"It's nice to see the house is in the same condition we left it in," Tucker's mother said critically, eyeing her home.

"I told you that I could be trusted!" Tucker exclaimed, following Mom as she inspected the rest of the house.

"I see that," Mom said. "So, how was your night?"

"Oh, it was all right," Tucker mentioned off-handedly, trying to sound casual.

Mom gave him a sharp look. "Tucker."

"…Yes?"

"Tell your mother the truth. Who's dead? What's broken? What did you burn do?"

"Worst case scenario, much?" Tucker snipped at her. "Nothing happened to the house, and everyone left in mostly the same state they arrived in."

"So what is it?" Mom questioned, herding Tucker into the kitchen.

"It's a personal thing."

"And you don't want to tell your mother about it," she guessed.

"It's not that," Tucker quickly said. "There's this girl, and we hung out last night, but then at this morning, she told me that she had a boyfriend, so I don't know what to do about it."

He figured that the PG-rated truth would keep his mother happy.

"Define 'hung out'," his mother demanded. "I don't want any grandbabies, not while I'm this young."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "That doesn't fit the definition of last night. I just kissed her."

"Uh-huh. And do you like this girl?"

"I don't know. I mean, she's great, but I see her a lot so I really don't want to lose her friendship, and I don't want to make things awkward by doing something wrong."

"Then just talk to her!"

"I-"

"Communication is always the answer, Tucker, you know that. But, it's her boyfriend, so make sure you don't go around running your mouth to people about what happened."

"It makes sense."

"Of course it does, I'm your mother. Just be open and honest with her, and everything should work out."

"Thanks Mom."

"You're welcome, honey."

(-.-)

Tucker was splayed out in bed, trying not to think of Jazz, and he ended up thinking of her boyfriend. Tucker didn't like Kevin, and he had absolutely no respect for the older man. That being said, Tucker felt extremely sorry for what he had done and the role he had played in Jazz cheating on him. He had never intended to hurt Kevin like that; Tucker didn't hate Kevin, he just wanted to avoid him as much as possible. He wondered what Kevin would say, if Jazz told him the truth. He wondered what would happen to their relationship.

He wondered if it would end.

He wondered if he wanted it to end.

His phone vibrated.

Jazz: let's forget the whole thing ever happened, okay?

Tucker: okay.

If that's what Jazz wanted, that's what he would do, even if he didn't think he wanted to forget. Even if he was starting to think that he wanted to hold onto the night that he spent with her. He just wanted Jazz to be happy with her life, and he knew that she had to be in control of this, because she didn't want to lose Kevin.

For a brief moment in time, Tucker wished he was Kevin, because then Jazz would want to hold onto him.

(-.-)

"Jasmine?"

"Yes?" Jazz murmured, looking distractedly up from her phone to Kevin.

"Are you all right? You've been acting strangely for the past several days."

"Oh, I'm fine. Perhaps a little stressed," Jazz explained to him.

She couldn't tell him the truth. She couldn't tell him that she couldn't get her mind off Tucker and she was constantly second-guessing herself, wondering if she should have said something different. She kept wondering if she should have told Kevin the truth and let the chips fall where they may. She was cheating him out of a real relationship by denying the truth to him.

"That's understandable," Kevin agreed, massaging her calf softly. "Are you still going to your parents for dinner?"

"Yes. I'm not sure if I'll be coming here or going back to my room afterward. I'll call you when I know."

"I look forward to hearing from you," Kevin told her as she began to pack her things, preparing to leave.

"I'll talk to you later, then."

"Goodbye."

"Bye."

Jazz headed out the door and down into her little car. She drove home to FentonWorks, her conscience haunting her all the while. She forced thoughts of her indiscretion from her mind as she walked in the front door of her childhood home – it had no place here. She hummed softly to herself as she took off her shoes and hung up her purse and coat. She headed toward the kitchen, where her mother was peeling potatoes.

"Hello, sweetie," Maddie greeted without turning around.

"Hey, Mom. Need any help?"

"If you could get started on the carrots that would be great! I'm a little late getting started tonight, your father and I were hung up on a new invention."

"What is it?" Jazz asked.

"It's a powder. We shoot it from a gun, onto a ghost and the powder will still to the ghost and will either hold it in place or mark a clear trail to where the ghost is going."

"Oh? How does it do both?"

"It depends on the amount of powder," Maddie explained. "A lot of powder will weigh the ghost down. A little bit of powder will help us trace it."

"Makes sense," Jazz murmured.

"Oh, more carrots dear," Maddie instructed. "We have an extra guest tonight."

"Sam?"

"No, it's her father's birthday, I believe. Danny invited Tucker over."

Jazz's stomach twisted and she forced herself to keep a smile on her face. "Feeding two teenage boys? We're going to need enough food for an army!"

"Don't forget about how much your father puts away!" Maddie laughed. "There, that should be enough."

"I'm going to run upstairs for a second," Jazz told her mother, before heading to the second-level of the house.

She stepped into the bathroom and sat up on the counter. This was the only place that she could be assured privacy. She didn't know if she could sit across from Tucker and chatter about Kevin and life in general without thinking about Halloween night. She didn't know if she wanted to.

