Epilogue

Benson Residence
Seattle, WA
Saturday, August 6, 2011

Freddie closed the two top flaps of the cardboard box sitting on the bare mattress of his bed then preceded to tape across where the flaps met and securing the top closed. He picked up the magic marker off the bare mattress and wrote 'Freddie's Room' and a quick note about the contents of the box on one of the top flaps. It was the last box packed of his personal affects.

He took a deep breath then let it out slowly as he looked up. He looked around his bare walls and empty room other than several other stacked boxes of his possessions near the bedroom door that hadn't been moved to the living room yet. He looked back to the only thing left in the room (other than the long desk pushed against the wall): the bed and mattress, but he knew as soon as he was gone that his mother would redo the bed with new sheets, blankets and pillows so he would have a place to sleep when he visited.

A pair of thin pale arms wrapped around the front of his waist and a soft chin rested on his left shoulder. He turned to see the greenish/blue soft eyes and warm smile of his girlfriend just before she gave him a peck on the cheek.

He gave her a warm smile. "Hey."

"Hi," Jade replied just as warmly. She let go of him then took a seat on the mattress and rested her left arm on the finished packed box. "So, are you done?"

"Yep," he replied and patted the top of the box beside her forearm. "This is the last box." He took a moment to look at the pale teenager. She was dressed down to help him pack up his bedroom: she was wearing one of his old Penny Tees (Dried Gold) that became too small on him since completing rehab and his continued workout regiment, and some old faded blue jeans. Her now dark brown hair (she had let the black hair dye mostly wash out last week) was pulled back behind her ears and her head was covered with an old blue patterned bandana that she said belong to her late godmother. She had also left out her eyebrow and nose piercings and blue/green streaks out of her hair just for the day (He was just as dressed down with a pair of old blue jeans, but wearing his new, complimentary blue T-shirt with the Hollywood Arts, HA logo printed on the front he got after being accepted into the school).

She replied with a half smile and nod of her head, "Good, because I think it's time for lunch, some real lunch, not what you mother calls lunch, then we can pack the rest of this stuff on the trailer."

He leaned forward/down and captured her lips with his lips for a moment then pulled back and smiled. Their faces were just an inch or two apart when he whispered, "Sounds like a great idea. What did you have in mind?"

She grinned in response, but before she could respond verbally, he stole another kiss. He pulled back again and smiled.

She sighed and started again, but he swooped back in and stole another kiss from her lips. He leaned back and grinned from nearly ear to ear.

"Freddie!" she admonished with a soft glare and a hint of irritation, but he easily heard the playfulness in her tone.

He chuckled, "Okay, I'll stop for the moment."

"Thank you," she sighed out then continued, "I thought we'd order in some pizza and some of Galini's Pie you enjoy so much."

"You do know how to spoil me," he commented with a hint of gratefulness in his voice.

"Yeah, well…" she trailed off with a smile. "You've always been grateful."

He held his smile as he replied, "Speaking of being grateful, I have to remember to do something nice for your mother to thank her."

Jade nodded as she replied, "Mom would appreciate that, but she wouldn't expect you to do anything. Who knew she had a propensity to help troubled souls?"

Freddie laughed softly, "Yeah, well… all the more reason, but that would be an interesting story if she ever cared to share." He leaned forward once more to share a kiss with the dark brunette. As they exchanged a few playful kisses, a soft knock on the open bedroom door caught their attention.

They turned their attention to the bedroom door as Colonel Shay smiled as he added his thoughts with a soft laugh, "It is an interesting story: it involves a little bit of friendship, a little bit of romance and a couple of fist fights." He was wearing a grey Penny Tee with the words in Air Force blue: FLY BOY and blue jeans.

Freddie pulled back and turning from the bed while Jade stood up and asked in surprise, "Colonel?"

"Hi Jadelyn," he replied with a warm smile. "You look as lovely as ever… just like your mother," he continued with a nod of his head. He looked to Freddie and gave a respectful nod and smile, "Mister Benson."

Freddie was just as surprised seeing the Air Force Colonel standing at his bedroom door. "Hello… ah, do you mind me asking why you're here sir?"

Shay nodded his head to the side and replied in a friendly tone, "My Joint-Tour just finished and I'm back for some long overdue leave. I just wanted to stop by and see you before you left for L.A." He looked to the pale teenager and asked respectfully, "Could you give Mister Benson and me a few minutes?"

