A/N: Hey guys, so here's the next chapter! I had uploaded it a few days ago but wanted to make a few changes so here it is again! Keep reviewing.
The next day was Christmas and the Portman's were opening their gifts.
"So, Gabrielle will stop by later tonight with Tyler and Cameron when everyone comes over," Dean said, sitting down on the couch.
"Will Andy's little friend be joining us?" Jared asked, looking at his little brother.
"As a matter of fact, she will be," he nodded and Jared smirked. "Is there a problem with that?"
"Nope, not at all," Jared shook his head, happily.
"Are you really that insecure that the thought of me having a girlfriend makes you so happy because now you can have Sophia all to yourself?" Andy asked and his older brother looked at him.
"Me? Insecure?" he asked, baffled. "I think that would be you who falls under that category, little brother."
"Boys," Dean said, warningly but his sons ignored him.
"I wasn't insecure!" Andy defended. "I was just annoyed at the fact that Sophia couldn't make up her mind," he shook his head. "But I don't have to worry about all that drama now that I-"
"Now that you have Alex?" Jared interrupted, laughing. "And you're so sure you're over Sophia? You've known this girl for a few weeks!"
"Why are you protesting about this, huh?" he asked him. "I thought you of all people would be happy that I'm moving on from Sophia."
"I am," Jared nodded. "Very happy."
"But you know, just because I'm moving on," Andy said and Jared looked at him. "Doesn't necessarily mean that she doesn't want me back or even wants you for that matter."
"Andrew!" Dean scowled and looked at his youngest son. Andy simply smirked. "Okay boys, this conversation is over," he informed them. "Jared, why don't you help me in the kitchen?"
"No, um, I gotta go," Jared shook his head as he headed to the door.
"It's Christmas, Jared," Dean sighed.
"I know and I'll be right back," he promised. "There's just something I need to say to someone."
Dean watched as his son left and turned to Andy. "You two just can't let it go for one day, can you?" He sighed, walking into the kitchen and Andy shrugged.
Jesse was helping his mother in the kitchen as they prepared Christmas breakfast. It was their Christmas morning ritual and had been doing it for years. Though Cecilia Russo had been a little hesitant in letting Jesse spend Christmas Eve with Luis and his family instead of her and her youngest son, Daniel, she was glad she did it because Jesse seemed to be in a better mood than usual and she knew he needed to know his father.
"So, what time is Nora coming over?" She asked, flipping a pancake.
"I don't know, maybe around five," Jesse shrugged. "Her dad is back from Paris and Emma's going to Ethan's for dinner so she wants to spend as much time with them as possible today."
Cecilia nodded and there was a knock on their apartment door.
"Jesse, it's me! Nora!" they heard her shouted.
"Or not?" he raised an eyebrow and walked over the door to open it. Nora stood there, anxiously with Emma in her arms. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you were only coming over tonight?"
"I know, I just… this couldn't wait," she said, looking up at him.
"I'll take Emma," Cecilia offered. "You two clearly have something to talk about," she said, and Nora carefully handed over her almost two year old.
Jesse pulled Nora into his room and sat her down on the bed. "What's wrong, Nora?" he asked, worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, um, it's just…" she trailed and he looked at her, concerned. "Melanie had an abortion," she blurted out and he looked at her, shocked. "That's what she's been hiding all this time and I just, I can't believe it!"
Jesse sighed. "I know," He said and pulled her into a hug.
"I just keep thinking," she said, after pulling away. "What if I had done that to Emma? I mean, sure I took the option into consideration at the time but even the thought of doing it now…"
"Hey, you shouldn't be thinking like that," he said, looking into her eyes. "What you did – what you're doing, raising a baby at your age, it's so brave and you know you're an amazing mother."
She smiled as he caressed her cheek. "I just can't believe anyone would want to do that, you know?"
"Well," he said, cupping her face in his hands. "Not everyone is as strong, as brave and beautiful as you."
She laughed. "I don't think looks have anything to do with being a good parent," she informed him.
"I know," he nodded. "Yours are just such a great bonus," he said and she laughed as they kissed.
"I'm so glad things are back to normal between us," She said, holding onto his hand. "I wouldn't know what to do if they weren't…"
He smiled and kissed her again. "Would you and Emma like to join us for breakfast?"
"We would love to," she smiled. "But, you see, I kinda have this family I have to get back to and Emma's dad? You may remember him, he kind of wants to his daughter on Christmas day," She said and he laughed.
"I think you're the only person in the world who can make sarcasm look so adorable," he told her and she laughed. "I'll see you tonight."
She nodded and they kissed goodbye.
A little bit later, the Mendoza's had all finished opening their presents and eating breakfast. While Livvie prepared a few desserts to bring to Dean's, there was a loud knocking on the door.
Sophia opened it and Jared pulled her outside.
"Jared!" She yelled, pushing him off her. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Do you still want to be with Andy?" he asked and she looked at him, her eyebrows raised. "Do you?"
"What kind of question is that, Jared?" She demanded and he looked at her, seriously.
"I need to know," he said. "If there's ever going to be anything between us again, I need to know if you still have feelings for him."
"Jared, this isn't the time or place to be talking about this," she sighed and he shook his head.
"So, you do still have feelings for him," he nodded. "Great, that's just perfect."
