A/N: Thank you all so much for the great reviews! I have no definite plan for this story yet... I plan on writing each chapter and just going from there, which is the easiest thing in my mind.
Seeing that I don't have much going on this month... besides the weekly guard practices, I'm going to write as much as possible before July, because I'll be gone the last week of that month.

Disclaimer: Oh sure, I own it... yeah right... If I did I wouldn't be here writing...

Chapter Dedication: A.J.L. The coolest, funniest, most perverted guy I know. You are awesome and amazing, and I thank you for all your encouragement. Love you! -

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xXx Chapter 2 xXx

Lisa and Cookie... what to say about them? They had been together since the last day of 8th grade, and had been inseparable. Sure, like normal couples they fought a lot, and they did not always agree on everything. Through it all, they loved each other, no matter how crazy they made each other at times.

Ned and Jennifer made their way up the walkway of the Zemo residence. Once again, in complete silence. The silence between them may seem awkward to most, but it was the most comforting thing for these two. Connected so much that they no longer needed words to be there for each other, all they needed was to simply be there. Some people would say this was a lot more then a friendship, that they were actually together, but everyone knew it wasn't true. Maybe the reason they had never figured out what they "were" was simply because of the silence. They talked at school, and when they were with their friends, but when it was just the two of them, they preferred their secret bond of silence, of knowing what the other was going through, or thinking, by just looking at each other.

Lisa Zemo appeared in front of them, opening the door to allow her guests to join them. Knowing what today was, what had happened those few years ago, she threw her arms around Jennifer, taking her in a tight embrace. Jennifer hugged back, and told Lisa she was okay. Walking through the Zemo house seemed like walking through a museum. Mr. and Mrs. Zemo were research historians, and they had all sorts of historical documents and artifacts in their house, replicas of course, but interesting none the less. The constant atmosphere of the house was the most comforting thing to Jennifer, besides Ned that is. She always felt at home in the Zemo household.

The three made their way to the back of the house. On the deck was an array of tables and chairs, a rather large bar-b-que, and a nice stereo system. Sitting in some of the chairs were Lisa's mom, Charlene, her older brother, Greg, and her two younger sisters, Molly and Juliana. Cookie sat beside Lisa's mother, talking about something or another, and her father, Mark, was manning the grill. Jennifer took a seat beside Lisa, and Ned followed in suit. The four friends quickly started talking about summer vacation, and their plans for the rest of the week. They hadn't had much of a chance to see each other between all the activities of summer. Lisa, the talented musician she was, played clarinet in the high schools marching band, and spent a lot of time practicing. Cookie also was involved with the marching band, a technician for the electrical equipment in the pit. Ned had, of course, been swimming a lot, and working at the pool as a lifeguard. Jennifer was busy with volleyball, and she too had been doing a lot of swimming, trying to keep her times the same from last season. The girls quickly made plans for shopping the next day, while the guys agreed to go with them, but spend the time in the mall doing something besides carrying the girls bags.

Lunch was served, and al was going well. Causal conversation was soon replaced by fond memories of middle school, and some of the outrageous plans Ned and Cookie had pulled Jennifer into. They talked of "Book Club" and Cookies clever disguise to get Lisa to notice him. The talent show in 7th grade was brought up, and Jennifer's wood sculpting talent was talked about with much excitement. The friends shared laughs and stories about each other. They talked of other friends, Suzie Crabgrass, Billy Loomer, Coconut Head, Martin Queerly, Seth Powers and Faymen Fortune. Eventually conversation landed on Ned and Suzie, who through the past two years of high school had an on and off relationship.

"Well, when we broke up last time, she said she couldn't be with me if I was so blind to my situation. I'm still not sure what she meant by it, but I heard she's with Kyle Davis now, and he's a good guy, so I'm happy for her." Ned said, lying through his teeth. He knew what Suzie meant by "Blind to your situation", but he knew it wasn't something to act upon. Jennifer was his best friend, and even though he would be the happiest person alive to be dating such a wonderful, caring, beautiful girl, if he ever lost her, he would be hopeless.

Cookie of course knew how Ned felt. It was something they had spent many hours talking about over the past few years, and even though he knew the apprehensions, it did not make much sense at all to him. Ned loved Jennifer, and he should just go for it.

As the meal end, Ned looked at his watch, hen at Jennifer. "We should be heading out, we have some plans. We'll see you two tomorrow, say, noon-ish?" He asked, getting up from the table. Jennifer got up too, giving Lisa one last hug and promising to call later that night.