Jade blinked in surprise at the request and wasn't sure what to make of it.

Freddie whispered softly, catching his girlfriend's attention, "It's alright."

The pale singer looked to Freddie and saw the comforting look on his face. She let out a breath and nodded, relenting to his request. "I'll take a box to the living room and order our lunch."

Freddie nodded with a grateful smile and replied, "Thank you."

She returned the thanks with a bashful smile of her own and a nod of her head. She turned and approached the door, taking a moment to pick up one of the lighter boxes from the stack. She headed out the door and gave the Colonel a smile as she passed him at the door. He returned with a smile.

The former flyer looked back to Freddie with a smile. "So… done packing?" he asked rhetorically with a slight laugh as he obviously saw that the room had already been stripped bare.

He nodded respectfully and replied in a friendly tone, "Yes, sir." He patted the box on the bed. "This is the last box."

The Colonel nodded and walked further into the room and leaned back against the desk against the wall. He crossed his arms and let out a breath. "So, starting over?"

"Yes sir," the brown eye teenager replied in a solemn voice.

"I relate, not exactly like you, but close enough."

Freddie looked unconvinced as he asked, "So you're not here to convince me to stay?"

The Colonel shook his head. "No, that's not my place even if I thought otherwise."

"So you think I'm making the right choice?"

Shay took a slow breath and gave an expression of contemplation. A few moments later he replied, "I think it's regretful that you got to the place where you had to make this decision."

Freddie looked down to the floor for a moment and thought on the carefully phrased response, but guessed it probably did sum up the Colonel's feelings perfectly. He briefly noticed that the Colonel was still wearing shoes that he knew would drive his mother up the wall if she saw the footwear walking on her floor, but refrained from commenting for the moment as they were talking about a more pressing matter. He looked up a few seconds later and replied, "I am too."

Shay blew out a breath then continued, "If it means anything to you son, I'm sorry how this turned out between you and Carlotta… she's loyal to a fault. She gets that from me… Shays will sacrifice morality and principle for the ones they love… the only thing we will sacrifice them for. I'm sorry Carly didn't realize she didn't have to make a choice."

Freddie raised a hesitant eyebrow as he cautiously asked, "Is that why you're here? To apologize for her?"

"No, that's her place. It's her place to take responsibility for her choices and it's her responsibility to attempt to make amends if that is what she chooses to do. I just wanted to check on you and let you know maybe why Carly did what she did. I wanted to let you know that if you ever needed anything you could still count on me."

"So we're still not even?"

Shay shook his head. "Nope, not by a long shot."

Freddie snorted out a laugh.

The pair fell into a brief silence until Freddie continued somewhat bashfully, "I was expecting Carly to maybe try to convince me to stay… but I haven't seen her."

Shay tilted his head slightly to the side as he explained, "She's not here because she's avoiding you; she's spending the next two weeks with her Uncle Barry."

Freddie shut his mouth quickly and raised his eyebrows as he thought about the stories he had heard about the Dorfmans. He warily asked, "So you are punishing her?"

Shay smirked at Freddie apparently knowing about the Dorfmans' eccentric behavior. "If she thinks it's punishment to spend some time with her uncle and cousins, then that's reason enough to send her to them, but no, it isn't punishment. Her losing you as a friend, probably for the rest of her life, is punishment enough. She'll punish herself more than I ever could for her shortsightedness."

Freddie nodded along as he understood all too well the pain (if she was really going through it) as he was still hurting over losing the illusion of her as a friend. The phrase 'Who cares?' had haunted him over the last few weeks, especially late at night when all was quiet, and he didn't doubt they would haunt him for the foreseeable future. However, he did not have time to dwell on that, so he asked, "Then why?"

The former flyer shrugged a shoulder as he replied casually, "She just needs to get away for awhile, give her a chance to process what happened in a safe environment… get away from Samantha for a little bit. Maybe even learn not to be so damn judgmental towards people that don't fit her definition of 'normal'. It might give me the chance to salvage Samantha, because I'm not letting her drag Carly down with her if she insists on staying on the road that either is going to land her in prison or the morgue."

Freddie snorted out a laugh, "You think any of that's possible?"

The former Tech-Producer saw the friendly disposition to the former flyer turn to one of grim determination. "I understand the bitterness and the hatred that's seeping into your love for Carly, but she's my little girl, I have to try to save her. I lost my wife; I'm not losing my daughter."

