When Zach was nine, they heard from Ellen again, or about her rather. She was dead. How? Jenny didn't know and she didn't ask. Her mother hadn't talked to her since... since she told her she didn't know where zach was. That was four years ago.

   The funeral was held at noon. Zach went with his mother, but he didn't feel any emotion about her death. How could he? He had only known the hateful and mean side of her.

   Jenny led Zach to a pew and sat down. The funeral was long and uneventful. After the service, they watched her be lowered and that was it. Zach didn't see anyone cry... that just goes to show what kind of person she was.

*~*~*

   Jenny picked up the phone.

   "Hello?"

   "Jenny?"

   "Yeah? What's wrong?" Jenny could hear Samantha crying on the other end.

   "It's- it's Rick. He just got in a car accident."

*~*~*

   They rushed into the hospital up to Rick's room. A doctor stopped them from going in.

   "You can't go in there."

   "Why not? My boyfriend is in there, and we've been together for six years! I need to see him!" the doctor relunctantly allowed Samantha inside, but Jenny was forced to wait outside.

   Samantha gasped in horror when she walked inside.

   Rick's face was distorted beyond belief. He seemed to gasp for every breath he took, and one eye was swollen shut. There were cuts covering his face, big ugly gashes, open wounds. His bottom lip was swollen with a big cut across it as well.

   His thumb looked to be bent backward, but it was his face that got it the worst.

   Rick opened the eye that he could and looked at Samantha. "Samantha?" She ran to the bedside and prevented the tears from coming. She needed to be strong for him, so that he could have hope.

   "I'm here," she whispered. She carefully stroked his hair so that she did not touch a cut.

   "I love you," he said, looking at her with one eye, the only eye he could.

   "I love you, too." She sat by his side for a couple of minutes, then realized he had gone unconscious. She went to the doctor. "Doctor, he's unconscious!" The doctor gave her a sad look.

   "I'm sorry, but he's not unconscious. His heart beat stopped, and he isn't breathing. He's gone."

*~*~*

   Jenny ran up to Samantha when she came out. "Is he okay?"

   "No. He's gone."

   The tears poured from Samantha's eyes as Jenny led her back to the car. Her Rick, he was gone. Gone. What an empty word.

   Jenny looked at Samantha, and her heart felt heavy for her. She knew how it felt when the love of your life was gone and would, nor could ever come back. she did what she could to try to comfort her, but it was no use. Nothing helped.

   Samantha looked at Jenny, her eyes full of tears, and smiled a weak smile. "You know what his last words were?"

   "What?"

   " 'I love you.' "

*~*~*

   Jenny and zach went to Samantha's house at noon for lunch. Zach was ten now, and looked even more like Jonny than ever before, but this no longer bothered jenny. She had not dated anyone since Jonny, and told the interested guys that she never would fall for them. Jonny was her true love, and no one else could ever replace him.

   It was at Samantha's house that Jenny got a call from someone she had not heard from in a very long time. Jonny's dad.

*~*~*

   Jenny drove carefully to On the Border, Zach in the backseat. Jonny's dad was supposed to meet them there. Apparently, he had heard about Zach from Ellen, and wanted to see him. He had not seen jonny since the day he killed himself he had told her, and wanted to see how much of him was in Zach now.

   Jenny heard her cell phone ring. Jonny's mother?

   "May I speak to Jenny, please?" she asked.

  "That would be me..."

   "I just got a phone call from Jordan..." jordan was Jonny's brother.

   "And?..." Long silence.

   "George died in a car accident." George was Jonny's dad.

*~*~*

   Meg (Jonny's mother) died a week later, from grief over the loss of her husband. Since they were going to have the funeral the day after that anyways, they had her funeral with his.

   Jenny and Zach went to the funeral, but Samantha didn't care to go. It was from all the dirty looks they got from Meg and George's friends and relatives that made Jenny realize something for the first time.

   Jonny's parents had hated her.

*~*~*

okay, sorry it took me so long to put this on here... chapter four ends on page 32, and I'm on page 58 now... Yes!!!

I got called a sadistic little bitch for this chapter by one of my friends, lol.

almost done with chapter five. will put it on here when i get another chance to get on!

see ya!

     Zach looked in his backpack for the markers.

     "Here they are, Mom!" he said, holding them up for her to see.

     "Okay, now let's go," she said, trying to be happy.

     "Okay, Mom." They got in the car and went to the school. She let him walk inside by himself. It made him feel bigger, older.

     "Bye, Mom!" he yelled, turning around and waving.

     "Bye Zach..." As he walked inside for his first day of school, the memories of Jonny came flooding back once again. The way he walked, his facial expressions... all very much a part of Zach now. Every time Zach came hear her, she was reminded of Jonny.

     She drove to work slowly, not really wanting to go. She started moving faster when she got there. She needed the money, especially since her mother moved in.

     Finally, it came time to pick Zach up from school, and she left, glad for the excuse.

     When Zach saw her pull up, he ran and got in the car.

     "Hey, Mom!" he said, obviously excited.

     "How was school today?"

     "It was cool. My teacher, Ms. Samantha, is really nice. When everyone went outside for recess, she said she knows ya. She says ya'll use to go to school together."

     "Really? Did she tell you her last name?" If it was Samantha Culley...

     "Oh, it's Culley. She said her name was Samantha Culley."

