Okay, I know. This fic is supposed to be my baby, but once again it's been over six weeks since my last update... Oops :P

I have been busy with things like studying, though.

Also, I stopped shipping Aleheather for about an hour a couple of days because I was so mad at what Alejandro did in all stars :P

Oh, yeah. I need to do a disclaimer. Well, I don't own total drama.

Hearing Heather say she loved him had been an exceptional moment for Alejandro. While he had heard it before, when she blurted it out on the volcano, it had been even more impacting when she admitted it straight out. Heather was not the kind of person who loved, well, anyone (with the obvious exception of herself), which meant that to hear her admit that she loved him was extremely significant. After being together for quite a while, the spaniard couldn't help feeling as though Heather was still hesitant and reserved, trying not to seem too attached. He suspected that part of Heather still worried that he was "playing" her as he had many other girls; stringing her along just to watch her suffer. However, Alejandro found this idea ridiculous. He had considered playing Heather, as he had every girl in the game, but that had only lasted for about three challenges, before he began to start respecting her and developing feelings. Couldn't Heather see how much he cared for her?

Unlike many couples who would engage in ridiculous "I wuv you too, honey," conversations, Heather and Alejandro didn't use the word love frequently, despite having now both said they loved each other. Heather preferred it that way- the word love was something so powerful, yet at the same time vulnerable, for her that saying it often would trivialize it. However, sometimes Alejandro's lips would catch her ear, and he would murmur those three words at her again, filling her with a sense of pleasure that she tried not to acknowledge too much.

One admittedly good thing about beng roped into Total Drama World Tour was that now, due to the competition taking place not long after the teenagers had graduated from high school, a majority of the contestants had been forced to take an unplanned gap year before starting college, since the show had cut into college semesters. While this had irritated some (Heather suspected Coutney would not have been that a stupid TV show got in the way of her education) it was actually a blessing in disguise for the queen bee; it meant that she could spend days in Alejandro's company without anything like school or college getting in the way. The subject had come up in conversation a few times; Alejandro had insisted that they would apply to attend the same university, even if it meant his parents had to make a generous "donation" in order for Heather to get in. She told him haughtily that that was completely ridiculous, but couldn't help smirking slightly.

Heather's birthday was approaching, and while she was usually eager to broadcast this to anyone she saw in the shallow hope that they'd buy her gifts and lavish attention on her, she made the conscious decision NOT to tell Alejandro. While she admittedly did like the prospect of how much money he could potentially spend on her, the idea of just how over-the-top he would act if he knew was almost scary; she did not want to wake up to a million roses being delivered or something stupid like that. She had fallen out of contact with her so-called friends (people who usually just followed her around to leech off her popularity) once high school was over, and her family- though they did, to their credit, buy her a gift each year- hadn't actually made any effort to celebrate her birthday since she was eight, therefore the possibilities of a party were slim. While the prospect of not having a party, therefore being robbed of the chance to jump into the spotlight once again, would have normally seemed appalling to Heather, it was actually a small relief to know that if she wasn't having a party then Alejandro wouldn't know.

This, however, was ruined by a certain purple haired, partially-insane total drama fangirl; Sierra had the birth dates of all the cast (especially Cody) practically memorized, and mentioned in one of her many total drama blogs that it was Heather's birthday coming up. Within minutes, internet forums had been buzzing; some fans had wished her a happy birthday, while others had rather bluntly stated that Heather's birthday was the worst day ever and should be a day of mourning rather than any form of celebration. Alejandro had been idly browsing through one of the fan forums about himself, and had found a fan comment stating that Heather's birthday was less than a week away. At first, he had dismissed it as a pathetic, fan-created rumor with no truth behind it, but after a little investigation on multiple sites, the Spaniard had been shocked to find that it was actually true. Barely a minute later, he was on the phone to Heather.

"So, I hear it's your birthday on Thursday?" he purred silkily into the phone, and Heather froze, before cursing under her breath.

