Nora emerged from the clinic, looking a little fazed.

"Five weeks, to the day," she said. Kate saw how shaken Nora looked and put an arm around her.

"Are you OK, dear?"

Nora looked at Kate, and tears began to stream steadily down her face.

"They asked me if I wanted to keep it or kill it," she mumbled, sniffing hard.

"Kill it? That's a pretty morbid way of putting it, honey," Kate said softly, as they both got into the car.

"Well it's the reality, Mom. And now that my reality's so pissed up, I don't see why I shouldn't just accept things for what they are, however much it hurts."

Kate watched sadly as her eldest daughter angrily shut the seatbelt into place.

"Well what do you want to do, Nora? I mean, I know you were anti-abortion as a younger girl, but-"

"Well I still am," Nora retorted, "I can't make an exception for myself Mom. It's a little person, growing inside me, I-I-I'd feel l-like a murdererrrrr..." Nora tailed off, crying, and put her head in her hands.

"Nora baby?"

"Y-yeah?"

"You gotta talk to Hank."

"You're a retard, Barbie!"

"Am not, Chubby!"

"You are, you can't even do Jake's math homework!"

"She can't even do Mike's math homework," laughed Jessica as she watched the latest argument heighten, this time between Henry and Lorraine.

"Shut up, carrot-head," hissed Lorraine. Jessica shrugged and walked away.

"I'll deal with you later," she snarled at Henry, disappearing back into her palace of mascara and chick-flick DVDs.

"Sure, I'll see ya then, if you can actually remember my name," he snorted.

Sarah was sitting in her room, rethreading her lacrosse stick net. There was a knock at her door.

"Come in, unless it's Lorraine, Dad or Kyle," she murmured.

"Guess again," laughed Jake, entering.

"What is it?"

"I was wondering if I could borrow your 2002 compilation CD?"

"Sure," said Sarah, not looking up from the mangled pile of string she had been fiddling with for quite some time. "Wait..." she suddenly blurted out. Jake stopped with his hand in mid air. "One one condition..." she said, testily.

"What? It's just a CD!"

"Well, you'll proabably say no 'cause you're such a totally goody-two-shoes when it comes to this, but, could you-"

"Cover for you again?"

"Yuh, dude!"

"No WAY!" Jake snapped, "not again. I'm pretty sure Mom was getting suspicious anyway, she won't believe you've eaten rotten food again, 'speshly if we all ate the same thing!"

"Oh come on Jake, don't be so stupid!"

"No!"

"Fine," snarled Sarah, "don't cover for me, tell Mom! But if you do, you'll have wasted your breath. She'll never find me. And I'll be gone a long, long time."

With that, Sarah dashed out of the room angrily. Jake glared at her retreating back, and tried to think out a way he could get around this one.

Knock knock.

"C'min," he mumbled angrily. A red headed person peeped through the door.

"It's Mark, are you OK?"

"I'm great thanks, and you?"

"You know what I mean. I meant, well, Sarah looked really angry, I thought you two may have fought, and maybe I could help?"

Jake couldn't help but melt at this.

"Thanks buddy, but there isn't anything you can do. Really."

"Hey, do you wanna go over the road and ask those kids if they wanna hang out here?"

"OK then," Jake said, getting off his bed, just glad of a distraction from Sarah's love-life mess that she was using him as a puppet in. He wanted to believe he would tell Kate, but he knew deep down that if he was put in that situation, he'd find himself covering for her, time after time. But he looked out of the window at the sunshine, and smiled excitedly at Mark. It would probably be fun meeting these new kids, at least it would be something to do.

"What are the kids up to?" enquired Tom.

"Well Lorraine's studying, her fashion magazines, happily as a sandboy, Henry's practising his clarinet, hence the uh, background music, Jake's hanging out with Mark, Sarah's in the garden with Jessica and Mike, Nigel's practising his football in the garden with them..."

"What about Kim?"

"Oh, she's in her room again, moping."

"Is she OK? She's always fine in the daytime."

"I hope so, Tom. I think she's just feeling a little hormonal at the moment."

"Yeah, that's probably it."

To be honest, they were right, and they were wrong. Kim's hormones were in a total maelstrom, true, but there were more sinister things going on in her head. She had been crying into her pillow for half an hour, then she had written a funny little four-line poem about death. All she could think about was Jessica, being better than her, being prettier, cleverer, more popular than her. It made her sick. She couldn't resist thinking what it would be like if Jessica died. Whether she'd be accepted, or just be 'darling departed Jessica's ugly twin'.

Then she suddenly realised how twisted that thought really was.

"What kind of a freak am I?" she spat at herself, picking up a pencil and jabbing it just below her wrist, as though as a punishment.

"Ow!" she drew in her breath sharply. That had really hurt. And yet, it felt good. When her arm hurt, her thoughts were tugged away from the sick, morbid things she had just thought about. She jabbed the pencil in again, this time a little harder. Tears flew into her eyes, but she felt happy, in the weirdest possible way. A sick thrill pulsated through, her adrenalin soaring across her body. Almost as though it were a reflex, she dashed downstairs, grabbed a sharp knife, and before she knew it, she was back up in her room, it was against her wrist.

"What if I kill myself?" she thought. Then took a look at the knife. "I'll do it gently..." she whispered.

It stung like crazy. She heard Kyle and Mike laughing and shouting outside. What would they think if they knew that their older sister was drawing blood from her arms inside?

"Just do it Kim," said the voice within. And she did. Three times,without stopping to let the pain seep in. When the blood started to ebb in, so did the pain. Putting her hand over her lips to stifle a yell, she ran into the bathroom, ran her arm under the tap for a few minutes, then pushed an old cloth against her sore excuse of an arm.

When it stopped bleeding, she took a look at the three slashes on her arm. And, unable to help it, she felt proud.

Jake looked at his G-Shock at night. It was nearly quarter to eleven. Damn. Sarah would have gone. He sat in his room, trying to focus on his fun day with his younger siblings (him and Mark had been unable to get hold of the new kids), but all he could think of was Sarah. What if she was hurt. Or ill? Or lost? He knew he was being stupid, she was just loved up with some spotty kid in some café or other, well, he thought she was. But what if she wasn't, what if...

Unable to think anymore, Jake closed his eyes, and fell straight to sleep...

"Jake! Jake! Wake up, I'm back!"

Jake awoke to his sister shaking him firmly.

"What time is it, Sarah?" No answer. Jake looked at the clock.

"Sarah, it's quarter to 4!"

"Really. Whoa, time flies, huh?"

"Sarah, this isn't funny, where have you been?"

"With Alex. My boyfriend. Of c-course."

"You OK, Sarah?"

"I'm great. Why?"

Jake was quiet. He had suspicions, but this was going to be painful and embarrassing to ask. Best do it quick, he thought.

"Sarah, are you having sex?"

Sarah looked furious.

"No! Jake, I'm not! I swear! Just, oh why don't you just bloody leave me alone! I'm fine!"

Once again, she turned to go out of the room.

"Sarah just be CAREFUL, that's all I'm saying!" called Jake into the darkness. During that short conversation, the lights had been off, seeing as Sarah had not bothered to turn them on. But even without being able to see her face, he could sense her tension, and he made up his mind that he wouldn't cover for her like this anymore.

Hope you like it. I know the Kim part is a bit morbid, but it's all part of the tapestry of their life, and everything gets better, trust me! PLease R&R!