A/N: Okaaay, so here's the deal. I haven't updated this story in so long I kind of forget some little details, so bare with me if I mess up someones name up or something, lol. Just gotta get back into it.

Also, I was reading past chapters a little, and I really don't like some of the stuff I did now... like Sara and Jack having sex, like, 3 weeks into their relationship. It's not like Sara, but I wanted it out (at the time) and now I regret it.

However, I'm just gonna ignore it now, so don't expect any gritty sex-scenes, lol.

I've had some ideas for these upcoming chapters, and I wanna put them out. So for those of you who are still with it, read, enjoy, and please review.

Sorry for the 50 billion year wait 8)

We stayed at Evan's house for another good two hours, just hanging out and drinking all the soda's we could muster (Brian drank all of his Root Beer) before everyone decided to go home. It had finally occurred to me that Halley would be driving everyone home, for mine and Brian's ride had left...

"Shotgun!" Brian and James both yelled at the same time after Brian said bye to Evan, and they both grinned at each other.

"I said it first," Brian said, picking up his guitar case and running to the car.

"No man, I did!" James yelled. Halley sighed and shook her head as we walked to the car, Gar behind us.

"Who are you going to let have it?" I asked.

"Who do you think?" She asked, smiling at me, and I rolled my eyes. The two 'children' had put their guitar cases in the back of Halley's jeep and now they both stood by the front door while Halley and Gar went around to the other side, Halley got in the drivers side while Gar got in the back. I opened the back door and got in, getting ready to slide into the middle because I knew either way, I'd be sitting there. Halley started the jeep and rolled down the window, and Brian and James stopped arguing and turned their heads and looked in.

"Brian," Halley laughed. "Get in the back."

"Oh!" James yelled, laughing and pointing at him, and Brian made a sad face.

"Fine," Brian said. "I'll just sit with my real friend then." He walked to the back, hopped in the car, closed the door, and swung an arm around me. "Right Sara?" Brian asked, looking at me.

"Right," I laughed, rolling my eyes.

"Isn't Halley a bitch, Sara?" Brian went on. I knew he was kidding, and I answered, obviously kidding too.

"The biggest," I falsely agreed.

"I should have sat in the front seat, right Sara?" Brian continued, making me grin.

"No," I said, laughing, and I could almost feel Halley's face flush.

"What, why?" Brian asked.

"Because you're not the one that wants to go out with her," Gar answered monotony, and I felt my eyes widen as I looked at him, and when I looked back to Halley, I saw her shaking her head as she started away from the curb. I didn't see what James did though. Apparently, Gar was the kind of guy that would always speak his mind.

The car ride was silent all the way to to Brian's house, but once he said goodbye and got out of the car, and Halley got back onto the main road, she picked up the conversation.

"So, what happened with you and Jack?" She asked after I got gotten settled in Brian's spot and Gar had scooted over a little.

"Nothing," I mumbled, wondering why she had chosen now to ask. Gar and James were here...

"You coming out crying is nothing, huh?" Gar asked, and when I looked over at him, I instantly felt nervous due to the somewhat angry look he was giving me.

"Just... nothing important," I said, glaring at him back before looking back out my window. Right when I begin to think this guy is cool, he is always quick to change that.

"Is everything okay though?" Halley asked as she stopped at a red light.

"Yeah," I lied. Honestly, I had no idea... I didn't even want to think what Monday would be like...

"Hey, so, do you want to go home?" Halley asked, looking back at me.

"Why...?" I asked.

"You should hang out with us," James said.

"O-okay, if that's cool," I said, glancing at the clock. It was almost six thirty.

"Yeah," Halley said happily as she turned onto a new road. "So, where are we going?"

"I don't care," James said. "I'd suggest my house... but the assholes are there."

"I thought they had to work late," Gar spoke up.

"Naw," James said. "They came home 'sick'," he said, using his fingers to make the quote sign, and Gar turned back to the window.

"So, where," Halley asked.

"You pick," James said, and Halley sighed. She turned to him seconds after, though, and smiled at him, and I couldn't help but suddenly feel like Brian and think just go out already! I guess now I knew how he had felt about Jack and I...

Jack, I thought. No, I didn't want to think about him right now. What had happened back at Evan's was just stupid. I still couldn't believe that we had fought like that... When we started going out, I seriously thought that we'd have no problems, not hit any obstacle along the way, however long the journey lasted. I had been in la-la, dreamworld, for I had finally had what I had always wanted. A close circle of friends, a great boyfriend, especially being the fact that it was Jack. No longer a loner at school, and the fact that I actually was always busy hanging out with them all. I didn't even stop to think that there would be problems. I was just blinded by finally having what I had always wanted.

