Disclaimer-I do not own any rights to the story Bridge to Terabithia

Thank you for the reviews! This chapter starts to give a bit more background on Paul and introduces a character that will have more prominence later.

Please read & review

Chapter 2

Jesse and Leslie approached the old rope swing for the first time in years. Neither one could remember when exactly they last visited Terabithia. Instinctively Leslie looked around for a stick to grab the old rope with and surprisingly found one where they had always left the stick years before. As she reached out to grab the rope Jesse carefully pulled her away from the edge.

"I love you to Jesse but we can't go across together" Leslie said with a smile. "I…I don't think we should swing across" he said nervously. He wasn't sure why but something about the rope felt wrong. "Oh come on Jesse you said we were going to go" Leslie protested. Not letting go of her Jesse voiced his concerns. "We are but let's use that fallen tree over there to get across" he said pointing to a dead tree that had fallen years ago.

"Jesse we have to use the enchanted rope remember?" she said teasingly. Jesse was growing frustrated. "Leslie please" he pleaded. Hearing the concern in his voice Leslie decided not to push the issue. It took a bit of the fun out of the experience but she didn't want to upset her boyfriend. At times he would become overly protective as though something was actually going to happen. She was touched by his sincerity but confused by the intensity of his concerns.

Crossing into their kingdom a wave of nostalgia swept over them as the scent of the forest overwhelmed them. "Wow, it seems so…surreal" Leslie said in astonishment. "Yeah…what does surreal mean?" Leslie gave him a light punch to the arm, "You know what it means Jesse" she said a little irritated. Jesse just smiled, "No I don't I'm the artist remember? You're the writer" Leslie sighed in frustration. "It means something is strange or odd or like you're in a dream" Jesse had to agree it did feel like being in a dream. To be back in the place that used to be their sanctuary, where they ruled as king and queen and had endless hours of adventure felt both odd and comforting.

"Come on let's go to the tree house" Leslie said taking off. It took Jesse a moment to realize his girlfriend was gone while he pondered how things had changed since his first visit to Terabithia. Once he realized she was gone he felt a brief moment of panic then took off in the direction of the tree house. He came upon her as she was staring at the old, dilapidated truck. "Les," he said catching his breath. "Don't take off like that" Leslie didn't seem to hear him. She seemed transfixed by the old wreck. "It looks worse than I remember" Jesse said as he peered into the cab. "Yeah, feels kinda' sad for some reason" she replied. "I feel like I neglected a friend" As long as he had known Leslie Burke she never ceased to surprise him with her bizarre statements.

"Les, it's a truck" he said. "An old, broken down truck at that" Again Leslie didn't seem to hear him but instead began heading towards the tree house. The area seemed more overgrown than they remembered it being. They still knew exactly where to go but it seemed different. Suddenly, as if stumbling upon a long lost treasure they found it. It was still there high above Terabithia. Well, it wasn't that high actually. In fact it seemed remarkably small compared to what they remembered. From what they could see it appeared as if it was still in tact in that nothing appeared to have fallen or broken off. There was one significant change though. "What's draped over the top?" Jesse asked noting the olive drab "blanket" stretched over the roof.

"I don't know looks like a tarp" Leslie answered. "Let's take a look" she said as she dashed up the tree leaving Jesse behind once again. As he played catch up he found that climbing the tree was both easier and harder than when they built the castle. Though physically stronger it felt as though tree climbing was something they no longer had the ability to do. Just as they no longer could see the kingdom of Terabithia they no longer had the abilities either. Racing up the tree Jesse paid little attention to the fact that Leslie had stopped and proceeded to smash directly into her.

"Hey, watch it!" she screamed. It was a question of who was more embarrassed, Jesse or Leslie. Not wanting to discuss it Jesse quickly apologized. "What's the hold up Les?" he asked. Leslie appeared to be a little hesitant to step onto the porch of the tree house. "Well, we're not exactly "little" anymore Jesse. I don't know if this thing can support us" Jesse hadn't thought of that and didn't want Leslie being the one to test the theory.

