"Step off the front porch like a ghost into a fog...where no one notices the contrast between white on white..."

"Lance, I can't see!" I cried, half-laughing and half scared out of my mind.

"Just trust me! We're almost there!" He spoke back to me through the thick white blanket that enveloped us.

He pulled me by the hand, leading me along the rocky path. His hand felt dry and warm against mine...possibly because he wasn't scared. I was. I was terrified of falling.

Lance was my best friend. Had been since we were just children...It's not that I didn't trust him. I was just scared to death of the idea of being on a cliff in the middle of the night, with the fog so thick around us that it felt like we were walking through a cloud.

"In between the moon and you, angels get a better view of the crumbling difference between wrong and right..."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lance asked, handing me a bottle of beer out of his backpack that he had carried up the side of the hill with us.

"Like what?" I asked innocently, looking down at my bottle, blushing.

He shrugged, "You were looking at me all googly-eyed!" His laugh resonated through me.

I didn't know how to tell him. I couldn't find the words to let him know that my feelings for him had changed so drastically. We had been friends FOREVER. I was afraid that if I told him I was beginning to see him differently, that he might get freaked out about it.

"I walk in the air, between the rain. Through myself and back again. Where? I don't know..."

I saw Justin before the rest of our friends. It was hard to miss the hair.

"Hey guys! Can we join you, or are you busy screwing?" He cried, piercing the fog and running up to grab Lance in a head-lock.

Lance chuckled, "If I was screwing, you'd know it! The screaming would have tipped you off!"

Holly, Chris and Helen came up just behind him...carrying between them 2 twelve-packs of beer, and a portable stereo.

"Yeah," Helen chided, sitting one 12-pack down beside the one Lance and I had already opened, she grabbed herself a bottle and looked at Lance tauntingly, "You do have a tendancy to scream like a girl!"

Chris and Holly each took a beer themselves, and we all went to sit in our usual spots...just at the edge of the cliff, looking out into the chasm below.

Only tonight the dense fog kept us from seeing into the valley, instead, all we could see was the thick mist, with a few errant stars peeking through them like diamonds on a white scarf wrapped around the peak of the mountain.

"Were you freaks gonna start the party without me?" Steph called from the top of the trail...

I got up and went to give her a hello hug.

"I been trying to call you all day!" I exclaimed, leading her over to where everyone else was sitting, "Where's Josh?"

Steph got this strange melancholy look on her face, as she picked up a bottle of beer and lowered herself to the ground beside Holly, who also greeted her with a hug.

A soft drizzle began to fall. But none of us minded. We had come to this spot many times before in the pouring rain.

There was something not right tonight. Besides the fact that I had all of these feelings for Lance that I didn't know how to explain to him. I looked over at him and smiled at the way the tiny raindrops clung to his spiked blonde hair. He grinned cheesily at me, and took a swig of his beer.

"Maria says she's dyin'...Through the door, I hear her cryin'...Why? I don't know..."

Josh showed up about half an hour later...He carried a bottle of vodka, a gallon of orange juice, and had a solemn look on his handsome face.

I noticed that Steph barely looked at him...which was strange for them. Usually they were inseperable, and very much in love.

I turned to her and looked at her questioningly.

"Is there something up between you and Josh, girl?" I asked.

She shrugged, "We kinda broke up..." She said quietly.

Holly and Helen overheard us, and came up beside us.

"Oh honey!" Helen said, giving her a tight hug, "We had no idea!"

"Round Here...we always stand up straight. Round Here...something radiates..."

I walked up to Josh where he sat by himself on a rock, sipping vodka and orange juice out of a beer can.

"What's goin on C?" I asked, pulling myself up on the rock next to him. His name was Josh, but we also called him "JC". As if that wasn't short enough, I sometimes called him simply, "C".

He looked over at me sadly, his blue eyes giving away his sorrow.

"I screwed up, Beck..." He said quietly...taking another drink out of his can.

"Well, I kinda heard...but I don't know what happened exactly." I told him, reaching over for his can. He handed it to me, and I took a drink.

"I cheated on her..." He said quietly, almost so quietly that I had trouble hearing him, "I went to a party a couple nights back, and ended up going home with some other girl."

I looked at him in disbelief.

"See?" He said, looking away from me, "I knew you'd react like that!"

"How else am I supposed to react, Josh? I mean...you and Steph have been together..."

"Forever?" He finished for me, "Yeah, I know...that's why I feel like such an asshole right about now." He lay back against the rock, the moonlight cascading off his finely chisled features, and setting his cornflower blue eyes ablaze.

I lay down beside him, and the two of us stared at the sky together.

"Talk to her, C..." I said, "I know you love her."

He nodded, and reached up to place his hands behind his head. He accidently bumped the side of my head with his elbow.

"I see how you are!" I laughed, rubbing my temple, "I try to help you, and you abuse me?"

He chuckled despite the sad look on his face, "Sorry kiddo."

I rested my head on the crook of his arm.

"So, you really think I should talk to her?" He sighed, reaching over to scratch the top of my head playfully.

