In the store, Cameron roamed the aisles adorned with pink, red, and white, searching for something Kith would like.  Wrinkling his nose, he passed by heart-shaped stuffed animals, giant chocolate kisses, and cards bearing words that made him want to roll his eyes.  Valentine's Day shopping hadn't been part of his to-do list since high school.  Walking back the way he'd come, he replayed his conversation with Kith from a week earlier, how she'd never gotten a Valentine's Day gift.

    He'd never understood that.  She was pretty and smart, and nice to everyone. How were the guys at her school not trying to get with her?

    "Shopping for Kith?" Nate elbowed him in the back. "Your giiiiiirlfriend?" He sounded like a five year old.

    "Shut up," Cameron elbowed him back and scanned the card rack, hoping there was one she would appreciate.  He would hate to put effort into buying a gift that she ended up laughing at.  That would suck more than not getting anything and suffering a day of glares and resentment.  Some days, he still held a sneaking suspicion that Kith thought he was an idiot.

    The entire house was out looking for Valentine's Day related paraphernalia.  The Greek Hearts Ball was on Saturday.  It was one of the biggest mixers of the year because all the houses, fraternities and sororities, came together under one roof to drink and grind on each other.  Guys were supposed to ask girls by presenting them with something representing Valentine's Day.

    "You going to the Ball?" Michael questioned.

    "No," Cameron shook his head. "I have this huge test coming up on Monday. And Heather's probably going to be there."

    "He's buying stuff for Kith, his girlfriend," Nate repeated, emphasizing the last part.

    "Shut up!" Cameron repeated, whirling around to hit him.  Laughing, Nate ducked and darted to the other side of the aisle.

    "We all know you like her," Ty commented, slamming a card shut that started belting out a song.

    "I'm helping her out," he defended himself while reaching for another card. He didn't get past the cover.  Scoffing, he crammed it back onto the rack and searched for another.

    "Come on," Ty folded his arms and stared at him. "Kith is hot. Don't tell Lucy I said that."

    "Yeah, she is," Nate agreed. "And we're more controlled men than you are Cameron."

    "And we're your brothers," Graham asserted. "We know you better than you know yourself."

    "You want her, bro," Ty commented, seizing a crimson envelope. "You like her. Man up and admit it."

    "We can't be together," Cameron lied.  Confused, he turned towards actual gifts, stuffed animals and such.  Did he want to be with her?  Weren't they technically together, before the eyes of everyone else?  She wasn't his girlfriend.  They were....were they still just friends?  He was at the store buying her Valentine's Day presents.  He spent nights thinking about how to get stuff for Tristan.  In a few months, they were going to be raising a kid together.  They were together without the label.

    "What are you talking about?" someone questioned.

    "Yeah," Graham chimed in. "You got her pregnant. You and her are together forever, whether you want to be or not."

    "Cameron hasn't had a girlfriend in, well, ever," Ty commented.

    "Yeah I have!" Cameron argued.  No one was listening.

    "That's because he's always been against it, remember?" Nate commented, leaning against the rack. "He likes hooking up with girls and not actually dating them."

    "That's not true!" Cameron countered.

    "You've said that," Ty said plainly, looking directly at him.

    "Have I?" He couldn't remember saying anything like that, but it did sound familiar.

    "Yeah," Ty nodded.

    "He likes sex too much," Nate stated.

    "As exemplified by the pregnant girl living in his room," Graham agreed.

    "She won't have sex with you, will she?" Nate asked, doing his best to hide a smirk. "Is that why you won't actually call her your girlfriend?"

    "What? No... it's not-it has nothing to do with that," Cameron pieced together, caught off-guard.  That wasn't the case; they'd actually be surprised if they knew the case.  He wouldn't sleep with her.  If he said it aloud though, they wouldn't believe him.

    "He's probably too afraid to put his dick in anything other than his hand now that he sees it actually works," Graham answered, dodging a quick fist from Cameron.

    "When was the last time you hooked up with someone?" Ty questioned, eyeing him.

    Cameron opened his mouth to reply and then shut it.  Truth was, he couldn't remember.  It was definitely before he started getting serious about school, so it'd been months.  He'd never gone that long, not counting the first sixteen years of his life.

    "Why the hell do you think Heather's so pissed every time we see her?" Nate questioned.

    "You haven't hooked up with her either?"

    "No," Cameron said quickly. "I'm a responsible father figure now!"

    "Why not?" Nate asked. "If Kith's not your girlfriend, she wouldn't care, right?"

    "I thought you liked Kith," Cameron replied, rubbing the back of his neck.  Their interrogation was all levels of ridiculous and it definitely wasn't something he wanted to talk about in the middle of the store.  Other people from their school could be on the other aisle, listening to everything.

    "I do," Nate said jovially. "I love her. She's a great girl, possibly the best thing that's ever happened to you. But Heather...."

    "-is even more crazy now that she doesn't have Cameron all to herself," Ty snorted.

    "She's not crazy," Cameron said defensively.

    "Heather is fucking insane," Graham lowered his voice. "We all know that."

