5. Love, Marriage and Betrayal

Karen sat on the couch waiting nervously for the answer to her question. The third most important question after "What is my purpose?" and "Will you marry me?". That question was "Do you love me?" She sat there her heart thumping hard in her chest waiting for the answer that would either ruin or make her day. She couldn't tell from his face what the answer would be and as he began his answer time seemed to slow down.

"And I… do love you. I really and truly do." He said smiling. Karen felt happiness bubbling up inside her like the bubbles in the hot spring. She sat still for a moment with a blank expression on her face while tiny creatures in her stomach danced the hula. Jack looked slightly worried until he saw her smile broadly.

"I love you so much too and I'm so happy!" She said hugging him tightly. She kissed him and he kissed back passionately. She didn't know how long they stayed there but she didn't care. She was perfectly happy and had never felt so connected to anyone in her life. Finally the kiss finished and they broke apart. Karen smiled and Jack smiled back, she had never been so happy.

"Oh I have to do my farm work now, I have to feed my animals or boy will they be mad." He said disappointedly. Karen smiled and nodded giving him one last kiss.

"Goodbye… my love." She said jokingly. Jack smiled and laughed as she walked out of the door. She ran to the inn to tell Ann and Popuri the fantastic news she ran in.

"Jack said he loves me!" Karen shouted as she ran through the door. She then spotted Popuri and Ann sitting at a table with Elli.

"The Doctor just proposed to me!" Elli exclaimed happily and Ann and Popuri grinned.

"Gorsh that beats my news by a long shot… congratulations!" Karen said laughing.

"Congratulations to you to!" Elli said happily. Ann and Popuri laughed and grinned at each other.

"Congrats to you both!" Ann said happily. Elli smiled and twiddled the blue feather in her hand happily.

"When did he propose?" Karen asked taking a seat at the table.

"Just last night. It was really romantic. He called me from my house saying there was an emergency at the clinic but didn't tell me what. Then I ran in and saw that there were candles everywhere! He then got down on one knee and told me he loved me and showed me the blue feather. Then he said "will you marry me" and I said yes!" Elli said stroking her finger down the feather. The girls stared in awe at the blue feather as Elli twiddled it.

"So when's the wedding?" Karen asked. Elli blushed pink and smiled.

"Spring 11th, you're all invited!" Elli exclaimed happily. The girls smiled happily and watched Elli stroke the feather again.

"Now I'm going to tell the rest of the village, see you all later." Elli said happily as she skipped off to tell the others.

"Oh I'm so jealous." Popuri said pouting once Elli left. The girls laughed and nodded in agreement.

"I'm happy for her too. But I thought Jack telling me he loved me was a big deal!" Karen said dreamily.

"It is, it's great news. That's so much better than him breaking up with you." Ann said seriously. Karen and Popuri laughed and Ann smiled.

"I remember when Kai told me he loved me…" Popuri said dreamily.

"Yeah and when Cliff told me he loved me…" Ann said also sounding dreamy. They smiled enjoying the memories.

"I wonder who Elli will pick as maid of honor…" Popuri said snapping Ann and Karen out of their daydreams.

"I don't know, probably Mary because they're like best friends." Karen said and the others agreed.

"Doctor Mason is likely to pick Gotz as best men because they're pretty good friends." Ann said.

"Everyone else will probably just be guests." Karen said and the others agreed.

"It'll be nice, this'll be the first wedding we've ever been to…" Popuri said. They looked blankly at each other.

"Yes, this will be our first ever wedding… wow. Elli must be so nervous." Ann said.

