Note: Muahaha...Cliffies rock. Anyway, yes. Torn indeed can not read. In my fanfiction, anyway. That's why he had pictures of everything along with the planning of his wedding and such. I'm so evil.

I don't own Jak and Daxter, but I do own Torn's illiteracy. Ha ha!

On with the show!

Chapter 22 ( Yay. )

Jak and Torn ate in silence for a while until Torn decided to confess. "Yeah."

"What?"

"Yeah. I can't read. Happy?"

"Why wouldn't you tell me something like that?" Torn sighed. "I...I guess I'm embarrassed by it. I always made excuses. I've been on my own since I was small, and in the KG, all they teach you is basic combat maneuvers. They never took the time to give me a proper education, and so all I know how to read is small words like 'the' and my own name, and such. I know the symbols, but I don't know how to form them into proper words." Torn said.

"Oh, Torn. I had no idea."

"That was my intention." Jak smiled. "Well, how's about I give you some lessons when we go back home?" He offered.

"I'd like that." Torn replied with a small smile. Jak placed his hand--the one with the wedding ring--over Torn's ring-adorned hand gently. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was illiterate."

"Don't think of it as illiteracy, think of it as a challenge that you will overcome, and when you do, you'll feel great. Trust me. Torn, until I was fifteen years old-that's only two years ago- I didn't know how to talk."

"Talk?"

"Yeah. I was mute."

A flashback ripped through Torn's mind of the day the two met.

The orange rat popped up on the blonde's shoulder. "Maybe he's a mute, like you used to be..." He commented to the blonde, the 'he' referring to the tattooed man in front of them, and the 'you' referring to the blonde. To which the tattooed man replied, "New faces make me nervous. Word is you're out to join the fight for the city. You know, picking the wrong side could be...unhealthy."

"What caused you to start talking?"

"Daxter was begging for me to speak, because he'd found me after two years of torture and I was out cold. He said, 'Please Jak, say something, just this once!' and I replied with the first thing my brain thought of."

"Which was...?"

" 'I'm gonna kill Praxis!' " Jak quoted himself. "To which Daxter shushed me and ushered me out of prison." Jak finished.

"Wow." Torn said.

"Yeah, so don't worry about it. I swear I'll help you with your not-reading, and we'll all be happy!" Torn smiled and ushered the waitress over and asked for the check. "Coming up, sweetheart." Jak got a bit angry.

"Ya know, toots, you really shouldn't flirt with married men." He growled, mocking her.

"Well, golly! Excuse me for enjoying my job a bit!"

"You seem to enjoy your job a bit too much!"

"Jak, please, calm down." Torn said. "No! I won't! Enough with the cutesy fuckin' nicknames, lady, and bring the damned check!" The waitress quickly got the check, to which Jak pulled out his wallet and paid in exact change, leaving absolutely no tip. He stormed away, leaving Torn to give a few bills (to which he didn't know which bills they were) as a tip and followed after his fuming teenage husband. 'Damn hormones' he thought. 'That's all it is.'

Torn found Jak seething in the hot tub, facing the back wall. "Jak, calm down. She probably flirts with every good-looking man who walks through that door, it's no big deal." No response. "Jak--"

"She should figure out the difference between when it's alright to flirt with the customers and when to leave them the fuck alone." He said through gritted teeth, not facing Torn. "Jak, how about this. We go to a different restaurant tomorrow, ok?" Jak looked over his shoulder at Torn. "Ok." He agreed. "I'm sorry for being pissy."

"You're seventeen. It's normal." Torn pulled off his outer clothing and slipped into the bubbly hot tub. "But still, I should think before I start shooting my mouth off like that."

"Actually, I like when you shoot your mouth off. It turns me on." Torn said slyly, pressing his lips to Jak's fiercely, pressing his entire upper body against Jak's. Jak wrapped his arms around Torn and deepened the kiss, his right hand slipping lower to rest on Torn's hip. He pushed his hips up a bit to tap against Torn's through the water. Jak broke the kiss for air. "I love you." He said. "I love you too." Torn replied.

End of Chapter 22.

-Sniff- awww! And there's still more to come!