"Who told you?" she groaned, slumping against the wall while Alejandro chuckled slightly on the other end. Now he knew, it was inevitable- he was going to how out of his way to make her birthday "romantic" and extravagant...

"I have my ways of knowing things, señorita. What I do not understand is why you did not tell me... Naturally, I will have to find a way of honouring the occassion..."

Here we go... Heather thought sourly, folding her arms.

"Look, you wanna know why I didn't tell you?" she snapped into the phone. "Because I know that you, being- well, you- would start acting ridiculous about the whole thing."

Alejandro made a falsely offended noise from the other end. "Since when have I been ridiculous? I merely want to express my undying affection for mi vida-"

"When have you not been ridiculous?" The queen bee scoffed, cutting him off. "My first kiss with you was on national TV, and my first date with you was on a yacht. Seriously, I don't want to end up with five million stupid, sappy gifts..."

"I thought you usually liked gifts," Alejandro pointed out skeptically; he found it hard to believe that Heather, the kind of person who absorbed attention and recognition like air had somehow developed an aversion to receiving presents. Heather sighed.

"Yeah- gifts that won't make me look like some romantic loser," she informed him drily, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I swear that if I end up with heaps of stupid bouquets of roses delivered to my door, I will kill you."

There was a very suspicious pause on the other end of the phone.

" I would not dream of doing that..." Alejandro said, though his tone of voice made it very clear that the idea had crossed his mind. Heather rolled her eyes, muttering a disbelieving "Sure..." under her breath.

"However, I am not letting this occassion pass without doing something," Alejandro said firmly, drawing an audible groan from his girlfriend.

"What? Don't you enjoy spending time with me, mi Amor?" Alejandro accused with mock offense. Heather sighed.

"When you start acting like an arrogant flirty jerk, I don't.". She sniffed lightly, though this was technically a lie; even though Alejandro's arrogance and flirtatious behavior irritated her, she admittedly found it a little endearing (not that she would ever, ever tell him that.) Alejandro deliberately ignored this remark.

"How about I take you out for dinner on Thursday, then?" he suggested, and Heather groaned, placing her head in one hand. Going out for dinner was still something she'd managed to avoid so far; the whole notion just seemed completely embarrassing and, though thankfully the media attention had begun to die down a little, Heather was still worried that the paparazzi would appear like an irksome fly, snapping as many pictures as they could of her and Alejandro's date.

"How about you... Don't?" she said slowly, though Alejandro was clearly undeterred by her reluctance.

"How about I do?" he prodded, and his girlfriend knew instinctively that this would be one of those things Alejandro would continue to prod her about until he got his own way. No matter how hard she tried, he still always managed to manipulate her into giving in to him,

"I thought on my birthday I was supposed to do something I wanted to." Heather grumbled, and she could hear Alejandro chuckle.

"Oh, but it IS something you want. It would make me happy, and don't you want me to be happy?" he purred. Heather snorted slightly.

"No," she answered bluntly, evoking another chuckle from him.

"And what if I'm not going to take NO for an answer?" Alejandro queried. Heather sighed irritably.

"Then what kind of boyfriend would you be?" she retorted. "Seriously, what's the big deal with going out to dinner, anyway? I've already had dinner with you before, you know."

She didn't understand Alejandro's obsession with having dinner with her. He seemed to think of food as some wonderful, romantic element in life. He had already made dinner for her once, continually offered to teach her how to cook (though Heather had some small cooking skills, they were limited mostly to desserts) and hinted about taking her out to dinner. She didn't understand why it seemed so important to him, especially since he was extremely fussy- even more so than she was- about food. (She had made the mistake once of offering him some candy, only to receive a rather irritating lecture about how chemicals and dyes could potentially pollute his "temple", eventually resulting in him tearing off his shirt in an over dramatic fashion while Heather shook her head in disbelief.)

"Yes, but you have not had dinner out with me," Alejandro replied smoothly, feigning offense. "If I wasn't the flawless person I am (Heather snorted at this remark) I would think you're ashamed to be seen with me."

