Title: Downfall
Type: 7th Heaven Fan Fiction
Rating: PG-13 (Sex, Alcohol, possible drug content)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of 7th Heaven. I do own all my original characters and this story, though. Don't take.
Summary: Tragedy strikes Lucy and Kevin, who then must decide what to do with their lives.

Notes: Thanks for the positive reviews! To those who don't like it, I'm sorry that you don't like it. To those that do, here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Downfall

Chapter Seventeen: Admission

Ruthie fell asleep for the first time in 47 hours at 6:18pm that night. Lucy, Kevin, Amelia, and Nichol met outside in hushed voices. Nichol smoked. Lucy leaned against the house. Amelia sat beside Kevin, who was on the porch, head in hands.

"I think we should be honest with each other," Kevin spoke up, "And with Ruthie." Lucy turned to him. He might as well have been her ex-husband. She didn't know this man anymore. She didn't know herself. She didn't know this house. This neighborhood. Her supposed friends. The only thing she knew is that she wished she was at home, crying in her mother's arms one more time. She wished she could be thirteen again and having problems with boys like Jimmy Moon and Rod.

"What do we have to be honest about?" Amelia asked him, "With each other, I mean."

"We've been postponing the fact that sometime soon, we're going to leave each other," Kevin explained. This sparked Lucy and Nichol's attention.

"I haven't been postponing anything," Lucy told him, "My sister showed up, what was I supposed to do?"

"We could have told her straight out," Kevin suggested.

"Maybe we could have, maybe we should have, but we didn't. We pretended that everything was fine and dandy and that got us nowhere!" Lucy exclaimed. She was on the verge of tears again. Her eyes hadn't been this tired for years. The crying, the late hours, the mental stress. Everything was getting to her and she was afraid if she didn't escape, she'd explode.

"This was a mistake. Coming out here was a mistake. It was my idea and I'm sorry," Amelia apologized. A tear streaked her face. "I don't know what's gotten into me lately. I've been such a monster and I hate myself for it. I've put all three of you through such crap that I just wish I could die."

"Don't say that," Nichol commanded, throwing his cigarette. "The thing is, I'll always love you. Amelia, you broke my heart. I hate you for it, but I'll always love you. You were my first love and no matter what happens, you always will be."

"That's sweet, Nichol, but everything won't wrap up in a neat package like that," Amelia told him. Her voice had become soft and caring, replacing the sarcastic, moody Amelia that they'd been seeing for the past few days.

"I don't know what to do," Lucy admitted, "I wish things hadn't gone the way they had. If I could rewind life, I'd put it back to before you had the affair and somehow, I'd stop it."

"We can't live in the past," Kevin informed them, "That's why we're going to tell Ruthie. She's going to go home, and I'm going to move out. I can't live like this. It's not living."

"Where will you go?" Lucy asked, concerned.

"Maybe I'll go and live with my mom or Ben until the divorce is final," Kevin replied. The word 'divorce' sent chills down everyone's spine. Lucy gulped. She knew it was coming, but when it came, she wasn't expecting for it to hit that hard.

"Divorce?"

"Lucy, we can't continue being husband and wife. Too much has happened," Kevin explained, "I don't want a divorce, but what other choice do we have?" Nichol shrugged, then lit another cigarette.

"Is there any other way out?" Nichol wanted to know.

"No," Amelia replied, her voice not sure of itself.

"Where will you guys go?" Lucy wanted to know.

"I don't know. I'll probably drift somewhere. I've always wanted to try New Orleans, but I don't know. This is all moving a little too fast for me," Nichol explained.

"I don't know either," Amelia began, "But I can't stay here. I agree that we just need to get out. I need to breathe. I miss my family. Maybe I'll move in with my dad."

"What about you, Luce?" Kevin asked.

"All I want is my mommy and daddy," Lucy replied. Any other time, it would have seemed childish or funny, but secretly, that's all any of them wanted. After a long moment of silence, Ruthie exited the house to join them. She'd been awake all of five minutes, but was curious as to why everyone was gathered outside. She noticed Lucy's wet eyes. Nichol took an unenthusiastic puff of his cigarette.

"What's going on?" Ruthie asked, desperate for information. All four exchanged glances with each other. Lucy looked to Kevin to say something.

"Ruthie, can we talk?" Kevin asked. Ruthie nodded. "Could you sit down?" Ruthie sat.

"What's going on?"

"We've been lying to you," Kevin explained, "We're not happy. We made a mistake. Amelia and I have been having an affair."

"What?" Ruthie asked, shocked.

"We caught them," Lucy explained, "Me and Nichol. We slept together and they found out. We haven't been happy with each other. Actually, we've been really angry and depressed. We decided to hide it from you because we didn't want to ruin your visit."

"And we didn't want you to tell the Camden's," Kevin added. Ruthie stared at their faces blankly. No words came. These weren't the people she remembered them being.

"I won't say anything," Ruthie promised, "but I want to go home." Lucy's heart sank.

"I'll book you a flight for tomorrow," Lucy promised. Ruthie's eyes filled with tears and she nodded. She stood up and was about to go inside when Nichol spoke to her.

"Ruthie," He called softly. Ruthie turned. "I'm sorry for everything. I really am." Ruthie stared at him for a minute, then rushed into the house.

Ruthie didn't speak another word to them. She waved goodbye to Lucy when she boarded the plane, but not a word. The house was unusually quiet. Ruthie came with a heart, but within a few days, they'd broken it into pieces.