A/N: Thanks to Thunder903 and Melinda Faith Halliwell for reviewing.

Chapter 2: Wayward Son

Mostly all of the Halliwell women were gathered in the kitchen at the manor along with Emily and Hailey the only one missing was Prue and that was because she was with her group trying to concoct a way to get Jake back home.

"I'm sorry this is just a picture that I can't get out of my head. Aunt Prue I just can't see you climbing out the window." Mel said in disbelief she just couldn't see her aunt doing anything wrong.

Prue chuckled "Well I did several times and I also sunk Andy up to my room more times than I care to count. Don't you sit there and act like little miss innocent either you've had to have done your fair share of trouble making."

"I totally resent that I am not a trouble maker and I haven't done anything that my mother doesn't know about. You should be saying that to your middle two nieces sometimes I feel like I'm their mother." Mel groaned she really did feel like she had to mother Carly and Val sometimes.

"Mel we have been through this if you didn't act like a little old woman then half the things Carly and I do wouldn't bother you." Val replied.

"Seriously Prue don't give those two girls any ideas they can do bad all on their own." Phoebe said shaking her head of course one of the trouble makers had to be hers.

"Val and I spend the vast majority of our time supposed to be grounded from each other but it hardly ever works. We are no more dangerous together than Jr., Chris, and Prue are and yet you let them have the power of three. Trust me when I tell you that those three are no angels." Carly retorted never mind that they just hunted demons and she and Val got into actual trouble.

"No you two together would have been fine until you decided that you were going to take Penny and Emily under your wing and teach them the ropes." Patty commented dryly.

"Hailey this is yet another reason you should be in the trouble makers group we have all the fun." Emily pointed out and she really was as bad as Carly and Val were. Penny on the other hand had become more tame since her incident with Torch.

"Hailey they spend the vast majority of their time in trouble I don't think you want that." Paige laid out for her.

"Of course she doesn't want that she wants to stick with me and Charlie. Since I am beginning to think that we are the only two well behaved Halliwells ever." Mel replied.

"Of course we all want to be like little miss pure and little miss innocent but we have more fun being us." Penny said getting some of her old spark back.

"Mel and I have fun too it just doesn't end up with us in handcuffs or under house arrest." Patty disputed.

Mel laughed and shook her head "Like I said we are the only two well behaved Halliwells."

Piper made a face at her daughter "First of all no one started using the term house arrest until one of the brothers from another mother said it. And second of all I will have you know that I was very well behaved. I wasn't the sister who had to be paid off not to have sex in the manor. I will leave it up to you girls to decide who that was."

"Oh please Piper you and Grams had this unholy alliance. And I will admit that I am paying for all my past sins my youngest two took after me and so did my oldest son for that matter. Sweetie I love you but you had no other choice you had to behave. I was the rebel and Prue was miss popular one of us had to keep Grams sane. Now you kinda act like her from time to time." Phoebe pointed out to her sister.

"I was not that bad Phoebe I had some friends I will have you know." Piper protested.

"Yeah Andy doesn't count and I hate to pick on you Piper but Phoebe did teach you how to make out so you don't have a foot to stand on." Prue pointed out.

Mel banged her head lightly on the table "Oh shoot me now." she groaned she was her mother made over.

"Penny for your thoughts Mel?" Patty asked her best friend.

"You can call me that one thing I told you never to call me and then you will understand." Mel replied wanting to crawl in a hole and die.

"Shit it must be pretty bad if you want me to call you Pippy." Patty retorted off hand.

"It's horrible Charlie you know I don't normally admit this but I am just like my mom." Mel groaned.

Val patted her lightly on the back "Honey it's ok it has been established that all of us are pretty much one of the aunts made over. I can't tell you how many times I've been told that I'm this messed up combination of my mom and Aunt Paige."

"No Val you don't get it so let me explain it to you. The first boyfriend I had Freshman year was because my cousins can't mind their own damn business. Namely this time I would be talking about Prue and Hank. Prue pretty much got the gorilla to tell Mike that if he didn't go out with me he would beat him up. So that would be how pathetic I am." Mel rambled on.

