A/N: I'm baaaaack!!!! Did you guys miss me at all? I know I missed writing this story. After many, many weeks of severe writers block I finally was able to write this chapter. I still haven't gotten my USB back... my purse is still out there. But I got a new computer, which I am really happy about. I saved this story on it.

I want to thank irule505 for beta-ing this chapter. She stuck by me even though I was gone for so long!!! THANKS.

And now... without further adieu, THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Maybe This, Maybe That, Maybe True

I was so close to him. I could have run out there and grabbed him. But there was something in his eyes that made me not move. It was almost like a warning or something. I felt like a failure once again.

“Well, maybe next time, we’ll be successful. You got to look on the bright side, Fee.” Shelly said as we pulled into the school parking lot. Simon was waiting for us by his car. He didn’t look very pleased but yet at the same time I had a feeling that he knew why we were missing.

“I guess. But what if there isn’t a next time? What if the next time is when he’s dead?” I asked, looking away from Simon’s angel-like face. Shelly sighed and put her car into park. She took my face in her hands and looked me in the eyes.

“Felicity. You have this amazing gift. You can see into the future and change it. If something should happen to Johnny in the future that results in his death, I know that you will do everything you can to save him. You know how I know?”

I didn’t say anything. She smiled and let go of my face. “Because you saved me. You saved the both of us.”

I nodded and smiled. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Now, if Principal Matthews calls you later today, could you please pretend to be my mom?” She stuck out her bottom lip and looked at me with puppy dog eyes.

“Fine. Just don’t act all suspiciously, okay? I’m only doing this for you because you’re my sister.”

Shelly laughed and gave me a hug before I hopped out of the car. Simon was already waiting for me at the door. He pulled me in for a hug and held me tightly.

“Did you miss me?” I asked when he pulled me away. He chuckled started bringing me to his car.

“I figured your mission wasn’t a success when you and Shelly pulled in.”

“How did you know we were on a mission?”

“You skipped D-block. You never skipped a class, not even for a bathroom break.” Simon smiled. “Miles even looked confused when Shelly wasn’t in the art room.”

“Ah, young love.” I said as he kissed my forehead. “I’ll tell you more about it when we get to my house. I got to beat Danny to the phone when Principal Matthews calls.”

Simon laughed as he opened the door for me to get in. He was still chuckling when he got into his side. “What are you going to do? Tackle him?”

“If it has to extend to that, then yes, I will.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Why? Do you think I will lose?”

“Of course not, hun.” He smiled and started to drive towards my home. The drive was quiet. There was nothing that needed to be said right away. I knew Simon wanted to know what exactly happened today, but he always waited until I was ready to speak.

When we got to my house Danny was sitting on the steps with the phone in his hand. I dropped my bag onto the floor, which happened to land right on Simon’s foot. He made a slight whimper but regained his composure quick enough to pull me into the house more. Danny stood up from where he was sitting and placed his hands on his hips.

“Can you explain to me why I had to pretend to be your father to get you out of trouble with the parents?”

I cowered into Simon, as Danny got closer.

“It’s very easy to explain. You see I got this vision while I was in art class… and I had to go… and you know save Johnny.”

Danny shook his head.

“Honestly, Fee, I know how much saving this kid means to you, but they got people out there too. Searching for him and stuff. I don’t think skipping class is going to help them. You need to graduate from high school, and from the looks of it, you might not be.” He held up a piece of paper that showed our progress report grades. I silently cursed myself. I completely forgot that they came out today.

“I can explain-”

“You can explain while cleaning the house after my party that I’m having tomorrow night.” I groaned and fell back into Simon’s chest. He held me close. “And Simon can’t help.”

“But Danny! Come on! This is about life and death here! I can’t just let Johnny get murdered by some pervert who isn’t following the regulations!”

“Let the police do their own work. You work on your school work. I’m sure in a few weeks, they’ll find him- alive.”

“But I know where he is!”

“Good, report it.” He handed me the phone. “Call the hotline right now and tell them exactly where they can find Johnny Hawkins.”

“Why are you being like this?” I asked Danny, feeling the tears start to form. “Why are you acting like a-”

“Parent? Because someone around here has to be one for you. I’m sick and tired of having to cover for you all the time. You’re a senior, and about to go to college next year. You’re going to have to learn how to manage your so-called visions and your real life at the same time.” He watched for my reaction. I didn’t know if he wanted me to cry or just accept it. I couldn’t accept it. This was my life whether he liked it or not. Tears started to trickle down my cheeks. He walked away from Simon and me, and went up the stairs. “Let me know when you decide.”

I turned around and looked at Simon. His face didn’t show any emotion, but his eyes were burning with fire. He placed his hands on my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck as I stuffed my face in his chest. I cried intensely. I felt him bend down and he picked up my legs and carried me bridal style into my living room, the whole time I was crying into his shirt.

Danny was never this mean to me before. He always was careful about my feelings and knew the right things to say to not hurt them. But what he said was hurtful. Did he really have to cover for me that much? I just couldn’t understand why now?

Why did he suddenly feel the urge to lecture me about school now? It’s not like I was failing all of my classes. The only important class I needed was art portfolio. And that was what I was passing. Sure, English and math mattered as well, but not if you were going to an art school. I was planning on applying to Mass Art. Besides, I just started school, what was with all the excitement?

Through the sobs I could hear my phone going off. Simon pulled it out of my pocket and showed me the caller ID. It was the school. I quickly composed myself before answering.

