A.N.: The first chapter of this story is dedicated to Mrs. Nikki Slater for being the first reviewer to the last chapter of Loose Ends. For this story I also have a beta, so you should also give a big thanks to ­­­­­­­­­Kay2DaTee for being my beta. Now, that does mean that it will be longer between updates, but the chapters will be a lot better.

Disclaimer: I'm only posting this once: I don't own these characters, they belong to Meg Cabot.

Mrs. Nikki Slater: I'm guessing that it was good though, right?

flonshoe: Yes, and here is the sequel. I hope you guys like it.

Living2Love: You don't hate me now do you? I posted, so you should be happy.

iluvmybeagle: Thanks so much, I enjoyed you reading. I hope you like this one too.

PrudencePiperHalliwell: Come on Nik, you don't have to get mad at me. And you won't kill me cause you love me. Admit it.

Uh.yeah: I tried to portray Rob the best I can, but sometimes it was hard. And sorry it took me so long, I had to find a beta.

moovalous3: Yes, the sequel is here. I hope you like it.

I'm-a-Phyico-Maniac-For-Coke: I ended it there, but here is the sequel. Lol.

madmaddy: I had another version of the sequel on the site, but I deleted it. So, now I have this.

JeSsFrEaK2244: Yeah, I hinted at the Rob and Jess love thing, but I didn't have Rob say the three special words until it was perfect. And I loved my cliffie ending.

maliaphire: The sequel is right here.

Introduction

Remember Me?

I woke up to my head absolutely killing me and white walls all around me. Actually, everything in the room was white. I leaned my head up to look around and then slammed my head back into the hard pillow. I was in a hospital. I hate hospitals. Mostly because of everything that happened with Doug, but I also have a feeling about hating them. I can't place it, but something about hospitals makes me feel…off.

I heard the ruffling of papers from another part of the room and groaned as my head pounded even more inside my skull. The sound of my groan triggered the ruffling to stop-fortunately-and the person who made the noise come over to the bed.

The voice sounded incredulous, "Jess? Jess…are you awake?" I kept my big mouth shut and I heard him sigh slowly and mutter, "No, of course she's not. She never is."

I felt the weight of him as he sat down next to me. He stroked my face with one of his large hands before I opened my eyes to look at him. He hadn't noticed yet. He was staring at me, but he still hadn't noticed me there. "I love you, baby."

I gasped. He heard it, "Jess?" He pulled me to him and hugged me tight to his chest while talking way too fast for me to understand the words. He smelled good though. I couldn't place the scent, but it was familiar, comforting, almost, in a way. I also noticed that he was strong and had really sexy looking muscles that popped up from under his t-shirt.

"Um…can I ask you a question?" I was just a little confused by his presence. Well, okay, that's an understatement. I was actually freaking out on the inside although I would never have shown my feelings on the outside to him. But I mean, here was this super sexy guy that I didn't know hugging and kissing me. Now this is something new, I never thought that a super sexy guy would do something like that to me.

He held me out at arms length and said, "Of course, baby."

"Who the hell are you and why are you calling me baby?" He dropped me, the little ingrate dropped me. My head, which to this point had been killing me, had just gotten three times worse as my head was bounced on the stupid hard pillow that hospitals always give to their patients.

To say he looked surprised would be a major understatement. By the expression on his face, I thought he was going to have a heart attack or something. I'm serious. He was shocked, but he also had a sort of pained sort of look on his face and I was just about to get him a doctor. I now I have no idea where these thoughts were coming from. This couldn't be me thinking this could it?

"Mastriani…what do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean? You look familiar, but I can't place you. Who are you and what are you doing here? And you can explain what I'm doing here as well." I started to push myself up on my elbows, but he pushed me right back down.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to go find a doctor. Stay here."

He was in the doorway before I said, "Wait a minute." He stopped and looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Ruth…Ruth brought me to the hospital?"

He looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The last thing I remember is Ruth saying 'Jess, don't' and then I blacked out. Did she bring me here?" I was looking at him suspiciously.

He stared at me blankly until he said slowly as if he was still trying to process what I said, "So, you don't remember being shot?"

"Shot? What do you mean shot?"

"Never mind, I'm going to go find a doctor. He might be able to figure out what's wrong with you."

"Hold on a minute. How long have I been in this hospital?"

He rubbed his eyes and said, "Five months and a five days."

I was in shock. I couldn't be sure, but I think that I was opening and closing my mouth like a fish. What a great way to impress hot guys, huh?

He walked back over to me and leaned over to brush some of my long hair away from my face. I had just got a look at that too and I saw that my short hair had now grown to be about shoulder length. I wouldn't be able to fully tell until I could get a brush, but I knew he was telling the truth at least. I was lost in thought, and forgot about the guy standing over me. But, he hadn't forgotten about me if the look in his eyes was any indication. Just before he stood up and walked away, he gave me a kiss on the forehead and whispered, "Happy birthday, baby."

He left and I was left to ponder that. The last thing I remember is it being May, and now he told me that it was now April. I had also been in the hospital the last five months and some number of days, so I had been in here since December, specifically December 25. That means I don't remember anything from May to December!

A.N.: If any of you don't know cause it doesn't mention it in the books; Jess's birthday is April 20. I'm sorry the chapter is so short, but I really want to have everything in the next chapter. This was the introduction after all, a chapter, but not at the same time. So, review for me please!

And we should all give a round of applause to Kaitie for her first beta chapter. (APPLAUSE FOR KAITIE)