FACE DOWN Ch 14- Find Kristen

Jonathan found Petey and Sam sitting at the usual spot near the Castle Building. He half ran, half slipped over to them. "Jonathan, what's going on?" Sam asked as he approached, "You sounded pretty desperate on the phone this morning."

"Yeah, why did we have to meet so urgently?" Petey asked.

Jonathan caught his breath then looked them squarely in the eyes. "David has gone too far," he said.

"What? What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"What happened?" Petey wondered.

"Yesterday at tutoring, Kristen came in..." Jonathan began, "Wrapped up in layers of clothing that she wouldn't take up no matter how hot it was. Come to find out, she was trying to hide all these bruises and bandages all over herself."

Petey and Sam gasped.

"She even tried covering one on her face with makeup!" Jonathan said, clenching his fists at the memory.

"David?" Petey asked slowly.

Jonathan nodded. "And she's still convinced that he loves her and that he didn't mean it, but... I can't take this anymore! I know we promised to stay out of it, but this is more than just unhealthy. It's obscene!"

Sam and Petey glanced at each other. "What do we do?" Sam asked.

Jonathan nodded, relieved that they were on his side. "I talked to my grandpa last night and told him the whole story," he explained, "He says that the best thing we can do is to get Kristen to see sense in any way we can."

"How do we do that?" Petey asked, "She won't listen to us."

"My grandpa says that maybe we don't understand the full problem," Jonathan said, "He says maybe there's something deeper to this that we're not seeing."

"So what do we do?" Sam asked once more.

"I think we need to go to Kristen... and just listen," Jonathan concluded, "Try to get to the bottom of this."

Petey stood up straight, a look of determination in his eyes. "Let's go!" he declared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Nobody's home," Petey remarked.

"You don't know that," Jonathan said.

"All the lights are off," Petey said.

"We could still try," Jonathan insisted.

Petey shrugged, then approached the door and knocked. Nothing happened. "I told you," Petey said.

"Where is she?" Sam wondered, "Doesn't she usually come home right after class for dinner?"

"Maybe she's with him," Jonathan did not even want to say the name.

"She did say something about meeting up with him tonight, but she said it was going to be a late night movie," Petey said.

"It's a little early for a "late night" movie, isn't it?" Jonathan remarked.

"Maybe they had other... plans?" Sam suggested, glancing at Jonathan cautiously.

Jonathan's jaw tightened. He did not even want to think about what those other "plans" may be.

"Or she could just be studying at the library or something," Petey said.

"One way to find out," Sam said, pulling out his phone. He began to dial and held it to his ear.

After a moment he stuck the phone back in his pocket. "Voicemail," he said.

"So maybe she is in the library and just can't answer her phone," Petey said optimistically.

"Or maybe she's too busy with him to notice her phone ringing," Jonathan said through clenched teeth.

"Or maybe she just has it on silence and she's just downtown or something. You know she likes to explore down there," Sam suggested, feeling slightly anxious about the murderous tone to Jonathan's voice. "Look, why don't we split up and try and find her. Petey, you can go to the library. I will go to David's apartment." He narrowed his eyes at Jonathan before continuing, "And Jonathan, you can go look downtown."

Jonathan saw that Sam was not going to budge on this. He frowned, but reluctantly agreed, "Fine."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jonathan shoved his hands into his pockets as he marched down the sidewalk into town.

It probably was a good thing that Sam was going to David's apartment instead of him. If he faced that guy now, he might actually tear his head off. Then he'd be arrested for murder, and then where would he be? Well, at least Kristen would be free of that little weasel's grasp, so at least there'd be that. But no. Murdering was never a good thing.

The walk in the cold night air was doing him good too. It gave him a chance to boil down a bit. The sun had just set and snow was beginning to fall lightly around him. It had a calming effect on him. He took a deep breath. Alright, if he were Kristen going downtown, where would she go?

He thought for a moment then recalled her mentioning... sandwiches! That's right. She said they were her favorite food, and it was dinner time. Jonathan wracked his brain, trying to remember all the sandwich places in town. If she had gone to one of them, which one would it be?

Then he remembered, in the back of his mind from a long time ago, Kristen talking about her first date. She had said that David took her to eat sandwiches. He tried to remember if she had mentioned the name of the shop... He couldn't recall. But he did remember that she had mentioned that he also took her to shops for trinkets. So the sandwich shop couldn't have been too far away from the tourist track, right? ...Well, it was a start.

He immediately headed in that direction. The shops were not too far from Kristen's home, which was encouraging. Although who knew if David liked to whisk Kristen to far off places for dates or not. However, all worries were cast aside when Jonathan came face to face with a sandwich shop "Sadie’s Sandwiches". This had to be it!

He quickly made his way over to it and entered. It was empty except for the girl standing behind the counter, wiping down some trays. She smiled at him as he entered. "Hello! How can I help you?"

Jonathan approached the counter. "Hi," he said, "Sorry, this might seem a little weird, but have you seen a red-haired girl come in here, about this high?" He held his hand up to his shoulder, about Kristen s height, "She's got blue eyes, a blonde streak in her hair..."

"Oh yeah, Kristen! I know her," the girl answered, smiling, "She comes in here all the time. Orders this giant custom sandwich. We call it the 'Kristen Special'. She's usually with this other guy. What's his name... Davros?"

Jonathan pursed his lips. "David?"

"David, yeah," the girl said, "Boy, he's a looker, isn't he?"

