I'm just a soul whose intentions are good....

[Dani]

Jack sat at the counter, sipping what must have been his third cup of coke. Given the paper that he had to write later that night, the large amount of caffeine was a great idea. Paper time was never really a fun time for him; it meant that he had to shut down completely and cut off all contact with the outside world for a few hours. The process was somewhat easier when he was at Notre Dame where he didn't have any friends close by or much else to do in his spare time, but Riverside had so much to offer. Not only did he have people to hang with, he also had plenty of non-school related distractions to keep him busy.

[Raebee]

Brody pushed the door to the pool hall open. There seemed to be more and more things he was missing from MABTown these days. That included the pool table that lived in the basement of their old house. His new house didn't have the room, and he'd had to sell it.

Glancing over at the tables he sighed, noting that they were all fully occupied. Of course. Because nothing could possibly go right for me. Even this small happiness is being denied to me by whatever god is laughing at me right now.

Slumping dejectedly into a seat, he leaned his chin on his hand and scanned the room. His face rearranged in a more slightly cheerful expression as he caught sight of Jack and waved. Sliding out of his seat, he crossed the room and joined him. "Hey. What you doing?"

[Dani]

Jack grinned as soon as he saw Brody. "Hey man!" He reached out and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. "Just indulging in the everyday art of procrastination, how about you?" Given Brody's current predicament, he was surprised to see him out and about all by himself. He didn't think Brody had any time to sleep, let alone any time to come out and play pool.

"I also just got my ass handed to me by a twelve year old," he continued, gesturing towards an evil grinning kid standing by the pool table. "I swear, these Riverside kids are tough. Thank god I didn't bet anything." With a new fiancee, the last thing he needed to do was lose money.

[Raebee]

Brody glanced at the young boy and smiled wryly, shrugging his shoulders. "Thought I'd kill time, cause you know... I have nothing better to do." Chuckling dryly, he shook his head. "Nah, just needed to get out of the house. Miki is driving me completely crazy. So is Jade, except that's about the baby stuff. Miki's just jabbering about nothing like always."

Pulling a coin out of his pocket and flipped it. "Coke it is. Be back in a minute mate." Sliding out of his seat, he got himself a drink and returned to the table. "Uh.. so what's been going on with you?"

[Dani]

Jack glanced over at Brody and raised an eyebrow. "Really, now?" he asked in surprise. "Between your job and your two women, I'm shocked you were able to find time to be by yourself." He laughed and shook his head. "So how's that situation going? Everything all good?"

Sipping his coke, he thought back to all of the recent goings on in his life. There was one thing in particular that he needed to discuss with him, but he couldn't figure out exactly how to broach the subject. "I got a paper due soon, just blowing off a little steam before I do it. I hear ya about the jabbering though. Kylie's been through about three different mood swings since we've moved here."

[Raebee]

Brody flushed slightly at the mention of Kylie and fixed his attention on his glass. Running his fingers along the rim, he glanced quickly back at Jack before returning to his drink. "Oh really? Uh.. how do you mean?"

Returning back to Jack's question, he sighed heavily and lifted his eyes. "I dunno. Everything is so hard with Liesl right now, she's mad at me. I guess she has a right to be but I just...can't not see her. You know?"

[Dani]

Jack laughed again. "Oh well, you know how nuts she is, dude. When I first got here, she was pretty much crying all the freaking time. Now she's running around the house singing all the time. I swear, that girl can never have a normal mood."

He frowned a bit and sighed at the mention of his problems with Liesl. "Well, I can't imagine that it would all happy and lovey dovey with her. I mean with those crazy pregnancy hormones and that other girl running around, that girl must be one stressed out chick." Remembering that Brody must be stressed as well, he sympathetically patted him on the back. "Just hang in there, man. It will work out."

[Raebee]

Brody shrugged and took a sip of his drink. "Uh... so Kylie's in a good mood then huh?" He couldn't stop the sly smile creeping onto his face, despite the predicament he was currently in. "Have you asked her what's up?"

Realising that in the same situation, he would never ask Miki, his face coloured once more. He swallowed half his drink in an effort to hide what he'd possibly given away and coughed violently. "Wow...drinking fail."

[Dani]

"Nah," Jack said, a little confused by the weird smile on Brody's face. "She probably got some new clothes or something. Maybe she's hung up some dude again. Although if that's the case, she'll probably be crying again in a few weeks anyways." He chuckled a bit as he recalled his sister's numerous relationship failures.

His smile faded when Brody coughed. "Whoa dude, take it easy. It's not going anywhere. Nobody's gonna randomly come up to you and steal your soda." He patted him on the back again. "You alright, man?"

[Raebee]

Taking the coin back out of his pocket, Brody began spinning it on the table for something to focus on other than Jack. "I gotta tell you something mate. And you gotta promise me that you're not gonna go postal on me ok? Cause...if her mood is because of a guy, I'm pretty sure she won't be crying. And I hope not for a long time."

Looking back at Jack, he smiled guiltily and stopped spinning the coin. "The girl? The one I asked out to dinner the other week? Um..it was Kylie."

[Dani]

Jack stared at Brody blankly for a few seconds. Brody and Kylie? Kylie and Brody? Within seconds, he burst out laughing. "Very funny, dude. You almost had me going there for a second. I mean, you and her?" Unable to control himself, he kept right on laughing, pounding the counter a bit as he did so. "That's so ridiculous. Sure, she used to be practically in love with you, but that was ages ago...."

He thought back to Brody's descriptions of his mystery girl, trying to decipher her true identity. Someone he grew up with, someone he made fun of, someone he sang with in the Christmas pageant....holy shit! He turned to Brody again with a dumbfounded look on his face. "You're fooling around with my sister?"

[Raebee]

Brody smiled as Jack laughed, after all he could definitely see the funny side of things. If someone had told him even six months ago that he'd be seeing Kylie, he would have joined him in laughing.

He lifted his hands in defence however when Jack realised it wasn't a joke. "No way man. I'm not fooling I swear. I'm really into her. Do you think I'd waste time and effort on something I didn't think was gonna be worth it?"

[Dani]

Jack sighed and ran his hands over his face, trying to make sense of it all. "Kylie?" he asked, still in disbelief. "The one who...." He got up and started shimmying across the room, placing his hands on his hips and dramatically throwing his head back. "Like Kylie?" he asked again in a strange high-pitched voice.

As he returned to his seat, another realization came to him, one that made this situation all the more ironic. "So you mean to tell me that after all that grief that you and Kylie gave Miki and me when we first got together, the two of you suddenly decide to hook up? Interesting, interesting indeed...." A huge sly grin quickly replaced the confused look on his face.

[Raebee]

Brody grinned sheepishly and nodded his head. "Yeah, that Kylie. I know what you're gonna say. And it's true, I sort of made her life...hard. But you know, she's.. different now. I can't explain it. And please, whatever you do, do not tell Mikaela. Kylie's gonna do that when she's ready ok?"

He paused, stuffing the coin back in his pocket. "I haven't asked her to be my girlfriend or anything yet, it's too soon and too weird right now. But we're seeing where it goes."

[Dani]

Jack nodded his head in understanding. Despite still being in shock, he knew that Brody was right. It would be best if Miki heard it from Kylie. "Yeah, Miki's gonna be surprised." He chuckled slightly as he remembered Kylie yelling at him and Miki when she caught them together at a party.

"So you want to date my sister, huh?" he asked. "And you want to see where it goes? That's really fascinating...." He sipped his soda and flashed Brody a grin. "Especially considering that I'm marrying yours in about two years."