Okay, so this took forever to type up, because well, Chrismukkah took over my house. I'm sorry for the long wait, but the waits should be a little shorter for the next two chaps, seeing as I wrote them already. I do know where I'm going with this and I have up until Chap 13 planned out. Pretty far, huh? Well, here's Growing....

Nikki knew. She got up and went over to Summer and hugged her as Summer let more tears fall.

"Ssshhh. It's gonna be fine," Nikki reassured Summer, but Summer shook her head.

"No, it won't," Summer told Nikki. How could she understand what Summer was going through? This was the nightmare no one even think of.

"You know, the let you go to your room now, so you can get adjusted," Mika tried to help Summer out.

How long are you gonna be in here for?" Kaci wondered out loud.

"Two months," Summer dismally answered. "I'm gonna go," She got up and left them all, going into her room. The room that would be hers for two whole months. Summer fell on her bed. Her bed. This was scary. It couldn't actually be happening, right?

"They're gonna make you come back out there if you just do this. You know, sulking. They hate sulking," Nikki appeared at the doorframe and she walked in.

"Oh," Summer sat up, looking at Nikki. She'd see her every day for two months.

"Why don't you make this place a little bit more like home? Do you have any pictures?" Nikki walked to Summer's bed and plopped down.

"Yeah," Summer answered. She only really talked to Nikki out of all the other girls. They tried, but she just wasn't that close with them all yet.

"Well, get them out, and I'll go get the tape roll. We're not allowed to have tape dispensers because they're afraid we're gonna cut ourselves. But I hope you're good at tearing tape, because I suck. I'll be right back," Nikki rushed out and left Summer. Slowly, very slowly, she got up and went to her bag. She'd have to unpack. Carefully, she pulled out the large pile of photos that Marissa gave her. "Is that them?" Nikki had returned, wearing a tape roll as a ring.

"Uh-huh," Summer didn't feel like doing anything. She wanted to sulk. But they didn't allow sulking. Damn it.

"We should start then. I say, put your favorite photo on your night stand so you can fall asleep looking at it, and think of better times and the freedom you'll have when you get out," Nikki told her. She went to her side of the room and retrieved something off of her night stand. Then, she handed the item to Summer.

It was a photo of a much younger Nicole, and another little girl. They were smiling. The two both looked very innocent, like nothing could go wrong.

"That's me and my younger sister, Carli a little over five years ago," Nikki filled Summer in. Nicole didn't look much like she did in the photo, now a lot more pale, and emaciated.

"She's really pretty," Summer commented.

"Yeah, she was," Nikki corrected Summer.

"Was?" Summer asked, not really thinking about what Nikki meant.

"About two days after this photo was taken, Carli was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver," Nikki told Summer without any real emotion. She lost most emotion a long time ago.

"I'm sorry," Nikki didn't want Summer's false apologies, but she still took it. No one really knew what it was like to lose a sister. At least no one Nikki knew.

After the accident, her life had fallen down the drain. Her parents split and she would go to parties to numb the pain fo her life. Eventually she almost killed herself, but it didn't matter. Soon drugs were involved, they were much stronger than alcohol. No one had cared about Nikki by then. She was sent away, and thought she was okay until the last person who had understood her, died of a pill overdose.

Over they years, Nicole had been in and out of this facility, never really getting better. The therapists didn't understand, how could they? They never dealt with what their patients dealt with.

"It's cool. But pick your favorite," Nikki blew off memory lane, and decided to go down Summer's.

"Um....." Summer began to flip through the photos. All four of them, a couple of rare all six of them, even two of all of them plus Oliver. There were lots of Summer and Marissa, even one with Summer and Ryan. Ryan and Marissa had a bunch, back when they were a couple. Then, she fell upon her favorite. It had been one of the first photos Summer had gotten rid of. A photo of her and Seth on the pier. They were both happy, not knowing their fate. "This one."

"Who is that?" Nikki asked as Summer handed the photo to her.

"My boyfriend, Seth," Summer felt proud saying it, even though she missed him so badly.

"Hope he doesn't leave like all the other guys," Nikki commented to Summer.

"He won't. Not this time," Nikki had no clue what Summer meant by that.

"Anyways, now that you're chosen you're favorite photo, let's put the rest up," Nikki placed the photo of Summer and Seth on Summer's night stand.

