Hello everyone! I know I posted yesterday but I just really wanted to post again, one, because last night's chapter SUCKED, although all of you are saying it didn't, and two, because that was a MAJOR late update :) Anyways, It's probably… 10? Well, I don't know what time it is where you are but as I'm WRITING this it's exactly 4:44. But, since I am about to go see that new movie Moneyball with Brad Pitt, it's probably around three hours later, maybe more, but I needed a little head start :) Anyways, enough with the A/N, let's get going!

Love,

Lauren:)

P.S. Baylee… oops, RikkiChadwick2011, won't be able to update until Sunday. She wanted me to tell you guys that :) So anyways, she promises she'll write a huge long chapter for y'all but again, she's sorry! :) Actually, she didn't promise that, but I am for her. Lol! Get writing Baylee! :)

As Jack and I strolled down the sidewalk towards home, I couldn't help but feel like crying. I just wanted to fall into someone's arms and cry.

"So," he said, noticing my sadness. "What's this about?" I looked up at him nervously, and quickly thought of a lie, something easy and eventually explainable.

"Um, well, I," I began, the guilt suddenly fluttering to my throat, causing my words to jumble.

Why was it so hard to lie to him?

"My mom's been spending a lot of time with her boyfriend lately, and it's kind of upsetting me," I said. He nodded and ran his fingers through his hair.

"And why's that?" he wondered. I looked down, my lie now becoming a truth, and sighed.

"I don't know," I confessed, the air getting colder and colder. "I just wish my dad was still here, you know? I mean, I care about Will – uh, my mom's boyfriend, but, it's not the same." He nodded and continued walking with me in unison.

"Yes, I know." He said vaguely. A thought then ran through my mind.

Maybe he missed someone, too.

I then looked back up at him with my equally blue eyes.

They were almost the same.

Same shape, same color, same size.

Just… same…

"Is your mom still upset?" I scrunched my face slightly, and scratched my head.

"Sometimes, I guess," I said, a memory quickly coming to mind…

Crash!

"Mom?" I called from my room. "Mom!" I climbed off my bed, throwing my sketchpad to the ground, and sprinted down the stairs two at a time. I suddenly stopped in the doorway as I saw mom standing over a broken plate on the floor, tears streaking her face and her eyes wide as she saw me.

"Laurel, I" she began through sobs. I frowned slightly and walked over to her, moving her away from the glass.

"Mom, are you alright?" I asked. She nodded, and wiped away a stray tear.

"Fine, yes, me? Oh, yes," she said flustered. I sat her down at one of the tables and quickly grabbed the milk from the back freezer. I poured it in a small mug and set it in front of mother.

"What's going on?" I asked, sitting back down across from her. She grasped the mug in between her hands and took a large slug.

"Nothing, just," she began. "I miss… I've just been missing your father lately." I bit my lip and tapped my fingers on the wooden table.

"I know," I said. "So have I." she looked up at me with her cat green eyes full of tears and smiled weakly.

"I'm so sorry you never got to meet him,' she said. "He would have loved you." I smiled half heartedly and gently held her hand.

"So am I," I said. "So am I."

"Do you get upset about it a lot?" Jack asked, dragging my head out of the clouds. I looked at him startled, and sighed.

"Yeah," I said sadly. He looked at me fondly, and smiled as he wrapped his arm around me.

"Well I have some news that will cheer you up!" he said. I scoffed.

"The last news you gave me didn't exactly "cheer me up"." I scolded. He rolled his eyes and ruffled my neat hair.

"I sent your pictures." He said. I looked at him and smiled, the news actually cheering me up.

"Oh," I said nonchalantly. "That's… nice." Jack laughed and playfully punched me in the shoulder. Suddenly, something cold and wet hit my cheek, and I looked up into the sky. Tiny snowflakes began to fall and I smiled.

"The first snow!" I yelled. Jack laughed.

"Gosh, winter does start late around here nowadays, doesn't it?" he asked in general.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. He looked at me and smiled.

"I grew up here!" he cried. I smiled and laughed.

"You grew up in Chippewa Falls?" I asked, referring to the small little town in Wisconsin that I lived in. Mom said that this place was special, and that it was really the only place she could ever see us living in, but it didn't really seem that special. It just seemed like a small little town.

"You bet!" Jack yelled. I chuckled and stuck out my tongue as Jack did the same. We both laughed as the snow slowly fell onto our tongues. I took a step forward, trying to catch a certain snowflake, and slipped on the snow.

