A/N: Here's Part Two of Beyond the Bullet. Enjoy.

Music: 'Slipped Away' by Avril Lavigne.


Beyond the Bullet

Part Two

She wasn't sure if she had heard her father right.

Maybe this was a repercussion of not cleaning her ears when her mother asked her to. Savannah didn't know. Christopher wasn't dead. It was impossible. It was only yesterday that she had talked to him with Jake, via three-way calling.

Last week, she did, and the week before that…

"You're such losers," she laughed, shaking her head. "Why would repeat what your dads did? It's possible not to use the letter 's' in speech… Christopher, your dad lost the first time anyway."

Christopher fake-gasped, "Jake, we've been named…the plural and counterpart…of winner. Exactly. Family honour."

"I'm hurt. Do you really want to…picture me crying?" Jake asked, pretending to psychologically damaged by Savannah's comment.

"Oh no. God forbid the great Jake Matthews start crying!"

"No, I actually want to…uh, view that," Christopher replied, laughing.

"Oh, you're a lot of help…"

"Aww, Jakey's a softie…" Savannah sang, teasingly.

"Aww, Jakey…how cute," Christopher Barrett teased after his girl best friend.

"Oh, ha, ha…" the other boy replied, sarcastically…

It wasn't possible.

It just wasn't. As bad as Savannah wanted to accept that her best friend was actually gone, she wouldn't it. It just didn't seem fair to be forced to accept that truth. Is this how life was? One minute you were with them, the next you weren't? She sighed, letting out a shaky breath, as Logan saw his daughter grow into a torturous silence.

"You okay?"

"Uh, Dad. If it's okay with you, I'm going to go think…about stuff, okay? I just wanna be alone right now," she said, quietly. Logan could see the tears in her tears, and she got up and silently walked away…

Savannah left her dad's study, and all of a sudden the shirt …everything seemed so petty. A million questions zoomed through her head, and a tear freely made its way down her cheek.

The three of them promised to be best friends forever.

She remembered splitting animal crackers with them on the first day of kindergarten.

Because of one bullet, it was all shattered.

Funny how such a small object could do so much damage, she thought bitterly, as she walked. Jackie walked by, noticing her little sister's sad state. Frankly, Jackie was the last person Savannah wanted to see or talk to.

"Look if you're upset about the shirt, I'll give you a new one, but it's just one shirt…"

"Whatever, Jackie. I don't care about the shirt," she whispered, in an effort to keep her suppressed sobs down. Jackie noticed, and was for once concerned. Savannah turned to walk away, but felt a hand on her shoulder, then felt it grip her arm.

"Savannah? What's wrong?"

She grew angry.

Now, she cared? Just half an hour ago, she was all bitchy and now she decided to play the caring sister? What the fuck was going on?

She looked at her sister, a tear rolling down her face, but said nothing. Savannah yanked her arm from Jackie's grasp.

"Just leave me alone…" she said, in a calm tone that still had an undertone of anger in it. Savannah stormed past her sister, and slammed the door to her room as she slid down it.

Damn, it wasn't fair.

As the tears flowed freely, she sobbed.

"Come on, I know Bianca Williams likes you. She told me," Savannah tried to tell Chris for the billionth time that week. Christopher had a massive crush on Bianca, but didn't know if she liked him back.

"I don't know," he answered, as they sat down at their usual table for lunch. Jake had a lunch time rehearsal for a play the school would be holding later that week. It was a production of Othello with Jake cast as the villainous Iago. He sighed poking at the mystery meat on his plate. "What is this crap? Meatloaf? I think I found some mould…"

Savannah wrinkled her nose in disgust, "I don't know, and I don't think I want to find out."

