A/N: In honor of Qubie as I wrote most of this I was eating chicken fingers and mac and cheese. Just in case you were wondering. LOL! Probably – you weren't – but oh well.

I am on V A C A T I O N starting on Friday. You know what that most likely means? Updates galore!

Tissue alert in this chapter btw. At least – I needed one as I wrote it. But in case you didn't know I'm one of the sappiest saps around. ;)

Until 54 – enjoy! xox – G

PS – Dear PCGirl - Jamal and Ali need to break up – and soon. Make Chris tell them to. Love, Gracie heeheehee

Chapter Fifty-three

"You are insane, Becky." Maggie said with a sigh.

"He won't listen to me." Becky insisted. "I have to do something drastic."

"Trust me – drastic is not the way to go. Learn from my mistakes, Becks. Just be patient. He'll look for them when he's ready."

"He'll never be ready." Becky said with a sigh. "Do you know what he does? He's so cautious he grabs my hand when we cross the street – AND looks both ways AND only crosses at the light…"

"He loves you." Maggie replied, biting back a chuckle. "He's just trying to keep you safe."

"You are no help." Becky shoved another t-shirt into her bag and sank onto the bed beside it. "I liked you a lot better when you were a delinquent." She muttered.

Maggie laughed loudly. "You did not. We stopped talking because I was a delinquent."

Becky stared at her hands in her lap, examining her nail polish. "What would you do, Maggie? If Tim's parents were divorced and his mom ran off with his sister. Would you just sit by and watch his heart breaking? Because that's what happens with Kyle. I've seen it – with my own eyes. His phone rings and its Alaina and he gets this…look." Becky sniffled as she stared up at the ceiling. "He talks to her for just a few minutes and it takes me a full hour to bring him back to me."

"OK – but Becky…" Maggie tried to gather her thoughts.

She kept talking, not wanting to hear it. "He needs to find them, Mags."

Maggie sympathized, but knew that this idea Becky had was sure to be nothing but trouble. "You need to calm down. This is crazy Becky. Your father is going to LOSE IT if you run off on your own."

"But Maggie…" Becky tried again.

"But nothing." Maggie shook her head. "Becky – you can't run away like this."

"Katie ran away. She ran after Colin and look how that ended. They are married now and have a beautiful baby. My parents went through so much before they were finally able to be happy. This is nothing compared to all they went through. This is just a little glitch. I can take care of it like that…" Becky said with a snap of her finger. "Kyle just has to let me."

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"This place is amazing." Ethan whispered as he stood next to Lynnie on a trail overlooking the mountains. "I can see why you love it."

She reached out and took his hand in hers. "That's the first thing I thought when I came here and saw this view. I thought…Ethan would love it here."

"So. You were thinking about me." He said softly as he gave her hand a squeeze.

"Every minute…" Lynnie nodded, still staring out at the scenery. "…every second…" She added softly.

They had talked so much in the last few days, trying at long last to clear the air. Their conversations typically ended with Lynnie in tears and with the two of them wrapped in each others arms.

"Did you think that I blamed you?" Ethan asked, his voice quivering a bit.

Silence fell between them. "I thought you should have." She finally admitted.

The fact that she kept such a burden made him angry. "Well - you thought wrong Lynnie. How could I blame you for something that obviously wasn't your fault?"

Lynnie pulled her hand from his and went to sit on a fallen log. She brushed the dust from the trail off her jeans and drew her knees up, resting her head on her arms.

"Ethan? Do you really think I can do this?" She asked as she blinked back tears. "Because I'm not sure at all…"

"I am very sure." His heart ached as he moved to sit beside her, running a hand gently down her back.

She sat up straight and gazed into his eyes, rubbing her hands over her cheeks in an effort to dry them. She'd spent so much time crying lately she'd begun to not wear her glasses, it was too annoying to keep having to take them off and she had enough to deal with.

"I wanted to give you something back – for everything you do for me and in the end I couldn't…"

It killed him to hear her talk like that. "I'm not asking you to give me anything but yourself, Lynnie. Don't you understand that?"

