Disclaimer – None of these characters belong to me.

a/n – Sorry for the delay in updating. I've been busier than I thought I'd be. I hope this is worth the wait, and I promise to have some new chapters up more quickly this time! Thanks to everyone who's r/ring. You guys are the best!

- x -

By the time Emma started her walk home, it was almost dark. The sky was purple and gray above the houses, and the colors seemed to mirror her mood, the numbness that she felt inside. She'd spent the entire afternoon alone at the ravine, after she'd told Sean that he should go back to school. It wasn't fair to expect him to put his life on hold just for her, and besides, she wanted some quiet time to think, to get herself under control. When Sean was around, all she could do was kiss him, lie beneath him and feel like that was the only part of the world that she wanted to know.

Right now wasn't time for Emma to indulge in that. There probably wouldn't ever be a right time for her and Sean, but that hardly mattered right now.

So she'd sat there at the ravine, in the warm sunshine, for hours, trying to find a way to make sense of what was happening to her family. The fact that she was entirely helpless, that there was nothing she could do for Snake but hope and pray, made her feel awful.

She'd looked up at the bright sky, and pleaded with God. Please, please, let Snake be okay, she'd begged. I'll do anything if he gets better. Anything.

She'd be a better daughter. She'd stop butting into other people's business as much. She'd try to patch things up with Manny, apologize for the terrible things that she'd said in the heat of the moment. She'd reach out to Chris, and be a better girlfriend. She'd be a better person period, whatever that meant.

She'd give up Sean if she had to – that's how desperate she was.

Emma had been bargaining with God all afternoon, which was more exhausting than it seemed but now she realized that she needed to be with her family. She needed to hold her mother's hand, rock Jack to sleep, sit beside Snake's hospital bed and start the prayers all over again.

Before the hospital, she wanted to stop at home and change her clothes. There were grass stains on her jeans and tiny leaves and blades of grass crushed into her sweater. Part of her loved her messy clothes though, because they were evidence.

Proof that Sean had really been with her earlier, that he'd really wanted her. It still felt like some silly dream. If the rest of her life wasn't falling apart, she'd been obsessing over that. Drawing big dumb hearts all over her notebook with Sean's name inside.

Of course, the rest of her life was a mess, so there wasn't time to obsess over Sean.

As she turned up the walkway to her house, Emma could just make out a figure sitting in the shadows of the porch. For a second, her heart beat faster, and she couldn't believe her luck, that Sean had come to find her just in time to walk her to the hospital.

When she came closer though, the figure stood, and she tired to suppress the disappointment that flooded through her like a chill.

Chris met her on the steps, taking her in his arms.

"Are you all right, baby?" he whispered, stroking her hair. "I've been tryin' to find you since this morning."

"I'm sorry," she said miserably. She felt tears burning her eyes. "I just needed to be alone. I needed some time to think."

Emma clung to him tightly because, despite the teeny tiny fact that he wasn't Sean Cameron, Chris was still a great guy, who truly cared about her. She could feel it in the way that he held her, and she tried to take comfort in that. So often lately, she'd overlooked the way he felt about her simply because she didn't feel the same way back. That didn't really seem fair.

"I talked to your mom," Chris told her. "She said your dad was in ICU. I'm really sorry, Emma."

She nodded, and the tears started to creep down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry for alotta things really," he said. His voice had a strange edge to it, something she'd never heard from him before, so Emma took a step back to look at him. She was stunned by the dark, guilty look in his eyes. "I mean, I know what a tough time you've been goin' through with your dad and everything, and I haven't really been there for ya. I haven't spent enough time with ya, and I'm really sorry about that."

Emma hung her head. She felt like a criminal, so selfish and guilty.

"Chris, you haven't done –"

"No. No, Em. Don't let me off the hook." He bent down to softly kiss her cheek. "But I'm gonna make it up to you. I promise you that it's all gonna change. Startin' right now."

Emma nodded, feeling overwhelmed. She wanted to scream, and she wanted to cry. She wanted Sean with her too, but she tried to block that out.

"I'm gonna go with you to the hospital, a'ight? So you don't have to be alone."

"I want to change my clothes," Emma said absently.

Her messy clothes, which just minutes before she wanted to save forever, now just seemed so dirty. She wanted to burn them so she'd never have to look at them again.

Chris reached out for her hand, and led her up the steps to the front door.

"I've always thought you were strong, Em. One of the strongest people I know. But to go through all this and to do it alone..." He shook his head. "You are amazin' to me."

"I'm really not that amazing, Chris."

He stopped her in the doorway, cupping her face with his hands and tilting her head back to look up at him.

"I know what's going on here, Em. You're not foolin' me."

She felt her mouth go dry, and her blood run cold.

"You're scared," Chris said, after a moment of painful silence. "You're scared about your dad. But don't worry, baby. I'm gonna be with you now. You don't have to go through anything else all by yourself."

