"Still nothin?" asked Lois for the hundredth time as they ate their lunch.

"Yes Lois" Jess replied.

"Come on Jess!" she said, "this really shouldn't be that hard. Look, lets think about this, what is it Ennis and Jack love the most?"

Jess shrugged, Lois rolled her eyes "think Jess, think of somethin' that really means somethin' to them".

Seeing no choice, Jess thought hard about it "well" he said, "They uh…like, ranch stuff".

Lois gave him a look "ranch stuff" she said stiffly.

"Lois, I don't know okay?" he said, "I just can't think of anything to get them. When I was back in New York, three days before Christmas, I would just take all the money I had and just wandered around the streets looking for stuff to get my mom, I never planned it, and I just got stuff I knew she liked"

"So why not do that then?" Lois asked

"Its not like we have a huge selection of stores to choose from" Jess replied.

"Well then, don't" she said "if there isn't anythin' here, then go look someplace else, someplace like New York".

"And where exactly will that be?" Jess asked.

"Oklahoma City" Lois replied in a matter of fact voice.

"Oklahoma City" Jess said in a shocked voice "do you know how far Oklahoma City is from here?"

"Ya, its five hours from here" she said.

"Five hours!" Jess said in a loud voice "you want me to drive five hours just to do some Christmas shopping".

"Hey, I was only suggestin" Lois said, "You don't have ta go".

"Well, I'm not" Jess said flatly.

She rolled her eyes at him "are we still on for tonight?"

"Ya" Jess said, "what time you coming?"

"Movie don't start till six," she said, "so I'll be there at like five at least".

Though Jess said he wouldn't, the idea still swam around in his head for the remainder of the day. Its stupid he thought, why drive five hours for a Christmas gift?

James and him hadn't really spoken to each other since the whole Macarthur incident but at least now, Jess wasn't afraid of him. Finally, Jess felt someone tap him on the back. Turning around, he saw it was James.

"Hey, I'm lost here" he said "you have any idea what he's sayin?"

"Simple" Jess said in a whisper" he's just talking about the inner struggle the character is going through. How he compares his lives to ordinary objects as a symbol to his own existence. Its all very philosophical, is what it is".

Then the bell rang and people began to pack their stuff.

"So" Jess said, not really knowing why he wanted to talk so bad "what are you doing over break?"

"Nothin' much" James replied, "Work on my car or somethin'. Dunno, don't really do that much durin' the break".

"What about for Christmas?" Jess asked "surely you do something on Christmas?"

James shrugged "not really. Open presents and stuff but that's it" they walked out of the class, heading for the exit.

"What bout you?" James asked.

"Dunno" Jess replied, "don't really care".

James looked at him funny "that ain't true. Everyone doesn't care during Christmas time".

"Ya well, I don't" Jess snapped at him "sorry" he said quickly "its just…"

"Problems at home?" James asked.

"Could say that" Jess replied.

"Like what?"

"Its nothing" Jess said "just…I don't really get along with my dad that much".

"Why, he a jerk?" James asked.

"No, not like that" Jess said "I just…don't care for him that much".

"Really?" James asked.

"Ya" Jess said "when your dad leaves your mom for…" he was about to say Jack "someone else, your bound to feel resentful. I mean, don't you? After your dad left?"

"Well, ya" he said "but the thing is, my dad was a jerk and yours ain't".

"Well, it doesn't matter now" Jess said as they walked out of the school, Lois just beginning to pull up.

"Hey Jess-" she stopped when she spotted James "who's this?" she asked.

"Oh uh…right. Lois, this is James. James, this is my friend Lois".

"Hey" James said.

"You're the scary kid everyone's been talkin' bout" Lois said in a matter of fact voice "no offense" she added.

"S'all right" James said, "well, I best be goin'. See ya when we get back?"

"Ya sure" Jess replied.

"Nice meetin' ya Lois" James said before walking off.

"So that's him huh?" Lois asked as he got in the car.

"Pretty much".

"He seems nice," she said "sure, a bit scary lookin', but nice".

"Ya" Jess replied.

"Ya know, we should invite him ta eat with us at lunch" Lois said as they pulled out of the school.

Jack pulled up to the house and quickly got out. He had just went to the post office, expecting nothing big to come of it that is until he saw the paycheck in the midst of it all. He was both excited and nervous, cause it would be with this paycheck that they would see if all their hard work had actually produced something or they would be slumming it in the poor house.

"Ennis!" he yelled, running to the stables where he saw him talking to one of the boys.

"Ennis!" he yelled again "hurry!"

"Wait a minute" Ennis said hastily as Jack grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off to the house "h-hey! Hold on a minute!" Ennis then broke free, rubbing his sore wrist.

"Now, can ya tell me what all the hubbub is about?"

Without waiting, Jack flashed him the paycheck. Instantly, the look crossed Ennis's face.

"That what I think it is?" he said in a even voice.

"Yep" Jack said "sorry if I was a bit rough but this can't wait" the two men then entered into the house, both taking a seat at the kitchen table. Jack held the paycheck in his hand, feeling his heart beginning to pick up.

"Jack" Ennis said "you do realize what might happen if…"

Jack nodded "I know".

"And you know that we shouldn't get our hopes up now" he said.

"I know" Jack repeated.

Both didn't speak, both their eyes focused on the envelope.

"Ya gonna open it?" Ennis said after a few minutes of nothing.

"Right, right" Jack said. He licked his lips, his pulse beginning to beat faster. Well, here goes nothing. He slipped his forefinger under the crease and tore it open. Then, he pulled out the letter, flattened it out, and looked.

He didn't speak, his mind seemingly gone blank.

"Jack?" Ennis asked "Jack? Jack, well, did we do good?" still nothing.

"Jack? Is it…bad?" still nothing.

"Come on Jack, out with it!" Ennis said a bit more loudly then he should. Jack then passed him the envelope, Ennis snatching it from his hand. Jack watched as Ennis looked at the envelope, watching the expression cross his face.

"I-is this…for real?" Jack nodded.

"You mean…" Ennis said, finding it hard to breath "you mean this…are you…Jack, this is…"

Jack smiled "yep cowboy, that's it. All the hard work, all the plannin', it paid off".

"Paid off?" Ennis said exasperated "paid off? Jack, this is more then we've made in…six months time!"

"I know" Jack said, getting off his chair and giving Ennis a big kiss "we fuckin' did it!"

"Hell ya!" Ennis replied, returning the kiss, both men swaying slightly.

"I don't believe it!" Jack said, pulling away "I jus'…this all seems so unreal!"

"Couldn't have said it better" Ennis said, getting out of his chair "things are really gonna change around here".

"Yeah" Jack said, "Once people realize this, more and more will be knockin' on our front door".

"And, we can finally get around to all those things we've put off fer so long" Ennis said, the look on his face still a mixture of shock and delight. Then, Ennis stopped, another look crossing his face.

"What is it Ennis?" Jack asked, walking over to him.

"Jack" he said, "I think I know what to get Jess fer Christmas".

Jack looked at him in disbelief. Out of all the things he expect Ennis to say, this was the last thing he'd expected to hear.

"Y-ya have?" Jack said "what?"

"Well" Ennis said, "it's a bit complicated but…I have ta go" he then began for the door but Jack grabbed him by the arm again.

"Hold on there" Jack said "I'm glad ya thought of somethin' fer Jess and I'm pretty sure yer gonna tell me bout him but right now, this calls fer a celebration".

Then Jack pulled Ennis over to him and began to kiss him.

"Jack" Ennis said in between "we still…have…work ta…do".

"Later" Jack said, pulling Ennis by the shirt up the stairs "right now, I'm the happiest man on Earth and all I wanna do right now is fuck the livin' shit outta ya".

Jack forced Ennis into the room, ripping off his shirt in less then a second, begging to travel down Ennis's chest until he came to his belt, unbuckling it, pulling down his jeans, and taking Ennis in with one swift gulp.

When wrestling practice was done with, Bobby quickly showered off, put on his clothes, and slung his sports bag over his shoulder before waling out of the gym and into the parking lot.

Coach had made them work extra hard today, considering it was there first meet tonight and he wanted the season to start of right. Normally, Bobby would have been excited for it but these days he could have cared less about practice, not with Doug having to smear Tammy and his relationship right in his face. He would have loved to just punch Macarthur across his still bruised cheek but he figured it wasn't worth it with coach around.

As he walked to his car, he saw something that caught his eye. It was Macarthur and Tammy and by the looks of things, it appeared as though they were having a fight. Feeling extremely curious, Bobby ducked down and silently moved toward them until he picked up what they were saying.

"…Yer actin' like this!" Macarthur said.

"Because when someone beats a freshman up jus' because someone says there bored, don't mean I ain't gonna act like this!" Tammy replied.

"Why are ya getting' so worked up about it?" he shot back "its not like ya complained the first time!"

"Well, I didn'" she said "but that doesn't mean I didn' like it! And besides, it don't mean I'm so stupid to know what's goin' on".

"Oh? And what might that be?" he said in a haughtily voice.

"I know that yer jus' goin' out with me ta get back at Bobby!" Tammy shot back "ya that's right, I know. You don't really care bout me, all ya want me for is to dangle me in front of Bobby!"

"T-that's…t-that is a lie!" Macarthur yelled.

"Don't even try actin' stupid" Tammy shot back "in fact, we're over Macarthur".

"You can't break up with me!" he said in an outraged voice.

"Watch me" Tammy said. Then Bobby spotted her walking away, a furious expression on her face. Macarthur soon appeared, a similar expression on his face, then he to stalked off to his car.

When the cost was clear, Bobby got up and headed back to his car.

Jack really wasn't kidding when he wanted to fuck the living shit out of him. Both men were naked, Ennis's legs in the air while Jack was pounding relentlessly at his ass, hands both groping his chest while Ennis had his hands grasped on Jack's ass, urging him to go faster.

As soon as the men had stripped down, Jack surprised Ennis by throwing him down on the bed and without waiting for a reply, pushed in and began to go to work on his ass. Ennis let out an audible gasp of surprise, the action taking him totally by surprise but he let him anyway, wanting to feel the sensation rock his body.

"Aw fuck" Ennis moaned as Jack found his spot "ya, right there".

"Like that?" Jack said in his sensual voice, beginning to go pick up speed and going to work on Ennis's spot, the sounds of his moans forcing to pick up speed until Ennis found himself about to be thrown off, digging his fingernails in Jack's ass to stop from being thrown off.

He then felt himself go over the edge, Jack right behind him, until the white-hot sensation was coursing through their body. Exhausted, Jack collapsed on Ennis, gently kissing his neck and cheek.

"That was good" Ennis said in an exhausted voice.

"Glad I can be there" Jack replied, kissing him softly on the lips "so, what's this gift yer getting' fer Jess?"

Jess was watching repeats of Three's Company by the time Bobby walked in the door.

"Hey" Jess said, "how was practice?"

"Okay" Bobby replied, heading for the fridge "where's Jack and Ennis?"

"Well, I think their still upstairs fucking each other" this caused Bobby to splutter the milk he was drinking.

"W-what?" he said in an offended tone.

"Ya, I came into the house just in time to hear a loud moan go off upstairs" Jess said in a cold, smooth voice "so I put two and two together and came up with that assumption".

Bobby took a seat next to Jess, obviously put off by the thought that Jack and Ennis were upstairs right now having sex.

"So, nothing interesting happened?" Jess asked.

"Well" Bobby began "Tammy and Macarthur broke up".

This caught Jess's attention "really? Why?"

"Well" Bobby said, "ya were right, seems Macarthur really was only usin' her ta get ta me. She found out and she broke it off".

"And you know this how?" Jess asked.

"I overheard them" Bobby replied.

"Overheard or eavesdropped?" he asked.

"Both" he replied, taking another drink.

Jess nodding, expecting the answer "so I take it your happy now?"

He smiled a little "a bit".

"So, ya gonna ask her?" Jess said.

