A/N: I love reviews…heck I love reviews more than I love George Stults (well ok that's a lie right there) seriously I love reviews because I need to know if you like my writing and want me to continue

A/N: Although I wished I owned 7th Heaven sadly I don't but I do own everyone else except for the following—Annie, Eric, Mary, Sarah, Matt, Kevin, Lucy, Carlos, Simon, Ruthie, David & Sam, Captain Michaels, Ben, Patty-Mary, Kevin's Mom and anyone else I forgot.

On October 10th 9-year-old Lucy Camden was lost in her thoughts on her way home. She was thinking about what had happened earlier that day at school.

Her day was a normal school day...Karen Kinkirk her best friend's mom had picked everybody up for school that morning because Paul was called early in the morning to help with a house fire that was burning and it was uncontrollable.

Karen and Paul were like her second family...for as long as she could remember they had always been there for the Camden's.

Patty-Mary was her best friend just like Matt and Kevin and Mary and Ben they were all inseparable. They spent every waking minute they could together.

At 14 years old Kevin was almost in high school and Matt was still in the 7th grade but the one year age difference didn't really matter that much.

Ben being 12 was only a year behind Matt but they really didn't seem to connect as much as he and 11-year-old Mary did.

9 year old Patty-Mary and Lucy had been best friends since the day that they were born. Well that is what their moms say she though laughing to herself.

She sighed as she carefully scrapped her feet against the sidewalk still lost in thought.

Karen had loaded everyone into the mini-van that morning and dropped off 6-year-old Simon, Patty-Mary, Lucy and Mary off at Glenoak Elementary School.

Her next stop was the middle school for Matt, Kevin and Ben. After that she would go back to the Camden's to check on her mom and 2 year old Ruthie who were both stick with the flu little did she know that her whole life would be turned upside down as soon as she got home.

She snapped out of her dream like state when she heard her name being called.

"Lucy?" asked a breathless Mary running up behind her trying to catch up to her 9-year-old sister.

"What are you doing walking by yourself out here?" she asked her shifting her backpack.

"You know how mom and dad always want us to walk together" she replied glaring at Lucy.

"I know I know" Lucy replied giving Mary a dirty look "I just needed to get away for a while and think to myself before we got home" she replied looking down at the ground tapping the top of her tennis shoes to the wet ground since it had rained earlier that afternoon.

"Oh...are you thinking about what happened today?" Mary asked looking over at Lucy who had started to drift back into her thoughts again.

She had asked her teacher Mr. Hall if she could use her last pass for the day and use the bathroom. He handed her his large wooden paddle that was used as a hall pass and she walked out of his classroom.

There really wasn't anything to do since Patty-Mary never showed up for class. She was walking towards the girl's bathroom when she saw Patty-Mary and Ben walking out of the office arm in arm.

She had started to walk towards them to see if everything was all right but decided against when she looked in shocked as Kevin was running towards them and grabs them into a big group hug.

She could hear Patty-Mary sobbing softly and wondered if something had happened to their Grandpa Kinkirk who was sick with Leukemia. She stood around for a few minutes watching them leave and walk through the front doors of the school. She quickly realized that she had been gone a lot longer than she has so she used the bathroom and practically ran back to her classroom.

She came back to the present when she felt a hand grab her backpack...when she realized that she had almost crossed the street with a car coming right at her.

"Hey...what did you do that for?" she asked Mary crossly checking both ways before they both crossed the street to Alta Road.

"I was saving your butt" replied an annoyed Mary "You were to busy in your little dream world to realize that you were about to be hit by a car" she replied crossing her arms and walking a little bit faster than Lucy to beat her to the gate.

"I won I won" taunted an excited Mary as she pushed the gate open and held it for Lucy.

"Next time I'm going to win" announced Lucy looking like she could care less as she walked onto the porch in front of Mary and opened the back door and let Mary go in first.

