Hey, everybody! So, here's chapter 11…sorry about the delay in updating but I have a feeling this chapter will make up for that inconvenience slightly …. ;)

Enjoy!

Their week of "grounding" had expired before Jess was even allowed to go near the forest. He knew what to expect as he entered the woods—bundled up against the newborn chill to keep his mother from nagging—and he knew what was coming as he stepped into the opening of trees they had always entered when they arrived at Terabithia, but that did nothing to soften the shock and despair that sank through him as he saw the mass of splintered wooden planks that had been their castle crumbled in a heap on the frosty ground.

The spray paint was up once more and again the stakes were driven into the ground; Jess took pictures of the evidence and Jack drove him down to see Greg Jacklyn for the second time that week. The first trip had been made with all four parents in tow, and the Council President had been able to explain the situation on Miranda's Outfitting! to them (in other words, he had explained the fact that they were illegally trying to build on the land). Jess had felt tremendously guilty as he entered the office, expecting to be reprehended for not revealing the secret to his parents, but Mr. Jacklyn seemed to have truly understood.

"They know now, and that is what matters," he had said simply, and Jess had released the issue without further thought.

The second trip regarding the paint and the stakes sparked another call from the Lark Creek Town Council to the headquarters of Miranda's Outfitting! with no prevail. The "manager" was not in, the person who had answered the phone had apparently said. Yet the town board had not seemed worried in the least.

"We'll find them," Mr. Jacklyn had assured Jess that Saturday in December, "and they'll have consequences."

"And the hearings?"

"They'll be organized as soon as we can get our hands around them—and we'll be sure to let you know when that is."

This had provided a little comfort. If enough people could speak out against the construction, if no one stood up and openly declared their desire for a clothing store… Jess thought of his sisters and their obsessions with their wardrobes, thought of the way Brenda had lately been trying to find ways to irritate him, and felt sickened.

Leslie was beyond despair.

"We can't let them do it," she was murmuring under her breath on the way to school one chilly morning. "We can't. It's not right…."

"Les, will you calm down? The hearings will be up and running soon and we can give them our reasons why the land shouldn't be ripped up."

"I am so sick of people taking advantage of others," Leslie went on muttering as though he had not spoken. "And when they haven't done anything wrong…to get treated this way…it's getting ridiculous…."

Something twisted inside of Jess's stomach, and he had a feeling that she was no longer talking about the clothing company.

"Leslie, listen. I think you should go into the office today and tell them what's going on with Trent…"

Leslie froze and her eyes went wide. "I can't do that, Jess! If he ever found out—"

"He'd what? Try to break out of juvenile prison?"

"He wouldn't be sent to jail just for coming up and talking to me all the time!"

"You could tell them anything you want and they'll believe you," Jess said without thinking as he pulled into the school parking lot. "Just say he's been touching you or whatever and they'd eat it up."

To his horror her eyes filled with tears and she shot him such a wounded look he felt his heart twinge. "Les, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that—"

"That's easy for you to say!" she cried at him as the truck came to a stop. "You boys have it so freaking easy. You don't know anything about abuse!"

"Leslie—"

She was out the door and rushing for the school before he could say another word, tears bright in her eyes, and Jess hastily locked the truck and hurried after her.

"Leslie!"

She was gone; she had vanished in the enormous crowd that their school was dominated by. Jess felt wretched, unworthy of anything that he had ever received in his life. What had he been thinking? Of course she would get upset by his suggesting she say that Trent abused her…how stupid could he have possibly been?

He sat in self-guilt for the first two periods and practically ran to find Leslie at third; when he arrived at the gym she was not there, but Couch said that it was too cold for them to do things outside and that they could do whatever they wanted for the rest of the hour—a first. Jess frantically looked around for Leslie in the passages surrounding the class but she was nowhere to be found. He searched around the gym—avoiding basketballs that were flying past him as several people in his class began a game—then headed to the locker hallways by walking through the exit door, hoping to find her there.

Leslie was in the hallways, all right, sitting up against the wall with wet tracks trailing down her cheeks, and she was surrounded by three girls from their gym class. Jess recognized them to be Rachel and two of her friends—a portion of the girls who had been glaring at her ever since they laid eyes on her on the first day of school.

"…don't have any idea how stupid you look," one of the girls was saying snidely as Jess entered the hallways. All three of them were standing, towering over her, but she didn't seem to care. "I mean, what are you? Three years old?"

"Well, if she doesn't bother to wear makeup then I think it's unlikely she'll be wearing anything from this century any time soon," another girl snorted and the first girl snickered.

