Jenny's POV

"Are you sure?" I asked, my voice shot up several octaves.

He nodded, still not looking at me.

I didn't believe him. I ran upstairs and checked her room.

The bed was stripped. I ignored the strengthening belief in my stomach and checked all the wardrobes. They were bare. I felt hollow as I sat back on my haunches. She really was gone.

X_X_X_X_X

Michael was in the same spot he had been in five minutes ago. I noticed now that eggs were splattered on the floor, semi dried and sticky. Michael didn't seem to care that he was sitting in the centre of the mess in his favourite jeans. That or he was too shocked to realise.

I walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"If it helps, I'm here. I'm going through the same-"

"Through the same thing?" Michael interrupted me, each word bitter and clipped, "No. You aren't and never will be going through the same thing as me. You know why? Because Julian didn't leave you – not willingly at least - he loved you so much that he was willing to die for you. Audrey left me willingly, for God knows what because she didn't even think to tell her boyfriend that she was leaving. There was no note, no goodbye. Just a sudden absence. Tell me how in hell that is the same as what you are going through?" His muted whisper had risen to a yell at some point and now he was flat out screaming at me.

I flinched at each hateful word. It was like a physical slap. The wound on my heart that had just been scabbing over was slowly being ripped apart. I blinked back tears in the sudden silence after. I shook my head and stood up. I turned to face Michael just before I left, and opened my mouth planning on saying something mean and spiteful, but nothing came.

A cruel smile twisted Michael's lips, "What? Can't you find anything mean to say? I guess you used them all up on Tommy that day with the whole 'I hate you' thing."

The tears I had been trying to hold back, began to fall freely down my face, "That's not fair."

"Jenny, life's not fair. Get used to it."

I turned and left, speechless. Whoever that person was, he wasn't my friend and he most certainly wasn't Michael.

Julian's POV

I walked down the stairs slowly. I figured the best time to make an appearance would be when everyone else was gone. I took each step slowly, enjoying the feeling of having a body, of being free from the shadows.

I wondered when I should tell Jenny about my situation. Tom had given me doubts. If I wasn't careful, I was going to lose her. Everything had to be said in just the right way at just the right moment. Otherwise she wouldn't believe me.

A wave of nerves rushed through me as footsteps echoed down the hall towards me. The person coming was practically running towards me. I hated not knowing who it was, as a Shadow Man I could disappear in an instant if I didn't wish to see that person, but now I was some kind of hybrid, I was weak. I considered rushing back up the stairs and hiding in my room. I didn't want to run into the wrong people. But before I had even started to turn, I caught a flash of long honey blond hair. Jenny.

I could hear her ragged gasps as she raced forward. She was crying. My heart twisted. She hadn't seen me yet and continued on. I knew she was going to run into me and that when she saw me, she would see Tom. The man she had once loved but now only saw as an echo of past happiness. But I didn't move. I waited. I waited until she ran smack into me and then enveloped her in my arms.

Her warmth seeped into me and I sighed. I'm here. I'm here now. She crumpled into me almost instantly and broke into ragged sobs. She was so broken, she had fallen so far from the girl I had fallen in love with. I felt that she would break into a billion pieces if I let her go. I felt Jenny's tears spill onto my collar and then onto my neck. Anger struck white hot and I felt the darker part of me, the part of me that had grown up as a cold and untouchable Shadow man, rise up. I wanted to I kill whoever had made Jenny feel like this.

My arms tightened protectively around her quivering form before I released her and tried to gauge what had made her feel like this. She refused to look at me in the eye and hid her face behind her hair as if she was ashamed of her tears.

"What happened?" My voice was a fierce whisper as I stroked her tears away with the pads of my thumbs.

A choked sob escaped her mouth, "I just miss him, you know? I miss him so much it hurts and everybody hates me for it. Is it wrong for me to have loved him?"

A single bead of hope bloomed inside of me. Was she talking about me? "Wrong that you loved who?"

She shook her head but otherwise didn't answer.

"Jenny who did you love?" I asked my voice tinged with desperation.

She opened her mouth and looked up at me, before closing it abruptly. I frowned slightly, what was she doing? She hastily wiped her eyes and shrugged out of my arms. I could practically feel the walls as they came up around her.

She crossed her arms across her chest, creating a physical barrier between us and when she glanced at me again; her eyes were distinctly colder.

"Why are you pretending to care?"

I didn't answer.

"Why are you pretending to care? We both know you don't."

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. How do you answer that question? I couldn't tell the truth, she wouldn't believe me. I was unprepared and caught off guard. I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair. "You know I can't answer that," I whispered.

She shook her head. "That's the thing – I don't know. I don't know anything anymore."

I reached for her, "Jenny -"

She evaded my grasp. "No, I can't deal with this right now. I just need to be alone."

I opened my mouth to object, but she pushed past me and ran up the stairs before I could form the words. That had been nothing like I had hoped it would be. I felt terrible. It had always been hard for me to interact with Jenny, but she'd never been so closed off and defensive. I turned and kicked the wall. How was I supposed to do this?

A/N: Hi guys. I'm back! I bet all of you guys are shocked! I updated in less than two months...if not one month! :D But I must say... I was very sad when I got no reviews to the last chapter. Was it crappy or were you guys all really lazy...cos I know people read it! :D So...if anyone IS still interested in this story...please review and gimme some feedback? I promise you guys it makes my day! :D