"Hi Mom" Lucy said spotting her mom and Ruthie sitting at the kitchen table when her mom didn't answer she repeated herself again.

"Hi Mom were home" she said walking closer to Annie when Annie quickly wiped her eyes and turned to look at Lucy and Mary.

"Hey sweetie" Annie replied forcing a smile on her face.

"Did you guys have a good day at school?" she asked getting up from the table kisses Mary and Lucy on the cheek and walks over to the kitchen sink.

That's when Lucy noticed the pile of Kleenex sitting on the dining room table and nudged Mary who let's out a yelp.

"Hey! What was that for?" she asked out loud rubbing her side.

"Look" mouthed Lucy pointing to the pile of Kleenex that lay strewn all over the table that Ruthie was picking up and squishing.

"Hey Mom?" a curious Mary asked walking over to where Annie was standing at.

"Is everything Ok?" she asked with concern in her voice. Annie began to shake her head when the back door flung opened and Eric stood in the back door and he looked awful.

"I have spent the last 4 hours on that phone" he spat out placing his briefcase on the table and closed the door.

"They wouldn't tell me a thing but..." he started to say when he noticed Lucy and Mary where in the kitchen and Annie shaking her head to tell him to stop.

"Oh hi girls" he said giving them each a smile and a hug as he walked towards each of them.

"How was school?" he asked giving Lucy an extra tight hug.

"School was fine but Patty-Mary didn't come to my science class today and when I went to use the bathroom her, Ben and Kevin were all in front of the office" replied Lucy frowning as she walked over towards the kitchen to grab her after school snack.

"Did something happen to Grandpa Kinkirk?" she asked as she opened up the refrigerator door and grabbed two apple...one for her and one for Mary and shut the door not noticing the worried glances that were going on between Eric and Annie.

Lucy looked up and saw the tears in her mom's eyes and knew that something wasn't right.

"Mom? Dad?" she asked "what's wrong? Did something happen?" she asked again looking really worried as she handed Mary her apple.

Annie glanced over at Eric and he sighed, walking towards Lucy and puts his arms around her.

"Girls..."Annie started to say "Earlier this afternoon the house that was burning out of control" looking at their faces as she continued on "the one that Paul was called to help with well...it collapsed" she replied looking at their faces.

"So?" asked Mary who took a bite of her apple "what does that have to do with us?" she asked looking at her mom and dad.

Annie took a deep breath of air and turned away from her three daughters and quickly wiped her eyes.

"I have to tell them lord" she said to herself as she turns back around.

"Lucy...Mary...Paul was in the house when it collapsed and well he never had a chance to make it out in time... he died this afternoon with Karen at his side" she replied slowly looking at Lucy's shocked face as the tears started to flow from her eyes.

"Wha...What?" Lucy asked dropping her apple on the floor and flew out of Eric's arms and started to run up the stairs.

"Luce?" Eric called after her when he was stopped by Mary.

"Dad...let her go...I...I think she needs sometime alone" she replied biting her lip as hard as she could so she shouldn't cry.

"I'll go and see if everything is all right with her" Mary continued on picking up the fallen apple from the floor and placed it on the table next to a sniffling Ruthie and proceed up the stairs.

"I can't believe this" Lucy thought to herself...God would never do anything like that to Patty-Mary's family especially to their dad...he had just given himself to the lord only three days ago...and poor Patty-Mary her dad wouldn't be there to celebrate her 10th birthday as she started to cry harder...nor would he be there to celebrate her own 10th birthday.

She started to run toward her room that she shared with Mary hoping that she could be alone for a while when she ran into Matt who was on the phone.

"Hey watch where you are going squirt" Matt said angrily as he walked into his bedroom and shut the door.

Lucy stood there for a moment, tears filling her eyes when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs and raced to her room, flinging herself on the bed and started to sob.

She didn't want to talk to anyone...not even Mary who had quietly entered their room and watched in frustration at her younger sister's body that was rocking violently with nothing but muffled sobs.

