The next day started out like any other. Rose woke up, had breakfast, and Jack picked her up for school. What was different was her walking to Jack's car, hand in hand, right in front of a frowning Julie.

"Good morning Julie," Rose smiled, deciding to keep it friendly. Julie may be hateful, but that didn't mean that Rose had to stoop to her level.

"I only have one thing to say about you and my cousin, Rose. I don't like you. I don't like you with him. But he seems to care about you a lot and insists on doing this, so I'll just say if you break his heart, I'll kick your ass. That is all," Julie frowned, returning her attention to glaring out the window.

"Is that acceptance I hear?" Rose looked at Jack, not able to believe her ears.

"That is as close as we're ever going to get to one," Jack chuckled, opening the passenger's door for Rose, who blushed.

"You are a true gentleman, Jack," Rose smiled, causing him to blush in return.

"Can we go?" Julie rolled her eyes. She didn't know how much of this she could take.

Jack looked into the rear-view mirror and stuck his tongue out at her, making Rose laugh as he pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street, heading towards the high school. Julie was first out of the car, once Jack had pulled into the parking lot and found a parking space. She frowned when she looked over to see Tommy talking to Annabelle, who was looking like she would rather be somewhere else other than there.

"What is he doing?" Julie frowned, not really liking seeing her boyfriend chatting up a girl that was not her.

"Having a conversation?" Jack answered, not sure what answer Julie was looking for. "Julie, come on. They're just talking. Don't make a scene, alright?"

Julie glared at her cousin, already not too happy with him for his dating choice. "Who says I'm going to make a scene?"

"Because you always do when he talks to another girl that you don't know. You've done it before. Plus you're already pissed off. Take my advice, let it go," Jack got out of the car, grabbing his portfolio.

"I doubt she's interested in Tommy, anyway," Rose got out of the car, taking Jack's hand as he started for the main building.

"What makes you think so?" Julie asked, following them instead of going up to her boyfriend, knowing that if she did, she wouldn't be able to help herself. Lately, her and Tommy haven't been getting along at all. If they weren't arguing, they were on the brink of it. Last night's dinner, they were keeping it civil for her Aunt and Uncle's sake. These days, she didn't even know why they were together. They been much better friends than they have ever been lovers.

"Let's just say that Annabelle and I have a lot in common and she had a harder time of it, than I did," Rose said, not wanting to declare it to the school what Cal had done. She didn't think the other girl would appreciate it. The move to different schools was a second chance for them both. Rose was having hers and she wasn't going to take away anyone else's.

"Regardless, he still flirts too much," Julie frowned.

At lunch it was more of the same. The group decided to have lunch on the bleachers instead of in the cafeteria. Jack and Rose were just opening their bagged lunches when Julie made an angry gasp. Jack looked up and frowned, wondering what was up with his cousin this time.

"What is it?"

"Tommy. He's at it again, in full sight of everyone!" Julie nodded her head towards Tommy who was sitting further down on the bleachers, talking to two brunette girls. The girls seemed to be having a good time, blushing and batting their eyelashes as Tommy continued talking excitedly about something.

"Julie, calm down. He's probably talking about his next party and gathering up some guests. You know he campaigns early when he's about to throw a big one," Jack chuckled, shaking his head about his cousin's jealousy.

"They're blushing Jack!"

"He has an accent. Girls like accents, right Rose?" Jack chuckled.

"Some girls do. I don't see what so important about accents myself," Rose avoided Jack's eyes, not wanting to admit that she did find Tommy's accent interesting. Plus, Julie already disliked her. She didn't want to give her a reason to dislike her even more than she already did.

"Yeah, right," Julie fumed, crossing her arms, clearly angry with her boyfriend. She pushed away her bagged lunch, no longer hungry. "He's doing this on purpose. He knew that we were to eat out here. He just wants to see how far he can push me."

Tommy laughed, finishing up his conversation with the girls. He then turned around and headed for where Rose, Jack, and Julie were sitting. "Hey, any room for me?"

"Always," Jack grinned, hoping that Julie would just let Tommy's flirting go. He really was in no mood to witness a big fight, still being on the high of his relationship with Rose being out in the open now.

"So what were you and the two bimbettes over there talking about?" Julie frowned, picking up her lunch bag, angrily opening it to peer inside.

