AN: Sorry, sorry, don't eat me! I just couldn't help myself! But here you go! There's still one more chapter, so just bear with me. Y'all are the best!

(Randy)

The day after we left her in Mississippi, I called Jess like I promised Ted. And just like I told him, she never answered. I called Ted to tell him so.

"Keep trying!" he said, sounding exasperated. "You've gotta let her know you care. She's a teenager!" With an angry sigh I hung up on Ted and tried again. And again. And again. Until finally, FINALLY, she answered the phone.

"Hullo?" she sniffled, obviously trying to hide the fact that she'd been crying.

"Hey," I said gently. "I just wanted to check up on you, make sure you're alright."

"I'll be fine," she said quickly. I laughed a little.

"You'll BE fine? What about right now?" She was silent for a moment.

"I'll be fine." I sighed.

"Alright, if you don't want to talk to me, I understand."

"I don't." I heaved another big sigh.

"Alright. You can call whenever you need to talk."

"Ok."

"Bye, Jess."

"Bye." I called Ted back the moment she hung up.

"So, I talked to her, and she didn't want anything to do with me."

"Well OBVIOUSLY."

"You said she wanted to talk to me!"

"She's HURT, Randy! She wasn't expecting to go home!"

"What?" He groaned angrily.

"Nothing. I'd rather not make this any worse than it already is. YOU ask her."

"Ted," I warned.

"No. I'm on Jess's side for this one. You're not getting a PEEP out of me." With that, he hung up, too. I turned to John, who was driving today.

"What do you think?"

"About what?" he asked innocently.

"Be serious John. What do you think about all this? You know the whole story. Tell me what you think."

"You know what I think?" he asked. "I think that you're a melodramatic jerk who just crushed a girl's hope, one who we all love very much, I might add. That's what I think."

"She got hit by a CAR, John!" I exclaimed. "How much more would she have gotten hurt if she would have stuck around?"

"I said it before, and I'll say it again. She got hit by a car saving YOUR daughter. Do you really think people just DO that? She loved you and your family, and you just put her out in the cold." He sighed. "Look, it's not too late. I've still gotta drive the 'Stang down to give to her. We can pick her up then." I shook my head.

"I'm standing firm on this, John. It's better for her to stay down there."

"Oh, you're such an idiot."

(Jessie)

A week later, I was surprised when all of a sudden a Mustang and a big Ford truck pulled into our driveway. John and Ted stepped out, all smiles.

"John!" I groaned. "I told you not to!"

"And I told you to give me a good reason why, and you couldn't, so here I am!"

"And I'm here to drive him back," Ted said. I think they could both see the question that was threatening to burst out of me, because John just gave me his sad look and shook his head.

"He didn't think you wanted to see him."

"He's right. I don't," I said stubbornly.

"Well, let's not get bummed out. We were headed down to Bourbon for some dinner, and we figured we'd need an official tour guide. I laughed.

"Lemme get permission and then we can go."

We spent a few hours just eating dinner on Bourbon Street. It was a little annoying, having to be stopped for pictures every few minutes, but we managed to get out before the creepers started walking the streets. They took me back 'home,' and shipped out.

I cried more that night.

Looking back, I guess I was lucky. I could have been put under state custody, but I managed to just stay with people I knew. Life continued on just as it had before I ran away to New York. I found myself starting my senior year of high school, still playing in the band, still barely making it.

I had been wrong. No matter how much I faced it down, the memories were still painful. Ted still called me at least once a week. Sometimes, I really just wanted to tell him to stop. If he would stop, then maybe I could pretend like I really WAS crazy and that it had never happened. I couldn't hide it. I was going into a deep depression, and I wasn't quite sure how I was going to pull out of it. People tried to cheer me up, at first. But when I just kept pushing them away, they eventually gave up. And I felt lonelier than ever.

Months passed, and eventually I just decided that maybe I SHOULD just ask Ted to back off. Cody had sent me the Xbox like he promised, but it had been WEEKS since I played Halo with him. So, as I sat in the park playing with Rupert, I groaned when I got a phone call from Ted.

