AN: Thanks for the reviews everyone! And thank you to Greg for beta-ing this chapter. You guys are all too awesome.

LXIX.

Jimmy woke alone in the backseat of one of the 2nd Mass's cars. Before falling asleep, he'd sensed Ben slipping out of the car, most likely to go hunting.

Given their night, it wasn't too surprising.

Despite Ben's valiant attempts to take his father's reaction to the news of he and Jimmy's relationship in stride, they did very little celebrating that night. They kissed for a bit, but neither felt all that into it. At Ben's insistence, they stole a couple beers and though Ben only finished half of his before fading away into utter incapacity and Jimmy needed a lot more than they were able to stow away with to get even the slightest buzz, things spiraled from bad to downright depressing.

Eventually, Jimmy had lay down, closed his eyes, and willed himself to sleep as he listened faintly to Ben breathing nearby. There was something cold and hollow about opening his eyes and finding Ben gone that morning though. An inexplicable feeling seeped through him and settled dull ache in his chest, it was as though Ben hadn't just left the car, but left entirely, and was never coming back, and this would be Jimmy's morning forever after.

Because he couldn't mope in the car forever, especially since other members of the 2nd Mass were awake, walking around the car and giving him odd looks, Jimmy stumbled out and stretched the kinks from his bones. He went to get breakfast, but caught sight of Tom in the mess tent eating with Matt and backed out. He wandered the camp for a bit, then found a hiding place on the backside of the hangar to have a cigarette. He could see Pope, Anthony, and the other Berserkers sitting together on the edge of camp, most likely on patrol, but they were talking, and some were very clearly having a good time.

Not too far away from where the Berserkers were hanging out, Jimmy could also see Roman, Doug, and Gia. Jimmy took a hard hit from his smoke, turned his head away, flustering as he thought of his encounter with Roman days before, the other boy's kiss suddenly hot on his mouth again. As far as Jimmy knew, Roman had stayed clear of Ben, but Jimmy couldn't be certain if that was due to the older boy attempting upholding his end of their bargain, or just natural habit of avoiding someone he hated.

A crunch of brittle leaves beneath a soft footfall startled Jimmy, and he straightened at the sight of Jeanne several feet from him, coughed up the smoke thick in his lungs.

"Hi," Jimmy gasped greeting.

"Hey," Jeanne returned, took a few tentative steps towards Jimmy and paused, pushed her hair behind her ears, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You didn't," Jimmy lied quickly.

"It's Jimmy, right?"

Jimmy nodded stiffly, tried out a smile and, instantly taking a disliking to its feel on his features, wiped it away. Jeanne glanced the cigarette balanced in Jimmy's fingers, and frowned slightly.

"I can put it out if it bothers you," Jimmy said.

"Can I bum one?" Jeanne replied.

Jimmy shrugged, looked at his cigarette briefly, considering it, and then held it out for her. She smiled slightly, accepted and took a long drawl from it, blew the smoke out slow, savoring its taste.

"I'm supposed to quit," Jimmy said.

"Yeah, me too," Jeanne grinned, "I started when I was a freshman. My dad and mom had just split, and I wanted to act out. I knew my dad would flip out. Never thought that aliens would invade and that one act of rebellion, caving into peer pressure because I wanted the hardcore burn out kids to like me, would come back to bite me in the ass. Non-perishable food be damned, I'd trade it all for a pack of Newport's."

Jeanne narrowed her eyes on Jimmy.

"Wait a minute, how old are you again? Aren't you a lot too young to be smoking?"

"Technically, I'm as old as you were when you started," Jimmy pointed out, glanced uncomfortably over Jeanne's shoulder, wondering at the politest way he could exit their conversation.

"All these adults around and I bet no one hassles you about it. Bold new world we live in," Jeanne muttered under her breath, a comment more for herself than Jimmy. She cleared her throat and said more loudly, "It's sad, with how many orphans the invasion left behind, the number of children that are getting neglected, forgotten, ignored or uncared for."

"We do what we can here, but there's only so much we can do, and there's only so far I can tolerate other people telling me what to do," Jimmy remarked, shrugging and saying, "Maybe it's different for the younger children. I don't know. All I know is if I want a cigarette no one here can say that I can't have one."

"Because if they tried, you could always just leave," Jeanne noted.

"I guess."

"Where would you go if you did leave?"

