I'm sooo soooo sorry! I did not give up on my story! I just had the most intense cheerleading season slash college preparation in the past two months! But I promise not for a moment I didn't forget about this story! I hope everyone is still reading! And I hope you like this! :D I'm really really sorry!

Jillian's POV

There I stood in the middle of the strange chapel, face to face with...him. I was looking right at him and I still couldn't believe it. But what was Fitz doing here? Is this actually Juvie and not a church at all? My mind raced as I continued to stare puzzled at my enemy.

"J-Jillian?" Fitz stared back into my eyes, just as shocked and puzzled as I was, "B-But...h-how?"

Suddenly, the realization hit me. This was Fitz. The guy who pulled a knife on my brother and me. The guy who gave my brother the business every day and then tried messing with me when I came to Degrassi. The more I thought about it, the more seeing Fitz here seemed like a blessing. This was my chance to settle the score. "You…." I scowled, picking up one of the bibles.

"Oh, Jillian….." Fitz began, "Thank God…..it's you….you're here….."

"Oh shut it!" I huffed, slamming him over the head with the bible.

Fitz rubbed his head, "Ow! Look, Jill, I don't wanna fight with you!" Ignoring him, I gave him another crack over the head with the book. "Stop that! I need to talk to you!" I went for him with the book again, but then he ran under my arms and across the room. I angrily began plucking bibles off the shelves and pelting them at him. He stood in place and tried to shield himself with his arms, "Seriously, Jill, we need to talk!"

"And I need to talk to you…." I informed him, "The hard way!" I threw another book in his direction and once again nailed him in the head. The chase continued, with me pelting books at Fitz, and Fitz ducking under anything to get out of the way. Holding his arms protectively over his head, Fitz slowly inched his way towards me. "I…said….get…away….from…..me!" I said, throwing a book at him with each word.

Somehow, he made his way over to me and grabbed my arm, plucking the book out of my hand. As I attempted to grab it away from him, he held his hand over his head so I couldn't reach it. "Jillian! Stop! I need to talk to you!" Fitz threw the book behind him and grabbed me by my shoulders, "Please! Just give me two seconds!"

"To do what?" I spat at him, "Run and get your knife?"

"No! Of course not! I just….I'm just so glad you're ok. Jill, I promised them I'd find you. I prayed every day that you would come home. " He smiled a little, "And you did." It was a bit strange the way Fitz looked. His smile wasn't his usual sinister smile, it was sorta warm looking, making Fitz almost look…..harmless.

"Them?" I interrogated, "Who's them?"

"Eli and Clare." he explained.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "When were you talking to them?"

"I found them." He told me, "I told them about how I found God and have understood my wrong doings. Clare forgave me….but Eli's still mad."

"No!" I said in a fake shocked voice, "After you almost stabbed us? I don't believe it!"

"Jillian, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." His voice was sincere. Before I could protest, he took my hands and sat me down on one of the benches and then sat down next to me. "I'm really sorry about what I did. What happened at the dance…..I never meant to hurt you or Eli. I just wanted to scare you guys to teach you a lesson."

"A lesson!" I huffed angrily, crossing my arms, "What makes you think that you're so tough that you have to teach us a lesson? Do you not remember me kicking your ass? If anyone hasn't learned their LESSON yet, buddy, it's YOU!"

"I know!" Fitz put his hands up in defense, "I know! That's my point. It was wrong. And I'm really, really sorry. I thought you deserved it, but I'm the one who deserved to be punished." I wasn't sure if I was hearing Fitz correctly. Did he just admit that he was wrong? Did….did he just…apologize? I was so in shock from what my ears had just processed, that I couldn't speak. All I could do was just listen, as Fitz continued. "When I first got home from Juvie, I guess I got what I deserved…." Fitz lifted up his shirt, revealing multiple blotchy, black and blue bruises covering his abdomen. "My step-brother Steven….he never really loved me. But ever since I got home from Juvie, it's been full on hate with him. A few nights ago, he lost his temper." He shrugged and touched another bruise near his eye that I had not noticed before, "Beat me up."