"Point taken…"

"Ask Bianca out, dude. She told me! She's in the cheerleading squad too, y'know…"

"That girl is fine as hell," Christopher sighed, pushing his tray away with a sigh. He looked up to find his friend grinning at him, a glint in her eyes which meant she was undoubtedly planning something. "I don't know. No, Savannah. Don't do it. Don't… aw, fuck, I hate you…"

"BIANCA!" Savannah yelled, getting the brunette's attention. The brunette made a confused face, and walked over to the source. Christopher shot Savannah a glare, before she dove underneath the table, and ran as fast as she could. She hid behind a wall.

"What are you doing?" a voice asked behind her. She turned around to meet a pair of emerald green eyes staring quizzically at her. His eyes are pretty. Why didn't I notice it before? And he's so – stop it!

"Shhh!" Savannah said, putting a finger to her lips. She pointed to Christopher and Bianca. "I just managed to get them together…"

A knowing smile started to creep its way to Jake's face.

"Your methods are pure evil, but they surprisingly work…"

Savannah smirked, "I try… Now, I wanna listen to what they're saying."

"I'll kill you, Savannah," he muttered, as Bianca's form came closer. She had piercing blue crystal eyes with long dark brown hair.

"Um, did someone call me over here?" Bianca asked, confused. Her voice was pretty nice too, he had concluded in thirty seconds.

"Oh, I…uh…um…" Chris sputtered, nervously and then cleared his throat awkwardly. "I don't think so…"

She shrugged, and turned to walk away, but something made her stop. Something she had heard about this boy needed to be confirmed.

"Wait, you're Christopher Barrett, right? Aren't you friends with Savannah Reese?"

"Yeah, that's me, and that's currently pending," he responded with a boyish grin. Biancalet out a small giggle, and sat down beside him.

"You're funny, but Savannah told me something about you…"

"I hope she didn't tell you chihuahuas fascinate me because compared to the teeny head, their ears look huge. It's insanity, I tell you!" Christopher said, joking. He usually joked when he was nervous, but Bianca seemed to like his sense of humour. He could have sworn, though, he saw a tinge of pink creep up on her creamy porcelain skin.

"She told me you liked me," she admitted. "Um, is that true, Chris?"

Christopher sighed deciding not to play it off anymore.

"Yeah, but if you feel otherwise, then it's cool…"

"But I don't," she admitted, shyly. Chris was shocked, but he smiled as relief washed over him.

"So, you doing anything on Friday?" Christopher asked hopefully, as they stood from the table. She smiled, and planted a friendly kiss on his cheek.

"I'm free on Friday…"

"Movies sound good then?"

She nodded, her azure orbs twinkling to match his brown ones.

"Yeah, I'd like to go with you," Bianca replied, smiling gently and then waved walking away. Savannah heard the whole thing and smiled proudly.

"Jake, tell me who's good," she instructed, cupping a hand over her ear. Jake rolled his eyes, and sighed, reciting the answer in monotone and no emotion on his face.

"Oh, you are. Queen Savannah the Insanely Awesome…"

"Damn straight," she answered, with a nod and a satisfied smirk to match… Then she looked at Jake, who had a teasing smile on his face. "Wait, that was sarcasm!"

"Psh, me? Use sarcasm… never!"

She playfully pointed an accusing finger at him, "You just used it again! You better run, Matthews before I give you boobs tomorrow…"

Jake backed away, as she advanced, "Can't we work something out?"

"Nope…" she answered, as he prepared to run. Jake shrugged, and laughed running as Savannah took off after him, laughing all the way…

Those were one of her happier times. What happened? How could everything change like that in a matter of hours? Savannah knew she was smart, with an IQ of 125 under her belt, but even this was way too hard to understand.

Savannah hugged herself and once she started sobbing, she didn't stop…

--

It was quiet in the Barrett house.

Grief overtook the couple, as they finally had the opportunity to visit their son in the hospital morgue. Usually at this time, visiting hours were over but Quinn and Zoey allowed them to have all the times they needed. Three hours later, and it was still so surreal to them.

He was so cold, so still, yet even in death Christopher had an angelic quality about him. His parents realized he had an uncanny ability to touch people.

