A/N: So haven't updated this in awhile because no one reviewed or anything. So I had written this chapter a long time ago and now decided to post it. If you're reading this and like it, follow or review so I'll keep writing. If not then I'll just stop worrying about it.

Chapter Two

Chuck hadn't felt like this for a long time, at least not as strongly. He had to admit that he had always had this feeling inside him ever since Jess left. Now, she was back and he had pushed her away. What was he going to do?

Jess skated around the Burger Blast, having gotten the job from Betty, her aunt. "May I take your order?" She asked the group of girls sitting at a table giggling. "Yeah, I'll have the "Ren" special please." One of the girls said, giggling as Ren looked over at them. "Alright, let me know when you're really ready to order." Jess sighed as she skated away. She'd been back in Bomont for a month now and Chuck was still avoiding her. "Hey Ren! You got yourself another table of fans." Jess laughed at the look on Ren's face. "Don't worry hot stuff, I'll keep 'em under control." She and Ren had become friends after working together. Ren breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, by the way, watcha doing after your shift?" "Nothing really, why?" "Well you look like you could use some cheering up and I was just wondering if you wanted to go do something." "Like what?" "I dunno, what do you want to do?" Jess thought for a minute then said, " Meet me outside after your shift."

"Where are we going?" Ren asked as he walked up to Jess. She smiled, "You'll see." She took off down the street, Ren close behind. They walked like this for a while until they started reaching the edge of the town. Suddenly, Jess veered off the sidewalk into the woods. "Where are we going?" Ren asked again. "Somewhere special I used to go with my best friend." "Whose your best friend?" Jess sighed, "He's not my best friend anymore. He has changed. He's not the same boy I grew up with." "Who?" Ren asked gently. "...Chuck Cranston." "What?!" Ren asked incredulously, "You don't know him like I do! Or like I used to." They came to an opening in the woods. "We're here." Jess said, "Where?" Ren asked looking around. "Here." Jess said, pulling a rope ladder from behind a tree. "Up." Ren looked at the ladder, then at Jess. She gave him a wink then started climbing the ladder. Ren watched as she disappeared into the trees.

"Come on up hot stuff!" Jess's voice came from up in the tree line. Ren sighed the grabbed the ladder and started climbing. Soon he reached the top, he pulled himself up onto the wooden platform that was built between the branches. "What is this place?" he asked, "This," Jess said, sweeping her arm across the area,"is Chuck and mine's treehouse." The wooden platform extended between four trees, each tree having walls built around it, making a treehouse colony. "This is amazing! How'd you make this?" "Chuck's dad was involved with construction, he let us have all the extra pieces of wood." "Chuck's dad?" "Yeah, Chuck had a dad. He didn't just pop into existence with no family. He used to be really nice. He was the only one who could make me laugh when I felt like crying, he was always there for me." "What happened? Why is he so...mean?" Jess sighed, "Sit down, this is going to take awhile." Ren and Jess made themselves comfortable. "Well," Jess began, "I suppose I should give you the background story first. Chuck grew up with his mom, dad, and little sister." "Wait, Chuck has a little sister?!" "Had a little sister, had." "Oh..." "Anyways, he lived happily with his family. I lived in the house next to him. We grew up together, best friends." Jess smiled at the memories. "Then something terrible happened, Chuck's little sister began getting sick, her parents didn't know what to do. They took her to many different doctors, finally finding one who recognized the symptoms...she had leukemia." "Oh my god..." Ren whispered, a look of shock on his face. "Yeah, it was hard on all of us, she was such a precious little girl. She idolized Chuck and he loved her dearly...Once they found out what was wrong, Chuck's family began tearing apart. His mom blamed his father and his father blamed God. They fell away from church and stopped coming to everything. They just stayed in their home and took care of her. They didn't have enough money to get treatment" Jess got a distant look in her eyes, "Sometimes at night, I could hear his parents yelling at each other, and..." Her voice choked up, " I could hear Chuck crying, begging them to stop. Then a few months later she died. After that, there was nothing holding that family together, Chuck's mom left one day without telling anyone where she was going. His dad started drowning his sorrows in drinking. Poor Chuck was left all alone, his sister dead, mother gone, and his father too drunk most of the time to know who he was. I was the only one who talked to him anymore. All the other kids at school avoided him. Then I had to leave just a month after it happened, leaving him alone. That's how Chuck Cranston is who he is today." Jess finished, tears forming in her eyes. "What was her name?" Ren asked, "Chuck's little sister?" "April, April Joy Cranston, she died when she was seven years old." "And I thought my life was rough." Ren said, "Is Chuck still living with his dad?" "I don't know, Chuck hasn't talked to me since the night I got here. He told me to stay away. I though he just needed time to adjust, but it's been over a month now and he just keeps avoiding me." "I'm sorry." "Yeah, well, I'm not going to push him." "You care for him a lot, don't you?" Jess smiled and looked up at the stars, "Always have, always will."