He kissed her gently then, but Emma didn't really feel it. She slipped out of his arms, and went inside to change her clothes.

- x –

It was quiet in the park, and there was little light, since the sun had gone down and only a couple of streetlights had turned on. Craig sat on a bench, staring up at the dark sky. He'd spent almost three hours chopping onions and carrots, and his fingers felt like they'd been rubbed raw.

All in all, the gang had made three casseroles and two pans of lasagna, using Marco's mother's recipe. Ashley and Ellie had even made some sort of banana bread. They'd loaded all the stuff into a box, and Ashley and Paige were going to drop it off at Emma's some time tonight.

Craig felt like he should have offered to go along, but he'd stayed silent. Ash wouldn't have wanted to go with him, and he couldn't face Emma or her mother. Not right now.

Now, on his way home, he'd crashed on a park bench to try to get a grip. He felt seriously out of control, like he was only one step away from running down the streets, screaming like a lunatic.

He knew that when he got home, Joey would probably be at the hospital. Caitlin and Angie were probably with him. The house would be big and empty, and he couldn't go back there just yet. Craig needed to get his crap together first.

The park was virtually deserted, since it was dinner time and families were inside, eating together and being close, so Craig felt like he was the only person on earth. All alone with his stupid thoughts.

Until, of course, Sean Cameron came down the street, spotted Craig sitting on the bench, and sat down beside him.

Craig hadn't really thought about Ellie, about what it felt like to hold her hand and have her whisper in his ear, for over an hour, but he still felt like Sean knew exactly what was going on inside his head and beat the crap out of him because of it.

Sean had been wearing that stupid ski cap all the time lately, like some wannabe tough guy. Craig hadn't really given much thought to Sean and his wardrobe choices, but suddenly it seemed like such a pathetic, insecure thing.

"Hey man," Sean said quietly. He seemed kind of edgy too, like he was battling something of his own. "Have you seen Ellie around? I've been trying to track her down and so far, no luck."

Why was Sean asking him? Did he know that he and Ellie had actually been talking lately, spending time together, becoming friends? Did he suspect something more?

Not that anything had happened, Craig quickly reminded himself.

"I thought she might be with Paige and those guys," Sean said. "And since you hang out with them I figured ... "

"Yeah. Actually we were all over at Paige's earlier. We made some food to take over to Emma and her mom since .. you know ... I mean, you heard about Mr. Simpson, right?"

Sean nodded sadly.

"Yeah, well, we thought ... I mean, we want to let them know that we're thinking of them, so food seemed like a good idea." Craig told him. "I mean, people are always trying to force food on you when something terrible happens so it seemed to make sense."

Sean was quiet for a moment, leaning back against the bench and studying the sky.

"Sometimes it doesn't really matter you do, as long as you do something," he said finally. "It's just important to show that you care, that you want to help even if there's nothing real you can do. To let them know that you're thinking of them. All the time."

Sean spoke quietly but intensely. Craig felt like he was missing something, like Sean was talking in code or something. He nodded anyway, just out of habit.

"It seems crazy," Sean continued. "That Simpson might die. I mean, it doesn't seem real."

Craig nodded. "I know. I guess I thought he'd just pull through. I didn't think about the whole worst case scenario because it was just too much."

Sean sighed, looking regretful.

"Simpson's always been pretty decent to me. I don't know..." he said.

Craig nodded again. "He's pretty good to everyone. He's gonna be missed, that's for sure."

Craig almost couldn't recognize his own voice; it sounded so hollow and flat. Sean shook his head, like he still couldn't believe what was going on. He looked over at Craig with a guilty, pained expression on his face.

"I was such an asshole to Emma when he first got sick," he said quietly. "I mean, I actually got mad at her because she was spending more time at home than with me." He laughed bitterly. "I think about that now, and I feel like shit. I mean, it's a cliché but things like this, they make you realize what's really important. Not all the bullshit that you get caught up and start to think really matters."

Craig listened to him speak, feeling strange. He understood Sean. Despite all the crap he'd been pulling lately with Jay, the old Sean that Craig knew was still inside somewhere. Craig had gotten it into his head that he was the enemy for some reason. As if Sean would blow a gasket if he knew that Craig and Ellie had become friends (because that's all they were, Craig told himself. Friends). Now he realized that he and Sean had more in common that he'd thought. It almost scared him.

"We all make mistakes," Craig said. "I mean, just go talk to Ash. You'll realize why I feel like shit most days."

Sean looked over at Craig, frowning in sympathy.

"Yeah, I can imagine," he said. "Girls... they really have a way of driving you crazy. Even when they don't mean to."

Sean shook his head, and leaned back to look up at the sky. Craig looked along with him. It was such a dark blue now that it was almost black.

"Speaking of girls..." Craig said. "I've been thinking a lot about Emma."

