It's Not Over: Chapter 9: REVISED
Rating:
PG-13 (Adult Language and Situations).
Disclaimer: The name
"Jericho" and all character names and trademarks associated
with the television program are the intellectual property of Junction
Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Television
and/or CBS Studios, Inc. The following story is intended solely as an
intellectual exercise without profit motive. No infringement of
copyright is intended or should be implied.
Notes: After doing some soul searching and communicating with a few people, I have reworked Chapters 7 through 12. Some changes are minor and others are significant. Overall, the plot is the same, just certain characters and their actions have been changed/corrected. Thanks to JT, mainemom22, and jordanmr. As always, feedback is appreciated.
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Heather found a chair just inside the Jake's exam room at the Med Center. She was in a hospital gown wrapped in a couple of blankets still shivering from being so cold and wet earlier. She was waiting to be examined along with Jake, but Heather was getting antsy to leave. She was tired and really wanted to go home, but even if she made her escape she wasn't going to disappear without Jake.
"How are you doing?" Heather asked Jake who was sitting on the exam table still in his wet clothes with his leg exposed waiting for Kenchy to come in to stitch him up.
"Believe it or not, this is not that bad," Jake replied with a half-smile looking down at his leg. He'd been in worst shape before. How many times in the past year had he been hurt? He'd lost count.
"I wonder why Kenchy still hasn't come."
"He was here a few minutes ago and said he would be back with supplies," Jake replied.
Heather nodded. "If you want, I could sew you up. I mean sewing up a person, can't be that much different than sewing clothes," Heather joked.
"No offense, but I'm not letting you near me with any sharp objects," Jake replied lightheartedly.
"That's probably a good idea because at the moment I'm pretty pissed off at you," Heather complained.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What the hell were you doing tonight?" Heather angrily asked.
"Trying to protect you," Jake replied coolly.
"Why did you fight them? We could've easily outrun those men, but instead you decide to attack."
"I wasn't sure that we would all three make it without getting caught. I figured I'd act as a distraction."
"You were acting more like some action hero," Heather corrected him remembering Natalie's comment to Major Beck.
"It was a sacrifice I was willing to make to save you and our child's life."
"You had no gun. What would the town have done if something had happened to you? What would I have done?" Heather asked in frustration. She couldn't understand why he didn't know how much he meant to her and to Jericho.
"Look, I did what I thought was best."
"Jake, you're problem is you act first and then think later. You really need to work on switching those around," Heather replied.
"You're right," Jake admitted. "I made a real mess of things tonight didn't I?"
"Well, we got out of it alive. I guess that's all that matters," Heather replied trying to make Jake feel better.
"I suppose, but it was too close a call."
"I know. I guess its time to take care of Constantino once and for all," Heather declared.
"Probably. Before we get you home, I'm going to stop at town hall and talk to Eric about setting up a meeting for tomorrow to work on a plan."
"Sounds like a good idea, but we need to make sure we do this smart. I don't think we can survive another all out war with New Bern," Heather warned.
"I agree," Jake replied. Jake watched Heather who was giving him one of her sad forlorn looks that made his heart break. "Are we okay?" Jake asked in concern.
Heather nodded. "I know I don't always act like I care, but I do," Heather said as she stood up and crossed the room, placing a hand on his arm.
Jake put his hand over hers, "I know I haven't exactly said nor done the right things over the past few days. Thinking back, I should probably have let you tell people about the baby on your own timetable. It's just that I have this overwhelming fear that I'm going to lose you. You do way too much and put yourself in danger."
"I'm trying to be more careful," Heather assured him.
"You accuse me of being dangerous, but you've become just as bad," Jake charged. Tonight reminded him of how helpless he'd felt last winter when she'd gone to New Bern. "You don't know how it felt to be told you were dead when I got to New Bern. I had already felt guilty for letting you go in the first place and then not going to get you when you didn't return right away."
"Jake, I made my own choices. None of it was your fault."
"It was my fault. No one was looking out for you. If anything else, as your friend, I should have done something. I shouldn't have left New Bern without finding you," Jake said referring to when he'd gone to find his brother and they had ended up in a shoot-out with Constantino's men.
