All four of them sit at the table in the kitchen, Mary next to Wilson on one side and Annie next to Eric on the other. Mary has been staring down at the table for 5 minutes, but now glances up at Wilson. Their eyes meet, and he grabs her hand. He gives her a look that says, "Everything is going to be fine. Calm down". Mary blushes, and smiles at him. Her father speaks, and breaks her out of her reverie.

"Mary, I talked to your principal."

Her grip tightens on Wilson's hand, and he rubs her leg with his free one. She swallows, hard, and starts to talk.

"And…"

"And you have two options. It seems that there is a preresiquite to all this. If you officially report to the school that you were raped and are now pregnant, lots of things would happen."

"What kinds of things?" Annie asks.

"Well, she would have to go to counseling once a week with the guidance counselor. She'd get a permanent hall pass to the nurse's office, and get out of P.E. for the rest of the year. And, all of your teachers would have to be informed of what happened to you."

The look on Mary's face is of sheer disapproval. "What's the other option?"

"That you only confide this in Ms. Russell, not to the school. Then, she said she'd take care of you and make sure everything was OK. She would give you a permanent pass to her office, and that whenever something was wrong you could come to her and she'd try to help you, or call us, or call Lucy out of class, whatever you needed. And to get out of gym, all you would need would be a doctor's note."

"The second one sounds a lot better. Would that be Ok with you guys?"

"If that's what you want it would be fine. The other option does seem like it would be a bit extreme and traumatic for you to deal with. So all you would have to do is stop by her office whenever you go back to school. Do you have any idea when that is going to be?"

"Eric, don't rush her." Annie interjects. "You have all the time you need Mary."

"Well, I was kind of hoping to go back Friday or Monday. I don't want to miss too much stuff."

"Oh, that's great Mary. I knew you'd be OK."

"I'm far from OK Mom, but I have to slowly get back to my life."

"Oh, I see."

Wilson decides it's his time to step in. "I know I'm not a professional or anything, but she seems to be doing a lot better, or at least she's hiding it all well from me."

Eric smiles sympathetically at Wilson for his attempt at trying to be involved in the conversation. "That reminds me, Mary. Have you given any thought to counseling?"

"Yes I have, and I'd like to try not to have any. You all know that I wasn't very open about anything before, but now I have a good reason not to want to talk. I refuse to share my story with anyone else. It's too emotionally draining for me to deal with this all, and that would just add to my list. I was thinking Dad could have a couple of mini sessions with me. You know, start directing me on the right path to getting over this."

"I'd be happy to help you Mary, but I don't know if that's such a good idea. Wouldn't it be harder for you to talk to me?"

"Sort of, but you've all told me, repeatedly, that I have to talk to someone. Just because you're my father doesn't mean you can't help me."

"It kind of does- conflict of interest." Eric mumbles.

"I think you're father's right Mary. Maybe you should look for guidance outside of the family. Someone who could be more, I don't know, less of a father."

Mary looks over to Wilson.

"Um, Mary you know I'm always happy to help you, and I want to help you, but I have to agree with them."

"Well, fine then. It doesn't matter what any of you think, though, because you can't force me to go. It's my head, and my body. I'm the one who has to struggle to get over this, not any of you. It would be less of a struggle though, if you let me work this out for myself, and talk about things when I want to. I will talk to someone when something's bothering me. For example, for the past three days, I've told Wilson whenever something was bothering me."

"Really? Like what?" Her father asks her, trying to pry.

"Like stuff. Don't make me talk about it all now, like this."

"Why? What's the big deal, it's only your mother and me. Wilson already knows."

Annie puts her hand on her husbands arm, signaling for him to shut up.

"How about I ask you a question. Why do you think I told Wilson everything and you guys practically nothing?" Wilson taps her leg and she looks at him. He shakes his head, and Mary turns back to her parents.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. But you guys are just so frustrating. You say you only want what's best for me, and that you want to help me, but you're not doing that. I already know what's best for me right now, and that's not going into counseling. I can do this by myself if I have to, and I would actually prefer it that way."

"How about we compromise. We wait three weeks and see how you're doing. Then we'll decide if we think you should go to counseling. It'll be up to us then, not you, and if we don't see a big improvement you're going." Eric argues.

"Fine."

"Mary, I was meaning to ask you," Annie starts, "do you want to use your Uncle Hank as your doctor?"

"Uh…" Mary thinks for a second. The idea kind of creeps her out.

"You should Mary, if you're comfortable with it. He's family; he won't let anything bad happen to you" Wilson says before she can answer.

"OK." All three of them realize what must be going through his head. Annie looks at Eric, Eric looks at Mary, and Mary looks at Wilson. She tightens her grip on his hand, almost trying to comfort him.

Wilson senses what is going on. "I'm fine. It's just that childbirth is a scary thing, and if Mary is in the hands of family she will definitely be well taken care of."

"I agree." Annie answers.

There is a long awkward pause. Everyone can tell what the conversation is leading up to. Wilson can feel that Mary is becoming worried without even looking at her.

"Its nice that you two became friends." Eric finally says.

"Yes, it is." Annie adds.

"You are just friends, right?"

"Dad!" Mary says, giving him a nasty look. Annie thinks back to yesterday, "…he makes me happy."

"Eric." She says, sternly.

"Don't worry reverend Camden. I respect Mary, and I don't want to see her hurt, and I especially don't want to contribute to the hurt she has been having in any way." Wilson says, trying to reassure Eric.

