OK - due to popular demand here is what would be tomorrow's chapter. If I run out of daily chapters next week though I will hold those requested it responsible :P

Enjoy - see you Sunday!

"Henderson? What are you...? Jesus?!" Stef opened the door concerned. "You have got to be kidding me?"

"Picked him up at Broncos..."

Stef's eyes flared angrily as she grabbed Jesus' arm. He kept his gaze fixed to the floor.

"Broncos? As in the bar Broncos? Get in here!" She whispered harshly pulling him in next to her. He delved his hands into his pockets.

"Broncos..." She repeated again mulling over how she knew it. "Isn't that the bar where they were about to do the bust?"

"Well - the failed bust." Henderson replied with a sigh. "That's what we were doing now - couldn't find a thing."

Stef looked at Jesus horrified with her mouth hanging open. He winced to brace himself for the tirade of a lecture that was about to come.

"What in the world ...? Do you have any idea how dangerous that place is? Not to mention what you were doing in a bar anyway?"

"He was with that Evan kid. Also may be worth mentioning when I tried to call you his pocket rang."

Stef put her palm on her head and her shoulders jerked down further with every development. She wiped her lip angrily and held her hand out as Jesus fished her phone from his pocket. She snatched it off him and folded her arms.

"You have no idea how much trouble you're in..." she threatened scooping her head down to try and make eye contact with him. He just turned his head away guiltily.

"Well...I better..."

Stef turned back to the Officer.

"Of course - thank you for bringing him back...sorry that the bust didn't..." her voice trailed off distracted still by the whole situation.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He winked. "Good luck, kid." He commented before turned away and Stef closed the door over leaning on it as it closed.

Jesus began to slowly walk away as her back was turned.

"Freeze!" She warned without turning causing Jesus to stop in his tracks.

"I cannot believe that you would do something as stupid and dangerous as this..."

"I just wanted to talk to him, I used your phone to..."

"That's another thing - you steal my phone and hightail out of here without so much as a word..."

"I told you I was going for a drive..."

Stef scoffed in response, biting her bottom lip.

"The idiocy and recklessness of this - not to mention the theft and disobedience of it - aside; did you not listen to a word I said earlier? It is not your call or your place to try and bring Evan..."

"Evan is not the bad guy here! You think he's bad news but he's not. Like the weed - you're still mad at him about that aren't you?" Stef furrowed her brow in genuine confusion.

"Jesus - this has nothing to do with..."

"Well what if it was mine, huh? What if it had never been his in the first place?"

Stef looked at him further baffled. Everything about his recent behaviour indicated he was trying to make up excuses to protect Evan. If she had taken any time to think back to the weed situation she would have probably picked up on some signs but she was too focussed on her current anger.

"Jesus that's ridiculous - trying to re-write history does neither of you any favours. Even if that was true this has got nothing to do with that...this has got everything to do with tonight and what you have done, not what Evan has or hasn't..."

"And what, Mom?!" Jesus fired back cutting her off, the pressure building. "What are you going to do? Kick me out too?"

"Don't be...we would never kick anyone out of this house - you know that..."

"Then where the hell is Evan?!"

Stef rubbed her temples furiously in frustration. She was done trying to protect his sensitivity to the subject.

"Jesus, why can you not understand that that is not our decision - it's Kasey and..."

"Kasey hasn't made a decision!" He yelled back turning swiftly towards the door.

"No! Don't you dare walk away. We are not done - I don't care how angry you..." Stef called after him as Lena arrived at the scene.

Jesus stormed out having let the pressure erupt. He knew Stef was right and this wasn't her call but he couldn't take it. He didn't want that to be the way it was. He wanted this to have been Stef's call. He wanted to blame Stef and Lena for being mad about the pot no matter how much he knew it wasn't the case because he wanted to blame himself. If it was his fault he would be allowed to fix it. It was eating him up and he wanted a reason to say it - but he couldn't say it! His head ached with the endless battle.

Lena watched him storm past her down into what was left of Evan's room in the basement as Stef swung her body round and collapsed onto the couch, Lena hovering over.

"What the..."

"Henderson just brought Jesus back from a bar they were doing a drugs bust in. He took my phone to find Evan and followed him there." She replied bluntly.

Lena's eyes flared. The last time Jesus had run off to a dangerous part of town Stef had ended up in hospital. She took a deep breath and shook her head just as the doorbell rang.

She strode over, welcoming the distraction from having to respond but sighed as she opened it. The relief didn't stay long.

"You shouldn't be here."

"I need to explain..."

Stef jumped up and over to the door clocking the voice.