"You did what you had to Jake. You wouldn't have found me anyway. By the time you guys made it to New Bern, I had already made my escape. Russell arranged for me to get out of town and do my best to see about finding help. See, there were people looking out for me," She explained purposely glossing over the more unseemly details like the torture she went through and having to fake her own death.
"What about those men tonight? What if I hadn't been there or Natalie? You think Russell could save you this time?" Jake asked incredulously.
"No, but then again, I probably would've gotten myself out of the situation anyway. I didn't do anything because I figured you would."
"And I didn't do anything because I thought you would. I mean you're the brains in this operation."
"Well, at least Natalie did something, even if I'm not sure it was actually for our benefit," Heather joked.
"So how is Natalie faring? Did she finally give in on staying at the Med Center?" Jake asked.
"No, she went back to the high school with a couple of those Texas Guardsmen. They said something about finding her things and getting her a stiff drink. Stanley went with them. I didn't realize they were friends."
"It's a small town and Stanley is friends with everybody," Jake explained.
One of the interesting things that Heather had noticed over the past year was how most people rarely spoke in public about the missing and the dead. She wasn't sure how much of it was out of sight, out of mind and how much of it was just dealing with the reality of the situation on the ground there in Jericho.
It was strange that Natalie hadn't ever come up in conversation. She had never been friends with Natalie, but she hadn't really been friends with Stanley or Bill either prior to all of this. Maybe they talked about their missing loved ones when she wasn't around, but she suspected that it was more a taboo subject than anything else. Heather knew she had been the victim of it too in the time she'd been gone in New Bern and then to Cheyenne. From what she knew, most people hadn't talked about her either.
"What about Jimmy?" Jake asked knowing that he'd probably be falling over himself to find Natalie.
"Major Beck said he is headed over there," Heather replied.
"That's good," Jake replied. With the mention of Major Beck, Natalie's connection to Texas came to mind. "Speaking of Natalie, I want you to be careful around her."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't trust her," Jake responded looking in Heather's eyes trying to convey his seriousness.
"You grew up with her Jake. She's smart, but I don't think she's dangerous or anything."
"I'm just not sure about anyone attached to the Texas government and she's been gone a year. Why didn't she show up on some list of survivors when Jimmy started looking?"
"You think she's hiding something?" Heather asked incredulously.
"I don't know, but I intend on finding out what I can about her," Jake replied.
"I think you're wrong to be worried about Natalie. When I talked to her, she really acted like she just wanted to be home," Heather defended still not wanting to believe that Natalie could be anything other than what she put herself out as.
"That maybe so, but I still have questions," Jake retorted. "Anyway, Hawkins still has contacts within the Texas government. I'll see if he can find out anything."
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Natalie, wrapped in a blanket, walked next to Jimmy as they headed up the stairs to Town Hall. It had become a wild good chase trying to find her bag and laptop. It seems that Peter, the IT guy, trying to be nice, ended up bringing them back to the Town Hall. So after walking over to the High School, she was now forced to come back to Town Hall which at the moment was close to the last place she wanted to be because Bill was there. Just as they got to the doors, she hesitated.
"What's the matter?" Jimmy asked.
"Nothing," Natalie replied not wanting to explain the sudden dread that had come over her as the insecurities that she'd buried deep inside crept to the surface. For the past year, she'd been really good at playing the part of the cool, confident woman, but now that Natalie was home, she felt weak and alone. She knew it was because of Heather's revelations and her own self-doubts.
At first, Natalie had tried to take everything in stride, but after being taken off the street of her hometown, all her emotional reserves were spent. She wasn't sure she could handle meeting Bill anymore. "Jimmy, I can't go in there," she suddenly said.
"What are you taking about?"
"I don't want to see him right now," Natalie replied fearing what he'd say and what she'd say. She couldn't even bring herself to say his name.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I know I am going to say something I'll regret," Natalie replied looking up at her brother.
"I don't get it."
"It's hard to explain. Can you just go get my stuff?" Natalie pleaded.
"Yeah, but I'd rather not leave you out here alone. Just come in and wait by the door okay?" He asked putting his arm around her shoulders in comfort.
