Breakdown. It's intense. You've been warned.

I don't own anything at all.


His lips pressed hard against hers and she let out a low moan as the back of her head hit the door, jumping up her legs wrapped around his waist, pressing him against her as her fingers ran through her hair, kissing him deeper. He had been holding her, his arms wrapped tightly around her, against him, but he soon let her go, his hands going to either side of her as he slowed down their intense make-out session.

"No," She said, "you're not going anywhere." He pulled away to look at her and she smirked, kissing him again, before moving to his neck and kissing him there.

He closed his eyes, his breathing becoming slower as he realized what was going on and let out a loud moan of approval as her hands traveled to his pants and she quickly unbuttoned them.

"Off," She muttered against his lips, pushing them down, after unzipping them. "I want them off."

Wow, who knew Rydel Lynch was so aggressive?

"Only if you take your dress off," He murmured back to her and she just shrugged.

"I'd have to get off the door for that." She lifted her head, raising her eyebrow, she smirked. "But don't think it's more fun to just… push my dress up and do things that way?"

He was pretty sure his heart stopped for a second.

Maybe longer than that.

Holy shit, he thought.

He pressed his lips against hers, hard, needy and aggressively and she squeezed her legs tighter around his waist. Since she was wearing a dress and his pants were unzipped and open, she could feel him, strongly against her and let out a loud moan. He had to kiss her to keep her quiet for fear of one of her brothers or her mother walking in on them. She just smirked and bit down on his lip, before taking her legs off of him and dropping down to the ground.

"W-what are you doing?" Ratliff's voice was nervous and she couldn't help but smile at that.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She asked, her eyes twinkling as she stood back up again, straighter and touched him. She didn't take her eyes off of his, even though he had closed them, breathing in and out rather deeply as he tried to catch his breath.

"Oh, okay, yeah. We're doing that, that's-that's cool. I guess." He said, his hands trapping her against the door as she kept up her ministrations on him. He looked down at her and she looked up at him, an innocent smile on her face and then after a few minutes, he just roughly pushed her up against the door and pushed her skirt up. She giggled and he just kissed her. "Your turn, Rye."


Laura stared at the pill bottle in her hand. She didn't have much experience with mental disorders of any kind so she wasn't sure how to approach this and if she did, if he would just explode on her. She knew he'd never actually touch her, but that didn't make her worries any less… worried.

So, she just decided not to say anything, at least not to him. She'd just act like nothing was wrong and notice if there was anything different about him before she jumped to crazy conclusions.

The door opened then and she quickly put the bottle somewhere in the couch, hiding it pretty well, she hoped, and smiled up at Ross, who had just walked in.

"Hey," He said softly and then sat down beside her. "How was your… morning?" He scrunched his face up confused, since it was only twelve. "Or, early afternoon, whatever. How was it?"

She took a deep breath and wrapped both arms around his neck, loosely. It wasn't like she wanted to strangle him or anything. Hah.

"It was good, uneventful. Nothing exciting happened, which would be the technical definition of uneventful." She was rambling. Not a good sign. Hopefully he didn't notice.

"Oh, nice."

That was it? Really.

"How's Riley?"

"He's fine."

"And Austin?"

She looked over his shoulder and saw the small puppy running towards them. He jumped up on to Ross' lap and Laura laughed as she had to move away.

"He's apparently doing well," Laura told him, rubbing Austin behind the ears. "Isn't that right, Austie?"

"Way to make him feel manly, Laura." Ross teased, rolling his eyes playfully and she smacked him.

"I'm pitching that nickname to Kevin and Heath, no wait, actually I already did," She stuck her tongue out and his eyes widened.

"That means Ally's going to call Austin that in an episode, doesn't it?"

She shrugged, "maybe, maybe not. If they ever call us to come back in and work again." She looked down at her hands and he wrapped his arm around her, scooting closer to her, he rested his head against hers and sighed.

"The show's too popular, don't worry okay, Laura?" She lifted her head to look up at him and slowly nodded.

Don't worry, Laura.

Yeah, the show wasn't something she was as worried about as he thought she was.


Rocky tried calling Ross for probably the fifth time in a row. He, Riker, Ratliff and Rydel had been at the studio for about an hour. They had been waiting on him to show up so that the could start rehearsing, but he had pretty much bailed on them.

