Chapter 3: The Games That Play Us

Characters:

Rachel Janacek (Sam and Sonny)- 23

Emma Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 17

Gabe Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 16

Maddie Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 16

Katie Morgan (Sam and John; raised by Jason)- 14

Selena Morgan (Stella and Tyler; adopted by Sam and Jason)- 4

Morgan Corinthos (Carly and Sonny)- 29

Josslyn Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 22

Courtney Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 17

Connor Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 16

Jacelyn Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 14

Chloe J Hunter (Maxie and Matt)- 17

Christian Hunter (Maxie and Matt)- 17

Lukas Spencer (Maxie and Lucky)- 16

Leah Zacchara (Maxie and Johnny)- 15

Ava Zacchara (Maxie; adopted by Johnny)- 14

Daniel Zacchara (Olivia and Johnny)- 17

Mia Webber (Olivia and Steve)- 16

Allie Webber (Olivia and Steve)- 14

Izzie Zacchara (Claudia)- 23

Clay Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 22

Zack Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 17

Hunter Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 16

Brittany Corinthos (Sonny and Brenda)- 16

Brenna Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 15

Lindsey Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 23

Nate Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 17

Noah Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 16

Spencer Cassadine (Nikolas and Courtney)- 28

Aiden Cassadine (Nikolas and Elizabeth)- 22

Paige Cassadine (Nikolas and Emily)- 17

Aubrey Crowell (Nadine and Nikolas)- 16

Nattie Cassadine (Nikolas and Brook Lynn)- 15

Colton Cassadine (Nikolas and Elizabeth)- 14

Wes Janacek (Kristina and Kiefer)- 16

Haley Lovett (Ethan and Lisa)- 16

Logan Davis (Ethan and Kristina)- 15

Livvie Davis (Ethan and Kristina)- 15

Molly Lansing Webber (Ric and Alexis)- 28

Addie Lansing (Ric and Elizabeth)- 16

Cameron Webber (Elizabeth and Lucky)- 29

Jake Spencer (Elizabeth and Lucky)- 24

Brendan Webber (Elizabeth)- 17

Stella Hunter (Elizabeth and Matt)- 16

Alec Barrett (Brenda and Aleksander)- 23

Ashlyn Falconeri (Lulu and Dante)- 15

Lila Rae Alcazar (Skye and Lorenzo)- 28

Jamie Quartermaine (Dillon and Georgie)- 17

Tanner Quartermaine (Dillon and Lulu)- 16

Julian Quartermaine (AJ)- 15

Grace Quartermaine (Skye)- 14

Tyler Drake (Lisa and Patrick)- 17

Ian Niles (Lisa)- 14

Carrie Corinthos (Michael and Abby)- 15

Ryan Rosco (Faith)- 17

Dominic Rosco (Faith)- 14

Prue Webber (Molly and Cam)- 0

Henry Spencer (Lindsey and Jake)- 0

Sophia Janacek (Rachel and Kiefer)- 4

Kailey Franco (Franco)- 16

Reed Worth (Maggie)- 16

Rhiannon Deusa- 16

Lauren Grayson- 16

Brianna Edwards- 17

Deceased:

Bella Jacks (Jax and Brenda)- 15

Mason Zacchara (Olivia and Johnny)- 15

Jazzie Corinthos (Sonny and Kate)- 14

Lola Zacchara (Claudia and Nikolas)- 14

Ben Lovett (Ethan and Lisa)- 15

Liam Drake (Elizabeth and Patrick)- 15

Matt Zacchara (Lulu and Johnny)- 17

Joey Falconeri (Dante and Brenda)- 17

Trevor Alcazar (Skye and Lorenzo)- 16

Taylor Corinthos (Michael and Abby)- 14

Parker Ruiz (Manny)- 16

Corey Spinelli (Spinelli)- 15

Bailey Spencer (Lucky and Siobhan)- 15

Max Franco (Franco)- 15

Lily Mir (Leyla and Aleksander)- 15

Chapter 3: The Games That Play Us

Emma

Emma walked out of her third class, going immediately to her locker, ignoring all of the whispers from the people around her. They all know who she is; everyone knows who Jason Morgan's daughter is. But instead of her father's name protecting her like it usually did, it just made her more of a target.

"Hi, Emma." She looked up and saw Allie Webber, Mia's younger sister.

"Hey, Allie." She smiled at the younger girl. Allie and Mia were the perfect example of sisters who were polar opposites. While Mia had always been wild and loud, Allie was quiet and tried to blend in with the crowd. It was strange to see such a difference.

"How has Mia been?"

"You haven't talked to her?" Emma thought that Mia talked to her sister a couple of times a week, at least, so she was surprised.

"I have, but we both know she won't tell me if she's not feeling good."

Emma shoved her books into her locker and then shut the door, preparing to go to lunch. The two girls started to walk down the hall together.

"She's been doing good." Emma said. "Her morning sickness isn't as bad lately. She freaked out a little bit a couple of days ago about the possibility that Gabe isn't the baby's father, but don't tell her I told you that."

"Is she okay now?" Allie asked in alarm.

"Yeah, Gabe has talked to her and promised her that no matter what, he's going to be there."

Allie bit her lip. "I know he's your brother and all, but do you think he's telling the truth?"

"Allie, when Gabe makes a promise, he doesn't break it. Ever. He's going to be there for Mia and that baby for as long as he's alive."

"That's good." Allie smiled.

They both looked up at the same time as Haley walked by one of the Madison boys and he said some comment to her. She rolled her eyes and just kept walking.

"It's terrible what happened to Grace." Allie commented.

Emma turned to her. Grace is her cousin, so she feels that responsibility for her, and then there's the fact that she was the student president of PCH, so she feels like it's her duty to protect the PCH kids. "What happened to Grace?"

"You didn't hear? She transferred out of Madison."

"What?"

"The kids have been bullying her a lot because of who her brother was. She couldn't handle it anymore, I guess. She's at NYCS now."

"That's terrible." Emma shook her head. She didn't think that any of the PCH kids should give into the torment they are receiving, but Grace transferring was definitely for the better. She had been getting the bullying the worst since Trevor was her brother, and Emma knew she would be treated a lot better at NYCS where the kids were much less judgmental.

"I better get to lunch. Thanks for telling me the truth about Mia."

"I'm sure if you came to see her that would be okay." Emma said to the younger girl. In the entire time Mia had been living with the Morgans, Allie never came to see her at the penthouse.

"I don't know how my mom would feel about that."

"I thought it was your dad that had the problem, not Olivia. She always seemed cool about everything."

"She is, but I don't want to rock the boat."

"Makes sense. I'll see you later, Allie."

"Bye." She walked away.

