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Set sometime after this post.

Bobby wanders down the hall to Angelo's room. It's as good a place as any to look for him, after all. He knocks lightly on the door, wondering what Angelo wants to talk to him about.

Angelo looks up from where he's lying on the bed with a book, and calls out, "Come in."

Bobby opens the door and pokes his head in. "Hey. You wanted to talk to me?" He steps inside the room and closes the door behind him, leaning against it.

Angelo sets his book aside, sitting up straighter. "Yeah. Grab a chair, sit down."

Bobby nods and pulls the nearest chair out from under its desk, straddling it and resting his chin on his hands, against the backrest. "What's up, man?"

Angelo looks at him seriously. "Could ask you the same. You don't want to talk about it, we won't, but... I saw you leave the dance so suddenly..."

Stiffening slightly, Bobby looks at the floor for a moment. "Oh." He looks back up at Angelo. "You know...I was tired, and Al was taking Miles home, so I just caught a ride with her..." He flashes a quick grin, trying to show him just how 'okay' he is. Really.

Angelo looks at him a moment longer, not convinced, but he isn't going to push. "Okay. Long as you're all right."

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking, though." Bobby looks thoughtful for a long moment, trying to decide whether to bring up one of the things that's been weighing heavily on his mind since the night before. "Hey, Angelo? When you first started to realise that you liked Paige...what'd you do?"

Angelo looks taken aback for a moment by the change of subject, then sighs and settles back against his headboard. "Nothing good. I thought she wanted to be with Jono, so I... started trying to avoid her - 'cause that was going to work *so* well in a school."

"Yeah, that won't work," Bobby mutters, sighing. "Thanks anyway."

Angelo grins wryly. "Well, at least you know what *not* to do with... whoever we're not talking about."

Bobby blushes, dropping his body temperature several degrees to counteract it. "Yeah. I should just forget the whole thing." She probably just thinks of me as a 'cute kid', anyway. He stretches and stands, tucking the chair back under the desk.

Angelo holds up a hand. "When did I say that? Sit down, we're talking about this."

Bobby groans quietly and pulls the chair out again, facing the right way this time, and slumps into it. "There's no point, Angelo."

"Why is there no point?" Angelo asks. "Believe me, man, I *know* what bottling stuff up gets you."

"Because she has a boyfriend," Bobby states flatly, shoving his hands in his pockets and slouching further.

Ah. Angelo takes a moment to process this, running through all the girls in the mansion they could be talking about. "Well, still... doesn't mean she won't want to know you if you tell her. And at least then you've cleared the air."

"I can't," Bobby says quietly, staring blankly at the wall. "I don't want things to change between us."

Angelo almost laughs, biting it back just in time. "You think I wanted to risk things changing with Paige? She's my best friend, Bobby, and I almost lost her before I told her how I felt, because she thought she'd done something wrong and I didn't wanna know her."

"Well, I'm not gonna avoid A--her," Bobby explains. "Besides, she's got enough going on right now. I'll just...wait a bit."

"As long as you tell her", Angelo urges him. "Telling Paige was the best thing I could have done, you know? Telling her that first time, and then telling her I love her..."

"Love, huh? Wow. That's great, man." Bobby grins at him, deciding that this is a good time to steer the conversation back off of his own feelings.

Angelo smiles, a little goofily, thinking about Paige. "Yeah, it is. I've never met anyone like her, you know?"

"Yeah, I think I do." Bobby stretches his feet out in front of him, smiling. "Paige is a pretty incredible girl."

"That she is", Angelo answers, nodding. "Never felt like this about anyone else..."

"I hope everything goes well for you both," Bobby tells him, sitting up and hiding a grin at the sappy look on Angelo's face. "So...anything else you needed to talk to me about?"

Angelo snaps himself out of his admittedly sappy reverie, and looks up at Bobby. "Huh? Oh! No... just wanted to make sure you were okay..."

"Yup, I'm fine." Bobby nods to reinforce his words, standing and putting the chair back a second time. "All good here."

Angelo gives him a hard look, still unconvinced. "You come talk to me anytime you want to, okay? About your mystery girl or anything else."

"Sure." Bobby smiles and nods, grateful for the offer. "I'll see you, then." He grabs the doorknob and pulls the door open, shooting another slight grin at Angelo.

Angelo grins back. "See you later, man. Remember what I said, and when you're ready, tell her!"

"Right. Thanks." Bobby nods and steps out, pulling the door closed behind him.