DISCLAIMER: The Original Titans are not mine. The Titans created by Disney aren't mine either. "This Side" belongs to Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek, who is an AMAZING guitar player! The other two in the band, Sara Watkins and Chris Thile are amazing, too. I'm a mandolin player, and Chris is like, one of my faves! I couldn't let a disclaimer pass without mentioning how I wish I own Ryan Hurst! And, you know, Sean Watkins isn't too shabby himself! Hot, and a guitar player... I don't know. It might be good. :-)

MY NOTES: Greatest thanks to my reviewers, especially Sunny, Shannon, and Grace, who have been so cool about reviewing! You rock! I'm almost done, y'all! I can't believe this! My second fic is getting so close to done! YAY! Sorry that the last chapter ended in a cheesy/ cliché way! I was kinda running low on creative juices, and not even writing a one-shot about Gerry or a Coach Yoast's hairpiece story cured my writer's block. Hope this one makes up for it! Parts between the little thingy are flashbacks! My stupid computer only lets me upload text files, and I can't use bold or italics, so I have to make the little symbols and punctuation thingies work. Oh, well! Es mi vida loca...

Chapter 10: This Side

Rachel's dad was found guilty on all charges of abuse. So he was put in jail. Rachel couldn't believe it. She loved her dad, but she was OK with him being in jail, because she couldn't live through many more beatings like the last one. She was treated for severe head injuries from hitting the wall.

She moved in temporarily with the Harrises, who were just like a second family. It was really funny to her how Rev became almost like another big brother to her. She only lived with them a short while, but Rev always wanted to know where she was going with Ronnie and when they would be home. It was nice, really. Laura was always saying things like, "Try living with him all your life."

But the Harrises were special to Rachel.

One day, Ronnie went to the Harrises. He knocked on the door, and Rev answered it. "Hi, Sunshine!" he said with one of what some girls called "Jerry 'Rev' Harris Patented Drop-Dead Smiles."

"Hi, Rev," Ronnie replied, distraction in his voice.

"Something wrong?" Rev asked, with concern.

"I need to talk to Rachel," Ronnie said.

"OK," Rev replied. He turned to face the steps. "Rachel, Sunshine's here!"

"Be down in a minute, Rev!" she called.

She brushed her hair, and ran down the stairs. "Hi, Ronnie."

"Hi, Rache."

She gave him a questioning look. Something was wrong. She could tell from his tone and the distraction in his blue eyes.

"You OK, baby?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. Can we go talk?"

"Sure! Let me go get my purse."

She returned momentarily with her purse and sunglasses. Spring was finally in Alexandria. Rachel couldn't wait until the days got warm enough to pull out the flip-flops. As much as she liked her new friends in Virginia, she was a California girl at heart.

They rode to a place where they loved to have picnics. It was a open place surrounded by woods that had just the right combination of shade and sunshine. They loved it there, and went there often.

"Rache," Ronnie said, gently putting his arm around her and rubbing her shoulder.

"Yeah?" she said, wondering why the sudden onslaught of tenderness. He was always tender, but this was very strange.

"I've got some bad news, and I don't know how to tell you..." he trailed off.

"Well, there's one way to do it. Be honest, and break it to me gently," she said, with a half-hearted smile.

"Umm...They got in touch with your mom..."

She interrupted him. "That's great, Ronnie!"

"But, listen," he took her face in his hands and lifted it up so that his deep blue eyes could find her sparkling green ones. "She wants you to live with her."

Her eyes were still shining. She couldn't believe it. Her mom wanted her back. "Ronnie, I can't believe it! This is awesome!"

"No. Your mom lives in New York City," He said, his voice quivering with emotion.

Her face fell. "Oh, no. Not..." she gasped, and began to cry. "Not that far..."

Ronnie put his arms around her. "It's OK."

The sobs shaking her body hurt Ronnie. They hurt more than if he had been crying them himself. She was so special to him, and he couldn't stand it. "Please don't cry."

"How am I supposed to not cry? You just told me that I have to leave this place and all the new friends I've made. I have to start all over yet again. I hated being a military kid, and now I'm not a military kid anymore, and I still have to move and start all over."

"I know, Rache, I know," Ronnie said, stroking her hair. "But, I'll visit you, and..."

"When are you gonna have time? And who knows when you'll get transferred again. Or when you'll find somebody else? Or..." a fit of sobs kept her from going any further.