She stood against the wall for what seemed like an eternity before she realized that Lucy had fallen asleep.

Mary walked over to her own bed and laid down, thinking of how Ben was going to handle his dad's funeral.

The next two days were like a huge blur for Lucy, She could hardly believe where she was at on a Monday.

She was at her dad's church for the viewing...well actually the memorial for Paul Kinkirk.

She was excused from school for Monday, Tuesday and even Wednesday the day after his funeral and so was the rest of her family as well.

She looked over at the other chair where her best friend Patty-Mary was…just sitting on Kevin's lap lying there like a limp rag doll.

She sighed and decided that she might as well go and see if she could talk to Patty-Mary and Kevin without crying like she did the night before.

"Hey" she replied walking up to them dragging her seat behind her and placing it next to Kevin.

"Hey Luce how are you doing" asked a depressed looking Kevin as he gave her a big hug.

"I'm fine but I should be asking you that" Lucy replied returning the hug trying to keep her tears hidden from Kevin.

She thought for a minute while still in the hug how she always liked Kevin for some odd reason...maybe it was because he was older and not that much of a jerk like Ben could be sometimes.

"Patty-Mary do you want to go and see what my mom made for lunch?" she asked hoping that Patty-Mary would at least talk to her.

"No...I'm not that hungry" Patty-Mary replied sighing and moved around on Kevin's lapcuddling with him longer.

"Please Patty-Mary" pleaded Lucy "I don't want to be in this room anymore...I'm sick of looking at the same wallpaper for the last hour" she stated softly.

"Then leave" snapped Patty-Mary whose eyes started too flashed with anger.

"I don't know why you are even here...it's not like he was your dad or anything...your dad is in the other room...while mine is gone for good" Patty-Mary said angrily with tears filling up her eyes as she turned away.

Lucy just stood there for what seemed like forever not believing what her best friend just said to her.

Kevin started to clear his throat and looked over at Lucy "Luce..." he started to say softy but stopped when he saw Lucy backing away slowly with tears filling her eyes.

Her best friend was hurting in the worst possible way and she didn't know what she could do to help her...she didn't know what she could say that would make everything better...that she would stop crying and be the old Patty-Mary and always have a smile on her face.

She slowly walked out of the church's basement and walked up the steps to the sanctuary, up to the front and sat on the three steps that she had watched her dad walk up since the day she was born.

What she didn't know was that after she left Kevin had scolded Patty-Mary for what she had told Lucy and now he was feeling guilty himself...his dad had only been gone for a few days but well he was now in charge of his younger brother and sister...and he didn't know if he could take their dad's place.

He got up off the chair and walked around for a few minutes getting hugs here and some sympathy advice from some of his friend's parents, neighbors and even his dad's co-workers.

He couldn't take it anymore and quickly walked out of the basement and decided to go up to the sanctuary where he knew he could be alone...and maybe he could talk to the one person that could understand him...god.

He walked out of the basement unnoticed by everyone except for Rev. Camden who placed his plate on an empty table and started to follow him getting stopped here and there by people who were also telling him how sorry they were.

Kevin arrived to the sanctuary to find it all ready occupied by a sobbing Lucy.

He quietly entered and slid in a row behind Lucy and listened to her as she prayed while Eric watched from the doorway.

"Oh lord" she sobbed quietly "I don't know what to do...Patty-Mary is hurting so much and everything that I seem to say to her makes her a lot more angry than I have ever seen her before...I don't know what to do or what to say...I just don't want her take it out on me anymore lord...doesn't she realize that I'm hurting just as much as she is?...he was my second dad and well now he is gone and now Kevin has to be the man of the house and he is only 14 years old god...how is he going to handle being the older brother and the man of the house...he has his whole life ahead of him and now you put a major responsibility on him? How can you do that? When all Ben and Patty-Mary need is a big brother more than anything?" she said sobbing with tears coming harder than she had expected.