He then tried calling Laura and she answered, much to his relief.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Laura! Is Ross with you?"

It was silent, too silent.

"He's not with you?" She asked and Rocky motioned for Riker to come to him.

"No."

"He said he was going to be with you, where could he have gone?" She asked and then Rocky looked up at Riker.

"Okay," He said, "I'm officially worried."

"What's going on?" Rydel asked, going over to her brothers, Ratliff behind her.

"Nobody knows where Ross is," Rocky said, explaining the situation. "He said he was going to be here with us."

Rydel pulled her phone out and immediately sent him a text.

Tell us where you are, now, Ross.

She didn't receive a response and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Okay, maybe his phone died or he just forgot to take it with him or he's on his way and stuck in traffic," Ratliff suggested, trying to remain calm.

"Or he's lying in a ditch somewhere!" Riker threw his hand in the air.

"Guys, I'm going to try and call Maia, Raini, Calum, anyone see where he could be." Laura said and everyone agreed with her. Rocky hung up, running his fingers through his hair, he began to pace back and forth.

"Wait, guys." Ratliff stood up, looking at the siblings. "Remember when Rydel disappeared? I thought maybe she had gone to see your father and had been right, but… what if that's where Ross is right now?"

"You think he's with our father?" Rocky asked and Ratliff nodded.

"Why would he go see him? He hates him." Riker said.

"Maybe it's for the same reason I did," Rydel stared at the ground, "he wants to threaten him, make him feel like shit and that he's not going to win. We're alike, everyone keeps saying that and it's true. He'll do something or I'll do something and it's only a matter of time before the same thing happens again."

"Oh fuck." Riker pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"The only difference is," Rydel continued. "He's very mentally unstable. He could do so much, so much worse." Her voice broke at the thought.

"We have to go see if he's with dad at the jail." Rocky said and Riker agreed. "We'll go, you guys stay here or go home, okay? Rydel, I don't want you to be around dad." Riker told her and she nodded, understandingly.

Then, Rocky and Riker both ran out of the studio like the building was on fire.


Ross' mind was running a million miles a minute.

He was driving, sure that wasn't safe, but whatever. He didn't care. He was already doing it, so there was no point in stopping.

What he was doing was probably stupid. He knew that.

But fuck it, he didn't care.

Memories of his childhood hit him like he had gotten hit by a train and he couldn't think straight anymore. He ran his hands over his face, tears in his eyes.

"Don't cry, don't cry…" He whispered to himself. "Don't fucking cry you idiot."

He closed his eyes for a brief second and shook his head.

He opened them right before he hit the car in front of him.

Then, just like that, he was okay again.

He drove all the way to the jail and then pulled into a parking spot.

He ignored the looks he was getting as he walked up to the front and asked to see his father. The policeman looked at him like he was crazy.

"I need to talk to him," Ross said, his hands going to the table, he slammed it. "Just take me to see him!"

"Sir, you need to calm down, okay? Why do you need to see him?"

"Because I need to, why do I need a damn reason?" Then suddenly he started to laugh, "oh you think that because I'm famous I shouldn't be here right? Well, guess what world? My father is in jail because he's a fucking idiot. Now, may I please speak with him?"

"You're taking a mile a minute, sir, take a seat and I'll get you some water."

"Fuck the water, fuck calming down, I just want to talk to him." Ross snapped at him.

He was still controlling himself, but he knew it probably wouldn't last long. The policeman shook his head and he just shook his head, turning around he ran his hand over his face, and began to pace back and forth muttering to himself, when suddenly he stopped.

"What?" The policeman asked.

"Did you hear that? I just heard my father." Ross told him and quickly walked over to him. "He was talking shit, you know saying I'll end up like him, but I don't want to!" He grabbed the policeman's arm, "I want to be nothing like him! I can't be anything like him. My girlfriend is pregnant you know, she's having a baby boy and I want to be a good dad for him. I don't want to suck like my father does!" He yelled and the policeman then realized there was something very wrong with him. He looked manic, almost crazy.

"Sir, are you on drugs?"

"What? No! Why would you think that?"

"You're acting strangely and much like someone would if they were on drugs."

"Dude, I don't take drugs. I'm going to be a father, would the fuck would I take drugs? I want to be a good example for my son, not a shitty one."

