Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Brad and Chelsea. I don't know who owns them.....and unless they put it back on TV, I don't care to know.

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ok....I don't think this is gonna be much longer...we'll see.

In Your Darkest Hour

Ch. 10

Everyone was winding down at Scott's place and getting ready to settle down and go to sleep around 11:30.

Scott let Peter and Sophie have his bed. Daisy and Ezra took the guest room. David, Kat, Juliet, Scott, and Auggie all camped out in the living room. Juliet and Auggie shared a blanket on the floor, David took the recliner, Kat had a sleeping bag on the floor, and Scott took the couch. It was a wonder he could fit everyone into his apartment. He had to scrounge to find enough pillows and blankets for everyone.

Scott went around to everyone to make sure they were all okay before going to bed. He knocked on the door to the room that Peter and Sophie were in.

"Come in" Peter called. He opened the door and peeked inside.

"Are you both okay in here?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks." Sophie said.

"Ok." He said and started to close the door.

"Oh, hey, Scott!" Peter called. Scott opened the door back up.

"Yeah?" he said with a tired voice hoping he wasn't going to get a lecture about how dirty the bathroom was, and hoping he didn't have to get them anything. He was beat and just wanted to go to sleep, but with Juliet in the same room, he wondered if that would be an option.

"I'm really proud of you. You know that?" he said with a nod of his head.

"Yeah...thanks." he said feeling good about himself, which was rare nowadays. He smiled. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He checked on Ezra and Daisy who were already asleep. When Scott looked in on them, it looked as though Daisy had piled their pillows between them to keep them from touching. He chuckled. He was glad he didn't have to hear the conversation leading up to her doing this. Daisy hadn't changed a bit. He

shut the door and went back into the living room.

"Is everybody good in here so we can crash?" he asked. They made a grumble. Scott shrugged and looked at Chelsea who was asleep in her baby pen by the couch. He leaned down and stroked her soft cheek and then got onto the couch, turned the light off, and fell into a fitful sleep. He knew he was dreaming, but he didn't know what about. He had that kind of dream all the time. He heard knocking in his dream and he woke with a start realizing it was really happening. He sort of fell off the couch and stumbled over to the door, being careful not to step on Juliet, Kat, or Auggie who were sleeping placidly on the floor.

He opened the door and let his eyes adjust to the light. It was Shelby.

"Shelby! What are you doing here?!" he exclaimed loud enough to wake everyone in the living room, and that it did. Auggie sat up and turned a light on. He saw Shelby.

"Jules, wake up, Shelby's here." He said and gave her a light shake. Meanwhile, Scott and Shelby continued their conversation.

"I left." She said.

"For good?" Scott asked

"I hope so. So....can I come in or is there no room in the inn?" she asked peering behind him at Kat who was laying awake in her sleeping bag and at David who refused to show he was happy that she had come, even though everyone knew he was.

"Sure." He said stepping aside and letting her come in. He closed the door behind her. "It's kinda crowded, but we can manage. Boy, you picked a bad weekend to do the right thing." He joked.

"Sorry, I didn't know we were on a schedule." She joked back. Suddenly Jules interrupted them with a squeal.

"Shelby, you came!:" she squeaked and got up and gave Shelby an uninvited hug. Shelby just flinched and waited for it to end.

"What's all the commotion?" Daisy asked walking out of the bedroom, Ezra close behind.

"Shelby's here." David said monotone. "Now can we please go back to sleep?" Suddenly the living room was in an uproar with laughing and talking voices, and only more was added on when Peter and Sophie came out and discovered Shelby. David realized 'if you can't beat em join em' and he got up along with everyone else and joined in the loudness. It went on like this for minutes, when the phone interrupted them with a shrill ring.

Scott walked up to the phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello, Barringer?!" it was his landlord. "I don't know what kind of party you're having up there, but keep it down, I've had some complaints."

"Sorry, Mr. Williams....I'm sort of having a high school reunion..." he trailed off not wanting to get into the details.

"Well, no wonder it sounds like a three ring circus up there!" he exclaimed "What, do you have your whole class up there?!"

Scott paused and decided he shouldn't lie "Actually, yeah...I do. I didn't go to a regular high school Mr. Williams...I went to Mt. Horizon...I have my group here for a visit." He said with an exasperated sigh, hoping he wouldn't have to go into great detail.

"That school for screw ups down in Agnes? I didn't know you went there......." he said

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." He said before Mr. Williams could ask what he did to land him there. "Look, I'm really sorry, I'll shut them up." He said and turned away from the phone. "Hey guys!" he called. They were too loud for him to be heard. "Hey guys!" he repeated, still no response. "CLIFFHANGERS!" he yelled. That got their attention. They all stopped the chatter and looked at him "Shut up! It's the middle of the night and this is my landlord....people are complaining..." they nodded that they understood and started whispering. "Better?" he asked into the phone.

"Much. Thanks, kid." And he hung up.

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Once everyone had gotten the "hi how've you been" bug out of their system and had calmed down, most everyone went back to sleep.

Daisy, Scott, Shelby, and Auggie stayed up to talk for a little while in the living room. They were quiet, though. Since Shelby arrived the sleeping arrangements shifted. Peter and Sophie stayed put, but Ezra moved out into the living room so that Shelby could have the bed, and share it with Daisy. Everything else stayed the same. Scott had to scrounge up one more pillow an blanket though.

The four sat on the large couch, Shelby holding Chelsea whom she hadn't seen in weeks and was really starting to miss.

"So this is really it? No more going back to him?" Scott whispered to Shelby.

"Yeah....but I don't have any clothes or anything...and I need to get some of my stuff....so I'll have to go back tomorrow."

"No, Shelby, it's dangerous....." Auggie said

"I'll be okay...I've lived there for a year...what harm could it do to go back and pick up some clothes for Chels and me?" she said with a shake of her head that made her blonde hair fall out from behind her ears.

"Well, you're not going alone....." Daisy said and bit her lip. "Tell you what....I'll go with you." She said.

"No..." Auggie argued. "Scott and I will go. You girls stay here."

"Oh, really?" Shelby said and raised her eyebrows. "How do you plan to get in?"

"With the key that you're gonna give us." Scott said "Since I don't have mine anymore."

"Not a chance...I'm going with you." She said and straightened up.

"Shelby- -" Auggie started. Scott put a hand up to stop him

"Give it up, man. She's made up her mind now, you might as well shut up and go along with it, I can tell you that much...." Scott said. Shelby just smiled as Scott looked at her and shook his head. Daisy and Auggie looked at each other and made an 'uh oh' face.

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OKAY.......that was it...PLEASE REVIEW! I'm asking for only 10 and you'll get the next part really soon!

NEXT: They go to Shelby's the next night...and a very important event will take place that night that will affect the rest of the story in a big way. You don't wanna miss it so please review!!!!!!!