"Not that you seem to care. Isn't that right, Leslie? Your fun just goes to entertaining all sorts of guys whenever they feel like it—though I don't know why they'd want to be anywhere near you." The three girls shared a cruel laugh. "Aw, what's the matter, Leslie?" they simpered. "Look at her. She's crying. How cute is that?"

Jess felt anger tight in his chest. He walked over to them and his footsteps drew their attention. Leslie looked up to him, looking surprised to see him there; the girls' mouths opened, big, plastic smiles on their faces, but before they could speak Jess irritably asked, "Is there a problem here?"

"Hi, Jess," one of the girls cooed and the other two giggled. Their attention had shifted completely. "So, how are you—?"

"You know, if you haven't got anything better to do besides torturing other people then you three are more pathetic than you look," Jess shot out at Rachel and her friends. They blinked with surprise—Jess could see their fake eyelashes swatting up and down—and feigned hurt looks, pouting their red lips pitifully.

"Oh, come on, Jesse. Like we were being mean to her!"

"And if we were, why would you care, Jess? What is she to you?"

"She's my best friend," Jess said angrily. "And—"

"Why?" one of the girls interrupted, casting a silent Leslie a dirty look. "She's a freaking hippie, for God's sake. She looks awful."

Jess smiled as he realized why the girls hated Leslie so much. "Take it from a guy, she's prettier than you guys will ever be," he told them and this time the girls didn't need to fake their outrage, he saw it clearly in their heavily layered faces. "And she doesn't have to smear on any of that crap you guys are always reaching for and putting on. Speaking of which, why don't you guys do us a favor and go work on that now?"

The girls gave him death looks as they stomped out toward the gym. One of them turned around as they walked out the door and snapped, "You're a jerk, Jesse!"

"Have fun with your hippie girlfriend," another huffed and the other swore at him loudly as the door closed, leaving the hall silent as the grave except for a faint ticking of a clock at the top of the wall.

Jess walked over to where Leslie was noiselessly gazing at the floor with tears lightly running down her face, sliding down the wall so he was sitting next to her. He reached up with one hand and softly brushed some of the wetness away from her cheeks.

"You okay?" he asked gently and she nodded, still looking at the shiny white floor. Having a feeling that her tears had nothing to do with Rachel and her friends, Jess went on awkwardly, "I…Listen, Les, I'm really sorry…I shouldn't have said that this morning…."

She nodded again but she still said nothing and she didn't look at him. They were silent for a while.

"That's not true, you know," she murmured after some time had passed, breaking the heavy silence.

"No, I shouldn't have said that," Jess said, feeling guilty all over again. "I mean, you were already—"

"No, not that…" She trailed off, then quietly went on, "I'm not prettier than those girls will ever be. They're just misunderstood. They all look nice but they don't really think it, you know. That's why they try to make me feel bad."

Jess felt that breathtaking, almost unbearable warmth spread through him and his heart seemed to skip a beat in his chest as he felt a small smile spread on his face. To think Leslie held no grudge for girls who idiotically hated her…. He wanted to say so many things to her at that moment but he had no words to say them…and even if he did he had no way of knowing what she would think, how she would react….

Leslie turned to look at him and the gentleness of her eyes melted Jess over all over again; before he could stop himself he reached for her hand and took it in his own, wrapping his fingers around his. She leaned back against the wall and clutched his hand in return.

"Thank you," she whispered to him and that new expression in her eyes was suddenly there again; they were full of light and strength and sadness all at the same time, and something else that Jess couldn't decipher.

"Leslie…" Jess tried to find words suitable for what he found he had to say, "I…I know you think it's a curse…but…but it…it is true, you know. Even if you…if you don't like the way it is…or…." He saw confusion drift across her face and he sighed, understanding that he would have to put it bluntly. "You really are beautiful," he managed to say and the overwhelming look she gave him was worth the heat rising in his face, "and…and you shouldn't ever think of it as a bad thing. And don't you let anyone make you think it is."

Leslie just looked at him with aching eyes. After what seemed like minutes, hours, days had passed she slowly leaned toward him so that they were one or two inches apart, so that Jess felt her warm breath near his lips. Instantly he felt waves of emotions he didn't understand running through him—but before he could register what they were, Leslie simply lowered her face to his neck and silently rested her head on his shoulder in utter surrender. By the way her shoulders were shaking and by her little sniffs and shaky gasps for air, Jess gathered that for the second time that day, he had made her cry.

"Leslie, I'm so sorry…" He started as he wrapped her arms around her but Leslie shook her head against his neck.

