"Where's your brother?" Michelle asked.

I readjusted my laptop screen so I could see her video chat better. "Not here."

"Shouldn't he be home from practice by now?"

"He's getting back at me," I said, rolling my eyes. "I didn't call him last night, so he isn't talking to me. And now he's out and he's not going to call me."

"So let me get this straight. The two boys you live in an apartment with aren't speaking with you?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "It's great to be me right now."

"Well I mean you did get pissy over Parker using that skank-hoe as a rebound, and then you went and used Daniel-"

"Okay," I interrupted. "Whose side are you on anyways?"

"The side of justice."

I rolled my eyes. "Some best friend you are."

"Hey so are we going to the game tomorrow night?"

"Possibly," I said, with a shrug. "Depends on what type of speaking terms Emmett and I-"

I was interrupted by the apartment door swinging open, Parker hurrying inside.

"Where's Emmett?" I asked.

He ignored me as he leafed through the Emmett's medicine cabinet in the kitchen.

"I'll call you back," I said to Michelle, before ending our video chat.

"What's going on?" I asked, shutting my laptop and placing it on the coffee table.

"Where's his emergency inhaler?" Parker asked.

I sprinted back to his room, taking his emergency inhaler out of his nightstand.

"What's the matter?" I asked, handing it to Parker.

He took off running, and I followed him down the six flights of stairs and outside.

Two of his teammates were waiting with him in the parking lot, where he was struggling to breathe.

"What happened?" I asked.

"He didn't use his breathing treatment last night because he was pre-occupied," Parker snapped to me, as Emmett took a hit from his emergency inhaler.

I felt like I'd taken a blow to the chest.

"And then he went over his limit at practice today," Parker snapped to Emmett.

Emmett took two hits from his inhaler, before leaning back against Parker's car, slowly lowering himself to the ground.

"Call coach," Parker said to one of the younger teammates. "Tell him we got the situation under control."

Emmett reached a sitting position, leaning back against Parker's car as his breathing slowed.

"What happened to his practice inhaler?" I asked Parker.

"He ran out of hits," Parker said, his hands on his hips. "So when I went to grab it, it was empty."

I wiped a tear off my cheek.

"This is my fault," I said, my voice shaking.

"Kind of," Parker agreed.

"I'm sorry," I said, a few more tears dripping down my cheeks.

And then much to my surprise, Parker reached out and squeezed my shoulder, offering me a tight smile.

"It's not your fault," he amended. "I let my temper get the best of me, sorry. It's nobody's fault."

"Help me up," Emmett said to Parker, extending his hand up towards him.

Parker let go of me, and I stepped away as he helped Emmett up.

"I'll get him upstairs," Parker said to the two boys, "and then I'll drop you guys off."

They both nodded in agreement.

The three of us trooped into the elevator in silence.

"I'll be back in 20," Parker said, once we were back in the apartment. "Take it easy."

Emmett nodded in agreement, and then Parker left.

"I love you and I'm sorry," I said.

"It's not your fault," Emmett said, as he lied out on the couch.

"If I hadn't stayed out and kept you up, you would've done your stupid, loud breathing treatment," I said, shaking my head.

"I'm really not in the mood to console right now," Emmett said, laying his head down on a pillow. "But I could go for a good movie."

And that's how I knew we were okay again.

~*~

"So what are you up to this Friday?" Daniel asked, sneaking up behind me at my locker.

I let out a sigh, taking a moment before I closed my locker.

How do you explain to someone that they were just your rebound sex?

"Listen," I said, turning to face him. "I regret what happened between us the other night. It was a mistake."

He nodded, stone-faced.

"I'm sorry," I added, although I'm not sure I really meant it.

One thing that's for sure is that I'm a bitter bitch when it comes to Daniel.

"Sorry doesn't fix everything."

Funny, I'd said those exact same words the other day.

I looked across the hallway, and saw Parker round the corner. He connected eyes with me, and he hesitantly took a step in my direction, opening his mouth as though he was going to call out for me.

And then his eyes shifted over to Daniel. His face turned hard and his mouth clamped shut, and he abruptly looked away from the two of us, turning to head down the hallway towards his next class.

"I know," I said, looking back over at Daniel. "But it's a start."

And then I left him to catch up with Parker.

"I'm late for class," Parker said.

"Since when have you cared?"

"Since I wanted to get away from you."

Ouch.

"I probably deserved that," I agreed, falling into step with him. "But I'm not the only guilty one."

"You wanted the stupid break in the first place," Parker said, his gaze still set forward.

"Because I wanted you to work on you and me to work on me before we tried to work on us."

"Well great fucking job Emily, because we both royally screwed that one up."

I stepped in front of him, turning to face him. "I know."

Parker didn't say anything.

"But that doesn't mean we can't ever be good together again."

"The day you suggested we take a break I slept with Veronica," Parker reminded me. "And then that night you slept with Daniel. And you think we could be good again?"

"I think it'll take some work," I amended. "But that's what we both needed in the first place, work."

He didn't answer.

"I know that you deal with your problems on the inside," I said, with a nod. "But I think if we deal with this together, it's something we can overcome."

"I think it's a little too much," Parker disagreed, his voice hard.

"So you don't want to try?"

Parker stared at me for a few moments.

"What's there to fight for?" he asked, shaking his head. "We didn't even make it a month."

"I can't make you have feelings for me," I said, taking a step back.

"That's not it."

"That's what it sounds like."

"I'm just saying that we didn't even make it a month. Maybe we're just not good together."

"Maybe," I agreed. "But maybe we are."

