Title- A No Title Jess

Chapter Title- Returns

Disclaimer- I do now own The Outsiders

It was not until I left that stupid town that I realized I should go back. All I had with me was some money. I had no extra clothing, food, diapers, bottles. I was screwed. Actually, not technically, I could still pull this off. When I say some money, I mean like $80, that was enough to get by for a weeks. I didn't plan to stay out much longer than that. I was nearing the state border when the baby started crying. 'Just let me get outta this state,' I thought. As soon as I did, I found a store that I could by stuff for them in and changed their diapers.

After Ronnie stopped crying, I put them back in the car and drove to a motel. It was getting dark out, I had only left in the afternoon. I wasn't really tired, but I knew the twins must be exhausted, besides, I could use a little rest. The motel I stopped at made me want to throw up. The room was small and smelt strongly of mildew, smoke, and alcohol. That is one hell of a smell. The paint was chipping and the carpeting was stained. I didn't even touch the bed. I demanded I recieved my money back, which I got back, and left. I didn't find another motel in that town. I went to the next town and found a better one. The smell was tolerable and the inside was decent.

I got up late the next morning, I woke to the sounds of Ronnie crying. I changed their diapers, fed them and put them back into the car. I went to a drive through so I could get myself some food. I had to get some gas, then I sat and decided where I was going to go. Actually, I decided to go to New York. I was going to fix things up with Danielle and her family and go visit my mom's grave. It was going to take me maybe two or three days, I'd better pick up the pace then. I didn't stop unless it was absoulutely necessary. I only ate at drive throughs for breakfast and dinner. The twins slept fine in their carseats, when I needed rest I pulled over. I parked at a rest stop and dozed off in the car.

Finally, after all my traveling, I got to New York. I remembered the way to her house. I got out of the car and picked up the twins. I walked to the door and knocked. Let me tell you, holding twins and knocking on the door at the same time is not easy. The door opened and there stood Danielle's mom. Her jaw slightly dropped when I smiled.

"My god, Jessica, is that you?" she asked. I nodded. She took Nate from me.

"Come in, come in," she said and led me inside.

"Do you mind if I take a shower?" I asked her. I must have smelt bad.

"Don't worry, go ahead, you are always welcome here." she took Ronnie from me while directing me to the bathroom.

"Danielle probably left some of her clothes here, you can go through her stuff," she told me. After my shower, I got dressed in some of Danielle's clothes. The house was completely empty except for me and Danielle's mom.

I told her what I've been doing. She was really excited when I told her I got married to a nice guy. She didn't ask why he wasn't with me, I'm glad. How was I supposed to tell her that he was at, at war? She loved the twins. She was also glad that I had come to visit and she didn't blame me for leaving.

I found out that Danielle was going to college at NYU, she still lived here, the commute wasn't that bad. Christine was going to pre-school.

Danielle was not as happy as her mother had been when she saw me. We had our share of words when nobody was listening and the door was locked. She eventually got over it, although it took her about six hours. She really liked the twins and spent a lot of her time with them.

When Christine and Danielle were at school and Danielle's mom was at work I went to visit my mom's grave. It was disgusting. The weeds were taking over and it looked like nobody had come since I had been there last. I went to get some flowers and a pair of gloves. I spent the whole day making it look all nice. I pulled the weeds out and put down some flowers.

I decided to call the gang to let them know we were okay. I waited until about 3 in the afternoon on a Saturday because I knew about the time difference. I was not stupid.

"Hello?" a voice on the other end said. It was Steve, wait, shouldn't he be at work?

"Steve, it's Jess," I told him.

"Jessica, where the hell are you and when do you plan on bringing back my car?" He yelled into the phone.

"Calm down, I'm with Danielle. You're car is doing fine. I'm okay too, thank you for asking."

"Why the hell would you take my car?"

"Well, I couldn't take Darry's car, they need it. Two-Bit's brakes are always shot, and I don't have a car. Besides, didn't the old man get you that car? I am your sister," I told him. I heard him groan on the other end.

"When are you coming back?"

"Never," I said jokingly, "no, I'll probably leave tomorrow. I'll be back around Wednesday."

"Could, could ya leave tonight, like now?"

"Why?" I asked him. I started to think that something bad happened.

"Just come back," he replied not letting me know anything. I hung up, shocked and a little scared. I apologized to Danielle and her family for having to leave. They didn't seem to mind. They gave me food and some extra money for gas and things like that. I quickly said good-bye, made sure the twins were buckled up safely and drove away.

A couple of days later I arrived back home. I had gotten little sleep and barely ate. I would've been surprised if I was going even close to the speed limit. Yeah, I was driving a little fast. I grabbed the twins out of the car and swung open the door.

"Why the hell did you need me?" I screamed. They took Nate and Ronnie and put them in their cradles. Steve led me to the couch and had me sit down.

"Jessica," he began. Uh-oh, nothing, I mean nothing good ever starts with 'Jessica.'