Natalie nodded and followed Jimmy into the portico of the Town Hall. She stood by the door as Jimmy walked to the Sheriff's department.
"Where the hell are they?" Bill could be heard asking. "They should have been here by now."
"They'll be here," Eric replied. They had gotten a radio call that Jimmy and Natalie were coming back to town hall.
"My God, she's here!" Bill declared as he saw the door open, but was confused when he only saw Jimmy. "Where's Natalie?"
Rather than answer right away, Jimmy, uncharacteristically, said nothing and started looking around for Natalie's bag and laptop. As he had told Bill many years ago, the two of them may be best friends, but his loyalty was always going to be with his sister no matter what. So, he kept his mouth shut. Finally seeing Natalie's things, he picked them up and silently started for the door.
"Is she okay?" Bill asked in confusion.
Eric tried to focus on something other than the two other men in the room as he fumbled through paperwork.
"Yeah, Bill. She's fine," Jimmy replied.
"Then where is she?" Bill asked incredulously
"She's waiting outside. Look, she just got home and had a really rough evening," Jimmy tried to explain to his friend. He didn't completely understand why Natalie didn't want to see Bill, but then again he didn't blame her. Bill had pushed his luck one too many times with her.
"She doesn't want to see me," Bill surmised.
"Yeah, she knows about you and Heather," Jimmy said regretting it the moment it left his lips.
"Who told her?!" Bill asked in frustration.
"Don't look at me, man," Jimmy defended. "I didn't tell her. Heather did."
"Why the hell did Heather do that?"
"I don't know. You'll have to ask Heather," Jimmy said resting the heavy military duffle bag on a chair near the door.
"Great. That's just great. She'll probably never talk to me again."
"Do you blame her? I mean she gave up so many chances for you. She had her pick of jobs; instead she takes a one in Kansas. She turned down her dream of working in Miami. I mean I love you like a brother, but if I got to go live in Florida, I'd leave your ass."
On hearing Jimmy's comment Eric couldn't help but chime in, "She gave up Florida?!? You could have lived in Miami?"
"Hey, I'd like it noted that Miami was hit by one of the bombs. We'd be glowing in the dark right now or dead."
"But you didn't know that at the time," Jimmy pointed out.
Bill just shook his head deciding he didn't feel like arguing about it right now and asked, "You think there is any chance she's going to ever speak to me again?"
"You know better than that. She'll get over it. Though to be honest, I'm not sure she should."
Bill only nodded as he slumped against the counter accepting that Jimmy was right. He really had taken her for granted all those years. If he could have had them back, he would have done things a lot differently. For one thing, he would have married her. He also would have gone with her to Corpus Christi when she asked him to. At least she wouldn't have been all alone for the past year and hopefully she would have still been speaking to him.
"I've got to get going. I'll see you both tomorrow," Jimmy said as he walked back out the door leaving Eric and Bill in the room alone.
"Bill, why don't you go home," Eric suggested feeling sorry for Bill. That poor guy didn't have any luck recently. "I can handle it here until the deputy in charge comes in."
"Thanks. I will" Bill replied quietly, though he had no intention of going straight home.
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Jake was sitting in Heather's lazy boy recliner with his feet up having taken a shower and put on some clean clothes that his mom had dropped off. Heather was in the kitchen making a snack.
"You really should consider moving your workshop," Jake said seeing that her kitchen table was still covered in parts.
"What's the point? No one comes over. It's not like I ever eat dinner at home anyway."
"True, but I can't imagine that having your kitchen table a reminder of the mess going on outside is particularly good for your mental health."
"Probably right," Heather conceded. "I guess I could move it to the basement. I've got a table down there."
"You know I've never been in your basement?" Jake remarked realizing he'd never really had a full tour, not that the house was that big.
"Not much down there other than a bunch of family mementos and my father's extensive gun collection."
"Extensive Gun Collection?!" Jake asked curious as to what she meant.
"It's pretty cool if you're into that sort of thing. Name a legal firearm and I've probably got it," Heather replied. "You know you should look sometime and see if there's anything you could use for the Rangers. I hadn't thought about it before."