Jimmy shrugged, wrinkled his brow in thought. He was trying to figure out what Jeanne was getting at, but he was at a loss. Her questions were a bit disconcerting. People didn't care about him in the 2nd Mass and he knew that, it wasn't like some big secret she'd uncovered, and she obviously didn't believe it was the boon they were claiming it to be. Sure, Jimmy could do whatever he wanted, but taking care of himself was hard. He had no one to look out for him. But why was she bringing up leaving? Jimmy never thought about leaving the 2nd Mass, the very idea was absurd. Taking care of himself amongst a group of people was hard, doing it entirely alone was impossible.

"Before you guys caught up to us, Diego and I were talking about hiding out the rest of this invasion in the woods somewhere. Seems like a good plan, right? Bring enough supplies from the urban areas; clothes, blankets, whatever, and everything else we would ever need would be right there," Jeanne went on, "Water from a stream, hunt for food. If we got some seeds from the hardware store, we could even start like a garden or something. Grow our own food."

"What about the aliens?" Jimmy wondered.

"Small enough group of us, we could go unnoticed. We'd learn the woods, set up booby traps, alarm systems, and stay five steps ahead of the aliens," Jeanne said, and Jimmy realized, she hadn't given up on this plan.

"The 2nd Mass isn't a small group, though."

"No. It's not," Jeanne agreed. She took another hit off the cigarette and handed it back to Jimmy. He smoked a few tokes, absently knocked the ash off its tip.

"You just going to wait out there in the wilderness and hope the aliens go away?"

"Sort of. The aliens have to leave eventually. They don't seem to be colonizing, right? We would see waves of ships dropping down with massive groups of settlers. So maybe they're just here for something stupid, like oil or diamonds or whatever, and once they have it all, they'll leave," Jeanne said.

"They're here for us. The only thing they've taken, besides our entire world, is kids," Jimmy pointed out.

"Not all the kids though. They've killed more than they've taken. It makes you wonder, are they only taking particular kids or do they have, like, a max number they want or something?"

Jimmy sighed, set his cigarette in his mouth and left it there, absently chewing on the filter, making a face at its bitter taste.

"Then you wonder, why are they taking the kids? What do they want them for? They've got them working at these different buildings, right? But they don't seem to be doing anything besides gathering raw materials."

"So what are you saying? We just stay out of their way and let them finish what they started? Then they'll go away in peace and we can move on with our lives? They're holding those kids captive, doing…I don't know, God knows what with them," Jimmy argued.

"I know, and I want to help them. But what can we do? I mean, you seem like a smart kid, think about this from a realistic perspective. Trying to save me and the others from that harnessing facility took a huge chunk out of your guys' armory stores, put everyone at risk, we had to high tail it out of here afterwards, and we still..." she faltered, struggled with her next words, brushing away a few stray tears off her cheek, "We still lost one."

"And who's fault was that? Things might've been different if you and your friends didn't run off into that place."

"We weren't smart about it, I'll admit it. But past experience has kind of taught us, in the heat of the moment nowadays, kids always get screwed. Your people were giving us excuses for not going in, and we had no way of knowing if they would jerk us around for a few days only to say they can't help us. But you know that, don't you?" Jeanne stared at Jimmy intently, searching his eyes, "You've been there. You've seen it."

Slowly, Jimmy nodded.

"But the 2nd Mass is different. They wouldn't do that. Your dad wouldn't do that," he insisted.

"I love my dad, but this war of his is a joke. It isn't a war, it's a massacre, and all we, everyone here, is doing is running away from it," Jeanne returned heatedly.

Jimmy bit back his sharp retort, digging his teeth into his cheek. He stubbed out the cigarette and tossed it, put his hands in his pockets and gave Jeanne a harassed look.

"Isn't running away exactly what you're saying we should do?" he wondered.

"No. I'm saying we should hide," Jeanne replied, "All you're doing now is running away to be slaughtered another day. But hide, and well, they can't slaughter you if they can't find you."

Jimmy frowned, furrowed his brow, confusion pounding through him at her odd wording.

"What are you saying right now?"

"My dad is trying to decide on where the 2nd Mass should go from here. He's got a few locations picked out, and he wants to move again in a few weeks, at the latest," Jeanne said, bit her bottom lip lightly, "When the 2nd Mass moves, me and the others are going our separate way."

"You're just going to leave your dad," Jimmy baulked.