Summer wasn't so sure she was ready to do this. This would mean Summer was here indefinitely. And she didn't want that. She wanted this to still be the three day probabtion period. But it wasn't. And she was stuck.

"Okay," Summer regretfully said. Nikki took some of the pile of photos. She started the tape roll, and tried to tear it. Soon enough, the tape was all twisted and a mess. "Here," Summer took the tape and tore the twisted part off. She then pulled more, and tore off a perfect, non-twisted piece of tape.

"Thanks," Nikki took a picture of Marissa, and made a tape doughnut on the picture. "Now, who is this?" Nikki showed the picture to Summer.

"That's Marissa, my friend," Summer answered, figuring out how much she missed Marissa.

"Been friends for long?" Nikki wondered.

"All my life," Nikki was envious, no doubt about it. She never had a friend for long. They always left when she couldn't pay them.

"Cool," Nikki put the picture on the wall. "There. The beginning. Put one up."

"Okay," Summer made a tape doughnut and took a picture of her and Marissa and placed it next to the one of just Marissa.

"Good, now 1 million more," Nikki joked, picking up some more, one including Ryan. "Who is this guy?"

"Just a friend. Ryan," Summer answered. This was tougher than she expected. Going through the pictures made her think back. Back to a time when everything was all right. Wait, was there a time when everything was all right? There always had been something going on. But before Ryan came, nothing happened. He saved them all.

"Neat," Nikki seemed so harmless. Like you could really talk to her. Marissa was good to an extant, but Nikki seemed like you could really say stuff to her. But was Summer ready to tell everything?

The two worked in silence for a little bit, mostly they put up pictures of Seth, Summer, Marissa, and Ryan. Nikki kept looking over warily as Summer took her time looking at every photo, and then putting it up. She finally came to a photo with seven people, at a back stage event.

"Okay, I know you and your three closet friends. But who are the other three?" Nikki stared at the photo. Summer pointed to Anna, right next to Seth.

"Well, that's Anna, Seth's old girlfriend...." Summer began, but Nicole interrupted.

"Your Seth?" Nikki asked.

"Yes," Summer remembered that triangle. Summer completely broke up Seth and Anna. She did anything she could to break them up.

"Ah, I smell a hint of old jealously," Nikki joked with Summer as Summer pointed to Luke.

"And this is Luke, Marissa's and Marissa's mom's old boyfriend..." Summer knew what to expect from that.

"Wait, what?" Nikki didn't know if she heard right.

"Luke dated Marissa and then dated her mom," Summer answered, knowing that that sounded completely strange.

"Ew," Summer also knew she would've said the same thing, if she hadn't been through it.

"Yeah. Oh and that's Oliver, he's a long story," Summer pointed to Oliver, standing between Marissa and Ryan, with his evil grin, his arm around Marissa. Ryan didn't look very happy in the photo.

"Oliver....?" Nikki wanted to know his last name.

"Trask," Summer answered. It had been such a long time since she talked about Oliver.

"Trask, eh? I think I once went to school with him about five years ago. It is a small world after all," Nikki commented.

"Uh-huh," The two girls again worked in silence. The walls was soon filling up, they still had a third of the photos left. Summer missed Ryan, and Marissa, and Seth so much. Every photo made the pain worse to deal with.

"You okay?" Nikki asked, watching as Summer put up the pictures.

"Hmm? I'm fine," Summer answered, though she really wasn't.

"Oh, because I think it's time to go," Nikki could hear the other girls leaving.

"Okay," Summer nodded and placed the remaining photos on the bed. She then followed Nikki out of the room to meet with the other girls. Her and Nicole parted ways and Summer went with Kaci, Lauren, and Evan to Art Therapy.

Marie was relatively pleased when she found Summer sitting on the bench. They were sent to their easels. Marie told them to paint a picture around a tree. It could be any tree, but the tree had to be in the main idea of the painting.

Summer again stared at her easel. The others were just as confused. Except Evan. She started right away. Something with a tree. Maybe kids buying a Christmas tree? People on a tree swing? A family tree? Summer couldn't do trees. Didn't work.

But maybe this time she could make a start. She'd be here for a while anyways. So she took her paintbrush, and dipped it in the brown paint. That was usually how far she got. Not this time. On the easel, a brown line formed.

Summer felt proud. She was making progress, and that was good. Maybe she could get let out of here early. It was worth a shot. So she added another stroke. And soon, she had finished the tree's main part. Now the branches. She took a different brush and dipped that one in the brown. Summer started to make branches. This was getting easier.

