Disclaimer: Still don't own Four Brothers...

Author's Note: K, so this one has two songs, one at the beginning, one at the end... I was bored, what can I say... Everyone should be pretty psyched by the end of this chappie I think, it's kinda what you've all been waiting for so enjoy, and I'll try to have another chappie up in the next two or three days.

I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph, I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

From: Broken – Seether

It was fucking freezing (not that that was strange for January). Every normal human being in the city was either inside, or hurrying to get there. But not Jack. Jack sat on the bleachers outside a school he'd never attended. He was smoking cigarettes galore and trying to think. He didn't know why he was there. If he was looking for her she wasn't going to be there. She'd be off at college, and there was no way he'd find her in a campus full of students. It didn't make any sense. None of his thinking made any sense lately.

"I think it's a little cold for your short-skirted girlies today."

Though caught off guard he was able to reply with a small smile, "Except for one apparently." What he slowly turned to see was not at all what he'd been prepared for. She'd traded in her old jacket for a long wool one. From what he could tell it covered a pair of dress pants and her boots had a bit of a heel to them. It was weird. Her hair was half pulled back, but was free enough to be everywhere, the only part of her that was exactly like he remembered. Except maybe her walk. Even in heels and balancing on a bleacher she still almost managed the same walk.

"Did you miss me Jack?" She sat down next to him, but not as close as she might have dared a year

"A little," he admitted. Truth be told he hadn't really had time to miss her until he got home. But he'd thought of her every now and again, usually at the least convenient times. But enough of that…"What are you doing here?"

"I was bored, and I figured you'd be around here somewhere."

"How'd you know we were back?" He knew it was a stupid question and would have taken it back if he could.

"Uh, that would be Alex's fault."

"Yeah I kinda figured that out after I asked." She laughed a little. "So what's college like?" There was no way he was gonna let Alex ruin this already.

"Not as bad as I thought it would be," she shrugged. "There are some pretty kick ass classes."

"You nerd."

"Hey, just because I enjoy learning about something…" She trailed off, "Ok shut up."

He laughed as he blew out smoke and tossed the cigarette. "What are you going for anyway?" Amazingly enough he'd never figured out what she wanted to do with her life.

"Well the long complicated name is Communications somethingerother, I don't even know… Basically I wanna film and edit stuff."

"Sounds fun."

"It is. Unfortunately it's also expensive and dad's starting to get a bit peeved."

"Oh poor rich kid."

"Geez, no sympathy." She smiled through her sarcasm.

"Not after what you did a year ago."

"Oh you crybaby. You already had one on the other side, it needed a match."

"Bullshit."

"Yeah alright, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it."

"No you shouldn't have, but you're not sorry."

"No I'm not sorry about it… Sorry I didn't do it earlier maybe…" She muttered the last part.

"Stop."

"Jack, what the fuck are you afraid of?" He didn't reply. "You can't do any harm to me that hasn't already been done."

"You'd probably be surprised."

"You're a fucking coward."

"Maybe." There was no point in flat out denying it, he did feel like a bit of a coward.

"We were just barely able to keep things together back then, you realize that right? So what happens now?"

"Nothing." He still felt awkward making a move on her. She was still the same kid, even if she tried to dress like an adult. Heels and slacks meant nothing, she was still the stupid kid that took a complete stranger to play laser tag. She was still the spoiled brat that took on his big brothers like they were nothing to fear. …Dammit, this wasn't helping him stay away from her. All of that just made him want her more.

"I'm not going to fight you about this Jack." She stood up and hopped down to the next row. She'd given up already. He watched her walk to the edge of the school, but as she disappeared around the corner that damn feeling came over him again. It only took a few more seconds for him to jump up and follow her.

……………………………………………………………………………………...

Cal shivered as she touched the door of the car. She hadn't been thinking clearly enough to get her keys out before she got there. She clenched her fists in an attempt to warm them up before she reached into her pocket.

"What do you want me to say?"