"It's not a decision I make lightly, but we're already on different paths. The kids need me. Diego needs me. And the 2nd Mass needs my dad. I can't ask him to come with me, he wouldn't abandon his unit. He's always been a good soldier like that, and he raised me to be no different. I can't leave my 'unit'," Jeanne replied wistfully.

"Your dad needs you. He's been in hell this whole time believing he lost all of you, and now that he has you back, it's like he's a different person. He's got hope again, or something," Jimmy cried, trying to fathom finding someone, anyone, family, friend, whoever from his past, someone to belong to and who cared about him, and then walking away from them, or worse, them walking away from him, "How could you even think about just leaving him?"

"This would be easier on him, though, wouldn't it? If I were somewhere tucked away safe," Jeanne argued, "I know what he tried to do what I was taken by the aliens. He can't be acting recklessly like that, but he will if I'm here. He'll make stupid choices like that and endanger the entire group. They need him to be their leader, not my father."

Jimmy released an exasperated breath.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Jeanne pressed her lips into a thin line, folded her arms over her chest, and then dropped them to her sides.

"Because…because you should come with us."

The words struck Jimmy speechless. He fell back a step, swallowed a large gulp of air. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths.

"We could use someone like you," Jeanne said softly, "You're smart and you're clearly good. My dad doesn't praise just anyone, you know. He's a tough man to impress, believe me."

"What…why would you…what would make you think that…?" Jimmy sought for the right way to formulate a question that could give him an answer to the strange swirl of emotion rushing through him.

"You have no real attachments here though, do you?" Jeanne persisted, and though her voice was gentle, the comment jolted through Jimmy, and he shook with its force. His hand went to the bullet around his neck, and flashed on the night before, Tom's refusal to accept Jimmy and Ben's relationship, and his words about Jimmy – considering Jimmy's own confusion and uncertainty, could anyone really say Tom was far out of line doubting Jimmy? Ben certainly couldn't, evidenced by his line of questioning after and then Jimmy waking up alone that morning.

Jeanne wasn't wrong. All Jimmy did was fuck things up, burden everyone, and in the end, he always destroyed everything he set out to care about. Where did he belong in that camp? In the world? What did he really make better by being there? And what did he make worse?

Weaver shouldn't have to keep track of Jimmy anymore during the war, it was too much, and it wasn't fair, the captain had real concerns like his own daughter, and not some wayward orphan with no one else to look out for him. Tom saw the darkness in Jimmy and rightfully didn't want that for Ben. Maybe Tom was wrong in thinking it was about convenience for Jimmy, being with Ben, because what the fuck was ever convenient about Ben? Or maybe he was right. For a moment, Ben's eyes shadowed over by thoughts of a former love flickered into Jimmy's mind and was instantly expelled to numb the pain it caused. Ben wanted a life with someone, but was it really Jimmy?

Did it really matter?

If that person wasn't there and Jimmy was the next best thing, as long as it eased Ben's sorrow, just a little, did it really matter how much Jimmy paled in comparison to a distant memory? If he could know that he helped Ben more than hurt, it would be so much easier to know the right answer for Jeanne.

"You don't have to answer now. We have a few weeks, you can think about it," Jeanne said.

Neck stiff and jaw clenched, Jimmy nodded. Jeanne placed a hand light on his shoulder, offered a wry smile, turned and left. Her retreating footfall crunching fallen leaves the whole way back into the hangar.

Jimmy collapsed back against the wall and buried his face in his hand. He couldn't breathe, dragging the air into his lungs was painful and his throat felt lined with barbs. He couldn't get his head to sit straight. Knowing Jeanne planned to leave camp soon was a hard piece of information to have, and vaguely he wondered if he should tell Weaver. He couldn't determine if it would do any good, and decided against it. It really wasn't his place anyway, that was between the father and daughter. He had no role in their relationship, or really any part of their lives at all, as Jeanne pointed out. He had no attachments in the 2nd Mass.

The thought of leaving shocked through Jimmy. Vainly, he wondered how the others would react to him leaving. Weaver would be far too preoccupied by his daughter's departure to spare a thought or emotion towards Jimmy. The other fighters, Anthony, Dai, Maggie, would probably be relieved, one less thing to worry about. Tom would definitely be relieved.

As for Ben?

Jimmy squeezed his eyes tightly closed, and tears not fully formed trickled out. He couldn't leave. He had promises to keep, and miles to go before he could even think about sleep.

"You need me to beat her up for you?"

Jimmy flinched, opened his eyes and glanced at Maggie, leaned against the wall beside him. His brow twitched inquisitive, confused by the random question.

