by: Msterope

Part One

"I'm sorry baby-cakes, but this is the way it has to be."

"You asshole! I knew you'd do it... I knew you'd do it!" A tall, charming-looking tom sat across a small restaurant table with a white queen's paw in his own. The thin body of the queen, clothed in a plain pale lavender tank top and a tight black skirt. Her long, slender legs ended in spiked black heels and her feathery white tail was wrapped around her calves. The tom, whose brown and gold tinted hair flowed down either side of his lean, handsome face, wasn't even looking at the sobbing queen, and shifted the collar of his slightly oversized black leather jacket. The letters "J.H" adorned the right breast in scarlet and underneath the jacket was a plain white t-shirt. Under the table, the tom's legs were conveniently on the opposite end of the bench from the queen's and were covered with relaxed fitted jeans. The white and black sneakers he wore were snuggly laced.

"If you knew it, why didn't you just..." The queen stood up, slapping the tom harshly across the face with a sob.

"Because I loved you! I loved you dammit, Tugger! You're such an asshole!" With that, the slender white queen stalked out of the restaurant, sobbing heavily. Her shoulder-length blue-white hair flowed around her shoulders.

"Sickening, isn't it?" Demeter's green eyes came up from her fries to examine Bombalurina's slender face. The scarlet queen's blue eyes were fixed on Tugger and Deme rolled her eyes silently.

"Uhm-hmm..." She muttered, taking more fries out of the basket before her and putting them in her mouth. Bomba absently reached for them and took three out of the basket and brought them to her lipstick-slicked lips. Her long, wavy red hair was streaked with gold, black and white, framing her slender and delicately boned face. Her blue eyes were thickly lined with liner and mascara, the heavy lashed blinking every so often as the light reflected off the irridescent green covering her lids. Without even the slightest glance at her friend, Bomba continued to inspect the now sulking tom.

"I mean, look at him! He's so... full of himself. Dumping poor Vicky without a reason other than he was bored. Seriously..." Demeter let a smile curl the edges of her full mouth and she snickered. Bomba looked over at her with a raised eyebrow and leaned against the table so her full chest pressed against her thin white blouse lightly.

"What? You have something to say?" Demeter grinned at Bomba when her mouth wasn't full and then leaned over the table to look directly into her eyes.

"He just... reminds me of someone I know almost exactly. When they get bored with their toys, they just leave. How long has it been now with your newest toy? Three, maybe four days?" Bomba gave an indignant flick of her hair and glowered at Demeter over the edge of her cup. When she set down the glass with a definite click, Bombalurina smirked.

"Going on a week with Alonzo, but really, he's always doing the same thing. 'Wanna go to the movies, Bomba?' or 'Hey Bomba, wanna go catch the ice cream parlor before it closes?'. Honestly, any more ice cream and I'm not going to fit into my cheerleading uniform." Demeter rolled her olive-green eyes and went back to the fries. Bomba looked back at Tugger and felt a flutter of excitement go through her when she saw that Tugger was looking her way.

"Ooh! He's looking! He's looking!" Demeter looked over her shoulder, pushing her chin-length black, golden and slightly reddish-tinted hair away from her eyes. Brown eyes locked onto her rounder face and Deme felt a flush rise in her cheeks. Turning back to Bomba, she grabbed more fries.

"Then why don't you go and talk to him?" Bomba was already preening, smoothing a pampered paw over her long hair. Her blue eyes went to her friend's green ones and her smile grew.

"You think? I mean, what about Alonzo?" Demeter grinned at her friend and patted her paw.

"He'll get over it..." With that Bombalurina was on her feet, and strutting over to Tugger's table, leaving Demeter with the rest of the fries. "I hope..."

Demeter switched seats and munched on the fries while she snorted and snickered at Bomba's antics with Tugger.

"A player for a player; that's going to be an interesting match. Wonder how long it's going to last?"

Come Monday morning, the hallways were buzzing with gossip. Demeter was standing at her locker when Victoria, Etcetera and Electra walked up; towing Demeter's younger sister, Jemima with them. Victoria, Etcetera and Electra were sophmores, and Jemima was just a freshman, but they all stuck together. Demeter looked at Vicky with pity in her eyes.

Part Two

"I hear Bomba's dating Tugger now, what happened to Alonzo?" The snide tone in the white queen's voice made Demeter's fur sponge. Turning her body towards the younger queen, Deme's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Watch what you say about Bomba, Vicky. I don't deal well with jealous, bitchy queens. And if you're going to drag Jemima into this, don't bother. I don't think Tugger and Bomba are going to last a week." Victoria's right eyebrow came up and Cettie giggled in the background. Electra folded her arms over her flat chest and her amber-colored eyes narrowed onto Demeter's face and she snorted.

"That's lovely talk about your best friend, Deme. You sure you really don't care about Tugger?" Demeter turned her fiery olive green eyes towards Electra and snarled.

"Shut your mouth, youngen. I won't hesitate to toss you into a garbage can... and send Tugger over to get you out." Electra's eyes widened and color rose in her cheeks. Cettie giggled again and received a sharp elbow in the side. The white tabby princess pouted, rubbing the spot gingerly.

"Whatcha do that for?" Etcetera complained in a nasaly voice. Jemima stood behind the three sophmores and looked at her sister through dark blue eyes lined with thick black lashes. Demeter sighed, closed her locker and stepped around the group, motioning for Jemima to follow her.

"You hang out with them, why?" She asked, looking at her younger sister. Jemima shrugged, putting her arm around Demeter's waist when the older queen put her own around Jemima's shoulders.

"They just accepted me into their group. Do you really think that Tugger and Bomby won't last?" Demeter sighed, her eyes coming up when someone gasped. She bit her lip against a groan when she spotted Macavity, the toughest tom in school, coming towards her. His long ginger and black hair flowed around his face, pulled back by a bandana with skulls and marijuana leaves on it. He wore an oversized t-shirt and baggy jeans with a pair of ratty sneakers. Macavity smelt as foul as the leaves on his bandana, and wore a sneer colder than the skulls. His arm went to the lockers, blocking the path of the two queens. Macavity trailed his free paw up Demeter's arm, making her skin crawl.

"Hey gorgeous... why don't you and me scram and find somewhere warm to curl up." Demeter pulled away as if Macavity was a snake. Jemima was pushed behind her sister protectively and Deme glared at Macavity.

"Don't you take a hint? Like, the first half a million times?" Demeter's voice was low and colder than ice, her canine teeth showing with her lip curled back in disgust. Macavity chuckled, taking a step forward, but he stopped when someone pressed against Demeter's side; putting their paw on her shoulder. Demeter looked up and smiled in relief when her boyfriend, Plato, stood there.

"You know, Mackie, there are other queens in the school... who don't have boyfriends." Macavity snorted, shoved his paws into his pockets and cast one look at Jemima. She cowered behind her sister and watched the senior with wide eyes. Demeter wanted to wretch when she saw Macavity run his tongue along his teeth and grin.

"You're right, Plato... you have no idea how right you are." Macavity laughed, turning and walking back towards the door. Demeter gripped her sister's shoulder gently and smiled at her.

"Don't worry; you're well taken care of here, sis. Old Bushy-Butt Mackie won't touch you, y'hear?" Demeter crooned, pulling Jemima into a hug. Jemima nodded quietly, her eyes following Macavity until he exited. She wasn't afraid of him, per say, but his reputation did follow him to a heartbeat. Demeter pulled back and held Jemima by the shoulders at arm's length.

"Come on, I'll walk you to class." The two set off with Plato following behind, his paw lightly touching Demeter's arm.

Lunchtime started to come around and Demeter was starting to wonder what was really happening between Tugger and Bomba. The pair were still not at school, and Demeter rolled her eyes when her English teacher, Mrs Jellylorum, called on Bomba more than once. The butter-colored tabby looked at Demeter critically with her sky-blue eyes. Her pale blond hair, which was starting to turn white, was pulled back into a tight bun at the nape of her neck.

Part Three

"Demeter, have you seen Bombalurina today?" Demeter sighed, shaking her head slowly. Jelly mirrored the sigh, turning and starting to write on the blackboard.

English class ended and Demeter walked out into the halls. She went to her locker, stuffed her back and binder inside, and then went outside. She spotted a group of people gathered at the entrance of the student parking lot and her eyebrow went up.

"What in the name of..." Deme muttered, making her way over there. Jemima turned to her with a roll of her eyes and a wide grin. Etcetera was on her tip-toes, and Demeter could only imagine what was on the other side of the wall.

"Incoming!" She said, pushing through and coming face to face with Bomba and Tugger. Bombalurina had her slender right paw on Tugger's chest, and the light from the sun shone off a fair sized pink stone. Demeter identified the stone immediately as a rosy quartz and she folded her arms over her chest; completely unimpressed. Bomba detached herself from the tall, lithe tom's side and rushed over to Demeter.

"Deme, oh Deme! Look, lookie, lookie! Isn't it just the greatest thing? Tugger bought it for me this morning..." She was grinning like an idiot and pushed her free paw through her hair when Deme grabbed her wrist to take a good look at the ring. With a snort, Demeter let Bomba's paw fall and looked up into her friend's eyes.

"You missed two tests for a ring?" Bombalurina didn't miss the venomous tone in Demeter's voice and cringed. Tugger watched, his long brown hair flowing in front of his face and making him look dashing, but with a touch of danger added. His brown eyes were locked on Demeter, but she ignored him. Etcetera was standing on Tugger's other side, her eyes wide as she leant against her knuckles and babbled nonsense.

"Seriously Bomba! You're the one who wants to go to University and get your degree in cosmetology. Have you even started to look into what the requirements are?" Bomba huffed a bit and frowned down at Demeter. The shorter gold and black didn't flinch at the cold stare, but rather returned it.

"No, but you know we have almost a year to do that." Demeter rolled her eyes and reached up, cuffing Bomba lightly across the ear. Bomba yelped, taking a step back from her friend. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For being an idiot! Bomba, I've looked into the stupid thing for you; mostly because I expected you'd wait until the last minute and just fiddle your way through it." Demeter ignored the hurt pout. "Anyhow, to get into the courses you were looking at you need: English, Math, Art of some kind and another option course. If you don't show up to Math or English, Bomba, you're not going to pass. What the heck will you do when you have to come back another year?"

"Oh come on, Deme! You're totally overreacting here! I'll pass... it was just one day." Demeter let her eyes go to where Bomba's current boy-toy was sitting, and was slightly unnerved to find him still looking at her with those calm brown eyes. His lips curled into a seductive smile, getting a raised eyebrow from the shorter queen.

"At any rate, Bomba, if you continue to hang off of Tugger, you're going to end up just like Macavity." She said, pleased when Bomba snarled.

"I'm no Macavity... I'm so much hotter!" Demeter didn't catch the laugh that came out and then the pair started to snicker. Bomba put her arm around Deme's shoulders and sighed.

"I'm here now, aren't I? Anyway, I'll be there tomorrow. Tugger's going to Hawaii for two weeks, so I have nowhere else to go." Demeter looked up at her friend with concern as they made their way back to sit on the hood of Tugger's flashy red sportscar.

Part Four

Demeter was sitting on the bench nearest the parking lot after school, waiting for Plato to come out. When she spotted him, Demeter's heart fell. Something about the way he was walking told her that this wasn't going to be a normal drive home. Plato walked up to her and absently kissed her on the forehead, making his way over to his green truck. Demeter put her backpack into the back of the truck, closing the small compartment that Plato had put in for that purpose. She waited for the door to unlock and climbed in.

"Okay Plato... what's going on?" She asked when they were driving. The brown and white tom sighed, shaking his beach-boy styled brown and black hair out of his face. His brown eyes turned to Demeter, emotions running through them faster than Demeter could deceifer them.

"I can't do this anymore, Deme." Shock came first, and Demeter felt her mouth fall open.

"Uhh... excuse me? Can't do what anymore?" Plato sighed, stopping and leaning back at a red light. Deme's eyes started to burn with tears, she knew what was coming.

"Us... this. I'm sorry, Deme. I just don't feel the same anymore. Please don't cry!" Plato's voice turned to alarm when a fat round tear rolled down Demeter's right cheek. She whipped her head towards the window and just stared out, chewing absently on one of her nails.

"Aww, come on Demeter! You can't possibly tell me that this meant anything spe..." Demeter cut off his sentence with a dark look over her shoulder.

"Just shut up and drive me home. I get the point, we're breaking up. The really dumb thing here, Plato, is that you don't even seem to care what I feel." Plato glared at her, pulling into the street where Demeter lived. No conversation went on until Demeter went to open the door. Plato's paw was on her shoulder and he pulled her back. The long kiss pulled all the emotions out of Demeter and she sighed.

