Hi-ha folks! I hope you all are doing well.

This chapter takes place on the following day, to keep you all from confusing it with the weekend. This chapter is shorter than what I would like it to be, but I go in what I needed, and that's all that matters. I'll make up for it during the next few chapters.

Journal,

I had never been with a girl until today. I've been with plenty of guys in Duval for a profit, but never a girl. I never took the chance when the girls had to bunk with us for a month.

It's alright, I suppose. It felt good, yes, but…..I can't put it in words. I expected it to be different.

But a hole is a hole I guess.

~*~V~*~

'How big of a house could you possibly need?' TJ thought as he made his way through the large mansion that is Ashley A's house. He had walked through the halls enough times to know his way around and not get lost, but he found himself asking the same question each time he came inside. Ashley A. wasn't walking with him, because he had broken into the house with the aid of the same tools he used to break into rooms in Duval. Ashley A. had also informed him that both of her parents were of on a business trip, leaving her alone in the house. Why a parent would leave a teenager in a house, alone, for days, without the fear of a party being thrown, or something that would cause any form of damage was beyond him.

'I bet these people haven't been in all of these rooms,' he thought. He remembered asking Ashley about the size of the house. Seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, two kitchens, a home theatre, and indoor (and outdoor) pool. 'How many bathrooms do you need? You only have one ass….' He arrived in front of the door with Ashley's name painted in curvy calligraphy on the top. The door stood out by being painted pink. He knocked on the door three times before going inside. The size of the room baffled him as much as the size of the house. He blamed it on being used to living in a room that's considered the side of a closet, with another person on top of that.

"Hey," He said, going inside. He saw her lounging on her queen sized bed, on her laptop with her kitten sleeping next to her. "You called?"

"You got here fast," She said, closing her (also pink) laptop. "What's you with you? You act like you don't want anything to do with me."

"You're almost right," He said, sitting down next to her. "I'm upset."

"And why are you upset?"

"A little birdie told me that you, along with your friends, have an ulterior motive for you dating me. That little birdie sung a song of you only dating me for so-called 'protection' for when I, these are your words now, go on a rampage and kill everyone."

"I never said that!" She told him, folding her arms. "Who told you this? Randall? He's such a liar!"

"Ashley…."

"Like, why would I do that? I totally believe you when you say that you're not a threat. So there's no reason for us to, like, come up with a plan like that."

"Ashley A…..just tell me. Is it the truth?" He paid close attention to her mannerisms. Hey were quirks when he was getting to know her. Just simple gestures that he didn't think much of. Over time, he noticed certain one's she would do while she spun lies, though they were little lies, like those about the foods she likes or things she liked to do. The most prominent gesture she had was twirling a lock of her hair as she spoke.

And she was currently doing that.

"What do you think will happen if you tell me it's true? Do you think I'm going to hit you? The worse thing I'll do is break up with you!"

"Yes, that's the truth. I started dating you for….'protection'," She admitted. "You don't want anything to do with me now, right?"

"I didn't say that." He lay back on the bed against the pillow, staring at the ceiling as he thought of an answer. Ending the relationship they had wasn't the clearest answer he had. It was the most logical, but he liked her. However he was aware that most, if not all, teenage relationships don't last long, and this could be the ideal time to end it.

"I do like you though," She said breaking the silence. "It didn't start out that way, but I like you now. The other guys I dated treated me like I was prize to be won. You listen to me even when I have nothing but bullshit to say, and I like that. Now I'm dating you because I want to, not for some scheme. "

"Is that the truth?" She nodded. "I hope you're not lying to me, Ashley, because I like you too."

"Then we should stay together," She said lying down next to him. The small meow coming from Ashley's kitten waking up took their attention.

"Did you name it, yet?"

"Her name's Shinx, after the Pokemon."

"…..Is Pokemon still going on? How?"

"They made more of them. There's over 500 hundred of them now."

"There will only be 150 in my mind," He said, turning to her. "I'm not gonna break up with you, Ashley."

"Smart choice," She said sarcastically. "Because you'll never find another girl like me."

"If you say so." He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips. That small kiss slowly grew into making-out and pulling each other close. As they continued, time seemed to pause as hey only focused on each other.

~*~V~*~

"Am I your first?" Ashley asked she cuddled closer to her boyfriend. Together, they were under the covers and sheets completely nude.

"You're the first girl I've been with, yes," TJ told her. "You're not the first, but a first. Still special in your own right."

"Does that mean you've been with guys before?"

"That's exactly what it means. Does that bother you?"

"No, not as long as you like girls too."

"I like girls. Not as much as other guys though. I would say it 60/40, but I haven't been with a girl, so it could be even." They were interrupted when Ashley's kitten hopped on the bed and walked over to them. "What does it want?"

"She wants my attention. You have a needy rabbit, you should know," She said, petting her. "You're rabbit is more spoiled than my kitten. And I'm rich."

"Do you know what time it is?"

"It's 8 o'clock. Why?"

"I promised Zack that I would read him a bedtime story," He said, reaching for his clothes. "His bedtime is in a half an hour; I don't want to be late."

"You really love your brother, don't you?"

"Of course I do. He's the only brother I have. I might've fucked up my life so far, but I don't want to mess up the time I have with him. I'll call you later." He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

~*~V~*~

Stretching, TJ pushed himself up the stairs. The long walk from Ashley A's house to his was tiring, and after he read Zack his bedtime story, he was planning on going to bed early. He had no reason to stay up any later. School was enough of a bitch without being tired. Reaching the top of the stairs he heard Zack crying. Following the sound, he was lead into his own room where Zack was sitting on the floor next to Duracell's cage, crying and clutching is right hand.

"What's wrong, Zack?" He asked, sitting down next to him.