"Hold up Les let me try it first" he said as he maneuvered his way around her. Jesse carefully placed one foot on the porch and it felt solid enough to him to support his whole weight. "It's okay Les, come on up" he said as he extended his hand to her. Jesse practically pulled Leslie up the rest of the way and right smack into him. Leslie collided into him but Jesse grabbed hold of her ensuring she wouldn't fall. Suddenly they were quite cozy together.

"Did you plan it that way Mr. Aarons" Leslie asked with a grin. "No, but for once I'm glad I messed up" he said as he leaned into to kiss her. The couple enjoyed a moment together before they took in their surroundings. "I can't believe it's been so long since we were last here Jesse" Leslie said as she looked around their kingdom.

"Yeah, I never thought we'd outgrow it" he said with a hint of regret. Leslie picked up on his moment of nostalgia. "We didn't really outgrow it Jesse" she said. "Well, maybe physically we did but I think we still have the magic inside us" Jesse wasn't exactly sure what Leslie meant but he wanted to believe it. "After all you're still drawing and painting as much, if not more, than when I first met you. I'm still writing into the wee hours of the morning sometimes. I think are imaginations are fine Jesse we just use them a little differently now" Jesse seemed to appreciate her answer as they both stood still marveling in awe at their kingdom.

"Hey, you think there are any Oreo's left?" Leslie asked. Jesse gave her his "are you out of your mind" look. "If you eat anything inside that tree house I swear I'm never kissing you again" he said as he over emphasized his disgust. Leslie just laughed. "Yeah, right" she countered quickly. "Even if I did eat something, which I wouldn't by the way, you'd still kiss me" she said as she walked into the tree house. Jessed stood there for a moment then answered, "Yeah, you're probably right"

As Jesse was about to turn he heard Leslie scream. It sent shivers down his spine as he quickly made his way inside. "Leslie! Are you…" suddenly Jesse realized that they weren't alone in their fortress. Jesse grabbed Leslie and looked over to see Paul O'Donnell sitting against the far wall. "Paul?" Jesse asked a bit irritated. "What're you doing here?" To say Paul looked uncomfortable was an understatement. He looked to both of his classmates, "Sorry for scaring you Leslie" he said apologetically. "I'm sorry Jesse I didn't know this was your tree house" Just as Jesse was about to say something Leslie beat him to it.

"It's okay Paul, why didn't you say something when you heard us outside?" she asked. Paul looked away for a moment, "Well, I was kinda' hoping you'd just go away" he said quietly. "Besides if I had just stuck my head out and said 'hey Leslie' both of you would've probably fallen right off this tree" Leslie thought about that and figured he was probably right. Just then she noticed a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. Actually the right side of his jaw was red and puffy. "Paul, what happened?" she asked though she knew the likely answer.

"It was Brady Hicks wasn't it" Jesse asked. Brady Hicks was among the "elite" as far as high school popularity goes. He was a star football player and wrestler which meant he was a fairly big guy at least compared to Paul. Brady was handsome and actually quite charming when he wanted to be. Many of the teachers and faculty liked him. To them he seemed a very amiable young man. To Paul and a few others he was one giant jack-ass. Paul had suffered at Brady's hands at least for the past year. Jesse wasn't sure why but he thought it had something to do with Sarah, Paul's old friend.

"Yeah, it was Brady" Paul said as he played with an old paint brush he found on the floor. "He gave me a quick 'pop' just to let me know he's thinking about me. Sweet guy, really" he said sarcastically. Paul looked over to Leslie and could see discomfort all over her face. Once she realized he noticed Leslie darted out of the tree house. Jesse just stood there startled wondering what was going on. He looked at Paul in confusion. "She went that way Jesse" he said as he pointed at the door. Jesse did a double take then walked through the door and found that Leslie was already on the ground. "Hey Les, what's wrong" he yelled. Leslie didn't look his way or give an answer. He made his way down the tree as quickly as he could. "Les, wait up" he yelled as he ran after her. Once he caught up to her he pleaded with her to slow down which she finally did. As he caught his breath he noticed Paul not far behind him.

"Les what's going on? Are you feeling okay?" he asked concerned. Leslie knew he was just looking out for her but she wasn't in the mood to discuss anything right now. "Not now Jesse okay?" she said under her breath. Jesse picked up on the hint and dropped the subject.

