Chapter 2

Jesse was starting to go a little crazy. Or so it was suggested. By himself. He had spent the last two days spilling over old photograph albums, saved newspaper clippings, even looking through magazines. He had a feeling she wasn't just something his mind had made up. He had seen her somewhere before.

He found another little mini-photo album in his closet. He began to quickly flip throguh it. Most of the pictures he had were of him and his friends he met since he left his family. He was halfway throguh when Stella appeared. Though he didn't notice her presence.

"Jesse?"

She startled him. He looked up shocked but the very sight of her made his soften into a smile.

"Oh, hey sexy."

She smiles a wide smile. "Hi." She slowly climbed into his lap, still smiling, making him fall backwards onto the bed he'd been sitting on, and began to kiss him.

Jesse loved kissing. And anyone would love to kiss someone like Stella. But only Jesse could. She was his... for the time being. Stella was beautiful. But to Jesse, her kisses semed empty, and loveless. Did he love her? No. Not really.

But the sex was good.

"I didn't hear you come in." said Jesse, pulling his lips away from hers.

"That's because you must've been so wrapped up in whatever it was you were doing, to notice." Jesse looked away for a moment. "So what were you doing?"

"Oh, um...nothing. Just looking through some old stuff" His eyes drifted down on the floor, where the album had fallen. She turned to see what he was looing at, and saw.

:Still?"

"What do you mean still?"

"Well you've been looking through a bunch of paper and stuff for days."

"Oh. Hadn't noticed."

She gave him one last kiss, before laying down beside him. "Jesse?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you love me?"

Uh-oh. He hesitated for just a second before he answered. "Yea." He just lied do a girl about saying he loved her. He was going to Hell.

Oh wait, no he wasn't.

"Do you love me?" he asked Stella.

"Yes. I love you."

Ohhh, fuck. This was not good. He'd rather be in Hell then where he was right now. He had to leave. Again. Before she got too attachted, or before he really did love her. He was planning to leave soon anyway, so it actually worked out. Maybe Miles was right.

Because this sucked.

The next morning, Jesse woke up to find Stella asleep right next to him. Perfect. That just made it harder. But he had to do it. He packed a small bag, and kissed a sleeping Stella good-bye. He got on his motorcycle and took off.

He'd be back in a few days, find another apartment, then pack up and leave. That's the way it was.

He headed back to Tree Gap. He hated it there. He didn't know why, he just did. It was going to be hard to go back and explain everything to his family. But what would he tell them? Why he left? He didn't remember. So that made it worse.

Yip-ee.

Jesse arived in Tree Gap at dusk. And it was time to face the fam. Would Miles be there? Would it matter? Not really. When was the last time Miles had acted like a good brother?

He rethought that, and pronounced himself evil. He was. Miles was a good brother. Then he thought about Stella. She was lovely, and he felt terrible about leaving her without an explanation. But he had to find out who that girl in his dream was. And his parents would know.

In a matter of seconds after he Jesse had pulled into the driveway, he saw Mae run out of the house in excitment.

"Jesse! You've come back!" She embraced her son the moment he stepped off his bike.

"Hi Ma."

"Oh, Jesse. I've missed you so. Where have you been all these years?"

"I'm sorry Ma,"

"About what?"

"About leaving. I forgot why I left, I suppose it was to lead a normal life," Mae looked at him confused, but he didn't see." "But I came back, because... I need your help."

"My help?"

"Yea. Yous, and Tuck's, and Miles'..."

"Oh, sweet heart. Milies left too."

"H-He's not here?"

"No. I'm sorry, he's gone."

"Where?"

"We don't know."

Damn. He'd wanted to apoligize too. Great.

"Well come on, Jesse, let's get you inside, Your father will be glad to know you're alright."

They went inside, and as Mae promised, Tuck was very glad to know at least one of sons were okay.

Later, while they ate their dinner, Mae asked Jesse what is was he needed their help with. But an exhausted Jesse replied that he was very tired, and he'd explain it all in the morning.

So he slept. He hadn't been in this room, in this house in so long. His family had moved back to Tree Gap around fifteen years ago. Jesse left eight years ago. He left and went to New York.

There, he had become the man he had never wanted to be. But he had fun with that life. He started drinking, picking fights with random drunken New Yorkers, and had a few scars to prove it.. In those eight years, he'd been all over New York, after leaving about twenty girlfriends. He lost count. Most were one-night stands anyway.

But he was running out of cities in New York. He needed to pick a new state. Maybe he'd go to California.

About four girlfriends and four cities ago, he turned his life around a little bit. Less blood, less booze, same amount of sex. Thank God.

That was his favorite part.

Then he met Stella. She was a slut. Despite what he sometimes thought about her. She had zero morals and could be a bitch when she was drunk. Which was for often than not. But what he really wondered was what made him have that dream. Who knows.

The next morning, Jesse woke early. Before Mae and Tuck. He poked around his room a little bit, after he found he was unable to fall back asleep. He looked through of his desk. In the bottom drawer, he found nothing but a pile of oold photographs. So old the edges were all torn and frayed, and they were of a rusty brown color, and what was no longer white, but yellow.

It was a small pile, but he looked over them slowly, studying the faces. There were a few family portraits, thought he had no idea who the family was. Then suddenly he stopped dead at a single photo, and his eyes widened.

"Oh shit..." he mumbled to himself. He studied the photo. It was a young girl. With long dark hair. A smill chin with a tiny dimple. Flushed looking cheecks. Full lips. And those eyes. Yet no a dirty brown, he remembered that they used to be blue.

He remembered.

He still had no idea who she was, but he knew, he had seen her face before. But where? And why? Why did he have this picture? How could she be real? Why did he have that dream? What was going on?

"Thought I ran into you down on the street. Then it turned out to only be a dream. I made a point to burn all of the photographs. She went away and then i took a different path. I remember the face but I can't recall the name. Now I wonder how what's her name has been."