Title: Secrets Behind the Lies

Author: Stress

First written: June 27, 2002- March 19, 2004

Edited and replaced: May 16, 2006

Summary: Part II of the Soul Mates Series; After living in Manhattan for two years, Stress thought she knew everything about Jack Kelly or, should we say Francis Sullivan? Well, guess not.

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Bottle Alley Lodging House

As soon as Stress had entered the lodging house, leaving the two of them alone, King led Gip to the nearby corner and told her his tale. "So you see, my Gip, I won't be gone long at all. But, as much as I don't want to leave, I have to go. You do understand, love, don't you?"

Gip nodded, afraid her emotions would give her away if she spoke.

King's face broke out into a relieved grin as he squeezed her hand. "No more than a few months to get everything straight," he promised, trying to make the situation sound not as bad as it was, "and I'll write often and visit if I can and what the hell happened to your eye?"

The last remark was not directed toward Gip but to Jack instead as he glumly walked down the street, hands in his pockets.

Jack just shook his head but Gip, trying to find anything to distract her from her sorrows, laughed at Jack's state. "That Stress has a mean right hook, eh, Cowboy?"

"Don't I know it," Jack said, wincing, as King's eyes widened in surprise.

"Cupcake gave you that shiner, Cowboy?"

"Yeah and don't tell me that I deserved it, King." Since King looked like that was exactly what he thought Jack turned to face Gip. "You don't happen to know if Stress is in the lodging house, do ya?"

"Actually, yeah. She went inside over a half an hour ago. She seemed really ticked off about something and now that I see your shiner, I know who it was who got her mad. Are you sure you should be looking for her so soon?"

"Well, I need to talk to her. I think I might have said something -- er, a few things -- to offend her and I need to say sorry."

Gip rolled her eyes. "Alright, Cowboy, I'll go in there with you. I know Mrs. Cook wouldn't want a boy up in the bunks with no chaperone."

King snickered, "And I'll come along to make sure Cupcake don't give you a shiner to match that beaut."

Instead of replying to King's remark Jack shrugged and shuffled his way inside the lodging house while Gip and King silently chuckled at his back. Now that the two of them had made up, they were glad to take sport against the one who had opened his mouth and caused their miscommunication in the first place.

Luckily for them, Mrs. Cook had taken a break from looking over the ledger and was nowhere to be found. Somewhat relieved that he wouldn't have to stop and explain himself to Mrs. Cook, Jack continued on his way up to the bunks, closely followed by King and Gip.

But, when he entered the bunkroom, he was surprised to see Mrs. Cook doubled over a figure on the floor.

"Stress? Mrs. Cook, what happened to Stress?"

Mrs. Cook whirled around and stood up to face Gip, momentarily ignoring the presence of the boys in the bunkroom. "I don't right know, my dear. I was downstairs going over the books when I heard a yell and the sound of something falling down. I got upstairs as quickly as my old legs allowed, but she was like this and she still hasn't opened her eyes."

Jack stood dumbstruck, his face a pale shade of green, as King rushed past Gip and Mrs. Cook in order to scoop Stress up into his arms. "Ma'am, do you have a separate room here for the ill?"

Finally Mrs. Cook noticed that both King and Jack were standing behind her in the bunkroom, but she said nothing about it. "Why, yes. It's down these stairs and to the right."

King nodded and began to descend the stairs, followed closely by both Gip and Mrs. Cook. Jack remained behind for a moment in order to pick up a piece of paper that was to the side of the bunk before heading down to the sick room himself. He slipped in behind Mrs. Cook just in time to see King lay Stress down on the bed.

Mrs. Cook placed a thin blanket over Stress' pale frame before nodding to the others. "Thank you, my dears, but I think we should let her rest for the moment. Maybe that's what she needs."

Both King and Gip returned the nod and backed out of the room, but Jack remained standing where he was. "Can I stay and wait for Stress to wake up?"

Mrs. Cook sighed but knew she had no choice but to give in. She knew from experience how stubborn Jack could be. "Fine, Cowboy. But only until curfew. You have a little over an hour."

Jack smiled a small smile and plopped himself down by the side of Stress' bed. Mrs. Cook looked at him briefly, shaking her head, and left the room, making sure to shut the door behind her so that the other girls wouldn't upset Stress' rest.

Once he heard the door click, Jack took his eyes off of Stress, removed the piece of paper from his pocket and quickly skimmed it. Then, with a flash of rage, he tore up the note and scattered the pieces across the floor. Once it was strewn about, Jack got on his knees and leaned against the bed, sitting in silence as he watched Stress continue to sleep.

