Jessica had been fast asleep. It had been around noon when she woke up to the sound of pounding on the front door. It startled her. She had been so tired and this was the most sleep she had gotten in a long time. She quickly sprung out of bed and ran down the stairs. The pounding got louder and louder. As she got closer she heard her name being called.

"Jessica! Open up! Please!" Dorthy yells

Jessica runs to the door and opens it. Immediately when Dorthy saw her daughter she started to cry. She had woke up that morning to Jessica not being there. She was scared to death, thinking something may have happened to her. She held her daughter tight. Jessica was confused as to what was going on.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving? I've been looking for you all morning! I was scared to death!" She cries

"... I'm sorry, I'm fine." She mumbles

"You aren't fine, Jessica. Look at you." Dorthy covers her mouth and looks her daughter up and down. It was almost as if she was lifeless.

Jessica stood there, waiting for her mother to continue.

"Why did you come here, Jessica? You should come home..." She says softly

"This is home... this is Danny's home." She looks around then back at Dorthy.

Dorthy steps in a closes the door. She saw all of the pictures hung back up. All of Danny's things were back in place. She had an idea of what was going on. Maybe all this time what Jessica needed was to feel as close as possible to Danny and this was her way.

Dorthy took Jessica's hand and walked her over to the couch. They sat down together and held each other's hands.

"I'm sorry, I was just scared... I'm worried about you." She mumbles

Jessica was silent.

"I want you to see the doctor... just so he can give you vitamins or something to catch up on everything your body isn't getting. You barely eat, baby. I don't want you to get sick." Dorthy says sincerely

Jessica could see in her mother's eyes that she was scared and desperate for Jessica to get better.

She nodded her head slowly then fell into her mothers arms. She began to cry.

"Oh baby..." Dorthy says softly

"I don't want to be like this Mom! I just hate Danny! He left me... he turned me into this." She cries

"Don't hate him, love... he wasn't able to control staying or leaving... he wouldn't want you to be like this... he'd want you to live your life." She says rocking back and forth.

"I can't sleep at night... I keep having nightmares. It's the same one, every single night. He's on the plane, perfectly fine, and then he dies. Over and over and over again. I can't handle it! I can't relive his death! But last night, being in his room, holding his blanket, sleeping in his bed, it helped... I was able to sleep."

Dorthy nods her head "Do you want to stay here?" She asks nervously

Jessica nods "I think I need to..."

As much as Dorthy wanted Jessica to be with her so she could keep an eye on her, she knew that Jessica may just need her space and adjust to being on her own. Dorthy didn't want to hold her back especially if this is what she wanted.

"Okay." She agrees

"... just until I go back to New York."

Dorthy widens her eyes and gets a pit in her stomach. Of course Jessica would go back to New York, but hearing it made her heart hurt. She didn't want Jessica to be alone in that city. If Sarah lived there it would be different. But she didn't have people in New York like she did back home. Dorthy also didn't trust her. If she stayed at the lake house at least Dorthy would be close by to check up on her.

"You're... you're going to go back?" She struggles to say

Jessica hesitates then nods "That's where my life is... I have a job there. For now, I'm staying here. I'm not ready to go back."

//-//

A another few weeks had passed. Although Jessica never saw a doctor like Dorthy had asked, she decided to work on herself. Now that she was living in Danny's home she was able to really just take time to herself, figure out what's next, and grieve at her own pace.

Slowly but surely she was starting to gain her appetite again, Jessica still wasn't eating enough though. Dorthy was glad to see that Jessica was getting 'better'. Of course it would take lots of time, Jessica would never fully be 'better' especially after the devastation of losing Danny. You never fully heal after death. Dorthy and Jessica's family assumed she was making progress, but really she just put on a show every time they came over to see her. She was tired of them hovering and asking if she was okay, constantly. So she did what she thought was right, fake it.

Jessica was still spending lots of time in bed, but with Christmas just around the corner her family took her out to shop and partake in Christmas activities. It was good for her to get out, even though she didn't want to. She hated every second of it.