I hadn't realized how much I had sunken down in my seat as I sadly stared out of my window, watching the tree's pass by under the cloudy sky, and I jumped when I suddenly heard my name.

"Sara!" I finally turned and found Gar staring at me. "Halley's talking to you," he said, and he turned back to the window.

"Oh, what?" I asked, looking at Halley.

"We're going to my house. Wanna go?" She asked.

"Oh yeah," I said. "Sure."

"Right on," she said stupidly, and it was quiet the rest of the way to her house.

---

Halley parked her jeep in her driveway and we all followed her into her garage and into her house. Apparently James and Gar had been over what seemed like many times, for they didn't stop to look around or anything, and seemed to know where they were going when they walked passed Halley and upstairs out of the small hallway.

"Hey, you okay?" Halley asked when I walked up to her.

"Yeah," I said.

"So, tell me," she said as she started to walk with me. "What happened?"

"Nothing," I mumbled, upset that now I was thinking about it again.

"Sara, please. Don't hold shit in," Halley said. I tried not to let myself get mad her, she wasn't doing anything, she just wanted to help, but it seemed like the easiest thing could set me off right now.

"We just, had a.... an argument," I said, not really wanting to call it a fight. It wasn't a fight. It wasn't serious enough to be considered a fight, or so I thought.

Halley's eyes widened once we started to walk past her kitchen. "Why?" She asked. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I said. "I just asked him why he's been acting weird lately, and then he got pissed."

Halley was about to speak up, but she was suddenly jerked away from me when James stupidly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, freezing with his free arm in the air as if he was doing a dance move.

"Your dad home?" He asked seriously as he let her go, and she laughed. Gar and I both rolled our eyes, and he grinned at me when he noticed this. I grinned back and shook my head and started towards the stairs.

"No," Halley said. "He's out with friends."

"Oh, sweet," James said, and him and Gar followed her up the winding stairs into her bedroom.

I instantly went to her couch and plopped down and watched as the other three came into the room. Gar plopped down on the other side of the couch while James instantly went to Halley's computer to pick out a song.

I sighed and leaned back further into the couch when a song that I didn't recognize came on, and I started to wonder why I had come over in the first place. I was bored, the only thing on my mind was Jack, and I needed a good distraction, and I really wasn't getting it here, for it was awkwardly quiet.

I thought about going home, but I didn't have my car, and I'd feel bad if I was to make Halley drive me all the way home. My mom was working (and I still didn't want to talk to her), like Hell I could call Jack after what happened, and I cursed Brian out in my head for not having a car.

I felt my phone suddenly start to vibrate in my pocket, and when I took it out and looked at it, I rolled my eyes when I saw it was Brian.

"Hey, I'll be right back guys," I said, and I walked down the stairs and into Halley's kitchen before I finally opened and answered my phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, wussup?" Brian said stupidly, a loud burp escaping his mouth.

"Nothin much," I said, laughing while rolling my eyes. "Whats' up with you?"

"Nothin'. Bored," he answered. "I called Jack, but he's being complicated."

"Complicated?" I repeated, leaning on the counter.

"Yes," Brian answered. "Complicated. So, like, why? What happened?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "Is that why you called?"

"Oh, fine Sara," Brian said, pretending to be offended. I had to smile. "I'm just a good guy, a little concerned about his friends. But hey, I could just ignore you all and pretend you don't exist, if that's convenient for you."

"Brian," I interrupted. "I's fine. And, I don't know," I answered, looking down at my shoes. I knew Brian only wanted to help, but I really didn't want to talk about it.

"Sara," he said, his voice lower and deeper then ever. "That's not an answer."

"Well, I don't know, really," I said. "I just wanted to know why he's been acting weird, and then he turned the tables on me, and yeah."

"Is yeah code for something? What's that?" Brian asked, and I heard him open a can in background, and I knew him to be taking a big sip of Root Beer.

"Just, he got mad when I said he always seems to be annoyed when we hang out, and then I left."

Brian was quiet on the other end. "Can you blame him though?" He asked a short moment later.

"Oh fine, take his side," I half joked.

"I'm not taking sides, Sara," he said. "I'm helpin' out. He's just stressed about the move."

"Then what about me?" I asked, turning around and leaning over the counter, looking at the weird pattern on their sugar bowl.

"You're not gonna get mad, are you. 'Cause most girls would if they–"

"Brian," I said, smiling. "Just tell me. What am I doing wrong?"

"It's not that you're doing anything wrong, it's just... you just gotta try to understand where he's comin' from, ya know?"

Unfortunately, that made a lot of sense. Why was Brian always right? "Yeah," I mumbled.

"I know all you wanna do is chill with him, but you just gotta realize that he's not going through the best of times. Yeah, he's always packing and shit, and maybe the reason he always seems annoyed when he's around us, – not just you, us," Brian made this clear, "it's because he's just stressed."