Sean sat up in a hurry, looking over at Craig intensely. She was probably still a sore subject with him, since they'd broken up so badly and hadn't really talked to each other since.

"What do you mean?" Sean asked.

"Well, you know, I was with her when she finally tracked down her dad. Her biological dad. You know?"

Sean nodded, looking at Craig like his every word was crucially important.

"I know how hard that was for her. How important it was for her at the time too." Craig sighed. "Afterwards I think she realized how she lucky she was to have Simpson in her life. That maybe they didn't share the same DNA or whatever, but he was a father in every way that really counted. This has gotta be killing her."

In front of them, a woman passed by, walking a dog. They both watched her go before speaking again.

"You know, my parents have been outta my life for so long now, I hardly think of them anymore," Sean said finally. "And now my brother's gone too, and I'm on my own, and that's just the way it is."

He shrugged. Craig thought he might know how Sean felt. Both his parents were gone, and if it wasn't for Joey and Angie, he'd be on his own too. He was that close to being in Sean's position.

"But for someone like ... For Emma, it's different," Sean continued. "She just feels so much for the people that she cares about, and I really don't know how she's gonna deal with all of this."

Craig listened to Sean's words, and absorbed them. He really did understand Sean, which was kind of frightening.

"You become numb," Craig whispered.

Sean looked over at him, stunned. It seemed like he was realizing too how much he and Craig had in common, that they really could understand each other. Sean stayed silent, though, which made Craig uncomfortable.

"I mean, that's what you were saying basically, right?" he asked Sean quickly, trying to get the conversation back on track.

Sean nodded. "Yeah. I guess I was."

"I don't want to see that happen to Emma," Craig said. He thought of her, how she reacted to everything, even the stupidest little things, like the world was going to end, with so much excitement and fire. He didn't want her to lose everything that made her who she was. "I've done so many stupid things lately, and I wonder if it's all connected to everything that went on with my family. I don't want to Emma to go through that."

Sean nodded again, looking thoughtful.

"Me too," he sighed.

Sean and Emma's relationship may have crashed and burned as bad as his and Ashley's, but Craig could tell that underneath it all, Sean still cared about Emma very much. You can't just turn feelings on and off like a switch, Craig thought. Like with me and Ellie...

Sean sat up, leaning forward to stare at the ground in front of him.

"You think she's gonna be okay?" he asked, quietly. He sounded almost afraid.

"She's got Chris," Craig mused. "I'm sure he'll look out for her."

Sean looked back at Craig over his shoulder. It seemed like his eyes were narrowed, but in the shadows, Craig couldn't be sure. Sean apparently didn't believe that things were going to be all right for Emma, and Craig couldn't exactly blame him for being bitter.

Life was usually pretty fucking unfair.

"I think that knowing someone cares, really cares, and isn't going to let you fall apart can help," Craig said anyway, trying to convince both of them. "It helped me... for a while anyway."

Sean nodded. "I know what you mean."

When Sean leaned back and stared up at the moon, which was just starting to rise, Craig noticed something strange in his eyes. It made him look pretty sad, Craig thought, like he was the one who was losing his father, not Emma.

"So, you think Ellie is still at Paige's?" Sean asked suddenly, as if he'd finally remembered why he'd come to talk to Craig in the first place.

Craig shook his head. "She headed home before I left, so she's probably there."

"I just checked there. No luck."

Craig shrugged, not understanding why he should know better where Sean's girlfriend was. He started to fidget, hoping Sean would just take off. Whatever understanding they'd had moments before seemed long gone.

"I guess I'll just see her tomorrow," Sean said flatly.

Craig felt an irrational burst of jealousy go through him. Sean could see Ellie whenever he wanted, without having any reason, and he was just going to wait until tomorrow. If he had a girl like Ellie – if Craig had Ellie – he wouldn't waste a single minute. He'd be with her as much as possible, without being some kind of psycho stalker of course. Instead, Sean had wasted fifteen minutes sitting in the park talking to him. Clearly he didn't understand how good he had it.

"Well, I'm gonna get going," Sean announced, standing up. "See you around."

"Yeah. See you later, man."

Craig watched as Sean, in his stupid ski cap and hooded sweatshirt disappeared into the growing darkness. He'd been friends with Sean once, pretty good friends actually, so he knew that Sean wasn't a bad guy. And Ellie wouldn't be with him at all if he was a real jerk. But Craig couldn't shake the feeling that Sean just didn't deserve her, that she'd be better off without him. Right now, he had a sinking feeling that Ellie would only get hurt by Sean.

But obviously she was really into Sean. She was still with him, wasn't she? She always got the cute little smile on her face when she saw him. Maybe it was even love. Craig wasn't about to get in the middle of that.

He sighed, looking up at the stars that had started to appear overhead. He thought about making a wish, just this one time, but it was too stupid for even him, so he forced himself to get and finally go home.

- x -