Still having trouble processing the new information, I studied the bruises on his stomach. I slowly reached out my hand and lightly touched one of the black and yellow bruises. He flinched and inhaled through his teeth. "That looks bad." I told him.

He nodded, "He banged me up pretty bad." He turned around and lifted his shirt over his head, revealing an even worse looking back. Bruises and scars trailed from his lower back all the way up to underneath his shoulders.

"Oooh…." I cringed, "That must have been painful." I also noticed some different looking, longer scratches up on his shoulders. Strangely, they looked a bit more healed then the other scars, but they were still visible. "Wow, look at these. Your brother must have nails like a cat." I commented, trailing my finger along the scars on his shoulders.

Fitz turned his head over his shoulder and looked at what I was talking about. He then looked down and stared at the floor uncomfortably but cracked a small smile at the same time, "Oh…..those aren't from my brother."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow at him, "Then what claw monster did this?"

"Uh…." Fitz chuckled nervously, "Do you remember when we got into that little, uh, brawl outside in the school parking lot?"

My eyes widened as I looked at the scars again, "I did this? Are you sure?"

Fitz chuckled again, "I'm as sure as I was the moment I felt you dig those cat claws into my shoulders."

Between looking at the scars that I apparently made on Fitz shoulders and listening to how lightly he was talking about it, I began to feel…and I cursed myself for feeling this way…..just a little bit sorry for Fitz. "Well….." I defended, "You….hit me in the face…..and….."

"Hey," Fitz interrupted, "I never said I didn't deserve it. You have no idea what a jackass I feel like for doing that….not that it made a difference of course. You still kicked my ass." He smiled weakly. I honestly didn't know what to say. I didn't know how I should feel, or anything. Fitz sat there and waited for a response.

I shook my head, "I-I…I don't get it. I mean, the last time I spoke to you, I was totally wasted. Plus, we were at each other's throats. And now you're all apologetic?" I pondered some more, "Fitz…..why did you hate me and Eli so much anyway?

Fitz considered my question for a few seconds, before answering me, "Well, Eli's easy." Fitz explained, "He's this gorgeous emo pretty-boy that all the girls always go nuts over. It gets a little old for the people looking at it from the outside." Fitz eyes met mine, "And you…..man, I can't even begin to explain it."

I crossed my arms and my legs, "I've got all the time in the world."

"Well….." Fitz began, "You're just…..you. I mean….." He rubbed his forehead, "Lemme tell you a little story. Once, I knew a girl named Jessica. It was in fourth grade. Jessica, well, she was a beautiful little girl. She was blonde, she had big green eyes, and all the little boys liked her."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Did…..you like her?"

Fitz cracked a smile, "I mean, she was really cute…but she was also my worst enemy. She would bully me every day."

"Oh so she was a little bitch with a big mouth?" I concluded.

"Not only that…" Fitz looked down, breaking eye contact with me, "But she would pound on me too."

I looked at him, surprised, "You were beat up by a little girl?"

"Yeah," Fitz looked ashamed, "From the day she began to pick on me, all the guys would make fun of me. And I was scared of her. She may have been like three feet tall and weighing nothing, but she was a pretty tough girl. And that wasn't even the worst part. She was also a dumb ass." Fitz shook him head again, "She thought that two plus two was five…..a fourth grader."

Fitz and I both began to laugh. "That's ridiculous." I told him.

"I know, right?"

I chuckled, "Even a five year old knows that two plus two is six."

Fitz stopped laughing and gave me a very peculiar look, except I didn't know why. "Uh, anyway, I remembered my whole life how horrible it was being picked on by some little bitch. I decided from then on, nobody picks on me. If they do, I'll strangle them and pound their sorry face in. I learned how to fight from my closest brother, Peter. He was a gangster, kinda a bad kid, but he was the only one of my brothers who actually liked me. He's in jail now. I only get to see him every now and again." He shrugged, "So, now I'm at Degrassi, and I see a girl like you…you just remind me so much of….."