All of a sudden she felt a young male hand clamped down on her shoulder and she turned and saw Kevin crying with tears pouring down his eyes. This was the first time she had ever seen him cry...openly in front of her that is.

"Luce...that was well...perfect...you said what I am feeling...I'm sorry for what Patty-Mary said...I told her to apologize to you later when everyone left..." Kevin said walking out of his pew and into Lucy's and gave her a big hug.

"I love you more and more every day Lucy Camden" he said softly into her ears.

"You are like another sister to me and I thank god everyday that I have been able to see the real you" he replied giving her another tight hug when he noticed Eric standing in the doorway.

"Kevin" Eric said softly walking up to where Lucy and Kevin were standing at still holding each other.

"You mom was just looking for you and I told her I think that I had a pretty good idea where you went" he replied sitting down in the pew opposite of Lucy and Kevin when they both realized that they were still in their hugging embraced and quickly tore apart looking uncomfortable for a moment before Eric began to speak.

"Kevin...I know that is going to be hard for the next couple of months...but if you ever need to speak to anyone...I'm here" Eric said softly standing up and started to walk away before Kevin spoke up.

"Actually Rev. Camden" Kevin said looking over at Lucy and smiled "I think Lucy helped me a lot more than she will ever know "he replied walking towards the exit behind Eric leaving Lucy looking bewildered

4 Weeks Later

Before Lucy knew it 4 weeks had passed and still everything was the same as every except for one thing...Paul Kinkirk was missing and his family was still hurting. Every time one of the kids would say "remember when dad use to..." their voices would quickly cut off when they noticed the tears that were on their mom's eyes.

Seeing Kevin, Patty-Mary, Ben and even Karen Kinkirk at the Camden home was an everyday occurrence.

They would come over as soon as school was done and wait for Karen's work shift to end and she would join them for dinner since the Camden's could only do one thing...and try and help the one family that they cared deeply about.

Except for this night something was different...there was something that didn't seem quite right except Lucy couldn't place her finger on it. Kevin, Patty-Mary and Ben seemed normal but there was something different about Karen...the way she walked, talked and it looked like she was even floating sometimes.

Lucy who was sitting between Kevin and Patty-Mary was startled out of her thoughts by Karen clearing her throat and standing up at the dinner table.

"Eric, Annie" she started to say looking at Lucy's parents.

"You guys have been the best friends Paul and I ever could have had...we have known each other for more than 11 years and I am so grateful we have been able to stay together that long...your kids feel like mine and I certainly hope that you feel the same way about mine" she stated with a laugh and looks around the table.

"My law firm offered me a higher position in their company" she replied with a huge grin "except for me to take the position I have to move to Buffalo, New York" she said suddenly staring at her glass of ice tea "and we leave in less than two weeks" she added looking at Eric and Annie who sat there in disbelief.

They had known ahead of time what was coming but they hadn't told the kids yet.

"What?" exclaimed 10-year-old Mary who looked at Ben who was shoving his food into his mouth.

"Why didn't you tell me Ben?" she asked him shoving him and glares at him angrily "How long have you known about this?" she asked him getting tears in her eyes.

"For about a month" Ben replied clearly looking uncomfortable in having to tell his best friend. Mary's eyes widened and she ran out of the dining room and up the stairs.

Lucy sat at the table twisting the napkin until it broke with her eyes filling up with tears when she turned towards Patty-Mary who wasn't looking at her.

"You knew all this long and didn't tell me either" Lucy whispered trying to get the words out of her mouth "what kind of a best friend are you?" she yelled tearing off her best friend bracelet that she got from Patty-Mary for her 9th birthday and flung it so hard at Patty-Mary that it ended up hitting Kevin and falling onto the floor and the thread broke letting all of the purple and blue beads go everywhere.

