Stephanie looked at herself in the mirror. She admired her short black hair, cut very much like that of a boy. Eyes scanned downwards as she looked at her figure, or lack thereof.

'Come on, why can't they be bigger?'

She had not been blessed with a very curvy figure. Stephanie was thin and slightly bony, and while you could definitely notice the gentle swell of her chest and hips in normal girl clothing, she chose to hide them. She was nervous and shy, and the baggy jeans and hooded sweatshirt easily conveyed that.

'I should have been born a boy. I suppose it's my curse.'

Hiding, that's all she ever did. Aside from hiding in her room on her computer she played soccer, the sport that was her passion. Even as she played she hid. She wore boy's shorts and a sports bra that almost completely concealed her breasts.

Despite all this, she was determined to be seen more as a boy. Stephanie played soccer, as it was a school club sport and was not gender exclusive. However, boys dominated the league, leaving her the only girl playing. She liked it that way, if she played like all the boys and looked like all the boys, who was to say she wasn't?

'Time for school, then our varsity soccer match against Springfield.'

Of course people were well aware that she was a girl, regardless of how she acted. She had even worn a suit to a school dance. The throng of guys that had been turned on by that worried her; she didn't want to be stared at by guys, or by anyone.

As Stephanie walked through the halls of her high school, her teacher Mr. Ogden caught her.

"Ah, just the person I was looking for," he said, way too upbeat for the morning. The short old man ushered her into his classroom. Ogden sat down heavily in his chair and rested his chin on his hands. "Captain, we have a small problem."

The tomboy was in fact the captain of the soccer team, and the best goalie in the area. "What is it, my grades; because last time I checked I destroyed that last test of yours."

The man chuckled, "That you did, but that's not the problem. The problem is that Mr. MacDonald broke his ankle. Stupid boy seems to have found skateboarding as another pastime and pulled a Samuels.

A grimace formed on her otherwise pleasant face. Samuels had been their best defenseman. Had is the important word, since he had broken his arm playing football. MacDonald had been his replacement, a benchwarmer that never fully lived up to his predecessor. She still held a grudge that he blew her shutout streak.

"No problem, we'll play that freshman midfielder on defense."

He sighed heavily. "He's out. Academic suspension, he can't play for the rest of the year. We have only one reserve for the front line, no reserve midfielders, and we're short one defenseman."

"Then we promote a JV," she said, slightly panicked.

"If we could, I wouldn't have brought you in here. They have a game today; they said they can't spare anyone. If you ask me it's just Kennedy's way of getting back at me for being bumped down to JV coach."

Stephanie weighed what options she could think of. This went quickly, as there were no options.

"So, what do I do now?"

"We either find someone else, or we forfeit and lose home field advantage for the district playoffs."

Springfield and Merryville had always been rival schools, and it just so happened that both were athletically gifted. Merryville was undefeated, while Springfield had one loss. To forfeit would mean losing, which wasn't an option. This also meant that their last game would determine home advantage for the playoffs, which were the district finals last year. Merryville had lost in a shootout.

"I'll find someone. Am I done?"

He handed her a slip of paper. "Not quite, we have a transfer student you have to show around."

"What the hell, why me?" Usually students didn't talk like that in front of their teachers, but as worse things had been heard on a soccer field, he let it slide.

"Well I figured you could use this time to find free students who might be able to play for us, since you're excuse from class until noon." She smiled at this, the tour should take 20 minutes tops. Stephanie would have 2 hours to find a replacement.

"Ok, fine. But why exactly is there a transfer student? It's May, school's out in a month." She found it odd that there would be someone transferring at the end of school.

The old man gave a slightly amused look. "Well, he doesn't have much of a like of authority. He also had a bit of penchant for fighting."

"And this all means what?" 'Get to the point so I can get going.'

"He kicked a student in the side of the head, apparently the victim made a colorful joke about his sister. The boy had a broken jaw and two missing teeth."

'Wow. That's impressive.' "Alright, so don't make a crack about his sister. Where do I meet this kid?"

Ogden chuckled again. "He had a name, if you look on that transcript. And you'll find him in the main lobby. Good luck."

She looked at the paper as she walked out. 'Oh you got to be joking!'

As she turned into the main lobby, Stephanie noticed there was no one, except for a tall boy who was stretched out on a bench. He had a Phillies cap tilted over his eyes. A tan casual blazer and white Oxford shirt, along with black slacks and polished black shoes completed his look.