"Thanks, I'll do that," Jake replied. He appreciated that Heather would be willing to part with probably the last few things she had left from her family. Over the past few days, Jake started to understand how truly alone Heather had been. She was willing to sacrifice anything including her own life for this town, but as Jake had figured out, this town had become her family. Before Jake could think about it any more, there was a knock on the door.
"Who could that be?" Heather asked. She wasn't planning on having anyone come by.
"Get into the back bedroom," Jake ordered as he picked up his gun from the coffee table and limped to the door.
Heather did as he asked and went to the back bedroom deciding that she'd rather not get into another fight with Jake tonight. She really doubted that Constantino's goons would have the courtesy to knock.
Jake looked in the window trying to figure out who it was. If it was another group from New Bern, he was going to go straight over there, limp and all, and kill Constantino himself tonight. He let out a breath that he was holding once he realized that it was only Bill Koehler. Jake opened the door, "Bill, what's the matter? Guys from New Bern back?"
"No," Bill replied. "I take it you two are okay."
"Other than my leg, we're fine. What brings you here?" Jake asked trying to hide the fact he was starting to wonder if Heather and Bill's relationship was truly over.
"I need to talk to Heather," Bill replied, exasperation evident in his voice.
Jake nodded and let Bill come in. "Heather!" Jake called out. "You can come back out. It's only Bill."
Heather entered the family room, "Bill, what's up? I thought you would be with Natalie or something."
"That's what I wanted to talk to Heather about," Bill replied. He turned to Heather. "It seems that you told her that you and I had some sort of relationship and now she doesn't want to see me."
"I'm sorry Bill," Heather replied looking sheepishly down avoiding eye contact.
"What in the world were you thinking? I mean people accuse me of saying the wrong things at the wrong time, but heck, you seem to have one-upped me."
Jake shook his head, "Wait, you told Natalie about you two?" Jake asked Heather.
"I only told her because she said that she wanted to talk to me about something and I just assumed it was about Bill and me. I'm so sorry."
"Well, great! She's been here for a few hours and you already told her. I mean don't you think it's something that I should have discussed with her?" Bill asked.
"Bill, it's not like she wasn't going to find out," Jake pointed out. There were probably people lining up around the block ready to give Natalie the news. One thing Jericho was always good for was spreading gossip.
"I know, but I would've liked to have at least seen her first."
"She seemed really understanding of everything," Heather assured him.
"That's because she's not somebody who's going to confront you over it," Bill explained.
"I don't know what to tell you."
"How do I fix this? What do I say to her? You're a woman. What would you want to hear?" Bill asked in frustration.
"Well, that depends on what you want. I'd be honest with her," Heather said.
"Don't listen to her," Jake interjected pointing to Heather. "You obviously are still in love with her or you wouldn't be here bugging us."
Bill nodded conceding the point.
"Well, I'd just go over there tonight and see her. Be direct and then try to talk about something from your past, preferably romantic," Jake suggested. "Just try to sound understanding."
"And why should I be taking relationship advice from you?" Bill asked.
"You don't have to. It's just a suggestion," Jake said with a shrug.
"He's right, Bill," Heather agreed. "I know when Mike pissed me off he'd get me talking about some place we'd gone that was a lot of fun or romantic. It would get my mind off of why I was angry. I'll be the first to admit that women are suckers for a sensitive man, not too sensitive. We don't want a guy who cries more than we do."
"So, what you both are saying is be direct, be sensitive, bring up the past and I might have a chance?"
"Well, you've been with her forever haven't you?" Jake asked already knowing the answer.
"How long have you and Natalie been dating?" Heather asked in curiosity.
Bill was silent for a moment as he tried to think how long he'd been with Natalie. "Off and on since high school."
"You've been together that long?!" Heather asked astounded that anyone would stay with Bill that long without being married. Heather liked Bill, but she knew she'd never be able to live with the man.
"Well, there were several years where I was in the Army and she was away at school that I don't think count," Bill defended.
"I'm sure it will all work out," Jake remarked hoping to get rid of Bill.
"I had better get going," Bill said as he headed for the door.