Heather rolled her eyes, pretending to consider what he'd said.

"What, be ashamed of a guy who acts like some 1800s romantic poet half the time and hitler the other half? Why the hell would I be ashamed of you?" she said drily, but Alejandro chuckled at her cold response.

"I appreciate your wit," he told her slyly. "It is one of the many things I love about you-"

"Yeah, flatter me all you want," Heather cut him off bluntly. "That's still a NO."

Alejandro sighed melodramatically on the other end of the phone.

"I do not understand your opposition to going out to dinner with me." he tutted. "Just give me one good reason why you won't, Chica."

"A, It's stupid." Heather said automatically, inspecting her nails as she spoke. "And B... Refer back to A. It's stupid, and I'm not going go do that."

"Are we going through this argument again, Heather? You said the EXACT same thing about having dinner at my house, but I am pretty sure you enjoyed that," Alejandro pointed out. "Can't you just give eating in public a chance, Heather? It would mean so much to me..."

Damn, she hated him. Or rather, she hated the fact that she always managed to give in to him. Saving herself the trouble of another long argument that he would inevitably win, Heather conceded with a sigh.

"Okay, fine," she barked. "But one of these days, I'm going to get my way, you know."

"You tell yourself that, mi niña," he teased her. "But we both know that you cannot resist giving me what I want."

"Hey! I can so-" the phone cut off with a click before Heather could finish protesting, and she growled irritably. Alejandro really was ridiculous sometimes. Heather folded her arms with a huff; she really, really hated him...

And she had just agreed to have dinner with him. In public. At what would probably be a... Shudder... Romantic restaurant. Heather cursed loudly, startling her cat who'd been dozing nearby.

It seemed fickle, but Heather spent more time planning her outfit for this one occassion than she ever had for anything else. While she obviously wanted to look nice, at the same time she did not want to wear anything with even the slightest potential of making her look too sweet and feminine or anything that would give Alejandro the wrong idea. After changing her planned outfit eight times and several loud outbursts that she didn't have enough clothes (this was untrue, considering just how large Heather's wardrobe actually was) she eventually settled on a garment that seemed to fit all the requirements as best as it could, before waiting. Although Alejandro had phoned her several times throughout the day, she hadn't actually seen him in the flesh all day, something that surprised her. She'd been assuming Alejandro would spend the whole day hovering around her, lavishing her with attention, and it was relieving (though just a tiny bit disappointing) that he hadn't.

Almost exactly on the dot- one of Alejandro's many weird little traits Heather was slowly getting used to was that he was NEVER late- she heard his car pull up, and- trying not to seem to eager- threw open the door, an obnoxiously familiar smirk greeting her the moment she did.

"So, I see my five dozen roses didn't arrive, then?" Alejandro remarked, though when Heather froze and glared at him, he grinned.

"I am joking, Heather," the Spaniard smirked, though he withdrew a box from his pocket with a ridiculous amount of flair. " Feliz cumpleañous."

Assuming that the words meant happy Birthday (one of these days, she really needed to learn Spanish), Heather handed her clutch purse to Alejandro for a moment and tore the elegant gift wrap on the box, trying to hide just how admittedly eager she was to see what he'd purchased for her. Inside, she found a leather jewellery box, and for a split second her heart stopped in horror, mental pictures of a ring flashing through her head, though she was relieved when on close inspection it turned out to be larger and slightly flatter than a ring box, holding what was most likely a necklace inside.

"Are you going to open it?" Alejandro prodded, eyes glinting. Heather gave him a disdainful look.

"No, I just thought I'd feed it to my cat," she said sarcastically, before rolling her eyes at Alejandro. "Duh, I'm going to open it, idiot."

Alejandro couldn't help grinning in amusement at this; he loved it when Heather was sarcastic- somehow, while her intent was to seem cold and vicious, it just made her appear almost cute to him.

