A/N: This is it people. The final chapter. I told you there was only so much I could get out of this plotline, but I hope it is satisfactory. And it's going up on Thursday like I said it would. Yay me!

Disclaimer: I don't own them. If I did it would be too much like a soap opera, blargh.

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And was I ever wrong. I went home from the hospital with my parents that night. Martin, my original ride, had left as soon as he knew Suzie would be okay.

It was hard for me to sleep that night, I barely did. I kept thinking what if I had lost her? What if she hadn't gotten off so lucky? What if they had succeeded in killing her? What would we all do then? Thoughts like these kept circling my mind all night keeping me awake. I did eventually fall into a fitful sleep, full of unpleasant dreams.

When I woke I thought I'd go see Suzie, she'd still be in the hospital, so I'd skip school and visit her. So that's what I did, or at least what I tried to do. I bought a small bouquet of Suzie's favorite flower, purple petunias, and went to the hospital. I thought it would be a nice surprise for her. I only wanted to make her feel better. I wanted her to know that I love her and nothing could change that.

When I got there Mrs. Crabgrass intercepted me before I could get into her room and told me that Suzie didn't want to see me. I was confused, understandably. I asked her why Suzie didn't want to see me and with real regret Mrs. Crabgrass told me that she didn't know; Suzie hadn't given her a reason.

I didn't understand why Suzie wouldn't want to see me, but I accepted that for the moment and asked Mrs. Crabgrass to give Suzie the flowers for me. She agreed and I had to leave, without a patient to visit there was really no reason for me to be there, so I went to school.

It seemed that people were pretty shaken up about what had happened. Everybody believed Suzie's story now, it's a shame it took something like this to get the football team and the coach to believe her. People were writing 'get well soon' cards for Suzie, which was sweet.

They kept giving me sidelong glances and I couldn't figure out why. Then Martin approached me and I asked him what was going on and why were people looking at me funny. He told me that everybody had heard about how I'd reacted to the car 'accident' (for lack of a better term) and were beginning to think that maybe there was something more than friendship between Suzie and I.

Hearing that gave me only one thought which I voiced "shit". Suzie and I were against being out to the general public, we were out to the people that mattered to us, but we hadn't wanted the whole school to know…and now they did.

It didn't seem as though they were hostile though. Actually it was more like they approved of us…it also added credibility to Suzie's charges against Jason, Derrick, and Marcus. She wouldn't have wanted to have any form of sex with them if she were gay, so it only made sense that they'd raped her. Sometimes people are stupid. But the students were being wonderful; I actually got a type of congratulations for being with Suzie. They were almost as happy about that as I was.

The students, as I said, were making cards for Suzie and charging me with getting them all to her, which I told them I'd do. What I didn't tell them was that Suzie wasn't exactly speaking to me, but they didn't need to know that, and I could at least give the cards to Mrs. Crabgrass to pass on.

School came and went, classes were over, and I decided to skip volleyball and try to talk to Suzie. Off to the hospital I went with a little stop off to pick up some original flavor Starburst for her, she likes them and I thought they'd be nice.

When I got to the hospital I was chaperoned by a nurse to her room. Her mother wasn't there this time, presumably she had to work, and Suzie was just watching whatever drivel was on the television. I saw that the petunias I'd dropped off earlier were in a vase on a table beside her bed and that made me smile, she may not have wanted to see me but at least she didn't throw out the flowers.

I stepped into her room quietly so at first she didn't notice me, she did notice me when the Starburst I'd tossed landed in her lap. "I thought you were told earlier that I didn't want to speak with you. Get out." She spoke with a flat voice and downcast eyes.

"Suzie…" That had hurt. She was so distant. She looked up and I could see in her eyes that she hadn't wanted to say that, and that meant something was truly bothering her. I had to find out what it was; I had to know why she was trying to push me away.

"Get out. Leave!" Her voice broke, she's close to tears. She doesn't really want me to go and I don't plan on leaving, we're going to have this out.

"I'm not going anywhere Suzie. Tell me what's wrong. I only want to help." I'm being honest. I won't leave until I believe that that's what she truly wants, and right now I don't think that's the case. I step further into the room until I'm beside her bed, still standing. "Please Suzie."

