A/N: Okay, so I kinda did something random in the middle of this, but it's for the better of the story. I know I didn't give Abbie and Serena a kid earlier in the story but hey, this is fanfiction, I can do what I want, and I did say that these were kinda unrelated one shots so, enjoy, lol.

"Megan, what're you doing up so late?" Aubrey yawns as she shuffles quietly but carefully into her sister's room.

Megan looks up from where she is shoving a few things into a backpack. "Nothing," the teen responds tersely with a shake of her head. "Why are you awake right now Aubrey? It's like two in the morning."

Aubrey opens her mouth to respond but jumps when there is yet another horridly loud boom of thunder and flash of lightening. "I'm scared." She whimpers as she clutches her teddy bear closer to her side. "I don't like the storms."

"Then go back to sleep. Then you won't hear them." Megan replies exasperatedly as she goes back to what she's doing.

"But I'm scared…" Aubrey whimpers, clutching her bear tighter before she tilts her head to the side in confusion. "What're you packing all that stuff for? Are we going to stay with Momma?"

Megan tenses her jaw tightly and briefly stills her movements. "No," she answers tightly with grit teeth. "I'm just gonna go to a friends house. Don't tell Mom though."

"But…it's dark and rainy outside and Mommy's asleep." Aubrey states before her face contorts into a frown. "Did she say you can go?"

"Look, I don't need her to tell me what to do alright? Just don't tell her where I went. I don't wanna stay here anymore."

"But…you'll be leaving just like Momma left….you'll be just like Momma."

"DON'T COMPARE ME TO HER!" Megan screams, succeeding in frightening her younger sibling.

Aubrey whimpers and sniffles a little bit as tears begin to form in her eyes. "B-but I don't want you to leave…I don't wanna be by myself…" she whimpers quietly before she begins to cry.

Megan's facial expression softens as she gives her sister a hug. "Hey, it'll be alright without me around for a little while. Mom has always been your favorite right? Now you won't have to share her like you always wanted to. But I really need to go Aub…okay?"

"Okay…" Aubrey whispers, looking down at the floor. "What about Mommy? Won't she be mad you're leaving?"

"She won't know until I'm gone…" Megan answers before she gives her sister a small kiss on her forehead. "Now you need to go back to bed before she wakes up and notices that both of us are up. Can you do that?"

Aubrey nods and gives Megan one last tight squeeze. "Okay…be safe though…don't let any monsters get you."

A small smiles appears on Megan's face as she slightly ruffles her sister's messy bed hair. "I won't. Now go back to your room." she says quietly, gently nudging the six year old out of her room. She then proceeds back to her bed where she has her backpack ready and waiting. She flips throw a wad of cash briefly before she shoves that into the bag as well.

In truth, she has no intention of running away for good, but she just wants to get away for a while, but hopefully, she'll just be able to get away long enough to clear her head of some things; things she can't clear up when she's around her family.

Throwing on her hoodie, Megan slides on her backpack and makes her way over towards her window. She easily hops down onto a low branch beneath her balcony and is easily able to shimmy her way down a tree onto the soaking wet ground. She shivers involuntarily against the cold, adjusts the straps of her pack, and proceeds on her mission in the dark and otherwise freezing rain.

Charlotte Carmichael groans and turns over in her bed after she is woken up by some unknown source. After being awake a few minutes, she realizes that it was probably just the ferocity of the storm outside that very rudely ripped her from her glorious sleep. A few seconds later, she hears what sounds like a repetitive tapping on her window, but she just deduces it as the rain. However, when it doesn't go away, she scrambles out of bed but cautiously makes her way over towards her window. She has a brief, mini heart attack when she sees a person outside her window, but immediately calms when she recognizes just who it is.

"Geez, Meg, what the fuck are you doing? It's like three am and it's pouring outside." The teen exclaims as she opens her window and practically pulls her soaked best friend into her room.

Megan can't fight the shivers running through her body as she safely steps into the other girl's bedroom. "I needed someone to talk to Charlie and you're my best friend."

Charlie rolls her eyes and folds her arms tightly. "My best friend hours close after midnight…here, I'll find you some clothes to change in to."

"Don't worry about it, I have clothes…but I could use a towel." Megan says, still looking like a shivering wet puppy. She accepts the towel that is offered to her and quickly changes into some more comfortable and warm clothing for the given weather. "Thanks."

"No problem." Charlie responds before she plops back down onto her bed. "What are you doing here Meg? Jesus, it's early. You know your Mom is gonna flip when she gets up and realizes you're gone."

