Chapter 4: "Love, ugly, smooth, and delicate"

"No, I mean, my dad does not need anymore stress with Lilys pregnancy and all. And my mom just got married so… If my dad found out he would send me to live with her, and I don't want to and that would make the whole situation worse. I will stop doing it. They have dealt with so much from me already." She confessed.

Katie nodded understanding, it had been the same way with her. It was weird the connection that the two girls felt after only knowing each other a couple of days, they were at such ease around one another they felt that they could tell each other anything.

Jessie entered her house that night with a little hop in her step. She stopped when she noticed that nobody was home.

"Dad!" Nobody answered. "Eli, Grace! Zoe?" Jessie yelled. Still there was no response.

Suddenly she began to worry. She picked up the phone and dialed Eli's number.

"E, where is everybody?" There was a long pause, and Jessie dropped the phone from her hands.

~ Outside Katie knocked on the door again. Jessie had left her back-pack in her car. Jessie didn't answer the door. Katie became worried and tested the door knob, it was open. Immediately she saw Jessie slouched on the floor.

"Jess?" She said running over to her. "Jessie, what is going on? Are you okay?"

Katie pulled the sobbing girl into her arms.

"Jessie, you gotta tell me what happened?"

"They… there…oh god Katie." Jessie said falling into Katies arms further

"Sush.. It's going to be okay." Katie tried to assure her.

"No it's not!" Jessie yelled. "They're dead!"

Katies eyes got wide.

"Who Jessie? Who are you talking about?"

"Lily and… and my dad…"

"We have to go to the hospital." Katie said helping the girl up from the floor and out to the car.

They rushed through the doors of the hospital. There in the waiting room Jake was holding a sobbing Zoe, with his other arm around Grace. Eli was sitting stone faced in the other corner.

"Jess." Eli said standing up when he saw her, he walked towards her. Jessie backed up

"What happened?" She asked crying. Katie grabbed her hand for support.

"They were on their way home from the doctors office… there was a driver that ran a red light, and…"

"It can't be true…" Jessie said "DAD CANNOT BE DEAD!" She yelled. She squeezed Katies hand so hard she was surprised that it did not snap. "The baby…?" Jessie asked

"Dad was pronounced dead at the scene…, Lily held on at least until she got to the hospital…, they preformed an emergency c-section… they got the baby out… but Lily bled out during the surgery." He explained, tears now coming to her eyes. "But we have a little brother Jess. He was born two months early, … he is in the ICU…"

This was just too much for Jessie to digest. She ran out of the hospital.

"I will stay with her for awhile." Katie said to Eli, who just nodded

Katie ran out of the hospital to catch Jessie. Katie finally caught up with Jessie who had collapsed on the ground sobbing.

Katie could not think of any words to say to comfort the girl as she held her in her arms.