A/N:

Hope everyone liked the last chapter. Sorry if it was short. I will try and make the others longer.

I am still confused, like everyone, about the ages of the main characters. So bare with me on the dates. In my mind, Jimmy is around 11 when the accident happens and is around 25 in current time. I am going by that timeline.

Summer, 1993

The next summer, the seven of us were pretty much attached at the hip. Especially me and Jenny. There wasn't one weekend that summer or any other one throughout high school when we weren't at her house having a sleepover. Of course, we could never go to my place because of my Pop's drinking. He was bad into it then. Sure, it had been worse before and it got even worse later on, but it was still alot to handle at ten years old.

That day was like every other day. I was sitting on the steps of a building next to Jenny and Kevin and throwing a ball back and forth to little Sean on my right. I always loved Seany. He was like the little brother I never had.

Suddenly, Sean missed me and the ball rolled across the street. I look up and spot Jimmy and Joey running from around the corner away from something or someone. Jimmy has a five gallon tub of ice cream under his arm. I roll my eyes. He was always stealing something. Nine times out of ten Joey was equally involved. Like last month when they stole.. get this.. thirty five basketballs from the school gym. God knows how they got all of those balls from the school to the junkyard where the cops found them the next day.

Smack!

They run right into some guy walking towards them. The open tub flies into the middle of the street. Joey follows it and is attacked by two neighborhood kids.

I glance over at Jimmy on the sidewalk. Sitting there watching Joey and laughing his ass off. Typical. "Go help him, Jimmy! They never let up on him!"

Jimmy picks up Sean's ball beside his foot and tosses it into the air, catching it again. Maddie was such a pain in his ass. Always in his business some way or another. "Why don't you mind your business Mad, huh?" He looks to Sean, "Seany, you want this back?"

Sean nods at him with a hopeful look on his face, and holds out his hands. Jimmy tosses it to him and Sean catches it. I was impressed. The lessons were doing some good.

I smiled at him, ruffling his hair. "That was a good catch, Seany."

He looks at me with an embarrassed smile and shrugs, "Thanks."

For some reason, Sean seemed to be the only person Jimmy was never mad at. No matter what Sean did, he always understood. And if someone messed with Sean, watch out, because Jimmy would be on you like white on rice, every time. All of the Donnelly brothers would. Sean would always be the baby.

Lately, for some reason that Jimmy couldn't for the life of him figure out, he'd catch himself staring at Maddie for unusually long periods of time. Like right now. All she was doing was yelling at him and talking to Sean about his catching. What the hell is wrong with you? This is Fabrizzio we're talking about here. Maddie. Mad. The pain that's been in your ass since last summer when Tommy and Jenny decided to adopt her. Jimmy quickly deviates his eyes to Joey fighting in the street after she caught him.

Why was he always staring at me? Over the past few months, I caught Jimmy staring and then he'd look away really quick. I hate him. He hates me. It works out well enough for the both of us. At least I think it does. A frown spreads across my face when I remember that I was still mad at him for putting insects in my backpack last week at recess. Fucking Jimmy. How could I not hate him? Scumbag.

The kids finally get the tub out from Joey's grip and start running off. "Hey, that's mine! I stole that! Come back!"

"No one even heard it coming.."

I stand up immidiately when I see the black car heading straight for Joey. The idiot's still sitting in the middle of the street. "Joey, watch out!"

My knees almost give out when the car swerves and runs right over Jimmy's leg. I close my eyes, hoping and praying to God that this is only a bad dream. Something like this can't happen to normal kids like us. When I hear Kevin yell Jimmy's name and feel Sean grab my hand, I know it's real.

"One of Jimmy's legs just shattered. It never grew much after that. And they never found the driver."

Some people who were there, or say they were anyway, say that they heard Jimmy scream from four blocks away. I don't remember hearing anything except for the bones in his leg being crushed by that wheel. Everything else was silent in that small moment.

The next thing I know, Sean and Kevin are running across the street and Jenny is crying out and pulling at my sleeve. But I don't move or follow her across the street. I stay there and stare at Jimmy crying out in pain. That was the last time I ever saw him cry. When we were in bed once in high school, he told me that he promised himself after that day he would never cry again. And he kept that promise. Even after his Father got beaten to death and killed by the Italians. He was the one who didn't cry at the funeral.

There's was one more thing about that day that I never told anybody. Not even Jimmy. Well, especially not Jimmy.

