"Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are. You'll see what I mean."
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Going Home teaser
(Day after the last fic ended: Saturday. Sophie walks through two double doors into the waiting room, spotting Daisy who is sitting in a chair dressed in black jeans and a dark colored shirt.)
"Daisy." Sophie says hurrying over to the young girl. Daisy looks up at Sophie. It's obvious Daisy's been crying. "Are you ok? How is he?"
Daisy doesn't move from where she sits, but says tonelessly. "He's been in surgery. He should be out any time now."
Sophie sits down next to her. "So how are you?" She asks genuinely concerned.
"Right now I'm sort of still drunk." Daisy says still tonelessly.
Sophie's face changes to a dissapointed almost hurt look and Daisy turns away from her.

(Back at Horizon Peter is in his office he grabs his jacket and keys and heads out of the office. He arrives at the parking lot and gets on his motorcycle. He starts the engine and takes off for home. It shows him riding the bike to his house and pulling into his driveway. He parks the bike and pulls his helmet off. Looking to the steps for the first time, his jaw goes slack in suprise.)
"Shelby?"
(Roll credits)

Going Home part 1
(Peter's House)
Shelby looks up seeing Peter, suddenly thinking she's doing the wrong thing, she looks away. Peter walks over noticing that she has lost weight and that she smells of cigerette smoke, but that she looks ok. Unsure of what to say to his wayward student, he sits down on the steps next to her, waiting on her to say something.
"Can I stay?" She asks quietly not looking at him.
Peter knows what she wants to hear, but also knows that when she left she had a lot of problems and her actions had caused a lot more problems.
Shelby finally looks him in the eye. "I have no where else to go." She said her voice breaking ever so slightly. She looks away refusing to cry.
Peter's heart broke. "We'll work something out." he says getting a little choked up himself.

(Hospital, Sophie and Daisy are still waiting on word from the doctor. Since Daisys admission of drinking, they haven't said anything to each other.)
Sophie finally breaks the silence. "Daisy I know this is hard."
"No you don't." Daisy says, she doesn't want to talk about it and she turns away from Sophie again.
Sophie sighs not sure what to do. After several moments of silence, Daisy speaks again.
"He wasn't drunk." She says quietly.
Sophie looks at Daisy. "What?" She asks not sure she heard her right.
"He wasn't drunk." She says with more emphasis. "I found a bottle of Scotch in the living room and accused him of lying and drinking again, but he hadn't been drinking... he wasn't drunk when he wrecked. It's rather ironic actually. The cops came and told me what happened and it turns out he was hit by a drunk driver."
"Daisy I'm so sorry."
"Don't be...it's not your fault."
"Daisy this isn't your fault either." Sophie puts a hand on her knee. "You know that right? I don't know exactly what happened last night, but I know it wasn't your fault."
"I accused him of drinking." Daisy said turning to Sophie. "I just assumed that he was drinking again, because of one bottle. He wasn't lying this time Sophie, he wasn't. And the worst part is... is the meeting that he claimed he had to go to was an AA meeting. He didn't want me to know for some reason, he thought I'd be upset that he still needed to go on a daily basis."
Sophie looks at Daisy not sure what to say. It's obvious that Daisy is hurting, but Sophie has never seen her this distraught. It was very unDaisy like.
"Daisy why don't you tell me exactly what happened last night?" Sophie said, hoping that if Daisy spoke about it, it would help and wanting to know why Daisy had been drinking.
"I really don't want to talk about it Sophie." Daisy said in an almost child like way.
"Daisy I..."
"I don't want to talk about it." Daisy said cutting Sophie off.
They both suddenly look up as a doctor enters the room. "He's out of recovery and we've moved him to ICU." the doctor paused for a moment and then continues. "He's still unconscious."
"What exactly happened doctor?" Sophie asks at the same time that Daisy asks, "Can I see him?"
"He can have visitors." The doctor said. "But," He said and turned to Sophie to answer her question, "He is pretty bruised up. He broke his ribs and he has a concussion. He probably did that hitting the steering wheel or the road. Since he hasn't come around since the accident were keeping in monitored, but there is no sign of brain damage." The Doctor reassured. "He also has multiple cuts, but considering from what I heard from the EMT's on the scene, the man is lucky to be alive and even luckier that that's the extent of his injuries." Just as the doctor finished a nurse called to him and the doctor excuses himself and leaves.
"I want to see him." Daisy says turning to Sophie.
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"No." Daisy said quickly. "I think I'll be better off going on my own."
Sophie nodded. "I'm here if you need me." She says giving Daisy's arm a sqeeze and Daisy nods before heading down the hall to her father's room.