"Yeah, sure," Jonathan said, having absolutely no interest in discussing David at all, "Look, has she come in here recently? Like tonight maybe?"

"Nope. Actually, I haven't seen her for several days," the girl replied.

Jonathan frowned. It was worth a try he supposed.

"But that David guy was in here a little while ago," the girl said, "He just left."

Jonathan felt himself tense up at the mention of David's name. He looked at the girl. "Did you see where he went?" he asked cooly.

"Just outside," she said, "Some girl came in and he left with her. They probably haven't gone too far, that was just a few minutes before you got here."

Jonathan looked towards the door. "Thanks," he said to the girl.

He quickly exited the shop. Now what? David could have gone in any direction. He walked out into the street. Which way, which way? The street was pretty empty for a Friday night. Just a few people running in and out of shops, ducking for cover out of the cold. There was a couple sitting across the street on the steps to the Town Hall, cuddled up against each other. Wait... the guy looked kind of familiar. In fact he looked an awful lot like... David!

Jonathan watched as David and Mystery Girl scooted closer together. Then, much to his absolute horror, David leaned over and kissed Mystery Girl right on the lips! Okay, this was just a whole new level of low! Jonathan crossed the street. How...? What...? Just... he could not comprehend the sheer magnitude of douche this guy had bottled up inside of him.

Once across the street, Jonathan stuck his hands into his pockets and casually began to stroll towards the kissing couple... or slobbering-over-each-other's-faces couple, whistling as loudly and obnoxiously as possible, hoping to draw attention to himself. It worked. David pulled away from the girl and looked in his direction.

Jonathan nodded casually at them. "Evening," he said, pretending not to recognize him.

"Hey, you're Kristen's friend, aren't you?" David said.

Jonathan stopped. He had hoped David would recognize him, but he had not expected him to actually stop him and talk to him. That meant he had no shame in what he was doing. It took all of Jonathan's self control not to pound him right there. He turned and peered at him, pretending to try and remember for a moment. "Oh yeah, David," he said, "I didn't even recognize you... up there."

"Johnson, right?" David asked.

"Jonathan," Jonathan corrected flatly.

"Yeah," David said, not really paying much attention.

"So... where's Kristen?" Jonathan asked, eyeing the girl still wrapped around David.

David shrugged. "I don't know, her house? Am I her keeper or something?"

"I guess not," Jonathan said, "But you would think you'd want to know where she was at all times if you want to keep this up."

David's stare turned cold. He removed his arm from around the girl. "Why don't you go find yourself a nice pair of shoes or something?" he said to her without taking his eyes from Jonathan, "I've got something to deal with."

The girl frowned, but did as she was told. As soon as she was gone, David stood up and glared at Jonathan. "I really don't see how any of this is your business," he said, darkly.

Jonathan shook his head. "You are ridiculous, you know that?" he said, "She is an amazing girl and you treat her like she's a piece of dirt. First the beating, now cheating?"

"Hey!" David snapped, "You better not go snitch to her. I know you've got a little crush on her. I've seen you. But let's face it, she'd rather be with me and not some scruffy loner like you."

Jonathan clenched and unclenched his fists, attempting to control himself. He took a step closer to David. "Look, pal. You may think you're king of the world right now," he said quietly, "But let me tell you something. One day, all of this is going to end when all your lies come crumbling down around you... And you'll have nothing. Nobody. Kristen will have found a new, better life... far away from you."

David scoffed. "What? And you think you'll have something to do with that little fantasy of yours?"

"I never said that, but I do know it'll be better," Jonathan said, "Because you'll be out of the picture."

David scowled at him contemptibly, Jonathan matching his stare. "Well good luck with that," David finally said. With that, he turned away.

Jonathan watched him go, anger still fuming inside him. This had to end now... And he knew just how to do it.

He pulled out his phone and dialed. "Hey, Petey... No, I didn't find her, but I think I know how to talk some sense into her. I just need some information from you first..."

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FACE DOWN Ch13- Meet the Family

Kristen entered the room to tutoring and found Jonathan leaning over the desk already. "There you are," he said, looking up as she entered, "I was beginning to wonder."

Kristen shut the door behind her and shuffled over to his side. "I'm not that late," she said, pulling at the sleeves of her coat.

"It's fifteen minutes after," Jonathan said.

Kristen looked up at the clock. He was right. "Oh," she said, "Sorry. I was... busy."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "Busy?"

"Yeah," Kristen said, sitting beside him and unzipping her bag, "Ready to start then?"

Jonathan eyed her suspiciously. "Kristen... what's that on your neck?" he asked.

Kristen quickly adjusted her collar, covering the red mark. "Nothing," she said, "David and I were just..." She trailed off, turning pink.

Jonathan frowned, but decided not to press it further, remembering his promise. He changed the subject instead. "So did you stop by your sister's?" he asked, saying the first thing that popped into his head.

Kristen shook her head. "I haven't really been by Annalise's since... well since the day I got mad at you guys."

Jonathan furrowed his brow. "What? But you always have gone over there at least every day before tutoring if not more," he said.

"I know, but clearly she doesn't want me around," Kristen said, "All I ever wanted was for her to open the door and talk to me. Just to tell me what's going on in her life. But no. I get nothing. I give her everything and she shuns me. So why give your heart to someone who doesn't love you back?"

This was unusual coming from Kristen. Normally she would always keep the faith that everything would work out for the best, no matter how difficult or hopeless it got. But now... she was giving up? On her own sister? Something definitely was not right. And he had a feeling that something was tall, red-haired, and worked at Student Services.

