Mary Anne remained on her bed and stared at the door that Dawn had just closed behind her. Part of her wanted to run after her and comfort her in anyway that she would allow, but another part of her wanted to forget about what had just happened and go back to her book. She looked at Tigger who rolled over on his back and purred. He was no help.

Sighing, Mary Anne slowly got up from her bed and went to check on Dawn. Right as she was about to knock on the door, music erupted from Dawn's stereo, drowning out any move she was about to make. She tentatively knocked anyway, but didn't get any response. Confused, she wondered why Dawn was trying to hard to reach out and pull away from anyone who cared about her. Maybe whatever was going on was more than a matter of escaping to whatever situation didn't suit her at the time. Maybe much of the problem resided in Dawn herself.

As got back to her bedroom, the phone rang. Rushing to pick it up, Mary Anne found herself answering in unison with Dawn. She held her breath, waiting to see if Dawn noticed or not. She didn't. Glancing at the caller identification box, she could tell that the call was coming from the Stevenson house. Being careful not to make a sound, she listened.

"Hey Dawn, it's Abby,"

"Hey, what's up? Are you working on getting the stuff from Cary?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah I'm working on it," Abby said quickly. "But that's not why I called. I just... I just wanted to ask if you were doing okay. I mean, with everything that's going on and all."

Dawn's voice changed as she became defensive. "Of course I'm fine. I'm awesome. Why would you ask?"

"Just because we're friends. And I was just wondering," Abby responded. "Geez, It's just a question."

The phone was silent on both ends of the receiver as Mary Anne held her breath, waiting for whatever was to come next. She was glad that Abby was reaching out to Dawn, even though Dawn might just end up pushing her away, as she had done to Mary Anne. It seemed that in light of the conversation they had had earlier, Abby cared more than Mary Anne had originally thought.

Abby was the first to break the silence. "Mary Anne stopped by tonight."

"Why?" Dawn asked, her voice cold and tight.

"I don't know really. She's concerned about you I guess. She was cool when she left. It wasn't a big deal or anything. But anyway, about next weekend…"

"What did you tell her?"

"Nothing, really. I just told her that we were friends, and that wasn't going to change. You know," Abby explained.

"I can't believe you would talk to Mary Anne without even letting me know! She was at the door when we were talking earlier, wasn't she?" Dawn asked, her voice rising.

"Yeah. But I still don't see what the big deal is."

Mary Anne swallowed back a lump that was growing in her throat. She knew that she should hang up, but she had to hear whatever it was that Dawn was going to say.

"The big deal is that you didn't even tell me! You just said we were friends, Abby! What do you think friendship is?" Dawn yelled this last part into the receiver.

Mary Anne could tell that Abby was getting nervous. "Maybe you should relax a little, and call me back later, Dawn. Or maybe call me in the morning," she said hesitantly.

There was no immediate response, and Mary Anne held her breathe waiting for what was going to come next. Instead, the line remained silent until she heard a soft click on the receiver. In her room, Dawn shrieked so loud that Mary Anne could hear her above the music playing.

Still holding the phone, Mary Anne stood still, unsure of what her next move should be. It soon turned out that she didn't have to decide: Dawn came careening in through the doors separating their bedrooms, her face twisted into pure anger. Tigger saw this, and ran for refuge under the bed.

"What is your problem?"

Mary Anne stood next to her bed, still holding the phone receiver in her hand. She found herself unable to move, barely able to form coherent thoughts. "What do you mean?"

"You had no right to go talk to Abby! And you have no right to interfere with my personal life! What is the matter with you?" Dawn's words stuck Mary Anne like daggers.

"I…I care about you Dawn. I really do. I just want you to be happy," Mary Anne stumbled over her words, knowing that nothing she could say would make Dawn happy.

"No you don't! You don't care about me! No one cares about me! You all just pretend, and I'm sick of it!" With this, Dawn swept her arm across the top of Mary Anne's bookshelf, knocking down everything that was on top of it.

The commotion upstairs caused Sharon and her dad to come upstairs and see what was going on. Mary Anne couldn't remember the last time that she had been so happy to see her parents. She had no idea what was going with Dawn, but she knew that is was beyond anything that she could do to fix it. Even so, she wasn't sure if her dad or Sharon could really fix it either.

"What's going on in here girls?" Richard asked sternly "We're trying to enjoy a nice movie downstairs, and we can't even hear the television over the screaming up here."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Dawn yelled, throwing her arms above her head. "None of you get it!"

Dawn turned around and walked into her room, with Sharon trailing after her. Richard looked at Mary Anne, his face showing his confusion. He sighed, and looked at the mess of what had fallen off Mary Anne's bookshelf. "You really should clean that up Mary Anne." With that, he followed Sharon into Dawn's room.

Mary Anne looked at the empty spaces where her family had been standing just a moment ago. She realized that she was still holding the telephone receiver, and finally set that down. Walking right by the mess on her floor, she stood in the doorway of Dawn's room, and silently observed the happenings.

Sharon stood with her hands on her hips, facing her daughter. Mary Anne noticed for the first time that they were about the same height.

"Listen, Dawn. I don't know what is going on with you, but I'm tired of playing these games. Do you want to go back to California and live with your father?"

Dawn's eyes grew big, but she didn't say anything.

"Do you?" Sharon prodded.

"No," Dawn said softly.

"Do you want to go to boarding school in New Hampshire?"

"No," Dawn said, firmly this time.

"Well then, this is your only option. So you need to figure out how to live here, or you're going to be going somewhere you don't want to. Is that clear?"

Dawn locked eyes with Sharon and almost imperceptibly nodded her head.

"Good," Sharon turned and looked towards Mary Anne's dad. "Come on Richie, let's get back to the movie."

Mary Anne watched her father and stepmother leave the room and retreat back downstairs. Even when they were trying to be actual parents, they weren't anywhere near effective. She rolled her eyes, thinking of how they were going to go downstairs and probably congratulate each other on being so tough.

Mary Anne's eyes moved from the door to Dawn, who was standing in between the twin beds looking defeated.

"Go away Mary Anne," she said, her voice monotone and unwelcoming.

"No."

Mary Anne could tell this surprised Dawn, but it surprised her even more. Being assertive wasn't exactly her strong point.

"I don't want to take right now."

"Well I do," said Mary Anne, still pushing.

Dawn looked her square in the eye. "Fine. Talk."

"You call me from California, begging for my help, and I do whatever you want. You come back, and I do whatever I can to listen to you, to spend time for you, and to be there for you. Yet even after everything that I've done for you these past few weeks, you don't think twice about putting me in the middle of Dawn's family feud. And I'm sick of it!"

Dawn folded her arms across her chest. "Go on," she said simply.

"I'm your sister Dawn. And I will always be here for you. But I can't keep seeking you out, and having you push me away. I'm here for you, but you're going to have to come to me. I'm not going to be Mary Anne to the rescue anymore."

Mary Anne folded her arms across her chest, and waited for a response from Dawn. After a minute of silence, she turned around and went into her own room, closing the door behind her. She sunk to the floor, and a smile broke out across her lips. She had no idea how she had done it, but she had stood up to Dawn.

She was happy that she had told Dawn how she felt, but was still unsure of how she felt about the whole situation. She didn't know if Dawn would ever reach out to her, but she would always be ready, in case she did. Maybe that's all that she could do.