A/N: So, this is my second story here at fictionpress. This one is a little different from my other one, but I have a little bit more of this one planned and I tend to have motivation to write it qquite often, because... I love Jess. Now, anyone who has read my profile, yes, I did gather inspiration from the Jess I took my pen name after (Mariano) but this isn't the same character by any means. I just borrowed his name, because Jess is my favorite name in the whole entire world. And he probably looks a bit like him, because... well, I can't help if Milo Ventimiglia is gorgeous. His image just sticks.

Janine Bradley sat with her head pressed against the window of the smelly bus, wondering if she was completely insane.

She woke up that morning with a terrible bout of morning sickness, which finally decided to be true to its name, and instead of making her sick at dinner time it woke her out of a very pleasant dream and she went running to the bathroom, trying her best to be quiet. Once she was done emptying the contents of her stomach she sat by the bathtub and thought about her dream. Her brother's old best friend, Jess, had been in her dream. That wouldn't have been strange except for the fact that he had been gone for three years.

Jess had moved to New York City the week he turned 18, and she hadn't seen or heard from him since then. After all, she was just his best friend's dorky little sister. Why would he talk to her? Her brother, John, had talked to Jess on the phone every week or so since he left, and for the first few months she had grilled him, begging him to tell her what he said. He had finally stopped answering her, so she stopped asking. She still thought about Jess a few times a week. He had been her first love, even if he didn't know it. And when she first found out about her little --very little, according to the charts not even the size of a peanut-- problem he had been one of the first people she thought about. She had immediately recovered from that lapse of judgement and she tried not to think about it. But she had thought about him so much since she found out. She had thought that if he wouldn't have moved away all those years ago she would have probably told him. He had always been nice to her, especially when her brother wasn't around to witness it, and a couple times when she had been feeling down for one reason or another he would pull her aside and talk to her. The first time he had done it she had been a goner. Not only was he handsome, but he was sweet enough to pay attention to his friend's geeky little sister. She had been 14 when he left, 5'2" with huge glasses that swallowed her entire face and she had two chins, probably weighing more than he did. But she adored him. Her family seemed to have been under the impression that he was a bad kid, and she would often defend her hero; usually her big brother would tease her about it, too, and he always teased her about her little crush. She informed her that it was not a crush. She had crushes before, and she had been convinced that she was absolutely madly in love with him. No matter that he would never return the feeling. In her daydreams he would sweep her off her feet or just fall madly in love with her.

Three years later she had gained a couple inches and lost a chin, ironically thinning out, losing 40 pounds and becoming quite pretty. The ugling duckling turned into a swan. Not that it mattered. She didn't hold any girlish dreams that he would take one look at her and fall madly in love with her. She imagined he would look quite shocked when he saw her. She didn't care. She needed to talk to someone and he was the only person she could imagine telling, despite her close relationship to her brother. He was her brother, and he wouldn't take it well, putting it lightly. He would fly off the handle and nobody would be any better off, just more upset. But she wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to keep her morning sickness a secret, and even if she kept that a secret, her jeans were already getting tight and her shirts seemed to suck up to her stomach, and even though she knew it was too early for her to be showing she always had nightmare images that someone would look at her shirt, decide it was too tight and figure out her secret. Besides, with her tighter jeans she had to squeeze into them, so she had finally bought a pretty peasant top that pretty much swallowed her upper body and flowed so that no one could actually tell if her stomach was flat or protruding. She decided that red shirt would help her a lot in hiding her condition, but she was fully aware that she wouldn't be able to keep it forever. For one thing she really needed to see a doctor, but she was afraid and she had no money save the money in her savings account and she had no idea how to explain her pregnancy to anyone. She didn't want to tell anyone the truth, but she didn't want to lie to them either. She had been safe so far. After all, no one expects a good girl with no boyfriend to get pregnant. And yet that was exactly the boat she found herself in. Pregnant and alone, keeping the whole thing a secret from her entire family. She didn't have a job, she was only 17, she hadn't graduated high school, she had no idea what she was going to do and she completely freaked out. She desperately needed someone to talk to, she needed someone to tell her problems to. She needed someone she could tell her worries about pregnancy and the baby and just her feelings. Usually that would be her older brother, but in this particular case it wasn't. She was so afraid to tell him. He was the one person that she adored and she couldn't stand thinking of his reaction when his baby sister said to him, "I'm pregnant." So instead she was on a bus to New York City having spent days thinking about Jess and how he had always been there when her brother wasn't. On the spur of the moment she had called the bus station and found out they had specials going on. Without even giving herself time for second thought she purchased the ticket. She had a backpack, $34 and an address. She hoped she wasn't making a mistake. She hoped he was still the sweet, concerned guy he had been three years earlier.

