Frank had been invited few days earlier, but had totally forgotten about it in the fuzz with Joe’s case.

"I totally forgot about Biff’s birthday," Frank said, panicking. "Hurry up Joe! We must go and get him a present right away."

"Relax Frank! We can just stop by the computer store and get him that game he wanted- what’s it called?.… Strike something."

"Counter Strike! That’s brilliant, Joe."

The boys rushed to the store and were glad to find it open. They bought the game and had it wrapped up. Then, they drove to the Hooper residence as fast as they could.

Biff opened the door and his face dropped when he saw Joe.

"You’re…"

"Back! Yes, happy birthday!" Joe said, giving his friend a big hug. Biff let them in the house and the boys followed him to the living room.

"Is Vanessa here?" Joe asked, looking around the empty house.

"Yes, she’s in the back yard with the others. We are barbecuing," Biff replied.

"Umm, that sounds good," Frank said, handing Biff his present. Biff opened it and let out a big "yahoo."

"Oh, you remembered! Thank you, guys. I’ve been dreaming about that game for months! It’s brilliant. I can’t wait to give it a try."

"You’re welcome," Frank said. "But you have Joe to thank for that. It was his idea."

"Joe you are awesome. You came home just in time!" Biff joked.

"Thank God," Joe said, and walked out on the porch. He saw his girlfriend immediately. She was sitting next to Callie by the pool. Joe couldn’t hear what she was saying, but Callie was trying to comfort her.

"JOSEPH HARDY!" Tony was the first one to notice him. He rushed over to him and looked him straight in the eyes. Tony was mad and Joe could feel it.

"Hi, Tony how are you?" Joe asked, examining his shoes.

"What the ****?! Where have you been?!" Tony said, putting his hand on his hip and looking at Joe as if he were the principal. Chet, who had been standing next to the barbecue, confronted Joe as well.

"Joseph, you little…" Chet said, grabbing Joe’s shirt. "Where have you been?"

"New York, looking for trouble," Joe said, his face going from shades of red to blue.

"Do you have any idea?…" Chet was getting ready to tear Joe to pieces, but Frank came to his rescue.

"Relax, boys. We can beat him up later. For now, I think there is one person that he needs to apologise to the most," Frank said, looking over at Vanessa. She was still sitting next to Callie, staring at them.

Vanessa’s blood stopped in her veins as she heard Tony scream Joe’s name. Looking back at Joe, she didn’t know if she was hallucinating or if he was really standing there. He looked like he’d lost a lot a weight, and he was also very pale. But-- that was definitley him.

Joe began walking towards Vanessa, but stopped once she got up and walked away into the house. Joe didn’t know how to react.

"Should I go after her?" he asked his brother, not sure what to think.

"I think you should, Joe," Frank answered. Frank had seen how Joe’s disappearance had broken Vanessa down. He knew that getting her to trust him again wouldn’t be easy. But, he also knew that his brother had to try.

"You have really put her though a lot," Callie said, walking towards them.

Frank put his arms around her and gave her a big kiss. He and Callie also needed to talk. Later.

"I know," Joe said, and walked into the house. He found Vanessa in the kitchen, crying.

"Van," he said, but was taken back when she turned around and slapped him so hard across the face he could see stars. He had been expecting a lot of things, but a slap on the face was not one of those.

"I’m sorry," Joe began, but stopped when Vanessa twirled in front of him.

"You better be!" Vanessa was so mad and, at the same time, so relieved.

"I thought you were dead! Why didn’t you call me? Why did you do this to me? I thought I meant something to you." Vanessa was crying so hard that her voice was shaking.

"I do care about you, you know that- More than anything. I wasn’t thinking right. I wanted to call you. Every day I had to restrain my self." Joe was trying hard to keep the tears back. He tried to pull Vanessa into his arms, but she pushed him away.

"Don’t do that. You can’t just do what you did and then expect everything to be the same!" Vanessa yelled at him. Joe was lost for words. That was unusual for him, but in this situation ,he knew there was nothing he could say to make things better. He had really hurt her and he knew it.

"All I can say is I’m sorry. I love you, Vanessa, and I hope you can forgive me."

Vanessa relaxed enough to stop crying. She got a tissue from the table and wiped her face. Joe tried again to hug her and this time she didn’t push him away. It felt so good to be in his arms again. Joe hugged her tighter. Vanessa thought back to her date with Simon and felt guilty. She wondered if Frank had told Joe about that.

"When did you come back?" Vanessa finally asked, looking at him.

"Last night. My family picked me up from New York."

"Why did you come back, anyway?"

"I got into some trouble back there." Joe didn’t want to get into the whole mess with his arrest with her right now, but she deserved to know. To his surprise, she wasn’t interested in what he had gotten himself into. Instead, she was heading to a worse mindset.

"So, you came back because you were in trouble, not because you realised that you are a selfish bastard." Vanessa had never used such harsh words with him before and it scared him. He realised her seriousness, and the look in his eyes showed how scared he really was.

"I wanted to come back. I was going to. I know I screwed up Vanessa. All I want is a second chance."

Vanessa looked at him for a while before saying: "Second chances only come to those who deserve them. And I’m not sure you do."

With that she walked away leaving him in the kitchen.