"So, let's start," Kristen said, pulling out her math book.

Jonathan noticed that she had not removed her mittens. Or her hat for that matter. It was rather warm and stuffy in the room and it wasn't very easy to write while wearing mittens. Wasn't she hot?

"Kristen, why are you wearing your mittens?" Jonathan asked.

"Because I like them," Kristen answered pointedly.

"But, don't you think it'll be a little hard to write with them on?"

"No."

"Aren't you hot?"

"No."

"It's like a thousand degrees in here and you're still wearing all your layers."

"I'm fine!"

"Kristen, you should at least--" But then he saw it. There on her face right beside her ear. Covered under layers and layers of foundation and blush was the faint shadow of a bruise. If that bruise were just an accident, she would not have gone through so much trouble to try and cover it up like that.

Jonathan took a deep breath to try and keep his voice steady. "Kristen," he said slowly, "What is that on your face?"

Kristen slowly raised a hand to the spot. She knew exactly what he was talking about. She swallowed hard. "This?" she said timidly, "It's... it's nothing really. I just hit my face on my dresser when I bent down to pick up my backpack this morning. You know me! Always a klutz!"

Jonathan shook his head. "Kristen, you're a terrible liar," he said, "If someone hurt you--"

"It wasn't on purpose! He didn't mean to!" Kristen interrupted.

"Who?" Jonathan demanded.

"David!" Kristen cried, "I was over at his place and we started kissing and after a while, things started to get a little rough."

Jonathan felt his blood boil. He clenched his fists until his fingers turned white. "What do you mean "a little rough"?"

"He just got carried away, that's all," Kristen explained, "We were all over the apartment. I'm not very big or experienced, it's not his fault. It's mine. It won't happen again."

Jonathan closed his eyes, attempting to control the fury bubbling to the surface. "Did you--? I mean you didn't...?" he couldn't even finish his sentence. The image was too horrible to imagine.

"No, no," Kristen said, "We didn't."

"But, he hit you?" Jonathan asked, gesturing to the bruise on her cheek, "What else happened?"

Kristen sighed then removed her mittens and hat, and rolled up her sleeves. She had a large bandage wrapped around one of her wrists and forearm while the other was littered with bruises and small cuts. One giant bruise peered out from below her hairline. Jonathan at first could not even move from shock, but slowly it morphed into rage.

He began to breathe heavily. Just the thought of anybody even touching her made him want to punch a hole in something. His jaw tightened and he clenched his fists once more. He closed his eyes, attempting to control it. If he so much as moved, he might flip the table or something.

"Jonathan? Jonathan, it's okay. Jonathan?" Kristen's voice barely broke through his foggy mind, "Jonathan, calm down. Everything's going to be fine. It's not going to happen again. I promise."

He just shook his head, eyes still closed. This was too much. Something had to be done. He knew this guy was no good for her before, but now? Actually physically hurting her? No. Too far.

He felt a pair of small hands pulling on his arm. "Come on, we need to get you out of here," he heard Kristen's voice saying.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Thanks for the milkshake," Jonathan said as he and Kristen walked side by side down town.

"My pleasure," Kristen said, "Didn't you say they always make you feel better no matter what?"

Jonathan gave a small smile. "You got me," he replied.

They continued to walk and Kristen looked around at the buildings as they passed, curiously. "I've never been to this part of town before," she remarked.

Jonathan suddenly seemed to become aware of their surroundings. A look of recognition flashed through his eyes briefly before he replied to her as casually as possible, "Don't uh... we usually walk back this way?"

Kristen raised her eyebrows. "We've only ever gone to get milkshakes once before, and afterwards we went our own ways."

"Oh..." Jonathan said, distracted.

"Do you know where we are?" Kristen wondered after a moment of silence.

Jonathan gave a half shrug. "Well... my family kind of lives down here."

Kristen perked up at the mention of his family. "Really?" she asked, "Where?"

Jonathan pointed. "Just down the street, around the corner," he said, "They own the bakery down there."

Kristen grinned up at him. "We should go visit!" she cried, "I'd love to meet your parents."

"Yeah, um... that might be a bit difficult, seeing as I don't have any," Jonathan said.

Kristen froze. She had an ultra annoying habit of always putting her foot in her mouth, but this had to take the cake. She turned towards him, jaw slack and eyes pleading. "Oh my... I didn't... I am so sorry!" she said.

"Hey, it's fine," he replied, "It was a long time ago. I barely even remember it."

"What happened?" Kristen asked cautiously, hoping desperately that she wasn't prying.

"Car accident," Jonathan replied, "I wasn't in the car, so I was fine."

"How old were you?" Kristen asked.

"Four," Jonathan said.

Kristen suddenly pounced on him, squeezing him around the middle. "I am so sorry! I can't even imagine!"

He patted her on the back, probably his way of hugging her back. "It's okay," he said, "My grandparents took me in."

Kristen released him and pulled back. "They did?"

"Yeah. They're the ones who own the bakery."

Kristen shuffled her feet. "Can we... can we still go visit?" she wondered.

Jonathan cracked a smile. "Sure. I guess for a bit. I need to ask them something anyways."

They began walking once more in the direction of the bakery. Kristen noticed Jonathan was suddenly looking a bit nervous. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, it's just... about my family. Well, it's not just my grandparents. See, they're kind of... getting on in years, so my aunts have been running the place. They also helped raise me and they're well...," he paused trying to come up with the right words, "They can be a little um... inappropriate and... a little overbearing. And kind of loud. Well, I say kind of, I mean really. But, they're fine. They mean well. Like..."

