A/N: Yay, I actually updated quickly! I should probably be studying or something instead of writing, but oh well. Anyway, shorter chapter, but more depth I think. Enjoy!

chapter 21

"Hey," Megan greeted when Don got back to the office.

"Hey."

"How's Jess?" she inquired.

"Physically or emotionally?" he countered.

"Both." Don sighed, and turned to look at her.

"Well, she's getting over the hangover, but I think the fact that her mother is trying to regain custody is messing with her head a little," he answered, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice. Megan raised her eyebrows, both at his tone and what he'd said.

"Her mother wants custody?" she asked in disbelief. Don nodded grimly. "Wow...You don't think she'll get it do you? I mean Jess will be eighteen in a couple months, so it's not like it's a long term thing, but...Why would she want custody now, after all this time?" Don shrugged.

"I honestly don't have a clue, but I really can't see her getting custody anyway," he told her truthfully.

"Did Jess tell you what happened?" Megan questioned, noticing he seemed to know something.

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"And?" she prompted. Don took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair as he did so.

"Jess called 911 when Rachel overdosed on Cocaine." Megan's jaw dropped slightly.

"She overdosed in front of her twelve year old daughter?" she reiterated incredulously. Don nodded. "No wonder she lost custody."

"Yeah," he muttered in agreement.

"Wait, how long did Jess say it'd been since the last time she'd seen her mom?" Megan asked, seeming to be contemplating something.

"Uh...I think that was the last time," he answered. "Why?" Megan sighed.

"That means she didn't even come back when her son died," she told him dejectedly. Don just stared at her a minute, realizing she was right, and that probably only added to why Jess hated her mother. "No wonder Jess hates her..." she mused. Don smirked, but nodded his agreement.

xxxxx

"Come on...answer..." Jess muttered, more to herself than into the pay phone she was using. "Hey!" she greeted cheerfully when the person picked up. "No, nothing's wrong, well, not really anyway....Yeah, I know I'm not supposed to call, but..." She sighed defeatedly. "I just needed to talk to you," she admitted softly, smiling a little at their reply. "Thanks..."

xxxxx

"Where did you go?" Don questioned when Jess got back to the apartment.

"I just went for a walk, to clear my head," she answered, grabbing a soda out of the fridge.

"Jess," he said to get her attention.

"What?" she replied casually, looking over at him.

Don took a deep breath, it was getting harder and harder for him to try to figure out how to talk to her, and Jess definitely wasn't making it easy on him.

"You wanna talk?" he asked gently.

"About what?" She was pretending she didn't know what he was talking about, and Don knew it.

"Dammit Jess, cut the crap!" he snapped, catching her off guard, surprising himself a little too. "Stop thinking that if you continue trying to keep me at arm's-length that it'll get you out of having to actually deal with whatever issues you have!" he continued irritatedly. "You can't just pull stupid shit like you did last night, and think you can get away with not explaining why!...And yes, I know you told me why, but you still aren't talking about it," he added, seeing she was getting ready to argue. Jess closed her mouth, and just stood there. Don sighed, shaking his head, he ran his hand over his face. "You know, I get that I'm not exactly the best role model for talking about stuff, and I already told you I don't know how to be a dad, but guess what Jess," he continued, much calmer. "I'm still trying. It wouldn't hurt you to try too." And with that he left her standing there, with a pained expression covering her face after he left.

Jess stood there for a few more minutes, taking slow deep breaths. She thought back to the conversation she'd had earlier, and realized both he and Don were right. Closing her eyes she took one final big deep breath, and went into the living room where Don was sitting on the couch, head in his hands, with his elbows resting on his knees.

"Look...it's not that I don't want to talk to you," she stated, causing Don to look up at her curiously. "But I've been taking care of myself for as long as I can remember. Yeah, I had my brother, but he had to take care of himself too, so we mainly just took care of ourselves, occasionally each other. We grew up in a gang neighborhood, most of my friends are in gangs or dead because of one. There are a lot of things I wanna forget ever happened, but I can't. And there are some things that I just can't tell you, and not because I don't want to, but because I can't, and you just have to accept that. Everything else...well, it's gonna take me longer than a few weeks to trust you with that, and again not because I don't want to, but...I have a hard time trusting anyone anymore, you can probably figure out why. And just so you know...I don't care whether or not you know how to be a dad, because, with just my brother and friends as the closest people in my life, honestly I have no clue what a family acts like anyway." And with that she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Don in stunned silence.

A/N: Well, I hope you liked this chapter! I tried to put more angst in that last conversation. Anyway, I'll try to update again soon. Please, please review!!! They are much appreciated!