"Hey, Teddy," I said glumly into my earpiece so I could still throw the ball for Rupe.

"Aw, why the long face?" he asked.

"Because I feel like poop on a stick." He laughed a little.

"You feel like a corndog?" This got a chuckle out of me, and then I remembered what I had to tell him today. For my own SANITY.

"Ted…"

"What?" he asked. "Cody said to say that if you don't play Halo tonight, he'd snipe you from halfway across the country." I chuckled.

"Tell him his aim's not good enough." Aw, who's kidding! What would I do without Ted and Cody? "Ted?" I asked again with a sigh.

"Yeah?" I sighed again.

"I'm getting bad cell phone service. You're breaking up." I hit the small button on my earpiece and fell to the ground with a sigh. Rupert ran over and tried to jump in my lap, but I shooed him off. "I'm not in a good mood, Rupe!" I told him. He whined and laid his head on my leg.

"We have the exact same cell phone service. That call did NOT just drop." I checked my earpiece to make sure it was off. Did I just hear Ted? A big shadow fell over me, and I looked up.

"Ted?" I asked. He chuckled.

"The one and only."

"Teddy!" I yelled, jumping up and glomping him. "I missed you!" I said. I hadn't actually SEEN him since him and John brought down the car. "How did you FIND me?" I asked, drawing away from him.

"The truth?" I nodded. "Your guardian called me. He's worried about you. Said that you're a lot worse off than you're letting on. I sighed.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You GUESS so? How about you take me to a nice shady spot in this park, and we'll talk about it."

"That'd be great, Ted."

Rupert and I led him to a nice spot by the river where we could relax. Taking a seat on a picnic bench, we talked.

"So tell me what's REALLY been going on," he said. I sighed.

"I don't… have many friends," I said. "Don't get me wrong, they all tried, but… I've just been… Sad. All the time." I chuckled a little. "I lost my smile, I guess. So, eventually they all just kinda left me alone. I know it sounds stupid, but… Last summer was the happiest I've been in a long time. And when I heard Randy and Sam talking, and they wanted me to stay… I didn't think I'd ever lose that. I feel like I left everything that made me, well, ME back there. And besides that, I already lost my parents once, and then…" I looked down. "Dumb, I know, but…"

"No," Ted said gently. "I understand. You were happy, and you feel like you lost it all." I nodded glumly.

"I never figured out what I did wrong," I murmured. Ted sighed.

"You never did ANYTHING wrong," he said. "Randy thought…" I looked up at him. "He thought he was protecting you by sending you back here. He felt like all the times you got hurt over the summer were his fault, that they never would have happened if you hadn't been with him."

"Well yeah, but… I am who I am because of that summer. I grew so much…" He nodded.

"We all knew that. Randy's just hard headed. Why don't you tell him what you just told me?"

"Because I've managed to convince myself that none of you care about me and I shouldn't stress myself about missing you too much," I said with a chuckle.

"I wish you would call him," he said.

"What if he just tells me he doesn't want me?" I whined. He laughed.

"Y'know, I don't think you'll have to worry about that because you're not a dog, you're a person. No offence, Rupert." Rupe yawned in response. "But seriously. You should SEE him. You can tell when he's thinkin' about you, because he gets that really aggravated look, and can occasionally be heard calling himself and idiot. See, NOW, he thinks YOU hate HIM, so he doesn't want to push you away anymore."

"Seriously?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, why don't you just tell him I said to call, and we'll start working things out." He sighed and shook his head.

"Y'know what y'all's problem is? You're both too stubborn."

(Randy)

Ted had business to attend to for a day or so, and John was off tour for a few days, so I was left by myself. Ted was due to meet me here at the hotel tonight, so I was just waiting for him.

When Ted finally got here, he looked like he was going to KILL something.

"I guess something went wrong?" I asked as he walked in. He barked an angry laugh.

"Did something go wrong?" he asked sarcastically. He turned his glare on me.

"Hey man, it wasn't my fault," I said.

"Are you sure about that?" he demanded. "You wanna know where I went?" I nodded. "I went down South, to Louisiana, to see Jess, because Andrew asked me to go help because she's so upset."

