No Jack in this chapter but I'll try to update fast and he's definitely in the next one! Enjoy! Thanks for the reviews/favs/follows, I really appreciate it.

you can have your pretty boy but he won't understand you, not like i do;

you're downtown, honey. too much for him to chew.

CHAPTER FIVE

"Your assignment for this week is I want a four page essay on an inequality you feel passionate about. It could be racial, gender, anything. If you want them proof read you can send a copy to me or one of my interns."

Valerie didn't want to write anything that was four pages long but it was shorter than a lot of essays she had written in the past. She left her Sociology: Power & Inequality class quickly, throwing her books into the back of her car. She didn't go home, instead she ended up driving to the hardware store that wasn't too far away. Something had inspired her.

She grabbed a cart and searched for the aisle that sold spray paints. She hadn't picked up a can in a year but now she was itching to.

A familiar face stood in one of the aisles, flicking through paint swatches.

"Jeremiah Mercer." Valerie said with a smile.

Jeremiah turned and gave her a toothy smile of his own. He reached out and gave her a brief hug. Jeremiah only lived a few blocks up from where he used to live but she hardly ever seen him since they all grew up.

"Valerie," he said. "How's everything?"

"Good, how are you?"

Jeremiah didn't get time to answer. Camille appeared out from behind him and two young girls were suddenly wrapped around his legs. She knew he had kids but she had only seen the oldest, once, right after she was born.

"Hello, Camille." Camille gave Valerie a nod.

The two girls looked up at her when she started talking and then back to their dad.

"Daddy, who's she?" The older one asked.

"I'm a friend of your Uncle Jack's." Valerie said, warmly. It seemed much too complicated to tell the little girl she was the sister of Jack's best friend. Maybe she and Jack were friends now, anyway.

"How is that boy?" Jeremiah said. They must have not seen each other in a while, too.

"He's good, his band has been performing more than before," she told him. "Plus, he's living with me so he can't get into too much trouble or he'd be back to Evelyn's so quick."

Jeremiah looked surprised. "So how long have you two been together, then?"

Valerie shook her head with a laugh. "We're not. Just roommates. Stef kicked him out and he came running over to my place."

"Oh," Jeremiah was quieter now. "I just figured…"

"Nope."

They said their goodbyes and Valerie went back on her hunt for spray paint. She almost cashed her whole pay cheque on supplies when she did find it.

The darkness had rolled in by the time she left the hardware store. Which was perfect because street art and daylight meant you got caught almost every time.

She picked a building very close to her apartment and started on a wall that faced into an alley. Valerie had made the stencils for this project the night before because suddenly she just had an urge to make something. Just as she had spontaneously went and picked up the paint. All Monday morning she tried to convince herself not to put the stencils to any use but couldn't stop herself. The risk of getting in trouble and losing her scholarship hung over her head but Valerie still picked up the spray can and aimed it at the building.

The wall was already somewhat vandalised. It had simple things like 'fuck you' or 'A+K' encircled by a heart. She avoided all of those and put her work right in the centre of the wall.

When she was done, she took a few step back and admired it. A small girl stood on a hill, hanging over Detroit, and looked down on the city. The city was just a blur of lights from where the girl stood and it seemed peaceful. But the girl was gripping a suitcase because she knew the truth. Peaceful would never be synonymous with Detroit.

Valerie gave it one last look and picked up all her things.

Stef was sitting at her kitchen table when she finally got home. Valerie was glad she had stuffed all her supplies into her book bag. He wouldn't have cared that she did graffiti, he had done much worse, but Valerie liked having it a secret.

"Whats all over your clothes?" He asked.

Valerie looked down. Dots of pinks, yellows, blacks, and more had speckled her denim jacket.

Valerie shrugged, trying to think of a lie. "I was at an art class. It got messy."

Stef nodded, believing her. "I came to say sorry for being a dick the other day."

He sighed. "It's just I love Gina, I really do. I know everyone doesn't see her like I do but can you at least accept that's she going to be a part of my life?"

Stef had just said he loved Gina. Stef had many girlfriends but he had never told Valerie he loved them. Stef had probably only said that twice to Valerie in total and she was his sister. Stef didn't just throw that word around; he had to mean it and feel it to use it.

Valerie stood speechless.

"I'm not going to break up with her for you or for Jack. Not for anyone. So stop trying to convince me."

"Okay." Valerie squeaked out. She had meant to say it with confidence but it had gotten strangled in her throat.

"Thank you." Stef stood up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

Valerie didn't say anything else. She couldn't form any words. She had tried so hard to protect her brother from getting used or his heartbroken because Gina seemed like the type of girl to do those things. But all those attempts had been in vain. Stef was in love with Gina and that meant there was no protecting his heart from anything now.

