Hello everyone.You all should be very thankful, for I am sacrificing my homework for this. Midterms are coming up soon for me, so there may be a lapse where there is no update. Shouldn't betoo long though. Hopefully this will keep youhappy for a while. Bit of a cliffy though...

now for the mentions!(I hope you don't mind, Claire, I kind of stole that word from you. I thought it fit.)

PrudencePiperHalliwell: happy 2005!
Anywien: wow. on new years eve, you were very hyper. i admire that. hehe. haha. bonks. yeah, chapter 6 was rather sappy...this whole thing is rather sappy...uhoh. i made a sappy fic....
flonshoe: lookie! i updated! aren't you pleased?! my favorite mediator book is probablydarkest hour, not including twilight. twilight's my fave now.i am the only one i know that says "eh" all the time. I'm not sure why. think i read it somewhere and just...picked up on it. hehe yes 2 chapters in 1 day. doesn't happen often, eh?
nikki: happy new year!! tad late, but oh well. ;)
sSilver sStarz: yes, Jess DID kick ass. and had fluff also. wonderful combo, don't you think?
sparklinqt87: thank you!!! ;)
Uh.yeah: Happy Birthday Claire!!! You think my action scenes are good? Thanks! And I make the characters say the right stuff? I didn't think so. Well, in the middle it was OOC, but the beginning and end were pretty in line, I would have to say. Yes, I am used to you saying random things. Random happy. Ooh longest review ever written given to me?! I do feel honored. Wait, the English way is "honoured"? With the "u"? So, I feel honoured. :)
heidigirl: Jess will be better before you know it. happy new year!
RidgelandHater: thanks for the review!
VIP86: You love it? Aww thank you!!!
Living2Love: ahh yes. i think we ALL believe we are Rob's soul mate. but Jess seems to be perfect for Rob, so maybe we should just let her have him...Ahh, but I am NOT finished. I have many more chapters ahead of me. This whole story is like 40 microsoft word pages long!! hehe thanks for the review!
marvelgirl08: Aww you're too sweet. Believe me, I WANT you to answer/comment to my author notes on your reviews. How else will I know how you feel about them? ;) And Twilight was awesome. I agree. I was practically crying also!
murfdurf22: Thank You!! I shall keep writing till the cows come home.

Thank you all my reviewers!! You really make my day!!! ;) On with the show!!

Chapter 7: Scary Stairs and Eerie Feelings

After a week in the hospital, I finally got to go home. February break was over but I still got to stay home for another week. When you need to take painkillers every four hours and your writing hand is encased in plastic and Velcro, it's kind of hard to go to school, if you know what I mean. I was hoping to be left alone a lot so I could catch up on some much needed sleep, but no.

My mom has to come up to my room every hour to see if I need anything. I always tell her no, unless I'm hungry or something. It's really very annoying, because all I want to do is sleep, or talk to Rob. Who, by the way, has not called or stopped by since I was let released of the hospital. I had been telling myself that he needed to catch up on work at the garage, since he took off from work when I was in the hospital. But it's been two days! Even Ruth and Skip have stopped by, but not Rob.

But dwelling on Rob isn't going to make me feel better. Seeing him, or hearing his voice would make my days so much more exciting though! I've already read all of the books I own and read my magazines four times. I can't watch TV because I am stuck in my room that is lacking one. A TV, I mean.

I would have stayed downstairs but there are no bedrooms on the first floor, and sleeping on the couch was not very appealing. But Doug is nice enough and he brought me some of his comics. I'm not really the comic-book type of girl, but it was better than reading my history textbook.

I was lying on my bed, legs in the air, flexing my knees. The doctor said that I had to flex them otherwise I could get a blood clot or be too stiff or something. Anyway, I was grunting because this simple exercise actually is hard to do when your kneecap is sprained—and it also hurts like hell if you try to get it done quicker—and then Doug walked in. Normally, I would be surprised to see Doug in my doorway, but since I came home, he's been coming up here more often. I stopped my exercises and sat upright on my bed. "Hey, Doug. What's up?" I said.

"Nothing too much," he said.

"So, what are you doing here? I thought it was mom's job to check on me every hour," I said jokily.

He chuckled and said, "It is mom's job, but she's going out for a while. She wanted to know if you would be okay with her gone." '

"Yes! She's leaving? Finally!"

"Okay then, I'll be back later." Dough left chuckling at my outburst. She's leaving! I limped to the door and yelled, "Bye Mom!"

I mean, I love my mom and everything, but really. All I want is to be left alone for now. I totally understand that she wants to make sure that I'm not going to go running off again, or something, but you have you get where I'm coming from. Having her leave for a few hours was one short of a miracle in my book.

When I heard the door downstairs close, I leaned over to my bedside table and picked up the phone. I was about to dial when I heard voices. No, they weren't in my head, they were in the phone. Then I realized who the voices belonged to. Doug and Tasha.

"Hey, how long are you going to talk for? I need to use the phone." Doug seemed kind of mad then said, "A few minutes. I'll yell when I'm off." I said a quick goodbye to both of them and hung up. Picking up an issue of Superman, I settled back onto my bed.

