Chapter Six: We Know What's Coming Next

Sam was back where she belonged, away from Greece and Dorothea with the charges dropped … or at least enough was cleared up to allow her back in the U.S. They had video evidence that she hadn't been a part of it, that the drugs were planted on her.

Sam sighed, knowing that she needed to figure something out. She'd tried calling Dawn a million times, but to no avail. Italy was probably amazing.

But she couldn't focus on that now. For now, she had to talk to Lee and see if she could maybe stay with him or if he knew of someplace … any place but a woman's shelter, if possible.

She found herself in front of Colony, about to dial his number when she ran into someone unexpectedly. "I'm sorry."

"Sam?

"What the hell?" She shook her head in disbelief. Out of all of the people… the black leather jacket, tussled hair, unassuming blue eyes… Trent.

"What are you doing here?"

"Where is Lee?"

"How are you?" Trent wondered, as they played the no-so-rhetorical-question game.

"Where is Lee?"

"Having some tests done. Do you want to-"

"Yeah. Let's go." She ignored the awkwardness of the situation and the weirdness of the fact that Trent seemed to actually be … sober.

"So Canadian New Year?" Robyn wondered, snow flying past her calmly.

"Yeah, Nice and warm up here."

"No. It's fine. I may be from California, but I picked the north east for a reason. It's different and I think I like it more because of that."

Robyn couldn't believe that she was in Canadaabout to spend one of the most sacred holidays of the year with a guy she'd only known since the 11th. She sat back, watching up interact with his family and it make her think about her parents.

Her dad would be working on last minute patients while mom would be writing profusely to finish the next chapter. That was like her life quote or something, 'one more chapter.'

It was nice to be around people who seemed to accepting of her and Noah. They were so brand new that it was more like dating than something strictly serious.

Robyn couldn't help but think how things would have been different for her if Noah was American. She could just see it now. Everyone would stare. Some people would say rude things. People would express their dislike openly.

Here, no one seemed to care that she was this African-American girl holding hands with this dorky white Canadian. It was beautiful. And if this was Noah's world, she didn't understand it, but she wanted to be a part of it.

Beau Beachum was talented, charming amazing, and he had everyone fooled. As he won over everyone, even Beth who was super moody lately, Kat knew that she had to play along.

She had to forget what could have happened if Noah hadn't walked in. She couldn't think about the fact that Beau tried to force himself on her. Otherwise, she'd never make it through the night.

When dinner was over, Kathryn walked him to the door, with the intention of telling him that he wasn't welcome back here.

"You have every right to hate me Kathryn. The way that I've treated you last semester was disgusting."

"Are you apologizing to me for once?"

"I'm apologizing for the way you may have interpreted or felt about what happened." He dodged, always making himself out to be the perfect one, no matter what.

"So you're sorry that I made myself cry over something that you did but you take no responsibility-"

"Calm down Kat … please. Can we start over?"

"No." She answered firmly.

"No?" He repeated, stunned.

"It's over."

"Good luck telling your parents why I'm not taking you out tomorrow night for a date."

"You didn't."

"I did. Like it or not Kat, I care about you. I want you." He tapped her nose lightly and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, in case someone was watching. It wasn't like he actually cared about Kathryn, but he was here to do damage control and get rid of that stupid restraining order.

By the time Dawn and Devon had gotten back from the beach in Venice, their feet were completely covered in sand. "Is this super sand or something? It's not coming off." Devon commented, after trying to let the ocean wash off the sediment naturally.

"Just shower it off." Dawn suggested, starting to feel weighed down by the dirt herself. The two walked towards the resort that was on the beach, hand in hand. "Make sure you get the sand off your face too." She kidded, brushing the side of his mouth before kissing him softly.

Italy was definitely the most amorous place she'd been before and she couldn't keep her hands off Devon. It was almost tragic that she was so into a guy who was in love with her best friend.

When they'd reached the room, they both hesitated. "You can shower first." Dawn offered, feeling more selfless on this trip than she ever had before in her life.

