Okay, peeps, I'm going to re-post from ewfn. Hopefully, I'll still have some readers. ^_^

Disclaimer: No, I do not know and am not affiliated in any way with Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, or Dominic Mongahan. Or any other celebrities that happen to appear. However, Shye, Julie, and Kylah are my characters, please don't take them.

Rating: This story is mostly going to be PG-13, although borderline R for language.


Chapter One

Shye sat in the coffee shop, tapping her pencil on the textbook that lay open in front of her. She wasn’t really concentrating on the book she was too tired. Shye had been studying for finals for almost twenty-four hours straight. Her brain was basically mush at this point. She carelessly watched her two best friends, Kylah and Julie, desperately trying to figure out how to solve a physics problem. The three girls were drawing to the end of their second to last year at The University of Southern California in Los Angeles. They were all enrolled in the school of pharmacy. Therefore, they were studying their brains out for mainly science courses. Which, of course, are strange forms of hell. Shye looked at her watch. It was nearly one in the morning. Thankfully, the coffee shop stayed open all night, because Shye realized she was nowhere near being finished studying.
“I need intravenous coffee,” she mumbled to her friends, as she awkwardly stood up and stumbled towards the counter. Shye began to rub her eyes sleepily, and didn’t notice the man who was standing in front of her. She ran smack dab into him. He turned around with a surprised look on his face.
“Sorry,” Shye said, as she continued to rub her eyes. Her contacts had been in too long and were making her eyes super dry.
“That’s alright,” a surprisingly Scottish voice answered her. Shye’s eyes widened a little when she heard it. She looked at the man and frowned. She must have been really sleep deprived because she would have sworn that she had just run into Billy Boyd. She should know, she had watched Lord of the Rings a million times. But, then again, she did have limited brain cells left from studying.
Meanwhile, Billy had noticed the slight flicker of recognition in her eyes. He silently groaned, waiting for the onslaught of girlish screams that he figured would come. However, he was wrong. Shye just walked around him and ordered her coffee. Billy breathed a sigh of relief, and walked over to join his friends, Orlando and Dom, at a nearby table.
“I think that girl recognized me,” Billy said, pointing to Shye.
“She didn’t freak out, did she?” Orlando asked tiredly. He wasn’t in the mood for a little gushing fan club at the moment.
“No,” Billy answered, “She just looked kind of confused.”
“I think she’s about to fall asleep, or something,” Dom said, “Look at her.” They all looked over at Shye who was standing by the napkins. She was trying to stir her coffee but her head kept bobbing down and her eyes kept closing.
“She must be a student at the university. Isn’t it finals time? That’s probably why she’s so tired,” Orlando supplied. The three friends watched the girl comically trip on her feet on the way to her table. As she started to walk by them, she paused. She looked at Billy and scrunched up her eyes.
“So, maybe I’m sleep deprived, but I’m thinking you’re Billy Boyd,” Shye said sleepily.
“Yes, actually, I am,” Billy responded.
“Good, so I haven’t lost all my brain cells,” Shye said, smiling deliriously. The guys all sat up and noticed when she did this. Her smile lit up her whole face. It was one of the most beautiful smiles any of them had ever seen.
“So,” Orlando said quickly, trying to get the girl to stick around for a few more minutes, “What are you studying?”
Shye looked over at him, finally noticing there were others at the table with Billy.
“Well, I didn’t realize this coffee shop was visited by so many members of the Fellowship,” Shye said dryly, “I’m studying this.” She pointed at her shirt, which read Physics Cheat Sheet, and had all sorts of long calculations on it.
“Physics, so that must be pretty hard,” Orlando responded, wishing she would smile again, “How long have you been studying for?”
“What day is it?” Shye asked with a genuinely confused look on her face.
“It’s Thursday,” Dom answered with a grin.
“I don’t know,” Shye said shrugging her shoulders, “I’ve been studying since sometime Tuesday, I guess.” She seemed to sway a little on her feet. Billy reached out to steady her.
“Maybe you should get some sleep,” he suggested kindly.
“Nope,” Shye said, “My final is today at six o’clock, so I’ll be studying until then. After that, going to that bar down the street, The Keg, to celebrate the end of the eternal torment of school. It should be a lot of fun, you guys should stop by.”
Orlando recognized the name of the bar and nodded his head in agreement to her invitation. He was pretty interested in this girl.
“Oh well, back to the horror,” Shye said pointing to a table piled high with books, scratch paper, pencils, and a few calculators. As she began to walk away, Orlando called out.
“Hey,” he said. Shye turned around expectantly.
“I didn’t catch your name,” Orlando stated.
“Oh,” Shye responded smiling, “I’m sorry.” A huge grin crossed Orlando’s face; he had made her smile again.
“I’m Shye.”
Orlando looked at her, confused.
“You’re what?” Billy asked.
“Shye.”
“You’re shy?” Dom asked slowly.
“Yes….I mean no,” Shye answered trying to explain, “That’s my name. S-h-y-e, Shye.”
“Oh,” Dom said, laughing, “I thought you were telling us you were shy.”
“I get that a lot,” Shye responded, “I better go.” She tried to smoothly walk away, but ended up tripping again. She was too damn tired! Billy and Dom laughed as they watched her stumble. Orlando seemed lost in his own world.
“What are you thinking about?” Billy questioned.
“We are going to that bar later,” Orlando said firmly. Billy and Dom groaned simultaneously. Another night of following around Orli as he chased some girl.
In the meantime, Shye had rejoined her friends.
“Show me how to do this problem,” Julie demanded.
“Yes, boss,” Shye said sarcastically. But, her mind wasn’t on physics. She was helplessly wondering what she had just babbled about to three of her favorite actors.

Chapter 2
“Freedom, sweet, sweet freedom!” Shye sang as she happily danced around the outside of the classroom with Kylah, as they waited for Julie to finish taking her test.
“I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so….scared,” Kylah rambled deliriously. On any average day, Kylah was a hyperactive babbling type person. After studying her brains out, she was downright crazy.
“Weeee!” Shye squealed, as the two friends continued to prance around the hall like lunatics. The more studious of their classmates scowled as they walked past them. In fact, Julie frowned at them when she exited the classroom. She had a pretty serious attitude, and got easily annoyed with Shye and Kylah when they were acting stupid. Which was basically at all moments for Kylah.
“Come on,” Shye persuaded, “We’re going party!”
“No way,” Julie complained, “I have to go home and take a shower first.”
“No time for that, there is liquor and drunken dancing calling my name,” Kylah exclaimed. Shye and Kylah had to basically drag Julie all the way to the bar.
“Look at us, we’re disgusting street rats,” Julie whined.
Shye looked down at what she was wearing. The same wrinkled physics t-shirt, old jeans, and some raggedy flip-flops. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she had no make up on. Kylah and Julie’s appearances were similar.
“Who cares, Julie, everyone else there is going to look like this, too. We’ve all been studying insanely for the past week,” Kylah explained. Shye paused for a minute and a wicked grin appeared on her face. If only her friends knew who might show up tonight. Then they’d both be complaining about going home to change.
“Come on, ya’ll,” Shye squealed, “Let’s hurry.”
Kylah and Julie cringed at Shye’s voice. She had slightly lost her old southern accent, but every time she said, “ya’ll” it came back with full force.
“Alright, ya’ll,” Julie said with an exaggerated voice, “Let’s go.”
Shye frowned as her two friends giggled.
“I don’t sound that bad,” she protested. Now, she was glad she had the little secret from them. Shye couldn’t wait to see the shocked expressions on her friends’ faces, if the guy’s did show up tonight.
“Here we are, finally,” Kylah announced, as she began to pull open the heavy door of the bar. It was a medium-sized place, mostly visited by students. The three friends had a lot of good times there. When she walked in, Shye scanned the room to see if she saw anyone of “interest.” However, they weren’t there. Oh well, Shye thought, it’s only 9:30, maybe they’ll show up later. She followed her friends to order some drinks, so the end of final’s celebration could officially begin.

Orlando paced the sidewalk impatiently.
“Come on guys,” he whined, “Hurry up!”
“We’re coming already,” Billy said, “What’s the big rush, anyhow?”
Orlando couldn’t really explain. He wanted to go hang out with Shye really bad. She just seemed to be the kind of person he would like to get to know better. Plus, she had that gorgeous smile. Orlando was looking for anything to get his mind off of Elizabeth. They had broken up three months ago, but he was still really upset. He had fallen in love with her, and she had completely crushed his heart. Orlando sighed and tried to shake those feelings for Elizabeth off his mind. He knew he needed to move on. Shye might not be the one, but he could still use a new friend.
“So, she better have some hot friends, Orli,” Dom announced, “I’m not hanging out with Billy all night.”
“What’s wrong with hanging out with me?” Billy asked.
“Nothing, mate, it’s just you’re not a woman,” Dom answered with a silly grin.
“Well, I’m going to be bored, what am I supposed to do around a bunch of college students?” Billy complained.
“Uh, I could think of a few things,” Dom suggested. Billy groaned inwardly. They never took him seriously. He was in his thirties; he didn’t want to hang out with a bunch of kids. Orlando seemed to read his mind.
“Don’t even say you’re too old,” he said, “Besides, I don’t think Shye and her friends were freshmen. I bet they’re around twenty two or twenty three.”
“Still, Orlando,” Billy responded, “That’s kind of young for me.”
“Billy,” Dom interrupted seriously, “You think too much. We’re all going to have a good time. You’ll see.”
Billy hoped Dom was right.

The three guys finally made it to the bar. When Orlando checked his watch, he saw it was half past eleven o’clock. Things should be pretty interesting around now, he thought. He entered the bar, followed by Dom and Billy. Orlando’s eyes scanned the room to see if Shye was there. It didn’t take long for him to spot her. She and one of her friends he recognized from the coffee shop earlier that day, were dancing crazily and singing something at the top of their lungs. Orlando realized it wasn’t even the song that was playing. He chuckled slightly and made his way over to the girls.

“All I need is your extra time and your…kiss,” Shye sang loudly with Kylah, as they made smooching noises. For some reason, singing Prince songs always made them happy. It didn’t matter that the DJ was playing something else. Julie watched them with a tired expression. They had all been drinking, but Julie always could hold her liquor better. Even if she had been drunk, Julie knew she wouldn’t have gone out there and acted like a fool. That just wasn’t her personality. She’d rather just watch her two friends make idiots of themselves, then make fun of them later when they were sober. Julie frowned when she noticed three guys approaching Shye and Kylah. As a rule, Julie didn’t trust guys. Especially ones who tried to pick up drunken girls in bars, which is what she assumed these guys were doing. One of the three saw her looking and smiled. She glared at him, and turned away. She wouldn’t admit to herself that he was cute. Actually, he looked sort of familiar to her. She wondered why.

Dom couldn’t stop staring at the beautiful girl sitting all by herself. She had the most amazing eyes he had ever seen. They, of course, had just given him a cruel look, but Dom wouldn’t be discouraged. He firmly decided that he would meet her tonight; no matter how many angry looks she shot his way. Casually, he looked in her direction and saw her staring at him. She quickly turned away when he caught her eye. Dom smiled to himself, still got it, he thought.

“Hey,” Shye called out to Kylah, “I need another drink.”
“Me, too,” Kylah responded, as the two went to make their way to the bar. It was then that Kylah noticed Orlando freaking Bloom was standing right in front of her. Her mouth shot open.
“Hey, Shye,” Orlando said.
Shye’s face lit up with a grin.
“Hey,” she answered greeting Orlando, “I’m glad you could make it.”
Kylah stared at Shye like she had grown a second head. Thinking to herself, Kylah realized that she may be drunk and she may be sleep deprived, but she sure as hell knew that Shye did not know Orlando Bloom. So, why the hell were they talking to each other?
Kylah shoved Shye in the side, and gave her a questioning look.
“Oh, sorry,” Shye said with a sneaky grin, “Kylah, this is Orlando, Orlando, this is my very best friend, Kylah.”
“Nice to meet you,” Orlando said.
Kylah stared at him feeling very confused. Then, she got even more confused. She realized that behind Orlando were Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan. Kylah knew she was right, for she had watched Lord of the Rings a million times with Shye.
“I think I need a drink,” Kylah announced loudly. Shye burst into laughter, and finally explained the coffee shop meeting of the morning.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?” Kylah demanded. Shye shrugged her shoulders. Kylah glanced at Orlando. He was such a hunk! Orlando caught her looking and gave her a smile. Kylah desperately wished she could think of something clever to say, but nothing came to mind.
“Let’s go get some drinks,” Shye called out, “Then, I want to introduce ya’ll to Julie.”
The group began to walk towards the bar. Orlando leaned in to Kylah and whispered, “ya’ll” in a confused tone.
“Oh, she’s from the south. You’ll have to forgive her accent,” Kylah said loudly.
Shye shot her a death look over her shoulder. Kylah giggled, she was going to have to get Shye back for this little surprise.

Julie watched her friends approaching with the three guys, who she realized all looked strangely familiar to her. She decided to put on her best bitchy mood, hoping to dissuade any advances from these guys.
“Hey, Julie,” Shye announced sitting down in the booth, “I want to introduce you to some new friends of mine.” Shye proceeded to introduce the men, and Julie finally realized they were those stupid actors from that movie Kylah and Shye watched all the time. Julie frowned when the one named, Dom, sat next to her.
“How’s it going?” he asked her.
“It was going fine,” she responded. Dom just smiled in response. Julie frowned back at him. So, this guy obviously couldn’t take a hint. She’d fix him, all right. Being a bitch was something Julie knew how to do, and she could do it well.