"I was wondering when one of you was going to show up," he said, not moving.

Her eyebrow twitched a little in annoyance and she kicked the bench hard. "Get up, I'm busy."

He sprung up surprisingly fast and glared at her. "There's no rush for Christ's sake. Anyway, since you fucked my nap, let's get this over with." He started to walk off, leaving her to catch up.

"Well that's real polite," she scolded. This kid had a way of just getting her riled up.

"Shut up; quit acting like a whiny girl. You'd think it was your period or something. Act like a man." He glared at her with brown eyes that showed nothing but defiance. She looked a little closer and saw something behind it: loneliness.

"What the hell are you talking about, I'm a-"

"A whiny bastard, that's what you are. If I didn't know better I'd say you were a girl. Or gay, which in that case I'd have to ask you to back up a little more."

She bit her lip in anger. 'He's dead. And an idiot if he can't tell I'm a girl. I may look like one, but I definitely don't sound like one.'

As he turned around she decided to give him a swift kick to the leg, to shut him up. She swung her foot out, but she found it blocked by his shin, which had moved to stop her kick.

'He blocked it, no freaking way!'

He smirked at her and moved his leg away. As he did so he hooked her standing leg at the ankle and effortlessly tripped her, sending her falling onto her ass.

"That wasn't every nice. I give you some advice and you try to kick me. Not to mention you didn't even tell me your name. Quite rude really, I thought the welcome committee would have been nicer. Or at least could have been a hot girl I could seduce rather than a tiny guy like you."

Stephanie blushed a little at the thought of this guy seducing someone. He was pretty tall; he looked a little over six feet, and was pretty toned. He looked fast, and pretty athletic.

'Athletic? That's it! Oh thank you God!' She immediately switched to acting a lot nicer and stood up quickly and apologized.

"I'm so sorry, I'm Steph…I mean Steve, nice to meet you. I've just been a little stressed about this problem I have."

He laughed, "Yeah I know, those periods must suck. Is it heavy flow?"

"Shut the fuck up about that! God damn it, I am trying to apologize!"

His chuckling died down slightly. "And it's accepted, calm down. Damn, no need to be offended man. Anyway, you have my name on that piece of paper I see."

"Yea," she giggled a little, "I noticed you have quite the name."

He grunted. "Yeah, they could have given me any normal name. But no, they name me Holden fucking Caulfield."

"I didn't know your middle name was fucking." She laughed at the slight bit of annoyance on his face.

"Blow me. So my last name is Caulfield, why in the hell do you name a kid Holden? It's a famous book, but for Christ's sake this is overkill!"

She looked him up and down and laughed. "Look at yourself!"

"What?"

"You have a red hat and clothes that look like you're from a prep school!" Her sides were practically splitting with laughter.

Sudden realization hit him and shoved his hand in his pockets. "God damn it," he mumbled. "Anyway, since you aren't doing much to show me around the school, why not tell me your damn problem."

'Crap, I completely forgot to point out stuff to him. But we're walking anyway, he should pick it up.' "Well, I'm the captain for the soccer team and one of our defensemen jacked himself up. He can't play and we need a replacement, which is what I'm supposed to be finding if I wasn't busy with you."

Holden sat down on a bench in the courtyard they were passing through and occupied himself deep in thought.

'What is he doing, I still need to find someone!'

"Alright," he said, snapping out of his thoughts, "I'll make you an offer. You showed me around; in return, I'll play for you. I figure I can pay you back and look good for the next school year."

He had blocked her kick and tripped her with ease. She started weighing the options, and decided to take him up on his offer.

"Do you even know anything about soccer?"

"I played freshman year at the academy, I always like defense. The victims come right to you."

"Fine, we catch the bus after school, it'll be off to the side of the school and it'll have a bunch of rally crap strewn all over it. Be there and you can play, I'll stop by Ogden's room and make sure you clear the officials."

He smirked and licked his lips. "Alright then, it's a deal." Holden stood up and they shook hands. "I'm going to go back to my bench and sleep; I guess we'll meet up at 3 then."

"Just don't mess up, alright?"

"I promise nothing, except that I'll try."

Sure enough, he was there on time and slouched into the seat next to her. He slept the entire bus ride, despite the loud music and even louder students. Several times the bus caused his head to rest slightly on her shoulder, which invited a blush from her.

'Ok Steph, do NOT get a crush on the new kid before the game.'

