Kali looks down at the small piece of paper then up at the 'Village Ink' sign before walking into the shop. It was a different environment coming in from the sunshine and into the dark red & black walls. The place smelled of incense and two people sat on the couch looking through a book of tattoo designs. The buzzing of tattoo machines was heard faintly. Kali walks up to the front desk as a girl with blonde curls scrolled through her cell phone.

"Hi I'm Ka--"

The blonde holds her index finger up at Kali as she continues to look through her phone. Kali didn't care, she was not to be silenced.

"I'm here to see Austin Carlile," Kali spoke a little louder than before.

The blonde rolled her eyes and got up from the desk. She disappeared to the back of the nearby hallway. When she returned, a tall man covered in tattoos on his arms and neck trailed behind her. He paused when he saw Kali and resumed chewing his gum.

Then he smiled, continuing to approach her and shake her hand.

"You must be Kali," he spoke.

"Yes sir."

"Dump the formalities," he chuckled.

"Sorry," she grinned. "Um, do you...want to see my resume?"

"Do you know how to answer a phone?"

"...Yes?"

"Fax? Printer? Email writing?"

"Yes to all three," Kali nodded.

"And you seem nice, great smile," he gave her the once-over. "You get a 2-week trial period, is that cool?"

"Absolutely."

"Great," he smacked the countertop. "Jeanine, you're fired. Kali, you're hired."

"Wh- just like that," Kali asked.

"Excuse me?" Jeanine protested.

"You've been shit," Austin told Jeanine. "Grab your feather pen and self tanner and hit the road. You saw this coming."

Jeanine scoffed. "Whatever. Didn't wanna work in this shithole anyway."

Austin waits until Jeanine leaves and offers Kali to have a seat in the swivel chair.

"Welcome aboard," he winked.

. . .

Lucy wakes up next to Kian in his bed after hearing the voice of Nate call her name. She reaches over to his nightstand and looks at his watch. It's 11 AM. She sits up and rubs her face, glancing over at her clothes on the floor nearby. Kian runs his hand up her bare back.

"I could do last night all over again," he spoke in his soft morning voice. He sat up and kissed the back of her shoulder. "Everything okay?"

"Y-yeah, just had a bad dream that's all," she answered.

"Care to talk about it?"

Lucy shook her head and looked over at him. "No. No talking."

She kisses him softly and has him lay back down. After a while, a tear rolls down her cheek and she quickly wipes it away before Kian discovers it.

"I love you, okay?" She told him. "Never forget that."

"Babe," he kissed her forehead. "You sound like you're about to ship off for war. What's up?"

"That's what bad dreams do to you, you know?" She sniffled.

Kian kissed away another stray tear that rolled down her face.

"Never forget that I love you too," he spoke.

"I, uh...I can't lie to you, Kian."

"Then don't."

"I haven't been spending time with Ty...like I said I was. I've...been visiting Nate in the hospital."

"Oh," Kian cleared his throat and sat back up. "Why is he in the hospital? I didn't hear anything at school."

"He was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting...his legs are paralyzed. Might be temporary, might not depending on therapy."

"Shit...I'm sorry. But, why would you keep that from me?"

"Come on," Lucy looked away. "Because he's my ex, because we almost had a child together. I know how sometimes you can have a short fuse and I didn't know how you would take it."

"How many times do I have to tell you that you've changed me?" Kian rubbed her arm. "I mean, I'm only a little upset that you felt you couldn't trust me."

"I'm sorry," her head lowered. "Do you want me to go?"

"Not at all. But...I could get the keys to one of my mom's cars and take you to the hospital personally."

Lucy chuckled. "Be serious."

"I am. I'll prove it to you, baby." He kissed her cheek.

"Okay," she blushed. "But heads up, he got discharged today."

"Then I guess we're going to his house," Kian shrugged.

He hopped out of bed and put some pants on. Once he opens his bedroom door, his dog rushed into the room; wagging its tail and getting excited. Kian sat on the floor and showed the dog so much love, it made Lucy feel warm inside.

. . .

"Hey," Twan said as he peeked over the cubicle wall where Tiffany was. "Do you have the Breakdown Sheet template? I accidentally deleted mine."