Billy tapped his fingers on the table. He was sort of bored. They all had been hanging out for about three hours, getting to know each other better. He really liked these girls. Well, Kylah and Shye seemed pretty nice. Julie, however, he was unsure about. Although, he was enjoying listening to her snap at Dom every few seconds. It was downright hilarious. She kept being incredibly rude to Dom, but he just wouldn’t leave her alone. Too bad for this Julie, she didn’t know what Billy did. Dom was stubborn. He wouldn’t give up so easily. He loved a challenge. Billy glanced at Shye, Orlando, and Kylah who were deeply engrossed in conversation. Shye caught his eye and gave him a warm smile. Billy smiled back. He probably liked her the best out of all three girls, but figured Orlando had already staked his claim on her. Anyway, she was kind of young for him. Billy decided to just put any romantic notions out of his mind. That was the smart thing to do, after all.

Shye collapsed into her bed. She had a huge smile on her face. Tonight had been so much fun. She really enjoyed hanging out with Orlando, Billy, and Dom. Kylah had a lot of fun, too, especially with Orlando. Julie, well, Julie didn’t like any men, so Shye guessed this situation wasn’t any different. When they had finally left the bar, it had been almost three a.m. She had given Orlando her number, and they had all promised to get together and hang out soon. Shye couldn’t wait. But, there was something more important on her mind at the moment. That was the precious thing called sleep.

Chapter Three

Two months later

Shye hurriedly ran a brush through her hair. If she didn’t get out of the apartment soon, she would be late for work. In her mind, she knew she had stayed out too late last night, which was beginning to become a habit. Ever since she had met Orlando, Billy, and Dom, they had all been hanging out nonstop. They had become really good friends. However, Shye knew she needed to cut down on her social time, because her work was beginning to suffer. She may have been off of school for the summer, but she, as well as Julie and Kylah, had to continue to work in a pharmacy to get some on the job training. The summer was practically over, and the three girls would soon be starting their last year of pharmacy school, where they would do strictly rotational work. Then, they’d be certified doctors in pharmacy. Shye couldn’t wait, but for know she had to work under a rather rude and bossy pharmacist. If she were late, he would go crazy. Shye decided to skip on the makeup for today. She quickly walked into the living room, and groaned when she saw a sleeping form on her couch. Remembering the night before, she realized that Billy and Dom had crashed at the apartment, claiming to be “too tired” to go to their own places. Shye glanced around, and noticed that Dom must have already left. Billy still slept soundly, though. Kylah and Julie had already left for work, so Shye knew she needed to get Billy up and out of there, so she could lock up and head out herself. She swiftly approached the couch.
“Billy Boyd!” she shouted, “Get your lazy ass off my couch!” She tried shaking his shoulders to wake him up, but he just rolled over, ignoring her.
“Billy!” she whined, trying to shake him again. She got no response. Finally, she climbed onto the couch and started jumping up and down.
“Wake up, wake up, wake up,” she chanted loudly. She was amazed that he was still asleep, until she felt a strong grip on her ankle. All of a sudden, the hand yanked her foot, and she fell on top of the couch. Actually, on top of Billy himself. She blew her hair out of her face, and looked into Billy’s amused eyes.
“That’ll teach ya, you shouldn’t be waking up a poor fellow like that,” Billy said.
“Well, I need to go to work, so you need to get up and get out of here,” Shye explained.
“You can be a little late today, you’ve been working like crazy lately,” Billy commented sleepily.
Shye rolled her eyes, and began a rant on her “responsibilities.” Billy good-naturedly pushed her off of him to stop her speech. Shye fell in a very ungraceful heap on the floor.
“Hey,” she complained.
“Well, how am I supposed to get up if you’re laying on top of me?” Billy asked.
“Hurry it up, Boyd,” Shye said with a glare. She stalked into the kitchen, where Billy followed a few minutes later.
“Alright,” Billy said, “I’m going.” Shye couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his sleep-tousled hair. She affectionately reached out and straightened it up for him.
“Sorry I’m rushing you, it’s just my boss will go psycho on me if I’m late,” Shye explained with an apologetic smile.
“It’s alright,” Billy answered, distracted by having her hand in his hair, “See you later.” He went to walk towards the door, but his arm accidentally caught Shye’s bag, which was hanging on a chair. It fell to the floor rather roughly, and they both heard something crack. Billy gave Shye a sheepish grin. Shye hurriedly picked up the bag to see what had broke. She fished her safety glasses for work out of the bag. They were definitely cracked.
“Shit, Billy,” Shye complained, “I need these to work in the lab.”
“When do you need them for?” Billy asked, feeling guilty.
“Probably this afternoon,” Shye whined.
“Tell you what,” Billy said, “I’ll come take you out for lunch and then we can go buy you some more glasses.”
Shye rubbed her eyes tiredly, “I guess that’ll have to do. Now, get yourself out of here before you cause any more damage!”
Billy quickly exited, while Shye grabbed her bag and what was left of her glasses and followed. She locked up the apartment, and hurried to her car.
“See you later,” Billy called out to her with a wave.
Shye waved back, and sped off to work.

Shye stared tiredly at the woman in front of her, as she patiently explained for the third time why the woman’s medicine looked different. The company that manufactured that particular medication had changed the appearance of it. What was once a blue capsule was now white. Shye had to explain this to the patients, so they wouldn’t think that the pharmacy had given them the wrong medication. The woman she was speaking with now could not comprehend the fact that the color of her pill had changed. She kept arguing with Shye that she had been given the wrong thing. Shye opened her mouth to begin the explanation for the fourth time, when she noticed Billy approaching the counter. She hadn’t even realized it was lunchtime. Now, if only she could get this woman to understand she would be able to leave this place.
“Just a minute,” Shye mouthed to Billy, as he watched in amusement as she tried to make the confused woman understand. Billy studied Shye’s face as she spoke with her patient. She had the sort of beauty that you didn’t notice right away. She had an average face, with brown eyes, and long, wavy brown hair. However, it was her smile that did it. It was gorgeous, and it transformed her entire face. Billy was finding out that the more you got to know her, the more amazing you realized she was. She had this different way about her that Billy had never encountered before. He truly enjoyed being her friend. He tried to ignore the other feelings he was noticing at the moment.
“Hey,” Shye called out, interrupting Billy’s thoughts, “Sorry about that, let’s go.”
Shye and Billy walked out to the parking lot. Billy opened the car door for Shye and she got in with a smirk.
“Such the gentleman, Billy,” she said with a smirk. She knew he was still trying to make up for breaking her glasses that morning. Once Billy climbed in the car, Shye gave him directions to a store where she figured she could buy some more glasses. They arrived there in a short amount of time, and went inside. Shye walked around the large store, figuring there should be some safety glasses in the hardware department. She and Billy searched and searched but they couldn’t find any. Shye nicely asked a store employee where she might find some. The woman looked at her like she was crazy. Shye could feel her temper begin to flare up. She hated when employees at stores were rude. Of course, if she worked there she’d probably hate it, too, but come on; whatever happened to the customer is always right. Shye had been annoyed with that woman earlier at her job, but she had been patient and polite throughout the whole ordeal. That’s how employees should be with customers. Finally, after a pretty long brain dead stare the lady told Shye to look in the Lawn and Garden department. Shye quickly walked to that part of the store, with Billy trailing at her heels.
“You know,” she snapped in an annoyed voice, “I see these damn glasses every time I come here, but the one time I need them they’re nowhere to be found.”
The glasses could not be found in that department either. The worker there said to try the sporting goods section. When Shye asked in that department they assured her the glasses were in hardware. Shye was getting so pissed off!
“Does anyone who works here know what they’re doing?” Shye asked angrily.
Billy chuckled at her; she was really funny when she was mad.
Finally, Shye found some glasses. However, they were all tinted so you could wear them outdoors.
“I don’t need fucking Matrix glasses, just some regular clear ones,” Shye complained loudly. Billy burst into laughter at this comment. Shye glared at him. She stomped away muttering expletives under her breath, until she realized she had wandered into the toys section, so she needed to shut up before some kids heard her. Billy caught up with her.
“Hey, relax,” Billy said soothingly, still internally giggling over the “fucking Matrix” comment.
“I know, it’s just the simplest thing for other people is like a quest for me. I have the worst luck,” Shye explained. She knew she got frustrated too easily, but it was always hard for her to do the simplest thing. It was like a black cloud followed her everywhere she went. In fact, that’s what her family told her every time she went home to visit, “the black cloud has rolled in.” Shye took a deep breath to calm herself down. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost time for her to be back at work.
"We better go," Shye told Billy, pointing at her watch.
The two walked out to Billy's car and began the trip back to Shye's work.
"You know, I'm really sorry about all this. I feel pretty guilty," Billy began, thinking Shye was angry with him.
"I don't care," she said, waving her hand around in the air, "It just pisses me off that it has to be a quest. It's always a damn quest!"
"I think you've been watching my movies too much," Billy answered, laughing.
"Ha-ha," Shye responded, sarcastically. They had arrived at Shye's work. She gathered her stuff up, and opened the car door.
"Thanks for lunch, Billy!" she called over her shoulder as she climbed out of the car.
Billy laughed, realizing they had never even gotten a chance to eat. He watched her walk into the building, already wondering about when he would get the chance to see her again.




Chapter Four

Kylah impatiently flipped through the magazine that she held in her hands. She wasn't actually reading it, because she kept staring at the clock. Orlando was supposed to have picked her up for dinner about an hour ago. He was late, once again. Kylah had basically gotten used to his unpredictable behavior. Orlando was too hung up on his ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth. All she had to do was raise her little finger, and he'd drop everything and go running. Kylah pretended like it didn't bother her, when really it did. She had liked Orlando as a friend from the beginning, but now, she was starting to realize her feelings ran deeper. The worst part of the situation was that Orlando seemed to think of her as the one person he could really talk to about all his woes with Elizabeth. So, practically everyday, Kylah had to hear about what Elizabeth was doing or had done to him. She always listened with a sympathetic smile, never revealing the fact that every word he said was like a knife to her heart. Why couldn't he realize how she felt? Just then, Kylah heard a knock at the door, interrupting her thoughts. She quickly got up to answer it.
As soon as she opened the door, Orlando swept by not even looking at her.
"You won't believe it," he said dramatically.
Kylah groaned and placed her hand on her face. Here it comes, she thought.
"She's going out with some director! Can you believe it? How could she do this to me?" Orlando asked, as he flopped himself down on the couch.
"Ummm, I don't know, Orlando," Kylah answered, figuring this was the reason he was over an hour later. Orlando looked up at her finally, and took in her appearance. Kylah was wearing an elegant black dress, and had her long raven hair swept up. Her makeup extenuated her crystal blue eyes. It was at this moment that Orlando realized he had promised to take her out to dinner. He looked down at his slightly disheveled appearance.
"I'm so sorry, Kylah," he exclaimed, "I completely forgot about tonight."
"It's alright," Kylah answered, reaching up to pull her hair down. It fell in a heap well past her shoulders. There was no point in keeping up the elegant look tonight; she knew she'd be in listening to Orlando's complaints for many hours to come.
"Let me go change," she said, "Then you can tell me all about what happened."
"Thanks, Kylah, you're such a good friend," Orlando called out to her retreating form.
Kylah made a face as she entered her bedroom. That's really not what she wanted to be for him. She hurriedly changed from her dress to an old pair of running pants and a t-shirt.
"It's not like he notices what I wear anyway," Kylah grumbled to herself. She slowly made her way back to the living room, and glanced over at Orlando, who had a sad look on his face. She sighed to herself; this was the reason why she kept putting up with him. He was genuinely hurt, and Kylah would do anything to make him feel better. Even if it meant listening to him ramble on about being in love with another woman.
"So, she's dating someone else?" Kylah asked gently, as she sat down next to him on the couch.
"Yeah, it's the director of that new film she's in. I mean, what does he have that I don't?" Orlando asked sadly, as he laid down placing his head in Kylah's lap. She softly began playing with his hair.
"You know, Orlando, you should think about starting to date someone else, yourself. Elizabeth's moved on, you should, too," Kylah stated quietly.
Orlando pouted, "I don't want to."
Kylah began to twirl one of his curls around her finger, not knowing what to say. In reality, she wanted to scream, why don't you take me out? Instead, she remained silent.
Orlando looked up into her eyes and said, "At least I have you to talk to. The guys don't seem to understand, but you always do. I'm so glad I met you."
Kylah smiled down at him, and felt herself beginning to get lost in his deep, brown eyes. She quickly looked away.
"Why don't I cook us something, since we're not going out," she suggested aloud.
"Shye and Julie said you can't cook," Orlando said, laughing.
"Well, I assure you I can," Kylah answered with a silly gleam in her eyes. She got up and walked to the kitchen. Orlando wondered what she was up to.

