as I am trying to write another story. But I can’t write. I’m in deep despair. Woe is me. But I’ve made it this far, and I just can’t stop writing this one because people will get mad at me. And I don’t want people to be mad at me.

I half expected my mother to come rushing to inform me that I just missed that really hot guy again. But what I came home to was a cold and empty house, and a note on the refrigerator. It wasn’t exactly what I was yearning for, or at the least, expecting. And all that the note told me of was that my great-aunt was ill and my parents didn’t know where I was at the time, so they drove off to Wisconsin to go visit her, before she perhaps croaked. I turned on the kitchen light to make the feeling of loneliness go away, and discovered Blinky curled up on the counter.

“ Glad you made yourself at home.” I told her, stroking her soft head. “ Actually I’m glad that at least someone’s home at all.”

She purred and rubbed up against my hand. I noticed her eye was completely closed. I guessed that it meant my mom actually took her to the vet, out of lack of anything better to do. And I also guessed it meant Blinky would never use that eyes again. But I smiled, because I felt that I had made a difference in a special animals life. I gave her a home to belong to, and people to care for her. Remembering David’s offer, I groaned, I also remembered David’s kiss that screwed everything up. Was it really a good idea to live with someone who, at any given opportunity, would try to kiss me? And Dorian wasn’t even here for me to vent to. And just when I needed her the most, my own mother had disappeared with my father on a family expedition. Things couldn’t get worse, but I wasn’t about to say that aloud. I sat on the counter with Blinky, stroking her, and listening to her soft purr.

“ Have you ever broken someone’s heart?” I asked her. “ Ever broken your best friend’s brother’s heart? It hurts like hell.”

Blinky looked at me, and meowed softly.

“ I don’t deserve someone like Nash. All my life, I’ve waited for this to happen. And when it did, of course I do something to screw it up. Maybe Dorian’s right. I must be some kind of whore.”

I looked to Blinky for advice, but she just sat on the counter, blinking at me with her one eye. She jumped when my cell phone rang, and I pounced on it. It was Dorian. I picked it up so fast I thought I hadn’t done it at all. I paused a moment.

“ Uh...hello?”

“ Yeah, I’m here.” Dorian said in a tired voice.

“ Dorian, when people are mad at someone, they don’t go around calling them.”

“ Yeah, well David just called me.”

I didn’t say anything for a moment because I was breathless. He told her the truth. Maybe I wasn’t in such a rut after all.

“ Did he?”

“ Listen to me Aimee. I will kill you, and I mean brutally murder you, if you ever do anything to hurt my brother again.”

“ But I...”

“ I know it wasn’t you. I mean, I know how much you lo-, how much you like my brother. And it doesn’t seem to likely that you’d go kissing David. And plus he told me everything. And I know he’d telling the truth, because I could hear the guilt in his voice. It wasn’t a very happy phone call.”

“ Dorian.”

“ You aren’t a whore and I totally take back what I said when you came to my house. And I feel really bad for it, because you’re my best friend, but Nash is my brother and I love him so much.”

“ Dorian?”

“ Oh, what?”

“ How am I ever going to get him back? It’s impossible; he probably wants nothing to do with me.”

“ What's going on at your house tonight?”

“ Nothing, parents are out, and it’s just me and the cat.”

“ What cat? Oh whatever, I’m coming over.”

“ I love you.”

“ Yes, I love you too. And I’m leaving now, so goodbye.” She said and hung up quickly. I put the phone slowly on the counter. It felt so good not to be hated. Whoever said that these are the best years of our lives, obviously was on crack. Blinky stood up and mewed, trying to get my attention. I stroked her head again, and put her on the floor. She ambled over to her food bowl, which was empty and pawed at it. I smiled and went to go grab a can of food for her. My cell phone rang again and I ignored it, opening the can. Blinky started yowling in impatience and the phone kept ringing. I poured the food in her bowl, mixed it up with a little dry kibble and set it on the floor. She attacked it while I reached for the phone. It wasn’t ringing anymore so I didn’t bother, I just slipped it in my pocket. The doorbell rang, and I ran to go get it, anxious for company. I threw it open, ready to squeeze the hell out of Dorian. It was raining really hard, and the person standing in front of me wasn’t Dorian, but in fact, David. He was soaking wet and a sorry excuse for a person. He coughed and stepped up. I backed into the house, not knowing what to say. He trust some soaked flowers at me and I simply stared at them.

“ What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to contain my anger. He smiled a dorky smile and shrugged.

“ Listen Aimee, I felt really bad-”

“ So you thought you could just come here with flowers and win me over?”

“ Yeah, it’s like you read my mind!” He grinned and I remembered the scene from A Walk to Remember. I tilted my head to the side and came towards him as he went back through the door.

“ Great.” I said. “ Then maybe you can read mine.” I stared at him for a minute, and then slammed the door. He pounded on the door for a little bit as I leaned against it.

“ Aimee! Come on.”

I opened the door once more and looked at him, still soaking.

“ And I’m not coming to live with you.”