"Well if it makes you feel any better you did net D.J. and Roman all by yourself." Carly said trying to make her feel better.

"Don't even say those two names in the same sentence Carly. I can just sense that those two are going to have one big throw down. And I'm afraid my boyfriend is going to get his ass kicked." Mel said not even wanting to think about that subject.

"Mel Ro is a big boy he can handle himself. It doesn't matter that D.J has about a foot on him. Besides that I thought that you and D.J. both decided that you wanted to break up." Paige said.

"We did but now he wants me back and I just can't help it but I love that fuckin retard that I call my boyfriend." Mel replied.

"I had two guys fighting over me once and it's not all that fun." Phoebe mused.

Prue eyed her little sister up and down "With you I would say that happened more than once Pheebs." She chuckled to herself.

"Anyway before Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Prue get into I have a question for you Mel. When you become a cop will you fix my speeding tickets?" Val asked.

"Hell no I will not. Get Jason to do it that is why your cousin dates a cop." Mel replied.

"Actually Mel that is just one of the perks I date Jason because he is good in bed." Carly said with a straight face.

"I have a quick question Carly have you ever heard of over sharing?" Hailey asked.

Carly shook her head and grinned "No too much of what I do is too good not to share it."

Poor Ricky picked probably the worst time to come through the side door and recognized that. He groaned and mumbled something to himself. And he cursed his own stupidity for falling for a Halliwell woman. "Hello ladies I hope I'm not interrupting anything." He said by way of greeting.

"No it's a good thing you showed up we were just going to start talking about you." Emily told her brother without missing a beat.

"Shut up Em I didn't even come to see you." Ricky retorted.

Patty smiled widely at her boyfriend and she marveled at how good he looked. He was just wearing a pair of athletic shorts and a wife beater but he looked hot. "Snuffy what did you need?"

Ricky went into his pocket and pulled two sockets out "Which one of these did I use when we fixed that one thing on your car?" he asked.

Patty pointed to the socket he had in his left hand "We used that one I don't think I want to know what you're doing to your truck."

"Spring cleaning I'm working the whole thing over. Which reminds me is Hank here?" Ricky asked there was no telling what he needed to talk to Henry about.

"Yeah he is in the living room but they are in the middle of a brain storming session so don't think you're going to get anything out of him right now." Patty replied.

Ricky turned and looked at Emily "Is your bitch sister here? Because I really have to talk to Hank but I can't deal with her right now."

"Yeah she is here and she is your sister too. As a matter of fact she was your sister first." Emily retorted.

Patty knew that she was going to have to stop them they were itching to get into a fight. "Ricky you haven't seen me all day and all you can worry about is talking to my brother." That worked she wasn't really mad at him but it stopped him and Em from fighting.

Ricky went over to her and pecked her on the cheek "Forgive me I've missed you this morning. But I need to talk to Hank because I think he has a tool that I need and he promised me that he was going to help me work on my hitting for baseball."

"Well if that is all you need Hank's tool kit is here he won't mind if you borrow it and then we can all play a practice game." Patty replied like it was no big deal.

"That sounds good to me. You in Mel?" Ricky asked.

Mel shrugged "Yeah sure. I might as well get Billy and Huck too. I'm going to impart some of my wisdom on you children it's of no use to me anymore." She was referring to the fact that she was going to college in the fall.

"Hell yeah it will be just like the old days when Chris and Hank used to try to teach us everything they knew." Ricky said brightly.

"What about me am I not invited to this shindig?" Carly asked feigning hurt.

"Carly the last time I checked you couldn't swing a bat for shit. And your throws are even worse." Mel replied to that.

"Oh come on Mel you know you wouldn't know what to do with yourself without me and Carly there to bother you." Val said.

"Fine you guys can come hell you all might as well come." Mel relented she felt just like she had to babysit them all the time.

"Gee Mel don't sound so excited about it." Penny said rolling her eyes.

"Really I think she gets crabbier everyday." Emily commented.

Mel glared at both of them "You two keep messing with me and I'm going to show you crabby."

Hailey just looked back and forth between them all "I don't know why you guys mess with Mel I know that I don't think it's a very good idea."