"You mean Christine and Cher? I was just telling them about the party at my place Friday. Of course, you all are invited as well. That goes without saying," Tommy opened up his own bag, oblivious to his girlfriend's anger.

"They blush and bat their eyes because of a party invitation?" Julie asked, feeling skeptical and this time it was clear in her voice.

"Julie, please let it go," Jack pleaded.

"No, I will not. I don't like it when my boyfriend makes me look like a naive fool by flirting with anything that's female. First it was that Anna-whatever, and now it's those two and I don't buy the party invitation excuse! Not this time!"

Tommy sighed, rolling his eyes. "Really? You are wanting to do this now, in front of everyone?"

"No time better than the present in my opinion," Julie grumbled, ignoring Fabrizio and Helga as they joined them.

"Hello everyone," Fabrizio greeted, frowning when Jack gave him a grim smile. "Why is no one happy?"

"Maybe you guys should do this somewhere more private," Jack suggested, hating the attention that Julie and Tommy's loud voices were gaining.

"I think right here is good enough. Let everyone know what a man-whore my boyfriend is," Julie crossed her arms.

"Julie!" Helga gasped, horrified by Julie's language. That wasn't the way one talked to the person they loved. She knew that things between the couple had been tense, but she had always believed that they had a mutual respect for each other and would work it out. Now she wasn't so sure.

"You know what, Julie. That's it. I've put up with your shit for long enough! People keep asking me why I put up with you and I keep on saying that you're not as awful as they think! Boy was I wrong, you are just that awful! You're awful to any girl that looks at Jack with any interest until Rose came along and you couldn't run her off! So now you're finally turning on me! Well, I'm not having it! I'm sick of your jealousy and your bad attitude all together! I don't know if you'll ever grow out of it, I hope so, but as of now, we are done!"

"What?" Julie looked at him in disbelief. He couldn't...he wouldn't! "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Of course not!" Fabrizio stared with wide eyes. Everything had been so good, everyone had someone. Tommy and Julie couldn't ruin everything now!

"Stay out of this one, Fabri," Jack warned, feeling bad for the Italian. He knew how much he hated it when these things happen.

"That's exactly what I'm doing! I need a girl who is...nice to those around her. Not someone who goes around growling at everyone that dares breathes in her direction! Not someone that can't even be happy for her own cousin when something good finally happens for him! Not someone who is constantly jealous and calls me things like man-whore!"

The more Tommy talked, the redder Julie's face became. "Oh is that so? And do you think anyone else will have you? How long will your next girlfriend put up with your constant flirting?!"

"My next girlfriend won't have a jealousy problem and would know that I don't mean anything by it! That I'm just a natural flirt! They would understand!"

"I doubt it!"

"Go to hell Julie," Tommy growled.

"You go first!," Julie got to her feet, grabbing her bag. "And take your next trollop with you!"

Everyone watched as she stormed away, not bothering to look back.

"Did that just happen?" Helga asked, wanting to go after her friend, but knowing that Julie would probably want to be alone right now.

Tommy sat there, still angry over the whole thing. He shifted on the bench, feeling everyone's eyes on him. "I'm sorry that you guys had to witness that. I was planning to break up with her anyway...in a more quiet, private setting...but she was just out of control."

Fabrizio frowned. He did not like seeing his friends break up. Plus, he was the peacekeeper of the group. He was always one to find a common ground for forgiveness and making up. "But Tommy, is there no way that this can be fixed? Breaking up is so...mean."

"I'm sorry Fabri," Tommy sighed, hating to disappoint his friend. "I know that you hate it, man. But to be honest, the end was a long time coming. We just left it for too long, tried to ignore it, until it just couldn't be ignored any longer. Julie and I were already over, long before now."

"Maybe if you guys talked...," Jack suggested.

"No amount of talking will fix things, Jack. Maybe we can be friends, but anymore than that...no. I can not do it anymore. We're just too incompatible," Tommy sighed getting to his feet. "I'm sorry, though. Still friends?"

"Of course. Your relationship with Jules has nothing to do with our friendship. You know that," Jack grinned.

"I mean it, you all are invited Friday. It's going to be even more awesome than the beach party," Tommy grinned. "Well, I'm off to the library. Have a test to study for. See you cats later."

"Bye Tommy," Jack waved, watching him go. "Man, I feel sad. I never expected this to happen."