"Jessica."

He nodded, "It's not just that you reminded me of Jessica, but….you're just so….you. You show up to Degrassi in the middle of the year and almost instantly, everybody is talking about you and all the guys think you're hott as hell. And you're confident enough to confront a guy like me, and within a matter of days you have everybody laughing at me." I was surprised at what Fitz was telling me. I guess I hadn't realized what an impact I made. I suppose that most new kids would do anything they could to not draw attention. But hey, it's not my fault if I can't contain myself. Fitz shrugged, "I've always been the big tough guy at Degrassi, and then you come along and…..I guess I got a little threatened by you. Maybe even a little…..jealous."

"You…..were jealous of me?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I guess you could put it that way."

"Well, you just did." I pointed out.

Fitz and I both began to laugh again. "I guess I just got mad when I saw how easily all of my friends were…..hypnotized by you."

"Don't worry." I told him, "I'm sure they all thought you were pretty too."

Fitz rolled his eyes, "Yeah and you should have heard their reactions when they heard about our fight outside of school: 'Man if Jillian was touching me that much, I would be happy as shit….' and blah blah blah."

I raised an eyebrow at him teasingly, "So, you didn't like all that touching. You should be happy…..I certainly touched you a lot…..down there." I laughed a little.

Fitz narrowed his eyes at me, "Haha, real funny." Then he cracked a smile, "Jillian….in theory, any guy would want to hook up with a beautiful girl like you. It's like…"

"Geographologoly?" I offered.

"Uh….sure." Fitz looked a bit confused. "But if I hooked up with girls who bitched at me all the time, I would've banged Bianca a long time ago."

"Pfffft!" I rolled my eyes, "Nice. I'm so glad that I'm being compared to her."

Fitz laughed, "Bianca hates you because she knows that you're way hotter than her. The moment she first saw you, I could just see from the look in her eyes that her huge ego was taking a beating."

I cracked a smiled, but then another wave of sadness suddenly washed over me. "You know….." I looked at Fitz, shyly, "Bianca and I may have had a teensy weensy little tiff not too long ago."

"Oh?"

"Yeah….." I bit my lip, "Actually, it was more of a really big enormous tiff that got way out of control and then we got into a catfight and I ended up kicking her ass and giving her a head injury when I threw a desk at her." I nervously giggled.

Fitz's eyes widened in shock. "Uhhh…..wow. W-Why?"

I shrugged, "It was just some stupid shit. She was saying bad things about me and Eli, and I got really mad." I sighed, "Unfortunately, now Dr. Simpson has diagnosed me with having anger issues and threw me right into the loony bin."

"Loony bin?"

"The anger management sen-e-mar thingy." I explained, "Where Riley had to go, remember?"

Fitz laughed, "Oh man, they put you in that?"

"They think that because I threw a desk at Bianca and….well….what happened with you, that I have trouble controlling my anger."

"You t-threw a desk….at Bianca?" I nodded. Fitz shook his head, still laughing, "I can't believe you actually picked up a desk and threw it at Bianca! How badly did she get hurt?"

"Her head was bleeding, and I heard that she got a minor concussion." I looked down sadly, "Of course I was happy to beat that bitch down, and I certainly don't regret it, but everybody at Degrassi now thinks that I'm just some hot-headed monster….even Eli. That's part of the reason why I ran away."

Fitz looked at me empathetically, "Trust me, I know how that feels."

"Well," I shrugged, "my therapist did say once that I may have had anger issues."

"Therapist?"

I sighed, "I needed a therapist back in 8th grade."

"Why?"

I gulped nervously. I hadn't told many people about my bulimarexia. I bit my lip and shuffled my feet, "I….had an eating disorder in 8th grade."

Fitz was taken aback, "What? You had an eating disorder? But….why? I mean, I don't understand." He chuckled, "Other girls develop eating disorders because they're trying to look the way you do?"

"Well…." I smiled, flattered, "It's a long story."