"Is everything okay" Paul asked as he came upon the two. Jesse answered quickly so Leslie wouldn't have to. "Yeah, Leslie just feels a little sick. I'm going to walk her home." Paul nodded his head, "Oh, okay. Sorry you feel bad Leslie. I guess I'll see you guys later" he said as he headed off in the direction of the bridge. All the questions Jesse had for Paul about how he found Terabithia would have to wait. Leslie was his only focus right now.

"Paul?" Leslie suddenly called out. The boy was already out of sight. She took off at a sprint leaving Jesse perplexed for the umpteenth time in one day. "She really needs to stop doing that" Jesse said as he sighed to himself before taking off after her.

Paul was just about to the bridge when he heard Leslie call after him. He turned and saw her running after him. He stopped and began to head towards her then saw Jesse not far behind. "You okay Leslie?" he asked. She stopped to catch her breath before responding. "Why does Brady pick on you Paul?" she asked. The question didn't really catch Paul off guard he knew she had wanted to ask him for some time. There was no harm in telling her or Jesse. "Well, originally because of Sarah" he answered. "When she dated Brady he took an active interest in me. He was jealous of my friendship with her…which just proves how stupid he really is" Paul was clearly angry at the memory of the event. "I mean he's her boyfriend for crying out loud and he was jealous of me? I swear I can't believe he's actually going to graduate." Paul closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories" Leslie apologized. Paul shook his head, "its okay, no worries. Anyway, he started bullying me and just never stopped. Even after Sarah broke up with him he still kept at me. Personally, my theory is that he actually likes me and this is his way of showing affection" he joked. Leslie gave a weak smile then seemed to want to ask another question. "Go ahead Leslie, you can ask" he said giving her the go ahead.

"What happened between you and Sarah?" It was the question she always wondered about. Paul and Sarah were eerily similar to her and Jesse. They met around the same age and were best friends. She didn't know if they had a place like Terabithia but imagined the pair had their own adventures when they were kids.

The only difference was they never became a couple. Though Paul developed feelings for her Sarah didn't feel the same towards him. It was obvious Paul missed his friend but she had no idea how Sarah felt. Leslie couldn't imagine suddenly being without Jesse. It was frightening. .

"I guess you could just say she got popular and…I didn't" he said as he stared off into the distance. "Sarah always had other friends but it seemed she suddenly had a lot more friends. Then of course the boyfriends and all the school activities and well…"

"You got pushed to the side" Jesse said finishing his sentence.

"Yeah, I fell to the bottom of the list" he said as he seemed to be remembering every detail of the event. "Well, I developed an 'attitude' of sorts. I didn't really like being treated like some relative you only tolerate at Christmas time" Both Jesse and Leslie moved closer to one another and grabbed each others hand as if somehow the story would affect their relationship. "I confronted Sarah one day after last period. I wanted to know why she wasn't returning my calls or answering my emails. That was a bad idea" he said shaking his head and looking at the ground. "She tore into me like a dog on a bone" It was clear Paul was beginning to grow uncomfortable now. "She said a lot of "things" with a lot of "colorful" words. I…I was just standing there in shock. I didn't even know what to do" Leslie started to regret asking the question seeing how Paul was reacting to telling the story. "I just turned and started going the opposite way as fast as I could. A crowd already gathered and I just wanted to get out of there"

"Then Brady showed up didn't he?" Leslie asked. Paul wondered if she actually knew the story or just made a good guess. "Yeah, he showed up and things just got worse from there. He hit me across the chin and I dropped like a rock. You know it's amazing how getting hit on the chin can turn your legs to rubber, strangest thing" he said as he instinctively carassed his newest injury. "I haven't spoken to Sarah since that day. To be honest I'm afraid to. I avoid her and her friends" His last statement hit both Jesse and Leslie hard. Neither one could imagine ever being scared of approaching the other. Paul could tell there was something else bothering Leslie. It couldn't just be the story of his relationship with Sarah. However, he figured she would talk to Jesse about whatever it was which he preferred. At the moment he had enough drama in his own life to keep him busy.

"Well, I gotta' get going my mom starts to wonder about me after awhile." Paul said as he waved at Leslie and Jesse. "Don't you use the rope to cross?" Leslie called after him. "The day I decide to kill myself I'll use the rope, until then I'm using the bridge" he said without ever stopping.