His voice stopped her. She held her pocket for a few seconds, closing her eyes. She honestly didn't know what she wanted him to say. Was there anything he should be saying? But he didn't wait for her reply to continue.

"You want me to admit that being around you scares the shit out of me most of the time? Or how about the fact that every time I talked to a girl while I was gone I ended up comparing her to you?"

He was still walking toward her, she could see it out of the corner of her eye. A little scared she forced herself to turn around. He hadn't stopped talking.

"You're the closest to the perfect girl I've ever known Chick." He very obviously hated himself for saying that, but continued to the next thought anyway. "There is not one thing in my life I haven't fucked up, I want you to know that. Nothing."

She nodded, completely understanding that feeling. But she hadn't finished her nods before his hand slipped around the back of her neck. She didn't have time to flinch as he kissed her. He may have expected her to pull back a little, but she did no such thing. Her hands held his face for a while before gripping to his shirt. It put her most of the way inside his jacket and the inviting warmth made her tighten her hold. She had never felt better in her life.

His other hand moved to help heft her up onto the hood of the car. As he leaned her back her legs instinctively wrapped around him. How many times had she imagined this… even before he left. She moved to grip his neck and hold herself in the kiss that neither of them had given up on yet. But she smiled and laughed into him as he reached for the keys. She leaned back, still gripping his shirt with one hand, but allowing his hand to fit in her pocket.

"Get in," he said in a voice slightly lower than usual. Damn he was sexy.

"Funny," she said before she let him walk away, "I was gonna say the same thing to you…"

………………….(yes I know that was a lame ass dirty joke, forgive me, and also forgive me for not having the guts to do everything we'd all like with the part in between here and the next part, I don't trust my own skills so let your imagination run wild my friends)………...

Every other time he'd screwed a girl he'd just left it at that. But then, he'd never started by 'professing his love' for the woman. Not truthfully anyway. He never stuck around afterwards, he'd never needed to… but now was completely different. He wanted to stay. He didn't think he'd stopped kissing her since they'd made it into the back of car. (Her little station wagon had proven itself handy indeed.)

It was still freezing outside, and they'd both put their pants back on for a bit of warmth, but hadn't made it to anything else. They were too busy keeping their hands on each other. He let his thumb stroke her neck, just like he had when Alex had come after her. She was slowly falling asleep there in his arms. He hadn't noticed before just how exhausted she looked, and he felt bad.

He kissed again, first a quick one to warn her followed by a much deeper one. She kissed back, almost desperately. The poor kid was so fucked up, but he still couldn't shake the feeling he could possibly really be in love with her. She was a far better girl than he deserved. He should have just left, let her go away mad at him. But knowing her it wouldn't have worked. She'd have come back again, she'd have found a way to get him. But why him? She could do so much better.

Her hand, which had been stroking his cheek, settled next to her own face as she drifted closer to sleep. He kissed her forehead then, warranting a smirk from her. When she finally dozed off the situation became a little awkward. He wasn't ready to leave yet, he couldn't leave her like that. But he wasn't comfortable watching her sleep either.

Carefully sitting up he pulled on his shirts and grabbed his jacket. The girl shivered a little, and Jack suddenly felt obligated to pull her long jacket over as a kind of blanket before turning away. It was difficult to pull himself up the slope of the lowered back seat, but he managed it and escaped into the cold world outside. Leaning against the back of the vehicle he pulled out a cigarette and started pondering the many directions today could lead them in.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Cal woke slowly, taking a minute to realize where she was. She smiled when she realized her jacket was draped over her. That boy was so damn adorable. She wasn't quite sure how she'd managed to get this lucky. She'd seen his back pressed against the window and had to admit she was a little shocked he was still there. How long had she been asleep? When had she fallen asleep?... An even better question – why did her whole body feel …what did it feel like?

Suddenly a much more familiar vibration broke into her thoughts. Suddenly panicked she delved into her jacket for her cell phone.