"I'll email it to you right now," Tiffany responded as she typed as fast as she could. Then her office phone rang. "Tiffany Kelly's desk," she answered.

"Hey can you pop by my office for a sec," Thomas spoke through the phone.

"Be right there." Tiffany sent Twan the document then got up to head over to Thomas's office.

She knocks on the open door and Thomas is finishing up something on his computer.

"Come on in," he spoke. "Close the door behind you."

Tiffany did as she was told and took a seat in front of his desk.

"So," Thomas cleared his throat. "I called you in here because I have a proposition for you."

"Okay..." Tiffany was anxious.

"You know the film we're financing, Driver's Gold, right? Well, turns out the producer has quit. And I'll be standing in for the first few days until I find a co-producer, they're filming in Catalina. The only thing is, I have Lincoln that week, it's spring break for all schools. And if you didn't have any plans for Spring Break--"

"I don't," Tiffany quickly replied.

"Okay," Thomas laughed.

"I can babysit for a few days," Tiffany suggested. "Housesit too which I guess comes with the babysitting territory."

"I know it's not part of your job description but you were technically already my personal assistant before and I'll pay you a bonus. But there's still a catch...you won't be housesitting, you'll be traveling with us to Catalina."

Tiffany tried her best to hold in her excitement. Catalina Island was one of her favorite places. Her family even owns a summer house there.

"I'd love to," she beamed. "Oh my God. Thank you!"

"Don't mention it. I know it's work but it'll be fun. You'll get your own room, free meals, the works. It won't even take up your entire spring break. Four days tops."

"Sounds perfect."

Not only would this be the perfect vacation, she couldn't think of anything better than to be on a getaway with Mr. Howell.

. . .

Serenity and Sammy were sitting in his car on top of a secluded hill at night. The music played low but they were barely speaking.

"Is everything okay," Serenity asked, rubbing Sammy's shoulder.

"Mmhmm," he replied.

"You seem weird and cut off."

"I'm fine," Sam quickly responded. "Just a little annoyed about Wrigley's last test, I totally bombed it."

Serenity tried not to laugh. "Since when do you care about your grades? You always said if you didn't get into a good college, you'd just go work at your Dad's studio anyway."

"Yeah well maybe I don't wanna be a complete failure." Sammy spoke a little too aggressively.

"Oh," Serenity looked away. "Sorry if I offended you."

Sam took a deep breath and placed his hand on Serenity's thigh. "I'm sorry. How's the job been going?"

"Really good actually," her face lit up. "Stass is the sweetest. I also got to finally meet Kylie and she gave me some pointers. It felt surreal having Kylie Jenner watch me apply makeup on her best friend."

"I'm happy for you."

"Kinda bittersweet though. I've seen more of Stass than I have of Tiffany. When it's not school, it's work, and when it's not work, it's Nate."

"You didn't hear," Sammy asked. "Her and Nate broke up."

"See? I didn't even..." Serenity sighed. "Did they break up before or after the accident?"

"At New Years Eve babe," Sam chuckled. "She didn't even come to the party with him. She chose her boss's party."

"Brutal."

"Yeah." Sam looks at his phone. "It's almost 11, you want me to take you home?"

"You mean you don't wanna fool around?" Serenity tickles behind his ear.

"Oh you know I usually do," he bit his lip. "But I'm sleepy."

"Oh." Her fingertips trace down his arm. "You can spend the night at my house. I can sneak you in."

"Nah it's okay," Sam shook his head. "But I can come over first thing in the morning. We can chill in bed all day and watch that Drag Queen show you love so much."

Serenity didn't know what was up with Sam. He seemed out of his element. Even when they kissed each other goodnight, it wasn't as passionate as usual. She tossed and turned all night wondering about it.

Meanwhile as Sammy laid in his bed, he was looking back and forth between a picture of Serenity and a picture of Stass. He feels Stass has been playing hard to get and it's intriguing him more than need be. He was in trouble with himself, having to face a decision.

. . .

"Are you sure you're cool with this," Lucy asked Kian as they sat outside of Nate's house.

"We're here aren't we?"

"Yeah but it's still...weird."

