A/N: This is the final chapter guys, and I really hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think, and if there's anything you think could use some work. Whose story would you like to see next?

"What are you doing here?" Coop stepped outside Friday morning to find Eleanor leaning casually against his car as if she hadn't a care in the world.

She opened her eyes at the sound of his voice and something violent flashed through them, accompanied by a calculated smile. "I'm here about my sister."

"Not interested," he said, walking past her towards the driver's side door.

Her hand caught the door before it could open enough for him to get in and he looked up in irritation, only to find himself staring into the eyes of a woman bent on retribution. "Too bad."

Feeling the anger that never seemed to be all that far from the surface in the past week bubble up, he glared back at her. "She was caught making out with some other guy, alright? I'm not the bad guy here."

"My sister never kissed a guy until she met you," Eleanor snapped at him. "And what? You think your irresistible charm just awakens the eager whore in us all? Come back down to earth."

"I saw it."

Her eyes widened in surprise at that. "You saw her making out with another guy? With your own eyes?"

Irritated that he was the one standing here defending himself, he scowled. "I saw the picture. It was her. Same dress, same hair, same asshole she was walking back to the dance with."

"A picture from who?"

"What the hell does that matter?" he snapped. "It wasn't the first time I'd seen her hanging around that guy, alright? I know what I saw."

"Then you're an idiot," Eleanor informed him simply. "He asked Candice to talk to him that night because he'd been caught cheating on their group project."

That information gave him pause. "What?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and leaned forward, poking him hard in the chest. "You know my sister well enough to know how seriously she takes school and following the rules, so you tell me; would she be making out with someone who had just jeopardized her grades?"

"I think the picture answers that question pretty clearly, don't you?" he replied evenly, unwilling to admit the unlikeliness.

"Then the picture's wrong," Eleanor stated flatly. "And maybe you should stop and consider who it came from; what they could gain from something so stupid. Either way, you need to stay the fuck away from my sister because if you can treat her the way you treated her that night? You don't even deserve to say her name."

She walked away with those parting words, leaving him to think back to the night in question and wonder just how stupid he could've been to have taken the information provided by Sera at face value without question.

***

Candice was surprised to find Spence waiting for her by her locker with a sheepish grin. "Hey."

He had been Cooper's friend first, she told herself, it was natural that he hadn't been around for the past week. He hadn't been mean to her, just absent. It still hurt. "Hello."

"How are you?" he asked, turning to lean against a single shoulder as she opened her locker. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" She wouldn't fuel the fire; she wouldn't give him anything to report back to Cooper if he so chose. She collected the books she'd need and shot him a bored look.

"You guys seemed good together."

"Did we?" she asked, pushing away the immediate desire to cry. "I guess appearances can be deceiving."

"He said he saw you making out with some other guy."

"Impossible," she snapped, slamming her locker shut with more force than necessary as she settled a deadly glare on him.

"He swears he saw it," Spence pressed, wincing under her scrutiny. "I asked if it was a misunderstanding and he said he knows what he saw. It was with a guy you'd been talking to earlier in the week."

"I know exactly who he's talking about," she informed him coolly, as she began heading down the hall. "But it doesn't make him less wrong. Goodbye, Spence." Whatever Cooper claimed to have seen, it didn't matter. The fact was, he'd come at her without question, without trust. She didn't care about the before, only the after.

***

Coop waited impatiently through English for his chance to catch Candy's attention. There hadn't been that look of surprise like there had been the day before when she saw him in the room; she hadn't even looked in his general direction as she stepped through the door. The moment the bell rang, he seized his opportunity, completely ignoring the hateful look Cyn directed his way from Candy's other side as he grabbed Candy by the elbow, stopping her from putting any more distance between them. "We need to talk."

She ripped her arm away from him with a vicious jerk and eyed him as if he were nothing more than dirt beneath her shoes. "No."

"Candy," he said in warning, reaching for her arm again, but Cyn was suddenly slipping between them, giving him a look that dared him to try again.

"Before we met, it was incredibly easy to stay out of each other's way," she informed him flatly. "I don't see any reason why that can't continue to be the case."

"Because I'm not done talking to you about it!" he snapped, trailing along beside her. "And believe me, I've got all the time in the world wearing you down."

"It would be a lost cause," she replied. "Because I'm smart enough to not need to learn the same lesson twice."

Cyn managed to halt his progress, blocking his path as Candy walked away. "You made your bed," Cyn said, "and now you have to lay in it."

***

Candice had been thinking about Spence's words all day as she struggled to stay out of Cooper's persistent grasp. He'd practically hunted her down after every class; she'd even skipped out on lunch, opting to hide out in the girl's locker room where he was much less likely to just show up. Walking into her biology classroom, her gaze locked on Jensen and she set her things down beside him, giving him a hard, assessing look. "Why would someone think you and I were together the night of homecoming?"

