DISCLAIMER: The only characters I own are Susie and Jack. The title is a lyric from Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" (my favorite song).

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm gonna be gone for a week and a half! :( Therefore, while I'm rotting away in Vermont, I"ll be trying to come up with as many new story ideas as I can. For now, though, this may be all you get for a bit--i'm sorry! This will be Susie finally accepting Jack into her life, and a complication with Rafe will arrive, but not over the new relationship. Someone's gonna be gone soon!




Should the Sun Refuse to Shine


...Jack had come to apologize for the fiasco that I, not he, had instigated the night before. I liked hi m, I did, but it would take some getting used to. Simply put, all that damned guilt I felt over moving on from Danny, my one completely true love, would take a while to get over. Opening the door to the blonde, built, and somehow innocently rugged "boy", however, almost made me lightheaded...


"Are you okay today?" Jack asked, concerned, after we had moved our conversation to the front porch.
"Fine," I responded, pouring some lemonade for the two of us. "Last night just stirred up some...memories, is all. Those things can be dangerous."
"Memories of what?"
"I'd rather not say, I'm sorry."
"You know, i really do think we'd get along good if you gave us a chance."
"Jack we've only known eachother a week. You sure you wanna try this out so soon?"
"I know we can make it work if we get to know eachother, and take it slowly," he responded, emphasizing on the last word as if trying to make me feel more comfortable.
"But you know hardly anythin' about me!" I exclaimed, surprised at his forwardness, and at the same time his honesty.
"If you insist...I'll give this a try. We can see a movie in town maybe?"
"Tomorrow night, if that's okay."
"That'd be f ine."
"Say, where's Rafe at today?"
"You really admire my brother, don't you?"
"I do Susze. When I was growin up around here I used to watch him and his best friend...Walker, I think it was?...flying around in cropdusters doin' all kins of crazy shit."
"They were quite a duo, those two," I smiled, remembering when they first tried to play chicken and ended up 100 feet away from eachother at the turn.
"Wonder whatever happened to that Walker kid," he pondered. I flinched at the familiar name.

**********************************************************************************

"...Shows what you know, Walker..."

**********************************************************************************

"He..well, he died in the war..."
"Ya don't say? That's too bad. He sure seemed to be a good kid."
"Yes, he was. The best I've ever known."

**********************************************************************************

"...I couldn't let you miss out on something like that, now could I?..."

**********************************************************************************

"I'm sorry, you seem upset now. I take it you two were close?"
"He was my best friend. But it's no matter, gotta come to terms with it anyway. More lemonade?"
"No thanks," Jack answered with a smile. "I'm gonna go home and clean up the place. I"ll be seein' you tomorrow, around eight alright?"
"Eight'd be fine, don 't keep me waitin!" I answered, grinning back.
"See ya then Susie," he winked and turned around. As he walked to his car I realized exactly how much I was fallin' for him.
Oh dear Lord Suze, I scolded myself, Don't let yourself go on this boy! You could never fully love him, and then you'll probably wind up hurtin' him more than you'll ever know...


...Despite my own warnings to myself, I knew that I needed the kind of affection that Jack wasx giving me. We pursued a fairly normal relationship with eachother. He said he loved me, he couldn't live without me. I, on occasion, told him that I loved him too. I let him believe that he was my one true love. Don't get me wrong, It was a wonderful relationship, but I'd already experienced my soulmate. Jack was such a wonderful, giving man, though, and we got along great. One day, though, something changed. He got real serious, and so did the whole damned situation...


"You know, Suze," Jack mumbled, barely above a whisper as we walked through the flower garden in the back of the house. "Things been really good between us lately. I love you with all my heart, you know that, and so...i was thinkin'...maybe..."
"Spit it out already!" I laughed, not really knowing what to expect, although it should have been obvious.
"What do ya think of marriage?" Before I could answer, he continued, "'Cause, see, I wanna spend the rest of my life with a great girl like you and I figured 'Why not get a head start on it?' So, I got you this ring...it's not much...but I hope you'll take it and say you'll marry me someday?"
"I..." I couldn't think of anything to say. I searched and searched and searched within myself for the answer, and still everything seemed so confused. In the back of my head, though, I knew what I should say.

**********************************************************************************

"... If anything happens I want you to remember me always. I want you to go on with your life, okay?..."

**********************************************************************************

Okay Danny, I thought morbidly, This is what you wanted.
"I will," I smiled happily at Jack.
"Oh Suze I promise I'll make you happy!" he exclaimed picking me up in a big hug.
I knew he would, but only as my best friend...I felt a love for him that I also shared for Rafe, Evelynn, and Danny. This love was pure, but it was not the love he needed, and I new that sooner or later he would realize that and be heartbroken. For now, however, he deserved to be loved and to be married...he was a great, great man, my Jack.


...Jack and I were wed in a small but beautiful ceremony at the church in town. It was a nice marriage from the beginning, and we got along great. I found myself unable to have a baby, though. I couldn't explain why, but it was as if God didn't want me to reproduce. Another obstacle in my life, but I managed to move on. Jack was starting to get pretty damn sickly, and a lot of the time he had to stay in bed. He seemed to be fine at heart though. Rafe's little family was doing well, Evelynn had just recovered from the flu and was in high spirits, and little Danny was readin', all by himself. But things got pretty bad the day Rafe showed up on my front porch, sobbing like a newborn baby...


The knockin' came rapidly and lously.
"Jesus, I'm coming already!" I yelled at the mystery visitor. It was nearly evelen at night, who in the hell would be here this late?
I opened the door to see Rafe, shivering and crying like a madman.
"Oh my god," I muttered, pulling him inside gently and shutting the door behind him. "Rafe, baby, what'sa matter?"
"I...car...the plane....!" he broke down and fell into the couch in a heap of tears and redness.
"Explain it to me now darlin...slowly, okay? I'm here, it's alright now, you can tell me."
"Well, I-I-I got into the t-truck and went to the pharmacy to pick up Eve's medicine and th-th-then I was driving home and this big noise popped outside, it sounded like a g-g-gun..."
"Go on," I consoled him, rubbing his back and fixing his hair.
"W-well suddenly I blacked out. I was in the plane again in europe and the damned bastar shot me down and-and..." he wailed and wailed, as I put two and two together.
"You had a flashback?"
Rafe nodded, looking up with those big, puppy-dog eyes of his.
"Aw honey, I get those all the time. You just have to get used to them. There's no point in crying now, that's the past--it's over and done with. If you move on, you'll tend to get em less often until you don't get em anymore."
Liar, I scolded myself. You still picture Danny as flesh at least twice a day.
"You really think so, Suze? You think it'll be alright?"
"I know so, guy. Now come on, I'll drive you home."
"Hey girly?" he motioned as we walked out the door.
"Yea?"
"I love you."
"Love you too."


...I drove Rafe home that night, concerned about how terrified he must feel to be reliving those times. Little did I know that this was merely the beginning of all our troubles. I was about to lose somebody else, and, at the same time, gain someody new...



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*whew*! i've got the last part of this coming up, then i'll write some more installemnts when i get back from vermont in a week or so! sorry guys, i'm gonna be chock full of ideas w hen i get home though! well, the next part,a fter this one, is going to be INSANE---and i mean that in a good way! there's going to be a disturbingly ironic death, a baby (with a twist! a really cool twist!), and a morbid/touching ending...should i make the next one the last one? review and tell me what your opinions are on the upcoming "events"!! -dana