Sorry it took me so long to put up another update, it was a hard chapter for me to write and then school got busy and I got sick. I'll try to do better with future updates but I won't make any promises of when I can get updates up. As I said this chapter was a hard one for me to write for some reason so bear with me and if it's not the best chapter in this story it's because of that.

As always, own nothing but wish I did. I also am not an expert on the legal system.

The next morning I woke up. Silent, like it had been the day before. The clock read 10:30 so I knew Anna was already at school, and I was guessing Jake and Peyton were at work. I figured I had the house to myself. I got ready for the day and headed downstairs. In the kitchen I found a note.

Jenny- Sorry no one is home right now with you. Jake's work and obviously Anna's at school. I'm going to be at Thud for a couple hours. Should be done about 1:00. If you want we can meet up and have lunch at Karen's Café. Give me a call when you get this and we can figure out our plans. Love, Peyton

I looked at the clock, 11:00, got a few hours to waste before I meet up with Peyton. I called her and told her I would meet her and she gave me directions to Thud. I grabbed my drawing stuff and head out.

I ended up on a boardwalk along the river. Sitting down at a table I started to draw. I didn't really think about what I was drawing, I just drew.

"You know, if this was any other weekday or you were any other fifteen year old girl I would have to arrest you."

"And why's that?"

"Because Miss Jagielski, today is a school day and most fifteen year olds would be in school. Unless they were drop outs but you don't look like a drop out to me. So I would have to arrest you for truancy, surprisingly, Tree Hill is really strict on keeping kids in school. But I know that Jake and Peyton are giving you another day before having you go to school."

"Yeah. So I heard you know the truth."

"And I heard you thought I was dumb."

"Oh, uh, yeah, about that…"

"It's not a big deal, get it a lot. Yeah it's not fun being known as the dumb one, but don't worry about it."

"K"

"I'm guessing you haven't told them the truth yet. Cuz when you do everyone will know cuz they'll be running up and down the roads telling anyone who will listen."

"Yeah, not yet."

"Any ideas as to when you're going to tell them."

"No, as I'm with them longer and longer it's getting harder and harder to actually tell them the truth."

"What exactly is stopping you?"

"I know that when I tell them, they're going to want to know why I didn't say anything earlier and what exactly happened to me in all those years. I'm scared to tell them all that stuff. Especially about what my life was like, cuz well, the truth hurts. Especially this truth."

"Yet the truth will set you free."

"Stop it."

"What?"

"Stop throwing cliché lines at me about how telling the truth is a good thing, I know it is."

"Well, it's the truth. And about that cliché business, you're the one who started with that truth hurts b.s.. Yes, it can, but not as much as finding out someone withheld the truth from you cuz they thought they were protecting you. Next thing I know you're going to be saying that famous cliché line about how 'You can't handle the truth'."

"Fine, I concede, I have to tell them the truth. But I'll be doing it on my terms. So I don't want to hear about how you let it slip."

"K, gotta go to work though."

"Bye."

"Nice drawing by the way. You should really show it to Peyton and Jake, I know that they would really like it."

As he walked off I looked down at my drawing. He was right, I needed to show them this drawing. I drew for a little longer, all the drawings had the same theme to them. I looked at my watch. Crap, I'm supposed to meet Peyton at 1:00 and it's 12:45. I quickly gathered my stuff and followed the directions Peyton had given me. Thankfully Tree Hill's a small town so it wasn't hard to follow the directions and I made it in plenty of time.

"Hey Jenny."

"Hi."

"Well, Karen's Café is right over there," she pointed across to the street to the small café, "Let's go."

As we walked into the small café I noticed that despite the kinda hip, edgy feel to the place, there was a real sense of coziness, it had a real homey feel.

"Hey Peyton. Hey Jenny. Just grab a table and I'll be right there to get your order."

We sat at a table and started talking.

"So what have you been doing in the two hours since I last talked to you?"

"I went for a walk, drew down by the river and ended up talking to Tim for a bit."

"Tim, hmm, that must have been an interesting conversation."

"He's not that bad."

"So you said you drew today, can I see what you drew?"

I debated showing her the sketches, while none of them really screamed out the truth, it was there and I didn't know if this was how I wanted to reveal that, especially without Jake here. "Um, they're still works in progress, maybe some other time though."

"Sure. You know, when I was a little older than you are now, I drew and actually had them published, but I hid them too, kinda like you are, but not quite."

"What do you mean?"

"When I first started drawing for Thud I let them publish them under the condition that I could sign them using a pseudonym. I wasn't sure that they would go for it, being that that was the first time I ever published any of my artwork."

"And they let you do that?"

"Yeah, not at first but then I told them that the person in those drawings was who I was and how I was. And 95 of the time there isn't a moral, or a victory, or a silver lining. Take it or leave it. But if they leave it then they that other 5."

"Wow, I don't think I could do that."

"I think you could, you're very brave."

"Hey girls, what can I get you?"

"Um, well, I don't know what's good around here."

"Everything, everything's good here."

"Thanks Peyton for that glowing review."