"Noon sounds good. Lets meet at the mall main entrance, the girl can go do their shopping thing, we can go have our guy time." Cookie said, looking at Lisa as she nodded in agreement. He looked at Ned, gave a motioning glance towards Jennifer, and mouthed the words "Today's the day! Do it." Ned looked from Cookie to Jennifer, and back to Cookie. Mouthing the words "I don't know. Maybe.", he turned away and lead Jennifer to his car.

Today was the day. Four years ago today, Ned fell in love with Jennifer. After her mother died, and she ran to the park, he followed her and found her. They just sat there for hours, until Neds father came and found them. In the few hour they just had to sit there, the hardly said a word. Ned just let Jennifer cry, and held her tightly. That was the beginning of the silence between each other. Not because they couldn't talk, but because there was something comforting in the silence.

As they drove away from the Zemo house, the casual conversation from the table moved to the car.

"Where are we going, you still haven't told me." Jennifer said, with wonder in her voice.

"Oh, well you will see. Be patient Moze, you'll like the surprise." Ned said.

They continued to drive, once again silence submersing them as the drove through the town. Jennifer had no idea where they were headed, but knowing Ned it would be fun wherever the went. Her mind kept wandering though, her previous thoughts of the morning came filling back... what would it be like to kiss Ned Bigby? Of course it would probably be awkward. Yet the fact that it would be awkward was what drew Jennifer to the thought. Maybe it wouldn't be awkward, maybe it would be just right.

Pulling into a parking lot of an unfamiliar place, Ned unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. Jennifer followed in suit, closing the door behind her. Ned grabbed Jennifer's hand as they headed down a walkway leading to some unknown place. Yet it seemed so familiar, then again completely new to Jennifer. Wherever they were, she was completely comfortable, because she knew Ned would never let anything hurt her.

They walked for a few minutes, and there they were. They ended at a place where Jennifer had been before, but it had been so many years.

"What are we doing here?" Jennifer asked, looking around at the familiar place.

"I figured we hadn't been here in a while, since we were like, nine. I found out that they were still open, so I decided that we should come and visit." Ned said, still holding Jennifer's hand in his.

"Well, lets go then. We might as well, seeing that you drove us all the way here." She said, looking at Ned, finding comfort in his eyes.

The two continued their way up the walk, not knowing what to expect when they entered the building. It was a place of comfort for Jennifer, she had spent many hours in this place, mainly with Ned and her parents. Why Ned had wanted to go here, she was unsure. It had been years since they even entered this building, but it still held warm memories. This was the place where she first met Ned, even though he had been living next door for a few weeks. The old familiar place which she held so dear had been their day care center. Jennifer mother worked here, all the way up until her death. Since then she had been back once, to clean out her mother office with her father. Ned knew that fact, and found this a perfect opportunity to come and visit.

"Jennifer!" A voice of a plump older women called out. It was Marjorie Glenn, the owner of the day care center. "Oh darling, look at you! My how you have grown."

"Thank you. Its great to see you Marge, how have things been?" Jennifer asked politely, not sure what all to say.

"Well, things have been good. We all miss seeing you around here, but we understand why." The older women said trying to give her some comfort. "It has been four years since we lost your mom, and we all miss her dearly."

"I know. I miss her too." Jennifer said, trying to hold back her tears.

"Oh dear me, I'm so sorry honey. How about you and Ned walk around for awhile, and I'll go tell some of the other ladies that your here, I'm sure they would love to see you." The older lady said as she walked down the corridor.

Turning to Ned, Jennifer gave a pleading look. Not that she minded seeing all her moms old co-workers, this just wasn't something she was sure she could handle. Not today at least, it was so awkward.

"Moze, lets just walk around for a bit. I promise if it gets too hard, that we can leave. I know how much you miss this place, and I know that you may feel that this is going to be really hard, but I promise you that I wont let anything hurt you." Ned said as he pulled Jennifer into a tight hug. He kissed the top of her head before letting her go.

"Okay, I'll give it a try. I'm not making any promises though." She said as she entwined her fingers with Neds, letting him lead her through the familiar hallways and classrooms.

The longer they were there, the easier it became to be here. The familiar scents of the building flooded her senses as they walked around the place, talking to old teachers and friends. Jennifer quickly started getting comfortable, laughing at old stories about her, Ned and her mother. The next few hours passed quickly, and before they knew it, they were heading back to the car. Ned apparently planned for them to go out to dinner, and it was nearing 6 o'clock. The two made there way into the car, once again silence taking over them.