"Ow!" I yelled as I fell to the ground with a thud, twisting my ankle in the process.

"Laurel!" Jack yelled. I whimpered in pain and threw my hand to my ankle.

"Oh shit!" he yelled. I looked up at him, eyes wide.

"Well I'm not your teacher right now, so…" he tried to explain. I smiled weakly as he knelt down next to me.

"Oh my god, this really hurts." I whispered, my voice now, for some reason, barely coming out. Jack bit his lip and looked around.

"How far's your house?" he asked. I screeched, my ankle now throbbing, and pointed to the restaurant at the corner of the street.

"Right there," I answered. He nodded, and picked me up. I instinctively threw my arm around his shoulder. He ran towards the restaurant and scurried up the steps. I pushed open the door with my foot and pointed to the counter.

"There's fine," I said. He nodded and set me down on the counter. I swung my legs over and immediately grabbed my ankle again.

"Jesus!" I yelled, the pain now shooting up through my leg. "I think it's broken!" Jack groaned and ran his fingers though his hair, then frantically started pacing across the room. Suddenly, the now closed door's handle began to turn, and Jack and I both shared nervous looks. I jumped from the counter, silently yelling in pain, and hopped/pushed Jack into the back kitchen.

"Oh shoot we forgot pickles!" Mother cried as she and Will walked through the door. Their eyes both went wide when they saw me, and then they smiled.

"Laurel," mom said. "What are you doing here?" I smiled and instinctively pressed my foot to the ground to balance myself, then yelped in pain when I did.

"Ah! That!" I yelled. Mother furrowed her brows and set down the groceries to walk over to me.

"My lord," she cried. "What happened?" I limped back over to the counter and propped myself up quickly.

"We were laughing I slipped on the snow," I said. Mom raised an eyebrow.

"We?" Mom wondered. I went wide eyed and then looked back up at her.

"James and I." I lied. Mom's face softened and she gently touched my ankle. I still jumper, and whimpered in the excruciating pain.

"Oh, sorry," she said. I shook my head and shooed her away.

"It's fine." I lied again. Mom smiled and grabbed the bags again.

"Wait one sec, sweetie," she said as she headed towards the kitchen. "Let me just put these away."

"No!" I yelled. Mom and Will both looked at me strangely as I jumped from the counter and winced in pain as I made my way quickly over to the door.

"Laurel wha-"

"There's a rat!" I lied again. "In the kitchen."

"What?" Mom asked. Will set down the bags and walked towards us.

"I'll get it." Will said. I stood in front of the door more.

"No," I said again. "It's HUGE!" Mom and Will both exchanged suspicious looks and grabbed the bags again and set them on the counter.

"Well Miss. I'm not afraid of rodents," Mom said sarcastically. "Since you're comfortable with it, you put the groceries away." I smiled and pushed them towards the stairs,

"Yeah, yeah." I said. They both smiled and Will gave mom a quick kiss before heading out the door. Mom scurried up the stairs and I sighed in relief. I hopped back over to the kitchen and opened the door.

"Geez," I said to Jack. "I'm so sorry." He smiled and stepped out slowly, making sure no one was around.

"It's alright," he said. "I could see how meeting your mom like that for the first time would be weird." I chuckled and gave him a quick squeeze.

"Thanks for the talk," I said. "I needed it." He smiled and rubbed my back.

"Don't mention it," he instructed. "And hey, ice that foot! I don't want you limping into class on Monday." I smiled and playfully punched him in the arm, then walked him to the door.

"Goodnight." I whispered as he walked down the steps.

"Night." He whispered back before going on his way. I closed the door and smiled then limped back over to the counter, quickly grabbing a block of ice from the freezer and wrapped it into a towel. I sat down on a stool and laid the ice over my ankle. I then smiled as I looked out the door and saw the snow continue to fall, and then wondered if Jack was going back to Cassandra, which quickly re-ruined my mood. I ran my fingers through my hair and let out an extremely large sigh.

I still couldn't believe this.

Jack – Mr. Dawson, was getting married… MARRIED! It just seemed so wrong! Even though I didn't fully know Cassandra, she didn't seem his type. But deep inside, I knew who seemed like his type…

Mom…

So… so… so… What did you think? Good? Bad? TERRIBLE? REVIEW! And again, Baylee won't be able to update until Sunday! Just to let you guys know… again! :) Ah, review! :)