Holden woke up with a snap just as the bus stopped in Springfield. "Alright, let's beat the shit out of some pussies," he yelled loudly.

He walked into the locker room with the other guys and noticed as Steve made his way to the handicap bathroom stall. "Where the hell are you going?"

She froze and looked at him. "Well, I got to pee and I'm a little shy about changing in front of others."

Holden started laughing. "You serious, dear Lord you are a girl! Whatever, just remember to give birth in there. There is nothing like a pre-game dump."

She cringed a little but played it off. "Just go change."

Grabbing the uniform and gear he was allowed to borrow, he set off for the locker room. He tossed his pile on the bench and quickly stripped to his boxers. He could feel the guy next to him looking at him.

"There something you want," he said gruffly.

"So you're the replacement, huh? You're pretty chummy with the captain. She's never very nice to anyone."

Holden grinned. "Well, I guess I'm likeable. Though you'll probably get your ass kicked by him for saying that."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well I probably wouldn't take too kindly to being called a girl; I'd probably beat you down."

The guy stood there for a second, then two, and then he broke into hysterical laughter. "Are you serious? You didn't know she was a girl?"

"What the hell, you can't be serious!"

He only laughed harder. "Yeah, she is. She likes to hide behind baggy crap, but she's a girl. Honestly, she sounds like one."

"You're fucking with me here," Holden said. It seemed ludicrous that Steve could be a girl.

"Why do you think Steph changes in another room, seriously go ask her."

With that Holden tossed on his remaining uniform and bolted out of the locker room and made a beeline to the handicapped bathroom. He kicked in the door, which flew open, causing the occupant to give a very feminine screech.

"What the hell are you doing Holden," she yelled. He looked at her. Yes, he now believed Steve was actually Steph. It didn't take much convincing. Not too many guys wear sports bras and boy short panties.

"What the…why the…YOU'RE A GIRL?" He finally choked out the words. The door shut loudly behind them and he leaned himself against it. "Jesus, and here I thought I'd seen everything."

"Turn the hell around will you, I'm changing!" She was blushing head to toe, trying to cover her body, even though the training bra already covered that. Holden whipped around and stared at the door. Stephanie quickly put her goalie uniform on.

"By the way," Holden said while facing the door, "you look like you have a pretty tight body there. Your hips are pretty sexy."

He jumped a mile in the air when he felt a soccer cleat get thrown full force, hitting the door only inches from his head. "Shut the hell up!"

"Fuck, take a compliment! It's not like I'm hitting on you. Calm down damn it," he barked. "We have a game to win so don't get distracted. Let's go, Captain."

She huffed but agreed, and went to walk out. Holden opened the door for her with a bow, jovially spouting off a "my lady" while ushering her out.

When she walked out Holden was clutching his stomach in a little bit of pain.

Stephanie and the rest of the team hit the field after Ogden gave them a speech and ran over the game plan.

Catching up to Holden before the game started, she asked him a quick question. "Why didn't you block that? You obviously have the reflexes."

He looked at her, and she was shocked by how serious and sad he looked. "I'm sorry I tripped you earlier, are you ok?"

"Yea, I'm fine, but why?"

If possible, he looked even sadder. It made the girly part of her want to cry and hug him. "You don't ever touch a girl wrongly, let alone hurt her. It never ever matters the situation, you don't hurt a girl." A small tear made its way down his cheek.

He walked into position, as did she, and he gave a small confident wave to her from behind his back. Whatever Holden's story, his wave promised he had his game on.

'Thank God for new students!'

It was halftime and so far the only shots that had gotten near her were from players that were as far from Holden as possible. Any time the opposition had gotten near him, they were stripped of the ball as soon as possible and the ball launched to a midfielder.

This had insured that Merryville wouldn't let up many goals, and they hadn't so far. They had a narrow 1-0 lead with another 45 minutes to play. Replacements were made and some of the players looked a little fatigued, but Holden only grinned. He was covered in sweat; it was soaking his entire shirt. Despite this, he still looked ready to go.

Ogden chimed in to the team meeting on the sidelines. "Caulfield, your shirt is soaked, it'll slow you down. Take the last spare." He tossed the youth the shirt and gave him a confident look. "Keep this up and you have a place next year. Between you and Stephanie, we will have the best defense in the league!"

He smiled at Stephanie and tossed his shirt off. "Hey, toss me a water bottle." The equipment manager tossed him a bottle, which he poured over his head and torso.