"You know, that's probably the best mac. and cheese I ever ate," Orlando commented to Kylah, as he ate the last bite of pasta in his bowl.
"I told you I could cook," Kylah said proudly. She stood up and cleared the table, taking the dirty dishes and glasses to the sink. Orlando followed her to help clean up. Kylah began filling the sink with water, and poured some dishwashing liquid in it.
"I'll wash, you dry," she told Orlando. He grabbed a towel from the drawer and began wiping the first glass she handed him.
"So, what'd you do today," Orlando asked her.
Kylah was busy rinsing of a plate, "Oh nothing, just went to work. The usual, you know?"
She turned the plate at an angle, and water shot out. Kylah heard Orlando cry out in surprise. She looked to her side.
"Oops," she muttered, when she saw the huge wet spot on his shirt. She began to giggle, as she watched him stare down in disbelief.
"Hey," he complained at her laughter.
"I'm really sorry, Orlando," Kylah uttered between giggles.
He made a face at her, "If you were still mad about me forgetting dinner, you should have just said so instead of soaking me."
Kylah started to laugh harder, "I'm not mad, really. It was an accident."
"Sure it was," Orlando said laughingly, giving her a playful shove.
"I'll go find you something else to wear," Kylah responded with a grin.
"Okay, throw this in the dryer, will you?" Orlando stated, pulling his shirt off over his head. The grin was swept off of Kylah's face as she was confronted with the sight of Orlando's bare chest. She just stared at him, biting the inside of her lip, and helplessly turning the plate in her hands around and around. A flush began to rise on her cheeks, as Orlando looked at her curiously.
"Are you okay," he asked. Kylah blinked and shook her head. She roughly put the plate down, and snatched Orlando's wet shirt from his hands. Orlando watched as she left the room, without another word. He shook his head in confusion, wondering what was going on with her.
Meanwhile, Kylah was taking ten deep breaths in her room to try and control her racing heart. She knew she was going to have to do better than this, if she wanted to keep her feelings a secret from Orlando. She quickly walked into her closet and blindly grabbed a t-shirt. She headed back to the kitchen, to find Orlando finishing up with the dishes.
"Here," she said, flinging the shirt at him hoping he would put it on immediately.
"Thanks," he called out, pulling the shirt on. Kylah breathed a sigh of relief; maybe she would be able to act like a rational human being now. Orlando walked towards her with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Is everything alright?" he asked again. Before Kylah could think up an excuse, her friends bursting through the door saved her. It was Shye, Billy, and Dom, returning from a movie they had gone to see.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Shye asked Kylah and Orlando. All of a sudden, Kylah saw her friend furrow her brow in confusion, then burst into laughter. Shye pointed at Orlando, and Billy and Dom soon joined in with the laughter.
"What?" Orlando asked, confused.
Shye was practically on the floor at this point.
"Your shirt," she gasped out.
Orlando looked down at his shirt in surprise. When Kylah realized which shirt she had given him, she burst into laughter as well. Because, there was Orlando, wearing her old high school cheerleading t-shirt that said, "cheerleaders kick it" on the front.
"That's just priceless, Orli," Dom said, laughing insanely.
Orlando looked at Kylah, shaking his head. "You sure have it in for me tonight," he commented jokingly.
"I'm sorry," Kylah answered helplessly between giggles. Of course, she hadn't meant to grab that shirt. However, she was sort of glad she had, because now Orlando had forgotten about her strange behavior from earlier. She realized that from now on, she'd have to keep her emotions under control around him. Of course, that would be easier said than done.

Chapter Five

Julie could hear the laughter of her friends from the living room, as she hurriedly got dressed for work in her bedroom. She rolled her eyes in annoyance when she heard Dom’s loud, excited voice telling some story. Julie wished in vain that he would be gone by the time she left her bedroom. He just got on her nerves so badly. If only he would take the hint that she just wanted to be left alone. Julie was not interested in dating any guys, especially not some celebrity. Getting paid all that money just to act in a movie, it made Julie sick even thinking about it. She had worked hard her whole life to get where she was, and then there were these people who just got everything handed to them on a silver platter. Julie couldn’t help but feel bitter about her life. A shudder went down her spine when she let her mind drift to the past. No, Julie told herself firmly, I’m not going to dwell on that tonight. She quickly twisted her hair up in a bun. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her bedroom door. Thinking it was Shye or Kylah, she called out for the person to enter. Julie couldn’t suppress the groan that came from her lips when she saw Dom walk into the room.
“What do you want,” she asked rudely.
Dom completely ignored her harsh behavior, and tried to start up a conversation.
“So, are you going to come watch that DVD with us?” he questioned politely.
“I’m working the night shift,” Julie explained shortly.
“Oh,” Dom said trying not to get discouraged, “I can drive you.”
“No, thank you!” Julie shot back.
“Come on, Julie, I’m just trying to be nice,” Dom said, shooting her his best puppy dog look. Julie stared into his blue eyes for a few moments trying to determine if he was telling the truth. Dom could tell she was weakening.
“Please,” he begged.
Julie rolled her eyes, “Fine, if it’ll make you quit whining, you can drive me to work.”
A huge grin spread across Dom’s face, as Julie quickly brushed past him to head to the living room of the apartment. Dom didn’t know why, he just couldn’t quit thinking about Julie. There was something about her that intrigued him. She was mean to him every chance she got, but for some reason he was still totally attracted to her. Of course, she was beautiful, but it wasn’t just that. Underneath all those sharp comments, Dom could tell there was something that made Julie sad. He wanted to try and make her happy. Dom realized then, that he was standing alone in her bedroom. He hurriedly rushed into the kitchen, and in his exuberance he knocked over a drink that was sitting on the table. Unfortunately, Julie’s white lab coat had been hanging off of a chair that was at the table.
There was now a huge orange juice stain on the coat. Dom cringed, and waited for the angry outburst that was sure to come next. He looked around, noticing that Julie must still be in the living room. Only a matter of time, though. He frantically picked up the coat, and tried to think of something that would make this situation better. Nothing came to mind. Shye entered the kitchen at this point and saw Dom standing there with a deer caught in the headlights look on his face. She looked at the coat, and let out a slow sigh.
“She’s going to kill you for this,” Shye announced sadly.
“Shit,” Dom muttered, thinking this was going to set back the tiny inch he had gained earlier when Julie had agreed to letting him take her to work.
Shye and Dom’s heads both darted up when they heard Julie enter the kitchen.
“Son of a bitch!”
Julie stalked over to Dom, and snatched the coat out of his hand. She glared at him angrily.
“What the hell am I supposed to wear to work now?” she asked between clenched teeth.
Dom gave her a sheepish smile, “Sorry.”
Just as Julie was about to open her mouth and really let him have it, Shye decided to rescue Dom.
“It’s okay, Julie,” she said soothingly, “You can wear my coat to work, and I’ll take yours to the cleaners first thing tomorrow morning.”
Julie continued to glare at Dom as she let Shye’s offer sink in.
“I guess that’s what I’ll have to do,” she said at last.
Shye left the room to go and retrieve the jacket. Dom kept giving Julie these sad looks, which she completely ignored. Once the new jacket was in Julie’s hands, she turned to walk out the door. Dom tried to follow, but Julie stopped him.
“I thought I was driving you to work,” he said hesitantly.
“You can just forget it,” Julie snapped and shut the door behind her. Shye watched Dom stare at the door with a pitiful look on his face. She approached him, and put her arm around him.
“She hates me,” Dom said with a pout.
Shye couldn’t help but smile.
“Actually, I think she sort of likes you,” she announced.
Dom looked at her like she was crazy. Liked him, Julie practically cussed him out every time they saw each other.
“Trust me,” Shye stated, “If she hated you, it’d be a lot worse than it is now.”
Dom couldn’t imagine how it could be much worse than it already was.
“You’ve just got to give her time. She has trust issues, especially with men.”
“Why?” Dom questioned. Shye frowned at this question.
“I don’t really know. She’ll never breath a word about her past. All I can say is that if you really like her, and I think you do, you shouldn’t give up. Besides, now you have me on your side, and I can be a very helpful ally,” Shye said with a sly gleam in her eyes.
Dom smiled in response. Maybe with Shye on his side, he could win Julie’s heart. But, it was still a pretty big maybe.

Meanwhile, Julie was driving to work with a sad expression on her face. She was feeling guilty about the way she had yelled at Dom in the kitchen. It had just been an accident, after all. She had overreacted as usual. Dom was harmless enough, and she knew it. The problem was, she just couldn’t trust him so easily. Her mind wandered back to the last time she had trusted a guy. Julie’s eyes narrowed. She’d never be so foolish again. There was no way history was going to repeat itself. She had learned her lesson all those years ago. But, did it really mean she couldn’t be Dom’s friend, she wondered to herself. Julie sighed as she parked her car. For the rest of the night, she found that thoughts of Dom’s hurt expression were never far from her mind.


Chapter Six

Sunday afternoons could be really relaxing. However, they could also get pretty boring. This was why on this particular Sunday, Orlando, Billy, and Dom found themselves making their way over to the girls’ apartment. They tended to go there a lot now, because there was always something fun going on. Although, today, they found the girls to be a bit subdued once they arrived. The three guys found Shye and Kylah sitting in front of the television, as if mesmerized. Julie was sitting in the recliner reading some sort of article. The boys settled themselves around comfortably and tried to strike up some sort of conversation with the girls.
“So, what have you all been up to today?” Orlando asked.
“Shhhhhhhh!” Kylah and Shye answered him in unison.
The two girls were staring at the TV with dreamy looks in their eyes. They were watching the movie, Ghost, which they had probably each seen a million times. It was on the part where Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore were dancing to Unchained Melody. Both girls were unconsciously swaying back and forth to the music. Orlando figured those two were out of it, so he turned to Julie.
“What have you been up to today, Julie?” he asked.
“I’m reading about this new medication for asthma,” Julie said, not even bothering to look up from the paper in her hands.
Orlando frowned and looked at Billy and Dom for a little help. Billy was about to try and talk to Kylah or Shye again, when the two girls both started screaming.
“Damn it, Carl!” Shye wailed.
“You ruined the moment!” Kylah added. They were, of course, talking to the character in the movie that had interrupted the romantic dance. At this point, the movie paused for a commercial break. Shye stood up to stretch her legs. She looked around in surprise.
“Hey guys!” she called out, “How long have you been here?”
Billy rolled his eyes, “Long enough to see you two spaz out over Ghost.”
“It’s the song that gets to me,” Shye said, placing her hand on her heart and sighing dreamily.
“Le sigh,” Kylah added, joining in with Shye’s theatrics.
Orlando groaned, “Don’t tell me you like that shit too!”
“You only wish you could dance with Demi Moore to Unchained Melody,” Kylah stated playfully.
“Well, now that you mention it,” Orlando said with a devilish smile. Kylah laughed and threw her pillow at him. Her aim was off, however, and she ended up smacking Dom in the face.
“Hey,” he complained, “What did I do?”
He received no answer, though, for the movie had come back on, and the girls were lost in their own world. Luckily, the film was almost over, so the guys only suffered for about fifteen minutes. When it was over, both Shye and Kylah were about to cry.
“You two are wimps!” Billy announced, “I can’t believe how sappy you are.”
“Whatever,” Shye responded, “So, I enjoy my movie romance. That’s the only way I’m going to get it. No guy in real life is that romantic and sweet. There’s no such thing as that kind of love.”
“What do you mean?” Billy asked, frowning.
“Shye takes Julie’s side and doesn’t believe in true love,” Kylah explained.
Julie’s head shot up at this, and she gave Shye an approving smile.
“You don’t believe in true love?” Dom asked Shye. He had pretty much figured Julie would feel that way, but was surprised to find Shye felt the same.
“That’s right,” Shye announced proudly, “I’ll watch my sappy movies, I’ll daydream that Rhett Butler is going to come sweep me off my feet, but I realize the fact that it’s all make believe. It’ll never happen in real life. I mean, I guess you could fall in love, but do I think there’s one true love for everyone? Nope. It’s just who you end up with.”
Billy shot Shye a confused look; she had a pretty cynical opinion. He had never seen that in her before.
“Ughhh,” Kylah exclaimed, “Leave it to you, Shye, to bring up Rhett Butler. I guess you’ll never really quit being a Southern girl at heart.”
Shye smirked in Kylah’s direction as she got up to go to the kitchen; “There’s nothing wrong with being a Southern girl.”
As Shye was filling herself a glass of water, Billy entered the kitchen. He had a curious expression on his face.
“So, you really don’t believe in true love?” he asked.
“No. Why, do you?” Shye fired back.
“Well, sure.”
Shye shot him a skeptical look.
“Answer me this, then,” she ordered, “Have you ever really been in love?”
“Yes,” Billy answered, confused as to where she was going with all of this.
“Aha, but it wasn’t true love, was it? No, it couldn’t have been, because you’d still be with the girl if it were. Face it, there’s no such thing.”
“Maybe I just haven’t met my true love yet,” Billy suggested.
Shye rolled her eyes and finished drinking her water.
“It’s not real, Billy,” she simply stated.
“You know what I think,” Billy responded.
“What?”
“Some day some guy is going to make you eat those words. You’re going to fall head over heels in love, and then what’s going to happen to your little theory.”
Shye started to laugh at the impossibility of this, until she saw the serious gleam in Billy’s eyes.
“You really think so?” she asked staring into Billy’s eyes. He slowly nodded his head in affirmation.
“Well, I guess time will prove who’s right,” Shye said quietly, as she brushed past Billy to go back into the living room. She wondered to herself how the conversation had gotten so serious. Billy’s expression had been unreadable, but it was one she wouldn’t forget for a long time.