"Hailey when you've been around her for awhile you won't think twice about saying some of the shit we say to her." Carly said like it was no big deal.

"Take the future kids with you they are hanging out in the attic right now and I shudder to think what kind of trouble they will get into." Piper ordered.

Mel rolled her eyes "Fine mom. Emily call your boyfriend down here and tell him to get his ass in gear. I'm not waiting around all day for them to get their shit together."

"So now that we know where he is. The question now becomes how the hell do we get him to come home?" Wyatt asked but it was really more of a statement.

"We could go down there and drag him back by force." Prue suggested and she would do that if she had to. She didn't care what she had to do as long as it got her brother back home.

Chris shook his head the idea had merit but only as a last resort. "No Prue that won't work he is a Halliwell you know how damn stubborn he is."

"Here is an idea we could just leave him down there and then we can find someone to replace him in the thirteen." Lilly suggested she was just being the world's biggest bitch these days. She didn't want to admit but it had everything to do with her breaking up with Jake. Because that would have meant that she had been wrong to break up with him in the first place.

"Lilly that isn't helping as a matter of fact keep your mouth shut until you have something helpful to add. But I will tell you this you made a choice now you either need to live with it or do something about it. Because I am sick and fucking tired of you being a bitch all the time." Roman flared at his sister. He was tired of the bitch act she was pulling he didn't need to be an empath to see how much his sister loved Jake or how much it was killing her to be without him.

"Now this is just a suggestion but I don't think we should all go down there at once. I think that it would be better to use a more gentle approach we don't want to scare him off." Calleigh suggested.

Parker shot a smile at his secret girlfriend. "I think that is a great idea Cal as Halliwells we tend to be a little extreme and we don't want to make him fell cornered." He agreed.

Liz looked at them and shook her head she didn't see why the just didn't get together they were cute together. "That is so cute you two finish each other's thoughts. But I do agree with you us all going down there is only going to make matters worse."

"So in other words what we really need is to have someone he will listen to go down there." Troy observed.

"I could give it a try but I don't know how much I would be able to get through to him." Chuck offered Jake was one of his best friends and the only other one who knew what it was like to have to fight his demon half.

"Chuck I don't think that is a good idea right now because no offense but you're half demon too and that is what he is trying to run from." Bianca pointed out she was just trying to be practical.

Henry looked at his oldest female cousin and he pointed at her "Ladybug no matter how bad you want to be the one to go after him you can't. He isn't going to listen to you he never has. Besides that you two will only end up having a fight. Now I've spoke my piece on the matter." He said.

"Hank I think that you and B should go after him." Chris said.

"Chris that is nuts the last time we saw each other we got into a knock down drag out fight and we never made up." Henry replied logically.

Chris held his hand up to stop what was sure to be another Hank Halliwell rant "Just hear me out first. That is the reason he will be more inclined to listen to you. And besides that you and B are a couple of badasses you can drag him back home if you have to."

Bianca nodded her head it made sense to her "Alright that sounds good to me." she replied.

"Ok but here is the deal Aunt Phoebe can't know about this I don't want her to get her hopes up. All this stress isn't good for her right now. If we are going to do this it has to be now." Wyatt said in his don't ask questions tone of voice.

"Alright we're all agreed then this is how it has to happen. Now whichever one of us can lie the best needs to go in there and tell them that we weren't able to find anything." Prue said.

"I'll do it." Chris said and he shared a look with Prue and Henry. They were still the only ones in the group that knew about his flashbacks he didn't want his brother to find out it would only hurt him. It was bad enough that his parents and aunts knew. He was pretty much the master liar out of the group so this would be a walk in the park for him.

"Ok then lets get this show on the road." Roman said he wanted to get Jake back so he could work things out with Lilly.

Lilly just rolled her eyes "Well good luck getting his stupid ass back. I will be at work if you guys need me for anything." She said before stalking to the front door.

Roman just shook his head as he watched her stalk off. "Something really needs to be done about her." He said but that was the least of their problems at the moment.

"Yeah well if she keeps up with that shit I'm going to kick her ass." Prue replied.