Janine got out of the taxi cab with wide eyes, looking up at the building that was supposed to be Jess'. It was big and brick and looked like a lot of the buildings she had seen on the drive there. She went in the building and gripped the piece of paper in her hand as if her life depended on it. Her hands were unsteady, shaking a little, and she felt a little bit nauseated, too, as if that wasn't enough, so she gathered that her baby was nervous, too, or at least trying to make her miserable. She took a few gulps of air and willed the baby to behave for a few minutes at least. She couldn't very well focus on being nervous when she wanted to rush to the nearest bathroom. The baby finally decided to listen her and she patted her belly in silent approval. Then she continued to make her way to the apartment. It wasn't an incredibly nice apartment, that was for sure. She smoothed her red shirt and checked the sleeves, which showed most of her shoulders, to make sure that that her bra straps weren't showing. That wouldn't do at all. Once she was assured she looked presentable she knocked on the door.

She waited for a few seconds and right as she was about to knock again she heard what sounded like someone stumbling and a muttered curse. Then the door opened slightly, and the voice on the other side of the door was muttering about someone named Todd needing to keep his crap in one pile of crap instead of placing landmines all through the stupid room. The door opened and the guy straightened, looking up at her. Janine's heart fluttered a little bit, unexpectedly. He looked older than he did at 18 and if anything age only made him more attractive. He was wearing a white T-shirt and black faded jeans with a black watch on his left arm. He glanced at her face for a few seconds and then allowed his gaze to travel over the rest of her, from her shoulders down. Her eyes widened a little bit, but she just stood there, knowing that he couldn't possibly define her shape because the top did a lovely job at completely hiding her shape. Of course the jeans hugged her legs so anyone looking would simply assume the top probably hid a nice shape. And it didn't hide a bad one, really. She had a nice hourglass type shape, she wasn't as thin as a lot of girls, but she wasn't by any means fat. Her body was quite average, but at least it wasn't straight. She was full of curves.

Jess finally stopped looking her over and his eyes found her face again, after lingering briefly on her bare shoulders. "You here to see Todd?"

She raised her eyebrows slightly. "Excuse me?"

He raised his eyebrows right back. "Do you have the right apartment?"

Her eyes widened. "You don't remember me?"

He frowned and looked her over again, tilting his head slightly and she folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head to the side. "Done?" she asked when he made it back to her face.

"I don't think I remember you. If you wanna give me something more to go on maybe you'll refresh my memory, but on sight I'm not remembering you."

"You really don't remember me," she said in amazement.

"Well, you know where I live, so I'm assuming I've brought you here, but I'm sorry, I'm not... Maybe a name?"

"Janine," she said, barely stifling a giggle.

"Janine." He nodded and looked at her again.

"If you don't quit staring at my chest I think my brother is going to come here and kick your butt, no matter how wonderful of friends you guys have been for years," she said, amusement liberally laced in her tone.

He looked at her and frowned, and she could see realization hit him in the face. "Janie?"

She smiled. "You look surprised."

His jaw actually fell open a little bit and he struggled not to look her over again. He leaned against the frame of the door. "What are you doing here?"

Her smile weakened and she looked down, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "I needed to... talk to someone."

He blinked. "And I'm the first person to come to mind?"

"No, actually you were the second, but John was... I didn't want to talk to John. I know, this is really strange, me showing up on your doorstep after three years. I agree. It's completely strange. But I... I don't know, it seemed a... good idea at the time."

"Does John know you're here?"

"No."

"Your parents?"

"No."

He nodded and looked at a spot over her head then back at her. "Does anybody know you're here?"

"No."

He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess you want to come in."

"No, actually I rode on a stinky bus for five hours so I could say hi, now I'm gonna go," she said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes and backed up, letting her in. As she walked by he allowed himself a quick glance to see what she looked like from behind. He quickly jerked his gaze back up to eye level. This was his best friend's little sister, for Pete's sake. "You've changed a lot since I last saw you. How old are you now, 17?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod.

"You look..." He looked her over again briefly before coming up with, "different."

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, I'm two inches taller and about 40 pounds smaller. So yeah, I would hope I look different. I wear contacts now, too, and my hair's longer now," she said, gesturing to the dark brown hair that was down to her breasts. He mentally shook himself. He could not even think about breasts. Yes, she had them, very nice ones, but they belonged to his best friend's little sister and he was not demented.
Instead of mentioning her breasts mentally or verbally, he nodded.

"You look different, too," she said. "A little bit older. Not much," she added quickly. "I mean..." She frowned and bit her lip, wrinkling up her nose. "I'm gonna quit talking."

He smiled slightly and walked closer. "Do you want a drink or something?"

"Um, no."

He nodded and turned back to face her. "Um, so, don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?"

Her smile waned again and she looked down, then back up at him. "Um, I sort of... I find myself in... something of a predicament."