"I want to know what you feel, Deme, just before the end. Please..." Demeter shook her head and looked up into his eyes.

"I love you." She said, shoving the door of the truck open and reaching into the back of the truck to get her backpack. Plato waited in front of the house until Demeter was inside and then drove off quickly. Jemima was watching from the window and turned to her sister when Demeter walked in.

"Deme... why are you crying?" Demeter waved a paw at Jemima and rushed towards her room. Jemima's ears went back and she sat down on the couch. She reached for the phone and called the only person that seemed to know what was going on with Demeter. Electra was almost always the 'neutral' party in any fights that ever went on between Jemima and her friends.

"Hello? Is Leccy there? Oh, hey Leccy... I've got a question..."

Demeter closed her door and flung her backpack, sending it soaring into her closet. In complete dispair, Deme sunk to her knees and started to sob miserably into the arms of her shirt. It was true, she loved Plato, and now there was nothing left. She looked up with red eyes at the board above her bed where all her pictures were. There were ones of herself and her sister, Bomba and her messing around, and her and Plato. Standing up shakily, Demeter took the picture of Plato and herself at the Valentine's Day dance. It was a specialized picture, with the words 'Forever with my Heart' in scrolled red letters across it. Demeter ran a finger over it and put it back onto the board. She wasn't going to let this ruin her friendship with Plato. A soft knock on her door made Demeter turn.

"Deme?" Jemima poked her head into her sister's room. She eased inside and walked over to Deme, wrapping her sister into a warm hug. Demeter hugged Jemima tightly, crying soft tears into her sister's hair.

"What happened, Deme? Why isn't Plato staying here?" Demeter pulled back and managed a watery smile.

"Plato broke up with me." An instant fire came into Jemima's eyes and they sat down on Demeter's bed. The waterbed mattress moved under their weight and Jemima snarled softly.

"Did he even give you a reason?" Demeter took the kleenex her sister offered her and mopped up the tears on her face.

"He doesn't feel the same way anymore. He didn't even know how I felt about him! Shows you how well we knew each other..." Jemima rested her head against Demeter's shoulder, looking up into her sister's face lovingly.

"He wasn't worth it then." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. Deme chuckled, putting her arm around Jemima and hugging her tightly.

"Maybe you're right... but that doesn't stop me from feeling slightly unloved." Jemima wrapped her arms around Demeter's waist and squeezed.

"You're loved, but you just have to find that right person who will tell you they love you, hold you when you cry, wipe away your tears and tell you its alright." Demeter smiled at her sister, knowing her sister's profound wisdom. It always surprised her, but this time it was comforting.

Part Five

The next day started normally. Demeter woke up, showered, and then called Plato for a ride to school.

"I'm bringing someone else along too, so I'll finally have a full cab. Jemima want a ride too?" Deme looked at her sister, intently making waffles and bacon. A gentle smile spread across Demeter's lips and she lowered the phone so the receiver and earpiece were against her chest and shoulder.

"Jem? Want a ride with Plato?" Jemima looked over her shoulder and smiled gently.

"Only if he's offering..." Demeter grinned and put the phone back to her ear.

"Yeah, but she says 'only if you're offering'." Plato laughed, and then Demeter's ear icked up the murmur of a female voice in the background. Plato whispered something and Demeter's eyebrow went up.

"Anyhow... I'll see you in an hour, Plato. Later."

"What? Oh, yeah... See ya, Deme." Demeter stayed immobilised, listening to the dial tone and staring off into space. So Plato had told the truth; he didn't feel for her anymore. She guessed the queen she'd heard was probably his new girlfriend.

"Deme? Waffles are ready..." Demeter put the phone back on the hook and took the plate offered to her.

When Plato's truck pulled up in front of the house, Demeter's eyes caught sight of a white queen sitting next to Plato.

"Vicky? Oh my..." Jemima walked around the truck to climb in behind her friend. Plato got out of the truck and let Demeter climb in behind the driver's seat. Victoria smiled at her, obviously more than a little embarassed about the situation. Plato took the two backpacks and went to stick them in the back.

"Listen Deme, I'm really sorry..." Vicky started, but Demeter laughed.

"No Vicky, it's okay. Really, if he didn't feel anything for me, what was the point? Congrats, and I mean it." Demeter reached over the seat and gripped the white queen's shoulder. Vicky smile and Plato climbed back in.

"And we're off!" He said, clueless to the looks exchanged between Deme and Vicky.

Jemima walked behind her group, amused by Vicky's embarassement when Leccy and Cettie questioned her.

"But I thought Deme was goin' out with Plato." Cettie's obvious cluelessness made Electra sigh.

"He broke up with her, Cettie. So... has he kissed you yet?" Leccy, not only the neutral one but also the tomboy of the group, was still interested in her friends' affairs. Vicky was obviously flustered, but a strong paw on Jemima's shoulder stopped her from hearing the reply.

Jemima knew by the smell that wafted around who the tom was. With a cool look on her pretty face, Jemima looked up into Macavity's eyes. His smirk chilled her blood and Jemima shrugged his paw off her shoulder.

"What do you want?" The small black and scarlet tabby asked icily. Macavity licked his lips, rubbed his knuckles against her upper arm, and then reached up to toy with the ends of Jem's hair. Jemima's skin crawled at his touch and she wanted nothing but to get away from him. The stench of the drug he used made her want to wretch and Jemima started to squirm under the intensity of his eyes.

"What do you think I want, little one?" His voice was low and husky, and smelt vile. Jemima's heart started to race when Macavity leaned in close. The smell of marijuana was so strong on his clothes. Ginger and black hair feathered across Jemima's cheek, and suddenly it was gone. Jemima opened her eyes, which she'd just realized were clamped shut, and saw Macavity skidding across the floor. A tall silver tabby tom stepped in front of Jemima. One of his large black paws was tucked lazily into the pocket of his jeans. Muscles could easily be made out under the legs of his jeans, and Jemima forced herself not to stare.

"Take a hike, Mac." Jemima could only stand and stare when Macavity stood up, snarled, and stalked away from this new tom angrily.

Silver hair striped with black sat around his shoulder in light waves, and feathered around his face when he turned towards Jemima. Jem remembered to close her mouth when emerald green eyes locked onto her face. The new tom shifted his large black leather jacket before speaking.

"You okay?" The smooth tenor voice was followed by a charming smile. Jemima blushed, looking down at her feet and brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Yeah... thanks. Umm... I'm Jemima." She offered her paw to him, looking back up into those captivating emerald eyes. The silver tom smiled again, taking Jemima's paw and gently squeezing it.

"Munkustrap."

Part Six

"So you mean you and Macavity were best friends at one point?" Munkustrap walked through the school's courtyard and laughed. He looked down at her, and smiled into her face. Jemima's blue eyes were locked onto his face and she listened intently to him. He reached over, brushing some loose hair behind her ear and Munkus let his paw linger on her cheek.

"Yeah, sound pretty crazy doesn't it?" Jemima blushed and continued to walk. Munkustrap stood back a minute, and then followed her to where she sat on an empty bench. She sat with her ankles and her tail curled around her calves. Munkustrap sat next to her, putting his arm across the back of the bench. He smiled at Jemima, edging a little closer to her.

"So, you're a student here?" Munkustrap nodded his head, trying to keep Jemima's eyes on his. Her throat was dry, and Jemima swallowed in a vain attempt to dampen it. Munkustrap's paw moved, and hesitated, but came up to cup her cheek. His face moved slowly towards Jemima's and then his lips were covering hers. All the bones in Jemima's body melted and her thoughts were concentrated on that kiss. Her right paw came up and wound into Munkustrap's thick silver hair. The kiss deepened and then Munkustrap pulled back.

"No! Not here..." He said, trying to get a grip on his control. Jemima stared into his eyes, her breathing quickened. Their noses were touching, and Munkustrap's lips itched to kiss Jemima's again, but he respected her space and didn't want to push things.

"What are you doing after school? We could go get some ice cream, maybe catch a movie." Jemima's eyes came back up from Munkustrap's lips and locked with his eyes.

"Like... a date?" Munkustrap kissed Jemima against lightly and then pulled back. With a wink, he stood up and put his paws into his pockets. Jemima stood up and faced him, her paws clasped in front of her thighs.

"Like a date." Jemima smiled at him and nodded her head.

"Okay, I'll be there. I just have to tell my sister what's going on then. I don't want her to worry." Munkustrap nodded his head, looking around at the various groups of people gathered. His eyes rested on Tugger and Bomba, the scarlet queen basically sprawled across Tugger's lap. Munkustrap's upper lip twitched when Bombalurina's fingers danced up Tugger's chest from his belt and Tugger's paw rested on the inside of her right thigh. Jemima turned, following Munkustrap's gaze and groaning.

"Heavyside! Those two make me sick..." She muttered, turning and looking up at Munkustrap. "I'll see you later, Munkus. I'm going to go find my sister and tell her that I'm not going to be home right after school. Is there anywhere special you want to meet?"

Munkustrap looked down at her and smiled. His knuckles brushed Jem's cheek gently and then he sighed.

"Umm... maybe by the library. It's right by my locker, so that would work. Who's your sister? Just out of curiosity..." Jemima grinned up at Munkustrap and then started to walk back towards one of the many doors of the courtyard.

"Demeter, she's a senior." Munkustrap looked down at her and chuckled.

"No kidding! She's in my English class. She sits in front of me with Bomba." Jemima looked up at him with a smile.

"Really? Cool, so yeah. I'm going to go find her and tell her. See you later, Munkus!" She said happily, bounding off to find her sister. Munkustrap stopped, watching her with an amused smile on his face. It was just a friendly date, nothing more, right? Why did it make his heart jump?

"Captivated by young Jemmie, I see Munkus." Munkustrap's bristled and turned to face Tugger. Bombalurina wasn't hanging off of him as Munkustrap was used to, but Tugger had an air of arrogance around him just the same. Munkus regarded Tugger with a cool look on his face and then shrugged.

"Perhaps... at least I can keep a queen for longer than four days." Tugger flipped his head to get some of his long hair out of his face. His brown eyes were as calm as usual, but his smirk countered the normally 'cool' look.

"You know, Munkus, I'm surprised at you. At least I go after queens who are within a year of me. What's Jemima compared to you? Three, maybe four years younger..." Munkustrap's motion was quick, and Tugger was almost knocked off his feet. If Munkustrap hadn't been holding Tugger's collar, the lithe playboy would've been on his back. Munkustrap's upper lip was pulled back in a snarl, and all eyes in the courtyard were on them. Several queens tittered nervously as Munkustrap glared into Tugger's eyes.

"The major difference between you and me, Tugger, is that I know how to respect a queen. I'm not looking for a simple feel-good hook up. That is why you're dating Bombalurina, isn't it?" This time, Tugger's brown eyes flashed with anger. With strength he didn't normally show, Rum Tum Tugger pushed Munkustrap off and back a step. The two stood opposite each other, tails slashing angrily behind them.

"Bomba's more than just a hot bod, Munkus. Funny you noticed that first..." Munkustrap snarled, but Skimbleshanks pushed through the crowd. The orange tabby tom looked between the two toms and shook his head.

"Laddies! Enough is enough! No need tae get all worked up..." Skimble's thick Scottish accent made the words a little hard to understand but Munkustrap shrugged his jacket back into place and turned, walking from the courtyard. Tugger watched him leave and then looked at the Chemistry teacher with a winning smile.

"No problems here, coach." Skimble looked at Tugger with a raised brow, but turned and scattered the crowd. Bomba walked up and pressed against Tugger's side.

"Seems you pressed all the right buttons this time, love. What did you say to Munkus to get him so worked up?" Rum Tum Tugger watched Munkustrap's form move through the hallway through the windows of the courtyard and smirked.

"Just something that I'm sure he'll realize eventually..." Bomba looked at him, but rolled her eyes, knowing it was useless to try to get any information out of the tall tom.

"Deme! Deme, I have to talk to you." Demeter looked up from her English homework when Jemima came running up. The black and scarlet queen was grinning from ear to ear and Demeter laughed.

"What's got you all worked up?" Jemima sat down across from her sister and smoothed her hair down.

"We don't have anything planned for after school or supper, do we?" Demeter's eyebrow went up and she shifted in her seat.

"Not as far as I know... why?" Jemima leant across the table and smiled gently.

"Because I've been invited out... by a tom." The grin was quick to appear on Demeter's face and she laughed.

"Congratulations Jem! Who's the tom? If you don't mind me asking." Jem looked around, not seeing anyone she knew.

"His name's Munkustrap; he says he's in your English class. He basically just asked me to go out for an ice cream with him and then maybe hit a movie." Demeter froze, staring at her sister. "What?"

"Jemima, he's three years older than you! Do you have any idea how bad that could be when he turns eighteen?" Jemima rolled her eyes, rolling her shoulders.