"Come on lets get on with our training. We still have that other demon out there and he could attack at any minute. Something tells me that he isn't going to be as easy to deal with as the source was." Wyatt sighed they were all falling apart and that wasn't good evil would take advantage of that.

"Prue just tell exactly where it was on the map the crystal landed and we'll deal with it." Bianca said and Prue motioned for them to follow them to the attic.

"Hey Mel are you ok?" Patty asked her best friend they were in the park and Mel looked like she was taking out all her frustrations on her cleats. Patty knew that she had never seen anyone else who could make tying their shoes look angry.

"I'm fine Charlie lets just go out there and play." Mel shot back a little more harshly than she had intended to.

Patty looked at her older cousin intently "You're not fine Mel if you were fine you wouldn't have answered me like that and you wouldn't be acting so pissed off."

Mel stood up from tying her shoes she ran a hand through her hair and sighed "Charlie can you keep a secret? And I mean you can't tell anyone not even Ricky." She asked knowing that she could tell her things.

Patty crossed her heart "Mel we're girls of course I won't tell anyone anything you tell me." she swore to her.

"Ok well here is the thing you know how I'm going to the academy and then I'm going to school here?" Mel asked and she waited for Patty to nod before she continued. "I'm not so sure that is what I want anymore. I got accepted to the University of Florida on a softball scholarship and I don't know what to do. I thought I knew what I wanted but I don't anymore. I would be stupid not to go to Florida. Hell you know that I could go anywhere I wanted to go I'm at the top of my class. So that is why I have been so crabby lately."

Patty just shrugged her shoulders "Mel you have to do what is best for you. And I know you right now you're worried about you and Roman and if you'll be able to make it if you go. And you're worried about demons attacking with you away. And you're worried about me and who'll I'll have if you leave but don't worry about any of that do what your heart tells you to do. I have Ricky, and I have Billy they are my best friends besides you I will be fine." She assured her.

Mel smiled at her younger cousin that girl was wise beyond her years or that might have been the whitelighter blood in her. "You will make a damn good whitelighter one day Charlie. I just don't know what to do yet but I'll figure it out thanks for the advice."

Patty went to her cousin and hugged her "That is what best friends are for you don't have to think me. I just want you to be happy."

"I know you do and I'll work it out I always do." Mel reassured her feeling anything but assured herself.

"Hey are you two done over there we would really like to play ball sometimes today?" Huck called over to them. He and Val really were a perfect match for each other but they weren't good for each other. It was a good thing she was seeing Troy he at least kept her out of trouble. But really and truly they were perfect for each other too.

Mel rolled her eyes at him "Yeah we're coming keep your panties on." She yelled back at him before her and Patty ran out onto the ball field.

Jake ran his hands over his face before he slipped his key in the lock of his door. He mentally cursed himself for ever breaking down in this city. He was positive that the boat captain he worked for was a demon. And if he wasn't a demon he was damn sure into voodoo. He had to be involved in something magical.

When one grew up as a Halliwell they had a sixth sense for things like this. No matter how hard he tried it seemed like he couldn't escape magic. Maybe this was a sign that he should just pack his shit up and shimmer back home. Fuck his car it was old anyway he could get another one. Jake shook his head there was no way he was going back home where he was a danger to everyone. If he just stayed away for a little while then he wouldn't have to worry about turning evil it was only for a few months he could stand it that long.

But that raised another problem he couldn't in good conscience do nothing about his boss who might be a demon. He was raised to fight evil and he was pretty sure he could get rid of his boss by himself but not without looking in the book of shadows first. And looking in the book was out of the question that would mean going home. If he went back to San Francisco he might get caught by his mom or his aunts he couldn't risk that not yet anyway.

If his aunts started in on him they would no doubt talk him into staying. No what he needed to do now was go take a shower and get ready for his shift at the bar. Which would only last a couple of hours because he had another boat tour to do tonight. And again it came right back to he thought his boss was into dark magic. He could never catch a break.

That thought in mind he shouldn't have been surprised when he opened the door and saw Henry and Bianca sitting at his kitchen table. He groaned inwardly but it could have been worse it could have been Prue and Wyatt.

"Ah Coop I wish you wouldn't make that face and here I thought that you would be happy to see us." Henry said feigning a hurt tone when he saw the frown that came to Jake's face.