"Now I don't want to make any assumptions, but from where I was standing, it looked like Jeanne came over here and stole your smokes, which if this world is at all comparable to prison systems, that's equivalent to her stealing your lunch money, right? So do you need me to rough her up a bit?"

Jimmy sighed, glanced away, not amused by Maggie's antics. He couldn't understand why she was there. Why was she always there?

"Right," Maggie murmured, readjusted her stance, and noted, "We haven't really seen each other much lately, huh?"

"It's fine. You're busy," Jimmy said silently.

"I've been wanting to talk since you nearly gave me whiplash yesterday searching for Dr. G. What was that about, anyway? Is everything alright?" Maggie continued.

"It was nothing. Forget it," Jimmy mumbled.

"It didn't look like nothing," Maggie pressed, reaching out a hand to brush across Jimmy's forehead, saying, "Weather's changing, you're not coming down with something are you?"

Jimmy jerked from the touch, reeling on Maggie in a rush of hot, undirected rage.

"What the hell do you want from me? I'm nothing to you, don't you get that? You're not my mother, you're not my sister, so what do you want from me?"

Maggie flinched back, tipped her chin down, eyes fluttering. Her lips parted slightly, closed again. Jimmy faltered, taken aback by the force in his own words. He felt Maggie expression clench in his chest.

"Maggie, I…"

"No, you're right," Maggie stammered, closed her eyes and shook her head shortly, "I was just trying to…but you're right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…I'll leave you alone."

Jimmy could only watch helpless, mouth agape, as Maggie slowly turned and retreated. As she faded round the corner, he slumped back against the wall and slid down to sitting on the ground, burying his face in his knees. He was right. He wasn't anything to anyone.

…

Outside of camp, Ben washed his hands clean and splashed some water into his face from a stream. He closed his eyes and tried to recollect the night. He'd watched Jimmy sleep for several hours, replaying his father's words in his mind. Troubled kid, Ben scoffed. Tom really though he knew Jimmy better. Tom had no idea the demons that haunted Jimmy's dreams, the dark things that lurked in the back of his mind, whispering to him nasty lies and perverted truths. Hell, Tom had no idea the demons that haunted his own son's dreams, and yet, he thought he knew the depth of Jimmy's troubles.

Knowing Jimmy's heart, on the other hand, was far more complicated. The damning silence that followed Ben's earnest question of Jimmy's desires reverberated through him. It felt as though breaking Ben's heart was getting easier for Jimmy. How long before Jimmy could completely rip it out without batting a lash?

Ben dried his face on the hem of his shirt and stalked back into camp. He had to believe that, at the very least, Jimmy truly did care about him. Ben wasn't sure he could keep going if he doubted that for even a second.

It wasn't far into camp that Ben came across Roman and the other two, sitting almost as though they'd been expecting him to stumble upon them. Gia and Doug were in the middle of a card game, they paused to glance at him, and while Gia hastily dropped her gaze again to the cards in front of her, Doug let his stare linger a moment. He offered an understandably uncertain half-smile; they'd survived strange situations together, sharing a trench tended to create this odd bond between people, but they still weren't quite friends in any sense of the word. Roman lounged nearby, his eyes watching Ben trek warily by, an unsettling smugness in his features.

"Morning," Roman greeted.

Ben paused, taken aback by the eerie cheer in the older boy's tone. He shook his head and continued walking.

"It's a nice day for a walk," Roman went on to say and Ben stopped again.

"Are you trying to insinuate something?" Ben asked.

Roman shrugged, shook his head, "I'm just saying, it's a nice day. You don't agree?"

"Yeah. It's a very nice day," Ben bit out sarcastically, "What are you trying to get at?"

"Nothing. I can't make a casual observation? Exchange a few pleasantries with a fellow fighter?" Roman returned.

"You haven't been able to yet," Ben muttered.

Gia fidgeted with the cards in her hand, set them down and ran a hand over her features. Doug shifted awkwardly, cleared his throat. Roman smirked, tipped his head to one side.

"Look, I'm trying to be nice here."

"Why?" Ben interjected, folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes on the older boy, he sneered, "Since when have you ever wanted or attempted to be nice to me? You hate me."

"True," Roman conceded, "But I want to be on the battlefield, and the only way I get there is by working with you. I figure, I need to bury the old hatchet, to get what I want."

Ben snorted softly, "Bullshit. This has to be some kind of game."

