Chapter 2

I opened my lazy eyes the next morning with all traces of my headache gone. I had expected to be given a pillow, maybe a blanket, and made to sleep on the floor somewhere, but instead Benny gave up his bed for Kellie and I and he slept on the couch. I guess the Benny I grew up with was still there, somewhere; maybe this weekend wouldn't be as bad as I thought.

I crawled out of bed as quietly as I could so that I wouldn't disturb Kellie, and left the bedroom. I easily found the living room where I expected to see that I was the only one awake; I was wrong. Sure Benny still lay sprawled out on the too small couch, half naked with a blanket falling off him, but someone else sat in the armchair. I slowly walked over and stood next to the figure.

"Good morning Amy." The figure's scratchy voice said.

"Good morning…" And then there was nothing; I had blanked on his name. I couldn't remember it. I remembered meeting him last night; I remembered shaking his hand, his strong yet tender hand. I remember wishing I could run my fingers through his hair, but I could not, for the life of me, remember his name. And he knew it.

"Jackson," he smiled.

"Jackson, right sorry. I wasn't exactly all there last night." I explained feebly.

"Ah, too much to drink?"

"Not enough is more like it." I joked. "No, actually, I had a really terrible headache."

"And how does your head feel now?" He asked.

"It's fine, thank you."

"Can I get you anything? Some cereal? Something to drink maybe?"

"Do you have any orange juice?"

"Uh, yea, I believe so. Let me check." Jackson stood up, and I followed him to the kitchen where he proceeded to pour me a glass of orange juice.

"I'll be right back; I just need to get something." I excused myself for a moment as I returned to the bedroom. When I came back, with my purse in hand, Jackson was still in the kitchen and he had poured himself a glass of orange juice as well.

"Thank you." I said, lifting my glass.

"You're welcome." He replied lifting his own glass.

I took a sip of OJ and rummaged through my purse until I pulled out an unmarked pill bottle. I popped the top and picked out several different pills of varying sizes. Jackson watched carefully as I threw the first one in my mouth and swallowed.

"So, does Johnson know you pop pills every morning for breakfast?"

"Well," I looked up at him and was momentarily at a loss for words. "That pill was Zyrtec because I have pet allergies and that is a cat." I point to the cat that was currently weaving its way through Jackson's legs.

"His name is Dean."

"Well, good morning Dean." The cat just stared at me with wide eyes. I wasn't much of pet person.

"And the others?" Jackson drew my attention back to the pills in my hand.

"Hmm, these pills," I separated three pills into a separate pile, "are vitamins B, C, and E." I took the three of them together.

"And the little blue one?" His curiosity was still not satisfied.

"This," I paused. Did I really want to tell him this? "This is birth control. And no, Benny doesn't know about this one and I'd appreciate it if he didn't find out."

"Why not?"

"Geez, you're nosey aren't you."

"I'm sorry." He looked down shyly. "You're right; I am being nosey. You don't have to answer any more questions, if you don't want to." He looked up and his eyes caught mine, and suddenly I felt like I wanted to answer any question he asked.

"Birth control does more than just prevent unwanted pregnancies, but Benny wouldn't see it that way. And I don't think I'm ready to spoil the innocent image that he still has of me. Back in Bartelso, under Benny's ever watchful eye, guys weren't allowed within ten feet of me. If he knew of some of the things I've done… I think it would break his little heart."

"Hmm…" He tried to hide his smile, but I could almost see the wheels spinning as he tried to imagine what sort of 'things' I had done. "So you guys are pretty close then?"

"Yea. At least we were, now I don't really know. In Bartelso he was like a big brother and even after he left he still called like all the time. He still threatened to beat any guy who so much as looked at me wrong. But then his best friend died a few years ago, I think his name was…"

"Spencer Bell?"

"Yea. You knew him?"

"He was a friend of mine too."

"Oh." We were both silent for a little while. Jackson kept looking at me like he was trying to remember something.

"You were at the funeral weren't you?" He finally asked.

"Yea." I nodded. "I didn't know the guy personally; I was there for Benny's sake. I mean, his family had been there for me when I needed them, the least I could do was try to be there for him. But anyways, after Spencer died Benny changed. He stopped calling as frequently and birthday cards started showing up late. And then, when his father died last year that was it. He stopped calling all together.

"I tried calling him but he didn't answer, and he didn't return any of my calls. Then my birthday came and went and there was no acknowledgment from him whatsoever. I thought he'd moved on, made new friends, gotten a new life one in which I didn't have a place anymore. Until last week when he up and calls me out of the blue and invites me down here. I didn't know what to think. Did he find out he was sick or something, and thought it best to tell me in person? Had he invited his mom down as well? I didn't even know if I was going to come until we were halfway here. By then I figured, 'I've already gone this far, might as well finish it.'"

