Woops, sorry guys. I am just obsessed over this one app. I'm sure you've heard of it, because it is so freaking popular. Hold onto your hats because, I am obsessed with Rubby Bird. Geez, I watch one Smosh video and BAM! I'm hooked. So heed the warning that I give you:

Don't play Rubby Bird or you will be posessed by a demonic bird that wants to be rubbed.

That thought aside, I feel sad lately because I feel like none of my favorite fanfictioners (is that a word?) are putting out chapters anymore, and I feel bad because I keep procrastinating. I could bullshit you by saying how my life has taken a turn for the worse, or my life is shit, but then, I'd be down right lying. Of course it doesn't help if Microsoft Word is being a bitch. But still, procrastination is also a bitch.

Plus, Jack has a random blow-up scene, so forgive the suddenness. It was either this, or wait a couple more chapters for what's coming soon and I really didn't want to wait.

[Edit] I am a terrible, horrible human being. I procrastinate WAY too much. I am TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, AWFUL HUMAN!

So without further a do: Here's Chapter 18.

Chapter 18

Jack

I watch Rapunzel from the car. She's on her parent's porch sitting with them and talking, laughing. She looks so happy. I want to have a family like that, I want more than just a foster parent who doesn't tell me shit for "my protection". Because, dammit, don't I deserve more?

But then, why do I feel like a bastard every time I think like this? Why do I get jealous because of my girlfriend?

I lean back in my car seat. Fuck it, fuck it all. Why can't Manny just tell me why the hell I can't know any of this?

The car door opens and Rapunzel slides into the seat. Her smile is bright and her eyes twinkle. She's always like this after meeting with her parents. At least she has been for the past three days. While on campus, she worries about classes starting tomorrow, but when here, she can forget it all. Of course, I don't have a touchstone. I probably would if she'd let me kiss her a bit more.

Damn, I am fucking pissed today, aren't I? Rapunzel begins to talk about what happened while talking with her parents, while I drive along. I'm only half listening so I barely hear when she starts calling my name.

"Jack? Jack!"

I blink, "What?"

Rapunzel raises a brow, "I've been calling you for the past few minutes." She sighs and looks out the window, "What is wrong with you? You've been standoffish all week!"

I feel my temper rise, "Yeah, and you've been happy-go-lucky all week."

"Ugh!" She gapes at me. "Well, excuse me for being happy that I'm finally away from my mom!"

I glare out the window. "Whatever," I mutter.

She growls, "Jesus Christ! You're impossible! Tell me what is wrong!"

"Nothing!"

"Then why are you being such a bastard?" She yells.

I pull over and stop the car. Before the key is out of the ignition, I'm out of the car. I stomp a few feet away and let out a breath. Rapunzel follows me.

"Why are you acting like I'm the bitch?" She screams.

My temper spills over and I kick the beer can by my feet. It sails through the air and lands twenty feet away. I turn and start to yell, "I don't know! Maybe because you're flaunting your parents like they're a new car, or because your life is so much better than mine!"

She quiets, "I'm not flaunting-"

"And how about the fact that my own father doesn't tell me anything anymore?! At least you have a good reason! You're mom is a bitch!"

Rapunzel's cheeks flame, "How dare you talk about my mother that way! Yes, she's a bit of a bitch. Yes, she's angry that I'm far away! But she still loves me! Being angry is not cause for being a bitch."

I roll my eyes, "You sure? Because you're acting like one."

She quiets and gapes at me. Tears flood into her eyes, but an outraged look stays on her face. Without a word, she turns and starts walking away. She moves past the car and walks down the highway.

It slowly dawns on me. She isn't the one being angry and bitchy. That would be me.

"Fuck," I murmur. I race after her. "Punz! Wait! I'm sorry!"

"No," She spits, "I'm sorry for being such a bitch."

"No, no, no, no, no. You're not. I'm the one being a dick," I catch up to her and try to stop her, but she slides away and keeps walking. "Come on, Punz, I'm sorry! I am really, seriously sorry!"

She turns and yells, "If you were sorry, then you wouldn't have said that!" Her green eyes seem dull and tears stream out of them. Her voice turns quiet and I can hear a slight hiccup. "Please, just go away." She keeps walking, but I stay stationary, shock planting me to the ground.

