-The present-

A girl lay in her hospital bed, beaten. Six stitches were needed to close the gash in her stomach. Only hours before, she had been attacked as she walked to her home from the community college she attended. It wasn't a new thing to her, but she was terrified none the less.

Lily opened the door. "Hello, Tess," she said.

"W…who are you?" she asked in her weak state. She made a bit of an effort to sit up.

"I'm Detective Lily Rush."

"Are you here to arrest me?"

Lily looked at her suspiciously. "What did you do that would make me arrest you?"

"It's not what I did. It's what everyone thinks I did."

"And what would that be?"

"Killing my girlfriend. Everyone thinks that I killed her. They're mad because I never went to jail. They…they're trying to have the case re-opened so that more evidence could show up and they can finally put me behind bars for life," Tess explained. "So why are you here?"

"I was asked to come here by a woman, Katen Taurus, your girlfriend."

"Katie," Tess whispered to herself.

"She said that you didn't do anything to that girl. She said you loved her. She also said there were a lot of people out to get Ashley Jenson."

"I know there were."

"Well, do you know who wrote this?" Lily asked as she handed the girl a crumpled piece of paper.

Tess took it and began to read:

"Just stop it! He's going to lock you out. You're going to die for this, Ashley. You're going to die!"

Tears rolled down her eyes. "Were did you get this?"

"Katen gave it to me. She said that she found it in a pocket of the jacket that Ashley left at your house the night she died."

"I don't know who wrote it. It wasn't me, tough."

"Why is her jacket at your house?" Lily asked.

"It's a long story."

"I've got time."

Tess looked at her. "Well, it was five fears ago at my sixteenth birthday party…"

-December 10th 1999-

"I'm fine, Tess. I've just been feeling a bit sick lately. That's all," Ashley said as she took a small cup of water to wash away the foul taste of vomit. She leaned against the bathroom sink, unable to look at her girlfriend.

"Babe, what's wrong? This it the third time this week that I've seen you throw up. Do you want me to take you to see a doctor?"

Ashley's eyes opened wide. "No! Please anything but that," she yelled.

"Calm down. It was just a suggestion." Tess ran her hands through the smaller girl's long blonde hair. "You're so beautiful, you know that?"

"Tess, don't..."

"Don't what?"

"Don't talk to me like I deserve you. I don't," she said with tears in her eyes.

"Why would you say a thing like that, Babe? I know you. You're such a good person. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you." She leaned in and kissed the girl on the lips while wiping the tears away.

Silence lingered in the air for a moment.

"Tess, you should really get back downstairs. You can't just ditch you own party." Ashley left the bathroom and went to Tess' bedroom. She took her jacket, zipped it up and began to make her way downstairs.

"Are you going home?"

"Yes. I'm not feeling well. There's no need for you to miss out own you're party just for me."

"But I want to. If you need help you know I'll take care of you."

"Please. You're just making me feel worse."

Tess ran in front of her so that Ashley couldn't leave. "Please," she kissed her, "stay!" She pulled her girlfriend back into the bedroom. "It's ok, Ash," she said as she removed the jacket. Tess kissed her again, intensely. She moved them over to her bed, never taking her eyes off her girl.

"Tess, I don't think we should," Ashley said as she pulled away.

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"I'm just not in the mood."

"I don't want it to seem like I'm pressuring you, but you're never in the mood anymore. What's going on?"

"It's nothing," Ash lied.

"Fine. But can you at least stay for a while longer? Just an hour."

Ashley looked at Tess with tired eyes. She was in to position to argue. "Ok. An hour."

-The present-

"Ashley was in such a rush lo leave that she forgot her jacket. I never had the heart to move it. Everybody said that it was creepy for me to leave it on my bedroom floor, but I just felt like I should keep it. It's a reminder of the last few moments that as far as I knew, our relationship was right," Tess said. "I never bothered to look in the pockets for anything. I couldn't even touch it. It's been on my floor for years."

"Thanks Tess. We'll keep in touch," Lily said as she walked to the door. Tess stopped her.

"Lily?"

"Yes?"

"You believe me, right?"

"Like I said, we'll keep in touch."

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been really busy. Here are some descriptions for the story:

Tess:

- 21 years old.

-She has dyed black hair (originally blonde)

-Five and a half feet tall.

-green eyes

-studying to become a nurse at McQueston College

Katie:

-21 years old

-has dark brown hair

-blue eyes

-works at a clothing store.

…more will come later (assuming I forget to describe the characters during the actual chapter again)