A/N: Sorry for the emotional chapter seven! I just thought that it would be too perfect to let things end the way "they should" (or we hope them to). This chapter will be seen entirely from Martin's point of view.

"Hey, Dad?" Martin asked, knocking lightly on his father's office door.

Bill Brewer sat at his desk, sorting through bills and receipts. He looked up from the piles of paperwork and saw his son standing in the doorway. He was filled with so much pride for his son, even through all of his mistakes. Martin was a fine, young man and he would find his way out of this hole he had dug for himself. Things would work out, Bill just knew it.

"Come on, son," he greeted.

Martin took a seat in front of his father and took a deep breath, expelling the air slowly from his lungs. "Do you have a minute?"

"For you, I have several," Bill smiled and pushed the papers to the side of his desk. "What's on your mind?"

"I think that I really messed things up," Martin started.

"I thought that things between you and Sandy were getting better?" Bill asked. "You've been spending some time together, taking her to appointments and whatnot."

Martin shook his head. "It's not Sandy."

Bill leaned back in his chair. He eyes his son, trying to read his problems through his facial expressions. "Ruthie?"

Martin nodded. "In case you haven't noticed, Ruthie and I were starting to get better, but these last few weeks have been worse than ever."

"What happened?" Bill asked.

"I went over to Ruthie's house. She seemed to be getting along a lot better. She'd dumped Jack and was writing for the newspaper and stuff. I thought that since she seemed to be feeling better, I'd try to talk to her and get things resolved."

"Didn't work out the way you wanted it to?"

"Not exactly," Martin sighed. "I mean it started out okay, but then I realized that Ruthie was being way too nice. She was telling me all of the things she thought I wanted to hear. So I called her on it."

Bill leaned forward, placing his elbows on the corner of his desk. "And she got mad at you?"

Martin shook his head. "Actually she started to cry. I asked her what she would do if I told her that Sandy had had my baby. She got this really sad look on her face and then started to cry."

Bill hadn't known Ruthie Camden for a long time, but it had always been evident to him that Ruthie loved Martin. He imagined her small world collapsing around her and his heart went out to the young girl who had become like family to him and his son.

"Dad?" Martin asked.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about how hard this must be for Ruthie."

"I know."

Bill looked at his son questioningly. "What did you do?"

"I held her. It was the only thing I knew how to do to try to help her," Martin admitted.

"Well that doesn't seem so bad," Bill shrugged.

Martin's face fell. Bill noticed it immediately. He was not getting the whole story from his son. Something told him that there was more to all of this than he wanted to admit.

"What else?" Bill pushed.

Martin lowered his head. "She kicked me out of her room."

"And?"

"I started to leave."

"And?" Bill thought this was like pulling teeth! Martin wasn't about to offer any information that wasn't pulled out of him.

"I couldn't go, Dad!" Martin exclaimed. "I couldn't leave without getting things right. If I would have left, Ruthie wouldn't have talked to me again!"

"So you stayed and tried to talk with her?" Bill suggested.

Martin shook his head, lowering it even further.

"What did you do?" Bill asked, feeling anger beginning to stir within him. "What did you do to that girl?"

Martin whispered, "I kissed her."

Bill let all of the air out of his lungs, until he felt spent. What had Martin been thinking? He wanted to throttle the boy, but knew that Martin had come here in need of advice and guidance. A beating wouldn't help.

"Dad?" Martin asked, finally raising his head to look his father in the eyes.

"What are your feelings towards Ruthie?" Bill asked, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"I don't know," Martin admitted.

Bill stood up quickly, knocking his chair backward onto the floor. Martin jumped at the loud noise the chair created in the once silent room. Bill paced the room, eyeballing Martin the entire time. "I don't know is not good enough, Martin! You have to start using your head!"

Martin swallowed hard. "I know and that's what I've been trying to do."

"So how could you have convinced yourself that kissing Ruthie Camden was the right thing to do?" Bill yelled.

Martin jumped again, hearing his father's angry words. He shook his head. "I don't know why I did it. I just…I just…I don't know."

Bill walked back behind his desk and picked his chair up off of the floor. He sat down, trying to steady himself. "Ruthie is only sixteen years old, Martin. She's a child."

"Ruthie's more mature than some people your age," Martin pointed out.

"Is she mature enough to handle being with a guy who's about to have a child with another girl?" Bill asked.

Martin hated what his father was implying. Ruthie was his friend and nothing more! "It's not like that between Ruthie and I."

Bill chuckled sarcastically. "Really? Seems to me like it's exactly like that. She's already admitted to having some pretty serious feelings for you and now you've just made your feelings pretty evident with that kiss of yours."

Martin slumped down into his chair. "I didn't mean it that way."

Bill laughed again. "You like Ruthie, Martin. Maybe you always have. When you were faced with the idea of losing her, you did what any guy in love would have done; you fought for her."

Martin stared at his father. "I don't like Ruthie like that."

Bill got up from his chair and headed for the door. "Do me a favor? Stay inside of this office until you get a few things straight in your head, Martin. Then when you do, we can talk and decide on a course of action. But all of my help and advice won't do any good until you get your feelings together."