MIGUEL WAS THE FIRST TO throw a punch, almost tentatively. Robby countered it with his own, and Dylan watched in simple satisfaction, loudly sipping a homemade shirley temple out of the ingredients in the Diaz's kitchen.

"Those are for pussies."

"No, they're for real Americans. This is patriotism right here," Dylan gritted out, glaring at Johnny from behind her aviator sunglasses. "Red, white and blue, motherfucker."

"None of that makes any sense," Johnny tried.

"Does this make any sense?" Dylan pointed at the two boys fighting on the first level.

"Is that all you got? I thought you were sworn enemies!" Johnny yelled at them. Miguel got a strong hit in on Robby, catching him off guard moments later. Robby tried to get fancy with some spinning kicks though he wasn't actually that close to Miguel.

"Look at this fool." Robby hit Miguel, knocking him backwards before kicking off of the wall and kicking Miguel through the door to the stairwell.

"Hey, stairwell's out of bounds!" Johnny tried to yell to them, though no one paid any attention. Dylan sat up, finally nervous that maybe they'd be having a repeat of the school fight a few years ago. "That's it. Fight's over!"

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Dylan scolded Johnny, following him quickly. Miguel and Robby continued to fight on the second level. "As entertaining as this is, it's making my blood pressure go up!"

"That's enough! Robby, Miguel, knock it off!" Miguel had landed on the ground and resorted to pushing Robby away from him with his foot. Dylan watched, anxiously from below as Miguel had Robby cornered against the railing, similarly to how it had been in the past, with the roles reversed.

"Shit." Johnny grimaced, face contorted with regret.

Miguel punched Robby with ferocity, continuing to hit him with the reminders of what the other boy had done to him. Miguel's life had been put on hold for months. He hadn't been able to move for what seemed like ages because of Robby Keene. Dylan couldn't blame him for finally snapping. But she didn't want her boyfriend to end up in juvie like Robby had.

Robby was scared, judging by his posture. Miguel moved into his fighting stance, ready to deal the final blow, and then he just . . . stopped. Johnny and Dylan came up the stairs while Miguel and Robby just stared, panting.

"Why'd you hold back?" Robby asked Miguel.

"I didn't get into karate to hurt people," Miguel answered honestly. "I did it to be badass and find balance. And you know, pick up chicks." He nodded at Dylan flirtatiously. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, okay, Casanova." She walked towards him anyways, relieved that neither kid had gotten hurt too badly. Miguel slung an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head.

"Yeah, I understand that."

"How come last time we fought like this, uh, you didn't hold back?" Miguel questioned his 'enemy' curiously.

"I just wanted to finish the fight. I mean, not like that. I just . . . I had tunnel vision, and I got so angry that I just . . . I mean, I barely knew where we were. I'd take it back in a second if I could," He responded honestly. "I was the cause of the worst moment of your life. If it's any consolation, it was the worst moment in my life, too," Robby had already had his punishment, and Miguel and Dylan could recognize that. "And I'm sorry I haven't been very nice to you," Robby apologized to Dylan. She looked shocked that he even brought it up. "You've always been cool, and nice, and all that. Rivalries just got in the way of seeing that. So I'm sorry."

"It's cool, Robby. And I'm sorry for talking shit about you behind your back to my friends when we didn't talk all that much anyways." Dylan kicked the pavement, looking away from him.

"Wait what?"

"Yeah, I don't know, me and Iris ran out of conversation topics at lunch a couple times."

He just nodded sheepishly in response, and she had to grin.

"Yeah, I'll take it," Miguel said, accepting the apology from Robby.

"So? Is it over?" Johnny asked, holding out his arms in exasperation. "Are you guys good?" They nodded at him smiling. Johnny breathed out a sigh of relief, winking at Dylan as if he knew his plan was going to work out from the beginning. "Thank God. If you guys still hated each other when the baby gets here . . . " Johnny trailed off before stopping.

"The baby?" Miguel continued to pry. "Wait, what? Like you and my mom?"

"Yeah, we're uh, having a baby. We were supposed to tell you together so make sure you act surprised."

"Holy shit!" Miguel yelled joyfully. Dylan was still flabbergasted that Carmen like Johnny enough for that. Miguel picked Dylan up before her thoughts could ramble on, spinning her around until she started to laugh.

"Dad that's—that's awesome!" Even Robby was excited, which was good.

Leave it to Johnny to knock Carmen up at the worst timing possible. The more Dylan thought about it however, the more she wondered if it was the best time for a baby. Sure, there was plenty of chaos to be had in the Valley, but finally things seemed to be coming together. Miguel and Robby were becoming unlikely allies, if not friends. Dylan's mother would be released from prison in a few short months, and even though it made her more nervous than she'd like to admit, she missed her mom. And she loved her enough that any of the bad things she had done in the years prior vanished from Dylan's mind.

"You wanna come in? My mom's getting the food together. Robby and Johnny are staying, a bit of a celebration, I guess," Miguel awkwardly asked his girlfriend. She smiled at him but shook her head. "What? I can practically see you scheming."

"I got something I need to work on with a friend."

"A friend that isn't me, Eli, Demetri or Iris?" Miguel pretended to be shocked, leaning against the doorway with ease. Dylan ignored his snide comment though she could have laughed. "Charlotte?"