"Wouldn't that seem a bit soon?" Bobby asked.

"Well, you've been making such a huge deal out of her, I only suspected" Jess replied. Then, he heard the sound of footsteps and a few moments later, Jack and Ennis appeared, Jess giving Bobby a told ya so look.

"I see your done now" Jess said in a harsh voice, walking past the men and heading upstairs, not bothering to see their expressions.

He headed into his room and plopped down on the bed, drumming his fingers as he stared at the ceiling. After a few minutes of this, Jess got up and looked at the floor where is suitcase laid open. Even after a few months of being here, he had still not gotten round to unpacking. In some odd way, he had hoped that someone would come and take him away, maybe his aunt or some distant relative he didn't know about. Now, things had changed, looking at the suitcase Jess figured that now was the time to accept he wasn't going anywhere. So he go up, knelt down and began to remove all of his clothes, stacking them in piles from shirts, pants, and assorted trinkets he had brought.

Then something caught his eye at the bottom. He fished through the rummage and pulled out a thick wad of pictures. It all suddenly came back to him.

They were the first things he had packed when he learned he was leaving. Photos of his life, from only months ago to all the way back when he was just a baby. It baffled him how he could have forgotten them so easily but now that he found them; he felt a sudden warmth within him.

He looked at pictures when he was only three, living with his mom somewhere in the south, dressed in a mini cowboy suit. Jess still couldn't believe he had actually worn something like that. He saw another with him and Ted when he was seven, both having gone on a fishing trip. Another was him at seven, the first day they moved to New York and into their new apartment. As the pictures kept progressing over the years, Jess began to realize just how much he had changed.

He saw a picture when he was eleven, now beginning to where the band t-shirts and baggy pants. He saw another when he was thirteen, now wearing the wristbands and all, with his friends at Central Park. Another picture was the night he first went to CBGB's, another during Christmas time, one of him and Marlene at Marty's, finally, he came to the last picture. He realized that this one was taken just two weeks before his mom died. He was at the Coney Island with some of his friends that day and one of them had taken a picture of his leaning against the rail as the sun began to set.

He now felt terribly sad, seeing all these pictures, almost as if from a previous life. He wondered now how everyone was doing, what there lives have become. He then realized that not once he tried to contact them. He felt rotten at this.

As Jess sat there on the ground reminiscing about the past, a thought suddenly crossed his mind. He knew what it was to get Ennis and Jack for Christmas.

Without thinking, he got up and headed downstairs where he saw the men had already left. Grabbing the phone, he quickly dialed Lois's.

"Hello?" she heard her answer.

"Lois" Jess said, "I need you to come and pick me up at my house, screw the movie, I know what to get for Ennis and Jack".

"You do?" Lois said in a excited voice "oh Jess! This is wonderful-"

"Yes, I know it is" Jess interrupted her "but I need you to come over here right now".

"Wait, why? What's with the rush?"

"Just hurry over before I change my mind" he said hurriedly, hanging up the phone. He grabbed a piece of paper and pencil, scribbling down a message for the guys, then he hurried back upstairs, snatched the photos and all the money he had saved up, and made his way out to the deck.

A few minutes later, Lois came screeching up the drive, Jess opening the door and hurrying in.

"Mind tellin' me what's all the fuse about?" Lois asked.

"I need ya to take me someplace" Jess said.

"Where?"

Still couldn't believing he was saying this, he said "Oklahoma City".

"Ain't that a five hour drive?"

"Yes Lois, I know" Jess said, "You know how to get there?"

"Of course" she said, a smug expression on her face at the idea of Jess actually wanting to go through with this.

"Well then, we better get going" he said.

"Absolutely" she then pulled the car out and made her way down the road.

"So what exactly are we gettin'?" she asked as they pulled out of town.

"Well, still not sure yet" Jess said "but I'll know when I see it".

Authors note: again, sorry about the delay, just been busy with other fanfics and I had a large writers block. Anyway, I think I'm planning on closing the winter part a bit shorter then I wanted to but I believe this will help the plot run more smoothly.