disclaimed.

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thank you to: emmy [lightning veins], (anonymous) Skylark, nicole [carry me home tonight], (anonymous) Carrington, han [in the jungle dances], mo [if dreams could come alive], whereitallbegins, livvy [entwined leather] & bree [BrokenWingsDontFly]. your reviews make me smile!

i've decided that i'll be review replying, instead of replying here, in a chapter, if that's alright. but if it's an anonymous review, i guess i could reply if i need to. (:

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Derrick looked at the piece of paper in his hands, then up at the house that stood before him.

It was a plain beige one-story, but the colorful flowerbeds in front accented the building. He started walking down the pebble-stone walkway that separated one patch of green, green grass into two.

He hesitated, his finger hovering right above the doorbell. Reminding himself that he had no place to stay, he pressed it.

A simple chime rang throughout the house and into Derrick's ears. He stood patiently, waiting for the door to open, and a few minutes later, a girl wearing sunglasses cracked open the door just enough for Derrick to see her whole entire body. Lifting the glasses and resting them onto her head, she studied him, so he reciprocated the action.

She had streaks of bright, bright red in her honey-blonde hair. Three-inch inseam shorts covered one-third of her thighs. A size-too-big black button up long sleeve (currently unbuttoned) was over a tight white tank-top, and one sleeve was hanging off her shoulder. He looked up to find light green eyes.

"Mass," she called over her shoulder, never talking her eyes off him, "there's a really hot guy at your door right now."

Derrick heard footsteps and light sniffles trudging towards the door. "What? It's almost one in the morning."

Is it really that late? Maybe I should have checked the time before coming here… He shook his head slightly, as the door widened and another figure appeared at the door.

This one, Derrick noticed, wasn't as revealing as the other. She wore her brown hair up in a sloppy bun, yoga pants that ended when they hit her calves, and big sweatshirt. Her eyes were somewhat puffy and a little red. Crumpled up tissues were in her right hand, her left resting on the doorknob.

"Look – whoever you are – if you're here to apologize for Kemp, I don't care. So please just go away."

He suddenly felt awkward being there at the doorstep. Was this even the right house? He shuffled his feet. "I, um, I don't know who Kemp is. I was looking for William Block. Do I have the wrong address?"

The blonde covered her eyes with the sunglasses, even though it was dark out. Lazily walking backwards, eyes still never leaving his, she said, "You take care of him."

Derrick took a few steps back as the girl sighed deeply, stepped outside, and closed the door. "Why are you asking for my dad this late? Or early, whichever."

"We met at a gas station, and he uh, offered me a place to stay."

She chuckled slightly, a small smile on her face for just a moment. But it disappeared just as fast as it had come onto her face. "That's just like my dad."

"Offering strangers a place to stay?" Derrick inquired.

She giggled softly, then caught herself. "I meant being nice." She stuck her hand out. "I'm Massie."

"Derrick Harrington." They shook hands.

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"This is the guest room," Massie flung open a door, sniffling a bit "which is where you'll be staying. My dad's out with his girlfriend. He was probably on his way to pick her up when you met him at the gas station. He's taking her camping, so I don't fully get why he offered you a place to stay if he wouldn't be here for the first couple of days, but y'know. That's my dad."

"Actually," Derrick started, setting his backpack on the floor by the queen-sized bed, "I don't know. And I don't mean that in a rude way. Just, you talk like I should know who you guys are. Are you famous or something?"

He saw one eyebrow go up. "You ever heard of Kay's Diner?"

"Nope."

"We own a diner. It was a passion of my mom's – to open a diner, to serve and socialize –"

"Massie Kassandra Block get your butt down here so we can start this fucking marathon!" A monotone voice yelled up the staircase.

"Marathon?"

"Avengers marathon. Wanna join?"

"Sure, why not?"

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a/n: sorry (so so sorry!) for this piece of crap that i shouldn't be calling an update. but i felt like i had abandoned this story which isn't really cool because i like my ideas for this story – which in all honesty is rare since i don't ever like my ideas. PLEASE STICK BY MY SIDE. i promise things'll get more interesting as the story progresses. this was kinda just a filler chapter. i'm rambling. okay. i'm going to go and let you go to the doctor because your eyes are most likely bleeding from the terrible-ness of my writing. review and lemme know what you think? i'd appreciate it (: