Kelsey's Point of View:

"Jeremy..." Pattie began but was soon cut off my Jeremy.

"Didn't I tell you, you were forbidden in this house?" Jeremy stared at Justin in such disgust, it made my heart shatter.

Justin seemed to be rendered speechless at this point because he didn't say a word. Instead, he stared at his father in complete shock.

"Dad..." Jaxon mumbled, feeling the tension build up amongst us all.

Jeremy, however, ignored us all. "What do you think you're doing in this household?"

Justin licked his lips. "Visiting my family. What do you think?"

"Family?" Jeremy laughed. "What family?" He gestured all around him with open arms. "I don't see your family around here." Shaking his head, Jeremy scowled. "As far as I'm concerned you're nothing to us."

"Jeremy!" Pattie yelled; her voice stern. "Don't you dare refer to us all in that manner. He is my son—our son!"

"Not to me, he isn't! After he became some thug, all respect had gone out the window." Jeremy yelled. "And the death of your sister was the final straw." He stuck a finger into Justin's chest.

"Don't bring Jazzy into this!" Justin spat.

"Why not? It's not like she's here to stop it!" Jeremy barked back. "You're the reason she's dead!"

"Jeremy, enough!" Pattie cried.

"I told you to leave and never come back, that was meant to be forever. I never once said I wanted to see your face again years from then."

Justin's chest moved up and down in anger, his face red, fists clutched at his side. "I know it was a mistake coming here." Grabbing my hand, Justin pulled me up. "Come on Kelsey, we're going." Pushing past Jeremy, Justin began making his way to the door.

"Do you see what you do?" Pattie hissed. "He's our son, Jeremy!"

Justin abruptly stopped, the cries of his mother filling his ears and I knew that he didn't want to leave her behind. "You know what?" Justin sneered, his eyes narrowed. "I'm not leaving." He shook his head. "Not until you hear me out anyways."

Dropping my hand, Justin walked over to Jeremy as I followed close behind.

"I know you hate me..." Justin shook his head. "Trust me, I hate me too... but it wasn't my fault."

"Nothing ever is." Jeremy hissed.

"Let him finish." Jaxon cut in for the first time and each of us turned to face him in shock. Jaxon ignored our gazes, keeping his attention on Justin. "Go on." He encouraged. "We're listening."

I smiled softly in thanks. That's all Justin ever needed. To be heard.

Justin licked his lips, nodding. "I fucked up. I fucked up big time and I know that night Jazzy died, it looked bad... but you have to understand, if I knew she was following me that night, I wouldn't have gone in the first place."

I bit my lip, feeling all the emotions he felt inside of me.

"When I realized she was inside the warehouse that night, my heart practically leaped out of my chest. I knew something could go wrong and I told her to leave. She didn't listen and I'm not saying it's her fault because I should have just taken her out of there myself... but," He shook his head. "I froze when I heard someone walk in." Justin gulped.

Confusion tinted Jeremy's brown eyes.

"It was Jason. Jason McCann... he had the warehouse wired down and there was no way out. If either of us moved, he would tear us apart with just one click of a button. I tried to talk him out of it but he's ruthless. There was no getting inside his head. He didn't even care that I was going to lose someone that I loved as long as he looked like some big tough guy in the end..." Tears whelmed up in his eyes. "I tried to think of so many ways I could have gotten her out so she could live and I would die." The tension slowly died down but the emotions were running high. "That's all I cared about," Justin continued, "keeping her alive. I didn't even care about myself."

By now, Pattie was crying quietly to herself and Jaxon was in awe, tears in my eyes.

"He didn't even think twice before pressing the button that blew us all up." Justin finished.

Jeremy stared over at Justin, at a loss for words, clearly not knowing that part of the story.

"When I woke from the explosion, I looked around and thought that Jazzy was taken out by one of the paramedics so I got out myself. I was taken to be checked out when I realized Jazzy wasn't anywhere to be seen. I had a really bad feeling and I went looking for her despite my condition. I looked around everywhere for her, thinking that she was being taken care of just like I was but I didn't spot her and I refused to think anything bad has happened so I tried to go back into the warehouse but it was already too late. The fireman said that there were no more survivors."

Jaxon choked on the tears desperate to fall from his eyes.

Biting his lip, Justin looked into his father's eyes. "When I found that out, I knew you'd never forgive me... I knew you'd hate me and wish it was me instead of her and trust me, if I could go back in time, I would find some way for that to happen. I'd give my life away in a second just to have her back..."

"Don't' say that..." Jeremy whispered. "Please."

"I'm sorry dad." Justin broke down and for the first time, I had seen him let his guard down. Justin didn't care; he actually let himself feel something. He released all of his emotions and broke down his barrier. Justin wasn't the badass he portrayed himself to be... he was a human. He was a kid that ended up losing his family at a young age and brought into a lifestyle he had no way out of.

"Come here, son." Jeremy opened his arms.

I cupped my mouth, blocking out my cries. You could see the surprise that held itself in Justin's eyes. He never expected those words to come from his father's lips. Justin didn't even hesitate before leaping into his father's arms, hugging him as if his life depended on it.

"I'm sorry." Jeremy whispered. "It was my fault... I shouldn't have just jumped to conclusions."

Justin shook his head. "I would have done the same thing."

"I should have let you explain."

