Disclaimer: I do not own Dawson, Joey, Pacey, Jack, Jen, Andie, or Dawson's Creek itself. They are the property of Kevin Williamson and The WB.
Author's Note: This chapter will be from Andie's point of view, as you may have guessed from the last chapter. If at this point in time, you're getting kind of annoyed at me because you can't seem to figure out where the story is going, this chapter will at least begin to clear things up for you. Please continue to read and review. Thanks!
"I love you too, Jackers." As Andie hung up the phone, she sank back into her chair. Although she knew it would be awhile before Jack got there, she was kind of glad about this, because it gave her some much needed time to think by herself. She'd basically spent the whole plane ride back from Venice trying to avoid thinking about anything, but with Jack coming quickly, she knew she had to explain why she had come back, because he wasn't going to accept "I just wanted to," as an answer.
So why had she come back? She sighed to herself. The easy answer was that there was just nothing left for her in Venice anymore, and she had been going to come back in about a month anyway, for graduation. But she knew that there was much more to it than that. More than she was ready to tell anyone at that point in time, especially not Jack. At least not yet. So she was going to have to come up with some semblance of an explanation for the time being. Unfortunately, her mind was somewhat numb after the events of the past few days.
"The luggage from Flight 316 arriving from Venice is now at Baggage Claim 3," came the voice over the loudspeaker. Andie jumped up from where she had been half asleep and walked over to the baggage claim.
"Wow, girl, you have a lot of bags!" said a young woman passing by. "Where are you coming from?"
"Venice," Andie replied sadly.
"Venice? You're from Venice?"
"No, actually I'm from Capeside. I was staying in Venice with my aunt for awhile."
"Something bad happen over there to make you come back home?"
"What? Why would you say that?" Andie asked, startled.
"Well, I just can't imagine why anyone would leave Venice, Italy to come back to crummy old Massachusetts," the woman replied.
"Oh. Well, it's kind of a long story. See, I was going to come back anyway at the end of May so I could graduate with my class. But…well, let's just say some stuff happened that hastened my return."
"Anything you want to talk about?" the young woman asked kindly.
"No, not really. I haven't even told my dad and brother yet, and my brother and I are best friends. It's just…complicated, and I'm not sure how to say anything to Jack."
"Jack's your brother?"
"Yeah."
"It must be nice to have a brother you can be friends with like that. My brother and I are only a couple of years apart, age-wise, but we haven't spoken in years."
"Why? What happened?" Andie asked, surprised. She couldn't imagine never speaking to Jack again. Even throughout all the drama that had happened the year before, with the Ecstasy, and the fighting, she and Jack had still been close.
"When we were in high school, my dad left my mom for another woman. My mom always told us that we should still talk to my father and keep on good terms with him, since he was still our father. I did, at least to an extent, but Mark couldn't accept that. As soon as he graduated, he went to live with a friend in California, and he hasn't come home since. I spoke to him a few times after that, but he could never forgive me for seeing Dad, and I could never forgive him for leaving Mom and I at a time like that. We're both so stubborn- maybe if we hadn't been, we'd still be in each other's lives."
"Wow. I can't imagine something like that happening to Jack and I."
"I hope it never does, honey. Just try not to make the same mistakes I did. My ride's here, I have to get going. But I hope everything works out for you." The woman stood up to leave.
"Me too. Thanks for the advice."
"No problem." Andie sat there for a moment, pondering what the woman had said. Then she picked up her bags, and walked over to the front of the airport where she thought Jack would be coming in.
"Andie!!!" Jack screamed, running in and giving her a huge hug.
"Jack, oh, wow, I've missed you so much!" she replied.
"You ready to go home?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm ready. You have no idea." As they walked out to the car, they caught up a little bit on what had been going on in each of their lives. When they got to the car, Jack stopped and turned towards Andie.
"Not that I'm not overjoyed to have you back, but is there some particular reason you came home?" Andie hesitated for a moment, then began,
"Yeah, there is. It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you on the way home?"
"Okay. Sounds good, Andie." She smiled, got in the car, gathered up her courage, and began telling the whole story.