    "She's not crazy!" Cameron hissed.  He hated when they said that.  He'd never wanted to be the guy with the mean girl hanging around, and so far he'd been successful.  They greatly exaggerated Heather's behavior.  She definitely wasn't the most normal girl he'd ever been with, but she was far from insane.

    "Whatever," Graham rolled his eyes and tossed a stuffed gorilla up and down. "How's your dry spell treating you?"

    "I'm doing just fine," Cameron smiled broadly. "I haven't had sex in months and I feel great."

    None of them looked like they believed him, but they stopped talking about it.  Nate knew; he shot him a look when the other guys turned away.  Nate knew what Cameron wanted to do for her; he understood how he felt about her.  Yeah, she wasn't his girlfriend, but second to his mom, she was the most important female in his life.  Grinding his teeth, he stared at the tiled floor for a few seconds.  Now that they'd gotten him thinking about it, he wanted to have some fun.  He could easily do so.  All he had to do was go to the Ball.  There were plenty of girls who'd be willing.

    No, no, he thought.  He'd become better than that.  He wasn't that same Cameron who had drunken one night stands.  That was the old him.  The new him would either be with Kith or studying for his test.  Those were his two entertainment options for the evening.  Nothing else.

    Saturday arrived.

    During days prior, on his way to and from class, he listened to girls go on and on about the different items they'd gotten from guys inviting them to the Ball.  Part of him thought it was stupid.  Even if he'd planned on going, he wouldn't have gone through all the trouble of trying to find a date.  He never really liked going to dances with girls; he preferred leaving with them.  Another part of him, especially during one of his classes, considered asking Kith.  She wouldn't agree though, and he didn't want to have to wrestle with the whole rejection thing.  One time after dinner, he almost asked if she wanted to go, but decided against it.

    In the afternoon, he walked into his room and presented her with a pink card, a small bunch of red roses in crinkly plastic, and a stuffed octopus.  Since it was her favorite animal, he figured she'd appreciate it.

    "What's all this?" she smiled slowly.

    "Your Valentine's Day gift," he answered just as slowly.

    "I said I didn't want anything," she commented while stroking the octopus's head.

    "Yeah, but you don't actually mean that when you say it," he replied.  Folding his arms, he leaned against the wall and watched her silently revel in the presents.  She was doing her tough-girl thing and although it was mildly annoying, it was still cute.  His heart began beating a little faster.  Clearing his throat at the realization, he stood up straighter and looked at something else. "What do you want to do today?"

    She shrugged.

    "Come on, Kith," motioning for her to think of something, he straddled his desk chair. "Anything you want. I'm down."

    She just shrugged again.

    Sighing, he rubbed the top of his head. "Hey, have you thought about that thing we talked about a while ago?"

    "What thing?" Setting the roses aside, she twisted her hair into a messy bun.  Strands fell out, framing her face and making her look even prettier.  It took Cameron a moment to bring his focus back to words.  

    "Giving Tristan my last name," he answered without hesitation.  She'd never fully given him a reason why she was so unwilling.  Time had gone by; maybe she'd changed her mind.

    "I thought we agreed on not doing that."

    "We didn't agree," Cameron replied, reaching for his favorite white hat. "You got mad at me and then Heather came."

    "I don't think it's a good idea for him to have your last name," she explained slowly, tucking some of the dark strands behind her ear.

    "Why?"

    "Cameron," she said harshly.

    "Could you just tell me why?" he asked. "You didn't say anything specific last time. You just kept saying no and calling it a bad idea, kinda like what you're doing now."

    "We're not even together," she mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

    "So?" he countered, wrinkling his forehead. "We may as well be."

    She gave him a look, but he refused to take it back.

    "What?" he continued.  Waiting for her to enlighten him, he tried to come up with possible reasons.  He'd been great.  He'd helped her out, taken her to appointments, driven her to school, and made her food in the middle of the night.  He'd done more for her than the average nineteen year old dude would.  What was the problem?  Kith didn't say anything. "I thought we were good."

    "We are good."

    "Am I really so bad that you don't want him to have my last name?" grinding his teeth together, he pressed his spine deeply against the edge of the desk until part of his back went numb. "I think I'm better than most guys."

    She snorted, "That's debatable."

    "Better than my brother," he said without thinking.  She gave him another look, a harder one, but he didn't care.

    "Why do you think I don't want him to have your last name?"

    Bouncing his heels up and down, he got it, finally.  She was against the whole name thing because of Austin.  Once again, Austin had fucked something up for him. "So?" he repeated. "I'm not Austin."

    "It doesn't matter," she shook her head.

    "What are you talking about? It does matter. He's our kid; he should have my last name," he argued more defensively.

    Shaking her head, Kith bit her lip and looked towards the window without speaking to him. "Can we just drop this please?"

    "No, I want to keep talking about it." He sounded like a three year old.

    "Cameron!" she said sharply.

    "No!" he said louder. "I've done a lot of shit for you and him! I've bought you pills and I've taken you to appointments and I've driven you to school and I've stood up for you to my mom. Is that not good enough? All of my effort isn't worth that? I'm only asking for one thing, one thing, Kith."

    She kept her eyes on the window.

