September first, 1998

17

A few hours later, Veronica was putting Jenna to bed. She had let her stay up slightly later than usual so she could spend some more time with JD, and also as a way to apologise for upsetting her the day before.

"Mom, is dad going to live with us?" Jenna asked, catching Veronica by surprise. She hadn't really thought about that.

"Woah, slow down, he only came back yesterday" she laughed, tickling her daughter under the chin "so do you like him then?"

"Of course!" She exclaimed "he's great! He's funny, and he lets me drink slushies!"

Veronica rolled her eyes at that and laughed again "hey, he can't move in with us just because he lets you drink slushies!"

"Okay, fine, night mom" Jenna yawned, exhausted since at was two hours after her usual bedtime.

"Night sweetie" she whispered, closing the door quietly behind her as she left the room. She thought about what Jenna had asked, would JD want to move in with them? Yes, until the day before, she thought he had been dead since 1989, but now he was back, it seemed like he could easily fit into their little family. Jenna adored him, but then again, she didn't know about their murder spree back in high school. Saying that, Veronica was also guilty, so why would JD's influence on their daughter be any different?

She headed back into the kitchen where, to her surprise, JD was finishing up doing the dishes.

"Oh thanks, I should have done that" she said.

"It's fine, it's the least I could do. Thanks for dinner, Veronica, it was delicious" in all honesty, he hadn't shared a meal with anyone in years. Even when he lived with his dad, he frequently had to cook himself some pasta to eat in his room while his dad drank his life away in front of the tv. Family meals had always been a foreign concept to JD.

"Jenna really likes you, you know" Veronica smiled. JD smirked back at her, drying his hands on a tea towel.

"Well what can I say, I'm a very likeable person" he joked, earning an eye roll and slight punch from Veronica "honestly, though Veronica, she's an amazing kid. You've done a brilliant job raising her." He could see her getting a little emotional at that, as much as she tried to hide it, and pulled her into a hug. This felt right. He missed being able to comfort her when she was stressed out like he could back in high school, even if in the end he became the source of much of that stress. He could only imagine how many times while Jenna was growing up that Veronica had to deal with all of her stress on her own without any support. She had pretty much cut every one out of her life after all.

"Aw, look at the happy family!" A piercing voice broke out behind Veronica. She tried her best to ignore whatever Heather had to say, and just buried her face into JD's chest.

"You can't ignore me, Veronica. I'm like oxygen. I'm everywhere" She cackled "it's all going to come out. Everyone's gonna know good little Veronica Sawyer and Jesse James weren't as innocent as they pretended to be. You're going straight to prison, and guess what, you'll never see your precious little daughter again."

At that, Veronica began to cry again, which embarrassed her greatly. Usually when she cried over Heather's words she was alone, yet here she was again for the second time that day crying in front of JD.

"She's talking to you again, isn't she" JD said quietly, stroking her hair. That usually calmed her down when they were younger. Slowly, she nodded. "What is she saying?"

"She says the police are going to find out what we did, and they're going to take away Jenna" she sobbed.

"Just let them try" he said, trying to seem confident, but realistically he was just as terrified that that would be the case.

"Oooh, he seems cocky! Don't listen to him, Veronica, he lied before, he can lie once more. He's no different to the psychotic teenager who tried to blow up a school!"

"Just shut up Heather!" Veronica screamed.

"Hey, hey, calm down. You don't want to scare Jenna. It's going to be okay, I promise..."

But yet again, he was cut off as Veronica kissed him. She focused all her energy into blocking Heather out of her mind and concentrating just on JD. When they broke apart, he seemed shocked, but also happy.

"Let's make this beautiful" she whispered.

"That works for me"