Jim's Folly

Well, girlies…*sigh* Avery's captured my heart, I've recently become infatuated with Clay Aiken (his voice, ladies), I'm eating shrimp crackers and I need to write more about Jim and Silver as opposed to Avery. A lot has happened in the last few days, eh?

Chapter Forty Four

It was close to the Christmas party that Sarah had set for Christmas Eve when Raven was silently flipping channels. Silver read the newspaper in a nearby easy chair, Jim was up on the roof putting up Christmas lights with Leland, their first actual 'together time' since Leland had been there, and Sarah was taking a nap in her room upstairs.

Morph was happily assisting Jim on the roof while B.E.N. watched and warned from below.

Raven stopped on the music channel and watched this recent fellow, Avery December, strut his stuff on the TV screen.

After his song was over, the VJ was shown standing next to Avery, who looked like his usual, made-up self.

Raven chuckled. "Hey, Silver, would you believe me if I told you that was a man?"

Silver looked at the screen and frowned. "Hard to convince me… I tell ye, that's definitely no normal man, if that's what ye're askin'," he replied quietly, returning to his paper.

Raven smirked and listened to Avery introduce the next video.

"This next video is actually a friend of mine, his name is Ricky Jordan, he's new to the scene. His song's called 'Back Home.' Enjoy it," Avery said, winking to the camera.

The camera faded into a music video showing sparkling lights and soft music began to play.

The credits came up and Raven studied them: "Back Home by Ricky Jordan FEAT: Avery December."

Raven nodded and remained on the channel, curious. Avery December was definitely a unique soul, but she'd never heard of this Jordan fellow.

The first shot was kind of a half-shot of his face. He was kind of made-up like Avery but had a clean, familiar look to him. His eyes were blue. It was obvious that he was wearing contacts. His hair was brushed over his eyes and he stared into the camera deeply.

Raven studied the boy who looked nearly seventeen and listened as he began to sing.

"I've lived a lie most of my life, all I've wanted is to be right next to you; but you're nowhere to be found. I can't decide just what to do because everything is spinning around."

His voice was smooth and it brought chills down her spine. She studied him, frowning. What was it about him that was so familiar? He was so dressed up, so fancy...so…fake.

Avery's face was on the screen now, and he was smirking, blinking slowly as the camera faded in and out on other objects, dark skies, stars, mountains, lakes and water falls. Ricky was standing on a rock outside a waterfall and Avery was standing in the water, singing at the sky as both of them sang the chorus.

"Oh, and how I've missed you, and oh I wish I knew

If you missed me too;

It's been a long, long time,

But there's no doubt in my mind you want me to come back home."

Ricky sang the last three words and the camera zoomed in on his beautiful, porcelain face and Raven gasped, letting out a shriek and covering her mouth in shock.

She stood suddenly, pointing at the screen as Silver lowered the paper.

"What is it, lass?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's! That…it can't be, but…!" She looked at Silver. "Go get Jim RIGHT NOW!" she cried and Silver didn't have to be told twice.

Minutes later, Jim was racing into the room as the song was half over.

Raven was gnawing on her fingernails as she knelt in front of the TV.

Jim was at her side immediately. "Are you alright?!" he demanded, looking her over.

She pointed to the TV. "It's Andrew…that's my…Andy," she whispered.

Jim looked at the screen, at Avery's face. "…that?" Raven smiled and shook her head. "the other one," she breathed.

The next shot showed Avery and Ricky standing back to back on the edge of a cliff that overlooked snowy mountains. They were wearing similar clothing and Ricky looked particularly made-up, not as much as Avery, but similar.

"There's no doubt in my mind…" Ricky was sitting on the grass under a tree.

He looked into the camera, deeply. His eyes were penetratingly blue. Raven saw right past them.

"You want me to come back home," he whispered in song and the video faded out with Avery sitting on the other side of the tree, looking back at his new friend with pained eyes.

Jim frowned. "Are you sure, babe?" he asked Raven, squeezing her hand.

"That's my son, Jim," she said quietly. "I'm positive."
Jim glanced at Silver, who shrugged. Not like he knew who Andrew was.

"Well…what do we do?" Jim asked her quietly. She stood. "Research. If he has a CD or something, I'm going to go buy it, and after that…I'm going to look for fan sites. They usually tell me where the person is from, right?"

"Star Search," Jim suggested. Raven sighed. "Good idea. I'll be back in a little while."

"Want me to come?" Jim asked. She shook her head. "I'll be okay."

Jim glanced at Silver, who shrugged again as they heard the door close behind Raven.

"I really hope it's him so she's not brutally disappointed," Jim muttered.

Silver sat down again and sighed. "Well, Jimbo, you knew tha boy, didn't ya? Did that kid look like him?"

Jim didn't want to say anything. He was afraid to admit to his mentor that the boy looked absolutely identical to his wife's son.

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Author's Note: This is bad. In the future Avery will probably get increasingly more flirtatious, but that's just how he is. It's his nature. He's not particularly flirting with Andrew, per se, but he's just flirting in general. It's that which makes him hot. *smirks*