The next afternoon, Lou and Mitch were in their room. Since their conversation with Georgie the day before, Lou had been quite reserved. She hadn't said much to anybody in particular, not even Mitch.

Mitch knew she would be upset, but when she hadn't said anything, he had figured she'd moved on. But that clearly wasn't the case. "Lou? Can I ask you something?"

Lou looked at Mitch tiredly. "Babe, if it's about what I said yesterday…I don't want to get into it."

Mitch looked at her empathetically. "I'm not going there. Not yet, anyway." Mitch took a seat beside Lou at the edge of the mattress. "I know these meds take some time to start working properly, but…how is it so far? Any side effects?"

Lou looked at him, a blank expression on her face. "What?"

"Your meds. The ones from yesterday. How are they working out?"

Lou shrugged.

"Babe, come on. Give me something. Have you had any side effects?"

"Just some nausea. That's about it."

Mitch exhaled. "How bad is it?"

"Nothing I can't handle."

Mitch reached over and placed an arm around Lou's shoulder. He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her temple. "I'm just so glad that you told me when you weren't feeling alright. And we were able to do something about it, you know?"

Lou leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know how worried you get. I try my best not to freak you out, but…I didn't want my symptoms to get the best of me."

Mitch kissed her again. Speaking against her hair, he said, "You know you can always tell me anything. I'm always happy to help."

"I know."

"Okay, so…" Mitch eased into the conversation. "I didn't realize you were upset about the whole…"

"Mitch, I'm really not in the mood for this. Please."

"We're going to have to talk about this eventually. If you would just let me explain…"

Lou sat up straight, looking down at her hands.

"We never would've made that call if we didn't think it was necessary."

"'Necessary?' That's your play here?"

"Look, it wasn't exactly my idea. I wanted you to be able to attend."

Lou let out a resigned sigh. "Well, whose idea was it, then?"

Mitch hesitated. "You know, I don't really remember. It was all a blur, anyway."

"Mitch, come on."

He sighed. "It was…it was Georgie."

Lou's eyebrows travelled up toward her hairline. Hearing her daughter's name softened Lou's demeanour. "Why?"

"There was a lot going on at the time, and she was just worried about…"

Lou gazed into his eyes, trying to figure out what it was he was trying to tell her. "About…?"

"You know, the usual. What people would say to you at the service, if that's something you would be able to handle—"

"What could people possibly have to say that I couldn't handle?"

Lou's intense gaze made Mitch falter. "I—I don't really know. She was being overly cautious."

"Mitch."

Mitch relented. "There was a lot going on in town. The newspapers were releasing articles about the crash and Georgie's arrest…and there were some people that she ran into as well, who were less than kind—"

"Wait, what? Why didn't you guys think to tell me?"

Mitch looked at Lou pointedly. "Babe, why do you think?"

"No, no, that's not fair. I'm her mother, I get to know these things! What were people saying?"

Mitch shifted closer to Lou, putting a hand to her back. "Look, we don't need to get into this right now if you don't want to."

Lou scoffed, shrugging away from his touch. She stood up. "You guys are absolutely ridiculous."

"Where are you going?" Mitch turned to look over his shoulder at Lou.

When Lou arrived in the living room, Georgie was sitting in the chair by the fireplace. She was staring into the flames, her gaze unfocused. She seemed lost in her own little world.

"Georgie."

She turned, removing her elbow from the armrest and shifting toward the edge of the seat.

"Why didn't you say anything about what's happening in town?"

It took Georgie a couple of moments to register what Lou had said. Her eyes went right from confused to alarmed, and the wrinkle between her brows disappeared all within a second. She stood. "What are you talking about?"

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

Georgie pursed her lips tightly, frustrated. She willed herself to not get mad.

"You do realize we live in the same town, right?"

"Okay, yeah, but you haven't been into town yet! So no, I didn't think it was a good idea to tell you until it was absolutely necessary. If I had it my way, I never would've told you!"

"Oh, well, that's comforting."

"Yeah," Georgie said, laughing derisively.

"But what happened with you—"

Georgie put a hand up. "I don't know what you've been told, but seriously, it's nothing. Just calm down." Georgie's eyes darted behind Lou when she saw Mitch come into the room.

Lou turned momentarily to look at Mitch as he came to stand behind her.

"Mitch, why would you tell her this!?" Georgie exclaimed, furious.

The man sighed. "I'm sorry, I couldn't lie to her."

"That didn't stop you from trying," Lou said under her breath.

Mitch looked down at Lou, surprised at the accusation. Before he could say anything, Georgie continued.

"No, seriously! I didn't give you away when that whole mess happened with—" Georgie broke off, not bothering to finish her sentence. It wasn't important, and Georgie was far too exhausted to be disturbing yet another hornet's nest.