(Peter's house. Peter and Shelby are still sitting on the front steps.)
"So, I get to stay, but I know it can't be that simple." Shelby says, after she and Peter have both managed to reign in their emotions. Ever since Shelby had left Bobby, her thoughts had been on how she had no where to go... no where to go but here. But she knew that after everything that was not exactly going to be a welcome home party. Things had been bad when she left; Shelby just hoped they could somehow work past it.
"No, it's not." Peter said, "But it's good that you realize that. When you left, a lot had happened."
Shelby nodded. "You mean with my father committing suicide and the hallucinations and everything."
"Yea." Peter said, glad that she seemed able to talk about it.
"Well, the hallucinations have pretty much gone away. It helped to be off campus..." Her voice trailed off as she realized that he didn't really know the reason she had been having the flashbacks. Shelby took a deep breath, "Peter, I know we talked about my father being abusive. About how he was the first to really hurt me because he left and because he didn't help me when I went to him for help, but..." Shelby wasn't sure she could say it. "Walt picked up where he left off." She said hoping he'd take the hint.
Peter looked at her suprised and then felt guilty for having told her father he could come to campus. "I'm sorry Shel." He said.
"No." Shelby said shaking her head. "It's ok." Peter gave her a look. "It's not ok what he did, but it's ok that you let him come to campus." She said knowing what he had been thinking. "You didn't know...I didn't know either." A pause. "When I ran away after my mom visited that attack really threw me off. I didn't even realize it had, until weeks afterwards. But the nightmares started and then when he showed up that's when I started thinking I saw them everywhere. I saw Walt and people from the streets and then there was always this person I couldn't identify...a shadowman. And then one day I had a nightmare and I remembered. It just came back to me. And that's when I decided to confront him. You said confronting it would make it go away... so I did. And he admitted it."
"That's when you made him leave. That was that day in the office." Peter said in realization.
"Yea." Shelby said. "And that's why he killed himself. He couldn't face what he did. He knew he was a horrible man and so he killed himself." Shelby paused for a long moment as both pondered this. "Peter, I want to come back to Horizon. I don't have anything out there in the world. I ran and I found a real job waitressing and I found a place to live, but the world, the real world, is a hard place. I'm not ready to deal with it yet. I have to figure out who I am and how to get over what's happened to me first. And Horizon is no longer a safe place to me. When I left I was running from Horizon because those flashbacks and my father being there made me feel as though it was all happening again and this time it was in the one place I had always felt safe." Shelby looked Peter in the eyes. "I have spent the last month thinking about my life and trying to go on like I'm fine, but I can't do it. This stuff has happened to me. And I have done things that I think make me a not so good person and I'm screwed up. And I don't want to be. I want to be happy. I want to be able to be with Scott and not worry about my past. And I don't want to run any more. I want to deal with this stuff. I'm ready to deal with this stuff. And the only way to do that is by staying at Horizon and getting help."
Peter nodded taking in all that she has said. "Shelby, I'm willing to let you come back to Horizon, especially if you're ready to get help, but things are going to have to be different. You're going to have to have more extensive therapy and counseling. And the cliffhangers aren't going to just welcome you back with open arms. They're upset and they're scared. They've been worried sick about you. And they are mad because you pushed them away and your going to need to make amends with them."
"I know." Shelby said meeting his gaze. "And I'm ready to do that."

Going Home Part 2

(Daisy is sitting beside her father's bedside, he is hooked to several different machines, including a heart monitor.)
Daisy takes a deep breath and lets it out shakily, she smiles even though tears are falling down her face. "This is probably the only time I'll ever be able to talk to you and actually have you listen." She shakes her head. "I hate this." She says sqeezing his hand, more tears coming. She looks at the ceiling, "I hate this." She says again.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this." She said accusingly to her father. "I'm supposed to be allowed to hate you for what you did. For all the times you let me down and the fact that because of your and mom's drinking she's no longer here." She pauses. "But I don't hate you daddy. I hate that you drink. And I hate the things you do when you drink, but I don't hate you. I wish I did it would be so much easier."
She takes another deep shaky breath. "It took mom dying before I was able to realize that. Once she was gone I realized that while she was a bad mother, and I hated all the things she did that I didn't hate her... I still haven't really forgiven her... I accepted what she did, because I couldn't forgive her and I didn't hate her anymore, she wasn't here to hate any more."
"But your here...and I hate the things you do when you drink daddy. I hate it more then anything... And you know what I hate most... is that I wasn't a good enough reason for you to be sober. Why wasn't I a good enough reason to get you to stop? Why did mom have to die before you decided you should get help? Why did so much have to go wrong?" She says once again looking above for an answer.
She took a deep breath. "You took off last night and I did something I vowed I would never do... I drank." She looks down at her hands. "Life father, like daughter...I guess I wanted to know what was so appealing that you found it better then your own daughter." Her voice broke over her own bitterness. "Daddy I know I keep rambling over the same questions, but can't I just know why? Why I'm not good enough? Why you don't love me?" Her emotions broke completely as the question broke off in a sob.