Chapter Seven

Kylah hummed softly to herself as she pushed the shopping cart down the aisle of the grocery store. She and Orlando were shopping for the ingredients they needed to prepare dinner that night. They were doing all this for Shye, because it was her birthday. Kylah scanned the aisle, wondering where Orlando had run off to. All of a sudden, someone grabbed her arm.
“Shit, Orlando!” Kylah yelled out in fright. Orlando burst into laughter. The two proceeded to receive a dirty look from an elderly couple that was shopping nearby. Kylah blushed, and carefully steered the buggy down the next aisle. Her head jerked towards Orlando, “Thanks a lot. You scared the hell out of me!”
“It’s not my fault you’re so jumpy,” Orlando said.
“Whatever, let’s go buy the food, so we can go home and Julie can cook it,” Kylah ordered.
“So, Shye doesn’t know we’re having this little dinner for her?” Orlando questioned.
“Nope,” Kylah answered, a smile returning to her face, “She probably thinks we forgot it was her birthday.”
Kylah grabbed a pack of frozen chicken breasts, and threw it in the cart.
“I can’t believe Billy’s not coming. Shye’s going to be upset,” Kylah said.
“Yeah, he felt pretty bad, but he had to fly to New York. Nothing he could do about it. He left me a present to give to her, though,” Orlando explained.
“Ooh, what is it?” Kylah asked curiously.
Orlando shrugged his shoulders and checked out the cart.
“I think we have everything,” he announced, “Let’s go.”
The two waited in line to pay for the groceries. As they were walking in the parking lot, Kylah suddenly screamed, “Race you to the car!”
Orlando watched in surprise as she took off running. So, being the mature man that he was, he took off running after her. The two obliviously raced by the same elderly couple, who sadly shook their heads, wondering what the young people of today had come to.
Kylah beat Orlando to the car and did a silly victory dance.
“You’re an idiot,” Orlando announced when he finally caught up.
“Hey, you were all for it until you lost, sucker!” Kylah said jokingly.
The two loaded the groceries in the car and climbed inside. After Orlando started up the engine, Kylah squealed happily when she heard what song was on the radio. She immediately turned it up, and had to join in.
“Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick, the one that makes me scream she said, the one that makes me laugh she said, and threw her arms around my neck,” Kylah sang aloud, and proceeded to throw her arms around Orlando’s neck.
“Stop it,” he protested, laughing.
“Show me how you do it, and I promise you I promise that I'll run away with you,” Kylah continued pointing her finger in Orlando’s face. Orlando shook his head in mock disgust.
“Spinning on that dizzy edge, I kissed her face and kissed her head, and dreamed of all the different ways I had to make her glow. Why are you so far away? Why won't you ever know that I'm in love with you, that I'm in love with you,” Kylah softly sang the last part of the chorus as the truth of the words hit her. She was very much in love, and he wouldn’t ever know. Kylah quickly removed her arms from Orlando’s neck and sat back straight in her seat.
“What you’re just going to stop there?” Orlando asked. When he got no response, he decided to finish up the song, “You soft and only, you lost and lonely, you strange as angels dancing in the deepest oceans twisting in the water, you're just like a dream.”
“You know it by heart, too?” Kylah asked quietly.
“I guess so, come on it’s The Cure we’re talking about here,” Orlando answered, still wondering why she had suddenly gotten so silent.
“You all right?” he asked.
Kylah slowly nodded her head. But in her mind, she was silently berating herself for falling in love with a man who was in love with another woman.
When the two arrived back at the apartment, Kylah decided to break out the celebratory wine a little early. Come on, she told herself, you don’t want to be moping around on your friend’s birthday thinking about unrequited love. What proceeded after this was a mad search for a corkscrew.

Julie let out an exasperated sigh. She had been trying to cook a nice birthday dinner for Shye for the past two hours. However, she made the mistake of allowing Kylah and Orlando to “help” her. At first, Kylah had been really quiet and very helpful. But soon, this changed. Kylah and Orlando had started to scream and laugh, and then proceeded to get in the way all afternoon. At the moment, they were throwing potato peelings at each other. Julie had enough.
“Stop it!” she called out, “Are you two high or something? Why are you acting like hyperactive freaks?”
“Sorry, Julie,” Kylah apologized, giggling the whole while, “We’ve sort of been sampling the wine.”
There was a loud outburst of laughter from Orlando at this point. Julie peered over to where the wine bottles were, and saw that one was already empty. She looked at the two drunks in front of her. Kylah and Orlando waited for some sort of angry retort, however none came. Julie just shook her head slightly and turned to finish what she was doing. A huge grin spread across Kylah’s face.
“Yayyyy! Julie’s in a good mood!” Kylah squealed, happily jumping up and down. Orlando had a confused look on his face. Personally, he had never seen Julie in a good mood. He didn’t think it was possible. Kylah did, though, and she knew to take advantage. She skipped over to Julie and began making her dance around the kitchen crazily.
“Stop it, Kylah,” Julie protested with a smile, as her body was jerked around in a happy dance.
“No way,” the drunken Kylah squealed. So, the two girls danced around the kitchen to no music, unless you counted Kylah’s very off key performance of the song “Footloose.”
“Orlando,” Kylah shouted, “You have to dance with us!” As he was shaking his head no in fear, Kylah suddenly slipped on one of the infamous potato peels, and took Julie down with her. The two girls landed in a laughing heap on the floor. Orlando shook his head at the absurdity of the whole situation. He walked over to help the girls. He offered his hands to pull them up, but they had a different idea. Julie and Kylah each simultaneously grabbed one of Orlando’s legs, and pulled him down on the floor to join them. He landed with a painful groan. This sent the girls into hysterics.
So, when Dom walked through the door, he ended up seeing Julie, Orlando, and Kylah in a tangled pile on the floor. He stared in awe at Julie. She was lying there laughing! He couldn’t believe it. Her eyes were shining, and the huge smile on her face was unreal. He loved the sound of her laughter. Just then, Julie looked up, the first of the three to notice Dom’s presence.
“Hey,” she told Orlando and Kylah, “Dom’s here.”
The two tipsy ones looked up and greeted their friend.
“I’m almost afraid to ask what you are doing,” Dom stated aloud. He walked over and offered his hand to Julie to help her up.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, mate,” Orlando said.
Dom looked at him in confusion. It was too late. He felt his feet get pulled out from under him, and then there was a party of four on the floor. He looked at Julie, his mouth open with shock. She peered back at him with a fake innocent look in her eyes.
“I think we need more wine,” Orlando announced. He was trying to open the new bottle when they all heard the front door slam shut.
“Hey, Shye,” Julie called out from the floor when Shye walked into the room.
Shye had an annoyed expression on her face. Her day had been shitty so far. Work was beyond stressful, and not a single person had wished her a happy birthday. She peered around the room, and noticed her friends were all on the floor.
“What the hell?” she asked tiredly.
“Happy Twenty Four, darling!” Kylah shouted, finally getting up and running over to hug her. A grin broke out across Shye’s tired face.
“Finally!” she said, “I thought you guys had forgotten.”
“Never,” Kylah answered overdramatically.
Orlando then proceeded to give Shye a glass of wine, and the dinner birthday party officially started.

A few hours and a lot of wine later, they all were sitting in the living room telling funny stories to each other. That is, until Orlando and Dom realized what time it was, and got up to leave. Just as Orlando was about to walk out the door, he remembered that he hadn’t given Shye the present from Billy. He ran back into the apartment and handed it to her.
“This is from Billy,” he explained before dashing off again.
Shye stared at the wrapped present in her hands. Well, she thought to herself, it’s the least that little freak could do since he missed my birthday. It annoyed her really bad for some reason that Billy hadn’t been at her party. She was staring off blankly into space when Kylah’s incessant whining for her to open the gift interrupted her. Kylah was always too curious. Shye carefully unwrapped the small box, and opened it up. She gasped when she saw what was inside.
“What is it?” Kylah asked excitedly.
“I can’t believe he remembered,” Shye whispered, with wonderment shining in her eyes.
Kylah and even Julie couldn’t take it anymore, and both ran to Shye to see what the present was. Inside the box, was a cameo pendant hanging on a delicate silver chain.
“When Billy and I had first met, I mean like the first week, we went shopping. I saw this in the window of some shop, and I was saying how it reminded me so much of a necklace my grandmere had. I really wanted it, but I didn’t have enough money that day. I really can not believe he remembered!” Shye explained to her friends.
“That was so thoughtful of him,” Kylah said.
A sweet little smile spread across Shye’s face, “I’m going call him on his cell to thank him.”
Kylah and Julie watched their friend prance off happily.
“What’s going on with those two?” Julie asked curiously.
“I don’t know, but it’s something, alright,” Kylah answered back.

Shye quickly punched Billy’s cell phone number into her phone. She looked down at the necklace that she had already placed around her neck. She smiled softly to herself when she heard Billy’s voice on the line.
“Hello,” Billy said, his voice scratchy with sleep.
“Hey, Bill,” Shye answered quietly.
A smile lit up Billy’s tired face when he heard who it was.
“Hey, girl,” he responded.
Shye wondered why those two simple words placed a huge grin on her face.
“I just opened your birthday present,” Shye said slowly.
“And?” Billy asked, curious of whether she liked it or not.
“I loved it!” Shye squealed excitedly, “I can’t believe you remembered! You have to be the sweetest guy ever.”
Billy chuckled softly to himself, “Well, I don’t know about all that.”
“Seriously, Billy, thank you so much. This really means a lot to me,” Shye said honestly.
“You’re welcome,” Billy answered seriously.
The two were silent for a moment, each one thinking about the other.
Finally, Shye broke the silence, “I guess I’ll let you go then.”
“Alright,” Billy said.
“I can’t wait till you get back,” Shye whispered shyly. (haha)
A huge smile crossed Billy’s face at her words, “Me either.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Billy hung up the phone and tried to go back to sleep. However, his mind wasn’t cooperating. He didn’t understand why a simple call from a friend could make his heart pound so. I mean it was just Shye. What’s the deal, he wondered to himself.

Song Credit~The Cure~Just Like Heaven

Hey! You're posting this! :D
(One thing less I can miss from ewfn... <_< )

Did I ever tell you I really like this story??

LoL!

~Flower

Chapter Eight

Kylah frowned at the two outfits lying on her bed. She couldn’t for the life of her decide on which to wear. Orlando and Dom were supposed to be taking her out to this club that had just opened. So, she was trying to determine if this occasion merited the midnight blue dress, or the red top and black skirt. Kylah finally gave up, and decided to ask Julie what she thought. She walked to the living room, and saw Julie sitting on the couch with a bored expression on her face.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Kylah asked.
“Nothing,” Julie answered dully, “I’m in such a blehhhh mood tonight.”
An idea formed in Kylah’s head. She and Shye had been discussing Dom’s fruitless efforts of gaining any of Julie’s affections. Kylah had agreed with Shye that Dom would need all the help he could get. So, Kylah decided to start the aid tonight.
“Why don’t you come to the club with me?” Kylah suggested.
Julie made a face, “I don’t know.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun! I won’t take no for an answer,” Kylah insisted, as she walked over to Julie and pulled her up off the couch, “Besides, I need your help in picking an outfit.”
Julie rolled her eyes and reluctantly followed. She decided to go to the club, because if she stayed at home alone, she knew her mind would wander to the more unsettling aspects of her past. It always seemed to do so around this time of the year.

Dom slowly followed Orlando as they made their way into the girls’ apartment. He wasn’t necessarily looking forward to the night. Orlando would probably be off dancing with Kylah the whole time, while he sat all by himself. Dom had asked Julie to come with them, but she had flatly told him no. He really didn’t understand her moods. Maybe he should have asked her again at Shye’s birthday the night before when she was so happy. But, she probably would have said no again, Dom thought to himself sadly. He wondered if he’d ever get anywhere with her. Dom plopped himself down on a chair in the kitchen to wait for Orlando to get Kylah. He didn’t even look up when he heard someone enter the room.
“Hey, Dom,” Julie said softly.
Dom’s head jerked up, and when he saw Julie his mouth dropped open. Her long blonde hair that was normally straight was in curls and waves. She was wearing a short black skirt and this amazing green top that made her emerald eyes stand out even more. She was absolutely beautiful, and Dom couldn’t stop himself from uttering the words.
“You look beautiful,” he said, his eyes wide.
Julie looked away from his serious gaze, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The way he was staring at her made her feel strange, almost embarrassed. It was something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She timidly sat down next to him.
“Thank you,” she answered, still avoiding his gaze.
“I thought you didn’t want to go tonight,” Dom pondered.
“Well, I sort of changed my mind. Actually, Kylah changed it for me,” Julie responded with a tiny smile.
“I’m glad she did,” Dom said, with a huge grin.
Just then, Orlando walked in the room complaining that Kylah was still trying to fix her hair.
“Why does it take her so long to get ready?” he questioned to no one in particular.
“I’ll go tell her to hurry,” Julie announced, walking out of the room.
Orlando studied the happy grin that still lingered on Dom’s face.
“Well, I don’t have to guess what’s got you so chipper all of a sudden,” Orlando commented.
“You know, tonight might not be so bad after all,” Dom said to Orlando with a smirk.

