So I've been writing this since I got home from school. And it's like midnight now, but it was worth it! Anyway, so on Abduction, I'm trying to figure out where that story is going. I just got done with region drama and I might be going to state, though I'm not sure... Anyway, I might not post until Apr. 23 or the 24. But then again, I might just post next week. It all depends on how busy my week ends up being.

I've also been working on another story that's almost done. I might eventually start posting that, but not until I get Abduction straightened out.

K, here's The Pain of Bowling, Part 3!

Jack's POV

(3 months later)

I had one hand clasped around Kim's waist as she tried to walk up the steps into Seaford High. The brace on her ankle was giving her troubles and she finally stopped a few steps up.

She turned to me with her beautiful brown eyes, pouting slightly.

"Jack, do you mind picking me up?" She held her arms out to me like a toddler. I smiled. I knew how hard it was for her to ask for help.

"Sure Kimmy." I then snatched her hand before she could punch me. "Nuh-uh Kim. If you hit me you won't get carried." She pouted more and latched her arms around my neck as I swung her up bridal-style.

I glanced behind me at Jerry.

"Dude could you get the door?" He didn't answer.

"Jerry!" Kim screamed. He jumped, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"Woah chicquita! Chill! Yeesh!" He muttered. I felt her tense up and I rubbed small circles into her back until she calmed down.

Coming through the front door we spotted a humungous purple-and-blue banner. It read, "Welcome Back Kim!" All the cheerleaders, including Kim's best friend Grace, were standing by it, as were the football players. I curled my lip in disgust.

I mean, I never liked football players in the first place, but now I plain hate them. They have no business being around my Kimmy.

She squealed and started slapping my chest chanting, "Put me down, put me down!" I hastily set her on her feet, almost getting knocked over by the cheerleaders who immediately enveloped her.

When they spit her back out she was crying along with a few others who are close to her. The other cheerleaders were chatting with some of their football-playing boyfriends.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Don't they know that Isaac, the star football player, was a complete skunk bag? How can they trust the football players, no, JOCKS after that incident, when most of them are his friends? I shook my head. Their reasoning was beyond me.

Once in a while a random football player, usually out of a relationship, (though McKenzie Johnson's boyfriend, Ryan Chaffitz, came over once), would come by to flirt with Kim. And every time, I would nonchalantly put an arm over Kim's shoulder, looking innocent when she looked up at me questionably. Then I would glare at the boy until they cringed under the threatening look I was sending. I'm pretty sure that my aura was emanating the fact that Kim is mine.

Other than that, a pretty good day!

oooOOOooo

Kim's POV

I rocketed up, slightly hindered by my knotted sheets that were strewn all over my bed. My hand went to my forehead and drew back, covered with sweat. I sighed and leaned back into my damp pillow. That was the worst nightmare yet.

I ruffled my hair a little and grabbed my sleeping mask from my bed-side table. Slipping the cool satin over my eyes, I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

After about 15 minutes I realized that sleep just wasn't an option. So once again I groped through the darkness until I reached my phone. Then I proceeded to call the only person who can calm me down during these episodes.

"Hello? Kim? You do realize that it's like 3 in the morning, right?"

"Yeah," I stage whispered back. "But I can't go to sleep."

His groggy voice sighed. "Alright. I'll be there in a second."

"I'll meet you downstairs."

"No, I have that spare key you gave me, remember? I'll come up to your room."

"Quietly though. My parents are still asleep."

"Well, obviously I'm not going to just barge through the front door, now am I?" When Jack's tired he's a tad-bit sarcastic.

"Just hurry."

"Will do."

I sighed and sat there, looking off into space.

Jack's POV

I cursed a couple times, trying to find my shoes. I totally ignored my closet. I know Kim's having troubles and all, but the best she's gonna get is a shirtless me with blue pj bottoms and orange flip-flops. Yeah, I might not match, but she's going to have to deal!

I finally got out of the mess that I call my room and continued down the hallway. I patted my pocket making sure that the hard piece of metal was still there.

Slowly, I slipped out of the door, trying to keep the amount of cold air slipping in at a minimum. I shut the door soundlessly and lethargically walked across the lawn, trying not to trip over stumps or holes in the ground.

Finally, I reached the Crawford's. (Yeah, their only next door, but that's a long ways away in the dark!) I fished the key out and hit the door blindly a couple of times before finding the key hole. I unlocked the door and tried to find the staircase. Luckily, I know this house almost as well as my own.