(Shelby and Peter are now inside his house. She is sitting at the kitchen table and Peter is making her a hot cup of decaffinated hot tea.)
"So where do we go from here?" Shelby asked Peter.
Peter glanced at her as he set the mug in front of her and then sat down across from her before answering. "Well," He said, "Your going to have to go through a physical and a physchological exam. I have to be sure the visions have stopped before you return to Horizon." He said gently not sure how she'd react to the news.
"What will I have to do?" Shelby asked, realizing that it was probably nothing compared to some of the things she'd done. She shuddered at the thought.
"Are you cold?" Peter asked concerned.
"No." Shelby answered quickly. "Not really." She said looking at him. "I was just thinking it couldn't be worse then some of the stuff I've done."
Peter gave a slight nod, not sure what to say or how to respond, but acknowledging that he heard her.
"Peter..." Her voice trailed off. The man sitting before her knew more then any other man in her life ever had. She had spoken to him about things that she had never thought she would speak to anyone about. "This is awkward." She said.
"How so?" Peter asked, wondering what she was thinking.
She sighed and sat back in the chair, suddenly wishing for a cigerette. "Because I don't feel like the other students at Horizon. I don't feel like I'm the same girl that left Horizon." She smiled ironically. "I never felt that I got to be a kid, but all of a sudden I feel that I'm not one anymore. When I was younger and ran away all I did was sell myself on the street and that's not a job. It's no way to make a living. This time... this time was different. I was making it Peter." She said sitting forward. "I was living in an apartment and working a job that wasn't great, but I've had worse. And I was making my own way and I didn't feel that my job was... I don't know, but I was making it.. without selling myself. But it was also scary and not scary in the I'm on the streets again, but because I'm going to have to go back out there in a few months and I don't know if I can handle it. I do the best I can, but I know what lengths I'll go to." She looked up at Peter. "I don't know how to explain it. I've grown up some, I've tasted the real working world and it's scary, because I have all this stuff... all this stuff from before that keeps coming back and until I get past it I can't do anything."
"What do you mean?" Peter asked, pretty sure he knew what she meant, but fishing for information.
Shelby took a deep breath, not sure she should tell him. "I have the perfect example, but I don't want to tell you." She said. She played with the tea bag in the cup. "Let's just say I realize why you ban relationships at Horizon, it can be a lot to deal with."
Peter suddenly wondered if Shelby was going to break it off with Scott. Scott was torn up enough about Shelby's leaving, he would have even more problems if they broke up. Not that they were exactly together at the moment. Things hadn't been good between the two when Shelby left, but only because she had been going through so much. Peter shook his head... since when had his students love lives made a difference to him? Since you realized how good they could be for them, he said to himself. And it was true. While Peter still felt that one needed to work on their own self worth; Shelby and Scott being together, and Auggie and Juliette, both couples had been able to help the others out in ways the counselors couldn't. But they also relied on each other to a point that could sometimes be bad, because they were volnerable to each other.
"Not all relationships are bad." Peter found himself saying, but wishing he himself would shut up. It was not like him to interfere or give dating advice.
Shelby looked at Peter oddly for a moment. "I know." She said with a small sigh. "But I have a lot to work out on my own right now." She paused not sure she should say it to him, but decided to take her chances, "I think Scott and I have somethings to work out seperatly that we can help each other with. I honestly think we're better together then apart. But I can't keep pushing him away and he can't keep trying to interfere when he doesn't really want to know."
"Talk to him about it then." Peter said. "Even if the two of you are only friends," Peter said stressing the word trying to make it clear that he wished thats all they were. "And not a couple, you still need to communicate and you need to trust each other. That can't be easy for either of you to do. And if you want to make amends with the other cliffhangers as well your going to have to communicate with them, which involves listening as well as speaking. People are going to have to know what happened Shelby."
"I know." She said with a sigh. She realized that in particular the one person that needed to know was Peter himself. She looked up at him. "I don't want to tell you yet." She looked back at the table. "I know coming back here will help me and I know that getting help is going involve telling about what happened, but... I'm just not ready right now to go into it. I don't know if I'll ever be ready." She stared at the table thoughts of everything going through her head. "I'm just not ready right now." She reiterated.
Peter watched her for a moment and realized just how tired and worn she looked. He also realized that this was really only the beginning of Shelby's long battle. "Well, we are always here if you need us Shelby, and I mean that. You don't have to leave, we can help you, but you have to let us." Shelby gave a slight nod, not looking at Peter. "Well, let's go see Dr. Burke for your physical."

Daisy didn't know how long she had sat next to her father crying, but it felt like too long. She wasn't one to cry or get emotional and here she was sobbing like a child next to her father. She sniffled and ran her arm across her face trying to erase the tears. "Never thought we'd be here like this." She said. "Must be the alcohol that makes me emotional." She said with a small laugh. She shook her head. He wasn't going to wake up. He hadn't heard anything she said. She was never really going to have a father, because he would never realize what his drinking and abuse did to her and she would never tell him not to his face.
"Guess I should go tell Sophie that your ok." She said starting to stand. She was almost completely upright when she felt the tug at her hand.
She turned sharply in suprise and looked down into the eyes of her father.
"I do love you Daisy." Came the scratchy response.
Daisy stared at her father in shock, not at all sure what to say or do.
"I do." He said a little more urgently. "I know you don't beleive it." He coughed roughly. "But I do."
Daisy leaned over and gave her father a drink from the glass next to the bed. After he had had a drink he continued.
"I mean it." He continued. "You didn't do this." He said his eyes filled with anguish and guilt. "My drinking... your mothers drinking... you didn't drive us to it." He looked up at the ceiling. "Hell, we we're drinking long before you came along." His voice was full of pain. "When your grandfather...your mom's dad passed... well, your mother and he had been close... really close and it hurt her so much when he left. She just drank and drank... 'drowning her sorrows' as they say. When she found out she was pregnant... your mother was happy... thrilled." He smiled in memory. "Those months... those were some of the best of my life. She didn't drink, not once. She didn't want to harm the baby... she loved it so much.... I loved it so much."
He shook his head. "But it wasn't meant to be..." He looked at Daisy wondering if she understood. Wondering if she'd be mad. "You had a brother Daisy. He was about five years older then you. He only lived to be a few months old." Daisy sat down more shocked then she had been and completely speechless. "SIDS. Sudden Infancy Death Syndrome. There was no reason for it... just one night we went to check on Alan... Alan Nathaniel Liponowski. He was beautiful... and one night... well one night I found him... he wasn't breathing. We rushed him to the hospital, but there was nothing that could be done. Your mother went back to drinking. I tries to not drink... to be strong for her... but it was hard... she was angry... depressed... she would cry all the time. I don't know how... but she ended up pregnant again. And she quick drinking... she didn't want to take any chances... she didn't want to harm you... she loved you so much... I loved you so much." His eyes turned to the still shocked Daisy. "After you were born she spent every night in your room. She was so afraid that... she was terrified. We both were. So we started having a drink... 'just to calm the nerves'. But after awhile one wasn't enough to be calming. We began to drink more. And her frazzled nerves... well she refused to leave you. She wanted you to be fine and so she wouldn't go to work or anywhere. She would just stay in the room and watch you... Check your breathing. We were arguing all the time. I wanted her to get over it. But she wanted to say. I don't remember when, but one time... well... as you got older... as she drank more... I began to drink too. It was something we could share. Something I could do with her. All she did was drink and watch you and after a while she... well she decided it was too painful to be around you... and so all she did was drink. All I did was drink."
Daisy looked at her father, not sure what to say. "Your saying I had a brother?"
Her father nodded. "Yea."