"Jonathan," Kristen had to stop his nervous rambling before he had a breakdown, "They sound wonderful."

Jonathan nodded. "Alright then," he said, hen he marched forward towards a building labeled "Borg’s Bakery".

"And here we are," Jonathan announced, opening the door.

Inside was what any typical bakery shop would look like with a counter and a couple small tables. At the counter, behind a pane of glass sat all assortments of breads, pastries, cakes, brownies, cookies, pies, rolls, donuts, and so on. A girl, probably not much older than Kristen, stood behind the counter, idly wiping a spatula. She looked up as the bell on the door jingled when they entered. Her eyes brightened up at the sight of them.

"Jonathan!" she cried happily.

"Hey, Louise," he greeted her.

She put down her spatula then actually hopped over the counter and rushed towards them until she flung her arms around Jonathan. "It's so good to see you!" she cried.

"Yeah, you too," Jonathan said.

Kristen just watched from behind. The girl, Louise, finally noticed her. "And, you're being completely rude," she said to Jonathan, giving him a playful nudge, "Who's this?"

"Oh this is my friend, Kristen," Jonathan said, "Kristen, this is my cousin, Louise."

"Hi, Kristen! It's so great to meet you!" Louise declared, grabbing Kristen's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. Kristen was just grateful it wasn't her injured one.

"You too," Kristen said, smiling.

"Jonathan, you didn't tell me you had such pretty friends," Louise said, "I thought it was just going to be you and bed-head boy forever."

"You mean Sam?" Jonathan said, then he smirked, "He does kind of have bed-head, doesn't he?"

"So are you two...?" Louise began, gesturing to the two of them.

Kristen instantly felt herself blush and Jonathan crossed his arms. "You would like that wouldn't you?" he said, "No. Just friends."

"Aw, too bad," Louise said, "You guys look so cute together, even though this guy is kind of a slob, but still if you just..."

"Is Aunt Bertha around anywhere!?" Jonathan loudly interrupted.

"Yeah, in the back," Louise replied, "Everyone's back there actually."

"Great," Jonathan said, "Come on, Kristen."

"Bye!" Kristen waved to Louise before following Jonathan behind a curtain.

Kristen was surprised by a massive room filled with shelves, pots, pans, ovens, stoves, sinks, counters, etc. It was much larger than she had been expecting. As soon as they had entered, Jonathan shouted, "Hey, guys!"

It was then that Kristen noticed all the people inside, crouched down behind shelves, huddled over stoves, bent over mixing bowls. At Jonathan's voice, they all simultaneously stopped what they were doing and looked up.

"JONATHAN!" one of the women, with her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun, cried out ecstatically.

Everyone began to echo the sentiment with equal enthusiasm.

A small, thin woman with dark blonde hair approached Jonathan and took his hand his her's. "Aw, my baby's all grown up!" she cooed happily.

"Aunt Millie, you saw me two weeks ago," Jonathan said.

"That's time enough to grow!"

Another woman approached, grabbing his arm. "Have you been doing your laundry, young man?" she asked sternly.

"Yes," Jonathan answered.

"Have you been using that fabric softener I gave you?" she asked.

"Yes, Aunt Janice, and my clothes are a hundred times softer!" Jonathan replied dryly.

A young boy suddenly came running around a shelf. "Jonathan! Jonathan!" he squealed.

He ran right into Jonathan's arms. "Hey! What are you doing back here?" Jonathan asked him.

"Daddy's taking us for ice cream after work," the boy said, grinning.

""Us"?" Jonathan turned to look just as a wild throng of children came bursting out from behind the shelf and towards him, screaming happily.

They all basically attacked Jonathan, clambering up him or clinging to his arms and legs as he struggled for balance. "Whoa! It's the little monkeys!" Jonathan cried, laughing.

"Jonathan, did you bring anything?"

"Jonathan, where's Sam?"

"Jonathan, what's school like?"

"Jonathan, if I keep making this face, will it get stuck that way?"

Kristen still stood in the doorway completely unnoticed by the family, but she didn't mind. She liked just watching Jonathan interact with the kids. She gave a small laugh as she watched one of them honk his nose.

That was when the dark-haired woman noticed her. Her eyes widened for a moment, then she grinned. "Everybody look! Johnny's brought someone!" she announced.

Everyone turned to look at her, then each of them broke out into wide grins. Jonathan put down the kids and moved over to Kristen. "Yeah, uh... everyone! This is Kristen," he said.

Kristen gave a wave. "Hi!"

The dark-haired woman approached in excitement. Jonathan gestured to her, "This is my Aunt Bertha. She runs this place."

Bertha smiled and looked Kristen up and down for a moment. "Mm, yes. Yes! Yes!" she declared, "So how long have you been with our little Jonathan?"

It took a moment of her grinning up at the two of them before they realized her full meaning. Kristen felt the blush rising to her cheeks once more. Jonathan covered his face. "No, you guys," he said.

"Yeah, I'm not... we're not. We don't..." Kristen said, trying to find the right way to say it without sounding too harsh.

Bertha smiled. "Mm, I see, I see. Well, just give it some time."

"Er, no," Jonathan said, "She has a boyfriend."

"Well boyfriends come and go," a balding man spoke up from behind a counter, "But true matches like this stick through the hardest of times."

Jonathan covered his face once more, but didn't say anything.