My feet made 'pitter-patter' sounds all up the wood steps. Then I stopped. Kim's room. Sure, I've been in here countless times, but not in the middle of the night. Is it cheesy that I kinda feel like Romeo? I mean, it's not like I'm some random hormonal 16 year old who's hitting on a 13 year old girl! Actually, Kim and I aren't even together. Dang. Besides, I hate Romeo and Juliet.

I eased the door open and almost rammed straight into Kim.

"Hi." She said, just standing in front of me.

"Hey." I muttered back. There was a little bit of light coming in from the street and I swear, Kim's eyes looked like stars. Man, I sound soooo cheesy. "What are you doing up?"

"I was about to come look for you. You were taking a long time."

"Well I'm sorry princess. I had some trouble finding some shoes on short notice." She wrinkled her nose.

"You still haven't cleaned out your room, have you Jack."

"Nope!" I said, smirking.

She scowled and slowly made her way to her bed, lugging her brace with her.

"So," I said, sitting down by her on the bed. "What's this about not sleeping?"

She sighed. "I just… I really don't want to talk about it."

"Come on Kim! Talk to me! I can't help you unless you tell me what's been bothering you."

"Well…" She started slowly. "I've been having these dreams…" I put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Go on." I said softly.

She shut her eyes and laid back down on her fuzzy comforter. "So I have my good dreams. I'll usually be in Biology class, waiting for our new quiz." She stopped a little. "Then my crush will come by and wink at me." I cringed at the word crush, but listened all the same. "He'll come sit by me, cause ya know, it's a partner quiz. But before we can work on it, Lindsay and her little 'pep-squad' will rip him away from me. He'll beat them up and come back to me, lift me up, and then he'll take me out into the hallway." She stopped again and shifted on the bed. "This part is a little mature so I'm going to skip it." She muttered, almost muffling what she said with her hand.

I raised an eyebrow. Wow. Even in her dreams she gets her crush. In my dreams I never get Kim! I wonder who he is and what exactly they're doing… Who is it? Brody? Lucas? Austin? Justin? Carson?

"But then… There are some not-so-fun dreams…" She rolled over again, getting ever-so closer to me. "Where my friend Troy comes back…" She was face down in a pillow.

"Troy?"

"So 2 years before you got here, I moved here from Tennessee. I had a group of people I always hung out with, who were part of the dojo I went to. The Blue Tigers. Anyhow, we were always a tightly knit crew. There was Bianca, the smart one, Selena and Hannah, twins and wild-children, Michael, Bianca's older brother, Troy… Well, I kinda liked Troy. But I don't think he noticed. Then, there was Marissa. See, Marissa and I had never been on… The best terms. Troy was her cousin, and she was convinced that I was 'playing' with his feelings, when it was pretty obvious that he didn't have a clue that I liked him. But she was still a pretty good friend."

She stopped for a breath. I lay down on the bed beside her.

"A year ago I flew up during spring break to visit my large extent of family that lives there. Of course, like any good friends, Bianca, Sel, Hannah, Michael, and Troy were there to welcome me back. No Marissa, but that didn't worry me much. Anyway, they were the first thing I noticed when I got down the escalator. And then Troy, who had gotten a haircut and looked pretty darn cute, came running up to me and enveloped me in a hug. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. But I slowly hugged him back. And then, to my complete and utter surprise, he kissed me. Not like a slow kiss, but like a needy, passionate kiss." I felt myself tense up.

"It kind of scared me. I mean, when I knew the kid a year ago in eighth grade, he hadn't shown any interest in me. But I kissed back. Until he started pushing me against a wall. And then I thought enough is enough and detangled myself from him. Luckily my mom wasn't there, or she would have killed me!" She let out a flat laugh. "But of course people stared, and a couple of guys wolf-whistled and called out things like, 'having a reunion, eh?' and 'been away too long?' I was kind of mortified.

"I looked up at Troy, and he was all smiles, putting his arm around my waist and such. I just went along with it. But as soon as I could get one of the girls alone, which was Hannah, I questioned her about it. She said, and I quote, 'Well, after you left he was really mopey. Like, we all were too, but he was acting really strange. So we kept asking and asking him about it, and he wouldn't tell us. Not even Marissa, which made her pretty livid, as you can imagine. He finally told Michael, who told the rest of us. He said that he just really missed you, and after you left he found that he never wanted to live life without you.'"