"You mean she's back?" Sophie asked in shock.
"Showed up at our door step this morning." Peter said. He was sitting in his office at his desk, still a little in shock from the latest turn of events. "She past the physical, but she is a bit underweight. And now she's at the hospital undergoing an evaluation. She's going to be there for a few days until they make sure the hallucinations are gone."
"So she still may not be able to come back to Horizon?" Sophie asked as she sat down in one of the waiting room chairs.
"I'm pretty confident she'll be able to." Peter said. "She seems to be past the worst of what's happened, but I'm not sure she's dealt with all of it. She seems to be afraid to come back to campus. Feels like it's not as safe as it used to be."
Sophie sighed sadly. "Going to be hard to help her then."
"I would think so too." Peter said. "If she hadn't come back on her own and said that she was ready to make a real effort to change her life."
"She said that?"
"Not in so many words. But she's ready to pull out the stops and try to put her life back together. I think she might feel like she hit rock bottom and in a way I guess she has."
"Guess there is more to this story then your telling me."
Peter said nothing for a moment and then answered. "Shelby says she's not ready to talk about it yet, but I think once the holiday is over and she gets some rest things will be better."
"Better for her now that's she's back maybe, but the other students are going to be thrown in to the mix and that's going to be hard on Shelby. I don't think they are all going to have a nice reaction to her return."
"They'll be glad that's she's back." Peter said. "But once they get over the pleasantries they are going to want to know what happened and why she didn't trust them enough to stay around."
"Right." Sophie replied a little distractedly as she watched through the door's window the scene that was playing out before her eyes in the room across the hall. Daisy was sitting next to the bed holding her father's hand. She hadn't left his side since she entered the room and Sophie was certain that the conversations that were taking place were relationship changing for Daisy and her father.
"Sophie?" Peter asked, sensing her distraction.
Sophie shook her head and focused on Peter. "Things have changed Peter. It might have only been a month, but Daisy isn't going to be returning to Horizon the same. Shelby missed a lot. Scott has changed too. In his own way. He's been trying to deal with Shelby being gone and this isn't the first time that this has happened. It's not the first time she's left. He's not going to react well to that."
Peter sat back in his chair with a sigh. "I know." He took a deep breath. "It's going to take some time for the cliffhangers to work all of this out. We're really going to have to be there for them."
"Part of the job though." Sophie said, realizing more time with the cliffhangers meant less time alone with each other. She sighed, "Peter, do you ever wish you didn't do this?"
Peter sat up in his chair. "The job getting to you Soph?" He asked concerned.
"No." She said with a slight shake of her head. "Not really. Just... they've become my kids. But they have parents and families.... even if they aren't great. And we pick up the pieces."
Peter rocked his chair in a twisting motion with his feet. "We help them Sophie. There is a lot to be said about that."
"Yea... but we'll never have our own." She said sadly.
Peter took a moment to think. He knew Sophie was distraught over the fact that she couldn't have children. She had almost refused his engagement because of that fact. "Sophie we do have our own." He said after a moment. "All the kids at Horizon, all the kids we help, they are ours Soph." He paused for a moment wondering if he was cheering her up. "It doesn't matter that you can't have kids Soph." He said quietly. "I told you that last year and I meant it. We get to help kids all the time and in the future... if you wanted... we could always adopt."
"I know." Sophie said. "But it's not the same."
"I know." Peter said sadly.
The conversation paused for a moment as both thought about the fact that they would never have children of their own.
"Well," Peter said after a moment, "I know you said Daisy has been in with her dad for a while and the doctors say he's out of the woods, so when are you coming home?"
Sophie glanced through the door window again. "I guess it depends on Daisy. Her and her father are working some things out. I don't want to interrupt and cause things to fall apart. They have a good thing going."
"Maybe you should let her know about Shelby." Peter suggested. "I'm not trying to force her away from her father, but if she's behaving the way your saying then she probably needs a break. And then she can think about what she's going to do now."
"All right." Sophie said. She took a deep breath. "I guess I should let you go."
"Yea." Peter said, even though he didn't want to hang up. Over the last few months they had really learned to lean on one another, after having moved in together over the summer, they had just gotten closer. "I have some paper work to do."
Sophie nodded even though he couldn't see her. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"Bye."
"Bye."

"Peter?"
"Yea Soph?"
"I'm glad your there when I come home."
Peter smiled warmly. "I'm glad your there too."
"See you when I get home."
"See ya." Peter said before hanging up the phone. He smiled widely. It had been some time since he had heard Sophie reffer to any place as home and now she was referring to Horizon as home. To him as home. He took a deep breath revelling in the fact that she was going to be his wife.

Sophie sat back in the chair trying to collect her thoughts. Her conversation with Peter had seemed unexpected. The two had been talking more and more lately, but they seemed to be discussing the students more and more. After all the things that had happened so far though, it wasn't suprising that their conversations were wrapped up in the students.
Sophie smiled slightly, even though the two had been caught up in the students lives more lately, she was still really beginning to feel like this was home to her. That Peter was her home. He had always been her rock, but now she felt that wherever he was could be home. Sophie smiled wider being grateful to the one thing that had always been stable in her life: Peter. What had she ever done without him?
She took a deep breath and stared across the room towards Daisy and her father. Things were definetly changing, but her and Peter wouldn't. She took a deep breath standing up. She needed to talk to Daisy.