"Georgie, I'm sorry—" Mitch began.

"You know what?" Georgie made a dismissive motion with her hands. "Just save it. I don't want to hear it."

"Georgie…what happened in town?" Lou asked her again, gently this time, being careful to not sound mad at Georgie. Because she wasn't. She just wanted to know.

"Okay, no. We're not doing this right now."

"Georgie…just tell me what happened."

"Just ask Mitch. I'm sure he'll tell you," Georgie said angrily, directing her words at her stepfather.

Lou sighed. "Okay, I get that you're mad, but…this is only going to work if we're honest."

"So you're saying it's not working? What, do you want me to pack up my things and get lost, or something?"

Lou felt her heart drop at Georgie's sudden outburst. "Where did you get that idea from?" Lou's voice faltered. "Why would I ever want you to…"

Mitch put a hand to Lou's waist, steadying her. She sounded breathless, and the very notion of it put him on high alert.

Lou was well aware of Mitch behind her. He had come closer and moved to help her stand upright. While she wanted to be able to stand on her own, she was also relieved that he was there. Because she wasn't entirely sure that she would've been able to stand all on her own. "Georgie, if something happens to you, I should be the first one to know. You're my number one priority, alright, and if—"

"Oh, I'm your top priority? Really? After how many weeks did that occur to you?" Georgie demanded from Lou.

Lou's lips parted. Anguish settled in her eyes. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing. You did absolutely nothing," she answered in a low voice.

Lou drew in her breath and turned a little toward Mitch.

Mitch looked down at her, tightening his grasp on her. "Hey…"

"Could you—could you open a window? The air in here is getting really tight. I feel like—it's like I can't breathe, or something."

Mitch looked at her, concern etched in his eyes. "The window is open. We've had it open all afternoon."

"Okay, right," Lou said breathlessly. She was trying her best to avoid looking at Georgie, who had stepped forward a little.

Mitch put his arm around Lou and helped her sit down on the sofa, much to Lou's relief. He knelt in front of her. "Hey, look at me…" Mitch began, placing a hand to her face. His eyes darted behind Lou when he saw Georgie make her way into the kitchen. "You're alright."

"Mitch…"

"I know. Just give it some time…"

A few moments later, Georgie returned from the kitchen, a glass of water in hand.

Georgie handed the glass to Mitch, who held it out for Lou to take. "Babe."

"Oh, no, I don't want it."

Mitch set the glass on the coffee table. He met Georgie's gaze, and tried his best to reassure her with a warm smile.

Do you want me to pack up my things and get lost, or something?

Georgie's words were ringing in Lou's ears. She wanted to put it out of her head, try to forget about it, but she just couldn't. What had she done wrong? She just wanted to know if her daughter was doing okay…

Georgie sat down beside Lou. Her mother's eyes were red and Georgie could sense her shaking. She hesitantly brought her hand to rest over Lou's. "Mom."

Lou shut her eyes tight. It was that one word that always seemed to be able to ground her. No matter how awful she was feeling, no matter how out of it she was—hearing Georgie call her mom always brought her back. Maybe because she had waited so long to hear it from her in the beginning, when she'd first taken her in, or maybe because she needed to still be Georgie's mom after having lost Katie. Because without that, without having someone there to call her mom, she didn't really know who she was.

Hearing Georgie talk about leaving shook Lou to her core. What would she do without her? How would she find any motivation to get out of bed everyday? But how would she even explain any of this to her? Anytime Lou tried to talk to her, she would take it the wrong way.

"Can we please not fight right now?" Georgie asked, her voice weak and thin. "I don't have the energy, and by the looks of it, you don't either."

"I just want to know that you're alright."

Georgie smiled, a piercing look in her eyes. "Of course I'm alright. And, you know, the whole thing in town…don't worry about it. People read the papers, saw the news, I'm sure…and that probably led them to all sorts of conclusions. None of which we should be concerning ourselves with."

"I hear you, but…" Lou stopped herself, worried about Georgie's reaction.

"What?"

"You thought it urgent enough to keep me away from people because of what happened."

Georgie nodded. "Yeah, I did. So you wouldn't have to worry yourself. Because it's not important."

Lou sighed, looking at Georgie.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock at the front door.

"I'll get it." Mitch put a hand to the armchair and stood, making his way to the front of the house.

When Mitch arrived at the door and saw who it was, he breathed a sigh of relief. Part of him had been dreading answering the door. He opened the screen door and welcomed the visitor, shaking his hand firmly. "Come on in!" Mitch led him into the house, calling out to Lou and Georgie. "Look who it is!"

