Thanks for all the reviews! I hope you're all enjoying this as much as I am!

~Jillianna

Disclaimer on the first chapter.

Jack sighed heavily, rolling his eyes. "Yeah. They all think I'm dead. Quite frankly, I don't give a damn. I never really did. It's not like I'm ever going back. This way, they at least have a tombstone to remember me by." Officer Dianna took a silver key out of his pocket and unlocked the jail cell. Jack looked at him, startled. "You can go, now," he said, glancing back down at the papers in his hand. "I'll be in touch."

Looking at him in disbelief, Jack slowly eased out of the jail cell. "Thank you, sir," he said gently. "I'm sorry I've been so… difficult… I just…" Jack took a deep breath and left it at that, exiting the building without looking back.

Too distracted to do much but watch his own feet, Jack found himself in front of Santa Monica's Mercy Hospital. So he went inside.

"Caledon Hockley," Jack told the woman sitting at the front desk and she quickly sorted through some files. "Ah, yes… Mr. Hockley went into immediate surgery yesterday afternoon upon arrival… He was in critical condition and it's unclear yet whether or not the surgery helped. I'm not sure that you'd be allowed in, but I can always ask…?" she left the sentence off with a hopeful syllable, and if Jack hadn't been more troubled, he might have picked up on the fact that she was staring at him dreamily… perhaps flirting with him with her eyes.

Instead of responding to her flirtatious glances, he shook his head. "Oh, no, that won't be necessary. Thank you, though." She looked as though she were about to say something else, but Jack had already turned and was halfway to the exit. He was homebound.

Rose wasn't at their home, and Jack didn't know whether to be relieved or frightened. The kitchen had been cleaned; the floor was mopped and the dirty dishes from the breakfast they never shared cleaned and put away. It was then he realized how hungry he was, and he decided he'd make it a point to cook for Rose when they both returned home.

His next stop was Ted's house, somewhere he'd only been to twice over the summer for meetings on the school's curriculum. He prayed Rose was there; otherwise he was sure he'd end up at the Police Station again, filing a missing person report, something he'd rather not have to do.

He knocked on the front door, anticipating the sound of Ted's heavy footsteps, but before he could take a breath, the door was open and Rose stood in front of him. She was in his arms in an instant and he was burying his face in her hair, breathing in the smell that he'd missed dearly in the past twenty-four hours. "Oh, Rosie, baby… I missed you so much… I'm so sorry… I'm so, so sorry."

Rose heard his muffled whispers into her shoulder and felt his head nuzzling into her neck. She'd never seen him to frantic before and it was nearly confusing. "Look, baby, just calm down, okay?" she whispered, taking his face in her hands and holding it in front of hers, trying to ignore the dark bags under his eyes and the lines of worry etched into his features. "I'm going to go get my things and I'll tell Ted you'll be by later to explain the whole thing, okay? You just start walking and I'll catch up to you in a second, okay?" Jack nodded, feeling utterly childish for being as anxious as he was.

J&R

Rose had thanked Ted from the bottom of her heart and guaranteed him that Jack would stop by before Monday and explain the ordeal. It was only fair that he knew. After that, she'd found Jack at the street corner and they walked home together silently, hand-in-hand.

Upon arriving home, Rose dropped her bag at the door, not even bothering to carry it up the stairs, and led Jack to the bedroom where they both fell onto the bed. "I didn't sleep at all last night," Jack told her, rolling onto his side to face her. "Neither did I," she confessed, taking his hands in her own. "Are you hungry?" he asked, a gentle look smoothing out the worry lines on his forehead. She shook her head feebly, rolling back onto her back while still holding his hands.

"I cooked Ted breakfast," she explained. "I wasn't hungry, but I ate anyway." Jack nodded, scooting towards Rose before rolling onto his stomach. "I'm really sorry," he whispered and Rose turned her head. She was almost shocked to see tears welling up in his eyes. "For what?" she asked gently positioning her body to face him again. "For… for not being there when he forced his way inside… for scaring you so bad the night before with the gun… for being so… so childish when I saw you."

Rose smiled, using her thumb to rub his cheek. "Trust me, Jack, I was going to start a scene, but you beat me to it." He grinned a very Jack-like grin at her and a laugh bubbled in her throat.

"If you're hungry go eat. I'll keep your side of the bed warm until you get back," she offered. He kissed her knuckles and nestled his head into the pillow. "Nah. I'd rather stay here." Rose scooted over to Jack, closing up the space between them and wrapped her arms around the bulk of his body. "Good. Because I don't want you to go. Ever."

The next chapter kinda jumps from here (early September) all the way to December. I hope no one minds, but I've got some goodies planned. :D