“Nyurgh,” The word came out as more of a groan as Cameron leaned against her. She turned her face away, her nose wrinkling as he scooted into her, encouraging her to move. Well, perhaps she just wasn’t all that interested in moving! She had a warm spot!

When he flicked his hair at her, though, it was all she could do to keep from shouting at him in protest. She moved then, wiping her hands down her legs before she drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her chin atop them.

“I’m pretty excited to see you dancing like Richard Simons again.” She noted cheekily, turning to smile at him.

"Gabe, you should have stuck to your day job." Lexi said with a short laugh, watching as the tennis ball went sailing over their heads, and thunking firmly against the shoulder of the other man.

"Oh wait wait wait," she suddenly said. "Please tell me the video of the Girl Fort isn't in there..."

She seemed to remember a pair of panties being hung on the flag-pole, to prove a point. It wasn't that boys weren't allowed...it was the fact that they didn't want to come. Allie, she remembered, had called it a 'fool proof' resolution, even if it meant stringing up Lexi's underwear.

Settling back, Lexi went shoulder-to-shoulder with Cameron, her eyes flickering from Gabe to the young man next to her. How many times did she think about this when she was living in New York? Sitting down with a bunch of her best friends, watching old movies...

Admiring not-so-old flames. Indeed, she watched Gabe move from behind the safety of Cameron's shoulder, her eyes half-lidded as a secret little smile played at the corner of her lips.

Lexi bit her lip, snatching up a pillow and throwing it across the room in Spencer's direction. Childishly, she wouldn't look at Gabe now.

"Ugh I'm surprised I didn't kill my mom for making me keep that awful haircut." she muttered, shaking her head and running a hand over her face

An awkward silence stole over the room when the intimate images came up on the screen. The White Elephant, that one question that hung in each and every one of their minds, came to the forefront, but no one said anything. Lexi thought about it, she really did, but all she could do was glance back towards Cam, careful to keep her face arranged in a relatively neutral fashion.

If she knew Cam at all, she knew that he wasn’t going to want any kind of pity.

She felt uncomfortably warm, the air suddenly stifling. Making sure to keep low, she slipped off of the couch, stepping over legs and cups, and quietly sneaked outside. When the door closed behind her, she took a deep breath, thinking she might go to the beach again, or walk to the Drive-In. Anything. She just wanted to be outside.

She hadn't made it so far as the road before she heard him calling after her. "Mmm?" she hummed back, turning on her heel with her hands rammed into her pockets. She'd removed the beanie, her hair curling around her face and shoulders since she hadn't attacked it with a flat-iron just yet.

She wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to see him in that moment. All the same, she was grateful for company. "What's up?"

Something in her eyes, like shame, kept her from smiling at her fullest.

"First of all," Lexi said pointedly. "I wasn't storming. My exit was careful and respectful to those who were sitting on the floor." She pulled her hands out of her pockets and crossed them firmly over her chest. "And, yeah. I'm fine. If anything, you should be asking if Cam's okay."

She wasn't okay. The awkward scenario wasn't what had sent her out of the room. It had been something else entirely. Memories brought on by simply watching Cam and Brooke that involved her and another young man, one who she would have much rather forgotten.

She was also a very bad liar.

She looked down at her feet, her expression going from guarded to sad in less than a wink. She hadn't had a chance to talk about her dad, and to be perfectly honest she hadn't exactly been looking for an excuse to talk about it. None of the guys knew. Looked like that was all about to change.

"Um," her throat thickened slightly, and she gave a nervous laugh. She cleared her throat, blinking rapidly before putting her hands behind her head. "I-it was almost by accident. I wasn't going to come home from New York, but I found out my dad..."

She couldn't talk for a second. Heat flooded her face, and she had to take a breath before continuing. "He...he had a heart attack...passedawayandthat'swhenIfoundCam'sletter." She rushed to the end, reaching to rub at her eyes as hot tears prickled at her vision.

"Sorry." she muttered. "Kinda recent. I feel dumb."

She seemed caught up in a panic, trying hard to get herself back under control. He wasn't saying anything, and she didn't blame him.

