Thank you all for sticking with this...

Here is the second part of this chapter...we are beginning the lead up to the end of this fic...hurrah!

Hope you guys enjoy this part...sorry it's a little long, I wanted to cram all the info i wanted to into this chapter!

Thanks xx

Louder louder

And we'll run for our lives

I can hardly speak I understand

Why you can't raise your voice to say

"Uh, I'm sorry, but I am gonna have to put him down." The vet stated with a taught voice.

There was a suspended silence before Jack's mind clicked and he registered what the man was announcing. All traces of colour escaped his cheeks and his forehead began to produce a nervous sweat as his knees buckled.

Will instinctively collected Jack into his arms and attempted to support his weight while keenly ushering him over to the closest chair in the room and assisting him into it. The whole fiasco appeared to adopt an extremely slapstick quality, Will thought, and would have been amusing to him, had it occurred in different circumstances.

"Oh God, no! You can't kill my baby! Do you know how many men he has attracted?"

"Shhh Jack." Will calmly soothed. He crouched down next to the chair, and subconsciously took one of Jack's limp hands into his own and entwined his fingers with those of the younger man. Jack gripped onto Will's shirt collar.

"You can't let them do it Will…you just can't! My life will be over"

"That's exactly what you said when you found out that Dawson's Creek was ending."

"Hmm, Funny…like cancer." Jack responded bitterly. Dear God, I promise never to steal Grace's underwear for my own use ever again if you promise not to let my precious Klaus die. Please!

Will stood up and faced the Vet, who struggled to hold the adult dog in his arms.

"Is it completely necessary to put Klaus down?" Will's voice was hoarse. His heart began to painfully unstitch when he caught a glimpse of Jack, who, much like a child, had covered his face with his hands and was peeking through the cracks between his fingers, fearful of the 'Big Bad Man's' response.

"Yes" The vet replied. "He's quite a heavy boy."

As the vet placed the dog on the ground, he began to chuckle.

"You boys sure put on a dramatic show."

Jack instantly regained composure, sprung up out of his chair and ran over to his dog, kneeling on the ground and wrapping his arms lovingly around the bundle of golden fur.

"So Doc, what are you saying?"

"Klaus is fine! I don't need to see him again for another six to eight months. Perhaps you boys shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly eh?" The vet snickered. He turned around and left the room, leaving the two stunned men facing each other, silently searching for each others answers about what had just happened.

"What a jerk!" Will exclaimed, shaking his head. He cracked a giant smile as his mind replayed Jack's overreaction.

"What I would give for Klaus to pee under his desk!"

"Jack, that is so immature, disgusting and…"

The dog suddenly lifted up his leg and resumed to empty his bladder onto the leg of the Vet's desk.

"Fantastic!" Will finished.

Jack grinned slyly. "Let's drop my baby off home, and then, the adventures of Jack and the Fat Man can continue."

Grace gently drummed her fingers on her desk, boredom seeping through the doorway of her compact 'office' (aka the old storage room). A half eaten banana muffin rested on a white china plate, and a cup of now-icy coffee remained next to the keyboard of her computer. Why do I even have a computer?

Phone calls and E-mails from Will and her mother seemed to be the only source of information she received, and she thrived off it.

Feeling slightly emotional, she picked up the leftover half of banana muffin and bit into it. As she chewed, a realization suddenly popped into her head, and she spat her mouthful into the closest napkin.

"I'm off bananas!" She squealed to the vacant space. Trying to evict the taste from her mouth, she grabbed the cup of coffee and took a swig from it. Learning the hard way that it was cold, she spat it back into the mug.

"That's sooo gross." She whined, as she began typing an email to her best friend.

To think I might not see those eyes

Makes it so hard not to cry

And as we say our long goodbye

I nearly do

"Oh guess what, Will?" Jack asked excitedly as they strolled towards Will's 'surprise' destination.

"What?"

"I got a promotion."

Will's face lit up. "Really?"

"No. I just thought it sounded cool." Jack giggled.

"Do you know what else sounds 'cool'?"

"What?"

"Silence. Yeah…try it."

Jack crossed his arms in annoyance and began to hum as they continued walking. Will felt like brooding to himself, and to him, the weather resembled reminiscence. The slightest hints of winter were beginning to poke through and the wind caused his shirt to lightly flap around his body.