By now my fists were clenched. So he got Kim? Just after kissing her like that? He hardly did anything!

She laughed again. "I remember she said that my face looked more surprised than when I was six and bird poop landed in my hair. Anyway, going on, she also said; 'So we were really confused. We asked him, how come you decided now that you liked Kim? She's liked you for a long time! Even Michael could tell! Now she'll probably find some random dude in California! He started freaking after that. Marissa told him that he was being an idiot and that you would just kiss him and then drop him cold. But the shocking thing is, he didn't listen! Amazing, right? That was the first time that he hasn't listened to her! Anyway, he eventually quit the dojo, saying that it wasn't the same without you, and kind of quit hanging out with us during the summer. Of course, you know Marissa. She refuses to admit that she has done anything wrong, so she blamed you for him ignoring us. The rest of us thought she was a bit crazy for blaming you, and she started shunning us. Now she just hangs out with those snobs at school. But Troy, now Troy's a different story. He bounced back to us after the summer was over. Sure he looked and acted a bit different, but he's basically the same sweet, kind guy we've always known and loved.'

"And I was inclined to believe her."

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Are you asleep?" I murmured.

"No."

"Ok." Then I thought for a few seconds. "Are you still with Troy?"

"Jack, my story isn't done yet."

"Then when are you going to finish it?"

No response. Then she rolled over so that her head was lying on my bare chest. I tensed up a little bit. "Relax." She breathed. "You have a steady heartbeat." I could feel her breath on my skin.

"Ok. So. Back to my story. We had been there for about a week, and Spring Break was almost over. Troy and I had been on a few dates, which were ok. The first one was spectacular! He took me out to my favorite country diner. He was the picture-perfect gentleman! So sweet… But by the second date I noticed little things that were wrong with him. Like, instead of tipping the waitress, he would just get up and leave. A stupid thing to notice, but I knew Troy, and his parents had taught him right. Manners are pretty important in that town. And then, during our picnic date, he had just left all of our garbage on the ground. Again, something that no one would normally notice, but the fact that I did meant that he something strange was going on. Then I saw him chatting with some other guys from school, picking on some little kids. Now that was not the Troy I knew! Something weird was definitely happening, and I couldn't figure it out. What did Troy do during the summer?

"Then, since Troy had gotten his license early, I had asked him to pick me up at my Aunt Marie's house. She lived about 5 minutes out of town, and it was raining. Not the ideal place to walk from. I had told him to pick me up at 7, but by 8:15 I was done with waiting. My grandma couldn't pick me up and my Aunt Marie had 4 little kids to take care of, so of course I wasn't going to make her put all of them into the car to drive me back. So I started walking in the pouring rain. I got home around 9:50 after getting lost in the rain a few times. Yes, the rain was bad enough to make me confused. When I got home, Troy was just sitting on my grandma's porch swing. I questioned why he hadn't picked me up, getting a little mad. And then he screamed and started cursing at me." Her voice shook a little at the last sentence. I rubbed her shoulder.

"And then?" I gently prompted her to tell me more.

"He hit me." By now she was crying. "I didn't know what was wrong with him! But then I noticed how he was stumbling around a little, and the smell hit me. The smell of alcohol. After that I ran back down the porch. I don't really know why I didn't just run into the house, but I didn't.

"Eventually I ended up at Sel and Hannah's house, which was only a few blocks away. I tried the front door, which was locked, and ran around to their shed, stealing their spare key. I ran back to the front, but I saw Troy prowling around. So I went through their back door, locking it behind me. Their dad ran down with a baseball bat, but dropped it when he saw me and called for the twins. They burst out of their room in their pajamas. Hannah's eyes flew open when she saw me, looking like a drenched cat who had just had a horrifying ordeal with the neighbor's dog. Sel pulled me in for a hug. Then Troy started banging on the front door. Sel's mom went to open it but I screamed 'don't let him in!' She stopped and turned to me questionably. I broke down, crying on their kitchen floor, explaining how Troy was drunk and that he was after me.

"Obviously, they called the police." I breathed a sigh of relief at these words. "But he got away before they could get there."

"What?!" She was still crying, but now shaking as well. I hugged her.

"Th-they said that he had got-gotten away-away… That he had some he-help." She sighed, trying to collect herself. "But who? They couldn't say. They had me go home, and told me to lock everything and since they knew that I was staying with my grandma, to have some other people stay in the house too. So they took me back home and I had my other aunt and uncle who lived in that town, Robert and Lynda, come and stay in the house with me." Then she whispered; "But it wasn't enough."