"I don't think so Josh...I KNOW so!" I said, laying a little kiss on the tip of his nose. Josh was like a big brother to me. He was always there for me when I needed him, and it was extremely rare for those roles to be reversed like this.

He moved his arms from behind his head and pulled me to him, giving me a tight hug.

"Thanks Bex..." He said into my ear, "I'm glad you're here."

"Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand; She said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis...And she walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land, just like she's walking on a wire in a circus..."

Just after I had left the rock with Josh, and told Steph that he wanted to talk to her. The last couple in our group of friends arrived.

Mel and Joey were the perfect complements to one another. He was loud and had a tendancy to be rather brash. Mel was just the perfect person to slap the living shit out of him when he had those moments.

In fact, each of the four couples that I hung out with were perfect together...

There was Helen and Justin...Our resident sex-fiends. I don't remember a time when we all hung out together that they weren't attached at the lip...

Chris and Holly both had awesome senses of humor. It was hard not to laugh when you were around them.

And then there was Steph and Josh...I looked over at them as they sat talking in hushed voices on the rock. She had tears streaming down her face, and he kept reaching forward and wiping them away with his hand...He was doing most of the talking, which was as it should be. The look on his handsome face was one of the most touching things I had ever seen. It was clear how much he loved her...I knew that things would work out between them.

It was then that my eyes fell on Lance.

He was sheer perfection to me. Spiked blondish brown hair, which had lost it's height with the mist that hung in the air. His eyes glowed when he smiled. Almost brighter than the moon...but not quite.

She parks her car outside of my house, and takes her clothes off...says she's close to understanding Jesus...

Mel came up beside me and flung an arm around my shoulder.

"Looks like you've got yourself a crush..." She said into my ear.

I looked at her incredulously.

"What are you talking about?" I said, pretending to find something extremely interesting in the bottom of my beer bottle.

"Don't play dumb with me, Missy!" She laughed, pulling me down onto the ground beside her, "You got the hots for Lance...admit it!"

"Yeah! Admit it!" Joey chimed in, joining us. He sat behind Mel, and pulled her back into his arms, the smile left his face, and he looked confused...as usual..."Admit what?"

Mel and I laughed.

"It seems our little Becky here has a crush on her best friend!" Mel told him, accepting the Diet Coke he handed her.

"Becky has a crush on Holly?" Joey asked confusedly.

Over near the edge of the cliff, Lance and Justin had Helen by the arms and ankles, and they were swinging her back and forth, pretending they were going to throw her over the edge. Holly and Chris were sitting nearby, pointing and laughing.

"Make her take the plunge!" Chris called out with a laugh, "I'm sick of her mouth!"

Helen screeched, "You're gonna get it when they let me go, midget!" She screamed back to Chris, "I'll make your short ass shorter than it already is!"

Mel, Joey and I laughed. Then Mel looked back at me sternly.

"So...what are you gonna do about this?" She asked me.

"Nothing!" I protested, "I'm not going to do anything about it, Mel!"

"And why the hell not?" Joey demanded, "It's only clear that you and Lance should be together!"

"I do believe that's the most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say, baby!" Mel laughed, giving him a quick kiss.

"How is that clear, Joey?" I asked him, interested in what he had to say.

"Look at you two!" He cried, "You guys have been friends since you were little! You know EVERYTHING about each other! You're both single, and there's nothing keeping you guys from hooking up..."

"Except for your own denial..." Mel said matter-of-factly.

"Awe! Lookit Romeo and Juliet over there..." Joey said, pointing to the rock.

Steph and Josh had thier arms around each other...both of them crying. They alternated between crying into one another's shoulders, and kissing deeply.

"I'm glad they worked it out." I said softly.

"Yeah, me too..." Mel agreed, "Now if only SOMEONE else would get off her ass and do something..."

I looked at her with a glare.

"Fine!" I declared, "You want me to talk to him about it? You want me to risk losing my best friend? I'll do it!" I shot to my feet.

"Bex, you are NOT going to lose your best friend..." Joey said, "Trust me on this one."

"What are you saying?" I asked him, looking down on him with my hands perched on my hips.

"Just go talk to the boy, will ya?" Mel laughed, "So you'll stop pining over him like a lost puppy dog!"

I stuck my tongue out at her, and looked around for Lance...

"She's more than just a little misunderstood...She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous..."

"Hey cutie!" Justin cried, grabbing me around the waist as I walked past him, trying to get to Lance, "Wanna go back into the woods with me?"

"Get off me J," I said, without cracking a smile, "I'm on a mission."

He laughed, and let go of me.

"Well, who am I to stand in the pathway of destiny?" He laughed, going back to where Helen was now sitting talking to Chris and Holly.

Lance was standing by himself at the edge of the cliff...Looking down into the valley. He had his hands in his pockets, and the most peaceful look on his angelic face...I wanted to reach out and touch him...I wanted to capture the way he looked at that moment, and hold onto it forever.

I cleared my throat nervously, and began to dig at the dirt underneath me with the toe of my shoe.

Lance turned and looked at me, the starlight catching in his eyes and making them look like twin pools of ice green fire.

"Hey there!" He beamed, his smile reaching into my core and turning it inside out.