"N-No, Jess…I just…don't…from you, it's…it's not…b-but…but that forest…Trent…." She broke off and just hugged him, clutching at him almost desperately, crying onto his shoulder. He could feel her heart beating against his and he felt his own heart rate speed up dramatically. Bemused, acting as though on instinct, Jess in turn hugged her to him as tightly as he could without crushing her, running his fingers through her hair and letting her cry.

He stopped questioning her despair at that point, and instead he gently cupped his palm around the back of her neck, weaving through her hair, to keep her where she wanted to be. And that thought, simply knowing that she wanted to be with him, above everyone else, made his own confusion and misery fade slightly as they sat there for the rest of the period, living, for that moment, alone in a profound and heavy silence.

OOO

"Let's see…month four: ankle swelling, continued morning sickness, heartburn…." It was breakfast, and Ellie was reading aloud a little too cheerfully from the pregnancy book she had picked up a couple of weeks before. "Oh, and starting from month five it looks like you start to actually show. Congratulations, Brendie."

"Shut…up," growled Brenda from across the kitchen table. Her face was white and her dark hair was mussed slightly; she had apparently just been throwing up everything on her stomach in the bathroom. Jess would not have gone anywhere near her but he still needed to eat, so he had taken breakfast as far away from her as possible, which unfortunately resulted in him eating at the counter next to the oven. "I'm only at month three."

"This is just an intro," said Ellie sweetly and Jess wanted to run from the look on Brenda's face. "I'm only prepping you."

"Ellie, leave your sister alone," Jack said wearily from the head of the table. "And for God's sake, Jess, why are you acting like there's a rabid dog at our table?"

"Don't make me answer that," Jess muttered, and Brenda raised her flashing eyes to him.

"What's that supposed to mean? You spend all that time with your girlfriend's dog—E.T. or whatever—and you certainly don't—"

"Brenda, I was joking," Jack interrupted, "and so was Jess."

Snarling, Brenda turned back to her cereal just as Joyce Ann said quietly, "It's P.T."

Brenda's head shot up. "Excuse me?"

"His name is P.T.," muttered Joyce Ann. "Not E.T."

There was a ringing silence at the table. Then Brenda stood up, her eyes narrowed and snapping.

"Well, thank you, Joyce, for correcting me," she said, fury taking over her tone completely. "Wow, you know what? I would have been so lost if you hadn't taken the time to correct me on that. God! You are so freaking nice! Thank you! Thank you for correcting me! Why don't you guys join in? Am I doing everything right? Do I need any other supervisors?"

Nancy rested her head on her hand, closing her eyes. May Belle and Joyce Ann looked at each other, scared, and Ellie hastily fixed her attentions to the pregnancy book. Not thinking, Jess let out a groan of frustration that was eaten up by his sister.

"What about you, Jess? Do you have any problems with me? Because I love it when people are always on my case about anything and everything, every goddamn day of the week—"

"Brenda," Nancy murmured quietly but Brenda wasn't listening.

"Why doesn't your girlfriend come over so she can help this family fix me? She's the perfect one, right? Does she ever need correcting, Jess? Huh? Does your girlfriend ever do anything wrong?"

Jack took the heat for him.

"Leslie has nothing to do with this, Brenda, and you know that. And there's no need to start telling people off, all right? Joycie didn't mean to upset you." Jess was surprised at the gentleness of his father's tone. "Why don't you go lay down on the couch and read that parenting book we got you? I can go down to the store and bring you back a slushy."

"What am I, five years old?" growled Brenda.

"You sure act like it," muttered Ellie but thankfully she was not overheard, as Brenda was already stomping out of the kitchen and soon Jess heard the creak of the couch from the other room.

Jack and Nancy exchanged looks.

"You kids better hurry off to school," Nancy said quietly. "The school bus will be here soon, girls, and Jess, you can't keep Leslie waiting."

Jess didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed the rest of his toast off his plate and hurried for the door, pulling Joyce Ann's ponytail softly in understanding before leaving. He went through the living room—risking Brenda's remarks but fortunately she didn't see him—so he could look at their Christmas tree. It was a real pine tree, and the earthy smell of it made Jess long for the forest that was slowly being destroyed.

When he finally got outside Leslie was waiting silently on his porch, staring at either the ground or PT running in circles next to her—it was hard to tell. She looked up almost in alarm when Jess walked out the door.

"Oh—hey," she said, her face lighting up as Jess came up to her. "PT…kind of wanted to say hi."

Jess smiled and looked at the dog that was grinning up at him, panting. "Hi," Jess said cheerfully. PT wagged his tail.

"You know, it's almost Christmas," Jess added thoughtfully, this time addressing Leslie. "It's weird we haven't gotten anything else from Mr. Jacklyn on that company, isn't it?"