"Of course I still have feelings for him, I always will!" She said and he looked at her. "Just like I'll always have feelings for you but you can't just come here and ask me if I still want to be with him!"
"Why not?" he asked. "You can't just keep doing this, Soph, it's not fair!"
"Because Jared, you dumped me and for six months, six whole months, you didn't even try to talk to me except for the one night where you blurted out that you loved me! So don't talk to me about being fair!" She yelled.
"I didn't dump you, Soph, I just thought it would be best if we took some time apart so you could sort out your feelings!"
"And how would you have even known they were sorted?" She asked. "You didn't call me or anything, Jared!"
"I was scared, okay?" he told her. "I was scared that if I called you, you would tell me that you chose him…and I just, I couldn't lose you, not again."
"Jared…" She sighed.
"I love you, Sophia, I always will but this back and forth between me and my brother, it needs to end because…" he paused and then looked at her. "Because I can't take any more of it."
She swallowed and he leaned in to kiss her. She let him but only for a moment and then he pulled away.
"You have to make a decision, okay?" he said and she watched him go.
During Christmas dinner at the Germaine's, who were joined by the Reeds, Jade stood up and called for everyone's attention.
"I know this is going to be really hard for you all to hear," she said. "But I really need to let you all know that… a few weeks ago we went to the doctor because of some pain I was having and we found out that I have leukemia," She said, hearing all her family and friends gasping. "We got lucky, though, because we caught it early," she nodded and Casey took her hand, squeezing it tightly. "But I promise I'm going to do everything I can to fight it."
"With our help," Casey said. She looked down and smiled at him.
Jen stood up, completely shocked after what she had just heard about her best friend. "Um, Jade, can I take to you alone for a minute?"
Jade nodded and followed her into the living room.
"I am so sorry, I had no idea," Jen shook her head, practically in tears. Jade took her hand. "And I'm sorry about how I acted the other day; I was really messed up because of the trial… I hope I didn't do any damage,"
"I'm fine," Jade reassured her. "But are you? I mean, I thought you were done with drugs…"
"I was," Jen took a deep breath and looked at her best friend, seriously. "But um, all the stuff with the trial brought back a lot of memories of what happened when I was on the drugs and um," she hesitated and Jade looked at her, worriedly. "I guess there's no easy way to say this but… Pete, he, he raped me."
"Oh my God, are you serious?" Jade asked in disbelief. "Oh Jen," she said, pulling her into a hug. Jen felt uncomfortable being touched but she knew not to push Jade away. "Are you okay? I mean, of course you're not but… Why didn't you tell me? Did you tell the police?"
"I've been getting better," Jen nodded. "I didn't tell anyone, Jade," she shook her head. "Not until a couple of weeks ago when I told my mom and Aidan," she sighed. "And it happened so long ago that there wouldn't be any proof of it, I just don't want to go through the whole trial thing without getting the ending that I want."
"Are you sure?" Jade asked and she nodded. "I can't believe this… I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you," she said, taking her hand.
"It's okay," Jen nodded. "As long as we have each other now, right?"
Jade smiled as they wrapped their arms around each other and headed back into the dining room.
Later that night, while the Mendoza's were at the Portman's, Jared had been ignoring Sophia for the entire night – with good reason. He was mad at her, as he had every right to be. Sophia knew she needed to choose between the brothers but the thought of hurting one of them was unbearable to her. Although, seeing Andy with another girl made her think that maybe she'd only be hurting one Portman.
She stood up from her chair and walked over to where Andy and Alex were cuddling on the couch. It pained her to see him with someone else like that but at the same time, it was good to see him smile again.
"Um, Andy," she cleared her throat and they looked up at her. "Can I talk to you for minute?"
"Sure," he said and looked at Alex. She nodded and he stood up, following Sophia up to his room.
She took a deep breath as she started playing with the items on his desk. She finally turned around and looked at him. "Look, Andy, I know I've made a lot of mistakes in the past with you and Jared and… you don't know how sorry I am for that but the truth is," she said and he looked at her, seriously. "I love you both, differently yes, but I still love the both of you and having to choose between the two of you-"
"You don't have to choose," he interrupted and she looked up at him. "I moved on, Sophia. I'm really happy with what I have with Alex," he explained and she swallowed. "And even if you were to 'choose' me… I wouldn't,"
"You don't love me anymore?" She asked, a lump forming in her throat.
"No," he shook his head and her eyebrows rose in disbelief. "I don't mean it like that, Soph, I'm always going to love you," he reassured her. "but I just… I don't want to be with you anymore, I can't," he shook his head.
"And what if I still wanted to be with you, huh?" she asked and he looked at her, surprised. "I mean, I'm not sure if that's what I want but if I did," she looked up at him. "You would stay with her?"
"As crazy as it sounds… yeah, I would," he said and she backed away. "Look, Soph, I don't want to hurt you and like I said, I'm always going to love you but-"
"Just stop," she said, putting her hand up. "I think you've said enough."
"Soph,"
She shook her head and walked out. She grabbed her coat and walked out the door, hearing her family and everyone else questioning her but they knew, after seeing Andy's expression when he finally came down the stairs, not to go after it.
It was time for Sophia Mendoza to be alone.