Sometimes It's Just Too Late

"Chris, seriously, everything will be fine. So chill out" said Joey as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I was so nervous about their plan to get Corey to talk to me that I was fidgeting. "He's right Chris, calm down" said Chantal, smiling at me. I calmed a bit and took a deep breath. In the car with me were Joey, Chantal, Shawn, James, and Keira. The others were already at the mall with Corey and Scarlet. "Sis, seriously, everything will be ok" said Keira as she rolled her eyes at me. I shook my head with a small smile on my face as we pulled in. "If he says anything mean, I'm sure Chantal and Scarlet will set him straight" said Shawn. "Yeah, but that'll only work if they're around. Once he's on his own, it's fair game" said James. I sighed and Chantal gave me a reassuring hug. "Don't worry" she said as she pulled away. We pulled into a parking spot and all clambered out of the car.

Shawn, James, Joey, Chantal, and Keira all walked in front of me, effectively hiding me from the guys view, which was what we were aiming for, well, at least until I got the signal from Joey. We all walked forward and I saw the girl next to Corey, who I guessed to be Scarlet, smile at the guys before turning to Chantal. Chantal nodded and then I saw Scarlet glance at me. I tried to hide behind James more, but Joey gave me the signal. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out from behind the group with my head hung low. "What is she doing here?" asked Corey. "Corey, you need to make up with her, you know that right?" asked Mick. "No I don't!" said Corey as he turned to walk away. Scarlet grabbed his arm and wheeled him back around to face me. "you will talk to her, because if you two come back and you haven't spoken to her, I'm leaving" threatened Scarlet. Corey rolled his eyes but then caught my sister's glare. He held back his shudder and grabbed my arm. I almost wanted to blush but I caught myself and stopped.

When we were finally away from the group, he let go of me and glared at me. "I don't want to be here" he mumbled. My head shot up and I glared at him back. "That makes two of us" I spat, almost smirking as he flinched at my tone. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Sorry about that" I said softly. Corey just looked at me and I could see his anger subside. "So, uh, do you want to, uh, explain to me what happened?" he asked, getting very uncomfortable. I grinned but then it slipped. "Like you'd believe me" I said. "If you explain, then maybe I would" he said, getting agitated. "Corey, like you're going to believe my word over theirs! You weren't even sober when they said those things" I said, raising my voice. Corey reeled back like I had burned him. "I'm so sorry Corey, that shouldn't have been said" I said quickly. "Don't bother, you already said it, can't take it back now" he spat before storming off. I groaned and headed back to the group, my head hung again.

Keira was the first one to see me and she ran over to me. "Chris!" she called as she got closer. "Hey" I muttered. "What's up? Where's Corey?" she asked. "I screwed up" I said. "How so?" she asked me. "I said the wrong think and it angered him. I don't think we're meant to be friends anymore" I said. Scarlet and Chantal caught the sorrow in my voice and grabbed me. "Come on, we're going to go find him" said Scarlet, smiling warmly at me. 'I can see why Cor married her' I thought as I waved goodbye to my sister. "So Chris, tell me about yourself" said Scarlet. "Well, I'm 26 and I speak fluent German and Japanese" I said. "Wow, really?" said Chantal, impressed by my abilities. "Yes, I went to college for it, that's why I was in Manhattan" I said. "That's awesome. I'm sure the boys can use a translator when they go to Japan and Germany" said Scarlet. I sighed and shook my head. "I can't do that. It'll cause too many problems with the whole Corey situation. Besides, I have a job" I said. "We'll call Roadrunner and have them call your job to see if they'd give you this job" said Chantal. "No, it's quite alright, seriously" I said, trying to persuade them differently. Scarlet just sighed and then caught sight of Corey. "I think it's best if you guys leave before he sees me" I told her. "You're right" said Scarlet as she hugged me before leaving us.

"So much for things working out" I said. "Don't give up hope" said Chantal. "Hey, how about you come stay with Shawn and I tonight? I'm sure the kids will love to see you again" she said. "Are you sure?" I asked as we headed back to the guys. "Sure, Shawn won't mind" she said, smiling at me. "You're too nice to me" I said, smiling. "You're a good friend of Shawn's, I treat his friends with respect" she said. 'She's a good person, definitely great for Shawn' I thought. "Penny for your thoughts?" said Chantal, making me laugh, catching the attention of the guys. "How'd it go?" asked Mick as they all approached us. "Scarlet left with Corey. I don't think we should keep pressuring this anymore, it's not helping her or him" said Chantal. Shawn ruffled my hair as he passed me. "Oh by the way honey, Chris is coming over tonight. She looks like she really needs it" Chantal said, smiling at Shawn. Shawn smiled at me and nodded. "Thank you Clown" I said before turning to Keira. "You going to be ok without me around?" I asked. "Sis, I'm 17, not 4. Besides, I'm sleeping over Chelsea's anyway" she said ."Do mom and dad know?" I asked. "Yes" she said, smiling.

