Sorry it's been SO long, I've been working on starting up my other story (go check it out by the way, it's called Secret) but I could never forget about my baby! Here you go! :)

Mark walked to the Tickerton government building and placed his hands firmly on the receptionist's desk.

"I need to speak with the mayor."

The petite woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir. I can't. Mayor Wool has instructed us not to let you anywhere near his main office."

Mark grinned and leaned in. "Either you let me see him, or I take it upon myself to burst into his office and force him to drop everything he's doing. That wouldn't make you look very good, would it?"

The lady frowned and bit her lip, but picked up the phone anyway.

"Yes, Mayor Wool, I have a... visitor for you. Yes. Yes. I told him. He doesn't care, sir. He's very aggressive. Okay, sir. Thank you. Goodbye."

She nodded at the elevator, and Mark immediately walked over to it, adrenaline pumping through his body. He had no doubt that everyone in law enforcement knew Zach was dead. It was a short trip to figure out who'd killed him. That's exactly what he'd been hoping for. He sped off of the elevator, and walked straight into the mayor's office.

"What do you want, Jackson?"

"I think you know what I want."

The mayor stood up. "I won't say anything more until you tell me what happened to your assistant."

Mark smirked. "Do I really have to explain the obvious?"

Mayor Wool's face drained of color. "You... you killed that poor boy?"

Mark rolled his eyes. "Of course I did."

The mayor reached for a desk phone, but Mark ran over and slapped his hand over the older, pudgy one.

"Unhand me!"

"Not so fast, Mr. Wool. You're not going to tell anyone what I just told you."

"Why on earth wouldn't I?"

"Because if you do, I'll expose everything. I'll tell the world about you, the label, the accident. Everything. I'll even leave Jason out of it, say none of it was his fault."

Mayor Wool's face beamed bright red. "What do you want from me?"

Mark smiled even wider.

"I want a gun."

Jace sat up when she stopped playing with his hair. She had a strange look on her face, like a mix of shock, confusion, sadness, and excitement. He knew he'd messed up. It was too soon to ask, it was too big of a decision to make on the spot. He couldn't believe how dumb he was sometimes.

"I'm sorry, that was... stupid. You don't have to answer."

"It was really random," she replied quietly.

"Yeah. Um... wanna talk about something else? When are you going to see Tiffany?"

"I don't want to change the subject."

She tugged at the ends of her hair, and Jace's heart started to beat faster. What would she say? He didn't expect a yes or a no, but he did expect to hear what she thought. She remained silent.

"Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, no, I'm just thinking."

He leaned back and laid his arm on the back of the couch. "Think out loud."

"It'd be a dream come true to go somewhere outside of the Northern USA. I mean, really freaking amazing. But... What about my friends? Tiffany's still in the hospital, and I can't just leave my dad with her... and what about school? It's my senior year, I can't miss that."

Jace nodded. Somewhere inside of him, he'd hoped that she would say yes and forget everything else, but he quickly realized that was selfish. He was going back to California to prepare for the next leg of his tour and to live his life again. He couldn't ask Heather to leave hers behind. Despite the sadness, he smiled.

"Told you it was dumb."

"It's not dumb. If things were different, I'd-"

"I know."

She crossed her legs and faced him. "When you leave, whenever that is... I'm really gonna miss you."

"Not as much as I'll miss you."

"How will we, you know, talk? When will we be able to see each other again?"

He took a deep breath. "I'll call you. You'll call me. We'll do video chats, you'll see me on TV sometimes, and when I have my next show here... we can, you know, hang out."

Even as Jace spoke, that future seemed bleak and unexciting. He basically said they'd see each other in person after his next Tickerton concert, which probably wouldn't happen for a long, long time, if ever.

"That sucks, Jace."

"I know. It sucks even more to know that I'm leaving really soon. Like, really soon. When that lawsuit is over..."

She looked down. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

He shook his head. "I second that. How are you holding up, with Tiffany, I mean?"

"She's getting better every time I see her. She's still a brat, though."

Jace laughed. "Of course."

"Have you ever wondered about how your fans will deal with you having a girlfriend?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it. He hadn't; the thought hadn't even popped into his mind until then. How would they react? Would they be happy, or would they hate Heather because they felt like she'd stolen him from them?

"No. I haven't."

She nodded, and answered the question he'd just asked himself in his head.

"Most of them are going to hate me."

"I... I'll tell them how happy you make me. They'll understand."

"The sane ones will."

Jace scratched his chin. "I don't want them to hate you. I want them to love you as much as I do."

She rolled her eyes. "You are such a sap."

