Author's Note: Wow! I can make a pretty deranged character when I feel like it. Sorry for not updating earlier...bowling practice ran abit late, and my friend came over with his puppy, Yoshi, so I had to see her, but enjoy, and happy reading!

Chapter Four: Jackson's Story

It was the day after Ryan discovered that Jackson had arrived, and he stopped in Pets Galore without Haylie, in hopes of talking to Jackson alone.

What he didn't except was for Kim to run up to him, all smiles.

"Are you here because you given in to Haylie's pleas? She's been telling me she really wants you to get her a pet."

Ryan returned her smile, only it wasn't so huge.

"No, I'm not...is Jackson around? I really want to talk to him." Ryan explained, and Kim nodded towards her office.

"He's doing some paperwork for me, so he can take a break to talk to you." Kim replied, and Ryan smiled.

"Thank you." Ryan told her, and walked towards the office, and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute." Jackson said, and a few minutes later, Jackson opened the door, and he frowned.

"What are you doing here?" Jackson asked, and Ryan noticed the tone: icy and unfriendly.

"I just want to talk to you...about Haylie." Ryan stated, and the frown turned into a smirk.

"Yeah. Okay. Come in."

Ryan was led into the office, and Jackson closed the door.

"So, what do you want to know? I know plenty about her." Jackson commented, and Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"Um, I know alot about her too..." Ryan replied, and Jackson looked at him.

"My mother told me you guys have been dating for almost two and half years, and two summers. I'd say that's pretty strong for a couple like you guys." Jackson said, and Ryan nodded.

"That's right." Ryan responded, and silence followed.

He didn't want to set off Jackson, so he had to choose his words carefully.

"Why I came here was because you and Haylie were friends. But, did you ever have a crush on her?" Ryan asked, and to his surprise, Jackson started to laugh, and Ryan's surprise turned into confusion.

"What? What's so funny?" he asked again, and Jackson grinned.

"Every guy had a crush on Haylie, Ryan! So, I wasn't the only one. But, yes, your right. I did have a crush on Haylie, and I wasn't afraid to show it. I showered her with compliments, I gave her gifts. Heck, I even gave her my class ring before she left for New Mexico, but she didn't want it. She told me to give it to a girl who liked me back because she didn't. You could say I liked her little too much. So, when I found out she was dating you, I was sort of surprised."

Ryan's confusion washed into anger.

"And why can't she date me?"

"She could, it's just that I'd never excepted her too. Everyone told her to date a jock, and that's what she did after the Mark Chaun accident. I guess she has different tastes than most girls. Every girl wants to date a jock, but not Haylie. Oh, certainly not Haylie! She wanted to date a drama geek, but the poor girl didn't have a choice: contuine to date Mark, or face the wrath of the whole Xavier student body." Jackson replied, and Ryan backed a few feet away from Jackson.

"I understand that. She told me." Ryan said, eyeing Jackson carefully.

"When I heard what they did to her, you could imgaine that I was angry. How could they do that to her? It was wrong."

It sounded like to Ryan that maybe Jackson actually loved Haylie instead of having a crush on her.

Jackson looked at Ryan, and he smiled.

"But, I know your very protective of her, Ryan. You wouldn't let anyone hurt her unless you had something to say about it." Jackson replied, and Ryan nodded.

"That's right." Ryan exclaimed, and Jackson smiled.

"Very good."

The two just looked at each other before Ryan broke it.

"Well, I'm going to let you get back to work. See you later."

Jackson nodded, and Ryan walked outside, sighing in relief.

The conversation was very intense, and he sensed that Jackson was just like Connor: a madman.

But, Connor never said that he liked Haylie, where Jackson did.

When he got home, he found Haylie sitting on the couch, watching television.

The classic cartoon sounds came from the television set, and Ryan guessed Haylie was letting her inner child escape.

He sat down next to her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and Haylie smiled.

"Hey." she said, grabbing the remote, and loweing the volume before looking at him.

"So, were channeling our inner child, are we?" Ryan asked, and Haylie nodded.

"Yep. Since you weren't home, I decided to watch television."

"Television is very productive."

Haylie grinned, and shook her head.

"Hey, you told me too much was very bad for you!"

"No, that's what I told the daycare. Now their mothers are very grateful that I placed that kind of sense into their heads." Ryan explained, and Haylie rolled her eyes.

"They are going to their backs on you, Ryan. They are little kids. They need to watch television." Haylie told him, and Ryan raised an eyebrow as he smiled.

"Since when?" he asked, and Haylie returned his smile.

"Since Nick Jr. and Playhouse Disney become very big." Haylie replied, and it was Ryan's turn to roll his eyes as Haylie giggled.

"I see." Ryan stated as Haylie's show came back on, and Haylie was glued to the television yet again.

He didn't try to tell her that he stopped by Pets Galore to talk to Jackson, and tell her he still had feelings for her--which were pretty deep, he might add.

Besides, college was stressful enough, and she can find out on her own without Ryan's help, because she was pretty good at that.

"Where were you?"

Haylie's question got him to look at her again.

"Um...I was finishing something up for Mr. Russo."

"Ryan."

"Really!" Ryan responded, and Haylie sighed.

"You know I hate it when you don't tell me stuff right away." Haylie explained, and Ryan shook his head.

"You don't need any more weight on your shoulders. College is stressful enough, and I'll take care of it." Ryan told her, and Haylie nodded.

"If your sure."

Ryan smiled as he leaned in to give her another kiss on the cheek.

"I'm sure. Don't worry."

Haylie looked at him, and Ryan gave her a mock salute, and she burst out laughing.