"Hi." I said, all of a sudden feeling like I hadn't known him for years...all at once I felt like a nervous school-girl talking to her crush. Every word out of my mouth sounded strained and practiced at the same time.

"Lance...can we talk?" I blurted out, swallowing my fear and just letting the words come out of my mouth...

"Sure!" He grinned, "I've always got time for you, you know that!" He sat down at the edge of the cliff with his legs dangling over the edge...He patted the ground next to him, and I lowered myself tenatively at his side.

We sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity...staring down into the chasm at our feet.

"Don't you feel sometimes when you're up here, like you're sitting at the edge of the world?" He asked suddenly, "Like maybe if you jumped off the cliff, you actually could fly?"

Once again, the words bubbled up out of my chest and came out my mouth without my even having a chance to think of them...

"Lance...I think I'm falling in love with you." I said into the wind.

He was silent. He didn't even look over at me. My heart crept up into my throat, I didn't know if he was going to laugh or cry...such was the look on his face. I wanted to suck the words back in and swallow them as soon as they were out.

He reached up and pinned his hair back from his face.

"Really?" He said finally.

"Lance..." I said, suddenly feeling very stupid for having said anything at all, "I'm sorry...forget it...forget I said..."

He didn't utter a word...Just reached out and cupped the back of my head in his hand, and before I knew it, our lips crushed together. A slight groan escaped the back of my throat, and I reached up, allowing my hands to get lost in his hair.

Our tongues explored the crevices of one another's mouths...His arms went around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to say that?" He asked me between kisses.

It didn't take long for our friends to notice what was happening. We were cheered on by assorted whoops and hollers from the whole gang.

We continued to kiss passionately...he layed the palm of his hand against my stomach, just up under my sweater.

"Lance..." I breathed, pulling away from him slightly, "Lance...we'd better stop."

He nodded, and shook his head back and forth forcefully, trying to regain his composure.

"You're right." He said, then a wicked smile crept over his face. "You're a damned good kisser..." He blushed slightly.

I giggled, "So are you..." I told him.

He stood up and offered me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet, catching me in his arms.

"You think this is the start of something for us?" He whispered into my hair as he held me.

"It might be...if you play your cards right!" I smiled.

"Round Here...We're carving out our names. Round Here...We all look the same..."

We had a place that we always went to play Truth or Dare...

It was a giant tree, just a few feet down the embankment...off the trail just slightly, but not far enough that we would get lost.

The other trees around it, created a canopy...cascading moonlight down onto the forest floor. Sometimes when the game grew boring to me, I would trace the patterns on the ground around me with my finger.

The ten of us sat in a small clump beside the tree...Just beneath the spot where we had carved our first names the first time we had discovered this spot almost three years before...Back before any of us were couples...And as another person would join our group, they too would get to carve their name...

Lance sat down beside me and smiled at me. I smiled back coyly, and looked away. He laughed softly, and pulled me into his arms.

"Well hot damn!" Holly cried out, "It's about damned time you two!"

Helen began to clap her hands loudly, "How about a round of applause for the late bloomers?" To which everyone began to applaud.

I blushed madly, and hid my face in my hands.

Once the focus was off of me and back onto the game at hand...I settled into Lance's arms as though I was created to fit there.

The game started out as it usually did...this person had to hump that inatimate object...but then it was my turn...and what was worse? It was Justin's turn to dare me...

"Becky...I dare you and Lance to go into the woods for half an hour...and do what comes naturally." He said with a wicked smirk.

Lance and I looked at each other...he grinned, and I blushed.

"Well..." Justin said, impatient as usual.

I rolled my eyes back in my head, and got up...Lance stood up beside me.

"Fine, Justin...but I guarantee you that what you THINK is going to happen, isn't what's going to take place!" I said, taking Lance by the hand, and pulling him behind me into the trees.

I know that Justin's intention was for something sexual to take place while Lance and I were alone in the woods...but he did NOT get his wish...Lance and I sat in the branches of an overgrown tree...and he held me in his arms. We sat silently for a long time, just looking around us.

He tilted his head down and kissed my temple. His lips felt soft and wet against my warm skin.

"Do you feel strange about this?" He asked quietly.

I settled back into his arms a bit, "Not really..." I answered, "Do you?"

He smiled, and what was strange was - Without looking at his face, I could FEEL him smiling.

"Not at all." He informed me, "I'm just glad that you feel the same way."

He reached forward and pulled my face around to his...Our lips met, and a fire started burning deep inside me.

It hadn't seemed like half an hour had passed when we heard the rest of the group calling through the woods for us.

"Awe!" Lance sighed, hugging me close to him, "Is it time to go back already?"

I smiled and lay a soft kiss on his lips, "We could stay here and make them come looking for us!"

He laughed, "No...we should go back." He slipped his fingers around mine, and we walked hand in hand back to the group.

"Round Here we talk just like Lions...But we sacrifice like Lambs...Round Here she's slipping through my hands..."

The group finally broke up at about 1 in the morning...Mel, Holly, and Steph were coming home with me. As we stood outside my car before we left the mountainside, Lance kissed me softly, and told me he would call me later that day.