Going Home Part 3
"I wish Shelby were here." Juliette said as she and the other cliffhangers worked on cleaning up the kitchen.
"Why? So you wouldn't have to wash as many dishes?" David asked giving her a look as he walked up and set more dishes down next to her.
"No." Juliette said at him making a face. "But it would be nice if the group was back together. It's thanksgiving after all. It would be nice to have a good one for a change."
"Yea." Ezra said as he came up behind them. He quit sweeping the floor and leaned against the broom. "I finally thought I'd be able to have a thanksgiving where people weren't yelling."
"I just want a real thanksgiving dinner." Juliette said. "We never celebrated at home. We were always at some resturant." She paused looking up at the others. "Except for one year. It was when I was twelve. My mom was on vaca with husband number two and I was staying with my dad. Dinner was perfectly set up, we sat down to eat and everything." Her face fell a little then. "But mother called to make sure I was having a good time and she asked if I was watching my weight. I threw everything up a few minutes later." She reached down and pointed to a spot on her leg. "I have a scar too."
The others just looked at her for a moment. Juliette was normally not that open about her cutting.
"I remember this one time." David said taking the attention away from Juliette. "It was before my parents divorced." He stoped carrying dishes and leaned against the counter draping his arm over the pot. "My dad was away for the weekend for training and mom and I sat down and had a homecooked traditional thanksgiving. It was one of the best we had."
"Little odd that your best thanksgiving was without your dad don't ya think?" Ezra asked.
David looked up at Ezra. "Well then Ez - raa." He said in that annoying way he always does. "Why don't you tell us about your thanksgivings?"
"I told you, all the ones I remember they were yelling." Ezra scoffed. "Probably the ones I don't remember they were yelling." He then turned and moved on to what he was doing.
"So about you Meat." Auggie asked walking across the kitchen.
Scott turned around and looked at Auggie. "Best thanksgiving I ever had was before my parents divorced. I was ten. We all sat down to dinner, my grandparents on both sides, all my relatives were there and after we had dinner, we went outside and played a game of football before the big game on tv. It was good." He paused. "How bout you?"
"We always sit down for dinner. I'd say best times were before my brother was arrested."
Scott nodded and then turned to Auggie. "Do you think Shelby had good times?"
Auggie looked at Scott. "Maybe."
"When they find her, you can ask her." Juliette said from where she stood at the sink washing a pan.
"Juliette, always the optimist." Ezra said.
"They still may not find her." Auggie said gently to Juliette.
"I know." Juliette said stopping what she was doing but not looking at the others. "But were here at Horizon to hope for better things. Maybe since it's thanksgiving we can hope that she'll be back."
The others all gave a slight nod to what Juliette said and went back to work in silent contemplation.

"What was that about?" Mr. Liponowsky asked as Daisy entered the room.
"Nothing you need to worry about." Daisy said as she took a seat next to him.
He looked at her for a long moment. "Daisy if you need to go back to Horizon..." His voice trailed off as she looked at him. "I want you here, I do. But there isn't much you can do."
"The doctor said you'd need some time... that you would need help." She said quietly.
"I can get help." He said. "You shouldn't worry about me. You should be enjoying your thanksgiving, instead of sitting in the hospital with me."
"Your my father." Daisy said.
"Since when as that ever meant anything between us?" He asked seriously.
Daisy looked down at her hands. It was true. It had never mattered before. "It matters since now. You might not be a great father. You might not even be a good father, but you are one. And your trying. That didn't mean much to me before now, but it does." She pauses and swallows hard. "Your all I have left daddy. If I lose you, I have no blood family. So we need to work this out. It needs to matter now." She pauses and says with a sad tearful smile, "You're sort of my last hope."
Her father swallows hard. "Guess that means I need to do better."
"Yea." Daisy says. "I guess it means we both do."
He squeezes her hand and then says. "Go back to Horizon. We still have time, I'm not leaving this world anytime soon."
"I want to stay."
He shook his head. "You're better off there right now. I need to get better and I'm not just talking about from this accident. I need to do better about the drinking. But I promise we'll see each other more often."
"Like Christmas?"
"Yea. That can be arranged."
Daisy smiled. Taking a deep breath she said something she never thought she'd say. "I love you dad."
"I love you too." He said back.
Daisy squeezed his hand and stood. "I'll see you at Christmas."
"At christmas." He repeated and watched as she left.

"You doing ok?" Sophie asked as Daisy walked out of her father's room.
"I guess." Daisy said. She stopped walking and turned to face Sophie. "I'm sorry for drinking. I'm not sure exactly why I did it and I can't guarentee that I will never do it again, but I know first hand exactly what life is like when someone drinks." She paused for a moment. "I know I'm going to have to deal with this sometime, but can we wait until after the holiday. Right now I want to go pick up my things and go back to Horizon."
Sophie looked down at Daisy. The girl had been through so much in the last few weeks. Sophie gave a slight nod. "I'll call Peter and let him know we'll be heading back tonight."
"Do you need to say goodbye to your dad?" Sophie asked.
"We already said goodbye." Daisy turned and began to walk towards the exit and Sophie fell into step next to her. "We also talked about another visit around Christmas time."
"That might be nice." Sophie said.
"That's what we thought. We're both ready to make an effort now."
Sophie smiled at Daisy and put her arm around the girls shoulder. "You've made a lot of progress Dais. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks." Daisy said smiling back up at Sophie.