Stephanie gave a very uncharacteristic squeak and turned away, blushing hard. 'Holy…that is the hottest guy I've ever seen!' She shook her head. 'Come on, since when have you been into guys. Sure you've been with one, and yeah that was fun, but come on this is no time to act like a girl!'

She peeked over her shoulder to catch one last glimpse. Brown hair was being drenched with water. She watched it pour off his hair and onto his slightly tanned skin. The beads of water trailed down his well-formed body, which was complete with very firm looking abs. Her eyes trailed down the muscular V by that led from his hips down to his…

"I'm up here Stephanie." She was startled out of her daze by the now-clothed Holden grinning mischievously at her.

She blushed deeply and hid her face in her gloved hands. "Oh I'm so sorry, I just..."

"See anything you like," he chuckled. "I mean, I got to see you in your panties so I guess now you got a chance to ogle me too."

"Yes, yes," she nodded swiftly, "ok, well let's go out on the field, halftime is over." She sped to the goalie area, not daring to look at Holden.

'Stupid hot boy and his hot body, why can't he have some flaw with him? Well, a flaw other than being a sarcastic jackass.'

She looked forward, seeing that Holden was smiling at her, he then made a rather crude hand motion that looked like he was stroking something.

'Stupid jackass, I swear I'm going to kill him after this. Hm, I wonder how big he is, maybe after we win I'll find out. Then kill him.'

Stephanie realized the flaw in her thinking. The whistle blew and the second half began. 'Ok, game on. Worry about Holden later, winning is more important.'

Merryville kept up the dominating defense, although their offense was not doing as well. A lot more time was being spent on Holden and her other defender retreating closer to the net. Most of the time the midfielders look care of it, but more of the opposition was getting past them than in the first half.

The game was almost over, with Merryville holding onto a fragile 1-0 lead. Then, it happened. This, when the two of them looked back on it, was probably what started the chain of events that would happen that night.

A Springfield player had gotten by the other defender, setting up two strikers against one Holden and Stephanie. Holden charged the player with the ball, screening the goal and making a shot the dumber option. He passed the ball over, which Holden got a small piece of. He saw the clock, the game had mere seconds left.

The ball deflected slightly, rolling more towards the goalie that its intended target. Stephanie ran out and dove for the ball, covering it up. The charging striker was seemingly fed up with the frustrating game and the clock that had reached 90 minutes, didn't halt his kick towards the ball.

He ended up kicking her in the side. Hard.

She screamed out in pain but held tight to the ball. The referee immediately threw up the red card. As Stephanie fought back tears and the striker went to argue the card, she saw a blur of a yellow uniform.

As the old adage goes, he never even saw it coming.

Holden had been pleased when he saw the deflected ball speeding within Stephanie's grasp, but he'd also seen the angry and malicious look on the striker's face. He had begun to run towards the ball, but watched in horror as Stephanie screamed out in pain from the foot connecting to her gut.

He'd been told that he was quick to anger, that his temper was a too short. Holden knew this, but he couldn't remember a time when he'd gone from normal to completely and utterly pissed off. Not even the crack about his sister had done that.

What happened to the 'poor bastard' as the ER had put it, it was nothing short of a massacre. Holden's anger had caused a broken jaw from the elbow he gave him. The following punches had given him a broken nose and a couple of very bruised ribs. The boy's face was bloodied in the 20 seconds the referee and team had taken to collectively restrain the raging Holden.

They had won and gotten home advantage for the playoffs. And Holden had gotten a red card, which he asked to keep as a souvenir.

Rushing over to the hunched over girl on the ground, who was being tended to by the medic, he knelt next to her after giving enough death glares to the referee and losing team to stay clear of him.

Stephanie's side had a nice dull pain going for it. It originally had hurt like hell, but now it was much more tolerable. It still sucked.

'Fucker, I'm glad Holden kicked his ass.' She had seen Holden jump the boy without mercy. She quickly remembered what he had said earlier: you don't ever touch a girl wrongly, let alone hurt her.

'Something happened in the past, I'm going to find out what.' When she had recovered enough, she and the rest of the team had celebrated the win. They had won and were poised for a title run. But try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to not wonder about Holden.

The bus ride back had been uneventful but nice. Once again Holden had fallen asleep at the drop of a hat, and she had used his shoulder as a pillow. His head rested on hers. When the bus had stopped, they had awoken to a very interesting position, from which they both blushed and sprang away from each other.

"You smell bad," was the first thing Holden said to her.