I was quiet as I let this all process in. He was right, and now that I finally realized this, I felt like even more of an idiot bitch about everything.

"Oh, God. Now I feel stupid about everything. Being mad, ya know?" I asked, holding my head now.

"Yeah," Brian said. "Look, just give it some time. Let the move happen, let 'em get settled and everything. We'll still see him."

I bit my lip. "Not as much though," I said lowly.

"Better then nothing," Brian said.

"True," I said. We were quiet for a little while longer, and then Brian finally spoke up.

"Well, I'm going to go make some pizza. You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said, leaning up. "I'm fine. Thanks."

"Any time," Brian said. "Guess I'll see you Monday then."

"Alright," I said. "Bye."

"Peace," he said stupidly, and we both hung up. After talking to Brian, I surprisingly felt a little better about everything. Enough to change my mind about leaving, so I headed back upstairs to hang out with them all.

---

I ended up hanging out at Halley's house for another good two hours until I mentioned I was thinking of going home. I wasn't hinting I needed a ride, I had originally planned on calling my mom, but Halley said it was cool, and that she could give me a ride. So, we all piled into her jeep, and she headed to my house first.

"Hey," she had said after a quiet ride, just as I got out of the car. "Call me, okay," she said, staring right at me.

"Call me!" James mimicked her loudly in that girly-girl voice, and I smiled and rolled my eyes while Halley playfully hit him.

"Seriously though, okay?"

"Alright," I said. "Thanks for the ride."

"Bye!" James called out the window, and I rolled my eyes again as I walked to my front door, and just as I stepped inside, I heard Halley's jeep pull away from the curb.

Once home, I had instantly gone upstairs in my room. I don't know how I was doing it, but so far, I was successfully blowing off my 'talk' with my mother. I still really didn't want to talk to her, and while part of me had a feeling that since it was so long ago she had just forgot, another part of me had a big feeling that she hadn't and had planned exactly what she was going to say an do.

I spent the rest of the weekend just moping around the house. I honestly didn't feel like doing anything else. I felt like I was back to my roots, my old ways. Brian had called again on Sunday, but I didn't answer. And all weekend I hadn't called Halley back.

I was finally forced to see my mom on Saturday afternoon. She had come home from the grocery store around one, and I had woken up at eleven, but I didn't get out of bed, and instead had just been laying awake, thinking. I had heard her come in from downstairs, and she called for us to help her. Linda had stomped down the stairs, but I never got up. I didn't want to help bring in the groceries, and I didn't want to face my mother still.

Luckily, when she finally came up and into my room, I had convinced her that I wasn't feeling good, that I was 'sick'. She looked concerned, but I could see it in her eyes that she knew something was up with me, and I started to have a feeling that it was something other than the whole pot thing now. She finally turned and left, and I turned around in my bed, facing my window, and I stupidly continued to think about Jack.

By Sunday night I had finally let myself think that everything would be fine, but deep down, I knew it wouldn't. I hadn't talked to Jack since Friday. I never called Brian back, so I couldn't get any information from him. All I could do was hope that things would take a turn for the better on Monday. Brian said things would get better, and he appeared to always be right. This time I hoped he would be more than anything.

---

Monday sucked. Especially lunch. Never had lunch been so quiet, so awkward, so... wrong. Everything was off, and it made me feel weird, like I wasn't myself. Halley wasn't there, and Brian was already sitting at the windows, eating his pizza. Jack was there too, sitting in his usual spot, doing homework like normal, but he didn't have his code red. All during history I had convinced myself that I had to act strong, and no cower away from talking to Jack, but of course, only naturally, I did just that. The minute I saw Jack sitting there, surrounded by awkward quiet, I felt myself freeze up, and instantly I was nervous.

Whether I meant to or not, I totally made a beeline to sit next next to Brian. It was a short distance from Jack, but it made it clear that we weren't sitting together, and for that I felt terrible. He was my boyfriend. Jack seemed to not notice this, and he never looked up from his notebook.

I couldn't help but notice all the weird looks our area was getting from other students. They all looked confused, and I knew what they were thinking. They knew something was wrong too, off key. And the only thing worse than noticing it, is being a part of it.

Halley never showed up for the whole lunch hour, and Brian, Jack or I never spoke one word to each other. I stared at the ground the whole time, just thinking, waiting for something to happen, and every so often I saw Brian glance at us, and sometimes I'd heard him take a breath like he was going to say something, but he never did.