Heather snapped open the box, forcing herself to arrange her features into an indifferent expression at the contents. Obviously, Alejandro was not going to let her birthday pass without at least one clichè romantic gesture; glinting up at her from the velvet padding was a delicate necklace, the stone in the centre shaped like (what else?) a heart. It was so disgustingly typical and sappy, but Heather had to admit privately that the trinket was nice. Clichè, but nice. Before she could inspect it further, Alejandro lifted it out of the box.

"Do you need assistance putting it on?" He offered. Heather cocked an eyebrow.

"I can manage-" she began, but Alejandro shook his head with a click of the tongue.

"It was a rhetorical question," he smirked, and though Heather scowled and tried to slap his hand away, he reached out and fastened the gift around her neck. There was a moment of silence, then Heather scoffed and shook her head. Alejandro raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?"

Heather just rolled her eyes.

"You got me a necklace with a heart on it- another 'romantic' clichè." she pointed out. "Seriously, is there, like, some unwritten law saying you have to present me with clichès every single time we date?"

Alejandro just smirked.

"There is nothing wrong with romance," he said simply, linking his tanned arm through Heather's pale one and walking her to his car.

"I have already booked a restaurant," he informed her as Heather slipped into the dark interior of his sport's car. "I hope you like it, señorita..."

"Is it expensive?" Heather asked, inspecting her fingernails, and Alejandro nodded in affirmation.

"Of course. Only the finest for mi amor-"

"If it's expensive, then I like it," Heather cut him off in a shallow manner, and Alejandro grinned.

The restaurant was small, but from the moment Heather saw it she knew instinctively that it was upscale. It wasn't quite the caliber of some of the restaurants located in skyscrapers that served degustation menus and charged on the higher end of 50 to 100 dollars for one entreè, but it looked expensive nonetheless. Expensive, and... Romantic. Heather glared at Alejandro as he pulled the key out of the ignition in the car.

"If there is someone in there hired to serenade me or something, then FORGET it," she threatened. Alejandro feigned disappointment.

"Oh, Mierda, you ruined the surprise!" he teased, but when Heather's scowl deepened further, Alejandro rolled his eyes, taking Heather's hand.

"Relax, chica," he purred. "I do not know why you are so despondent about this. Most girls would appreciate being taken out for a nice meal."

"Do I seem like "most girls" to you?" Heather pounted out drily, and Alejandro shrugged.

"Touché," he replied, before leaning over and opening her door for her- no matter how many times she informed him that it was irritating (though she secretly relished it), Alejandro seemed to love demonstrating traditional 'gentlemanly' charms.

"If there are any paparazzi in there, then I'm not even bothering," Heather's lip curled slightly at the thought of being spotted in a restaurant with Alejandro, and the kind of over-exaggerated story the media would weave that into.

Thankfully, there weren't any paparazzi inside the building, though several of the customers gawked at seeing "the" Alejandro and Heather in their midst. When the host led them to the table, she asked a rather embarrassed Heather if she thought Duncan from the show would date her, and the server closest to them nearly dropped her tray when she saw Alejandro and Heather, eyes widening in clear excitement. Heather let out an audible groan, shaking her head- clearly, this waitress had watched the show.

"Oh my Gosh!" she gushed, flipping her dyed-blonde hair. "You're Alejandro from total drama, right?"

Heather frowned as Alejandro flashed the girl his usual dazzling smile.

"Si," he told her. "It is an honour to meet you."

Heather cleared her throat, straightening up slightly in the booth to try and capture the girl's attention.

"Yeah, and I'm Heather," she reminded her, half-hoping that- though she found it irritating when fans practically drooled over her- the girl would turn in her direction and begin squealing about her too. However, the waitress kept her eyes fixed on Alejandro, and Heather's face crumpled in a scowl; not only was the waitress very blatantly checking out her boyfriend, but she was also ignoring Heather, despite the fact that she had been in two more seasons of Total Drama than Alejandro and therefore, in Heather's opinion, deserved more credit and attention from fans.

"Wow, Alejandro," The waitress cooed, leaning in a little closer to the grinning Spaniard Heather was comfortable with. "I was so excited when you won, you know."