Great way to start the old relationship back up again, Lex. You're fabulous at this thing called social skills.

Planting her hands on her hips and blinking rapidly, she took a short breath and sighed, smiling at Gabe though her eyes were watery. "What about you? I mean...working with your Dad all this time? Does he still think I'm a hippy?"

She smiled, laughing in spite of herself before stepping forward and slipping her arm through his. She leaned her head on his shoulder, casually, looking skyward as she pulled him forward into a walk.

"I think you're fantastically clever." she said quietly. "Impulsive, willing to take risks. It's his loss that he doesn't take your opinions into account." She meant every word of it too. She'd always known that he would succeed at whatever he did, and not just because he was born into money.

"I'm glad you did." she added, words coming out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I missed you." She blushed, realization dawning, then scrambled to ammend herself. "A-all of you. It's great to have everyone together..." but then that sentence fell flat when she thought of Brooke.

Just stop talking. Really.

"I, uh, think I improved my surfing skills today." she noted off-handedly. "I didn't fall off the board at least." But only because she'd never stood up in the first place.

As he started to walk, she grabbed for his hand, making sure that he was looking at her before she searched his eyes in a beseeching manner.

"Just...don't mention anything to them okay? I shouldn't have said anything to you in the first place, but I've been thinking about it off and on and I guess..." she sighed, letting his hand go and looking away. "I'm an actress, but sometimes I just don't want to pretend, you know?"

On any other day, Cam’s silence would have encouraged Lexi to attempt to figure out what the problem was, to see if she could try in some small way to cheer him up, to get him back to his old self. But there were a few things that got in the way of this. First of all, she knew exactly why he was feeling the way that he was (or she could make an educated guess about it), and second of all, the fact that she wasn’t in much of a better mood wasn’t conducive to being the encouraging half of their friendly dynamic.

That was the other thing. The one issue that was bothering her, moreso now than it had earlier this morning during the talk with Allie, was something she wasn’t sure she should even mention to Cam. Sure, he’d find out soon enough that Alex was back, that she’d met him, that he probably run into a few if not all of them at some point this summer. Did that mean she should warn him ahead of time? Would he be upset if she didn’t say something, and then ended up finding out she knew ahead of time?

Probably not. At least, he wouldn’t outwardly express that he was upset. But still, if she did tell him, then what good would it do any of them? Cam’d probably just become more ‘off’ than he already was, as if this mood of his wasn’t bad enough to watch or interact with. When he’d come to her to ask if she wanted to hang out, she had thought, perhaps, that he’d be a little less…down. Obviously not. The entire drive to the diner was done in silence, with Cam stalwartly staring ahead, lost in his own thoughts, and Lexi was too demure to distract him from them.

While she supposed he wanted to think about what had happened, she was trying to do her best to forget. All of it.

Seeing him standing out on the beach was like watching him walk straight out of her past. He looked different. Older, more world-weary, and there was this emotion behind his eyes that gave him more depth than she’d ever seen him have. It was like he was hiding some kind of inner conflict, some sort of pain that was burning to be expressed, but for whatever reason (she could think of a few), he just didn’t say anything about it.

That much she didn’t really care about. He could keep his thoughts to himself as far as she was concerned. She’d put them behind her, and they were going to stay there. And God dammit, she wasn’t going to allow herself to think about the way he’d made her feel, good and bad, how her insecurities had been laid bare for him to stomp on time and time again, how she was never brave enough to leave until it was really too late.

How she was never brave enough to face him and everything he’d stood for in her life.

They’d stood on the beach, facing each other with all of their past hanging in front of their faces. She wondered if he felt sorry, if he had thought about her as much as she’d thought about him in those months after leaving. With Allie suddenly talking about how she’d been jealous, Lexi couldn’t be sure. It added insult to injury, to think that while she had thought she’d had Alex for that short period of time…there was the chance that she hadn’t had him at all.

But he’d had her, hook, line, and sinker.

It made her feel sick to her stomach to think about it.

”Alex.”

She shifted to hug herself, glancing off to the side as color rushed to her cheeks. “It…it’s been a while.”