On the ride home, the girls grilled me about what took place in the woods...I told them the truth.

"So you didn't even get to see him naked?" Holly asked in disbelief.

Mel and Steph laughed uproariously from the backseat.

"Noooo..." I said with a laugh of my own, "It wasn't anything like that!"

"Kissing scale?" Mel inquired.

"TEN!" I answered back, giving her a smirk through the rear-view mirror.

"A ten?" Steph asked incredulously, "Somehow I don't think so..."

"Of course she's gonna say ten, Steph!" Mel told her, "It's her man! You think she's gonna say, 'wellll...he kinda sucks!'???"

We all laughed.

"But seriously y'all...he really is a ten!" I insisted, "He has the softest lips I've ever kissed!"

"Then you've never kissed Joey..." Mel said, her voice sounding far off and dreamy.

"Nor would we WANT TO!" Holly cried.

Steph and I giggled as Mel delivered Holly a smack upside the head for her nasty comment.

We got to my house, and all filed inside. Once in my room, we changed into our pajamas and all crawled up onto my California King-sized poster bed. This was a weekend tradition in and of itself.

After the ten of us spent our time up on the mountain, the girls would all come back to my place and we would spend the rest of the night talking and laughing without the guys.

Helen showed up awhile later...her hair all a mess and her clothes wrinkled. No one even needed to ASK where she had been...furthermore...no one really wanted to KNOW!

She excused herself for a few minutes, and took a quick shower before changing into her pajamas and joining our discussion.

The phone rang at 3am...I had to roll over Mel to answer it.

"Hello?" I screeched as Mel dug her fingers into my side tickling me for running her over.

"Hi!" Lance's voice warmed me the second I heard it, and I sighed happily.

"It's Lanciekins!!!!" Holly cooed, the other girls laughed.

Lance laughed, "Love you too, Holl!" He called, "Sounds like you're having quite a party over there."

"Yeah, but these bitches are crazy!" I said, getting playful glares from each of my friends.

"Would it be against all that is holy for a guy to join you?" He asked.

I cringed, and put my hand over the reciever...

"You guys, Lance wants to know if he can come over." I told them.

"HAIL NO HE CAN'T!" Helen yelled, "We don't let the guys come over here after the mountain, girl!"

"Awe, give her a break!" Mel defended, "They just hooked up!"

Helen sat back against the pillows, looking defeated.

"What the hell?" Steph added, tossing her hands in a mock gesture of defeat, "Let the boy come over!"

I uncovered the phone and said, "I guess they all said you can come over if you want."

"Cept for me!" Helen yelled.

I laughed, "Except for Helen..."

"Sleepin' Children better run like the wind - Out of the lightning dream... Mama's little baby better get herself in...Out of the lightnin..."

I don't think I'd ever had six people on my bed before...But it didn't seem to matter. Lance and I cuddled up at the top of the bed, and everyone else sprawled out around us.

We all talked for a long time, the sun had started to shine just slightly through the haze when I snuggled up into Lance's arms and drifted off to sleep. He pulled me closer, and I sighed happily.

When I finally woke up, I was still in Lance's arms...Helen and Mel had already left. I remembered that Mel had to be at work that night, so Helen had most likely given her a ride home.

Steph was asleep in a little ball at the foot of the bed, and Holly was also sleeping...her head rested on my leg.

Lance stirred, and looked over at me, smiling sleepily.

"Good morning!" He said, rubbing at his eyes.

I laughed, "More like good afternoon!"

"That too." He chuckled.

"Could you help me here?" I asked with a grin, motioning toward Holly, "My leg's asleep...and I seem to have a Holly stuck to it!"

He laughed, and leaned down, lifting Holly's head off my leg gently, so as not to wake her up...and placing a pillow under it when I moved my leg away.

Lance got up off the bed and walked to the window...He stretched, putting his hands behind his head and bending backwards slightly. I watched him closely, a soft smile playing about my lips...God...he was breath-taking...

He turned to me suddenly.

"How bout a swim?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I shrugged, "Sure! I'll get my suit." I went into my private bathroom, and quickly changed into my suit, eager to see Lance in our pool again. He looked so sexy with the water beaded up on his tanned skin...

When I came out of the bathroom, Lance stood there in nothing but his boxer shorts.

I gulped as I looked at him - And looked away shyly when I realized I was staring.

"You ready?" he asked, holding out his hand to me. I took it, refusing to look at him. I think he noticed my discomfort with his attire because he said, "I didn't bring anything to wear in the pool...is this okay?"

I nodded as we started out of the room and downstairs to the pool.

"Sure," I said..."Why wouldn't it be?"

He chuckled and held the back door open for me, "Because you just turned about 6 shades of red in a matter of a couple minutes..."

I stepped out onto the concrete and turned to look at him.

"I did not!" I demanded.

He grinned and nodded his head, walking toward the pool with my eyes glued to him...He stepped onto the first step into the water, and turned to me, holding out his arms.

"C'mon...swim with me!" He said, giving me a killer smile.

I took the towel I had wrapped around myself off and layed it in a chair. I looked up at the sky, heavy with ominous grey clouds.