Megan folds her arms tightly around her self and suddenly becomes really interested in the floor. "I don't wanna stay there anymore Charlie…everything's so messed up now and it doesn't seem like they're getting any better…" she pauses before flopping next to her best friend exasperatedly. "Why does everything have to suck!?"

"Hey, keep it down will you? It may be three am, but my Ma is probably pent up in her office working right now, and if she's not, I don't know what she's doing, but I know she's up; that much is for sure." Charlie warns seriously.

Megan shivers again, but this time it's from the thought of getting scolded by a certain dark haired attorney for sneaking into her house at dark thirty in the morning. "How often is she home?"

"She's home a lot. I mean, it's not to the point where I don't ever see her anymore, but Mom makes her come home no matter what. She's real strict about Ma staying out for late hours. Thinks it'll put some sorta bad influence on me. You're not comparing my parents to yours are you?"

"I might be…I dunno. I don't really know why I asked in the first place. I guess I was just wondering. It's just not fair you know? Ma left us pretty much. She was gone so much it was like she completely abandoned us because she wasn't even there. Now Mom won't let her in anymore and if they divorce, she's just going to be gone all over again…"

"I thought you hated her?"

"I thought I did, but…I miss her…that's why I hated her because she wasn't there anymore. We used to be so close before all this happened, and when she started not coming around, I felt like it was because she hated me. I felt like she didn't want me anymore. How else was I supposed to feel? Aubrey has Mom and when Ma pretty much stopped coming home, I felt like I didn't have anyone anymore."

Charlie tilts her head to the side and arches an eyebrow in question. "You mean you and your sister split your parents?"

Megan shakes her head and draws her knees up to her chest. "You're an only child so you don't really get it Char…it's like, Aubrey and I relate to our parents differently. Like, I love my Mom and everything but she's just so uptight and precise. Ma is a lot more relaxed and chill about a bunch of things. It's just easier to relate to her I guess. She was around a lot more when I was a kid but now that she's not, I feel like I've done something wrong, you know?"

"Your mother is going to have a heart attack when she wakes up in the morning and she realizes that you're not there." Charlie states bluntly out of the blue. "And you realize that when my parents realize that you're here, they are going to call your parents…right?"

"That would most likely be in best interest; otherwise, it could pose potential problems if I don't."

Both girls jump at the sudden sound of their guests voice but Charlie relaxes when she realizes that it's only her mother speaking to them from the door which she had apparently quietly opened while the teens were engaged in their conversation. "Jesus Ma, you scared me. How long have you been standing there?"

Abbie's shadow shrugs in the dark before she folds her arms. "Long enough. Guess I wondered why my daughter was talking to her self." She states as she steps further into the room and flicks on the light. Her eyes land on Megan and she gives the blonde haired teen an apologetic yet sympathetic look. "What're you doing her kiddo?"

Megan shrugs and wraps her arms tightly around her self. "I don't wanna be at home anymore. Not when my family is falling a part like it is. I don't wanna watch it. It hurts too much."

"Charlie, can you give us a minute?" the older woman says quietly as she sits on the edge of the bed.

"In my room? Are you serious?" Charlie tries to protest, but quickly deflating when she she's the look her mother is giving her. "Alright, alright, fine…" she murmurs in defeat as she slinks her way out of her room.

Abbie rolls her eyes in mockery of her own daughter before she turns back to her goddaughter. "I understand what you're going through you know." she begins quietly, trying to regain Megan's attention. "My parents actually got a divorce when I was around your age. And I get it. You're angry at your parents, you're angry at everyone. You might even be a little bit angry at your self. You're just angry and you're angry because you're hurting. But you know what? It will get better though."

"How are you so sure?" Megan replies tersely, still staring intently at a wall.

"Because I've known your parents for a very long time and I know that they still love each other very much. They used to fight a lot like this when they first starting dating, and sometimes it was to the point where a bunch of us thought they would break up. But they never did, and that's because they loved each other so much. It's the same now. If they wouldn't break then, they won't break now, because the two of them care far too much about you and your sister for that. They wouldn't do something like that to you Megs…"

"But Ma wasn't there…she gave up on us…" Megan whispers, reaching up to quickly wipe her tears from her eyes.