Freddie shut his mouth quickly and gave a respective nod. "I hope… I hope everything works out for Carly."

The Colonel gave a brief smile as thanks then raised a finger. "I do too… but I was wondering one thing. Actually, it's the last reason why I came over."

"Oh?" Freddie asked as the statement peaked his curiosity.

"I wanted to see if I could satisfy my curiosity on how in the world you convinced Marissa to let you move in with Ruby down in L.A.?"

Freddie smirked and cocked his head to the side. "Honestly?"

Shay briefly chuckled, "If you don't mind?"

Freddie blew out a breath then answered kind of reluctantly, "It was a combination of emotional manipulation about her only child being happy and safe away from Seattle, I played on our faith with Scripture about the need for her to let me go be a man on my own, guilt tripping her about the microchip she put in my head as a baby and finally the threat that in several months on my eighteenth birthday I would walk right out the front door and go down to L.A. anyway without looking back." He finished with a little bit of shame in his voice, "It wasn't exactly my proudest moment, but…"

"It was necessary?" the Shay offered sympathetically.

"Yes."

Shay nodded along with an apparent understanding expression. "I understand. I've had to do some 'necessary' things that I'm not exactly proud of either, but don't let that guilt way on you and don't let anyone else use it against you either."

"I'll keep that in mind sir."

Shay nodded in confirmation. "Well, I've taken up enough of your time," he stated and pushed off of the desk he was still leaning against.

Freddie took a breath and wanted to say more, but wasn't sure what he should or if there was anymore to say. He fell back on the courteous thing to do, "Colonel? Do you want to stay for lunch? Jade's ordering us some pizza."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm actually having lunch with Ruby. She can't stand your mother's 'healthy' food either," he finished with a laugh.

Freddie chuckled and shook his head. "Okay."

Shay nodded one last time then turned to head for the door. However, he stopped at the threshold and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, there is one last bit of advice I can give you."

"What's that sir?"

Shay turned around completely to face the brown eye teenager and replied firmly, "When the time comes where you have to… deal with Jadelyn's father, don't take any shit from Roy. He's not worth the respect he thinks he deserves."

Freddie was taken aback for a moment, but nodded along. "I'll remember that Colonel."

"You do that," Shay confirmed playfully.

The Colonel was just about to turn and leave again, until Freddie pointed down to the Colonel's feet, "Ah, Colonel… your shoes."

He looked down for a moment then back up to Freddie. He cracked a grin and retorted sarcastically, "This isn't Holy Ground and I'm not humoring Marissa. Besides, I don't know what kind of germs and mess is on this floor and I'm not tracking it back into my shoes or my home."

Freddie blinked at the absurdity of the concern about the possible uncleanness of the Benson floor.

Shay chuckled at Freddie's response. "I'll see you around Mister Benson."

The brown eye teenager gathered his wits and called out, "Later Colonel," as the former flyer disappeared from view.

Jade walked back in the bedroom a few moments later with a concerned expression on her face. "Is everything alright?"

Freddie cracked a smile and gave a slight nod as he approached her. He stopped just in front of her and rested his hands on her hips while she instinctively raised her hands to rest on his shoulders. He grinned then gently kissed her which she eagerly responded. He broke contact a few moments later then replied with a warm smile, "Yeah, everything's fine. So, I was going to get some pie?"

Author's Note: Special Guest Appearance by Joe Flanigan as Colonel Steven Shay.

Well that's it. There's no more… except when I start the sequel, which is tentatively titled at the moment 'Jade Likes Nice Guys'. Yes, I said it, there will be a sequel, but I need to focus on iWould Have Pounded Him Silly for a while as well as iAlready Have a Family. I hope you've enjoyed the trip with these characters. It's been fun for me. I never expected it to turn out this well from something that was originally intended to be a one chapter oneshot. Special thanks to all my reviewers (in no particular order): , PlasmaMelonXD, ToxicElixer, Urias, Eletrickkid, saints stories, BushwellFanNYC, DufFan, LanternFan, Julefor, ChaosAgentLoki, Riotstarter1214, animeteen2010, Darkslayer5817, Techygirl and crash76.

Don't hesitate to drop a review now to let me know what you thought about the entire story or any ideas you have for the sequel.