"Hey Ned..." Jennifer said, looking at him smiling.

"What?" He asked, not looking back because he was trying to drive.

"Thank you. Thank you for making me go there and talk to the ladies, I have missed them dearly and I can't believe I waited so long to go back." Jennifer said. Ned just smiled, and reached his hand out for hers, taking it and gently kissing it before he sat their hands in between them.

Once again thoughts flooded Jennifer head. If only she could kiss him, just to see what it was like. Maybe her feelings would be confirmed, and she would finally be able to admit out loud that she loved him. Love...such a hard feeling to grasp. She was not sure if she really even knew what it meant. Deep down somewhere she knew she had feelings of some sort, but in all the years these feeling had been there, she hadn't figured out exactly what they were.

Pulling up to a somewhat fancy, yet not overly expensive restaurant, the two got out of the car and walked in. They waited to be seated, and when they were, they sat across from each other, holding hands across the table. Their waitress looked at them, noticing their hands, and smiled a them. Jennifer blushed deeply, realizing that hand holding wasn't something just friends did, it was reserved for couples. Pulling her hands away, she noticed a look of hurt on his face.

The two sat and ate, talking about the days events and what tomorrow would be like. Laughing about things that had happened throughout the day, they were really enjoying their time together, as usual. After eating until they were pretty sure they couldn't eat anymore, they paid the bill and left for home. Jennifer's grandparents would still be at the house, and she wanted to see them. The drive was silent, but it was the good type. The type that made Jennifer happy, they type that could only happen between her and Ned.

Walking into her house, she ran to give her grandparents hugs. Ned came in too, haven't seeing Jennifer's family in some time. They sat and talked for a while, and looking at his watch, Ned realized that he needed to be home in a few minutes. Grabbing her coat Jennifer agreed to walk him home, even though he lived only next door.

"Thank you so much for the great day. I had a lot of fun." Jennifer said, looking at her feet. Her mind was screaming "KISS HIM!", even though she was rather unsure what would happen. Walking up to the door of his house, he reached out to give her a hug goodbye. Squeezing him tightly she just stood there for a moment.

She turned to leave, but she felt pressure on her wrist. Turning back, Ned pulled her close, moving the hair from her face. She smiled at him, hoping he would do what she was pretty sure was coming up next. Leaning down, he softly met his lips with hers. She kissed him back, even though she was in shock and amazement. He deepened the kiss, and ended up pushing her up to the railing around his deck. After what felt like a lifetime, they finally separated, out of breath and slightly confused. Just looking into each others eyes, they let the silence between them settle once more.

Jennifer smiled, blushing deeply, and turned to walk to her house. She was halfway there when she felt his arms around her, pulling her back. He kissed her again, passionately this time, his hand cupping her face, while hers were in his hair. She felt a smile break across his face while they just stood there, in between their drive ways kissing Pulling away, yet still holding her, he looked down into her eyes.

"I've been wanting to do that for awhile..." He admitted, his face flushed bright pink.

"Me too." She said, her face as equally pink.

"I have a question..." He said, smiling.

"What?" Jennifer asked, hoping and praying it was something along the lines of a relationship.

"Can we do this again? The kissing I mean." Ned asked, a shy look on his face.

"Sure. I would ever much like that." Jennifer replied, leaning up to place a quick peck on his lips. "But right now, you have to let me go. You'll miss curfew."

"I'll see you to then." Ned said as he let go of her waist, turning towards his house.

"I'll be looking forward to it." Jennifer said as she walked to her front door. As she opened her door, she heard a faint "Goodnight Moze."

Walking into her house and up to her room, she laid on her warm bed. She wasn't sure what it had all meant, if they were just friends who kissed, or if they were a couple. She hoped for the later, but wouldn't mind the first one. Getting into bed, she looked through her window, where she saw Ned frantically pacing his room, hands through his hair and phone to his ear. Likely he was talking to Cookie, telling him what just happened. Smiling knowingly, she shut off her light and fell asleep in the silence. For the first time in years, she could sleep on this night without fears. Knowing in the morning she would be once again be with Ned, she slept soundly, waiting for morning.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I had most of it done and ended up falling down some stairs and almost broke my ankle, so I really wasn't in the writing mood. But I promise to make an effort to write more. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter ending, this doesn't mean it will be an easy thing for them to start dating...No worries though, this is defiantly and Ned/Moze story...

Bexx