Heather waited for Alejandro to point out that he and Heather had both won the season, but instead he just uttered thanks, still smirking. Angrily, the queen bee coughed again.

"Actually, WE won," she cut in, reminding both the waitress and her boyfriend, who was acting a little too flirtatious towards another girl than Heather liked. "And you're not paid to hang around flirting with guys, you know. Are you going to take our orders or what?"

Alejandro clicked his tongue slightly.

"Be polite, Heather," he chided her softly, and Heather gaped at him, outraged. How was she supposed to be "polite" to someone who obviously wanted her boyfriend? She crossed her arms, leaning back sulkily as the waitress pulled a notebook from her uniform pocket, begrudgingly looking at Heather.

"Yes?" she asked monotonously, her sudden warmth and friendliness gone. Heather stole another glance at the menu, before barking out her order at the girl.

"I'll have the steak, but make sure it's cooked right." she said snippily. "I want it medium rare, but if it's too tough or too undercooked, then I'm going to send it back."

Alejandro rolled his eyes at Heather's impertinence, while the waitress shot her a withering look before scrawling down the order. She turned back to Alejandro, and immediately the cordial tone returned to her voice, her eyes once again glistening with disgusting admiration.

"And what will you have, Alejandro?" she asked. While Alejandro ordered, Heather resisted the urge to throw up. This wasn't the first time someone had hit on her boyfriend when she was around, but it was probably the most disgusting occassion. When the waitress strutted off to the kitchens (pausing to shoot a stupid, girlish smile in Alejandro's direction) Heather huffed.

"Ugh, she was so revolting!" Heather ciriticised, wrinkling her nose. "Seriously, why the hell were you paying attention to her?"

Alejandro shrugged, the slight crack of jealousy in Heather's voice not going unnoticed by him.

"I was just being polite," he defended, before slipping an arm around Heather. "Why, are you jealous?"

Hmm, let's see, some random waitress has started flirting with my boyfriend... No, why would I be jealous? Heather thought sarcastically but responded with an irritated look, rolling her eyes.

"As if," she lied, tossing her hair, but Alejandro just smirked at her.

"So, has mi niña enjoyed her birthday today?" he queried, and Heather have him a dull expression, cocking an eyebrow as though the answer was obvious.

"No, because everyone is a bunch of losers," she deadpanned bluntly. "No one actually did anything..."

As their food was prepared, Heather began to give Alejandro a very negative recount of her day, complaining loudly about how no one appreciated her while Alejandro listened in amusement. Though she was usually pessimistic anyway, Heather hadn't been exaggerating for once when she told him her birthday hadn't been very good. Her parents had half-heartedly crooned a "Happy Birthday, Heather-Feather!" and handed her a gift card, before disappearing (her father to the golf course and her mother to some stupid luncheon) for the day. Neither of her siblings acknowledged the event, or any of Heather's supposed "friends" from her high school days. Heather had basically spent the whole day stewing in her own juices, and answering the phone on the seven occasions that her boyfriend had phoned her.

"...Which was TOTALLY not fair, because on Anna's birthday they all threw her a huge party and she got a NEW CAR," Heather was still telling Alejandro indignantly, when a high-pitched cough alerted their attention.

"Your food is ready!" The same aggravating fake-blonde waitress from before sang, setting down their food for them and winking at Alejandro. Heather's slightly more relaxed temper flared up again, and her eyes slitted once more.

"You know, there's something I've always been curious about," the girl cooed, and Heather stabbed her steak very violently with the knife provided, wrinkling her nose in a scowl. Wasn't this girl supposed to be going now?

"Oh, ask me anything." Alejandro purred gallantly, and the waitress giggled, the noise reminding Heather of an extremely annoying mouse.

"Ooh, thank you! I just wanted to ask you, when you were doing the challenge in New York in total Drama, was that apple heavy?"

Heather slammed her hand down on the table in a childish manner.

"No! It wasn't! Go away!" she snapped, but to her extreme fury and irritation, both the waitress and Alejandro ignored her.