"She grew up a lot quicker than us… still this'll mean that our parents put more pressure on us." Ann moaned. They all sighed, both with jealousy and worry. After a short chat they all headed there separate ways to finish their chores. That evening was the stocking festival. The stocking festival was one of the more boring festivals in Karen's opinion. It was a time when parents gave their children gifts to thank them for their backbreaking hard work. The small gifts they were given were measly thanks, usually a bar of chocolate or a bunch of flowers or perhaps an item from around the house wrapped up the night before. It was supposed to be a festival of giving and thanks, instead it was a small present in the morning then the day as usual. That year Karen received a bag of flour to help her with her cooking. She could tell that this meant her parents expected more chocolate cake that was not ruined. Karen had thanked her parents and then put the bag of flour back in the shop, hoping that no one spotted that it said "dear Karen" on it.

A few days later it was time for yet another winter festival for the people of mineral town to enjoy. It was the New Years festival, where one could either spend it in Mineral town square or Mother's hill. Karen had hoped to spend the night on top of Mother's hill with Jack, but apparently he had been specially invited by the Mayor to spend it at town square. So it seemed Karen had to spend New Years alone or spend it at the square watching to her mother stuff her face with buckwheat noodles. How she hated buckwheat noodles. She decided instead of the usual festivities she would go to the bar and drink down the regrets of the past year. On New Years Eve she headed to the inn and walked in. Doug left it open on New Years but made his customers buy the wine from Ellen who volunteered to watch the bar most years. Karen entered and saw that the bar was empty as she had expected, she walked over and greeted Grandma Ellen.

"Slow night, huh?" She asked taking a seat at the bar. Ellen looked up slowly and sighed. Her silvery grey hair was tied into a tight bun and her thin framed glasses balanced loosely on her button nose. She looked tired and had large purple bags under her eyes, obviously affected by the strain of taking care of the bar in her wheelchair.

"Always is. What are you doing here Karen dear?" Ellen asked before giggling. She seemed happier than usual and Karen wondered if she had drunk a bit.

"I'm here because I don't feel the point of going anywhere else. Ellen have you been drinking?" She asked suspiciously. Ellen smiled showing her far-too-straight false teeth.

"Yes dear. I'm allowed to drink at New Years. Alcohol eases the pain of my legs." She said jumpily. Karen shrugged and ordered a bottle of wine and Ellen looked shocked.

"I see you're drinking as much as possible dear. Anything wrong?" Ellen asked, her baby blue eyes wide in concern. Karen shrugged and handed over the money. She pulled the cork off and gulped down the wine. She finished half the bottle before she took a breath and sighed blissfully.

"You know what something is wrong. My boyfriend would rather spend the evening with the Mayor," She grimaced at that point. "Than me." Ellen nodded sympathetically and took a swig of her own wine.

"What is he like gay or something?" She asked in pity and Karen shook her head quickly, looking slightly disturbed.

Suddenly the door burst open and Rick burst in with a grunt. Ellen and Karen both looked at him questioningly and he simply scowled.

"Hey old lady, give me one of them bottles of wine." He ordered trying to sound cool. Ellen handed him a bottle and took the money scowling. Karen glared at him angrily and took another sip of wine.

"Don't talk to her that way you nerd!" Karen said, by that time she was wobbling on her feet. Rick drank three-quarters of his bottle of wine and snarled.

"You're not worth my time." He stated and took another swig of wine. Karen sat down and began to drink again. She finished her bottle and ordered another. After all three people had drunk two bottles each, Ellen announced she would not be serving any more as she couldn't be bothered. Rick wobbled and turned to Karen with a drunken mischievous grin on his face.

"Hey baby, wanna come over to ma place?" He slurred trying to put his arm around Karen. With her last ounce of soberness… and a mixture of drunkenness Karen thought of a "cunning plan". She decided she would go home with Rick and see if he took advantage of her or not. Of course this was a stupid plan as Rick was drunk too and it was a pointless test, but she was drunk and couldn't think straight. She wanted to see if she had made the right choice in picking Jack, but obviously she was drunk, so her thinking was a little off. She nodded and followed Rick over to his house.

She woke up that morning with a massive headache, a terrible start to the New Year. She then felt something moving next to her and sat up with a jolt. She saw that it was not her own bed and stifled a scream. She turned and saw Rick next to her.

