Chapter Nine- Two months later

"It is so cold!!" Janie complained as she huddled up to Greg and they left the house.

"You've been outside for like two seconds," he said amused.

"And those two seconds have been freezing," she retorted.

It had been two months since Janie and Ricky had their big fight. Two months since Julie told Nadine what was up and since then, she distanced herself from them and stopped hanging around them. Two months since Janie and Greg started dating and two weeks since she realized that she loved him. Ricky had stopped trying to talk to Janie after their big blowout, figuring that he caused more harm than good in her life and she was content to leave him alone. Grace still came around since she was friends with Amy and she and Janie got along pleasantly but Janie could tell that a part of Grace was pained and she knew it was because of her.

"Are you going to stand there all day or get in the car?"

She shook her head and looked to see her boyfriend sitting in the drivers seat and looking up at her.

"Sorry…" she mumbled apologetically and got in as they drove to school.

"So Mom wants to know if you're coming over for Christmas," he said casually.

"What?"

His mother had never really taken an interest in her before and God knows that Hailey likes to make little remarks about her whenever she's around.

"She just asked me out of the blue last night," he shrugged.

"Doesn't your mother hate me or something?"

"She doesn't hate you," he sighed. "She just…never really cared."

"And that is so much better," she rolled her eyes. "Am I wanted over there?"

He rose an eyebrow. "You are always wanted."

"You're such a pig," she laughed.

"At least I'm honest," he grinned. "And she actually said your name as opposed to just 'your girlfriend' so I think she might be warming up to you."

"Hurrah," she stuck her hands in the air. "Hailey's a lost cause though, sorry. Once a slut, always a slut."

He shrugged. "Do you see me arguing? One thing though…I think Riley's gonna be there too."

She closed her eyes and sighed. As if it wasn't bad enough to see them around school together making out in every hallway, now she had to sit there and play nice with them? Ugh.

"Terrific," she mumbled as he pulled into school.

"Come on, it won't be that bad," he said as he pulled her out of the car.

"He didn't cheat on you," she replied darkly as he sighed.

"Remember that I'm staying late today," he said as they entered the building.

"Yeah I know, you're forsaking me because of English. I'm crushed," she joked as he kissed her.

"I know. God what will you do to get home? I mean after all, it's a mile away and just so far," he joked as she swatted at him.

"You're cuter when you don't talk," she smiled.

"Finally, we agree!" he joked again as he leaned in and kissed her before going into his classroom.

"Seriously, you guys make me gag sometimes," Julie said as Janie plopped down beside her in Algebra.

"What?"

"You and Greg seriously need to stop loving each other. It makes everyone else look bad."

Janie just smirked and rolled her eyes.

"There's a colorful thing on my desk Benjamin."

He smiled at his friend as he looked up. "I believe it's called a gift Adrian."

"Well…take it back."

"No," he said simply and she stared at him.

"I mean it Boykewich, take it back!"

He crossed his arms and looked at her amused. "Why?"

"Because whatever came from that little perfect family you have, is just…" she sighed. "I just can't take it."

"Adrian."

She shook her head. "You wouldn't understand Ben ok? So just…take it back," she said as she left his door. It had been a repressed memory for her; well at least repressed until every Christmas that is.

She sat looking that clock, willing it to change. He said he would be here. But he was late, as usual. Finally she sighed and got her car keys as she slammed the door shut behind her. So he wouldn't go to her? That was fine, she would find him. Ricky Underwood had broken one too many promises to her and this was the end. She slowed her car down as she got to his house and saw the house was dark and his car was absent in the driveway. Where was he? Obviously not on the way to her house; she had been sitting there for the past two hours all by herself. She sighed as she rolled her eyes. She had enough of sitting in the empty apartment for the holiday and decided to go to Grace's and endure the happy family setting for a little bit. Grace Bowmann was her only real girlfriend…hell her only real friend. She had people she talked to, sure, but only Grace knew things like her dad didn't want her. She was in the car with her when he all but said that to her.

"Ricky?" she asked in disbelief as she saw him coming out of her house.

"Adrian! I was just-"

"Standing me up. Again," she said as she shot a dirty look at Grace, who looked surprised.

"Did you two have plans?"

"Oh shut up Grace. You knew that he did, I told you."

"Hey!" Ricky cut in but Adrian glared at him.

"I will smack the shit out of you so shut the fuck up," she spat at him before turning back to her supposed friend.

"He told me that you cancelled your plans with him Adrian. Honestly, I had no idea that you were waiting for him!"

Adrian sighed. She had to believe Grace, the girl didn't exactly know how to lie.

"You," she sneered as she turned to Ricky. Now him on the other hand, he was a very good liar. "I cancelled our plans huh?" she crossed her arms as he stayed silent. "Is that why I was sitting at home for the past two hours waiting for you to show up!?!" she ended in a yell as she smacked his arm.

"I was going to tell you-"

"Tell me what? That you were with my friend instead? How long has this been going on Ricky?"

"We aren't dating or anything Adrian," Grace put in as an attempt to save Ricky.

