~Disclaimer: I own none of them, I'm just playing with them, and I'll be returning them when I get through. I also stake no claim to any episodes that I use for the Flashbacks. They belong to the writers and FFC. I do however own Alex Wallace, his father and his secretary Connie, as well as anyone Scott knew when he was at home with his father.~

*Not many reviews for the last one...I'm going to go ahead and give you a long one, but you have to work for the next series. I'm not giving anything away.
*This is going to be the last segment of "Cabin Bound." I am going to bring you which idea they are going to re-live in my new fic "The Eyes Are Your Window." It should be posted sometime in the next week.

~If you haven't found anything worth dying for, then you have never truly lived.~ Unknown



After a brief breakfast, the Cliffhangers split up busing themselves with various activities in and around the cabin. Juliet had recruted Jessica to help her clean up the kitchen and then pack up everyones bags for them, while Auggie located an axe and decided to chop enough wood for them to make it through the cold day. Ezra and David were content just sitting at the kitchen table, David teaching Ezra how to play poker. No one had even bothered Scott, who hadn't moved from his spot on the couch since Daisy's little outburst, and both Shelby and Daisy had disapeared sometime before Juliet had announced her notion to clean up. Everyone had their own thoughts and ideas about where the two had gone, and what they were doing. None of which were correct.


Light from the flame danced with it's reflection in a pair of blue eyes. It lit the tip of the paper, and was immediately extinguiished. A thin line of smoke rose from Shelby's fingers. "Smoking sucks," she mumbled ironically as she took her first puff. She wasn't sure where she had gotten the idea to have Auggie pack her cigarettes, but part of her was glad she did. Daisy sat to Shelby's right, an unlit cigarette rolling between her thumb and her forefinger. "But so do we."

"We don't suck." Daisy said pointedly. That was the truth in Daisy's mind. "Well......" She looked up into Shelby's eyes and watched her take another drag. "At least I know I don't." The girls laughed togeather and Daisy lit her cigarette. There were only two thought going through her head. 'Peter would be so disapointed in us,' and 'oh God what have I become? I have become the one thing my parents have always dreaded me being. Myself. Peter warned me it would happen sooner or later, he just never said when.' Daisy finished her cigarette in silance and started off into the distance

~ The sun shone down from the clouds as if it was supposed to be there. It hit the side of the smooth marble tombstone and reflected on to the varioius colors of flowers that blanketed the grave. Daisy didn't know what she was supposed to do now. So she just talked. "You suprised me on this one Mom. I always thought Daddy would bite it first." Pressure shifted from one foot to the other, and the wind died down just enough. "I didn't want to come, but I guess you already knew that. Probably saw me and Daddy get into it. Nothings changed. These past couple of days, I've been searching my heart for anything that would help me cry for you, cry for myself. You know what? Nothing." Yawning briefly, Daisy shifted the paper bag from hand to hand. She was convinced that if she could tell her mother everything that she would feel better. So she had to tell her mother everything that was on her mind. "You were a lousy mother." Her bluntness shocked herself. She wasn't used to talking like this. "I think you knew that too. Probably why you drank. I was a reminder of her shortcomings.

"That may be why I had to hide behind all this." She emptied the contents of the paper bag onto the beautiful flower arangements. The brightness of the flowers on the darkness of her gothic outfit appaled her. Something that happy celebrating the death of her mother. It was almost as if her two lives were meeting, and they couldn't agree which one would get her future. "I don't want to hide anymore. I think I'm ready to be me again." She'd heard Sophie say something like that once, it never occured to her that she would someday repeat it. Then she thought of Shelby. "I don't think I need the mask anymore. Ashes to ashes, huh?" The irony of that hit her, hard. She shuttered in the wind and heard the rustling of a piece of paper. "Oh, and this." She held up the burnt piece of sheet music. "The first song you taught me to sing." Amazing Grace, she finished to herself. "This is the ONLY connection that I remember us having." The paper floated out of her hand and landed on top of her old clothing. Daisy wasn't allowing her mother to control her life anymore. That was ending now, with her final words. "Hopefully you've finaaly found peace. I will continue searching for mine." ~

To this day, that was how Daisy had convinced herself to remember her mother. She wouldn't remember her as the pathetic creature that drank. No, Daisy remembered her mother being strong, and fighting to put her child in an enviroment that would help her. It was easier with her being gone. Her father on the other hand.....

~ "You were my little girl once." Her father stopped trying to listen to her and just told her what he wanted to say. He was dweling on the past, a place that wasn't too comfertable for his daughter. A part of him knew that too.