"I guess," Leslie said. "But he did say that once they tracked Miranda's Outfitting! down he'd fine them or something, for trying to build illegally without permission …on our land," she added darkly. "Then we'd get the hearings."

Jess sighed.

"What?" Leslie said softly, brow creasing in concern, "That's a good thing, right?"

"Well, yeah…it's just…." Jess looked down at PT again. "You ever get the feeling that you're the only one fighting in this…this huge freaking war and everyone's against you?"

"Brenda again?" asked Leslie gently.

"Yeah." Jess glanced up again. "And…I've just been thinking…what if people don't see the reason in keeping that land safe and protected?"

"It'll be okay," Leslie told him. "When the hearings are organized we can get people to protest. We'll give them reasons."

"But…well, what if people protest against the protest?"

Awareness suddenly dawned on Leslie's face. "You think Brenda's going to object to our saving the land, don't you?"

"No. I know she'll be attending and saying Lark Creek needs another clothing store," Jess said heavily. "If she ever finds out when and where the hearings are…I'm telling you, we're doomed."

"I never thought of that," breathed Leslie, looking horrorstruck. "Jess, she hasn't…she's not really angry with you right now, is she?"

Jess couldn't help a laugh. "You're forgetting she's pregnant. And the last time she hasn't been angry with me was when I was three years old, Les."

"Oh, God," Leslie said, then she jumped as she checked her watch. "We're going to be late for school."

"Yep, we sure don't want to miss a second of the joys of that place," Jess said dryly and Leslie laughed, swatting his shoulder playfully as they walked toward the truck. He felt his heart jump and his skin warmed at her touch…and again confusion utterly swarmed his mind—

"All right, then, let's go. Jess?" Leslie looked into his face uncertainly. "You were joking, right?"

Jess mentally shook himself back to reality.

"Right, yeah. School. I—I was joking." He gestured helplessly to the truck where it sat undisturbed in front of them. "Do you want to drive?"

OOO

After school when Jess walked into his kitchen his little sisters were at the table doing homework and his mother was on the phone. Nancy whipped around when she heard the door close.

"Oh, you know what? He just came in now…did you want to talk to him…? Of course, yes…okay, thank you. Here he is." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and told Jess, "It's Greg Jacklyn. Says he's got some news for you."

Heart pounding, Jess hurriedly took the phone from his mother and asked, "Hello?"

"Hey, Jess! It's Greg from downtown. How are you?"

"Pretty good," Jess said nervously. "And…and you?"

"Fine, thank you. So all systems are go on your hearings," and before Jess could speak he went on, "Long story short: the owners of Miranda's Outfitting are going through some paperwork and fines that they wouldn't have had to go through had it not been for you and your friend, and pretty soon Lark Creek will be hosting the hearings in which you are allowed to speak against the construction."

Relief washed through Jess. "That's great, Mr. Jacklyn."

"It is," Mr. Jacklyn said, "but there are some catches. The first hearing won't go underway until the 21st of January. And I'm sure you and your friend know that once these hearings are done and gone the company can still build—unless enough people oppose the development of the territory."

Jess swallowed. His relief evaporated almost as quickly as it had rained down on him. "Yeah…I…I know that. Me and Leslie are going to try to get people on our side."

"That's great, Jess, and I wish you good luck in doing that. But just a friendly reminder: if people don't want to get involved then I wouldn't go shoving this issue in their faces. And be careful when you're trying to convince those who want this construction to happen, all right?"

Jess promised he would and after another minute he gave the phone back to his mother. In an instant he was over at Leslie's house (before May Belle and Joyce Ann could pounce on him) and he was telling her of the phone call almost before she could say hello.

"It's all set…we've just got to make a plan…and announce it to people…." Jess paced around in her kitchen as she stood at the sink, "and hope that everything is going to work out okay…."

"January 21st…" Leslie murmured to herself as Jess examined her, longing to know how she would take the news. "That's a little more than a month away."

"Do…do you think we can get people to help us?" Jess asked almost desperately.

Leslie smiled weakly. "I'm not sure. What we need to worry about are people who will go to the hearings and support the construction."

"Brenda," Jess concluded and she nodded sadly.

"Exactly." She was washing dishes at a breakneck pace. Jess watched her as she scrubbed each plate and each glass until it shone in the feeble sunlight that spilled out from the window. He was so absorbed in watching the glass catch the light, thinking about the hearings, that his heart didn't lurch in fright for a long time.

"Leslie—" Cleaning. She was cleaning. Her face was still and her eyes were blank… "Are…are you okay? Nothing happened at school today, right? I mean…you're…well…"

Leslie looked over at him. Jess looked at her in alarm.

