••••

"Stephanie, I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you. You've always been so beautiful that even as kids, I was jealous of you. I know I stole some of your boyfriends, and I never even knew why, with some of them. I didn't even like most of them," Mary said.

Stephanie's grip on my hand grows tighter as Mary speaks, and I can feel the anger nearly radiating off of her in the cold night.

"I think I know why, now," Mary continues to say.

"I've always been jealous that those other men could have you, when what I really want is . . . What I truly desire. . . I took your boyfriends, so that I could in some way be close to you," she finishes in a rush, and Stephanie's hand releases mine in shock.

The impact of what she'd just said isn't lost on me either, as I stand there stunned.

"Why are you telling me this now?" my date asks.

"Because... because I only just realized it in there. No one has ever been able to ignore me as he did, so I decided to step up my game by playing with you. Only, instead of winning him over, I found that I enjoy being with you. I realize that I've liked you for a very long time." Mary sounds truly sincere, but I can't help but wonder if this is just another ploy of hers, to win me over. If it is, I don't see how it'll work.

The two women look at each other for a bit, and Stephanie apparently reaches a decision. She turns to me and takes both of my hands in hers.

"Nick, will you please go warm up your car. I promise I'll be there in a bit."

"Are you sure?" I whisper to her.

She glances back at Mary and then looks me deep in the eyes. "I'm sure," she states, placing her hand on my chest and lightly brushing her soft lips across mine.

Unsure what's going to happen, I stay aware of her 'happy' switch. While it's not on, it's not entirely off either. I walk to my car, part of my mind on that switch, as I start it up and turn up the heater. Curiously, her switch moves a little bit to the happy side, but not far, before I see them both walking over to my car.

Jumping out, I hold the car door open for Stephanie.

"Mary is going to come back to my place with us," she tells me, whispering in my ear. "And I'm not giving you permission to be with her."

The last part of the whisper is fierce, and I find that I'm now more confused than ever. What were these two Rogues talking about?

The drive is not long, but it feels longer in my car, with the silence. When I get out of my car, I help Stephanie by opening her door. I notice that Mary also waits for me to open her door, too. I look to my date, and she doesn't seem to care, so I open her door, and she steps out.

Let it never be said that Mom didn't raise a gentleman.

"Thanks, Nick," Mary tells me. "I'm sorry about how I behaved earlier."

I nod, not sure what to say.

Once inside, Stephanie pours us all drinks, and they sit to watch TV, while I go to remove my contacts. My eyes are starting to bother me. I can hear the women talking, but I can't make out what they're saying, and when I rejoin them, they immediately stop talking.

"Will someone please explain to me what's going on?" I ask, somewhat annoyed by their behavior.

Stephanie hands me my drink before explaining.

"We've decided to try and be friends and see how that works. If it goes well, then maybe more will come later." I nod, pretending this makes perfect sense, and after some thought, it actually does.

Hadn't Richard been friendly to me after I'd stolen Tina from him?

"So, Nick. You're all the talk of the campus right now. You seem to have grown pretty popular lately," Mary comments.

I swallow a sip of my drink uncomfortably. "Yeah, for some reason, some of the jocks have taken a liking to me. Kinda unexpected," I try to blow off the question.

They had become friendlier with me after the whole kidnapping scene, where Richard had beaten me up. I'm still not sure if it's because they're afraid of what I'd done that night with my switches, or because they feel bad about their hand in the fiasco.

Mary pretty much ignores me after that, even though Stephanie and I are cuddling on the couch.

When the ball starts to drop, we all count down and cheer as the New Year begins. Stephanie spins around in my arms and kisses me quite thoroughly after, and we're both quite out of breath when I let her pull away. I see Mary standing there, forlornly, and feel bad for her. I know what it's like to be alone on New Year's.

Stephanie sees her, too, and to my surprise, she lets go of me and walks over to the other Rogue.

"Let this be a new year for new beginnings, and the end of old rivalries," she says, and then pecks her on her cheek for a few seconds.

When she pulls away, I'm wondering if I'm actually going to get a crack at this second Rogue after all, despite what Stephanie had said.

Mary's eyes are sparkling, and I can see a tremulous smile on her lips as Stephanie walks back over to me and grabs my hand, pulling me back to her room.

"Someone has been on their best behavior tonight, and I think he deserves a reward," she tells me with a wink.

"Besides, it's been going on a week now, and I haven't had anything 'twixt my nethers that wasn't run on batteries!" Stephanie said.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.