Candace shook her head. Then she slowly lifted her head with an evil smile. "Jeff was talking about hot he thinks Orlando Bloom is."

Jeff's eyes narrowed as he glared at Candace. "Very funny," he muttered darkly.

Nik's eyes widened slightly before he smirked. "Well, damn. I owe Blythe ten bucks now."

Candace gave Jeff a 'that's what you get when you mess with the bull' look.

Nik's eyes widened slightly before he smirked. "Well, damn. I owe Blythe ten bucks now."

"What?!" Candace squeaked, then coughed to cover it up. "What did you bet on?"

Nik smirked. "She's convinced that poor Jeffrey here likes men. I told her otherwise, so we made a bet on it. And if he was talking about his undying love for Orlando Bloom..."

"Shut up," Jeff snapped, not looking pleased with the turn of conversation.

"...Then comparing you to Orlando Bloom would be the sign of utmost adoration, and you would have crushed his heart. So either he doesn't really care for Orlando that much, or he's really not into men and was trying to make fun of me while we were waiting for you and failed miserably because-" She stopped. "Why am I defending you? You are the one who started this!"

"Because I'm obviously your favorite," Jeff replied.

Candace had never turned such a bright shade of red. She hid her face further out of sight until her cheeks returned to their normal shade. "In your dreams, maybe," she tried to say coyly, but was still a little too embarrassed.

Jeff rolled his eyes and made his way to the door. "I'm going to get something to drink. Don't worry; if someone tries to kidnap me, they'll bring me back."

Candace's head shot up again. "Don't be stupid, Jeff. Take one of us with you. I may be paranoid, but after tonight, I have a right to be. Besides, the vending machine a floor down is evil. Already figured that one out."

The blonde shrugged. "Okay. C'mon, Mitri. Let's go beat up an evil vending machine."

The dark-haired friend nodded and followed Jeff out the door.

Candace watched as the door swung shut behind them, feeling slightly disappointed, but she wasn't sure why. She sat and the floor and looked up at Nik, not sure what exactly to say. "Listen... about earlier... before Em..." She didn't know how she planned on finishing that sentence anyways.

"Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that..." Nik said, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Which part?" She asked softly, wincing slightly. "I said and did a lot of stupid things..."

"So did I," Nik agreed. "Err, can we just forget about that?"

Candace smiled kind of bashfully. "Please? I'm really sorry. I was..."

"It's fine, love," he assured her.

Candace sighed. "You seriously don't need to put up with me, you know?" she said with a smile. Then her face dropped. "How are you holding up?"

He sighed. "I'm doing okay. Mitri's a mess, but you wouldn't know it from looking at him. We're all pretty shaken up from it."

Candace nodded solemnly. She could imagine. "What are we telling Blythe? I didn't realize how..." How messy things are, she thought.

"So Jeff filled you in on that bit, I suppose. It's going to be rough on her. She and Dahlia were close." Nik sighed. "I don't know how we're going to tell her."

Candace felt like they were walking in a mine field, waiting for something to blow. She stood and rubbed her head, which was starting to pound something awful. "This isn't at all like I had imagined..."

"I don't think it's like anything any of us managed." Nik sat down on the couch. "You need a new shirt."

Candace looked down and remembered again, and was self conscious again. She folded her arms across her chest and clung to her shoulders. "I was going to go change into something, I just... keep getting sidetracked. I'll go get something..."

Nik nodded. "I can head over to your room and grab something for you."

Candace looked down at the floor. "I'd want to go with you, just to be safe. And then there's the fact that all I bought at the mall for me were dresses, blouses, and skirts... the outfit from earlier is still wet too." She looked thoroughly embarrassed now.

Nik shrugged. "There's a couple of shirts in that closet." He gestured to the closet down the hall. "Help yourself."

Candace shuffled over to the closet and picked out a shirt at random, mumbled a thanks, and closed the bathroom door s she could change.

((what kinds of shirts, out of curiosity?))

((A bunch of t-shirts and maybe a few nicer button-downs.))

Nik nodded and walked into the kitchen.

((Now I'm sorely tempted... I might have to... I shouldn't...))

Candace stepped back out, now even more self conscious. "I'm just going to leave this t-shirt drying here in the tub for now. Is that alright?"

((Go for it.))

"That's fine," Nik replied over his shoulder, pulling a beer out of the fridge.

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