| Jeri |

"I miss Cody." I whine from the passenger seat as Alex drives us to the airport to get Jeni.

"We only dropped her off 10 minutes ago."

"I still miss her." I sigh, almost dramatically. "Where was she going anyway?"

"To see Kristie." Alex tells me, making me groan. I can tell by the way my sister laughs that she knows I'm rolling my eyes.

[ Two Days Ago ]

"What are your intentions with my niece?"

"Aunt Je-"

"No. Cody. I'm asking your girlfriend."

"I'm not her girlfriend." Kristie decides to speak up.

"So you're just playing with her feelings? Bitch, stand up so I can kick your ass."

"Okay, calm down Jer, Kristie isn't that bad." Alex tries to use her stern voice, but it cracks, and a hint of amusement shines through.

"I'm looking out for your daughter!"

"I am too, trust me, but she needs space to grow. She's 17 soon."

"Exactly! I'm watching you, Cody." I narrow my eyes at my niece, who honestly looks like she pissed herself. "No funny business!"

"Oh, my God." Cody mumbles, her head falling into her hands as Jack laughs up a storm.

"Well, you're a bit late with that talk." Her best friend cuts in, Alex and I eye Cody, waiting for any hint of a lie.

"She's lying!" My niece squeals, as Kristie's face goes red. The room falls silent as Alex walks towards the pair, her face stoic as she hovers over them.

"She better be." My sister says, before she turns and leaves.

"Yeah. She better be!" I point my finger at Kristie, deciding if I can scare her now then she'll think twice about using my niece.

[ Present time ]

"I don't like her."

"You don't know he.r" Alex counters.

"Do you? I mean, really? Do you trust her with Cody?" I watch my sister closely, waiting for her to answer.

"I do trust her. I know she hurt Cody, but she does care about her. I need you to get off their case, just a little." I don't verbally answer, I just exhale dramatically. "I'll take that as an 'okay'. Thanks, Jeri."

| Cody |

"Are you sure about this?" Kristie asks me, as we stand outside the boring building.

"I'm sure and nobody else would bring me here."

"Did you ask anyone else? Like Jack?"

"No, and definitely not Jack. She would tell Alex." I watch as Kristie sends me an unimpressed glance. "I need to do this, Krissy."

She sighs, but nods and we make our way into the station to be greeted at the reception desk but a young man in uniform.

"Hello. How can I help you?"

"Hi. Uh, I called yesterday about a visit?"

"Name?"

I tell the young officer my name, and sit in the waiting room when instructed to do so. We wait for 15 minutes until a suited detective approaches.

"Cody Morgan?"

"Yeah."

"Follow me."

I take Kristie's hand as I walk through the maze of hallways, happy when she doesn't pull away. I need the support right now. We get to the last barred door, when he unlocks it, letting Kristie and I walk through and he follows us before locking the door behind him.

"I'll be here if you need me. She's in the very last cell."

I only nod, not trusting my voice to answer him and I begin to walk towards her cell. With my vivid imagination, I've built an image of her in my mind - she's standing, menacingly close to the bars that entrap her. However, when I finally lay my eyes on her, for the first time since she tried to...I don't even know if she was trying to kill me, but she's a different person now. She seems broken and small. Dirty and empty. She raises her head when she hears my footsteps, only for her head to drop immediately after she sees me.

"What do you want?"

"To talk."

"Too bad. I don't want to talk to you, Morgan."

"Well, that's a damn shame 'cause I'm not going." I challenge her, watching as her lips emit a laugh that sends a chill up my spine. "I just want to know why."

"I told them why. I was jealous." She shrugs

"Yeah the problem with that is - I don't believe it."

"That seems like a you kind of problem, not a me kind of problem." She lays down on her bed, the only other piece of furniture being a small desk and chair screwed onto the wall.

"Tell me the truth, for once in your fucking life." I spit, losing my temper and patience.

"Only if she goes." Jo points at Kristie, who seems hesitant but I tell her it's okay. Jo's locked up, she can't hurt me and after a few minutes of thinking, Mewis leaves.

