Chapter Seven: Can We Pick Up The Pieces?

Nate

After I was sure Thomas was gone, I went back into the room. Maybe he's right. Maybe Craig did beat the sense out of me. I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and got my dealer on the phone. I was due for some more pills anyway.

While I walked down to the bus stop, I couldn't help but think of what a loser I was. First, I found out I was gay, and on that same day, realized that I was in love with my best friend. He fell in love with my sister and never even thought of me. Then, just when I thought that I'd never love anyone else, I saw Craig. Turns out, I gave him a bad suggestion about stopping his meds, and then he started to hit me. So, after Craig dumped me…oh yes…he dumped me, I go and get my best friend drunk and make out with him, among other things. So now Craig is gone, Thomas is gone, and all I have left are my pills.

I met Tyler on a corner a few blocks away from the school.

"Rough night?" he asked while he handed me two bottles.

"You could say that," I said, nodding my head and pocketing the bottles. I handed over the money and he slipped it into his pocket without counting it. We had an understanding.

"My services are always available," he told me.

"I know, but I got someone waiting for me. Maybe some other time."

"You always say that," he said before leaning in and kissing my neck.

"I can't help it if I'm busy." I looked into his eyes and shrugged. I quickly kissed his cheek and smiled. "Thanks."

"What are you going to do without me when you graduate?" Tyler was a twenty-two year old graduate from my school. After he left, he got into some trouble, and here he is now, dealing drugs to me. I hadn't even thought about that. I usually bought a huge stock of pills each summer, but after this summer, I wouldn't be anywhere near this school again.

"I guess I'll find someone else," I finally answered. "You've been great to me."

"Or I could just come with you," he suggested.

As I walked away, I actually considered it.

When I got back to the school, I headed over to see Kelly. He was the one waiting.

Marco

"Sorry if I just burst in like that," Rory said as we walked away from the school.

"That's okay. I wasn't doing anything important anyway," I told him. "It's not like my boyfriend was there."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly. Even though he was my ex-boyfriend, I felt like I could tell him anything. And I actually did want to talk about it.

"We had a fight. I left for awhile, and then when I came back, I wouldn't sleep in the same bed as him. This morning when I woke up, he was gone with Gracie, as usual."

"What was the fight about?" If anyone else asked me that question, I would have gotten angry and told them to mind their own business. But it was Rory. And I didn't mind.

"I know it's not her fault or Jesse's fault either, but every time we start to do anything, Gracie wakes up and interrupts us. I don't feel like I ever have a moment of peace," I confessed. "I just want things to be the same between Jesse and me, but they never will be now."

"Oh…" he said, trailing off. "I'm sorry Marco. I know how hard it is to have to take care of kids all the time and never have any moments to yourself," he said.

"I do get some moments to myself…" I looked into his eyes and smiled. "When I'm with you."

"Marco, I…" he didn't say anything else, but instead looked away. "Let's check the cemetery," he finally said.

"What?"

"For Andrew. I think he might be there. At Alex's grave…"

As we walked the entire way in silence, I mentally smacked myself for ever letting Rory go.

Jesse

I just want things to go back to the way they used to be. Marco and I used to be happy together. There was a time when he was the only person I could think about, even when Rex was alive. But suddenly, my boyfriend got himself killed, his girlfriend killed herself, and now I'm a parent.

I love Gracie, I really do, but if she wasn't in my life right now, things would be so much easier. As horrible as it sounds, I actually considered giving her up for adoption. But I remembered my promise to Rex on his death bed and I couldn't do it. What am I going to do when I graduate from school? I have nowhere to go. I have no parents, I have no home, and I have no job. When the money from Alyssa runs out, I'll have to turn to my college fund.

I held my daughter in my arms and cried, my tears dropping onto her head and wetting her soft hair. She slept peacefully, unaware of my thoughts. I felt like a terrible person, even thinking about giving her up. I didn't choose to be her father, but I made a promise. And I can't let her down.