"Good Luck!" Heather called out to him.
"Thanks, but I'm going to need a lot more than luck; I need a miracle," Bill replied as he left.
Heather walked up and started closing all the locks. "So you think he's got a chance with her?"
"Probably. I mean they've been dating since high school."
"Well, I hope it works out. Somebody deserves a happy ending," Heather said locking the door.
"I think we all want and deserve one of those," Jake said in response.
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Bill took a deep breath and knocked on Jimmy's door. He wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, but he knew that he had to see her and explain best he could what had happened. No one came to the door and he was about to try knocking again when he heard laughter in the back of the house. He went around to the back gate and found it unlocked. Bill let himself in. He could see the light from Jimmy's back porch illuminating part of the backyard, but not anyone. Most of the porch was obscured by a wall. He felt for his gun and hoped to God he wouldn't have to use it.
"Hello!" he called out. "Who's out here?"
"Bill, what are you doing here?" Jimmy called back to him.
Bill made his way to the porch and found Natalie and Jimmy sitting on lawn chairs drinking shots of what looked like tequila based on the bottle between them. Natalie was dressed in a warn-out black Metallica t-shirt which Bill recognized as one of his and a pair of sweatpants. Natalie had taken the shirt with her to sleep in on her trip and Bill was surprised she still had it and that she was even wearing it tonight. He took it as a good sign.
"Hey," was all that Bill managed to say.
"What do you need?" Jimmy asked.
"I came to make sure that you were all right," he replied looking down at Natalie.
"Oh," Natalie replied looking confused at her brother. "I thought Jimmy told you that I didn't want to see you tonight."
"He did, but I had to see for myself that you were okay."
Natalie held up her hands and wiggled her fingers and wiggled her exposed toes, "See, I've got all my fingers and toes. I'm okay."
"That's not what I meant," Bill complained.
Jimmy looked like he wanted to be anywhere, but there at the moment. "I think I'm going to go inside and get to bed," He said standing up. "Are you going to be alright out here?"
"Yeah, Jimmy. I'll be fine. Good night," Natalie said.
"Good night," Jimmy said to both of them and then gave Bill a look telling him to be nice to his sister or else. Jimmy went inside and closed the door.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Bill asked leaning against one of the posts holding up the roof covering the porch. "Not just about tonight, but about everything."
"I swear I'm okay. I'm just tired," Natalie tried to explain. She wrapped her arms around herself and crossed her legs trying to act nonchalant. She looked at his left arm which was in a sling. "How's your shoulder? Jimmy told me you were shot about a week ago."
"It hurts, but it's getting better."
"That's good," Natalie said. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to come there tonight. Part of her wanted to hear what he had to say, but part of her just wanted him to leave. "So, you can see I am in one piece. I'm sure you probably need to get back to your mother's. Jimmy said you moved back in with her."
"Yeah, but I don't need to go home right away. Mom's staying with my brother for awhile," Bill explained. "I know you didn't want to see me, but do you think we could still talk?"
Natalie didn't answer right away, but instead poured two shot glasses of tequila. "Sit down," Natalie requested and handed him one of the shot glasses.
Bill took the glass and sat down next to Natalie. "So, you're staying here?"
"Yeah, for now," Natalie replied annoyance evident in her voice. "Of course, it would be nice if I could sleep in my own bed in my own house, but of course it's not hooked up to electricity and it was ransacked by the 10th Mountain Division looking for you."
"Jimmy told you about that?"
"Well, it was going to come up eventually. Anyway, it was just stuff. I mean Jimmy, Margaret; the kids are all still alive. That's really enough for me."
"I'm sorry I interrupted you and Jimmy," Bill asked as Natalie shot down the tequila in her glass. He tried not to be offended that he wasn't included on that list. She went for the bottle, but Bill tried to grab it.
"No, I've got it," Natalie assured him as she beat him to it and poured herself another shot.
"Is everyone else asleep?" Bill asked as soon as he realized that there wasn't anyone around, but her and Jimmy.
"Yeah."
Bill decided to do as Jake suggested and just be upfront, "So why didn't you want to see me?" He quickly downed the shot he was still holding and made a sour face. He hated tequila.