He looked up in surprise, apparently not expecting the question. Jensen looked away and shrugged. "Well, we were together that night."

Her eyes narrowed on him and she waited him out as she watched him squirm uncomfortably under the scrutiny. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hadn't she had a bad feeling about him that night? Hadn't she thought something felt wrong? Watching him now, she was suddenly certain that whatever Cooper was convinced he saw, Jensen had been a part of it.

"Who were you making out with that night?"

"What?" he tried to look surprised by her question, but he only succeeded in looking more guilty.

"Why does Cooper think it was me?"

"Candice," he laughed awkwardly, "class is about to start and I don't think now is the time to−"

"You're going to tell me your part in this," Candice interrupted icily, "or I'm going to ensure that everyone in this school knows about you and Seth Henderson."

She watched his entire face pale and found that she had a mean streak that could give Eleanor a run for her money when pushed. "How did you...?" he trailed off, looking around the room uneasily as if sure that someone else might hear.

"You're not nearly as subtle as you think you are when you're texting in class or sneaking into janitor's closets. Now tell me what I want to know."

"Missy offered me $200 to make out with Sally Evans who was dressed up exactly like you," he whispered, his gaze darting uneasily around the room. "They took a picture of us and then they wanted me to find you and get you alone. That's it. They didn't tell me Coop was going to come out of the woodwork and hit me."

"They asked you to act like you'd made out with his girlfriend and it didn't occur to you that he might react to that?" she snapped, looking at him as though he were the stupidest person on the planet. His only response was to glare at her, but she didn't need more words; she'd had enough.

Candice didn't know who was more surprised that afternoon when school let out, and she found herself standing with her book bag slung over her shoulder beside Kendall's car when the three other girls showed up, but she also didn't care. All three came to a stop a few feet away and eyed her as if she'd lost her mind.

"What are you doing here?" Kendall spoke first, Nose wrinkled in disgust, glancing back at the other two uncertainly. "Don't touch my car."

Candice's thoughts flashed back to that Saturday in the bathroom and the horrors that had followed. It struck her as odd that, aside from the trauma itself, she was no longer afraid of the three girls standing in front of her. Maybe she should've been; after all, if they wanted to, they could still do her physical harm. They had her outnumbered. But how pathetic did it make a person to resort to such petty behavior over a teenage feud?

"Move."

Her eyes shifted to Seraphina at the order and she offered a small smile but didn't change her position. "I thought it might be time for the four of us to talk. There seems to be quite a bit of tension between us, and I think we're overdue for a conversation."

Missy snorted, cocking a hip and crossing her arms. "We don't have anything to say to you."

"No," Candice said with an agreeable nod, "you seem to prefer to hit from behind. One of the many things we can't seem to see eye to eye on, but here we are."

"What do you want?" Seraphina asked, clearly annoyed with the entire affair.

"To talk, like I said," Candice replied.

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Oh, I don't know," she said thoughtfully before bringing her gaze back to land knowingly on Seraphina. "I think there's a lot to discuss."

"You think you're so great? That someone is going to come running out to fight your battles for you? You're just some pathetic little girl who got too high on her horse and then found herself tossed aside. Just. Like. Me."

Candice raised a brow, lips quirked up in amusement. "I think you've misunderstood my situation. I don't need anyone to come riding to the rescue, and my value has nothing to do with some guy."

"Whatever," Kendall scoffed, "we all saw what happened. We saw the tears."

"Tears?" Candice asked, feigning momentary confusion. "Oh! Well yes, I'm sure you did. It was a very upsetting moment, but it was just a moment. It wasn't the end of the world."

"You're crazy," Missy half laughed. "What are you even trying to do right now?"

"You think that you're all on the winning side because you got back at some girl who dared to step out of line in high school. You're just fighting to come out on top by graduation. This is just four years of your life; there's so much more out there."

"God, just shut up already! So annoying."

"I just wanted to tell you that I know what you did," Candice replied, watching the color drain from Seraphina's face. She laughed softly and shook her head, "You're worried, but you shouldn't be. I'm not going to do anything about it. My sister won't come after you, I won't try to slander your reputation. You don't have to constantly look over your shoulder."

"Then why are you here?" Seraphina demanded.

"Because I want you to remember," Candice said simply. "You did your worst. You bullied, threatened, beat, and slandered me. You did your best to make my life miserable. And I did nothing.

"Not because I can't, and not because you don't deserve it; I did nothing because you weren't worth it. Because when all is said and done, Seraphina? I'm going to go on and live my life. I'm going to be happy. But you? You're going to live your life forever jealous of how everyone else living theirs."

