A/N: Thanks for all of the great reviews and support! I love all of you guys and love reading your material too!

Martin and Sandy drove home from the clinic in silence. Their first prenatal class had not gone well. First of all, the class consisted mostly of couples, married and very much in love. Secondly, they were the youngest two there. Most of the others, who were probably well settled into their married existence, looked at Martin and Sandy as if they had made some huge mistake and deserved nothing but disdain. The experience had been…awful!

"Sorry about that," Sandy said quietly.

Martin shrugged. "It's okay."

"I think I'm going to talk to my doctor about maybe switching to a different class."

Martin cleared his throat. "Yeah, sure."

Sandy hadn't expected things to be this awkward between her and Martin. She assumed that once Martin came around, things would get easier, but that wasn't how things were going so far, especially tonight. Martin was moody and distant. He hadn't wanted to sit close to Sandy during the class. Sandy wasn't expecting romance or love, but a little bit of caring and friendliness wouldn't have hurt.

"Are you okay?" Sandy asked.

"I'm having a baby with a person I barely know. Everyone in my school knows and looks at me like I'm some kind of freak. My girlfriend dumped me. And my friends aren't talking to me," Martin explained. "Wanna ask me that again?"

Sandy smiled. "I'm sorry about Ruthie," she said. "She was really nice to me at Thanksgiving and I haven't forgotten that. She's the reason why you and I are even talking."

"I know. Ruthie's just great like that. She puts her own feelings aside to make others feel better," he said.

Sandy sighed heavily. "And now she's not talking to you?"

Martin shook his head. "I can't blame her. I should have been honest and told her about you from the very beginning. Instead I was a coward and ended up hurting her."

"You were scared and confused. You didn't want to lose Ruthie because you care about her," Sandy defended. "You were just trying to spare her."

Martin shook his head and momentarily took his eyes off of the road to look at Sandy. "I was trying to spare myself."

Sandy gave Martin a confused look. Martin continued his moody silence until they pulled up in front of Sandy's apartment.

"I'll walk you in," Martin offered.

"It's okay. It's getting dark and you've got a long ride back to Glen Oak. We'll talk though," Sandy smiled, opening the door. "And Martin? Give Ruthie some time. She's hurt and embarrassed and right now all she wants is for everything to go away. When she realizes that it won't, she'll be ready to open up and deal with it. That's when she'll really need you."

Martin smiled at Sandy and waited until she was safely inside of her apartment, before pulling away from the curb. He felt better, but not much.

"So I just told them it was all a big misunderstanding," Jack laughed.

Ruthie, whose mind had been elsewhere all night, looked at Jack, unable to hide her ignorance over what he was talking about.

Jack smiled. "You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?"

Ruthie smiled weakly. They were standing on her porch, taking their time saying their goodbyes, but Ruthie was a million miles away. She felt bad about not paying attention to Jack, but she had no control over her thoughts lately.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Ruthie apologized.

Jack smiled too. "It's okay. You haven't really been here all night." Ruthie gave Jack a confused look, so he explained. "Your body has been here, but your mind's been somewhere else. You wanna talk about it?"

Ruthie shook her head. "It's just stuff, that's all."

"Stuff like Martin?" Jack asked.

Ruthie stood back and stared at Jack. "Martin?"

"I know that you two aren't talking and that things between you have been pretty cold lately. Are you mad at him for getting that girl pregnant?"

"No!" Ruthie defended. "I'm upset with Martin for lying to me, but I could care less about whatever is happening between him and Sandy."

Jack smiled. He knew Ruthie was lying. The truth was written all over her beautiful face. Good thing he didn't really care. "It's okay. I don't get jealous, Ruthie."

"You have nothing to be jealous over," Ruthie assured. "Do you want to come inside?"

"No thanks. I would like to kiss you goodnight, though," Jack said.

He leaned forward and kissed Ruthie fully on the lips. Bringing her into his arms, he pushed himself firmly against Ruthie's small frame, deepening the kiss they were sharing. Ruthie pulled back, placed her hands on Jack's chest and pushed herself away, until their lips were touching no more.

Jack smiled. He licked his lips. "Good night, Ruthie," he said nonchalantly, beginning his walk down the path to his car.

Ruthie stayed frozen on the steps, watching Jack get into his car, give a final wave and drive off. She took an unsteady breath, closed her eyes and lowered her head. She stayed like that, in silent contemplation, for a few moments, before raising her head and opening her eyes. That was when she saw Martin, standing on his porch, across the street, staring at Ruthie.

Before she could change her mind, Ruthie opened her front door and escaped into the safety beyond. In here all of the problems of the world could just disappear.

She closed the door behind her and leaned heavily against the door. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off the door until she was upright again, and took a quick peak out the window of the door. Martin was still standing on his porch, still staring over at the Camden house, still melting Ruthie's heart…