"Explain? What were you..."

Evan raised his palms to cut off Stef.

"It's my fault - he tried to call me, I hung up so he came to find me. We were leaving as soon as he arrived but then the police came and we weren't able to..."

"What were you even doing in that bar Evan? Do you realise why the police were there? The owners of that place are notorious. Why would you be mixing with that crowd?"

Evan stuttered in response not wanting to give away any of his findings before he was sure. He didn't want to panic anyone or be accused of making up stories to try and defend himself.

"I was looking for a friend...look, that doesn't matter..."

"It matters if our kids are going to be tracking you there..." Lena added furiously "not to mention your own safety..."

Neither of the parties had noticed Kasey standing in the corner of the room.

"They won't need to anymore." She said confidently as the three looked to her.

"Kasey I..."

"Evan stop. Look - I don't know what is going on..." she said through a desperate laugh "I don't know what is happening with you and I don't know what happened the other night. But I know that this - whatever this is right now is not something I want." She was stewing with anger after hearing the situation he had put Jesus in but she was channelling it all into confidence to give a speech she had been debating throughout the weekend.

"Kase..."

"I need space, I need time and I need this to be not lingering over me. Maybe this was all too fast - maybe I fell too far too fast, maybe we both did and that's why it's making you do stupid things - I don't know but I can't handle this. Please just, I think it will be easier if you're just out of..." she couldn't complete the sentence but assumed the meaning would still be clear. "For a little while." She took a deep breath and held back another tear. She was too tired. Too exhausted to take any more pain, any more anger.

Evan looked down at the ground and back at her with a small nod. Maybe this was best. He had things to clear up and he didn't want the safety of any of Kasey's family at risk - Jesus turning up was enough to assure him of that. Everything else he could sort out in time.

"OK, Nerd." He responded quietly, his voice breaking, before turning. Kasey's heart jumped at the mention of his pet name for her. He paused slightly and turned back to Stef and Lena.

"Don't be too hard on Jesus - I let him down." he added before taking one last look for now at Kasey and walking out into the night.

Stef took a deep breath and closed the door. She held herself there slightly before exchanging a look with Lena and walking over to a frozen Kasey.

She pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead as she tried hard to suppress more tears.

"It'll be OK, babe." She whispered wiping one of the escaped ones away. "You'll both get past this - to another beginning. Back to one with each other or someone else just as special."

Kasey nodded as Lena joined them in their hug. They stood comforting her for a little while. She then stood up straight and took a deep breath. She would not let this get the better of her.

"Let me talk to Jesus." Kasey said after a few moments. "You can punish him or whatever, but I owe him this." Lena and Stef looked at each other before quietly nodding.

Jesus lay on Evan's bed, tossing a baseball up and down. His head pounded. He was so mixed up. He was angry with everyone, everything. The whole situation. He was especially angry at himself for making this even worse. When Evan had stood by him they had got in less trouble - he knew what he was doing. Jesus had just made everything worse for both of them in trying it himself. Evan wouldn't have screwed it up - how was he meant to learn more from Evan now he was no longer around? Then there was Kasey. His relationship with Kasey had always been so close and she was hurting. He had made it all worse. Was he being selfish trying to force Evan back in against her wishes? His moms were so mad. He was going to be grounded till college for pulling a stunt like that. Even if he could help Evan they'd never believe him now - they didn't care about the pot anymore. They only cared about Kasey and about Michelle. He threw the baseball angrily at the wall as it ricocheted down and he fixed his hand on his burning forehead.

"Don't think you want to add vandalism to your list of charges, kid." Kasey quipped having tried hard to collect herself. She was ready to put her heartache aside seeing the desperate effect it was having on her little brother. Kasey had inherited a lot from Stef, her strength of character and protectiveness being one and this had given her the ability to compartmentalise her own feelings if there was something she had to do for another. She had brought Evan into the family - she had to take responsibility for the difficulty his absence would now cause.

"Does it matter - it's not like Moms will ever let me out again."

"Well it was moronically stupid." She said accusingly, slapping his leg.

Jesus was about to protest but simply sighed down. He couldn't argue.

He flipped his body round and sat up as Kasey sat next to him. She looked around the room slightly uncomfortable at the reminder but she still pushed it aside and re-focussed.

"I've broken up with him Jesus - for now. I need this." His face dropped but he waited patiently for her to continue. "I'm sorry that it means I'm forcing you to have distance too - but if I don't have this time apart from him things may never get sorted. I don't want to lose him forever." She whispered.

Jesus looked across at her. "But you broke up...you think you'll get back together?"