"What would make you think that?"

"Because when the hell do you ever think that rationally?"

"Because I'm not that smart, right?" Roman returned, smiled thinly.

"Right. A smarter person would know that I would never trust you suddenly being 'nice' to me and a smarter person would know I'd never buy that you suddenly had a moment of enlightenment, realizing that your constant hissy fits and foolish displays of machismo were never going to get you a rank as fighter in this unit."

Roman made a face, wrinkled his brow, "You pull out the big words to confuse people, or are you just trying to prove how much smarter than me you are?"

"Case in point," Ben muttered, "So what's the angle? Huh? Trying to lull me into a sense of false security so you can 'get me' when my guard is down?"

"There's no angle. It's exactly as I said," Roman replied, perked a brow and made a show of examining the dirt beneath his nails, "Maybe I'm not smart enough to figure it out. That's why Jimmy explained it to me using small words."

Ben frowned, heart catching in his throat, "What does Jimmy have to do with it?"

"Oh, you didn't know? We had a chat the other day about how mean I am to you," Roman said casually, leaning back and looking up at Ben, "We discussed it at length, he was very worried because of how sensitive you are, and then he and I reached an agreement."

"What kind of an agreement?" Ben demanded, head spinning at a dizzying rate. As far as Ben could imagine, there weren't many things Jimmy could offer Roman to persuade the older boy's behavior.

"That's between Jimmy and me," Roman taunted.

Ben bristled at that, taking a menacing step forward, the white hot dripping into his veins and cascading across his vision. Roman responded by climbing to his feet, aware he was now in an utterly defenseless position. The other two were watching quietly now, tense debate in their expressions, as if trying to decide whether they should step in or not. Jimmy's deafening silence the night before, his silent rejection of Ben's offered heart rang more loudly, more clearly in that moment, standing before Roman, than ever before. What held Jimmy back? Who held Jimmy back?

"At what point in this agreement to be nice to me do you back the fuck off my boyfriend?" Ben growled.

"You ever think you might be telling the wrong person to back off?" Roman mused, "Let me ask you, how many times do I go looking for him? And how many times does he come looking for me?"

Ben balled his hands into fists, trembled against the rush of anger.

"I had a jealous boyfriend once, so take my word on this, the harder you try to hold on to someone, the farther away you push them. I don't have to do anything to get him to come to me, Ben, you do it all on your own," Roman said, darted a look past Ben's shoulder, "It would be better for him, if you let him go, though, wouldn't it? I think we both know it would hurt him less."

Ben flinched, closed his eyes, a sickness swarming in his gut. Roman knew about his bursts of anger and the toll it took on Jimmy.

"But I guess I can't blame you wanting to hold onto him. His mouth, it's really kind of sweet, huh?"

"Stop," Ben whispered.

"A little addicting. I honestly kind of can't wait for another taste, another touch, to feel that warm body of his squirming underneath..."

Ben's body reacted before his mind fully processed Roman's words. The older boy held his own for the first few swings, even got a hit in, but it wasn't a fight, not a fair one anyways. Everything was a blur of red and white, vaguely Ben was aware of Doug attempting to break things up, he was aware of Gia's screams to 'stop', most everything else was drenched in black and he couldn't stop himself if he wanted to and then hands, all at once strong and weak, tugged at his shoulders.

"Ben, please."

The desperate plea snapped Ben out of his uncontrollable white rage, and he staggered back into reality, taking the world in with slow, small doses, that were at first clipped and confused. Shapes and colors formed from fuzzy nothingness into increasingly sharper focus. Blue eyes, wide as teacup saucers, drowned him in their shimmering depths. His fingers clasped pale, supple skin, wrapped like iron claws, round a neck so frail he could snap it with ease, red and blue blossoming beneath his fingertips. He could almost see the vessels breaking and leaking blood under that crisp white skin; hauntingly, breathtakingly beautiful, as hands slapped at his forearms and tugged at his fingers, weak and to no avail.

It was then that reality shocked into Ben. Roman lay on the ground nearby, clutching his head, blood seeped between his fingers. Gia knelt beside him, worry and fear alight in her eyes. Doug stood over them, staring at Ben, debating. Standing in front of Ben was Jimmy, Ben's hands gripped his neck, poised to crush the airways beyond repair.

