"…and then the teacher said whoever got a star on the top of their test got the highest score, and guess what mom?" It was Friday evening, and Aaron was in the process of giving his mother a play by play of his daily activities in the fifth grade.

"What?" Rachel asked, her son's excitement already giving away the answer.

"I got the star!" Aaron exclaimed. Rachel beamed down at her son with an amount of pride only a mother could posses. It was only the end of the first week of school and already Aaron was proving to be at the top of his class. Rachel could not say the same for his older sister though; in fact she wasn't even sure where Jenna was at that point in time. She had claimed that she was running hurdles after school, but it was starting to get dark out and she should have been home by now or at least called to check in. Rachel turned her attention back to her son though, trying to reason with herself that Jenna had simple forgotten.

"That's great, Aaron! I am so proud of you!" Rachel praised her son, and then got up to clear away the supper dishes from the table. Aaron got up as well and started to clear his spot, but Rachel stopped him. "Aaron, why don't you go upstairs and start on your homework so you have time for friends this weekend, I can get the dishes." Aaron looked skeptical but agreed anyway. Rachel turned her attention to the dishes in the sink and decided that she was very grateful to have a dishwasher, because tonight she had no motivation to wash the dishes pilling up on the countertop. Rachel began to load the dishwasher, and just as she started she was hit with the weirdest memory.

"This meal was beyond amazing Jason. You really are an amazing cook!" Rachel raved, as she helped Jason clear away the dishes and pile them into the sink.

"I told you, you wouldn't regret it. Let's see, you now owe me four hours of Bruce Willis action movies." Rachel cringed at the thought, but a deal was a deal, and she had definitely lost this one.

"Really Jason, you poor taste in movies is astounding."

"Wow, this coming from the girl who only watches movies that are centered on singing and dancing."

"Ouch!" Rachel laughed. She and Jason had been 'hanging out' for almost five weeks now, and she was getting the feeling that he wanted things to become more serious, which meant she needed to come clean soon, but tonight she wanted to focus solely on Jason. "Seriously though Jason, the whole meal was just wonderful. Where did you learn to cook so well?"

"My mom was always in the kitchen, constantly experiment and adding her own twists on dishes. My dad was gone a lot so it became a hobby for her. If I was home, and she was in the kitchen, I tried to get in and help out as much as I could. I just picked it up after a while." Rachel sensed the tension that arose when Jason mentioned his father, so she tried to bring the attention away from food for the evening. As she opened her mouth to speak though, any coherent thoughts were forgotten as Jason's softly planted his lips on hers, and his hands wrapped around her waist. All Rachel could feel were the fireworks going off in her head as she snaked her arms around his neck, and deepened the kiss. The brush of Jason's tongue against her lips though brought her crashing back to reality, and with a harsh shove she pushed Jason away from her.

"Rachel I'm sorry, I just…I've wanted to do that for a while, and it just seemed right." Jason looked bewildered, and slightly scared as he looked at her. Rachel's heart melted at this, but she knew that as soon as she let her into her world as more than a friend, he would not want any part of it. 'But,' Rachel thought to herself 'do you really want him any part of your life if you think he'll run? Of course not! Just tell him and get it the Fuck over with!' And with that Rachel decided to let Jason Saunders completely into her world, and hopefully into her heart.

"Jason, I have a daughter." Rachel said, taking the band-aid approach. Rachel waited for him to kick her out, or to call her a slut. When she looked up though, Jason was simply staring at her, expressionless. "Are you mad?" That seemed to get his attention.

"Mad? No way. Shocked yes, but not mad. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I was scared you'd think I was a slut." Rachel explained, thinking that it sounded like a better explanation in her head than it did aloud. Jason looked a little hurt by her explanation.

"I know we haven't known each other long Rach, but I hope you know that I'll always have your back. I'm always here for you."

Jason's comment took her by surprise and all she could get out through the lump forming in her throat was "Ditto." Jason laughed softly and pulled her into his arms.

It was the loud bang of the front door that brought Rachel out of her memory, and back to the world around her. Rachel quickly finished up the dishes and left the kitchen to find her daughter. She padded up the stairs and down the hallway to Jenna's door and whipped it open, intending to give her daughter a piece of her mind and did she know how worried Rachel had been? These things faded way though as Rachel looked at the scene unfolding before her.