Her voice then raised. "I was in my bed, of all places, and 3 people stopped outside of my huge bay window. And, stupidly, I thought I was dreaming. One of them messed with the latch on it. Then rain hit my face as they opened it, and I knew I wasn't dreaming. I tried to scream, but they were in quickly and one clamped a hand over my mouth, which I bit. They let go in movies, right? Well apparently they don't in real life. Two of them pinned my thrashing limbs down. Then one of them-" I clamped a hand over her mouth. She was becoming louder and louder, and I was afraid if she continued, she'd not only wake everyone up, but also have a heart attack or something.

"Hush." I murmured. I sat up with her and started slowly rocking back and forth. After a while I asked; "Did they… Do anything?"

"No." She whispered. "My uncle came in with a crow bar and my aunt with a shot gun and some rope. Let's just say that they didn't escape."

"I thought it was illegal to shoot people?"

"I didn't say she they shot them, but she did fire a few at the window to prevent them from making a run for it. Besides, my aunt is one of the sharpest shooters that I know. If they aren't meant to get killed when she shoots, they won't be." She sighed again and settled into me. We watched the sun begin to rise. I glanced over at her alarm clock. 5:24 A.M.

"So Isaac wasn't the first person to hurt you."

She shook her head against my chest.

"And that's your nightmare?"

"Well partially. In my dreams Troy succeeds with what he wanted to do, and it ends up being Marissa and Isaac who helped him, and even in all rationality I know that Isaac obviously couldn't have helped him, and that Marissa would never stoop that low for revenge, I'm still scared stiff." I could feel her smiling against my chest. "But sometimes, you come in and shoot them. You save the day."

"What, your 'crush' doesn't save you?" She stiffened and drew away.

"What?" I questioned.

"Who's the teddy bear for Jack?"

"What?!" I was genuinely confused now.

"The white teddy bear. The one that you were going to get for that girl."

Oh crap.

"Uh…"

"And who doesn't like yellow? Who does your mom like? What haven't you told whoever 'her' is yet? And who do you obviously love better than you could ever love me?" I just stared at her gorgeous doe-brown eyes that were capturing the light so perfectly. And then I just couldn't help myself. I captured her face in between my hands and my lips touched hers for a second time.

I kissed Kimberly Crawford.

oooOOOooo

(epilogue)

16 years later

Jerry's POV

My pocket buzzed.

Cursing, I fished for my phone in the pocket of my khakis. I drew it out and saw Jack's name on the screen.

Hey, Kim's in the hospital. Could you come quickly? – Jack

My eyes widened.

"Mika!" My gorgeous wife came into the kitchen in a beautiful sundress, carrying a picnic basket.

She looked confused. "What is it Jerry?"

"Kim's in the hospital. We need to go there. Like, now." Her eyes widened. She quickly shoved the picnic basket into the fridge and ran off to go get our eldest girl out of the bathroom.

"Texie! Hurry up! Aunt Kim is in the hospital!" Her voice echoed through the hallway and multiple curly heads poked their ways out of doors.

"What?" My little kindergartener, Marcus, muttered. He came out of his room rubbing his eyes.

"Auntie Kim is in the hospital honey." She ruffled his hair. "Can you go grab your shoes and put them on?" He slowly nodded and trudged back into his room.

I ran over to the table and started looking for my keys before I remembered that they were already in the Jeep. I guess today was a good day to get ready for a picnic.

Peals of laughter reached my ears as Cory chased Rebecca around the living room. I grabbed Cory and started tickling her, her long curls smacking me in the face.

"Hey girlies. Where's your sister Kendyl?"

Just then a little girl came running down the hall.

"Mommy says that you need to… umm… Oh yeah! You need to get us into dresses or something!"

I sighed and looked at the three identical 4 year olds in front of me. "Alright girls. Let's go get some clothes to put on you. Come on!"

I knelt, let Cory grab onto my shirt with her little hands, and then lead all the other two down the hallway. I quickly rummaged around until I found their matching pink dresses. I slipped their swimming suits off of them and shimmied their dresses on. Then I led them out to the Jeep where their older brother Jacob was already helping Marcus to get in. I got all three girls strapped in and told Jacob to watch them while I went in and got Mika and Texie.

I hopped up the steps. "Mika! Are we ready?"

