"What the hell is going on here?" said Mr. Bale through gritted teeth. The dark of night and the falling rain gave him an extremely menacing look.

Chris took a deep breath. "Dad--" he started.

Mr. Bale held up his hand. "No. I don't want explanations!" He stared his son straight in the eye. "You. Are. Worthless. You never obey my command! I told you not to associate with Carlington scum like her," he said, giving Courtney an evil look. "Now I find you two going at it in the middle of a parking lot! You know, your mother was right! We shouldn't have let you come here tonight! Thank God I showed up when I did!"

"Wait a minute," Chris began. He didn't like the idea of his father calling Courtney "Carlington scum."

"I will not wait a minute!" interrupted Mr. Bale. "I don't want to hear anything more about this! You're coming home with me, right now!"

"No!" said Chris. He wasn't about to leave.

"Get in the car," said Mr. Bale, trying not to explode.

"No way," said Chris. "I'm staying here."

"Get in the car or I'll drag you there!!" yelled Mr. Bale over a clap of thunder.

"I'm not leaving," said Chris, simply. He put his arm over Courtney's shoulders and stared right back at his father.

Mr. Bale was having a hard time grasping the concept of his son defying him. "What do you mean you're not leaving?" he shouted. "Oh, you're leaving all right. You're leaving right now, and you're not coming back ever again! Not here, or anywhere she is." He took a breath. "That cafe you're always hanging out at? You are never going there again!" He grabbed Chris by the arm and literally pulled his son over to the Beamer and shoved him in the backseat, slamming the door. Then he turned back to Courtney.

"I'd better not see you with my son again," he said to her. Courtney was still in shock and blinked at his face.

"If I do, I'll. . . .oh, you don't even want to know what I'll do," he continued. He glanced back at Chris, who was now in shock and making no attempt to get out of the car. "I don't want him associating with you." Then Mr. Bale looked Courtney directly in the face.

"You're a Carlington slut, just like your mother," he said. Then he jogged over to his car through the pouring rain, got in the driver's seat, yelled something over his shoulder at Chris, slammed the door, and sped out of the parking lot, his tires squealing on the pavement.

Courtney stood alone in the parking lot, cold, wet, and sobbing. She couldn't move for a minute; she just stood there, crying and shaking. When she finally did move, she ran over to the entrance to Zazu's, showed her stamped hand to the doorman, who looked at her curiously, and headed straight for the group's table. Sitting there were Trey, who was back from his adventure on the dance floor with Tami, and Alyson. They were arguing, as usual.

"No, they don't," said Alyson, rolling her eyes and sighing.

"Yeah, they do!" retorted Trey, his eyes flickering.

"Trey, they do not put butter in Skippy peanut butter!" said Alyson.

"Then why's it called butter, huh?" asked Trey, looking at Alyson pointedly.

"Because it's smooth like butter, genius!" answered Alyson.

"What about crunchy peanut butter? What about that?" came Trey's reply.

"That's just. . . .oh my God!" ended Alyson when she saw Courtney approaching and the state the girl was in. Courtney looked at the two of them with unfocused eyes and collapsed into a chair, tears still streaming down her face. Even Trey shut up and looked at Courtney, concerned.

"Court?" said Alyson softly. "What's wrong? Where's Chris? Did something happen?" She looked up as the entire rest of their group came back from the dance floor as a mob, laughing and smiling. They stopped that action very soon.

"What's wrong?" asked Erin as soon as she saw Courtney. Courtney looked up at her, biting her lip and trying to keep back the tears that just wouldn't stop coming. Everyone looked at her expectantly, waiting for her answer. She caught her breath and looked at all of them with bloodshot eyes.

"He's gone," she whispered.

Ali looked at Aaron, who shrugged. "Who's gone?" she asked. "Chris?"

Courtney nodded. "He's gone," she repeated.

"Court, I think you'd better tell us exactly what happened," said Colleen, taking a seat next to her rain-drenched friend.

Courtney sighed. "We were outside, putting the top on my car, and we kissed, and Chris's dad came--" she halted and sobbed again.

"Oh geez," muttered Rob. Now he understood. They all knew the two were hiding their relationship. Well, most of them. . . .

"I don't get it," said Trey. He didn't get much. :)

Alyson looked at him like he was a three-year-old that needed to be told why 2 and 2 equaled 4. "His dad doesn't like her for some stupid reason," she said slowly and patiently.

"Well, I'm sorry! I didn't know that!" said Trey defensively.

"What idiot doesn't know that? Where have you been?" asked Alyson.

"Avoiding you!" retorted Trey.

"Well, that's very nice of you--" said Alyson.

"Hey!" cut in Erin. She looked at Alyson and her brother. "You guys wanna stop arguing for once? Courtney's got a little problem here." They shut up.

"I'd say it was a big problem," commented Dave. Erin gave him A Look and then turned her attention back to Courtney.

"I don't know what say here, Court," she said. "I"m sorry."