"Michael?" Lola asked, her husband quietly.

"What is it, baby?"

A tear made its way out of her eyes as he reached up, wiping the tear. He summoned up the strength to prevent his own tears from showing.

"Do you remember when he was born, and stood over his crib…and we watched him sleep?"

Michael's face broke out into a fond smile, and his eyes filled with unshed tears. He swallowed thickly, making his Adam's apple bob up and down. He pictured the small baby he used to hold in his arms. Michael imagined the baby that would let out an ear-piercing cry for him, and in an instant just by his presence, Christopher would stop and look up at his father with wide, brown eyes.

Lola remembered her pregnancy, and how happy she had been after Zoey and Quinn were also pregnant with a boy that would be named Jake, and a little girl later dubbed Savannah. She remembered how Christopher would cry for her, showing her his latest "boo-boo" and he wanted Lola to desperately kiss it better.

"Mommy!" Three-year-old Christopher squealed with joy, as he ran as fast he could into his mother's outstretched and welcoming arms. He wrapped his arms around his mom, as Lola returned the hug, smiling and kissing her son's head. She pulled away, and took his little hand, walking down the street.

"So, how was pre-school?" Lola asked, smiling down at her little boy. He looked back up, an innocent grin on his face.

"It was fun, Mommy!" Christopher said, excitedly, and frowned a little. "…but Savannah got the time-out chair…and she got no juice so me and Jake shared ours with her…"

"Ooh, that's no fun… but that was a very nice thing you did."

"…but I wish you were there to colour with me…"

"How about I get you a snack and then me, you and Daddy can play together?" Lola suggested, happily. "Okay?"

Christopher's eyes lit up, "'Kay, Mommy!"

…just to make the "owwies" go away.

"Yeah," he answered, quietly, as he wrapped a comforting arm around a tearing Lola. He sighed, shakily again, his broken voice sounding. "I remember…"

God, they remembered…

--

"Dad, what's wrong with Savannah?" Jackie asked, seriously concerned. Logan sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. It was a tiring day for him from an emotional aspect anyway.

"Did you do anything to provoke her?"

Jackie raised an eyebrow, "Not in this hour, no, but I just saw her after Chase and Zoey came by to get Ellie and go home. They didn't look too good. I wanna know why… and why isn't Mom home yet?"

"Your sister's friend was shot," Logan explained, shortly to his oldest, as she grew confused. "…there was a shooting, but neither your sister nor Jake was in school today."

Jackie could only blink. She was completely lost, because her high school was only few blocks down, and they told the high schoolers nothing of a shooting, or anything of the sort. She knew her sister wasn't in school because of a dentist appointment, but that was it as far as she knew.

"Well, did someone…like die? Savannah could see her friend at hospital or something, right?"

Logan sighed, staring Jackie in the eyes, "You know Michael and Lola Barrett. They're my friends from high school…your mom's too, right?"

"Yeah," she answered, shrugging. "…and I know Chris too. Cool kid…"

"Yeah, he is, and it's terrible for your sister right now because…" Logan had to take a minute to stop, as he caught the sound of Savannah's sobbing. He had done everything but it looked like she was inconsolable. "…you're right someone did die at the shooting. Your mom and Zoey tried to save him, but he flat-lined."

"Who?"

"Michael and Lola's son, Chris…" he told Jackie, as she gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

"Oh my God. I feel like such a bitch. I hassled her over a shirt! One freaking shirt…" she said, as tears starting streaming down her face. How could she have been so insensitive? "I took a shirt… without a-asking, and I t-totally blew her off!"

Logan stood wrapping his arms around a shocked Jackie who was now sobbing, and softly stroked her hair.

