I wanna say a enormous big thank you to the reviews for the last chapter, I was smiling so wide when I read them, I am very grateful! Thanks again everyone, and do the same for this chapter! You guys rawk!

Wow, this chapter has over 3000 words! Wow!! :P It also has quite a lot of Sean, which is weird, cuz I dont really like him. But I'm quite proud of this, please review!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. :D

I hope this makes sense!

Never Let Me Down - Kanye West ft. Jay-Z and J.Ivy

August 2002
Alex: 13
Jay: 15

"How do you feel about going to see my aunt and Cory in Portland?" Jay asked in a murmur, seeming reluctant.

He looked at Alex's monotonous expression and predicted a battle, then a fight, then another battle, topped off with some very vulgar words and gestures. "Is that where... she lives?"

She being Sunny. "Yeah..." Jay admitted. He was unable to keep eye contact at the mention of that bitch's name.

Alex pondered this for a moment, and her face looked thoughtful and plotting. "Sounds awesome!"

"Awesome? Not quite the word I'd use." Jay was a little confused.

"No, I'd love to go and see your aunt and uncle."

"He's not my uncle." Jay cut in quickly.

"Whatever. It'll be fun."

"What about Sunny, though?"

"What about her, I don't care about her."

"Why did you just bring her up in conversation then?"

"Because I was just asking."

Ha! That was unconvincing.

"Wow, when you said 'do you wanna go to Portland' I didn't think you meant quite so soon." Alex mused as they traipsed through the airport toward the special arrangements desk the very next morning.

"Yeah, neither did I until I'd agreed. Anyway, you snooze you lose, right?" Jay reasoned.

"I guess, yeah." Alex agreed with her mouth wide open to a huge yawn. Jay looked around at people staring at the 'vision of loveliness' and gently prodded his ladylike girlfriend in the ribs.

"Lex, stop it you look like an idiot."

"I look like an idiot? You're the one with the hat on at a 45 degree angle."

"I told you, my hair sticks up on that side and this is all I can do to cover it." Jay hissed as they came to a stop at the end of a three person queue.

"Oh my God, how long does it take to board a plane? It's not even that big for God's sake!" Alex moaned loudly. They'd been sat in departures since 5.30am, and then they'd proceeded to stand in the boarding queue of their flight to Portland, Oregon for a further hour and ten minutes. Jay shifted his weight from one foot to the other and knew that by the time he got on this plane, he was gonna need a tranquillizer of some description for Alex. Or himself. Either way was fine.

As they found their seats, 18B and 18C, Jay and Alex found they were surrounded by the people of God's waiting room. There wasn't a person in the next five rows back of forward under the age of about 80.

"Oh, great." Alex muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing." Jay said to himself. Alex didn't cotton on to what exactly he meant, and he was glad. They sat down and Alex was unusually quiet. She thumbed through the in-flight magazine, browsed the duty free collection, then studied the emergency leaflet for a good te minutes. Perhaps she was planning Jay's demise. The relieving golden silence wasn't to last long. Jay knew that it was too good to be true.

"Seriously, Jay!" Alex exclaimed with a cunning grin on her face. "It'll be awesome, please let me do it!"

"I dunno... it's awkward." He said reluctantly. "I don't think I'd like you and Sunny in the same room together." They hadn't eve taken off yet, and it had began.

"No! No, it's not weird! It's awesome!" Alex insisted, her eyes glinting like an eagle with its eye on its innocent prey. The stuffy so-called 'air' inside the plane was beginning to suffocate him slowly but surely. Alex was insistent that she and Jay get revenge on Sunny for all she'd done, but Jay wasn't so sure. She wanted to humiliate her, while Jay just wanted to forget about it.

"I don't wanna think about it. Ask me later. And stop saying awesome, jeez." Jay said, turning to his left away from Alex and shutting his eyes.

Alex was quiet for a few seconds, before she started drumming loudly on her fold away table.

"Jesus, will you cut it out!" Jay turned and batted her hand away in aggravation. Alex through her hands up in the air and then stuck her middle finger up at Jay.

An old woman sat a few seats across looked horrified at Alex's gesture, but she didn't give a damn.

"This airport is like second home to me." Jay commented dryly as they passed through customs and were free to step outside into Portland. "I can't believe I used to come all this way without you." He added, slipping his arm around Alex.

"I used to hate you for doing that." Alex revealed, shooting him a look that said 'you piss me off but there's just something about you.'

Jay totally understood the look, so he gave her a quick peck on the lips to be on the safe side. He was surprised that she didn't fight him off.

"How far is it to Mel and Cory's?"

"Like a 20 minute walk." Jay said casually.

Alex looked at him dubiously. They both carried big backpacks, that felt like they were getting heavier by the second. "Walk?"

"Yeah." Jay smiled with a confused look on his face. "What, you think I have money for cabs? I don't."