He thought about Michael. How did he even get it? He reflected on how shocked he was at how gaunt and tired Michael had appeared when he visited him the previous day. He loved the fact that he regularly saw Michael again, as no matter how long they had spent apart, they could always comfprtably connect on some bizarre communication level that nobody else could.

Will began to feel as if he didn't even control his own mind…as it twisted the images of Michael away, images of Jack began to pour in. What if that were Jack lying th…Wait! no! Not Jack…not my Jack. Idiot. Don't even think about that. Without realizing, tears had sprung to his eyes. Did you just say 'MY' Jack? He blinked his tears away. Stop being such a girl you…girl.

"I know that I have a beautiful voice, and I'm thrilled that I moved you to tears, but could you not do that in public please? It's really quite embarrassing for me, and people will think that I'm a bitch because I made you cry, thus making me the bad guy."

Will snapped out of his mind warp. "I only ever cry when I'm in physical pain, and let me tell you, your singing always manages to bring tears to my eyes."

Jack's face softened. "Thank you." He said, genuinely touched.

Will nodded as they arrived at their destination.

"So…is this place fun?

"Define fun"

"Oh crap…"

"Tada!" Will said, grinning with outstretched arms.

Jack's jaw dropped open, his eyes widened.

Will lifted Jack's chin up with his hand. "Please don't do that face, you remind me of the victims from 'The Ring' and it kind of creeps me out."

"You brought me to…the HOSPITAL?" Jack screeched. "We better be here to get some doctor jellybeans and free lube or I swear, this bitch is gonna blow!"

"Strange to think, that actually works as a pick up line for you."

Light up, light up

As if you have a choice

Even if you cannot hear my voice

I'll be right beside you dear

"You are dead to me William Truman! You hear that? Dead!" Jack angrily vented as he sat in the waiting area with Will.

"Quit crying. It'll be over in a second. Your reaction to this is actually quite funny."

"Do you know what else is funny?" Jack whispered ferociously. "The fact that I feel oddly compelled to hit you right now."

"Jack, it's just a damn blood test, you know, you should get them more often…to actually check that you are healthy."

Jack was about to respond to this, when both he and Will's names were called. They stood up and followed the doctor into the tiny room.

"So, who's first?"

"William." Jack hissed.

Will smiled and sat himself down comfortably in the chair while the doctor prepared the needle.

"I've seen you before." The doctor stated while rolling up Will's sleeve. "You come around here quite a bit don't you?"

"Oh Will, trying to pick up at a hospital? That is just pathetic! Unless you are a nurse of course." Jack slotted in.

"Ok, William, it will just take a second…"

"Ow!"

"…or fifteen." The doctor said, pulling the needle out. Will held his arm and resumed his original seat next to Jack.

"Ok, Jack, is it? You're up next!"

"Oh, I'm fine, really."

"You were booked in"

Jack stood up and walked over to the chair, sulking. He squinted his eyes for effect as he scowled at Will.

"You and me are totally Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie: friends for the cameras, but real life enemies."

Will smothered his smile. He watched Jack wince as the needle entered his arm, and felt a little guilty for making Jack do this, but he knew that he had to. I need reassurance, I need to know he's ok. He can't end up like Michael.

"Ok, boys, your results will be in tomorrow, if you want to pick them up." The doctor stated kindly, before showing them out of the room.

"You love to see me squirm, don't you?" Jack asked.

Will grinned. "More than anything in the world."

Slower slower

We don't have time for that

I just want to find an easier way

To get out of our little heads

"Jackie! Wilma! Oh who are your friends?" Karen inquired as she opened the door for the two.

Will spun around and looked behind him. Friends? "The two little devils that sit on each of your shoulders, laughing at the fact that they got the angel drunk and ambushed it."

Karen smiled. "Hey guys!"

Jack clapped his hands and paced forward in a firm manner. "So, where is our project?"

"Hey kid! Haul it in here!" Karen yelled.

Josie emerged from the next room. "You don't need to yell Karen, and please don't answer my door…it could have been the religion converters again."

Jack looked the girl up and down, assessing every detail about her.

"Spin around for me."

"Huh?" She asked, while slowly doing what she was told to.

"Mmhmm, yes, yes I see. Ok, where is your bedroom? Karen and I will go and choose your outfit, because Will has no fashion sense…"

"…and I will sit here and talk to you about dating, since Jack has no common sense."

"And I have no senses at all!" Karen squealed as her and Jack ran off to the bedroom.