"Rachel, I love you. Why would I look for somebody else? Why would I want somebody else?"

"Because... You don't have to look. Sometimes, love finds you, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Ronnie loved her so much. How could her dad just hurt her? How could her mom make him let her go. She was so different than anyone else, and he didn't know how he was going to get by without her. He'd lost her once, and, God help him, he couldn't lose her again. Before Rachel, he'd thought the term "love of my life" was clichéd beyond all reason. But now he understood what it meant.

She leaned against his chest. "When am I supposed to leave?" she asked in a soft tone, calmer than before.

He looked away from her, unable to say the words while looking into her face. "In three weeks."

"Three weeks!" She blurted an expletive angrily.

"Whoa, Rache!" Ronnie exclaimed. He couldn't help thinking that her language was a little strong. He'd heard her curse before, but never that strongly. 'Course, come to think of it, it was nothing he hadn't said before.

"Well, my mom leaves me with my dad, where he can just beat the crap out of me to his heart's content, and now she expects me to just pull up and leave so I can come live with her? No! I mean, I hafta go, but I don't hafta like it."

"No. You don't hafta like it. But don't hurt your mom. Don't judge her before you get to know her again."

"I don't know what to think, Ronnie. So maybe it ain't California, but I love Alexandria. And I love you, and Julie. And Laura, and Emma, and JoAnna, and Gerry, and Rev, and the other Titans. They're more family to me than my mother." She looked up at Ronnie, and saw that his chin was quivering. He was about to cry. How could this be happening to them? She saw a solitary tear glisten in his eye, then slide out and slip down his nose and onto her cheek.

Ronnie sqeezed her shoulders, and she felt something in his embrace she'd never felt before. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but it made her heart ache. It was almost like he was desperate to hold onto her. Like he thought that if he let her go, he'd be letting her go for good. Which he would be in three short weeks.

"Look, Rachel," Ronnie said, looking down into her eyes. "No matter what happens, we've shared some pretty amazing things."

"Yeah," she said, smiling fondly as her memory took her back...

"Thanks for coming over, Ronnie," Rachel said to the cute blonde who was helping her with her Spanish.

"No problem. If you need anymore help, let me know," he replied, realizing he'd been looking at her eyes for WAY too long.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, quickly becoming uncomfortable under his probing gaze. It was like he was looking for her soul in her eyes.

"No," he answered, quickly looking away.

"You won't find it there anyway," she said softly.

"Won't find what?" he asked, confusion obvious on his face.

"My soul. I keep it way deeper than that."

"How'd you know that was what I was looking for?"

"I just knew." She gave him a mysterious smile.

"Well, if I'd found it, what would it have said?"

"That I really, really wish you'd kiss me," she replied in an uncharacteristically soft voice. She'd never been kissed before, but she knew that noone could give her a kiss more special than this young quarterback would.

"Well, my soul was kinda thinkin' the same thing," he said with a smile. He'd never kissed a girl before, but he'd never wanted to this much.

He gently put his left palm to her soft cheek and leaned close to her to press his soft lips to her softer ones. Rachel's nerves went wild. She'd never known it would be like this. Innocent, with an undercurrent of something more than she'd ever thought of... Ronnie couldn't believe it. If this was what a kiss was like, he hoped for many more opportunities to kiss. And to kiss Rachel Shannon.

"I'll never forget that kiss, Ronnie," she said.

"Me, either. I think that was when I knew that I loved you."

"I guess I need to get home and start packing," she said, resigning herself to the fact that she was leaving. And probably not coming back. Ever.

"I'll help you," he said, pulling her close to him. Their lips met in a long kiss, then she pulled away.

"We better go," she said.

Rachel sat silently as Ronnie drove them to the Harrises. She nearly broke down when "Surfer Girl" came on the radio. She slid closer to Ronnie and buried her face in his chest. She wished she had never run away. Part of her would rather have died at the hands of her own father than leave Ronnie.

She and Ronnie broke the news to the Harrises, but not without several tears being shed. Ronnie, Rev, and Laura began to help her pack, and Rachel wished she'd wake up the next day, and that everything was just a bad dream. Gerry's accident, running away, her dad abusing her, Nathan being dead, her mom being gone, and having to leave Ronnie. But this was real life, and she was going to have to live it.

A/N: Sorry if that kissing thing was a little wierd, or a little off. I've never been kissed before, so I kinda had to do a little guesswork. lol.