"Lance...it looks like it's gonna rain!" I said, walking toward him, and allowing him to take my hand and gently pull me into the water with him.

He slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer.

"Well, that shouldn't matter..." He said, laying soft kisses on my cheek, "We're already wet!"

I was right. Not ten minutes after we had gotten in the pool did it start to rain. Big fat drops of water fell from the sky, making little round patterns on the surface of the pool all around us.

We started to kiss passionately...the only sound around us was that of the rain hitting the water.

Before I knew it I was up against the side of the pool, my hands travelling up and down his back, our tongues doing their own kind of private dance.

He reached up and untied my bathing suit top...I made a small squeak from the shock of what he did.

He kissed me deeply, "I don't know why this is happening..." He sighed, kissing up and down my neck as he let my suit top float away on the water.

"Me either..." I sighed, "But what do you say we go with it?"

He nodded, kissing across my throat and over to the other side of my neck.

In a matter of moments, we were both undressed...and he was inside me. I kept my legs around his waist loosely, and he moved gently. Our moans blended with the sounds of the rain.

I reached my climax, digging my nails into his shoulders, and calling out his name. My climax brought on his, and he pulled me into him, groaning heavily into my mouth as we kissed passionately and he spilled within me.

I clutched the back of his head with my hand, sighing heavily, and tilting my head back against the edge of the pool as he finished. We stayed there for a long while, breathing heavily, allowing the rain to fall down over us.

"I'm so sorry..." He whispered into my hair, running his hands up and down my back as he held me to him, "I don't know what came over me."

I buried my face in his chest, "It's okay..." I assured him, "If I would have wanted to stop, I would have said so."

We put our suits back on, and got out of the pool. He wrapped a huge beach towel around me, one around himself, and we went back into the house.

I got Lance some of my father's clothes out of his bedroom. Fortunately, my parents were on vacation in Hawaii for a week, so I had the house to myself. Lance changed into the jeans and shirt in the hall bathroom, while I changed into my clothes in my room.

Steph was awake, and had gone into the den to get on the computer, and Holly was still sleeping soundly.

I went into the den and sat down next to Steph at the computer...She was carrying on a conversation with Josh in Instant Message.

Lance came in and told me that he was going to run to McDonald's and pick up some breakfast. He took orders from Steph and I, and I told him what Holly would want...and with a quick kiss, he took off to get the food.

Once he was out of ear-shot, Steph looked over at me with a knowing grin.

"Oh shit..." I said, she didn't even have to say anything...I know she had seen something.

"Did you have a nice swim?" She taunted, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

I blushed like crazy, "What did you see?" I squeaked.

She laughed, and typed something to Josh on the computer quickly, "Don't worry Bex, I didn't stand there and watch...I just looked out the window to see where you two had gone...noticed what was happening, and went about my own business!"

I sighed, "We probably shouldn't have done what we did..."

"Why not?" Steph asked, "I don't see anything wrong with it!"

"Really?" I asked her, still not sure of myself...or of what had just happened.

She shrugged, "Bex...it's a natural thing! You guys have feelings for each other. And it's not like you guys just met!"

I nodded in understanding, "That's true..."

I felt better about it. There was a gentle, pleasureable burning rushing through my body. And I realized, as I thought about it, and concentrated on it...that it was love.

"She says "it's only in my head." She says..."Shh, I know...it's only in my head..."

Chris and Josh came over as we were finishing breakfast. We sat in the living room watching a video as the rain poured outside.

Lance and I snuggled in the loveseat, sharing a glass of Rum and Coke that I had made from my parents wet bar.

Holly and Chris lay on the floor in front of the fireplace, not really watching the movie. They both just stared into the fireplace silently, arms and legs entangled.

Steph and Josh were both lost in the movie...Josh sat at one end of the couch, with Steph sprawled out across it with her head in his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair mindlessly, staring at the screen.

The phone rang shrilly...interrupting the peaceful silence. I got up from Lance's embrace and grabbed the cordless off the base.

"Hello?"

"Becky...are you alone?" It was Helen...and she sounded upset.

"No...but I can be." I said, Lance looked at me questioningly, and I shrugged. I took the phone into the kitchen, and pulled myself up on the counter, "Okay babe, I'm alone now...What's up?"

"I think I'm fucking pregnant! That's what's up!" She cried.

The words took a moment to register...but then I yelled, "WHAT????"

"Oh god Beck..." She said forlornly, "What the hell am I going to do?"

"Are you SURE?" I asked her, still in shock.

"No...not totally..." She drawled, "But I'm a week late for my period!"

"Helen, you have GOT to go get tested!" I told her, just then Lance came into the kitchen to see if I was okay. He gave me a strange look, and I shook my head as though to tell him 'Not now...' He nodded understandingly, and grabbed another can of Coke out of the refrigerator, then went about making another drink.

"I know I do...but I'm scared!" She said, I could tell she was starting to cry.

"Look girl, where are you? I'll come get you and we can go together if you want..."

"I'm at home..." She told me, "Oh shit...what am I going to do?"

"Don't stress, whatever you do..." I said, "I'll be over in a few minutes."

"Thanks Becky," She said, starting to cry full force, "I knew I could count on you..."