"So am I," muttered Courtney, wiping her eyes. "I'm just gonna go home."

"You're in no shape to drive," said Trey.

"What do you want me to do? Leave my car here?" asked Courtney. "My mom would kill me."

"I'll drive you," offered Trey. He was a Good Samaritan. =)

"How are you gonna get home?" asked Alyson.

Trey smiled at her. "You can play cabbie. Follow us and then you can drive me home."

"Yeah, right," said Alyson. She wasn't his slave.

"Alley, just do it," said Erin.

Alyson sighed. "Fine." She stood up and grabbed her's and Courtney's purses. "Let's go."

Trey stood and put his arm around Courtney, leading her out of Zazu's. Alyson walked next to them, worried about Courtney. The group watched as they left.

"Well, that certainly puts a damper on the evening, doesn't it?" said Rob.

Colleen looked up at him. "Well, just because they left doesn't mean we have to."

"Yeah, but I feel sorry for her. And Chris," said Rob.

"Look," said Aaron, "we can't do anything to help them. Chris' dad can't stand Courtney and he'll do anything and everything in his power to keep the two of them apart. So, why don't we try to make the most of the rest of tonight?"

"I don't feel much like dancing anymore," said Erin.

"Well, neither do I," said Colleen. "But I'm dying of thirst, so I'm getting something to drink." She headed toward the bar, with Rob behind her to make sure no guy tried to pick her up. :)

"Come on," said Aaron to Ali. "Let's go dance again."

"We just got back from the floor!" said Ali.

"I know," said Aaron. "But I feel like holding you again." He gave her a small smile. (Everybody: awww!)

Ali sighed and smiled back. She took his hand and they headed back to the dance floor. So, Dave and Erin were left standing together at the table.

"This is horrible," commented Erin, taking a seat.

Dave sat down next to her. "Yeah, this definitely qualifies as horrible." He stared at his glass of Coke, stirring it with a straw and avoiding looking at Erin. He was still upset about Grant. Erin noticed he wasn't looking at her.

"What's the matter?" she asked finally, after enduring a full minute of silence from him. Dave glanced at her.

"Nothing. Why?" he asked.

"You're ignoring me," answered Erin. "Why? Did I do something?

"I'm just thinking about Courtney and Chris," lied Dave, turning his attention back to that glass of soda.

"No, you're not," said Erin. "I can tell. Now, what's bugging you?"

"I told you, it's nothing," said Dave. "I'm just tired."

Figuring he wasn't going to tell her what was on his mind in the middle of the club, Erin said, "You wanna go home?"

Dave shrugged. "Sure." He stood up and waited for Erin to get up. Then the two of them went over to the bar where Colleen and Rob were standing and informed them that they were leaving. They said goodbye and went out the door into the heavy rain.

Dave and Erin ran across the parking lot, splashing through puddles, towards Dave's car. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the passenger side, letting Erin get in, and then ran around to the other side to get in himself. Dave slammed the door shut and stuck the key in the ignition. Still saying nothing, he pulled out of Zazu's.

Erin leaned back in her seat and sighed again. "Will you please tell me what's wrong?" she said.

Dave glanced at her for a second and then turned his attention back to the road.

"Nothing," he said again.

"Dave, it's not nothing," said Erin. "You're quiet, but not this quiet! Now, what in the world is wrong?"

"It's just. . ." trailed off Dave.

"Just what?" persisted Erin.

Dave sighed. "It's stupid."

"What's stupid is that you won't tell me why you're not talking," said Erin. "That's what's stupid."

"Well, maybe I'm just stupid!" snapped Dave.

Erin jumped at his sudden outburst. "What?"

"Maybe I'm not perfect," continued Dave. "Maybe I'm not as wonderful as Grant."

Erin stared at him. "What? That's what's bugging you? Grant?"

"Well, don't I have reason? You looked pretty happy with him on the dance floor!" said Dave, hitting the brakes lightly. Because of the rain, the road was slick and it was hard to see, even with headlights, because of the pelting rain. There were no other cars around.

"Well, I wasn't 'pretty happy' for your information!" said Erin.

"You looked it," said Dave sharply. He didn't know why he was getting angry. Neither did Erin.

"What is the matter with you?" asked Erin. "Grant and I are history!"

"Looked to me like you and Grant are a current event!" snapped Dave, speeding up.

"We're not," said Erin. Then she looked at the road. They were on a curve going around a cliff. "Slow down. You're going too fast."

"I am in perfect control," said Dave, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly and his teeth clenched.

"No you're not!" said Erin. "For some reason I can't figure out, you're upset. And you're driving too fast! Slow down!"

It was at that moment a raccoon decided to cross the road. Dave caught a glimpse of the small animal in his headlights and out of instinct, slammed on the brakes. Well, brakes and a wet highway don't mix. Erin screamed as the car spun around on the road, wheels screeching and out of Dave's control, and flew over the edge of the cliff, into the darkness below.