She looks at her hands; one wrapped in a cast the other holding the candy, and speaks softly "Do you believe in God, Jennifer?" This catches me off guard. I don't know where she's going with this and I can usually tell what she's thinking pretty easily. I'm pretty sure I don't like where this is going. "I guess so. Why?" is my response.

"I believe in God. And I think He must be punishing me for something with all of this. I was thinking about all that I'd done in my life and I couldn't think of anything He'd punish me for…and then I thought of you. It hit me then that He must be punishing me for being with you, for being gay, for going against His word…"

"Suzie! That's ridiculous! He doesn't punish people for being gay! God made all people, including the gay ones. I don't think He's punishing you at all, He's testing you. I think He's testing everyone. You know, the kids at school know that we're together and they think that's fantastic." I'm working myself into a speech. I have to make her see reason. I'm not going to give up on her and I won't have her give up on us!

"What! The kids at school know!" She doesn't like that at all. I ignore her outburst and continue.

"Jason, Derrick, and Marcus failed the test; they're going to be punished for what they've done to you and for what they've tried to do. You, you're supposed to be overcoming this and becoming a stronger person because of it. I'm supposed to be there to help you and love you. Our families are supposed to come together and support us both!" I truly believe this. There was a reason for this. It's supposed to make us all stronger. We're supposed to be together! She has to know that!

"Jennifer…" She says this quietly, but I keep going, I have to get the rest out.

"You know, in the Bible there are six admonishments for homosexual activity but there are three hundred and sixty-two for heterosexual activity. What does that tell you Suzie? Being gay isn't against His word; it's just against the personal beliefs of religious zealots who twist His word to use against anyone they don't approve of." I can't let her keep the idea in her head that being gay is wrong. It's not! Being gay is as much a part of nature as being straight, or breathing, or anything else, it's not exactly a choice but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing.

"I know you know better than to think being gay is wrong. Hell, you were the one to convince me that we should give us a try, and you know what? I'm glad I did. I couldn't be happy with anyone but you. I love you Suzie and I'm not going to let you throw us away. I can see in your eyes that you don't want to, so why are you-" that's as far as I got before she cut me off.

"Jennifer! I get it okay! I was being stupid! I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make sense of this whole thing you know? It's a lot to take in and I don't know how to handle it. And it's all making me think things I'd never considered before and you're right, I don't want to throw us away. I don't really have any justifications. I'm just scared, and confused, and worried…and…" Her voice breaks and tears leak out of her eyes.

I move the last little space to sit on the edge of the bed and pull her into a hug. "It's okay. I understand. It'll all be okay. You'll see…you'll see." She's made me cry too. I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to keep her. I was so afraid that I'd lost her forever over something so stupid. Oh God, thank you for making her see sense. Thank you for giving us to each other.

And everything would be okay eventually. The boys were sent to jail after having been tried as adults for assault, rape, and attempted murder; all three were given life terms in jail with no opportunity for appeal or parole. Suzie would heal and we'd all get back to our lives. Nothing would be exactly the same, but that's not a bad thing really. We were out to the world now, and that meant we could be a real couple in public.

Things settled down and we got back to our normal lives. Suzie couldn't play volleyball or cheerlead for the rest of the season but she went to all of our games to show her support. We had a lot of fun. Our football team ended up going to state and taking third, without Jason, Derrick, and Marcus. The coach and team apologized for being such asses, as did a large portion of the student body, and Suzie was gracious enough to accept.

Everything was back on track. Suzie and I were together and she assured me that nothing could break us apart, and I believed her. We had gone through so much, we had passed a very difficult test of our relationship and we had come out stronger than ever. I don't think I'll ever be able to express to her just how much I love her, there aren't enough petunias or Starbursts in the world, but I'll keep on trying. I'm sure she'll get the idea eventually.

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A/N: That's it for this story people. Let me know what you think. It took me forever to figure out how to do this. I spent the entirety of this day sitting at my desk trying to compose this. I hope it turned out all right. I'm happy with it.