A/N: If anyone has any questions about the story, has anything they want to see on the website, et cetera, make sure to comment or PM me so I can answer anything!

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A year and a half and eight girlfriends later, Jackson stood on the shore of Lake Michigan skipping stones with Melissa sitting behind him. Her arms were wrapped around her bent legs as she watched his fluid movements from beside his suit jacket. From the moment she met him, she didn't exactly know how to explain him to anyone. He was very picky about the company he kept and a good number of people would simply refer to him as an ass unless they saw him absorbed in conversation with her or other members of the organisation. She constantly had girls coming up to her asking how she'd broken through his shell; finally they'd both just decided to play the gay card and she miraculously became the fag hag of a completely straight male that she occasionally made out with emotionlessly in the equestrian stables when the other students were already out riding. It didn't last for long, however: they quickly came to realise that gay men attract more women than straight ones do, so overnight, he went back to being straight complete with some very public PDA with a girl he sat next to in physics.

'Come on, Jacks. It's getting cold. Let's head back to campus.'

He didn't reply, but just kept throwing rocks. Pulling her sweater tightly around her, she looked out at the lake and sighed at the setting sun. Jackson's shoulder-length hair swung around as he skimmed another rock out on the surface. Melissa angrily ran her fingers through her own straight auburn locks.

'I'll take your fucking car and go back myself if you don't stop throwing the damn rocks, put your suit jacket back on, and head back to campus with me,' she hissed.

Dropping the rock in his hand, he sighed and dug his car keys out of his pants pocket, throwing them to her. 'Have a big time.'

She gaped at him before throwing the keys back at his head roughly and standing, stalking over to him to scream right in his ear. 'You're being a child!'

'And you're a whorish bitch!'

Her hand connected with his face and he staggered a little before bending and scooping up the Austin-Healy keys from the water. With a glare at her, he stalked away from the water's edge and up to the road where his red Sprite MK II sat. She ran after him, grabbing up his suit jacket as she went by, and when she got within firing distance, she threw it at his head.

'This job is fugacious!' Melissa seethed, shoving him up against the car with his suit jacket still on his head. 'You're not always going to have the same contacts: people are going to quit, people are going to die—you just have to accept it as inevitable. It's part of being a mature employee!'

Jackson slacked in her arms and laid his head back on the top of the tiny car. She couldn't see the expression on his face, but she had a feeling it had set back into that normal, emotionless look that everyone associated with Jackson.

'She's my best friend,' Jackson said slowly, his voice muffled by the jacket. 'Why would she just leave like that without a word?'

'At least you know she's not dead,' Melissa said, trying to sound positive.

Casually reaching out, she rolled the suit jacked back from his face and stood, her hands curled around the folded fabric. He stayed bent back, looking beyond the trees to the darkening sky with an unreadable expression. Slipping her arms around his waist, she leaned forward and rested her head on his chest, the physical contact comforting but meaningless. He remained motionless.

'Peach.'

'Hm?' she said, turning her head so that her chin was on his chest and she could look at him. 'What is it?'

'Let's get wasted.'

She laughed loudly, but knew he was completely serious. Taking the keys from his hand, she pushed him aside and got into the driver's seat as he came around and got in the other side. In their pockets, they both had fabulous fake identifications provided by Melissa herself, and they knew if they could get just a certain distance from Glen Arbor, few people could recognise them as Leelanau students. After putting the car into gear and looking at the still-moping passenger, Melissa sped off to the south.

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When a knock came on the door the next morning, it sounded like a jackhammer was being used directly over Jackson's temple. He groaned loudly before pressing his hands hard to his ears and pulling his pillow over his head. Melissa stirred next to him, and a moment later, he heard the thump as she fell out of the bed and jumped to her feet. He looked out from under the pillow to see her standing there, her hair every which way and dressed in some flannel monstrosity that she wore whenever the weather got cold. With a start, he realised that he was in her room rather than his, so as she made her way to the door, he deftly rolled off the other side of the bed and slipped under it just as the door opened.

'Good morning, Dr Jones.'

'Good morning, Miss Bayley. Do you happen to know where Jackson Rippner is?'

'In his room?' she responded innocently.

The woman furrowed her brow. 'No, he's not in his room, and he didn't show up for his final examination in English today.'

Under the bed, Jackson mentally bitch-slapped himself before being a man and standing up. 'Hello, Professor.'

'What are you doing in the women's dorms, Mr Rippner?' asked the professor, obviously scandalised.

Melissa looked at Jackson, curious as to how he was going to handle the situation. She almost laughed when false tears gathered at the edges of his crystalline eyes and he let out a very theatrical sniffle, but instead of blowing his cover, she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth as though upset that he was upset.

'Well…' he started before sniffling again. 'You know that Melissa is like a sister to me, and…'

Tears started falling down Jackson's face and the professor put a hand to her chest, giving him a sympathetic look.

'And, well… my nanny, who has been taking care of me since my parents died, she…'

Jackson broke into huge, theatrical sobs and Melissa snorted, covering it up as a choked sob. Walking over to Jackson, she pulled him to her and laughed into his shoulder, which got her a sharp pinch on the back when he put his arms around her.

'Oh, Mr Rippner, I had no idea…' the woman at the door said softly. 'Why don't you make up the exam when you feel better, all right? There's no use in delaying your trip to the Czech Republic this fall just because something this unfortunate ended up happening at finals time. You feel better, all right?'

Looking up from Melissa's shoulder with bloodshot eyes and pouting lips, Jackson nodded slowly at her, and the professor reached out and closed the door. They listened to her steps as they faded down the hallway, and once the fire door on the other side clicked shut, Jackson broke away from Melissa and fell back on the bed, moaning about his head.

'Fabulous performance,' said the Australian, clapping her hands as she went over to sit in her computer chair. 'Truly Oscar material.'

'No clapping,' he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. 'Shh… no clapping.'

Turning back to her desk, Melissa reached a pale hand up to her CD player. Jackson moaned and grabbed a pillow to put over his head when the player began spinning the CD, and within a moment Weezer music was blaring out of the speakers along with Melissa's cackling laughter.