"Demeter, I know all about that, but we're not dating. Just a casual thing, okay? Nothing's going to happen." Green eyes locked onto blue ones and Demeter frowned.

"Nothing had better happen, because I'll kick his furry silver behind." Jemima laughed.

"So it's final then. I'm going to go find him and tell him the plans a go." Jemima dashed off, leaving Demeter sitting with her arms crossed over her work. With a sigh, Demeter looked back at her English.

"I hope this is just a casual thing... for your sake Munkustrap."

Part Seven

Jemima stood quietly in front of the library after school and watched all the other people walk by. Her small backpack was slung over one shoulder and she had a large red and black binder held in front of her. Her blue eyes scanned the crowd for the tall silver tom, and then someone tapped her on the shoulder. Looking up, Jemima smiled up into Munkustrap's face.

"Been waiting long?" He asked, taking her binder and holding it under his arm as they walked towards the exit. Jemima grinned and shook her head.

"No, I was just watching for you." Munkus laughed, grinning at her and shaking his head.

"Then you should probably be watching all directions." The comment made both of them laugh and soon they were by the parking lot. Jemima watched Demeter catch a ride with Plato and Vicky, and Bomba climb into Tugger's red sports car. Munkustrap put a paw on Jemima's shoulder and steered her towards a sad looking black car. The paint was peeling off in places and rust was eating away at the edges. Jemima stopped and looked at it for a moment, and then at Munkustrap when he turned.

"What? So I have a crappy looking car, so what?" He said, opening the trunk and putting Jemima's stuff in the back. Jemima stiffled a giggle and walked around to the passenger's side. Munkustrap climbed in, unlocked the door for Jemima and pushed it open. She got in and sunk into the black leather seat. Looking around, the inside didn't reflect the outside of the car at all. Black leather covered it almost entirely, mixed in with some odd chrome pieces. The sound system was state of the art, and Jemima spotted a large sub-woofer in the back window.

"Hmm..." Was all she said. Munkustrap grinned at her and started the engine. Even it didn't go with the car. It purred like a very large cat and didn't shake at all, as Jemima had expected it to. With a grin shot at Munkustrap, Jemima settled back into her seat.

"Not at all what you expected?" Munkus asked, starting out of the parking lot. Tugger's red car shot past them and Jemima rolled her eyes.

"I've always meant to ask Bomba how Tugger is in bed..." Munkustrap gave Jemima a curious sideways look. "Well, in my group of friends, any tom who either has a really big truck or has some really weird flashy car always has a really small penis."

Munkustrap couldn't stop laughing and tears came to his eyes.

"Are you serious? Now I'm glad I don't have a really flashy car. Besides, its much more fun to build a car from the inside out. If you start from the outside of the car, which Tugger is doing, your engine will die before you can get to it. This was my very first car. I got it about three years ago." Jemima looked at him with wide eyes.

"Three years ago? You mean you started driving in grade nine?" Munkus grinned, thinking back to those days. It had been him, Rum Tum Tugger and Macavity back then; the dynamic trio. You had the tall, dark and handsome one, being Tugger, you had the bad boy, being Macavity, and then you had the jock type, being Munkustrap. He wasn't really a jock, until after grade nine. He'd just been built like a football player. What had happened to the old days?

"Munkus? The light's green..." Jemima said gently, putting her paw on his arm. The muscles there went tense, and then relaxed again. Munkustrap's paw shifted gears and they continued. Jemima's blue eyes filled with concern, and when they parked in the ice cream shop's parking lot, she put both her paws on Munkustrap's arm.

"What's wrong?" She asked gently, getting a hurt look from Munkustrap. He shook his head, sending his hair flailing around his face. Jemima reached up, smoothing a hand over it and tucked part of it behind Munkustrap's ear.

"There's something wrong, and I'm not leaving the car until you tell me what's bothering you. Don't need any details, but I need to know... I'm sorry, it's just who I am." Munkustrap looked deep into Jemima's eyes and saw that she was perfectly serious. With a sigh, Munkustrap leant back and smoothed both paws over his face and hair. His chest strained against the cotton of his white t-shirt, but Jemima's eyes were on Munkustrap's face.

"It's just... when I first got this car, it wasn't just mine. I was the only one of my trio of friends, me, Tugger and Macavity, who could drive. So we all had this brilliant idea that we should all pitch in and get a car together. I used to drive those two around everywhere. I wish I knew what went wrong..." Jemima had unbuckled her seatbelt and she was sitting on her heels. Leaning over, she pressed her lips gently against Munkustrap's brow. To his surprise, the simple gesture eased almost all his stress away and Jemima took one of his paws.

"Friends seperate if fate means them to. Unfortunately, we can't always control what happens with our friends. Life would just be too simple that way." Munkustrap looked into Jemima's eyes, and then reached up and pulled her lips down to his. The kiss was full of need and frustration, and Jemima answered it with her own need. Munkustrap's paw moved to the base of her neck and pulled her close, his other paw moving up to go around her waist. Jemima gasped against Munkustrap's lips, her small, slender paws running over his chest.

"No! Wait no..." Munkustrap said urgently, pulling back from Jemima. She stopped, her eyes wide and wild. Sitting back onto her heels, Jemima smoothed her hands over her hair. Munkustrap was breathing hard and he was leaning back hard against his seat.

"Why do I lose control around you, Jemima? Heavyside... let's go get some ice cream." Jemima bit her lip against a smile, and climbed out of the car. Munkustrap locked his door and waited for Jemima to come around the car before heading towards the door of the ice cream parlor. Jemima's paw slipped into his and she leant her head lightly against his arm. Munkustrap found it so sweet and just held her paw gently in his own.

"Munkustrap, the usual today?" The parlor owner, the eccentric Jennyanydots, was moving around behind the counter when Munkustrap walked up with Jemima. He grinned and winked at the older orange tabby queen.

"Yeah... Jemima, what do you want?" Jenny's eyes went to Jemima, and then ran down to where Munkustrap and Jemima's paws were linked. A mischievous smile spread cross her lips, but Jenny looked into Jemima's eyes.

"What can I get you, hun?" Jemima grinned back at Jenny, not really knowing what to get. Her blue eyes scanned the magnetic letters up on the board and she scrunched her nose.

"I'll have a double chocolate raspberry sundae, please." Jenny's eyebrows went up and she peeked at Munkustrap.

"You'd better keep this one, Munkus, she has good taste." The tabby queen started to go putter around with the ice cream and Munkustrap cleared his throat. Jemima looked up at him and grinned.

"Keep this one, eh? I didn't know we were dating..." The joke was meant to bother Munkustrap, but he only blushed. Jenny caught the blush and grinned to herself as she prepared the banana split and the sundae. Looking over her shoulder, Jenny watched Munkus lead Jemima to an empty booth. They sat across from each other, and Jemima toyed with Munkustrap's fingers.

"Such a cute couple, huh?" Jenny's eyes whirled to Pouncival, her helper she hired just last summer. He grinned at her and motioned with his chin towards Jemima and Munkustrap.

"They look really cute together." He commented, going back to cleaning up the taps for the soft ice cream. Jenny finished up the split and the sundae with whipped cream, a cherry for the split and a spoonfull of raspeberry sauce for the sundae, and then handed them to Pouncival.

"Get on with it!" She said with a loving smack across one of his ears. Pouncival grinned at her, and made his way over to where Jemima and Munkus were sitting. He was in some of Etcetera and Electra's classes, and knew Jemima fairly well. When Jemima caught sight of him, she grinned.

"He Pounce! I didn't know you worked here..." Pouncival set down the tray on the table and gave each their respective desserts.

"Been working here since the summer. Hey Munkus, how's things?" Munkustrap grinned at Pouncival and dug into his banana split.

"It's going, how's Electra?" Munkustrap wiggled his eyebrows at Pouncival, now blushing. Pouncival picked up the tray and grinned at the two.

"She's good. Enjoy your ice cream." He said, going back to the counter. Jemima grinned at Munkustrap and spooned up some whipped cream and raspberries. She stuck the spoon in her mouth and sighed in ecstacy.

"Mmm... Jenny makes really good berry sauce." Jemima commented. Munkustrap reached over and took a small spoonful, testing it for himself. With a grin, he nodded and went back to his banana split.

"She sure does..." He said, spooning up some banana.

Part Eight

With their ice cream finished and paid for, Munkustrap and Jemima left the parlor. Standing outside Munkustrap's car, Munkus looked up at the sky.

"What time do you have to be home?" Jemima shrugged, jumping up to sit on the hood of Munkustraps' car. Munkustrap looked down at her with his striking green eyes and smiled. He leaned down to put his paws on either side of Jemima and teased her lips with kisses placed on either cheek.

"No curfue?" He asked, kissing Jemima's lips gently. She laughed, stroking her knuckles against Munkustrap's chin.

"Me and Demeter live with our grandparents. Our parents died a long time ago. Demeter just wants me home at a decent hour, which for her is around eleven. And as long as I'm in one piece, I'm sure she'll have no issues with it." Munkustrap laughed, and then pressed his lips against Jemima's. She returned the kiss, and wove her paw around his neck from his chin. It stayed there, and her fingers laced through his hair. Munkustrap's paws moved closer to Jemima's hips, and then his fingers curled under her butt. The kiss deepened and Jemima pressed her slender body against Munkustrap's chest.

"Mmmm. Define one piece." Munkustrap muttered against Jemima's lips. With a laugh, Jemima made herself pull back. Munkustrap's emerald green eyes burned with desire and Jemima kissed his lips again gently.

"I'm not dead." She said flatly. With one easy motion, Munkustrap pulled Jemima off the car hood and carried her towards her door. He put her back onto her feet and kissed her cheek gently.

"Still want to see a movie?" Munkus asked, opening the door so she could get in. Jemima contemplated a moment, and then nodded her head, climbing into the car. Munkustrap grinned and closed the door, going around to the driver's side.

"Do you know what's playing?" She asked as he buckled in. Munkustrap thought a moment, and nodded his head.

"Last time I checked, the theatre here was playing a few of those neat looking new movies. You know, umm... 'Kiss of Death', 'When Chaos Stops' and... what the heck is the name of the last one..." Munkustrap's brow furrowed in thought and Jemima giggled, reaching over to tuck some of his hair behind his ear again.

"'Nations Rising'." She supplied, buckling herself in. "I kinda want to see it, if that's okay with you."

Munkustrap grinned at her, not knowing why someone like her would want to see a really stupid fictional and futuristic war. He'd already seen it, but if she wanted to see it, he'd go.

"Sure, sounds like a plan. I think the evening show for that one starts at..."

"Six-thirty." Jemima said, tilting her head with a cocky smile. Munkustrap narrowed his eyes on her face and pursed his lips.

"And how do you know this?" Jemima shrugged, leaning back into the leather.

"I work at the theatre. We can get my employee discount." Munkustrap's eyebrows went up.

"You work?" Jemima's eyes were half-mast as she looked at him. The dark lashes masked her amusement, but she nodded her head slowly.

"Yeah. My grandparents don't really have all that much money to give me and Demeter for extra shopping, so we have to make it ourselves. They keep a roof over our head, food in our stomachs and clothes on our backs. Anything little and extra, like make up, we have to buy for ourselves." Munkustrap nodded his head.

"Makes sense. You're lucky... you're getting your life skills developped early. You don't have someone to buy all your stuff for you and treat you like a princess." Jemima's smile flicked into a grin and she stretched her arms up to the roof of the car.

"Like Tugger or Bomba do?" She asked teasingly. Munkustrap laughed and nodded his head, heading out of the parking lot and towards the highway.

"So if the evening show starts at six-thirty and the shows about two and a half hours long, that means we can have a little time afterwards to hang out." Jemima said, looking over at Munkustrap with a gentle smile. Munkustrap looked over at her at a red light and grinned. Jemima's paw went to his arm and rested there gently.

"Sure... sounds like a plan. Any ideas where we should hang out?" Jemima shrugged, looking up at the light as it changed. Munkustrap pulled forward slowly and made his way through the net of traffic. After a moment's thought, Jemima peered up at Munkustrap.

"Maybe we could go back to your house." Munkustrap felt a knot of need thread into his belly when Jemima suggested that. "If that's okay with you, of course. Are your parents home?"

"I don't live with my parents anymore. I have my own apartment." He said, not noticing Jemima's eyes widening. She looked back out the window and felt her heart leap. And she had suggested they go back to his house! What was she going to do now? With no parents there, who knew what could happen. Although Munkustrap didn't seem to want something like that. He was different than most toms, and especially different from Tugger. Damn Rum Tum Tugger.