"Look I don't know how you found me or what you want but I have this suggestion for you. Leave and forget that you ever found me I'm only going to cause you guys pain." Jake said he should have known that his family would find him sooner or later. And with them he should have been banking on the sooner part.

"Jake we can't do that you need to come home. Lilly is a wreck without you even if she won't admit it to herself she needs you." Bianca tried.

Jake blinked his eyes to hold back the tears he felt coming to the surface he really didn't want or need to hear that name. "Oh well she made her choice I can't help it that she can't live with breaking my heart. Besides that she made it painfully clear that she doesn't want to be with me. She went as far as to say that she didn't know if she would ever be able to be with me again. So suffice it to say she is no longer my problem." He said acting like he didn't care when all he wanted to do was go to Lilly and take her in his arms and keep her there forever.

Henry looked at him intently knowing that he was lying but he wasn't about to call him out about it. "Cooper Jay you have to come home we still have to defeat the one and we need you to do it. You are more vulnerable alone it isn't safe for you here if we can find you so can demons."

You've got that right. Jake thought to himself again thoughts of his boss entering his mind. "I'm not going back Henry. I'm shocked as hell that you're the one here trying to get me to go back. The last time we were together you tried killing me with your bare hands. And that was before you found out that I was going to turn evil. So you should be happy that I want to stay away because apparently you can't stand me. Fuck my own mom doesn't even want anything to do with me she smacked the hell out of me the last time I saw her." Jake was just being plain stubborn but he was a Halliwell and it was what he did best.

Bianca rolled her eyes she didn't know why they had picked her and Henry to do this he was more stubborn than any person had the right to be. "This isn't a life Jake you know as well as I do that you can't stay here."

Jake hated to admit it but he found the older woman just a little intimidating "I'm not going back B. if I do I'm just putting everyone that I care about in danger. I can't do that it isn't fair." He tried reasoning with her but she might as well of been born a Halliwell she was just as stubborn as he was.

Henry rolled his brown eyes at his cousin "Cookie Dough please don't be stupid we all love you and care about you. You're not going to turn evil we won't let it happen. Aunt Phoebe has smacked the hell out of me before too. Let me let you in on a little secret she does shit like that because she loves us and she doesn't want use to get hurt. Sure her methods are wrong but it is how she reacts."

Jake almost gave in when he heard his cousin call him Cookie Dough it had been so long since he heard someone call him but one of his actual names that it sounded like music to his ears. But he just gave his cousin a steely glare. "Ok if that is the case then the best thing I can do is stay away. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to those girls because of me. My baby sisters might be a pain in my ass from time to time but I don't want to see them get hurt. If I'm around that is more likely to happen."

Henry was really close to knocking his little cousin's lights out he was pissing him the fuck off. "I never thought that I would see the day when you put yourself before those girls you live for them Coop you always have. I love my little sisters but not the way you love yours. And I know damn good and well after how excited you were be having a little brother you're not going to miss being there when he is born. Because let me tell you something if you keep acting the way you're acting you will turn evil. With you pushing everyone away you will have nothing to lose."

"Shut up Henry I'm not putting myself before any of them. I do love my little sisters that is why I left I don't want them to get hurt. And as for my baby brother I rather that he didn't know me at all then have him have to have his heart broken when I turn evil. That isn't being selfish this is me being practical. Besides it will make it easier for you to vanquish me if you have to." Jake was just all over the place emotionally he was fucking up his own empathy with the way he was acting.

"That is horse and you know it Jake. This isn't about oh you might turn evil in the future this is about Lilly. She broke your heart and you don't want to be in the same state as her. That is what it all boils down to and you're using protecting your sisters as your excuse for leaving." Henry flared at him he hardly ever called him Jake so he meant business.

Bianca put a hand on his shoulder to calm him he wasn't going to help anything by losing his temper. "You might believe that Jake but I'm going to tell you something. The only thing worse than having little sisters is not having one. Trust me I know so I'm telling you to go and spend as much time as you can with them now. You're losing them and you don't even realize that Val is getting ready to start college in the fall and Penny is growing up more and more every day. Sure they will still be around but it won't be the same. You have to take the chance that you might hurt them so you can be with them."