Emma continued down the hallway, stopping when she saw a familiar blonde. She hadn't seen Brittany at all yesterday, so she still hadn't talked to her about the situation she had encountered with Brianna and the locker.

"Hey Britt."

Brittany gave her a small smile. "Hi, Emmy." She shut her locker. "Listen, I know you're gonna want to talk about yesterday, but I would rather forget."

"That's fine. I understand that better than anyone."

"But thank you for standing up for me to Brianna. Zack told me that you tackled her."

"Oh my God, I don't know why everyone keeps saying that. I didn't tackle her…I just kinda jumped and she fell down."

Brittany laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure that's what happened."

"Everyone watch out! It's Whacko!" one of the preppy Madison boys yelled, pressing himself against the wall when Brittany walked by. She rolled her eyes and ignored it.

Emma looked over her shoulder at him with a dirty look, and then turned back to Brittany. "What's that about?"

"Oh, all the Madison snobs are calling me 'Whacko' because of what happened yesterday."

Emma thought of what Allie told her about Grace. She really hoped Brittany didn't end up having to switch schools because of the bullying.

"It'll get better, Britt. It's not like it can get any worse."

"After what we all just went through, I think it definitely can." They entered the cafeteria, going to the section that the PCH kids sat at. The members of the Crew- Emma, Courtney, Maddie, Brittany, Zack, Connor, Brenna, Tyler Drake, Jamie Quartermaine, Addie Lansing, Haley Lovett, Livvie Davis, Logan Davis, Tanner Quartermaine, Reed Worth, Carrie Corinthos, Julian Quartermaine, and Allie Webber- had a table to themselves.

Emma saw that Zack was already seated and sat next to him. He had two plates in front of him and slid one over to her.

"Thank you." She said with a smile.

Brittany sat across from them and next to Courtney, who was just drinking iced tea. She leaned her head on the older blonde's shoulder.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" Jamie greeted, sitting towards the middle of the table. Addie and Haley were right behind him and they sat down.

"You okay, Britt?" Haley questioned.

"Yeah, just tired." Emma, Zack, and Courtney knew that was a lie, and Emma suspected that Haley did too, but she didn't press her on it.

"Hey." Maddie dropped her tray on Courtney's other side. Brittany reached across Courtney to grab a handful of fries from Maddie's plate.

"Wow, and look what I did for you." Connor sat on Zack's other side and reached over to hand Brittany a bag of potato chips.

"Connie, you don't even know how much I love you for this." Brittany opened it up and started to chew.

The table started to fill up until everyone was sitting down, talking amongst themselves, and some of them were even laughing. But, of course, their moment had to be ruined.

"Whacko!" some boy taunted as he walked by.

But it wasn't Zack, or Connor, or Emma, or Courtney, or even Maddie who defended their friend. It was Tyler Drake, Courtney's ex-boyfriend and Nate's and Haley's half-brother. Before anyone could say something, he stood and punched the boy right in the face, knocking him to the ground easily.

"You okay, Brittany?" Tyler asked, ignoring the shocked looks from everyone around them.

"Yeah. Thanks, Tyler." She was honestly surprised that he, of all people, would defend her.

As Tyler walked back to his seat, he caught Courtney's eye. She gave him a small smile, which he returned. The two of them hadn't had an easy break up; Tyler said he wanted to get in bed with Emma, and then Courtney found out he had cheated on her during their four year relationship. But that smile made him think that maybe there was a chance they could at least be friends.

"You need to go to the principal's office immediately." One of the teachers said, looking at Tyler.

"Why? It's not like he just jumped up and punched the kid for no reason. Your precious little Madison student should go too for what he said." Haley argued in her half-brother's defense.

"Unlike your wild school, we actually have rules here, and we don't condone violence." The man told them.

"Oh, but you support bullying?" Emma wondered. The other PCH kids quieted down, knowing when to let her talk.

"Of course not."

"That's funny, because every single person at this table has been bullied since coming to Madison, but do you see anyone defending us? No. No one cares because we had to come here after a serial killer terrorized our school." Emma stood up on her seat, not caring that everyone was now staring at her. She got onto the table.

"Princess, what are you doing?" Zack whispered.

She ignored him. "Do you all think we actually want to be in this school? We hate being here just as much as you hate us being here. Our motto at PCH when dealing with all of you is 'Madison punks, sloppy drunks' because not one of you can throw a good party. No one cares about how much money your mommy and daddy make because you're most likely going to end up pregnant, overdosed on drugs, or failing out of college in a couple of years since all you know how to do is let everyone else handle all of your problems. If we could go back to PCH, we would gladly do it without a second thought, but we can't and you're gonna have to deal with that. I am sick and tired of having to deal with everyone I care about being bullied because one of their siblings or cousins or friends was killed. Do you think it's our fault that some psycho attacked a bunch of teenagers? It's not, and it's not fair for us to be constantly judged because of it."

"Why don't you just sit down?" Brianna asked, going to stand at the end of Emma's table. "No one cares what you have to say."

Emma got off the table. "Careful, Em." Zack warned as she approached the taller girl.

"And I don't care what you have to say, and yet you keep talking." Emma cocked her head to the side. "Pretty hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Look, no one wants to deal with you being…"

"No, you look. I don't care that you're the little popular whore who spends all of daddy's money on alcohol and pills to get over the fact that your parents couldn't care less about you. I don't want to deal with your rich girl problems, or your terrible attitude. Regardless of what you do or say, we're staying here until PCH is rebuilt, so you might as well get over it, especially since when you get mad, your face turns red and that is not a good color for you."

"EVERYONE GET IN YOUR SEATS!" the teacher screamed.

"This isn't over, Morgan." Brianna growled.

Emma gave her a full-on dimpled smile. "Wouldn't dream of it, Edwards."

As she sat back down, the PCH kids exchanged a look. Maybe Emma was finally getting back her old fire.

Paige

Paige stared at the board from where she was sitting in her history class. At PCH, she had been in all AP and Honors classes, but NYCS couldn't afford to offer those, so she was in basic ones. Everything they were learning was way too easy.

Though Paige's father, Nikolas Cassadine, could easily afford Madison, he had decided to send his children to NYCS because it was much closer to Wyndemere. At first, she had been furious, but over time, she grew to like the school. Here, she could just be Paige Cassadine, the smart, pretty girl. She didn't have to be a cheerleader, or popular, or one of Emma's best friends. She could just be herself.

She wasn't sure when exactly she had realized how different she and Emma were. For the first seventeen years of their lives, they had been just alike to everyone who saw them, with the exception that Emma was more talkative, and Paige thought things through before doing them. But recently, that divide grew much larger.