"True love is sacrifice," an older woman said, "True love is loyalty, true love is protection, true love is not trying to change the other person."

Kristen's curiosity was piqued. Maybe she could learn a little something from this. "And you think we have that?" she asked.

"Well, you look at a couple and you can sense a closeness and you can just tell... they are right for each other. They've got that true love," the old woman answered.

"Is grandpa around?" Jonathan suddenly asked loudly.

"He's napping in his chair in the office," Bertha answered, pointing.

"Thanks," Jonathan said, "I'll be right back, Kristen, then we can go."

And he quickly made his way in the direction that Bertha had pointed.

Everyone watched him disappear. There was silence for a moment then Bertha sighed. "Poor kid. He's been through a lot," she said to Kristen, "You know he actually watched his parents's car get hit by that maniac driver."

Kristen looked at her. "What?"

"Yeah, he was standing right there and they were driving to pick him up from our house when the guy came out of nowhere. Smashed the car like an accordion. He's been afraid to get inside a car ever since. Not that he doesn't, but he avoids it when he can."

So that explained his phobia. Kristen instantly felt a pang of sympathy towards him. It explained a lot about him. His loneliness, his bitterness. He was just shutting out his past pain and any future pain.

After a few moments, Jonathan appeared again. "Ready to go, Kristen?" he asked.

Kristen nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

They began to make their way towards the exit. "Bye, guys," Jonathan called.

Everyone gave their goodbyes. Kristen waved, "Bye!"

"Bye, Kristen! Come again soon!" everyone chorused.

"I will! I promise!" Kristen said. And with that she turned and followed Jonathan out.

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FACE DOWN Ch12- Snowball Fight

The first snowfall of the year always put everybody at Somerland University in a lighter mood. Just something about the white flakes fluttering around and coating everything like frosting on a cake made everything seem a little more magical somehow.

Three friends, Petey, Jonathan, and Sam all sat outside, watching a group of girls build a snowman. They sat in almost painful silence, finally Sam couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, Petey, that snowman bears an uncanny resemblance to you," he quipped.

Petey stared hard at the snowman for a long moment. "I don't see it," he said in all seriousness.

"You know, how the... oh nevermind." Explaining the joke always ruined it.

At that moment, Sam spotted Kristen across the courtyard. He wasn't sure if he wanted to point her out to the others or not. He had noticed Jonathan had been a lot more of a debbie-downer since the incident a few days back. And every time he saw her, it just made it worse. Yeah, best not point her out.

"Hey look! It's Kristen!"

Leave it to Petey. Everyone looked in the direction Petey was pointing. Kristen had stopped in front of the Castle Building to text on her phone. Sam glanced at Jonathan. Yeah, just as he predicted, here comes the doom and gloom.

Petey sighed. "I wish she'd come over here."

"You know she's still mad," Jonathan said glumly.

"It's been almost a week," Sam pointed out, "If she hasn't forgiven us by now, she probably never will."

"But why? What if we just go over there and tell her we're sorry and we won't bother her anymore?" Petey said.

"Won't we though?" Jonathan said, "I mean clearly this guy is not doing her any good."

"Yeah, but she might just have to figure that out on her own," Sam said, "I mean I know it sucks, but if we stay here by ourselves we can't help her, and if we go be her friend again, she won't listen to us. There's not much we can do, but just be there for her. So I agree with Petey... let's go say sorry."

"Great! Let's go!" Petey immediately stood up and took off.

"Petey, wait!" Jonathan called.

"It's no use," Sam said, standing up as well, "Come on."

They followed after the pudgy little sophomore who had already approached Kristen. She did not notice him at first, still engrossed in her phone. However, Petey reached out a hand and tapped her on the shoulder. She started slightly and then looked up. He looked at her sheepish, but hopeful as he began to speak. Kristen didn't say anything as he spoke, probably giving her his best heartfelt apology. Finally he looked up at her, eyes round and pleading. After a moment, Kristen sighed and then gave a small smile. Petey grinned and began to dance in place, probably holding himself back from pouncing on her in one of his bear hugs. However, Kristen scooped him up instead, squeezing him tightly.

Petey waved to Sam and Jonathan who had stopped walking to observe the scene. "It's okay, guys!" he called.

They both smirked at Petey's antics and cautiously moved forward. She had forgiven Petey, but did that forgiveness extend to them? Kristen just stared at them, stone-faced as they approached.

Jonathan spoke first, "Look Kristen, I know you've been under a lot of stress... being in a new relationship and all."

"So if you want us to shut up and stay out of it, we will," Sam said. Jonathan nodded in agreement.

There was a tense moment of silence as Kristen stared at them, arms folded across her chest. Sam and Jonathan didn't move as she did. Suddenly, she flung her arms around both of them in a tight hug, catching them off guard.

"Thank you! Of course I forgive you, I could never be mad at you for too long," she cried.

She released them, her eyes shining as she smiled up at them. "You're my only friends, after all."

"Ah, so you missed us," Jonathan said, "You were lonely without our masculine company and noxious body odor."

"Now don't get cocky," Kristen said, forcing back a smile, "I still had David."

"So you admit David has noxious body odor?" Jonathan asked, smirking.

Kristen narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, before Jonathan knew what was happening, a large ball of snow hit him smack in the face. He staggered backwards, spitting out snow and ice as Kristen brushed off her her mitten. For a moment, no one was sure if it was meant as a vicious attack or not until Kristen's voice loudly declared: "Snowball fight!"