“ I figured as much.” He said, wiping his face with his sleeve. “ But you’re my friend, and I’m sorry for messing up your relationship with Nash, but him and Lisa had their own little thing once, and I felt like I had to get back at them. I’m sorry it had to be you.”

“ Nash and Lisa?”

“ Yeah. I was throwing one of my parties and I found them in her room together.”

“ When?”

“ Long before you.”

“ Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t know that happened to you.” I stepped outside, to go hug him, but headlights hit me, announcing that Dorian was here. She got out of her car, flowed by an umbrella, and ran to my porch. She shook off her black umbrella and looked questionably at David. He looked from her to me with a sad face.

“ Did he tell you what Nash did to him?” Dorian asked me. I nodded and we both looked at each other, and went to hug him. We squeezed him, and he squeezed back. When we let him go, he looked slightly relieved, and gave me the flowers again. This time I took them, and led my friends inside. I went to the kitchen, and after putting the flowers in a vase, I opened the refrigerator to see if we had anything to drink.

“ So, where’s the kitty?” Dorian asked, looking under the table.

“ No idea. Must have gotten scared when she saw your face.” I told her, and she hit me with a placemat. I batted it away and David sat down at the table.

“ What do you guys want to drink? You know, you can spend the whole night.”

“ Good, because I brought A Walk to Remember, and some other movies.”

“ Anything that’s not girly?” Asked David, looking around my house, taking it all in. Dorian shook her head and grinned, and I realized that while I had been at David’s parents house, and his house, he’s never been to mine.

“ We’re not drinking, are we?” Dorian asked. “ I mean...alcohol.”

“ I don’t know. My mom doesn’t really notice when booze goes missing, but if we all drink, than that’ll be a lot gone, and I think she’ll realize sooner or later. Unless David buys us some.” I looked at him, and he smiled, showing all his teeth. “ Then again, maybe that’s not such a good idea.”

“ Yeah, probably not.” Dorian said, picking at the table. David put his head down on the table in defeat. Dorian patted it.

“ Wait, Dorian, what happened to what's-his-face? Your boyfriend?” I asked.

“ Anthony? He’s fine. He’s doing something with his friends tonight.” She informed me, as if she didn’t care, but I knew she wanted to be with him.

“ Does he still have green hair?”

“ Yeah.” She smiled into space. And then she came back. “ Hey, do you realize that we have to go back to school like, in a day? And the seniors graduated already. The ceremony is tomorrow.”

“ Oh my god! Am I supposed to go? I mean, Nash is horribly mad at me.”

“ Yeah well, I’m going. And if I’m going, then you’re going.”

I sighed, and David finally lifted his head.

“ Is this the kind of stuff girls talk about? It’s dreadfully boring.”

I rolled my eyes and Dorian cuffed him on the head with her hand. He laughed as she hit him.

I heard a little meow and turned around to find Blinky rubbing against my leg. I stopped down to pet her, and she stared at the strangers at the table. Dorian squealed in adoration and David had to turn around to look at her. He squinted at her, and then looked at me.

“ Did you nick her from my house? Wasn’t she one of the cats?”

“ Yeah. Blinky.”

“ She’d adorable, but what happened to her eye?” Asked Dorian.

“ I don’t know. But it’s fixed up now.”

Dorian looked at me for a second, and then at the cat.

“ Nash brought home a puppy.”

“ I know.” I said quietly.

“ Balto.”

I didn’t say anything more, just scooped up the cat and looked out the window at the dreary, rainy weather. It seemed like just moments ago I was sleeping with Nash in a motel bed, cuddling and feeling as if nothing in the world could pry us apart. I hated the feeling of dread that loomed over me. It felt as if I would never get Nash back, and after everything, maybe I just didn’t deserve him. David and Dorian were staring out the window now, and I sensed we all felt depressed.

“ Maybe…” Dorian started, a little unsure if she should keep talking. But she took a breath and finished her sentence. “ I think we all deserve a little drink.”

David got up and smiled warmly.

“ I have some stuff in my car.”

“ You could have told us that before.” Dorian said coolly, but smiled just the same. David grabbed her umbrella and ran out to his car to get the bottle. I watched him run through the rain, Dorian’s umbrella as a shield and he slipped and fell. He got up and looked around and then walked to his car. Dorian chuckled.

“ You know, David’s not too bad.” She said sorrowfully. “ If I wasn’t so intent on you and Nash getting married, I wouldn’t mind you dating David.”

“ Not going to happen. Why don’t you try?”

“ I have Anthony.” She said, pulling her hood up around her neck in a nervous gesture.

“ Or do you?”

“ Okay, I didn’t want to involve you in my love life, but I think I’m having problems.”

I smiled at her. And she continued.

“ I’m bored. Anthony takes me places, but he never kisses me, he never touches me. He’s so freaking cute, but there’s no…I don’t feel like I’m going out with him. I don’t know.”

“ I’d say to give him some time. He’s a shy guy.”

“ Well…not anymore. He’s pretty extroverted around me. At least now he is. But still. When I look at David, I get this feeling. I want to touch him. I want him.” She shrunk back into a sofa and looked up at me, with pleading eyes as if I were about to lunge a knife into her.

