Disclaimer: I do not own the television series, 7th Heaven or any of its characters, locations, etc. Everything of that sort belongs to someone who has much more power than I will ever possess. And I don't own IHOP either. ;)

Summary: The Camdens that you thought you knew don't live here anymore. Simon is struggling to support his younger siblings and mother, who isn't what she once was.

Author's Note: This was just something that came into my head one day during French class. It's something different (thank God), and also a Simon story. Taking a break from Ruthie for a while. And I also have a Lucy/Kevin story, and a Mary/Wilson story in the works. All I hope for this is that you don't hate it. So...enjoy!

Handle With Care


One

Angry rocks grumbled under his too small shoes as he made his way home from school that day. With a dirty finger, he tapped the ash off the tip of his lit cigarette. He wasn't in any hurry to get home, because he knew what was waiting for him. Lucy was smart to leave; she didn't let the tragedy bring her down too far, but it was still painful to even think her name, for she broke all ties with those who she loved, and those who loved her, as she went. No one even knew where she was, how she was.

Of course, it hadn't always been like that. The Camdens used to be happy people, a happy family, only being troubled by the opposite sex at times. Boyfriends and girlfriends came and went, but no matter what happened, they were always together. They tolerated pointed questions about their love life, for they knew, on some level, that it was because they were loved. It wasn't perfect, but it was nice to know that they would never be alone.

But they were naive.

Their father had gone and died, and Annie went all to pieces. She wasn't even a mother anymore, just a mess of a woman who hid behind her bedroom door in the dark at all hours. And when she did manage to drag herself out of her cave, it was proven that she was unable to look at her children, for they all reminded her so of Eric. It pained Simon to see her like that, because that wasn't her. She was a smart woman and a good mother. He refused to accept her the way she was now. Every night, as he lay in bed, he would tell himself that things would get better one day; but one day seemed to be just too far out of his grasp to even seem achievable.

No one called any more. Matt was gone with Sarah, as he had been for years now. Simon didn't know if they were still in school, or whatever became of them. Mary was the same way, but she hadn't changed much. She never really did call, even when their father was alive. And Lucy just took off. For all they knew, she could be lying in a ditch somewhere, dead; only she probably wasn't, because she was Lucy.

What was once a close family was now reduced to a small group of strangers. Everyone was different, and Simon blamed him father for that. When he got himself killed, he changed everything. They had to leave the house, because no Camden was working as a minister there. Now they had moved downtown, where bums roamed the streets and rummaged through trashcans for food or money. Downtown, where there were robberies at least every night, downtown in the Atwaters Apartment complex.

Their apartment was one consisting of three bedrooms and one bath. Simon had a room to himself, while Ruthie and the boys shared. Annie, of course, had her own, which she also never came out of. They referred to it as her "cave," for she was like a bear that was hibernating and never woke up when winter was over.

Simon wasn't as worried about his older siblings, for he knew that they could take care of themselves. His biggest concern was how he was to care for Ruthie and the boys. He hoped that he could make enough at his after school job, serving at the local IHOP, to buy them the things that they needed, so they didn't get taken away from him. Deep down, really deep down, he knew that his salary and tips alone could not do what needed to be done, and it was only a matter of time until they were ripped away from him, and he was ripped away from his mother (if you could call her that anymore).

He couldn't remember when the Camdens stopped being The Camdens. They weren't a family anymore. It amazed him how one tragedy, a loss of a single person, could tear everything apart, burn any bridge that they had built together, and bulldoze the highest hill that they had climbed. The exact moment was unknown to him, but he was almost sure that it had started before - years before - Eric Camden had died. His death had only cut the thread they had been hanging on by.

Maybe it was when Mary had gone down, allowing the bill collectors run her life. Maybe it was when she got kicked out of the house, and was sent to New York to live with "old people." They had all been listening on the stairs that night, except for Lucy, who was supposedly perfect and had to "respect their parents' wishes." Maybe it was Lucy, who was always trying to be like their mother. Maybe she got so fuckin' good at it that she had run Annie down. Maybe it was only his fault. Maybe it was when he had killed that kid, Paul Smith. It was an accident and everyone understood that. That was what they had told him when they were all so "supportive" of him. Had he not gotten out of there when he did, they would have driven him absolutely bananas just trying to get him to "feel better."

Simon dropped the cigarette on the ground and stamped it out in front of the building. Taking a calming breath, Simon prepared himself to appear pulled together before his sister, who could smell something disturbing a mile away. He pulled the door to the apartment complex open and began the four-flight climb.