"Do you mind if I bring Lance?" I asked her.

"I guess not..." She said through tears, "Everyone's gonna know sooner or later..."

"Don't think like that...Don't think the worst." I reassured her, "This might just be a false alarm."

"Yeah, I'll try..." She said with a sigh, "See you in a few." She hung up the phone.

"What's going on?" Lance asked me, as I clicked the phone off and ran my hands back through my hair with a loud sigh.

"Helen thinks she might be..." I started...looking into his eyes meaningfully.

"Oh god..." He said, "What's she gonna do?"

"I'm gonna go get her and take her to the free clinic to get her tested." I informed him, hopping off the counter, "You can come along if you want to."

He shook his head softly, "No...I think you two should be alone. I'll stay here with the others."

I gave him a soft kiss, "You're so sweet." I said.

He hugged me close. "Thanks...but you're sweeter."

I laughed, and he said, "Babe?"

"Yeah?"

"This just makes me think...y'know? About what happened earlier?" He said, worry coming to his face.

I nodded, "Yeah...I know...We have to be more careful from now on." I told him.

"Yes, we do..." I started to walk out of the kitchen, and he called after me, "But Bex?"

I turned and looked at him.

"If anything like this ever happened to us..." He said, visually searching for the words, "I would take care of you..."

I smiled softly.

"Thank you..." Was all I could think of to say. And with that, I turned and went to get my shoes on.

"But the girl on the car in the parking lot says "Man, you should try to take a shot..." Can't you see my walls are crumblin?"

Our shoes squeaked on the floor as we walked toward the doctor's tiny office to get the results of Helen's pregnancy test. She was gripping my hand so hard I thought her nails would draw blood.

We walked into the office, and sat in the hard wooden chairs in front of the doctor's desk. Still holding hands. The fear in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"Are you Helen?" The doctor asked, looking at the chart in front of him. The free clinic only asked for your first name, just to keep a little bit of privacy for the patient.

"Yes?" She gulped. My heart went out to her. Helen was normally so strong and outspoken, but right now she just looked...weak.

"Well, I have some good news for you...Or bad news...depending on how you feel about the prospect of being pregnant." He said, closing the folder that held the chart.

Both Helen and I gulped audibly.

"And..." I said, knowing that Helen couldn't speak herself right then.

"The test came out negative." The doctor said.

It was as if the clouds had opened up and the sun peaked through them. The fear on Helen's face melted, she let go of my hand and shot to her feet.

"REALLY???" She cried joyously, "I'm not?"

The doctor shook his head with an amused smile on his face, "Nope...You're sure not."

Helen threw her arms around my neck and pulled me up from my chair. We both laughed and jumped up and down happily. Suddenly she stopped, and looked at the doctor with a raised eyebrow.

"Then how come my period hasn't come yet?" She queried.

The doctor smiled, "Sometimes stress can make your menstrual cycle go off kilter a little bit. If you just relax, and stop looking for it...It will come."

Helen beamed. "Thank you so much!" She said, reaching across the table to shake the doctor's hand.

"You're quite welcome." He said, "But if I may be quite frank...You should seriously consider using protection whenever you're sexually active."

She nodded her head up and down like one of those little dolls that you put in car windows. "Oh I WILL!" She pledged, "You can count on it."

Helen and I both left the clinic with about twenty condoms in a paper bag. I felt kind of strange asking if I could have some too. But the doctor obviously saw nothing wrong with it, because he was happy to oblige.

I took Helen back to my house, and as we came into the living room, Lance gave me a questioning look. I simply smiled, and shook my head no. He grinned, and gave Helen a thumbs up, to which she replied with a wink.

"She looks up at the building...Says she's thinkin' of jumpin'. Says she's tired of life...She must be tired of somethin'..."

Holly and I had been friends for a long time. And as we wandered around the kitchen making lunch for everyone together, we improvised a little bit by tossing food at eachother over the breakfast bar in the middle of the room.

"So...how are things with Chris?" I asked, pelting a cherry tomato at her.

She laughed, and picked the tomato up off the floor, tossing it into the sink.

"Good I guess..." She said, dumping a small bottle of italian dressing into the salad.

I stuck a pickle slice into my mouth and raised an eyebrow at her. "Just good?"

"I dunno Bex..." She sighed, "I love him like crazy...but sometimes I wish we could be more serious."

"How so?" I asked.

"Well...kinda like Steph and Josh..." She drawled in her thick southern accent, "I just wish that Chris and I could have that kind of depth sometimes."

"Tell him that!" I told her, carrying a plate of sandwiches to the table.

"I've tried!" She insisted, "But he always makes a joke of it!"

"Holly..." I said, pulling myself up on the counter beside her, "That's just Chris's personality though..."

She nodded, "I know. That's why I try not to make a big deal out of it."

We called the troops in to lunch...and of course, the guys were first. Justin had come over when Helen called him and told him about her scare.

When he came through the door, Chris shot up from the chair and screamed, "WELL!!! IF IT ISN'T THE SPERMINATOR!!!" Causing Helen burst into hysterical laughter, and throw her Bloody Mary halfway across the room.

