Yay. I updated again. Twice in one day. I'm probably updating too fast, but I'm just too keen. Anyway, here's another taste!

Mark felt ashamed as he walked back to his place alone. John was heading back to the Thompson's place for a long awaited catch up. He'd invited him, but Mark didn't want to deal with that right now. Frankly, he thought that in this world, petty things like jealousy wouldn't exist. But he was still human as long as he was on earth, be that old earth or new earth, and he still had emotions. Mark often wondered what would have happened if he had told Vicki how he felt about her. He regretted how much he fought with her out of his jealousy and still felt bad that one of the last thoughts that ran through his mind before he died were of her. He just wanted things to be normal. He wanted to go back to being able to hang around the couple without every little thing Judd did bugging him. It wasn't Judd's fault, Mark realised, Vicki had chosen him. Right from the beginning, when he had first met Judd and Vicki at Nicolae High, he figured that they might have been more than friends, or if not at that point, would be one day, but he couldn't help but wonder, what if?

"Do you guys know what's up with Mark lately?" John asked his friends, pressing them for information.

Vicki was making coffee but stopped and looked up at the mention of Mark. She still shuddered when she thought of all they'd been through. How angry he'd gotten with her. She was sure he hated her back then. She felt like their friendship had been strained ever since. They'd made amends, but she felt like it would never go back to the way it was before they started fighting.

"No, why?" asked Judd.

"I don't know. He just seemed so weird today after Shelly and Conrad announced their engagement." Said John.

"Maybe he likes Shelly." Vicki let slip out, somewhat jokingly, before even thinking about it.

Judd and John both looked at her surprised.

"Why? Do you know something, Vick?" asked Judd.

"No, not at all, I was just thinking," Vicki turned over the thoughts in her mind, handing the guys their coffees, "Why would he act weird after that announcement if it didn't bug him for some reason?"

John looked thoughtful, but unsure.

"Enough of that." He changed the subject as the three sat down in the living room, "What I want to hear about is how this happened." John smiled, nodding to the couple.

Judd and Vicki looked at each other and Vicki blushed.

"Well we actually ended up being separated for years." Vicki started, "Judd and Lionel went to Israel and so much happened over there that I thought I'd never see him again." She discreetly laced her fingers between his and squeezed his hand. She still didn't like to think of the times she could have lost him.

"I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder," Judd took over, glancing at his wife with a twinkle in his eye, "because I grew up and changed so much in the time we were separated, God, I guess moulded me into a better man who was deserving of such an amazing woman."

John felt slightly awkward amidst the couples displays of affection, but at the same time was so happy that two of his best friends ended up the way they did.

"Anyway, I met a girl over in Israel," Judd said, "Who Vick was totally jealous of, by the way-"

"Hey!" Vicki exclaimed, slapping him lightly, "You were totally jealous of Chad!"

"I was! Pretty boy…"

"Uh guys?" John asked, amused at their banter, "the story?"

"Oh right." Judd said, "Sorry. Anyway, this girl that I guess I was kinda seeing eventually got fed up with me because I wouldn't take the next step in our friendship. She was really discerning, because she later told me in a letter that she thought that was because there was someone else… and there was."

"So we decided to renew our friendship." Vicki finished, "We apologised for all the stupid fights we had and well, the rest, as they say, is history."

"Wow," said John, leaning back and folding his arms, "I'm sorry I missed all that."

"Well here's a question for you." Vicki asked, wide-eyed, "What was Heaven like?"

John sighed, "Heaven was amazing."

"Is that all?" Judd asked with a laugh.

"Look," John explained, "Human words cannot describe Heaven in a way that does it justice. Heaven is everything you've every imagined it to be and more, where every second is spent worshipping God and everything is beautiful."

Vicki smiled, "I like the sound of that."

Ryan lay on his bed, tossing a baseball up in the air and catching it and thought about his encounter earlier with Darrion. He'd always cared about her. They were best friends. They'd been through things that people should never have to go through. They'd done so many crazy things together, and it brought them closer. Ryan always thought she was cute, but he'd never really thought about her as more than a friend… until now. He shook his head, he didn't want to just be hopping on the romance bandwagon, just because his friends were, but he had to admit, their encounter earlier had been different. He felt that maybe, there could be something there.

Suddenly he heard frustrated grunting and saw Mark walk past his door and kick a shoe that was on the floor.

"Mark? Are you okay?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." Mark brushed off as he kept walking down the hall.

Mark was anything but fine. He was annoyed at himself for letting this ridiculousness eat him up inside.

I'm sure it's just a bad day. He thought. I'll just get some sleep, and I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning.

So there was that. Hopefully Mark will stop being a sook soon and move on. And is Ryan developing some Darrion feelings? I think maybe.