Disclaimer: I own nadaaa! :)
A/N: Sorry for the very long wait of this chapter! Been so busy! I cannot WAIT for the summer! Thank you for the reviews. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Eighteen:

Jeff drove most of the way in silence. Coral seemed to be off in her own little world, staring out the window while quiet tears fell relentlessly from her eyes. Truthfully, he didn't know what to say to her. Anything he thought of didn't seem right? What do you say to someone? He spent most of the ride staring at her without purpose, always feeling the pain she felt momentarily.

It was nearly two in the morning by the time he reached the neighboring town of Vass, North Carolina. His body and mind were exhausted and he wanted nothing more to go home and sleep in bed with Beth. He felt like he hadn't seen her in ages. Between working and Coral's adventures it seemed like forever.

He was in Whispering Pines only fifteen minutes later. What would Shannon have to say? Jeff was sure he was getting the blame for this. As much as Shannon didn't want to admit it, he cared for Coral and this was going to make him angry… especially since he had predicted something would go wrong.

"No," Coral said suddenly, her voice hoarse. She peered up from her unmoving position and looked at Jeff with fear.

"What?"

"I don't want to go there," she said in a quiet voice. "I want to go to Matt's house with you."

"Coral, you need to go home."

"I don't have a home." Her words were like quiet ice. She looked up again, staring Jeff in the eye with those eyes like Shannon's. "But I feel at home with you. Please."

Jeff couldn't help but see the innocence in her eyes as she said this. He concerned how mad Shannon would be at him… but it truly didn't matter. If Coral was "happy" then it would cause less trouble later on, right? All he would have to do is call Shannon later and inform him of everything. It didn't matter if Shannon understood or not. Coral wasn't going to stay at Shannon's if Jeff brought her there anyway, so he'd rather have her safe at Matt's than wandering the streets late at night. Whispering Pines was relatively a safe town, but Jeff wasn't going to take any chances.

"Okay," he finally muttered. "We'll be there soon."

-

The next morning, Jeff awoke with a headache. He hadn't gone to bed until four, after having a very long and tiring conversation with Shannon on the phone. And like Jeff had predicted – Shannon wasn't happy. Also like Jeff predicted – there was nothing he could do. It still didn't stop Shannon from using every sinful word in the book though and accusing Jeff of things he didn't do.

Still, Jeff couldn't help but feel something was still off, other than the obvious with Coral and his newfound problems with Shannon.

He walked slowly down the stairs, hearing his back crack along the way. It had been a while since he had gotten to the gym and his always sore back was surely showing it. In the kitchen, he could hear Matt talking with Beth, both barely awake and neither a morning person.

"Mornin'," Jeff grumbled, reaching for a mug to fill with coffee.

Matt stared at Jeff with curiosity. "Long night?"

"You have no idea."

Matt's eyes rose. "What happened?"

Jeff leaned against the counter, pressing his lower back into it. He quickly explained the two day event in the shortest way possible. Both Matt and Beth's faces turned from shock to horror. "And she's here…" Matt muttered. "Why didn't she go to Shannon's?"

"Why do you think?"

Beth looked at Matt pointedly. "Matt, you have to be blind if you haven't noticed she's taken quite the liking to Jeff so far. He's the only one who she will talk to. I just say hi to her and suddenly I'm the biggest pain in her life!" Jeff couldn't help but notice the slight underlying tone of jealousy Beth had.

"She's just young and hurt," Jeff quickly replied. "I guess she relates to me."

"You're not young," Matt joked.

Jeff smiled slightly. "I don't know what she sees in me, but I think it is really good that she's found someone here she doesn't hate. If she hadn't… she'd be long gone by now."

"But what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

Beth explained, "She can't live here. We'll be moving out soon and obviously, she hates Matt. I'm not dealing with a girl at my house everyday, Jeff. She has to go back to Shannon's sometime. We are not her parents and you aren't her guardian… she belongs at Shannon's place."

Jeff squirmed. He had wondered about this himself. "She'll go to Shannon's. If we have to make her, we will."

-

A little while later, Jeff made his way up to the guestroom he had placed Coral in the night before. He knocked once, not hearing anyone's response. So, instead, he pushed the door open slightly and looked inside. He froze, seeing the bed made and a note in the middle.

Quickly, he pushed open the door fully and picked up the note. And in loopy, girl handwriting, he read:

You aren't forcing me anywhere. I'm not welcome here… so… I'll go out on my own. Don't come looking for more. You won't find me.

- Coral.

A/N: UH-OH! I smell trouble. Okay, READ AND REVIEW AND UPDATE I SHALL!!