"Lucy," he reached for her hand. "I love you and I trust you enough for you to hang out and help take care of your ex-boyfriend in his time of need. And no you cannot get this in writing so you'll just have to take my word for it."

Lucy giggled. "Okay, well...you don't have to worry about picking me up. Vanessa and Jack are gonna stop by later and I'll just hitch a ride with them."

"Okay," he smiled and kissed Lucy.

"See you later," she said.

"Before you go..." Kian reached into the inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out two tickets. "I remember last year when you were upset you missed the Bob Marley laser show at the planetarium. So I...got you tickets to the Jimi Hendrix one. I know you like him too, I went through your iTunes."

Lucy gasped. "Kian! You didn't! I thought those were sold out, I was about to get upset all over again. Oh my-- you're the best!"

"I know!" Kian joked, mocking her high pitched excitement. Lucy pulled him in for another kiss, a deeper one and then finally got out of the car.

Nate's little brother had answered the door, greeting Lucy with a hug. She then went to the den where Nate will be shacking up considering it's too much to get him upstairs to his room. She found Nate channel surfing the movie channels with the blinds closed and the room was cold.

"Can you close the door?" Nate asked of her.

"Sure." Lucy closed the door and sat next to him on the cozy pullout bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now...since you're here," he bit back a smile.

Lucy took a deep breath. "Kian dropped me off."

"So the boyfriend knows," Nate nodded. "No more sneaking around."

"No more sneaking around," she repeated.

"I'm guessin' since he did that, you still didn't tell him about the kiss."

"No," she looked down at her fidgety hands.

"Don't worry," he smirked. "It'll be our little secret. Wish it didn't have to be."

"Nate, I just came here to keep you company and help you until you get better. We don't have to do all that--"

"Why," he interrupted.

"What?"

"Why do you feel it's your job to be here and help me as you say? I have a nurse that checks in on me, in a week, I'll have the physical therapist. I got my mom, my pops, my brother. My sister's at college but she'll be back soon to visit. Tell me why you feel obligated to be here, Lucy."

Lucy had no idea what to say. She looked all around the room, even stared at the TV for a bit.

"And tell the truth," he added.

"It's not what you think it is," she spoke.

"Then tell me what it is...please."

"I still care about you. You know all of this already, I don't know what you want me to say."

"I want you to keep sayin' it," his voice shook. "It's that little piece of hope I have left. There hasn't been a single day I wasn't bothered about you and Kian, as fucked up as it sounds. Do you know what it's like to see the one you love, lovin' someone else?"

"I imagine it's the same feeling," Lucy's voice trembled. "...That same feeling to see the one you love...fucking someone else. Why is it okay for you...and not okay for me?"

Nate gulped and knew she was right. It was as if a form of karma had come back to him times three. First with Lucy's abortion & omitted truths, next with her getting with Kian, and lastly getting shot up. Even through the turmoil, he felt relieved that the three things have already happened and there won't be a fourth.

"If I could take it back," he began. "I wou--"

"Don't," Lucy interrupted. "Don't ruin it. I'm here now, okay? I don't wanna talk about the past, I don't wanna talk about Kian. He's my boyfriend and he's good to me. So let's live in the present, watch some damn TV and joke around whenever I come over, you're gonna heal and learn how to walk again, and we're gonna try to do what we can to rebuild a friendship. That's how this is gonna go down...got it?"

Nate simply nodded. He was happy Lucy was here. It was torture having her this close to him and caring, he couldn't help but resurface his feelings. He didn't want to talk about Kian either, but he wondered exactly how good Kian could be to her. Because he could put that to the test whenever he wanted to, all he needed to do was make one phone call for the test to commence.

_____________

Author's Note:

Alright Nate, don't let karma reset itself. (Haha, "Reset")

What will Sammy decide? Stay with his longtime girlfriend or see what else the world has in store?

Next chapter, we'll find that out along with a peek into the love life of Gilinsky & Vanessa. Also, Nadia will have an unexpected rival that could mess up her plans for graduation in a few months.

Stay tuned!

SIDE NOTE: If you haven't been reading "The Letters", I made an announcement about my upcoming Nate Maloley fanfic...gotta bring the bae back ;)

Vote & comment pleeeease! xx