A/N: Again, I know the sections have been a bit uneven, and that some characters have gotten more face time than others. I have given Brian more sections than some of the others, but there's a reason for that, and it should become more clear as the story progresses. Also, I figure that Brian doesn't get the spotlight all that often in BC fan fiction, so maybe he's due for some action? ;) Anyway, as I mentioned before, the sections will even out eventually.

Chapter Eleven: This Was a Mistake

It was either the most beautiful or most horrifying thing she'd ever seen. Maybe it was both.

"Hi."

Allison swallowed deeply and pushed out a response. "Hi."

Andy nodded stiffly and stepped backwards, opening the door a bit wider. "Uh, come in, I guess. I don't know where Claire is, but…"

Allison nodded and pushed past him, shivering slightly as her arm brushed against his. He closed the door behind him and turned to face her. They stood there for a moment, staring at one another, then at the floor, then at one another again. Finally, Andy spoke. "So, uh, did you come from New York?"

Allison nodded. "Did you come from Columbus?"

Andy nodded. "Yeah."

Allison watched him for a moment, looking for signs of change. There were plenty to choose from. He was thinner than she remembered, and his hair was a bit longer. He looked older, too, but she supposed that was normal. The part that wasn't normal was how tired he looked, and not just physically.

"Allison."

Allison looked away from Andy and over at the staircase, where Brian was standing, smiling hesitantly. He was taller and heavier than he had been in high school, but she recognized him right away.

"Hi."

"Hi." Brian stepped forward and gave her a hug, which she couldn't return properly since her duffel bag kept getting in the way. "Did you just get here?" Brian glanced over at Andy, who had come up beside them and was standing by the wall a few feet away. He shrugged dismissively, indicating that he didn't have anything to do with her arrival.

Allison stepped back. "I took the train."

"I wasn't sure if you got my message or not, so I didn't know if you'd come." Brian watched her expectantly, but she didn't know what he wanted her to say, so she didn't say anything.

Suddenly, Allison heard the click-clack of heels against the marble floor, and Claire appeared in the doorway. "Allison!" she exclaimed. She walked over to give her a hug, which Allison still found awkward with her bag sliding down her arm. "When did you get here?"

"Just now."

Claire stepped back and gave her a sad smile. "Thanks for coming."

Allison nodded, but didn't say anything. She was probably supposed to say something about how sorry she was that her mom had died, but Allison had never been good at things like that. Besides, what did Claire care if Allison was sorry? It wouldn't bring her mom back.

There was a moment of awkward silence in the hallway, with all four of them staring at one another uncomfortably. After a moment, Claire took a deep breath and smiled at Allison nervously. "So, are you staying here? I can have Sandra get a room ready for you."

Allison nodded.

"Okay, I'll be right back. You can just leave your stuff here in the hallway," said Claire. Allison nodded and Claire headed up the staircase, her heels echoing loudly in the silent room.

Brian looked over at Allison. "So, uh, you took the train…"

Allison nodded, forcing herself not to look over at Andy to see if he was watching her.

"From New York?"

She nodded again.

"How was your trip?"

Allison shrugged. "Fine."
Brian nodded. "That's…that's good."

The three of them stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Andy cleared his throat. "I need to, uh…I need to finish unpacking," he said. Allison looked over at him, but he just nodded stiffly in their general direction and started up the staircase, his sneakers squeaking softly against the marble steps.

"So, how did you get here from the station?"

Allison glanced back at Brian. "Bus."

Brian nodded. "Oh, I didn't even think about doing that. Andy picked me up." He paused. "Too bad you didn't call first. I'm sure if you would have called that he could've, you know, picked you up, too."

Allison nodded, though she could hardly imagine that being anything but awkward. "Yeah…too bad."

Claire found a spare bedroom just down the hallway from Andy and Brian's rooms, then went back downstairs to get Allison. Brian helped her with her bag, then disappeared back into his own room after Claire insisted that she didn't need any help with anything. Claire showed Allison where the bathroom was, then went back downstairs for something to eat.

She found a brand new platter of brownies on the counter and helped herself to two of them, knowing that she probably wouldn't get another chance since her brother would make quick work of them when he realized they were there. She washed the brownies down with a glass of milk, then walked into the sitting room to return a couple of phone calls from earlier in the day. On the way to the sitting room, she passed her father's office door, which was cracked open a few inches. She hesitated for a moment, then knocked softly.

"Come in."