"We can go back there for a few minutes. I haven't had a chance to clean up in the past few days, so there's stuff everywhere. Mostly books and dirty clothes, but really... I'm sure you don't really want to see that." He laughed, looking over at Jemima with a flashy smile. Jemima smiled at him and squeezed his arm gently.

"Sounds like a plan." She said, unbuckling as they parked in the movie theatre lot. Munkustrap climbed out of the car and walked around to open Jemima door. After locking the car, the pair made their way towards the entrance. Jemima spotted Etcetera, Electra and Victoria together and a knot of worry balled in her chest. Munkustrap's fingers were laced through hers and Jemima gripped them suddenly. Munkustrap looked down at her curiously and then looked up at the trio.

"Want to skip the movie?" He asked, stopping Jemima so she was partly hidden behind him. Her friends were too busy looking at some movie posters to see her, and Jemima nodded her head.

"Yeah... could we please? I hope you don't mind..." Munkustrap laughed, turning them around with a shake of his head.

"No worries. I've seen 'Nations Rising' already, so I can tell you what happens." Jemima grinned at him and smacked his arm gently.

"If I had known you'd seen it already, I would've suggested a different movie." She said with a laugh. Munkustrap shrugged, pulling Jemima against his side lightly. Jemima laughed, pressing her cheek against his arm gently.

"It doesn't matter to me, I'd have watched it again with you." The soft tone in Munkustrap's voice warmed Jemima's heart and she looked up at him. His green eyes were fixed ahead, and the light of the sun shone off of them like they were real emeralds.

He really is handsome, Jemima thought with a smile. Munkustrap looked down at her and blinked when he saw her looking up at his face. The sun was reflecting off her hair, casting a shadow over her face where her bangs flicked over. Her round blue eyes shone, and Munkustrap noticed small star-shaped specks of dark blue inside the lighter blue.

Heavyside she's beautiful, he thought with a sudden blush. Jemima's eyes went back to looking ahead of them when they arrived at his car again. He opened her door and let her in, taking a few deep breaths before going around to the driver's side. Before he opened the door, Munkustrap stopped, looking into towards the sun. And they were going back to his place. What in Heavyside's name was he going to do? He wouldn't be able to keep his paws off of her, but at the same time, the last thing Munkustrap wanted to do was force her into anything. When he climbed into the car, Jemima reached over and laced her fingers through his.

"Munkustrap... we're going back to your place, right?" She asked, her eyes locked onto his. Restraining a sigh, Munkustrap looked into her eyes and nodded his head. She smiled and leant towards him, her eyes still on his.

"Okay, I'm not worried. Are you?" She asked, and Munkustrap didn't know what to say.

"Worried? What do you mean?" Jemima looked into his eyes and laughed gently.

"Munkustrap, you and I both know that if we're alone, something's going to happen. I'm not worried about it, are you? But that's a rheutorical question, because when I said that, your eyes clouded a little. What worries you, Munkustrap?" The silver tabby let out a sigh of exasperation and then laughed. He looked at Jemima, leaning towards her and caught her lips with his.

"You know, Jemima, you have a tremendous gift of seeing right through anything. I'm worried about hurting you. I mean, you know something's going to happen but..." Jemima's paw went over his lips, stopping Munkustrap's sentence before he went further. With a shake of her head, Jemima looked into his eyes.

"I'm not a virgin, just so you know..." She said, her eyes clouding with hurt. Munkustrap stared at her, speechless at her revelation.

"But... Heavyside! Who?" He asked, wanting to know so that he wouldn't feel like he was forcing the younger queen into anything. Jemima sat back in the seat with a sigh.

"It was a few months ago... with Tugger, not surprisingly enough. We had a thing going on, like he has with everyone else... and then it just happened. We were kissing in the backseat one minute and then bam! There we were, rocking the car like mad. He broke up with me the next day." She said bluntly, making Munkustrap cringe.

"Okay, I knew he was crude, but that's sick and wrong." The silver tabby said between his teeth. Jemima rolled her eyes and laughed.

"You have no idea! That's what he did with Electra and that's what he did with Vicky. The other girl from our group he hasn't screwed yet is Cettie, but we're all waiting for it. We're also waiting for him to cheat on Bomba, because that's what he did to Leccy. Cheated on her, made up, screwed her, and then broke her heart. Heavyside! I just realized how much of a real playboy he is!" Jemima started laughing, joined quickly by Munkustrap. He felt a little better about the whole situation, but at the same time...

"Jemima?" He said quietly. Jemima looked at him with tears shining in her eyes. The smile on her face shone and Jemima brushed her bangs out of her face.

"Yeah Munkus?" Her voice was full of her laughter, which she was attempting to smother, but it wasn't working. Munkustrap reached over, pullling Jemima towards him. Their lips met in a gentle, sweet kiss and Jemima's head reeled from it. When Munkustrap drew back, Jemima's eyes fluttered open again.

"Will you go out with me?" Jemima's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Munkustrap almost took it back until Jemima's mouth closed and curled into a joy filled smile.

"You really mean it, Munkus?" She asked in a small voice. It was almost bursting with excitement and made Munkustrap relax completely.

"Completely serious." Jemima let out a short excited squeal and kissed Munkustrap enthusiastically. Laughing agaisnt Jemima's lips, Munkustrap drew back.

Part Nine

Tugger leant against his steering wheel, his brown eyes locked onto Munkustrap and Jemima's kissing forms across the way. He'd been watching them since they walked back from where they'd stopped a little while ago, and Rum Tum Tugger knew that something was up. Bomba was watching as well, a little more interested in who was involved rather than what the situation was.

"Oh!!! Deme's going to freak..." She tittered with glee, taking out her cell phone. Tugger's paw suddenly covered hers, closing around the paw that held the hot pink cell phone.

"Don't tell her yet..." Bomba looked at Tugger with a dark look in her eyes. She yanked her paw out of him, pleased when his eyes were back on her.

"And what gives you the right to tell me what to do?" She asked in a snide tone. Tugger was used to it by now, and simply shrugged, going back to watching his friend and date. Bombalurina pouted, putting her cell phone back into her purse and leaning her elbow against the window. Her red nails tapped against the car panel and she sighed heavily.

"How long are we going to watch them?" She asked when Munkustrap pulled out of his spot. It was a good thing that Munkus and Jemima were too busy talking, because Tugger's bright red sports car was a bit hard to miss if eyes were to scan the cars. Tugger started the engine of his car and looked over at Bomba.

"Until we can prove that something's going on between them." His lips curled into a malicious smile, giving Bomba a quick, thrilling chill. She leant against his arm and mirrored his smile.

"Oh hun, I love the way you think..." She purred into his ear, making blood shoot to his loins. Tugger chose to ignore it, and pulled out of their parking spot. If Munkus wasn't paying too much attention, Tugger should be able to follow him. If he was, well, Tugger would deal with that if the time came.

"Come on, Tugger! You're going to lose them!" Bomba hissed, smacking him gently on the thigh. Tugger regarded his girlfriend with calm brown eyes, her own eyes wild with excitement. A smirk played onto his handsome face and he nodded.

"Let's go..." He pulled out of the parking space and followed Munkustrap's car from a distance.

Jemima was sitting, her fingers woven through Munkustrap's her forehead leaning against the window. Eyes half-closed, Jemima watched the happenings on the street. Her eyes caught, several times, glimpses of a red car behind them; but when she turned to see behind them, it was gone. Jemima's brow furrowed, and then her head went back to resting lightly against the window.

At a red light, Munkustrap looked over at his new girlfriend, squeezing her paw gently to get her clear blue eyes to look over at him. Munkustrap brought Jemima's knuckles up to his lips and kissed them gently.

"What's wrong, Jem?" He asked, kissing her knuckles again. Jemima smiled at him, her eyes going behind her. This time they narrowed and she looked at Munkustrap.

"Did you realize that that red car has been following us since we left the theatre? I swear I've seen the same one about six ti..." Munkustrap cut her sentence off with a sharp curse. His green eyes shadowed and his upper lips twitched.

"That low-down son of a bitch!" Jemima stared at Munkustrap as he whirled back to face the front. His paw unlaced from hers and he gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Hold on to something, Jem... this could get messy." Munkustrap's eyes were fixed on the light, and when it turned to green, his tires spun dangerous on the pavement. Jemima clung to the door, her eyes wide with surprise as Munkustrap started to weave through traffic.

"Sneaky son of a gun!" Tugger said with a laugh, shifting gears and swerving through the line of traffic, trying to keep sight of the beat up black car. A large black and gold truck cut Tugger off, and he leant heavily on the horn.

"Bastard!" He swore, seeing the red light through the truck's window. Bomba leant over and sighed heavily.

"Lost them..." Tugger glared balefully at her and leant against his fist.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Bomba looked at Tugger down her straight nose and returned the glare. With a sniff of disdain, Bombalurina turned her eyes back to the window.

"No problem, Mister Snarly." Rum Tum Tugger pulled quickly into the lane closest to the sidewalk and pulled into the nearest parking spot. Bomba turned to him and narrowed her eyes. With a single, quick motion, Tugger leant over her and opened the door. Bombalurina stared at him, her fur sponging.

"Get out." Tugger said darkly, leaning back and running one of his paws over his face. The scarlet queen in the passenger seat sat and stared at him in disbelief. Blue eyes lit up with a dangerous fire and Bomba snarled.

Part Ten

"Excuse me?" She asked between clenched teeth. Dark, cloudy brown eyes turned and locked with blue ones and Tugger's upper lip twitched.

"You heard me just fine, toots. Get your pretty, tight ass out of my car." Bombalurina hissed angrily, but unbuckled and climbed out of the car. Tugger leant to close the door, and then cringed when Bombalurina dragged her long nails along the side of his car. Flipping her long hair back, Bomba turned and strutted down the street with amazing dignity. Tugger turned off his car and climbed out to inspect the damage.

"Stupid damned bitch." He swore, his eyes running down the four long scars that now marred the red paint on the one side of his car. The car from the middle of the back door to the windshield. Running his fingers over them, Tugger rubbed the sides of his mouth. Etcetera happened to by walking by at that moment, and her eyes widened at the sight of her long-time crush. A short, delighted squeal escaped her lips when Tugger turned to her and smiled charmingly. Her round teal-colored eyes went to the scratches, and delight turned to mortification.

"Oh my gosh, Tugger! Who did this to your car?" She said, almost forgetting about her nerves. Cettie rushed over to the car and put her delicate little fingers on one of the long scars. Tugger hid an amused smile behind his paw, his eyes lighting up with a sudden idea. Leaning against the car, Tugger sighed heavily, bringing Etcetera's round eyes back to his face. His charming smile returned, and Etcetera blushed when she realized how close he was standing.

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!!! Was all that ran through her head when Tugger's smile saddened a little.

"It was just an accident..." He said, his brown eyes looking at the scars mournfully. Etcetera reached out, taking all her will power to try not to shake as she gently touched Rum Tum Tugger's paw gently.

"I'm sorry, what happened?" Grinning internally, Tugger made up a wonderful tale of a horrible accident to tell the eager young queen. Her eyes widened, and Tugger was in awe of the range of emotions that crossed her face. Sympathy was the final one, and they were sitting on the curb. Etcetera seemed to have forgotten most of her nerves and was sitting with her thigh touching Tugger's knee.

"Wow, I'm so sorry." Was all she could manage when she looked up and found herself nose to nose with Rum Tum Tugger. The blush returned and Cettie started to stutter.

"You know, Cettie, you're prettier than some people give you credit for." With his voice low, Tugger brushed his finger against Etcetera's cheek. Cettie managed one shaky, giggly smile and looked away from Tugger.

"No I'm not... really. Vicky and Jemmie are so much prettier than me..." Tugger winced, recovering from the comment. Etcetera looked back up at him and shrugged. Tugger's paw moved to the back of her neck, and she froze. Bringing his face slowly closer to the younger queen's, Tugger looked intently into Cettie's eyes.

Don't scare her, that'll just ruin it. Tugger told himself sternly, rubbing his thumb against Cettie's chin. He had to admit though, her lips were very pretty. How come he'd never noticed that before? A gentle dimple spotted her left cheek when she giggled nervously.

"Tell me if you want me to stop." Tugger hardly recognized the gentleness in his own voice, but ran with it. Etcetera's lips parted to say something, but a sigh was the only thing that came out. Tugger covered her lips in an instant, taking his time to make it perfect. Wait, why would he want it to be perfect? His intentions weren't at all what anyone would call honest, but then again...

"Tugger... wait." Cettie could hardly believe herself when she pulled back. Neither could Tugger, for that matter. A slender paw rested lightly against the lithe tom's chest, toying gently with his shirt material.

"I don't know if we should be doing this." She said, scolding herself for letting out a shaky breath. Tugger stared at her in disbelief, moving a little closer to her so he could look deeply into her eyes. Cettie looked up at him with a sad look in her eyes.