"Oh god, oh god. What have I done? Please say this is just a nightmare." She whispered quickly to herself. She pinched her arm and realized it wasn't a nightmare and her heart sank.

"Hey Karen… knew you couldn't resist me." Rick said grinning. Karen felt disgusted with herself and felt hot tears drip down her face.

"No… no… please god no!" Karen whispered tearfully. She looked around and hurriedly found her clothes while Rick grinned at her.

"What's the rush?" He asked slyly watching her change. Finally dressed Karen walked over to Rick and slapped him with all her strength.

"Hey what was that for?" Rick asked angrily. A red handprint had appeared on his face and he rubbed it irritably.

"You know what that was for! I hate you now more than I've ever hated anybody… I… I… I could kill you." She screamed honestly. Hearing the racket Popuri ran in.

"Oh Gosh!" Popuri screamed and then saw Karen glare at her. Popuri glared angrily at Rick then ran out of the room.

"Really could you? Well, I didn't make you get in that bed with me!" Rick shouted spit flying out of his mouth. Karen wiped it off her face with disgust and glared at him.

"Yes but you didn't stop it either. If you were a good guy you would have refused!" Karen shouted her knees felt weak and shaky beneath her.

"I was drunk Karen, I knew no more what I was doing than you did!" He shouted his face red. Karen felt more hot tears drip down her face and she felt like collapsing.

"Rick, you drink like a fish every night, I've seen you drink three bottles without being fully drunk!" She shrieked.

"I'm telling you I was drunk!" Rick shouted. Karen glared at him and he shrank.

"I know you weren't drunk, because when you woke up this morning you knew exactly what had happened. I saw you smirking, you were proud!" She cried. Rick tried to hide his smile but couldn't, she could tell he was glad and it sickened her.

"Fine! I was proud Karen. I got back at you in a way that can't be taken back. No matter what you say, I'll always have been your first! You can't shake this off and eventually the whole town will know and I'll make sure of it. Soon your precious boyfriend will find out and you'll come crawling back to me." Rick said happily and his maniacal laughter filled Karen's ears. Karen's emerald eyes widened as she saw a side of Rick that had never been unleashed before.

"You're evil, Rick. You're actual evil. I can't believe you were ever my friend. I hope everyone does find out so they can see the person you really are. I've got to go." She said crying and she walked out of the room.

"You'll be back Karen… because you can't live without me!" Rick screamed laughing madly. Karen cried and saw Popuri in the hallway. Popuri looked shocked and scared as she walked over to Karen and pulled her into a hug.

"I'll run and tell the village the truth before Rick starts spreading lies. He's going to tell them as soon as possible so its better I tell them now. Karen, go to the church and confess your sins now. It'll help you feel better." Popuri said kindly. Karen nodded and trudged to the church. The floor lurched beneath her and she felt sick, she was impure. She felt awful to spread her impurity into the church but she knew Popuri was right. Besides she had nowhere else to go, she couldn't face her parents. She walked into the church and over to the confession booth. The church was quiet and she could tell that Carter had not yet entered the church. She sat on one of the pews and began to pray to the goddess.

"Please goddess, forgive me. I have done a terrible thing. I have betrayed my family and friends. I… I am no longer pure… I don't deserve to live." Karen whispered crying. The tears burned her face as she whimpered. She heard the back door creak and Carter walked in.

"Oh Karen, what are you doing here so early? You're crying… is everything alright?" Carter asked his eyes crinkled in concern. Karen shook her head and sniffed.

"I need to confess… Carter I've done a terrible thing… the goddess should punish me." She said sniffing. Carter nodded understandingly and putting a hand on Karen's back led her to the confession booth. She sat down on a wooden chair and looked at the floor, unable to look into Carter's kind eyes.

"Forgive me please, for I have sinned. I… I slept with Rick… I was drunk and… and I thought he would refuse. I'm so sorry…" Karen cried and burst into tears again. She heard Carter breathe in sharply as he stopped himself from gasping.