Jackson nodded silently for a few seconds as he finished off his OJ. "Well, he's not sick I can promise you that. Well he is a little, ya know," Jackson rotated his finger in circle about his ear to indicate 'crazy.'

"He was like that before; that's nothing new." I teased.

"But he is very glad that you came."

"Yea?" I asked skeptically.

"He wouldn't stop talking about it last night after the show. I eventually went to bed just to get away from it."

"He was talking about me last night? Like what sort of things did he say?"

"Well, he said that you moved in with his family when you were eight. And that you graduated Valedictorian and were accepted into several elite universities, including Berkeley which is where you decided to attend and study…biology?"

"Biochemistry actually, it's the study of the chemical reactions that occur naturally in the body." I corrected.

"Wow. Sounds…complicated and very difficult."

"It can be." I laughed. "You've got to really love learning, and I do."

"Yea, she's a big science nerd. You should have seen her freshman year; she was pathetic." Kellie said wearily as she staggered around the corner.

"And you were a drunk slut." I responded playfully.

"Not much has changed then has it?"

"Oh shut up and go get your drugs. Here, you can use my cup." I gave her the last of my OJ.

"Much obliged." She mumbled before staggering off to the bedroom again.

"Do you guys start every morning like this? Popping pills and insulting each other?" Jackson asked.

"Pretty much. It's a love-hate relationship."

"A love-hate relationship?"

"Yea, I love to hate her and I hate to love her." I laughed. "Kells is…completely insane and insanely brilliant. She's the best study buddy you could ask for and yet she's the life of the party. She keeps life interesting and she's my best friend."

"Aww, Amy you're making me blush." Kellie came back into the kitchen with the empty glass in hand.

"Good morning ladies." Ben Graupner greeted as he joined us in the kitchen, shirtless.

"Do you guys always walk around here half naked?" Kellie asked grinning. I knew what that grin meant.

"Does it bother you?" he asked with a returning grin.

"Not in the least."

"I don't think I'd mind much, if my cousin weren't one of them." I said, nodding my head over my shoulder to my cousin who was still fast asleep on the couch.

"I don't know Me-Me," Kellie turned around to look over the counter. "I kinda like what see."

"Eww, gross."

"I'd wake him up for you," Jackson offered, "but there's no waking him up."

"Oh? Well, this cousin knows a few ticks or two. You just have to be willing to play dirty. Do you mind?" I pointed to the freezer just beside Jackson's head.

"Be my guest." He said as he stepped to the side. I walked to where he was standing and opened the freezer and pulled out an ice tray.

"You wouldn't." Jackson dared me. I just smiled evilly.

I walked into the living room and over to the couch, where Benny was sprawled out on his back. I popped the ice out and emptied the whole tray onto his bare chest. I quickly rubbed the ice cubes over his skin, making sure he felt the full force of the ice. His eyes shot open and he leapt from the couch in a hurry. The guys and Kellie were laughing in the kitchen.

"Morning cuz. I thought it time you got your lazy ass out of bed. And please, put some clothes on; I'm sick of looking at that." Ben just stared at me blankly, speechless, before he staggered off to his room.

"And thanks for the bed last night! It was really comfy!" I yelled after him laughing.

"Thanks a lot Amy." Kellie said as she came into the living room. "I doubt that he'll give up his bed tonight."

"There are two other beds in the house Kells." I said.

"You girls could have my bed tonight, just so long as I don't get woken up with a tray of ice." Jackson said as he came in with some paper towels to clean up the mess.

"Well, I can't make any promises." I said. "After all, I could just throw ice on you now." I picked up a stray ice cube and quickly rubbed it across his check and over his neck.

"You really didn't want to do that."

"Oh I think I did." I laughed. Before I knew it though, Jackson had wrapped his arm around my waist and thrown me down on the couch where my back proceeded to soak up the ice cold water.

"Shit!" I screamed out.

"I told you, you didn't want to do that." Jackson laughed

"What's going on here?" Benny asked as he came back into the room to find me flat on my back on the couch and Jackson leaning over me.

"Just sticking up for you man." Jackson responded. "I gave her a taste of her own medicine.

"It's not so cool is it?" Benny asked moping.

"Actually it's quite cool. It's ice." I responded through clenched teeth. "I'm going to go change now." Jackson offered a hand to help me up, but I ignored it and got up on my own. When I made it to the kitchen I paused and turned around.

"Oh and Jackson," I began, "you are so going to regret that one day." He just laughed.