Georgie, who was still seated beside Lou, turned her head to see who had come in. The sight that met her eyes made pins drop in her stomach. "Quinn!"

Georgie stood, wide-eyed, and moved out of the sitting area to greet him. He was wearing a long, black coat with a scarf of the same shade around his neck. It was like he hadn't even left. Seeing him after so long, feeling his familiar presence after so many weeks, Georgie just knew she was about to begin to cry. "When did you—why didn't you tell me you were coming?" She laughed between the tears and moved a hand to cover her mouth. She couldn't believe that Quinn was standing right in front of her, so close to her.

Quinn made his way over to Georgie and caught her in his arms. He held her close to him, shutting his eyes to take in the moment. "I would've been here weeks ago," he said against her hair. "If only you'd told me."

Georgie's quiet tears turned to sobs. She tried to muffle the sound by burying her face in Quinn's shoulder, but that only helped so much. Georgie was aware of how badly she was shaking and when Quinn brought his arms tighter around her, it only made her shake more.

"I'm here now, okay?" Quinn reassured, trying his best to keep her from falling apart.

After a little while, when Georgie was able to quiet down, she moved back to look at him. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" She asked more firmly this time, vying for an answer.

Quinn brought his hand and brushed away a tear on Georgie's cheek. "You would've tried to talk me out of it. That's why."

Georgie wiped away the rest of her tears. Georgie smiled at him weakly, and watched as he made his way over to Lou.

Lou had been about to stand, but Quinn stopped her. He sat down where Georgie had been sitting minutes ago and embraced Lou.

The entire time Quinn was on his flight, his mind hadn't stopped racing. He was worried about Georgie, worried about Lou. And now that he was here, he couldn't have felt more at peace.

When Lou let go, Quinn sat back, exhaling. "If I had known earlier, I would've been here," he said to Lou. He was feeling extremely guilty, and he felt the need to apologize over and over again. "I'm really sorry."

"Quinn…" Georgie called out.

His head turned in her direction.

"I didn't tell you before because…"

He nodded. "I know, it's alright. I'm here now, so…" Quinn reassured her. He turned back to Lou. "I just…I don't have the words right now to tell you how sorry I am. I can't believe this happened, and so suddenly, too."

"I feel like it hasn't hit me yet, I don't…" Lou trailed off, shaking her head.

"Georgie told me about your health scare. I can't believe what's happened since the last time I was in town. The whole time I was on the flight…I couldn't stop thinking about if you were okay…" he trailed off, looking from Lou to Georgie. "Is your mom okay now?"

Georgie didn't even know how to answer that question. Her lips parted. "I…" she shrugged a shoulder, at a loss for words.

Lou could sense Georgie's struggle. So she answered for her. "It's a process, Quinn. Some days I feel like it'll be alright, and on others…not so much. Today's a better day."

"Yeah. That's good, really good…" Quinn voiced thoughtfully.

"And your dad? How is he?" Lou asked him.

"He's been on the mend for quite some time now. Things are looking up."

"Good. That's good. How long are you planning on staying?" Lou asked of him.

"I don't know, you know…as of right now, I have no plans to go back. Everything that's important to me is right here in Hudson," he answered, glancing over at Georgie, who stole away from his glance, embarrassed.

Mitch spoke up. "You know, I have to say, it was a nice surprise. Seeing you at the front door. You've been missed."

Quinn smiled. "Thanks. I've missed you all so much, too. It's…I don't know, it's hard to believe that the last time I saw you guys was…"

"It feels like a lifetime ago," said Lou, a somber look in her eyes.

Georgie had a feeling this conversation wasn't going to end well. Her mother and Quinn both liked to express themselves to the fullest. They had really connected over the years, and Lou had come to love Quinn as the son she never had. Georgie knew that Quinn felt the same, and often, he would want to hear how Lou was doing, even when Georgie thought it would be best to leave the conversation at bay. Sometimes, this meant that the two of them would be having their own conversation, while the rest of the family would be off doing their own thing.

Georgie cleared her throat. "Quinn, why don't I take your coat? That way you can get more comfortable."

"Oh! Yeah, thanks," he said, standing. He gently shrugged off his coat and swung his scarf from around his neck. When he handed the garments to Georgie, he smiled.

Just then, Jack and Tim returned home. When they saw Quinn, they were both evidently delighted.

"Quinn!" Jack exclaimed, coming over to shake his hand.

Tim followed suit but did one better by giving Quinn a hug. "We haven't seen you in forever!"

"I was…I was with my dad, actually. He wasn't doing so well."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Jack said empathetically.

"Thank you, Mr. Bartlett."

Lou stood as well. "Why don't I make some coffee? You boys can sit back and relax."

Quinn turned to the sound of Lou's voice. "I'll help."