     Great. Her worst enemy was her son's new school teacher. Samantha was the one who had always gotten away with everything. She had had a crush on Jonny while he was going out with Jenny. She wore the sluttiest clothes imaginable, but Jenny's Jonny, he saw right through Samantha Culley for the no good slut she was.

     Jenny wondered sarcastically how Samantha was dressed as a teacher.

     "Hey, Mom?" Zach said, breaking into her thoughts.

     "Yeah..."

     "Why don't I have a Daddy?"

     "Why- why do you think that? Who told you don't have a Daddy?"

     "Everyone else, all my friends, they have a Daddy. Why don't I?"

     "You do have a Daddy, Zach."

     "Then, who is he?"

     "His name is- was Jonny. Your Daddy-"

     "Mom, what's wrong?" Jenny's eyes had filled with tears. "Mom, it's okay. I won't ask you about him anymore, okay? I promise." Jenny gave Zach a weak smile and patted his messy hair.

     "Thanks, Zach."

*~*~*

     Ellen looked at Jenny and immediately knew something was wrong.

     Jenny plopped down in a chair. "Hello, Mother."

     "Jenny, what's wrong?" Ellen asked all-knowingly.

     "Nothing's wrong."

     "Don't lie to me. What's wrong?"

     "Mother, nothing's wrong."

     "Jenny, I'm your mother. I know you. I knew as soon as you walked in that door that something was wrong."

     "Mother, I've already told you, nothing is wrong!" Jenny was annoyed.

     Zach came out of his room quietly, and sat against the wall by the living room so he could hear what was going on.

     "It's Jonny again isn't it? Jenny, get over him- he's gone! You will never see him again! Move on with your life!"

     "I can't move on with my life, Jonny was my life. And  do see Jonny. Everyday, I see him when I look in Zach's face. Maybe I don't want to forget about Jonny!"

     "I told you this would happen. You should have gotten rid of him before he was ever even born! Jenny, Zach is ruining your life!"

     The tears rolled down Zach's cheeks now. Once again, they were arguing over him, "Jenny's mistake" as he was called many times by his grandmother.

     He reached up and wiped his eyes. He didn't understand. Why did she hate him so much?

     Zach had heard enough. He wiped his face and stood up. Trying to act like he had not been crying or overheard them, he walked into the living room.

     He felt his grandmother's glare on him, but he did not let any tears come now.

     "Mom, what's for dinner?" he asked, trying to keep his voice normal.

     Jenny turned and looked at the clock. 9:30.

     "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. What would you like to eat?" she asked, apologetic.

     "Anything you can make. You cook good food, Mom."

     Jenny smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, I'll make something up for you. How does... macaroni sound?"

     Zach smiled at the mention of his favorite food. "Good. Can I help?"

     "Sure." Jenny stood up and took Zach's hand and took him to the kitchen.

     As they cooked, little did they know that Ellen sat there watching from around the corner, tears falling down her face. She hated him, he was too much like Jonny. Why couldn't Jenny see that he only brought sadness into her life?"

     Dinner was quiet. Ellen never talked to Zach, and hardly ever to Jenny in Zach's presence. Jenny tried to start conversation with Zach, asking him about school. Zach answered briefly, with little detail.

     When Zach was done and had asked to be excused, he walked to the kitchen. As he rinsed off his plate and put it in the dishwasher, he thought about the recent events of the night.

     He decided his grandmother was right. Everytime she looked at him, she seemed sad. Yet, he had seen pictures of her where she was happy. Those pictures were when he wasn't around. Before he was born.

     That was when he decided to run away. He would go to his clubhouse. That way, she would be happy again. He didn't want to make her sad.

     Jenny tucked Zach into bed and kissed him on the cheek. "Do you want me to read you a story tonight?"

     "Can you read Fox in Socks?"

     "We read that one last night. How about... this one!" She held up a book he had not seen before. It had a picture of a whale on the front and a man standing in his mouth.

     "What's that?"

     "Jonah and the Whale."

     "Okay."

     She read the story, making it come alive. Soon, Zach was too caught up in the story of Jonah and when he ran from God to remember his own plans to run away.

     When she finished the story, Zach requested another one, but Jenny reminded him that he had school again tomorrow.

     They said goodnight and Jenny left and turned out his light, leaving him with only his nightlight. Then he remembered his plan to run away. He yawned. "Maybe tomorrow," he thought. "Maybe tomorrow I will..."

*~*~*

     I have written this much... and have found myself with writer's block. Grr.... writer's block should die a horrible death. Yup, it should. Well, I feel like writing in purple now, so yeah...

But um, comment me lots!!! &)

The emotion inside her was awful. She wanted to just dig a hole and suffocate, just so she wouldn't feel the pain. She closed her eyes tightly, but nothing could make him come back... he wasn't coming back. The dead just don't come back.

Hou could he do this to her? How could he just... go?

If only, if only he were there, his arm around her, comforting her, whispering in her ear, but if he were here, she wouldn't be going through this...

But no. He wasn't. He was dead to her. He apologized, over and over again, but how could she forgive him? She couldn't. She couldn't forgive him for buying the gun, the bullets that would steal hiim from her forever...

~*~*~*~*~

Why did he do this? Why did he listen to his parents?

To protect her, that's why. So she would not die...

He missed her so much... with every fiber of his being, but he knew what would happen... He had been forced to buy the bullets himself... the bullets his parents would force him  to fir from the gun they made him buy... The bullets that would steal her from him forever...

~*~*~*~*~

Okay, that's all I have so far...

so yeah... comment!