He smiled. "I know. I'm a musician. That's what we do best."

"This is going to sound really conceited. Ready?"

He nodded. "Ready."

"Have you ever written a song about me?"

"Of course I have. One. When I was mad at you. I think I might've thrown it out."

"Jerk! What if I wanted to hear it?"

"I don't think you'd wanna hear that one," he responded, chuckling.

Mid-laugh, her phone buzzed. She picked it up and held it to her face, her eyes wandering away from him.

"Dad? Hey. Really? You're right, I forgot. Sorry. On my way now."

Jace cocked an eyebrow. "Gotta go?"

"Yeah, I completely forgot that my dad wanted to visit Tiffany right when visiting hours begin, so we could spend as much time as possible with her."

"Want a ride?"

"That'd be nice."

They walked together to the car garage, their steps matching.

"Stop copying me, weirdo," she scolded.

"Wanna walk to the hospital?"

She pushed him and ran to the car as he regained his balance and darted after her. She slid into the passenger seat and locked the doors before he could get there, grinning evilly at him from inside the car.

"Open up, you little beast," he growled.

"Or what?"

"When I get in there, I am gonna... you don't even wanna know what I'm gonna do."

"That sounds extremely sexual, Jace."

"Well then, maybe you should let me in," he responded, letting a mischievous smirk pop onto his lips.

He could see her blushing through the tinted windows. She unlocked the doors and he swung the passenger side open, throwing himself over her lap and crawling into the driver's seat. She yelled, and it sounded something like "Jaceohmygoshgetoffofmethatticklesyou'reheavystopstopSTOP!" mixed in with laughter. He reversed, traveled down the spiraled ramp and shot off into the street, the summer sun so bright that he had to pull down his visor.

"It's so... nice out," Heather commented.

"Well, it is summer, Einstein."

She slapped him on the arm as they pulled into the hospital's traffic circle at the entrance. She turned to him, her expression serious and thoughtful.

"If I could, I'd go with you-"

"I understand, Heather. Really. It's not a big deal."

He laid his hand on top of hers on the center console and kissed her cheek.

"Go see your sister."

She grinned. "You're lovely."

"Is that your way of saying you love me?"

"Maybe."

She kissed him quickly, pulled away, then kissed him again, longer than the first time, like she regretted that it was so short.

"I'll see you later," she concluded, stepping out of the car.

"Call me," he responded.

She nodded and headed off into the hospital. Jace whipped out his phone and called Anthony.

"Jace?"

"We need to find Mark."

"What do you mean? He's probably sitting in his hotel room, thinking up more ways to ruin your life."

"Or he's at the bottom of a ditch somewhere, waiting to be found."

"You can't think like that."

"I already am. It's the only thing I've been thinking about."

"Look, Jace, I think-"

"Are you coming or not?"

Anthony sighed, his breath making a crackling noise through the speakers.

"You're lucky I'm a good friend."

Jace grinned. "The best. Should I come pick you up, or are you driving?"

"Well, considering my dad has his eye on everything I'm doing, you should drop your car off at your place, then I'll come get you. I don't want him to see me get in anyone's car, just to save myself a game of twenty-one questions tonight."

"Alright. See ya."

Jace hung up and sped to his apartment. His heart was already beating out of his chest. How would he react, if Mark wasn't at his hotel? What if he was? There was no way he wouldn't know what happened to Zach. He shook his head and parked his car, made sure his phone was on a decent battery level, and walked out to the front lobby. He sat on the front step and waited, until he felt someone sit down beside him.

"Too boring inside?" Miranda asked.

"Oh, hey. No, just waiting for Anthony."

"Hanging out?"

"Yeah," he lied.

"Are you okay? You seem... on edge."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"You know... if something's on your mind, you can tell me about it. We're friends now. We're... we're bros!" She elbowed his arm, and he couldn't help but crack a smile.

"I know. Thanks."

He saw Anthony's car pull up, and clapped a hand on Miranda's shoulder.

"That's my cue."

"I'll see you later," she concluded, lightly standing up and walking back into the building.

Jace walked over and sat in the passenger's seat. Anthony barely waited for him to shut the door before he floored the gas.

"To Mark's hotel?" he asked.

Jace nodded. "You got it."

Whatever awaited them there, Jace had an unbearable feeling in his gut that it wouldn't be pleasing. Not in the slightest.

Dun dun DUUUUUUN! What do you think Anthony and Jace will find at Mark's apartment? Why do you think Mark wants a [gasp] GUN? Make sure to leave a review and thank you for being so patient! Also, if you want, make sure to check out my new story Secret, I promise it's v interesting. Till next time!