"Fine..." Alex agreed reluctantly.

- - - - -

The walk was long, but being totally engrossed in conversation helped the time to pass. Melissa and Cory's place was huge. Alex had only ever lived in the trailer, and everyone she knew either lived there too or in pretty similar crappy digs, so coming to this house was like visiting the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Besides his mom and jerk of a dad, Alex had never met any of Jay's relatives.

"Aunt Mel, Cory, this is Alex. My girlfriend." Jay introduced her as his girlfriend and Alex's stomach did a giddy flip. She couldn't hide the smile on her face.

"Hello Alex, I vaguely remember you from before." Melissa was friendly enough. She hadn't seen her since Karen's funeral, and even then it had only been a passing visit.

Alex heeded her mom's words and made sure she thanked them for paying for her plane ticket.

- - - - -

"I'm not sure how the sleeping arrangement works." Cory said quietly to Jay as Alex and Melissa watched TV. The guys stood in the kitchen drinking a beer. "Do you guys... you know?"

"Uh, well..."

"We got single beds and double beds. You're old enough to make the right choice, I guess."

"Uh, I'll talk to her." Jay said embarrassed. "Uh, last time I was here, do you remember Sunny?"

"Oh, the pretty girl from the school?" Cory remembered. Jay was just glad they'd moved the conversation away from he and Alex's 'sleeping arrangements'.

"Yeah. Seen her around recently?"

"I'm sorry man." Cory shook his head, looking like he wanted to know why Jay was looking for the next girl when his own 'girlfriend' was sat just in the next room.

"OK. Forget I said anything."

- - - - -

Alex and Melissa were getting on like a house on fire. Just the very next day they went out shopping together at 10am, before Jay was even up (from his own single bed in the small bedroom). Jay emerged from his bedroom at just before midday, stumbled downstairs, almost loosing his balance on the last step, to find a note from Melissa.

'Gone shopping with Alex. Cory's working til 9. Be back around 3pm.'

"Five hours for shopping? Fuck..." Jay commented to himself. He sat on the counter top eating a huge overloaded bowl of Lucky Charms. His aunt knew him too well.

He was kinda bummed that he hadn't had a chance to talk to Alex since they arrived. She was planning a horrendously embarrassing (for him) plan of revenge against Sunny, and Jay was far than pleased about it, and definitely not looking forward to it like Alex was.

After his sugary high from his cereal kicked in, he got in and out of the shower in record time, threw on some clothes and made his way into town. He wouldn't actually admit it to himself, but he was on the look out for Sunny. He wasn't up for this public revenge plan at all. He just wanted to see Sunny, talk to her and try and force some shadow of truth out of her. He traipsed solely round town, recognizing no-one. What were the odds that he'd actually run into Sunny, seriously? Why was he trying to fool himself?

Turns out, he didn't see Sunny when he was out. He returned home famished to hell at about four. Alex was sat outside on the porch, and he heard the roar of the vacuum going inside.

"You been relegated to the porch while she cleans?" He laughed as he watched her sat on the wooden chair drumming her fingers rhythmically, looking very bored.

Her face lit up when she saw Jay jogging up the steps casually. She jumped up and hugged him.

Jay had to admit he was a bit taken aback. She hadn't shown this much affection for him in a long while. He wrapped his arms around his tiny girlfriend. She rested her head on his chest and he placed a small kiss on top of her head. They rocked slowly from left to right, only moving in each direction ever so slightly, keeping their feet rooted to the ground. Alex listened to the drumming of his heart. It's consistency was comforting.

- - - - -

After dinner, Jay and Alex hung out together in his room. His cell was lying on the bed just next to him and Alex kept eying it

Alex sat with an odd grin on her face as Jay spoke to Sunny on the phone.

"Sunny, yeah it's Jay... Yeah hi... I'm back in Oregon... No I'm on my own... Sure, sounds good... Yeah OK, we'll talk more then... Cool, see ya... Bye."

As Jay hung up the phone, Alex was gagging to know what was said.

"Thursday, one o' clock, at the Rec Center." Jay said simply.

"Awesome!" Alex clapped her hands together, her eyes glinting with glee.

Jay sighed reluctantly and opened his mouth to protest, but he knew his objections would just fall on deaf ears.

Wednesday dragged on and on for both Jay and Alex. Jay woke up early and got up way before anyone else. It was a killer not having a clock in the room, but he checked the time on the oven, and it wasn't even 8 am.

He sat on the porch, disappointed it was July but chilly. He inhaled the smoke from his cigarette as he took a dizzying long drag. The smoke danced around in his lungs, causing a little bit more irreparable damage.

- - - - -

Alex lay in her bed, in a state of half sleep, half awareness. "Get you're fucking ass out here now, before I kick it from here to Mexico!"