"I didn't know! I- I didn't know, I swear!" she sobbed. For Chris to suddenly die like that was a blow to her, because Jackie constantly saw him with Savannah and Jake. Truthfully, she adored those boys as the little brothers she never got to have. She sobbed into her father's shirt. "I didn't know…"

"I don't think any of us did," Logan said, his voice wavering slightly…

--

"Jake, you got a minute?" Chase asked, as both he and Zoey walked into the room. Ellie was asleep already in a couple doors down. He looked up at his parents and instantly knew something was wrong. He hadn't been in school for about three days, due to an acute stomach flu, but he was feeling much better, and was sure he could go back to school tomorrow or the next day at the latest. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

He closed the book, he was reading, currently the fourth book in his Harry Potter book set.

"Why does it feel like my mood is about to do a complete three-sixty? You guys look like someone just died…"

Zoey bit on her bottom lip to keep from crying, as she brushed the blonde bangs from his eyes. The parents both sat on the foot of his bed, and a twinge of panic hit Jake's chest. He hopped off his bed, crossing his arms as his eyes darted from Zoey, and then Chase, and back to Zoey.

"Jake, there's no easy way to tell you, but…" Chase sighed. "…there was a shooting at your school…"

His eyes widened.

A shooting?

"Who would have been stupid enough to bring a gun to school?" he asked, panicked. "Oh my God, are you serious? Well, is Savannah okay?"

"Yeah, we were just over there to pick up your sister. She's fine," Zoey answered, quietly. The next question out of her son's mouth made her look away, as a tear made its way down her face. Unfortunately for her, Jake saw this.

"Mom, why are you crying?"

Zoey said nothing, as Chase saw his son's panicked face.

"Well, is Chris, okay?"

"Jake, we need you to calm down first," Chase replied, as he sighed. "This is very hard for us as well."

"No! I'm not calming down!" Jake yelled, frustrated. "Answer my question. Is Chris okay? I wanna know!"

Chase ran a hand through his hair, "No, Chris isn't okay. Jake, this is probably the hardest thing we've ever had to tell you, but…"

Jake knew.

He subconsciously knew because the fear and panic in his demeanour didn't go away.

"…Chris was pronounced dead at the hospital tonight. He was the only one to die…"

His head hurt, and suddenly he felt his claustrophobia catch up with him. He was almost starting to hyperventilate. The walls seemed to close in on him, getting smaller and smaller. Chris was…dead? What?

"Man, how long have we been friends?" Christopher asked, exasperated.

"All of our lives, basically… but I don't know. I don't want to tell her and have it blow up in my face later, y'know what I mean?"

"No, I don't… I finally managed to tell Bianca I like her, and I have a date with her on Friday," Christopher retorted, with a dry look directed at his "brother from another mother" as he called Jake sometimes. "Tell her already. You're driving me, and yourself absolutely bonkers over this."

Jake sighed and looked at his friend truthfully, "The truth is, dude… I don't think I can tell Savannah I like her. As in 'want to be her boyfriend' like."

"And why not? They told me not to say anything, but our parents have bets on when you guys will finally hook up! Well, our dads anyway."

"Oh God," Jake sighed, putting his head down on the table. He looked up, running ahead through his blond hair. His hair often made him look Dylan and Cole Sprouse. "Am I really that obvious?"

"Yeah, pretty much…so why can't you tell Savannah how you feel?"

"Because I don't like her," he said, shrugging his shoulders. Christopher made a face, showing he was clearly confused.

"Have you clearly lost it or are you just being bipolar?"

"No, I just don't think I can risk telling Savannah I love her…"

It just didn't seem to equate to anything.

It was like one of those mathematical equations he would spend hours trying to work out, but the answer wouldn't make sense. It wouldn't equate to anything valid.

Just like his mood, the foreshadowed it as the low rumble of thunder sounded.

Before Chase and Zoey could comfort their grief-stricken, Jake ran…

He ran away before they could see him break down and cry.

A loud clap of thunder and lightning had been heard, and initiated the shrill cry of a toddler only two doors down…

--

She had been the last person to see him alive.

Today was their three month anniversary, and they would have been celebrating. Instead, she turned on TV to find out that he had been pronounced dead.

