These characters are not my own. I decided to explore what would happen if we heard the wrong answer...Don't hate me. This had better not happen!
He waited until mid-morning to return to the condo. This was killing him, but he also knew his siblings weren't going to stop blowing up his phone until he got a good picture of the ring. He'd barely slept. The same siblings had been blowing up his phone all night, and he felt it was safe enough to go home now. He was smiling; here he was almost 21, and he had a family, a real family, an almost normal family. Sure, they weren't related by blood, but he had to admit, they'd grown on him. First, he accepted Sharon, and over time, Ricky and Emily too. What he didn't realize, was that Andy Flynn had been slowly creeping into that father role for years. Looking back, he'd been seeking his advice on anything and everything for a long time. Helping Andy with the proposal had been fun, enjoyable, and he felt himself rooting for the guy. The guy, a guy he'd grown very fond of, even if he had trouble showing it. A guy who had won Sharon's heart, and a guy who'd, in a different way of course, won his too.
He entered the condo and found it eerily quiet. Perhaps they'd gone to breakfast to celebrate? As he put his bag down, he noticed the disarray, nothing like Sharon would have ever left it. The flowers were still out, as were the candles, but thankfully, they weren't still burning. The table was still setup on the patio. With a pensive look, Rusty made his way to the kitchen to see if there was a note or anything. He grimaced at the idea of what could have happened-Sharon and Andy doing anything, ugh, he shivered in disgust. He jumped back as he moved into the house; it wasn't anything like he'd thought. Sharon was a crumpled-up mess on the couch, apparently asleep. What scared him was how she looked-hair everywhere, wearing the same clothing on she had on the night prior, makeup appearing to be smudged, and she was holding a wad of tissues in her hand, some even had spilled on the floor. What broke his heart was her hand; there was no ring, nothing to indicate a reason to send a picture to his brothers and sisters.
While he hated to do this, he shook her shoulder, "Sharon?" he called out softly.
When she didn't seem to budge, he tried again, "Mom? Mom? Sharon?" and that got her stirring. As she sat up, Rusty's suspicions seemed to be confirmed. Her eyes were red from crying, and she looked sad, very sad.
"Rusty?" she said with a frown. "What time is it?"
"Almost 11," he added. "What happened?"
She closed her eyes and said sadly, "I said no."
Rusty's eyes widened, "Sharon, you said no! Why? You love Andy. I never thought you'd say no. Sharon, what are you doing?"
Sharon sighed, as she wiped her eye again with a tissue; it looked like she had done that often the last few hours, "I just couldn't marry him. I love him, yes, but it's not right."
Rusty looked panic stricken, and he looked around, "Sharon, he loves you with everything he has. The guy has almost died twice, and you do this to him now? He sold his house; he moved in here with you, something you both wanted. Sharon, where is Andy?"
"He's gone," she said sadly. "He went to stay with Provenza, but he's gone. I said no, and he's gone."