It must have started around the time she and Zack broke up. Paige wasn't stupid; she knew that there was an attraction between the two best friends, but she also knew that they wouldn't ever cheat. Even though there was a bit of tension between her and Emma, she still believed that Emma would never do anything purposely to hurt her.

Paige's feelings for Zack were a little more complicated though. She was still in love with him; they had been together for four years, after all. But she wasn't sure if she loved him the same way that she had before. If he came up to her right that minute and asked her to go out with him, she wasn't sure what she would say.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Paige gathered her books and shoved them into her backpack before walking into the hallway.

She saw Chloe J charging down the hallway towards the gym, her blonde hair bouncing as she walked in determination. One of the saddest things the divide between schools had caused was the distance in Emma and Chloe J's friendship. The two girls didn't speak nearly as much as they had before, and Emma spent more time with Courtney, which also meant Paige was drifting away from her own best friend. She wasn't even sure if that's what she could call Courtney anymore, considering it had been so long since they really had a conversation.

All Paige knew was that things had changed among the seniors in the Dream Team, and she hoped that everything could be normal soon.

NYCS Cheerleaders

"Alright everyone, I've enlisted some help, so I really hope that this will work!" Chloe J announced to the NYCS cheerleaders as she walked into the gym. They were all seated on the bleachers, Lauren and Rhiannon in the front so that they could speak if Chloe J needed them to. "She should be here any minute, so until then, you guys can talk or whatever."

"So I tried talking to Gabe again." Lauren told Rhiannon.

Chloe J turned to her. "Gabe Morgan?"

"Yeah. He's from PCH, do you know him?"

"He's my best friend's younger brother."

"He's so cute." Lauren sighed. "He won't even look at me though! I don't understand why he isn't interested in any of the NYCS girls, or even the girls that transferred from PCH!"

Before Chloe J could respond, the gym doors opened up. Everyone looked over, seeing a beautiful brunette walk into the room. She immediately commanded the attention of the others as they studied her.

"Sorry I'm late, Gabe was being all annoying and overprotective again. No one ever realizes that I'm pregnant, not disabled." Mia said, rolling her eyes. She put down the radio Chloe J had asked her to bring.

"Everyone, this is Mia Webber. Mia, this is everyone. Yes she is pregnant, no you can't ask any questions. She has been a cheerleader since she was five years old and she's here to help us with that, not be judged for having a baby." She leaned closer to the brunette. "I don't really know any of the other girls' names, but this is Lauren and Rhiannon. They're the old captains."

"Nice to meet you." Mia smiled at them.

"When you said Gabe before, were you talking about Gabe Morgan?" Rhiannon wondered.

"Uh-huh."

"Is he gay?"

Chloe J and Mia turned to each other and burst out laughing. They could both feel tears welling up in their eyes; in all of their lives, no one had ever asked if Gabe was gay.

"Are you serious?" Mia said, still trying to stop laughing.

"Yeah, he won't even look at any of us! He has to be gay, right?"

Mia rested her hand on her stomach and looked at the girls. "He's definitely not gay."

The girls' mouths all hung open in shock. They all knew Gabe and would have never guessed that he had a baby on the way.

Mia couldn't help but laugh again. "I'm guessing that Gabe hasn't mentioned that he's going to be a father?"

"No, he doesn't talk to anyone but the people from PCH." Lauren responded. "I guess I know now why. He's got a beautiful girlfriend and a baby coming."

Mia smiled. "It's good to know that he's so dedicated."

Chloe J wrapped an arm around Mia's shoulder. "What do you say, Mimi? Ready to show these girls what a PCH cheer practice is like?"

Mia grinned. "Yep!"

The NYCS girls could tell they would definitely be sore after today.

Josslyn and Lindsey

"Ugh, I'm so tired." 22 year old Josslyn Jacks complained as she walked into her best friend's apartment. She collapsed on the couch.

23 year old Lindsey Drake Spencer (formerly Scorpio-Drake, until her marriage to her longtime boyfriend Jake Spencer) laughed. "Rough day at the hotel?"

"You wouldn't believe it. One of the pipes broke in the basement, so I had to get someone to fix that. There were two parties scheduled in the dining area, so I had to find a place to put one of them to avoid all of the confusion. I swear that the Metro Court has the most incompetent staff." She sat up. "What about you?"

"I didn't do much really. Took Henry to daycare, went to school, and then picked Henry up."

"Ugh, married life. So easy." Josslyn groaned.

"You could experience the wonderfulness if you would just marry my brother." 24 year old Jake Spencer reminded her as he sat down in the recliner, looking at his wife's best friend/his cousin. He had his and Lindsey's (adoptive) son, four month old Henry Thomas Spencer, in his arms.

Josslyn sighed. "Jake, don't."

"Why not? You love Aiden, Aiden loves you. Why can't the two of you just get married?"

"First of all, I'm only 22 years old. I've got so much more to do with my life before I start settling down."

"Well it's not like you have to have kids immediately after you get married, Joss." Lindsey reminded her.

"I know that, but you both know I have a tendency to screw up. Every mistake I make is going to be multiplied by, like, a thousand if I'm married. I don't want to do that to Aiden."

"I think he knows how to handle you by now. It's been three years."

"Three years isn't that long."

"Um, let's think of everything that has happened in the past three years. My little brother and your little sister were killed by a deranged teenager. Jake and Aiden's little sister is in a coma in a hospital bed. Jake and I got married and had a baby. You and Aiden have gotten much more serious. Alec "The International Player" Barrett has a girlfriend! A girlfriend with a kid, no less. And that's all just in the past four months. A lot can happen in three years." Lindsey told her.

"If Aiden really wanted to marry me, then he would ask. We haven't even really talked about it." Josslyn sighed. "Can we talk about something else?"

Lindsey knew that was all she was getting from her best friend, so she agreed. "I still can't believe Izzie is pregnant."

23 year old Isabel "Izzie" Zacchara is one of Josslyn and Lindsey's oldest friends, mainly because of the fact that she is the only one who could handle being around the two of them. It's a well-known fact in Port Charles that when Josslyn and Lindsey are together, anything can happen.

"I know, it's crazy. Her and Spencer have only been together for, what, three months? It's all happening really fast."

"Well you know how Izzie is. She doesn't really tip-toe into things; she just sort of dives headfirst."

"Have you guys ever considered that maybe the baby isn't Spencer's?" Lindsey and Josslyn looked at Jake, who was making faces at Henry. "What if it's Kiefer's and Spencer is just stepping up?"

"Izzie told us that there's definitely a chance that the baby could be Spencer's." Josslyn stated. "Whatever. As long as she's happy, we should just be happy for her."

