Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the television show Higher Ground, or it's severely dysfunctional characters.  Both belong to whoever owns tv shows once they are cancelled (ie: not me!).

Author's note: It's been so long since I posted the last chapter that I wouldn't be surprised if you don't even remember this story.  I'm sorry for the wait, but I have been busy with school.  More to come soon!

            Shelby sat on the docks, Ava fast asleep in her arms, and watched the first thin light of morning filter over the horizon.  The breeze was cool and crisp and stirred ripples in the grey water below.  The weather channel would have informed a shivering Shelby that there was a cold front sweeping down from the mountains, and that it would be better for her to be inside.

            Just as Shelby was about to get up and make her way back to her cabin, there was a creak in the dock behind her.  She sighed, and glanced over her shoulder to observe her approaching intruder.  Ezra raked a hand through his already-tousled brown hair and offered Shelby a small smile.  She simply raised an eyebrow in return and turned back towards the water.

            She hadn't noticed the blanket in Ezra's hand, and was startled when he wrapped it around her shoulders and around Ava's small body.  

            "I thought you looked a little cold."

            "Thanks," she replied.

            Ezra simply nodded.

             "She's beautiful when she sleeps," Ezra motioned towards Ava. "I mean, not that she isn't beautiful all the time…"

            "I know what you mean," Shelby laughed.

            "Is that a smile?" he teased.

            When Shelby didn't answer, Ezra changed the topic back to Ava.

            "May I hold her?" he asked.

            Shelby nodded, carefully placing her daughter in Ezra's arms.

            "She's so small," he smiled, amazed at the infant he held in his arms.

            "Do you want kids?" Shelby asked, watching Ezra as he gently stroked Ava's cheek.

            Ezra considered the question carefully.

"I'm too scared I'd screw them up, you know?  I couldn't even keep my own life under control, so how could I raise a child with the slightest hope that they'd end up being ok?" 

            "It's scary, but it's ok." Shelby gazed at her daughter lovingly.  "It's definitely better than I thought it would be."

            Shelby and Ezra watched as the sun rose slowly, almost hesitantly, over the horizon, spilling light onto the Horizon campus.

            "Can I take a guess at what was going to come after that last sentence?"  Ezra asked after a few minutes.

            "Be my guest," Shelby said.

            "You wish you had someone to help you through it, someone to convince you that you're doing a good job."  Ezra answered.

            "How did you know that?"

            "I'm psychic," Ezra whispered with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

            "Try again, Freikin," Shelby smirked.  Ezra raised an eyebrow at the name, but let it slide.  He knew that this was simply Shelby's way of getting an answer without seeming too interested.

            "I can see it in the way you act with her, the way you talk about raising her."

            Shelby waited, knowing there was more.

            "And, there's the way you react to other people holding her and caring for her."

            Shelby shrugged in agreement.

            "It's not really even help with her that I want," Shelby admitted.  "It's help with me that I need.  Does that make sense?"

             "Perfect sense," Ezra said.  "You're lonely; you want someone to love you."

            "Now you're just making me sound desperate and pathetic," Shelby said.

            "More human than desperate or pathetic," Ezra placed Ava back in her mother's arms and stood up. "Can I give you a word of advice that might help you get through the weekend?" Ezra asked.

            "Isn't that the only reason you came out here?"

            "Talk to Scott."

            "I already did, last night."

            "I have a feeling there were a few things left unsaid."

            "When did you get so perceptive?" Shelby frowned.

            "When did you get so easy to read?" Ezra didn't miss a beat.

            "Go inside Freikin."

            Ezra smiled and made his way back to his cabin.

            "Oh and Shel?" he called from the opposite end of the dock.  "I want my blanket back."

            Shelby just laughed and shook her head.

_____________

            Melissa was roused to consciousness by the sound of the cabin door squeaking shut.  Scott cringed in the doorway as Melissa's eyes fluttered open. 

            He changed into a pair of pyjama bottoms and crawled into bed as quietly as possible.

            "Is Shelby ok?" Melissa said.

            Scott didn't answer right away, not sure what Melissa was expecting him to say.

            "She will be," he answered finally.