"I know that if I am forced to figure out how I feel about our relationship right now, with school, with that girl still in our lives, with all of this tension - that I won't be making any decisions because it's necessarily what I want. I can't promise we're going to get back together - but I can promise you that if I suffer this limbo any longer I'll lose my mind."

Jesus sighed. Kasey's honesty and integrity was shaming for him. He really had been selfish in trying to force the issue. She was angry at Evan but she hadn't abandoned him in anger.

"I'm sorry I've interfered so much." He responded, his head drooping again. "I just think that there's something..." Kasey's eyes narrowed as Jesus locked into them. It wasn't fair for him to say. Kasey had just poured her heart out to him, explaining the justified reasons why she didn't want to deal with this yet. She had put her feelings aside for him and he owed it to her to do the same. If Michelle was involved in more ways than it seemed, Kasey would find out - but it didn't have to be now. He noticed her still expectant look.

"I just think that there's something that takes over me sometimes."

Kasey put a hand on the side of his head and kissed it harshly.

"Me too. That's why we've spent so much time in this house together on weekends." She quipped trying to lighten the mood.

"Just please, don't try and fix this for me. It will be fixed, but I need it to be on my terms. If you really need someone to take life advice from to keep getting you in even more trouble you can still always ask me." Jesus smiled along with her.

"I'm really sorry this happened to you, Kasey. You don't deserve this." He whispered across as Kasey gulped back.

"There's no-one who should be immune to bad things. Shit happens to us all."

Jesus nodded and squeezed her leg as Kasey nudged his shoulder with hers.

"Now, you better get upstairs to face Moms. If you stay down here they may just lock you in and be done with it - and if you want my advice. Don't argue and apologise. A lot."

Jesus closed his eyes with a reluctant smile. "I'll come for moral support, don't worry." Kasey reassured him.

Lena and Stef were leaning against the kitchen table each with a mug of tea. Their heads snapped away from their conversation as Kasey appeared with a cowering Jesus in tow.

He pulled out a chair and sat on it as Kasey went to make herself her own cup of tea and hovered indicating to Stef with her eyes that she wasn't going to go anywhere. As Evan had been a major factor in this, neither of them could protest her right to involve herself - plus it was a welcome buffer.

"I'm really sorry." He said drooping his head. "I was angry, I was upset and it clouded my judgment. That's not an excuse - it's just what happened. I interfered and I realise how much that could have hurt Kasey...and I had no right to take it out on you, Mom. I'm sorry."

Stef and Lena looked to each other. One thing you could always say about Jesus was that he was never afraid to own his mistakes.

"We are glad you understand all that." Lena said. "But it doesn't change how dangerous this was..."

"Not to mention the complete audacity of how you did it." Stef added.

"And this is the second time recently you've stormed out when we've been trying to discipline you - that has to stop, Jesus."

"I know...I'm sorry." He had clearly forgotten that misdemeanor off his list.

"Car keys, please." Stef asked as Jesus obediently fished them out of his pocket and handed them to her.

"We already have your phone. Don't expect it back for a very long time..."

"Or that you'll be going anywhere you'd need it anyway any time in the next couple of weeks."

"Or maybe decade after a stunt like this..." Stef tacked on still angry at his recklessness.

Jesus bit his tongue over his bottom lip and looked down at the table.

"Don't worry bud, I'll be practically a prisoner before the SATs anyway." Kasey joked taking the seat next to him.

Lena and Stef continued their lecture about the dangers of what he had done. Kasey interjected every now and again in his defense when she felt they were getting a bit intense and Jesus stayed quiet throughout most of the process. At the end of the night the kids disappeared and Lena and Stef were left slumped over the table.

"I hate this house right now." Stef moaned as Lena laughed through her own desperation.

"It has to calm down soon."

"I'm worried about Kasey." Stef added. "She's too calm. I know she's putting her feelings aside because she feels responsible for this."

"OK, OK, let's just stick to verbalised problems first - there's enough of those to deal with before we start projecting even more. We'll keep our eyes open but right now I think we all need some sleep."

"Huh. Well it would be the first sleep this weekend." Stef remarked, exhausted.

Chapter 41 Preview: Brandon sorts things with Michelle causing trouble for Kasey. Stef puts her foot down as a result of more fighting.

"This isn't a joke..."

"I'm well aware of that." Kasey quipped back frustrated as Brandon appeared down the stairs.

"If anyone's the joke here, he is." She snarked just loud enough for Brandon to hear. Stef arrived back just as he shook his head and Lena sat up straighter to mediate the imminent argument.