"I'm not the brightest girl, I know that... but Tugger, as much as I really, really, really like you, I don't want to hurt Bomba. I respect her, and I really look up to her. You two are... still dating... right?" A warning light went on in the back of Tugger's head to play this one carefully. Breaking Bomba's heart was one thing, but breaking someone like Etcetera's heart was different. How, Tugger couldn't find reasoning for himself, but he convinced himself it was different somehow.

"Cettie..." Etcetera shook her head, willing the tears that sprang to her eyes to go away. Standing up, Cettie stumbled back a step, her butt landing on the edge of Tugger's car. Tugger was also on his feet, taking Etcetera by the arms and holding her against his car. Leaning down, Tugger's skilled mouth covered hers again and Cettie sighed against them. Her head snapped back, tears flowing from her eyes.

"No, no, no..." She whimpered, pressing her face against Tugger's shoulder. In despair, Rum Tum Tugger held Etcetera against him as she cried. He never really did that well with crying queens. Well, okay that's not true, but in this instant, Etcetera's tears tore out his heart. Tugger drew her back and basically went down on his knees on the pavement, looking up into her round face. Her tears had smeared her mascara, which was running down the dark tan fur on her cheeks. Teal eyes were starting to redden around the edges and Tugger's heart tore a little more.

"Etcetera, I know I've been a huge... how can I put it?"

"Man whore?" Cettie provided in a small voice, sniffling. With a gentle smile, Tugger bit the inside of his lip against a laugh.

"Yeah, that's one way of describing me. But anyhow, I know I've been a huge man whore, but this is going to sound really weird. There's something about you that makes me... want to be around you. I want to get close to you, and I want to stay by your side. That scares me, and I can see that scares you too..." Tugger chose his words carefully, and was pleased with himself when a shy smile spread across Cettie's face. A watery smile lit up her eyes and Cettie giggled.

"Really?" The hopeful tone made the tall tom's heart break, his mind wandering back to his original intentions. How could he toy with her emotions? She truly liked him, but truth be told he was lying to her. What was she going to do when she finds out that he was only toying with her emotions? Tugger sighed, making Etcetera looked deeply into his eyes. A charmed smile spread across her lips, and Etcetera brought her lips down to brush lightly against his.

Part Eleven

Disclaimer: The lyrics at the beginning of the chapter are property of Three Days Grace.

"I feel it every day
Its all the same
It brings me down
But I'm the one to blame
I've tried everything to get away
So here I go again
Chasing you down again
Why do I do this?
Over and over
Over and over
I fall for you
Over and over
Over and over
I try not to
Feels like everyday
Stays the same
It's dragging me down
And I can't pull away
So here I go again
Chasing you down again
Why do I do this?
Over and over
Over and over
I fall for you
Over and over
Over and over
I try not to
Over and over
Over and over
You make me fall for you
Over and over
Over and over
You don't even try
So many thoughts that
I can't get out of my head
I try to live without you
Every time I do I feel that
I know what's best for me
But I want you each day
I'll keep on wasting all my time
Over and over
Over and over
I fall for you
Over and over
Over and over
I try not to
Over and over
Over and over
You make me fall for you
Over and over
Over and over
You don't even try to"

The music from the CD restarted abruptly and Etcetera continued to stare off into space. Her head was resting on her forearms and she listened to the sound of the water running in the bathroom just off Tugger's bedroom.

I slept with him. Etcetera thought grimly, taking her CD out of the player when the water stopped running. She bent down, grabbing her pink fuzzy CD case and straightened, turning her body towards the bathroom door. Shadows moved in the light under the door and it opened with a slight creak. The thin coating of guilty ice melted from Cettie's heart when Tugger emerged rom the steam and leant his long body against the doorframe. Water dripped off his long hair and ran through the downy fur on his lithe torso. A fluffy white towel was wrapped lazily around his waist; one of his large paws held in in place.

Rum Tum Tugger looked at Etcetera and smiled. She looked very... majestic, sitting at his desk with her light blue satin tank top slipping off one shoulder. He moved quickly and smoothly, and his paw trailed up her arm, replacing the strap. Brown eyes stayed locked with teal-colored eyes; one of which being slightly blocked by a lock of white-blond hair streaked with grey and black. Tugger's paw lingered on Cettie's cheek, drawing a delighted, slightly mystified smile out of the younger tabby queen.

"Hmm..." The tall, lithe tom made a sound of male approval; bending over and the waist and kissing Etcetera lightly on the mouth. Cettie smiled against his lips and brushed her small, delicate fingers through the thin fur on Tugger's cheeks. He may be a man-whore, but she liked him anyway. The weight from the CD case in her lap was lifted and Tugger started to open it. Etcetera watched Tugger's eyebrows go up as he flipped through the music. He closed the case again and set it down on his desk. With a lazy smirk on his face, Tugger eased his hip up onto the desk.

"You know, you can tell alot about a person from the music they listen to." Cettie leant her head to one side and regarded him with an amused smile on her round face. Her eyes wandered over his face, taking all the details about him. There were a few small scars on his upper left cheek, something she'd noticed when she'b been under him on his bed. Cettie's paw gave a small twitch and then went to his paw. Tugger's fingers moved, lacing through Cettie's as she giggled.

"Really? Then tell me something about myself." Tugger laughed, reaching down and plucking the tabby queen off the chair and sitting down. A squeal of surprise escaped her lips when Cettie found herself being pulled into Tugger's lap and having his long, muscular arms wrap around her waist. His chin rested on her shoulder and his cheek pressed against her neck. Her heart gave a leap into her throat and started to beat quickly. Tugger's mouth turned in to kiss the quickened pulse in Cettie's throat, but he stopped and laughed.

"Well, given that I have a psychology book, I could get it out and tell you something. I also have a book on dreams." Etcetera looked at Tugger, one eyebrow up on her face and a disbelieving grin on her face.

"You're kidding me!" She said, but Tugger shook his head.

"Took a psychology course last semester; used a bit of it on my parents. Drove everyone mad. Ahh! Now you're probably thinking, 'how could Tugger deal with some stupid, boring psychology course?'. Here's the answer: I liked it. As simple as that. I don't know why, mind you, but it just appealed to me." Cettie grinned, pushing herself off Tugger's lap and going around him. One of her delicate paws trailed over his chest and across his shoulder, making his own pulse race a little; and then she flopped down onto his bed.

"Get the books then; I want to see what you can make of me." Tugger looked over his shoulder and grinned at Cettie. She returned it, starting to make herself comfy with some of the millions of pillows that were strewn across the bed. Standing up, Tugger shifted the towel.

"Avert your eyes then, young one. Wouldn't want to ruin those lovely teal-colored eyes with the sight of my body." Laughing together, Tugger pulled on a pair of red boxer shorts and slipped into a pair of loose jeans. He neglected to zip them up and strode out of the room to his small workspace in the room opposite. Etcetera sighed happily, leaning her face into the sheets. They smelled like him, and it was a comforting scent. Tugger came back into the room, opening his mouth to say something but stopped himself. Cettie was laying on her back, paws up above her head, eyes closed serenely and one paw closed gently over the other wrist. The simple pose knocked his breath out of him, and Tugger almost staggered. Cettie opened her eyes and looked up at him, smiling gently. She sat up, the same strap of her tank top slipping down again. She reached up and pulled it up, patting a spot on the bed.

"Come on and sit down; you look like you're gonna fall over." She said, leaning onto a pile of pillows. Etcetera settled herself onto the pillows by leaning on her side and propping her head up with her fist. Her eyes were on Tugger's face; perplexed by the glow that seemed to have suddenly appeared. He cleared his throat, walking over and sitting down on the bed. He had two thick books on his lap and grinned up at Cettie.

"I have to confess that I was a bit of a geek and went to buy the textbooks so I could keep them after last semester." Giggling, Etcetera sat up and reached for one of the books. Her fingers brushed against Tugger's bare arm, doing more to him than any seductive move could. His brown eyes smoldered as they looked at Cettie. It went unnoticed because the young queen was flipping through the pages of the dream book.

"Wow! This book is so..." Her sentence was cut off when she looked up and saw Tugger staring at her. "What?"

Reaching up, Tugger stroked her cheek gently with his knuckles. A light blush came up in her cheeks, but Etcetera didn't make a move to pull away. Tugger leant in, and his lips were almost touching hers when his cell phone vibrated. Closing his eyes in frustration, Tugger swore under his breath and stood up to get it.

"Tugger speaking." The dark look that passed over his face made it clear to Tugger's guest that the person was more than Tugger wanted to deal with at the moment.

Part Twelve

"Look Bomba, I don't have time to deal with you right now... Why? Because I have guests over right now... Oh fucking deal with it! Honestly Bomba, I can't have you hacking up my car and breathing down my neck every time you get pissed... Fine!!! We're over." Tugger shut the phone with Etcetera looking on. Her eyes clouded with hurt, and she bit the inside of her lip. Standing up shakily, she smoothed her paws down her front. She shook her hair out of her eyes and looked up at Tugger's turned face.

"You were still together?" The blunt hurt made Rum Tum Tugger look over. Guilt wove a tight knot into his stomach and he took a step forward. Looking down at her feet, Cettie raised a paw.

"You asshole! I can't believe I trusted you. Yes, Tugger, I trusted you." Anger and hurt swam in Cettie's eyes as she started to move past Tugger. She forgot that he had a long reach and was snagged around the waist.

"Wait! Really, Cettie, I don't have any feelings for her. She was a fling." Tugger bit the inside of his cheek as soon as the words came out of his mouth. The shorter tabby set her jaw and folded her arms over her chest.

"And tell me Tugger, what is this to you? Just another fling? Like hell I'm going to let you tear me apart like you did to all of my friends. You hurt Leccy, then Jemima and then Vicky. Now you've obviously hurt Bombalurina, one of the queens I constantly look up to, and you're expecting me to believe what comes out of your mouth?" Taking a calming breath, Cettie pushed Tugger's paws off her arms. Looking up into his eyes, she didn't move.

"Tell me what this is to you. Please." Rum Tum Tugger straightened, looking deep into Etcetera's eyes. This queen had followed him around, shadowed his every step just last year, and now she stood before him, frustrated and hurt and she wanted to know what she meant to him. What did she mean to him? That was definitely a question to process. Etcetera recognised the look of thought on his face and took a step back to sit on the edge of his bed.

"I can wait for you to answer." The calm tone in her voice made the knot in Tugger's stomach do an instant twist. He had to sit down. One of his large paws grasped for the back of the chair, found it, and dragged it under him. Rubbing both paws over his face and trailing his fingers through his hair, Tugger looked at Cettie.

"You want to know what you, what this whole thing, means to me?" A simple nod. "Fine. This means more to me than anything ever has. I can look you in the eyes and tell you this because I feel so comfortable around you. Don't ask me why, because I still need to figure that out."

"In the grand scheme of things, Cettie, you are like my world. The way you do stuff, walk, talk... basically who you are, is all such a mesmerizing thing to me. Can you look at me and tell me what you feel? Right now, with no one around, can you tell me how you really feel about me? Am I just that really hot tom who has all the attention from the queens?" The defensive tone that wove through Tugger's voice made Cettie straighten her back. Looking down her nose at Tugger, Etcetera's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You don't know anything, do you? When I first met you, I thought you were the biggest jerk on the face of the planet. It's really true that you have this stupid damn charm that nobody can resist, but that's not why I like you. The reason why I feel like I do is confusing to me; so I can't explain it. Every night I cry because I'm so frustrated that this stupid little simple thing is something that I can't figure out. But you didn't answer my question, what is this to you?"

"I could repeat what you just said, if you want..." Tugger said sarcastically and then grinned. "But that would just be a waste of our time. Do you want a ride home?"

Etcetera looked up at Tugger when he stood up and started to search for a shirt. She tilted her head to one side and looked at him. He knelt beside his dresser and started to dig through his drawers. Cettie stood up and walked over to him. When Tugger straightened and turned, Etcetera put a paw on his cheek, making his eyes come down to her face.

"You are a mystery..." She said softly, toying with his hair with the ends of her fingers. Tugger's paw came up and gripped her wrist gently while he pulled her close and kissed her deeply. He'd figured out one thing, at least. The tom who was thought to be nothing but a narcissist had figured out why he felt different around one queen. He liked her.

"I enjoy being secretive; part of who I am." He mumbled against her lips. Cettie pivoted their positions and pushed Tugger backwards. With surprise in his eyes, Tugger fell back into the chair. Cettie grinned at him and crossed her arms, pulling her tank top over her head. Tossing it on the bed, the younger queen moved to straddle Tugger's waist and brushed her lips against his. Stunned to temporary paralysis, Tugger watched Etcetera's face as she trailed her fingers along his cheekbones. The delicate fingers were tipped with short nails, but the slight touch of them made blood shoot to Tugger's loins. Cettie's eyes started to twinkle with amusement as she continued to trail her fingers down Tugger's chest.