Claire pushed open the door slowly, peeking into the room. "Hi, Daddy."

Calvin Standish beamed at his daughter. "Hi, Princess. Come in."

Claire stepped into the room and took a seat in the leather chair in front of his desk. "How are you?"

He smiled warmly. "Fine. How are you holding up?"

"Fine. What are you doing?"

He looked down at the stack of papers on his desk, then back up at her. "Just catching up on some paperwork."

Claire glanced over at his desk, which was covered in stacks of papers. Her father was the Vice President of a medium-sized investment company in Chicago, and he was always busy calling people or going over reports. As much as she wanted him to forget about his job and focus on the situation at hand, Claire knew that it was nearly impossible for him to completely take off from work when he had so many responsibilities. The fact that he'd decided to stay home instead of going into the office was good enough for her…almost.

"Are your friends settling in alright?"

Claire nodded. "Allison just got here a few minutes ago."

Mr. Standish probably didn't know who Allison was, but he nodded anyway. "Good. I'm glad they were able to make it."

Claire nodded. "Me, too."

Mr. Standish paused, then smiled proudly at his daughter. "I know you've had a lot of work to do, Princess, but I really appreciate you being here. You're doing a wonderful job."

Claire sat very still. "It's okay," she said quietly. He continued smiling at her, but Claire wished that he would just stop. "It's okay," she said again, this time more firmly.

Her father nodded. "Well, you just let me know if you need me to do anything, okay?"

Claire swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. "Sure, Daddy." Without saying anything else, she rose from her chair and walked out of the office, then headed back into the sitting room to finish making her phone calls.

Andy lay on the bed in his guest room, staring up at the ceiling and cursing himself for coming back to Shermer, Illinois.

There were a million reasons why he regretted his decision to come, and he was reminded of several of them when he'd opened the door to find Allison standing on the front porch with her duffel bag slung over one shoulder. She looked different than she had the last time he'd seen her more than three years before. She was thinner than he remembered, and her hair was short and messy. She was wearing black boots, black jeans, a worn-out black leather jacket, and an unreadable expression. It was that last part that bothered Andy the most, just as it had when they were teenagers. She was so damn good at hiding things, and it always frustrated him that he couldn't tell what she was thinking. The fact that she was just as good, if not better, at hiding her emotions four years down the road frustrated him even more.

Andy sighed and closed his eyes. He'd fully expected her to say no or ignore Brian's message, and the fact that she'd actually agreed to come back surprised him. Why had she come back? It couldn't have been just because of Claire. The girls had been friends, but they'd never been particularly close, and Andy couldn't see Allison jumping on a train and giving up a week of her life just so that she could be there Claire in her time of need. He didn't think that the prospect of seeing Bender or Brian would have done much to convince her, either. Had she come back to see him? He knew how arrogant it sounded, but he couldn't push the idea out of his mind.

When the two of them broke up in the winter of 1984, Andy knew it was for the best. The two of them were so different, and their relationship had started under such random circumstances. With him going to school in Ohio and her living in New York, he knew that they wouldn't last long. She must have known it, too, because she'd hardly reacted when he mentioned taking a break. At the time, he'd wondered if she wasn't trying to shield her pride by acting aloof, but as the days went on and Allison still hadn't called back, Andy started wondering if perhaps she hadn't cared very much after all.

But maybe he'd been wrong; maybe she had cared. Her greeting in Claire's foyer that afternoon had done nothing to suggest that she wanted him back, but there was still the fact that she'd come all that way in the first place. What did she expect from him? What did any of them expect from him? Andy's stomach tightened apprehensively, and he pressed his forearm against his abdomen in an attempt to relieve the pressure. This was a mistake. This whole thing is one big fucking mistake.

A few hours later, Andy jerked awake, his heart racing and his eyes wide open, but blurry from sleep. Someone knocked on his door, probably for the second or third time, and he sat up in bed. "Yeah?"

"Andy?" Claire called out. "Dinner's ready, if you're hungry."

Andy closed his eyes and sighed. "Okay, thanks." He paused. "I'll be there in a minute."

Brian took a sip of his water and looked across the table, where Allison was sitting silently as she finished off her chicken casserole. Andy, who was sitting to Brian's left, stared down at his plate as he picked at his food. Claire, who was sitting next to him, kept looking around nervously, probably wondering, like Brian, what she was supposed to say.

Brian cleared his throat. "So, Allison, where do you work in New York?"