"Yes! Snowball fight!" Petey cried and he immediately picked up some snow and chucked it at Sam, hitting him square in the chest. Sam stared at the spot in the center of his chest, appalled. Then he slowly bent down and packed some snow into a ball and marched over to Kristen and Petey.

Kristen pointed at Petey accusingly. "He did it."

Sam nodded. "Thank you." Then he crushed the snowball into the top of Kristen's head. "But you started it!"

Kristen scowled at him then quickly bent down to pack another snowball. As soon as she did, everyone quickly ran for cover. She chose Jonathan for a target, who had not yet found suitable cover. She threw her ball of snow, but it sailed just over his head and hit Petey instead.

Jonathan laughed. "You missed me!" he declared.

"Oh yeah?" Kristen glowered. She raised her other hand, revealing another snowball. He immediately stopped laughing and did not have time to duck as it came smashing into the side of his head.

Jonathan and Kristen glared at each other for a moment then both scrambled to the ground, desperately crafting snowballs as fast as they could. Petey's head popped out over his hiding place, his head still covered with snow. "Who threw that!" he demanded.

"She did!" Jonathan said, pointing to Kristen.

"You guys," Sam said, his head poking out from his hiding spot, "Don't you think that--?" No one got to hear what he thought because his words were suddenly cut off by Petey's snowball after Kristen had successfully dodged it.

Snowballs were flying in all directions, each person getting hit in turn.

Jonathan reared back and sent another snowball flying, hitting Sam in the shoulder. "Ha! And that's for eating all my cereal this morning!"

Sam glared in his direction and tossed his own snow missile at him. He barely dodged it. However, as Jonathan was focused on Sam's attack, he did not notice Kristen creeping up behind him, snow in hand. Sam did, however, and he was determined to keep him distracted.

Jonathan threw another snowball, but missed Sam entirely. Sam began to laugh.

"Funny, is it?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah--" Sam was cut off by a snowball hitting him directly in the face.

"Laughing now?" Jonathan asked, brushing off his hands, smirking.

Kristen suddenly pounced on him from behind, her arms wrapped around his neck. She began stuffing her handful of ice down his shirt, while simultaneously clinging on to him. Jonathan stumbled around, desperately attempting to reach her with no success. "Kristen!" he screeched.

Sam was cracking up from his hiding spot, practically rolling on the ground. "Yes, yes I am," he answered Jonathan's previous question.

Petey joined in with Sam's laughter as they watched Jonathan flail around, trying to get Kristen off his back. A long string of curses flew from his tongue as he spun around. Kristen just clung to him tightly, laughing herself.

Jonathan suddenly slipped on an ice patch. He was going down! He fell right onto his side with a painful thud. Kristen's grip finally loosened. They both laid on the ground, laughing and groaning. Kristen pushed herself up slightly. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Jonathan was very much conscious of her hand resting on his chest as he stared up at her. "Um, yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Good. Great," he stammered.

She smiled. "Good," she said, "Sorry about that."

Why did she have to have such beautiful eyes? The way she was just looking down at him right now. They were so close. He could practically count every single one of those cute freckles splattered across her nose. And the way her lips were turned up into a smile, it just made her entire face glow. In fact, they were so close, it would't be very hard for him to just lean forward and kiss...

"Kristen!"

Jonathan immediately snapped out of it. Everyone turned to look. David was approaching from down the steps of the Castle Building, wearing his Student Services vest. Jonathan realized what a compromising position he and Kristen were in and quickly sat up.

"David, you're off early," Kristen said, standing up and brushing off her purple coat.

"Yeah, they're actually sending me to work in Activities this week," David said.

"Really?" Kristen asked.

"Oh is it because of the Masquerade Ball that's coming up?" Petey asked, approaching along with Sam.

"The what?" Ana asked, her interest suddenly piqued.

"You haven't heard?" Petey asked, "There's fliers everywhere. It’s supposed to be like super formal. Like with fancy dresses and stuff."

David shrugged. "Just sounds like prom with masks to me."

"Ooh! That sounds like so much fun!" Kristen said, she grabbed David's arm, "We should go."

"Really?" David asked disdainfully, "I mean all it is is basically a suped-up party with a bunch of people we don't know in fancy dress that nobody's comfortable in, only there to make out or beyond in the parking lot and hallways."

"Oh come on, there's so much more to it than that," Kristen said, "There's dancing, and music, and food, and dressing up is always fun, uncomfortable or not."

David raised an eyebrow. Kristen leaned her head on his shoulder. "Please?" she asked.

David heaved a sigh. "It's in less than two weeks. Do you have time to get ready?"

"Yes! Yes! Thank you! You're the best!" Kristen hugged him tightly while he rolled his eyes slightly. Kristen looked at Jonathan, Sam, and Petey, "Will you guys come?"

"Ha! That's a laugh, us getting dates," Sam said.

"You don't need a date to come to a dance," Kristen said.

"I bet I could find somebody!" Petey declared, smiling with determination, "Somebody nice, and warm, and gentle, and friendly, with a nice b--"

"Yeah okay, you do that, big guy," David said, looking slightly disturbed.

"Good for you, Petey," Kristen said, grinning, "What about you, Jonathan?"

Jonathan stared at her at a complete loss for words. Go to a dance only to revel in Kristen wrapped up in David's arms for an entire night? It was bad enough just seeing them holding hands at that moment. How could he even think about getting a date when Kristen was right there in front of him? But no. She was taken, and he was not going to interfere. Why did this have to happen to him?