"Come on baby, let's go find Marco," I whispered to Gracie. I put her in the stroller and stood up, ready to fix things with my boyfriend. No matter how hard it was, or how long it took, nothing would stop me.

Thomas

I walked around for awhile before I decided to go to Theresa's school. We needed to have a major discussion. I had no idea if I wanted to be with her after everything I found out. She killed my baby two years ago, and then got pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's baby while we were together. And then she killed his baby too.

It seemed like no matter what she did, I found myself right back at her door. I knocked and she opened it right away. Ellie quietly excused herself as I sat on Theresa's bed, and I watched her go. I couldn't help but wish my girlfriend was more like her.

"We need to talk," I said as soon as she was gone.

"I know," Theresa agreed, sitting beside me. "I'm sorry Thomas. I'm sorry that I never told you and I'm sorry that I slept with Remy, and I'm sorry that I can't be the person you fell in love with so many years ago," she blurted out.

"Theresa, I understand that people make mistakes. But how many mistakes can you make and still have everything go back to the way it was? How many times are you gonna have to apologize before I don't believe you anymore?" I asked, putting my head in my hands.

"Does that mean you believe me now? Do you believe that I'm sorry?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I do," I said, looking up at her. I pulled her to me and kissed her lightly on the lips. "But things have to change Theresa. I've always been faithful to you, but you…" she interrupted me before I could finish.

"I'll never do it again. You can trust me on that. I want to change Thomas, and I want us to be together again. I want things to be like they were when we were younger. I want us to be closer than we've ever been. I want us to talk about everything," she finished. I kissed her again and smiled.

"Okay," I said, holding onto her hand.

"Okay? You want to get back together?" Her eyes were wide, like a little kid on Christmas.

"Of course I do." I kissed her harder this time, slipping my tongue into her mouth and leaning against her until she was lying down. I slid my hands up her shirt and started to take her bra off. But she sat up and pulled my hands away.

"But…I don't think we should have sex," she said, completely surprising me. "At least not for awhile."

What have I gotten myself into? I groaned on the inside and then forced a smile.

"Okay," I agreed.

"Am I interrupting anything?" We both looked up to see Ellie standing in the doorway with her eyes closed.

"Nope," I said, laughing. She opened her eyes and I couldn't help but stare. She just looked so beautiful. But I have my girl back, so I looked away from her and back to Theresa.

"Hey babe, Ellie and I are gonna get to know each other better tonight. I'll call you tomorrow okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," I told her, kissing her quickly before leaving.

This is going to be hard. But I'll do anything to keep things good between us.

Marco

Rory was right. When we got to the cemetery, and down to Alex's grave, Andrew was curled up next to it with his cheek pressed against the stone. He had two empty liquor bottles by his side, and was passed out. He looked horrible. His eyeliner was smudged all over his cheeks, and his hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat.

"Poor Andrew," Rory said, surveying the scene as well. I could tell by the way he looked at him that he wasn't in love with him anymore. He was looking at him like any brother would.

"How did he get like this?" I asked, sighing and crouching down next to him.

"He's never been the same since Alex died. Don't feel bad Marco because you couldn't fix him either. He hasn't found anyone who can. He blames himself," Rory assured me.

"Maybe he should go to therapy," I suggested.

"That's the last thing he needs. His parents have always sent him to therapy, ever since he was six. Doctors can't help him either. He just has to find the right guy."

For the first time since we'd arrived, I actually looked at the gravestone. I did a double take when I noticed the name on it.

"Did you know that was Alex's last name?" I asked Rory. He looked over at me and nodded his head.

"Yeah, why?"

"Donovan. That's Jesse's last name," I pointed out.

"Oh yeah, I guess it is," he said, shrugging it off.

"Don't you find that odd?" I asked him.

"Not really. It's probably just a coincidence," he said.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said.

"Let's just get him up," Rory told me, bending down and nudging him. After a lot of effort, we managed to wake Andrew up. He started crying when he saw us.

