A/N: My longest chapter ever, but one of the least eventful. I hope you guys enjoy it, I must say I am sort of proud of it, perhaps foolishly. I find that I'm much more productive at night for some reason. Also listen to the song 'Innocence' by Sarah Buxton, it seems to fit. Please review, even if you hate it, and let me know if you listened to the song, it's good! I know the flashback thing is a different for me, but I figure variety is the spice of life. A review would be especially nice this chapter, since this is so off the wall for me. Thanks to AislinnNicole1, beldoge, stress, Andrew B. Callahan, Erin, jasperthewalkingchillpill, Katie 452, and Jinkins for reviewing. Enjoy!


~Abby~

I awake in a sudden fright, feeling immediately ill at ease in the dark hotel room. I push my tangled hair out of my eyes and look over to the clock on the bedside table, noting that it's only been an hour since we fell asleep. I look beside me and see Jimmy dozing in what looks to be a fairly peaceful slumber, and am overwhelmingly glad that I haven't awoken him.

I note the light coming in through the windows and as gently as possible remove the arm that has draped itself across my waist. I slide out of bed and make my way over to the window, taking a seat in the high-backed chair stationed beside it.

Feeling like I'm suffocating, I lean up, pull the sheer curtains back, and open the window a bit, just enough to be able to feel the Seattle air seeping into the room. I sigh and remember a time when things were much simpler, a time when my biggest worry was whether or not Jimmy would like me back and what I would wear to Nikki's party. I can see the moon, glowing silently in the night sky, almost full but not quite, and I am transported to another time and place.

I can't believe I'm doing this. Sneaking out in the middle of a Thursday night, what would my parents say if they found out? I nevertheless creep over the windowsill of my bedroom and glide across the lawn, desperately hoping that the bright moon overhead does not reveal my presence to the two people who may be watching from the bedroom window beside mine.

I am so dead if they find out, but at the moment I almost don't care. The October wind is a pleasant breeze against my skin as I sprint down the road to our special spot, wondering what will happen next in the perfect stillness of this night, and I, all of 17 years old, feel my heart thumping in my chest in anticipation as I turn into the woods and slow down a bit, trying to catch a breath.

He's already waiting for me, of course. He stands casually before me as I half-jog up, arms across his chest, and beams a smile at me when he spots me. I go up to him nervously, with all of the emotion of a young girl falling hard and fast, and he meets me halfway, slinging an arm casually around me and kissing my temple.

"I'm surprised you made it," he says, and I think I see the hint of a teasing smile on his lips.

"Well, Jimmy, you told me I should take a risk every once in a while," I whisper back. "You were right. So here I am."

This time I'm certain I see a grin and a twinkle in his eyes, one not caused by the moonlight streaming down upon us. He releases his hold of me and turns to the willow tree behind him, hoisting himself up onto the lowest branch with what looks to be little effort.

"Come on," he says quietly, gesturing to the tree he's currently sitting in.

I look at him doubtfully. "There is no way I'll be able to get up there," I respond, momentarily thinking he's lost his mind. At 5' 2" I'm not the shortest person in the world, but there's been more than a few times that I've wished for an extra few inches on my height. One of those times being now.

"Oh, ye have little faith," he jokes in a mock accent. "Come here." I walk over to the base of the tree, wondering what's next. "Put your left hand there," he gestures to a notch in the tree trunk, and I follow his directions. "Now grab my hand with your other one." He extends his hand to me, steadying himself on the branch he's sitting on. I do as he says, and try to pull myself up with my left hand as he pulls me up next to him.

"See? Not hard at all," he whispers to me, so quiet I wouldn't be able to hear him if I weren't at his side. He has a silent confidence I've always admired, a confidence I've always lacked. He is an escape and a freedom, a free spirit, I a trembling girl whose just beginning to open her eyes, thanks to him.

He leans in to kiss me, and my heart feels like it's jumping out of my chest. No matter how often he does this, it still feels like the first time, and I lean in closer to him, pressing his back into the tree trunk, holding onto his arm in an attempt to not plummet the 6 or so feet out of the tree.

We stay in that tree for what must be two or so hours. We talk of everything and nothing, the topics of interest ranging from what we'll do at school tomorrow to what we'll be doing next summer to what we want from the next few years.

My legs have long since fallen into a near painful slumber, forgotten, when we decide to depart. Jimmy gets out of the tree before me, fearlessly jumping off of the branch. I look down at him and feel like I'm twenty feet up, but I make my best effort to slide down the trunk. Before I fall and break a leg he grabs me and lifts me down, his touch lingering even after I'm safely out of the willow.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school," I whisper, not yet wishing to leave but knowing I should. He leans down to kiss me goodbye, and we go our separate ways.

I can't help but notice how different my return journey is compared to my trip there. I left worried, terrified my parents would catch me, butterflies whipping around in my stomach; I go back, the butterflies still present, but calmed considerably, their flutter a gentle calming sensation instead of a frantic flight. I no longer care if my parents have found me out; nothing could disturb the bliss of this night, nothing could take away the joy.

I creep back into my room as silently as possible and quickly put on my pajamas. My clock reads 3:42 am, and I suppress a groan at having to wake up in a few short hours. I climb into bed, the sensation of Jimmy's kiss still lingering on my lips and the cool night air still brushing across my skin, and I drift to sleep a long while later.

A rustling of the trees outside brings me back to the hotel room, to the chair I'm currently sitting in, the night air floating past me. That was only the first of many such late night excursions; Jimmy and I must have gone to that place three or fours times a month, more frequently if it were a particularly trying week. I knew no greater place than our sanctuary in the woods, knew no greater company in those months than I have in my entire life. I lived for those scattered moments, lived to feel him next to me, to hear his voice in those woods.

I had thought that those moments could last forever, but reality caught me off guard a few months later when I looked up to see my mother hanging lifeless from a willow tree, the very tree that had been ours for so much time.