Ty was packing his backpack after a long shift at the clinic and wondered if he could dislocate his jaw just by yawning. He had not slept much on the previous night because the thought of Amy still wouldn't leave him alone.

Since Caleb's phone call, Ty had been going back and forth, pondering why he should see his ex-fiancée again after getting his life in order without her. He knew he had only learned to hold his head up in order to keep himself from drowning in these deep, dark waters, which made him lean toward not seeing Amy. Recovery was always such a fragile thing. He didn't want to be pulled back under the water again, especially since there was no guarantees what would happen when he'd see Amy's face after two months of no contact with her. By consciously getting rid of everything that reminded him of her, Ty had distanced himself enough to move on - slowly but firmly -, yet he still didn't trust himself enough to behave as he wished around her. When he pictured coming face to face with Amy, Ty imagined himself restrained, but what if the truth was that he would just lose the balance and run right back to her?

It was like an addiction; you knew it wasn't good for you, but when you got a taste of it, all those good feelings flooded back, eventually leading you lower and lower, right to the rock bottom, where you ended up hating yourself for being so weak. So Ty had figured that the best thing seemed to be completely removing himself from these temptations, even if the mental cuts Amy had caused were still a bleeding reminder of why he wasn't supposed to go back to her. His head knew what needed to be done, but ever since the break up, Ty's heart was unable to feel a thing. It was like caring was just an invitation for more pain.

"Hello, you", Cassandra walked into the room to take over the next shift. She swung her bag on the table while Ty gave her a nod as a greeting. "You look rough. Long day?" she asked, braiding her hair back so it wouldn't get on the way.

"Something like that", Ty shrugged and zipped his backpack shut. "You want me to go through the latest info?"

"Yeah, sure", Cassandra said.

When they walked over to the small cages where the animals were kept while they stayed at the vet clinic, Scott arrived and stole their attention.

"Oh, good. You're both here", he said.

"Yeah, Cassandra just arrived. We are checking the charts so she knows what has happened since she was last here. – What's up?" Ty spoke and could tell from the grim look on the man's face that something was wrong.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you guys about", he said, holding some papers and a cell phone. "It's about the future of this clinic."

"What is it?" Cassandra said and turned to face the man.

"Well, I've been going over some numbers and unfortunately it doesn't look too good for us", Scott said, the crinkle between his eyebrows getting deeper. "So, I've looked into merging the clinic with this another clinic and I finally received an offer from them. Now, we're only in the early stages of this whole thing, but we might have to make some cuts around here", he explained, and Ty exchanged concerned looks with Cassandra.

"What does that mean exactly…?" Ty had to ask.

Scott was having difficult time getting the words out, but he also knew that there was no way around things that just had to be said sooner or later.

"It means that I might have to let one of you go", Scott then admitted. "I know it's not ideal and I hate to do this, but… when the new people arrive, we have to think about what's best for the clinic and how we are able to help the animals that need treatment. But I want both of you to know that I will try to my best to keep you employed, but I can't make any promises."

Unsettling feeling started to grow in all of their bellies, and before they could talk more about it, Scott's phone rang and he checked the caller ID.

"I have to take this, but we'll talk more about this later. Meanwhile, try not to worry too much. I only wanted to keep you two in the loop", Scott said and took the phone call elsewhere.

Cassandra sighed melodramatically.

"Well, goodbye for me then…"

"What are you talking about? You don't know that", Ty frowned.

"Come on, Ty, I'm not an idiot. You know he's gonna pick you", she replied. "You've known each other longer and you don't have that whole Jeremy thing following you like a shadow - can't say the same for myself. I guess I have to start looking into other places to work…"

"Don't jump into conclusions just yet. You heard Scott, he said he might be able to keep us both", Ty replied.

"Please. How likely is that", Cassandra answered with a pessimism. "We don't live in a fantasy world. But… better get this shift started if I want him to write me good recommendations", she tried to move on, even when both of their minds were full of uncertainty.

The truth was, Ty loved working with Scott and he had already talked about partnering up with the man after graduation. Ty felt bad for Cassandra, because based on that, the odds weren't exactly in her favor. She had owned up to her mistakes, but could Scott ever really trust Cassandra completely? There had been times when Scott's faith in him had faltered too, but they had always overcome those doubts and Scott had admitted that he had been wrong for not trusting him, giving Ty a chance to live up to his positive expectations.

In his heart Ty knew Scott couldn't say the same for Cassandra. When the trust was broken as badly as it had been with Scott and Cassandra, there was always that underlying fear of when it would be broken again. Yet, Scott wasn't afraid to trust his heart which was telling him to give the girl a chance.

And that was when Ty finally realized life wasn't about being certain about uncertainty, but having faith that no matter the situation, you could always overcome it. He couldn't live his life running from something that he wasn't sure was even worth fearing. The only way to be fearless - which was what he needed right now in the wake of this new chapter of his life - wasn't erasing the thing that made him fear, but facing it.

Which was why he was going to call Amy and set up a meeting so he could finally reach the shore and not fear being drowned again.