“I…yeah.” He murmured, the remnants of a wince at the mention of his name – his old name – on his face. “Yeah, it was. How’ve…”

He coughed into his fist, willing himself to just say it. “How’ve you been?”

“I, er, better, if I was to be perfectly honest.” She replied, avoiding his gaze now. “Came here to get away from stuff back home.”

There was a long pause. “You?”

He’d avoided the question, asking where she was staying. She found out that no one else knew he was there other than Mr. Florentine, and he’d told her that he’d see her around.

She certainly hoped not. She didn’t think she could handle that much.

Not realizing that Cam had already pulled to a stop in front of the diner, she startled herself from her light daydream when he called to her from the entrance of the diner. Slowly, she pushed herself out of the passenger’s seat, slamming the truck door closed behind her and crossing her arms over her chest before making her way inside.

“I haven’t.” she replied to his question, unsure if he’d been asking her or someone else.

When he leaned against the counter, she joined him, resting her elbows on the worn, cold surface as she debated talking about the things she’d inevitably wanted to talk about all morning. Not just to Cam, but to someone, anyone who might understand. Well, everyone except Allie. She didn’t think she’d be able to stand it if Allie got…excited about it or something.

“Cam.” She finally said in a voice that was weighted with the heaviness of her own thoughts.

“There’s…something I gotta tell you.” She began, not looking at him. She was being uncharacteristically demure about all of this.

“I, uh, saw Alex today. He’s back.”

He’s home.

She hesitated, immediately regretting saying anything when he turned his eyes on her. The tone he took indicated to her that he wasn't...well...who would be happy about the situation really? But she could tell that she had visibly upset him.

Well, she had to lie in the bed she'd made for herself.

"He's back. He's here." she clarified for him. "I saw him on the beach this morning."

Her fingertips were pressed to the counter-top hard enough to turn her knuckles white.

"Briefly."

Her mind was on that night too, when the entire court had been emptied, and it was just the two of them. Just her to face down the fury that Alex inevitably took out on her. Her against him, a conflict that people hinted at, but no one knew the full extent of.

But she wasn't about to bring that up. Not like it would help them at all.

"Honestly I didn't stick around long enough for a heart to heart." she replied, turning her back to the counter and leaning against it.

"Oh ye of little faith." she replied with a faint smile.

"Alex ruined my life once. I'm not about to let him come in and take away the one good thing I have in my life right now." She watched him for a moment, before shifting to take a seat next to him. With her knees up, and her palms rested on top of them, she regarded her friend with gentle eyes, her brow delicately furrowed as she thought of what to say next.

"We'll be fine." she managed after a long couple of seconds. Easier said than done, but it sounded nice, right?

She had been so lost in thought that when Cam finally spoke up, she actually jumped. She turned a wide eye to him, feeling a smile pull at her lips with his words, and squinted her eyes shut when he reached over and gave her a quick hug.

"Should I be nervous?" she replied, putting an arm around his waist as she slid from the chair and tugged him toward the door of the diner. Allie wasn't around, so at the very least she knew that he wasn't scheming with his wonder twin.

"Yessir." Lexi replied quickly, shaking her head as a smile grew on her face. Pulling the passenger door open, she slipped inside, slamming the door closed as Cam pulled off down the street.

There was silence again, but a different kind of silence. She could practically feel Cam's excitement rippling through the heated interior of the truck.

"So, no hints? No disclaimers? I don't need to sign a waiver or anything?" she teased, giving him a sideways glance and lifting a brow.

"I, well, yeah, but still...." she said as she watched the drive-in come into view. When they pulled to a stop, she tore off her hat, pulling her hair up and out of her way with a hairband before climbing out of the cab. She scanned over the drive-in theater, eyes fixated on a mess of broken-up concrete.

"Did...someone take the jackhammer?" she asked with a lift to her brow.

"Are we burying a body?" Lexi asked as she rushed forward to help him drag the massive piece of construction fabric out of the shed. With a grunt, she gave a final tug, pulling the tarp free, and fixed Cam with a quizzical look.

"I'm running out of ideas here, Cam, and creative guesses. What's got in you?"

Not that she minded. This was far nicer than mopey Cam.