Hello hello! I hope everyone had a great end of 2018. Pretty wild to think that we're in a new year. I don't know about y'all, but I still keep writing the date wrong.

Anyway, enjoy the next chapter!

Sunday found Jack stuck in his room, doing homework or walking around his house trying to find anything else to do except his homework. His mom had told him if he wanted to make up for coming home drunk off his ass he'd have to clean the whole house and get all his work done. And since she'd taken his phone until he did that, he couldn't text Matt again about getting his car back. So he reluctantly sat down at his desk and began his chemistry homework, belatedly wondering why he had signed up for this class in the first place.

Unable to focus on his work, he let his mind wander to Kim. Ever since he left two years ago, he'd harbored this resentment and anger that had festered until it was like a gaping wound. Not even against her, against everyone. He covered it with thoughts of retribution, but in reality he was a hurt little boy who wanted to understand. Why had people been so cruel? And even though it felt incredible coming back to school completely changed, it still chafed because people were interested in him only because of his appearance.

It still came down to what he looked like. Just in a different way.

And he thought looks were only a girl problem.

Maybe that wound had never fully healed. Maybe he had been looking for validation in the wrong place. Maybe even with his physical change, he still felt unwanted.

He became so lost in his thoughts that he startled when there was a small knock at his bedroom door. It opened a crack and his mother's head popped in, her smiling face a relief after all the yelling she'd done that weekend.

"Hey," she said, a knowing smirk on her face. "How's the homework coming?"

Jack leaned back in his chair and shot her a half-hearted glare. "I think I'm gonna drop out."

"Over my dead body," his mother snorted, coming fully into the room and leaning against the door frame. "Get a tutor if it's bad. What is that, chemistry?"

Jack faked a huff of frustration, putting his pencil down and turning to face her. "Are you just here to bully me?"

"Watch that attitude, young man," she warned. "And no, I'm not. I'm here because I want you to get your car back. I didn't buy it for you so you could lose it over a drunken escapade."

"Yes ma'am," Jack replied, saluting her and going to stand. "Can I have my phone back?"

His mother rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket before handing him his phone. "If you go anywhere except to where the party was and back home, there will be consequences." The faint smile on her face betrayed her serious tone.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, hopping up from his desk chair and grabbing his keys from the hook beside his bed. "I'll be back in a half hour."

He needed a little fresh air to clear the self-introspection from his head.

On Monday, Jack kept telling himself he wasn't keeping an eye out for Kim. No, he was simply scanning the crowd to look for his friends, or turning around to look at the clock at the back of the classroom and not the door, or taking an inordinate amount of time to get his books out of his locker between classes in case she decided to stop by hers. He told himself that he didn't really want to know what happened to her, that he wasn't curious about what had happened in the past year.

But after last period, when he saw her from down the hallway kneeling at her locker, his heart skipped a beat. But just one.

"Hey, Kim," Jack said, not registering the words were leaving his mouth until they were out. He wondered why he was being so nice to her. She didn't deserve nice from him. But the way her doe eyes looked back at him made him want to hug her, and that made him confused.

"Hey," she murmured back, her eyes leaving his face and going back to her locker as she put away and pulled out textbooks faster than before.

"You in a hurry?" Jack asked, leaning against his locker and crossing his arms and legs: the picture of casualness. At least he hoped.

Kim shrugged. "I should get home. I have a lot of work to do tonight and I was out late this weekend."

"You party?" Jack asked, eyebrows sliding up dubiously. She didn't look like she partied, at least anymore.

"No," Kim replied quietly, shutting her locker and standing. She threw her backpack over her shoulder before saying, "A friend and I help drive drunk guys and girls home from the parties. So we're usually working after the party ends."

Jack remembered the sweet voice he'd heard before he passed out drunk. Could it have been Kim who had driven him home? He shook his head. There's no way; she never would've touched him.

Kim walked past him and headed for the exit, but Jack jogged to catch up with her. He noticed the sway of her ponytail and the green of her eyes, the way she kept them down and didn't look around her.

"Kim, what really happened to you?" he asked, trying to keep in step with her as she sped up.

"Don't you have girls to charm and revenge to get?" she answered wryly, her tone becoming tight and closed off.

"No," Jack responded dumbly, not sure how to answer that. The word "revenge" hadn't been his head for several days, and he couldn't help but wonder when he decided it wasn't worth it.

"Besides, I'm sure you've already heard the story." Kim shouldered open the door to the school and walked out into the parking lot, keeping her face set forward. Jack noticed her white knuckles as they clutched her bag.

"I-I heard the story but I want to know what made you act like this." He gestured to her. "The Kim I knew-"

"The Kim you knew doesn't exist anymore, okay?" she spun toward him, her eyes finally meeting his. He was surprised by the ferocity in them...but also the vulnerability, as if this was dangerous territory. Several people looked their way as Kim's voice rose.

"Just drop it." With that, she turned back around and continued walking. Jack glanced around but didn't see any people he knew.

"What if I don't want to drop it?" he challenged, jogging to catch up to her.

"Stop harassing me," Kim said flatly, finally reaching her car and fumbling for her keys.

"Look, I'm not-that's not what I'm trying to do," Jack said, desperation creeping into his voice. What is wrong with me? Why am I pushing this?

He stepped up next to her. "I just left two years ago and things were so different. I know we were different people but I just don't understand-"

"Is that what you want?" Kim said, her voice rising again as she faced him. "An apology? Fine. I'm sorry, okay? I'm so sorry-" her voice caught and she paused to clear her throat and look away. "I was insecure and a bitch and I was awful to you. I thought about it every day you were gone, and I can't believe I did that to another person. Is that what you want to hear?"

Kim's eyes had filled with water. Jack stood rooted to the ground in shock as several tears fell down her cheeks. He had never seen that kind of emotion from her before.

It flashed through his mind that this is what he'd been waiting for. It wasn't even the end of the school year and Kim was crying and apologizing. He should have been feeling smug. Instead his gut twisted at the tears on her face.

"I should go," she said quietly, shoving her keys in the driver's side door and reaching for the handle. Jack realized he hadn't responded and felt like an idiot.

"Kim," he said, putting his hand over hers on the car handle. She reluctantly met his eyes, the vulnerability more evident than ever. Jack understood that he could destroy her if he wanted to.

But instead he said, "I forgive you. It hurt me for a long time, but I got stronger. And we've both changed. I used to hold it against you, but now…" He trailed off and ran a hand awkwardly through his hair. "I understand. It's not okay, but I forgive you and I want to move past it."

Kim let out a shaky breath. "Okay."

Jack let the silence settle between them as the weight in his stomach disappeared. If someone had told him he'd be reconciling with Kim six months ago, he would've laughed. But now that he had, he felt relieved.

She spoke first. "What now?"

Jack shrugged, a small chuckle escaping. "I don't know, I've never really done this before. Friends?" He stuck out his hand and saw laughter flash in Kim's eyes as she looked down at it.

His small smile was reflected on her face as she reached for his hand and shook it.

The end of an era and the beginning of another. Who would've guessed?

Have a happy valentine's day if I don't update before then...stuff all your faces with chocolate and Netflix, single or not!

Kat