"I love you guys," he said, kissing us both on our cheeks. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you two."

"Let's get you home Andrew," I said, helping him up. Rory picked up the bottles and fixed the flowers at the base of the gravestone.

"You know," Andrew said, "You two are perfect for each other. You always have been. I'm so glad to see you together right now. When Rory broke up with you just for me, I was ashamed. I knew you'd somehow fix things," he said to me.

I looked over at Rory but he quickly looked away.

"You're drunk Andrew," Rory said, walking off ahead of us. I didn't know what to say, so I just helped him walk as best as I could. We fell down just outside the cemetery, and I gave up.

"Can you call a cab?" I asked Rory. He helped me up and I let my hand linger on his for a moment too long. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and walked away a little to use it.

The cab came five minutes later and we rode back in silence. Once in our hallway, we went our separate ways. I watched Rory and Andrew until they were inside their room, the door closed tightly behind them. Then I went into mine and found Jesse sitting on the bed, waiting for me.

Ellie

"You're not so bad after all," I said to Theresa.

"And you're one of the few people that actually comes to that conclusion after talking to me," she replied.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. She suddenly had a faraway look in her eyes.

"I'm fine. I just don't know how this will ever work out with Thomas," she confessed.

"Why not? He's so obviously in love with you. I recently talked to him while he was drunk, and he couldn't stop talking about you. As corny as it sounds, he said that you were his angel."

"Thanks for making me feel better. But I have to tell you something. As long as you promise not to say anything," she said.

"I promise."

"Well, last night, I didn't think Thomas and I would get back together. He freaked out and I just got so upset that I went out and got drunk. And I slept with this guy…" she trailed off, making a face.

"That's not so bad. I guess because you thought everything was over. And technically, you were broken up," I pointed out.

"It's not so bad until you find out that the guy I slept with was Lindsey."

"His best friend?" I yelled. She nodded her head and looked like she was going to cry. "What does Lindsey think about this?"

"I'm hoping he doesn't remember. I purposely left before he woke up," she said. "To tell you the truth though, I was going to leave. I felt like it was the only way that Thomas could be happy. But then he came to talk to me today and we got back together. What should I do about Lindsey though?" she asked. I never thought she'd be asking me for advice.

"Sorry, I can't help you there. But if it makes you feel any better, I slept with my boyfriend's best friend," I said.

"Really? At least I'm not the only one."

"Well, yeah, but it was after he went back to live with his parents. I hadn't heard from him in weeks when I did it. And then he never came back…"

"Great," Theresa replied sarcastically.

Rory

"Are you okay Andrew?" I asked my brother as he lay down in his bed.

"I'm fine," he groaned, squinting his eyes against the bright lights.

"You hardly ever get drunk," I pointed out. "What happened?"

"I was just thinking about stupid stuff. How much I screwed everything up. And I really meant what I said about you and Marco." He sat up and looked over at me.

"He has a boyfriend," I said. "Besides, we don't like each other like that anymore."

"That's bullshit and you know it. There's always been something between you two. I could see it before you ever did. You're still in love with him and he's still in love with you. Just admit it and we can both get some sleep."

"I may be still in love with him, but he has a boyfriend. He and Jesse deserve to be together." I sat down at the end of the bed and sighed.

"You deserve him more than Jesse does. Rory, you made a sacrifice for me. It was probably the dumbest thing you did, but you still did it. Marco understands why, he just needs some time to realize he still loves you. I'm going to talk to him for you," he told me, lying back down again.

"Oh know you're not!" I protested. "You need to talk to him about your friendship," I told him.

"You're right. I'll do that tomorrow after class. And while I'm there, we can talk about you too."

Before I could get another word in, he turned the light off and closed his eyes. What am I going to do now?

A/N: This chapter takes place on Sunday, January 8th. How was it? Please review!

emphatic loser: Thanks for the review...I'm glad you liked it. More suprises ahead!

shadow: Thank you for reviewing. It's nice to see a new name in my reviews. Hope you liked this chapter too!