"You're welcome, but I'm only speaking the truth." Truth, there's that word again. "I'll take my usual and how about you bring the same for Jenny."

"Sure, be back in a few."

"You didn't order something disgusting for me, did you?"

Peyton gave me a mischievous smile and said, "Well I guess you're just going to have to wait and see, now won't you."

"K, well it's your fault if it turns out you ordered me something I'm allergic to and I eat it and then die."

Her smile turned to a look of sheer panic. "You're allergic to some types of food? Of course you are, it's not uncommon for people to have food allergies. What type of a person am I? Why did I…"

"Relax Peyton, just giving you a hard time since you refuse to tell me what you ordered me."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, no food allergies."

"Good, don't scare me like that though."

"Sorry. What?" Peyton had gotten a weird look on her face.

"It's nothing, I just realized how little I know about you. I know it's only really been 4 hours but for some reason I feel I should know more about you. That we should know more about each other."

Karen brought our food at that moment. We ate in silence. Instead of talking about stuff so we got to know each other better we just sat there. Thinking about her observation.

When we were done eating we started gathering our stuff together. Peyton's phone rang.

"Hello?… Yeah… Now?... Yeah, I'll be right there… Bye."

"That was Thud, they need me for a few minutes. Do you want to come with me and wait there, or you can wait here."

"I actually want to talk to her about something."

"K, sure Karen. I'll be back in a few."

After Peyton left I turned to Karen, "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Here, sit down." We sat back down at the table that Peyton and I had just been sitting at. "Secrets have a way of coming out in this town. Even if you're trying to hide them, they inevitably come out."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can tell you're hiding a secret, a secret that when revealed will affect a lot of people here. I don't know exactly what the secret is, I have a few guesses, but I think you should tell people before someone else tells for you."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"That was all."

"You're not going to ask what my secret is?"

"No, secrets should not be told unless the person keeping it wants it to be told, with a few exceptions. I'll find out the truth when the time is right."

We heard the door open and turned to see who entered. Me, to see if it was Peyton, and Karen, to welcome her customers.

"Good afternoon, welcome to Karen's Café."

"Afternoon," said the man as he and his wife went to sit down in the corner.

Peyton walked just as they were sitting down. She saw them but quickly looked back at me. "Well, I'm ready to go. Ready?"

"Yeah. Thanks Karen."

"Bye. Hope to see you back here soon."

As Peyton and I walked to her vehicle I turned to her and asked, "Who was that couple in the café? You seemed to recognize them but I don't remember them at the party on Saturday."

"That's cause they're not friends."

"Who are they?"

"I don't really want to talk about them right now."

"K." I really wanted to know who that couple was, but I knew not to press the issue.

When we got back to the house Peyton said she was going to work on making dinner and asked if I want to help. I politely declined and made my way to my room. Once inside I sat down to draw some more. After a little bit I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called as I pushed my drawing book under the bed.

"Hi Jenny."

"Hey Anna, how was school?"

"Fine, school's school I guess."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"So how do you like Tree Hill?"

"It's nice."

"That's nice."

"Is there something you want to ask me Anna?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Umm, well, actually there is something."

"K, what is it?"

"I know you just moved in here and I know that we haven't really talked a lot, but…"

"Shh, Anna, it's okay don't cry."

"I'm sorry, it's just that I've never had any siblings, I mean I've had foster siblings but they never stay and I know that that's probably going to be the case here. But I like thinking of you as my sister and I don't want you to go."

By now I was crying with her. "Oh, Anna, I love it here and I don't plan on leaving any time soon." We just hugged and bawled. It was nice to finally have a sister and to be able to hug her. I don't know how long we cried and hugged but the net thing I knew there was another knock at the door.

"Geez, I thought someone had died when I heard you two crying when I got home, but your mom assured me that was not the case. So tell me, what's got two of my favorite girls crying up here?"

"Oh Daddy, just sister stuff." I smiled when I heard that. I had my family, now if I could just tell them.

"So in other words, butt out?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

Anna rolled her eyes but begrudgingly said yes.

"Well, Mom burnt dinner so it's every man or actually man or woman for themself. But we need to have a family meeting in about an hour."

"About what?"

"Well I guess you'll just have to show up to find out."

Anna and I eventually made it downstairs and decided on cereal for dinner. Soon after we were all gathered in the living room.

"Well, I guess you two are wondering why your mother and I called for this meeting."

"Yeah."

"Yes, Anna. Not yeah."

"Jake, let it go. It's not a big deal." I looked over at Peyton. I saw a sadness in her eyes. I tried to remember if it was there all day or not.

"Okay Peyton, consider it dropped. Back to the purpose of this meeting. Last night we received a call from Haley. She called to say that a woman had called her saying that she is Jenny's mother."

"WHAT?"

"Anna, you had to have understood that Jenny does have a mother."

"But, what, no. Jenny, you promised that you would stay here. You can't leave."

I just sat there in shock. Could it be that she had found me? I knew it could happen, but I didn't want it to be true.

