A/N: This update is a bit longer than the last few. The angst is pretty bad in the next update, so be warned. xD Please let me know what you think of this update in the reviews. Thanks for reading, and as always: Enjoy!

*Now*

Some cold liquid hits me in the face.

I spring awake. "What's going on?"

A homeless man is standing next to me, an empty bottle of beer in his hand.

He turns to a younger male who also apparently happens to be homeless.

"See, son? I told you he ain't dead." The older homeless guy turns back to me, a near toothless smile on his face.

I sit upright. "I'm sorry. Is this your spot?"

He waves his hand. "I sleep wherever, boy. Don't worry about me."

Regardless, I stand up.

I pat my pockets, looking for my wallet.

The younger male glares at me. "We didn't try to rob you if that's what you're thinking."

I stare at him and slowly pull out my wallet.

From it, I extract two twenty dollar bills.

I hold them out to the older man. "Here. It's not much, but it's something."

The homeless man looks at me like I've just handed him a winning lottery ticket.

"Thank you, son. Thank you so much." He smiles at me again, and the younger male looks embarrassed.

"I have to get going, ok? It was nice to meet you. Thanks for waking me up." I tell the older man.

He nods. "Anytime, anytime. If you ever want to come back and sleep here, this spot is yours."

I give him a small smile. "I might."

The younger male holds out his hand for me to shake. "Thank you. Most people who look like you do aren't very kind to my father."

I shake his hand. "Don't worry about it. Kindness should be the normalcy."

He nods and I turn around and walked the other way.

I know that my parents are going to be furious with me when I get back, so I take the long way home.

I stop and buy myself a coffee in hopes that it'll jumpstart my brain by the time I get home.

I check my cell phone as I continue walking and drinking my coffee.

Ten missed calls this morning. And it's only nine.

One is from Tucker, one's from an unknown number, four are from Jazz, one is from my mom and three are from my dad.

I sigh heavily and check how many voicemails.

Eight.

I dial my voicemail and begin listening to them all. The first one is from my mom. She's crying and begging me to come home.

This was sent about six last night. Tucker's message is next. He says something about being in town and maybe we could meet up or something.

The next one is my dad screaming about how 'it's not right for me to take off like that and I'm tearing this family apart' and on and on and on he goes.

I delete his next message before listening to it.

The next message is Kwan. He's asking me if I'm all right and if I needed anything else to just let him know.

I make a mental note to call and thank him for his hospitality.

The final three messages are from Jazz. It sounds like she' crying hysterically as she's talking.

She's begging me to come back. Talking about how sorry she is for springing this on me. About how she's just so worried about me.

I sigh. I'll have to call her back too.

But I don't have time for that right now. I'm standing outside my house, which is no longer a home to me.

I take a deep breath and walk up the few short steps.

Here we go...

*Then*

Sam and I were sitting outside her house.

I was dropping her off at the end of the night.

Almost midnight.

I looked at my watch. "Eight more minutes and our graduation day is officially over."

"Really?" Sam's eyebrows went up on her forehead. "It feels like it's barely ten."

I smiled. "I know."

I took her hand. "Time seems to fly by when I'm with you."

She smiled back. "Likewise, dork."

I chuckled. "You should probably go inside before your parents yell at you."

She sighed. "They're always yelling at me."

I gently squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve it."

She looked up, a small smile on her face. "Thanks. At least I'll be out of there soon."

I nodded. "Exactly. Neither one of our parents can do anything to us when we're in New York."

She smiled. "I know. I'm really excited about living together."

Her smile became worried and the crease appeared between her eyebrows again. "Are you sure we're ready for this?"

"Sam, I'm ready to fly to the moon and bring a piece of it back to you. Moving in together is going to be nothing." I smiled. "Second nature. Besides, you've practically been living at my house for the past year."

She smiled and her cheeks colored slightly. "I'm sorry. It's just…when it gets really bad at home, you help me forget."

I squeezed her hand again. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't be."

My watch beeped.

"It's midnight. Make a wish." I said, smiling.

She grinned and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, her smile had faded and her eyes were brimming with tears.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"My parents are going to get a divorce." She whispered.

I pulled her into my arms and rubbed her back. "What makes you say that?"

She shook her head. "I can feel it. The only reason they've stayed together is because of me. They're going to get a divorce as soon as I move out."

I hugged her. "Baby, it's ok. I'm so sorry."

She sniffled and rested her cheek on my shoulder. "I love you."

I rubbed her back. "I love you too."