"Yeah, girl's night, you know?" Dylan gave him finger guns. Miguel pouted his lips at her revelation, finding that she wouldn't be sticking around tonight with him and his family.

"I can't stay for girl's night? Just this once?" He practically pleaded. "I'll even let you paint my nails."

"And I'll hold you to that for another time," Dylan answered smartly. "But unfortunately you're just not cool enough for all of this. Besides, every night is girls night. You just didn't make the cut, Miguel."

It was with a sense of longing that Miguel finally let her go. It was strange to think that he and Dylan were so compatible in a relationship. They argued on occasion, Dylan still worried that maybe she wasn't interesting enough to him, or that he would end up realizing all they were good for was friends, but it was a peaceful relationship.

Dylan practically skipped down the steps with enthusiasm that she would have laughed bitingly at a year ago.

         CHARLOTTE DALEY HAD BEEN EXCEPTIONALLY secure in who she was. She wasn't AP material, but she did well in her classes and she knew she would get into a good college. Charlotte didn't have to worry about anything at home — she lived in the Hills with her rich parents. They had enough money and more.

She liked the way that high school was. People knew her, were nice to her, and she liked being recognized for being good at cheerleading, even if she didn't care for all of the people in actuality.

Apparently Charlotte wasn't as sure of herself anymore. She looked around at her peers, her cheer team, and she felt more behind than ever.

When she held hands with a boy on her first date a year ago, she figured he just wasn't the one for her. When Charlotte had her first kiss the beginning of sophomore year, she believed that he just hadn't known what he was doing — and why should he, really? Peyton Blake had initiated a hot and heavy make-out session at a party she'd been invited to and she'd originally thought herself attracted to him. It was clear almost immediately that she had been wrong. Charlotte continued dating him anyways.

It didn't make sense. She'd been obsessed with him for two months!

"So you don't love all that lovey-dovey crap, so what?" Dylan kicked a cigarette butt lying on the street. "I don't like holding hands either with Miguel. He's sweaty and I get eczema on my palms, so," Dylan rambled unashamed.

"You know what I mean, Dylan." Charlotte turned to look at her older friend who would be graduating the next time the blinked. "You're not Johnny. I know you're chronically online, too."

"So no sex, then. Probably a good thing. Virgins don't have to worry about STDs or uh. . . happy little accidents."

"I quit cheer because I was getting made fun of," Charlotte admitted, making Dylan stiffen. "I thought that I could learn to like all the affection and what not. But I just couldn't." Charlotte kicked a rock into the road. "It wasn't like I was getting bullied, they all just kind of. . . stopped talking to me, 'cause I couldn't relate to them. It got lonely."

"Jesus, you should have told me or Iris, Char. It's not a big deal to realize you're—you're—"

"Not wired that way?" Charlotte smiled. Se didn't seem to be upset, as Dylan realized. "I guess this is me coming out to you, then. I'm a sort of popular cheerleader who thought I wanted to date people only to realize I just wanted to be friends!"

"Yeah so Johnny's gonna get a kick out of this. He might make you into a personal research experiment. I mean, he only heard about bisexual people like two years ago, so it'll be a while before he figures out the whole asexual, aromantic community," Dylan started to joke. "He asked for an 'lgbt' at Subway last week. Thought it meant some kind of sandwich."

"That's such a Johnny Lawrence thing to do." Charlotte shook her head. "I think I'll talk to Iris later."

"You should. I'm surprised you came to me first," Dylan said to her younger friend. "Don't get me wrong, it's cool that you're telling me about all of this, but I don't know, I thought Iris would be first to know."

"Sometimes it helps to talk to someone outside of my family, you know?" The red head asked. Dylan nodded.

"Yeah, I don't tell my mom everything. Granted I can't usually see her in person . . . " Dylan trailed off, cracking another joke about her home life. She avoided Charlotte's questioning gaze.

"I told you my secret, what about you?" Dylan was silent in response. "It's in three weeks, Dyl. You can't hide from her forever."

"I haven't answered her last letter. I haven't visited in four months either." They walked side by side while Dylan stared blankly into space. "I stared at the blank paper and dissociated instead of writing anything."

"It's weird, isn't it? Having your mom back in your life," Charlotte clarified. She continued when Dylan nodded. "Do you—do you wish she stayed behind?"

"Sometimes." Dylan couldn't always accept change. She was young when her father died, and it had been so long since then, that the pain had long since gone away. It was easier to accept death because it was permanent. Her dad wasn't coming back, but her mom was. And Dylan had been on her own for a long time. "It's still taking me awhile to get used to having Miguel around. Like, as a boyfriend, or whatever." She rolled her eyes at the term.

"It's gonna work out just fine. If not, you have a home with me and Iris," Charlotte spoke warmly, inviting her into her home if things went south. "Besides, my dad's going to Miami, so it would just be us and my mom."

"Thanks, Charlotte. It's nice having you guys around."

"What would you do without us?" They laughed together.

note —

next time i publish anything for this i'll give you guys two updates cause i've been working on an upcoming chapter for a while and i think y'all will love it!

started classes today and i'm so drained, but i finally got a chapter out for fight club so i feel better now LOL.

also i started shameless with my roommates and we're all so obsessed :)