"Maybe, but for someone as STRONG as I am-" here he paused to wink, while Heather seethed at the way he was acting. "Pushing that baby carriage was nothing..."

"Wow, you're so STRONG!" the girl giggled slowly. The ditzy waitress, who Heather now decided was her new mortal enemy, was all but clinging on to Alejandro as he spoke to her. He said something in Spanish, and the girl's high pitched laughter ripped through the room, making Heather's teeth snap together angrily.

What the hell was he doing? He was supposed to be having dinner out with her, not spending his whole time flirting with the waitress. Alejandro often turned on his Latino charm when women paid attention to him, but since she'd been dating him he'd never been this attentive to a girl other than her. It sickened her, and though she tried to remind herself that he was most likely just acting in the way he felt was "gentlemanly", hurt was welling up in her. The insecurities she thought she'd crushed were now returning with the impact of a freight train; he was still playing women... He didn't really care... He was just looking for the next pretty girl to come along...

Her chair scraped the floor loudly, and almost all the eyes in the restaurant were on her as she ascended sharply, glaring at Alejandro and the waitress. Her blood was boiling, and she saw the wariness shoot through Alejandro's eyes. Immediately, the Latino knew that he had gone too far now.

"Heather-" he began, but before the first syllable even left his mouth, Heather was storming across the restaurant, her high heels clicking on the floor. People gaped at her, then Alejandro as he started after her, shoving a wad of money at the host on the way out. His blood had run cold, and he knew that Heather had taken what he'd intended as no more than his usual sly flying with girls.

"Heather!" he yelled, as he finally caught up with her- she was a good twenty feet away from him. Heather tensed, but refused to turn around- she was furious with him right now.

"Is this about the waitress?" Alejandro asked, taking a tentative step towards her, but he automatically shrank back slightlh when Heather turned, eyes blazing with anger.

"You didn't have to take her number!" Heather yelled at him, pulling away from his touch, eyes blazing with hatred and hurt.

"Surely you must be able to see that I was merely being friendly; she meant nothing-" the spainiard began to protest, but Heather held up a hand sharply, cutting him off.

"I sure as hell can NOT see that, Alejandro," she spat. "That's the problem! How do I know that I don't mean nothing? That I'm not just some stupid little pawn for you?"

Hurt flashed across Alejandro's face at this, and he attempted to touch her gently again.

"Mi àngel, I promise that you mean the world to me," he vowed, but Heather's face was masked with betrayal and disbelief, and she flinched away further.

"And how many girls have you said that to before?" she hissed.

Alejandro opened his mouth, but no sound exited; as much as he hated it, she was right; they were words he'd uttered to a wide array of girls before without even meaning them. And yet, Heather was the first girl with whom he'd ever actually meant them; the first girl who had ever genuinely meant the world to him...

But he could see her point, though it disgusted him to concede. How could she, after all, trust him when she knew all too well of his playing nature?

In his moment of hesitation, Heather felt her heart twist angrily. A rational part of her kind was telling her not to be so brusque and melodramatic about the whole situation, but Alejandro's attention towards the waitress had just awakened her dormant fears and concerns that her boyfriend still intended to screw her over, nourishing the insecurities and letting them grow.

"Heather-" Alejandro began to reason with her again, but blindly Heather stormed away from him. She heard his footsteps pursuing her desperately, but increased her pace until she'd reached a cab, that she all but flung herself into before Alejandro could catch up with her, half-snarling her address at the driver. The cab was pulling into her driveway when she realized that the gift Alejandro had presented her with was still clutched in one of her tense fists, and as she looked at it, the heart shape seemed to be taunting her.

Happy Birthday, Heather. Not.

Guilt was not an emotion that came naturally to Alejandro. He'd trained himself not to feel guilt from a young age; he was able to committ devious actions and brush them off lightly, completely indifferent. Sometimes, he wondered aimlessly if he was even capable of guilt, usually deciding that he was not- it was petty, weak and would just hold him back.

However, now, he was racked with guilt.

