Chapter Eighteen: Don't Fail Me Now

I'm feeling sick, but I'm leaving it behind.

Ellie

"DAD?" I yelled. I couldn't believe my eyes. He held his arms open, waiting for me to run to him, but I stayed put. I thought that maybe he wasn't real.

"Elle Belle, give me a hug!" he yelled. I ran to him then, full speed, and jumped into his arms.

"I can't believe you're really here," I said into his chest, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"I am," he told me, stroking my hair. "And I'm never leaving again."

"Do you mean it?" I asked, lifting my head up to look at him.

"Of course," he said, smiling. I returned the smile and wiped my cheeks off.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked.

"Emma called me. And she told me everything," he said, the smile slowly fading.

"What do you mean by everything?" I asked, suddenly nervous.

"About your mom. She called me two months ago actually," he said. "It just took me this long to get back. I had to finish up a few things. But I'm here to stay."

"Are you okay?" I asked, choking up. I knew I still wasn't okay with it, and he'd been married to her for almost twenty years.

"I'm better now," he told me. "All that matters to me right now, is you, and how you feel. Ellie, I want you to live with me. I'll understand if you want to stay here at Emma's house, but I just bought a new house. It has four bedrooms, so there is some extra space," he explained.

"Of course I'll come live with you. I'm sure Emma's parents will be relieved to not have so much to deal with," I said.

"What do you mean? I'm sure you've been a perfect angel." I looked down to the ground and frowned, trying not to start crying again. "What's wrong?" he asked, frowning too.

I looked behind me; I didn't want to say anything in front of Jay. But he was already gone. My dad must have seen the confusion on my face.

"He left honey. I think it was when you started crying. He must not have been able to take it. Does it have anything to do with him?" he asked, turning the subject back onto me.

"Not really," I lied. I didn't want him to know who the father of my baby was. "Daddy," I whispered, suddenly feeling very small. "I have to tell you something, and you're not gonna like it. I wished right then that I had a rubber band to snap on my wrist, but I'd given up that habit.

"You could never disappoint me Ellie. You're my daughter and I love you. No matter what it is, I want you to tell me," he said, taking both of my hands in his. The tears came again, even more this time.

"Dad, I'm pregnant," I choked out. I looked right into his eyes, and his expression never changed. He didn't falter; he didn't frown.

"We'll get through this together," he finally said, pulling me back to his chest.

Paige

I sat with Alex's head in my lap, running my fingers through her hair. She was having a rough time with her mom marrying that creep of a boyfriend. And with her mom giving up her rights as a parent…

"I just don't understand," she cried, picking her head up after over an hour. "She knows that he's always been an asshole to me. And she's gonna marry him now, and give me up?"

"She's not giving you up," I told her. "I'm sure she feels that you'd have a better life here, with Joey. That he can offer you better things," I said.

"Well if that's true, then she should have given me up a long time ago," she said, biting her lip.

I couldn't tell her. I wasn't going to tell her what I meant to. I had to let her know that I was going to choose between her and JT. But not now. I didn't know who I'd choose, but I knew I couldn't keep doing this.

"You know what, why don't we forget about all of that. I'm here to make you feel better," I said, kissing her. She pulled me down on top of her and started to unbutton my shirt. I put a hand up to stop her.

"I thought that…" she trailed off, tears in her eyes again. "I really thought that you meant…"

"I think I should lock the door first," I said, grinning.

"That's a great idea." She smiled for the first time that night.

And I didn't want to be the one to make that smile go away.

Jimmy

I couldn't get the look on Manny's face out of my mind. When I asked her to move in yesterday, I'll admit, I really thought she'd jump at the chance. She always told me how her parents were so boring, and wouldn't let her do much at all. She complained constantly about her living situation, that her room was too small, that she couldn't wait to move out.

I guess I was wrong though. Because she said no.

I couldn't find her anywhere now. School was about to start, and she was definitely avoiding me. I finally gave up and had to go to homeroom. Halfway through a boring lecture from Ms. Kwan, there was a knock at the door.

Ms. Kwan answered it, then came over to my desk.

"Jimmy, you're needed at the office," she said. I sighed and rolled myself down there, ready for some scene made by my parents, forcing me to come back home or something. But it wasn't them. In fact, there was no one there.

"James Brooks?" the secretary asked. Obviously it was me. Everyone knew who I was since the shooting. I nodded my head, waiting for her to tell me more. "There's been an emergency with your sister. She's going to be fine, but your driver's here to take you to the hospital," she read off of the paper in front of her.

