"And from that day, we never saw each other again...until now." Cat finished, and she looked very close to tears. She flapped her hand in front of her face, an action that Jade had never understood.

"No," Jade breathed, a look of horror crossing her face. "I didn't do that. I could never do that, not to you..not to these babies," Jade absentmindedly rocked Jasper, clasping him close to her chest that rose and fell in quick succession. Her face crumpled and she covered her face with one of her hands, the other still gently rocking Jasper. "I'm so, so sorry,"

Cat stared at Jade, uncertainty written all over her face. Was this girl - the girl who she had loved and respected since high school, but who had also caused unimaginable pain - telling the truth? It would break her heart if she wasn't, but at the same time Cat's heart lurched in her chest. She so wanted to hug Jade and Beck and tell them that everything would be okay, that she forgave them..but did she?

It gave her a headache just thinking about thinking about it.

"I know," Cat says quietly, nodding. "I know."

Jade shook her head and she sniffed, trying to wrap her head around it all. Her head pulsed a steady beat and finally her body began to rack with heaving sobs. "No, I just can't believe that I'd do that, I'm a horrible person - I deserved all of that, every bit. I just...I'm so, so sorry," Jade says, and she carefully drops Jasper in Beck's arms as she rushes out of the door. Cat sighs heavily as she watches Jade once more run out of that door, watching the willowy figure turn to get into her car and drive away as quickly as you blinked.

Jade drives to the nearest Walmart and she rushes into the store. Bolting to the entrance, Jade almost falls flat on her face as she scrabbles through the shelves for the one thing she's looking for. "Come on, come on," Jade mutters, irritated. And then she suddenly spots the thing she was looking for. In her hurry, she almost forgot to pay. Inwardly cringing, Jade shoves a hand into her pocket and throws a few dollars at the cashier.

"Thanks, keep the change," she says, and then she runs for her car once again. When she is back in Cat's house, she is out of breath from running about and then running straight through the front door. Cat's lips twitch upwards as a packet of red velvet cupcakes are thrown in front of her, a little crushed but perfect otherwise. Her heart breaks at this teenagers innocence - because in the midst of things, she had forgotten that this wasn't her badly damaged thirty something friend, this was a lost, lonely, confused teenager who didn't understand where it had all gone wrong.

Forgetting her inhibitions, Cat threw her arms around Jade and sobbed into her shoulder. Jade, knowing nothing but being the strong one, encased Cat into the hug and held on tightly. Beck struggled to contain his emotions at the scene, because damn it his own heart broke for what was waiting for them all in the future still to come.

With fresh tears in her sparkling brown eyes, Cat didn't have the heart to tell Jade that she had really gone off of red velvet cupcakes and ate the whole sugary mess with a wobbly smile on her face.

"What happens now?" Beck says quietly, sighing softly. He nibbles at his thumbnail and worriedly looks at Jade. She looks at Beck and smirks - she simply cannot help herself.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe we should leave it up to fate," she says bitingly.

"I was wrong," he says slowly, not looking her in the eye. "I was wrong, okay? The future sucks, for us, no matter what we do, it seems. We're gonna have to do this, Jade. Do you understand that? Because god damn it, I'm trying, but I just can't."

The smirk vanished, wiped off of Jade's face as the seriousness of the situation dawned on her. She truly didn't have a clue what she would do if they couldn't get back to the past...and what if they did?

Would they be able to put that behind them?

Would they still look at each other before? And Cat? Would Jade ever be able to touch her best friend again without recoiling in horror about the godawful path that she knew was being paved in front of her.

After all, the road to hell is often paved with good intentions.

Of course she wouldn't be able to. It was simply too late for that. Jade felt sick; the rest of her life was already mapped out for her, and she would never forget the terror in her eyes as she thought back to various points in the story. Only it wasn't a story, was it? It was her life.

Shaking her head, Jade switches the kettle on. She badly needs some coffee, and now. "Why isn't this thing turning on?" Jade grumbles, and she hits the plug with a gentle closed fist. When this doesn't work, she fiddles with the wire at the back. It seems loose.

"No, Jade, don't do that! You'll electrocute yoursel-"

All of a sudden, Jade feels an almighty jolt and she is knocked to the floor. She hears distant voices, like her ears are stuffed with cotton wool.

"Jade? Jade!"

"Jadey..?"

One voice sticks out more than the others. Cat's, of course. She bends down right next to her ear and whispers: "I forgive you, Jade, I forgive you for everything."

Those were the words Jade seemed to need to hear, and she felt herself drifting away once again.

Another jolt shakes Jade awake.

Bright lights surround her as she cries out in confusion. "Jade? You're awake? You're awake! Thank god!"

Jade squints in the sudden brightness and groans weakly. Her head throbbed and she felt absolutely awful. "What?" She croaks, and her mouth feels like it's full of sawdust. It was so dry and sore. Her dad leaned over her, his business suit looking totally out of place. Jade's heart lurches and she encircles her dad in an iron grip. He frowns, surprised, for his little girl hadn't hugged him in years.

He gently places her down and kisses her forehead. "You've been in a coma for two months, Jade," he says somberly. Jade's head spins. "You were in a car crash, do you remember?"

Jade searches her memories. "You were driving home from Beck's, and you were upset, and driving too fast...it was icy. Your car flipped over twice and you broke your arm and a leg. "Thankfully your head is fine," he says, but she disagrees. What year was it? Where was she? How old was she? Did she have kids yet?

"Where's Beck?" She asks instead, breathless. Did he come back, too?

"He's getting you a coffee."

Jade leans back on her pillow and gives her father a shaky smile. Beck and her had a looooot to discuss...