His intentions with the girl were harmless. It had almost become a reflex to accept praise and affection from a girl, even though he did not reciprocate the feelings. However, now he just felt low and stupid for what was possibly the first time since he was a child. What benefit would have even come from flirting with the girl? She was a waitress- manipulating her would not have even been useful in any way. Now, he had just put unnecessary strain on his relationship with the best thing that has ever happened to him, and as he drove towards Heather's house he could not help worrying about what would happen. He knew Heather felt as though she had to constantly be on her guard around him, and though he knew that he had no attraction to the waitress at all, he wasn't sure how long it would take to convince Heather of that.

Heather never ate ice cream. Being vain made her usually avoid anything that could potentially increase her weight, and she usually dismissed ice cream as something childish and completely unsophisticated. So she knew just how upset she was when she found herself digging out a long-forgotten quart from the back of her freezer, sticking a spoon straight into the tub itself. Like many people, she turned to comfort food in states of depression, and was shovelling the treat into her mouth when the doorbell rang. Her hand clenched angrily around the carton of food she's been digging into, the spoon dropping with a clank onto the kitchen table. She knew all too well who that was, and there was no way she was going to let him in right now.

After a few minutes, her cell phone vibrated in her pocket, and uttering a low curse, Heather snatched it out, flipping it open.

We are going to talk about this. Let me in.

Heather hissed angrily, seething; how dare he just assume she would happily accept some fake apology from him. It was her birthday, and yet that selfish jerk had just ruined it...

After a few moments of glaring at the glowing screen of her phone, as though it was the appliance's fault, she quickly texted a reply.

We have nothing to talk about. Go away.

Outside, waiting slumped against her door, Alejandro checked his phone, before sighing. Though it was the sort of thing he despised admitting, retrospectively he knew he had taken things a little far. And yet, he had never intended to hurt Heather; he honestly had felt nothing for that stupid girl... Guilt pounded through him, and he slapped himself in the face. He knew his girlfriend was paranoid about him leaving her for another girl; he should have been more careful...

Heather was stabbing her spoon violently into her ice cream when the next text message chirped in her phone. Resisting the urge to throw her cell down as roughly as she could, she checked the message, only to let out a shriek of fury at what it said.

Let me in or I'll kick the door down.

She crossed her arms tightly aginst her chest, shoving the phone away. This time, she decided angrily, she wasn't even going to reply. After all, she reasoned, if she didn't reply then he would probably leave...

This was disproven when a few moments later, she heard the front door shudder, and growled angrily; it sounded as though Alejandro was actually serious about kicking the door down. As there was another bang, she heard the hinges falter, and rolling her eyes she dropped her comfort food, stomping towards the entrance to her house and flinging the door open before Alejandro would actually be stupid enough to kick it down.

"Get lost," she snarled into the night air, trying not to make eye contact with him. Alejandro stepped forward, refusing to oblige.

"Give me a chance to apologise," he argued. Heather let out a frustrated sigh, forcing herself to look up and glare at him.

"What, so you can spout out fake rubbish?" she hissed out with venom. "So you can go, 'Ooooh mi Amor, I am most greatly sorry,' and expect everything to go back to the way it was?" She shook her head. "Forget it."

Somehow, her mockery of him stung him more than it should have. He reached out to touch her arm, but she flinched away.

"Please, just go," she hissed at him. "You can stop faking all this now. You can just go back to all your stupid airheads and leave me alone."

She tried to close the door in his face, but Alejandro grabbed it before she could, wedging it open.

"No," he insisted firmly. "We are going to discuss this rationally. NOW. Yes, I may have done something wrong, and I am actually willing to admit that if you would-"

However, before he could finish his reasonable argument, Heather jammed her fingers in her ears like a five year old.

"Blah, blah, blah!" she jeered over his words, acting extremely childish. For some reason, this immature gesture got under his skin, and he grabbed her arm.

"Heather, listen to me-" he began, but when Heather continued to ignore him, his temper flared.

"Heather... For once in your life, stop acting like a stupid spoiled brat!"