"All I could do was stare back at Maddie when we'd both seen the same thing. Tommy driving away in the car that had hit Jimmy. His own brother."

I knew Tommy well enough to know for a fact that it was an accident. He would have died before he hurt one of his brothers on purpose. Besides, he spent the whole rest of his life making it up to Jimmy. By cleaning up every mess he ever made. And if you know Jimmy, you know that that's alot of mess.

"I never asked her about it. Didn't see a reason to bring it up. I always did wonder whether or not she knew it was Tommy though."

I let my arm drop slightly as Jenny rests her head on my shoulder. She'd been crying non-stop since Jimmy was put into the ambulance. I look over at Mr. and Mrs. Donnelly talking to a doctor in the hallway. Tommy's back is to the wall and his eyes are on the floor. He looks like he's about to explode.

Suddenly, he starts walking quickly down the hallway, passes by me and Jenny, and bolts out the side door. Jenny shoots up like a lightning bolt had just hit her. I was happy to answer the question her eyes were asking for her. "Go. He needs you."

Jenny wipes a stray tear away, letting go of my hand for the first time since we'd walked into the hospital. "You don't-"

I stop her, "You know me. Strong like an oxe. I'm good. Go to him."

Jenny nods. Mrs. Donnelly calls her name, whispers in her ear, and she headed back towards me. "Ma says Jimmy's gonna be okay."

I give her a weak smile, "That's great, Jen. Go tell Tommy." I watch as she goes out the same side door. I don't know why I'm not happier for him. It's like I don't believe them. Jimmy would never be okay again. He's gonna have to live with his busted leg for the rest of his life. Why didn't anyone realize that?

My heart's beating a mile a minute. I stand up to pace around and after a few minutes I end up in the doorway of Jimmy's room. A lump forms in my throat when I overhear the word cripple and my Jimmy come out of Mrs Donnelly's mouth. Cripple. That word makes my skin crawl.

I step inside the cold room and slide a chair so it's by his bedside. Then without thinking about it or knowing why, I take hold of one of Jimmy's hands. My eyes flicker from his pale face to the horrible condition that his leg is in. It's propped up and caked with blood and bandaged. My eyes close, and I just sit there waiting.

After a few seconds, I feel a light squeeze. My eyes, now stained and red with tears, open and he's is looking right at me with those stone cold green eyes.

There is a confused look on his face. "Why are you crying?"

"What? A girl can't cry anymore, Donnelly?" I ask, wiping my eyes. If I would have known he was going to wake up, I would left. I hate crying in front of anyone.

He shrugs and still hasn't even tried to let go of my hand. "What are they saying out there?" He looks past me into the hallway at his parents and the doctor.

I shake my head and my eyes drop to the floor. I'm such a horrible liar. "I didn't hear anything."

"Liar." He snaps, almost matter-of-factly. I look back up at him. It was something about the tone of his voice. That anger-- that rage. There's always been something animal-like about it. Strangely, it didn't scare me. His eyes move away from mine for the first time and he peers out the window into the busy street. "I'm not gonna be able to walk, right? I'm gonna be one of those freaks--" He swallows hard, trying to get the next set of words out. "..one of those cripples who the other kids stare at and make fun of behind their backs. Son of bit-"

I could feel the heat rising to my face. "Stop it! You won't be a freak, Jim. You won't. What do doctors know anyway? They don't know anything. Did they keep my Ma alive when she died right after she had me? Hell no. They don't know anything." My eyes are locked with his now, "They don't know anything."

Neither of us say a word for a long time. This was a big first for us. Neither of us are ever at a loss for words. I laugh a little, and grab a tissue from the bedside table. "Besides, you know, even if you are gonna be a cripple it's not exactly gonna change your personality, Jimmy. No one besides your brothers liked you before anyway."

He leans his head back and laughs heartily through the stray tears that fall down his cheek. "You are one tough chick, you know that Fabrizzio?"

"Girl, you mean?" I roll my eyes. He never called girls, girls. It was always chicks.

"You said no one liked me before. Does um-- does that include you or--" He smiles at me.

I smile back at him and roll my eyes again. He was challenging me and I knew it right off the bat. "Yeah, that includes me."

He shakes his head, "I think you like me just a little bit. Otherwise you wouldn't have been crying for me." I look at him hard for a few seconds and then down at my hand, that was still holding his.