Seraphina snorted, but Candice didn't miss the flicker of unease that washed over her face. "Don't be ridiculous. What do you have that I don't?"

Candice just smiled in response, "That's the question, isn't it? And you'll spend the rest of your life trying to figure it out." She walked away then, leaving the three of them standing together behind her in angry confusion.

***

Coop was waiting for her after the final bell rang Tuesday afternoon. She'd managed to ignore and avoid him up to that point, but he was determined to have it out with her no matter what. He leaned against her locker impatiently. She didn't look at all surprised to see him there as she approached, raising a brow when he didn't immediately move out of her way so that she could grab her bag. "I want to talk to you."

"So you've said," she deadpanned, twisting her lock once he'd finally gotten out of her way and carrying on with her tasks as if he weren't there. "But I don't want to talk to you."

Gritting his teeth, he counted to ten before speaking again as he struggled to control his temper. "I want to talk about what happened at homecoming."

"I know what happened at homecoming," she replied with a sharp look in his direction before she shouldered her bookbag and headed for the exit.

"Before we fought," he snapped.

"I know that too."

That had him freezing mid-step for a moment in surprise before scowling and catching back up to grab her by the elbow. "What exactly do you know?"

"Everything you were too stupid to figure out," she said, jerking her arm away as she headed for her bus, but he wasn't finished. Not by a long shot.

Grabbing her arm again, he began heading for the parking lot, dragging her behind him determinedly. "Then you're going to explain it to me."

"Like hell!" she snapped, trying to pull away and dig in her heels. "Let me go, you idiot! I said I didn't want to speak to you."

Coop wasted no time scooping her up over his shoulder to continue on his way to his car. "We're going to have this out," he informed her stubbornly. "Without the audience."

"This is kidnapping!" she hissed, slapping his back. "People are watching us."

"Smile and wave, sweetheart," he suggested easily. "Because I'm not finished with you yet." Without another word, he opened up the back door to his car and tossed her in before moving around to the driver's side.

***

Candice scrambled up onto her knees the instant he let her go, reaching for the door handle; childproof. She felt a surge of violence like she'd never felt before as realization dawned on her. He'd planned this. He'd shown up at her locker knowing exactly how she'd respond, and he'd planned accordingly. Smacking her hands against the windows with a frustrated scream, she turned towards the front and started to clamber over the center console as he slid into the driver's seat and turned the ignition.

"If you want to sit in the front, you need to act like you belong there," he informed her as if he hadn't a care in the world, lifting an arm to block her way as he pulled out of his parking space and started driving.

She fell back into her seat with a huff and then grabbed her phone. Wherever they were going, she'd just send the location to Jay or Faith and they'd come pick her up. "I really hate you."

"If you're thinking about punching me again, I hope you let Jay or Faith show you how to do it properly this time," he said with amusement lacing his words. "How's your wrist?"

"You haven't talked to me in a week," she snapped, looking down accusingly at the wrist in question. "Don't act like you care now."

"I've missed you," he said softly. "Even when I wanted to hurt you, I missed you."

Her heart clenched at his words and she sucked in a breath to remind herself that he wasn't permitted to see her cry. "What a stupid thing to say," she replied, glaring out the window. "Does that kind of thing work on the rest of the manipulative, cheap, and two-timing bitches in our school?"

"Sera showed me a picture of you making out with Jensen."

"It was a fake."

"It didn't look fake."

She turned her gaze away from the window to find him watching her through the rearview mirror. "What would be the point of showing it to you if it looked fake?"

"Then I saw you walking back to the gym with him next to you, and−"

"He asked me to speak with him privately to tell me that he'd cheated on his portion of our project," she informed him in a brittle tone. "The same people who paid him to make out with my double paid him to do that too."

"He told you."

"I convinced him to come clean."

Something in her tone must have given her away because his brows shot up and he offered a surprised half laugh. "You threatened him. Wow."

She chose to neither confirm nor deny his words, looking back out the window. "Spence told me what you'd seen, and I found the truth. It wasn't hard."

"But you didn't tell me."

She didn't appreciate the accusation in his tone and she shot him a look to let him know. "Why should I? It doesn't change anything."

"It changes everything," he argued.

"Someone who has never hidden the fact that she hates my being with you and who has never struggled with the age-old question of right and wrong showed you a picture and you immediately took it at face value without bothering to talk to me about it," she summarized. "It changes nothing. Where are we going?"

"Candy, I'm sorry."

"I don't care."

***

She knew. She knew exactly what it was that had happened and she hadn't told him. She didn't care. Coop felt stupid, desperate, and frustrated as they drove in silence. He'd known before meeting her at her locker that it would have to go like this. The last thing they'd needed was another audience, and there was no way to convince Candy to finish a conversation with him if she had a means of escape. Even now, he could see her clutching her phone like a lifeline, though at least she hadn't tried to call anyone yet. She'd wait until they got to the park. The park he'd taken her before to try to express his feelings. He'd only partially succeeded that time. Hopefully, it would go better this time around.