"It's got to be so difficult for you…" She continued.

Ethan shook his head. "It's not difficult at all, Lynn. Loving you is the easiest thing in the world."

His words were sweet but she didn't even hear him. "I just want it to be…I don't know…quiet for once. For everything to just be calm for five minutes. I want to not see a thing except for you, standing right in front of me. I don't know why I can't just have that."

"I don't know either." Ethan admitted. "If I could make it all go away you know I would."

She wiped the tears away again and stared into her lap. "All I wanted was to make you happy and instead I made you sad, Ethan. I can never forgive myself…"

"You're going to have to." Ethan demanded softly as he held her chin gently in his hand. "Listen to me. You make me happy Lynnie – just sitting here beside you makes me the happiest man alive." A gust of wind blew, tossing her hair about her face. His free hand moved to tuck a strand of it behind her ear. "Having a child? Well that will just be icing on the cake."

Lynnie pulled back a bit and looked out over the scenery again. She took a deep breath and sighed. "You know what's so weird? We've already had a child and we didn't even get a chance to know her."

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"I'm going Maggie. I know you're just trying to help and that's sweet but honestly you can't stop me." Becky's voice was full of defiance.

"I know I can't." Maggie sighed. "Becky – God. You have to be the bravest person I know."

"I'm just doing what I know I have to do." She shrugged, not thinking it was at all a big deal.

Maggie sank down onto the floor, defeated. "I know but your dad…"

"I can handle him." Becky replied, with much more confidence than she really felt.

He'd come after her – she knew that. If there was one thing she knew about her father it was his overwhelming compulsion to keep them all safe. The only thing that she was banking on was that Kyle would come after her first.

"Don't you understand? I love Kyle so much, Maggie - more than absolutely anything. And he needs to do this – whether he can see it for himself or not. If I go I know that he'll follow. I've tracked them down; I know almost exactly where to find them. I'll be near Uncle J and once my parents know that they'll be a lot less worried. It'll all be fine. It's going to work out – you'll see."

Maggie was not at all convinced it would work out that way, but she also knew that she'd be powerless to stop her. Once Becky got an idea in her head there was reasoning with her.

She sighed as she watched her best friend zip up her bag. "Ok. Well. I guess you know what you're doing…"

"I do, Mags. Honestly I do. It's going to be fine." Becky promised as she looked into her eyes. "Please. I need you to help me pull this off."

Reluctantly, Maggie nodded as she stood and replied. "What are friends for?"

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"I know. It is weird." Ethan said softly, blinking back tears of his own.

They had talked around the subject for days, never really mentioning the whole reason they had spent so much time apart. They hadn't really talked about Lilly at all. But they had finally started and Lynnie knew she couldn't stop now. She turned and gazed into Ethan's eyes as she whispered. "She was perfect."

"She certainly was." He agreed with a nod.

"She was so, so tiny…but so…" Lynnie looked up at him and sighed. "I can't think of another word but perfect."

"I know."

"She was probably just too good for this world, don't you think?" Lynnie asked, hoping that Ethan could give her some sort of answer.

"Yeah." He replied as he pulled away and stood. "I was guessing you'd think that."

Lynnie was startled by the sound of his voice. "Ethan?"

She watched him for a few minutes, waiting for him to say something. She was just about to go to him when she heard him say. "It's probably because of me."

Lynnie didn't think that she had heard him correctly. "What?"

"I came back." He said sadly. "I should have known there'd be a consequence."

All at once, Lynnie's eyes grew wide with shock. "Ethan…" She whispered.

He turned to face her. "I keep thinking they took her because of me."

It had never even occurred to her that this is what he'd be thinking. "Ethan. No."

He stammered a bit as he continued. "I – I – I mean I should have realized that maybe they'd make me pay for how happy I was – you know – being here with you…"

Hearing his words had the tears drying on her cheeks, the truth stunning her. "Ethan you know that's not true – everything you've ever told me about Heaven tells me it's not like that."

