Orange Park, Florida. Dec 7th.<br/>Kristie stacked the dishes next to the sink and turned on the hot water. She added soap and stirred the water with her hand to keep the suds from getting too big. For some reason she hated that.<br/>"Here Sparky, let me help." Jay said as he came into the kitchen.<br/>"No I got it." Kristie said.<br/>"No no, you wash, I'll dry." Jay insisted, grabbing a towel.<br/>"No, you cooked, I'll clean." Kristie said firmly. "Go on, I got this."<br/>"Ok, you sure?"<br/>"Jay, I can handle a few dishes, I promise." Kristie said with a little laugh. "Thanks for cookin'."<br/>Kristie cleaned the kitchen quickly and efficiently. She had a touch of OCD, and one of her biggest quirks was the kitchen... she HATED a dirty kitchen.<br/>Jay came back in as she was drying her hands.<br/>"Sparky, you ok? There's something bothering you, I can feel it." Jay was always trying to read people, trying to get in touch with his "mystical" side. He had gotten more comfortable with his natural gifts and abilities since he had met Kristie and realized he wasn't alone in the world.<br/>Kristie hung the towel so it could dry. "It's been a year. Today's been a year." She didn't even try to deny it like she usually did.<br/>"A year..." Jay repeated, sounding confused. "A year... since... OH. Oh right."<br/>"Yea." Kristie leaned against the counter and sipped her second cup of coffee.<br/>"You're still having dreams?" Jay asked, his voice somber now.<br/>"Dream. Singular. More of a nightmare, really."<br/>"You know I'm always here for you Sparky." Jay said. "No matter what time, day or night, what I'm doing, I could be sleeping, eating, screwing, hell, I could be face first into it, you knock on the door: 'Jay I need you', I be like 'hey I'll be right back, you just stay put, my friend needs me.'"<br/>Kristie was laughing, shaking her head because she knew how dead serious Jay was. "I know Jaybird. I know it."<br/>Jay grinned and hugged her briefly. "I got you smiling, that's all I wanted. But seriously." he let her go and stepped back. "You call if you need to. I know this day's gonna be rough, so- you work today?"<br/>Jay's ADHD was kicking in.<br/>"No I'm off today. Gonna go see Heather."<br/>"Ok, tell you what, I get off at 10." Jay washed his coffee cup and set it in the strainer. "Why don't we have a fire tonight, I'll bring home a six-pack, kinda do a remembrance, wake-type thing."<br/>"Yea..." Kristie put her hands over her face and nodded. "Yea that sounds good."<br/>Jay patted her back. He didn't need to say anything and neither did she.