"I know I sound like a broken record, but I would've been here for the funeral had I known. It's just…Georgie was worried about me being there for my dad, and…"

"Quinn, honey, don't sweat it. I know you would have been here. And besides, you're not the only one who wasn't able to attend the funeral."

Quinn's eyebrow shot up. "You weren't able to? Why?"

Lou exhaled. "Georgie, she…well, I'm sure she told you already that she was arrested the night of the wreck…" Lou trailed off, looking up at Quinn. When she saw the puzzled and worried expression on his face, she realized. "She didn't tell you."

Quinn shook his head. "No. She didn't…" He exhaled. "On what grounds?"

"They said she had been speeding. But she hadn't been, obviously, so they dropped the charges."

Quinn nodded. "Okay, wow," he exhaled, leaning back against the counter. The chatter that was coming in from the living room rest assured that his and Lou's voices would be drowned out. "How badly was she hurt?"

"She had a terrible head injury. She's still taking blood thinners. In fact, I need to head into town to get her refill."

"When are you thinking of going?"

"As soon as possible. She's about to run out any day now."

"I'll go with you," he said decidedly. "Just let me know when."

A smile settled in Lou's eyes. "Thank you."

After a moment's silence, Quinn spoke up again. "So how come you weren't able to attend?"

"Well, I was in the hospital when all this happened, but apparently the newspapers were printing articles about the wreck, and about Georgie…so I guess she didn't want me to have to deal with any of that."

"Hmm. Well, knowing Georgie, it must have been hard to come to such a decision. And to be honest with you, I would've done the same thing."

Lou nodded. "I just…I just wish I'd been part of it."

"I totally get that, but knowing Georgie, she probably didn't want to risk your health. Not one bit."

"I could've handled it, you know. I'm not exactly made of glass."

Quinn chuckled. "All moms are. And I know us kids are not that great at voicing sometimes…but it's hard to even see tears in your eyes."

"No, I know, but…"

"And when she called me last night to tell me about Katie…"

Lou's head went up at the mention of her youngest.

Quinn sighed, closing his eyes momentarily. "I just couldn't believe it, you know. I was so sad that I hadn't been told, and then I realized that Georgie was worried about me being separated from my father, and…" he exhaled heavily. "Well, anyways. Georgie then went on to tell me what happened with you. And that's what we talked about for the rest of the call. Well, I talked. I kept trying to ask her all these questions, and all she could do was cry."

"Quinn…" Lou said, her voice coming out brittle.

He was suddenly unnerved and so he moved toward Lou. "Okay, so that had the opposite effect of what I was going for."

Lou put a hand to her lips, trying to stifle a laugh. He was usually so calm, almost stoic, but he was anything but that right now.

Quinn placed a hand to Lou's arm, bringing her into an embrace. "All I'm trying to say is that…Georgie made the decision because she didn't want to see you in any pain. Not after everything you had already been through."

When Georgie walked into the room, she blew out her breath audibly. "I was wondering why the coffee hadn't arrived yet."

When they broke away from the embrace, Quinn still kept an arm around Lou. "Is there something we can help you with?"

Georgie smirked, putting a hand up. "No, no, don't let me interrupt you two."

"Well, you've interrupted already, so…" Quinn remarked, clicking his tongue. He looked toward Lou, who smiled.

Georgie tried to mask her smile by rolling her eyes at Quinn. "Can I help at all?" She directed her question at her mother.

"We're pretty much done here, but thank you," Lou said warmly.

Georgie nodded. "Sure."

"Okay, and I…" Quinn began, pulling up his sleeves. "I will pour the coffee into these mugs," he said, moving over to the counter.

Georgie stood there a moment, gazing lovingly at Quinn. She marvelled at the way he had come in just under half an hour ago and had single-handedly managed to take care of everything so well. He reminded her of Peter; the way he was able to fix everything, make everyone feel so much better in almost an instant.

And the way he cared for Lou…it comforted Georgie that the man she loved cared so deeply for her mother. It convinced Georgie that he was the one for her. Quinn always wanted to be there as a listening ear for her mother, even when Georgie herself wasn't able to handle it. He was stronger in that sense, Georgie thought. She needed some of that in her life. She needed Quinn.

As Lou brought out a tray from the cupboard, she saw Georgie looking at Quinn. She recognized the look in her eyes—it was love.

Lou had known it for years, the fact that Georgie was in love with Quinn. Quinn himself had become an integral part of the family and Lou loved him like a son, and she always hoped for the best for the young couple.

Lou had always thought that Georgie and Quinn brought out the best in each other, and she knew they would go to the ends of the earth to protect one another. Their pairing had to be protected and Lou had no doubt in her heart that they would always fight for each other.