"It's like a maze..." She said, looking up at him as she toyed with his fur. A small trail of blood started out the corner of Tugger's mouth where he bit himself. Cursing, Tugger started to raise a paw. Etcetera stopped him by reaching up and brushing it away. Her lips replaced her finger and she gently kissed the corner of his mouth.

"Geez, Tugger... don't hurt yourself too much." Rum Tum Tugger grinned, reaching up and fisting his paw in her hair. His skilled mouth crushed over hers and Tugger drank greedily. Etcetera pressed her body against Tugger and her paws moved up to lace through his hair. Gasping for breath, Etcetera pulled her head back to give Tugger a flash of her throat. His mouth moved there, his teeth nipping lightly and sending bolts of fire through Cettie's blood. It hadn't been like this the first time. Tugger had been very precise with what he was doing, asking her if she was enjoying things. Now it was all need, all lust, and plain, blood-stirring desire.

"Oh Tugger..." The moan escaped Etcetera's lips when Tugger's paw moved down from her shoulder to close over her modest breast. He grunted against her throat, nuzzling his nose into the dampening fur. The paw over her breast moved down, and then back up under the cotton of the white bra. Etcetera gasped, paws tightening in the long hair, and her body arched against his paw.

"Heavyside." Tugger himself gasped for breath, his paws moving urgently over Etcetera's body. He stood up, his paw holding Etcetera firmly against him by her butt, and Tugger moved towards his bed. Etcetera's hair flowed around her face, shadowing her eyes when Tugger put her down on her back. She sat up, tugging his jeans so they fell down. Tugger stepped out of them and snaked his paw under Etcetera to unclip her bra. Giggling, Etcetera reached down and pulled at the edge of her jean skirt.

"Don't touch it yet." The order froze Cettie's paw and made her look into his eyes. Tugger moved over her now, pulling her head up to kiss her deeply. It melted her bones and started a warm beat between her thighs.

"Heavyside Tugger, I need you." She groaned against his lips, arching against his paw when it moved up her thigh. Her teal eyes locked with Tugger's and she fisted her paws in his hair.

"Please, I need you now." Obliging, Tugger pushed her skirt up and tore her thong aside. A surprised mew of pleasure escaped Cettie's lips.

Part Thirteen

Tugger wrapped himself around Etcetera, pulling the naked queen against his chest. She was sleeping, and she looked so cute. One long arm went around her shoulders and Tugger pulled the young queen up so her cheek as resting on his shoulder. Delicate fingers wove through his chest fur, moving over his heart and spreading out there. Tugger watched Cettie sleep, breathing calmly and trying to assess the situation.

He liked her, no. It was just 'like'. The word seemed too impersonal for what was coursing through his blood. Were his hormones on overdrive? Yes, they were; but it felt good. Love. Plain and simple love, that's what he felt for this young queen. Damn all the others, they'd point and whisper. Bombalurina. Oh crap, what was she going to do? What would poor Etcetera be submitted to when the scarlet bombshell figured out what had happened? When she found out that Tugger loved Etcetera?

Etcetera stirred out of sleep, and brought Tugger's thoughts back to the bedroom. Her nose pressed against his fur for a moment, and then her eyes fluttered open. Cettie yawned and looked up at Tugger with a dreamy smile on her face.

"Mornin'." She said, yawning again and sitting up. With a laugh, Tugger sat up and wrapped his arms around Etcetera. He planted a happy kiss on her cheek and nuzzled his nose against her throat. Giggling, Cettie looked at the clock.

"I'll take you up on that offer for a ride home now. My mom'll kill me if I'm late for curfew." Tugger's eyes went to the clock. Almost eight.

"Want some food first? I can have you home by nine if I cook." Cettie gave Tugger a sideways glance and grinned.

"Fine, but no seafood. I'm off seafood for awhile." Nodding his head, Tugger motioned to the shower.

"You're welcome to use it if you want. I'm going to go make some chicken. I have some in the fridge, I think." With that, he left the room in just a pair of boxers. Etcetera wrapped her arms around her knees and put her chin onto them. Yeah, she felt damn good about herself. Now to take a shower and have a tom cook for her. No tom had ever cooked for her. Not even Tumblebrutus, and he was taking foods as one of his classes. With a smug look on her face, Etcetera got out of the bed and went to turn on the shower.

"What the hell gives him the right to do that to me?!?" Bombalurina was storming angrily around Deme's livingroom, waving her cellphone around madly. Deme was reading, looking up every so often at her friend.

"Mm-hmm." She hummed for the millionth time. Bomba stopped her storming to glare at Demeter.

"You know, you could be a little bit of a supporting friend and give me some advice here!" Demeter sighed, putting her bookmark back in her book and leant against her paw. Looking intently into Bomba's flashing blue eyes, Demeter shrugged.

"I told you so?" She supplied, rewarded with a disgusted snarl.

"'I told you so'? What the hell kind of advice is that? I figure out that my boyfriend, no, ex-boyfriend, is breaking up with me over the phone and the only thing you can think of saying is 'I told you so'? Heavyside Deme! You're almost as useless as he is!" Anger filled Demeter's face and she stood up. Bomba took a step back when Demeter's ears flattened against her face.

"Yes, Bomba." Each word was accented with an undertone of fury. "That's all I can say because there is nothing else to say. What do you want me to say? It's not like I'm going to go along and placate you after you just buried yourself in self-pity. No Bombalurina, I am not that type of person. You know that, dammit!"

Bombalurina stood stalk still and looked at Demeter down her straight nose. Her red-slicked lips twitched and tears filled her eyes.

"I just want a little support? What am I supposed to want, Deme? The absolutely most perfect guy just broke up with me and I'm feeling betrayed. What am I supposed to do?" Breaking down, Bomba sank on the couch and buried her face in her paws. With a sigh that was almost that of relief, Demeter sat beside her best friend and wrapped her arms around her.

"Bomba, I'm not saying that you shouldn't feel betrayed, but I think that you knew it was coming. I think that deep in your heart you knew that Tugger was going to do something stupid. What did he say to you?" Bomba sniffed unhappily and reached into her pocket for a kleenex. She mopped up black tears that streamed down her cheeks and looked at Demeter.

"He said he had guests over..." Her sentence trailed off and her eyes widened. "No! You don't think he would... But he said..."

Demeter didn't even have time to say a thing before Bomba sailed out of the house; leaving the door wide open.

"Watch out Tugger, incoming betrayed ex." She said, retrieving her book and opening it again.

Rum Tum Tugger and Etcetera were sitting at the table, laughing and joking over the chicken breast that Tugger had made up. They were drizzled with some amazing white cheese sauce and accompagnied by some mixed veggies. The doorbell rang and Tugger looked up at the clock.

"Who the hell?" He said, standing up and going to the door. Cettie put another bite in her mouth, and nearly choked when Tugger opened the door and there stood Bombalurina.

"You stupid, lying, cheating son of a bitch!" Tugger side-stepped just in time to avoid the fist aimed at his jaw. When he did, Bomba stared right at Etcetera. Eyes locked and Etcetera felt like dying. She stood, wringing her paws together when Bomba staggered into the small dining room.

"Bomba, I'm really sorry, I didn't know... I didn't..." Bomba's head snapped towards Tugger and she snarled viciously.

"Don't you dare tell me you're going to think of toying with her next, you damned tom! I can't believe you would think of stringing someone like her along! Heavyside, you have a sick sense of humor." Etcetera stood frozen while Bombalurina verbally smacked Tugger. His head did snap back like she'd punched him and the look that crossed his face made a large sick ball fall in the pit of Cettie's stomach. Bomba kept going until finally Etcetera let out a frustrated cry. Both Bomba and Tugger stopped sniping at each other and turned surprised eyes at Etcetera.

The small tabby's tail was slashing around behind her violently and she was griping her ears with her paws. Her eyes were clamped shut and her upper lip was pulled back in frustration.

"Heavyside! Will you two stop it?!? Bomba, just for starters, it was really my fault. I let Tugger get me here even though I knew he was still dating you. Tugger, you need to back off and let me talk." Etcetera's paw came up to stop Tugger from moving close to her. Going around the table, Cettie faced the taller scarlet queen. Blue eyes locked with Cettie's and tears started to ball up again.

"But he's going to break you apart." Bomba said quietly, putting her arms around Cettie when the younger queen offered a hug. Taking a deep breath, Cettie pulled back to look into Bomba's eyes.

"He won't, and I'll tell you how I can be so sure. Just after you called and Tugger broke up with you, I asked him what I meant to him. I really wanted to know because I really truly like him. Believe me, Bomba, if he'd been lying it would've shown up in his eyes. But there was nothing there Bomba. Nothing. Just the Heavyside truth. He told me that he felt more for me than anyone else. I'm sorry, because I know that hurts, but Bombalurina, I want to believe him." Bomba bumped her forehead against Etcetera's before the younger queen continued.

"I didn't want to come here. We mostly argued the whole way here. I look up to you, Bomba. Always have." Tugger stood back, leaning against the counter as Cettie calmed Bomba with her words. The scarlet queen looked up at him and set her jaw.

"I believe you, Cettie. But just one thing before I try to get out of here with most of my dignity attached. I just have to say, Tugger, that if you hurt here, your hide is mine." Flinching only a little at her words, Rum Tum Tugger crossed and pulled Bombalurina into a hug. She clung to him a little, and buried her nose in his shoulder.

"I love her, Bomba." Both queens looked up at him and saw the truth, and Bomba nodded her head. She smiled up at him, wiping a single tear off her cheek with the back of her paw.

"I know. Talk to you later, Cettie." And Bomba strode out, carrying herself with more dignity than she had when she had burst in. Etcetera closed the door and turned to Tugger.

"I love you too." She whispered, letting herself into Tugger's arms when he opened them for a hug.

Part Fourteen

Etcetera folded a few t-shirts and smoothed her paws over their surfaces.

Tugger's leaving. The sad thought made her sigh. Tugger appeared from the closet with jeans looped over his arm. His ears flicked towards his newest girlfriend and he set the jeans down. Tugger walked over to her and pushed her hair back so he could plant a soft kiss at the base of her jaw.

"What's wrong, love?" It was almost an absent question, but Cettie knew that he was concerned. Turning to him, Cettie put her arms around his neck and nuzzled her head into his shoulder.

"I don't want you to go... I'll miss you." She said sadly. Tugger wrapped his arms around her and kissed her ears in turn.

"I've made plans so I'm not there for two weeks; it's only going to be four days." Round teal eyes came up and the young queen smiled through tears that started to flow down her cheeks. Tugger caught on with his thumb and put his forehead against hers.

"Thanks, that means you'll be here for the dance. You are going to come to the dance, right?" With a laugh, Tugger stroked his finger down Cettie's nose before letting her go to fold his jeans. Cettie picked up the t-shirts she'd folded and placed them into the giant suitcase that had been tossed lazily onto his bed. Socks and underwear were already in their own compartements, and Etcetera put the t-shirts on the right side of the suitcase with her boyfriend's dress shirts. Tugger reached around Cettie and put his jeans into the left side. With a giggle, Etcetera helped Tugger close it and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'll miss you." She said quietly when Tugger crouched down in front of her. A gentle smile crossed over the lean, handsome face and Tugger nodded his head.

"I know you will, love. And I'll miss you too. I'll think about you before I go to sleep each night, and I'll try to call you every day. The only thing I have to remember is the time difference." Both laughed as they exited the room with his suitcase.

Demeter was sitting in her livingroom, folding the laundry she'd just finished. Her grandparents did their own laundry, and had asked Demeter to do hers and Jemima's. It didn't bother her, rather it calmed her down. No thoughts were filling her head until the doorbell went. With a raised eyebrow, Demeter put down the shirt she'd been folding and pushed herself off the floor. She made her way over to the door and looked out the peephole.

"Bastard!" She snarled angrily, all her fur standing on end when she opened the door. Macavity stood there, paws shoved in his pockets. Demeter's ears were back against her head and she gave the tom at the door a look that would've stopped the Dark Cat.

"What in Heavyside's name do you want, Macavity?" She asked in an icy voice. Her eyes scanned down him and noticed the clean t-shirt and jeans. He didn't smell like marijuana at all, but alot like a shower. Who'd have thought that Macavity took showers? His hair was neatly pulled back in a small ponytail at the base of his neck. There was an almost haunted look in his eyes that made Deme shiver, but she kept her anger upfront. Macavity shifted and looked into her eyes.