"I didn't know what to say," Natalie replied honestly.
"I don't get it."
"I know about Heather."
"I know that you know."
"Well, that's good. I'm glad we all know," Natalie sarcastically replied. The tequila was doing its job of relaxing her.
"If we all know, then what's the problem?" Bill asked setting down the shot glass.
"I spent the past year dreaming about being home. I dedicated my entire existence to making it happen, but you know what, I get here and it's all so anti-climatic. I mean I expected to have some sort of feeling of euphoria, but instead I just feel like that seventeen year old girl that nobody wanted."
"You're wrong about that, I wanted you. Hey, I took you to our junior prom," Bill reminded her taking Jake's advice once again.
"Our mothers arranged for us to go together. You didn't even want to take me," Natalie corrected him. She wasn't quite sure where he was going with this. She downed the shot she had poured herself.
"Actually, I did, but I was too freaking scared to ask."
"What are you talking about? You told me that you only agreed to take me because you didn't want to be the only guy in your group of friends without a date."
"I'm going to let you in on a secret. I wasn't very good at talking to girls."
"I'm going to let you in on one, too. You still aren't," Natalie said with a half-smile.
Bill ignored her comment and continued, "Stew found out I liked you and told Mom about it. She asked me if I was going to ask you and I told her why bother. I mean you never went to dances or anything for that matter. Plus, you were a straight A student and I barely graduated."
"That's because you spent too much time trying to keep up with Jake."
"You're probably right. To get back to the story, my mother, in her normal interfering way, took it upon herself to arrange the whole thing."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"You already accused me of being a mama's boy. You think I was going to willingly give you more ammunition?"
"It's universally accepted that you are a mama's boy," Natalie corrected fully smiling for the first time since Bill had arrived. She looked down at her empty shot glass and began rolling it with her fingers. She contemplated pouring herself another. "Though, before I left, I think I had you almost broken. I bet all that work is down the tubes."
"Very funny," Bill replied in mock anger.
"To get back to our first date, I only went because my mother guilted me into it. I really was expecting to be humiliated that night, but I went anyway to make my mother happy."
"You didn't want to go with me?"
"Well, I wanted to go with Stanley, but he asked Kerri Wilson."
"You wanted to go with Stanley?" Bill asked in shock.
"Well, he was on the football team and really dreamy," Natalie explained as she remembered a handsome teenage Stanley Richmond. "Instead, I went with you and had a good time any way. You were very nice and made me laugh."
"I fell in love with you that night. I mean you let me kiss you. For a seventeen year old kid who didn't know how to talk to girls, I was hooked."
"Yeah, so hooked that you find the nearest available woman and make a move for her once it looks like I'm gone for good."
"It wasn't like that."
"What was it like?" Natalie demanded setting down the glass in her hands.
"I don't know," Bill replied. "By the beginning of July, I'd pretty much given up hope of ever seeing you again. We talked to J&R to see if you showed up on any refugee lists, but they couldn't find any trace of you."
"They wouldn't have," Natalie replied.
"Why?"
"Because I made sure that I never got on any list, especially one that would get to the ASA. One day I'll tell you about the past year, but right now is not the time," Natalie explained. She knew that eventually she was going to have to give all the particulars on the past year. She just didn't want to do it tonight. "Anyway, that's beside the point. It still doesn't explain why you so quickly went about replacing me."
"I didn't replace you," Bill corrected Natalie. "I really just started spending time with Heather because she seemed all alone. She's really nice. I think you two could be friends."
"I don't think so. Sorry, I'm a pretty understanding person, but making friends with my ex-boyfriend's baby mama is just not something that I think I can do."
"What are you talking about?" Bill asked. "I'm not the father of Heather's baby. Hell, I never even slept with the woman!"
"What?!" Natalie exclaimed. She felt like such a fool.
"Jake's the father of Heather's baby," Bill explained.
"How? He's been in Texas for the past four months and she doesn't look like she's that far along."