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "You?" She had always been a geeky little straight A student who spent her weekends at home, reading or doing extra credit or following him and John around. He never pictured her getting in trouble. Then again he had never pictured her blossoming into a girl that he would think he brought back to his place. Oh jeeze, he thought, wanting to stick his foot in his mouth. He couldn't believe he said that to her. "Uh, what kind of trouble are you in?" he asked. "Legal trouble, or...?"

"Oh no," she said, her eyes widening. "No, nothing like that."

"Okay. Well... why didn't you go to John? You guys are really close."

She started playing with the hem of her shirt again. "He's my brother. He's very protective of me."

"Yes, I know."

"That's sort of why I'm afraid to tell him."

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. That's actually the problem."

He sat down on the couch and stared up at her. "You've lost me," he said.

She fiddled with her shirt and sat down next to him on the couch, but not sitting back like he was. Instead she turned and tucked a leg under so she was facing him. "I'm going to tell you something very important and I haven't told anyone about this yet and... I mean, is it okay if I tell you?"

He frowned slightly and nodded. "Yeah."

"It's very serious. And I've been very scared and I don't know what to do and I didn't know who to tell, I couldn't very well tell John and I was so embarrassed and I just wanted it to go away and then I found it wasn't going to go away, ever and I didn't know what to do or what to say, so I didn't say anything." She took a breath.

He frowned more and sat up. "What is it?" he asked warily.

She swallowed. "Well, see, you know how John's in college right now?"

He nodded.

She nodded. "Well, I went to visit him one weekend a few months ago... about three months ago." She frowned and twisted the hem of her shirt. "I-" She broke off because her voice was unsteady, so she took a breath and tried again. "See, the thing is... I... I'm sort of- I'm, um... I'm pregnant," she finally blurted.

His eyes widened slightly and somewhere in the back of his head was the thought, Lucky bastard. He controlled his thoughts though, and nodded. Then he asked, "Have you told the father?"

Her eyes filled with tears and he wished he could take that question back. He wasn't good with weepy females. "There-" She stopped again, clearing her throat and trying to gather her composure. "There is no father."

He frowned. "Excuse me?"

She tilted her head back slightly to clear the tears and then she lowered her head again, playing with the hem of her shirt. "I don't even have a boyfriend. I didn't-" She stopped and shook her head. She stopped playing with her shirt and covered her face with her hands. When she was fully composed she looked up slightly, but she couldn't meet his eyes, so instead she spoke to his arm. "I went to see Johnny at college and there was this party that some of his friends were having. I didn't want him to have to miss it. He said it was okay, they had parties every weekend, but I insisted that we go. Truth be told I was stupid and I sort of wondered what a college party was like anyway. I've only ever been to birthday parties. Once I went to a Fourth of July party, but that was all adults anyway. I just wondered what a college party was like, and it was the perfect excuse. Well, some girl ran into him and she was talking ot him and she wouldn't stop talking and talking and talking so I decided just to wander around and see what everyone else was doing." She rolled her eyes. "Well, I did. And then there was this guy... I have no idea who he was, but he sort of gave me the creeps when he looked at me, and he was talking to me and I couldn't see him very well, but I could see his smile, and it just gave me the willies, so as soon as I could I excused myself from his company. He had offered me a drink, and I knew better than to drink it, I don't know where my head was..." She trailed off and hid her face again.

By now Jess was sitting forward at full attention and he was staring at her. He already knew the rest of the story.

"But I... and he..." She had to stop talking again and she pressed a hand against her mouth, trying not to lose control.

Jess sighed sympathetically, not knowing what to do. Going by some foreign instinct he pulled her into his arms. Apparently it was the right move because she wrapped her arms around him and dissolved into tears. He rubbed her back and tried to murmur reassurances, not really knowing what to do. She had been raped. That sweet little girl that used to follow him around like a puppy dog... He was suddenly feeling quite sick to his stomach, too, but he couldn't very well ask her to move so he could get some air. And he couldn't explain the extreme chill that was traveling down his spine and through his stomach. He just pulled her closer and rocked her slightly, continuing to tell her to let it all out, that everything would be okay. He wondered if that was true.

A/N: Well, what do you think? Like it? Hate it? If you like it, let me know, and I'll update October 7th as sort of a happy... "Milo's movie is premiering" day treat! Dirty Deeds. I'm shamelessly promoting it, because it's Milo. If you happen to have free time, go see it! If you don't know who Milo is.... I shall take a moment to comfort you.

Anyway, if no one likes the stroy I probably won't bother to keep it up, will probably delete it and just work on the other story, but if you like it, of course I'll keep going. So... I'll go now. Hope you liked it! I know this was kind of short, but I won't keep you waiting long for more if you like it! :) Remember, this is just the introduction.