That's when Holly and I had left Justin, Chris and Helen to clean up the mess, while we went to make lunch. Stephy, Josh & Lance were playing a video game on the Playstation...Screaming at each other like it was a football game or something.

The guys ran through the door to the kitchen, and began to tear into the sandwiches. I felt like we girls should take up shelter or something for fear of getting eaten ourselves by mistake.

The eight of us gathered around the table, (Imagine that, we actually got the guys to SIT down with their food!) and ate lunch together.

"You make one hell of a sandwich, Bex!" Chris said, taking a huge bite out of his second one thus far.

"I wouldn't know..." Helen teased, "I didn't get one!"

"Yeah, me either!" Steph said, half-pouting.

Chris looked down at the three sandwiches piled on his plate. He picked one up, and tore it in half - handing Helen and Steph each a portion of it.

The rest of us all said, "AWWWWWWWW!" in unison, causing the whole table to erupt into laughter.

"He must really like y'all!" Holly said with a grin, "He doesn't share his food with just anyone!"

"Okay, you two are going to make me PUKE!" Justin cried to Steph and Josh. They were taking turns feeding each other salad...I thought it was kind of cute.

Josh responded to Justin by flinging a piece of salad at him. It stuck to his hair.

"Ohhhhh no!" Lance interjected, "Y'all aren't gonna start a food fight!" He looked back and forth between Josh and Justin sternly, "Cause I'm not gonna have Becky havin' to clean up after you two."

"How cute is that?" Helen said with a chuckle, "He's stickin' up for his woman!"

Lance nodded with a cute little purse in his lips. I leaned over and gave him a kiss.

"Round Here...she's always on my mind. Round Here...Hey man, we got lots of time..."

That night after Mel got off work, we all went to a club to dance. Lance held me close to him through the slow songs...swaying me gently back and forth to the music.

We kissed softly as we danced, his hands playing over my back, daring to make their way to my butt...they never did though, merely hinted at it.

We all crowded into the same booth and had drinks together. It was a fun and relaxed atmosphere. I lay my head on Lance's strong shoulder, and he reached his arm around me, and cuddled me closer to his side.

I closed my eyes and let the beat of the music coming off the dance-floor seep into me. I realized how much had come to pass since this weekend began.

Lance and I had started a romantic relationship...and consumated it...

Josh and Steph had broken up, and then gotten back together...

Joey and Mel had helped me to face my own fears...For Mel that was really nothing new, but for Joey? It was almost unheard of!

Helen and Justin had probably faced the biggest trial of us all...their whole lives could have been changed had things turned out differently.

Who knew if Holly would ever confront Chris about possibly making a deeper connection in their relationship...Regardless of what she said, I knew that she loved him the way he was.

It was hard not to love Chris. One of those goofy smiles, or a really stupid joke at just the right time, and you were smitten with the guy.

I guess you couldn't have asked for ten more different people to get along so well...Sure, we had our fights...Sure, we didn't ALWAYS agree, but the end result always stayed the same. We loved each other with an almost animalistic protectiveness that seemed to shelter us from the world.

I had, in all honesty, nine best friends. It wasn't fair to categorize them. And they in return, also had nine best friends. It was a very nice, and comforting position to be in.

"Round Here...we're never sent to bed early...and no one makes us wait. Round Here we stay up very, very, very, very late..."

The whole group crashed at my place that night, since it was Sunday, and no one had to work that day.

Lance and I ended up making love again, this time using protection, and this time out of the clear view of the others. We slept together in my parents bed, wearing nothing but contented smiles. He held me softly, his hands gently travelling up and down my back even in his sleep.

I lay awake and stared at his peaceful face. Losing myself in the beating of his heart. Wanting to just reach up and kiss his soft lips, and never let go.

He must have felt me staring...because he stirred and his eyes fluttered open.

"Hi there." He smiled groggily, pulling me up closer to him and laying a kiss on my forehead.

"Hi." I sighed happily, placing tender kisses on his chest.

"Why are you still awake?" He asked.

"I was watching you sleep..." I said, blushing slightly at my confession.

He laughed, and when he laughed it seemed to shake my whole body. His voice was deep and warm, with a soft hint of a southern accent.

"Well, I guess I should try to sleep pretty for you then." He said with a grin.

"You already do." I told him, and he tilted my chin up to kiss me softly.

"Y'know what?" He said quietly, almost thoughtfully.

"What?" I asked him, watching his face as he propped himself up on one elbow, looking down on me.

"I always knew that we would end up together this way..." He said, running his fingers along the side of my face.

"Oh, did you?" I laughed amusedly.

He nodded, "Yep...From the first time you dumped mud in my hair in preschool. I told myself, 'Lance...that's gonna be the girl you love all your life.' "

"I did that quite a few times, if I remember correctly." I laughed, remembering how his face had puckered up sourly, just before he started to chase me around the playground.

He touched the tip of my nose with his finger playfully, "You did! It was your life's goal to terrorize me."

I giggled, "It still is!"

He laughed happily, and pulled me into his arms, he turned over onto his back quickly, so I was laying ontop of him, staring down into those beautiful green eyes.

