CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

"An overdose," Jess felt numb, and though she was speaking she didn't feel like she was the one forming the words, "He overdosed."

Randy felt his heart breaking as he looked at Jess. Her brown eyes were glassy and she, like her mother, was white, and he feared she was going to faint. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. The only way he knew Jess felt it was by the way she laced her fingers through his and squeezed back.

Veronica nodded slowly, "Kathryn just called to tell me. I'm so sorry, baby,"

"Don't be," Jess felt like she was going to fall, she didn't know how to process what was being said. "It isn't your fault he's dead. He wasn't your problem anymore, right?"

"That doesn't change anything, Jess," Veronica said, "He was your father, and I'm sorry he didn't have the chance to make up for all the pain he caused it your life,"

"Whatever, Mom." Randy could tell that Jess was being mean to stop from crying.

Veronica nodded slowly, and gave Randy a look that clearly said look after her, before she went back inside the house.

"Jess," Randy wasn't quite sure what to say. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Jess said for a second time, "I'm not."

"Jess," He glanced at her sharply.

"I hate him," Jess wouldn't look at him. She was staring at the ground, but she was still holding his hand, "I hate him so much, and just because he's dead… that's not going to change anything. I still hate him."

"Jessica," Randy looked incredulous.

"Don't tell me that I don't mean it, Randy, because I know that I do." Jess' voice wasn't sad, it was angry, "I'm not going to pretend just because he screwed up."

Randy said nothing, he just wrapped an arm around her, and pretended nothing was wrong, because he knew that acting like she didn't care was just how Jessica coped.

2 days later, the Taylor family flew out to California for Jess' father's funeral. Jack met them at the airport and drove them to the hotel where they were staying, he explained that even though his father had been living in California for 5 years, and he owned a vineyard with his second wife, Kathryn, Veronica refused to stay there.

"Oh, and, uh, Randy," Jack pulled him aside when they reached the hotel, "My mom wanted me to warn you… you know how Jess gets when she's really hurting but she doesn't want to admit it?"

Randy nodded, "Yeah."

"Yeah, she's like that now," Jack informed him, "But worse. She's on a warpath, man, and I'd steer clear unless you're ready to deal with her wrath."

"I think I can handle it," Randy replied.

Jack smiled faintly, "You always could handle her," He paused, before clapping him on the back, "You're good for her."

"I like to think she's good for me too," Randy said.

Jack grinned, "She and my mom are sharing a room if you want to go see how she's doing."

"Thanks, Jack,"

"No problem."

A little while later, Randy knocked on the door to Jess' hotel room. Veronica pulled the door open a few moments later, her eyes were puffy and she looked tired, but she smiled when she saw Randy.

"You guys are here," Veronica smiled weakly, "That might put Jess in a better mood."

"Jack said she was at her worst," Randy said.

Veronica nodded, "That would be putting it lightly," She pushed the door open wider, "But I'll let you come in and see for yourself. I'll go and see your mother."

Randy nodded, and gave Veronica the room numbers, before walking into the room. He found the patio door open and walked through it. Jess was laying on a lounger, wearing a plain, black, two-piece bathing suit with large sunglasses.

"Hey," He greeted her.

Jess looked up from the book she was reading, and said, "Hey, when did you get here?" Her voice was flat and void of emotion.

"Our flight got in around 3," Randy replied, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Jess responded, "You?"

"I'm, um, okay." Randy wasn't sure how to handle Jess' indifference. He hated it when she hated like this, but he knew it was how she coped. "Do you want to talk about anything?"

"Not really, no." Jess shook her head, and flipped the page of her book.

Randy sat down next to her and sighed, knowing she could only keep up this act for so long.

The next day was the funeral. The James' and Taylor's drove out to Rob James' huge vineyard for the ceremony. Randy sat beside Jess, and held her hand the entire time, and was amazed she didn't cry. At the same time, though, he could believe it, seeing as Jess almost never cried.

After the funeral, Jack, Nick and Veronica went around and talked to family members, while Jess and Randy hung around on the patio, not saying much of anything. Veronica came over and sighed deeply, "I can't wait to go home."

"Me too," Jess agreed in a lame voice, "I hate it here."

"Jess, you're probably the only girl in the world who hates California," Randy said, shaking his head.

Jess cracked a tired grin, and Veronica also smiled weakly.

