A/N I've read your reviews and the verdict is in. I need to make longer chapters. Well are you in for a treat. This chapter is much longer than all the others. And sorry about the long wait. Anyway, here's chapter 4.

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko (See Disclaimer)

Chapter 4: Shattered

It was quiet and serene in the white sterile office. Only Odd's breathing could be heard. The slumbering teen looked like a different person, not the pathetic entity he appeared the night before. His eyes were no longer red, his face no longer tear stained. The artist almost looked peaceful in his dreamy state. There was a small, almost unnoticeable, smile on his face. Definitely not the boy Ulrich found on the ground the night before.

It had been five hours since Jeremie, Aelita, and Yumi left the infirmary. Ulrich had been desperately fighting exhaustion in his bedside seat. The green clad had been awake for a good twenty-eight hours. He wanted to be awake when the purple clad woke up. Ulrich had to talk to his friend before he, himself dozed off. If he didn't, he'd go to bed feeling guilty, something he preferred to avoid. He learned that lesson the hard way when XANA unleashed his "Killer Music," as Jeremie dubbed. He thought he might never get to apologize to Odd. He couldn't stand hurting anyone he considered family. The athlete mentally cursed himself for even bothering Odd the day before.

However, that wasn't Ulrich's main drive. What kept him going, however, was the urge to just talk to his friend. He wanted just to see how Odd was doing in general. He hadn't really talked to Odd since….well, in forever. They always used to talk about school, sports, how stupid Sissy was, everything.

All Ulrich wanted to do was to shout "WAKE UP ODD," but he knew that his best friend needed rest.

Ulrich needed something to keep his eyelids from closing, and he knew the nurse could help him with that. "Nurse Dorothy," Ulrich started, "do you have any coffee?" The nurse looked up from her paperwork, showing signs of fatigue herself.

"I was about to put on a pot. Would you like a cup?"

"Sure, I'd like that."

"How do you take it?" the white clad woman asked.

"Black, please." Ulrich responded.

"Can you make that two?" A third voice rang out. Ulrich's head did a one-eighty and almost fell off his body.

"Odd!"

"Happy to see me?" Odd asked, flashing his trademark grin. Ulrich jumped out of his chair and gave Odd a huge hug.

"I'm glad you're okay!" Ulrich said gleefully.

"So am I, but I won't be in a minute." Odd replied, his lungs being crushed. Ulrich realized he was crushing the purple clad so he released his embrace. The brunette shifted himself to the edge of the bed, allowing the blonde to have some breathing room. After a few moments, the star athlete locked his eyes on Odd's blue orbs.

"Odd, I wanna tell you how sorry I am. I acted like a royal jerk yesterday. I shouldn't have bothered you. It was none of my business, what happened to you. I just wanted to know a little too much." Odd knew when Ulrich was sorry. It was the only time he made steady eye-contact with anyone. He also knew that this wasn't really Ulrich's thing to apologize. He was moved by his friend's apology. But, Odd also had an apology to issue, and he too, locked his eyes into the chocolate brown pools in front of him.

"It's okay, Ulrich. I was still a little shell shocked after my meeting with Delmas. But, I should be the one who's sorry." Odd explained.

"Why?" Ulrich looked puzzled.

"Well, I almost broke your nose," Odd pointed at the out-of-place bandage on the slightly taller boy's face, "and I ran away. You guys had to look for me all night to find me. I got you all sick and worried. I'm the one to blame, not you." Odd admitted.

"I'm just glad you're okay. A lot worse could have happened to you in the forest; you got lucky." Ulrich responded.

"Ya, I did, but you and the others are the main reason I'm okay. Without you guys, I'd still be out there. Thanks for lookin' out for me, Ulrich." Odd reached over and gave his long-time friend a big hug.

"I've got two cups of black coffee," Nurse Dorothy announced, breaking up the embrace. She handed each boy a cup of the black brew.

"Thanks," both teens said simultaneously.

"You're welcome, boys." The nurse turned to walk away, but suddenly remembered something. "Odd, please know that you and Ulrich have an appointment with Principal Delmas at 3 o'clock today."

"Because of last night?" Odd asked innocently.

"I'm afraid so." The nurse responded. "So remember, 3 o'clock today."

"I'll remember, ma'am. Thank you." Dorothy walked back to her desk, and began filling out more medical forms. Odd began to grumble as soon as the woman walked away. He wasn't too happy about going back to the principal's office for the second time in a twenty-four hour span; not too happy at all. He was reluctant to ever see that man again, much less in two hours.

"So, Odd, do you want to tell me what happened yesterday?" Ulrich asked again, this time politely. The blonde could see the concern burning in his friend's eyes. Odd wanted to tell him, to tell him everything, but he couldn't do that without breaking down again. He got teary eyed just thinking about it. He had cried more in the last day than he did in his entire life and couldn't stand it anymore. Ulrich must already think I'm a huge wimp, but he deserves to know. He'll find out eventually, so he might as well hear it from me.

Odd gathered up all the courage he had and tried to explain to Ulrich what happened. Before he could start, he felt his face begin to burn and his eyes become watery. "Okay, Ulrich, I'll…I'll tell you." Odd began, stumbling a bit. "Yesterday, Delmas called me down to his…his office and told me something…something that will forever change my life." Tears began to stream down the blonde's face. "Ulrich, they're…they're…they're go…gone. My…my par…my parents are g…they're gone!" Odd's floodgates burst open, rivers of tears flowing from the eyes of a tormented boy, now all alone in the world.