We all said our good byes and I thanked my friends. "Come on, let's head home" said Shawn as I followed them. "I love how I come back to drama after leaving with drama" I mumble, but Shawn caught me. "It's life, but don't worry, we'll knock some sense into Corey, one way or another" he said. I laughed and shook my head. "alright, but no baseball bats" I said. Chantal laughed and smiled as we all climbed into the car. "So how are the kids?" I asked. "They're doing good. They've been asking for you though" said Shawn. "Cute kids…bad judge of character" I said as we all started laughing. When we got back to the house, I saw the kids standing outside. "Guess who came to visit" said Chantal in a sing song voice as I got out of the car. "Aunt Chris!" said Gage as he ran over to hug me. Simon, Alex, and Gabrielle ran over to me as well. I smiled and ruffled their hair. "It's nice to see you guys as well. Hopefully you're not giving your parents a hard time?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. They all tried to act like angels and I laughed very hard at that. "You're Clown's kids, there's no way in hell you're innocent" I said. They all laughed and Alex spoke after her laughter died down. "Well, we were bothering them to bring you over. We want to get to know you better" she said.

"Let's go inside. We'll order pizza and then we can all talk" said Chantal as she ushered us into the house. I laughed as I was nearly tripped by Shawn. "Nice, some friend you are" I said, smiling. Gage laughed at us and I playfully glared at him. "saitei da omae" I muttered, causing everyone to look at me with shocked expressions. "It means 'you suck' in Japanese. Sorry, it just slipped" I said, scratching the back of my head. "That's so cool! What other languages do you know?" asked Simon excitedly. I laughed at his eagerness. "I can speak both German and Japanese fluently" I said, proud of my accomplishment. "Really?" asked Gabrielle. "Yep, I went to college for it. That's why I was in Manhattan" I said. "Well, the pizza should be here in about 20 minutes" said Chantal as Shawn brought me a can of soda. "Thanks, for all of this. I needed this" I said, truly grateful for what they were doing for me. "Why? what happened?" asked Gage as they all sat around me. Looking up at Chantal and Shawn, they nodded, telling me it was alright to tell them, so I gave them my story. By the end of it, I could tell Alex and Gabrielle were annoyed with Corey. "He's so stupid sometimes" mumbled Alex. "That's your 'Uncle' figure" I said, shocked by her words. "Still, it doesn't give him the right to be rude to you. He should at least hear you out, but no he has to be stubborn because of something he was dumb enough to do in his past" said Alex.

I had to chuckle at her, causing her to look at me. "What's so funny?" she demanded. "You're a lot like your father" I said, smiling at her. Her annoyance melted and she laughed. "Pizza's here!" said Simon and Gage at the same time. I got up and beat them to the pizza, almost knocking Shawn over to get a slice. "Chill Chris, you're acting like you never ate before" said Shawn, chuckling at me. "Urasai!" I said before eating the pizza. "What the hell?" asked Shawn. "Means shut up in Japanese" was all I said before eating another bite. "Say something in German" said Gabrielle. "Ich liebe Pizza" I said, a huge grin present on my face. "What does that mean?" asked Simon. "Means I love pizza" I said, taking a sip of my soda. There was a knock on the door and Chantal opened it to show Scarlet standing there. "Hey Chris, how are you feeling?" she asked, concerned with how I was handling things. "I'm alright now. Does he know you're here?" I asked. "Yes, but he doesn't know you're here" she said, walking over to me and hugging me.

"Aunt Scarlet, why is Corey being a complete idiot?" asked Alex. Scarlet looked at me and I laughed. "She's a lot like Shawn it would seem" I said, causing Scarlet to laugh. "Tell me about it. Anyway, Alex, he's just in such a state of confusion that he doesn't know what is going on. He has no idea what to believe and I'm sure he'll snap out of it eventually" she said. I sighed and grabbed another slice of pizza. "I sure hope so, I want my friend back" I muttered. Scarlet gave me a sad smile and hugged me again. "I'm sure that things will work out. I spoke with the guys before I came over, they said that even if he doesn't talk to you, they're going to make him understand what happened" she explained. "Knowing the guys, they're going to lock me in a room with him" I said. "How did you know?" asked Shawn. My eyes widened and I jumped out of my seat. "Oh no, no, no, no! Small enclosed spaces plus Corey equals someone's going to get hurt" I said. Shawn laughed, as did the kids, Chantal, and Scarlet. " Chris, can I tell you something?" said Scarlet as she grew serious.

I raised an eyebrow and nodded. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me out onto the deck. "I spoke with Corey just after we left the mall. He told me that he would've listened, but you made a low blow" she said. "I know…I feel terrible about that. If I could make it up to him, I would" I said. Scarlet smiled and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "You love him, don't you?" she asked. I shook my head and quickly replied. "No, no, it's just…he's been my friend for so long, that I grew used to his company. After he left, it was like my world was less bright. There was just too much turmoil to make anything better" I said. Scarlet nodded and then hugged me. "I best be getting back. He'll get suspicious" she said. "Can you…give him this?" I asked, handing her a note. "Sure, I won't read it. I promise" she said before leaving. Chantal came out and smiled at me. "What was that?" she asked, referring to the note. "It was something I wrote way back. A note I had written right after this whole thing started with Corey" I said, not taking my eyes off the sky. "What did it say?" she asked, standing next to me. I could remember what I had written as if it was just written a minute ago. "You'll see…I'm sure he'll make a big to do about it" I said before heading inside. "I'm going to go to bed, I'm tired" I said softly as I headed to the living room, falling onto the couch and falling asleep.