"I guess before he left. I really didn't get all the details," Bill replied slouching back against the lawn chair. "The only reason I started to see her semi-romantically was because I was trying to get over you, but I did a really lousy job of it. I went into the whole thing knowing it was never going to last. It was never the same as with you. There were never secrets between you and me. I could tell you anything and I always knew you weren't hiding things from me," Bill tried to explain trying to ignore the fact that obviously Natalie was hiding things from him now.
Natalie started laughing.
"What?" Bill inquired trying to figure out what she found so funny. He started to wonder if she was drunk.
"You are so full of shit," Natalie remarked. "I know you better than that. Who wrote that load of crap for you?"
"What do you mean?" Bill innocently asked.
"This whole conversation has got to be the sappiest we've ever had. You have never been this sentimental in your entire life. You are the most unromantic guy I know."
"I can be romantic," Bill defended.
"When you want to get laid," Natalie added sarcasm dripping through her voice. "So, who helped you?"
"Why do you think someone helped me?"
"Like I said, you don't say things like that. I mean it was nice, sweet actually, but that wasn't you."
"So, what would I have said?" Bill asked.
"You were good until we started reminiscing about prom."
"Maybe the past year has changed me," Bill suggested trying to pretend that she wasn't right.
"Jimmy's been giving me the rundown on your various misadventures the past year. Based on that, I'd say you're still the same as you ever were."
"So, what should I have said?" Bill said accepting that Natalie had called him on it. She knew him too well.
"I would expect you to say that you were stupid and gone on to say 'I'm sorry I was an idiot again. Please forgive me.' Then you would have tried to kiss me."
Bill got up off his chair and kneeled down in front of Natalie. "I'm sorry I was an idiot again. Please forgive me."
Natalie didn't say anything, but tears started falling from her eyes. Bill brushed the tears from her face with his free hand.
"I love you," Bill said breaking the silence.
"I love you, too."
With that, Bill kissed her tenderly. After a minute, he smiled. "So am I going to get laid?" Bill joked as he continued to kiss her. Natalie girlishly giggled as she put her arms around him giving him his answer as she realized some things never changed.
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The house was quiet, as Heather curled up on her couch alone. Jake had long since gone to sleep in her bed and she had tried to lay down with him, but she couldn't get any rest. Too much had happened this evening and it was all spinning through her head.
The past week had been full of surprises for Heather. First, Jake and Hawkins made their return from Texas. She still didn't have the full details on exactly why they'd been let go, but then again, she was pretty sure that they didn't know either. Second, Bill gets shot in the shoulder and scares the crap out of her. Third, Jake reveals that he still has feelings for her and finds out she's pregnant. Finally, Natalie Taylor returns and brings news that Mike Anderson was coming back. That last piece of information was weighing most heavily on Heather's mind.
Heather held the letter that Natalie had given her earlier and contemplated whether she was really interested in hearing what Mike had to say after all this time. Natalie had told her that he'd changed, but exactly what kind of change was the problem. Finally giving in to her curiosity, Heather opened the letter and began to read it.
Dear Heather,
I hope this letter finds you well and happy (or at least as happy as one can be when the world has gone to hell). I know that my return to Jericho has the potential to cause upheaval in your life and I really hope that by explaining myself, I'll mitigate any painful feelings you may have toward me. First, I want to offer an apology for the way I left things with you. I never meant to hurt you, but when does anyone mean to. My biggest regret in all of it was leading you on for as long as I did, but I really thought that I could do it. I thought I could be the man you needed me to be, but at some point, you have to stop living the lie and start being real.
I hope that my return to Jericho will not cause you any pain. After the past year, I hope that a failed relationship can be seen in its proper light when there is so much dying and suffering going on. I want you to know that my coming back is not because I harbor any expectations with you. My sincerest hope is that you have found someone to take care of you in the way you deserve.
I know that this letter does not begin to answer the questions you may have. I promise that if you want to ask them, I am open.
Forever in your debt,
Mike Anderson
After she finished reading the letter, Heather got up from the couch, crumpled the paper in her fist, and threw it into the garbage can. Natalie may have thought that Mike had changed, but that letter was filled with the same meaningless platitudes that Mike had filled her with before he left. As Heather shut the light off and joined Jake in her bed, she realized that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