"No, ladies first."

"I would feel bad if I made you wait on me to shower, again. Umm…" Dawn walked into the bathroom and checked it out. Not only was it super huge but… "There are two shower heads. You get one side and I get the other."

"Are you suggesting something seductive Dawn?"

"No. Not without a commitment. And I'm doing me right now." Dawn quickly diffused the situation. She tried to rationalize the circumstances into something platonic. "And anyway, what's the big deal? I'm in a bathing suit, you're in swimming trunks, we can just shower with them on. And if either of us wants to take anything off, we won't look. Swear." Dawn could see and feel the rising danger factor here, but nothing was going to happen.

Those words she repeated in her mind while Devon tried to stay focused. He needed to think about this sand and getting it off his feet, but his mind kept wondering back over to Dawn who was behind him…

"Stop trying to take a peek."

"I'm not. But this is ridiculous Dawn. You cannot properly shower with clothes on."

"If you're going to do that then … I'm getting out." Dawn panicked as Devon turned around and touched her arm lightly, stopping her from leaving.

"Don't go." He whispered, drawing her near him with the intensity in his eyes. As Devon kissed her softly again and again Dawn tried to relax.

His arms found their way to the top of her bathing suit as she pulled away suddenly. "Devon, what are we doing?"

"I think it's obvious what's about to happen Dawn." He stroked her hair lightly.

"No, I mean it. I'm not that girl who takes sex lightly and just sleeps around with guys who aren't committed to her. I'm not asking for exclusivity between us Devon, I just want to know where we stand before I do this with you again." She added sadly, thinking of her virginity lost behind a shared bottle of tequila with Devon just a few months earlier.

Devon knew that at this moment he could lie. He could tell Dawn that they were a couple. Hell, they'd been acting like one since they got on the airplane to Italy. It wouldn't be a complete misrepresentation of the situation. But the gentleman in him trumped the player.

"I don't know what we are." He fessed up, pissed as soon as he said it.

Dawn smiled, kissing him passionately as though it didn't matter. She brought his ear close to her mouth and whispered. "I knew it." He sighed, defeated as she pushed him away forcefully. "I'm going out. Don't look for me. Asshole!"

"Hey Billy, it's me." Dawn picked up her phone and dialed the guy she had been avoiding since news of Bel Air.

"It's about time. Dawn, I've been calling and calling. We need you two weeks early."

"What? You can't do that! We had a deal." She yelled, so emotional at that moment.

"Hear me out Dawn. We need you to do some promotional things … Neutrogena and Venus Gillette want you for their commercials."

"Oh, and I guess you want me to still do the tampon commercial too." Dawn argued back.

"That offer still stands."

"Call me back when you have something serious … like a campaign for global poverty, HIV/AIDS, the famine in Somalia, substance abuse even. I'd play a lesbian crack head before being a part of the dancing tampon franchise."

"Well … I was letting you know that I can get one of those announcements for you, easily if you commit to Neutrogena and one of the other commercials."

"How long will it take to shoot it?"

"Neutrogena has to be done in a few hours. The other two will take a day or two."

"So, we're talking five maybe six days total. Why do I need to come back two weeks early then? What's really going on?"

"We're doing a Bel Air book signing-"

"Book? Since when-"

"And we need you Ms. Ortega."

"Give me a couple of days to think about it … But seriously Billy, all I asked for was a month. One month of my first college winter break."

"See you in a week." Billy hung up even though Dawn hadn't confirmed anything yet. She couldn't do that, leave Sam hanging like that. But could she really face her knowing what had almost happened with Devon under no influence of alcohol?"

"So how did you weasel your way into taking over Lee's place." Sam wondered, bitterly.

"He trusts me, unlike you."

"Yeah. I made that mistake once and you didn't choose me. You haven't changed Trent, so stop pretending that you have."

(A/N: Thanks to a review *gasp* I decided to fill in the rest of this chapter and upload. More reviews=juicer chapters if you strike when the creativity is flowing to my fingers! –NL)

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