“Hello?” I said sounding a little shaken. What did Danny say to Principal Matthews to make it excusable?

“Hi, is this Mrs. Patterson?” Principal Matthews sounded a little skeptical.

“Hi, yes, this is she. Can I ask whom I am speaking with?” I said in my best impersonation of Shelly’s mom. She had this distinct tone in her voice that was easy to impersonate. Simon was trying to not laugh as I was talking to the principal. He went on to explain that Shelly had skipped D-block today and if she skips two more times it will be a Saturday Ed.

“Well, thank you for letting me know, Principal Matthews. I promise you that my Shelly will not be skipping any more classes. You have a nice day now, dear.”

“Um, you too, Mrs. Patterson.” I hung up the phone and let out a huge breath. He bought it.

“Wow, you sound exactly like her mom.”

“Years of practice, and it doesn’t help that she is from Texas.” I chuckled. “Southern accents are so easy to do when the other person isn’t able to tell the difference.”

“You had me fooled.” He kissed my nose and wiped away the rest of my tears. “You all better now?”

“Maybe.” I sniffed. “I just don’t know why Danny was acting like that. I mean… it isn’t the first time I am failing a class.”

“Maybe he’s just feeling a little bit more stressed out lately. He really cares about you, Fee. He wants to make sure you’re going to be okay.”

“But why?”

“I’m moving out next month.” Danny’s voice made me jump. He was standing in the doorway between the foyer and the living room. I just looked at him in awe. Was he seriously going to leave me here all alone?

“No, you can’t!” I stood up from the couch. New tears were starting to form. “You just can’t leave me here alone, with- with them! I need you.”

“Felicity, you’re going off to college next year. It is time that I need to move out. I’ll still be in the area…”

“But… you said you’d never leave me alone.” I looked at him closely. “You promised, you promised that you wouldn’t let anything happen to me!”

I took a step closer to him, he didn’t move. He just stood there all tensed up. Simon didn’t try to stop us; he sat on the couch and watched the both of us argue.

“I can’t protect you all the time, Fee. Besides you got your boyfriend who can do that for you now.”

“Is that what it’s all about?”

“No. You are not listening to me. I am twenty-two years old, almost twenty-three; I need to live on my own now. It’s not that I am tired of taking care of you and it’s not that I want to leave you alone. I just need to get out of this house, start my own life without having Mom and Dad there to bail me out.”

“Why can’t you just wait until-”

“Fee, I’m done talking about this. I need to get some food for the party tomorrow. Mom and Dad won’t be home this weekend.” Once again, he walked away from me and exited the house. I turned and faced Simon.

“He’s moving out. Leaving me to deal with this big empty house by myself!” He grabbed my hands and brought me down to the couch again. “It’s bad enough that I have to deal with living here in the first place… but I always had Danny here to keep me company when they were gone. Now…”

“I’ll try to come over as much as I can.” Simon cupped my cheek. “We’ll make it work.”

“I love you.” I said after a few seconds of getting lost in his eyes.

“I love you, too.” He kissed my lips softly and then pulled back. “Now, are you going to tell me what happened today, or do I have to get it out of you.”

I tried to just kiss him again, but he moved back. I pouted, but he still didn’t budge. He must really want to know what happened.

“I got this vision in art portfolio. Maurice took Johnny outside to play catch. Johnny threw the ball extra far, forcing Maurice to turn his back on him. That’s when he made a break for it. I couldn’t see what happened next, but I just knew that I had to be there.”

“So you left?”

“With Shelly on my tail. She wanted to help me. Mr. Tomblin didn’t even care that we left.” I shrugged my shoulders. “When we were on our way there, I had a vision of what street he lived on and then another one of Johnny running to me. I had a feeling that it was going to happen today.”

Simon watched me intensely. “So what happened?”

“Maurice was a fast runner. Just as Johnny took off, I swung open the door and yelled at him to come in. He froze, allowing time for Maurice to catch up to him… and then… he grabbed him. Shelly booked out of there. That was the end of it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.” I tried to smile but then I yawned instead. Everything that had happened to me today had started to take effect.

“The princess is sleepy.” He noted and he lay down on the couch. I followed his actions and faced him. “Sleep well. I will be here to protect you from the dragons in your dreams.”

I smiled and laid my head on his chest. I was afraid to close my eyes for that reason though. I didn’t want to get sent into another nightmare/vision. I wanted to just sleep.

Would this ever end? I asked myself. When you save Johnny. I knew that saving him was something I must do myself. If I told the police what I knew, and how I knew it, they wouldn’t believe me. I was afraid of going to them because of that reason.

But what if they did believe me? What if I told them all about my visions and nightmares and they believed every word of it? Would they be able to get Johnny out right away? Could they?

“Simon?”

“Mmm?” He opened his eyes and looked down at me.

“Can you take me to the police station? I have something I want to tell them.” I bit my lip.

“Sure thing.” He brought us both up to a sitting position and kissed my forehead. “Anything for you.”

I grabbed my journal from my bag along with my sketchbook and we both walked out of the house hand in hand. Maybe Danny was right. Maybe this was the right thing to do. Johnny would be safe because professionals would be taking care of it, and I could go back to a normal life. It would be a win-win situation for all of us.

A/N: Now what do you think? Leave a review and tell me what you think!!

Thanks to my reviewers: irule505, IHateMyLoveLife, and Miss Twitz!!!!