"Still?" I asked. His jaw dropped.

"You just didn't. Let me explain something to you. She's not the same person you knew. She is so deep in this depression that I'm honestly WORRIED about her. And this is YOUR fault!"

"My fault?"

"YES, RANDY IT'S YOUR FAULT!" he yelled. "You thought you could 'protect her,' to 'keep her from getting hurt,'" he sneered. "Well guess what, Randy? You lose. Because YOU have finally managed to hurt her more than any CAR ever could."

"What-"

"JUST SHUT UP! YOU need to figure out a way to fix this, Randy. Do you hear me? FIX IT." He handed me his phone. "Just listen. This is her explaining to me WHY she's so upset." Apparently he had made a recording of her talking. God, she sounded so… Sad.

"Well, what should I do, Ted?" He slapped his forehead.

"I've been saying this from day one. TALK TO HER!" I nodded.

"Alright, I'll figure things out."

"Yeah, you'd better," he grumbled. "Or I might tear your face off."

And this time, I really DID try to fix things. I got some phone numbers, made some calls, worked some things out. As it turns out, Jessie had a big night coming up. It was her senior night for band, and the students were supposed to be escorted by their parents. I called Andrew to see what they were planning on doing. He told me that his wife and him already had commitments for that night, and wouldn't be able to make it,

"Somebody's gotta be there for her, though," he said. "I was gonna call Ted to see if he could come down."

"No," I growled. "Sam and I will do it."

"You had better not hurt her," Andrew warned.

"I'm doing this to fix things, don't worry," I assured him.

A quick phone call to her band director, and I had a plan. Somehow, things would work out.

(Jessie)

The night that I had been afraid of for weeks was coming up. It hit me a few weeks into school that on senior night, your parents were supposed to walk you out. As long as Andrew and his wife, Natalie, were going to walk me out, maybe I could keep everything under control. They could SORTA pass for my parents. If you overlooked the fact that we looked nothing alike, and they were only a few years older than me. Besides, it was only a few seconds. Nobody would even notice. I hoped.

But then, Andrew and Natalie had to back out. They had some kind of church thing to attend on that night, and couldn't make it. That's when I started to worry. If I was ALONE during the shebang, any semblance I had of keeping things together would vanish.

As the weeks passed by, I couldn't find anybody to take their place. I eventually just gave up. If the night was going to be miserable, I might as well be, too. The night of, I tried to convince Mr. Naquin, the band director, to just let me sit this one out. He shook his head.

"Sorry, kid. You've gotta go through with this one." With an angry groan, I walked out onto the field. They started calling names, escorted by their parents. I picked a spot in the sky above the stadium and stared it down. Aliens never abduct you when you need them to.

Then, they got to my name.

"Jessica Long," I heard. "Fourth year trumpet player and band sergeant." The words just sort of faded out as I tuned them out. "Escorted by…" I looked up at the box where the announcer was at, then at Mr. Naquin. I wasn't escorted by anybody. Half expecting him to apologize for being wrong, I stared at the ground. "Randy and Samantha Orton." I looked up again with a gasp. He couldn't be serious. I scanned the line of parents, their faces blacked out by the bright stadium lights behind them. And then, two of them walked forward. This had to be some kind of sick joke. As they got closer, I could see them. It was them! Randy and Sam! Suddenly I noticed the deep cheers coming from the stadium. The whole crew was up there, Ted, Cody, Vince… All of them. Randy and Sam came to stand next to me, and I laughed for the first time in months. Sure, I was crying, but for an entirely different reason than I had been.

"You came!" I said, hugging them. Randy hugged me back, holding me tight.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured. "I never meant to hurt you." I felt something dripping onto my head.

"Are you crying?" I asked with a sniffle and a laugh.

"Are YOU?" he snapped back playfully. I turned to Sam and hugged her.

"I missed you," I told her.

"I told Randy her was stupid, but you know how he can be," she said with a laugh.

"It was never your fault," Randy said gently. "I was so afraid you would be hurt that I never thought of how much I was hurting you." I nodded.

"I know."

"But the important thing is that we're together now. And NOTHING is ever gonna change that, I promise."