"Oh come on, we just had a match. I have to get home and shower. I can't wait to get home. I'm sad my parents are having a vacation for their anniversary, they would have loved to see this." She was energized and bubbling with excitement, which had died when she saw the look of despair on Holden's face. He'd been looking towards the ground and off to the side, but she'd still seen it. "Holden?"

"That sounds nice. Do you want a ride home?"

She wanted to press for more information but he didn't look like he was budging. "Yea, sure, I don't live too far so usually I walk."

It had been a quiet car ride; Holden had only said one thing.

"Look, I know we just barely met. I mean, I've known you for less than a day. But thank you Stephanie, you're my first real friend, you know?"

She hadn't responded. Stephanie couldn't think of a thing in the world she could say to cheer her new friend up. When he pulled into her driveway and stopped the car he walked her to her door like a gentleman, and it almost seemed like they were coming back from a date rather than an intense soccer match.

She didn't want to say goodnight yet. "You know," she said, looking at the stars, "you look like something out of a book, all jokes aside. You look like the tragic hero who is looking for something. You act tough, fight, and act like a smartass. But I think you're doing that for protection. That's how you look. So why do you do it?"

"I am both of those Stephanie. Anyway, you look equally like some tragic hero. You hide behind baggy clothes and make yourself into the image of a guy. You try to force yourself into a guy's world, a world that you don't belong to in a title role. You're a girl; you should have a girl's life and be the center of that. You shouldn't try to be a guy and be the center of that. So why do you do it?"

Stephanie looked at him and stood on her toes. She leaned close to him and whispered to him. "It's a secret."

He could almost feel the quivering of her lips as she spoke to him. Holden prided himself on being smooth and seductive, but this girl had him acting like he was a virgin.

"So is mine Stephanie."

She huffed and opened the door. "Well I'm not letting you go until I find out. I'm showering now so get inside and wait for me to finish." She bounded up the stairs as he went to the couch and lay down. He tilted his Phillies cap over his eyes. "Oh, and you'll be in deep shit if you peek at me."

He only waved his hand in conformation. She turned upstairs and went to the shower. She had quickly washed herself several times, finding it rude to keep him waiting too long. Stephanie had spent the most time choosing her clothes, which she had settled the one denim mini skirt she owned, along with a tight orange halter top.

'You should feel lucky, I'm wearing something girly.'

When she had finally come down and woken him up, to which she also vowed to find out how he fell asleep so easily, he had done a very small double take, and let his jaw open just the slightest.

'Wow, she looks really cute like that. Those clothes really bring out her gentle curves.'

"So you really are a girl, huh? As I said earlier, you aren't bad looking. Well, I didn't exactly say that but this time I decided to be more polite."

She felt oddly pleased with his praise. "Thanks, anyway I decided to put on some clothes because I have a surprise for you!"

"Is it a lap dance," he blurted out. Luckily, she was in a forgiving mood and just lightly slapped his head.

"No, I'm letting you eat dinner with me. I know of this great place. And why did you think it was a lap dance, are you a pervert?"

"No, I'm just a jackass. Dinner sounds alright, and by the way I was wondering if it was a lap dance considering you're on my lap.

She looked down and realized that she was in fact straddling Holden. She apparently had done it when poking him awake. Needless to say she jumped off him and apologized.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, I smell awful. You'll probably want to burn this couch. So I'm heading back to my place to wash up. You can tag along since you're set on eating with me."

"That's fair, I guess. Let's go."

The rest of the evening had gone by quickly and uneventfully. He had changed, but oddly asked her to wait outside the apartment complex. He had been surprisingly quick about it, dressing in a black polo and white shorts. After they ate, he had asked her about driving her home.

"I guess I'll take you home now," he said, happy with the night.

"Aw, but I don't want to. I'm still wired from the nap I took earlier," she whined. 'I am sounding like such a girl.'

"Ok, then I'll crash at your place for a bit, just keep me entertained."

She thought for a minute. "There really isn't anything fun to do there. I have some movies and stuff, but I usually am on my computer more than anything."

"Ok, so you spend days looking at porn. I suppose I can accept that."

"I do not," she growled, "sex is stupid and watching people have sex is even stupider."

The look on Holden's face was one of horror and insult. "How can you possibly say that? I mean the porn part is allowable, even if wrong, but sex? Come on, sex is amazing."

"Not for me it hasn't. So can we go to your apartment?"

