You asked Jade to spend the night with you. She hesitated at first, but then later agreed. You weren't sure, but you thought that maybe… somehow, she knew. Not the same way Rose knew (because she made it painfully clear she did know) but maybe something more like "super-dog" knew. Either way, you were on your way to your house, now.

You kept smiling and trying to appear normal while Jake and John were present and blamed any awkwardness on being tired. They bought it… But Jade didn't.

You all parted, John to his house, next door, Jake to SkaiaNet's fairly new Seattle branch (so he could be closer to you when he worked), where a transportalizer waited to take him home, and you and Jade to your house, where your Dad was waiting, passed out on the couch. You took a blanket out of his wallet modus and draped it over him, kissing his forehead. Jade yawned and stretched as she made her way to the stairs. The dog-tier thing had subsided a bit, she no longer randomly barked, but it was still pretty evident sometimes. You followed her a little slower in pace.

When you got to your room, she was bouncing a little on your bed. You sat beside her and she stopped bouncing. You didn't say anything. Neither did she. You just looked at your hands in your lap.

Finally, Jade broke the silence. "Jane…" she began. "I know you're technically my mom, and this is probably a little out of line for me to say this, but… What on earth were you thinking?" she barked (almost literally). It was harsh, but you knew you deserved it. You wanted to tell her that you weren't thinking. You wanted to tell her that it was a terrible mistake and that you wanted to take it back. You wanted to tell her so many things that sounded thoughtful and remorseful and apologetic and appropriate given the situation.

But instead, you broke down into tears. Your throat was too choked up to get anything intelligent out and, quite honestly, you didn't even have anything intelligent to say. You started to keel over, placing your head in your hands. She placed a hand on your shoulder and you threw your arms around her and began to cry harder.

"How could I just do that?" You were practically screaming. "How could I just go along with it like that? Why couldn't I just stop and walk away? How could I do that to Jake?" You were becoming more and more hysterical with every word. You then stopped talking and just began to cry, loudly sobbing at first, then you quieted down a bit but lamented even harder. Jade hadn't said anything. Then she said something that threw you off.

"Do you love him?" You could barely make her face out through the tears. You shook your head "no" violently. You didn't. You couldn't have. You were in love with Jake. At least, you were fairly certain you loved Jake. No, you did. You were. Jade sighed and looked away. She very clearly was just as upset about this as you were, if not a bit less emotionally tormented. She wasn't the one who had cheated on her boyfriend. "Jane… Promise me. Promise me you don't love him." You did. Another sigh and then, "Look, what I should do is make you tell Jake and have you work it out on your own," you nodded in agreement. You knew it was the right thing to do, too. "But, and you have to promise me it will never happen again if I do this," she gave you a stern look followed by another sigh, "I won't tell anyone."

"But Jade, I-" You were so confused. Why was she saying this?

"Jane, I don't like it any more than you… But I'm trying to think of Jake, here. Tomorrow's your anniversary. Your two year anniversary. It would break his heart if he found out his girlfriend and his best friend did something like that on such a big and important day, right? You clearly know what you did was wrong, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"And you'll promise me you'll never do it again, right? You'll promise me that you'll do the right thing from here on out, right? Right, Jane?"

You couldn't believe this. Was she serious? The right thing to do was tell Jake what you had done. What Dirk and you had done, together and behind his back! But then you thought about what she said; that she was thinking of Jake. So you thought of Jake, too.

You thought about what it would do to him, how he'd not only never trust you again, if he didn't out right leave you, but also how he'd lose his best friend. The guy he'd do anything for and believed the most in. The guy he still genuinely loved, even if not as much as when they were together. You thought about how much faith he had in the two of you, how he was never jealous or mistrusting or...

You promised her.