I shrug, and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. Something I do when I'm either uncomfortable or nervous. Or both.

Mrs. Donnelly peeks in the doorway from behind me and smiles. She was glad someone was making her Jimmy laugh, because things were about to get alot harder.

"That was the first time Maddie really saw Jimmy. Not the Jimmy everyone else thought was real, but the real Jimmy. Things between the two of them changed after that. For the next few years, I don't think I ever saw them apart for more than a day. Until things got rocky. But that comes later."

"Did I tell you the second thing you had to know to understand Jimmy?"

Fall, 1994

I am standing between Jimmy and Tommy in front of the shallow grave trying my damnest not to cry. I am holding both Tommy and Jimmy's hands and hanging on for dear life. I still can't believe Mr. Donnelly's gone. Unbelieveable. Why didn't God take my Pop instead? It's a horrible thought-- but my Pop compared to Jimmy and Tommy's? Forget about it. No comparison. He's never taken care of anyone but himself a day in his life. Mr. Donnelly was a real father. He was a good man.

I look down and watch as Jimmy's other fist clenches at his side. I can't believe it isn't bleeding. "You okay, Jim?" I whisper, grazing the arm of his jacket with my cheek.

He nods coldly, placing a kiss on the side of my head. I lean on his shoulder and listen while the priest speaks and Tommy cries.

"It wasn't his fault. He didn't know, but while he was listening to music, they were beating his father to death. He never saw their faces before or after but he knew one thing-- he knew they were Italian."

After the funeral is over, I stand next to Jenny and Mrs. Donnelly and realize that Jimmy has vanished. That was never a good thing. I'd learned after a year of being Jimmy's girlfriend, whatever the hell that means at eleven and a half, that he was either doing something stupid or about to.

I enlace my arm with Helen's and ask, "Where's Jimmy?"

She shrugs, stroking my hair. "There's no telling. Probably just wanted to be by himself. Go find him for me, will you? I don't think any of us should be alone today."

I nod at her and start off on the search. I always knew where to find him. Hell, I was always the go-to person for people wanting to know where Jimmy was.

It seemed to be harder this time. Ten minutes I've been looking and not a trace. Then I spot feet with only socks on swinging from a ledge. I sheild my eyes from the sun and look up. There he was. The crazy idiot had managed to climb a stone wall that was at least twelve feet high over the parking lot.

I cross my arms over my chest and give him my famous worried look. "One of these days that leg of yours is gonna fall off. What are you doing up there?"

He shrugs, still looking down at the pavement, but not at me. "Nothing-- just sitting I guess. Ma send you to look for me?"

"I didn't see you around. Figured you ran off somewhere by yourself like always. Can I come up?" I ask, putting a hand on the wall.

"If you can get up here without breaking your neck." He replies, without any emotion.

I start climbing the side of the wall without any trouble and reach the top in only a few seconds. I reach down for his hand, trying to balance myself to sit down. He grasps it tightly and I plop down beside him. "See. I can do it just as good as you can. No sweat."

He smoothes my fingers over with his thumb. "Tough talk for a girl." I only chuckle, but don't respond.

We were quiet for a long time. Like that day in the hospital, but alot longer. I decide to be the one to break it again. "I wish you wouldn't blame yourself."

He lets my hand drop and looks away from me. "I don't."

"Yeah you do. I know you, Jim. You always need someone to blame. Someone to hate." I wasn't scared of him. He was going to have to hear this sooner or later and it may as well be from me. I don't care if he shoves me off of the wall. He needs to hear it from someone. No one else was going to tell him.

His head snaps back towards me and his face is red. He was so angry. "Yeah, so what?! Those Italian pieces of shit kill my fucking father while I'm in the car waiting for him and I'm not supposed to blame anybody? Is that what you're trying to say, Mad? Is that it?"

I look him square in the eyes. "No-- God, no. Jimmy, I'm saying you shouldn't blame yourself! You didn't know why they were looking for him or what they were gonna do when they found him. For all you knew they just wanted to talk to him. It's their fault. Theirs. It's had nothing to do with you."

"It had everything to do with me. I was there. I could have lied."

I take hold of his face. "No! You didn't know. There was no way you could have known."

He just stares at me-- broken. I could see the tears starting at the corners of his eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall. He was fighting them off so hard that he was actually shaking. When he wrapped his arms around me all I could do was hug him back. I felt so useless. But, he would have done the same for me.