Jessica also saw Danny's family a lot. Jessica found out that feeling close to Danny was her way of grieving and making herself feel better. So, she spent lots of time with them. But, one thing Jessica couldn't do was talk about him. She couldn't talk about his death or his life. When someone brought him up she broke into a million pieces.

As everyone got into the Christmas spirit Jessica wasn't really able to get into the spirit herself. Danny always loved Christmas. This year was suppose to be their first Christmas as a married couple. When he was alive they had looked forward to getting their own tree and 'our first Christmas' ornaments. Danny had a whole big plan on how to decorate the tree. Now that was all gone. And it killed Jessica not being able to spend Christmas with him. But this is how it was going to be, for the rest of her life.

Jane and Ann stopped over one day. They wanted to take Jessica out to possibly get a tree. They thought maybe it would boost her spirits.

"Jessica, it's Jane and Ann!" Jane says walking in

Jessica comes out of the kitchen and greets them.

"Hey" She says.

Jessica wasn't shocked to see them. Now everyone came and went. Jessica always had someone over. It was becoming exhausting. In a way it was making her want to go back to New York even more.

"Hi! We thought maybe we could go get you a tree. Christmas is less than a week away!" Ann smiles

Jessica shrugs her shoulders "I really don't want a tree this year."

"Oh come on, Jess! We can help you decorate. I bet Danny has ornaments somewhere!"

"Jane, no." Jessica says

"Jess..." Ann says

"Please, stop. I don't want a Christmas tree." Jessica snaps

Their smiles quickly vanish. They stand there quietly and awkwardly.

"Alright then... that's fine." Ann says

"Maybe we can do something else. Watch a movie, make a big dinner, or order take out!"

Jessica stands there, thinking. Then she looks at her sisters.

"I actually need help with something." She says

"Uhh, Okay, What is it?"

Jessica walks up the stairs and they follow. They weren't sure what was going on.

She takes them to her room. When she gets there she opens the door to a huge mess. Clothes were everywhere.

Jessica was having a slight breakdown but didn't really know it. She had been going through all of Danny's clothes, trying to get rid of them. Deep down she wanted to keep them all, but her mind was telling her to get them out of the house.

"Jessica, what's going on in here?"

"I need you to help me pack up these boxes. Donating, trash, and family." She says pointing to the labels boxes

"You want to get rid of everything? So soon?"

"Some will go to his brothers and sisters, but yes. Everything is going." She says getting on the floor and putting everything in the donation pile.

"No 'keep' box?" Ann asked

Jessica shakes her head

"Jess, you want to get rid of his letterman's jacket?" Jane takes it from the trash box and Jessica looks at it. A part of her wanted to keep it, but her mind went back to telling her no. She teared up and turned away so they wouldn't see her cry.

"Give it to family." She says

Ann and Jane look at each other. They didn't really think this was something they could do, but they didn't want Jessica to get upset either.

"Jess-"

"Listen, you can either help me or not. I don't care." Jessica snaps

They both get on the floor and help. "Tell us where everything goes... we'll take it to the donation bin for you."

Jessica nods "most of it is in New York, but I want to get this out of here first. More room for renters." She says trying to keep it all in.

//-//

Hours had went by. They cleared out everything. Jessica got rid of a lot of things. Some things her sisters were surprised she wouldn't keep. They didn't argue with her about it. Jessica had nothing left of Danny's when it came to clothes.

Jane and Ann carried the donation boxes to the car. It was just them outside.

"We can't get rid of these." Ann says

"What do you mean?"

"I regret throwing all of jimmy's things away. Well, some of it... I'm going to keep these... one day Jessica will wish she hadn't gotten rid of these. Especially this." She says holding up the varsity jacket.

//-//

That night Jessica had been exhausted. She took a shower then went to change into pajamas. As she was going through the drawers she came across an oversized crew neck of Danny's. She thought she had gotten rid of everything, but she thought wrong.

She picked up the hoodie and held it in her hands. She brought it to her nose and sniffed it. It smelled just like him.

She cried into the hoodie and held it to her chest. She wished and wished that things didn't have to be like this. She just wanted Danny back.

"I miss you... I need you... what am I doing with my life, Danny? I just need you to tell me it's all going to be okay." She says to herself

//-//

Do you guys want Jessica to go back to New York?