"Today's the big day. How are you feeling?" Bella asked
"Pretty good. I just want to know what's going on" Gretchen stated
"I know the feeling." Bella replied
"What if its bad news?" Gretchen asked
"Then I'll, we'll deal with it, if and when, we have to." Bella explained
"I suppose I'm going into this with the same mindset" Gretchen replied
"Good for you. But I'm sure it'll be good news" Bella suggested
"I doubt it. I don't think you get called in for good news. I think they just tell it to you over the phone" Gretchen speculated
"You don't know that" Bella insisted
"Neither do you, but I'm sure your news will be good" Gretchen suggested
"Fingers crossed" Bella replied
"For both of us" Gretchen said
"Today's the day you find out the truth" Will exposited
"And the day you get answers of your own" Scout replied
"Are you sure you're ready for whatever comes?" Will asked
"As I'll ever be. Either way, we'll find out together, and we'll move forward together" Scout replied
"And whatever Gretchen's situation..." Will trailed off
"She knows you'll be by her side" Scout explained
"Exactly" Will retorted
There was a knock at the door. It was Gretchen and Bella.
"You boys ready to go?" Bella asked, in an upbeat tone that hid her nerves and the awkwardness of the situation quite well.
"Yep" Scout said, grabbing his car keys "Let's go"
In the car, Will decided to say something.
"I just wanted to reiterate that, no matter what happens, no matter what we find out, the four of us will be here for one another, right?"
"Of course" Bella replied, and the others nodded in agreement.
"I think I've made a terrible mistake" Jake announced
"What is it?" asked Kerry
"Hamilton, my boyfriend from before, well, this..." Jake trailed off
"What about him?" Kerry asked
"He said, after quite a few months of pondering and ruminating that his feelings for me haven't changed and he wants to continue our relationship" Jake explained
"And? Isn't that what you want?" Kerry inquired
"In the heat of the moment, I said no, but now..." Jake trailed off once again
"Maybe you should tell him this?" Kerry suggested
"But what if..." Jake couldn't think of how to finish the sentence
"Just tell him how you feel. That's all each of you can ask of each other." Kerry explained "Once you get it all out in the open, you can decide where to go from there"
While this conversation was happening, Andrea was in the next room, eavesdropping.
"But I don't understand what I did wrong. I did what the book said, but she still rejected me" Charles said, holding back tears
"Maybe its time you reassessed how you view women" Hamilton suggested
"What do you mean?" Charles replied
"For a start, stop thinking of them as possessions, as objects to be won or lost. Start thinking of them as autonomous beings in their own right." Hamilton said, somewhat harshly
"Alright, what else?" Charles asked
Hamilton rolled his eyes, but decided to keep going.
"I can indeed confirm that the two of you are not genetically related" the detective declared
"That's a relief" Scout cried
"Thank goodness" Bella exclaimed
"I'm not done yet!" The detective explained
"There's more?" Scout asked, incredulously
"So, where do I start?" The detective asked himself
"Donna Banks is indeed your mother, but John Calhoun is your father" he said, addressing Bella "But he's not your father" now addressing Scout "Charlie Banks is"
"What the hell?" Bella exclaimed
"What does that mean?" Scout demanded
"I'm afraid its bad news, Miss Witter. You have colon cancer" the doctor explained.
Gretchen and Will took a moment to absorb the news.
"Alright, what's the prognosis, what's the treatment and what are my chances of survival?" Gretchen asked, try to think about this rationally, but also on the verge or crying.
"I'm afraid this is the other piece of bad news" the doctor stated ominously
"What does that mean?" Will asked
"On top of that, women are capable of making their own decisions, including whether or not they want to keep seeing you, and whether or not they want you as part of their lives, and you have to respect that. Instead of trying to win Andrea back, maybe just let her go. If she comes back to you, great. If not, you were never meant to be"
Charles was hanging off Hamilton's every word. Meanwhile, Hamilton realised that, while he was telling these things to Charles, he was also telling them to himself.
"Okay, let's go back to 1982. The year you were both conceived. During the summer of that year, a young John Calhoun was attending Rawley Academy and did indeed have an affair, producing a daughter. That much of the story was true" the detective took a deep breath.