Allison looked up at him, but didn't answer right away. "At a candy store," she said finally.

Brian hadn't been expecting that. In all of her letters, she'd never given him any clues about what she was doing or where she was working. "Do you like it?"

Allison shrugged, then looked down at her plate again. Brian felt mildly disappointed, but tried not to show it. "That's good," he said lamely.

They ate for a few minutes in silence before Claire spoke. "Are you graduating this semester, Andy?"

Andy jerked his head up quickly, reminding Brian of a sleeping student getting woken up by a teacher in the middle of class. "Um, yeah. In May."

Claire nodded. "Me, too. What are you studying?"

"Business."

Claire smiled. "Me, too."

Andy nodded, but didn't ask her any questions about it. Claire opened her mouth to say something else, then stopped and took another sip her glass of water.

Brian put down his fork. "Where's your brother, Claire?"

Claire looked up. "He's picking up my aunt from the airport." She glanced at her watch. "They should be back soon."

"What about your dad?"

Claire paused. "He's doing some work in his office."

Brian nodded, but didn't press her for details. He was trying to think of something else that he could say to keep the conversation rolling when the phone rang. Claire sighed and put her napkin on the table. "I'll be right back," she said, then ran from the room.

Brian stared at Claire's empty seat. After a moment, he looked over at Allison, who was so engrossed in her food that she even seem to have noticed that Claire had left, then to his left, where Andy was using his fork to push a piece of chicken around on his plate. Brian started to make a comment about how good the food was, then gave up and went back to eating his casserole.

Claire rushed into the sitting room and picked up the phone in the middle of the fifth ring. "Hello?"

"Claire? Is that you, honey?"

Claire took a seat on the sofa. "Yes, this is Claire."

"This is Florence Gerald from down the street. I just heard about your mother, you poor thing."

Claire sighed and propped up her elbow on the sofa's armrest. "Hello, Mrs. Gerald."

"I would have called sooner, but Henry and I were on vacation, and we didn't get back until this afternoon. I went next door to visit Shirley and to get our mail, and she told me all about your mother. You poor thing."

Claire closed her eyes. "Thank you."

"Now, I don't want you to have to worry about anything at all, so I'm going to bring over one of my potato casseroles, okay, honey? You don't need to be worrying about food at a time like this."

Claire rolled her eyes. At this rate, she wouldn't have to worry about food for the next month and a half. "Thank you, Mrs. Gerald. That's very thoughtful of you."

"No problem, honey. I'll be over in a little while."

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you."

"Good bye."

"Good bye." Claire hung up the phone, then let out a deep breath and collapsed against the back of the sofa. She stared at the door for a moment, willing herself to go back outside to her guests, then gave up and let herself sink further into the sofa cushion. I just want to sit here and not move. Five minutes. Just give me five minutes.

Claire closed her eyes and took another deep breath. It had been a mistake to call Brian on Saturday night; two days later, she could see that very clearly. Allison was on another planet, Andy was pissed off at everyone, and Brian…well, Brian was the only person that didn't seem to mind being there, but Claire had screwed everything up with him earlier that day in the kitchen when she'd told him that she hated leaving people, even though she'd done a horrible job of keeping in touch with the Breakfast Club. Way to go, Claire. Way to make him feel completely unwanted.

The doorbell rang, but Claire didn't move from the sofa. Let Sandra deal with the potato casserole. Claire rubbed her eyes, not caring that she was probably smudging her eye shadow. She should have just dealt with it on her own; it would have been a lot easier that way, for her and everyone else. Why had she called on them in the first place? It had seemed so right at the time, but apparently the others didn't see it that way. She'd managed to alienate the only person that seemed genuinely happy to see her, and the one person she really wanted to be there had apparently decided not to show.

Suddenly, Claire heard heavy footsteps echoing against the marble floor in the hall. She held her breath, and the footsteps stopped at her door. Slowly, Claire opened her eyes.

"Hey, Princess."

A/N: Hmmm, who could that be?

Also, I'm sure that you're used to this by now if you've read my other stories, but I'll say it again. I don't like spilling everything in one chapter or section, so please be patient and know that I don't intend to leave anything out. If something is unclear, let me know, but also know that I may be planning to go into greater detail in the next chapter. For example, you will getting deeper insight into Allison's feelings about Andy and the others in chapter 12.

Also, YES, I will be giving John lots of sections in the future, just to make up for torturing you all for so long. Remember: good things come to those who wait…and review.