"Uhh... Just wanted to come and... see you?" He supplied. Demeter's eyebrow went up at the nervousness filling his voice and her fur smoothed out a little. This was definitely interesting, but she had to remember that this was Macavity. The tom that, on several occasions, had tried to get her to skip school with him to go fool around, tried to get her to do drugs. He was nothing but a bad apple; although in the grand scheme of things, his bad attitude really didn't show in his marks.

"Just come and see me? Heavyside, Mackie, come inside for a minute." Demeter turned and strode over to the laundry. Macavity stepped inside gingerly, some of his bangs coming free from the ponytail. His six-foot frame filled the entryway as his dark green eyes looked around the livingroom. There was subtle interest in them, and he stayed put at the door.

This just gets more and more interesting... Demeter thought when she knelt down and looked at the bad boy tom. He looked almost... innocent, just standing there. He wasn't even looking at her; he seemed to be really interested in all the things that were on the shelves. Clearing her throat, Demeter met Macavity's eyes when they came over to her.

"You can come in, just take off your shoes." Macavity slipped his feet out of his runners, which Demeter noticed weren't the ratty ones. They weren't necessarily something that say Tugger or Plato would wear, but they were clean. He took a few steps over to the bookshelf and scanned over the pictures and figurines there. Demeter watched him, becoming more and more entranced with his behaviour. Her chin tilted up when he turned towards her.

"Is there a specific reason why you're here? Other than to see me?" Macavity rubbed the back of his neck and walked over, kneeling down across the laundry basket from Demeter. He picked up a shirt, and Demeter noticed that his paws were shaking badly.

"I just... well..." He trailed off, taking a few deep shaky breaths. Demeter's eyes scanned his face, watching the gleam of cold sweat spread over his forehead. His paws were twitching and Demeter stood up. She went over to her purse and pulled out a pack of gum. Taking a piece, she knelt beside Macavity.

"Here, chew on this." She said calmly. Macavity looked up at her, his eyes filled with need. His paw covered hers momentarily, and he took the piece of gum.

"Thanks." He muttered, sticking the gum in his mouth and chewing greedily. Demeter watched his face for a second, and then started to stand. Macavity's paw came out and grabbed her wrist, making her stay where she was. It wasn't tight at all, so if she'd wanted to, Demeter could've pulled away.

Odd, She thought. I don't feel at all threatened or afraid.

Macavity stared into Demeter's eyes, sweat beading along his nose and forehead. With a sudden flash of what Demeter took to be anger, Macavity pushed her away. He wrapped his arms around himself and started to tighten and untighten his grip with frustration. Demeter made a move to go to him, but the ginger tom shook his head.

"No! Don't come near me; I'll hurt you... I don't want to hurt you..." He said in a strained voice, leaning his head back to take several gasping breaths. With a determined frown, Demeter moved behind Macavity and wrapped her arms around him. She pulled him back despite his struggle and rested his head against her shoulder. His green eyes could have born holes in iron, but Demeter put one wine-colored paw firmly on his forehead.

"Just keep looking into my eyes. What the hell were you thinking? You're addicted to pot, you dumb ass; you can't just stop cold turkey." Macavity's upper lip twitched, but he kept looking into Demeter's eyes.

"I wanted to stop... for you. You seem to hate me, though, so I guess it doesn't matter." The fact that he was trying to quit touched something in Demeter's heart, and a smile tugged up the corners of her lips.

"Sometimes, toms are such idiots. I only hated you because you were always trying too hard. You're still trying a little too hard, but I can deal with that for now. If you want to quit, then you have to want to. I see that you do, so we're getting past step one." Her smile was easy, and her paws started to rub off the sweat on Macavity's face and neck.

She was such an entrancing queen. A mystery of sorts, and Macavity loved to sort out the mysteries of life. It seemed to be a hobby of his nowadays. Whatever didn't make sense in his eyes, he had to find out more about it. That was why he'd made some sort of peace with Tugger and borrowed his book on dreams. The damn playboy didn't really need it, did he? The feel of Demeter's soft paws made all his want for his drug shift to a want for her.

Demeter was totally lost in thought, running her paws idly over Macavity's face, tracing the scars he wore from his previous fights. She all but jumped out of her skin when he reached up and skimmed his knuckles against her cheek.

"Sorry... auto reaction." She said with a sheepish smile. Macavity smiled, actually smile, at her and his paw went to play with her hair. What a picture they must have made, Demeter sitting back on her heels with Macavity cradled in her lap. She never really hated him per say, but she hated what he did. The drugs were dangerous, and Demeter didn't want anything to do with anyone who wanted to use a drug to get away from it all. She'd been through that, and swore never to go that route again.

Macavity's paw moved around Demeter's neck, and he pulled her head down towards his. His chin tilted up, and Demeter's paws froze. Her eyes locked with Macavity's, but she didn't stop his pull. His lips brushed experimentally against hers, and when Deme didn't pull back, Macavity closed his mouth over hers. He'd shifted so that it wasn't so awkward. His left arm was extended, supporting the bulk of his weight, and his right paw was laced around the back of Demeter's neck, keeping her head where it was. Demeter's right paw was resting on Macavity's shoulder, and her other rested on his cheek. Her eyes closed gently and the black and gold queen returned the kiss.

Part Fifteen

"Don't you think Demeter will be at home?" Munkustrap asked as he pulled into the street that Jemima had motioned to. Jemima's blue eyes went up to his face and she grinned.

"A little worried, huh? Me too." She said with a chuckle. Her eyes turned back and locked onto a strange car in front of her house. Munkustrap's eyes were locked onto it as well, and a snarl escaped his lips.

"Macavity." Was the only thing he said as he pulled into the driveway. Jemima all but flew out of the car and ran up to the house. She flung the door open and skidded to a halt when her eyes rested on Demeter and Macavity. Her sister was sitting on the couch, legs draped over the ginger and black tom. In Macavity's paws was a stress ball, and he was gripping it every so often. Both sets of green eyes turned to Jemima, and then went to Munkustrap when he entered. The air seemed to freeze when Munkustrap and Macavity's eyes met.

"Munkustrap, what a pleasure." The sarcastic, loathing tone in Macavity's voice did not go unnoticed by Demeter. Munkustrap's jaw set, and his chin tilted up slightly when he returned Macavity's glare.

"Macavity." Was the only thing he said. His voice was dripping withe venemous hatred, and Jemima took a step towards him. Her paws went to his arm, calming him visibly. Demeter's paw went to Macavity's shoulder, and the tension drained a bit from his face.

"Will you two calm down please? I think I can speak for both Jemima and myself by saying we don't need to be breaking up a fight between you two. Blood stains don't come out of carpets and clothing that easily." Macavity's eyes turned to Demeter and narrowed. Munkustrap made a move to go to Demeter, but Jemima stopped him. Munkus turned to her, meaning to protest, but he saw something in Jemima's face as she stared at Deme and Mackie that stopped him. His mouth closed and his eyes turned back to his old friend and his girlfriend's older sister.

"You have no say in what I do, Deme." Macavity said angrily. Demeter's eyes narrowed onto his face, and filled with anger. The comment straightened her back and Demeter stood up.

"This is where I live, so I have a say in what you do in it. Want to fight? Take it outside!" She all but spat in his face. Macavity's paws twitched, and Munkustrap shifted. He was ready to jump in if he needed to, but Jemima's paw steadied him.

Macavity stood up, looking down at Demeter with anger lining his face. It was an impressive image, the six-foot Macavity having a staring contest with the five foot five Demeter. Both tails were slashing around, but Demeter's ears were flattened against her head. Macavity's face softened a little and his shoulders slumped. Sitting down on the couch again, he ran both paws over his face and leant his elbows against his knees. Demeter folded her arms over her chest and looked down at Macavity. Her eyes didn't move, but she didn't flinch when Macavity's paws came up and took her elbows gently. Munkus and Jemima watched in silent shock and amazement when Macavity pulled Demeter into his lap and pressed his lips against hers.

Frustration, need and anger filled the kiss, and Demeter's paws came up to fist into his hair. Jemima moved her eyes away in a modest move, but Munkustrap's eyebrows went up. Macavity, the tom that he thought had no heart, was actually feeling something for someone. Sniffing the air, Munkustrap couldn't detect any marijuana.

"You're clean, Mac?" He asked calmly. Macavity broke the kiss and looked up at Munkustrap. The awe that was crossing his old friend's face stopped his rude comment, and the smile came easily.

"I've tried... and I'm making an effort now. For her." Macavity pulled Demeter against him again and pressed his lips to hers. With a giggle stiffled against his lips, Demeter wrapped her arms around Macavity's neck. Munkustrap put an arm around Jemima's shoulders and steered her towards the hall.

"We'll leave you two alone then..." Deme pushed Macavity away to shoot a dirty look at Munkustrap. Scrambling to her feet, Demeter all but shot herself towards her sister and the muscular tom.

"Oh no you don't, Munkustrap! That's my little sister you're with and I won't have you two fooling around." Demeter's paw went around Jemima's like a vise. The smaller queen winced, and roughly pulled her arm away from Demeter. The two queens locked gazes and Jemima's lips twitched.

"We're dating, Demeter." She said with a definitely stubborn tone in her voice. Demeter's eyes widened, her gaze going back and forth between Munkustrap and Jemima. With a shake of her head, Demeter stumbled back a step.

"You are what? Oh Heavyside, oh Jemima!" She said, her paw going over her mouth in shock. Munkustrap's ears flattened against his skull, but he met Demeter's gaze all the same.

"I... love her, Demeter." Munkustrap said, his arm going around Jemima's shoulder. The smaller scarlet and black queen looked up at Munkustrap with lots of love in her gaze, her slender paw coming up and lacing with his. Demeter stumbled back, but this time Macavity was right there to hold her.

"I... I don't know what to say anymore. Why, Jemima? He's three years older than..."

"Demeter! Does that really matter?!? It's not like he's going to do anything. He's alot different than most toms; no offense meant Macavity." The ginger tom shrugged, but put his arms around Demeter. Wine-colored paws came up to grip his wrists and Macavity only twitched when Demeter's nails dug in unintentionally.

"I love him, Demeter, and what about you and Macavity? Don't you think that it's a bit strange that you can act like you hate him and that he's a snake one day, and then the next he's like a hero?" Macavity did flinch this time, Jemima's cold words burning into his heart. Demeter glared at her sister and then she sighed.

"Okay, I admit that is a bit odd. I'm sorry, Jemima, but this is so much to take in. Vicky's with Plato, you're with Munkustrap, and now I think I can say that I'm with Macavity." A short laugh followed her statement and Demeter put a paw over her jittery stomach. "Wow! That does stir the nerves."

Munkustrap regarded Macavity uneasily, but managed a smile at his old friend. Something about this was unsettling, but Munkustrap couldn't put his finger on it...

Pouncival was clearing off a table in the ice cream parlor when he noticed Bombalurina. He was a bit down because a little earlier, Electra had come in with his best friend Tumblebrutus, and announced that she was breaking up with him.

Oh well... life goes on. He thought drearily, going over to Bomba's table when she settled in an empty booth. Taking a menu from the rack, Pounce put it onto the table. Bomba's blue eyes came up to him and she smiled sadly.

"Hey Pounce, how's it goin'?" Conversation quality, almost nill. Returning the smile, Pouncival shrugged.

"Slowly..." He said with a sigh. The scarlet queen tossed her hair out of her face and looked up at the brown, white and black mixed tom. He gave her a half-hearted lopsided grin and took out his pad and paper.

"What can I get you?" Bomba looked at the menu and wrinkled her nose. Looking back up at Pounce, she shrugged.

"Anything at the moment..." Pouncival's eyebrows went up and Bomba laughed. "A bit down right now. You going on break soon?"

Pouncival looked up at the clock and his mouth twitched in thought. Bomba took a minute to scan over his face, and then over his beach boy styled hair. He was a real cutie, why she hadn't noticed that before was way beyond her. Looking back at Bombalurina with his tawny brown eyes, Pouncival grinned.

"I can get your order and go on break." Bomba grinned and looked at the menu once more before the friendly young tom turned.

"In that case, get me a triple berry sundae." She said, closing the menu and handing it to Pounce with a smile. He grinned back at her and went back to the counter. Bombalurina sighed, folding her arms in front of her and resting her chin against them. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander.

"Bomba?" Her eyes snapped open again when Pouncival touched her arm gently. Concern filled his eyes and Bomba blinked several times to focus.

"What?" Pouncival put the sundae down on the table and sat opposite the scarlet queen. Truth-be-told he had a huge crush on her, but everyone knew, especially him, that someone as popular and pretty as Bombalurina would never go out with him. He reached across the table anyway and took her paw in his. Bombalurina's eyes went down to their paws and then her fingers linked with his. She noticed that she was still wearing the ring from Tugger and frowned. She pulled her paw away from Pouncival's, missing the hurt look on his face, and pulled the ring off. Holding it up in front of her face, Bomba sighed.