"I love you, Becky..." He said, a large smile on his gorgeous face, "I have always loved you."

The words made my heart stop - But I wanted to hear him repeat them forever.

"I love you too, Lance..." I said, tears threatening to form in my eyes. He pulled my face down and kissed me deeply, and we spent the rest of the night making love to the sound of the rain against the windows.

"Will you catch me if I'm fallin'? Will you catch me cause I'm fallin' down on you..."

Monday brought work. Which meant that I had to go back to the monotonous task of serving pasta to greedy, rude, heartless people...that didn't tip well.

It was my night to close up the restaurant. Which was a job that I hated more than anything I could think of.

I was kind of frightened when I heard a loud knock on the delivery door. I walked up to it tentatively, and pressed my ear against it.

"Who's there?" I called through the thick metal door.

"Delivery for a Miss Rebecca Hunter..." A voice answered back.

I grimmaced, not knowing who would send me a delivery at work of all places, and opened the delivery bay door just slightly, peeking around the corner to see who was standing on the other side.

The man hadn't lied. There he stood, holding a huge bouquet of wildflowers.

"Are you Rebecca Hunter?" He asked, looking at his clipboard to check the name.

"Yes..." I said, still wondering who had sent me a gift at work.

"These are for you." He said, holding out the flowers. I took them from him.

"Just a moment," I said to him, "I'll get you a tip from my purse..."

"No need." He told me, waving it off, "The person that ordered them tipped me quite nicely...You have a good night ma'am." And with that, he took off down the alley way.

I closed the door behind him, and latched it. And then pulled out the little white card sticking out through the flowers, it read:

I smiled, and sighed deeply, clutching the flowers to my chest and inhaling their heavenly aroma. Then went back to my work, humming happily to a song that was only in my head...and my heart.

"Oh man, I said I'm under the gun...Round Here..."

I walked through the parking lot toward my car, holding the flowers that Lance had sent me gingerly, so as not to break them.

I put them in the backseat, and walked around to the driver's side to unlock the door.

Suddenly, a set of strong hands were on my waist, and I let out a loud, peircing scream.

My mind started to run about a million miles an hour...I didn't want to end up dead or raped...so I began to jerk violently, trying to pull myself out of my attacker's grasp.

"LET GO OF ME!!!!!!!" I screamed as loud as I could, "NO!!!!!!"

"Baby...baby, it's okay...It's me!" Lance turned me around and pulled me into his arms, still screaming. He clutched me to him, and smoothed my hair, "I'm so sorry Becky...I didn't mean to scare you..." He purred into my ear.

I was crying...hard...A fright like that will pull the tears right out of you.

"Shhhhh..." He said soothingly into my hair, "Oh god, baby...I'm sorry."

I wrapped my arms around Lance's neck and cried. I still couldn't say anything, I had had far too much of a shock to even THINK of speaking. He just held me to him as tight as he could and murmurred into my ear how sorry he was for scaring me.

Finally we seperated, and he kissed me deeply. I felt bad for how worried I had made him.

"Did you get the flowers?" He asked when our kiss ended, and he placed his hand at the side of my face.

I nodded, "Yes...thank you. I loved them." I managed, trying to regain my composure.

He smiled, "Well, I guess I don't have to worry about you protecting yourself should something ever happen!"

He bent down and pulled up his pantleg, revealing a bloody sore where my shoe had hit him as I kicked to get free.

"Oh Lance!" I cried, examining the wound more closely, "I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry about it baby," He assured me, dropping his pantleg and smiling into my eyes, "I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that." He laughed, "It's a good thing I didn't pick you up and swing you around like I planned...you might have kicked higher..."

I cringed at the thought.

"Well, what do you say we get out of this parking lot, and go back to your house?" He asked, pushing a lock of hair back out of my face.

I smiled, suddenly getting an idea.

"No..." I said, "But I do know where we should go."

He looked at me curiously, "Where's that?"

"Get in!" I told him, motioning toward the car, "I'll show you!"

He made sure that the doors were locked on his SUV, and then got into the passenger's seat of my convertable. He reached over and held my hand as I drove.

We didn't play the radio, we just drove along listening to the sounds of the night around us.

"Ahhh...good idea!" He said, leaning across the seat to kiss me on the cheek as I pulled up to the base of our mountain.

"And I can't see nothin'...Round Here..."

Together we hiked up the trail, and took our places at the edge of the cliff. The night was clear, and the stars shone down on us from above. We could see down into the valley below, and the moon cascaded off the rocks, bathing everything in a gentle blue light.

"This is really beautiful." He breathed, pulling me back into his arms so that the back of my head rested against his strong chest.

"Yeah, it is." I agreed, sighing happily.

He reached down, and tilted my chin up to kiss me.

"But none of it is as beautiful to me as you are..." Our lips met, and we kissed deeply.

And the night passed by around us...but we never took notice. By the time we headed back down the trail for the car, it was already well into the morning.

We went back to my house, and fell asleep cradled in the security of each other's arms on my bed. I knew in the deepest parts of my soul that he was all I would ever want...or need. And from the possesive yet gentle way he held me, I knew that he felt the same...

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