Part 20: All the Things She Said

A/N: HA so how did y'all like that last Author's Note that I made a chapter out of? LOL probably had y'all hopin' that it was the new chapter (like this) LOL. Anyway, so…yeah here's the new chapter and you will all find out what the preview in the Author's Note WAS TALKING ABOUT! It's totally unexpected (well, not TOTALLY, but you get the idea).

So…yeah. Just…read it and review. And man, I have very little motivation for writing the chapter that comes after this, and I'm actually thinking about discontinuing the story if you guys don't tell me WTF you want in the story. So…yeah.

A/N as of 4/23: OMG, I'M SOOO SORRY THAT IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE THIS STUPID THING BUT I FINALLY JUST GOT ANOTHER IDEA SO IT'S ON, BITCHES! IT'S ON!

A/N as of 5/19: Wow, you know what? I put some effort into this chapter, and I had the thought brewwwwwwing in my mind for forever! BAHA! But that preview that I gave you guys won't come up until the NEXT chapter, but sit tight. K? Cuz I'll start working on that TOMORROW! But anyway, yes…So read this chapter, REVIEW IT, and … yeah. Basically. Uhh oh yeah. The more reviews and ideas I get, the more inspiration I'll have, and…the better and longer chapter you shall have! Baha. Anyway. So yeah. Read and review, and… yep. So baha. Ta-ta.

…………………………………………………..

Craig had only been dating Ashley for about two weeks now.

Of course, it was the third time they'd dated.

And, this time, there was no doubt in his mind that he was madly in love with her.

It was noticeable.

Joey could tell, even Caitlin could tell.

Joey just didn't want him to end up getting hurt like last time.

"Where are you going?" Joey asked, as Craig bounced down the stairs toward the door.

"I'm going to Ashley's," Craig answered. He raced outside to his car, and sped to Ashley's.

That was the day that Craig and Ashley finalized their love for each other for the second time.

But this time, it would last forever.

They talked on the phone for hours at a time each night. Now, this wasn't usually a problem for Joey, but when he did need the phone, he couldn't even use it.

Unfortunately for Craig, yet fortunately for Joey, Ashley would get a call from someone else and Craig would have to tell her goodbye and hang the phone up for the night.

Craig and Joey had been getting along better than they had a little while before, but Craig and Caitlin's relationship had been rougher than before; she yelled at him more, and Craig could hardly handle it. But he held it in. He wanted this to work for Joey.

"Hey, Joey?" Craig said, one night while Joey was walking past his room. "I need to talk to you."

"Uhm, sure, Craig, what about?" Joey stopped and leaned up against the door frame.

Craig stared at the floor and felt Joey's gaze upon him. However, he didn't dare look up.

"Craig," Joey said expectantly. Craig could tell that he was growing impatient with him. He didn't want to take up any more of his time.

"Nothing, never mind, just go to bed," Craig said quietly. He got up and gently pushed Joey out of his room, closing the door behind him.

Joey stood in front of Craig's door for a minute. What was he supposed to do now?

Now he felt horrible.

He turned and knocked on the door. No answer. He turned the knob and pushed it back open.

"Craig?" he said softly. Craig was already lying down in his bed. He'd shut the light off. "Buddy…"

Craig didn't respond.

Fine, Joey thought. If it's going to be like this, then I'll talk to him tomorrow.

"Goodnight, Craig." Joey turned to leave.

"Goodnight, Joey," Craig said quietly. Joey paused, hesitating for an instant to see if there was anything more. When he got nothing more, he closed the door and went to his own room.

The next morning, Joey, Caitlin, and Angela were all eating breakfast while Craig showered and got ready for school.

As he was about to leave, Joey stopped him. "Aren't you gonna eat something?" he asked.

Craig bowed his head. "No," he answered. He faced the door, away from Joey.

Joey looked sadly at Craig. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I dunno, I'm just tired."

He laughed quietly and said goodbye to Joey, before heading out to his car to go to school.

He couldn't wait to see Ashley today. He hadn't seen her since…how long was it…? Ha. Yesterday.

Even he could tell that he loved her more than anything right now.