When the bell rang, interrupting the silence, I was the first to stand up, ready and eager to get out of there. Brian remained sitting down while Jack got up. I looked up at him, waiting for him to say something, waiting for me to say something, but instead, all I got was a small, forced smile from Jack, and before I knew it he disappeared into the crowd. I swallowed as I felt my stomach drop at that, and when I glanced at Brian before walking off, I saw how insistently he was looking at me, nothing but confusion in his face. But I didn't stop to talk. I just wanted to finish the day and forget about everything.

After I shut my locker for the final time that day, I debated with myself rather or not I should go to Jack's locker. However, I found myself walking down that hallway, whether it was just habit or to see what would happen, I don't know, but I felt the need to.

I saw Jack at his locker, placing his books in, and Halley at hers, her phone pressed up to her ear. Brian was leaning against the wall by Jack's locker, staring at the ground with his hands in his pockets. It was the lamest thing ever; everyone was so different. Halley was never around anymore, and when she was, she was always on her phone. Jack had gone back to being quiet and to himself again, and I had gone back to be shy and nervous. Brian was the only one who remained himself.

"Hey," I forced myself to saw when I got there. Brian looked up and smiled at me, while Jack only smiled slightly at me and nodded before going back to his books.

"Um, I was wondering if you needed a ride," I said to Brian, who glanced at Jack before looking back at me.

"Naw, I'm getting one from Jack," he said.

"Oh, alright," I said, feeling like an idiot. "I guess I'll talk to you guys later then." I stood there for a minute, waiting again, only to sadly turn around and rush into the crowd of people, out of their sight. Jack and I hadn't spoken one word to each other this whole day, and I couldn't believe it. It wasn't fair. For all I knew he could be leaving tomorrow, and I couldn't believe that we were actually about to leave it off on these terms. Why weren't we trying to fix everything?

I hadn't realized how much mine and Jack's silence was getting to Brian. For the next two days, we continued not to speak to each other at all. After lunch on Wednesday he had actually hugged me, but it was one of those awkward hugs, the kind that anybody would pass up. I noticed how Brian had kept looking at us with that What-The-Fuck look on his face, but I never thought anything of it. Not until he called me after school that Wednesday.

"Sara," he said, his voice firm, as if he was angry, but I could tell it wasn't serious. However, what he had to say, was. "This is gay as shit. What the Hell is going on between you and Jack?"

I was speechless. "I don't know?" I half asked, and I heard him sigh.

"I knew you'd say that. Look, come over to my house, okay?"

"Why?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Because," he answered. "We need to talk."

"Is Jack there?" I had to ask.

"No, Sara, he's not," Brian sighed, and I heard a wrapper crinkle on the other end. "Just, please? I want to know what's going on. Plus, we have a project to work on."

"Oh, shit," I said, my hand flying up to my head. "That's right..."

"Yeah, some come over, okay?" He repeated.

"Alright," I said, and once we hung up, I went downstairs, grabbed my keys and headed right to Brian's house, trying to ignore the weirdness of it all.

On the way, a small part of me had a feeling that Jack would be there, but I had finally managed to push that thought out of my head. However, when I pulled up to the curb, I saw Jack and Brian sitting on his porch, Jack smoking a cigarette, and I sighed when I saw this. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I got out of the car. I should have known.

As I slowly walked up to them, I noticed them both watching, until Jack turned away to take a big drag from his cigarette, and once I approached the porch, Brian was quick to stand up.

"Oh, I think my pizza's burning," he said stupidly, and I glared at him while Jack took another drag. "I'll just go inside, and you two can talk without me." I had never seen anything to staged in my life.

He remained standing there, looking at us, until he finally turned and quickly went inside, closing his door behind him. I stared at his door for a few seconds before sighing and taking his spot next to Jack. It was awkwardly quiet, as always, until Jack surprised me by actually speaking up.

"We got duped," he said in a low voice, and I actually felt myself smile.

"I know," I said, not being able to hide a small laugh, and upon hearing this, Jack turned to me, squinting his eyes due to the sun. I looked at him, waiting again for one of us to say something, until we both spoke up and at the same time, said:

"I'm sorry."

We both looked at each other again, then laughed a little. "What?" I asked, still smiling a little, it feeling good to actually talk to him again.

"I'm sorry for everything," Jack said, and I couldn't help but be a little surprised at this. I was expecting him to just mention Friday, but apparently not. I waited for him to go on.

"It's just, everything's been stressful with the move, and... I don't mean to be a dick."

"I know," I said, understanding him. "It's okay."

"No, it's not," he said, and he looked at me, some of his dark hair falling into his face. "I feel terrible for that fight we got into..."

"Me too," I said. "Look, let's just forget about it, okay?" I was so sick of having this hang over us. He was moving, we should be enjoying our final days going to the same school.

"Alright," he said, taking a big breath. I smiled and he pulled me closer to him, our lips instantly meeting in a kiss, and just like that, everything was back to normal.