"I'm so sorry Dad. We got caught up in study group and I completely lost track of time."

"You better get your ass here soon."

"I'll hurry, I promise, but the best I can do is an hour and a half because we're in the middle of something right now."

"I'm watching the clock. If you're one minute longer than an hour and a half, so help me god I'll kick the shit out of you, you little bitch."

Oh good, he was drunk already, fun fun. "I'm coming…" she hung up. No use getting more worked up over it. She had to get going.

Stretching a little she was able to snatch her bra from the edge of the lowered back seat. Her shirt was much closer and she was able to button it pretty quickly considering how shaky she felt. She wasn't sure what factor was leading to the feeling, but she forced a deep breath before climbing out of the car.

Jack didn't look all the way over, a little shy about what had happened apparently. "You let me sleep too long, now I'm late." She mentioned.

He closed his eyes, frustrated with himself. "Shit. I'm sorry I didn't even think about that."

"Don't worry about it, I already made my excuses. Even bought myself enough time to take you home."

"You shouldn't have bothered."

"But I did, so get in the car."

"Chick…"

She smiled and looked up as she interrupted him. "Shut up Jack." Grabbing the edge of his coat she pulled him in to a kiss. He didn't fight her. She finally let go, but their faces stayed close. "Do you happen to remember where the keys ended up?"

"Not a clue," he laughed. "But my first guess would be in the ignition because my hands were pretty busy when I moved to the back."

She kissed him again as she joined his laughter. "Indeed they were." She stepped back to the driver's side door and opened it up. She could see the keys on the floor… he'd been pretty close. "I'm driving," she proclaimed, pointing him to where she wanted him to go.

"Are you sure it's alright for you to do this?" He was genuinely worried about her.

"Get in the fucking car already, will you?"

He nodded, attempting to smile, and complied with her orders. He knew it wasn't a long trip to his mother's place, and they definitely needed to talk so he tried to get things started as soon as he sat down.

"So what happens now?" Stupid general question, but it worked.

"That depends. Alex booked you guys a gig next weekend, so if you're patient you'll see me in about 10 days."

"And if I'm the least patient person in the world?" (which he wasn't, his biggest brother stole that title.)

"Well, I've got class from 9 to 1 tomorrow."

"And where can I expect to find you on a campus full of preppy looking kids such as yourself?"

"There's a snack bar in the building that's the center of campus. I always grab something to eat there after class. It's a good place to sit and do homework, or, you know, hang out."

He smiled, but shook his head. "It's almost like you had this planned out or something Chick."

"Not planned, per say… more like wishful thinking maybe." She smiled over at him as she stopped at an intersection for a second. He waited until they took off again to continue the conversation.

"So how many people make out in this hang out spot?"

"Um, about half of the people there at any given time," her smile turned a bit smug. "There's a pretty decent little corner area to do such things in."

Jack still found it hard to believe she'd managed to figure this out. "You are a disturbing person."

"No, I'm a typical horny teenager Jack, I'm just more open about it than most."

"Apparently."

She'd remembered how to get to his place. As she pulled up along the front curb She was able to see her friend's hand hesitate in going towards the door handle. She rolled her eyes and leaned over to kiss him one more time. She could tell by the way he lingered that he didn't want to leave her alone. He was afraid of what she was headed for. "I'll be fine," she whispered. "I'll see you tomorrow Jack."

He nodded but kissed her quickly again. "I'm sorry," he said as he finally climbed out.

She tried not to show her frustration before she'd driven off. She hated it when people felt sorry for her. It wasn't that bad. She might get a few bruises, but if the bastard had already been drunk when he called her he might be passed out by the time she got there. And he'd forget about the whole thing. Hopefully…….

Somehow, I couldn't stop myself.
I just wanted to know how it felt.
Too strong, I couldn't hold on.
Yeah, yeah.
Now I'm just tryin' to make some sense
Out of how and why this happened.
Where we're heading, there's just no knowing.
Yeah, yeah.

From: Crashed - Daughtry