"Shelby you just need to relax." Dr. Thomas said to Shelby who was sitting on a couch in his office.
"I'm just not good with new people." She said anxiously.
"I know, you've said that many times in the last few hours."
"I'm just tired."
"You've had a rough time lately." Dr. Thomas said chewing on the end of his glasses.
"You've said that many times in the last few hours as well." Shelby said mockingly. She paused for a moment. "I just want to know if I get to go back to Horizon. It's thanksgiving weekend. I haven't had any flashbacks in the last few weeks, not since the first week I left Horizon." She groaned and leaned back in her chair. "I just want to go back and move on."
"Shelby," The doctor said leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "The only way to move on now, is to go back." He paused for a moment. "Peter, and I have worked together for years. And we've talked. He says that you realize you are going to have to work on getting better and that you think the best place to do that is at Horizon."
Shelby sat up and looked at the doctor. "If this is your way of gently trying to talk me into not going back, it won't work."
"I have no intention of that." He said levely. "I do; however, feel that you will require more then just the assistance of Horizon to get past what has happened."
"You want me to take meds?" She asked angrily. "I am not crazy. The flashbacks and all of that stopped weeks ago. I haven't had one since I left Horizon. I am not crazy!" She snapped at him now on her feet and pacing.
Dr. Thomas sat back in his chair nonchalantly. "Do you think your crazy?"
"No!" She snapped again. She looked at him for a moment and then sat down heavily. "Maybe." She said softly. "It's not normal to freak out on your friends. It's not normal to see things that aren't there." She shook her head slightly. ''I really felt like they were there."
"I know you did Shelby." He said gently. He sat forward and looked at Shelby levelly. "You are not crazy." He said firmly. "What happened to you was something that was triggered by a recent event. It could have been the attack on the street, your father's visit or something else that we are unaware of. But their is a name for what is wrong with you and it's not crazy. It's Critical Incident Stress. It's when something happens that could jeopardize your safety and you react to it. When this happens someone has very strong emotional reactions to it. It can cause your moods to change, it causes social withdrawal and it can disrupt you physically as well. It can make you tired or cause you to lose your appetite. It basically just wrecks havok with your life."
Shelby looked at him for a moment. "So then what do I do now?"
"That's what we get to figure out. In most cases this type of thing happens to counselors, medical workers, police men. Mostly people that are in stressful situations everyday, but it does happen when someones life is in jeopardy as well. Such as the attack."
Shelby nodded, glad to know she wasn't crazy. "That doesn't tell me what I do now."
"Well, usually this sort of thing is dealt with right away. In your case it's been a month, so your treatments will have to be a bit different."
"I won't take medication."
"Shelby, if I felt that was best for you, you would not have a choice in the matter." He said seriously, "But I do not feel that is the best solution. I like my patients to feel that they have some control in what happens in their treatments. And that is why I will not put you on the meds, as long as you agree to the rest of my treatment plan."
"What do I have to do?"
"From what you've said and from what I have seen the hallucinations have gone away, but I want to be completely sure of that. I want you to stay here for evaluation for the next week. During the week you will participate in private therapy with me and will attend a group therapy session that I hold for people that have been through this. Then once you have received a clean bill of health, you can go back to Horizon, but once a week you will continue therapy with me and you participate in the group session that I have for people that have been through this. If after a month you have had no signs of the hallucinations then the treatment with me will cease and you will continue at Horizon."
"I guess I don't really have a choice but to agree with you. If I want to go back to Horizon, I either do this or go on meds and I won't do that."
"Well then I will call Peter and let him know what I have decided."
"Can I call him?" Shelby asked. Dr. Thomas looked at her curiously. "I had a lot of time to think while I was gone this last month and one thing I decided was that I am taking an active part in the healing process. I would like to call him and tell him what we've agreed too."
Dr. Thomas looked at her for a moment and then agreed.

"Guess this means we're off to the airport?" Sophie said after Daisy had thrown the last of her luggage to go back to Horizon in the trunk.
"I want to make a stop first if that's ok." Daisy said.
"Where?" Sophie asked.
"The graveyard." Daisy said. "I'd like to visit mother since I'm here."
Sophie nodded in understanding. "Sure."

Sophie waited in the cab while Daisy walked across the graveyard. She didn't stop at her mother's but instead walked around some of the headstones nearby. After a few moments she finally stopped in front of one. She looked down and read the name: Alan Nathaniel Liponowski.
Daisy knelt to the ground by the grave suddenly overcome by emotion. "I never knew you." She said quietly. "But you we're my brother."
"From what dad says you were really something special. Something that they really wanted."
"I always wondered what would happen if I had had a sibling. Guess it's kind of like wondering what it would be like to really have a mother and father." She paused. "But I get that now. I never got to know our mother. She was just to out of reach for me. I have a chance now to know dad. It might be late, but it's better then never."
"I hope mom's better to you up there then she was to me here. I hope that the two of you finding each other again makes her happy." Daisy leaned over and brushed her hand across the gravestone. "Take care of her Alan Nathaniel. I'm counting on you to help her out until I can get their and have a chance to get to know her."
She stood up then from the grave and walked across to her mothers grave site. "I know you saw everything that happened while I was with dad. I know you know we made up. It feels good to have forgiven him. And so I'm forgiving you. I guess it doesn't count much that your gone and daddy was always so much easier to hate, but I forgive you both. Honestly. Because I can't hate you two anymore. Not for not telling me about my brother, not for not showing me your pain, not for not caring, or for caring too much. It takes to much out of me. It hurts too much to hate you guys and so I'm done."
"I hope your happy with Alan. I hope he was worth everything that you gave up for him. Because whether or not you and daddy knew it, you had a daughter as well, not just a son. But I forgive you. Of everything."
"Have a nice thanksgiving mom." She said and then turned and headed back to the cab.
"You ok?" Sophie asked.
"Deja Vu." Daisy said with a shiver.
"What?"
"You said that to me last time we we're here right before dad showed up."
"Oh." Sophie said with a smile. "So are you ok?" She asked after a moment.
"I don't know." She said with a shrug. "This day has just been so long. First the accident and you showing up and then talking with my dad and then coming here, and now going back to Horizon where Shelby is at least in the vicinity of it."
"Long day." Sophie agreed nodding and then the two of them climbed into the cab and headed back to Horizon.