Jake really didn't know what to say to that Bianca had him there he did really miss his sisters. And the reasonable part of him was telling him that he needed to pull his head out of his ass and go back home. But again he was a Halliwell he didn't do reasonable well at all. He just went to his refrigerator and pulled a beer out. He popped the cap off on the counter before he took a long swallow.

"That right there isn't going to help anything either Coop. Trust me I know. You can drink until you pass out but all your problems are going to be there when you wake up. I spent probably six months of my life in the bottle until I realized that." Henry advised him.

"Look I'm not going back home. You can go back and tell them all I said that. Now I'm going to get in the shower." Jake said stripping his shirt off.

"That's too bad because we're not leaving without you." Bianca said if he wanted to play hardball she could play hardball.

Jake sighed "I have to work soon so I don't have time to play this game with you. Stay or leave I don't care but I'm staying right here. There is nothing you can say to get me to change my mind."

"B and I are just as stubborn as you are we can wait you out. But if you saw what this was doing to your mom and dad you would come home. You should be ashamed of yourself for what you're doing to Penny right now. She has been more quiet and withdrawn than I have ever seen her. She misses you Coop she needs her big brother. But if you can't see that you're nothing but a fucking dick head." Henry said he had a way with words and he wasn't very patient at times.

"Like I said you're more than welcome to stay I have food and I have beer make yourself at home. I have to go get ready for work." Jake maintained stubbornly. He stalked off to the broom closet he called a bathroom to take a shower.

"That went very fucking well." Bianca said sarcastically after he had gone.

"Yeah it went off without a fucking hitch. I knew this wasn't going to be easy we may have to call in reinforcements if we don't get him to give in." Henry suggested and Bianca nodded and leaned into his shoulder.

Coop hearted himself into Jake's room at the condo. He knew that he should be out looking for him but he needed a break. He was on emotional overload he just needed a brief time out before he continued his search for his son. Everything still looked the way it had the night Jake left. His dresser drawers were pulled out all the clothes that had been in them were gone.

The usual mess was there the piles of dirty clothes on the floor hadn't been touched. Phoebe couldn't bring herself to go in there the one time she had she had been in tears for two hours.

Coop felt hot tears spring to his eyes as he looked at all the trophies and his high school diploma. He missed his little boy so much it hurt. He hated to admit that he had favorites out of his kids but Jake was his boy and he just didn't know what to do without him. There were times when he was sitting at his desk at work and he expected Jake to stick his head in the door any second to ask him a question or say something stupid.

It didn't matter to him that Jake was a grown man he was still his little boy. Though he did feel like beating him for what he had wrote to him in the letter he left him. He had told him that it didn't matter he was leaving because he had a new son on the way one that was actually his.

That had hurt him more than his leaving had. That boy knew damn well that he was his son in every way that counted. He didn't care if he had five more sons Jake had been his first.

Coop picked up the picture of him and Jake that Jake kept on his nightstand. Jake had been around six or seven at the time and he taken him fishing. He traced his son's face through the glass of the picture frame. "Cooper Jacob Halliwell Jr. when are you going to get it through your head that you are mine no matter what?" he asked the picture knowing he wouldn't get a response.

He reached up and wiped away a tear that had fell without him intending for it to. "Little Coop I just wish you would come back home. You left without saying good bye. If you knew how much I missed you, you would be home right now. I don't know how you expect me to live without my little boy. And you are mine you dumb ass. I was there for all your firsts and when you said daddy for the first time I was the one you said it too."

Coop looked up when he heard a knock on the door he was a little surprised to see Lilly standing there. He wiped his tears away and gave her a smile. "Hey Lilly." He said his voice sounding hoarse.

"Hi Uncle Coop I hope you don't mind but I let myself in I still have the key that Jake gave me." Lilly replied biting her lip she wasn't sure what she was doing there. She was the one who had broken up with Jake. But for some reason she felt the need to be close to him.

"No I don't mind I could use the company." Coop replied patting bed beside him.

Lilly sat down and seeing how distraught she was she couldn't help but think that this was all her fault. "I know this is going to sound weird because I broke up with him but I miss him so much."