"At least let me drive you to the campus?"

She doesn't turn, she just keeps walking. I turn and run back to my car. Risking the law, I speed to where she walks and I drive alongside her until she gets to her parent's house. With one last look at me, she takes two steps at a time and bursts through the door. It slams shut, telling me that she doesn't want me anymore.

Rapunzel

Tears stream from my eyes to the pillow, making it wet and soggy. Just like my relationship, I think bitterly. Thank God, my parents had a spare room where I could spend the night. Thank God, they didn't ask questions when I returned an hour later, crying and begging to stay the night. Thank God, they didn't hover.

I should probably sleep, but it's like a papercut on my heart. It throbs, demanding to be noticed. If only I could shut off my brain, that would be half the battle. The other half would be ignoring the little voice that tells me to scream, to shout, to wreck everything.

The room starts to get stuffy, so I roll out of the bed, still in jeans and my t-shirt, and open a window. A cool breeze dances in. I breathe it in, let it flow through my lungs and into my heart, where it numbs the pain.

Like a zombie, I lurch to the bed and flop onto it. Gathering the bed sheets, I dry my face and muffle my sobs.

My mind goes over what we said to each other.

Me: "Being angry is not cause for being a bitch!"

Jack: "You sure? Because, you're acting like one!"

I brace myself for a thump of pain from my heart, but it never comes. Wow, the cold air must work fast!

My eyelids start to feel heavy and I close them. With a sigh of content, I fall into sleep.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A warm breeze drifts through the window and I sigh happily. With the warm breeze comes the scent of flowers. It's late summer, so why does it smell like spring?

I open my eyes and all around me, even duct taped on the walls, are flowers. From a quick estimate, it looks like thirty of them. A rose beside my pillow has a little note attached to it, scrawled in squiggly cursive.

Roses are red,

Violets are definitely not blue,

But I'm not sorry to say

That I love you.

I let out a giggle at the violet part, but I grow quiet at the "I love you" part. After last night, how can I be sure? What if he's wrong?

But what if he's right?

Above me, a swinging tulip hangs. It, too, has a note attached. With a note of poetic failure on top, it professes:

(Warning: This note contains terrible poetry.)

In order to say what needs to be said,

Go to the window and hang out your head,

And search the Earth .for my calling voice,

So you can hear me and make a choice.

I roll out of the bed and quickly run a brush through my hair, all the while a little voice yells at me to run far, far, far away. Taking a deep breath, I do as the poem said and lean over the window frame.

Below, Jack lies against the neighbors' house, seeming asleep. One mouth is open widely, arms crossed, and one knee brought to his chest. Grabbing a small styrofoam ball, I toss the plush sphere at his forehead and it hits home.

Jack sits up and rubs his face. "What the Barbara Streisand?" He mutters tiredly.

I call down to him, "Hey, Shakespeare, did you rob a florists'?"

"Who, me?" He grins, "The Keebler Elves left them."

I laugh, "Not sponsored." Suddenly, a wave of soberness hit and my laugh dies. "So," I twiddle my fingers.

"So..." Jack trails off. "I'm sorry about last night. I am a serious douche." After a moment of thought, he speaks again. "I was jealous of you having a... family. A home. I mean, yes, I do have a family and a home, back in Burgess, but... I want the real thing."

I look down for a moment and watch a small bug follow a trail across the window sill. I wonder if he doesn't have a home or a true family. Finally, I make up my mind and crawl out the window. In a tangle of limbs, I fall 'gracefully' in front of Jack. "It's okay," I say, grabbing his hand and pulling him back into my room away from my room. "I forgive you."

Jack looks at me like I've grown another head. "Seriously? No blow up scene, where you yell, and scream, and throw inanimate objects at my face?"

I look at him dubiously, "Would you rather I throw something at your face?" He shakes his head and I plop down into the desk seat by my laptop. "Thought so."

"What are you doing?" Jack asks as he sits on my bed.

I grin at him over my shoulder. "What do you think? Doing the old-fashioned parent search on Google."