Chapter One of Shattered

"Babe, it's been three months. You can't keep doing this to yourself," Deuce said, walking into the bedroom to see his girlfriend staring at a picture of Rocky and herself on her laptop. She paid him no mind, moving on to the next picture of Rocky and Gunther standing in front of the Hessenheffers' house in the old country.

Deuce climbed in bed next to the redhead, pulling her close to him. "Ce, please, I know you miss her. And even if you deny, you miss him too, but staring at old pictures isn't cathartic,"

"I should have gone on that trip with them, to the old country," She whispered, running her fingers over the picture of her lost friends. "I should've gone with her, we could've had more memories together. But I had to stay behind for that big shoe sale, didn't I?"

"Ce, Rocky went with them because she wanted to see what their culture was like up close, and it's not like you two didn't have thousands of other great memories together. What about that time when you and her won over Japan?"

Cece smiled, remembering it well. Her smile fell away though when she remembered what happened before that. "Yeah, and we also had a big fight that started because she wanted to take in the culture, and I wanted to be a star,"

Deuce chuckled, playing with a strand of sun kissed red hair. He tugged on it a bit, making Cece scowl at him playfully. He took it and put it over his lip, pouting his lips. "How good do I look with a moustache?"

"You would look good without any hair at all," She kissed his cheek, giggling. "But, seriously, where is Gunther? Shouldn't he realize that Tinka needs him?"

"I don't know, but give it time, he'll come back,"

"Promise?" She whispered, avoiding his gaze.

"Promise, Gertrude,"

"Really? Because I can't lose him too, and I don't even like him that much. Imagine what it must be like for Tinka, his damn sister. Doesn't he realize what he's doing to us? I've already lost her, and Flynn, I can't lose Glitter for Brains too," She buried her head in his chest, inhaling his scent.

"I'm sure that he knows that, and that he's just taking some time for himself. Please stop worrying," He pulled her back, hooking a finger under her chin, and brought her face to his.

Their lips met, and she instantly wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands toying with his hair. He brought her onto his lap, his hands cupping her rear. He smiled into the kiss when she let out a small moan.

He broke the kiss, and smirked at her pout. Cece gasped when she realized her bra was unhooked. Deuce just brought her into another kiss.

"Hey," Tinka looked up from her couch to see her boyfriend walking towards her with a chocolate cake in his hands. A smile broke out on her face as he took a seat next to her, placing the cake on the coffee table.

"You didn't have to do this, Ty," She said, even as she took a plastic fork from him.

"Hey, nothing's too much for my girl," Ty answered, popping his collar.

"Got it free?" She giggled at his flat 'yeah', and broke into the cake. She smiled as she popped it in her mouth, a bit of icing staining her lips.

Ty dug in as well, getting as much cake as he could onto the flumsy plasticware. He shoveled it into his open mouth, letting the excess fall onto the couch. Tinka glared at him, though her icing caked face ruined the effect.

"So, how's rehab?" His question was muffled as he shoved more cake into his mouth.

"Good, doc says I'll be all better in about another month. After that, I'll be ready for a marathon," Tinka smiled, her chocolate covered teeth showing. Ty chuckled, pointing at her teeth. "Oh shut up, Rocky wouldn't mock me,"

The mention of his sister made Ty suddenly sick to his stomach. He put down his fork as silence fell on them. They looked away from each others' eyes awkwardly. Neither wanted to admit it, that they felt guilty of her death.

He should've protected her; she should've protected her.

Those thoughts lingered in the back of their minds, never really going away and spreading, thickening, infecting the rest of their mind when they were given a moment of silence. It was a disease, a guilty disease, and it hurt.

"She- I- She was my sister," Ty stood up, the crumbs falling from his lap. He didn't look at Tinka, didn't say anything more, just stood. He walked from the couch, his arms swinging limply at his side.

She heard the door open and close, without a goodbye.

"I'm so stupid,"

Cece arrived at school the next day, her hair put up lazily in a bun and a downcast look on her face.

She caught sight of a large poster of Rocky at the end of the hall with candles at the bottom. All the students were gathered around it, some shedding tears and others with indifferent looks. The redhead saw the mathletes sobbing in the corner, holding onto one another and weeping out her friend's name.

"At least some people are genuinely upset," Cece jumped at the voice in her ear, spinning around to see that no one was standing near her.

Shaking her head, she turned back around, and began walking towards the memorial the school had put together at the last second. Cece stood to the side, able to see everyone who had come to pay their respects.

"You'd think there would have been something better for the best student, huh?" She didn't need to turn to know it was Frankie standing behind her.

"Yeah, well, it's more than you'd ever get," She muttered.

"Now, why you gotta be like that Red? We used to get along so well," The smirk was evident in his voice, even if she saw a blank expression from the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, until you helped my best friend be something she's not," Cece shot, turning around to face him. His eyes glowed, and his once blank face twisted into the smirk he spoke with.

"Now, are you really one to talk about making Rock something she wasn't? At least I only assisted. I mean, it's not like I had her hypnotized to do my bidding, now is it?" Frankie sneered, his eyes flickering at the sight of the shocked expression on the redhead's face.

She lowered her eyes, not wanting to catch his sneering gaze. "How do you know about that?" Cece whispered, trying her best to avoid attention.

"Oh, Red, don't you know? Rocky and I, we got real close on that trip to the old country," Frankie said in her ear, his voice husky and deliberately low. He straightened up, fixed his jacket, and walked over to the mathletes.

"What was that about?" Cece jumped at the voice, cursing herself mentally for being startling twice.