"Wonderful, Summer. This is great so far. You've finally begun to paint. Great job," Marie walked by, pleased. Summer smiled to herself. She really wanted out.

"Good job, Summer," Evan commented as she put her first painting on the desk to dry.

"What's yours?" Summer looked at the painting. It was an aged tree, with a carousel around it. The horses were bleeding, and in the background, a new, almost transparent carousel was there.

"It represents being used too much, and having a difficult childhood and wanting a better one, but it's gone and you can't have it," Evan told Summer.

"Neat," Summer was a tiny bit afraid of the painting. It was so emotionally charged, and Summer's was just....blah.

"You know, it took me a while to get adjusted. I couldn't paint for a week. You're already doing better than me," Evan smiled at Summer.

"Thanks," Summer paused and Evan began to walk away. "Um, Evan?"

"Yeah?" Evan turned back around to Summer.

"I wanted to ask you if you knew when we have visitation days," It was one of the first times Summer voluntarily talked to one of the girls.

"Oh, well, you got lucky. When I came, I had to wait two weeks. The next visitation is this Saturday. Only two more days."

000000000000

Sandy opened the door and took a deep breath. This was it. He had to tell them. He had tried planning on how to break it to them, but he didn't come up with much. He would have to wing it.

No one heard him, thank goodness. He wasn't ready to talk. Two tell them. How would his family take it? Seth, he knew, would be taking it the hardest, then Kirsten, and then Ryan. Ryan never showed his feelings. He never let them get in his way. Sandy wished he could be like that sometimes.

He walked into the kitchen. Ryan sat at the table, doing homework. He could hear the television from the other room.

"Hey kid," Sandy greeted Ryan.

"Hey," Ryan turned around. "How was....." But he didn't continue by the look on Sandy's face. "How long?" Sandy put up two fingers, and Ryan nodded. He turned back to his homework as Kirsten walked in.

"Hi. I missed you," Kirsten hugged her husband and kissed him. "How'd it go?"

"Well, not so good. I tired, but she kinda gave up," Sandy answered.

"Oh, Sandy. How long?" Kirsten felt sick. This wasn't how it was supposed to be going. Summer was supposed to be out. What would Seth do once he found out?

"Two months. I tried to get her in less, but she didn't want to. All I can say is by the look of her, they might want to keep her in longer," Seth's heart stopped. He was standing at the kitchen doorway, invisible to the people inside it. But then Kirsten finally looked up.

"Seth," She was surprised to see him there. Ryan and Sandy turned to find him, like a deer stuck in the road. All eyes were on him as his life collapsed. He bolted. "Seth!" Kirsten tried going after him, but Sandy stopped her.

"Give him a couple minutes. To relax. Then go up," Sandy told her.

"What if he....." Kirsten started.

"He won't. Not yet at least. If he does, we'll just watch all the doors," Sandy interrupted. Kirsten stared up at the stairs her son bounded up just seconds ago.

Seth was sitting on his floor, leaned up against his locked door. Everything was gone. He felt completely and totally responsible. If he had died, none of this would've ever happened.

Summer wasn't coming back. The only thing that kept him going was gone. Granted, it was two months, but that was about how long he had been gone. And that had to have been long. Summer nearly killed herself in that time.

Seth was scared of what was to come. How could he face that school? He barely could with Summer. Now, knowing she wasn't coming back, what would happen? He was lost without her.

He wanted to run, but where? He had nowhere to run. All Seth knew was that he couldn't face this world. Summer was gone, so what was left here?

"Seth," Kirsten knocked on his door. She had decided to be the one to talk to him. Sandy talked to him yesterday, so it was Kirsten's turn.

"What?" Seth didn't want to talk to anyone, especially his mom.

"Can I come in?" Kirsten felt so far apart from her son. Sometimes she thought he hated her. Anything she said, he defied it. Every time he ran to Summer, Kirsten felt like he was running away from her.

"I'm busy," Seth lied. He knew nothing of the pain his mother felt. He prayed she would leave.

But Kirsten didn't. If she did, she might lose her son forever. It was common for this to happen. For sons to fall in love. Kirsten understood that, but she didn't want to believe that. Because in doing this, Kirsten was being replaced. She never had to worry about this before Ryan came. She never expected her son to grow up.

