Don't Know Why

I'm haunted by this photograph,

Don't know why…

Sarah and I were leaving Seattle; that I knew. Where we would go…that I didn't.

I picked up the last item I had to pack and held it in my hands, simply staring at the contents beyond the glass.

"That picture reminds me of Kyle…"

I had said that in such excitement when I had spoken to my Mother before…now I realized how true that statement was.

Everything about Adam and Kyle seemed the same, not just their physical features. According to what I had gathered about Adam from Sarah and the Tragers, and through my friendship with Kyle, they lived, or had, for everyone else but themselves, regretting harshly everything that went wrong because they felt they alone could have prevented it, and they would do anything for anyone on the planet if they were asked.

I would do anything for Stephen, Nicole, Lori, Josh, Andy, Adam, Kyle, Sarah, or, heck, even Amanda, if they ever asked anything of me …and that's why I was going with Sarah. She'd asked me to start over along with her, as her daughter, and I'd accepted…because I wanted to know she was happy.

I know it's true:

A picture doesn't lie…

Amanda and I never really did make amends, and I hated leaving things like that.

Arguments over Kyle had been our only common ground until the prom earlier tonight. That was when I realized, with Lori's help, how obvious the tension between us was to everyone else, as well as to ourselves.

I had tried successfully to hide the pain in my soul after Lori had spoken; she didn't know how I felt, since I never talked to her about it.

Kyle, though, he knows I honestly wanted to right everything I'd done wrong. He knows how much I wish I could abandon my old identity in Amanda's eyes, as I have in his and his family's, and show her I'm not a threat to her relationship with him…

Lori and I had recently become friends; she's forgiven me for the injury I'd given her when I was being tortured by the information in my head, and she cut my hair.

I was Josh's helper when he'd needed one during his 'brilliant money-making scheme' on the radio, and I also helped him…study for the Placement Exams.

If I'd done all that to help them, and they were all right with me…why wasn't Amanda?

I could understand her issues with my sneaking into Kyle's room, but why couldn't I be anywhere near him without her getting jealous? It was true that in the beginning I thought Kyle and I were meant for each other, but wouldn't I know by now if I still felt that way?

I loved being around him, recognizing there was someone besides my Mother, someone my own age, like me; clearly seeing I could run to him and he would never fail to be there; to know I could be anyone I wanted, whether he agreed with my behavior or not…and still know he cared.

He seemed so happy with Amanda, and though I could tell he didn't enjoy the strain between us, he dealt with it because he wanted us to see that he likes both of our company and hopes that someday we'll find a way to compromise.

Personally, I was glad he saw us as equals. He knew just as well as I, though, that Amanda and I were anything but.

She was his girlfriend. I was his friend, yes, but on a separate level than to which the term regularly referred: we had been created from Adam and Sarah's DNA, had powers no one else in the world except for the four of us had, and because of that, were linked by an invisible thread that was always there.

Tears were in Kyle's eyes as he turned to her.

"I'm gonna miss you, Jessi." She looked back at him and replied calmly,

"No, you're not. Because no matter where I am…we're always connected."

He smiled.

"That's true." She resolved to abandon the seriousness of the conversation and went with a lighter method.

"Even if I am smarter."

"Stronger." They laughed and smiled as they countered each other.

"Faster." They were silent as they hugged tightly, taking in the other's form as they had physical contact for the last time in what could be forever. They pulled away, and Jessi spoke awkwardly as she tried to compose herself, having been almost broken to tears during the embrace.

"You, uh…you better get back in there…make some more memories. They're kind of hard to come by for people like you and me." Kyle laughed and grinned at her.

"You should come down, too!"

"Mm…" She shrugged dismissingly and shook her head as she looked to the side, then smiled sadly back at him and strolled toward the edge of the roof. He looked down at the gymnasium covering in instant, despairing understanding. "One last hurrah."

"One last hurrah." Jessi confirmed tearfully as she looked at him for a heartfelt moment before turning to jump off the roof.

Somewhere in my mind, I could subconsciously feel my fingers gripping the picture's frame tighter in my hands.

I was doing this for Sarah…

"You're not going to ask her to stay?"

"Amanda said something to me earlier. 'If you care about someone, you want to put their feelings first'? I want to do that for Sarah."

"I understand. I guess I just wish she'd done the same for you."

…So, why did I feel so horrible about leaving?

"Jessi?" My Mom's slightly calloused hand on mine brought me from my reverie, and I noticed as she removed my most cherished possession from my hands just how tightly I had clenched it. There were red indents on my hands, and I observed that the frame appeared slightly cavernous in some areas as well.

I flickered my eyes to Sarah's, and uncontrollably drew a sharp breath as her dark eyes pierced mine completely, the irises unknowingly growing arms and wrapping themselves around my heart.

"Jessi…are you having second thoughts about leaving? Do you want to stay?" Her tone of voice had dropped to the soft, tender one it had when I'd talked to her for the first time after Kyle saved my life, but that was only one of the reasons I was speechless.

I spluttered at first, trying to regain my voice.

"Y-You wan- But- Why would y- I-" I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and quickly opened them as I attempted to speak normally. "I thought you wanted to get away from here? Away from all the memories?" I pressed inquiringly, more than frazzled. If she was going to stay, it wouldn't be because of me.

"I did. But you're taking such a long time to pack, and-" I felt my expression twist into one of panic, and abruptly took the photo from my bed.