    "Fine, whatever," standing up, he grabbed his backpack and his books.

    "Cameron," she said his name less angrily.

    "No," whirling around, he glared at her. "I don't want to hear it. It's good to know that all this time I've spent has been for nothing. You don't care and clearly you think it's bullshit. I've worked my ass off. You know it, I know it, and everyone in this fucking house knows it. I come in here with all of this stuff for you, because it's Valentine's Day, and you told me you've never gotten a gift before. I'm trying to be nice to you, even though you've been getting mad at me for absolutely nothing these past weeks. It's annoying and I'm tired of it. I'll be downstairs." Stalking towards the doorway, he froze. "Come talk to me when you're back to normal."

    Cameron sat downstairs in the lounge, angrily turning pages, as the hours passed and night fell.  From the comfort of the couch, he watched guys leave the house alone and in small groups, all headed to pick up their dates.  Struggling to focus, he turned another page without actually reading any of the text.  Kith hadn't said anything to him.  She'd come downstairs, too.  Hearing her, he'd refused to look in her direction.  Holding his breath, he'd waited for her to come and apologize, or really say anything to him.  Nothing.

    Cameron based their lack of interaction on the basis of her not knowing exactly where he was.  If she knew, she'd come talk to him.  That was his logic.  As more and more hours passed, it became quite clear that she wasn't even looking for him.  She didn't want to say she was sorry; she didn't want anything to do with him.  Cameron had the couch, the remote, and his textbooks for companionship.

    "Need to study," he muttered, turning the page back.  His eyes kept drifting, and deep down in his stomach, he had a burning desire to go to the Ball.  Glancing at the clock on his laptop, he bit his top lip, thinking.  The Ball started at 9; it was already eleven.  Most after-parties were almost in full swing, which meant there was plenty of good alcohol all over Greek Row. "It couldn't hurt...."

    Hitting up an after-party also meant that he didn't have to go through the hassle of putting on formal wear.  Tapping his pencil against his knee, he shook his head.  There was the test.  He turned another page and stared long and hard at the material, doing everything within his power to absorb the information.  Nothing happened.  It was almost like his ability to read had vanished. "I'll come back," standing up, he slipped his feet into some shoes and headed out.  He would party-hop for an hour and then come back.  That was good; that was responsible.

    Ninety minutes later, he'd lost count of how many red cups he'd downed.  Spotting long lost friends and acquaintances, he was met with smiles, half-hugs, and invitations to drink whatever he wanted.  As liquor snaked down his throat, he thought about how good it all tasted.  He'd cut out the drinking when things changed with Kith. "Not that that matters now," he muttered, resting his head against the wall.  Everyone in the room had a double and the lights had long since morphed into hazy balls of color.

    She didn't want him, and everything had been in his head.  All of it, going to class, spending time with her, helping her, was for nothing.  She didn't care, at least not enough to just agree to give Tristan his last name.  They were supposed to be in this together.  That's what he meant every time he called her his girl, the closest thing to a girlfriend.  Why didn't she understand that?  Why didn't anyone understand that?

    "She al-always mad at me," he slurred. "I'm like.... I do the best I can."

    "You do," Heather agreed, stroking his back with her nails.

    "I don't understand," he continued, rubbing his forehead.  Her hands were so nice, so familiar.

    "She's a bitch," she said plainly. "What's to understand? She's a bitch you stupidly got pregnant. Now see what you have to deal with?"

    "She's not... Kith is not a bitch," he shook his head.  Even in his shamefully drunken state, he knew that was inaccurate. "I like her. A lot."

    "What do you mean?"

    "Like a lot," he repeated.  Everything was spinning. "She's so beautiful and.... her eyes."

    "What about them?"

    "Beautiful," he repeated.  Swallowing, he imbibed an overwhelming mouthful of guilt.  He'd yelled at her; he'd hurt her feelings.  He'd even been stupid enough to bring up Austin.  Cameron knew he wasn't supposed to do any of that stuff, especially the last part. "I have to tell her I'm sorry."

    "You don't have to tell her you're sorry," Heather rubbed his back and slid down next to him.  Her boobs pressed against the side of his arm.

    "Yes," he nodded. "She... mad."

    "She's not mad at you," Heather consoled him in a low voice.

    "Yeah," he nodded again knowingly. "I gotta...." Standing up quickly, he felt the immediate impact of his stupid decision.  Stumbling, he lurched forward into the table and then staggered backwards, right into Heather's arms.

    "You need to lie down," she said confidently.

    "I need to see Kith," he repeated firmly.  He had to tell her he was sorry.  She'd forgive him; she was way nicer and more understanding than any other girl he'd encountered in his life.  Bringing his arm up, he tried to push her off, away from him.  Miscalculating, he ended up with his face buried in her neck.  Lilac-scented perfume wafted into his nostrils, overwhelming his senses.  Cameron relished the feel of her skin against his face; it was smooth and comforting.  He felt her heart beating and strands of her soft, brown hair tickled the edges of his face. "Take me... see Kith."

    "Yeah, okay," Heather said softly. "We're going to see her right now."

Well, that won't end well.

TEASER: "Stay away from me, okay?"