"Well I did," Helga pursed her lips. "I knew that they weren't long for each other. I just hope Julie will be okay."

…..

After school, Rose found Jack by his car, staring off into space. She watched him for a second, wondering if her presence would be welcomed. Ever since lunch, she had the sense that something was off, like he was avoiding her and he was a bit more broody than usual. Looking at him now, she could tell that he was still in a mood. Maybe she shouldn't approach him...maybe she should just call her father for a ride...but she didn't want to leave Jack like this without talking first. He had been there for here when she needed someone. It was time for her to at least try to do the same. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to him.

"Hey," She greeted, standing beside him.

"Hey," Jack answered, looking down at the ground, clearly distracted.

"You've been kind of avoiding me since lunch," Rose frowned, deciding to dive right in. She's learned that not handling something head on always made things worse.

Jack looked up at her with a frown. He hadn't meant to avoid her. It was just that...the break up between Tommy and Julie had made him think a lot about relationships and how some seem to fall apart and some seemed to last. He guessed he's been so busy thinking, that he hadn't been giving Rose any attention, like he usually did.

"I'm sorry."

"Do you mind if I ask why? You've been quiet ever since Tommy and Julie broke up."

Jack sighed and stared up at the sky, not sure how to approach the subject. It wasn't like he wanted what happened to Julie and Tommy to happen to them. Far from it. If he could figure out how to keep it from happening, that would be great. "I don't want what happened to them to happen to us. I'm just trying to figure out where it had all started to go wrong for them, so I can stop it going wrong for us..."

Rose frowned. "What makes you think that it'll go wrong for us? I'm nothing like Julie and you're not Tommy. I know that I've only just met them, but...forgive me Jack, but it seemed to me that they were very incompatible. Tommy is a friendly free spirit that likes people and likes to party. Julie...she seems to be...more of a loner and certainly not as friendly as he is. To be honest, I was kind of surprised that they were together in the first place."

"What about us, though?"

"What about us? I think we're more compatible than they were. You and I have more in common than Julie and Tommy I do believe. I don't think what happened to them can...at least I hope it can't..."

"I don't want it to happen to us," Jack's frown deepened. "I know it's too soon to worry about that sort of thing...but I worry about it now and I'm able to recognize the symptoms..."

"Jack...," She took his hand and stepped in front of him so that they were facing each other, staring into each other's eyes. "Jack, the best way to make sure it doesn't happen is to do what we're doing now. Communicate with each other. Not withdrawing into our own little corner, worrying about warning signs. That was why my parents broke up. They didn't talk and they weren't honest with each other. Talking and honesty is the only way we can make this work. And if for some reason it stops working...well at least we'll be able to maintain a friendship and that's what I really treasure from you, Jack. Your friendship. You've become my best friend and I don't want to lose that. Even though the dating thing is a plus," She smiled.

Jack just laughed. "Yeah. It is. I treasure your friendship, too Rose. I'm sorry for withdrawing like I did..."

"It's ok. Just remember that you can always come talk to me about anything Jack. God, you've been my rock through everything and you're still not sick of me."

"Like that could ever happen. How can I be sick of the girl I lo...like so much," Jack chuckled, pulling Rose into his arms, holding her tight. "I promise Rose. No more withdrawing."

"So...what should I wear to Tommy's party Friday?" Rose smiled in a way that she hoped looked flirty.

"Why are you asking me? I know nothing about clothes. At least clothes for beautiful girls anyway."

Rose blushed, still not used to his compliments. "I want to look beautiful for you."

"Rose, you could be wearing a clown suit and you'd still be the most beautiful girl in the world," Jack smiled, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You don't have to worry about looking beautiful to me. You do that naturally."

"Do you have to take me home? Can't I just live with you?" Rose sighed, her feelings for him again raising up inside her, making him the only thing she could think about.

"Unfortunately, yes. I want to stay on your father's good side."

"Let's go then," Rose chuckled, about to move to the car, but then stopped, looking into Jack's eyes. "We're good now, right?"

"We were always good," Jack nodded, reassuring her. He hated that he scared her the way he had. He really didn't know what he had been thinking, pulling away from her like that. One thing was sure though. He would never do it again and he will do everything in his power to make sure that he and Rose won't end up like Tommy and Julie.