"Spencer's a good guy. He won't take advantage of her." Lindsey said.

"And I agree with that. But I'm just saying, Spencer may be acting like he's the father. It's not like it really matters though. The man who raises the child is the father, not the one who helps to make it."

Lindsey smiled. "Just like with someone we know." She still couldn't believe the love she felt for Henry, even though he hadn't come from her body.

"And on that note, I better go." Josslyn stood up, grabbing her purse.

"You just got here!"

"Yeah, I just figured I would stop by and talk to you for a couple of minutes. I've got to get home and shower and go to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Where is 'home' tonight?"

"My parents' house." Josslyn lived back and forth between Carly and Jax's house, and the apartment that Aiden and Alec (and formerly Jake, before he and Lindsey moved out together) shared. "Aiden and I both have meetings early in the morning and I know that I'm not going to get anything prepared if I spend the night with him."

"That's smart of you, Joss."

"Everything I do is smart." Josslyn plucked Henry out of Jake's arms. "Bye, Henry. I'll see you later, okay?" she pressed a kiss to his chubby cheek. She kissed Lindsey's cheek on her way towards the door. "I'll call you tomorrow, Linnie."

"M'kay. Be careful."

"Always." Josslyn waved and then walked out.

The Morgans and Mia

"Gabe, can you pass the green beans, please?" Maddie asked her brother from where she was sitting at the dining room table. On her left was Jason (who was at the end of the table), with Emma on her right, then Selena, then Sam (at the other end), then Katie, then Mia, then Gabe, and back to Jason.

Gabe reached over and grabbed the green beans and then handed them to Maddie across the table. Everyone remained silent, just like they had been since dinner started.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, Selena?"

"When you have the baby, where will it sit?"

"Well hopefully we'll have a new house by then, so we'll get a bigger table that will have room for the baby's high chair."

"Oh." She paused. "Mia?"

"Hmmm?"

"Is your baby gonna share a room with Mommy's baby?"

"No, Sel, I don't think so."

"Oh." She looked down the table. "Daddy?"

"Selena?" he mocked good-naturedly.

"Why are you mad at Emmy?"

Silence filled the table as everyone waited to see his response. It was no secret that there had been a lot of tension between Emma and Sam and Jason lately.

"Well Selena, your sister has been making some bad choices lately and I'm not very happy with her because of it."

"Oh my God." Emma dropped her fork, making a loud, clattering noise as it smacked into her glass plate.

"What? You don't think you've been making bad choices?"

"By defending Brittany, and then stepping in when that girl was trying to fight Courtney? No, I don't."

"It is not your responsibility to fight everyone's battles for them."

"Seriously, Dad? Sonny and Carly are your best friends, and we've been close to their kids for our entire lives. If I didn't step up, then I wouldn't be the person you raised me to be."

"That's just it, Emma. We didn't raise you to get in fights, or spend your entire weekend drinking, or let your schoolwork fall behind. You've given up on everything!"

"What do you mean!?" surprisingly, it wasn't Emma who responded; it was Maddie. "You forced Emma and me into going to Madison, where we are bullied and treated badly just because of Trevor! Do you really expect Emma to not defend herself? I'm about ready to drink myself into a coma with how much I have to deal with every day from these Madison kids!"

"Madelyn Lila…" Jason began.

"No, I don't want to hear it from you. Emma's only doing what's right. You're the one who is wrong here." Maddie slid her chair back, Emma following her lead as the two girls went upstairs.

Gabe sighed, running a hand over his face. He knew that he was going to have to be the one to patch up the problem between his parents and sisters. Honestly, he was on Emma and Maddie's side here. How could they force them to stay in a school where they were being bullied?

Mia sat in shock, not really knowing what to say. She had never seen Maddie yell at Jason, ever, and Emma hadn't until recently. It was unnerving to see how undone the Morgan family was becoming.

Katie stirred her food around nervously. Sure, she had heard from people that Madison was treating the PCH kids badly, but she never really gave it a second thought. After all, she, Ava, and Jacelyn were all at NYCS, so what happened at Madison didn't really affect her. But she hadn't realized her sisters were some of the people being bullied.

"Mommy?" Selena's eyes welled up with tears when she noticed that Sam was crying.

The brunette mother lifted her youngest child out of her chair. "Shhh, it's okay, baby." She wiped at her cheeks. "Well, I was going to tell you all that you're going to have a little brother, but I guess your sisters ruined that."

And as soon as Sam finished speaking about her little miracle baby, of course, Gabe couldn't help but snap. "No, you ruined it." He stormed out of the room, going upstairs.

Mia sighed and followed. "Gabe!" she disappeared from view.

Sam, Jason, Katie, and Selena sat at the table, not really sure how to react. But it was clear that things with the Morgans were definitely not the same as they had been before the Text Message Killer.

Kristina

At fifteen years old, Kristina Corinthos-Davis never imagined her life to be the way it was now. She had a 4.0 GPA, rich parents, the most amazing siblings anyone could have, and a great boyfriend. Who would have thought that she would now be married to a man she could hardly stand to be in the same room with anymore, with twins, a son conceived from rape, a stepdaughter, and a deceased stepson?

But it had all started with that "great" boyfriend who hadn't ended up being so great after all. Kiefer Bauer had seemed like every parent's dream. He played sports, had good grades, he was polite, and the large trust fund helped too. The first time he had smacked her, it was because she didn't want to go to a party with him. The first time he really hit her, she had stood him up in front of his friends. And the time he beat her up so badly she almost died, it was because she broke up with him.

No one had even known she was pregnant. Kiefer and his parents had moved away from Port Charles, and she didn't really have to worry about hiding it, but she didn't want anyone to know. She stayed home most of the time, finishing out her senior year on online school. In February, she gave birth to a son.

Alexis and Sonny had been furious at first, but then they understood that their daughter needed to make these decisions by herself. Kristina named her little boy Wesley Michael Davis.

But when Wesley was two weeks old, Kiefer reappeared. At that time, Kristina had been suffering from post-partum depression. When he asked to take the baby and have him come live with him, Kristina agreed. Wesley had been screaming all day, and there was no one at home to help her with him and she was exhausted, so she wasn't thinking clearly.

When Alexis came home that night and Kristina told her what had happened, she had called the police and told them that Kiefer kidnapped the baby. But as hard as they tried, it seemed as if he had just disappeared into thin air. Kristina cried for her baby every night, and then she realized that wasn't getting her anywhere, so she jumped into a relationship with Ethan Lovett.

