4 am. 4 in the morning, and I'm updating a story... wow...

When the three of them arrived at the Diffy residence, Pim was first to open the door. Something about the expression on Keely's face made Pim stop herself from saying, Oh, look. The Three Stooges…

"I-is Phil home?" Keely asked, fully aware that he would be.

"Yeah, he's--" Pim stopped as Keely dashed upstairs. "Upstairs…" she finished to nobody. "You two can come in, you know. We don't have the plague…"

Mandy and Ashley walked in as Barbara Diffy came into the room. "Oh, hello, Mandy, Ashley…" she greeted. "What brings you two over here?"

"Well… maybe you all should hear this together…" Mandy said, heavily.

"Okay, I'll go get Phil…"

"That won't be necessary," Ashley interjected. "I'm sure Keely will tell him all about what happened…"

Barbara raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but pressed on no further. Summoning Pim and Lloyd to the dining room table, the five of them sat down. The Diffys looked at Mandy expectantly.

"Uh, well… you, you see, what happened…" Mandy stumbled along, looking for a way to tell them.

Ashley sighed. Realizing it'd be a good half-hour before Mandy was able to say anything, she silently cleared her throat and announced, perhaps more bluntly than she had intended, "Bonnie hanged herself."

Everyone at the table looked at Ashley, silently, eyes wide. "I found her this morning," she murmured, looking down. For the rest of the conversation, Ashley avoided eye contact with the rest of the room.

Keely hurtled into Phil's room and nearly tackled him when she locked her arms around him. "Keely?" he asked, in a bit of a stupor. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Phil…" she cried, her head lying on his shoulder.

"Keely… what happened?"

"Phil," Keely sobbed, looking into his eyes, "it's… it's Bonnie… She… she…" Her throat hitched up, and she let her head fall on his shoulders again. Rubbing Keely's back, Phil remained silent. After a few minutes, Keely breathed in deep, and whispered, "She… killed… herself…"

Phil's jaw dropped. He'd known Bonnie for two years… she'd never shown any signs of being suicidal. In fact, she was usually the most upbeat of the three of the sisters. She never complained of being depressed, never had any noticeable mood changes… Phil probably wouldn't even have believed the news if somebody he hadn't known very well told him so.

Phil slowly pulled his mind back together, and sat Keely down beside him on the bed. Keely, however, simply shifted herself so that she was sitting on his lap.

Phil wasn't entirely sure what he should say to Keely… he went over a number of things in his head, but Keely ended up speaking first. "Phil… I need you to promise me something."

"Sure, anything."

"Well, actually, two things."

"Sure thing, what are they?"

"Well, for one… don't ever do that to yourself."

"No worries, Keel. I'd never do that…"

Keely smiled. "And the other thing… just… be here for me, okay?"

Phil smiled. That, he could do. "Of course, Keely…"

One thing was bugging Keely, though… the funeral. She knew her mom would either want her or her sister to give a eulogy there… but she knew she didn't want to give one, mostly because she didn't want to… part of her thought she wouldn't even be able to give a eulogy. She figured her sister would probably have similar feelings on the subject. After a few minutes of silence, she took a deep breath.

"Phil?" she timidly asked.

"Yeah, Keels?"

"Um… I was kinda wondering… would it be possible… if you did a eulogy? You know, at the funeral?"

Phil scratched the back of his neck. "Gee, Keely, I… I didn't even really know Bonnie that well…"

"I know," Keely said, "but… I mean, I don't know if I'd be able to… could you? Please? If not for her, then do it for me…"

Phil sighed. "You know what? I'll do it for the both of you…"

Keely smiled widely. "Thanks, Phil," she said, giving him a big kiss on the cheek. "I love you…"

No matter how many times he was ever going to hear that, he knew it would never old to him, at least when it was coming from her. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do for the eulogy, but he was sure that he'd think of something by the time it came along.

The smile on Keely's face didn't last long, however, as the bitter reality came back into her mind. She cried some more, and basically spent the rest of the day by Phil's side.

The last day of spring break came, and Ashley and Keely were coming home from a trip to the mall. Ashley heaved a vehement sigh. "It was my fault…" she said, wildly.

"What?" Keely asked, genuinely confused as usual.

"Bonnie… what she did… it… it was my fault."

"Ashley, don't say that," Keely said. "It wasn't your fault…"

"Of course it was, Keely. I'm the oldest, I'm supposed to look out for you two. How could it not be my fault that my sister's cries for help went unnoticed?"

"Ashley, don't say that… it wasn't your fault. Bonnie just--"

"Bonnie didn't get help in time!" she interrupted. "I didn't notice her change in those past two weeks. Don't you remember, Keely?"

"Remember what?"

"She wasn't even speaking to us those last few days! She didn't go out, she stayed locked in her room, she didn't take any calls… but I just ignored it. I just let her die!"

"Ashley, any of us could've done anything," Keely said. "We-"

"No, Keely," Ashley sobbed, "I should've been there to talk to her. I should've noticed those signs as a cry for help… It was my fault. I didn't talk to her, and she never got that chance to step forward… I never opened the door for her… This is all my fault…"

Keely tried to persuade her sister otherwise as they pulled into the driveway, but she had no success.

Ashley didn't sleep a wink that night.

Hey, let's all do that review-the-story thing again. It's so much fun it should be illegal.