Title: Seasons of Love
Rating: PG-13
Chapter: Three - Who I Am Hates Who I've Been Part 2
Summary: Its the gangs senior year.
Other sites the fic can be found: My lj.
Disclaimer(s): I don't own anything but the idea. I think Discover Kids owns all the characters so far... I'll say if I own anything else. Based off of RENT's "Seasons of Love".

29Dwn

Nathan ended up at the Hagan mansion to go talk to Taylor about what was going on. After hearing the silence inside, he was slightly worried, since Taylor and or her parents were always fighting over something. He rushed to her room and found her lying in bed fast asleep.

He sighed in relief, heading to her bathroom to get a hand lotion she had told him would be good for his skin and that it smelled like banannas. Since Daley loved banannas, he knew she'd love it.

He was walking into the bathroom, when he heard a loud crack and looked down to find a plastic stick just lying on the ground. "What the..." he started, bending down to pick it up. He examined it when he stood back up and his eyes went wide with shock.

29Dwn

Jackson opened his apartment door to rid of the loud rapping of a hand against the wood, only to get knocked on the head a few times. He caught Spinner's wrist in his hand, since Spinner was looking away.

"Spinner," Jackson growled, catching his attention.

Spinner looked up, his cheeks tinting a slight pink. But then he got serious, calming himself down pretty fast. "Jackson... we need to talk... about Melissa," he informed.

Jackson stood there in shock, standing aside and letting his old friend in. He didn't even know that Spinner knew who Melissa was, let alone that he had dated her. That's when it hit him. Old man Wu was Melissa's dad.

Jackson looked around outside and then shut the door, taking the seat across from Spinner at the dinning room table in the kitchen dinning room area. "What do you want, Spinner?" Jackson demanded.

Spinner sat there for a moment, pursing his lips together as if trying to think before he spoke. This action surprised Jackson, remembering that Spinner was more of an action-reaction guy. "Melissa is your friend, right?" he asked.

"Yeahhh..." Jackson said skeptically. "Look, don't be bogus, Spinner, get to the point," he demanded.

"They're not going after Mister Wu tonight. They're looking for Melissa. Hurting her will hurt you and that's all Mark, Christopher, and Cooper want," Spinner explained.

"W-why are you telling me this?" Jackson asked, stumbling a bit since his friend was confusing him slightly. "You were always an action kinda guy," he added.

"I'm trying to turn around. Kinda like you," Spinner shrugged. "I thought this would be the place to start and, who knows... maybe I'll end up like you. With friends who care, my real parents, a good education, a girlfriend..."

"Mel' and I broke up," Jackson cut in. "It wasn't working for us. Lately, we've been kinda awkward and realized we're better off as friends."

"Sorry to hear that," Spinner apologized. It wasn't until Jackson looked into his old friend's eyes that he realized how sincere he was. Spinner glaced at the clock on the wall and nodded his goodbye, "I better go. Cooper's gonna start looking for me."

"Spinner..." Jackson called as he started through the door. "Don't do it, Man," he advised, shaking his head in dismay. "Don't do it."

"I have too," Spinner shrugged and left, slamming the door shut behind him.

Jackson shook his head and rubbed his temple, praying that Spinner would see the light before it was too late. Before something bad happened to someone. To him. To Melissa. Anyone. But knowing Spinner, it was always too late.

29Dwn

"Jackson, no!" she cried, begging him for her life. The young girl with hair as black as the night sky, eyes coal black yet full of so much life. She stared up at him in fear as he stood there shakily, holding the gun, terrified.

"If you won't, I will," a harsh voice spat. Suddenly, a hand tried grabbing the gun from him and this finger hit the trigger. The young girl, without even so much as a squeel of distress, sunk to the floor dead.

"Melissa!" Jackson shouted, sitting up in bed his palms sweaty and his heart racing so fast and hard it was pounding in his head. He looked around the room frantically and found himself in the comfort of his own room. He sighed in relief, thankful enough to know Melissa was safe and out of harm's way.