He looked at her, desperation filling his eyes. "Maybe I was wrong Lynn. Why else would they take her? She never even had a chance."

"No she didn't." Lynnie replied, feeling stronger by the second. The need to take care of him now overrode every other emotion. She walked to him and pulled him into her arms. "But we do."

His arms closed around her and he held on tight as she kept on. "You deserve happiness, Ethan and so do I. And that's why you're here – that's why we're together. Because somehow, someway, someone else saw that too."

Ethan couldn't go on without trying to convince her of something himself. "You're not a burden at all. I love taking care of you Lynnie – I'm really good at it."

Instead of protesting like she usually would Lynnie simply snuggled closer and said, "Yes you are. I know that you do."

"So that's what we'll do." Ethan continued, finally feeling like himself again. "You can take care of me and I'll take care of you and we'll both take care of our little second chance here." He whispered as he laid a hand gently on her stomach.

"That sounds like a plan." Lynnie nodded. She hugged him tighter as she whispered. "Ethan?"

"Yes?"

"Can we go home now?" She asked hopefully.

"Sure." He said with a smile, bending his head to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "It's getting kinda late. I bet your grandmother's got dinner ready…"

Lynnie shook her head as she moved to gaze up at him. "No. Ethan – I mean home home."

"Now that…" He smiled wider as he kissed her again. "…sounds like a plan."

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Maggie stood outside the door knowing that as soon as she knocked it would all be over. She understood Becky's motives but still thought this was one of the craziest plans she'd ever heard of.

"Becky go home. I'm not opening it." Kyle's exasperated voice called from behind the door. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that I'm not going to risk making your father mad. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow."

Maggie stood on the other side and tried not to laugh. Poor Kyle. Becky must be torturing him to no end. She nibbled on her bottom lip nervously before she answered. "It's not Becky Kyle. It's me. Maggie."

She heard the locks clicking open and finally stood face to face with him. "Maggie?" Kyle's voice was full of confusion. "Ummm. If you're looking for Becky she isn't here."

"Don't I know it." Maggie said too low for him to hear. She shook back her hair and finally met his eyes. "I know that, Kyle. Becky asked me to come and see you…"

Within seconds he knew exactly why she was there. "Oh my God. Maggie. Please tell me she didn't." He said, his eyes wild and his voice desperate. "Tell me she didn't go off to find them."

"I'm sorry." Maggie replied. "I can't do that."

"She's certifiable, you know that? The girl is desperately trying to cut both our lives short." He muttered as he raced around his apartment, stuffing clothes haphazardly into a duffel bag. "She's out of control. The worst thing is that the best person to help me with this is her father but can I do that? No – because if I go and tell him she's run away to find my family the man will kick the crap out of me and enjoy every minute of it." He sighed loudly. "I can't believe she did this. Just when I was making progress she goes and does something insanely stupid."

He sat on the couch and pulled his sneakers on. "How long ago did she leave? Let me guess – three or four hours right?" He shook his head and sighed again. "Just long enough to have me chasing her all the way down south."

Kyle obviously knew Becky very well. "Yes. She left right after dinner."

"If I didn't love her as much as I do I swear to God I'd strangle her for being such a…a…" He struggled to keep his voice steady while he found the words to do Becky justice.

"…lovable, caring, girlfriend?" Maggie offered, trying to lighten the mood.

"Nut job was actually what I was going for." Kyle replied as he grabbed his bag and moved to the door.

"She is lovable though isn't she?" Maggie called out as she raced after him. Her romantic nature had begun to take over. Her heart beat faster as she watched Kyle rushing off to save her friend from, well, herself.

"Yes she is." He said, chuckling a bit in spite of it all. He tossed his bag on the passenger seat and climbed into the car, slamming the door behind him. "Look at how she's got both of us working for her."

"Be careful Kyle." Maggie said with a smile and a wave. "Good luck."

"Thanks." He replied as he started the car and drove off. As he made his way he added to himself. "I'm going to need all the luck I can get."