"You okay?"

She took a shaky breath as she felt his hand press against the small of her back. "There are so many people here," she whispered. "I don't even know most of them."

Nick nodded as he surveyed the room. "Lots of people from GCU it looks like."

"And she wasn't even a student there for that long. It's nice of them to come. I guess she really made an impression."

"Like her Mom, I guess." He tried to smile, desperate to say anything that might make this night a little easier for both of them, but she didn't smile back. Her eyes didn't even meet his. She stared over his shoulder, clearly focused on something else. It only took a moment for him to figure out what.

"Have you gone and …" She gestured over towards the corner. "I think maybe I should … maybe it would be some kind of closure or something, but I just don't know if I can …" Her eyes rose to meet his, the pain within him far too deep for any words to fix.

"I haven't. I know what you mean though. We'll do it together, but we don't have to do it now. We can wait until people leave." He reached for her hand, finding it easily and squeezing it within his own. "You don't have to do any of this alone. You know that, right? I'll be here. We can help each other through this."

"I'd like to help too if you'll let me."

Nick turned slowly, the voice behind him was disturbingly familiar. "What are you doing here?" he said as he moved into the space in front of Phyllis.

"I'm here to pay my respects and because I cared about Summer too. I mean, obviously I …"

"Nobody is saying you didn't care, it's just that with the situation being the way it is, maybe it isn't such a great idea for you to be …"

"Nick," her voice was slightly hesitant as she began, "It's okay. Really, it is. It's fine that he's here. He has every right to be here." She shifted her body from behind Nick's so that she could see him easily. "Thank you," she breathed, "for coming."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else."

Nick opened his mouth to protest as his eyes moved towards the door. "Noah's here," he said quietly.

"You should go." Phyllis forced herself to smile slightly, a weak show of strength in the face of it all. "Go on, go be with your son. I'll be fine." She could sense his hesitation, his need to stay beside her and protect the boundaries she'd set. It was no secret he was no fan of Billy's, but in this situation, Billy was the least of her worries. "Nick," she repeated, "I'll be fine, honestly. Noah needs you."

"I won't be long." He touched her arm again, the contact another reassurance that his support was still there.

She nodded as she watched him walk away. "He's been really great," she whispered. "He's trying so hard to be there for me that I'm not sure if he's really able to process any of this himself."

"Sometimes that helps, helping someone else, you know?" He missed her, being close to her, hearing her voice, taking care of her. "I meant what I said earlier. I want to help if you'll let me. Can we step out here for a minute and talk?"

In most other circumstances, she would have balked at the idea, but right now, the air felt so thick inside the small, crowded room that she thought she might suffocate. The prospect of getting out, even for a moment, and even with him, sounded far too appealing to pass up. "Yeah," she agreed.

He gestured towards the door and let her walk out before him. The night air was brisk and she shivered slightly as she walked out into the darkened parking lot. Almost instantly she felt the weight of his jacket being draped across her shoulders. "Thanks," she said softly.

He nodded. "I've been thinking about you since I saw you the other day. I wanted to call, but I wasn't sure if that would make things worse or not. I know how Nick can be and the last thing I wanted to do was set him off. If there's anything I can do, anything that you need or anything that you …"

"I really can't think of anything. Nick is taking care of all of it. I'm just trying to keep myself busy so that I don't have too much time to think about things."

"Well, that's not so hard right now. I know there's so much going on with the visitation and the funeral and all the decisions that have to be made. There's so much to do that you don't really have time to sit down and think about things. It's afterwards, when all the well meaning people have disappeared, when all the cards and flowers are gone, that's when it really hits. That's when it becomes real."

"It already feels real. I already feel like this huge piece of me has been ripped away and honestly, if it wasn't for Nick, I don't know if I'd be able to get through it. He's literally held me together for the past few days."

"I'm glad he's been able to help you." It wasn't a lie. He wanted her to be okay, no matter who was responsible for that well being. "But he isn't the only one that can, you know. I cared about Summer too. I know how important she was to you and I can only imagine how much pain you're in right now. I just want to do something to help … whatever that is." He felt his heart beat a bit faster as her eyes finally locked again. It had been so long since she'd looked at him with such intensity. Her mouth opened, her lips poised to speak.

"Can you bring her back?"

Her words physically hurt as she said them. "Phyllis," he breathed.

"Because unless you can do that, there's really nothing you can do."

"I …" He reached out in an attempt to comfort her. The once quiet, reserved demeanor was crumbling before his eyes.

"I'm standing in there trying to act like I'm okay, trying to pretend that I'm not about thirty seconds away from having an absolute breakdown. I'm trying not to look across the room because I know that if I do, I'll see that wooden box and I know that … I know that …" She felt her breath catch as the hot wave of pain rushed through her.

He reached out to try and hold her. "It's gonna be okay. Come here."

She pushed away from him. "I don't … I can't … You don't get to do that. You can't just swoop in here and try to …"

"I'm not trying to do anything. I just want to be here for you. I love you and …"

"Billy I can't …." She shook her head. His words were far too much for her mind that was already overflowing.

"You don't have to do anything." He'd give anything to be able to help her, to be able to make just a little of her pain go away. "All you have to do is let me help you. Just let me be here and …"

"I can't. I just need you to leave me alone. Just please leave me alone."

"Phyllis, please …"

"What part of that did you not get?"

"Nick." The word came out in a whispered breath as she saw his body emerge from the building.

"This isn't any of your concern, Nick." Billy turned to face him, his shoulders already squaring up in defense. "I'm talking to Phyllis here and she can speak for herself."

"I'm pretty sure she just did." Nick's eyes were like steel as he stared at him. "She asked you to go away and I'm not moving until you do that."

"We weren't through with our conversation." Billy softened his gaze as he looked back at her. "Come on," he said softly. "Just let me help you. I'll stay and we can talk afterwards, okay?"

"I've got a better idea." Nick stepped up beside her and moved her body behind his. "You'll go now and you'll leave her the hell alone. Coming here and trying to use this situation to your advantage? How low can you possibly get?"

"How dare you even say that! I would never … I love her and I know what she's going through and the only thing I want to do is …"

"The only thing you want to do is try and fix what you ruined." His words were like daggers as they shot at him. His actions had made him an easy target.

"I've made mistakes. I've admitted that. Phyllis knows that." He shifted his body, trying desperately to see her face. "I'm sorry about that. I've said that before, but I'll say it again. I'll say it as many times as you need me to. I just want to be here. I just want to help you. Please … just let me help."

Nick turned to look at her again. "I can call security."

"No." She shook her head. "Don't. You don't need to do that." Her eyes shifted to Billy's. "Please. Just go."