Ethan already had a three month old daughter named Haley, with his ex-wife Lisa Niles. He and Kristina started to date, and they moved quickly. Ethan came home one day and told her that Lisa called him and said she was pregnant with his baby, but he wanted to leave her. He got custody of Haley and would be taking their new baby as soon as he was born.

Lisa gave birth to Benjamin Luke Lovett. Ethan immediately gained custody of Ben, just like he had with Haley. Kristina found out she was pregnant on the day Ben was born, and had Logan Samuel and Olivia Michaela Davis nine months later, and everything was good.

Kristina never expected to see her son again.

But suddenly, there he was, and now he was living with them and she had changed his last name back to Davis (though she didn't change his middle name back to Michael, even though she should have). Wes wasn't what she imagined, at all, and she wasn't sure how to feel about that. Sometimes, she would look at him and remember how she hadn't loved him enough when he was born. And then others, she would remember crying and begging for her baby back.

Kristina looked up from her coffee just as Wes came down the stairs. She immediately lowered her head back down.

"Good morning." She greeted, trying to put a little cheer in her voice for his benefit.

"Morning." He grabbed a Poptart from the cabinet.

She wasn't sure what to say, but she wanted to keep the conversation going. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Mmhmm."

"Um, do you like any girls at school yet?"

Wes gave her a look. "Kristina, you know that I like Haley. I know a lot of people think it's weird, but I don't care. I like her, and I'm pretty sure she likes me, so nothing else matters." He slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I'll see you after school."

"Bye." Kristina sighed. It seemed like she never said anything right to him.

There was only one person she knew she could talk to about this.

Claudia

"Hi, Kristina. What brings you by?" Claudia Zacchara Corinthos asked her stepdaughter.

"I wanted to talk to you about something. Is Dad home?"

"He's at the office, but I can call him if you want me…"

"No!" Kristina interrupted. "I just want to talk to you."

"Okay." Claudia sat down on the couch, patting the spot beside her. "What's up?"

"How can you love Izzie?" Kristina blurted out. "Some freak that you didn't know, still don't know, raped you and you had a child with him. You will never know who he was, or be able to get back what he took from you. How can you just look at her and love her and want to be her mother?"

Claudia was a little taken aback by her sudden increase in volume, but she had wondered if this conversation would come one day. She smiled sympathetically at Kristina.

"Our situations are a little bit different, Kristina. I was 22 when Izzie was born; you were only 17 when you had Wes. I was also prepared a lot better." She wondered what the right thing to say was. "Even though it's been 23 years, I can remember the night everything happened like it was yesterday. It was a Saturday, and it was raining outside, but not very windy. I had gotten in a huge fight with my father and gone to a bar in Brooklyn; we didn't live in Port Charles at that time.

"I drank a lot, so much that I probably couldn't have told you my name. Some guy came up to me, and he was nice, but I wasn't interested. I just wanted to go back home and go to bed. But he wouldn't let me, and he was a lot bigger. As you know, he raped me, and when I woke up the next morning, I went home and only told Johnny.

"After that, I started being kind of promiscuous. I would sleep with whoever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was four and a half months along, and I was terrified that the drinking I had done had damaged the baby. I knew that I had to be pregnant by the guy who raped me, since he was the only one who matched up with the timeline. I went through the rest of that pregnancy trying to calm down and actually focus on being a mother, because I knew that I couldn't give my baby up.

"When Izzie was born, I didn't know how to feel. I was holding this beautiful, tiny little girl in my arms and I knew that she needed me and that she loved me, regardless of how she came into the world. Johnny told me he would help me however I needed, and we moved to an apartment in Port Charles together. But just because I was trying to be happy didn't mean that I could forget. Sometimes, when it was raining especially, I would remember every little detail of that night, and I would have to give Izzie to Johnny and go out and do something, anything to forget. That's how I met your father.

"We both wound up at Jake's, me because of my memories, him because of his pain over losing Lila. We were drunk and we slept together, and a month later, I found out I was pregnant. Your father had given me his number, but I hadn't used it. I knew that he obviously loved his child that he lost, and I didn't want to take the opportunity away from him to be a father to this child, so I called.

"We met up and he explained to me that he had four children- at the time, Dante was 17 and he had just met him for the first time, Michael was 9, you were 8, and Morgan was 6. He told me he had just gotten divorced from Carly, and all he wanted was to have a relationship with his kids. We started to get closer, but what really brought us together was losing Clay, or so we thought. He told me he could be a father to Izzie, if I wanted him to, and I agreed. We got engaged, and then married, and you know the rest."

Kristina frowned. "But I still don't understand. I don't feel that connection with Wes the way you do with Izzie."

"Krissy, it's understandable. He's sixteen years old, and you don't know him very well, not that that's your fault. You're not going to automatically feel that connection. But you have to open up and let yourself love him."

Something in Kristina's demeanor changed, and Claudia could tell that she had gotten through to her.

"Thank you." Kristina hugged her. Claudia watched her leave, hoping that things with Wes weren't damaged beyond repair.

Brenna

Brenna Corinthos walked into the gymnasium at Madison Academy. There were signs all over the school saying that there were cheerleading tryouts before lunch today, and she figured that she might as well go and see what they were capable of.

When she walked in, Brenna quickly realized that there were no PCH kids there. She found a seat in the back and watched.

"Okay, everyone! First order of business. If you go to PCH, you might as well leave now, because none of you are worthy enough to be on my squad." Brianna Edwards announced. Brenna's mouth dropped open; how could she ban all of the PCH girls from her squad?

After watching them, Brenna felt a little bit better. They were nowhere near the skill level of PCH's squad, and she wouldn't have felt like hanging around with a bunch of snobs anyway. But it still bothered her that she wasn't even given the option to join the squad.

The sophomore exited the gym and walked through the hallway, keeping her head down and her eyes glued to the floor. Once she got out of the main area where a lot of students always seemed to be, she started to look for faces she recognized. She found the one she was looking for quickly.

"Emma!" Brenna approached her older brother's best friend.

"Hey, Bren." Emma gave her a smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Brenna wondered what was wrong with her, but she knew Emma would deny everything.

"So I just went to the Madison cheerleading tryouts."

Emma frowned. "What happened?"

"As soon as I sat down, Brianna announced that no PCH girls were allowed to try out because we're not worthy enough to be on her squad." Emma rolled her eyes. "But I sat and watched anyway, and they suck!"

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really!"

Madison and PCH were in different divisions, so their sports teams never played each other, which in turn meant that their cheerleaders had never gone up against each other. Emma had never seen the Madison cheerleaders perform before.

"Like how bad?"

"Brianna can barely do a toe touch."

Emma smiled, a real smile this time, and Brenna was a little scared by how deep her dimples got. That usually meant she was planning something.