She came out, grabbed her wallet and jacket, a ponytail-holder in between her teeth, and then started brushing Texie's thick brown hair into a ponytail.

"Ow Mom! That hurts!" She whined, a pouty look on her face. Mika finished, ran her hands over Texie's hair one more time, and then threw the brush on the couch. She grabbed Texie and started shoving her out. I shut off the lights and locked the door, following them.

oooOOOooo

At the hospital

"Come on guys!" Marcus yelled, running forward.

"Marcus! Get back here!" Mika yelled. She chased after him, muttering something that strangely sounded like, Oh, what we would have done to him in Hakhmakhistan!

I continued down the hallway, making sure that my herd of kids was following me. We finally reached the waiting room where we saw Jack pacing back and forth.

"Uncle Jack!" My kids chorused. They ran over to him. He looked stressed, but his face immediately brightened when he saw the kids. He picked up Rebecca and twirled her around, Cory and Kendyl trying to cling to his legs.

"Hey, guys, quit trying to murder your uncle." Then I smiled. "Jack!" I haven't seen you for a while!" We did our bro-hug.

"How are you?" I asked seriously. This caused Jack to anxiously look up at the clock.

"Good, I guess. The kids are over at my parent's. Eddie and Selena are coming over later, as are my brother Jason and Bianca. Milton and Julie were here earlier, but they had to leave because they both have that presentation at noon."

I made a noncommittal grunt. We both watched my kids play.

"Jackson? Jackson Brewer?" Jack immediately turned to look at the nurse.

"That's me."

"Well, Kim's dilated to a 7, and she's been asking for you."

I turned to Jack, a little confused. "Dude, why haven't you been with her?"

He looked a little sheepish. "She started yelling at me because I was worrying too much. Said I was stressing her out, which was probably true. So the nurses made me wait out here until I could calm down."

"If you call that calm…" I muttered. Then I brightened. "Well go man! Go help your woman!"

Jack smiled and practically raced down the hall. My wife and Marcus came through the door.

"Is Jack with Kim?"

"Yeah."

I looked down at Marcus, who was pulling on my shorts. "Yes buddy?"

"Is Auntie Kim going to have another baby?" He asked.

"Yes." I said. "After today you'll have a new cousin." The kindergartener's brown eyes widened in wonder.

"Hey Marcus! Do you ever wonder where babies come from?" Texie said, her eyes full of mischief.

"Don't tell him!" Mika and I yelled out, causing everyone in the waiting room to stare at us.

oooOOOooo

Jack's POV

I held the beautiful creation in my arms. She was still slightly damp, but her mass of golden hair was slowly drying. My mother had brought my other four kids in a few minutes ago and the eldest, Brice, was staring at her in wonder.

"What are you going to name her?" My mom said quietly.

"I'm not sure…" I murmured, studying my new daughter's perfect face. "I picked the last, which was Shaylyn, so it's Kim's turn."

My lovely wife turned her tired eyes to me after hearing her name. "What shall we call her, Kim?" I questioned. My seven year old Bradley climbed onto a chair beside her bed.

"Yeah momma! What're we gonna call my new sister!?" She fingered his brown hair for a moment.

"How about… Nina. It was my grandmother's name."

I carefully kneeled down with the baby. Four brown-haired children lined up to peer at their new sibling. Toby leaned in and softly kissed her blonde head. Shaylyn followed in suit.

"And her middle name?" I looked up, but Kim was already asleep. "Kim." I decided. "Nina Kimberly Brewer."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful little girl. May I hold her?" My mom said, coming down beside me. I wordlessly handed the little miracle over to her.

"Well mom, looks like you finally have your blonde grandchild."

"And I couldn't be happier."

I'm so tired. I'm going to go to bed. So this is like 4,000 something words. So yeah. Leave comments! Bye! Oh, and Jack and Kim's kids are, in order: Brice, Toby, Bradley, Shaylyn, and Nina Brewer.

Jerry and Mika's kids are: Texie, Jacob, Marcus, Cory, Rebecca, and Kendyl.

And Eddie married that twin from Tennessee, Selena, and they have 4 kids: Crystal, Wesley, James, and Gabe.

And, of course, I can't leave Julie and Milton out! Their kids are Clayton, Anthony, Jennifer, and Austin.

Like you really care... But I couldn't leave them out!

And just so we're clear, this is the end of the Pain of Bowling trilogy.