Chapter Two

"Should we wake him up?" Taylor asked as the members of the wrecked plane, 29 Delta William November, stood around the camp. They all sat there watching Jackson toss and turn in his sleep. He was making whining noises and kicking somewhat.

"Might as well," Eric replied, stumbling up to him and grabbing Jackson's arm. Suddenly, Jackson started screaming in his sleep.

"No!" he shouted. "Leave me alone!" Eric jumped back and tightened his grip on Jackson's arm.

"Wake up!" Eric yelled at him. Jackson continued to trash and kick. He suddenly swung with his fist and clocked Eric right in the jaw. Eric let go and fell backwards, landing in the loose, hot sand.

"Are you okay?" Lex asked, running up behind Eric and trying to help him up. Eric pushed him off as he held his jaw and stomped back to the fire.

"See if that's the last time I help him again," he mumbled. Finally, Melissa got up and walked over to Jackson. She avoided touching him and startling him more.

"Jackson…" she whispered. "It's okay. Wake up." She very gently reached out with her hand and touched his shoulder. When he didn't freak out, she lightly shook him. "Jackson, it's all right. Wake up." He slowly stopped trashing and screaming. Jackson slowly opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him.

"What were you dreaming about?" Lex asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, were you in the ring with Rocky or something?" Eric mumbled with sarcasm, still rubbing his throbbing jaw.

"It was nothing."

"Are you sure?" Nathan asked him. Jackson shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Just lay off," he snapped, getting up and wiping the sand off his pants. He walked back into the shade of the palm trees.

"Meow," Taylor said. "What's wrong with him?" Melissa sat there quietly and finally got up to go see if Jackson wanted a companion on his walk through the jungle.

"Jackson!" Melissa called trotting after him. Jackson stopped briefly and looked back to see her right behind him. "What's wrong?" she asked as she walked beside him, putting her hands in her shorts pockets. Jackson wouldn't look at her. He kept watching the trail in front of him.

"It's nothing."

"Stop saying that," Melissa told him. "There's obviously something bothering you." Jackson was silent. He just kept walking along the trail with the Asian-American girl following him. "Please… you know I can keep your secrets… and it will keep bothering you if you don't tell someone." Jackson stopped and suddenly turned to face her. He had tears forming in his eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry… I just can't talk about it. It's one of those things that I would rather keep personal," Jackson replied. He saw Melissa's disappointed face and winced. "But if I ever do want to share, it would be with you." A small smile spread across her face.

"Okay… I'll let you sort this out on your own I guess," she said. Melissa started to walk back towards camp. She couldn't help but feel that maybe Jackson didn't trust her as much anymore.

Jackson watched Melissa walk down the trail for a little bit and kept walking. He headed deeper into the jungle. Jackson finally cut through some brush and walked toward his newest hangout. He stood in front of a mysterious, giant, Pacific Island tree. Jackson climbed the wide, rough trunk and finally reached the top branch, where he could sit and watch over the camp.

"What are you doing?" Melissa's voice rang out, spooking Jackson and almost making him fall. He grabbed onto the branch to keep his balance and slowly looked down.

"I thought I told you to stop following me," he said somewhat annoyed, knowing his hiding place had been discovered.

"I turned around to ask you if you wanted some more water… what are you doing?" she asked. Jackson sighed.

"If you really must know, this is where I come to think." Melissa looked up at him from the ground.

"Can I come up and think with you?" she asked. Jackson shrugged as if it was an unspoken, 'Why not?' Melissa carefully climbed up the trunk and Jackson reached down to guide her up. "This is really cool," she replied, sitting herself on the branch with Jackson. "Are you sure this won't fall?" Jackson nodded.

"Positive." There was a silence for multiple minutes.

"I really don't mean to be nosy, but you really-"

"Have you ever missed someone so much, you got a sick feeling… or… yearn in your stomach when you thought about them?" Jackson asked, interrupting her. Melissa looked at him, caught off-guard.

"What are you asking?"