He wasn't scared, either.

This time, it would last forever. He knew. He just had a feeling.

Ashley loved him, and she wasn't going anywhere.

He stopped at her house, just like he said he would that day.

His car sat in front of the house for a moment, and Ashley quickly bounced out of her front door and got into the car. She was beautiful in every way.

She kissed him as she put her seatbelt on. They looked at each other for a moment, and a smile crept onto Craig's lips as he pulled out of the driveway.

"Ash…I'm so happy that I'm with you."

"I'm happy to be with you too, Craig," Ashley said. They kissed again.

Then, Craig sped down the road to school.

When they arrived in the front, Craig parked the car and they got out.

He kissed her on the cheek and they both went their separate ways up the stairs; this relationship was still a secret from the rest of the world.

Craig approached his locker, opened it and took a few things out, and as soon as he closed it, he saw Spinner standing in front of him.

"Uh, hey, Spin," Craig said quietly.

"So, you and Ash?" Spinner asked.

"No," Craig answered.

"I saw the-"

"No," Craig repeated firmly.

"Uh, okay," Spinner said cautiously, backing away slightly.

"You know, Craig, what happened with Marco and that website a few weeks ago…you know, we're just-"

"Just worried?" Craig snapped.

Spinner paused before replying, "Yeah." He sighed and leaned up against the locker beside him.

"Craig…you know…you need to get your shit straight," Spinner said quietly.

Craig glared at him; he'd just been insulted.

"No, Spinner, I think it's you that needs to get their shit straight. Now excuse me, I have to go to class," Craig said out loud, shoving himself past Spinner and going to homeroom.

"You know what, Craig?" Spinner shouted after him. "You're---you're an ass!"

As everyone filed into their separate classrooms, Spinner was left standing alone in the empty hall.

Craig sat in his seat in first period, thinking about what Spinner said.

Of course, in his mind, Craig knew he was right…he did need to get his shit straight, and soon. But there was no way in hell he was going to admit that to Spinner, or anyone else.

Mr. Simpson approached Craig in the middle of class, while everyone around him was doing his work, and he was staring at a blank computer screen.

"Hey, buddy, how are you doing today?" Mr. Simpson asked, putting his hand on Craig's shoulder.

"I'm doing okay," Craig said convincingly. "I'm just tired."

"We all are. Maybe you should go to bed earlier tonight and see if that helps…You've been tired a lot recently. But first of all, you might want to try getting a start on this, or you're not gonna get it done, and I'm gonna have to fail the grade on it."

Craig nodded and began to work.

During fourth period, Craig got a call from Joey.

"Hello?" he said into the phone.

"Hey, Craig," Joey said in a happy tone.

"Hi, Joey. What're you up to?" Craig asked. He wondered why Joey would be calling him during school.

"I'm on a lunch break, and I got a call from the school and I thought I should call and see how you're doing."

"What did the school call for? Who called?" Craig said, half-paranoid.

"Craig, that's not important…we'll talk about it later tonight, but I needed to call and see how you've been doing today. So are you doing okay today?"

Craig was hesitant but said in an irritated voice, "Yes, Joey, I'm fine. I guess I'll talk to you when I get home."

"Hey, don't be mad at me, buddy…I'm just trying to make things better."

"Yeah. I know." Then he put the classroom's phone on the receiver and went back to his work.

Joey was beginning to worry about Craig. That was the third time he'd hung up on him in the last week, and he wondered what was going on. Was it because of the lack of meds? Or was it simply the detachment? He was confused and didn't know what to do when Craig did it. Craig had come close to hitting someone or something the other night…but Joey didn't do anything about it, he was afraid to. He knew he shouldn't be afraid of Craig, but it was the sad truth; he just was. He couldn't help it.

That night, Joey got home at around 6:00. He opened the door and put his keys on the banister, like he did every day. "Caitlin? Craig? Angela?" he called throughout the house. Caitlin was sitting on the couch, and Angela come bouncing down the stairs.

Joey bent down to Caitlin's level and kissed her. He kissed his daughter on the forehead, and then asked Caitlin if she knew where Craig was.