Kylah tapped her finger on the table to the beat of the music that was pounding in the club. She was having what she would call a semi-good time. When they had first arrived, things had been going really well. They had all consumed a few drinks, and were ready to have a good time. However, Orlando had seen some people he knew, and had been talking to them for the past hour. Kylah couldn’t help but feel a little rejected. Orlando hadn’t even asked her to dance one time. She tried to keep her annoyance level down. Kylah smiled when she noticed Dom was staring at the unaware Julie with this sweet look on his face. Suddenly, a young man sat down at the table next to Dom.
“Elijah!” Dom called out happily, “I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“Yeah, I got back yesterday. What have you been up to?” Elijah asked.
As the two caught up, they didn’t notice Kylah staring at them in amazement. She had been an Elijah Wood fan since she was a little girl. His eyes were just…heavenly. Kylah kicked Dom under the table, hoping to get him to introduce her to Elijah.
Dom looked up in surprise.
“Oh, I almost forgot you girls were here. Sorry. Elijah, this is Kylah and Julie,” Dom said.
Elijah gave the girls his best smile, “Nice to meet you.”
Julie seemed particularly unimpressed, so Elijah focused his attention on Kylah. They started to discuss all sorts of things, like what Kylah did for a living, and how she had met Dom, Billy, and Orlando. After a while, Elijah ended up asking Kylah to dance. She happily agreed, relieved that someone finally wanted to dance with her. She looked over in annoyance at Orlando who still seemed oblivious to her presence. Kylah followed Elijah onto the dance floor, carefully diverting her eyes away from Orlando.

Dom stared at Julie as he tried to come up with the courage to ask her to dance. He had been wanting to all night, but every time he tried his nervousness stopped him. Dom watched Julie absently peel the label off of her bottle of beer. Her eyes were on Kylah and Elijah out on the dance floor, and she had an amused smile on her face. Dom took a deep breath and thought here goes nothing.
“Ummmm, Julie?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she responded focusing her eyes on his face.
Dom nervously fiddled with the cap of his beer. He wondered why he was freaking out so much.
“Well, uh, I was kind of wondering if, maybe, you know if you wanted to, um dance with me?” Dom babbled on.
Julie watched Dom fidget as he waited for her answer. She couldn’t blame him for being nervous. Julie knew she had given Dom a hard time in the past, and that this had been unfair on her part. She figured Dom was harmless enough, and maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to have a new friend. Even if he was a guy. Just as Julie was about to agree to a dance, Dom, in the midst of his jitters, knocked over his beer. It was, of course, an almost full bottle. Julie jumped up just in time before the beer could soak her. Dom looked at her with this panicked gaze. He shut his eyes, and waited for her to go crazy on him. After a few moments of silence, he hesitantly opened his eyes. Julie stood there looking at him expectantly.
“Well, I thought you wanted to dance,” she said, her eyes dancing with amusement.
“Uh, yeah,” Dom answered in confusion. He jumped up from the table and followed Julie out onto the dance floor. As the two began to dance, Dom looked over at Kylah who gave him a wink and a thumbs up sign. He grinned back and slowly put his hand on Julie’s back to pull her closer. Julie looked at him quickly in surprise, but the words of protest died on her lips, as she got lost in Dom’s eyes. She had never really noticed quite how blue they were. Not blue like the eyes of that Elijah kid she had just met, but Julie thought his were kind of freaky anyway. Dom’s were the perfect shade, and Julie just couldn’t stop staring. When Dom pulled her even closer, Julie took a deep breath that was released as a shaky little sigh. She didn’t really understand what was happening, and she knew she couldn’t stop it even if she wanted do. Julie felt like she was in some sort of dream. Then, all of a sudden, the memory of a man’s face flashed before her. A face that had brought her nothing but pain. She couldn’t go through that again, not ever. So, Julie abruptly pulled away from Dom.
“What’s wrong,” Dom asked in concern.
Julie stared at him, and Dom could have sworn there was fear in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, “I think I’m going to go sit back at the table.”
Dom watched her hurriedly exit the dance floor wondering what he had done wrong.



Orlando sadly walked back to the table where Dom and Julie were sitting in some sort of awkward silence. He didn’t really wonder about what was wrong with them, for he was too busy thinking about his own problems. He had been talking to some friends of Elizabeth, his ex, all night. They were telling him about how happy she was with her new boyfriend, and that he needed to move on. Orlando was angry that everyone kept telling him this. He still loved Elizabeth. How was he supposed to just move on? Orlando sat down dejectedly next to Julie, and looked around in confusion when he realized Kylah was no longer at the table.
“Hey, where did Kylah go?” he asked aloud.
“Oh, Elijah’s here,” Dom explained, “She’s dancing with him.”
Orlando scanned the dance floor until he spotted them. He frowned to himself when he saw Kylah laughing and dancing crazily with Elijah. He didn’t understand why he all of a sudden felt angry with his old friend. Orlando tried to shake the feeling away, but it lingered. When Kylah and Elijah walked back up to the table, Orlando’s greeting to Elijah was slightly cold. Orlando couldn’t keep his eyes off the happy flush on Kylah’s cheeks. Maybe he shouldn’t have talked to those people for so long. He realized he hadn’t spent any time with her.
“Hey,” he called to her, “You wanna dance?”
Kylah’s eyes scanned his face, “No thanks, I really don’t want to. It’s too hot.”
With that said, she turned back to Elijah to continue their conversation.
Orlando’s annoyed mood slightly escalated at this. Kylah usually always wanted to dance with him. He didn’t understand why she was so interested in Elijah anyway. For the rest of the night, instead of thoughts of Elizabeth plaguing him like usual, all that was on Orlando’s mind was Kylah’s newfound friendship. This, of course, did not put him in a good mood.



Chapter Nine

Shye fiddled impatiently with the necklace Billy had given her. She was staring at the clock, waiting for the hands to move. If only six o’clock would roll around. Then, she could escape work, and start her precious week off. She prayed that a patient wouldn’t walk in at the last second with ten scripts to fill. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, but was only five minutes, the clock struck six.
“I’m out of here,” Shye announced to her co-workers.
“Bye,” one of them replied, “Have fun on your week off.”
“Oh I can, and I will,” Shye responded with a giggle, as she dashed out the door.
Shye got home in record time. She was so excited to begin a week off, where she would have absolutely no responsibilities. She bounded up the stairs in the apartment building. She had excess energy, as if she had eaten three packages of Skittles candy. Shye burst through the door of her apartment, and saw Kylah standing in the kitchen.
“Hey!” Shye squealed, “Isn’t this a great day?”
“Ummm, possibly,” Kylah answered, “Oh, you got a card from your parents today.”
A grin crossed Shye’s face. A card from her parents could only mean one thing, birthday money! Shye grabbed the pink envelope and tore it open. Inside was a card wishing her well, but instead of money, there were four airplane tickets. Shye’s mouth dropped open in excitement.
“Look!” she screeched to Kylah, as she waved the tickets frantically in the air.
“What are those for?” Kylah asked curiously.
“They’re tickets for a flight back home. Momma and Daddy sent extras for you and Julie! We can all have a vacation!” Shye babbled excitedly, as she jumped up and down.
Kylah smiled in response, she and Julie had gone home with Shye one time before. It had definitely been an adventure. She could handle going again. Kylah walked over and began examining the tickets. They’d have to leave day after tomorrow. She frowned in confusion when she realized there were four tickets.
“Why four?” she questioned Shye, “It’s just you, me, and Julie.”
“Oh, the fourth one is probably for Bryan,” Shye said nonchalantly.
Kylah stared at her.
“What?” she demanded, “Bryan? You two broke up three months ago! You still haven’t told your parents?”
“Not exactly,” Shye answered, “I didn’t want to disappoint them, and they really liked Bryan.”
“I don’t know why, he was such a loser,” Kylah stated bluntly.
“Ah yes, but he was a sweet talking loser,” Shye said.
“Well, we can’t just let a perfectly good ticket go to waste,” Kylah announced with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
“What do you have in mind?” Shye asked.
“Let’s ask Orlando!” Kylah suggested. Shye shrugged her shoulders. She really didn’t care. She would have asked Billy, but he wouldn’t be home in time to go. So, if Kylah wanted to ask Orlando, it was fine with her. Kylah happily went off to call Orlando.
Just then, Julie walked in the door.
“Julie!” Shye called out happily, “Guess what my parents sent me for my birthday!”
Julie forced a smile on her face. The tiny feeling of jealousy was creeping up around her heart. Julie knew it had been years since anyone in her family had given her something for her birthday. In fact, it had been ten years exactly, the year her mother had died, that had been it. Julie managed to get the smile plastered on her face, as she listened to Shye’s excited explanation.
“Oh, Shye,” Julie began, “I’m sorry, I can’t come. There’s no way I can get off work.”
Shye’s excited expression diminished a little.
“I wanted you to come,” she said with a pout.
“I’m sorry,” Julie answered, genuinely feeling bad.
“Well, I guess we have an extra plane ticket, then,” Shye pondered aloud. Shye couldn’t help but wish that Billy would be home in time to go. She shook off the depressed feeling, and decided to start to pack things up. Shye turned on her radio to an old 80’s station, and cranked it up as she pulled out her big suitcase.

Meanwhile, Kylah was sitting in the kitchen on the phone, trying desperately to convince Orlando to take the trip.
“You’ve just got to come,” Kylah said persuasively, “I won’t have any fun without you!”
“Somehow I seriously doubt that,” Orlando responded dryly.
“It’ll be fun, please!” Kylah begged.
Orlando hesitated; he knew he’d have fun if he went. It was pretty much impossible to go somewhere with Kylah and Shye and not have fun. However, he had heard that Elizabeth and her new boyfriend had broken up, and he wanted to be around on the off chance that she might call him. Kylah seemed to read his mind.
“If you’re not coming because of this Elizabeth nonsense, then I will officially have to consider you a loser/stalker,” Kylah announced.
“Come on, Kylah! Give me a break,” Orlando whined.
“No, this trip is just what you need to get your mind off of her,” Kylah stated firmly, “You’re coming whether you like it or not!”
Orlando sighed in defeat, “Fine.”
“Yayyyy!” Kylah screeched.
Orlando couldn’t help but grin at her exuberance. Maybe she was right; maybe it was time to start moving on.
On the other end of the line, Kylah glanced up in curiosity when she heard a knock on the door.
“Hey, Lando, I’ll call you back. Someone’s at the door,” Kylah said. The two friends said their goodbyes, and Kylah got up and swung the door open.
“Billy!” she called out in a surprised tone, “I thought you weren’t going to be home for a couple of days.”
Billy grinned, “I decided to come back a little early.”
“Well, come on in,” Kylah said, ushering him through the door. She watched with an amused smile as Billy’s eyes searched the room. Kylah knew he was looking for Shye.
“She’s in her room packing, if you want to go tell her hello,” Kylah explained.
“Thanks,” Billy said appreciatively, “Wait, why is she packing?”
“Oh, her parents sent her some tickets to make the trip home. Orlando and I are going with her. Now that you’re back you could come too, if you want,” Kylah rushed on, knowing it would make Shye extremely happy if Billy came along.
“Well, if you think Shye wouldn’t mind, I’d like to go,” Billy said almost shyly.
Kylah rolled her eyes, “Of course she won’t mind, now why don’t you go tell her you’re home.”
Billy happily walked down the hallway. As he neared Shye’s door, he heard music blaring. He stepped into the doorway, and what he saw put an amused smile on his face.
“So tired of broken hearts and losing at this game before I start this dance, I’ll take a chance I’m telling you I want more than just romance. You are my destiny, I can’t let go, baby, can’t you see? Cupid, please take your aim at me.” Shye sang very loudly to the song on the radio, “Cherish the thought of always having you here by my side, oh baby I cherish the joy you keep bringing it into my life.”
She danced around crazily, as she threw stuff into her suitcase. She loved her 80’s music, it always pumped her up. She spun around and around until she noticed someone was standing in her doorway, dying laughing. Shye stopped her spinning in shock when she realized it was Billy. Her cheeks flushed red.
“Well, I didn’t know you could sing and dance like that,” Billy said, laughing.
Shye completely forgot her embarrassment for the moment; she was so excited that Billy was back. She ran up to him and gave him a huge hug. She pulled away just as quickly with questioning eyes.
“What are you doing home so soon?” she asked.
“I decided to come back early,” Billy explained. Shye grinned and gave him another hug.
“What was that for?” Billy questioned.
“That’s for giving me the greatest birthday present ever,” Shye said, as she punched him in the shoulder.
“Hey,” Billy complained, “What was that for?”
“Sneaking up on me,” Shye answered with a mischievous grin.
The two laughed together, as they continued to stare into each other’s eyes. Shye couldn’t help but wonder why her heart had skipped a beat when she saw Billy standing in the doorway. She tried helplessly to convince herself that it was because she hadn’t seen him in so long. However, a very different explanation was beginning to form in her mind. One that she wasn’t necessarily sure she approved of.

