Chapter Nine

I had no choice but to call my mother again. After the last call I wasn't too excited about it. I did want to know what was happening to Tyler though. I hoped he wouldn't have to go to jail. I would feel is though it was all my fault if anything happened to him.

"Hello?" Mom answered. She had a tired sound in her voice.

"Mom," I said.

"Hope! Where are you!" she cried.

"Well, I'm at Fred Jamieson's," I answered.

She was silent for a minute before yelling, "WHAT? I'm coming to get you right now,"

"NO!" I cried, "No, Mom, I'm fine, we are going to stay for a few days, he said it was okay," I told her.

"Hope, I need you to come home, Tyler's trial is next week, we all need you here," she said.

"Trevor doesn't want me there," I said.

She didn't say anything for a minute. I knew she was shocked that I was calling the man I had thought was my father for the last fifteen years by his first name. She probably thought nothing would change. Maybe nothing would have changed if we had talked about it, if I had known the truth because she wanted to tell me and not because she had to tell me.

"We will be back by then, I promise, I want to help Tyler," I said.

"Hope.I'm so sorry I didn't tell you the truth before, I just wanted everything to be okay. I should have told you," she said. Her voice cracked and she sounded like she was crying softly.

"It's okay, I understand, I'm just confused right now and I needed to get away from everyone," I told her. Tears welled up in my eyes but I closed my eyes and squeezed them back.

"Your father-Trevor, wants to talk to you," she said.

I waited for him to come on the phone, "Hope," he said.

I didn't say anything. I didn't know how he felt about me anymore. Did he despise the fact that my mother had had a child with someone other than him? Did he resent me for being that child?

"I love you very much Hope and I just want you to come home," he said. He sounded sincere.

"Okay, we will be back in a few days," I said. I didn't want to say anything else; I didn't know what to say. Of course I loved him; he had been my father for so long. I couldn't forget about everything he had done for me. He had been to every single one of plays I had been in at school. He had always been a good father to me.

"Tell Colin and Tyler I miss them, I will be home soon," I said. I hung up the phone and sat at the kitchen table for a couple minutes just thinking about everything that had happened.

Tyler was going to be on trial. That meant he could go to jail. I would have to testify since I was the only eye witness other than Jason and Tyler. I would do anything I could to keep Tyler out of jail.

"How did it go?" Greg asked coming into the kitchen. He said he wouldn't call his parents. He knew my mother would tell his parents where we were. I knew how close he wasn't with his parents now. I hadn't realized before how little his parents knew about him. He didn't seem to care about them much either. I couldn't imagine not caring about my own parents.

"Pretty good, we have to be back in a few days, Tyler is going on trial," I told him.

"Wow, poor Tyler," he said. He sat down in a chair beside me.

"He'll be okay, he won't go to jail," I said. I was sure he wouldn't go to jail. If he did, he wouldn't survive.

"Hope, I'm sorry about everything," Greg said.

I looked up at him. He looked so sad.

"You didn't do anything wrong Greg," I told him quickly.

"I'm just sorry about everything that has happened," he said. He took my hand in his and squeezed it.

"Greg, I love you, and I am so grateful that I have you to help me with everything, I don't know what I would do without you," I said. The tears in my eyes were spilling over now.

"I love you too," Greg said. He leaned closer to me and kissed me gently. "I'll always love you," he said.

I smiled and threw my arms around his neck. I was crying freely now. I never thought he would ever say that to me. I thought we would never be together. We would always be just very close cousins, nothing more. I guess dreams really did come true.

That night Fred ordered pizza and all four of us ate together. I was very comfortable in his house. I felt so welcomed there. Fred seemed genuinely happy to have us there. It was nice to feel needed and wanted. I hadn't felt either of those things when I left Duncan.

Ryan and Fred seemed to be getting along really well. Ryan was okay with the fact that Fred wasn't his father and his mother had lied to him. He was just happy to have met Fred anyway.

Fred told us what it was like when he lived in the trailer park with my mother, Tyler, Erin and Anthony. He was so ashamed of the way he was then. He told us he had been a drunk that practically ignored all his children. He said he and my Grandmother, Hannah had adopted Tyler and Erin when they were very young. He didn't tell us who their parents were and we didn't ask. It didn't really matter. He said he had become even more absent when my mother ran away. He said he had always loved her so much and he was devastated when she left.

"That's terrible," I said.

"I'm just so glad that I have been given a second chance and been able to have Skye forgive me," he said. He had a small smile on his face.

That night Greg and I slept in the guest room together. We just lay in the bed side by side. Greg kissed my softly and I stared into his blue eyes. I saw how much he loved me. And I felt the same way. My small crush on Ryan had disappeared now that Greg and I had told each other how we felt.

Greg and I made love for the first time that night. I was so happy after just lying there beside him. I realized then how sensitive and loving Greg could really be. He had always hid most of his feelings from everyone. He wasn't as cold as he liked to seem.

The next morning I felt as though everything would finally be okay. The sun was shining and it was warm outside. The weather was reflecting my mood.

"Hope, can I talk to you a minute?" Ryan asked after breakfast.

We went out to the front porch and sat down.

"I think I'm going to stay here and live with Fred," he said.

"Really, that's great!" I exclaimed. I was happy that Ryan finally had somewhere where he felt he belonged.

"We stayed up talking all night and he is lonely and so am I, we could really use each other's company," Ryan said. He looked at me for approval.

"That's really great Ryan," I told him.

"I wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me, I don't know where I would be right now if it weren't for you," he said. I could see tears shining in his dark brown eyes.

"We have to keep in touch Ryan, I'll really miss you," I told him. I hugged him and suddenly he kissed me hard on the lips. I gasped and pulled away.

"I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to thank you," he said. He stood up quickly and went back into the house.

Greg stormed around from the side of the house and started walking quickly down the sidewalk.

"Greg!" I called. I ran to him and grabbed his arm which he yanked back quickly.

"I thought you loved me," he said angrily.

"I do! Ryan was just saying thank you. It was nothing," I told him, "Stop, please!"

"Just go back to him," he said.

I stopped walking and cried out, "Don't be so stubborn, I want to be with you, not him!"

He looked back over his shoulder and stepped into the street by accident.

"You really expect me to--" he was interrupted by the blaring horn of a minivan.

I screamed a second before the van connected with Greg's body.