When they finally got to where they were going, he parked the car and got out to open up the back door. Candy was out like a shot, shouldering past him and marching off toward the trees as though she planned to lose him. "I made a mistake," he tried again, following after her. "Let me fix it."

"Unless you can reverse time and stop yourself from reacting the way you did, I don't see how," she shot back over her shoulder, not slowing her pace.

"Are you going to let Sera win like this?" he asked, attempting a different tactic. "This is exactly what she wants, Candy."

"You did this!" she screamed, spinning around with tears in her eyes that caused him to stop in his tracks, taken aback. "You did this, Cooper. The moment you chose to believe her without even asking me. Sera's just some insecure girl who wanted to cause trouble. You're the one who let her."

"Let me make it up to you," he begged, taking a step towards her. "Please."

She didn't back away when he came closer, though she should have. She was so angry; angry at herself for the tears she wasn't able to stop, angry at him for causing them. "And how do you plan on doing that, Cooper? How?"

"Whatever you want," he answered immediately. "Tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

"Leave me alone." She didn't mean it. She didn't want to be alone; she wanted for it to have never happened.

He winced, "Except that. I said things I shouldn't have said; things I didn't mean and that weren't even a little bit true. You deserve better. Let me give you better."

"Why should I?"

"Because I love you."

***

He watched her mouth drop open in surprise at his words, and he took advantage of her loss for words, moving closer to grab her hand. "I said the worst kinds of things to you, and it's inexcusable, but this week has killed me and I was stupid and I'm sorry. Please, Candy, let me make it up to you."

"You were hot-headed and cruel," she whispered, but she didn't pull her hand away, so he hoped. "I don't deserve to be treated like that."

"This relationship is a first for both of us," he said, "and I want to make it work with you. Please don't leave me."

Coop watched as she closed her eyes and sucked in a breath before straightening her spine and reopening her eyes to look at him again. "I'll give you until winter break to make your case, then we can go from there."

He didn't try to hide his relieved smile as he yanked her into a hug, thanking her over and over again. "I'll make it worth it. I swear."

Two and a Half Months Later

            "You two are disgusting. Could you please keep the PDA to a minimum? Not all of us are enjoying each other's company quite as much as you," Faith complained from her spot on the opposite side of the sectional, glaring at Candice and Cooper who pulled away from each other at her words.

            Candice offered an embarrassed smile while Cooper only looked smug. "Sorry."

            "Fay's just jealous because it's never her," Matt said with a laugh from his spot on the floor. "Ignore her."

            The television remote hit him hard in the back of the head and he grabbed the spot where it had made contact, looking back at Faith with a scowl. "Oops, sorry."

            "Knock it off," Jay said, not even bothering to spare either of them a glance. "Sometimes I have to wonder which one of us is actually Faith's brother with as much as you two pick at each other."

            Candice muffled a giggle as she watched Faith toss her empty pop bottle at the back of Jay's head for good measure and settled in closer to Cooper. "Let's start the movie."

            "We're still waiting for Hope," Jay replied, chucking the bottle back at his sister who blocked it easily.

            "Hope had a date with Grady tonight," Cyn supplied helpfully. "They were going to see the Christmas lights at the park."

            Jay scowled, "Grady seems like a tool. I don't like him."

            "Well she does, and you're not the one dating him," Faith replied indifferently. "Start the movie."

            "My mom wanted me to invite you over for Christmas Eve next week," Cooper whispered. "Your mom and sister too, if they're not busy."

            Candice shot him a surprised look, "Really?"

            He shrugged sheepishly, "I may have mentioned that it's just the three of you for the holidays, and it's just the two of us too. My mom thought it might be more enjoyable together."

            She offered him a broad smile as she felt her heart flutter. "I'll ask them when we have dinner tomorrow and let you know. Thank you." They'd been together for almost three months now, and so far Cooper had been true to his word. Everyone else had come reluctantly back around, though she'd recently found out that Jay, Faith, and Eleanor had all separately pulled him aside to promise bodily harm if he messed up again. She was happy.

            Settling in again in the crook of his arm, she turned her attention towards the screen. "My mom wanted to offer the same thing. I guess she heard from someone that it was just you and your mom and she thought it might be as good a time as any to meet."

            She felt his chest vibrate with quiet laughter, "I guess great minds think alike."

            Candice offered a single nod and then lifted her head to look up at him with a smile. "I love you."

            His entire body stiffened, and he looked down at her in surprise. Slowly, his smile reappeared, growing twice in size. "Yeah?" he asked in a pleased tone. "I love you too."