"This is perfect."

"How?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm gonna plan something. Lemme talk to Court and Brittany, and if we think of anything, I'll let you know."

"M'kay." Brenna watched as Emma walked away. A few people looked at her crazily when she started to laugh out loud.

Brenna just shook her head with a smile. This was the Emma that everyone knew.

Madison PCH Kids

Maddie walked over to the PCH lunch table, immediately feeling dread creep into her when she saw Emma, Brittany, and Courtney huddled together, all of them with huge smiles on their faces.

"What's going on?" she asked wearily, setting her tray down on Brittany's other side.

"Oh, nothing." Brittany practically sang.

"Something's happening."

"The Madison cheer team sucks!" Courtney blurted out, making Emma and Brittany slap her arms.

"And we know this how?"

"Brenna saw them at the tryouts!"

"And that's good why…?"

"Because, Mads! We can sabotage them!"

"How are we going to do that?"

"We'll get all of our PCH girls at Madison together, train like crazy, and then challenge Brianna to a showdown. She won't be able to back down, because then that would be letting me win, and we'll say whichever team wins the cheer off gets to be Madison's official cheerleading squad!" Emma announced.

"It's brilliant!" Brittany cackled, earning laughs from Emma and Courtney.

"What's brilliant?" Zack questioned, sitting on Emma's other side.

"Nothing." The three girls immediately answered. Zack looked to Maddie, who just shook her head and started to eat her lunch.

Emma opened her mouth to speak, but she was confused when she saw how weird Maddie and Brittany (who were sitting across from her) were looking behind her head. Emma went to turn around, and was surprised when she suddenly had a bowl of macaroni and cheese on her head.

"That's for smashing out my headlights." The girl sneered.

Emma immediately knew who it was. Cecily had been a punk since day one, and she had met her in middle school. She and Mia had busted Cecily's headlights out before.

Before anyone knew what was happening, Emma had taken the bowl off of her head and sent it sailing across the room. It smacked Cecily in the back and the girl turned around with a shocked look on her face.

Emma went over to her slowly. Cecily was taller, so she had to look up at her. Emma grabbed a handful of the macaroni and cheese that was in her hair and smeared it across Cecily's face.

"Yellow is definitely not your color." She commented.

Cecily's hand balled into a fist, but before she could do anything, Zack stepped between the two girls.

"You better just walk away." He threated, moving so that he completely covered Emma.

"Of course, you need your little boyfriend to fight your battles for you, don't you?" Cecily taunted.

Emma moved around Zack. "No, I need him to keep me out of jail for murder." Cecily's eyes widened. "Walk away. And remember, I've knocked out your headlights before and I am not afraid to do it again."

Cecily rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She walked away.

Emma watched her walk and wasn't surprised when she saw that she sat down at Brianna's lunch table. Brianna noticed her stare and waved at Emma with a big smile. Emma smiled back and flipped her off.

Emma stormed out of the cafeteria. She didn't even have to turn around to know that Zack, Connor, Courtney, Maddie, and Brittany had followed her.

"You smashed her headlights out on her car?" Courtney asked in surprise. "Why didn't I get an invite?"

"Mia helped me." Emma answered. "It was sophomore year. We were at a party and she had been hitting on…" she trailed off, but everyone knew she was talking about Joey. Emma shook her head. "Just drop it. I'm going home."

"Emma…"

"What, Maddie? I'm not going to stay at school all day with macaroni and cheese in my hair." She didn't have anything else to say. "See you guys later."

The five of them watched her walk out, wondering how she was going to retaliate.

Aubrey

Aubrey walked into NYCS's cafeteria, finding an empty table quickly. She sat down and began to eat the lunch her mother packed for her- a ham and cheese sandwich, celery sticks, and a bottle of water.

Five months ago, she had been barely known by any of the PCH students, until she started to date Connor Jacks. The Crew had seemed untouchable, like they were in a completely different category than any other high schoolers. Connor and his friends, who she thinks he calls the Dream Team, were especially intriguing.

But after watching them go through their problems- Emma's abusive boyfriend, Mia getting pregnant, Courtney's eating disorder, Maddie's boyfriend dying for her- she realized that they weren't as different as she was. Sure, none of these had ever happened to her, but they could.

It also helped that now she knew she had siblings. For her entire life, it had just been Aubrey and her mother, but now she had Spencer, Aiden, Colton, Nattie, and especially Paige to make up for all of the loneliness. And while Nikolas hadn't made any extra effort to really get to know her, Paige and Nattie had. Through it all, she learned that the Crew wasn't as amazing as they seemed, and she was now just one of them.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" Aubrey was snapped out of her thoughts by a boy's voice. She looked up, coming face to face with Ryan Rosco. He was a year older than her, and they had only spoken a couple of times, mostly because he dated Chloe J and she dated Connor and they felt kind of left out sometimes, but now they were both single.

"No, go ahead." Ryan set his tray down across from her. "So, what brings you over here?"

"Well, I don't really know anyone else except for them," he motioned across the cafeteria to where Chloe J, Paige, Nate, Gabe, and Hunter were sitting, "and that's kind of out of the question. Gabe and Hunter give me threatening looks every time I even get near Chloe J."

"You guys did seem like you were pretty happy, and then you just suddenly broke up." Aubrey observed.

"Maybe I'll tell you that story someday." He smirked. "Besides, you and Connor were the same way."

"Not really. Everyone knew that he was in love with Maddie; I just couldn't see it. Plus, watching your boyfriend go through lock-up kind of changes you."

"Yeah, I bet."

"So what do you usually do at lunch? Pull a Mean Girls and eat in the bathroom?"

Ryan laughed. "No. Normally I sit with Daniel Zacchara, but he had to go make up a test for one of his classes. I figured you look pretty lonely, so why not? Do you always sit alone?"

"Depends. Sometimes I sit with Kailey Franco; sometimes Nattie comes and sits with me. It all just has to do with what day it is."

"Well I'll be your lunch buddy from now on, if you want."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"So we're friends now, right?"

Aubrey smiled and extended her hand across the table. "Friends." Ryan shook it and they laughed.

Rachel

Rachel knocked on the door to McCall and Jackal PI, hearing her mother shout for her to come in. She opened up the door slowly and entered, smiling.

"Hey, Sam."

"Hi, Rae. Here, sit down." She gestured towards the chair next to hers. "Would you like water or anything?"

"No, thank you." She paused. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know in person that in April, you will be having a little brother."

"Wow, that's amazing! Congratulations!" Rachel hesitantly hugged her. While she and Sam spoke a couple times a week, they weren't really on a mother-daughter level, which made both of them sad. But, it was hard to connect with your long lost relative when you have other things to worry about.