"She's gone. Now, tell me why."

"The truth is, I am jealous, but not of your mother, and not of your game improving."

"Then why?"

"There's something you don't know, Cody. Something you need to know."

________

| Kristie |

I pace the waiting room, counting the minutes until I can see Cody again. I don't really 'wait' very well, the longer she takes, the more agitated I become.

"Hey, we can go now." I sigh in relief when I see Alex's daughter, unable to stop myself from scanning her body. "I'm not hurt, Kris. Relax." She laughs me off but there's something different.

"Are you okay?" I stop her before she can leave. She turns to me and nods, taking my hand as she drags me out of the station and down the street. "Where are we going?"

"There." I follow her finger as she points to a tattoo parlor

"Are you sure?"

She doesn't answer me, just continues to drag me like a ragdoll. She doesn't have to though, I'll follow her wherever she goes. We enter the store, a woman behind the counter raises her head to make eye contact with us, she sends us a small smile before going back to what she was doing while Cody takes a look around. I follow behind her quietly, watching as she bites her lip while considering which design to get.

"Can I help you?" The woman speaks up, drawing Cody's attention.

"Yeah, actually. I have an idea, I'm looking for a price." I stand by as Cody points to two different designs, asking if she can combine them, the woman nods, seemingly in approval. I zone out as she and Cody discuss a price, only tuning back into the conversation when Cody says she'll pay for it.

"Cool. I can call Ben to do the tatt-"

"If it's alright, can you do it?" Cody asks, elaborating when the woman raises an eyebrow "I uh, I'm not comfortable with guys."

"That's fine, I can do that for you."

"Thanks uh..." Cody trails off, realizing that she doesn't know the artist's name.

"Autumn." She chuckles, motioning for Cody to follow her to her studio behind the counter and through a door, which is all I can see since I wait out here for her to come back, because she didn't want me to see her tattoo until it's finished.

| Cody |

I follow Autumn back through to her studio, and I lay down on the table as she prepares the gun, and everything else she needs. She cleans my arm with rubbing alcohol, removing any hairs that could get in the way, before she starts the gun.

After getting tattooed the first time with Ali, I know the pain to expect. It might seem odd, but I love the pain, especially after my talk with Joanna, this is just what I need. I sit in a comfortable silence as I let Autumn work, watching as she concentrates on my arm. I notice the tattoo on her own arm.

Curiosity eats away at me, and I cave in, deciding to break the silence and just ask the artist about her own ink.

"Is that a crow feather?" She stops working on my arm to glance at hers, before getting back to work.

"Yeah. It's not completed yet."

"Does it mean anything?" The question slips before I catch it, hoping I haven't crossed any sort of line.

"To break free of traditions." She states rather vaguely, only leaving me with about 20 more questions but I decide to leave it at that, simply not wanting to upset the woman holding a tattoo gun to my arm.

It's a few hours later before Autumn is done, and after asking me if there's anything else I want, which I say no to, we make our way back to the front, where I give her the rest of my payment. Thanking her for the...probably 60th time since she finished just 10 minutes ago, we leave the store and head home.

"Your phone went a few times." Kristie says, handing me my phone to see that it's Jeri.

"Ugh. My aunt is crazy."

"She cares about you." Kristie counters, almost scolding me for complaining about my relative.

"I know, she can care and be calm too, though." I laugh when Krissy doesn't argue, knowing that she gets the brunt of my Aunt's craziness.

"So what does your tattoo mean?"

"It's a lion, so I'm a fighter. It's geometric to symbolize that while I'm one thing on the outside and as a whole, I'm more diverse and complicated in the detail. The triangles represent my family - mom and Jack, and the circles literally mean coming full circle."

"You've grown a lot, Cody." Mewis tells me as she stares at me while I talk. I take her hand, which seems to be normal for us now despite us not officially dating, and we walk home.

A/N - Huge, huge thanks to for allowing me to use her character '', from her story '' and for the character insight.