"Stag actually sounds good," Sam said suddenly, nodding at the prospect, "Yeah, maybe I will go. Jonathan can come as my side-kick. Right?"

Sam looked at Jonathan expectantly. Jonathan snapped out of his misery and nodded maybe a little too enthusiastically. "Oh yeah! Sounds great!" he declared.

"Yay!" Kristen cried, "This will be so much fun!"

"Whoopee," David said with fake enthusiasm, then he looked at Kristen, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let's go. See you guys, later!" She waved to her three friends as David led her away.

After they were gone, Petey turned to the other two. "I actually have a class in like ten minutes on the other side of campus, I should probably go too," he said, "See ya!"

They waved as Petey practically skipped off, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he went. As soon as Petey was out of earshot, Sam turned to Jonathan, sternly. "Okay, what just happened back there?"

Jonathan wrinkled his brow. "What?"

"Everything! The laying in the snow, the not answering her question about the dance!"

Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "What are you talking about? I just slipped and fell. You saw what happened. And when you slip and fall, you end up laying on the ground. What's the big deal?"

"Yeah, but not everyone stares into each other's eyes like they want to have them right there right now," Sam said.

"Excuse you. Even if that were true, I would never!" Jonathan said, frowning.

"Okay, so why didn't you answer her question about the dance?"

"I just didn't know how to answer, alright?" Jonathan answered, "I didn't know how to tell her that there was no girl out there that could interest me."

"Really? So it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the girl you actually wanted to take was already taken?"

"No, Sam! I told you, there's no girl out there that could possibly interest me. The only girl that could ever interest me would have to be fun, and nice, and who cared about everybody, and who might be a little clumsy, but in a good way. She'd also be sweet, and funny, and eternally optimistic. And she would have the most beautiful eyes. The kind that... you could just get lost in... But you know what? She's not for me! Those girls have their own boyfriends already! Boyfriends who are complete jerk-wads! So there's nothing I can do and there's nothing out there to interest me!"

Sam just watched Jonathan as he ranted. Jonathan sighed and stared at the ground. "Has it been that obvious?" he asked quietly.

"Well, your face turns redder than a cherry every time you see her and you can never take your eyes off her," Sam replied, "I'd say it's pretty obvious."

Jonathan sighed once more. "Not to her though... And it's going to stay that way, alright?"

"But--"

"Alright?" Jonathan repeated firmly.

Sam hesitated before finally agreeing. "Alright."

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FACE DOWN Ch11- The Talk

Kristen raised her fist and with a calming breath, pounded on the door. She rarely came to David's apartment, only once or twice since they had started dating, he usually came to pick her up or they just met up with each other somewhere, but after she had called him the day before, he had suggested they meet at his place.

After a few agonizing moments of waiting, she heard the door unlatch and it opened. There was something about him today. He normally was perfectly groomed and dressed, but now something about the way his shirt was unbuttoned nearly halfway down so his chest was just barely visible, and his uncombed hair hanging over his forehead, Kristen felt her stomach flip-flop. As usual, he was smiling down at her with his perfect pearly whites. She just took a moment to bask in his perfection. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hmm..." Kristen sighed, still staring, "Oh, hi!"

"Did you want to come in?" he asked.

"Yeah, uh, sure," Kristen said

He opened the door wider to admit her. She moved past him and inside. He had a pretty high class apartment, especially for a college student. She sometimes wondered if his family was rich. She knew his father was a foreign ambassador, but did that mean he was rich? She never asked, she felt like that was prying. She just waited until the subject came up, which it had not yet.

After she was inside, David closed the door behind her and moved around so he stood in front of her. "So what's up?" he asked, "You sounded pretty concerned on the phone yesterday. Is it serious?"

Kristen cleared her throat. Do it. Just do it. If he accepts you for it, great! If not then he's not worth your time... right? Ugh, she had forgotten how distracting those green eyes could be! Now with that open shirt and the hair, it was almost impossible to think. Just don't look directly at him... like the sun, or whatever!

"Look, David," she began. Okay, good start. Now keep going. "I came here to tell you..."

She looked into his face. Why did she have to do that? She couldn't go right to the point like she originally planned with him looking down at her like that. Now she had to start off on a more casual topic. "I was just over at Annalise's before I came here and..."

"Did you tell her you were coming over here?" he interrupted.

"No," Kristen replied, slightly taken aback by the abruptness of the question, "I just left my usual plate of cookies. I don't really do a lot of talking anymore."

"Why? You don't think she cares?"

Kristen sighed and nodded.

David nodded as well. "You're probably right," he said, "Anybody who refuses to even open a door for their own sister cannot be too good with the whole love thing."

Kristen felt her heart drop. "Well, I-I don't know," she said, "I mean, it seems a little harsh to say she doesn't love..."

"Look, Kristen, you've been trying for months to reach out to her. If she had any semblance of a heart, don't you think she would have acknowledged you by now?"

"She takes my cookies..."

"They're cookies. Who wouldn't take them?"

Kristen felt as though she had been slapped in the face. She felt her eyes begin to sting and she looked down at the ground. In a moment, she felt an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you," David said, "But I just don't want to see you keep putting yourself out there like that, only to keep getting knocked down each time."

Kristen wiped away a tear that had forced its way out and down her cheek. "I know. You do care, don't you?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," he answered.

Kristen sniffled slightly, pushing back her pain. "Okay," she said, "I came here... to tell you something."

"Alright," David said, pulling away from her and sticking his hands in his pockets, staring at her attentively.