"Oh Karen, my child… You have indeed sinned. You must tell Jack and ask for his forgiveness before the goddess will grant hers…" Carter said, he sounded stuck for words.

"I didn't mean to… I hate myself so much and I… I blame myself." Karen said slowly unable to think through the pain. Carter nodded and brought Karen into a hug. It pained him to see Karen suffering, he had watched her and Rick grow up and loved them both as though they were his children.

"You won't do it again, will you?" Carter asked calmly. Karen shook her head and sniffed.

"Never… Carter… do I have to forgive Rick?" She asked looking up at his kind face with swollen eyes.

"Eventually Karen, yes. If you wish for the Goddess to forgive you, you must learn to forgive others. Whether the Goddess forgives Rick may be another story…" Carter said and Karen let out a small laugh.

"Karen my dear, this won't seem so bad forever. You will smile again… I promise." Carter said wiping Karen's hair out of her face. Karen tried to smile but found she couldn't so she cried instead and buried herself into Carter's black robes.

When Karen left the church she saw the eyes of Mineral town staring at her. Their eyes were filled with pity and disgust. She walked into her house ready to face her parents. Sasha was crying and Jeff simply looked at her with disgust in his eyes. Karen looked at them and found that they couldn't look at her.

"I'm sorry Mom… I'm sorry dad. I hope that one day you can forgive me. I'll get out of your house until you feel you can forgive me…" She said and trudged up to her room to pack a bag. She then walked into the inn and saw everyone whisper into each other's ears. Ann ran over to her and led her up to her room where Popuri was sitting on the bed in tears. Karen collapsed into their arms and they all cried together.

"I'm so sorry my brother did this to you!" Popuri wailed her bottom lip was shaking rapidly.

"I'm impure…" Karen howled and more tear trickled down her wet face.

"I'm so sorry Karen… if it's any consolation whatsoever you're not the first." Ann said sympathetically. Karen looked up with the smallest glint of hope in her red eyes.

"Elli and the Doctor… on the night he proposed…" Ann said. Karen sighed and took a tissue to dry her eyes.

"That's different, they were engaged. Rick and I were… barely even friends anymore." Karen moaned blowing her nose hard.

"But at least you weren't perfect strangers. Karen it could be a lot worse." Ann said trying to console her. Karen sighed and wiped her eyes with a fresh tissue.

"Not in this town." She said and Ann couldn't help but agree.

"I didn't tell Jack. It's best you tell him, so go see him quickly before he hears it from someone else." Popuri said quickly. Karen nodded and ran out of the door to Jack's farm. She knocked on his door and waited nervously outside. When he arrived at the door it appeared he had only just got up. She guessed that he hadn't been told by someone else which was the only good news she could find.

"Karen what's wrong, why are you crying?" He said sounding terrified. Karen felt some tears drip off the end of her nose and she swallowed.

"Jack, I've done a terrible thing. I know you can't forgive me and I'm so sorry." She cried. Jack worriedly took her in and let her seat down on the red couch. She took a deep breath and prepared for Jack's worst reaction.

"Last night I went to the inn and drank too much. I drank way too much and Rick was there and was a bit drunk but still knew what he was doing and he invited me to his house. Then I can't remember much but I woke up the next day in bed with him. So I… I slept with him." Karen said quickly then burst out crying. Jack's face froze and his expression became blank. Karen waited for his reaction, she wondered if he would throw something at her. He sat still for ten minutes without saying a word while Karen cried.

"I'm so sorry. Can you please say something?" Karen begged after a while. Jack swallowed and took a deep breath.

"What do you want me to say?" He asked calmly. Karen cried, she wished he would shout at her rather than act calm. She could tell that he was heartbroken and she felt as though the world was ending.

"Shout at me, or anything! Tell me what you're feeling." Karen cried hysterically. Jack sighed and looked at the floor his face still blank.