Song Credit: Cherish~Madonna



Chapter Ten

Shye frantically dropped her bags by the apartment door. She was running so late! Orlando and Billy would be there any minute, and after the never ending lecture she had given them the day before about being on time, she knew she’d never hear the end of it if she was the reason they were late. The friends needed to leave for the airport in thirty minutes, and Shye and Kylah weren’t even dressed yet. It was a good thing they had finished packing the night before. Shye’s trusty alarm clock had finally given out on her, and it had picked a pretty rotten morning to do so. Just as Shye was turning to go get ready, the sound of someone knocking filled the room.
“Oh no,” she groaned to herself, as she pulled the door open. There were Billy and Orlando completely dressed and ready to go. Shye cringed, she knew she was about to get it, and that was probably what she deserved.
“Well, look at what we’ve got here,” Billy said, shaking his head in disapproval. He stared at Shye who was still wearing her Strawberry Shortcake pajamas. He unsuccessfully tried to suppress a smile.
“You have to be on time, don’t be late,” Orlando mimicked Shye’s voice, “Well, look who’s not ready.”
“I’m sorry,” Shye exclaimed, “The alarm didn’t go off.”
With that simple explanation, she rushed out of the room, skidding across the kitchen floor on her socks. Orlando and Billy shook their heads at each other, and simply laughed.
About fifteen minutes later, Shye and Kylah entered the kitchen looking, well, not looking their best. Kylah’s hair was pulled in a ratty ponytail on top of her head, while Shye had on a baseball cap. Neither had bothered with any makeup. As the two girls double-checked their bags for everything, Billy looked in disgust at Shye’s cap.
“Are you really wearing that?” he asked, eyeing the bright green John Deere hat on her head.
“Why?” Shye asked, “What’s wrong with it?”
“You’re as bad as Orli here, with his 3M automotive hat,” Billy exclaimed.
“Hey,” Shye pouted, “This is my daddy’s hat. He’s a farmer, and has lots of John Deere tractors and such. I’m just being supportive.”
Kylah broke in, “You’ll never win, Bill. I’ve tried, and she’s always going to wear that horrid thing.”
“Well, I think it looks very good on you,” Orlando said, sticking up for Shye.
“Thanks, darling,” Shye responded with a silly gleam in her eyes, “And I think your yellow cap is absolutely splendid.”
Kylah shook her head, and looked at the clock.
“We better be heading out,” she stated.
Shye nodded in agreement. The two girls headed to the back to tell Julie good-bye. Somehow, Julie had managed to stay asleep throughout the loud, expletive-filled, morning rush of Kylah and Shye.
Shye looked at Kylah when the two stood just outside of Julie’s door.
“Should we do it,” she asked nervously.
Kylah nodded.
The two girls then burst into very loud singing.
“All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go. I’m standing here outside your door. I hate to wake you up to say goodbye. But the dawn is breaking it’s early morn, the taxi’s waiting, he’s blowing his horn. I’m ready, I’m so lonesome, I could die.”
A very tired and confused looking Julie flung the door open. At this point, Orlando and Billy had wandered into the hall to watch the show. Kylah and Shye continued with their singing.
“So kiss me, and smile for me, tell me that you’ll wait for me. Hold me like you’ll never let me go.” They each grabbed one of Julie’s arms, then belted out the next line.
“Cuz we’re leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when we’ll be back again, oh Julie, we hate to go!!!!”They then proceeded to burst into giggles as Julie looked at them strangely.
“Just go already,” she said jokingly. The three girls hugged.
“Be good while we’re gone,” Kylah warned.
“Yeah, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Shye called out.
Julie shook her head at her friends’ antics. She really would miss them this week.
“Bye, guys,” she said as she watched the group of four head out the door.

Billy watched Shye squirm around in her plane seat. He had never seen her so fidgety before. She was obviously very excited about going home.
“Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig,” Shye sang to herself.
“What are you singing?” Billy asked.
Shye turned to look at him with a confused look in her eyes, “I don’t know, really. It’s just something my mom used to sing when we’d pull into our driveway.”
Shye then proceeded to dig in her carry on bag for the Cosmo magazine Kylah had been begging her for. When she finally found it, she twisted around to hand it to Kylah who was sitting behind her with Orlando.
“Here you go,” Shye called out to get Kylah’s attention.
Kylah’s eyes were darting nervously around the plane.
“Hello,” Shye said loudly, waving the magazine in front of Kylah’s face.
Finally, she turned to Shye with an amused grin on her face.
“Remember this, Shye?” Kylah questioned.
Shye looked at her expectantly.
“Watch your head, she’s a psycho!” Kylah belted out, causing a few fellow passengers to look at her in confusion.
Shye burst into giggles, with Kylah soon joining her.
“What are you talking about?” Orlando asked, wondering why the two girls were in such rare form so early in the morning.
“Tell him, tell him,” Shye chanted, bouncing up and down in her seat.
Kylah turned to Orlando with a wicked gleam in her eyes and began her strange explanation.
“Last time we were on a plane, the stewardess was walking down the aisle and closing the overhead compartments, you know? So, she kept telling everyone to watch their heads. Well, she was not just your regular stewardess, oh no. I could tell she was crazy. So, I told Shye to, ‘watch your head, she’s a psycho,’ but what I didn’t know was that crazy stewardess was right next to me! She totally heard me, and therefore was very psycho for the rest of the flight,” Kylah rambled on.
Orlando stared at her with a blank look on his face.
“What?” Kylah inquired.
“You are totally weird,” Orlando answered in a monotone voice.
“Orlando’s weirded out!” Shye squealed in a high-pitched tone.
This caused Kylah to dissolve into more giggles. Orlando began to seriously believe that the girls had gotten drunk that morning. He sunk down in his seat, hoping their insanity wouldn’t last the whole trip. Orlando breathed a sigh of relief when Kylah began flipping through a magazine. Hopefully, reading would calm her down some.
“Ooh, Orlando! You’re going to take this quiz, okay?” Kylah announced.
Orlando looked at the magazine with disgust, “I am not taking a quiz out of Cosmo.”
“Of course you are, it’ll be fun. Besides, what else are we going to do?”
Orlando pondered this for a minute.
“All right, but don’t tell anybody,” he relented.
“Goody! Okay the name of the quiz is, ‘How do you love?’” Kylah said.
Orlando groaned, “This is going to be so stupid.”
“Just listen, whiner! Here’s the first question….”
After ten minutes of boring and pointless questions, Orlando waited for Kylah to tell him “how he loved.”
“Okay, so you are like a swan,” Kylah announced.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Orlando questioned.
“It means that just like a swan you are very devoted, and once you fall in love you’re going to stay with that person forever,” Kylah explained, “You see once swans pick a mate, they stay with that one swan for the rest of their lives.”
Orlando made a disgusted face, “That’s got to be the ignorant thing I’ve ever heard.”
Kylah just shrugged her shoulders.
“Wait, what’s yours?” Orlando asked.
Kylah shot him a sly grin, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“Spill it.”
“I love like a tiger. Recklessly, ferociously, and I’m very wild,” Kylah announced proudly. Orlando stared at her; his eyes had grown wide in surprise.
“Mrowr!” Kylah said.
Orlando burst into laughter.
“You know something?” he asked.
“What?”
“You are too cute for your own good,” Orlando proclaimed.
Kylah smiled at him, and felt a blush creep up on her cheeks. She was having a hard time stopping herself from saying that she thought the same about him.
“Kylah,” Billy called out, “Would you tell Shye to quit cheating?”
Kylah looked over at him with questioning eyes.
“I’m not cheating,” Shye announced, “That’s how I play the game!”
Billy gave Shye a dumbfounded look, “You can’t just make up the rules as you go. We’re playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. You can’t all of a sudden call out bulldozer, and expect to win!”
Kylah burst into laughter, “Oh, she never plays that game right!”
For some reason, instead of just conventional rock, paper, scissors, Shye liked to add bulldozer, hook, and gun to the game. Of course, these hand gestures would always beat whatever her opponent had picked.
“You’re just being a sore loser, Billy!” Shye called out, teasingly.
Billy opened his mouth to give a smart retort, but was interrupted by the pilot coming onto the intercom to give an announcement.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be landing in New Orleans, Louisiana, in ten minutes. I hope you’ve enjoyed your flight.”
Shye squealed very loudly and excitedly. She was almost home!


Song Credit~Leaving on A Jet Plane~lyrics by John Denver


Chapter Eleven
Billy looked at Shye in amusement as she practically ran through the airport gateway. She certainly was excited about being home. He followed her at a slower pace lugging the carry on bags with Orlando and Kylah. Once the four had made it out into the main area of the airport, Shye scanned the crowd for her brother, Jared, who was supposed to be meeting them there. Finally, she spotted him.
"Jippy!" Shye screamed, as she ran towards him. Billy watched Shye throw her arms around a very tall and lanky boy, who looked to be about seventeen. He assumed this was her younger brother.
So, Billy, Orlando, and Kylah made their way over to the two.
"I wish you wouldn't call me that," Jared complained to his big sister, "You're the only one who still does."
"And I always will," Shye teased.
"Okay, Shye-Shye," Jared retorted bringing up her old nickname.
Shye looked her brother up and down, "I swear you've gotten even taller. Why am I the only one in our family destined to be short?"
"Don't know, sis. So, where are Bryan and the girls?" Jared questioned.
Shye frowned, remembering that she had some explaining to do.
"Well, you see me and Bryan broke up, so he's definitely not here," Shye began.
"Good," Jared broke in, "That guy was such a ‘I think I'm better than everyone else' type person."
"Glad you approve of the break up, I'm not so sure what Momma's gonna say. Anyhow, Julie couldn't get off work, so she's not here."
"It's just you and Kylah then?" Jared asked.
"Not exactly," Shye explained, glancing behind her to see Billy, Orlando, and Kylah approaching.
She turned back to see the shocked expression on Jared's face. The Lord of the Rings movies were his favorite movies of all time. She knew he would be excited to meet Orlando and Billy.
Jared slowly looked at Shye, "Righhhht. So now you know celebrities. Nice work Shye, I thought you were living in L.A. to go to school, not to lure poor unsuspecting movie stars back home with you."
Shye burst into laughter at her brother's characteristic response. It usually took a lot to fluster Jared.
She then proceeded to introduce Orlando and Billy to her brother. Jared immediately engaged them in a detailed conversation about the battle of Helm's Deep. Shye couldn't keep the grin off of her face.
"It's good to be home," she said to Kylah, as the group made their way to baggage claim.

The drive from New Orleans, Louisiana to the little town Shye lived in took about an hour and a half. Everyone was pretty relieved when they finally arrived at Shye's parents home. Kylah stopped the boys as they began to unload the vehicle.
"Leave all the bags," she explained, "We're not staying here tonight."
"You mean we have to drive back to a hotel somewhere?" Orlando questioned.
"No."
"Then, where are we going to sleep?" Billy inquired.
"You'll see," Kylah said with a teasing grin. Orlando and Billy rolled their eyes at her mystery. Just then, they all heard someone burst out of the home's front door.
"Oh, my sha baby is home," Shye's mother called out, wrapping her daughter in a huge hug.
Orlando noticed Shye's mother had a very thick South Louisiana accent, even more so than Shye's. The woman peered over at Billy and Orlando in confusion. She then began to rattle off something in what sounded to be French.
Billy looked over at Orlando, "You speak French, what is she saying?" he whispered.
"I can't follow her accent," Orlando whispered back, "I've never heard anyone speak French like that before."
Then, Billy's eyes widened in surprise when he heard Shye answering her mother in the same pseudo-French language. Finally, both boys looked over to Kylah for some sort of explanation. She had visited before, she must know something.
Kylah grinned at the confusion on Billy and Orlando's faces. She decided to help them out a little.
"They're speaking in Cajun French. It's almost French but not quite. Shye's whole family speaks it, I think because her grandmother never knew English, so to communicate with her Shye learned both languages growing up. You guys need to listen to how much thicker Shye's accent is going to get while we're down here. By the end, we'll barely be able to understand her," Kylah giggled.

Meanwhile, Shye was patiently trying to explain to her mother why she had two strange guys with her, and no Bryan. Her mother didn't recognize Billy and Orlando as actors, for she never watched movies. She always said she was too busy to sit in front of the television for two hours straight.
"Momma," Shye began again, "Please just come meet my friends."
Her mother sighed in disappointment, she really had thought Bryan was the one for Shye. She dejectedly let go of the wedding plans in her mind, as she followed her daughter.
"Momma," Shye said, "This is Billy and Orlando, guys, this is my mother, Sharon."
The two guys used their "respect-full meeting of parents" attitudes. Sharon took to them immediately. Shye figured it was the accents, like mother like daughter, European accents conquered their hearts. Sharon pulled Kylah into a welcoming hug, as the group made their way into the house.
"Did you cook for me," Shye asked her mother mischievously.
"Of course, Shye-Shye," Sharon answered, "Everyone will be here for dinner in about an hour."
Billy and Orlando exchanged glances, wondering exactly who everyone was.