The Bottle Alley Sick Room

It wasn't until countless minutes had ticked by before Jack opened his mouth to say something. "I'm so sorry, Stressie. This is all my fault. If it wasn't for that stupid secret - that stupid lie. You were right to call me out on it, but what did I do? I brought your past into it. I brought up that piece of filth and made you relive the memories. I should have known better, but my pride got in the way. I couldn't handle the fact that I hurt you by lying so I tried to make myself look better by showing that you lie too. But I didn't mean what I said, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it at all."

There was no answer. Stress slept on.

Jack continued to stare, the guilt smoldering inside him like a fervent flame. "If it wasn't for my stupid remarks making you remember him, you would've never even looked twice at that note. But, no. Because I upset you, your head wasn't able to accept that he was still out there. You worked so hard these past two years to make yourself think that nothing happened -- that he really didn't exist. And, in a few short minutes, all that illusion was shattered." Jack paused for a moment and, with a wistful smile, he whispered, "And here I thought you were done with these fainting spells."

"Cowboy?"

Jack spun around, startled, and found himself staring at Gypsy's knees. Quickly, fighting a blush, grateful it was so dark in the sick room, Jack stood up and faced Gip. "Hi."

"Mrs. Cook says that it's time for you to go. Ya wouldn't want to miss curfew now."

"No, I guess not." Jack knelt down once more by the bedside and swooped up his cowboy hat. Placing the hat on top of his head, he walked over to the door. But, before he actually exited, he turned around and looked to where Gip had taken his place on the floor. "Um, Gip -- how long were you at the door?"

A sad smile formed on Gip's face. "Long enough, Cowboy, long enough."

The Bottle Alley Sick Room - later that night.

Gypsy only had to wait another hour by Stress' bedside to see her open her eyes. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

Stress rubbed her eyes and tried to make out the face in the dim candlelight. "Gip, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. How are ya feeling?"

Stress shook her head, clearing it of the horrid memories that had filled it. "A wee bit better."

"Good. We were worried about you, collapsing on the bunkroom floor like that."

"We?"

Gip nodded. "Yeah, we. Well, Mrs. Cook, me, King & Cowboy, to be exact. Ya see, it was Mrs. Cook who found you and King who carried you down here. But it was Cowboy who sat here with you for the first hour and half to see if you'd wake up. I switched spots with him when Mrs. Cook finally kicked him out."

Stress scowled. "What was he doing here? I guess he just wanted to call me a 'dirty whore' again as he rubs my past in my face."

"I guess those were the stupid remarks he was talking about, then."

"He told you?" exclaimed Stress, sitting up rapidly.

Gip chuckled. "Calm down there, Stressie. It's only to you that he tells things to when he ain't supposed to."

Ignoring the cheek, Stress questioned, "Then how the hell do you know that he said those nasty things to me?"

"I, um, kinda overheard Cowboy apologizing to you when he thought he was by himself. He seems to think it was all his fault that you fainted. I swear, I never saw him look so sad and guilty, not even when he sold Mush's favorite hat for a nickel."

"Why the hell did he feel guilty? I mean, yes he lied and yes he called me names, but that ain't why I passed out like that. It was that letter I got, the letter from Rip." Stress shuddered as she said the name, as if it left a nasty taste in her mouth.

Gip picked up various pieces of torn paper and let them flutter down in front of the candle's flam so that Stress could see them. "Yeah, well, I'm guessing that Cowboy took care of that too."

"So, Jack read the letter. Probably thinks I'm a bigger whore now."

"Are you crazy? He was so worried about ya. He said something like 'you worked hard to imagine that none of what happened actually happened', but because of his own stupidity, 'the illusion was shattered' and you were in pain."

Stress listened, trying to make sense of everything that had happened throughout the day. And the day had started so normally, too.

Gip, feeling sorry for the mess Stress was in, stood by her side, giving Stress time to mull everything over before saying anything else. By now, Gip knew how important it was to listen and think instead of overhearing conversations and jumping to conclusions. Finally, when the silence became too much and her body began to cry out for some sleep of her own, Gip blew out the candles in the sick room. "Mrs. Cook said she wants you to spend the rest of the night down here, just in case."

Stress nodded, lying back down, prepared to fall back asleep herself, wanting to forget all the confusion that was filling her head.

But, before Gip actually left the room, she had one parting remark: "You don't know how lucky you are to have someone who truly cares about you."

Stress never got to fall back asleep that night.

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Well, that brings me to the end of Secrets Behind the Lies. I will have one more chapter, a somewhat epilogue, but don't forget to check out Cuts Like A Knife, One Year Anniversary, and the Fourth story, Can't Keep Running, coming soon.