"I don't really care Grace. It's Christmas Ricky. It's Christmas and you told me that you would be there," she said softly. "My mother has been stuck on business for the past week and you knew that I was upset and you chose to stand me up? On fucking Christmas??" she asked in a hard voice to hide the hurt that was seeping into her every pore.

"Please don't swear when you're talking about Jesus," Grace piped up in a tight, squeaky voice.

Adrian said nothing, just pursed her lips and then stared at the man in front of her.

"Was it worth it?" she asked finally.

"What are you talking about?" he replied.

"You knew damn well I was sitting at home, waiting for you. Like I always do," she said as an afterthought.

"Why? So we could mess around? That's all we do Adrian," he casually said to her and she reeled back like she was slapped.

That was all they did? Physically yes, but she depended on him far more than he knew apparently. He was there for her when no one else was, not even her mother. He picked her up when she fell, even when she fell because of him, and he was standing in front of her saying that all he did was fuck her.

"What I have with Grace, it's more than that," he said quietly.

"What you have with Grace," she repeated slowly and softly. "What exactly do you have with Grace?"

"We don't have anything," Grace said quickly as she looked at Ricky. "What are you talking about? We're just friends."

He shook his head. "Grace, you know that I like you."

"What?" her eyes grew wide in surprise and Adrian snorted.

"Oh my God, it's just like so perfect," she mocked as she stalked off the porch.

"Adrian wait!" Grace called.

"Don't talk to me Grace. Whatever friendship we had, just ended. I hope you're happy," she whispered as she got into her car and drove off, a few tears escaping her eyes.

She got home and slammed the door as hard as she could. Maybe, if she was lucky, she was breaking up someone's happy Christmas night. She threw her keys on the counter and stood next to them for a second, unsure of what to do. She was too angry to just sit and watch tv mindlessly or go to bed or anything. And she was too hurt to do anything else besides those two.

"Adrian, is that you?" a woman's voice called out and she stood up straight.

"Hello?" she called back cautiously.

"Hi baby!" her mother grinned as she came into the living room.

"Mom! What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. "I thought you were stuck on business somewhere."

She nodded. "I was but I was able to get home yesterday. I stayed at a friends house so I could surprise you today. I thought you could get a Christmas surprise!"

The smiled dropped off Adrian's face. "It still would have been a Christmas surprise on Christmas Eve."

"Oh honey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," she said as she went to hug her daughter but Adrian turned away from her.

"Whatever Mom. You didn't hurt me. I'm fine," she muttered as she walked towards her room.

"Oh and I have some news," her mother called back in a tone that was cautious and Adrian stopped. She didn't know how much more she could take tonight.

"I got a promotion."

"Ok…"

"Instead of doing American flights, I'll also…be going international," she said slowly.

"So you'll just be gone more often?" Adrian asked in a blank tone.

"Not by much-"

"Fine," she said as she continued on to her room.

"But I'll be earning more now! So it should be easier for you here," she said trying to get back into Adrian's good graces.

"It's called a promotion Mom. I kind of figured that one out on my own," she said as she shut the door.

Her mother was going to be out of the country now, fantastic. As if she wasn't home enough already, half the time Adrian felt like she was emaciated anyway.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered to herself as she let the tears slowly take over her again.


"So do we do cards now or later?" Ricky asked as he held one out to her.

She glared at him. "I thought we weren't talking."

He sighed. "Janie, I do want to be a part of your life ok? I'm sorry about that fight that we had-"

"You mean the one where you said you didn't care about me?" she feigned innocence.

"Can we just put all that behind us? Start new? It's Christmas," he said spreading his arms wide.

"I noticed," was her reply and he sighed. "Look Ricky I'm sorry but I don't know if I can just start fresh with you, you know? I mean I know that you're my actual father and apparently my dad…isn't. That isn't like a normal relationship."

He nodded. "I know. I'm hoping…to maybe make up for some lost time too…" he said quietly.

"I'll have to think about it," she said as she started to walk away.

"Will you at least take the card? It's from me and Grace."

She shrugged. "Then have Grace give it to me."

His mouth dropped slightly as she walked away. Did his own daughter actually just tell him to fuck off in a way? Well there was no doubt about that, she was his.

"Janie!" Julie yelled out as she raced towards her, waving her arms.

"Is there a fire?" she joked out as her friend arrived.

She grinned. "No! But I do have a Christmas present for someone…" she giggled as Janie's face lit up.

"I have yours too, it's just…somewhere in this mess," she said as she started going through her bag that was stuffed with papers from her locker.

She put her bag down on the median and started going through it as Julie warmed up her hands. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a car skid out on a patch of ice and two seconds later she realized that it was headed for her friend.

"Janie!"

"Hang on," she grunted as she tugged on the papers.

"Watch-" was all she could yell out as she closed her eyes as the car made contact.

"Janie!!!" she screamed as she ran over to her as the car stopped.

"Oh my God, I have no idea what happened! I'm so sorry, I just lost control," the boy was babbling.

