I'm early, are you guys happy? But yeah, this is the third installment of the series, and probably the last. This one's probably gonna be the most intense yet- and yes, it picks up from exactly where Recovery left off. This story is also going to have a lot of flashbacks to the time before Austin came into their lives, which I think will be pretty interesting. Anyway- trigger warnings for mentions of self-harm and depression. Enjoy.

"Mom? Dad?"

I stare at the two people in front of me- not knowing exactly what to do with myself. I haven't seen them since I was a freshman, and that was almost three years ago. I'm speechless with shock, as paralyzing fear bubbles up in my stomach. I don't know what to do.

"Ell, who was at the- oh my fucking god…"

Rocky comes up behind me, his jaw dropping. He seems to recover from his shock much quicker than I do- because his face hardens, and he glares at our parents. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Rocky, watch your language. We are your parents, you need to have some respect for us," our father says sternly, meeting Rocky's eyes.

Rocky ignores him, turning to me. "Listen to me. Go to Riker and Rydel. Tell Rydel to take you and Austin downstairs, and ask Riker to come over here, please?"

"I want to hear this," I whisper back, shaking my head. "They're my parents too."

"No, Ratliff. They're not your parents. They abandoned us. They are not our parents," Rocky mutters.

"Guys? What's going on?" I glance back, and see Riker walking toward us, worry evident in his eyes. When he lays eyes on our mother and father, he freezes. "What the fuck are they doing here, Rocky?!"

"I don't know," Rocky replies. "But they're leaving right now. Ratliff, go. You don't need to hear this."

"No, Rocky, he's staying. He's my son, and I want to see how he's been," Stormie says firmly. She steps into the house, and looks me over. "Oh, Ellington, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you. Come here, give your mom a hug." She holds open her arms, and I just stare at her, open-mouthed.

"Give you a hug?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" I exclaim. "You abandon us, then show up after almost three years, and expect me to walk into your arms like it's fucking nothing?!"

"Ellington Ratliff," Mark says icily. "We are still your parents, and you will still show us respect."

"No," Rocky cuts in. "No, he doesn't have to listen to a word you say. I am his guardian, by law, and I'm fine with how he's talking to you. You deserve it."

He sighs heavily, turning his gaze back to me. "Please, Ell. Please go to Rydel. I don't want you to hear this. Riker and I will handle it."

"Fine," I relent. I really don't have the energy or the patience to argue with my parents right now- Rocky's right.

"You can't send him away! He's my son!"

Rocky stares at our mother, disbelief in his eyes. "He's my baby brother. And if he really was your son, you wouldn't have abandoned him when he needed you the most. You wouldn't have broken his heart and left him, leaving him wondering whether you really ever loved him or not."

I can't take any more of this- not right now. So, I turn on my heel, and rush back into the living room, where Rydel is sitting on Austin's lap in his wheelchair, comforting him. She's murmuring nonsense into his ear, trying to soothe our panicked youngest brother.

"What's going on, Ratliff?" Rydel asks worriedly, staring at me. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"I might've," I whisper. "Our parents are back."

"You had no right to send him away," Mark says authoritatively. "He is our son."

"And you are not his legal guardians," I reply. "He's my brother, and only I have authority over him. So you cannot tell me what I can and can't do."

"Despite that, we are still your parents."

"No," Riker mutters. "No, you're not. You gave up that right two years ago."

"We brought you into this world," Stormie says, her face hardening. "We raised you to where you are now."

"You may've given birth to me," Riker answers bitterly. "But you are not my mother. Not anymore. Not to any of us. And you, dad, are just a sperm donor. That's what I think of you. You're a fucking sperm donor."

Mark's face reddens, rage burning in his eyes. "How dare you-" He raises his hand, and before I know what I' doing, I catch his arm in mine, glaring at him.

"You have no right to lay a fucking hand on my brother," I growl. "I could have you both arrested. I could call the police."

Riker presses close into my side, and I drop my father's wrist, glancing at him. "You okay, Rik?"

He nods. "Fine. As long as Rydel gets Austin and Ratliff somewhere safe."

"Wait, who is this Austin you speak of?" Stormie asks. "And where's Rydel- I'd like to see her?"

"That's too bad," Riker hisses. "Because you are not going to. And Austin is none of your business, and he will never be."

Mark sighs. "Alright. Can we just talk? That's what we came here for- we wanted to talk to you guys."

"'You guys' is going to be me and Riker. Ratliff and Rydel don't need to see you or hear your shitty excuses. You broke their hearts. We're not letting you do something like that again."

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Rocky mutters coldly. We're sitting at the kitchen table, Rocky's and my chairs pressed as close as they'll get together. Rydel, Ratliff, and Austin are down in the basement- they're staying there until these bastards get the hell out of our house.