"Once." Daisy repeated discustedly. She knew that he couldn't look at her the same after what she had done about a year ago. He probably still thought it was only her fault. "Well that was definately the AFFERMATION I was looking for!" She didn't even know why she had agreed to talk to him. She regretted the decision.

"This isn't easy for me!" He didn't know how to make her understand.

"You think this is easy for me?!" Every breath he took made her wish it was him who died instead of her mother. At least her mother would try to understand. "My MOTHER is DEAD, and my FATHER can't even look me in the eye and say ANYTHING remotley comferting." Her thoughts jumbled togeather, and she had to wipe her face to prove to herself that she wasn't crying. She didn't know what to do anymore. She wanted her life back, and the only way that she thought she could have it was if he was gone.

Her father pulled something out from his jacket and handed it to her. It was a bag, that seemed a little heavy in her hands. "Here, take it." She let the bag fall from her grasp, but held onto the straps. "I was going to go over it with your mother, but you take it." He shifted uncomfertably in front of her. "You need anything?" He asked automatically.

"Yeah." Daisy almost threw the bag back at him. "Parents." She turned on her heel and walked back to the truck, ignoring his last few words. He wasn't the father that she needed. Nor was he the one she wanted. She could have done better in that department, but at least she had a father. She could thank God for at least that. ~

Shelby finished off her cigarette enjoying the silance. Her heart didn't want to talk about what was bothering her. It was best if she just kept it inside. Not only for her, but to those around her. She's seen the kid of distruction that one could cause if they put they're mind to it. After Patty had died, she had promised herself that that wasn't the way she would go. She would die fighting.

~ "Penny for your thoughts?" Alex dropped a handful of cash on the counter and passed Shelby a beer. It was the night after Patty died, and Shelby hadn't gone out to work yet . He hoped that she wouldn't decide to go seeing as though she was only wearing a pair of tight fitting holy jeans, and a tank top. That wasn't the kind of Stuff that Shelby would wear to work.

The cash slid easily from the table to Shelby's hand and she counted it out. "This isn't a penny." She joked as she shoved the three hundred dollars into her back pocket.

"Point being?"

Her thin lips curved into a smile and she pushed herself away from the counter. The sway of her hips and she walked back to her room excited Alex, but he would never do anything to take advantage of her. "No point." Shelby kept the door open just enough for him to catch a glimpe of her in the mirror on her wall. The jeans slid off easily to reveal a pair of black lace panties. Before Alex got a chance to say anything about it, she pulled on a pair of black leather pants that zipped on each side. The tank top stayed on only because it clung to her and showed just enough of her to be seductive. She would make some good money tonight. "Don't wait up." She called as she left through the back door. There was no thought in her mind about her best friend. She wouldn't let Patty's death get the best of her. She couldn't if she wanted to survive. ~

Both girls looked at each other and laughed. They had been gone for a little over an hour, and both knew that if they weren't back soon, Auggie would come looking for them. Without a word, Shelby stood up from her place on the riverbank and helped Daisy regain her balance. Then togeather, they walked back to the cabin.



"Scotty, you wanna play?"

The words hung in his mind like a chandaler. If they fell it would mean disaster for him and Shelby. She already hated him, but if she found out what he did....It would kill her. Nothing could prepare him for the reaction that the group would give him if he told them about her. 'It only happened once.' He told himself for the hundredth time. 'She didn't mean anything. Brittany doesn't mean anything to you. Not like Shelby. She's nothing like Shelby.' His heart was convinced that it was almost forgotten, but his mind was terrified that he would let something slip and his world would come crashing down around him. 'She didn't mean anything to you. Just a release.' He stood up and wandered around the room for a bit, making sure the fire was still going. Noting that David and Ezra kept an eye on him while they played poker. 'And besides, you were drunk.'

~ "Scotty, you wanna play?" Brittany asked him jokingly, passing the deck of cards to Brian , the group card shark. Brittany and the gang had been playing poker. Working for simple things like candy first, then they had gotten into the harder stuff, like money and drugs. Scott had stayed at the other end of the room for as long as he could. No matter where he was in the room, Britt always seemed to find him. He couldn't dodge her forever.

"Not this time, Britt." He tried to shrug her off and grab himself another beer. Somehow though, she seemed to wedge herself between him and the table. She was so persistant, with her ruby red lips, blonde hair, and baby blue eyes. That combination reminded him of another blonde that held his attention. "I'm not into that kind of thing anymore." He pushed the image of Shelby into the front of his mind. He had to remember her. He was going back to her soon enough, he didn't want to mess up a second chance. "I just want to kick back and relax."