Fitz shrugged, "Well, any time you wanna tell me that story, I'm all ears."

"Hmm." I nodded, "Maybe later. Right now my head is kinda fogged up. It would be nice to get out of my system. The only people who know the whole thing are my parents, Eli and Ju-" My voice trailed off.

"And who?" Fitz asked.

"Uh…." I sighed, "Julia."

"Who's Julia?"

"She was…my best friend…like a sister to me."

Fitz seemed to notice how uneasy I was getting. "And…."

"And…..and last year around this time exactly…Julia was killed by a car." I watched as Fitz's eyes went from shocked to sentimental. "Just like that…..my best friend was gone."

"Wow…..Jill….." Fitz looked at me, "I am so sorry. That's devastating."

"Yeah…." I agreed, "And I certainly wasn't the only one. Julia wasn't just my best friend. She was also Eli's first real girlfriend."

Fitz raised an eyebrow at me, "Eli dated your best friend? That's kinda shitty, just saying."

I shrugged, "I sorta felt a bit weirded out at first, especially considering that I've known Julia since I was like five. And then there were the times where I heard things in Eli's bedroom that I really wish I hadn't heard…" Fitz began cracking up. "But you know, I guess I just loved them both so much that seeing them that happy together made me happy too."

Fitz smiled, "You really love Eli, don't you?"

"He's like a brother to me!"

Fitz began to chuckle again, "Jillian, you're relationship with Eli…I wish that Steven and I had half of what you and Eli have between you." Fitz sorta half-smiled, "Under all this hate that I had for you and Eli, even then I've always secretly admired how close you guys are. The way you stick up for each other, how Eli would do anything to protect you…man, I've never been that close with anybody."

I thought for a moment, "I really do love Eli. He's my best friend. What do I do?"

Fitz looked intently at me, "Go back home. Your brother needs you…..now more than ever."

"What if Eli doesn't want me back?"

"He will," Fitz nodded, "I promise."

I began to think about Eli at home. Could he really actually be missing me? I wondered how he was coming along with his own issues. Had his hoarding problem gotten better? What if it got worse because of what I did? Oh no. If Eli really did miss me, I could only imagine what I had caused for him.

"Oh my god….you're right. I didn't realize that while I was feeling sorry for myself, Eli could be having a mental breakdown and I'm not there to help him. even if he is mad at me, I still love him!" I grabbed my hoodie and my bag, "I need to go home."

"Wait, Jill," Fitz stopped me, "You can't go home tonight."

"Why not?" My question was answered when I heard thunder and lightning outside. "Oh…."

"Yeah, it doesn't look safe to be driving," Fitz told me, "Especially for you….no offense."

"That's ok," I said, "I'll just sleep in my car and then get on the road tomorrow."

"What? You can't sleep outside in your car. It's pouring out."

"It's no big." I told him, "I've kinda been doing it every night now."

He gave me a surprised look, "You've been sleeping in your car every night?"

I shrugged, "Where else?"

Fitz looked out the window at the rain and then back at me, "Look, you can't sleep outside. It's not safe. How about you just get your stuff and sleep here."

"Sleep here?" I looked around, "Really?"

"Hey, I know you're not into all of this religious stuff, but there's a room in the back that's pretty cozy and it's a pretty neutral environment. I've slept there a few times myself."

"And…..you're cool with me staying here with you?"

"You're always welcome in the house of God." Fitz smiled.

"Well…..thanks." I smiled a little.

"Any time. And if you ever need anybody to talk to, I'm always here."

"So…." I looked intently at Fitz, "Does this mean we're…cool?"

"Well," Fitz folded his hands in his lap, "I'm remorseful for all the harm that I have caused you and Eli, and God seems to have forgiven me for my sins." He looked up at me, "So….I guess that's up to you. Are we cool?" Before waiting for me to answer, Fitz added, "Either way, there's no way in hell I'm letting you sleep outside tonight."

Fitz and I stared at each other for a moment. I smiled finally and offered my fist to him, which he pounded.