"We wanted to talk about transferring custody," Mark says. "We'd like back custody of all four of you. We're ready to come back."

Rocky stiffens, his eyes widening. He opens his mouth to say something, but I shake my head, slipping my fingers into his and squeezing hard. He can't get angry. That'll just lead us into another fight, and it's not something we want to go through. I meet my father's gaze, my eyes dark. "You legally could only get custody of Ratliff. Rydel and I are 18, almost 19, and Rocky will be 21 soon."

"And even if you could get custody of them, I would die before handing my siblings over to you," Rocky growls.

My mother's eyes widen. "What have you got against us? Why are you so reluctant to listen to what we have to say? We're back, and we've changed. We're ready to take on the challenge it will be to raise the four of you."

"Five," Rocky mutters. "There are five of us. I adopted Austin, over three months ago."

"You mean you adopted a kid?!" My mother's tone rises, as she stares at us. "What business do you have, adopting a child?!"

"He is not a child," I reply. "He's 15, almost 16, only a year younger than Ratliff. His parents were horridly abusive. We got him out of there. He's one of us now, and there is nothing you can do to change that."

"I'd like to meet him," Stormie says, folding her hands on the table.

"Hell no," Rocky replies, before I even have a chance to answer. "You are not meeting him. He's already broken- just like we are- and he doesn't need to be scrutinized by you two."

"So you adopted a defective kid? Of course," Mark sighs. "You never really had good judgment, why am I not surprised…"

"He is not defective," I spit out, through clenched teeth. "He's perfect. He's our baby brother and we love him with everything in us. And if I remember correctly, you left when it got hard. Said we were too much of a handful for you. What makes you think you can come back- two years later- and pick up right where you left off?"

"We thought," Mark says stonily. "That you four would've fixed yourselves by now."

"Fixed ourselves? Do you even know what depression is?" Rocky mutters. "It's not something that'll eventually go away. It stays with you for the rest of your life. Cutting isn't easy to recover from. And the feeling of wanting to die is the worst in the world."

He grabs my left arm, and pushes up the sleeve of my shirt. "This is what depression is. This is your son. You made him, you gave birth to him, and yes, he's broken, but you abandoned him when he needed you the most. You picked up and left. What did you think would happen when you got back? That we'd welcome you with open arms? I don't know what fantasy world you live on, but I'd suggest you come back down to Earth, and realize- that we are fine without you."

"We went through fucking hell when you guys left," I agree, as Rocky lets my arm go. I retract it, pulling down my sleeve, and glare at our parents. "You put us through hell."

"They're gone? And they're not coming back?"

Rydel whimpers as she stares at me, and I sigh, forcing myself to stop shaking. I open my arms, and she runs into them, crying against my chest. Kissing the top of her head, I lift my own head up to meet Rocky's eyes.

"I'm your guys' legal guardian," Rocky mutters, slamming the front door shut. He hobbles over to Ratliff, his injured leg still braced. The physical affects of the accident are not fully gone- he's still working to get his leg back to normal. Jumping off a roof doesn't constitute an easy recovery.

Rocky exhales a deep breathing, glancing at me, before burying his face in Ratliff's hair. He's comforting Ratliff- our youngest brother buried in his chest. I can hear Ratliff's sobs from here, inhuman cries that shatter my heart. They don't fucking deserve this. Not after all the pain they've endured already. This is the breaking point. For all of us.

"What just happened?" I whisper, moving to sit down on the couch, as Rydel curls onto my lap. "Did they seriously just walk out on us?"

"They left us! They fucking leave when it gets hard!" Ratliff cries. He slams his fist into Rocky's chest, and I sigh.

Rocky just lets our youngest brother punch him, not even flinching. "He needs to let go of his anger," he mutters. "He'll get tired soon."

"Sit down, Rocky. You shouldn't be up, your leg isn't strong enough for that."

He sighs, collapsing beside me on the couch- with Ratliff still pressed tightly into his chest. "I know. My body's still recovering from the accident, but mentally, I gotta be strong. You guys need me now. I've gotta be your mother and your father from now on."

"No," I say. "You're our brother. That's all you'll ever be, and all we need from you. You've taken care of us for so long- it won't be much different."

"Except that our parents are gone!" Ratliff exclaims, lifting his tearstained face up to look at me. "Do you even care?!"

"Of course I care," I whisper. "I'm just trying not to think about it…I can't…"

"Hey," Rocky says. "Stop. I'm gonna take care of you guys. You're safe with me. We're going to be okay. I promise."

So, thoughts? I'd love some reviews on this- the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update. Thank you guys for reading- I hope you enjoyed.

-Neha