AN: Somehow writing a story for my history class reminded me of this and made me want to work on it, sooooo here you go! Sorry for taking so long to update but if there is anybody actually out there, here's a new chapter!

Not this predating Jackson's death…

Is anyone even reading this anymore?

Aka the chapter where I struggle to figure out what to write!

Chapter 4

No matter how hard she tried, Lucy couldn't help but think back to Tim's words. Maybe he had been right? Lucy would never admit it, but there was a small part inside her heart that wished and hoped that the right person would be Tim.

Lucy shook her head and tried to rid Tim from her mind as she got ready the following morning. Jackson had still not woken up so she would still have plenty of hot water to start off her day on the right note. Her alarm had malfunctioned and gone off an hour earlier than she wanted it to, so instead of going back to sleep, she decided that she wanted to be productive and wake up early.

"Luce? Is that you in there?" She heard a voice say from outside of the bathroom, snapping her out of her thoughts. Lucy poked her head out of the bathroom and saw Jackson standing there, clearly just recently woken up, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Did you need something?" Lucy asked as she collected her clothes from the bathroom floor and step out into the hallway,

"Sgt. Grey called. He needs us at the station now."

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Lucy asked as she grabbed her shoes and her bag from by the door entrance.

The two left the apartment in a hurry, almost at the staircase before Lucy's phone started ringing.

Tim.

"Are you okay? I'm on my way to you right now. Don't leave," Tim said. Lucy heard the urgency and worry in his voice and stopped dead in her tracks, placing her palm on Jackson's chest to get him to do the same thing.

"Tim, you're on speaker. What's going on?" Lucy asked as she stepped out of their apartment complex onto the street.

That's when it popped up "Earthquake warning. Seek cover. Drop, cover, hold on"

Lucy couldn't get a word out of her mouth before it hit. The worst earthquake she had experienced in her life, in fact the worst one that had ever hit California.

When it finally stopped it was like Lucy was in a dream. Everything was blurry and hazy and the constant ringing was close to driving her insane. That's when she felt the pressure of whatever was on top of her, crushing her, making it hard to breathe. It was like she was in the barrel again, everything was closing in and she felt her heart skip a beat and her breathing increase rapidly.

She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Lucy tried to find Jackson, tried to call out his name, but nothing came out. There was no sound from Jackson, no sign of him anywhere near her.

She didn't know how long she lay there motionless and trapped until she heard someone calling her name in the distance. By this point, the exhaustion and pain had kicked in, making the only thing feasible a soft grunt, but it was enough. He found her.

"Lucy. Lucy!" Someone screamed as she heard footsteps from behind her slowly growing closer. Tim.

In a desperate attempt to get to Lucy, Tim grabbed whatever he could off of her and moved it. The way he was digging at the concrete was like a trapped animal, digging helplessly in an attempt to get out, but he was digging towards her. His boot.

The moment he threw the lack piece off, he fell to his knees and grabbed Lucy, wrapping his arms around her. All the emotions that had been built up finally hit her and Lucy broke down into sobs as she sat there in Tim's arms. And Tim let her, he let her sob into his chest, and he held her like there was no tomorrow.

Then it hit her. Jackson.

"Jackson. Where's Jackson?!" Lucy said as she pulled away from Tim and looked around frantically.

"Oh Lucy," Tim said as his gaze softened and briefly looked behind him, next to where Lucy had been not long ago.

Lucy tried to turn her head to look where Tim had been looking, but Tim grabbed her neck and gently turned her face towards him. His usual scowl, what Jackson calls called his Tim Scowl, was gone and replaced by a look of sadness and worry.

"No," Lucy said, not being able to believe him. Jackson was fine, he was going to be fine. But Tim's face didn't change, the same look remained, the look someone gives a kicked puppy. That's when she knew it was real.

"No." Lucy repeated, as the tears streamed down her face. Tim grabbed her in his arms again, holding her as tight as he could as she sobbed and pounded on his chest. But he took it. He would take anything for her, if this meant she would feel better, he would let her.

No

No

No

NO

She couldn't lose Jackson.

But she did.