Horrified by the realization of the scene before him, Ben released Jimmy. Jimmy collapsed to his knees, hands going to his own throat, as he coughed and gasped for air. Ben hesitated, only a moment, wanting to reach for Jimmy and knowing, then and probably ever after, he didn't have the right to touch that boy, to worry for him, attempt comforting, and especially claim to love him. So Ben pulled back, turned, and ran.

.

.

.

AN: I'm behind on writing chapters. There are only like four more to this story, then I start the next part and post chapter 1 of Raising Skies. Poor Greg won't have anything to read today. Maybe. I'm working on it. Midterms and job hunting take too much of my time. Why won't someone just give me a job already?

I really wanted to rewrite the last scene of this chapter, I didn't like the way the dialogue between Roman and Ben unfolded, but I was rushing when I wrote it. I didn't have time to get it reworked though. Sad day.

Right. Let me know what you guys thoughts, please.

Reviewers: Sassysavanna190, yeah, it was a tough chapter for me to write too. I think maybe that's why I had such difficulty getting it out, I hated breaking poor Jimmy's heart like that, but mostly, rattling Ben back into reality hurt the most for me. Tom hasn't had much opportunity to see how happy Ben and Jimmy are together are a romantic pair, though he sees that Jimmy's friendship is good for Ben. No, I agree, I don't think they would've had quite the same conversation were Jimmy a girl. I think Tom is a bit more reluctant to accept it because he does see it as more experimentation than serious feelings between the boys. Tom would probably still be reluctant were it a girl, too, though. He (my version anyway) is very overprotective of Ben; partly because of what the aliens did, and entirely because of who Ben had been before the war. NOxONE, I'm glad you liked it, I had so much trouble writing it. I'm also glad you could see Tom's perspective on it, I worried people were just going to bash the crap out of him for it. All of you readers are so awesome for being understanding and whatnot! :) Bwahahahaha, feels for everyone. Tears Falling Freely, ah, I'm so happy you liked Tom's reaction, and to hear from a fan since story one. I hope I get all the stories out that I want to write, at least, that I finish this series and Raising Skies. Raising Skies might be a trilogy too, though. Ugh, so much writing. Yes, that mention of Tom coming home early before the invasion was the didn't make sense comment I was inferring. I did actually know that new writers were brought in, unfortunately, new writers don't erase the mistakes of the old. LuckyDreamer91, yay, good to hear you liked the chapter, although, it felt as though missing something. I can definitely see that, as I said already, not happy with its turn out. I think I wasn't pushing the emotions hard enough. I was trying too much to give Tom this rational perspective, one that the readers could understand and semi-relate to, but I had such trouble taking that perspective as it's not necessarily one I would ever have or agree with. Yay, big brother Hal! Yeah, it's no secret, I hated Hal on the show. That being said, I'm trying my damndest not to make him too hate-able in this story. I hope Falling Skies season 4 is much better than the last 3 too. Hope this next installment of Ben/Jimmy heartache was worth the wait. Dee, okay, I'm not going to fully write out my response to your two beautifully massive reviews right here because I would get in trouble. As always, I loved everything you had to say. Like I already told you, I was surprised you were so understanding of Tom, I was a little worried you might rip him a new one. I remember giving my sister, who was fourteen/fifteen at the time, advice about a friend whose ex-boyfriend was hitting on her. My sister was upset because she wanted to date the boy, but her friend was adamant of the belief that she loved him and he was her soul mate. My sister thought it was silly, she's overly rational like me, and I said something along the lines of "it doesn't matter that reality is, yes, she probably is just infatuated with him and it'll pass in a month or so. What matters is that at this moment she feels she loves him, and if you go for it, you will destroy that friendship, regardless of how her feelings for that boy do or do not last." Moral of story, and as I think you were saying, Tom may be justified in thinking that the boys are just experiencing young puppy love, and it'll break up in a few months, but he could never be justified for voicing it aloud. So, I really loved your thoughts on Ben, and your discussion on grief. You know, I think the whole Tom/Anne getting together thing bothered me mainly because of that kiss during Compass that pissed me right the fuck off. I will forever hate the pairing because of that episode. I do want to mention, that I don't think Ben is so naive about the world. He knows that people aren't going to just accept him and Jimmy, but I think he's so used to being the outsider, to not being accepted as part of the group because he's a nerd, a dork, a weirdo, queer, a razorback, that he isn't even going to attempt their approval. Anyhow, there's Jimmy's head, and the beginning of Maggie's sorrows.

Thank you for stopping in people! I'll see you all next Sunday.