About two hours later, Billy sat on the floor of Sharon's living room looking around at Shye's family. He had learned some important facts about them in the past few hours. The first being they were probably the loudest people he had ever encountered. They'd constantly get excited and start yelling things at one another, but in a good-natured sort of way. Also, when they'd get really into a story, sometimes they'd drift into Cajun French without realizing it, causing Billy to have no clue what they were talking about. Billy found that he liked them all the more for their eccentric ways. However, it had been a nervous moment on his part when he had met Shye's father. Billy had never been so self-conscious of his five feet and six inches, when he stared up at Shye's dad, who had to have been at least 6'5". But, her father was very nice and laid back, probably the calmest of the whole family. Unfortunately, this could not be said about Shye's grandfather, who kept shooting him and Orlando dirty looks. Shye managed to explain to them in a whisper that he was very overprotective of her, being that she was the only granddaughter he had. She also warned them to steer clear of him. Billy was happy to oblige. At the moment, he glanced over at Shye who had just burst into laughter over a joke Jared had told. She's so happy tonight, Billy thought to himself. She also looked so amazingly beautiful. Billy stared at her dreamily, until she caught his eye and gave him a little wink. He grinned in return, feeling pretty happy with himself for making this trip.

After many hours of conversation with Shye's family, it was finally time for Shye and the rest to head out to their destination for the night. Shye gave everyone hugs, promising to come back the next day, and herded her friends out to the car. When they were all inside, Kylah gave a sigh of relief.
"I forgot how noisy your family is," she explained aloud.
Shye just laughed in response, "You'll get used to it. We'll have you yelling like the best of us before you go."
"So, are you girls finally going to tell us where we're spending the night?" Orlando asked impatiently.
Shye suddenly turned the car down a gravel driveway with large oak trees lining it.
"We're almost there," she explained. They drove for a while down the dark drive, until at last the trees parted on either side. Billy and Orlando stared in wonder at the huge home that stood in front of them.
"Where are we?" Orlando asked.
"This would be Glynnwood Plantation," Shye said, "It's been in my family for over a hundred and fifty years and here is where we are spending the night."

Thanks, Flower! I'll post some more later, as I've got a migraine right now. Hint, hint new chapter coming tomorrow!
luv,
Amber

Aw! Hope you feel better soon, dear!
Migraines suck...

Yay! New chappie soon! :yay:

Aww...
Thank you for posting the here...
it's really an awesome ff :)
and I'm happy to be able to read it here...

hug
Laila
:baby:

Chapter Twelve

“This place is huge,” Billy called out, his voice echoing down the long hallway. The four friends were walking around the large plantation. Shye was giving them what she called the grand tour.
“So, these are some bomb shells that the Yankee soldiers shot into the walls of the plantation during the Civil War. My great-great-great grandfather made them into bookends,” Shye explained. She then showed them all the different bedrooms in the plantation. They were all color coded, there was the Green Room, the Red Room, and so on. All of the rooms had high, old-fashioned beds with steps on the side of them. Billy and Orlando were pretty impressed, they had never seen an old house like this before.
“So, no one stays here anymore?” Orlando asked.
“No, we just stay here for holidays and such,” Shye answered.
She then showed Orlando and Kylah to their rooms for the night. They were on one side of the hallway. Shye then beckoned for Billy to follow her, and showed him to his room. It was the Green Room. Billy chunked all his bags down on the floor with a sigh of relief. He looked at Shye who was standing in the doorway smiling at him.
“What?” he asked curiously.
“I was just wondering if you wanted to hear the story that goes with your room?” Shye questioned with an evil gleam in her eyes.
“I guess so,” Billy answered slowly.
Shye then proceeded to tell him a ghost story about the Green Room.
“When I was a little girl, we used to always have an annual Easter Egg Hunt here at Glynnwood, you know, because the yard is so big and everything. Well, my cousin and I ran inside with our Easter baskets to play around. We for some reason wandered into the Green Room. My cousin jumped up on the bed, and then we both screamed. For all of a sudden, a man sat upright in what had looked like an empty bed. He had one of those old-fashioned nightcaps on. So, obviously, my cousin and I took off running because we thought we were going to get in trouble for waking an adult up. But, as we asked our parents who was sleeping in the Green room, they kept insisting that no one was. So, it was a ghost!” Shye said finishing up her story.
Billy rolled his eyes, “I’d call your ghost an overactive childhood imagination!”
“Think what you want,” Shye said with a smirk, “Have a good night!”
She flicked off the light switch and closed the door behind her.
Billy couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering to the bed, hoping it was really empty this time.


Shye tossed and turned in her bed, too excited to sleep. She couldn’t wait for the next day, and all the fun to be had now that she was home. Shye loved her home state, and if not for Kylah and Julie she would probably have hated everything about L.A. But, she told herself, it’s just one more year of school. Shye jumped a little in her bed when she heard a knock on her door.
“Come in,” she called out.
The door opened and Kylah stepped slowly inside.
“I can’t sleep,” she said timidly.
“Me either,” Shye answered, turning on the lamp next to the bed. Kylah walked over and sat on the side of the double bed that Shye was not occupying.
“What’s keeping you awake tonight?” Shye asked Kylah.
“I can’t stop thinking about someone,” Kylah responded lamely.
“Who?” Shye asked furrowing her brow. She tried to rack her brain, but couldn’t for the life of her think of any guy who had made a big impression on Kylah lately.
Kylah bit her lip, and took a huge breath. She was about to admit her secret.
“I think I’m in love,” she said quietly.
“What?” Shye exclaimed, her mouth dropping open, “With whom, might I ask?”
Kylah fidgeted nervously with her hands. She slowly leaned forward and whispered a name. Shye didn’t hear her.
“Who?” Shye asked again.
“Orlando,” Kylah whispered again.
“Orlando!” Shye screamed loudly from shock.
“Shhhhhhhh! He’ll hear you, he’s just down the hall!” Kylah screeched clamping her hand over Shye’s mouth as she continued to repeat Orlando’s name over and over again from shock.
When Shye finally shut up, Kylah cautiously removed her hand. Shye’s wide eyes stared at her.
“Since when?” Shye inquired.
“I don’t know, but I’m miserable. I just had to tell someone,” Kylah explained.
“Does Orlando know about this?” Shye questioned.
“No, he’s too stuck on his ex to even realize how I feel. Oh, and you can’t tell him, either. Or Billy, or Dom, or even Julie, okay,” Kylah said.
Shye mutely nodded her head in agreement, her mind was still reeling from this newly discovered information.
“You’re so much luckier than me,” Kylah commented.
“What do you mean?” Shye asked in confusion.
“Well, you like Billy, and he likes you back. I wish Orlando would feel that way about me,” Kylah whined.
Shye scrunched up her eyes, “What do you mean I like Billy? He’s just my friend.”
“Oh come on, I’ve seen the looks the two of you give each other. I’m not blind, you know!” Kylah said.
Shye frowned at Kylah, she was starting to get angry. Billy was just her friend. There was nothing going on.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shye responded, a little snobbishly.
“Alright, alright,” Kylah said, getting up off the bed, “I’ll just see you in the morning.”
Shye could tell Kylah was a bit mad.
“Sorry, Kyle,” Shye called out, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Kylah turned back with a wicked gleam in her eyes, “Goodnight, Billy lover!”
With that said, she quickly shut the bedroom door behind her, missing Shye’s surprised expression. Shye shook her head, and lay back down in bed. She flipped off the light and closed her eyes. Just then, she heard another knock on her door.
“Kylah,” Shye called out, “You can just go back to your room if you plan on making fun of me again!”
The door opened and a confused looking Billy stepped in.
“What’s Kylah teasing you about?” he asked.
“Oh, Billy, hey,” Shye answered quickly, “It was nothing.”
Her face flamed at the thought of Billy knowing what Kylah was teasing her about.
She looked up at Billy, who just stood in the doorway with this sheepish grin on his face.
“What do you want?” Shye asked.
“Well, it’s kind of, ummmmm, kind of cold in my room,” Billy said, refusing to meet Shye’s gaze.
“Why, Billy, are you scared to sleep all by yourself in the Green Room?” Shye questioned in a taunting voice.
Billy just gave her a crooked smile. Shye giggled, and patted the spot next to her on the bed.
“You can sleep here tonight,” she said, “This bed’s huge anyway.”
Billy quietly shut the door, and jumped onto the bed. After he had got under the covers, he whispered a question into the dark.
“Shye, you won’t tell anyone about this, right?” he asked.
Shye smiled in the dark, “Not a word.”
“Goodnight, Shye. You’re a great friend,” Billy said aloud.
“Goodnight, Billy,” Shye mumbled in a sleepy tone. See, she told herself, he called you a good friend. That’s what the two of you are, after all. Good friends. Kylah had to be crazy, Shye decided as she drifted off to sleep.


Shye’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She glanced curiously around the room at the unfamiliar surroundings. Suddenly, she remembered where she was, and a smile came to her lips. She felt so warm and cozy, and just downright happy, all snuggled up in someone’s strong arms. Wait a second, Shye’s inner voice said, why are there arm’s wrapped around you. Then, Shye remembered how Billy had stayed in her room the night before. He must have rolled over at some point in the night, and was now unconsciously holding her close to himself. Shye figured she should roll over, but she was already at the edge of the bed. She pondered waking him up, but for some reason made no move to do so. She just felt so comfortable lying there in his arms. Shye decided to let Billy wake up on his own.
Billy stared tenderly at the back of Shye’s head. He had been awake for a while now, but like Shye, he was unwilling to move away. He hadn’t meant to wrap his arm around her waist and hold her close, it was just something that had happened in his sleep. However, he was glad it had occurred. It made him realize something very important. Billy finally admitted to himself that he had feelings for her. They were pretty strong, too. He unconsciously pulled her a little closer. All of a sudden, Shye sneezed. Billy quickly pulled his arm away, realizing that she was awake.
“Shye?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” she answered, as he moved back some so she could roll over and face him. Billy gave a small smile when her sleepy brown eyes met his.
“Sorry I kind of crowded you last night,” he said quietly.
“It’s okay,” Shye answered, feeling strangely nervous for some reason.
Billy’s eyes continued to stare into hers. There faces were so close together. Shye could feel a flush rising on her cheeks due to Billy’s constant gaze.
“You’re so beautiful,” Billy whispered sincerely, as he softly ran his hand through her hair. Shye could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She recognized the look Billy was giving her. She just knew he was about to kiss her. Sure enough, he began to bring his face closer to hers. Shye panicked, she wasn’t sure just yet if she wanted to be more than friends. So, she decided to scoot back a little. Unfortunately for her, she had forgotten that she was already on the edge of the bed.
BAM!! Shye hit the floor with a resounding smack.
“Are you alright?” Billy asked peering over the edge of the bed.
“It was deliberate,” Shye said, giggling when she realized she had just used a LOTR line.
Once he was sure she was okay, Billy began to make fun of her for falling out of the bed.
“Okay,” Shye exclaimed, “You better quit it, or I’m going to tell Orlando about how you were too skeered to sleep by yourself last night!”
Billy made a face, and quickly walked out of the room, leaving Shye on the floor. She sat there for a few moments longer, thinking about what had just happened. Kylah had been right. Shye knew she’d never hear the end of it.



Chapter Thirteen

Kylah ran a brush through her hair, and then twisted it up in a messy bun on the top of her head. She stared at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. She was in the midst of a panic attack when she thought back to the night before. Kylah was beginning to regret her decision to share her secret. What if Shye accidentally slipped and told someone? She and Billy certainly were close lately, and if she told him, he’d be sure to blab to Orlando. Kylah miserably wished that she had kept her mouth shut. However, there were no changing things now.
“Kylah, are you finished in there?” Orlando called from the other side of the bathroom door.
Kylah checked her appearance one last time, took a deep breath, and yanked the door open. Then, there he was. His brown hair sticking every which way, and a sleepy look still in his deep brown eyes. Damn, he’s gorgeous in the morning, Kylah thought to herself. But, then again, she thought he was gorgeous all the time.
“Finally,” Orlando complained loudly as he brushed past her, “I’ve been waiting forever!”
“Sorry,” Kylah muttered as she started to walk down the hallway. As she passed Shye’s room, she noticed the door was open. So, Kylah peered in. She frowned when she saw Shye sitting on the floor by the bed with a strange expression on her face.
“What’s going on?” Kylah asked.
“Nothing,” Shye answered in a rush, “Nothing’s going on, why would you think something’s going on? Billy and I are just friends, how many times do I have to tell you that?”
Kylah’s eyes widened in surprise, “I was just wondering why you were sitting on the floor.”
“Oh,” Shye said, her cheeks growing red.
“Well, now I need to know what happened, because it’s obvious that something did,” Kylah stated.
Shye absently fiddled with the edge of the bedspread. Finally, she looked up and met Kylah’s eyes.
“He almost kissed me,” Shye whispered.
A smug smile crossed Kylah’s face, “I told you so!”
Shye made a face and finally got up from the floor. As she made no move to speak, Kylah got impatient.
“Well, how did it happen? Come on, I want details. And, why was it just an ‘almost’ kiss?” Kylah demanded.
“I don’t know,” Shye said, shrugging her shoulders, “We were just lying here, and all of a sudden, I could just tell that he was about to kiss me,” Shye explained.
“What’d you do?” Kylah asked.
“Ummm, I sort of tried to roll away, and ended up falling on the floor,” Shye answered sheepishly.
Kylah burst into laughter, “You’re such a dork!”
“I know, believe me, I know! I panicked at the last second. I just don’t know what to do,” Shye whined as she flopped herself down onto the bed.
“Awww, poor you,” Kylah replied sarcastically, “A great guy really likes you and you don’t know what to do. It’s quite the dilemma!”
“Don’t be sarcastic, Kyle, this is serious,” Shye shot back.
Just then, Orlando bounded into the room.
“Come on, Shye, you’re still in bed? Get dressed, I’m starving,” Orlando whined.
Shye groaned and rolled out of the bed. She hurriedly grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom, leaving Orlando and Kylah in the room by themselves.
“So, what are we doing today, anyhow?” Orlando asked Kylah.
“I dunno,” she replied shrugging her shoulders, “Maybe we’ll go see Kevin.”
“Who’s Kevin?” Orlando questioned.
“You’ll see,” Kylah responded with a secretive smile. Orlando rolled his eyes wondering what was up with these girls and their secrets.