"Thank you. I'm glad you're excited. You seem to be the only one."

"What do you mean? Did everyone else want a girl?" Rachel was familiar with Emma, Gabe, Maddie, Katie, and Selena, and she had met them all a couple of times, especially the youngest since she played with Sophia pretty often, but she knew that they didn't really consider her to be their sibling. Since the older four were so close in age, they had always had each other, and then she randomly just came in after never being involved with them.

Sam sighed. "Selena did. Katie hasn't really talked much about it. But I'm starting to see that Emma and the twins are completely against the idea of me having another child."

"Really? Why do you think that?"

"Well Emma has been on this self-destructive path lately. Her grades are falling behind, she's been going out and partying the whole weekend, and she's barely ever home. She got in a fight at school the other day, and I just don't know what to do about her. I'm completely out of ideas, and I don't know how to make her feel better."

"I wish I had some suggestions for you, but I don't really know her well enough to tell you anything." Rachel stated.

"Maybe you should start spending more time with them." Sam offered. "It can only help, right? Maybe having an older sister to talk to will help Emma out. She's used to be the oldest, and the protector. It'll be nice to have someone do the job for her for a change. Up until you came along, the closest thing she had to an older sister was Josslyn."

"Yeah, it would be nice to get to know them better." Rachel agreed. "I love that I have all these younger brothers and sisters now, but I'm just not sure where to start with them. I don't want to intrude on their lives."

"Just don't go barreling in. Start off slow, like having them bring Selena to the park to hang out with you and Sophia. Or maybe dinner, or shopping. Something simple. They'll respond."

"I'm not so sure."

"Want me to give you a little hint?" Rachel nodded, motioning for her to continue. "You've already got Selena in love with you. Katie's always felt a little left out by the older three, and since she just found out Jason's not her father, I think she would respond well to you since he's not your biological father either. With the older three, Emma is very easy to love, if she lets you love her. Gabe will be closed off. The way to get to both of them is through Maddie; she's the most reasonable, and if they see that she is okay with you, then they will start to open up a little more."

"Thank you." Rachel smiled. "I'll call you and try and set up something with them, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks for coming by, Rae. It's always good to see you."

"You, too. Congratulations on the little boy, and I can't wait to meet him." She hugged Sam again and then exited.

Rachel honestly hoped that she would be able to connect with her younger half-siblings. But something told her that it wouldn't be as easy as Sam said.

Haley

Haley walked into Kelly's, immediately seeing Wes at a table in the corner. She went over and sat across from him, dropping her backpack onto the floor. She still had on her Madison uniform and he couldn't help but laugh; he went to NYCS, so he didn't have to go through all of that.

"Wow, nice outfit."

"Shut up." She said irritably. "Did you order for me?"

"Yeah, a bacon cheeseburger, curly fries, and a Mountain Dew, just like you asked."

"Good." She could feel him studying her. "What?"

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Haley…"

"It's just these stupid Madison kids, okay? They won't leave any of us alone, and it's starting to get on my last nerve."

Wes's eyes darkened. "Do you need me to talk to someone?"

Haley rolled her eyes. "You went to PCH for, like, a week. You're not really going to have an impact."

"Hey, I was there longer than a week!" he said, pretending to be defensive. "But seriously. If someone's bothering you, I can have a talk with them."

"That won't be necessary."

"You just say the word, and I'll be there."

"I can handle it."

"I swear that I will knock them out. One punch." He continued as if she never spoke.

Haley burst out laughing. "Yeah, I doubt your scrawny little arms could really do that."

"They're not scrawny!" Wes flexed, but she was right. Even though he did have some muscle, he was still pretty skinny. "Well, I guess they are a little."

The bell over the door rang and the two teenagers instinctively looked up to see who entered. Haley's head immediately lowered when she saw who it was.

Chloe J

Chloe J walked into Kelly's with Brendan right behind her. She scanned the diner, as she did every time she came in, and caught Haley's eye right before she stared down at her table.

"Go get us a table." She commanded.

"Yes ma'am." Brendan fake saluted and walked over towards the empty tables.

Chloe J went over to Haley's table, her heels tapping loudly against the floor. She stopped when she was in front of it.

"Hello, Wesley." She greeted. She didn't really know the boy, but he was technically Emma's cousin, so she figured she should be nice.

"Chloe J." he responded.

Haley sighed and met her eyes. "Look, I don't want things to be awkward between us. I know that Christian is your twin brother and you have all kinds of loyalty to him, and since we broke up…"

"Hales, will you relax? I'm not over here to fight with you. I completely agree with you that things shouldn't be awkward. It's not like you broke my brother's heart or anything. You guys broke up on friendly terms, and I considered you to be one of my friends. I don't want that to change."

"Then it won't." Haley agreed.

"Good." Chloe J smiled at her. "I'm not gonna hug you or anything, cause I think both of us would feel way too weird about that."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Haley laughed. "I'll see you later, Chloe J."

"See ya." The blonde went back over to where Brendan was sitting and sat across from him. She flipped her hair over her shoulder as he stared at her, one eyebrow raised. "What?"

"No catfight?"

Chloe J rolled her eyes. "I'm more mature than that."

"Uh-huh."

"What reason do I have to be mad at her? It was a mutual decision between her and Chris. I'm not going to be upset with her for that. Sometimes, you just fall out of love with people."

Chloe J wasn't sure if she was talking about Christian and Haley anymore, or her and Ryan. The break-up hadn't been her choice; if it was up to her, they would probably still be together, but she always wondered if part of the problem was that Ryan had fallen out of love with her. She knew that she was mostly to blame for keeping her pregnancy scare/attempted abortion a secret, but she had always felt like there had to be more behind it.

But now, Chloe J didn't really regret the break-up. She and Brendan had a good thing going, and she was finally happy again, which she didn't think would be possible after the whole TMK thing. She just wished all of her friends had as good of luck as her.

"So, how are things at home lately?" Chloe J wondered, trying to change the subject.

Brendan sighed. His mother, Elizabeth Webber, drove him absolutely crazy. "It's insane. I never thought that my mom could act like more of a psycho, but she is. All she talks about is Stella and the coma and how she thinks she'll never wake up."

Chloe J did find it a little strange that she and Brendan had a mutual sibling, but the whole town of Port Charles was practically incest anyway, so it's not like it was unusual.

Brendan noticed that she got quiet, and he immediately knew why. "Have you gone to see her yet?" Chloe J shook her head. "You need to go. I said I would go with you."

"It's something I've gotta do on my own." She finally looked at him. "Do you care if we do this another time? I…I need to go see her."