"I… I… can't look at you right now. Could you please just… go?" He said quietly. Karen nodded and walked quietly out of the door, her heart snapped in two. She spent the week in Ann's house until her dad came and told her she was allowed to stay in their house as a guest, not as their daughter. Ann and Popuri forgave her straight away but didn't try to pretend that nothing had ever happened. The rest of the townsfolk just watched her as though she were a stranger from a different village whilst whispering. Jack avoided her completely and went to the shop early if he needed something so she wouldn't be around.

Soon spring 11th arrived and Karen prepared for the wedding nervously. She knew that all eyes would not be on the bride. She wondered if she should actually go or whether she would just end up ruining the wedding. She wore a cap in the hope of hiding her face a little and decided to sit in the back row. Carter had promised to sneak her in without people noticing and she hoped she could get through the wedding without destroying it. She entered the church and sat with her cap over her face in the back pew of the church. No one seemed to have noticed her and she breathed a sigh of relief. She spotted Jack and felt her heart lurch in pain. Soon Elli entered in a beautiful blue and white dress with a bunch of pretty spring flowers. Her hair was bouncy and shiny, she looked ecstatic. Everyone commented on how beautiful she looked as she walked down the isle and she had tears of joy in her eyes. The wedding was absolutely perfect and Elli and Dr. James Mason made the perfect couple. Karen sighed with jealousy and watched as they left the church Mr. and Mrs. Mason. The reception was held in the inn afterwards and Karen reluctantly went to give them her gifts. She had bought Elli some beautiful salt and pepper shakers and hoped she was the only one with that gift. She walked up to Elli and congratulated her handing over the gift.

"Congratulations I hope you guys are very happy together." Karen said smiling even though she felt nothing but misery inside. "Your wedding is like the light at the end of a very dark tunnel for me." Elli cried happily and gave Karen a big hug.

"I'm just gonna go now Elli, I don't want to ruin your special day…" She said and turned to leave. Elli stopped her with a smile on her face.

"Only you leaving would ruin the wedding, Karen you've got to cheer up. Get back to your life again, just because you hit a bump in the road it doesn't mean the rides over." Elli said putting her hand on Karen's shoulder. Karen nodded tearfully and gave Elli a smile. Elli smiled back then went to talk with her other guests. Karen walked around the food for a while and sat on the sidelines watching everyone else have fun. She sighed and then spotted Jack. He saw her too and began to walk over. She began to panic, she hoped he wasn't going to shout at her and make a scene. She hastily pulled her cap over her face and pretended not to notice her.

"Hey." He said nervously, Karen peeked from out her of her cap to see if he looked angry. He seemed worried and looked a little nervous about talking to her, so she lifted up her cap and tried to smile.

"Hey." She said trying to sound casual. He glanced at the cap and smiled.

"Nice fashion statement." He said looking at the cap. She took it off and smiled at it, letting out the first giggle in a week.

"Yes, I thought it just screamed wedding." She joked and Jack laughed. She missed his laugh so much, she hated him avoiding her.

"I guess so. I started the cap trend you know…" He joked. She nodded and hid the cap in the lavender dress she was wearing. They smiled awkwardly at each other for a moment.

"Karen, I'm not sure I'm ready to talk to you about what happened yet. Can I come and get you when I am ready. We can go for a walk…" Jack said kindly, he sounded depressed and that made Karen's heart break even more.

"Yes, of course. Don't worry, you don't even have to talk to me until you're ready." She said trying to sound calm. He smiled and nodded before heading off to talk to other people. Karen spent the rest of the party trying to mingle and make her friends and family less ashamed of her again. She had a lot of reparation to do and many people to apologize to. She knew that her heart would mend eventually and until then she had to restore people's faith in her. After the party she went to visit some people to talk and apologize, so just maybe things would be normal again.

