The next morning I woke up to see Jack awake and looking at me.

"Good morning. Sleep well?" He asked.

I smiled. He must have been up for a while because he was already dressed and ready to sell papers.

"Yeah. How are you feeling after last night?"

"I'm okay. Sorry about that by the way." He said.

"Don't be. That's a lot to deal with."

He shrugged. I was pretty sue he just wanted to change the subject. I pressed my lips against his.

"Love me?" I asked.

"More than anything."

"I love you too."

He looked up at the clock and sighed.

"I got to get to work." He muttered.

"I'll miss you."

He kissed me. I loved the way he kissed me.

"Wait for me here 'till I get back okay?" He told me. "I just want to make sure that you'll be okay when you come home."

"Alright I will."

"I have to go now. I love you, see you soon." He kissed my forehead.

"Bye Jack."

"Bye Maria." Jack said just before he walked out the door.

I had the second floor of the boarding house to myself for a few hours... Cool! I decided to wash up. I walked out of Jacks room. I walked down the hall and through the room that was crowded with bunks and into the wash room. I started washing my face in front of the mirror using a wet cloth. I put the cloth over my face. I started hearing things... It sounded like footsteps. I just excused it as the wind. But then I heard. "Hey Ma-"

I let out a chilling scream.

"Jesus are you alright?"The voice said.

I turned around to see Racetrack standing there. I looked at him and then all of a sudden we both started laughing.

"Race you scared the shit out of me!" I laughed.

I lightly playfully him in the arm.

"Are you working today?" I asked.

"Yeah. Some of the boys thought it would be funny if I woke up late and missed work." He rolled his eyes.

"So you and Jack are together now?"

"Yeah." I smiled.

"Congrats, you guys are good together."

"Thanks Race."

"Well I've got to be getting back to work. See you around."

The rest of my day was uneventful until Jack got back. It's mostly a blur to me.

Jack waked into the room.

"Hey honey, I'm back." He said.

"Hi Jack." Ran up to him and hugged him.

"Happy to see me?"

"Of corse."

He leaned down and kissed me.

"Jack I think I should go home soon." I confessed.

He looked disappointed. "You sure about that? I don't know how safe that would be."

"Jack I know you want me be safe as I can be but they're still my parents. I'll come back it's not like I'd leave you."

He took a deep breath.

"Maria this isn't a good idea. Just listen to me. I love you, I want you to be safe." He took my hand. "Please don't go."

I sighed. "It's still my home Jack."

"I'll walk you home then..." He sighed defeated.

"Don't worry everything will be fine." I said trying to reassure him. But honestly I think I was trying to reassure myself. I really wanted to go home for one reason. I wanted to try to talk to my parents about what had happened. Try to tell them who Jack was and make them understand me. In my mind I could see them nodding their head and taking it all in. They would smile apologize for their mistakes. Meet Jack and let me be happy with life.

Jack took my hand.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright then come on."

He walked me to my apartment. Yes we went inside of the building together. I just ignored the judgmental stares. At that point I didn't even care. Jack didn't seem to either.

"You get used to it." He whispered in my ear.

"Don't worry about it."

We reached the front door.

"Do you think I should go before they come?" Jack asked.

"No, let them see." I said proudly.

He smiled and knocked on the door. Patiently we waited. My mother was the one who opened the door. The second she saw us her eyes widened. The moment I saw her face I felt some of the confidence I had before get flushed down the toilet. But not all or most of it.

"Mother this is Jack." I said. "I thought it was about time you met him."

She just stood there saying nothing. She was in a state of shock. I gripped his hand tighter. She opened her mouth and closed it. As she search for what to say Jack and I just stood there in silence.

"Hello..." She mumbled.

I was surprised the only thing she came up with was hello after all that time.

"It's really nice meeting you I've been looking forward to it." Jack said holding out his hand.

She stared at it for a moment as if not knowing what he was doing. After a few awkward seconds she took his hand. Jack didn't seem to care. He just looked happy that she wasn't completely losing her mind. I smiled. Was this really happening? Was my mother shaking the hand of a poor boy? This was going better then expected!

"Well I'd better be hitting the rode. Thank you for your time." He smiled.

"Bye Jack." I chirped.

"Bye Maria."

With that he walked away.

"Come inside Maria." My mother told me.

As I walked inside I saw my father on the couch. It was then I realized that what I had thought of my parents understanding and listening to me was probably just a fantasy.