"He came home after school," she said, "and then he just left again. He wouldn't tell me where he was going, he just…left." She ended her tale with a final shrug.

"Oh, God dammit," Joey muttered.

"Daddy!" Angela gasped; she'd always been scolded for using that phrase.

"Sorry, Angie," Joey said quickly. He picked up the phone that was sitting on the counter and dialed Craig's cell phone number.

The phone rang six or seven times before there was an answer…from the voicemail box.

Joey wasn't about to leave a message, so he waited about five minutes and then called back. The third time he called, he got an answer.

"Hello?" came Craig's voice. He sounded feeble.

"Craig? Where in the hell are you?" Joey shouted.

"I'm…" Craig began. He stopped talking and the two were silent.

"Craig Manning, talk to me, right now. Where the hell are you?" Joey said firmly.

"I'm—I'm in my car…"

"Are you okay?" Joey asked, his voice softening with worry.

"I'm fine, I just…I needed some time to think. I'm fine, don't worry."

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise. I'll be inside in an hour or so, okay?"

"Okay."

Craig snapped his phone shut and stared off down the empty road.

He hated worrying Joey, but he wasn't doing it on purpose. He thought about everyone for a while…About his friends, about Joey, and Angela…and Caitlin…and Ashley. He couldn't imagine losing anyone right now.

Opening the door of his BMW, he stepped out of the car and went into the house.

Joey looked up from the kitchen table when Craig walked in the door, but Craig looked all but excited to be inside. He stared at the ground as he went up the stairs to his bedroom; his only sanctuary right now.

Several times, did Joey think about going up to Craig's room and asking him what the hell his problem was, just leaving the house like that, and not answering his phone the first two times he'd called. Then, he thought about going up there and asking him why he was upset, and what he'd been thinking about in the car. Afterward, he decided to simply let Craig deal with the problem himself for once, and then he started to feel bad for making Craig put up with himself.

Joey had a hard time sleeping that night. He got up to go make himself some coffee, seeing as he wouldn't be able to go to sleep. But, apparently, he wasn't the only one that was having problems sleeping. He walked by Craig's room, and after turning on the hall light, he noticed that Craig's bedroom door was open, and because of the light, he could see that Craig was lying on his stomach, his hands under his chin, facing the wall directly behind the bed. That wasn't how he normally slept. But, he didn't say anything to Craig about it. He just let him be.

The next morning, Craig went downstairs, completely ready for school. Joey offered him some coffee, but he declined. "I don't need any coffee," he explained.

Joey knew that Craig would need some coffee, if he'd been up the entire night like that. He didn't look as though he'd slept at all. There were dark bags under his eyes and he could hardly keep his eyes open.

"Do you want to stay home today?" Joey asked.

"Uh, no, I have to get my grades up," Craig said. "I have a lot of work to catch up on."

Joey nodded, and let Craig go to school. Now he was seriously worried. Craig never would have cared about his grades a month ago, and suddenly he did? Well, he didn't have everything he does now a month ago.

During first period, Craig listened to Mr. Simpson talking on the phone, apparently with a good friend of his, as he was laughing and joking around with the person on the other line. Eventually, he hung the phone up, and Craig glanced over just in time to see Mr. Simpson looking at him. He began to get nervous and could no longer focus on the computer.

"Everyone, you're doing great, keep up the good work," Mr. Simpson said, walking along the road behind everyone. Suddenly, he bent down by Craig's ear and said, "Craig, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Craig scooted his chair out and followed Mr. Simpson to the hall.

"Yes?" he said, refusing to look up.

"I just got off the phone with Joey," said his teacher. Yep, he'd been on the phone with an old friend.

"Okay…" Craig wasn't sure where the was going, and didn't know if he wanted to know.

"Have you been sleeping okay?"

Craig looked at Mr. Simpson as if he'd just asked the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah," he said.

"Joey says that you were up last night."

"How the hell---I slept just fine last night."

"Okay," Mr. Simpson said, sighing calmly, "but if it happens again, you're going to have to talk to someone."