The 14th of spring came, the spring thanksgiving festival. The day when the boys thanked the girls for the chocolate they had received from them. From all the adult men she had given gifts to she received a box of cookies from all of them. Gray gave her a giant chocolate chip cookie and a hug, whilst Cliff gave her a raison bran cookie. Jack and Rick gave her nothing which was as she had expected, in a way she was glad of that. She spent most of the day in her room scoffing down the cookies and other comfort foods. She wondered what she and Jack would be doing had none of the alcoholic incidents occurred. She reflected on how alcohol was the cause of everything wrong in her life, yet that still wasn't enough to stop her drinking. She knew that one day things would be normal again, or at least her version of normal.

The next festival was the horse racing festival, which to Karen's disappointment was cancelled due to a severe rainstorm. It had rained for six consecutive days which had left Karen confined to her room for the duration. The six days had left many of Mineral towns residents stuck in their small houses. No one dared to brave the weather which left the general store without customers. By the ninth day of the storm her family had began to loose its nerve. Sasha was moaning about the weather to Jeff and ignoring Karen completely. Jeff had begun talking to himself, referring to his other side as Jeffy.

"No Jeffy, Sasha's not calming down. What? No I'm not going to kill me wife and family." He argued with his other half. Sasha stared out of the window mournfully moaning every few minutes in bored agony.

"Dad! Stop talking to yourself, you're going schizophrenic! Mom, why don't you read a book or something!" Karen shouted in a desperate attempt to keep her parents sane. Sasha just moaned and Jeff mumbled incoherently.

"That's it! Get your raincoats on, I'm taking you over to the inn, maybe someone will offer to baby-sit." Karen ordered loosing her last nerve. Sasha and Jeff jumped to put their raincoats on like naughty children in trouble. Karen put on her raincoat and dragged her parents out into the pouring rain. It was so wet that Karen couldn't see a thing, the rain drops were the size of tennis balls colliding with Karen's face. She and her parents fought through the weather to reach the inn finally arriving in the warm bar. Some of the braver residents were already sitting there looking tired and bored. Ann walked over and greeted Karen with a smile.

"Oh thank goodness you're here. Everyone's gone completely nuts with boredom!" Ann whined giving Karen a big hug. Karen peeled off her raincoat and wiped the hair out of her face.

"I had to bring my parents over my Dad was beginning to talk to himself." Karen said worriedly and Ann gasped.

"I wish this storm would end, I'm going crazy!" Ann said yanking on her hair with a pained expression on her face.

"Me too, it should not rain this much in spring!" Karen said gazing outside. Ann nodded quickly.

"I'll fetch us some drinks, you dry off." Ann said kindly and went into the kitchen. She emerged with two glasses of cider and beckoned for Karen to follow her to her room.

"Tomorrow's supposed to be the cooking festival. Do you think it'll clear up by then?" Ann asked hopefully. Karen looked out of the window and sighed shaking her head.

"No, and for once I was going to show I could cook properly." Karen whined. Ann nodded sympathetically and stared silently out of the window. They talked and played cards until they forgot what card game they were playing. Karen went home to retrieve her stuff and decided to stay at Ann's until the storm subsided. She found it odd how the storm reflected her exact mood. She felt melancholy and the rain seemed melancholy. It had made everyone in town feel exactly the way Karen did, the rain was almost a blessing from the goddess to her. Everyone in town seemed like zombies, aimlessly walking around. Everything seemed black, white and grey like an old movie, but without the music and charm.

The rain continued for another two days and the mayor announced that it was the longest he'd ever seen it rain in spring, which of course cheered the townspeople up a great deal. Finally the rain stopped after eleven consecutive days. Many had thought it impossible for it to rain that long, but they were proved wrong. On the final day the rain stopped and the clouds parted letting golden rays of sunlight in. The townsfolk walked unsurely out of their houses, like animals coming out after a month of hibernation. They blinked in the sunlight and a cheer erupted from the streets. Finally everyone went back to life as it had been before the rain. Karen took this as a sign that the rain storm in her life would soon end and the clouds would part to reveal glorious sunlight. She smiled and stood in the streets gazing up at the sky, feeling hope for the first time in s long time. She spotted a flash of blue coming towards her and focused on the figure. It was Jack. He walked nervously over to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"Hello Karen. I was wondering if you wanted to go for that walk now." He said gently. Karen nodded and followed him up to Mother's hill. The ground was soggy and Karen's feet sunk deep into the mud, but with Jack beside her she didn't care. When they reached the summit they sat down and looked at the sun.