Josie lead Will into the kitchen and sat at the table with him.

"So…are you nervous?"

"My hands are shaking, I haven't been able to think all day and I nearly vomited, so…no."

Will screwed up his nose. "That good huh?"

"What if he doesn't like me?"

"He liked you enough to ask you out. You're beautiful and…funny…you wear good perfume, what's not to love about you?"

The girl smiled. "So what's going on with you and Jack? I thought you guys were…together."

Will slumped down onto the hand he was using to support his head. "You really wanna know? How long have you got?"

"An hour and a half."

"Short version then. Ok, well…"

Have heart my dear

We're bound to be afraid

Even if it's just for a few days

Making up for all this mess.

"Honey, you must be dying…you haven't…for two months?"

"It's killing me! In a slow, poisonous way. Much like if one were doomed to eat Grace's cooking for the rest of their life."

"Oh gosh poodle, that's awful!"

Jack and Karen had sorted through Josie's closet, and picked out what they deemed 'presentable'. As they sat on the girl's bed, Jack started fiddling with one of Josie's pillows.

"I could really go some cucumber." Karen stated impulsively.

"Please don't discuss phallic objects around me Kare, its not helping."

"Oh ok. Hey! Josie has a sausage pillow!" She exclaimed with excitement, reaching over and collecting the object of discussion.

"Karen! Please! I'm vulnerable right now!"

"Wow, that poster of shirtless Colin Farrell sitting on a motorbike is huge!"

"Focus, lady! I am trying to tell you how wrong it is that Will has moved on and is happy and I how I'm in sexual limbo!"

"Sounds fun!"

Jack slapped his forehead. "Finally you're listening!"

"Do you know what else is fun honey?"

"What?"

"Water polo."

"Karen…"

"With a men's team."

"Don't."

"…Naked."

Jackshook his fist and leapt off the bedas Karen lay across it in fits of cackles.

"Curse you, devil woman!"

Light up, light up

As if you have a choice

Even if you cannot hear my voice

I'll be right beside you dear.

"This is so exciting, I remember my first date with a girl. If I knew that I would eventually discover that I was gay…I would have skipped this part." Will thought aloud.

The pinnacle moment had arrived: The ringing of the doorbell. All four members of the kitchen table sprung up and raced to the door.

Josie took a deep breath in and opened the door, facing the young boy that hovered at the doorstep.

"So…do you do drugs? Do you drink? Do you drink while driving? Are you part of a gang? Are you a serial killer? Do you have wrong intentions with this girl?" Jack poked.

The boy's eyes widened. "Uh…none of the above…sir."

"So, what? You're just gonna see a movie?"

"Yeah."

"Boring!" Karen chanted.

Will pushed Karen and Jack aside. He leant into the boy. "Just take care of her, alright? She's a great girl."

Josie beamed and threw her arms around Will.

Will pushed her out of the door as Karen yelled out. "Bring her home drunk and I will know because she will be on my wavelength…and that's a promise!"

Will closed the door. "Hey, Jack, can I borrow a pen? There's a crossword in that magazine over there that I have been hanging to do."

Jack fished into the pocket of his shirt. "If anyone ever had any doubt about you being a loser before…it is removed now…wait…what's this?"

He pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it, his face lighting up as he read the content written on it.

"The doctor from the blood test gave me his number! That sneaky, conniving, brilliant man! Hold onto your skirts, ladies…The long drought of '05 is officially over!"

Thanks to all my wonderful readers and reviewers...xx

LJStagFlower4e: Thanking you dearly! I hope that this outing was interesting enough for you love! xx

GracieAdler: Thankyou, once again love. Hope you are settling into your freshman year better now. :) Pop culture references are fun...that's why i use them so often. Thrilled you like them, and thrilled that you still love this. Yay for your novels haha. xx

Sixela555: Thanks a million for your review love...and here's the update! xx

Queen Of The Paperclips: Ah, but we will have to wait and see if they do get back together (I feel the need to do an evil laugh in there, but the flu is telling me 'no, Louise') Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy the rest of my story. (only a few chapters left now!) xx

Viate: Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou! Must have taken you a while to get through them! xx

Next Chapter: Things in England aren't running as smoothly as Grace had planned, Will considers telling Jack WHY he took him to a blood test...and the boys disasterously decide to prove to eachother that they have moved on...by organising a double date!

xx