Billy stared at Shye in amusement.
“You’re going to drive that?” he asked, pointing at Shye’s father’s huge four-wheel drive diesel truck.
“I can handle it,” Shye responded defiantly, “Besides we have to have four wheel drive when we go to the ponds, or the vehicle will get stuck in the mud.”
Shye was referring to her father’s crawfish ponds. This was a big business in Louisiana, raising crawfish to sell to people and restaurants. But, the whole area of the ponds was basically a large swamp. Therefore, they needed a powerful truck to get around back there.
“You’re going to need a ladder to climb up there,” Billy said giggling, as he watched Shye struggle to get up into the driver’s seat. The truck was so high!
“Too bad you’ll need one, too, Billy,” Shye shot back, “You’re just as short!”
“I’m not that short,” Billy complained. However, he did find it to be somewhat of a challenge to lift himself into the passenger’s seat.
“Where are the other two freaks,” Shye asked jokingly, as she tried to adjust the seat, since it was 4.5 million miles back from the steering wheel due to her father’s tall stature.
“Here they come,” Billy announced. Kylah and Orlando clambered into the back of the truck.
“Okay, so who’s this Kevin we’re going to see?” Orlando asked.
“He lives in the swamp,” Kylah supplied with a giggle. Orlando’s face scrunched up in confusion.
“Why would anyone want to live in a swamp?” he questioned.
“You’ll see,” Shye answered, struggling to shift the gears of the massive truck. She drove down a gravel road through lots of trees. Finally, she came out at the edge of the crawfish ponds. Shye turned off the truck, and everyone piled out of the vehicle. Orlando and Billy watched Shye and Kylah walk up to a small boat lying on the edge of the pond.
“We’re not getting in that thing, are we?” Orlando asked warily, “That canoe doesn’t look to safe.”
Shye looked over at him in amusement, “First of all, it’s not a canoe, it’s a pirogue. Second of all, it’s perfectly safe, I mean you rode around in elf boats with no problem in Lord of the Rings!”
“That seemed safer than this,” Orlando pondered, eyeing the murky water.
“Come on, wimp! This is the only way we’ll get to see Kevin,” Kylah stated.
Orlando frowned in annoyance, but complied. He climbed into the small boat with the others.
“Who the hell is this Kevin anyway?” Orlando questioned.
“You’ll see in a minute,” Shye promised. She carefully guided the boat around the many cypress knees sticking up out of the water. The water was brown, and the many trees had tons of moss hanging from them. Shye spotted some turtles swimming in the swamp, as well as a snake. She steered the boat away from it in disgust. Shye scanned the tree stumps that were peeking out of the water. That’s when she spotted Kevin. She slowly tapped Kylah on the shoulder.
“There’s Kevin,” she whispered.
Kylah looked over excitedly, and spotted him.
“Hey Kevin!” she called out loudly.
The six-foot alligator turned its head in their direction. It slowly moved off the stump where it had been sunning itself, and slipped into the water with a splash.
Shye glanced over to see stunned expressions on Billy and Orlando’s faces.
“That’s Kevin?” Billy asked slowly.
“Yep,” Shye said proudly, “He’s grown since I saw him last.”
Orlando couldn’t comprehend how she sat there calmly talking when there was a huge alligator on the loose, and they were defenseless in their tiny boat.
“What the hell, Shye? Let’s get out of here. That thing could tip this boat in a second,” Orlando exclaimed.
“Oh, Orlando, you’re scared!” Kylah taunted, “Don’t be such a baby, its just Kevin.”
“Yeah, he’s not a damn person, he’s a huge animal!” Orlando said, practically yelling.
“Well, I thought you were the big risk taker, Orlando,” Shye teased, “But, you’re afraid of a little old alligator.”
“It’s not little,” Orlando said, as his eyes peered anxiously at the water.
Shye and Kylah burst into laughter at his scared expression.
“Stop it!” he ordered, “You’re shaking the boat!”
This only caused them to laugh harder, but Shye did navigate the boat towards the shore. Orlando immediately jumped out once they were close enough to the land. He seemed relieved to get off of the water.
“You know, Orlando,” Shye called out, “Gators move faster on land.”
Orlando’s eyes widened as he quickly climbed into the truck, slamming the door behind him. Shye and Kylah couldn’t hold in their giggles.
Billy just shook his head, “You know that was pretty mean.”
“We know,” Kylah and Shye said in unison. The two proceeded to tease Orlando for the rest of the day about his new best friend, Kevin.

Chapter Fourteen

Julie’s body tossed and turned as she lay sleeping on the couch. Her forehead was covered with sweat. She was having that horrible nightmare again. He was in it…
“You think you’re better than me, don’t you?” he yelled, glaring into her eyes. Julie quickly backed away from him, her hands shaking.
“Leave me alone!” she whispered desperately.
“You think you’re so smart just because you got that fucking scholarship,” he exclaimed, his voice as cold as ice.
“You know I worked hard to get that,” Julie answered, her voice trembling, “Why can’t you just be happy for me?”
“Because you think you can just leave me, and go off to your precious college. It’ll never work! You’re worthless, it doesn’t matter how long you go to school, or how many people you trick into thinking that you’re smart. You’ll always be the white trash daughter of the town drunk. You are lucky I even associate with you!” he hollered into her face. He continued to approach her, until he had backed her into the wall.
“Stop it! Please, just leave me alone! I want to go,” Julie whimpered.
“You’ll never leave me,” he said, gripping her shoulders tightly. Julie braced herself for what she knew would come next.
Dom casually walked down the hallway of the apartment building. He wasn’t sure how Julie would react to his unannounced visit, but he was feeling kind of lonesome since everyone was off on their little trip. Dom approached the door to Julie’s apartment, and was about to knock when he heard a strange noise coming from within. He frowned, it sounded like Julie was screaming. Dom hurriedly walked over to the potted plant the girls had outside of their apartment. He fished out the spare key from underneath the pot. As quickly as he could, Dom entered the apartment and headed to the living room. He saw Julie thrashing around on the couch. He realized she was having some sort of nightmare.
“Stop it, please!” she hollered in her sleep.
Dom walked over to her, and gently tried to wake her up.
“Julie,” he whispered, “It’s okay.”
Suddenly, her eyes opened. The look of pure fear in them chilled Dom to the bone. Julie’s whole body was shaking, and tears began to pour from her eyes.
“Julie, it’s alright. It was just a dream,” Dom said soothingly.
“No it wasn’t,” Julie answered between sobs.
Dom wasn’t sure what to do. He slowly reached out to touch her, but she shrank back in terror.
“Julie, it’s just me,” Dom stated softly.
“Don’t touch me, just don’t,” Julie exclaimed, her voice shrill with fear. The two sat there in silence, Dom unable to do anything to stop Julie’s tears. When Julie had finally calmed down some, she took a shaky breath and looked over at Dom.
“What are you doing here,” she asked, her expression unreadable.
“I was just dropping by for a little visit. Julie what’s wrong?” Dom questioned, his voice full of concern.
“Nothing it’s just a nightmare I have on occasion. It’s not a big deal, really,” Julie answered, desperately wishing he would change the subject.
“Not a big deal?” Dom exclaimed, “Julie, you were just sobbing uncontrollably and you freaked out when I tried to touch you. Something is definitely wrong!”
“Just leave it alone, Dom,” Julie said angrily, “It’s none of your business.”
Dom let out a frustrated sigh and tiredly ran his hand through his hair.
“I just want to help you,” he admitted softly, “I really like you, and I hate to see you unhappy.”
Dom slowly reached over and captured Julie’s hand. This time she didn’t jerk away from his touch. Dom looked up into her sad, green eyes.
“How can you like me? You don’t even know me,” Julie said, her tone guarded.
“I’d like to get to know you better, but you won’t let me. You’re always pulling away,” Dom answered.
Julie hesitantly looked into Dom’s eyes. She saw actual concern in them. Julie sighed suddenly, “You’re right, Dom. I just have trust issues, but I’d like to get to know you better, too.”
A huge grin broke out across Dom’s face, “Great, we’ll start today!”
Julie frowned in confusion; she wasn’t sure what he was talking about. She watched as Dom jumped up from the couch.
“We’ll spend the whole day together getting to know each other better. It’ll be Dom and Julie’s Day of Fun!” Dom exclaimed loudly, as his eyes shone with excitement.
Julie couldn’t help but laugh at his silly comment. However, she wasn’t really in the mood to go anywhere.
“I can’t go somewhere looking like this,” Julie stated, pointing at her red, puffy eyes.
“Come on, Julie, you look beautiful and you know it,” Dom said, “Now, go get dressed, so we can begin our day of fun!”
Julie glanced at his eyes quickly, and then a small smile formed on her lips when she realized he was being serious. Julie felt her heart warm a little towards him. He really was sweet. She slowly got up and made her way to the back of the apartment to change out of her pajamas. Julie wondered what the day of fun was going to consist of.

Julie watched Dom’s profile as he drove towards his home. Their day of fun had finally come to an end, and Julie had really enjoyed herself. The two had gone shopping, seen a movie, and gone to the zoo, much to Julie’s protest. She considered herself to old to go to the zoo like a child. However, they had fun there, too. Julie continued to stare at Dom, as she wondered to herself why she had been so mean to him when they had first met. He really was a great guy. Dom glanced over and caught her staring.
“What,” he asked with a slight smile.
“Nothing,” she replied in a soft voice. Julie averted her attention to the passing scenery. A few minutes later Dom pulled the car into his driveway. He jumped out and ran around to open the door for Julie.
“Thank you,” Julie said with a large grin. She followed Dom into his house.
“Well, don’t I feel special,” she commented, “I’m in a big movie star’s house!”
“Ha-ha!” Dom said sarcastically, “It’s just a regular house.”
He made his way into the living room, and sat down on his large white couch. He realized Julie hadn’t followed him.
“Julie?” he called out in confusion. When he received no answer, he got up to look for her. Dom found Julie standing in front of his piano with an unreadable expression on her face.
“Hey,” Dom said to Julie. She finally tore her eyes away from the piano, and looked at him.
“You play?” she asked quietly.
“Nah, the lady that decorated the house for me convinced me that it would give this room an ‘air of sophistication,’ so I decided to buy it. Sadly, it just goes to waste here, for I couldn’t play to save my life,” Dom explained.
“Oh,” was Julie’s response, as she slowly approached the piano. Dom watched her softly run her fingers across the keys.
“Do you know how to play Julie?” he asked, wondering why she seemed so in awe of the piano.
“Well, maybe a little,” Julie responded, “I haven’t played in years and years.”
Dom walked over to the piano and sat down on the bench, “Play something for me.”
He reached out for her hand and guided her until she sat next to him. He watched her hesitate.
“Please,” he begged softly. She looked up into his pleading blue eyes. She slowly smiled, and placed her fingers on the keys.
“I’ve never played for anyone before but my mom,” Julie said, “She was so talented, she never took a lesson in her life. She could just play by ear, it was so amazing.”
Dom realized Julie was sharing something about her past. He recalled what Shye had once told him, about how Julie never talked about her past. Dom sat back and quietly listened to her speak.
“She taught me how to play when I was a little girl. We used to sit side by side next to the piano and play for hours. Well, she’d play mostly, and I’d just listen,” Julie continued with a faraway look in her eyes, “Maybe I shouldn’t play….I haven’t in so long.”
“Just try,” Dom suggested. He watched her slowly press the piano keys down with her fingers. She made a few mistakes at first, but soon was playing a flawless melody that Dom didn’t recognize. When she finished the song, Julie looked over a Dom and gave him an apologetic smile.
“I know that was bad,” Julie said sheepishly.
Dom shook his head, “No, that was beautiful. What was it?”
“Oh, it was a lullaby my mom used to play for me. I’d fall asleep right next to the piano when she’d play it,” Julie explained.
“Well, you must have remembered it perfectly, because it sounded great. When was the last time you played, anyway?” Dom questioned.
Julie’s eyes clouded over with sorrow, “I haven’t played since I was twelve years old. That was when my mom died. The day after the funeral, my father sold the piano so he could have money for his drinking habit.”
Dom frowned; he began to get an idea of why Julie had such a dislike towards men.
Julie sat there staring at the piano keys. She really had no clue why she had told Dom all of those things about her mother. Julie never talked about her mother with anyone. She began to feel tears welling up in her eyes over her mother’s memory. Suddenly, Julie felt Dom’s hand gently tilt her chin up so she was looking at him.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” he told her in a soft voice. This act of kindness caused the tears that had been threatening to overflow to