"No! I'm sorry, please don't! No!" Twisted, blood curdling screams wrangled out, making her shudder. Her eyes shot open, blood soared through her body at high speeds. She looked around. Dark, dingy, mildew infested. Nope, her surroundings weren't like that one bit. Serene, lemon yellow walls, the smell of flowers lingering in the air. She remembered; she was in Portland with Jay. Today was the day she got to meet Sunny and – no, that was tomorrow. Damn...

She crept out of bed, knowing it was still early from the orangey-yellow early morning light beaming in through her window. She took about five minutes opening the door, opening it a millimeter at a time, wincing at every creak. Finally, when she'd cracked open enough room for her skeletal frame to fit through, she padded barefoot across the landing and descended the stairs angelically silently. She found Jay stood on the porch, the door open a fraction, causing the cool air to glide gracefully in, resulting in a feint whistling from the breeze. This porch had become their new hangout, it seemed. He heard her behind him, the creak of the floorboards the dead cert giveaway. He stayed stood where he was, but turned his neck almost right the way round, and flashed her an obscenely optimistic smile for such a tender hour in the day.

"Morning sleeping beauty." He greeted her in his hoarse, husky whisper that he used when he just woke up. Also, the fact that he already had a cigarette in his hand probably was just adding insult to injury too.

She stepped out into the porch and linked her arm through Jay's. She wore his AC/DC t-shirt, again, that was way baggy on her, with gray sweat pants. He had his hoodie on with sweats, so Alex stuck her hand in his pocket to keep warm, and balled the other one up and brought it up to her mouth, exhaling on her skin to keep herself from freezing over like a Popsicle.

She rested her head on his arm and shut her eyes again, breathing in his familiar scent of cigarette smoke and aftershave.

He took another drag and held out the cigarette to her. She considered it for a moment, but outstretched her arm so her sleeve came away and accepted the cigarette, taking a long drag. As the light clouds of smoke slipped their way down the back of her throat, she soaked up the memories of this taste. Her first experiences with Jay some two years ago. It all came flooding back to her. All that had been on her mind the previous day was meeting this scumbag Sunny that had fucked with Jay and making her pay for it, but today, this little moment she was sharing with Jay was too perfect, she didn't want to ruin it by thinking of some other skank who's managed to get her grubby little hands all over her boyfriend, then do something as sick as lie about being pregnant, in order to get money. She shook those thoughts from her memory, as Jay looked down at her. She looked up to him, their boldly colored eyes meeting each other, his striking ocean blue ones locking with her own deep chocolate brown ones. Their lips met with a kind of euphoric passion that neither were ready for. It was soft, more caring, with a hint of longing for forgiveness on Jay's part, attributes Alex had never experienced during a kiss with Jay before.

Melissa had heard the floorboards creak as Jay and Alex woke up moments apart from each other, and had got restless. She too crept downstairs and stood on the bottom stair and watched her nephew and his girlfriend. She had to admit, they were very well matched. She smiled warmly to herself, before slipping into the kitchen to make coffee. After her first coffee, she began being able to function properly.

Sean and Tracker sat together through a very awkward breakfast. Just as Sean thought he was going to have to ditch his bowl of cereal and start eating the tension in the room, the telephone let out a feeble wail. Any day now, that phone was going to keel over and die.

Tracker leaped up from the table and darted over to the phone like he was running a marathon.

"Hello? Yes this is he... Alberta? Oh wow... I'll take it... OK, awesome. Thank you sir... Bye."

"Who was that?" Sean grunted through a large mouthful of chocolate pancakes.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, you look like a pig in a sty." Tracker scolded, observing the crumbs catapulting from Sean's mouth. "It was Mr. Woodley. He's got a job for me in Alberta."

"Alberta?" Sean echoed in disbelief. "But that means..."

"Come on, dude, we gotta pack. This is perfect for me, but we had to be there... yesterday, so hurry up and get packed!"

"Tracker, I can't go I haven't finished my year. I've finally got my shit together here!"

"I haven't got time to listen to your little girl whining, Sean."

"I can't go Tracker!"

"Yes you can, you can transfer! There are high schools in Alberta!"

"Tracker, I repeated grade seven, I'm not gonna repeat grade nine!"

"Well you can't stay here. I can drop you in Wasaga with-"

"No! I'm not living with mom and dad!" Sean exclaimed defiantly.

"Well you can't stay here on your own, I already told you that!"

Sean was at his wits end. He was panicking now. All the hard work he'd put in at school, staying out of trouble, getting Ellie back on the straight and narrow... all of that would have been for nothing if he couldn't think of an alternative. He was worrying now... then suddenly something popped in his brain, like a big comical light bulb. "Actually, I can!" He sneered, delighted to prove Tracker wrong. "I can stay here on welfare, I'm old enough."

"You can't live on your own! I guarantee, you'll be knocking on my door before you know it, lil' bro." Tracker said, full of doubt.

What did ya think? Please review as honestly as you can! Thanks guys!