"It doesn't sound weird Lilly you two were together for a long time it is normal to miss someone that much." Coop replied.

"Do you think he will come back?" Lilly asked a small part of her hoping that he did come back. Actually she wouldn't admit it but she wanted him to come back if only so she would know that he was ok.

"Honestly Lilly I don't know I hope that he will and I think that he will but I can't be sure." Coop said trying hard to speak around the lump in his throat.

"Uncle Coop I'm so sorry this is all my fault. If I hadn't broke up with him he would have stayed." Lilly said letting a few tears of her own fall.

"Honey this isn't your fault he just needs time to figure some things out. That is just who he is. When he has something he isn't sure about he has to go out and find himself. He can't stay away you have no idea how excited he is about having a little brother." Coop replied he believed that his son would come back. But he wasn't sure he needed him to come back but that didn't mean it would happen.

"But I should have given him a few days to sort everything out." Lilly protested.

Coop looked at her intently. He wasn't sure of much right now but he knew that Lilly and Jake belonged together. Hell it broke his heart to see them apart he could see how much pain Lilly was in he couldn't imagine what Jake was going through. "Lilly you did what you thought was right you shouldn't be sorry for that. But you need to think about why you broke up with him." He advised her.

Lilly started crying harder "That is the bitch part of this Uncle Coop I'm not so sure why I broke up with him anymore. And it would be so much easier if he was here and I could talk to him face to face."

"Hey don't worry he will come around and then you can talk to him. Everything is going to be ok I promise." Coop said though he didn't know how everything was going to be ok. When he himself felt like is heart had been ripped out.

Lilly took a moment to compose herself "I'm sorry Uncle Coop I really am and I hope he comes back but I can't be with him anymore. I have to go now." she said rushing out of the room.

Coop sighed "Oh Lilly you have just realized that you still love him. You'll both come around." He said to himself. He put the picture back down on the table. He had, had his moment and now he needed to get back out there and look for his son again.

Parker and Calleigh were laying on the couch in her apartment. She was laying her head on his chest and he had his arms wrapped around her. They were both tired and it was still early. But Wyatt was being like a dog on a bone insisting that they trained until they couldn't take it anymore.

"Ugh I think that Wy is seriously trying to kill us with all this training. It's a damn good thing Chris told him it was time to cool it I was about ready to kill him." Calleigh groaned. All of her muscles were sore.

Parker smiled down at his girlfriend "I know I think my muscles are starting to get muscles. Wyatt has a serious problem. But he is just acting like this because he is tore up over Jake leaving."

Calleigh stretched out her aching muscles the best she could and she yawned "Yeah but that still doesn't give him the right to kill us with too much training." She moaned.

"He just wants us to be prepared but we have got to cool it. I can't take much more I need a break." Parker replied.

"Hey Parks how much longer are we going to keep our relationship from them?" Calleigh asked him she was tired of sneaking around all the time.

"I don't know we don't have to keep it from them anymore. I know that I want to be with you and you want to be with me. I guess we could tell them but I just wanted us to have this one thing separate from the thirteen as long as we can." Parker replied. He wasn't ashamed of her he just didn't want to mess up what they had by telling everyone.

"I know the feeling I really do but it's not like we're doing anything wrong. We have been together three months I just think it might be time to let them know." Calleigh said.

"I know Cal but it has never really been the right time to tell them yet and I wouldn't be surprised if they already knew. We will soon I promise." Parker assured her.

Calleigh reached up and kissed him "We have time to kill and if you're gentle with me I think I know what we can do." Her hand snaked its way up his shirt.

"I like this idea." Parker said making his eyebrows dance before he kissed her again.

A/N: So there was a lot of fluff this chapter but it is just setting up what is going to happen in the next chapter. Coop is hurting more than he is letting on but his son left so that is to be expected. It looks like Lilly might be having second thoughts about breaking up with Jake. Poor Mel has more drama in her life than anyone should. Wyatt is acting a little like his Aunt Prue with the way he is forcing everyone to train. Jake needs to get his head out of his ass and go home before he gets into trouble. Until next time please review.