"He got this for me three days after we started dating..." She commented absently, twisting it between her fingers so the light glinted off of it. Pouncival nodded his head and listened to her calmly. He'd been told he was a good listener, mostly because he liked to practice. You learnt alot about people when you sat and listened.

"And now look at me, single. And just before the dance! Oh Heavyside." Bombalurina looked down at the sundae and pouted. Taking up her spoon, she dug in greedily. Pouncival's eyebrows went up again, but he took his own spoon and took a bite of the sundae. Bomba's eyes went up to him and she smiled with the spoon in her mouth. Swallowing the bite of ice cream, Bomba waved at Pouncival with her spoon.

"So how's Leccy? Oh!" Her eyes widened when Pouncival looked away quickly, and noticed the hurt filling his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"No, no; it's okay. She just... she came in here earlier with Tumblebrutus and told me, no! She basically announced it to the entire parlor, that she was breaking up with me. Made a huge show of giving me back all the jewelery I'd ever given her. She tossed it all on the counter, and... Heavyside." Pouncival stuck his spoon back into the ice cream with an unhappy frown. Bombalurina stared at him and put her spoon down. She leant over a little to catch Pouncival's eyes and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Believe me, hun, I can totally relate. I called Tugger earlier today, wanting to talk to him about his plans for going to Hawaii. He told me that he couldn't talk to me, that he didn't have time to deal with me because he had guests over. It took awhile to click in that he meant female guest. I stormed over to his house and found Etcetera there with him. And, of course, I assumed that he was just using her and got all pissed off; bitching at him and yelling at him that he shouldn't toy with her. And then I figured out that he loved her. Isn't that the loveliest ending to a relationship you've ever heard?" Pouncival stared at Bomba, a spoonful of ice cream halfway to his mouth. A small drip started to run off of the spoon and Bomba reached over to catch it. Her long nails trailed over his wrist accidentally and she sighed.

"So, here we are, both without dates to the dance." Pounce looked at Bomba's paw by his own and raised an eyebrow. It lingered by his paw for a moment, and then she drew it back again. Pouncival put the spoon of ice cream into his mouth, and placed the spoon on a napkin. Reaching over, Pouncival took Bomba's paw again.

"We could go together, you know, as friends." Bombalurina's eyebrows went up this time, and she chuckled. Leaning over a bit, Bomba tilted her head flirtatiously.

"Just as friends?" She asked with a flash of white teeth. Pouncival's throat went dry and he swallowed hard. It took all his will power not to let his eyes wander down to where he was sure he'd see her breasts swell against her top with each breath. With a smile, he leant over a little. His lips strayed dangerously close to Bomba's and he chuckled.

"Depends what you want, Bomba. You get to take the move here..." Bombalurina looked deep into Pouncival's eyes and grinned.

"I get to call the shots, eh? You're treading dangerous ground here, Pouncie darling." With an easy smile now, Pouncival reached up and tucked a lock of black and scarlet hair back from Bombalurina's face. He winked at her.

"I live for the dangerous."

"Then you live for me..." She said, sitting up enough to press her red-slicked lips against Pouncival's. They stayed locked in the kiss, unaware of Jennyanydots's chuckling behind the counter. She shook her head as she dried an ice cream bowl.

"Took him long enough to find the right one..." Jenny said to herself, putting the bowl onto the counter.

Part Sixteen

Victoria sat on a bench by the lake in the park, her head resting lightly against Plato's shoulder. The muscles rippled everytime he moved, and Victoria marveled in the feel of them under her cheek. Her eyes stayed on the lake, where the colors of the sunset glittered off and reflected in her light blue eyes. It also shone off her white fur and she stayed oblivious to the fact that Plato was staring down at her and not at the majestic white swans that swam lazily over the glittering waters.

"It's so gorgeous out here. Thanks for bringing me here Plato." He smiled, running his paw over her arm, easing the goosebumps that were forming.

"It is nice here, isn't it? A little cold?" He asked, easing out from under his girlfriend's cheek to take his jacket off. Vicky nodded, smiling up at Plato lovingly when he put the jacket around her shoulders.

"Yes, thank you. Oh Plato, you're so nice to me." She said, putting her head back on Plato's shoulder. Her paw went to his chest, tracing over the embroidered design on the upper right breast of the pocket. Plato smiled, taking her paw and bringing it to his lips with an easy kiss.

"It's who I am, and because I love you." Vicky smiled, in totally ecstacy that he told her that all the time. Leaning up, the white queen pressed her lips to Plato's.

"I love you too, honey-bear." Two sets of eyes watched the couple on the bench. One pair was sky-blue and the other pair was dark brown. Cassandra watched Plato and Victoria with mild disgust written on her slender, regal face. Her sister Exotica stood beside her and wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing up and down her arms.

"Why are we watching them, Cassandra? I know it must really hurt your heart to have to..." Exotica spoke quietly, a thick accent lisping her words. Cassandra sent a piercing look her direction and silenced the dark-colored princess. Cassandra's Siamese-patterned face turned back to Plato and Vicky as they stood up and started walking back towards the parking lot of the park. Her cold blue eyes locked onto their twined tails and pain started to pool in them.

Her chin-length, bone straight dark brown hair hung loosely around her face, the wind teasing it as it came through the trees. Exotica's black-brown hair was slightly longer, hanging around her shoulders, but it was the same silky texture and same straight line as her sister's. Her brown eyes were on Cassandra's face and her arms wound around Cassandra's waist.

"Why must it hurt so?" Cassy asked, her accented voice choking off the words slightly. Exotica sighed, nuzzling her nose into Cassandra's silky shoulder and held on tightly.

"Everything hurts, whether it is a good hurt or a bad hurt. Sometimes we must live life with the bad hurts and must just keep moving so it goes away, or until it dulls." The Siamese queen sighed, casting one more longing look after Plato and Victoria before smiling weakly at her sister.

"Let us go, Exotica. It does not make sense to freeze our tails off in this cold air just to make hearts break." She said, leading her sister back to where her deep purple car was parked.

The next day at school, Etcetera was sitting at her desk in Math class chewing on the end of her pencil. She stared at her worksheet, but her thoughts wandered towards Tugger. Was he thinking about her? Did he miss her as much as she missed him?

"Psst... Cettie! Hey!" Cettie shook her head and looked over her shoulder at Electra. The rusty-colored tabby grinned at her and waved a note before tossing it. Etcetera looked up at Asparagus Junior to make sure he wasn't paying attention before leaning to pick it up.

"I saw you with Tugger the other day... What's going on? Isn't he dating Bomba?" Etcetera looked at it and started to scribble down a response. She tossed it back as she stretched and started to tap the end of her pencil against her worksheet.

"He and I hooked up, Leccy. We're dating now. I'm not sure about Bomba though... she seemed really hurt that Tugger told me he loved me." There was a choked gasp from behind her, followed by mad scribbling. The note hit Etcetera in the back of the head and slid into the hood of her cut-off, pale teal hoodie. Reaching over her head, Cettie pulled it out gingerly.

"You're kidding!!! He actually said that to you? That's totally really major, Cettie. Wow. I'm so jealous. I broke up with Pounce, though... so he can't say that to me. I'm going out with Tumble now..." Etcetera gaped at the paper, and cast a shocked look back at her friend. Electra shrugged, going back to work on her math as Etcetera stared at the paper. Leccy broke up with Pounce? But she had always said they were meant to be. Which brought Etcetera to her next thought; where was Pouncival anyways.

"Well... that's really good I guess. I thought you were totally head over heels for him though. You always said that. What changed? But anyways... have you seen him? I don't see him anywhere..." Asparagus looked up as Etcetera threw the note back.

"Ahem. Etcetera, Electra is there something you'd like to say to the class?" Both queens blushed and shook their heads. Raising one eyebrow, Asparagus shook his head. "Then I'd expect no notes in my classroom, please."

Electra and Etcetera exchanged mourngul, embarrassed looks and then continued to do their math work.

When the class was ended, Electra cornered Etcetera against a locker. Her smile was far from the usual friendly Leccy, but Cettie simply looked her in the eyes.

"So, where's your new boyfriend then Etcetera?" Electra asked, looking around to see if she could spot Rum Tum Tugger. Her amber-colored eyes came back to her friend, but simply shrugged and pushed her way out of the cage Electra made with her arms.

"He's gonna be in Hawaii with his parents and older sister until Thursday. Don't give me that look, Electra! I trust him, okay?" Electra rolled her eyes and walked over to the white tabby queen. Putting her arm around Cettie's shoulders, Electra sighed.

"Let me fill you in on a little secret, or maybe its not so secret. At any rate, Tugger's player. Always has been and always will be." With a short snarl, Cettie pushed Leccy's arm off her shoulders. Her eyes caught a movement behind Electra and she side stepped. Etcetera's eyes widened and her paw went over her mouth.

"Holy Heavyside." She muttered, restraining an urge to grin when Leccy turned and saw Pouncival walking down the hall with Bombalurina on his arm. Electra's tail sponged, but she stayed calm and smiled at Pounce when he walked by. When the pair passed, followed by alot of whispering, Electra turned to Etcetera.

"What in the name of Heavyside's name was that all about?" She demanded in a hoarse whisper. Etcetera could tell that Electra was hurt by the change, but Cettie couldn't honestly blame poor Pouncival. Leccy had meant everything to him, and everyone knew that he'd had a crush on Bomba since they had first gotten into junior high school. She'd been popular then, and she was popular now. The only real difference in the scarlet bombshell was the fact that her body shaped had changed and she had all the flirtation down pat.

"Relax Leccy. Doesn't mean nothing until their..." Electra raised an eyebrow and Etcetera shrugged. "Okay, so maybe it does mean something. If you don't remember, you were the one who broke up with him. What did you expect? Him to spend forever mourning his love for you?" Electra's eyes snapped with a hidden fire.

"Yes!" She blurted out, and then her white paws shot over her mouth. Etcetera's eyes were wide like saucers as she watched her rusty-colored friend dash down the hallway, and rush into the bathroom.

"What was that all about?" Jemima walked up beside Etcetera with Munkustrap at her back. Cettie turned to speak, but at the sight of the tall, muscular silver tabby, the only thing that came out of her mouth was a short squeak. Munkustrap grinned at her and held out a paw to shake Etcetera's.

"I'm Munkustrap." He said in his smooth tenor voice. Etcetera swallowed and peered curiously at him.

"Munkustrap. Tugger's friend, right? Or is that... ex-friend now?" She posed the question quietly, and nearly flinched when Munkustrap's ears flattened agaist his head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Munkustrap looked down at Etcetera, locking his green eyes on her teal-colored ones. His glazed over with some emotion and Cettie instantly felt guilty about saying anything at all. Jemima reached behind her and took Munkustrap's large paw in her own, lacing their fingers together. Etcetera cleared her throat at the uncomfortably silence, and tried a different approach.

"So, I heard from Bomba that you and Jem are going steady now." Munkus's eyebrow went up and he looked down at Jemima. With a gentle smile, Jem winked at her tabby friend.

"Yep! And how about you? Found that Prince Charming yet?" Love swam across Etcetera's face, bringing a joyful grin onto Jemima's. "Ooh! Do tell!"

Etcetera looked warily up at Munkustrap, hoping that she wouldn't upset him. His eyes were level now, and it set Cettie at ease a little.

"Well... I'm dating Tugger now." The sponging of fur made Etcetera pause momentarily. Jemima looked over her shoulder and Munkustrap and squeezed his paw gently. His tail swished gently behind him, but the wariness in Munkustrap's eyes betrayed all his emotions.

"He told me he loved me. Just kind of stated it, right in front of Bomba even. You should know the feeling; the warm fuzzy feeling you can get all inside when you look at your significant other and you just want to keep all their pain at bay until you can really help them." The smile that spread across both Munkustrap and Jemima's faces made Etcetera grin. "See? I'll bet you're thinking about that right now!"

Letting go of Jemima's paw, Munkustrap pulled Etcetera into a hug. She froze for a moment, not really sure what to do, and then put her arms around him and returned it. Holding the younger tabby at arm's length, the silver tabby tom grinned.

"I was friends with Tugger. It was us and Mackie at one point too. We were the dynamic trio. Unfortunately, Macavity seems to have been trying to turn his life around, and I see Tugger's trying to do the same. I just hope that things do backfire. But just to let you know, if you ever need advice on something Tugger related, I can help you there. Jem can give you my cell number." Etcetera grinned up at Munkustrap and winked.

"Okay! Hey Jem... got any super huge plans for lunch?"

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