Deuce laughed at his girlfriend's reaction, wrapping his arms around her small waist. Her body immediately fell into his, an automatic reaction to his touch. He toyed with loose hair falling out of her bun, inhaling the scent of strawberries. His mind carried off to what Gunther used to tell him about Rocky's hair. Neither of them figured out what it was, though.

"Nothing, just Frankie paying his respects in his usual Frankie way," Cece sighed, nuzzling into Deuce's neck.

"Yeah, well, can you blame them? Rocky and him were really close after that trip to the old country. Like, border-line besties," He chuckled, not noticing the look of surprise on the redhead's face.

"What are you talking about? Rocky is not border-line besties with The Complication! They could never be in the same room as each other unless Rocky's telling him that two plus two is not five!" Cece spun around, pointing an accusing finger behind in the direction of Frankie.

"Whoa, Ce, calm down," He grabbed her shoulders, in a gesture to keep her controlled. "Why is so impossible for Rocky to have been close friends with Frankie?" Deuce intentionally failed to point out that she kept using present tense when talking about Rocky.

"Don't you think she'd tell me about her friendship with Frankie?" Cece crossed her arms, her eyebrow raised.

"Maybe, maybe, she just thought you wouldn't approve. You know, ever since you and Frankie broke up, you two are always fighting around each other, so I guess she didn't want to cause any more fights,"

"Well, she should stop being a whore, and tell the truth," Cece spat.

The crowd gathered around the memorial ceased all noise, their attention being drawn to the scene. The loud smack! had caught their ears, and they all stood with wide eyes. Tinka's hand was still raised, and Cece's head was snapped to the side.

"You never, ever! Speak ill of the dead!" The blonde spat on the redhead's reddened cheek before stomping off, her black heels clanking against the school's tile floor.

"What the hell is her problem? And when did she become apart of the conversation?" Cece yelled, turning to Deuce who stood shocked.

"I have to go," He whispered, turning and walking away from his girlfriend.

"Deuce?"

Deuce sat on one of the benches outside the school, his head in his hands. He sighed, thinking about what had just happened.

"Why can't she grieve like everybody else?" He muttered, sitting up.

His hands fell to his sides, his fingers brushing against something. Deuce looked down to see an envelope with his name written on it.

His eyebrows scrunched together at the handwriting, finding it really familiar. He picked it up, flipping it over to the flap. It was open, and he took out the contents.

The envelope and papers fell out of his hands, falling to the ground.

His eyes closed as he brought the picture to his chest, his breathing labored. His dark eyes opened again as her brought the picture to his face.

"Oh, Rocky, what have you done?"

"Hey, babe," Ty whispered, taking a seat next to Tinka in the library.

"Shh, I'm studying," The blonde hissed, turning the page in her history book.

Ty chuckled, grabbing one of her note sheets and reading it over. "Really, sweetie, you're writing a thesis on the impact of international war on smaller countries of the lesser known regions?"

"You," She started, taking the paper back from him. "Obviously have never seen the old country after even the threat of war,"

She turned the page again, two envelopes falling out with their names on them. They shared a look when they noticed the handwriting, their hearts beating faster. Tinka reached for hers, handing Ty his own, and together they opened them.

"No!" Tinka dropped hers, throwing herself into Ty's chest. Ty sat stock still, staring intently at what they had just found. His mouth opened as if he was going to say something, but nothing came out.

"There's no, there's no way, this is real," He whispered, staring at the picture.

"Ty, what did we do?"

Cece leaned against her locker, her head throbbing from banging her head repeatedly against the wall. She toyed with a loose strand of hair, thinking about what she had said.

Her head lolled to the side, her eyes falling upon the memorial for Rocky. "I'm sorry,"

Cece pushed herself off the locker, spinning on her heel. After briefly singing her combination song, she opened it. Her locker door swung open, the flash of her mirror getting in her eye.

"I think this the only time in my life that I wish I didn't have a mirror," She muttered to herself, digging through her disorganized locker to find her book.

"Well, too bad the rest of us are stuck looking at you anyway," Cece jumped at the voice, cursing under her breath when she recognized it.

"What now, Frankie?" She hissed, not turning around to look him in the eye.

"Just wondering if you got an envelope, or an STD, not sure which one you'd get first," Frankie laughed, holding an envelope with his name written neatly on it in front of her eyes.

He brought it back to him before she could snatch it out of his hands. "Frankie, do you know who's handwriting that is?"

"Of course, we were such close friends after all," He chuckled, stepping back.

Cece sighed, finding her book and yanking it out. She stumbled, the book falling open and something falling out.

"Aw, there it is," She heard Frankie behind her, the smirk in his voice.

The redhead saw that the handwriting was the same as the one on Frankie's, and her heart pace quickened. She nearly ripped it open, and fell back when she saw what was inside. Her skin paled, and her mouth went dry.

"Ain't that just a darling reaction," She spun around and lunged at Frankie, knocking him to the ground.

She clawed at his face, pulled at his hair while she yelled obscenities at him. Before she was able to do much damage, however, Frankie grabbed hold of her small arms and flung her off him.

"Now I remember why we were together," He spat. "You were always so feisty," He touched a thin, long scratch on his left cheek, feeling a bit of blood. He waved it off, walking away while Cece attempted to gather herself.

"This isn't over Frankie, you and I both know that!" She yelled after him, pushing her free falling hair out of her face.

"Of course not. It ain't over 'til the victim comes back from the dead and the redhead is hanging from a tree,"

Frankie disappeared around the corner, his footsteps fading off.

Cece's head fell, tears following suit. She shook her head, all her hair falling loose. Her voice faltered, breaking.

"Rocky, what the hell are you doing to us?"

Well, here you have it. The beginning of Shattered.