"You know what I think, Jess?" she asked him gently.

"W-What?"

"I think you need to stop worrying about me."

Jess swallowed as despair clutched at his chest. "That's never going to happen."

"You've got bigger and more important things to worry about than me," Leslie said simply. She grabbed another towel from beside her and started wiping the dishes dry. "Concentrate on school for a little while…or something. We…we'll deal with Terabithia in a couple weeks, okay? Just…try to focus on something that really matters."

"You matter more to me than anything else in the world," Jess blurted out.

Leslie almost dropped the plate she was holding as she turned around to look at him. Jess felt his heart thumping abnormally again as he caught that extraordinary expression in her eyes, the one that made her face shine and host so many unreadable motions.

"Jess…" she breathed, eyes on him and only him. Jess couldn't have looked away even if he had wanted to, something he wouldn't have done for anything.

"I mean it," he murmured. His feet must have worked out a secret plan with his brain because suddenly he was closer to her, close enough to reach out and touch her cheek gently with one finger, which was what he did. "I…I can't, okay? I can't focus on anything else. Even…even Terabithia. I mean, it's still an issue…something we've got to figure out but…but it doesn't matter to me half as much as you do."

Leslie reached up and touched his hand with hers, weaving her fingers around his as she gazed at him in something close to awe. Whether she couldn't speak, or else wanted him to go on, Jess didn't know. But he wasn't thinking anymore. He kept talking.

"You were the one who dragged me kicking and screaming to that world, Les," he whispered to her. "And without you there would be no Terabithia. Without you I don't think I would even be here…standing in front of you…s-saying this," he finished lamely but Leslie seemed to have received the point; rather, she looked as though she had been overwhelmed by it.

"Jess, it's…it's not just me. There wouldn't be a Terabithia without you," she told him quietly but Jess shook his head. Either Leslie moved or he did, but suddenly they were closer—much closer—then they had been before

"No, Leslie, that's not true. You raised it all." Jess felt himself smiling. "Les…you raised me."

Leslie returned his smile; the affection in her eyes was almost overpowering. "You're more than what you think you are," she said softly. If such a feat was possible, they were even closer now; their noses were almost touching. "Do you honestly think that I could have done all that without a friend? Without someone who changed my entire life just by offering me endless support? Jess…I never had something like that before." She looked at him intently, as though wanting him to understand this through and through. "I am nothing…nothing, Jess…without you."

It was Jess's turn to be speechless. Now he was fully aware of what was pulsating through him—and Leslie—as they stood there gazing at each other by her kitchen sink.

"Why…why is this so…different?" Jess asked almost pleadingly and he would have thought it as possibly the dumbest thing to say had she not laughed and answered him with utter happiness in her tone.

"I've wanted to ask you the same thing for so long."

Hope burst through his emotions at her reply. "Then…" Jess whispered and he cupped her chin in his hands gently, "then we haven't been through enough changes as it is…so that we can't welcome one more?"

Leslie held her head up slightly, wrapping her arms around his neck, and she gazed at him with the familiar challenge in her eyes that Jess loved so much. "I guess, my King," she told him lovingly with a swift smile, "we'll find out."

The construction had been forgotten—nearly everything had been at that point. There was nothing that existed beyond the two of them; Jess left unsaid words to linger outside their thoughts and dance between their minds because he felt, as he always had, that Leslie understood.

And so he threw everything he had ever known and lived by previously to the winds as he leaned forward to close the distance between them, and do what he had been yearning to do for longer than what was now unnecessary to remember.

He kissed her.

CUTENESS!! lol So I'm pretty sure we all saw that coming, right? ;)

All right, stick with me for these awfully long notes here—I'm almost done chatting. :)

Please review because I really want to know what you guys thought about this sudden…oh, I guess we can call it a "twist" :D I was actually not planning to have this happen until later but as I was writing it just really melted into the chapter this way…but that's just what I think. I really want to know what you guys thought!

The next chapter of So Changed should be up within the week; I'm having a little trouble with it plot-wise but I think I've figured it out so hopefully those of you who are so faithfully following that story will have something new to read after, what? Two months?

As always, thank you tons to my anonymous reviewers—you all are appreciated too!—and thanks again everybody, for reading this far. And a special thank-you goes out to MadTom, who very kindly read this chapter for me before I posted it and offered his thoughts. I appreciate your help a lot, MadTom!

I hate to say it, but we're drawing to an end here, guys! :D I'm pretty sure Flight or Fight will be wrapped up with another five chapters, give or take a few (no promises, though). As always I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible.

Thanks again!