We were at Matt's apartment and I was so nervous because I didn't want to deal with him and his attitude all I wanted to do was get my stuff and go.

*knock knock*

"Hey Simon and Ruthie, you know you don't have to knock but come on in." Matt said opening the door.

"Well I wasn't sure considering that you bit my head off yesterday." Ruthie said walking to her room and gathering her stuff.

"What the heck is her problem?" Matt asked Simon.

"She is just going through a lot and your yelling at her doesn't help matters much. We are going back to California tomorrow so hopefully things will get better when we get back."

"Simon don't feed me this crap, it has something to do with Martin doesn't it?"

"You know I'm not so sure anymore, but you have to give her time to figure things out. She's an adult now and she doesn't need us looking out for her anymore."

"Simon let's go I got what I needed and Matt I'll see you when I get back." Ruthie said and then left the Apartment.

"Take care of her Simon; even though she can take care of herself and always has she still needs some help along the way."

"You know I will Matt, but please just give her time." And with that Simon left.

Simon dropped Ruthie off at Martin's. When Ruthie arrived Martin was packing for their trip back home. Martin didn't hear Ruthie come in and was startled when she talked to him.

"Hey I see you got the days off." Ruthie said.

"Holy crap you scared me and yeah I have a whole week off." Martin said laughing

"I'm kind of excited to go on a trip with you."

"I'm excited too. Is Simon going back with us?"

"Yeah he wanted to be there in case I talked to mom and dad again."

"Oh okay." Martin said with disappointment.

"But that doesn't mean we can't stay together there." Ruthie said with a smile.

"Well aren't you just very mysterious today."

"I sure am."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Umm watch a movie?"

"Sounds good to me." Martin said

A few hours later the movie had been over for a while but neither Ruthie nor Martin realized as they had fallen asleep in each other's arms. Ruthie woke up first. She looked around to see what time it was, it was dark outside and she couldn't quite tell whether it was early morning or still the same night. She looked at her phone which was beside her and saw that she had 10 missed calls and 3 new voice mails along with 15 text messages. She saw that it was only midnight and proceeded to check her voicemails.

The first one was from Simon telling her to call him as was the second one but there was something weird about the last one it sounded as though he had been crying and at the end he told her to call him as soon as she had gotten the message. Ruthie got up and walked into the bathroom and called Simon.

"Hello?" Simon said in a sad and wary voice.

"Simon what the heck is wrong?"

"Mom called me a few hours ago and told me that dad had, had a heart attack and that the doctors weren't that hopeful. Then she called me an hour ago." Simon said not able to finish.

"And?"

"He didn't make it Ruthie, dads gone."

With that Ruthie hung up the phone and sat on the floor and started crying. She wasn't sure how long she had been there crying but Martin soon got up and knocked on the door.

"Ruthie are you okay?" Martin waited for a reply and when he got none he opened the door to find Ruthie crying.

"Ruthie what is wrong?" Martin said holding her in his arms.

"My dad he's, he's gone." Is all that she could get out.

"Gone where?"

"He had a heart attack and didn't make it." Ruthie said crying even harder now.

"I'm so sorry Ruthie." Martin said holding her even closer now and shedding a few tears himself. He just couldn't believe that Eric was gone and Ruthie didn't even get to make amends with him.

The next day Ruthie, Martin, and Simon all got on the plane to California. Matt, Sarah, and their twins were leaving on a flight later that night after they got all their work straightened out. Martin sat closest to the window, I was in the middle, and Simon was on the end. Simon had been holding my hand the whole time and Martin looked like he was going to cry at any moment. Ruthie turned to him and took his hand with her free hand and squeezed it.

"Martin are you ok." Ruthie asked.

"Yeah I guess I haven't really had time to think about what happened till we were here without all kinds of craziness going on."

"I know me either I guess I keep thinking it's all a dream that will be over soon."

"I know me too." Martin said as he put his other free hand overtop Ruthie's and Ruthie rested her head on his shoulder.

After they had gotten their entire luggage Simon, Martin, and Ruthie all got a rental car and headed for their home to face their mother and millions of questions. It was so weird for Ruthie to be back home, she had been gone for 3 years but she felt like it had been a lifetime. As they walked up to the door Ruthie stopped halfway and Martin grabbed onto her hand and led her rest of the way.

As they walked into the house Ruthie realized that nothing had changed, well aside from the peace and quiet that never happened when they were all home. Ruthie was interrupted from her thoughts when her mother walked into the room and without thinking Ruthie ran into her arms and started crying.

Ruthie wasn't sure how long she had cried but all she knew is that her stomach hurt and her eyes burned. She finally pulled away from her mother and stepped back to let Martin and Simon have their turn hugging Annie and giving their condolences.

After they were all finished with the crying and the consoling each other Ruthie stepped away and went up to her old room. Once she got there she had realized that it had hardly changed at all. There were some new sheets and a new chair but still two beds as though the whole family would be all together again, but now it never would. She started to cry again and just laid on her bed for what seemed like hours.

*Knock knock*

"Hey Ruthie your mom said that some people brought food if you want to have anything to eat." Martin said walking in not realizing that Ruthie was crying."Oh Ruthie" He said coming over and hugging her.

"I just, I just I feel so lost right now. I was just starting to think that my life was turning around with us being friends and all and you knowing the truth. But…But… I just I don't know." Ruthie said between sobs.

"It's going to be okay because I'm here with you and I will be for the rest of our lives. But for right now your mom wants us to eat with her, sp why don't you get cleaned up and go downstairs and we will sit and enjoy a meal with your mother." Martin said wiping her tears and helping her up and to the door.

A few minutes later Ruthie and Martin walked downstairs to the kitchen where Annie and Simon were waiting. They both grabbed some food and sat down at the table. No one was really very hungry but they felt that they should at least attempt to eat. As they finished what little food they had gotten the door opened and Lucy, Kevin, Savannah, and their 3 year old little boy Brayden all walked in. The look of shock, happiness, and sadness all came over Lucy's face at once.

"Ruthie I didn't expect to see you here." Lucy said giving her sister a hug.

"Well here I am." Ruthie said plainly "And who is this little boy" Ruthie said pointing to her nephew whom she hadn't meet yet.

"This is Brayden Kevin. Brayden this is your aunt Ruthie." Lucy told the shy little boy who hid behind Kevin.

"Well Lucy just ignore me and Martin why don't you." Simon said seeing that Ruthie was uncomfortable.

"Sorry Simon." She said hugging him and then making her way to Martin. As she was doing this Ruthie embraced Kevin and Savannah realizing how good it felt to be back home. Ruthie looked over at Martin who was obviously included in the family and for the first time in years Ruthie thought that maybe just maybe they would make it.