"Thank you," I said. I had to keep myself from laughing on my way to my van. I didn't have a sister, and I couldn't wait to see what this was all about. I finally got to the van, and the automatic door slowly opened. I was about to ask John, the driver, what was going on, when Manny jumped out.

"Hi Jimmy," she said, looking a little nervous.

"Hey," I responded, a huge smile on my face. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry," she said, biting her bottom lip. I knew she was trying not to cry. "I know you were excited to have me move in. I just don't think that I'm ready for that. I don't want you to be mad at me, and…"

"Manny, don't be sorry," I said, finally interrupting her. "I understand that you're not ready to move in with me. We are only in high school. I love you, no matter what."

"I love you too," she said, hugging me and kissing me on the cheek.

"Now, what are we going to do today?" I asked her.

"We're going to your place," she grinned. "We won't be bothered there."

Tim

I was running a little late for school. Mrs. Del Rossi called the school and told them I had a doctor's appointment, so I'd probably miss first period. I was thankful for her help as we packed up my stuff.

I was going back home.

Marco knew what was happening, and he went straight to school. He hadn't talked to me at all since last night, when we had our fight at The Dot.

I realized then that it was our first fight since we'd been together. That actually cheered me up, because I knew it wouldn't last too long. At least, I hoped it didn't.

"Thank you so much for letting me stay," I told Marco's mom. "No one has ever been this nice to me, as long as I can remember."

"You can come back any time Tim," she said, smiling at me. "And don't worry; Marco will come around."

I couldn't believe she knew exactly what I was thinking. She could probably see it all over my face.

"Thanks," I said. She nodded and finished folding the last of my clothes.

I really hoped she was right.

Alex

I woke up and squinted against the sunlight that filled my room. I couldn't sit up; someone was holding me down, resting on my stomach. Paige.

I couldn't stop the smile that formed on my face. I ran my fingers through her hair and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. She stirred but didn't wake up, so I just lay back down and stared at the ceiling.

"Alex?" I heard a whisper a few minutes later.

"Good morning," I said, suppressing a giggle. I've never giggled before in my life. Not until I met Paige.

"What time is it?" she asked. I hadn't even thought of the fact that it was a school day. I turned toward the clock and squinted my eyes.

"It's ten o'clock," I said, yawning.

"Crap!" she shrieked. She jumped up and started looking for her shoes.

"Chill out. Almost half the day's gone. We might as well skip the rest of it," I said, sticking my bottom lip out. She sighed, and slowly sat back down. The frown on her face made me feel like she didn't want to be with me. But then it changed into a small smile.

"You know what, you're right." She crawled over to me and kissed me softly, running a hand down my leg. "Let's go to a movie."

"You mean, you actually want to go out with me in public?" I asked.

"Of course I do; why wouldn't I?"

"Well, you have a boyfriend. And apparently, so do I. And if anyone sees us…"

"Do you even want to go?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I really do. But I know that we shouldn't. We can't take the chance that someone finds out about us," I pointed out.

"Alex," she sighed, looking down at my comforter and playing with it.

"Look at me if you're gonna do this Paige," I said, tears in my eyes already.

"I have a boyfriend," she said, looking up. "And as much fun as I've had with you, I really think that this isn't fair to him."

"Fun? This was all just about fun to you?" I asked, letting the tears spill over.

"Alex, don't cry. You knew I'd have to pick one of you. It isn't fair to either of you to keep doing this," she said.

"And it was really stupid of me to think that you'd choose me," I said, crying still. Nothing had ever hurt this bad in my life.

"We had some great times together," she told me. "But I was with JT first, and this feels right to me."

"You should have thought about how wrong it would feel to be with me BEFORE you had sex with me at your party!" I screamed, getting up from my bed.

"It was an impulsive decision okay, and I'm sorry!" she yelled back, standing up as well.

"Yeah, well I'm not. I'm not sorry because…I love you," I whispered, taking in a deep breath and holding it in, waiting for her to say something.

"I can't do this anymore Alex. I'm sorry."

And just like that, the one person I thought I could always count on, just walked right out of my life.

Emma

School was finally over again. The second day was even worse than the first. I skipped lunch completely, knowing it would just be like it was last time. And now I was sitting on the front steps, waiting for Spinner to get done with some meeting that he had. He didn't tell me who he was meeting, but it was probably just some thing for one of his shop classes.

"You ready to go?" Spinner asked from behind me.

"Yeah," I said, letting him help me up. I stumbled a little, and almost fell down, but he grabbed my arm just in time.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"I'm fine. I just tripped over my foot. You know how clumsy I can be," I lied.