29Dwn

"Not working my ass," Melissa spat bitterly as wiped off the table at her father's bar late into the night. "Stupid Meg decided to be pigheaded and selfcentered. 'Oh, I have a test tomorrow'. ' Oh, I'm in college'," she whined under her breath and banged her knee on a table. "Damnit!" she shouted, rubbing it.

The entrance door opened and a young boy her age walked inside. "Excuse me, Sir... we're clos..." Melissa started. "Jackson?" she questioned, now that she could see him in the dimmed neon lights of the bar. "What are you..."

"Oh, Mel'," he sighed in exaspiration, pulling her into his arms as he cut off her question. She wrapped her arms around him in return and patted his back. "Thank god you're okay," he whispered.

"Of course I'm okay..." she started and then thought about it. Her eyes went wide and she pulled away from his embrace. "What did you do!?" she demanded, her eyes now wide with fear.

"Nothing. I did nothing," he assured, when suddenly a loud bang sounded through the bar.

Melissa screamed out in horror as Jackson tackled her to the ground, under a table, turning it on its side and hid them behind it. After several minutes of loud terrifying gunshots and a panic attack from Melissa, Jackson realized they were finally gone after another ten minutes of hiding. He kissed Melissa's cheek, rubbing her back.

"So maybe I did something," he shrugged.

"You think?" she said with a glare through deep, shallow breaths.

29Dwn

Nathan sat at the compurter in his room. Finally, after a long hard day, being a teenager, he got to relax without any stress. As long as no one else he knew was on AOL instant messager.

"Nathan".

Nathan sat there, doing nothing. He knew who it was. He knew what they wanted and he didn't want to face it.

"Nathan, I know you're there".

He gave up, typing in, "What?"

"Please don't be mad," was the reply. He could imagine them begging him. Begging and pleading as if their life was at stake, which they both knew it wasn't.

"For what? he asked in reply, trying to play dumb.

"My baby" came their reply.

He sat there, covering his face in his hands and then once again worte. "Taylor, I have to go".

"Nathan..."

He then clicked exited before he could get another reply from her and opened up his imternet to do a little research on teen pregnancy. His heart broke just even thinking about Taylor being pregnant, but he knew it. He knew it and it couldn't escape him for some reason.

29Dwn

Jackson placed Melissa on the bar, checking to make sure she had nothing more than the bruise he had given her arm when he had pulled her down to the ground.

"I'm fine," she repeated, becoming extremely aggravated with her ex-boyfriend.

"I'm just making sure. You never know. I never really felt that knife stab my shoulder. I was too numb from the adrhenalne," he stated.

"You were stabbed?" she questioned, slightly afraid to hear the story, but even more curious than anything else.

"Yup. I had gotten into a fight. My gang verse another. One of the guys punch my friend and that's how the fight started. I was the leader of my friends and the leader of the other group stabbed me. I didn't really realize it until it was too late. I had blacked out and... I woke in the hospital a few days later," he explained.

His ex-girlfriend sat there with intense, intrested black eyes as he told his story. "Wow," she breathed and that was all she could say in reply as he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her off the counter to her feet.

"You okay?" he asked, making sure her body wasn't in shock and that she could move on her own now. She just nodded as the front door opened, making the little bell jiggle, like it had when Jackson had come in about half an hour ago, in horror of their a safety.

"Yeah, we're fine," Melissa assured, not really caring who this guy was as long as she and Jackson were safe.

"Oh, um, Mel', this is Spinner, he's an old friend of mine," Jackson introduced. "Spinner, this is Melissa Wu," he said.

"Hey," Spinner said, waving his hand as a hello to Melissa. She just smiled and headed back behind the bar to get some more cleaning supplies.

"What are you doing here?" Jackson asked, picking the table he had knocked down earlier back up. "I thought you 'had to' join them," he mocked.

Spinner felt as if he had been punched right in the gut, but seemed calm and collected. "Nah; they're losers. I thought about what you said and you were right, Jackson. I came by to make sure you and Melissa were okay," he explained. "I better go," he said, heading for the door.

"Spin'!" Jackson called after him. He turned around and gazed at his friend. "You did the right thing," he assured. Spinner nodded and then left, leaving Jackson standing there with a proud smile on his face.