"Oh, Jessica, I was hoping I would see you," They turned around and found a pretty woman with dark red hair looking at them. Her blue eyes were puffier than Veronica's, but she seemed to be trying to act as though nothing was bothering her.

"Um, hi," Jess started fidgeting her hands, a sign she was feeling uncomfortable. She glanced at her mother, and the woman with the red hair said, "Hello, Veronica."

"Hello, Kathryn." Veronica said in a strained voice.

Kathryn? Randy's eyebrows shot up. As in Jess' stepmother, Kathryn? He could tell from the change in atmosphere since the woman had arrived that they were one in the same.

"It's good to see the two of you," Kathryn said politely. "Not under the conditions, but…"

Veronica's lips were pursed into a straight line, as she nodded, and Kathryn cleared her throat, "So, who's this?"

Randy realized she was talking about him, and Veronica said, "This is Jessica's best friend, Randy Taylor."

"Hi, Randy," She walked up to him, "Thank you for coming. I'm Kathryn James."

"Uh, hi," Randy greeted awkwardly, "I'm um… I'm just here for Jess."

Kathryn nodded slowly, and then looked at Jess, "Jessica, I'm so glad that you and your brothers could make it, your father would be so happy to—"

Smack.

Things happened so quickly that Randy was sure if he had blinked he would've missed what had just happened. Kathryn had been mid-sentence and Jess moved forward and smacked her across the face.

"Jessica!" Veronica exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"Don't tell me that seeing me would make my father happy," Jess said in an even voice, "Because the two of us know that there's nothing more untrue."

And with that, she walked off.

"I'll go after her," Randy offered.

Veronica nodded, and then shook her head, "Thank you, Randy."

Randy found Jess sitting on a wooden swing, away from the house. He could tell, even from the distance he was at, that she was shaking from head to foot.

"Jessie?"

Jess looked at him, her brown eyes wide, "What do you want me to say, Randy?"

"I want you to tell me what's on your mind." Randy sighed as he sat next to her.

"That this whole thing is BS," Jess shook her head, "I mean, my dad… he wasn't a nice guy. He hurt a lot of people throughout his life, and now that he's dead everyone's acting like he was just like Mother freaking Teresa!"

"People do that when other people die," Randy nodded slowly, "It's just how life is, Jess."

After a brief silence, Jess spoke again, "You know, it's weird. Jack overdosed, trying to kill himself, when my parents were fighting so badly, and in the end, that's what killed my dad."

"Jess," Randy didn't want her talking about this.

"And, you know, I've spent a lot of my life hating him," Jess said slowly, "Hating him for what he did to my mom, what he did to Jack, how he left us without even saying goodbye, but now… I wonder what would've happened if I tried to stop hating him."

"Jess, you had a reason to be angry with him," Randy said fairly.

"I know," Jess nodded, "It's just… I wonder, you know?" Her eyes started welling up with tears, and she said, "He came to Detroit when you were in Costa Rica."

Randy looked at her sharply, "What?"

Jess nodded, biting her lip, "I didn't want to tell you because I didn't think it mattered. He came to Detroit, and knocked on our front door like it wasn't a big deal that the last time he was there, he left us for Kathryn, and he didn't even say goodbye."

"What did he say?" Randy wasn't sure he wanted to know. He'd never been very fond of Jess' father, especially after he'd walked out on the family, but he felt like he should ask anyway.

"I answered the door, and he said "Jessica, I feel like I should talk to you, I don't feel right about how we left things"." Jess' voice was breaking.

"What did you say, Jess?" Randy's voice was soft, and careful.

"I said "I hate you, and you can go to hell, Dad"." Jess started crying, "That's the last thing I ever said to him, Randy."

"Oh, Jess," Randy didn't know what to say to make her feel better. He didn't know if there was anything he could say to make her feel better, so he just pulled her close and let her cry as much as she wanted.

Ironically, I wrote this before I found out that I may have to go to a funeral. Anyways, this was a sad chapter for me to write, it brought up a lot of stuff for me, but I think I was able to put it to good use. I'm updating today, because I might not get home until late tomorrow (we're driving my brother out of town for a few weeks), but if I get home in time I'll update for sure. If anybody has any great ideas for the sequel, I'd be happy to take them into consideration! I have a few of my own ideas, but I don't know if I'll use them :P Thanks again for all the reviews, please keep it up!