"Have you ever looked at the sunset and prayed that when the sun came up in the morning, you would go back to how you were the day before?" Melissa didn't answer. She could tell Jackson was thinking about someone… and he wasn't really asking her opinion. He sighed. "I prayed that so many times and every day, life just keeps dropping me off in one more mess after another. Honestly, I'm glad I came here… but something tells me I wasn't ever meant to go back where I belong." Melissa looked up at him.

"Where do you think you belong?" she asked. Jackson slowly blinked, taking a deep breath.

"I belong back with my mother and my family. I belong back home in that shitty little farmhouse I loved so much. I want to go home…" he replied. Melissa nodded.

"I know, Jackson, we all do." He looked down at her.

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk earlier." She gave a small smile.

"That's okay. I was being too nosy earlier. You had things you wanted to deal with on your own," Melissa replied. Jackson nodded, still feeling guilty for the misunderstanding. She snuck a glance at him and her eyes met Jackson's.

"So do you have anyone back home who's missing you?" he asked.

"Oh…" she said, caught off-guard. "No… I don't have anyone." Jackson nodded and stayed silent. "And you obviously have someone, right?" Jackson sighed, looking back at the camp. He hesitated. "That's okay," she replied, leaning into Jackson a little bit. "I'm not rushing you." Jackson felt her warm skin on his arm and blushed some. If only things were as simple as they looked in movies and fairytales. Why couldn't Jackson just go back home with his family and live happily ever after, too?

"Mel, get up," Melissa heard Jackson's voice murmur. She gave a long yawn and looked around her. She was still in the tall tree, leaning against Jackson. She noticed his eyes were stubbornly fixed on something in the horizon.

"What is it?" she asked. Jackson didn't answer.

"Come on, get up. Let's get back to camp," he said, slightly nudging her off his arm and starting to climb back down the tree trunk.

"What's wrong?" Melissa asked again, sensing his urgency. She decided he was in too much of a hurry to speak and followed him down the tree. As soon as Jackson's toes touched dirt, he scampered down the trail and towards the camp. "Wait!" Melissa called after him. It didn't stop their fearless leader. He kept on running towards camp. Melissa did as best as she could to keep up, but noted it as a wasted effort.

"He started it!" Eric's voice yelled out.

"Start taking responsibility for your actions!" Nathan's voice shouted next. Melissa poked out from the trees to see Nathan and Eric standing mere inches from each other with scowls on their faces. Jackson jogged up to them.

"Hey, cut it out," he warned, trying to calm the boys. Nathan was obviously frustrated and turned to him.

"Stop acting all high and mighty and keep out of battles that aren't yours."

"This is my battle to fight because the last few words to come out of your mouth yesterday were, 'We're in this together.' Now if we really are in this whole thing together, do you think one feud with another member of the family is none of my business?" Jackson asked, looking at Nathan with focused eyes. Nathan scowled at him.

"I'm telling you, stay out of this, Jackson."

"Can I at least know what's going on?" he asked. Nathan stomped his foot in the sand, leaving the angry Eric to talk to the now temper-rising Jackson.

"No, it's none of your business, for the last time," he snapped, pushing him slightly. Jackson looked down at his shoulder, where Nathan had pushed him. He looked back into Nathan's burning eyes and silently begged for a better way to end this.

"Don't cause anymore trouble than you all ready have, Nathan. I'm stronger than you are," Jackson tried warning. Nathan took it totally the wrong way.

"All right, tough guy," he said, drawing his arm back.

"Stop it!" Melissa yelled out, grabbing Nathan's arm. "This is psycho! You're trying to tear each other apart!" Nathan and Jackson looked at each other. Melissa stood there, studying them both for a moment. "We're trying to work together to survive and all you guys can think about is being guys and fighting!"

Suddenly, Daley came running up over the hill. "You guys, there's a helicopter on the horizon!" Eric perked up.

"We're saved! We're rescued! We're not gonna die!" he shouted excitedly. He ran over to Taylor and planted a wet, sloppy kiss on her cheek and galloped back down the beach to scream the news to others.

"We're going home?" Melissa mumbled to herself, exchanging glances with Jackson. Was this all over? Most importantly, would they ever see each other again after the incident?