"Mmhmm," Craig said, going back into class and not wanting never, ever, ever totalk to Mr. Simpson again.

That night, Craig really didn't want to go home. He didn't want to be with Joey and Caitlin or even Angela. He wanted to be with Ashley, but she was off with Paige, and Craig wasn't sure what they were doing, really. So, he opted on being alone that night. He went to the café and got some coffee, and visited with some people that were inside.

Then, he decided simply that he really did want to be alone. He rose from the table and left the café.

When he drove away, he wasn't sure where he was going to go. He thought about going and getting some coke but then thought about a few other things and decided against it; there was no way he was going to go through that again.

He drove around for about three hours, trying to find a place to park.

He settled on a dark, deserted parking lot. The sky was clear and he out his cigarettes and leaned outside the window to smoke one.

When one was gone, he went for another. He liked this feeling of being able to think without other people's judgment. He then smoked about four more, and wondered why he was so into this all of a sudden, but didn't really dwell on it.

Without warning, his cell phone began ringing and he hit his head on the door. "What the fuck," he muttered under his breath. He shuffled around the car, dropping his burning cigarette on the floorboard.

Finally, he found his phone and flipped it open. "Hello?" he said dully.

"Craig, where are you? You haven't been home." It was Joey, again.

"I don't want to be home," Craig said, sitting up straight in the driver's seat and leaning down to pick up the cigarette he'd dropped. He took a drag and blew the smoke out just as Joey wanted the answer to another question.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, Joey."

"Are you smoking?" Joey said.

"Yeah," Craig answered fearlessly.

Joey didn't say anything.

"Why?" Craig asked after a moment of silence.

"Craig…I need to talk to you…can you just…come home?" Joey almost begged.

Craig began to feel terrible.

"Uhm, yeah, Joey, I'll be home soon…is everything okay?" he asked. The way Joey was talking, it sounded as though someone had gotten hurt.

"Just come home," Joey responded.

The line went quiet.

Joey had been the one to hang up on Craig this time.

Craig finished his cigarette and started the car. He drove home, wondering what Joey wanted to talk to him about. Hopefully, it wasn't about his sleeping habits.

When he arrived at home, Joey was sitting on the edge of Craig's bed, staring at his hands.

Craig's heart stopped beating for a moment, and he wondered immediately what was wrong.

He watched the scene before him closely, as if it would move if he stared long enough. Tears slid from Joey's face to his hands and then onto the carpet. Craig could hardly move. "J-Joey," Craig said softly, "what's going on?"

Joey didn't speak for a few minutes, and Craig watched him helplessly.

Finally, Joey quietly responded, "Craig…you need help."

Craig's eyes widened.

"What?" he said loudly. "Joey, I have help! I'm already taking medications!"

"No, no, no," his stepfather said calmly. "You need to go see your therapist."

"No!" Craig shouted. "NO! I'm NOT going to see her! That woman is out of her fucking mind!"

"Craig, don't swear, my daughter is right down the hall," Joey said firmly. "You need to see the therapist."

"Why?" Craig demanded, slapping his hand on the doorframe. "Why do I need to see the therapist?"

"You're—you think I don't know that you only sleep a few hours at night. You think I don't know what you do behind my back, and you think I don't know what's been going on for so long, and I'm really not sure why you can't sleep, but I want to know, Craig…I need you to get some help."

"Joey, I'm sorry. No."

"Then—Tell me why you can't sleep. Don't act like it doesn't happen, I know it does."

"Joey, I sleep just fine. Really, I do. I get enough to rest my brain for school."

"You don't get enough that someone your age needs. You get about two hours every night, and I know that."

"I'm not tired!"

"How can you not be tired after having about ten hours of sleep in the last week?"

"I just—I'm just not tired!"

"Yes, you are! What is bothering you so much? If it's about Caitlin, tell me now."

"It's none of your business, Joey, I'll think about it. I get decent sleep."

"Bullshit if you do!" Joey shouted.

"Don't swear, my baby sister is right down the hall!" Craig snapped back at Joey mockingly.