And now, she had two sons dealing with everything Kirsten feared. She always wanted to save them. But how could she? They had to do this on their won. And Kirsten hated that.

Every minute that went by, Seth grew farther apart from his mother. He had no clue it was happening, but Kirsten did. Sandy didn't get it because a father couldn't be replaced. In a daughter's eyes, he could and yet, a mother could not. They had their sons, and Kirsten never expected to be replaced so soon.

She thought back to when Seth had been a little kid, when life had been so simple. Now, nothing was simple. Seth and Ryan would be leaving soon, and her and Sandy would be all alone. Kirsten feared that emptiness, and luckily, she had only dealt with it for two weeks. Seth had been Kirsten and Sandy's life for sixteen years. Then Ryan came along, and he became a part of their family and their life.

"Seth," Kirsten said, having no clue what to say after. She thought the words would come to her, but nothing came.

"What?" Seth was partially annoyed, he had wanted to be left alone.

"Are you okay?" Kirsten asked. She wanted to hug Seth, because she knew he was upset. He should have been told directly, and calmly. Instead, he eavesdropped and learned.

"I'm fine, Mom," Seth answered. Of course he wasn't okay. His life was crumbling to pieces. Oh yeah, he was doing just dandy.

"Are you sure?" Kirsten knew she would have to leave soon. And she didn't want to.

"Yes, Mom. I'm fine," Seth was getting pissed. He wanted to be left alone, and it didn't seem like that was happening.

"Because if you want to talk...." Kirsten offered.

"I'm fine Mom! I don't need to fucking talk! Just go the fuck away!" Seth screamed at his mother. Immediately she felt the tears fall. She was hurt, because she knew her son really did hate her.

"Okay," Kirsten whispered, wiping the tears away and finally leaving. She had lost him.

Seth felt worse than ever. He had succeeded in making his life suck more for not just him, but his mother also. He shouldn't have snapped at Kirsten, she didn't deserve it.

He finally looked up from the ground. The computer caught his eye. An idea got suck in his head. Maybe he was ready.

Downstairs, Kirsten was lying in her bed, years quietly falling. She felt horrible, now she knew how Seth felt, with wanting to be left alone.

"Kirsten," Sandy stood at the doorway. She looked up, and he walked to the bed and sat down.

"I guess you heard," She commented to him. Hell, probably their new next door neighbors heard.

"Yep. We have a quite angsty kid, don't we?" Sandy half-joked.

"Sure," Kirsten wasn't in the mood for Sandy.

"You know, he didn't mean what he said," Sandy wasn't too happy with Seth. He had no right to yell at Kirsten.

"Yes he did Sandy. He hates me. He won't even look at me anymore. I'm amazed he didn't tell me to go to hell," Kirsten felt like such a bad mother.

"Kirsten..." Sandy began, trying to console his wife.

"I've failed as a parent! This is all my fault!" Kirsten yelled. She got up and walked out of the room.

"Kirsten, you didn't!" Sandy didn't know what to say. His whole family was slowly losing it.

"Yes, I did and you know it!" She went into the kitchen, with tears pouring down her face.

Ryan turned and watched as she scavenged everywhere for a bottle of liquor. It was so reminiscent of Dawn Atwood. His hand shook. He felt 14 again. Watching as his mother destroyed herself. Ryan ran out the door.

Kirsten didn't notice, but Sandy did. She found a bottle and took a straight sip of it. Ryan watched from in the pool house in sadness and Sandy watched from the doorway in disappointment.

"What?" She slurred to Sandy when she found him watching her.

"Don't you see it?" Sandy asked, having seen Ryan stare from the window. He was gone now.

"See what, Sandy?" Kirsten didn't understand.

"You're so worried about being a failure of a parent to Seth that you're failing Ryan," Kirsten set down the bottle. "He watched his mother drink and destroy his family. He watched Marissa drink and overdose in Mexico. Do you really want to do it to him again?"

"No," Kirsten felt even worse, and cried harder. Sandy walked over to her, and held her close.

"We'll get through this," Sandy said, but had no clue on what was to come.

Ah, another chapter done. Sorry for such a really long wait. I kept procrastinating at typing. I just did not want to do it. I wanted to tell you that I am writing again in The Rest Is Silence, but it might be a while for an update. But I have been writing, so that's a start. Please review, I love them. Except bad ones. I take them too hard.(That's kind of why this took so long to type)