"Sure." He stood up, grabbing her jacket off of the back of her chair and helping her get it onto her shoulders. "Call me later, okay?"

"M'kay." They hugged quickly and walked outside while he went to pay for their drinks.

The drive to the hospital was short, and before she knew it, Chloe J was walking onto the floor that her half-sister had been stuck on for the past couple of months. She went to the front desk.

"Hi, may I help you?" a young nurse questioned.

"I'm here to see Stella Hunter."

"I'm sorry, it's family only."

"She's my sister. My name is Chloe J Hunter."

The nurse pulled up the list of people allowed to visit her and verified Chloe J was on it.

"Okay, you're all set to go, Chloe."

"It's Chloe J." she corrected. "And thank you." She turned and went down the hallway towards Stella's room.

The amount of wires was overwhelming. Stella looked tiny in her hospital bed, and Chloe J couldn't believe that this was her sister.

"Hey Stella." Chloe J said quietly, coming into the room cautiously. She was on a ventilator and the tubes were scary. She sat down next to the bed slowly and grabbed Stella's hand. "I'm sorry that I haven't been here to see you. I know that Dad and Chris come a lot, and of course Elizabeth.

"You're not really missing much out here. I'm sure you would have gone to NYCS, and it's pretty boring. There's not really any kind of challenge there like there was at PCH, and it's lonely without the other half of our school. They're definitely suffering way worse than us. Those Madison kids are bullies, and they mess with the people in the Crew all the time."

Chloe J took a deep breath before continuing. "Stella, I'm sorry for being such a bad sister. I've realized in the past couple of weeks that you were never the enemy. You didn't ask to be born; it was Dad cheating with Elizabeth that ruined my parents' relationship, not you being born. You were never the one to blame, but I had to lash out and make life miserable for you. I'm so sorry that I was never around for you, and that you never had me to look up to. And I promise that if you get through this… when you get through this…I'll be right here, and I'll make things right between us. I love you." She kissed Stella's forehead and walked out.

Mia

Mia stood in the kitchen in front of the sink, scrubbing at the dinner dishes. Dinner tonight hadn't been as awkward, mostly because Emma went to Zack's and Maddie and Connor were at the Metro Court. Gabe stayed silent, and Katie and Selena carried on most of the conversation. Mia hoped that the rift in the Morgan family would be fixed soon.

"Hey Mia, Jason and I would like to talk to you. Can you come to his office?" Sam asked.

"Sure." Mia finished drying the cup she was holding and then put it on the counter. She walked down the hallway to Jason's office. "Yeah?"

"How are you feeling?" Jason began. "How is the morning sickness and all that?"

"I'm fine, kind of tired. The morning sickness is almost completely gone, and it'll just come randomly."

"Yeah, you're almost out of the first trimester now." Sam stated.

"Alright, I know you guys didn't call me in here to talk about my baby, so what is it?"

"You caught us." Sam admitted. "We want to know about our kids."

"What do you mean?"

"How have Emma, Gabe, and Maddie been lately? We can't ask without them biting our heads off, and we're worried."

"They're all still adjusting to everything that happened at PCH; we all are ."

"That's it?"

"I don't know what you want me to say, Jason. Maddie seems like she's doing okay. She's not as upset about Parker as she was a couple of months ago, and Connor is helping her heal from everything. You can clearly see that Emma's not doing that well, and Zack is the only one she feels safe with."

"What about Gabe?" Sam prodded. "How is our son?"

"He seems okay to me, but I don't know. He's completely focused on being protective and turning into a father. He doesn't like to talk about what happened at PCH, and neither do I, so we don't." Mia shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go to bed."

"Goodnight. Thank you for telling us." Sam smiled at her.

"You're welcome." Sam hugged her quickly and then Mia went upstairs. Instead of going to Maddie's room like she was supposed to, she went to Gabe's.

"Hey." He greeted when he saw her. "What's wrong?"

Mia walked further into the room, shutting the door behind her but staying near it. "Your parents just cornered me and started asking questions about you, Mads, and Emma. Gabe, you need to talk to her."

"Who?"

"Emma! She's out of control, and if she doesn't stop now, your parents are going to flip out and I don't want things to end like how they did with my parents."

"Mia, no matter how upset my mom and dad get, they won't kick her out."

"I know, but still. It doesn't feel good when your relationship with your parents is destroyed."

"Come here." Mia came over and sat next to him. Gabe put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head onto him. "Zack's got this under control. I don't think there's anything I can do that will make her change."

Mia sighed. "I guess you're right." She looked up at him. "I love you."

"I love you too." Gabe answered almost immediately. Mia didn't say it often, and when she did, she needed to hear it back. He leaned down and kissed her.

"Maddie's room, Mi." Sam scolded gently as she opened the door.

"She's just saying goodnight." Gabe responded. "I'll see you in the morning."

"M'kay." Mia stood up and hugged him quickly, then went to Maddie's room, silently praying that Emma wouldn't go down the same road she had.

Do you think things will get bad enough with Brittany that she'll switch schools?

Do you want Tyler and Courtney to be friends, or should she still be upset with him for their break-up and giving her chlamydia?

Thoughts on the beginning of the Emma vs. Brianna showdown?

Will the awkwardness between Emma and Paige ever end?

Were you surprised that Chloe J called Mia? What did you think of the NYCS girls thinking Gabe was gay?

Do you want Josslyn and Aiden to get married?

Any thoughts on Izzie's pregnancy?

Are the Emma and Maddie justified in their anger towards Sam and Jason?

What did you think of the Kristina/Claudia conversation? There won't be anymore Kristina POV's but I wanted to get into Wes's background and figured the best way to tell it would be through Kristina, and I also wanted to tell the story behind Claudia and Sonny, plus Clay and Izzie.

Do you think Emma, Courtney, and Brittany's plan will actually work, and is this a good thing?

Cecily was mentioned in That's Life, though not by name. During Mia's get well videos after she was attacked by the TMK, Emma mentioned that Mia helped her bust the headlights out of a girl's car, who is Cecily. Things are about to get a little messier for the PCH/Madison fued.

Is there a possible relationship blooming between Ryan and Aubrey?

Do you want Rachel to connect with her teenaged siblings?

Haley/Wes, Chloe J/Haley, Chloe J/Brendan thoughts?

Do you think Chloe J genuinely wants to get closer to Stella, or does she just feel guilty?

Do you think Mia is right about Gabe needing to talk to Emma, or should they just let Zack handle it?

I really wasn't going to post this since I've gotten hardly any response, but I decided that I might as well since it was finished so PLEASE leave your comments.