Joey still didn't move from the edge of Craig's bed, and Craig knew something was up. He closed the door and scuffled over to the bed next to Joey.

"I'm sorry I hurt you so much; Really, I'm sorry I do so much to you."

"I love you, Craig. And if you ever need anything, I'm here, okay?"

"Okay," Craig answered. His throat began to burn and he felt like he was about to cry.

Joey put his arm around Craig's shoulders, and Craig couldn't resist laying down on his stomach and stretching himself out to get comfortable. Joey massaged Craig's shoulder blades and his shoulders, Craig felt himself relax, and he felt safe there. Nothing made him feel safer than being with Joey.

"Hey, um, Joey?" Craig said after almost falling asleep on the bed.

"Yeah?"

"I haven't been able to sleep much lately…" He paused. "Because…I want to know what's going to happen with you and Caitlin."

"I don't know what's gonna happen with me and Caitlin," Joey answered. "I don't want to have to deal with you two fighting but sometimes that's the way it has to be, and other times…I dunno."

"You love her, don't you?"

Joey inhaled deeply before saying,

"Yes, Craig, I do."

"Okay," Craig mumbled.

"It's not something I can help," Joey said softly, trying to make things better; however, he couldn't. Nothing could. Something else was wrong and he didn't know, and he didn't know how to make things better without that knowledge.

"Well...that's all I wanted to know. You can go now," Craig said, almost ordering him.

"Uhm...okay," Joey said. "I'll see you in the morning then."

Now he was getting suspicious of Craig but he didn't say anything.

"Okay," said Craig. That was starting to get old, Joey thought.

He closed the door behind him and leaned against the wall between Craig's and Angela's room. A few seconds later, he heard Craig moving inside his room, and then he heard a small click and then the room was silent again. Craig had probably gone to bed, the click being his light getting turned off.

Something was seriously wrong, and Joey now knew that.

Craig knew that Joey wanted to be with Caitlin. That wasn't what the problem was. He'd made that up. He was hiding something else.

But Joey didn't want to worry about that right this second. He would deal with it tomorrow.

He moved from his spot and went to his own room.

Crawling into bed, Joey flopped his head onto his pillow and breathed in the familiar scent.

He stared into the darkness and couldn't keep his mind of his stepson.

His new goal was to find out what was going on.

About an hour later, Joey was almost asleep when he heard Craig's car start. He got up out of bed and looked into Craig's room; he wasn't there. He went downstairs and peered out the window. He watched Craig pull out and leave the house.

He wondered how Craig had quietly gotten downstairs and out the door without him realizing it first. The only clue that he'd left was hearing his car start.

Joey then decided to just let him go; he would find out sooner or later about all of this.

xXxXxXxXx

As Craig pulled into the house that had seemed so familiar to him for the past three months, he wondered if what he was doing was right. Of course it is, he told himself. He got out of the car and went up to the door. He knocked and the someone came straight to the door. It was Katy. "Hey," she said cheerfully. It was only about 11 PM.

"Hey, Katy," Craig said quietly. "I have some money, do you--?"

"Oh, of course! Everyone's here, come on..." Katy said, pulling Craig into the house. She shut the door and led him into the back room.

Seven minutes later, Craig had bought cigarettes and coke from Katy's friends, some of which he didn't know, but he knew the cocaine was real.

He put a cigarette to his mouth; that's when he realized he had no lighter.

"Need a light?" said Jamison, one of the guys Craig didn't know.

"No," Craig said, accepting the lighter, "I was going to use my super heat vision powers."

He lit the cigarette and was content. Taking a drag, he said, "Okay...so now what?"

"Oh, right!" Katy said excitedly. She got up and left the room, and returned with a large piece of glass that used to be the mirror in the hall, and a silver tray. "Okay, okay, okay," she said, getting excited.

She pulled out her own coke, and a minute later, she snorted it.

Craig followed suit, snorting two lines himself.

He wasn't sure if he'd be able to drive home, but didn't care, really.

He got into his car anyway.

Somehow, he made it home safe. He unlocked the front door and came face-to-face with Joey.

"Where did you go?" Joey asked.

