*Later*

Jesse lay in bed, her eyes trailing across the ceiling for come sort of distraction. She knew she should sleep, but after waking up from yet another nightmare, she decided against it, not really feeling it anyway. The little hour or so sleep had given her some strength, for now.

There was a little chill creeping up on her, and it was something she hated.

Fear.

It was like a cool blade, running across her skin and waiting for the moment to sink in, letting it overwhelm you.

She felt afraid. Afraid of the nightmares. Afraid to sleep.

She was afraid of the mistakes, something going wrong. She was afraid of failure.

What if someone died? What if something went wrong and their world was never the same? What is something happened because of her?

Jesse couldn't help but think of tomorrow, when everyone would play their role in the plan.

If someone took a wrong step, there'd be a price to pay. And it would leave them in bitter debt.

She sighed and got up from bed for a moment, taking down the torch and leaving the room in darkness. Then she lay back down in bed, the pillow behind her feeling like a bag of rocks.

She grunted and took the pillow from behind her, throwing it at the door.

But instead of hearing it make contact, she heard it fall softly to the floor. The door was open, and she knew who it was.

"It's rude to leave the door open, Lukas." She said softly, but firmly. She blinked to get used to the darkness, and finally made out his shape, leaning against the wall.

"Didn't think you'd ever talk to me again." He said sadly.

She thought of Petra's words, and somehow, she felt calm. Well, calm-er. Like the anger had disappeared and was replaced with emptiness. Time had consumed all her rage.

"Me neither." Jesse replied, sitting up crisscross-apple-sauce. She fiddled with her hands and played out different scenarios in her head, unsure of what to say.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Lukas, moving and sitting on the opposite side of the bed from her. She wanted so bad to wrap her arms around him, but forced herself against it.

"You know, I never wanted to hurt you. Never. I just..." he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Things got...complicated. Everything happened so fast-and I did things without thinking properly and-"

Lukas shook his head and turned to her.

"Look. What I'm trying to say is-you don't have to forgive me. And you don't have to forget. But I want to let you know that I'm sorry. I am sorry, Jesse. I never meant to leave you, or to hurt you so much. I just meant to do my best for you. And I'm sorry if-"

He stopped himself short as she wrapped her arms around him, shocked. He didn't think she'd ever want to be around him-or hug him at the very least-ever again.

She let go and then put a finger to his lips before he could say anything.

"You're right. I don't know if I'll forgive you, and I'm sure as hell am never going to forget it." Jesse said, eyes flickering with a bit of hope. "But I'm willing to try. I'm willing to try if you're willing to try. Even if our worlds may never be the same again."

Lukas looked her for a moment in disbelief, a good disbelief, and then wrapped her in an embrace. They were hugging once again.

And although she could feel a bit of doubt, she knew that she had done the right thing.

Thanks Petra, she thought.

"I love you, okay? You may never love me the same way again, but Notch, I love you." Lukas whispered, voice shaky as if trying not to cry. He stroked her dark hair gently.

And hearing him say that, made Jesse want to cry too. Instead, she blinked back tears and buried her head in his shoulder.

Oh, how she wished it could go back to normal.

I needed to push forward. I realized I needed Jesse to calm down instead of raging like a madwoman, so I'm sorry if this seemed sudden.

But hey! We got some Lukesse (sort of), so-yeah. I liked writing this chapter.

Anyway I'm gonna try to work on this story more. Yay