"Emma," he sighed, shaking his head. "Have you eaten anything today?"

"What? Of course I have!" I nearly yelled it. Probably not too convincing.

"I don't think you did," he said. "I think you need help. I just talked to Ms. Sauvé and…"

"WHAT?" I did yell it this time. "You talked to Ms. Sauvé about me? You have no right to do that Spinner. You don't even know what you're talking about!" I screamed, tears falling down my cheeks.

"Emma, I love you," he said, reaching a hand out to me.

"Well you have a really fucked up way of showing it!" I yelled before running away from him.

Jay

So Ellie's dad is back. That pretty much ruins any chance I have of ever being with her now. I'll admit, I don't like the games she's been playing, but it's the only way I've been able to get closer to her.

I felt like we were there, like I was finally going to get her, and then he showed up. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that she'll have a stable parent in her life now, because she really needed one. But I doubt her dad will like me at all. I'm not really the kind of guy you bring home to your parents, even if I have tried to change.

I finished my cigarette (it'd been a few days since I had one, and I was really craving it) and went inside the hospital. At least I'll be able to look after Abby more, now that I don't have to worry so much about Ellie.

I got to the room she was staying in, and immediately wanted to leave. There was my dad, and Judy, sitting next to her bed. Judy was crying; who knew if they were fake tears or not. And my dad had a firm grip on her shoulder. I turned to leave, not wanting any type of fight, but he saw me.

He stood up and came towards me, grabbing my arm and leading me right back outside.

"What are you doing here?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm seeing my sister. I'm surprised you even showed up. Are you pretending like you care about her now? Now that she's sick and in the hospital?"

He slapped me across my face, nothing that I hadn't already gotten used to.

"You're not allowed to see her anymore. She almost wouldn't let us in to see her. You're corrupting her, and feeding her lies that we're bad parents." He shoved me against the wall.

"It's not a lie," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. My hands were clenched into fists at my sides. I was sick of him treating me like this. I just let him have it. I punched him right in the nose.

He looked shocked. I knew he never thought I'd lay a hand on him; that I'd fight back. Then he punched me, in my right eye. I heart a sickening crack and I stumbled away from him, holding onto my face.

"Make sure you're all packed up and out of my house before we get home. You're no longer welcome there."

Holding his hand up to his nose, he went back inside the hospital, and left me there.

I knew I'd never be able to see Abby if I couldn't live at home, or even go there at all. And I knew what I had to do to change that.

Marco

I finally got up the courage to do what I should have done a long time ago. I lifted my hand and knocked on the door to my uncle's home. He answered it, took one look at me, and frowned.

"Hello Marco," he finally said. "What can I do for you?"

"I want to talk to my dad," I told him, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

He stood there for a moment, thinking. Then he held a finger up for me to wait a minute, and walked away. I waited almost five minutes, hearing some yelling from inside, until my dad finally came to the door. He wouldn't let me in though. He came outside, forcing me back a few feet, and closed the door behind him.

"What do you want Marco?" he asked, crossing his arms too.

"I just wanted to tell you that Tim is gone. So you can be happy now, and come back," I said, uncrossing my own arms.

"I didn't leave because of Tim. I left because of you. You're not the son I knew for seventeen years. You're not you anymore," he told me.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I wanted to cry right then and there, but I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't let him see me cry.

"I'm the same person you raised. I was born gay. I didn't just decide to be this way. I didn't try to drive you away."

"But you did. And I can't come home. It's not my home anymore," he said, turning his back on me. I wasn't going to fight it. I turned away myself, and didn't look back.

Five minutes later, I was at another person's door, knocking.

"Marco? What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" I asked him.

"Yeah, of course," he told me.

I walked right in and threw my arms around him. His dad walked into the room and smiled.

"It's nice to see you again Marco," he told me. I ignored him, but was definitely glad that he was okay with us.

"Tim, you were right," I said. "You're lucky that your dad changed his mind," I told him.

"I'm just happy that you changed your mind," he said, kissing me.

"Can I stay here tonight?"

A/N: Since my last chapter was posted so late, here's this one, a day early! But next chapter will be up on the regular time. Just so it's clear, the line break after Paige's POV is because it switches days. When Jimmy is talking to Manny, it's supposed to be the next day. The next chapter will take place two weeks after this one. There'll be a little explanation from a few characters of what's been going on, and then more drama. The title and lyrics are from the song "Reason To Believe" by Dashboard Confessional and they own it.

urbanluver: I expected people to guess Sean, but it was her dad. Did you see that coming? I'm glad you liked the chapter; thanks for your review.