A few minutes later, Doug called, "I'm off!" I called back, "Thank you!" As I reached for the phone, it rang. I jumped a mile in the air and let out a shriek. When I had collected myself a few seconds later, I picked the phone and said a shy, "Hello?"

"Mastriani? Is that you?" It was Rob. I let out a sigh of relief, although, I'm not quite sure why I was scared. Premonition, maybe?

"Yeah, it's me. What's up?"

"Nothing much, I got off early working at the garage," Aha! I was right! He was working at his uncle's garage. "How 'bout you? How are you feeling?"

"I'm just reading some Superman comics. I'm feeling okay. I think I might try to go downstairs today. Staying in my room all day is torture!" I laughed, and my ribs are still sore, so laughing was painful.

"That's good that you'll be moving around. I can just imagine having to stay in your room. Would you like me to come over? Keep you company?" My heart did somersaults, I was so happy.

"I would love that. I should ask Doug though, since my mom's not home. Hold on." I held my hand over the bottom end of the phone and shouted, "Doug! Can a friend come over?"

"Which friend? If it's Rob, no."

"Oh, c'mon! If you say yes then mom won't have to find out about your late night smooch-fests!" I heard him grumble, then say, "Fine! He can come over, see if I care…" I put the phone back to my ear. "Okay, you are free to come over." I heard him laughing. "What are you laughing at?"

"Just that you're willing to blackmail your brother to see me. I'm touched." I could just see his smile through the phone.

"Oh, suck it up. I'm not willing to blackmail him for just anyone. Blackmail Mike? That's a different story." He laughed and we hung up, saying that we'd see each other in a few minutes.

When the doorbell rang, Doug went downstairs and let Rob in. After we had hung up, I had changed into a pair of gray sweats and a red long-sleeved tee, brushed my hair and teeth so I looked somewhat presentable. I heard a knock at my door and said, excitedly, since I knew who was on the other side, "Come in!"

Rob hesitantly opened the door. What did he think? That I was in my underwear or something? Then I realized that he's never been in my bedroom before. "Hey there!" I said, standing up.

"Hey. Oh, let me help you," Rob said, taking a giant step from the door to my bed, where, I have to admit, I was having some trouble.

"Thanks," I said, looking into his eyes. He lowered his head, his hand on my waist, and kissed me.

"Anytime," he said, after our lips parted. We both smiled and stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Unfortunately, Rob had to break the silence. The sweet silence that was ranked high and mighty in my book. Way to go, Rob.

"Let's go downstairs. Can you make it?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I smiled, but he just gave me a skeptical look.

When we started down the stairs, I was clutching onto the banister for dear life. About a third of the way down, I guess I put too much weight on my left leg (the one with the sprained kneecap), since all of a sudden, my knee buckled under me. I experienced a brief moment of panic, as I saw the stairs coming dangerously close to my face. But my knight-in-shining-armor came to my rescue. Rob wrapped his arm around my waist and grabbed my arm before I could go tumbling down the stairs. I breathed a sigh of relief as he stood me upright and turned me to face him.

"Whoa, Mastriani, you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, letting loose a breath that I was holding.

"Alright…ready to go on?" Rob asked; he didn't look too sure of what I had just said.

"Yep," I said. I wasn't as confident as I sounded though. If you've ever fell or almost fell down stairs, you'd know what I'm talking about. If you don't, then I'll sum it up for you: It's not fun, and it hurts. There you go. So, I did not want to repeat the recent incident. Yeah, fat chance that'll happen.

I guess my uneasiness showed on my face, or Rob was just worried because as we started to go down the seemingly innocent yet treacherous stairs, he rested both his hands on my hips. I was as happy as a girl in my situation could be.

Though, it's a good thing that Rob was holding on to me. Eying the bottom of the stairs, I accidentally skipped a step, and thumped down hard on my left leg. Feeling a surge of pain soar through my leg, I cried out in pain, and my knee buckled, again. Rob picked me up and positioned me so one hand was under my knees and the other on my back, before I could fall again. I was happy, yet embarrassed too. I mean, how dense am I to have my knee buckle twice in 10 minutes? In my mortification I started to say, "Thanks Rob, but I can do it. I'm fine, really."

"Mastriani, stop. I'm not putting you down because you've made it quite clear you cannot make it without breaking your neck," he said, smiling and started to descend the rest of the stairs.

Rob put me down on the couch gently. I grinned and he laid me in his lap. He stroked my hair, moving down to lightly touch my cheeks, briefly stopping where I still had a yellow bruise. He looked at me with concern in his smokey-colored eyes, and I took my hand and placed it on his cheek and said, "Please stop worrying about me, I'm fine, really." I don't think he believes me anymore when I say 'I'm fine'. I honestly don't.
"I want to believe you, really, I do. But I can't, because it feels like its not over yet."

"What's not over?" I asked, although I think I already knew.

"The thing with Sean," Rob said uncomfortably.

"Oh," was all I could say. I really didn't want to think about it, especially not now, while I was all cozy in Rob's arms. "Um, well…the Feds have been keeping a good watch on the house, so I don't think there's anything to worry about." I tried to smile, but I couldn't help but share the same feeling as Rob. That it was far, far from over.

Please REVIEW everyone!!! Thank you!! I have midterms starting on the 18th, so this will probably be the last until they are done. Sorry!!