Ulrich was dumbstruck. He couldn't believe that Odd lost his parents so early in his life. Ulrich couldn't even imagine the anguish the boy was in, and it wouldn't be fair to say that he did. Sure losing the big soccer game or breaking an ankle was bad, but it didn't even come close to his best friend's crisis. Ulrich said the only thing he could say to anyone who suffered the loss of a loved one. "I'm sorry, buddy. I am truly sorry." Ulrich's eyes burned with shame. Had he known, he wouldn't have pressed the matter further. He would have never guessed the situation in a million years. Ulrich left the confines of his mind again and turned back to the wreck that was Odd DellaRobbia. He was crying quietly to himself now, as if he were all alone. Ulrich took his friend in his arms and held him close. He consoled his companion to the best of his ability. It was the only thing he could do.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Stern and Mr. DellaRobbia stood outside the office of Jean-Pierre Delmas. Both teens looked at the door, then knocked to enter.

"Come in." Boomed a voice form the inside. Ulrich and Odd both entered to see the principal sitting at his desk. It seemed that he, like the nurse, was filling out an endless stack of paperwork. "Boys, please take a seat," The man gestures to the two leather seats in front of his desk. The brunette took the right seat as the blonde took the left. The headmaster finished what he was doing and looked at the kids once again, first at Ulrich, then to Odd. Then, Delmas started his speech. "I understand that you two boys got in a bit of a fight last night at dinner. Is this true?"

"That's correct, sir," Odd replied in a dejected tone.

"Yes, sir," Ulrich mirrored

"I want you to know I'm extremely disappointed with both of you. Fighting is no way to solve your problems, it only makes matters worse. You both should be ashamed of yourselves." Indeed, both boys looked embarrassed. "I should suspend you both immediately. Do you think so, Ulrich?"

"Yes I do, sir. I acted inappropriately last night." The green clad responded.

"I believe so too, but I'm going to go against my better judgment." Both the blonde and brunette's faces cheered up considerably. "Extreme circumstances that occurred yesterday drove emotions haywire, and I understand that." Delmas looked at Odd. "Neither of you will be punished for your transgressions. However, this is your final warning. Anymore nonsense will result in an automatic ten day suspension. Do I make myself clear?"

"Absolutely crystal, sir" Odd responded

"Yes, sir," Ulrich answered.

"Good. You are dismissed." The headmaster allowed the boys to leave, but as they reached the door, he remembered something. "Odd, can you stay another second, I have a personal matter for us to work out." Odd looked puzzled, but agreed nevertheless. Ulrich was halfway out the door when Odd stopped him in his tracks.

"Sir, can Ulrich stay? Anything you tell me, you can tell him." Ulrich was flatted by his friend's request. The principal nodded and the two friends went back to their previous seats.

Jean knew he had to touch on this next subject carefully. Anymore stress and this boy will crumble to pieces. "Odd, I was contacted by Social Services today." Odd didn't like the way this conversation was heading. "They say that you have no family members left to take you in." Ulrich didn't like the way this was going. "Unfortunately, that makes you an orphan." Odd's eyes began to bug out. He kinda knew that the news was coming, but wasn't ready for it.

"But, I get to stay here at Kadic, right?" Odd asked, fearing it's result. The principal just looked down, he knew he was going to break the boy's heart. He didn't want to, but it was his job.

"Odd, I'm sorry. They already have a foster family lined up for you." Odd couldn't believe it. Every single thing that could've gone wrong in the last thirty-six hours happened. He lost his parents, he got in a fight with his best friend, he suffered a major panic attack, slipped into unconsciousness, became an orphan, and was now going to lose his only remaining family at Kadic. The only thing in this world that could keep him sane was going to be taken away from him?

Ulrich was in shock himself. He couldn't believe that Odd would be ripped away from him and his friends. It just wasn't fair. The green clad couldn't possibly think of life without the zany, goofy, funny Odd around, cheering everybody up. What would they do without him?

Jean-Pierre felt sorry for the teen. Sure, he made trouble occasionally, but he was a nice kid. He wished he could do something to help the distraught teen, but his hands were tied by the system. There was nothing he could do.

It seemed that Odd recovered enough to talk again. "Sir," the blonde sniffled, holding back his liquid emotion, "is there anything you can do?" The headmaster anticipated the question, and it tore his heart out to give Odd the unpopular response.

"I'm sorry, I can't do anything." Mr. Delmas grimaced and looked away. He couldn't see the face of the boy he just shattered.

That was it, the final nail in the coffin. Odd was a broken soul. He knew his life just wouldn't be the same, and could do nothing to stop the impending changes. There was no rewind button to make everything back to normal, no pause button to stop and think about the events that were just whizzing by, and certainly no erase button to make everything go away. Odd was stuck in fast-forward, life going too fast to comprehend and understand.

Odd just…just needed to get away. He bolted out of his chair and out of the office. He ran down the hall and out of view. Ulrich was about to chase Odd when the Headmaster halted him. "Ulrich, Odd needs to do this himself. Please, do not interfere. He needs to find himself by himself. When he's ready, he'll come out." Ulrich was just going to disregard and pursue his purple clad friend, but the old man made sense. Odd did need to do this by himself. Ulrich merely nodded, showing he understood. "Why don't you get some rest, Ulrich? You look like a zombie. If he comes back, you'll be the first one to know."

"Okay, sir." And with that, Ulrich left the office and headed towards the dorms. He had no intention of sleeping today. The brunette had some friends to update and some calls to make. He was determined to do something…something to turn Odd's life around before he hit a dead end.

I'll save you Odd…

A/N Well, I hope you enjoyed this long chapter. If it seemed rushed, tell me so I know. An author's best tool for improvement is their loyal readers' reviews. And, possible WARNING for next chapter. There will be some things going down either chapter 5(next) or 6(the one after.) I don't know if I'll follow my plot outline. Anyway, you'll find out soon enough. Bye for now.