Going Home part four (Thanksgiving day)

Daisy rolled over in bed and stared at the cieling for a moment, wondering if the last day had been a dream.
Just then Juliette walked by her bed.
"Did I actually leave Horizon?"
Juliette looked down at Daisy oddly. "You went to visit your dad."
Daisy drew the pillow up, covered her face and groaned.
"It's good to see you too Dais."
Daisy moved the pillow and turned to where Kat was standing in the doorway.
"Ok, now I'm confused." Daisy said.
"It's thanksgiving Daisy. I'm here to visit... and participate." She said with a slight gleam in her eye.
"Oh yes." Daisy said. "What fun fanfare we have today."
"Seems not much has changed." Kat said walking into the room and sitting down on one of the beds.
"More then you realize." Daisy said sitting up in bed. Kat looked at her with a nod of understanding, but said nothing. "Everythings different now."
Juliette nodded. "Yea. And things with Shelby are confusing too." She said joining them on the bed.
"Yea." Daisy said in agreement.
"You guys have been through so much this year." Kat said. "We all have. And I know you guys are worried about Shelby, but I'm sure things will be fine. So why don't we forget about everything for one day and just enjoy thanksgiving."
Daisy looked at the ceiling for a moment. "I can certainly try. It would probably do me some good."
Juliette nodded. "I'm in." She said and then stood. "It's good to have you back Daisy, it was lonely here until Kat showed up."
"Well, I'm back now and soon Shelby will be too."
"I hope so." Juliette said. "I'm going to head to breakfast, do you want us to wait on you?"
"No. I'm going to take a shower and then I'll be there."
Kat and Juliette nodded and then turned and headed out of the dorm.
Daisy grabbed her stuff and headed in to take a hot shower. After the last two days she needed to unwind. "I guess I'll just take Kat's advice and forget about it for today."
She stepped into the shower feeling glad that she could actually do that. With the weekend being a holiday, Peter and Sophie had pretty much decided to not talk to her about what had happened at her fathers yet. They had said if she wanted to talk to them they would listen, but if not, it could wait until Monday and they could all enjoy the holiday. Daisy was happy about that. The day before seemed like a dream and when she and Sophie had arrived late the night before all she had wanted to do was sleep. And now she could take the whole day and spend it relaxing. Shelby was back in Agnes even though not at Horizon and from what Daisy knew she was doing well, and while she hadn't yet talked to the other cliffhangers she hoped they were doing better then she was and that if they weren't that they were taking the holiday off as well. She stepped out of the shower, dried off and dressed quickly. She then headed towards the lodge, glad to be back at Horizon.

"Hey Daisy. How are you?" Ezra asked the moment he saw her.
"Ok." Daisy said, hiding her face slightly behind her hanging hair. "It was a tough visit home."
"How's your dad?" Auggie asked.
"Better." Daisy said. "It will be some time before he's back on his feet, but he'll get there."
"Are you happy with that?" David asked.
"Of course she is." Juliette said to David as though he were stupid.
"Hey not everyone's happy about everything." He said defensively.
"If you two are done now," Daisy said to the two of them as though they were children, "Yes," She said looking at David, "I am happy about it... now."
David gave a slight nod of understanding that only Daisy seemed to catch.
"Hey guys, you better be eating soon, because the day is about to start and Peter has a suprise for you guys." Kat said.
"A suprise?" Scott asked from where he sat draped across his chair. "What are we third graders?"
"No. But I think it's something you guys will enjoy." Peter said walking up behind them. "Remember you guys are to meet in the lodge at ten."
They all nodded and then broke off to get breakfast and discuss what Peter's suprise was.