“ Then you have to tell Anthony and David.”

“ But don’t you tell anyone!”

“ I wont.”

“ Hey!” David walked in, shut the door behind him, and shook like a dog. He looked adorable with his hair plastered to his face and clutching a rain-soaked brown bag. I saw Dorian shiver. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the bag from David. I took it to the kitchen and opened it.

“ Bottle!” Dorian shouted. I nodded and drank from the bottle and passed it to David. It went on like this in the living room, until we were considerably drunk. I didn’t really want to be, but it felt good not to worry about things.

“ Maybe I have a drinking problem.” I said to myself, as David and Dorian were whispering to each other in a corner. I knew what was coming, so I said loudly that I had to use the washroom and then walked out the front door. Neither of them noticed, so I kept going through the rain, with no destination in mind.

“ There has to be a better way.” I muttered. I had reached the fenced off pond that was for ducks only. I found the door, and closed it behind me. Immediately I slid down into the pond. And I started laughing because I forget there was a slope right after the door. I landed in it with a splash, and got something green and gross in my hair. I tried to get out, but being drunk, the pond seemed a lot deeper. I trudged out finally, covered in mud and grime, with a few ducks quacking angrily at me. I sat on a grassy hill that was no doubt covered with poop, and I watched the rain splash into the water. I heard my cell phone ring, but I didn’t pick it up, I only sat there with my arms around my knees, waiting for the ring to end. When it ended, I laid down on my back, and closed my eyes against the rain. It got into my nose and my ears but I didn’t do anything. It seemed like the end of the world to me. Noah’s ark couldn’t save me now; I didn’t have a partner to go with. My cell phone rang over and over. But then all of a sudden, the rain splashing on my face woke me, and I sat up, wondering what the hell I was really doing in a pond, when I should be with the person I loved. Of course I was dirty and smelly and wet, and that’s not a great way to go apologize. I got up, and ran to the door. I couldn’t get it open so I climbed over the fence and fell on the other side. I ran through the rain to Dorian’s house, hoping the pure drops with cleanse me of the poops and green stuff in my hair. I got to her house in minutes and realized as I spotted Nash’s car that it would be the second time I would arrive at his house, soaking wet. I rang the bell and stood there, not daring to walk away until someone answered. I heard barking and voices or a voice inside, and then the door began to open. For a fleeting second I wanted to bolt. The door opened all the way to expose Nash’s wonderful dry body to me. He blinked for a few seconds, and looked as if he was tempted to close the door. Then he sighed and leaned against it instead.

“ Okay. What happened to you?” He asked, trying not to sound concerned.

“ I fell.”

“ Did you?”

“ Yeah, I fell a few times.”

He didn’t say anything, but didn’t move to let me in.

“ Nash.”

“ Aimee, this…”

“ No Nash. I fell. I fell in love with you. And I fell physically too, and I hurt. And so did loving you, because I messed up. And I’m sorry. But I’m not sorry that I fell. None of the times.” I said, realizing how drunk I must have sounded, but in all my times intoxicated, I never meant anything more. Nash wavered a bit, and then closed the door. I stared at the door. I kept staring at it until it was blurred by tears and rain. It felt like I was staring at it for a few hours, when a few seconds later it opened again and Nash appeared.

“ Why are you still here?!” He shouted, pain in his voice.

“ Because I love you.” I said quietly. He closed his mouth and looked at me again, with hurt, discomfort, but something a little different in his eyes.

“ I can’t.” He said, and went back inside again, shutting the door behind him. I sat down on his stoop and waited for the rain to go away, and for the hurt to go away. I waited and after a few minutes, I felt myself feeling less drunk, and more like myself and I knew that even if I were sober I would still be sitting here. I heard a slight noise, and then felt warmth and something solid sit beside me.

“ You have green stuff in your hair.” He said, gently tugging it out, and then pulling me to him even more gently while I cried.

“ You know, I have no idea what it is about you, maybe determination, maybe your drinking problem, that draws me in. I want to keep you safe, and I want you to be mine forever, but I don’t know why you keep doing this to me.”

“ I don’t-don’t. I’m…” I tried, sobbing. “ I don’t like being this.”

“ What? Aimee, you need to stop drinking. And that’s that.”

“ But Dorian.”

“ You and Dorian were drinking?”

“ And, and, D-David.”

“ David?” Nash tried to control his voice but he still sounded livid. I moved away from him.

“ Him and Dor-Dorian. Are still at my house.”

“ Oh.” He looked at me cowering away, and pulled me into his lap.

“ Aimee, sweetie, you know I care about you. You know I love you. I just want you to stop doing stupid things…”

“ Like falling in ponds?”

“ Uh, yeah I guess. I meant the drinking.” He smiled warmly at me and cuddled. I sighed shakily, and stopped crying.

“ How can you stand me?”

“ Honestly? I have no idea.” He grinned. “ Come inside, you’re soaking through my pants.”

“ Does that turn you on?”

He raised an eyebrow, and helped me up.

“ Remotely.”

I didn’t say anything more, just followed him inside.