"So, are you saying-"Eric tries to ask Wilson, but is glared at by both of the women sitting at the table.

"All right, all right, I'll stay out of it, but you know how I feel about all of this Wilson."

"I know, Sir, and I completely understand."

"So, I think we're finished here. Anything you'd like to add Eric?" Annie says, trying to rap up the conversation.

"Not that I can think of. But if something pops into my head I'm sure I'll let you know."

"Great." Mary says sarcastically.

"Anything you wanted to bring up Mary?"

"Nope."

"OK. I'll call later and make a doctor's appointment for you."

"Wonderful. Come on Wilson let's go."

Mary gets up and walks back upstairs. Wilson smiles at Rev. and Mrs. Camden and follows her out of the kitchen. They go back to the way they were sitting before on Mary's bed.

"Do you want to finish talking now, or do you want to wait?"

"I don't know. I don't think I have anything left to say. Do you?"

"Yeah. Look, I have to be completely honest with you. Your not the only one whose been thinking about us."

"Yeah, me and my father."

"You know that's not what I meant. There was any urgency to those thought though, because I wasn't planning on acting on them, at least not yet, so I really hadn't come to a conclusion."

"What exactly were you thinking about when you say "us"?"

"Us now, us as friends, us as more than friends, all of that stuff."

"Does that mean you want us to be more than friends?"

"Maybe eventually. But right now, I'm not quite sure. I don't want you to get hurt, or to get hurt myself, or for your parents to hate me."

"They wouldn't hate you if I was happy, and this would make me very happy."

"I don't know."

Tears start to fill up in Mary's eyes and her tone of voice becomes serious. "Well if you don't know then why'd you try to kiss me?"

"Because I the time was right, and I thought that would help me figure everything out." He looks at Mary, and can see the pain growing inside of her, and how much this is tearing her apart. "See, now you're hurt. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid."
"I know, and its not your fault, but I can't help it. You know, forget it. Its taking you long to answer me. Forget I ever said anything. Let's talk about something else."

"No. That's only going to make you feel worse. And, I want to talk about us, but I don't have an answer yet. It's OK, let's talk more."

"OK. The reason I want to get back together with you is because for three days, every time I looked at you all I could think about was doing this."

She leans in and kisses Wilson. The kiss is soft and sweet, almost like a first kiss. They slowly part, but Wilson pulls back Mary's face. They continue to kiss more passionately until they both run out of air. Once they regain their breath, Wilson starts to speak, but Mary doesn't let him. She leans back in and continues to kiss him until her desire has been fulfilled.

"Now what?" Wilson asks, almost out of breath.

"That just reconfirmed everything for me. Anything clearer for you?"

"Crystal. I want to go out with you again. I guess I didn't realize how much I really missed that. Are you really sure this is what you want? I don't want this to turn out badly."

"I know what I want. I want you."

"So, what was your next step in this plan of yours?"

"I didn't really expect this. Do you think we should keep this a secret?"

"No, because we have nothing to hide."

"Fine fine fine. Who and when?"

"One of your parents as soon as possible."

"Definitely my mom. She kind of figured out the way I felt about you before I did. She was asking me about you, and I said that you make me happy. She told me I was smiling, and when I wiped the smile away, she smiled too. And I just got this feeling fro her before when we were talking with them, like she understood me, and me and you. We could talk to her and have her talk to my dad."

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't think she would hurt me, either."

Mary smiles and so does Wilson. "So what are we going to say? We have to have a plan or she'll tear us apart."

"Wait. What if she forbids me to see you? That won't be good."

"Maybe we could tell her that we're still deciding what to do, and we sees how much we both want to be together, maybe she'll be more lenient."

"If you say so. You absolutely sure we're doing the right thing?"

"I hope so. I-I" Mary starts to cry, and Wilson pulls her into him. "Maybe we could wait a little, think this over again."

"Ok." Wilson pulls his arms away from her. She grabs them, and pulls them back down.

"Hold me, please. I'm scared."

He nods, and rubs her arms. He lets her cry for a little while, then talks. "Talk to me. What are you scared about? Us?"

"A little. Just everything- I really don't know how I'll be able to get through this. I need help."

"Do you want to go to counseling, eventually?"

"No, definitely not. I need help, but not help like that. I want help from you. I know I have your help, but your not here with me all the time. You can't be, you have a job and a son and a life. But, I know that everyone is right. If we do get together and it doesn't last, I'll loose you, and I couldn't go on without you."

"Yeah I know. Maybe we should forget it. This is tearing you up too much inside. Is it really worth all of this?"

"I think it is. This- right now- I love this. This is all I've ever wanted, from anyone, but the only person I want it from is you."

"I know, I know."

Mary sits up, and looks at Wilson. "OK. First reaction, no second thoughts, do you want to be with me?"

"Yes."

"Do you think we should be together?"

"No. I'm sorry… but you know I'm still here for you. Friends is nice, it's comforting."

"Its ok. I agree with you. My heart says yes, but my mind says no. For some reason, I'm going with my head."

"Ok. So we are not getting together?"

"Right."

"You ok with that?"

"I will be. Can we still hug?"

Wilson pulls her back down to him. She leans her head on his shoulder, and a tear silently escapes from her eye. She wonders if she did the right thing, as does Wilson.

"Mare, are you ok with this?"

"No."

"Neither am I. Look, how about we wait a couple of weeks. You'll go back to school, get back to your normal routine, then we'll talk again."

"Yeah, that sounds so much better.'

"Maybe I could get my parents to come around, too."