"Dura bit me," Zack cried, showing TJ his index finger. The tip of his finger was bleeding from a small cut. "I only wanted to pet her and she bit me!"

"It doesn't look TOO bad," TJ said, looking over the cut. "She might not want to play today, Zack. Maybe she doesn't want to be bothered or she's tired." He reached inside the cage and tried to pet Duracell. He didn't get close before Duracell bit his finger, hard, drawing blood. "Ow!"

"See? That's what she did to me!"

"Hmm. Let's clean up your cut, Zack." Getting off the floor, TJ held Zack's hand as he took him into the bathroom to clean his cut and put a Band-Aid on it. With Zack already in his pajama's, they headed into his bedroom to pick out a book to read to him.

"Can I watch you play your game?" Zack asked as they looked through the books on his shelf. "I like watching you play it."

~*~TJ's POV~*~

"Only until bedtime, okay?" I said, putting him into his bed. I walked out of his room and into mine. I grabbed my DS off my desk and walked back into Zack's room. Ashley A bought it for me. I didn't understand why. She could've bought it to make me happy before she liked me. I only have one game for it, Pokemon Diamond, and that's all I need. Video games are okay, but I get too focus and lose track of time. I do play it when I have time. Me and my army of Buneary's march through this game like a hot knife through butter, because fuck yeah, Buneary's. A couple of Lopunny's, too. I gave them nicknames. The six I have with me right now are named Pepper, Salt, Bugs, Pizza, Blanket, and Jimmy, for no particular reason.

I went back into Zack's room and sat on the floor and leaned against his bed. He crawled over to the edge and watched over my shoulder as I played. He like's watching me play this game. If I ever need to come up with something to keep him quiet, and that's rare because he's normally quiet on his own, I let him play Tetris or Bejeweled on my phone. He loves those games.

"TJ, will Dura stop biting us tomorrow?" Zack asked.

"I don't know. She could. But until I know that she stopped biting, I want you to leave her alone. Don't try to pet her unless I'm there with you."

"'Kay. Can I go over to Mr. Old Man's house with you?" Mr. Old Man. He means Prickly, but he has trouble pronouncing his name. He ends up saying 'picky' instead.

"Why? Do you like going over there?"

"Yeah. His house is big and it's like explorin' in there. Like an adventure!"

"Alright. You can come with me. But it's your bedtime. Are you wearing your pull-up?" He nodded. Just to be sure, I double checked. After he wet the bed for what think is the first time, he became sensitive to the subject. He doesn't want anyone besides me, mom, and dad to know that he has to wear pull-ups to bed, which I understand. Seeing that he's wearing them, I tucked him into bed and wished him goodnight.

Closing the door to his room, I rubbed my eye and tried to move it. It didn't budge. This has got to be the twelfth time it's been like this. I have an appointment with my optometrist Saturday. I need some heavy-duty antibiotic to take care of this.

I checked my phone as a sat on my bed. Two missed calls. One from Bandit and one from Specs. Something's up. We never call each other. We always text. I started to dial Bandit's number, but stopped when I heard the creek of my door opening. Looking over, I saw that Zack was peeking through the door.

"Yes, Zack?"

"There's a monster under my bed," He said quietly. "I'm scared."

"A monster? There's no such thing as monsters." I saw him take a couple steps back and begin to cry. Shit. Did I do that? There probably is something scaring him, but not a 'monster.' "I'm sorry. Let's go check together."

"It's under there," Zack said, pointing under his bed. I got on my knees and looked underneath the bed.

I do see what appears to be a set of sharp teeth, but that can't be. I reached and grabbed it. It was warm and fuzzy. I pulled it from under the bed. Oh. Is that what it was?

"It's a sweater," I said, holding it up for Zack to see. The 'teeth' I saw were triangles on it. "It's just your sweater, that's all." I put it in his closet and closed it. "Nothing to be afraid of." I lifted him up and put him back in his bed. "Goodnight, Zack."

~*~V~*~

"This is some serious shit though, because he's not talkin' to anyone right now. We haven't heard from him. What 'bout you, Freckles?"

Once I was done helping my brother I called Bandit. Spec's was with him too. I put the call on speaker.

"I haven't heard from him. I hoping one of you did. Any idea what's going on?"

"Not a clue," I heard Specs say. "We would go to the jail to visit, but we don't have a car. We both have our license, but no car. Do you have a car?"

"Nope. I don't have my license, either. And no buses go up to Duval. Shit."

"But we all know JoJo. I bet he's fine. He could be too busy with his case to write us back," Said Bandit.

"Still worried though," I told him. "If I don't hear from him soon, I'm finding a way to that jail to see him."

"Be sure to tell us about it," Specs said. "How's Duracell doing? You know we all miss her. You better not have given her away!"

"I didn't! She's right here in her cage, sleeping. She bit me and my brother today to the point of bleeding. She's never been like that. If she hates something I do she would ignore me, not bite me, and she doesn't bite Zack no matter what he does."

"She's cranky. A little cranky bunny. Did you have her spayed? Rabbits get like that if they're not spayed or neutered."

"I think I did. Anyway, I have to go. If you two find out anything about JoJo, let me know. I'll tell you if I find anything."

"Got it. Talk to you later, Freckles."

I hung up the phone and placed it on the charger. I'm up later than I had planned to be. JoJo's worrying the shit out of me. C'mon, dude. We were each other's back-up for what, the last four years. Least he could do was keep us informed that he was still alive. Two more weeks. That's as long as I'm giving him before I'm going to look for him. Two weeks.

But right now, it's time for bed.

I'm glad some of you like Ashley A. in this story. Out of all the Ashley's I thought she could be one of the more redeemable ones. I was going to have TJ either date her or someone else, like CJ from that one episode with all the doppelgangers.

Reviews are highly appreciated!