"Here's where things get interesting. In the fall of '82, Charlie Banks attended a key party. Do you two know what a key party is?" he asked
"Pretty much. Men put their keys in a bowl. Women choose them at random and go home with the owner of the keys they choose" Bella replied
"And his keys were chosen by a woman named Grace Johnson" the detective continued
"My mother" Scout exclaimed "Her maiden name was Johnson"
"Ordinarily, I'd book you in for an exploratory surgery, to determine the extent of it" the doctor said
"Ordinarily?" Will asked, realising he probably wouldn't like the answer
"You recently turned 23, is that right, Miss Witter?" The doctor asked
"Yes, what about it?" Gretchen replied defensively
"I'm afraid when you turned 23, you dropped off your family's insurance plan" the doctor stated
"Are you telling me that I'm completely uninsured?" Gretchen asked, incredulously
The doctor inhaled deeply "This is the worst part of my job" he declared "I'm afraid so"
"Also, think of women as adding to your life by being in it, as opposed to defining yourself by your relationships with them. Remember they're doing you the favour by letting you know them. Also, there's nothing wrong with just being friends with a woman"
Hamilton realised that Charles had been quiet for a while, and there was a tear rolling down his face. Hamilton offered him a tissue, and when he didn't take it, he just decided to wipe the tear drop for him.
Charles for his part, was having a bit of a breakthrough. Years of conditioning and bravado were coming crashing down and being replaced by, hopefully, something better.
As Hamilton wiped the teardrop from Charles' face, Charles gently grabbed Hamilton's hand. Their faced moved slowly closer together and they kissed. They were so caught up in the moment, they didn't realised that the door to their room was wide open.
"There's just one thing I don't understand. I bugged your mom's, Donna's house, and she kept referring to this guy, Gary, I think his name was, as your father" the detective said
"I don't know who that is" Bella stated, and the confused look on Scout's face said he didn't either.
"One more thing. I was discreet, I'm always discreet. But your parents discovered I was up to something and followed me here. They're just outside, no don't look!" he commanded
"What are we going to tell them?" Bella asked
"Well, that's up to you. I'm going to sneak out the back. By the way, the Gary guy is with them, so you can ask him who he is when he comes in" the detective suggested
"You little sneak" Scout decried
"I'll send you my bill" he said and left.
Meanwhile, Senator and Mrs Calhoun, Charlie and Grace Banks & Donna and Gary walked in, as three pairs, sat down in front of Scout and for what seemed like forever, they all stared at each other, awkwardly, saying nothing.
"Isn't there anything you can do" Will demanded
"As a matter of fact, there is. I can lose your file so you don't get billed for the tests we've already done" the doctor said, in a quiet voice
"And that's it? You're not going to help her?" Will was growing increasingly annoyed
"Well, unless you can come up with several, if not tens of thousands of dollars" the doctor stated matter-of-factly
"Come on, Will. Let's go" Gretchen suggested, in a defeated tone
"I can't believe I just threw myself at him like that. Right after he'd just broken up with his boyfriend. I mean, what was I thinking?" Andrea mused aloud
"Don't be so hard on yourself" Tom suggested "You'd just gone through a break up yourself"
"But that was different. I was glad to be rid of him. Jake clearly has a case of dumper's remorse" Andrea replied
"Hey, it happens" Tom stated "Relationships are always fraught"
"You can say that again" Andrea replied "Why can't I just have a decent stable relationship, free of any kind of drama?"
And then she kissed him, the whole time thinking: oh god, I'm doing it again, what's wrong with me.
But then to her surprise, he started kissing back.
Jake was going to Hamilton's dorm room to say that he was wrong and he wanted to continue their relationship. Unfortunately, when he got there, he saw through the open door that Hamilton was kissing his room-mate. And not in a platonic way either. Rather than making a big deal of it, or even letting them know what he had seen, he simply sighed and walked off.
THE END
Yes, that's right, like the show that its based on, this fic is ending on a cliff-hanger. However, if I were to continue, here are some things that might have happened.
* The student housing co-op hold a fundraiser to pay for Gretchen's treatment
* Scout and Hamilton each make sizeable contributions
* Tom and Andrea's relationship continues and lasts a long time
* Hamilton and Charles don't have a romantic relationship, but the kiss makes them realise they're both bisexual
* Jake and Hamilton may or may not get back together
* Okay, probably not
* In the long term, Bella and Scout get married and take over running the gas station, when Scout buys it back from the McPhees
While this story isn't continuing, it is highly likely that characters from it will show up in other fics and their stories may be continued in that way