Brittany wouldn't give up. She would have him by the end of the night, she swore it. He wouldn't have forgotten her in his time at that school. "Then can I take you home?" Her eyelashes fluttered a few times. "Tristan brought you here, but he disapeared with Chelsey earlier. I promise you I haven't had a thing to drink."

"Then you're one step above us all." A waving hand motioned to the rest of the madness. Music blasted from every speaker in the house, and the smoke was so think in some places that you would need a few months to air out the entire house. It was the kind of party that Scott would have loved to go to before he had been sent away. Before Shelby. "Sure. I could use a ride." ~


That's how that night began. He wasn't sure how they had gotten to her house, or even how she had talked him into coming up with her. But the next morning, he was waking up beside her. Her blonde hair falling across the white pillows like a waterfall. At first he thought she was Shelby. 'Boy was I wrong.' Scott thought as he threw another log onto the fire. It was getting very chilly even though it was barely eleven in the morning. Maybe it was just his mood. "If only I hadn't gone to that party." He noted quietly. 'I would have saved myself the anguish of having to deal with the consequences.' The door opened, and Shelby and Daisy walked in and slid their jackets off. Juliet and Jess had stopped packing, and were now on the couch, and Auggie had brought in the last of the firewood.Everyone was in that small room. The one that seemed to get smaller.

Jessica had been quiet all day. Ever since her outburst about Group. She could no longer hold her silance. "I'm calling Group." She said with steady accuracy. Everyone knew that she was like Shelby in many ways. "We could spend the next few hours squabbling and only saying two words to each other, or we could act like the people that Peter and Sophie trusted to be on this mountian alone. It's up to you." Blue eyes came in contact with blue eyes, and Shelby held her breath. "I for one refuse to let a few differences spoil my one chance at freedom." The breath was released. "I want to settle this like Cliffhangers." They knew that she was right. Group was the ONLY way they could settle this. "Who wants to start?" No one answered. She noticed the odd circle that they made and took it like anyone of them would have. "Okay then, I'll just have to play Sophie. You have exactly thirty seconds to think of one word something NICE about the person sitting to your left. I'll start." She looked over at Ezra and thought for a second. "Sweet. Ezra?"

"Strong. Shelby?"

"Calm. Juliet?"

"Cute. Auggie?"

Dead silance. The person to Auggie's left was none other than Scott. In a way, Jess planned it like that. To confront the problem, she had to prove that there was a problem. Auggie knew that too. He took a few deep breaths and looked at Shelby. He didn't know what to say. All the words that came to mind weren't nice ones. 'Come on Augg.' He could hear Shelby saying. 'You can do this one.' Nodding his head, Auggie smiled. "Smart. Scott?"

Another silance. Scott's eyes focased on Daisy's."Brave. Daisy?"

"Strange....In a good way. David?"

"Brilliant." He patted Jessica on the shoulder. "Absolutely brilliant." She was the only Cliffhanger that hadn't been polluted by everyone's opinion. The little piece inside her hadn't been ripped to shreds. "I think we should follow the little one's lead." No one was following him. "As Peter would say. You don't know what's wrong with everyone until you-"

"TALK IT OUT." Everyone finished for him. "Okay," Shelby pulled herself off of the floor and into the chair with her sister. "Let's start this out the right way." She took a coffee cup off of the table and smiled. This wasn't going to be as hard as she thought. "My firend Alex is coming to visit me from Santa Monica. H-he's always been there for me. This seemed to cause a slight problem when a certian member of this group found out that he just happened to be me and Patty's supplier...." She held her sister tight and looked up at Scott. "It seems that him coming to visit adds to the whole big picture. I wanted to to tell everyone about him before you got the chance to ask him............."



Peter and Sophie got to the lodge just as dinner started. They had already set a place for them at the table, and it suprised them to see everyone working togeather. Peter smiled at his wife. "Hey Soph?" He said smartly. "I just had a great idea."

"You'll leave us here for another week?" Ezra asked hopefully.

"Uh.....no." Peter took the salt from Ezra and moved to spread some on top of Sophie's plate. "I had the idea of what you are going to do for your activity." He looked at Sophie and set his fork down. "I think Kat had the right idea about something...."

"No way!" Shelby yelled over Juliet's gasp. "You are not letting us-" Her breath gave out and she was only a few seconds from freaking out. "We're actually going to let us?!"

"That's right guys." Sophie smiled. "We're going to let you have-"

"ANOTHER MORP!!" The group finished for her.