Nina woke up and reached out, but found her bed empty. Panicking, she got up and ran out of her room, tears filling her eyes when she couldn't find Jack anywhere in the house. Thinking she had imagined him being there, she went to the kitchen to check the fridge, where she had put the leftovers from the previous night. But instead, she was relieved to find Jack at the table, reading the newspaper as if he did that every day.

"Jack?"

"Hey, morning sleeping beauty," Jack said to her with a grin.

Nina wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought I imagined everything. I didn't want you to be gone."

"I'm not. I'm right here Nina. And you should be getting ready for work."

"Why weren't you in the bed last night?"

"I wasn't sure if you wanted me there, so I used the spare room."

"I want you to be with me. Please?"

"Sure baby, but you really do need to go to work. I have to speak to Susan about coaching the soccer team anyway, so hurry up before you make us both late."

Nina smiled. She kissed him and let him wipe the tears away before going to make some breakfast for herself. She still felt a little sad though, her thoughts wouldn't stop wandering and giving her different scenarios in which Jack left her again.

Nina finally felt better. She and Jack were walking to the school, hand in hand. He had promised that he wasn't leaving ever again, and she knew that it was true. He had never made that promise before, and she had never had a reason to doubt his promises before. They were lost in their own little world when Lou and Lauren pulled up beside them to drop off Amber and Bailey at school. Lou was grinning as he watched the couple before interrupting them.

"About time you two worked things out," he said.

Nina jumped and Jack caught her before she fell. "Lou! You scared me!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry. So, where are you headed?"

"Work. And Jack is going to see Susan. By the way, next time you let someone into my house, at least tell me so I don't almost call the police."

"You called the cops?"

"Nearly."

Lou roared with laughter, so Lauren stepped in. "I think Nina's right, it isn't nice to scare people. And now that I said that, is this Jack? The one you told me about the other day?"

Laughing, Nina nodded. "Yes, this is Jack."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lauren."

"You must be Nina's sister then. I think Lou was telling me about her new family."

"That's me. I have a sister, which is so cool. Nina, I told the kids that if they need something while I'm gone, that you can help, is that okay?"

"Of course it is. Is Amber staying with me?"

"No, she's still staying with Imogen. And Bailey wants to stay at a friend's place. That's fine with me. But I want them keeping up at school please."

"No problem, I'll keep an eye on them for you."

"Thank you again for this, it's helping so much."

"Don't worry about it. If they need you, I'll call, but they'll be fine. Go see your son."

Lauren smiled and gave Nina a hug. "You are a life saver. I promise I won't be too long."

"It's really not a problem Lauren, go."

Nina and Jack waved their friends off and then headed inside.

"Hey Nina," called Tanya when Nina entered the staff room.

"Hi. Guess what? You'll never believe who was waiting when I got home last night," said Nina excitedly.

"Who?"

"Jack. I went inside and he was there, waiting for me." She left out the part about him scaring her.

"That's great, you must be so happy."

"I am. I've missed him so much lately. I'm glad he's here."

"I thought you said he wasn't coming until next week?"

"That's what I thought too, but apparently, it was only to make sure I would be surprised when he did come early."

"You know what? I think he's being sweet. It sounds like he missed you too."

"Yeah. I didn't really give him a chance to explain anything though, because I wouldn't let go of him. I didn't want him to disappear on me again."

"I don't think he will. Especially if that's him there," Tanya grinned as she pointed to the window.

Nina looked over and smiled. She waved to him as Susan pulled him along behind her, causing Nina and Tanya to laugh. Once Jack was gone from view though, Nina sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just missed him, and now it seems like he's never leaving. That's good, obviously, but I just can't stop imagining different ways of him disappearing again. Is that silly?"

"Of course not. It's not like it hasn't happened before, and after everything you've been through in that relationship, it's normal to think it could happen again."

Nina gave her a grateful smile as they stood to leave the staff room.

"Okay, listen up please," called Nina as she stood in front of the desk in her homeroom class. "I have new class outlines for those of you in my music class this afternoon. When I call you, come and get an outline." She picked up her papers. "Imogen, Amber, Leah, Sam, Dean, Katie, and George." After they had taken their papers and sat down again, Nina picked up a slip of paper. "Josh, this is yours." She held the paper out for him to take. "Amber, come up here please, Imogen too." She had work for them, but also wanted to speak to Amber. She handed the work to them. "I know you'll be with Imogen, but you can call if you need something okay? Anytime of the day or night."

Amber nodded. "Thank you."

The bell rang and the students filed out, heading to their classes. Nina followed and headed to the staff room since she didn't have a class that morning.