Craig didn't answer him. Instead, he went and sat at the kitchen table, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Craig, where did you go?"

"Nowhere," Craig said, trying to keep his voice as calm and flat as possible. Joey saw right through him.

"Are you high?" he said suspiciously; he already knew the answer.

"No, I'm not high, Joey, I--"

"Don't lie to me!" Joey shouted.

"I'm not lying," Craig said in a small voice. "I'm not high. I'm always like this, you should know that..."

"No, Craig, NO! Why did you do this? WHY? You're going to have to go through this, AGAIN! Why do you have to bring this onto yourself?"

"I'm not!" Craig cried. "I'm not doing this, I'm--"

"Stop it, Craig," Joey said. "Just go to bed. Now."

Craig looked up at Joey and waited a second before going up to bed. He hung his head low as he went upstairs, and closed the door behind him.

He pulled out his new pack of cigarettes and pulled one out. Then, he pulled out the remaining cocaine and set it on his nightstand.

He put his cigarette in his mouth and lit it with the lighter that he'd left behind before he went to the house (newly named The Shed, by Katy, Jamison, and Ryan).

"Woo, loo, woo loo," Craig muttered to himself, as he smoked his cigarette. Finally, he lulled himself to sleep; however, he was sitting upright in his bed.

The next morning, Craig went downstairs and saw everyone sitting at the table. Caitlin and Angela looked up at him; Joey did not. Craig felt shame pour into his body and he couldn't help but to turn away from the table and avoid the tension between himself and Joey. He went and sat down on the staircase. Joey didn't want him.

There was suddenly a knock on the door, and when Craig realized that he was supposed to be the one answering it, he got up and opened the door. It was Emma and Manny.

"Hey, Craig," they said in unison.

"Hey," Craig murmured.

"Uhm...Craig, we have to tell you something that might be kind of nice to know," Manny said.

"What is it?" Craig asked.

"Why don't we take it upstairs?" Emma suggested nervously. Apparently this was not something that was easy to talk about.

Craig took the two girls upstairs and they closed the door behind them.

"What is it? What's going on?"

"It's about Ashley," Emma said quickly.

"What? Is everything okay? Is she alright? Was there--"

"No, Craig. It's not like that. Just...every night for about two weeks, I've--we've--Craig, she's--" Manny stuttered.

"What is it? Tell me!"

"Oh my God, I can't tell you," Emma said. "But Craig, you have to believe me--Ashley doesn't--she's different than you think she is. She's not the way she acts, she's lying to you, Craig!"

"No. No, she's not. I'm--no, she's not."

"Craig, listen to us!" Manny cried out.

"NO!" Craig almost screamed. "Ashley wouldn't lie to me! She loves me!" He didn't want to hear this; they were lying to them. "You're just--you're trying to break us up! Just---no! Just leave! Go! You're lying to me!"

"Craig--"

"GO!"

The two girls left the house without another word.

Caitlin was standing at the bottom of the stairs. "What?" Craig snapped when he saw her standing there.

"What in the hell is going on?" Caitlin said loudly.

"Nothing! Nothing is going on!"

Craig ran to the phone and called Ashley.

Nobody answered, so he called her cell.

Voicemail.

He left a message.

"Ash? It's Craig...I want you to know...I love you. Okay? So just--please, please call me back." Then he hung up.

He dropped the phone on the floor and went into the bathroom. He locked the door and sat against the wall.

He didn't go anywhere that day. He stayed home, waiting for her to call back.

She didn't call back, but she came over.

"What's wrong, Craig, is everything okay?" she said quickly, when she saw Craig sitting at the edge of the bed quietly, just smoking his cigarette.

"I--nothing. I just haven't gotten to see you much lately," Craig replied. Ashley breathed a sigh of relief and sat down next to him. She kissed him softly and they talked for about an hour.

They didn't see each other much for another week or so.

Ashley came in the door again after about nine days.

She and Craig went up to his room, and were in there for about three hours.

Another week later, she came back and said she needed to tell him something. They sat out on the sidewalk and Craig let her talk.

The next words that came out of her mouth were, "I'm pregnant."