She jumped as the door opened. Damn, she thought she'd locked it. She turned her head to yell at Danny to get out, when she realized that it wasn't Danny at all.

"Hi, Tuck."

"Oh, sorry." His cheeks turned a darker colour. "I didn't realize you were in here."

As he turned to go, Jazz asked, "What are we going to do, Tucker?"

"Sorry?" Tucker stuck his head back in the room.

"This whole thing is a mess. And I don't know what to do." She was ashamed to say that tears began to leak down her cheeks. "I don't know how to fix it. I always know how to fix it … We screwed up."

"I know," Tucker slipped inside the bathroom and locked the door. "It's tricky, but eventually we'll see the right path. Mistakes happen."

"This wasn't some little 'mistake'. I destroyed my relationship. I destroyed someone's trust in me. I destroyed my own integrity." Jazz hopped down off the counter and tugged on her long hair, trying to dispel some of her frustration. "And I don't know what to do!"

"Hey, hey." Tucker put his hands on her shoulders. "It's okay."

Jazz stared forlornly at him, protesting his words through her very expression. She took a step toward him. "It's not okay."

Tucker's breath caught as he looked down at her. "It has to be."

And, just like last time, Tucker wasn't sure who kissed who first. All he knew was that her lips tasted better when his head was clear. The addicting aspects of Jazz wafted to him tenfold, now that he was sober. Tucker seized her hips, trying to draw her impossibly close.

"Tell me," he begged when she broke their kiss. "Tell me you don't want this."

"I …" Jazz hesitated, looking up at him, "I …"

"Straight from the heart," Tucker demanded, feeling dizzy and high. In the days that had followed their encounter, Tucker had come to realize something. He wanted more of her. And it wasn't just her body, the way her lithe frame moved, that he wanted more of. He wanted her in presence, mind and body, emotionally and physically. "What do you want, Jazz?"

"I …" Jazz tried again, head spinning. She liked Kevin, but there was something so intoxicating about Tucker, something that she couldn't shake. She didn't know what it was about Tucker, but he had her thinking about him far more than she had ever thought about Kevin. "I think I might want to try this."

Her logical mind screamed at her. She was giving up a nice, stable relationship with Kevin for a boy she barely understood her feelings for. Her mind told her that she was still reeling from what they had done together, and that was what was actually making the decision. But her heart, oh, her heart was singing.

"R-really?" Tucker stuttered, completely shocked by her answer.

"Really," Jazz confirmed. "Oh god."

She sunk to the floor, leaning her back against the bathroom cupboard doors.

"What is it?" Tucker asked, squatting so that he was more on her level.

"This is the crazy thing I've ever done," Jazz admitted, barking a laugh as she did so.

"Good crazy?" Tucker swallowed.

He wanted them; he wanted to try an 'us' between he and Jazz. He was sure of it. He had spent the past few days pondering Jazz and his feelings toward her. And at the end of his pondering, he was sure of three things. 1) He wasn't in love with Jazz. 2) He could be in love with Jazz, if given the chance to fall for her. 3) He wanted that chance. He wanted to curl up beside her as her boyfriend. He wanted to kiss her goodnight. He wanted to be with her in the proper way, instead of accidentally tumbling into each other while drunk … while she had a boyfriend.

"Yes," Jazz answered quickly, so there would be no room for doubt. "Good crazy."

Tucker smiled at her, and she smiled back, reaching to squeeze his hand.

"I'm going to go. I have to see Kevin right away … I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay," Tucker agreed.

They both stood, and Tucker wrapped her in a tight hug before stealing a kiss from her lips.

"I'm excited for us," he confessed in her ear.

Jazz looked at him, turquoise eyes swimming with pure emotion. "Me too," she agreed.

She kissed him again, and then she hurried off, both to make excuses to her mother for leaving, and to finally go tell Kevin the truth.

(-.-)

Tucker woke up feeling sick. Jazz hadn't called last night. He'd stayed up until the early morning hours, thinking that she and Kevin were staying up late, talking things over, but he hadn't heard a peep from her. Not a phone call; not a text message – nothing.

Perhaps she'd gone to Kevin's and realized that she cared about him more than she could ever care about Tucker. He could picture the whole scene in his mind, where Kevin convinced Jazz to stay, because she was better off with Kevin than she was with anyone else. If that had happened, Tucker couldn't say that he blamed her. She had been with Kevin for months now, and she had to care about him. If Jazz thought Kevin would make her the happiest, then Tucker couldn't possibly hold her choice against her. He wanted her to be happy, and he had hoped that she would be happy with him, but if she couldn't be, then he would be okay with that.

His phone buzzed beside his head, and Tucker dragged the device toward his face.

"'lo?" Tucker answered, sleep slurring his voice.

"Tuck?" The voice on the other end gasped, weighted with tears.

"Sam?" Tucker sat up, feeling the urgency of the situation. "Sam, what's going on?"

He could hear a harsh crying in the background, a sound that sounded like it belonged to Danny.

"There was an accident last night. Jazz … she didn't make it."

And suddenly, Tucker couldn't feel anything at all.

Whoops. Here's the end. I don't own anything recognizable.

~TLL~