You know, I didn't plan on updating today... then I realized that if I did, I'd have to write, and I'd actually get something done. So here we are. Fancy that...

The treatments seemed to be working well for Ashley. After taking the mood elevators, and going to numerous psychotherapy sessions, she finally seemed to be taking a turn for the better.

"So," Owen said, lounging in the Teslow living room, "are we still going bowling Saturday night?"

"Yep," Phil responded, throwing a tennis ball against the wall.

"Would you stop throwing that ball, Phil?" Keely asked.

"I suppose I should be able to make it," Via mused. "No reason why I shouldn't…"

"So we're set then," Phil said, still throwing the ball.

"Stoppit with the throwing, willya?" Keely repeated. "You're gonna break something!"

"And we're still seeing The Red Room on Friday, I assume?" Via asked.

"Yep," Phil responded, still throwing the tennis ball against the wall. Keely, finally fed up with this, caught the ball and winged at Phil, hitting him in the forehead with it. "Ow…" he muttered, rubbing his head.

"So, anyway, I was thinking…" Owen said. Upon seeing Ashley walk in the front door, he trailed off. "Oh. Hey Ashley," he said in a strange tone. "They let you out already?"

"Owen," Ashley said, rolling her eyes in irritation, "I was in a therapy session, not an insane asylum."

"You'll have to excuse Owen," Via said. "He's just an idiot…"

"Hey!" Owen shouted.

"Can't argue with her, Owen," Ashley called out, walking upstairs. "She does have a point."

"Thank you," Via said, raising a hand.

"How is Ashley doing?" Owen asked.

Keely gave him a blank stare for about half a minute, during which nobody made a sound. "Owen, why didn't you just ask her yourself?"

"I don't know," Owen muttered.

"Ugh… she's good, okay? She's really been getting better and better these past few weeks, what with the therapy and drugs… she's even sending out college applications. She's doing a lot better."

"Good to hear," Via said.

Keely nodded, and a brief silence followed. Then, the sound of a tennis ball hitting against the wall sounded in the room.

"PHIL!" Keely shouted, as he laughed. "Don't you listen to anything!"

"Sorry, Keels, I couldn't resist."

"Phil, if you so much as throw that ball once more…" she said, warningly.

"Sorry, Keels…" he muttered, giving her a remorseful look.

"Alright, this is getting weird," Owen said, getting up and leaving the room.

"I was just about to do the same," Via muttered, leaving the room with him.

"…They left," Phil muttered.

"Phil, don't get any ideas…" Keely said, raising an eyebrow. "You know my sister's here."

"Yeah… yeah…" Phil sighed. "But can't, can't we just--"

"NO, Phil."

"Alright, alright… okay. Jeez, I was kidding, anyway..."

"Alright then…" Keely said.

"So… your sister sent out college applications?" Phil asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah…" Keely said, a hint of depression in her voice.

"What's wrong?"

"I dunno… I mean, I'm happy for her and all… but when she goes to college, I'll be the only one left here…" She let out a little laugh. "Look how selfish I'm being…"

"Oh, Keel… it's perfectly understandable…"

"No," Keely said, shaking her head, "I'm just being annoying…"

Phil rolled his eyes. "Keely, it'll be the first time it was just you and your mom in the house… of course it'll seem weird."

"Call it what you want," Keely said as Ashley came back downstairs, "I call it selfishness. Almost as selfish as… as…" Keely stammered, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"As…?" Phil prompted.

"As… suicide! There, I said it." Keely heaved a sigh as Phil walked over to her and put an arm around her shoulder. "I mean… so what if it solves your own problems? It's so… selfish…" Ashley walked into the room as Keely went on. "I mean, Phil… why? Why did she do it?"

Come back to me, this is unconceivable
Breaking apart the ones you love
Hate runs deep for what you've done to us
Left alone through suicide… suicide…

"I mean, didn't she think at all about us? What it would do to us? Her family? She left us here without her! Why would she do something like that?" Keely cried into Phil's shoulder, who honestly didn't know what to say.

Phil looked down at his hands…

…hands of fate…

Don't you… realize… that evil…
Lives in the mother-fucking skin?

Phil sighed. "What if everything that happens to us… was inevitable?"

"You mean like, destiny?" Keely asked. "That she was destined to kill herself? That anyone who does that is destined to kill themselves?"

Phil sighed again. "I've always just believed in fate…"

"You think… you think she was fated to kill herself…"

"I just… I don't know what to believe, honestly. But what if she was?"

"Phil… that's… that's terrible…"

"I know, but…" Phil sighed. "I don't know what I'm talking about…"

"No, this was Bonnie's decision--" Keely stammered.

On and on although you're gone
Candles burn without a flame on
Our final call to you… I know you're listening
How could you leave us that way?

"Exactly," Ashley said. "It was Bonnie's decision. And it should be respected."

Keely looked up at her sister. "What?"

"'If freedom is self-ownership, ownership over one's own life and body, then the right to end that life is the most basic of all.' Arthur Schopenhauer said that. If other people force you to live, then you don't belong to yourself anymore."

"You're… advocating suicide?"

"I didn't want Bonnie to commit suicide. I just can understand why she did."

"But… Ashley… she used a very permanent solution for temporary problems."

"Her problems were going to be life-long," Ashley said, knowingly.

"Oh you think so, huh?" Keely asked.

"I know," Ashley spat back.

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it…

"She didn't have to do it…" Keely sobbed.

"She thought she did. She made the decision. I respect it. It was her life, she did with it as she wanted. Who am I to tell her what to do with her life?"

Keely sighed. "Every problem she had was fixable… everything except hanging herself…"

"It was her choice," Ashley said. "I don't like her decision, but I respect the decision she made."

"But… she denied herself of freedom!"

"No… she freed herself. She let herself fly…" Ashley sighed, and left the room.

I look back and see the twisted road
Best friends and despair took its toll…

"She shouldn't have done it…" Keely said, her voice trembling, tears running down her face.

Sorrow sank deep inside my blood
All the ones around me
I cared for and most of all I loved
But I can't see myself that way
Please don't forget me or cry while I'm away

"She shouldn't have done it…" she repeated, sobbing, trying to fight back her tears.

I don't think you trust in my self-righteous suicide…

Keely, becoming angry and betrayed, muttered, "She left us here… she only solved her own problems…" Brushing away her tears, Keely sighed in frustration.

WHY THE FUCK DID YOU TAKE HER AWAY FROM US YOU MOTHER-FUCKER?

Lots of different songs were used in this chapter… and I did have to change a "him" to "her", okay…

"I Won't See You Tonight Part 2" - Avenged Sevenfold
"Soil" - System of a Down
"10 Years Today" - Bullet for My Valentine
"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get out Of" - U2
"Chop Suey!" - System of a Down

So review. What's holding you back?