And with that the tardy bell rang.

~*~

"It's supposed to be nice out on Saturday," Emmett said, as I poured myself a cup of coffee.

"So what are you suggesting?" I asked.

"We could take the boat out," he suggested.

"Sounds inviting."

"What're we talking about?" Parker asked, joining us in the kitchen.

"I was thinking that we could take the boat out this weekend," Emmett informed him.

I didn't know he meant the three of us.

"Like the three of us?" Parker asked, glancing over at me.

"We could bring the tube," Emmett continued. "Have a little fun."

"I'm in," I said, taking a bite of my granola bar.

Parker picked up an apple, taking a bite. "Me too."

"You need to eat more than that apple if you want coach off your ass," Emmett said to Parker, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What?" I asked, looking over to Parker.

"Coach noticed my weight drop," Parker said, opening the freezer and heating up one of the breakfast sandwiches. "He's been riding my ass."

I hadn't even noticed it until he mentioned it the other day. How sad is that?

Parker's phone went off right as the microwave finished, a Miami area code.

"Hello?" Parker asked, cradling his phone to his ear. "This is him."

I exchanged glances with Emmett, and he just shrugged.

"For disrupting class?" Parker asked, taking a sip of his coffee. "What type of disruption?"

"Lee," Emmett said to me. "Detention probably."

"Why?"

"Sounds like classroom disruption," Emmett said. "The kid racks up detentions."

"Okay," Parker said, with a sigh. He put his phone down, putting it on speaker and filling the kitchen with holding music.

"Detention?" Emmett asked.

"Of course," Parker agreed, taking a bite of the breakfast sandwich. "Classroom disruption, per usual. Something about excessive talking, stupid encyclopedia boy."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hello?" Lee's voice asked.

Parker left the phone on speaker. "Detention? Really?"

"Mrs. Wetherington hates me," Lee complained.

"I would hate you too if you excessively talked during my class," Parker chastised. "Keep your trap shut."

"It wasn't excessive," Lee huffed.

"Just try not to get another detention this week?"

"Okay," Lee agreed.

"And show up this time. I do not need another phone call about you skipping detention."

"I will," Lee complained.

"I'm serious Lee. If you skip detention I'll have them take away your off-campus privileges."

"Okay," Lee whined.

"Good, now get to class."

The phone clicked dead, and Parker tucked his phone into his back pocket.

"Another detention this week?" I asked.

"The kid racks 'em up," Parker said, rolling his eyes. "He can't shut up."

"You went all dad-strict on him," Emmett said.

"Well I can't have him skipping detention," Parker defended. "That's an In-School Suspension. And I have to have a parent-teacher conference for that, which means an extra trip down to Miami."

"Does it ever surprise them when an 18-year old walks through the door claiming to be the parent?" Emmett asked, chuckling to himself.

"More than once," Parker said, with a half-smile. "I've had to pull out the paperwork on file to prove it plenty of times."

~*~

"You need this," Michelle reminded me, as I relaxed back in my chair.

"I'm not disagreeing," I said, closing my eyes. "But people touching my feet freak me about a little."

"Just relax."

"Great advice."

She laughed, sticking her tongue out at me.

"What color are you getting?" I asked, peering down at my toes.

"Hot pink because I'm a sassy bitch."

I couldn't help but laugh, shaking my head at her.

"And you?"

"French manicure," I answered, leaning back in my seat again. "Because it matches everything."

"Boring," Michelle sang.

I rolled my eyes as the pedicurist made her way over to me, Michelle's pedicurist right behind her.

As soon as she touched my foot I couldn't help but giggle.

"Everything okay?" the pedicurist asked me.

I nodded. "Sorry."

"Relax," Michelle whispered.

I leaned back in my seat, holding back my giggles as the pedicurist massaged my feet and took care of my callouses.

I had some ugly feet.

"What are you doing?" I asked, as she rubbed some lotion up my legs.

"Relax," Michelle whispered, a bit more angrily.

I fell back in my seat again, letting this pedicurist massage up my calves.

This is why I hated pedicures. I can't stand people touching my feet, and especially taking it upon themselves to massage my calves.

After an awkward few minutes, she left to get the materials to do my French manicure.

"You look tenser than when we started," Michelle said, laughing at me.

"I hate this."

"It's because you put up this mental block."

"Well excuse me for thinking that it's weird for people to be all up on my feet and legs."

"It's nice if you let it."

"You're just weird."

Michelle scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I'm the weird one."

The pedicurist came back, ready to start my pedicure.

"If you cooperate, I'll take you to Panera for lunch," Michelle whispered.

I raised my eyebrows at her in question.

"And yes," Michelle conceded. "I'll even pay for your lunch."

**************************************************************************************************************

So what did you guys think about Emmett's asthma attack? Do you think anyone's to blame for it? What about Emily & Parker's talk at school? And then the little bit of Lee, sorry there couldn't be more. What about the ending, with some girl-bonding time? Did you guys miss Michelle?

The cover off to the right was submitted by moonbank. Check it out! -->

I left the update spot on the last chapter blank by mistake. I forgot to fill it in before I posted the chapter. But geez guys, was the major freakout necessary? You knew I was going to update again, I always do.

And for those of you asking about my knee, thank you. I just thought I'd let you guys know it's just a MCL Sprain, so no surgery for me. Can I get a hooray? :D I'm so happy.

I'm currently updating this on hotel wifi. So anything funky happens, it's because of that. So I apologize in advance.

Teaser: Boat trip time. Let's talk about awkward.

Update: Thursday or Friday