"You had just lost a daughter... I wouldn't have been in the listening mood either." Pulling away, Justin wiped at his face. His eyes were bloodshot and so were Jeremy's.

Grasping his shoulder into his hand, Jeremy shook his slightly. "What made you decide to come back now?"

Justin shrugged. "I was reminded of why family was important."

Jeremy pulled him into another hug, his hands patting themselves against Justin's back. "Are you back for good or is this temporary?"

"I live back in town but I will visit more often. Possibly even everyday if I can after school." Justin softly smiled.

Jeremy nodded, rubbing his eyes free of salty tears. "Well, I'm starving. Anyone care to have some dinner?" He chuckled.

Justin smiled, taking a seat next to him and I knew he was happy to have his family back.

Justin's Point of View:

As we each sat around the table saying grace, I silently prayed in my head, thanking God for having my family back.

"Amen," We each stated in unison before digging into our food.

"So, Justin, care to tell me who this young lady is seated across from me?" I turned to see my dad smirking at me, his hand gesturing over towards Kelsey.

She looked up, blushing slightly. "Me?"

I grinned. "That, dad, is my girlfriend."

His eyebrows shot up. "Girlfriend?"

I chuckled, nodding my head. "Yeah, girlfriend dad."

"She's pretty," He nodded.

"And sweet." Pattie added. "She's perfect for our son."

"You seem to have the approval of everyone here," He paused, his brows pulled to meet in the middle.

"Kelsey." She smiled.

"Kelsey," He finished while nodding. "Well Kelsey, if everyone here approves and my son here likes you then I guess your worthy of my approval as well."

"Dad," I groaned with a roll of my eyes.

"What?"

"Just don't." I scowled, shooting Kelsey an apologetic look.

She giggled, grabbing a few pasta bits into her fork while taking it into her mouth and swallowing. "The food came out amazing, Pattie."

"That's because you helped me." Mom smiled.

"I'm surprised nothing got burned." My dad chuckled while taking a bite of bread.

I laughed loudly. "That's what I said."

"For your information, if it wasn't for us, you wouldn't even be eating right now." Kelsey pointed out.

"Mhm, exactly. Maybe next time you and Justin come over for her dinner, we should have them cook." Pattie countered while pointing over to dad and I.

Kelsey nodded her head. "Definitely then we'll see who are the ones burning things."

Our faces fell. "I don't cook." I stated monotonously.

"What do you eat then?"

"Take out." Justin shrugged.

"That is unhealthy for you." Mom scolded.

"It keeps me alive. I didn't die yet."

"Yet." She emphasized with a shake of her head.

I rolled my eyes, continuing to eat the food my mom made when I felt my phone vibrate endlessly in the pocket of my jeans.

I decided to ignore it being that my mom would kill me if I answered it while eating. I took another bite of salad when my phone began vibrating again. I sighed, dropping my fork against the table. "Can I be excused for a moment, please?"

"Sure, sweetie, but why? Are you okay?" My mom stared over at me in confusion.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Someone's just trying to get a hold of me. I'll be right back." Standing up, I wiped my mouth on a napkin before walking out of the dining room and into the kitchen.

Slipping my phone out of my back pocket, I slid my thumb across the screen pressing it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Justin?"

"Bruce?" I furrowed my brows together, confused as to why he would call now. "I'm kind of busy right now. Can't you call back--"

"We've got ourselves a situation and we need you back here right now."

My stomach churned painfully, knowing that something had gone terribly wrong. "What kind of situation?"

"The cops are on the lookout. They found Parker's body out in the woods this morning. Turns out that they had been searching for something else and ended up with a surprise instead."

"Parker?" I paused. "As in--"

"The guy you killed?" Bruce finished for me, when I didn't respond, he did for me. "Yes."

Everything around me froze in place. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I spat.

"Just come back here as soon as you can. The cops are out looking for you."

"Shit," I rasped, running my other hand through my hair, pulling at the ends. "I'll be right there." Hanging up, I punched the air in aggravation before licking my lips and trying to calm myself down. "Fucking hell," I rasped, shaking my head.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket, pacing the floors while running my hands up and down my face, trying to relax so that I didn't do anything stupid.

After I had slightly calmed down, I rushed back into the dining room. "Kelsey, let's go."

Her eyes widened, taken back by my sudden outburst. "What? Why?"

"What's going on?" Pattie asked.

"Turns out something happened back in town and I need to leave now." I turned to see Kelsey still seated in her chair. "Kelsey, now." I hissed.

She sprang to her feet, wiping her hands on her napkin. "Uhm, thank you for the lovely dinner Pattie. It was nice meeting you all."

"You too?" Jeremy questioned, at a loss for words on what was going on.

Grabbing her hand in mine the moment she made her way over to me, I walked around the table, giving Jaxon and my dad a pat on the back before planting a kiss on my mom's cheek. "Love you guys."

"Love you too."

"I'll see you guys soon, promise." And with that, I pulled Kelsey alongside me, out the door, down the porch steps and over to my car. Unlocking it quickly, I looked all around me, making sure no one saw us before seating myself inside, Kelsey doing the same.

Starting it, I didn't even wait before pulling out of the driveway and onto the street.

"What the hell was that about?" Kelsey asked the moment we were half way down the street.

"The cops found Parker's body and now they're out searching for me."