"Janie," Julie sat down on the ground and picked her head gently up and placed it in her lap. "Hun are you ok?" she asked her friends eyelids slowly started to flutter.

"My leg," she gasped. "I can't feel my leg," she whispered.

The boy and Julie looked down and saw that her leg was bent at an odd angle and there was blood on it.

Julie looked around at the crowd that was gathering. "You," she said pointing to a random girl. "Go get Mr. Boykewich." The girl nodded as she ran into the school. "You," she continued pointing at a boy. "Go find Greg Bush and tell him that Janie's been hit by a car."

"Who?" the kid asked but his friend tugged on his arm and they left together.

"What happened? Why can't I feel anything?" Janie asked as panic started to seep into her voice.

"Janie!!!"

Julie looked up to see Ricky running towards them. "What happened?"

"He skidded out and hit her. I think her leg is broken or something," she tried to answer as calmly as she could.

"Let's get her in my car," he said as he opened the door.

"Ben's coming-"

"Julie, I'm her father. I can do this too ok?" he said firmly and she shut up as the crowd started to buzz as soon as he said that.

Suddenly Greg pushed his way through the crowd and fell next to his girlfriend on the ground.

"Who are you?" Ricky asked.

"I'm her boyfriend," he said without looking at him.

"Ok good. Help me put her in the backseat and then come with me. Julie, you stay here and wait for Ben and tell him what happened ok? We'll meet you guys at the hospital," he said as he sped off out of the parking lot.

"Julie!!"

Ben and Adrian both came running and she sighed.

"Ricky grabbed her and Greg and they're on the way to the hospital," she said growing tired. She just wanted to be there already and find out what happened to her friend.

"What happened?"

"Mr. Boykewich, I'm so sorry," the owner of the car that hit started crying. "I hit some ice and I lost control and…I'm sorry!"

"It's ok Nathan," Adrian said, taking over as she put her arm around his shoulder. "It was an accident and she'll be fine. She wasn't dead or anything right?"

"Right," he sniffed.

"Ok guys, shows over!" he yelled to the crowd. "Julie, do you want to ride with me?"

She nodded and he looked at Adrian. "I'll meet you and Amy there ok?"

"Ricky!!"

He turned around as he heard Amy yelling his name and he braced himself for the worst but instead was surprised as she threw her arms around him. "Thank you," she said as she cried.

He shrugged. "It's fine Amy," he said as he hugged her back. "I'm sure Ben was right behind me anyway."

"You didn't have to take her, that's the point," she said as she pulled away from him. "So thank you."

He bristled a little bit. "She's my daughter Amy, what did you think I was going to do? Let her sit there on the cold pavement with a broken leg?"

"How bad is it?" Julie asked.

Ricky turned to look at her. "She definitely broke it and they said that the blood was there because the bone actually popped out of her leg."

"Gross," she breathed.

"The doctor said you can go in if you want, Greg is in there now so I figured I'd let them have some privacy. He's a good kid," he said looking at Amy and Ben again.

She nodded. "Yeah he is," she smiled at him as she saw the boy holding her daughters hand and gently pushing the hair out of her face.

He looked up to see her standing there and smiled at her. "Hey Amy. Sorry, I'll let you two be," he went to get up.

She shook her head. "No, you can stay," she said and he sat back down, nodding his thanks.

"Hi Mom," she groaned. "God I can't believe I got hit by a car right before Christmas," she rolled her eyes.

"Would March have been better?" she asked.

"No, it's just that now Christmas is going to suck," she sighed.

"It'll be fine sweetheart," she said.

"Oh yeah, everyone else will be going out places and I'm stuck with a stovepipe for a leg," she huffed.

"But I bet that you'll be the only one that got hit by a car," Greg broke in. "I mean no one else did that over their vacation I bet."

She glared at him and he held up his hands. "Joke, joke!"

"What happened anyway?" Amy asked.

Janie sighed. "I was trying to get Julie's present out of my bag and she yelled at me to watch out, I think and then all the sudden I was on the ground and lying in her lap and I couldn't feel my leg. Did…did Ricky bring me here?"

Amy nodded.

"Oh crap. This means that he's not that horrible huh?" she sighed and Amy laughed.

"You can take it how you want it but he could have left you out there for a few more minutes before your father got there," Amy agreed.

"Ugh, send him in," she said as Greg and her mother got up to leave.

"Hey," he said somewhat awkwardly as he walked in.

"Hi," she replied in the same tone. "Look," she sighed. "I know that I was out of line for what I said to you today, and you do deserve to at least know me I guess."

He smiled a little bit. "Well don't sound so thrilled," he joked.

"I just think we need to leave certain things alone," she said and he nodded.

"Like how I'm just now appearing?"

"Exactly."

He nodded. "I wish I knew you your whole life Janie, I really do. It's not your mothers fault that she kept you from me and I understand why she did. But that was the past and I'm not that asshole sixteen year old anymore. I really do want to try this with you, you know?"

She nodded and let out a breath she was holding. "Ok. We can try it."

"I feel like we just agreed to go on a date," Ricky joked and she squealed.

"That's so gross!!!!" she laughed.