Lucy ran up the stairs sobbing her little heart out when Patty-Mary who couldn't look at Lucy started to get up when Kevin put a hand on her shoulder and just shook his head hoping that she knew to back off for a while.

"Karen...We are so sorry...we didn't mention it to the kids because...well...we thought that the kids had told them" Annie said to Karen who looked helplessly on.

Karen looked sheepishly at her own kids and then looked back at Annie.

"Actually I told them they couldn't tell anyone until I knew that it was final" she replied softly as she sat back down in the chair.

"What I didn't know was that they wouldn't have even told their best friends" she replied giving each of them a long hard cold stare which made each of them except for Kevin squirm in their chairs.

Kevin had been the smart one and as soon as Karen told them about her promotion he instantly told Matt who was sworn to secrecy.

About an hour later after everyone had stopped crying the kids went off in different directions...Matt, Kevin, Ben and even Simon went outside and started to play football while Mary, Lucy and Patty-Mary went upstairs to play their favorite game the

"Who do you want (insert their name here) to Marry game"

"So who do you want to marry Lucy off to" asked an upset Mary to Patty-Mary.

"I'm not sure...it could always be one of my brothers!" Patty-Mary exclaimed excitedly.

"Then that way Lucy would never have to call my house all the time she could just live with us" she said laughing her head off.

Lucy who wasn't paying attention very well got snapped out of her own dazed world when Mary asked her the same question.

"I don't know who I would want PM to marry" she replied still thinking about the earlier news.

Suddenly she was tired...very tired so she decided that Mary and PM could play their game while she walked around the house for a while hoping to clear her head.

She walked out of her room and towards the stairs when she ran into someone who was a LOT taller than her.

"Hey watch where you are going Lucy Goosey" said Kevin tenderly who gave Lucy a quick smile and walked off into Matt's room shutting the door behind him.

Lucy just stood there for a moment and thought about what had just happened...no one ever called her Lucy Goosey except for Kevin...it had been like that since day one...maybe there was some sort of a bond between them that was starting to be created but they both didn't know it yet.

Two Weeks Later

Before anyone knew it two weeks had flown by faster than ever. The Camden's were over at the Kinkirk's practically from morning to night.

Annie and Eric sat up all night after Karen had dropped the bomb and discussed wither or not they should let the kids miss school and help their best friends pack up their rooms. After a long discussion they agreed that it was best of all the Camden's helped out.

It took them only a week and half to pack up the only home the Kinkirk's called. Patty-Mary and Lucy sobbed into each others arms days at a time knowing that they might not see each other for a long time.

Matt and Kevin just did the typical "good bye I'll talk to you later on the phone thing" and well Ben and Mary just didn't care anymore...they had grown apart after all of this took place.

At the last dinner made by the Kinkirk's more tears were shed well into the night. When the day came for Karen, Patty-Mary, Kevin, and Ben to leave for the airport it was awkward at first but then everyone realized that their best friends for the last 11 years were truly moving away.

As soon as the taxicab left with them in it, Lucy turned around and walked into the house. She wanted to be alone for a long time.

She went into her room and shut the door and walked over to her bed and took out a photo album that held the last 9 years of her life all in one tiny book. She opened the pages and looked slowly at each one noticing that in each and every picture Kevin was always there.

She slammed the book shut and started to cry...not only was her best friend in the world gone but so was her brother...the one that she felt the most comfortable around.

True Matt was her brother but Kevin well he didn't act like an older brother but more like a friend. He was always there to listen and always there offering his shoulder for her to cry on when she couldn't find anyone else.

Sometimes after she was done crying about something that had hurt her feelings at school he would give her a hug...for no reason...and they would sit in each others arms for a while until someone interrupted them...it didn't feel wrong...it felt way to right...

"perhaps" Lucy thought herself "there's more to Kevin Kinkirk than we know" she thought as she closed the book and laid down on her bed and feel into a restless sleep.