"I'm sorry, Sarah! I'll just carry the picture, see? Now, we can-"

"Jessi, stop!" I froze, staring at her, a bit frightened at the intensity her voice had taken on.

She took a deep breath and continued to peer at me, stepping back to get a better perspective as she proceeded to look me up and down. She resumed her former position, rubbed my upper arms with her caressing hands silently, and then grasped them firmly. I saw tears in her eyes as she sniffed and gazed into my identical hazel-green ones.

"I don't want you to make the same mistake I did. I committed the crime of leaving Adam without any explanation, never giving him any sort of information, not a single piece. Not my future whereabouts, a telephone number…I knew what I was doing when I left; I was killing him…and because of my selfishness, I almost lost him.

"Please…please don't make me go through that a second time with you, Jessi. If you want to stay, we will. No matter how much I want to leave this gosh-forsaken place, I'll stay, and don't you dare think I'll ever leave you," She caressed my cheek lovingly as tears streamed down our cheeks. "You're my daughter, and I love you…and I loved Adam, too."

She hugged me securely and I reciprocated, squeezing her just hard enough to let her know how much I wanted to take her pain away, relieve her of everything she had ever regretted.

"And I love Kyle." She clenched me harder still, and I felt her warm breath against my shoulder as she buried her head there.

"I know you do." We held on for a few more silent seconds before releasing each other, beaming. My Mother peered into my eyes, smiling brightly while nodding, knowing my final decision and accepting it wholeheartedly.

I reached for my bag to begin unpacking, but Sarah's hand hovering over mine stopped me, and I looked at her in confusion.

"Go tell Kyle the good news. I'll unpack your things. What do you say we keep this your room, I move out of my apartment, and we live here? The landlord will probably be happy to get rid of me after so long! Oh!" She laughed, but was cut off when I lunged at her and embraced her again, and she didn't pass up the chance to return it.

I pulled away, but not before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and then running out the door.

Stopping in front of the Trager house while breathing hard, I checked the time with the help of the moon and location of the stars. It was 1:47 in the morning, and although I knew Kyle and the others would be asleep, I ventured towards the front door.

I couldn't quite contain my smile as I hopped up the few steps in front of the house and knocked rapidly, loudly, in my anticipation.

I had known Kyle was up on the roof with me tonight without needing to turn around, and because of our bond, I knew he would recognize me by the distinct sound of my knuckles rapping against the wood, if not by my footsteps on his porch.

A small light turned on inside the house just where the entryway met the door, and I couldn't hold back my enthusiasm when Kyle, clad in his blue pajamas, opened the door. Through the decreasing darkness in the sky, I could see his eyes widen and a minute happy yet worried smile grace his face as he ushered me inside.

"Jessi, what are you doing here?"

Almost immediately after he'd finished, my eyes seemed to light and expand, my lips spreading wider and my teeth being displayed as I nearly shouted,

"I'm staying in Seattle!" With those words, I rushed at him, throwing my arms around his neck in my abundant bliss, and Kyle laughed joyously as he hugged me back, his smile just as large.

"Kyle?! What's…Jessi…!" Kyle and I pulled apart, though one of my arms was still around his shoulder and one of his encircling my back, when the hall and stairs lights emblazoned, and Nicole's voice was directed at her adoptive son.

She smiled questioningly as she stood on the stairs with Stephen beside her, Lori and Josh behind her. Kyle explained for me, his grin ecstatic.

"Jessi's not leaving!"

Their faces lit up instantly, all of them quickly filing downstairs and advancing toward us.

I released Kyle completely in order to catch Lori as she ran at me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders tightly, then Josh, Stephen, and Nicole, who held on a bit longer than the rest. Her eyes were wet, as were Kyle and Lori's, but Kyle was the one whose tears had fallen from his eyes and were trailing down his face.

I gave him a sweet smile and stepped over to him, brushing the tears from his cheek with the back of my fingers, his eyes closing at my touch.

"You're happy." My observation was simple, yet true. I simply calculated the number of atoms his tears contained altogether, and though the number of electrons is equal to that of the protons, the energy and motion produced when the atoms sped up to create the electric shock, is stronger if the person is happy, and weaker if sad.

He opened his eyes, and as I let my hand fall from his face, he grabbed it and enveloped it in both of his own.

"Of course. After thinking you were gone from my life forever two times now…I never want that to become my reality. Knowing that you're here at this moment, in the center of my family's hearts as well as mine, I can feel that you'll be here for as long as Adam, Sarah, you, and I are supposed to be. "

I beamed and felt tears sting my eyes, and a second later, I found I couldn't make out anything as my tears completely obscured my vision. But it was okay, because Kyle pulled me into his arms strongly, and I realized…

"…Everything we've been through together. I hope I never have to resent that."

I would never resent this.

A/N: The title isn't underlined because this new system of document proofreading isn't agreeing with me, which is driving me up the wall! It took me forever to finally think of putting that divider line between the time Jessi ran from her house to Kyle's, considering I'm exhausted; I tried so many different things, and none of them worked!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! I adore the Kyle/Jessi pairing to pieces, and even if you don't agree with it, I hope you'll still enjoy and hopefully review my story! This was meant to be a friendship fanfiction, but there are some aspects that I see as more than that. Nonetheless, I hope you liked it, and please review!