Disclaimer: I do not own The OC.

Author's Note: Just another JuKi story. Slight angst ahead.

Julie Cooper was in a swirling vortex of what she assumed was hell. She wasn't sure when she had crossed the line between grieving mother to prostitution ring madam, but it had happened. One moment the brunette had two daughters, a steady job, and a best friend; the next, she had nothing. How or when this all happened, Julie was unable to determine a timeline. To sum all of her rambling thoughts up, the brunette felt like shit.

Her eldest daughter had been killed in a car accident. Possibly the worst part, she died in the arms of her true love. Julie had to steady herself against the kitchen counter just thinking about how awful the whole thing was. After the death of Marissa, the youngest Cooper had moved back to Newport to be with Julie. Kaitlin, a fifteen year old replica of her mother, was nothing like her older sister. She got into trouble almost daily, frequently snuck out of the house, and was constantly tiptoeing around as if doing so made it impossible to see what she was really up to.

Losing her best friend was the one that really hurt Julie. After Marissa's death, Kirsten had been there for her, no matter what sort of mental or physical state the brunette was in. But when Kirsten found out about the prostitution ring, she was fed up with Julie. The blond severed all ties with her now ex-best friend, and that was that. Julie, now left with a rebellious teenage daughter and a house with more rooms than she knew what to do with, was full of regret.

"How could I do that to her? To our business?" Julie wondered aloud. She tried to sort the matter out in her mind. Maybe the grief had just become too much and she needed something to take her mind off of it. Or maybe she was so desperate to move on that she did the only thing she knew how.

Whatever the reason may have been, Julie was distraught. More so now than she had ever been. She needed help coping with the loss of her daughter, and the vast emptiness that had become her life. She needed a friend.

Kirsten wasn't speaking to her. Kaitlin would have been a good substitute, but she was never around. What could the brunette do? She certainly wasn't going to keep all of her emotions bottled up; she had learned the hard way that things never work out when one does that. With a sigh, Julie grabbed her car keys off of the counter and header outside. She hoped what she was going to do wouldn't backfire. And if it did, she'd deal with that later.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Julie found herself on the doorstep of the Cohen's. She reached out, pressed the doorbell, and then recoiled as if she had been bitten. What the hell was she doing? Kirsten would kill her for even stepping foot on the property! The brunette turned to leave, when a quiet voice called out from behind her.

"Julie?"

It was Kirsten, no doubt about it. Julie slowly swiveled to face the blond, her cheeks turning redder by the second.

"I'm sorry to bother you. It was stupid," Julie apologized. She took a step backward, preparing in case Kirsten decided to strike her. Not that the blond was really the violent type. But when people are pissed off, they change.

Kirsten stepped outside of the house, walking slowly and cautiously. She's was only a few feet away from Julie now, which surprised both of them. The brunette wonders what is going on. There she was, standing in the Cohen driveway, looking as though she had been run over. Wrinkled clothes, red and puffy eyes with mascara smeared down her cheeks. True, she was a walking bag of emotions, ready to explode at any moment. Unfortunately for her, that moment had arrived as she pulled into Kirsten's driveway. Now she looked like a crazy woman, standing before her once best friend, just trying to figure out what was going on.

"Is something wrong?" Kirsten inquired. "You look a bit… pale."

Julie thought that Kirsten was going to say something else, but pale seemed to fit just fine. The brunette tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"I'm fine," She spat. The sudden burst of anger gives light to the situation. Kirsten saw that, despite her statement, Julie is not fine. And Julie realized a form of the same thing; she wasn't fine, but she wasn't unwell. Not in her eyes, anyway.

Worry crept on Kirsten's features, etching itself into her eyes and making sure the emotion was visible.

"Would you like to come in?" The blond asked. Her voice had lost its hard edge and was now taken over by a comforting, mothering tone.

Julie was surprised by the offer. Perhaps she hadn't heard the question correctly. A moment later the brunette found herself being ushered inside by Kirsten, who had a gentle yet firm grip on the distressed woman's arm.

"I'll make you some tea." Kirsten showed a very tiny grin, obviously hoping to cheer Julie up. The brunette mustered the biggest smile she could, which was pretty small, but it was the best she could do. At that moment, walking into the house with Kirsten by her side, Julie knew that her behavior had to change. If she wanted Kirsten to continue being her friend, the brunette would have to make some changes. But if some alterations meant keeping her best friend, Julie would happily comply.