"So how have you been?" Jack asked, sounding sad. Karen looked at him in the eyes and saw the same hurt that she felt within.

"Melancholy, you?" She said shrugging. Jack smiled weakly and sighed.

"I've been better." He said honestly. Karen nodded slowly.

"I'm so sorry about what I did. I never wanted to hurt you. I was just drunk… and stupid." Karen said quickly. Jack nodded in agreement at the drunk and stupid part.

"Yeah, you were. You have no idea how much you hurt me…" He said sadly, his voice wavered and Karen wondered if he was going to cry.

"I know I hurt you badly. I hurt everyone badly. I would give my life to take back what I've done." She said truthfully.

"I know. But you can't take it back. You can never take back the hurt you've caused me." He said sounding almost angry.

"I know that. I'm not asking you to forgive me or even be my friend. I just don't want you to hate me." Karen said feeling close to tears. Jack shook his head and looked out over the cliff. Beneath the mountain were many coniferous trees making the floor beneath Mother's hill look like a green sea.

"I don't hate you Karen… Rick maybe… but you never. I just… It hurts a lot right now. I know you were drunk and had no idea what you were doing. I can't help wondering though… if I had spent New Years with you instead of in the town square, would this not have happened?" He said looking out into the distance. The trees rustled in the wind appearing like waves in an ocean.

"It might not have happened. But it wasn't your fault." Karen said biting her lip. How could she have been so selfish? Just because her boyfriend was busy it didn't give her the excuse to get drunk.

"I… I'm not sure whether or not to blame myself or… blame you." He said thoughtfully. Karen felt unnerved by the fact he was refusing to look at her. She couldn't tell from his voice how he was feeling.

"Why don't we just blame Rick?" Karen suggested. Jack laughed and finally turned around. He had tears shining in his chocolate coloured eyes.

"I do blame Rick. I could… kill Rick." He said angrily his teeth clenched tightly together. "But I don't know what to do… I know I should probably break up with you…" He sounded distant and confused. Karen felt the shards of her heart split even more, into tiny splinters. She knew it was only fair that he should break up with her, but she knew she couldn't take it if he did. She had been so sure that their relationship would work, so sure that they were right for each other. But she had screwed the relationship up so badly.

"But maybe… for relationships to work sometimes people have to give the other a second chance. Besides, I don't want to be without you… I love you Karen." Jack said. Karen almost laughed at how corny he sounded. But it was sweet nonetheless and Karen felt the shards of her heart regroup hopefully.

"So… can we be… are we… do you forgive me?" Karen said unsurely. Jack thought for a moment, battling away any doubts then nodded.

"We are… but you owe me a chance!" He joked and Karen smiled. "I'm letting you off so easy."

"I know. So you have a get-out-of-the-doghouse-free card, use it wisely." Karen said with mock wisdom. Jack pulled her into his arms and they hugged, Karen's personal storm was over and finally things could get back to normal.

Finally the summer was due to arrive and Mineral town was ready for the summer buzz. Popuri was dancing around waiting desperately for Kai to arrive. Karen couldn't help but smile at Popuri's loyalty. She was like a puppy, so loyal and caring waiting for her master to come back against all odds. Karen secretly couldn't wait until Kai's arrival too. She knew how much Rick hated Kai and hoped that Kai would one day take his anger out on him. She also hoped that she could convince Kai to stay instead of leaving, she hated to see Popuri's heart break every autumn. She hoped to have a calm, happy summer and just relax. She wondered what adventures were in stall for her that summer.