X X X

Valerie drove out to Warren the next morning, very early. Cole had called her and that was the only reason she would be up this early when she didn't have class or work. It had been hours but Stef's confession of his love for Gina was still playing on her mind, a walk with Cole would at least distract her.

Valerie put her car in park outside his apartment building and walked up. Her place looked shabby compared to this, it was almost embarrassing in contrast. She didn't even have to go inside, Cole was in the lobby waiting.

"You ready?" She asked and he nodded. They started walking around the neighborhood.

Cole took her to a park just about a ten minute walk from his place. It was beautiful, the grass was bright green and all the trees enclosing the park were as tall as buildings. Their leaves were all crisp shades of red, orange and brown. It was also so clean. She didn't even see a piece of litter around. But the guy across the field in the neon orange vest and a metal poking stick thing was probably the cause of that.

They sat down on a bench that was shaded by a willow tree. Not that they needed the shade, it was chilly out, even with the sun high in the sky. Valerie had dressed warm, a jacket, mitts, and a scarf. She hated the cold and that was hilarious from a girl who had only left Michigan once. She went to Toronto for her and Stef's nineteenth birthday. They went in December since Stef's birthday was in December and hers was in October. It was freezing there, worse than Detroit.

Valerie absentmindedly cuddled into Cole, laying her head in the crook of his neck. She was shivering slightly.

"Are you cold?"

"A little." Valerie admitted.

"There's a café just down the road from here, want to go get some coffee?"

"I'd love to." She smiled.

The café was small but cute and much warmer than outdoors. They grabbed a booth and Cole went to get their orders.

She had gotten a French vanilla and when Cole passed it to her it had a heart drawn in the foam.

"That is so cute," she had never seen that before. She got all her coffee at Dunkin' Donuts and none of those teenagers would ever care enough to draw a heart in her drink. "Thank you for this, you know. I had money."

"Don't worry about it."

The café played music like 'Banana Pancakes' by Jack Johnson. All that soft stuff that sounded alike.

"You've changed a lot." Cole told Valerie in the middle of their chat.

Valerie was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"You used to be this cold, hard-as-nails girl. You only dated guys like Jack Mercer. You checked anyone you could on the ice," Cole said. "Now, you're so put together. You never gave me a second glance in high school and you'd probably call this place tacky if I brought you here back then. It's nice."

Valerie wasn't sure how she felt about anything Cole had just said. She didn't think she had changed that much, she just didn't put up the front she used to. If he didn't like Valerie then, maybe he wouldn't like her now. She did think this place was a little tacky but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it and if he challenged her to a game of hockey right now, she would be just as rough as she had been then. It made her feel uneasy. Valerie didn't even comment, she switched the subject.

Valerie ordered another coffee to go and they headed back outside.

Cole took her back to his place. The whole apartment was white: the walls, the cupboards, the couch, everything. It was almost blinding how fresh it looked. She was almost scared to sit on the couch when he gestured for her to. She thought maybe the dye from her jeans would rub off on it. He had laughed at that.

Warren had its own share of run-down houses and crime, she had passed it on the drive up here and knew all about it when she went to high school here. But Cole didn't live in those parts. He lived in somewhere she could never relate to. Inner-city Detroit looked like what Cole's Warren would if it had become a ghost town.

Cole turned on his TV and popped in the movie Remember the Titans and pulled her closer. Before the starting opening credits even finished rolling, Cole had his lips pressed to hers.

Cole yanked her even closer and Valerie swung her legs over him so she was sitting on his hips. Cole was completely focused: his hands held her face in place and his mouth moved with hers softly. It all seemed so calculated. He never once bumped noses or teeth and he didn't get sloppy. It was if he had figured out exactly where he was supposed to be and never moved from there. He didn't push further either. Kissing, that's all it was. It never escalated. Even when she sneakily tried to buck her hips into his, Valerie never got a reaction.

His breath tickled her face when they separated, she giggled at the feeling.

"Valerie," he said.

"Yes?"

"I know it's fast but I gotta ask. Be my girlfriend? I just don't see the point in waiting to ask, I know what I want."

Valerie paused. She had never been the best at relationships or maybe she just picked terrible company. A part of Valerie wanted to immediately tell Cole yes but another part of her suggested they were just too different. Valerie knew she liked him – he made her feel pretty, he treated her nice, he respected her, and he took things slow, which she had never experienced.

"Yes." She said. She smiled at him and he pulled her in for another kiss but Valerie was nervous if she made the right decision or not.