The final bell rung later that afternoon, releasing the students from the clutches of their classrooms. The halls began to fill with people, each heading off to their own various activities and plans.

"Hey El, Dylan and I are heading to that movie we were talking about with some of his hockey friends. The show starts at six, and I was wondering if you'd come, as my guest of course." Marco said as they exited class. Ellie was about to reply with a yes, but then remembered the note from Sean.

"Actually, I'm going over to Sean's this afternoon. Sorry..." Ellie stopped by her locker to collect her backpack and binder. Marco sighed, slightly disapointed by her answer.

"Alright El, I guess I'll see you over the weekend... " He replied, shrugging and walking off. She turned and watched him head off to join Dylan as he began walking out the front doors. She sighed, turning back to her locker and grabbing her backpack and binder before going off to meet Sean.

Sean was seated on a bench to the left of the stairs outside the school. He sat impatiently, watching the number of people out front slowly lessen as time progressed and sighed, "Maybe she didn't get the note... Or she just didn't want to come." He thought. Then a voice called over to him.

"Hey..." Sean looked up, a smile replacing his former frown as his eyes rested on Ellie, standing only a few feet away from him.

"Hey Ellie, I take it you got the note.." He said as he stood up and hoisted his backpack up around his shoulder. She nodded and smiled as they both started walking towards Sean's house, a path they had traveled together several times before.

Overall, the walk to his house was very quiet. Both were distracted by their own problems, unable to keep their burdens from their minds. Sean kept worrying about his grades and the awful thought of the possibility of having to move back to Wasaga Beach with his parents. Ellie, meanwhile was focusing on her family. She had recieved a letter in the mail a few days earlier, announcing that her father, who was supposed to come home from his peacekeeping mission in a matter of days had been delayed. Now she wouldn't see him, the empty vodka bottles would continue to litter the house, and she'd have to deal with her mother for another two months.

Things certainly weren't looking up for either of them.

Eventually they reached their destination. Sean stepped up to his door, pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, pulling it back for Ellie. She smiled slightly at the gesture and went inside, trying to push her worries to the back of her mind so they wouldn't ruin their date.

Sean followed her in, flipping on the light switch by the door as he dropped his bag next to the door and walked over to the couch, plopping himself down on one end. Ellie dropped her backpack next to Sean's and went to join him on the couch. He smiled, putting his arm around her and picked up the remote beside him to turn the TV on.

Sean began flipping through the channels, trying to find a good movie on one of them, ultimately he settled on Elimination Round 2. Ellie leaned over, resting her head on Sean's shoulder, trying not remember the time she and Sean went to see the sequel to the movie currently showing on the screen. It had been when they had first started dating, those few months ago, when she had accidentally put Marco between them. Ellie blinked, pushing the memory to the back of her mind. Finding the plot somewhat stupid as the sequal had been, she began focusing on the exaggerated visual effects of the movie.

Sean sighed, this was supposed to be relaxing, a nice quiet Friday evening spent with Ellie watching TV and eating pizza. But no matter how hard he tried, Sean couldn't relax. His problems kept surfacing in his mind, every time he would bury one another would appear, it was as if he was slowly being consumed by his problems, they were taking over and driving him crazy in the process.

Ellie glanced up at him, noticing the confusion behind his eyes and how tense he seemed. She sat up, causing him to turn towards her.

"What?" Sean questioned, as he watched her sit up and turn to face him.

"Sean, is everything alright?.. It seems like something's bugging you.." She asked.

"I'm fine." He replied, in a cold tone, trying to avoid the subject.

"Please don't lie to me, I can tell something's bothering you..." Ellie sighed, trailing off, letting silence fill the room for a moment before continuing, ".. You can tell me Sean.." She watched him, concerned about what was wrong. Then, under all of the pressure, Sean snapped.

"I'm fine Ellie." Sean stood up, his voice rising. He began to turn and walk away, trying not to say something he'd regret.

"Sean, I'm just concerned." She rose from the couch, facing him as he made his way towards the kitchen in attempt to regain control of his attitude.

"I said I'm fine! Why can't you just accept that and drop it?" He yelled from the kitchen, breathing heavily and glaring at her, his temper getting the better of him. They stood in their places for a few moments, letting an eerie silence fill the house.

"I'm sorry Sean.." She muttered, breaking the silence. "... I just thought I might be able to help, with whatever's bothering you so much."

"I don't need help. I can handle it myself!" He continued, slamming his fist on the kitchen table as he finished.

"I don't see why everyone has to go snooping into everyone else's buisness.. You're just like Emma, uptight and focused on every little thing!" Sean stopped, realizing he had crossed the line.

He stood in disbelief of what he had just done. Ellie remained silent, watching Sean for a moment before heading for the door, grabbing her backpack as she opened the it. With a emotionless glance back at Sean she shook her head and exited, closing the door quietly behind her.

Sean leaned back against the wall behind him, sliding down it until he reached the floor, reluctant to go after her, knowing he'd probably only screw it up even more. He sighed, staring at the floor, as an eerie silence filled the air around him despite the loud booms and shouts coming from the TV. His mind filled with flashbacks of all the mistakes he had made that day, from the car in shop class to his outburst a few minutes earlier, out of all the memories a question came to his mind.

"What the hell is wrong with me?...."

A/N: Sorry it's been a while since an update, I've had some hard training for a few major tournaments we're going to have in the next few weeks. Yesterday I pulled a quad muscle at practice so I finally had time to finish this chapter and try to stop being such a procrastinator...

orange crush3: Yeah, I agree, Sean in reality isn't a very emotional guy, I was originally thinking of this being in the future, where he might not be as much of a tough guy as he's portrayed right now. But now that I think about it I kind of screwed that up, oh well. I appreciate the review. Yours Truly, Ellie Nash is amazing, love the opinions on Sauve. :)

PsYcHoJo: Thanks for the constructive criticism, especially the dialogue, it works a lot better than what I originally had. I really enjoy Numb, I hadn't thought of Sean's alcohol addiction in a while, it's displayed really well in your story, I hope there's another chapter soon!

Lavenderangel: Thanks. There was a little interaction here, but there'll be more in the next few chapters.