Heather froze, before her mouth fell open in shock. He had never yelled at her, let alone insulted her, and both fury and hurt surged through her. It wasn't even particularly offensive what he'd said, but somehow it managed to dig deep.

"WHAT did you call me?" she managed, still staring at him. Alejandro swallowed, immediately regretting his outburst.

"I did not mean it, Heather," he began to protest, but a spark of fury lit up Heather's eyes, and she shoved him viciously.

"I'm the spoiled one?" she shrieked. "I'm spoiled? Huh? You can talk! You're the one that gets everything he ****ing wants! You always have to have your own way, don't you!" she was practically screaming at him now, shoving him furiously, rage ignited in her. Calling her spoiled was the absolute insult for Heather as, though it was admittedly true, it was a phrase she'd been frequently tormented with. Hearing Alejandro use it had filled her with an insatiable hatred, and she found herself furiously shoving him out, wanting to tear him apart. Alejandro stood there, trying to calm her down, unsure of how to deal with her hysterical behavior. Guilt was a new emotion, but currently he was filled with it- he knew he was the one in the wrong on so many counts, and that he deserved the verbal abuse Heather was currently assaulting him with. Slowly, Heather's shrieks began to die down as she calmed slightly, and eventually she straightened up, fixing Alejandro with a disgusted glare.

"Just go," she told him through gritted teeth "I don't want to see you right now,"

She turned on her heel, trying to storm back to her front door in a dignified fashion but as she did the impractical heel of her shoe caught in the pavement, tripping her. As an automatic reflex Alejandro shot forward, catching her before she hit the path, and helping her up. Heather huffed angrily.

"I could have helped myself up, you know," she snapped. "I'm not a completely incompetent..." she paused, before slowly drawing out the next word. "Brat."

The reuse of his earlier insult sent pain shooting through him, and he sighed.

"Heather-" he began once more, and Heather turned around to face him, glaring at him one more, though her face seemed to have softened a slight degree.

"I know," she muttered sourly. "You didn't mean it. Just like you didn't mean it with the waitress. I guess it's just your nature to be an insensitive jerk, huh?"

In a lighter circumstance, he would have responded with a cocky, falsely-offended comment, but Alejandro knew that now was not the time.

"It must be," he agreed. Criticising himself went against the grain, but he hoped that it would at least thaw Heather out a little bit. His girlfriend- that is, if she still considered herself that- gave a frustrated sigh.

"Look, I don't..." she looked down at her feet awkwardly. "I mean... Ugh! I don't know how the hell to say this!" Finally, Heather forced herself to look him in the eyes.

"I don't hate you," she forced out. "And, even though you deserve it, I guess I'm not breaking up with you right now. I'm just really pissed, okay?"

She pulled away from him, but Alejandro followed her persistently.

"I'm sorry?" he tried lamely. Heather just sighed.

"Yeah, I know," she muttered, opening her door. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, when I don't feel as much like killing you as I do right now."

"Alright, then." Alejandro agreed seriously. He leaned in- as what was almost a reflex now- to kiss her on the cheek, but Heather shook her head.

"No. Not right now, Okay?"

Then she slammed the door, leaving Alejandro feeling almost empty.

He was grateful that she had seemingly decided to forgive him and hadn't broken up with him, but an unsettled feeling lodged in Alejandro's stomach; deep down, he knew that Heather's trust, which had been so hard to earn, had been severely dented by the events of that evening, and that it would be very hard to convince her to fully let him in again.

The main plot of this chapter was already planned out, but I didn't know how to tie it in. I thought for ages, then I got inspired because it was my own birthday recently and decided to use the idea of it being Heather's birthday to tie the whole dinner thing in. I hope it worked OK, and wasn't too OOC

Yep. After the happy ending to last chapter, I left you with a fight and some angst. Next chapter, it gets worse. And the chapter after next... Well, I think that I may have to apologise two chapters in advance for what I'm going to do ;) But it all turns out well in the end( or does it? Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...)