Her boyfriend was dead…Her boyfriend was dead…Her boyfriend was dead, the sentence ran over and over in her mind, as she sat down in the solitude of her living room, clutching a pillow as silent tears poured out of her now void blue eyes.

Bianca had sat there for the past hour.

Footsteps were heard, and a voice that made her cringe was heard.

"Hi honey, how was your day?"

Hatred seeped through her, her sorrow instantly disappeared. She knew who had killed him. God, she knew, and she hated him. She knew who had taken Christopher away from her.

"You coward…" she hissed, glaring daggers at her father with her eyes. She snapped, slapping him across the face, as she breathed heavily. Her usually straight brown hair fell wildly in her eyes, and she shook terribly. "I know you did it. You didn't want me to see him so you took his life and killed him, knowing it would hurt me!"

Gary Williams looked at his daughter, and laughed.

"What are you talking about?"

"This…" Bianca answered, producing a black 9mm pistol. Gary advanced towards his daughter.

"Where did you get that?"

"It doesn't matter because I'm turning you in, and I'll make sure your ass lands in jail," she threatened with narrowed eyes. Before Bianca could say anymore, she felt white hot pain cascade on her cheek, and when her eyes refocused, she found herself looking up at her father.

"Tell anyone and I'll kill you…"

Bianca screamed, the tears streaming down her face, "I don't care anymore! Kill me like you did Chris! I hate you… I hope you go to hell, you bastard!"

Gary then smiled down at her daughter, and wiped away her tears, but she slapped his hands away. He made her want to puke.

"I love you, Bianca…"

They sat there, as he had an arm around her shoulders. A scary part came on, and she jumped, squealing slightly. Christopher wrapped a comforting arm around her, as he felt her visibly relax. She looked at him, meeting his eyes.

Through the darkness, she could see his eyes clearly, a warm honey brown. Christopher looked at her, finding the blue in her eyes an attractive feature.

A magnetic force caused the two lean into each other, as their eyes fluttered closed. Electric sparks coursed through their body as their lips met and tangled together in a kiss.

Bianca and Christopher pulled away, smiles on their faces. They intertwined their fingers together, knowing that it wouldn't be last time…

And they were happy…

She slowly closed her eyes, as fresh tears began to fill them…

She wished that bullet had hit her instead.

With all of her heart, she wished…

--

Jake sat on the bench in his backyard, not moving.

The weather was unforgiving, as it poured hard and loud, the sound resembling the hissing sound of acid when it was affected. He was thankful for the rain…that way his tears would be mixed in with the rain and no one would know the difference. His light blue shirt was now a dark blue, as it was soaked right through, and his blond hair, now darkened and his bangs matted to his forehead.

He looked up to Savannah standing in front of him, looking tearful. Her hair dripping wet, and her eyeliner and mascara ran, leaving two trails of black down her face. Quinn had come home, but she ran away.

She ran away, just to get away.

From everything.

"Jake…" she said tearfully, sitting next to him. He hung his head, but she saw his shoulders shake as he sobbed quietly.

"He's gone, Savannah…" he said, through his sobs. "He's gone…"

Still he would hang his head like that, until he felt her arms wrap around him.

It was then that Jake broke loose and sobbed on Savannah's shoulder…

The day you slipped away
Was the day I found it won't be the same noo…
The day you slipped away
Was the day that I found it won't be the same oooh…


A/N: There's Part Two.

Next part will be the last one, and then an epilogue. Listen to the music as you read. Next part will have the parent's reaction, and Ellie says her first word, as Jake has a heart-to-heart with his baby sister. We'll get more of Bianca, and find out more about her past. I was crying while writing this, and didn't realize until I felt tears rolling down my face. It was that powerful, for me anyway…

I liked writing Jake and Savannah. History repeats itself…

Show me some love, as I study for my Grade 12 Biology Exam on Wednesday. Thank God, school's over…well almost.

REVIEW!

-Erika