At ten oclock all the cliffhangers sat in the lodge with Sophie standing before them.
"So where's the suprise?" David asked.
"We're going to get to that, but the suprise comes with a few stipulations." Sophie said.
"There's always a catch." Daisy said.
Sophie threw a look to Daisy who shrugged in response. "Anyway, this has a few stipulations. Peter and I feel that after everything you guys have been going through lately that it might be nice if you had a day off."
"Like a day out of Horizon?" Ezra asked hopefully.
"Not quite. More like spending today doing no counseling or therapy or discussion unless one of you feels compelled to do so."
"So we get to decide if we have group?" Auggie asked.
"Right." Sophie said with a nod.
"But it's a holiday I thought we didn't have group today?" Juliette asked.
"Well, " Sophie said bowing her head slightly, "It's possible that after you guys get your suprise that you might want to."
"What kind of suprise would make us want to have group?" David asked.
"How about me?"
The entire group turned as one staring at a somewhat thinner, but still alive, Shelby. Peter stood slightly behind her.
Nobody said anything for a few moments. "Isn't anybody going to say anything?" She asked wondering once again if she had made the wrong choice to come back.
"You're back?" Scott choked out.
"She's back for the holiday and then she'll be back in a week or two after the hospital has ok'd her." Peter explained.
"Yea, they want to make sure that whole hallucinating thing has gone away." Shelby joked.
"How can you make a joke about that?" Scott suddenly snapped standing to his feet. 'You've been gone a month. We didn't know if you we're alive or dead, especially after the way you left. And now your making jokes about it."
Sophie started to say something, but Peter gave a slight shake of his head. Shelby needed to do this; she needed to hear it.
"What am I supposed to do Scott?" Shelby snapped back, thinking of how good it felt to say his name. "Am I just supposed to curl up somewhere and be all woe is me, sorry but that's Juliette's department."
"You don't need to be dragging her into this. It was you that left." Auggie said standing up.
"Don't you think I know that I left?" Shelby asked. "I wasn't exactly in my right mind when I did it, but I did it. And I came back."
"For how long?"
"What?" Shelby asked looking down at the person who had said.
"I asked for how long?" Daisy said looking up at Shelby from underneath her long bangs. "You ran away a few months ago Shelby, you come back and then you ran away again. How long are you back for?"
Shelby was momentarily taken aback by the question. She then looked at her hands. "It's not easy out there you guys." She said softly.
"Why do you think we're here?" Juliette asked.
"I can't explain it." Shelby said. "When I was out there...what happened, what I did was different."
"So what did you do out there this time Shelby? Did you sleep around for free instead of for money? Perform a few extra favors?"
"You better be taking that back David!" Scott snapped and Peter started to interfer this time, but Sophie stopped him. She had been watching David over the last few weeks and it seemed to her that he had been sacrificing himself for the greater good of the group. Every now and then he only said such things to be a jerk, but other times he did it to help. He was a lot like Shelby, knowing just the right buttons to push.
"You have no right to say that." Shelby said throwing a glare at David.
"Why because you would never do anything like that?" David asked standing up. "Oh, I'm sorry, that used to be your job."
"You jerk." Shelby said and jumped on him before anyone could stop her. She pushed him to the floor which he hit hard. She pinned him and leaned over until she was only an inch or so away from him and said, "There are a lot of things that I have done in my life that I am not proud of, a lot of things that you will never know of or understand, but I will never, ever, allow you or anyone else make me feel that what I have done is beneath you. You don't know the lengths someone will go for food, or water... or safety." She said and then pressed down harder on his chest with her knee which she had placed there to pin him. "When I ran this time, I spent some time thinking. Spent a lot of time figuring out where I went wrong in my life and trying to get rid of the depression and hurt that I feel. And I'm not going to take it anymore." She nudged her knee into him again and he held his breath trying to block the pain. "This is a move I learned from a friend of mine while I was away. I may have had nowhere to go before and no one but myself to depend on, but I want that to change. I need to deal with what's happened in my life. I need you guys." She said to all of them even though she was glaring directly at David. "And I'm sorry for leaving and I'm sorry that you guys can't trust me. But there is a lot that you don't know. It's not an excuse and it's not volunteering me to tell all. I accept what I did though. I came back to work all of this out, because I'm not ready to be out their on my own again, even if I can do it without sleeping around, which is exactly how I made it this time, David." She spat grinding her knee into his stomach and watching him squirm. "I'm here to stay." She said sitting up as she shoved David back to the floor, before dropping back on her knees beside him. "As long as you guys want me."
No one said anything, a bit shocked by the new and somewhat frightening Shelby.
"No offense, Shel, but I ain't about to argue with a girl that can put me flat on my back in a matter of seconds." Ezra said holding his hands up in surrender.
"You had your reasons." Auggie said with a shrug. "I can forgive as long as your ok now."
"I'm going to be." Shelby said with a small smile to Auggie.
"That's good enough for me." Juliette said. "But I don't do that woe is me thing."
"Yes you do." Shelby said throwing Jules a look.
"No I don't." Juliette said pouting and then she smiled. "It's good to have you back."
Shelby nodded and smiled. "It's good to be back. It's hard out there." She paused. "But I'd prefer to talk about it on a different day. I'm doing better and it's thanksgiving. I think we should celebrate."
"We still have a lot to work out." Scott said suddenly looking right at Shelby.
Shelby nodded bowing her head slightly. "Yea, we do." She said softly.
"You left."
"Yea, I did."
"We'll talk about it later?" Scott asked.
"Yea, we will." Shelby said with a nod.
"So how about you Dais?" Shelby asked not looking at her best friend or at who used to be her best friend. Out of everyone, Shelby had hurt Daisy and Scott the most by her leaving.
"I've been in a forgiving mood lately." Daisy said with a slight smile, but then her smile turned serious. "We really need to talk though."
"I have all the time you need once I'm officially back here." She said.
Daisy nodded.
After a moment, Peter cleared his throat breaking the moment. "We have a game to play, if this can wait until after the holidays."
"After... the... holidays." David groaned his opinion from his place on the floor.
"I agree with floor boy." Ezra said with a smile.
"Shut up." David said reaching out, grabbing Ezra's ankle and pulling him to the floor next to him.
Ezra cried out as he started for the floor and grasped for anything, his hands landing on Daisy, who grabbed Scott to stay steady, who knocked into Auggie, who fell into Juliette, who caught ahold of Shelby and all seven ended up on the floor.
"David."
"Yea?"
"You have five seconds to get a head start and then were sending Shelby after you." Scott said.
"You can't be serious?" David said sitting up.
"One." Scott said.
David got to his feet and looked at Peter and Sophie. "You're not going to let them do this are you?"
Peter and Sophie smiled at each other and then David before turning to walk away.
"Two." Daisy said.
David looked at them. "I'm sorry." He said.
"Three." Auggie said shaking his head as he made it to his feet and began to help the others up.
"Four." Juliette said standing with Auggie's help. "I would run if I were you."
Shelby took a step forward and David turned and took off running out of the room.
"Five." She said and then turned back to the others. "So are we going to go compete with the counselors or what?"
"Let's go get em." Auggie said taking Juliette's hand as they started to walk out. The others made similar announcements of agreement following the two out of the room, leaving Shelby standing in the doorway and Scott standing a few feet away.
Scott walked over to the doorway and turned and looked at her. "After the Holiday." He said and Shelby gave a slight nod as he walked out of the room.