Laughter rang out through the car, "That is one hell of a jump. You talk sex then ask to go over to a boy's apartment. Shame on you."

She blushed and punched his shoulder, "Only you would think of something like that."

"No, me and the rest of the male population would," he said with certainty. "But yeah, I suppose you can come over."

They had gotten to his apartment, which he looked slightly apprehensive about. He opened the door. She didn't know what to expect but she wasn't expecting what she saw.

The apartment was extremely lavish. The floor was all made of dark wood and while it still looked a bachelor's place, looked very expensive.

"Wow, this is awesome, you're parent's must be loaded."

Stephanie knew she had said the wrong thing by the way Holden's face had dropped. "Take a seat, I'll be right there." She had done as he asked, and Holden returned shortly holding a large drink in his hand.

She could smell the copious amounts of alcohol in the drink, which Holden promptly downed half of in a matter of seconds.

"Why are you drinking, you're underage! Won't you get in trouble?"

He laughed harshly; he seemed different from the Holden with the mocking but happy laugh. "Who would care? Look around here, what do you see?"

"I see a bunch of guys stuff. Why?"

"Exactly, do you see anything that looks like it'd belong to a mother?

Scanning the room, she found absolutely nothing. "No."

"Do you see anything that looks like another guy lives here, such as a father?"

Her heart sank, "No."

He shook his head and downed the rest of his drink. "I live alone, Stephanie. It hasn't always been like this, but it is now."

She moved nearer to him. "What happened?"

Holden stared at her, as if he was sizing up if she was worthy of hearing the story he was about to tell. "To put it simple, I'm an orphan. Oh, I had a family; I had a mother and a father. I have a brother and a sister. My brother, Vincent, owns this complex. He lets me do whatever he wants here. My sister lives with him."

Stephanie moved a little closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "What happened to your parents? And why don't you live with your brother?"

"Vincent and I don't get along too much. You see, we're a very wealthy family, and when my parents….well, we got a lot of money."

She was near tears. Holden had his head hanging. "I suppose I've never told anyone. My mother was abused by my dad and eventually he moved to using things other than his fists. He ended up killing her, and then himself." He was crying by the end of his confession. She held his head against her collar and rocked him gently.

"Maybe I just don't deserve anything good, I couldn't stop him. Maybe this is the way of me being punished for not being useful. I've tried you know Stephanie. I've tried to be friendly, throughout all those foster homes and everything. But I always got in trouble because I've always been angry at myself. I'd take that anger out on people. All I want is…"

"You shouldn't think you're punished, Holden! You couldn't do anything about it. Anyway, look at me. I hide behind clothes cause I think I'm ugly. I don't have curves and I've never been into the girly scene. I'm pathetic, but you don't deserve to beat yourself up over this."

He sniffed and looked at her. "You aren't ugly, trust me I've seen ugly people before. You're beautiful, but you're not beautiful in the idea of being curved and perfect. Perfection is something that can only be pursued, never obtained."

She blushed. "No one had ever said I'm beautiful."

"And no one has bothered to listen to my story."

"You are welcome. Anyway, close your eyes. I don't want to see tears." He did so.

"You know Stephanie, there's only one thing I want in this world," he said, laying himself out on the couch.

Stephanie sprawled out as well, still nurturing the fragile boy. "What's that?"

"It's going to sound stupid, but I want to find out what love is. I've never cared about anyone before, only myself. I want to know what it's like to care about someone else."

"But you do. You cared about me enough to hurt the guy who hurt me. I'd say that's caring."

Holden looked at her seriously, "That's because…"

"Because why?"

He looked downward at mumbled something unintelligible.

She grabbed his head and forced his eyes on hers. "I asked you why," she said forcefully.

"It's because you're my only friend! Are you happy now?"

Stephanie looked at the almost crying Holden and felt something in her heart break. Shock shot through Holden as he saw the girl fling herself on to him and hug him.

She took her head out of his chest and looked at him with teary eyes. "You don't have to be alone, you have me."

Holden smiled, "Thank you Steph."

"And don't worry yourself Holden, together we will find what love is."

That had been 3 years ago. When they both looked back on the situation, Stephanie would always break free from her boyish persona and cry a little. Holden, on the other hand, always lamented why he didn't get a good screw from her that night. He shuddered when remembering her anger with that little piece of information, Holden sometimes believed her foot had permanently damaged his groin. However, they both laughed and judging by the small black ring box Holden is currently sneaking up to Stephanie with, they had definitely found what love is.