            Melissa nodded and rolled away from Scott to face the wall.

            Scott lay on his back, staring at the stucco ceiling above him.  His conversation with Shelby played in his mind like a broken record, his mind getting stuck on certain words.  Confessions had slipped out into the cold air without so much as a second thought or hesitation. 

            Scott glanced at Melissa's sleeping form: the slope of her back, the soft curls of hair caught under her arm as she slept, and the soft pink colour of her cheek.  He had loved her so much, at one point.  It had seemed like the only thing he could do.  To be with someone who couldn't have the slightest idea what had happened to him, who couldn't see how broken he had been, was the only cure.  It was the perfect distraction.

            But now, lying in a bed at Horizon, (a place he never thought he could go back to), everything with Melissa seemed so trivial, so fake.  In the two years they had been together he had not once told her about his past.  She knew nothing about the drugs, the abuse, and the pain.  Most of all, she knew nothing about Horizon. 

            As the first beam of sunlight slid between the curtains of the bedroom, Scott opened his eyes.  He had not slept, although God knows he had tried.  Memories of Horizon, like snippets of home videos, played through Scott's mind, in all their scratched and blurred imperfection.

            The sunlight flickered across Melissa's face, and she slowly opened her eyes.  She glanced at Scott, and, surprised to see him awake, offered a small smile.  Scott struggled to ignore how fake the smile was.

            "Morning," he whispered.

            "Hi," she smiled back.

            There was a pause before Melissa leaned in and kissed Scott.  It was an awkward kiss, with the anger and uncertainty of the night before still clutching to the air.

            "It's going to be a long day, isn't it?" Melissa asked quietly when Scott pulled away a little too soon.

            "At Horizon they always are," Scott said as he climbed out of bed and shuffled towards the bathroom for a shower.

___________________

"Alright Cliffhangers, I need to ask for a favour," Peter broke the tension at the breakfast table with his usual cheerful tone.

            The cliffhangers looked up at him expectantly, fully aware of the fact that Peter had undoubtedly saved each and every one of there lives at least once, and that returning a favour was the least they could do.

            "Sophie and I are having some trouble with this generation of Cliffhangers, and we thought maybe you guys could offer us some suggestions."

            "We can't really make any promises, but we can certainly try," Juliette offered, and the rest of the cliffhangers nodded in agreement.

            "Alright, why don't you guys start by sitting in on their group session.  We need them to see that they aren't the only ones with problems, and that other people have gone through the same thing."

            The cliffhangers followed Peter into the lounge, where the current cliffhangers were already sitting in a circle by the fire.  The old cliffhangers pulled up chairs and joined the group.  Shelby placed Ava, in her car seat, by her feet on the floor.  Amy and Melissa, uncertain about whether or not they should be a part of the group, chose seats on the other side of the room, out of earshot.

            "Ok cliffhangers, we have some special guests here today who are going to join our group session.  These lovely individuals are the former cliffhangers, who are back for a reunion."

            "Why would you even bother coming back here?" Cassandra, one of the current cliffhangers, asked.

            "It's not so bad here when you get used to it," Scott admitted with a smirk.

            "And coming from Scott that means a lot!" Ezra piped up.

            The old cliffhangers all nodded in agreement, some of them rolling their eyes at the memory of what Scott was like when he had first arrived at Horizon.

            "We're going to try something different for today's session," Peter said.  "Instead of the usual 'finish the following sentence' routine, we're going to shake things up a bit."    

            "Something different? I thought Horizon was all about routine and becoming normal again." Mark, the newest Cliffhanger, spoke up.

            "You'll never be normal again," Shelby answered for Peter.  "You learn to move on and to take the skills you learn here and apply them to your new life, but you will never be what you used to be."

            "I think that's probably one of the most important things that you need to realize before you can start to heal," Juliette agreed.

            "That and the fact that you can be yourself here.  You don't need to hide." Daisy said.

            "Ok, what we're going to do is this: I will run a quick group session with the old cliffhangers as an example, and then we will try it out with the new cliffhangers.  How does that sound?" Peter said.

            The old cliffhangers shrugged in agreement, and waited for Peter to start the session.