The movement, however, doesn't go unnoticed by Abbie and her heart can't help but go out to the young girl. "Listen, I'm probably not the one that should be telling you this, but with who your parents are, knowing them, they are too stubborn to even bring it up. I'm not going to try to defend your Ma's actions, but I am going to try to explain them, if you'll listen." The attorney states, continuing on when she receives a small nod after a moment of silence. "As I said before, your parents are very, VERY stubborn. Both of them are far too stubborn for their own good. Casey has it in her head that she has to provide for her family no matter what. No matter if Alex is working or anything else; SHE has to be the one to provide for her family. She pushes her self extra hard for that for two reasons; she has it in her head that she has to take care of her family and the second reason being, because of Alex's family."

Megan's face contorts into a small yet confused frown. "What does Mom's family have to do with anything?"

"Your mom comes from a very powerful and very wealthy family. With your mother's assets alone, your family would be extremely well off, even if both of them stopped working completely. But when they got married, Casey didn't want that. She wanted to be able to support her family on her own without any kind of trust fund or financial aid that comes from the Cabot line. She also didn't want you or Aubrey to be raised thinking that you could have everything handed down to you on a silver platter. Didn't she ever tell you that?"

"I never gave her the chance." Megan responds quietly. "I—I told her I hated her…"

Abbie raises her eyes in surprise and tilts her head. "Wow, hate is a really strong word…do you?"

"No…" Megan answers quietly once again. "I mean…I thought I did, but right now I—I really miss her. I told her I hated her, but I-I didn't mean it…I was just so angry because I felt like she didn't want me. Aubrey has Mom and I guess it just wasn't the same anymore…"

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'll let you get some sleep and then in the morning, I'll take you to her, alright? I'm going to have to call your Mom though to tell her what's going on."

"That's fair…thanks Abbie."

"No problem. I'll send Charlie back in so the two of you can get some rest." Abbie says as she stands up from the bed and makes her way over to the door. She slips out into the hall where she finds her daughter and her wife looking at her expectantly. She nods her head back towards the room, in which Charlie quickly enters to tend to her best friend.

"How is she?" Serena asks quietly and concernedly.

"She's a good kid; just hurting right now. I told her I'd take her to Casey in the morning."

"Alex isn't going to like that…"

"I know, but I'm hoping some how she'll see that what she's doing is only hurting her children."

Serena purses her lips for a moment before she sighs. "Let me talk to her. Maybe I'll be able to get through to her some how."

The Next Morning

Casey startles awake by the knocking on the front door. At first she thinks she's imaging it but when she hears it again, she quickly scrambles off the couch to see who is at the door. Forgoing looking through the peep hole, she opens the door and is immediately taken off guard by the body flinging it self at her.

"Ma…" Megan whispers as she clings tightly to her mother with tears flowing freely down her face. "Ma, I'm so sorry. I don't hate you, I shouldn't have said that I did…"

"Sweetheart, it's not your fault…I should have taken better care of you." Casey replies as she tries to keep her own emotions in check. Her eyes widen when Megan pulls away from the hug and she finds that the teen didn't come alone. "Alex…"

"Momma!" Aubrey squeals as she rushes at her mother and leaps into her arms. "We're home!"

"Home?" Casey repeats in confusion before her eyes meet Alex's again. "Home?"

Alex sighs and runs a hand through her hair out of exasperation. "Kids, go upstairs…please…we need to talk." She says quietly in a tone that her daughters quickly comply to.

Casey swallows thickly as the blonde steps into the house but continues to say nothing. At first, she isn't sure if she should break the silence but she decides she's going to take a chance. "Are you coming home?"

"Our daughter ran away last night…" Alex states, avoiding the question completely. "She snuck out and went over to Charlie's because she couldn't handle what we've been putting them through…what I've been putting them through. I don't want to do that anymore Casey. I want us to be back to the way we were before hand…I don't want to fight and I don't want to leave. You don't have to forgive me for what I've put everyone through and I can understand why you wouldn't but I'm just basically saying-" she then finds her self cut off by a pair of lips pressed firmly onto her own.

Casey kisses her wife like she's never kissed her before even though she knows the kiss took the blonde completely off guard. She wraps her arms around Alex's waist and pulls her closer, smiling when she feels arms entangle themselves around her neck.

When the need for air becomes too great, she pulls away and rests her forehead against Alex's. "You shouldn't be asking for my forgiveness because you have nothing to be sorry for. I promise to you that I'm going to put my everything into this family from here on."

"Always?"

"Always."

So, something I've noticed. I'm not saying this is a problem because it's not and I would never judge anyone else's writing, but was there a memo I missed? Because is it me or are there suddenly quite a few stories where Casey becomes terminally ill? Or…is it me? It might just be me. Anyway! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!