"Now... we've been dating for a while," Kristen said.

"Yeah, couple months," David said.

"Yeah," Kristen said, "And it's been great. That's is uh... mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Yeah, er... well, you know, umm... I love kissing!” she said abruptly, “I mean, kissing's great, especially kissing you. It's like kissing a marshmallow. No! Not that you're fat, because you're not! You're by no means puffy in any way! Er, what I mean is... your lips! They're soft... like... a marshmallow. Ugh, that sounded better in my head. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that I do like kissing... you. But it's just that... well, I don't really know how to say this."

David raised his eyebrows. "Just say it."

Kristen took a breath. "Well..."

Suddenly the sound of a phone ringing split the air. David looked down and pulled one of his hands out of his pockets, pulling his phone with it. It was buzzing and ringing in his hand. He looked at the ID, frowning. "It's my mom," he said, sounding confused, "She never calls unless it's urgent. I'm sorry, I need to take this."

"Oh yeah, sure," Kristen said, trying to mask her disappointment with nonchalance, "Take your time."

David answered the phone and stepped into the other room. "Hello?"

Kristen sighed. Fate was against her it seemed. She had been so close to finally telling him. And just when her courage was at its peak, his phone had to ring.

He was not gone long. However, he returned with his eyes downcast, looking almost on the verge of tears. Something was not right. Kristen moved closer to him. "David? Is everything alright?"

"That... that was my mom," he said heavily, "She told me that... my grandmother just passed on."

"What?" Kristen said.

"She's been in the hospital for five months with a brain tumor. We were surprised she even lasted this long," David said, sitting down on the sofa and putting a hand to his forehead. Was he... crying?

Kristen rushed to his side. She gingerly rested her hand on his. "Were you close to her?" she asked gently.

It took him a moment before he answered. "She was the best grandma anyone could ask for," he said, "You know, she did all the usual stuff like make you cookies and brownies and whatever when you visited. And she had the most awesome house with the best tire swing on this giant tree in the backyard. I always remember her sitting in her green rocking chair knitting hats and scarves and stuff. And whenever my brothers and I would stay over, she would always make up bedtime stories right there on the spot and they were the best stories I had ever heard in my life."

Kristen smiled. "That sounds nice," she said softly.

"It was," David said. He began to get choked up again slightly, but he fought it back. Kristen held his hand. "Now she's gone," he said through deep breaths, "Why does everyone always have to leave? First my grandpa, then Jamie... I never thought I'd ever get over her. I told you about her, right? In high school... my first girlfriend?"

Kristen nodded, then clung tightly to his hand and pulled it close to her. "Not everyone leaves," she said, "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."

David cracked a smile and he squeezed her hand. "I know. That's why I love you."

Kristen's eyes widened. "What?"

David's melancholy atmosphere disappeared slightly. "Oh..." he said, realizing, "I had planned on telling you under less gloomy circumstances."

"You... you love me?" Kristen repeated, shocked.

"Yeah," David answered, slightly sheepish.

Kristen processed this information for a moment. No one had ever loved her before, at least not romantically. There was always her parents's love, and she had once thought Annalise loved her, but who even knew about that anymore. But David loved her? It seemed too good to be true! She slowly smiled at him. "I love you too," she said.

He leaned closer to her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said.

And he closed the gap between them. Plan? What plan?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Do you think she actually went through with it?" Petey wondered.

"I certainly hope so, for her sake," Sam answered.

"Jonathan, you did say she was going to do it today, right?" Petey asked.

Jonathan just nodded, staring at his binder in his lap as the three of them sat on the steps in front of the Castle Building. He was still trying to process the feelings he had been experiencing ever since his tutoring session with Kristen the previous day.

"Hey, are you okay? You've been acting all weird since yesterday," Sam said.

"I'm fine," Jonathan said, "I've just have a bit of a headache, that's all."

"Alright, suit yourself," Sam said, shrugging, "But if you want to talk, I'm right here for you."

"I do not need to talk, Sam," Jonathan snapped, "It's a headache."

"Okay, fine," Sam said, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Hey look, Kristen's coming this way!" Petey announced, pointing.

Jonathan's head snapped up in the direction that Petey was pointing. Sure enough, Kristen's petite figure was moving towards them in the distance. Jonathan could feel his heart rate suddenly speed up and he could even feel a blush rise to his cheeks. What in the world? That was just not okay! He took long steady breaths in attempt to slow his racing heart and he prayed that his face was not too noticeably red.

Kristen approached. She was not smiling. Petey spoke up first. "So?"

"So what?" Kristen asked.

"So what happened?" Petey asked.

Kristen adjusted her collar. "I don't see why that's any of your business."

Petey's face dropped slightly. "Didn't you tell David about your problem?"

"I might have or maybe not," Kristen said, "I still don't see why it's any of your business."

"Kristen, are you okay?" Sam wondered, "You're acting a little strange."

"I'm fine!" Kristen said sharply, "And if you must know, I am still with David and everything's been resolved."

"So you told him?" Petey asked.

"No. But everything worked out for the best," Kristen said.

""Worked out for the best"?" Sam repeated, "Kristen, if you didn't tell him your problem, how can everything work out for the best?"

"You wouldn't understand," Kristen said, "None of you have been in a relationship, so how can you know what's best?"

Everyone just stared at her, dumbfounded. Kristen inhaled sharply. "Now excuse me, I have a class that starts in five minutes."

With that she marched up the steps and disappeared into the Castle Building.

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