"Jenny?" I looked up to see all three of them looking at me.

"What? Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I asked if you were alright."

"Not really, but… I don't know what to say."

"Jenny, you have to tell us the truth, is it possible for this woman to be your biological mother?"

"I guess, she's not dead. But I don't want to believe it's true."

"Neither do we."

"What happens now?"

"Well, the woman is coming tomorrow. She didn't have a fax machine so we don't actually have proof that she's your mother. She promised to bring documentation but you're probably going to be asked to identify her too."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, looks like you get another day off before starting school. Anna, we'll allow you to miss school tomorrow too if you want."

"Yes, I want to stay with my sister."

"Well, we need to be to child services at 10:00 according to Haley so I want everybody ready to go by 9:30. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes."

Anna and I left the living room. Both of us wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. Despite it being early I got ready for bed and was about to climb in when there was a knock at the door.

"Looks like we had the same idea. Go to bed early."

"Jenny, can I sleep with you tonight? I just got you and don't want to let you go. I won't be able to sleep unless I know you're still here."

"Sure climb in."

As we both settled in, I felt a sense of calm settle over me. Yes, Nikki might be back and yes, that might mean I may have to leave, but right now none of that matter. I had my sister with me and the two people I so desperately wanted to live with and call Mom and Dad downstairs.

The next morning everybody was kinda quiet, no one quite sure what to say to anyone else. At about 9:30 we all piled into the car and headed to Child Services. When we got there we heard voices inside.

"We still need that proof Miss…"

"Why? I said I was the girl's mother."

"As hard as it may be for you to believe, people can tend to lie about this kind of stuff. So please, her birth certificate and a form of id from you."

"That's her." At that moment, everyone was looking at me, but I was looking at her. I couldn't believe it. She had actually found me.

"Jenny, Bunny, you gave me a scare there running away," she said as she approached me.

"Don't touch me," I said in a low voice. She gave me a look as if to say I was going to regret saying that later but still backed away.

"Jake Jagielski, this is my wife Peyton and our daughter Anna," Jake said as he approached Nikki to shake her hand.

She simply said, "I know." Didn't shake his hand or anything. Not a big surprise there. The big surprise was that none of the adults seemed to recognize her. I was sure that Haley had met her, and I knew that Jake and Peyton had known her and yet none of them gave any indication that they recognized her. Maybe all those years of drinking, smoking and doing drugs had done enough damage to change her appearance enough to make her unrecognizable to those who knew her fifteen years earlier.

"Okay, well we all know why we're here. We need to figure out what happens with custody of Jenny here."

"I don't see what there is to discuss, Jenny's my daughter and I have custody of her, not him so I get her no matter what."

"Actually, it's not that simple. Since Jenny ran away, there's probably a reason for why she did that. While you have some rights as her biological mother, we still need to further interview Jenny to figure out the reason she ran away, and do a home study of your home to make sure it's safe for her to go back living with you. You don't have any problems with that, do you?"

"No, whatever it takes to get my Bunny back." My mother looked scared when saying that though, I mean who wouldn't, she knew the type of home she was raising me in. Jake and Peyton also got a look on their face at that comment, a look of confusion, but I don't know why. "What happens to her until then? Can I have her living with me?"

"For the time being she will being living with her foster parents." Now it was Nikki's turn to be confused, it never occurred to her that they wouldn't know the truth. I knew that I had to say something soon before she could hold it against them. "And you're living at a motel right now, no need to move her."

"Fine."

"Okay, what happens next is that we are going to have interview Jenny, do that home study and then present the case to the judge. I'm not sure how long that'll take, a few weeks, a few months, just not sure."

"Besides the interview do I have any say in where I live?"

"Not as much as a child who custody battle is between their two biological parents," oh if she only knew, "but I'm sure you'll be able to have a little say."

"And what would you say, oh mommy dearest treated me so bad, I don't want to go live with her. I'd rather go live with a family I've only lived with for a couple days."

I just exploded. "No, I would say that I would rather go live with my dad and his family cuz life with my mom sucked. Because of you I had to live in a drug house, I had to lock my door, I never felt safe, and I never seemed to have a real family. And about all that crap about how I've only lived with them for a few days, you know that that is not true. They raised me when I was a baby, you were nowhere to be found. You only came back when you decided playing house might not be that bad. But by then Dad didn't want you. You forced him to run with me. Then somehow through this twisted legal system you got custody of me. Then at first chance you took me and ran away with me. And we played house for a while but you sick of playing mom to me and let me fend for myself. Yes, you provided a home for me, but I raised myself and you can't deny that. So just get the hell out of this town. You're not wanted, but I am. As much as you want me to believe I'm Jennifer Nicole Turner, your daughter and all that entails. But I'm Jennifer Nicole Jagielski and I belong here in Tree Hill."

Spoilers:
What are Jenny's drawings of?
Who was that couple in the café?
How's Jake and everyone else going to respond to this news?
Whose going to get custody of Jenny?

Now that you've read, please review. And for those of you who have reviewed before, thank-you so much, I appreciate everything you've said.