"Is there someone we could call? To come get you?" The policeman asked.

"My father's in there." Ross told him.

"I know he's not the only family member you have, you just talked about your girlfriend. Can we call her?"

"No, no. She'd hate me!" Ross shook his head.

"Why would she hate you?"

"She just would! Why is that any of your damn business. Look, I just want to see my father, are you going to let me see him or not?"

"No."

"Well then thanks for wasting my time." Ross threw his hands in the air and then turned, storming out of the jail. He got into his car and then decided to go for a drive. He pulled out of his spot and drove, probably way above the speed limit, on empty road. He normally did some speeding in his car, considering he was obsessed with it and did it every chance he got. But this time was different.

He was going too too fast.

And as he did, he thought about when he was with Ryland and he had almost killed him.

"I'm so sorry, Ryland." He whispered, he looked to his passenger seat. "I almost killed you that night and I'm sorry."

Ryland didn't respond, not that he thought he would. He probably hated him. He started to cry, the tears blurring his vision.

He then heard the sound of a baby crying and then stopped, so short he almost flew through the windshield. If it hadn't been for his seatbelt, he probably would have.

"Where's that coming from?"

He looked around the car and then saw in the backseat, a baby. His eyes widened.

"What the fuck? Laura's going to kill me, I should get you home!" He then turned his car around and drove the normal speed all the way until he got to his apartment. Then he pulled into his normal parking spot and went in the backseat to get the baby. He was confused, because the baby was gone.

"Where did the baby go?" He asked and then found someone by their car, motioning for them to come over. "Dude, my baby's gone!"

"What baby? There isn't a baby." The guy said, "hey, I think you should-"

"I don't need to sit down or drink water!" Ross slammed the door shut.

"You live here right? Go upstairs and into your apartment. I think you have someone waiting there for you." The guy said, looking a bit freaked out, but staying calm for Ross' sake. "Okay? Just go."

"But what about the baby? He's my son, I can't just leave him here."

"There isn't a baby there. Just stay calm and go upstairs to your apartment." The guy said.

Ross nodded, looking horrified and stumbled away from the car. He got into the elevator, pressing the buttons quickly and impatiently until he made it all the way to his floor. Then he stormed down the hall and into his apartment, throwing open the door, he saw Laura, Maia, Rocky, Riker, Ratliff and Rydel were there, waiting for him.

"Dude! Yeah, great!" He smiled, relieved, "there's this guy saying there isn't a baby in my car, but I think he's lying. You guys have to come check it out!"

"What baby?" Riker asked, calming approaching him. "Your son hasn't been born yet."

"Wait, what? No. He was in the car with me," Ross snapped his fingers, "Ryland was there too, but he didn't talk to me. I think he's still pissed about when I almost killed him, which I can never ever forgive myself for by the way. I don't know where he went either. Dude, did he disappear with Riley? Oh shit, I lost my brother and my son all in one night! Fuck!" He pushed his fingers into his hair and pulled on the strands. "What the fuck is wrong with me?"

"Okay, Ross, you need to calm down." Riker told him, "slow down and try to get your thoughts together."

Ross then looked at him, his eyes wide, "oh shit, I totally forgot! We had rehearsal today. Well, obviously, you can see I blew it off, I went to see dad, but the fuckhead policeman wouldn't let me passed him. He thinks I was on drugs or something, but I'm not, I mean, I feel like I am, but I'm not like all drugged up. I have to set a good example for Riley, you know?" He was talking really fast again. "I don't want Riley to hate me like I hate dad."

"Ross." Rydel whispered, her eyes teary. "There's something not right with you."

"I feel totally fine! So fine, that if I were to run I could probably run a marathon. Yeah… dudes let's do it." He smiled and started bouncing in his spot. He looked at Rocky, "you in? Dude! Let's start now! Ready? One two-"

"Ross, we're not running a fucking mile." Rocky's voice was loud and authoritative, not something that was heard from him often. "You need to calm down, sit and relax."

"I don't need to do shit!" He yelled at him. "You guys are seriously pissing me off!"

"Ross!" Laura finally yelled at him as he walked passed everyone and into their room. She ran into the room, Riker, Ratliff and Rocky following her while Maia and Rydel stayed in the living room. He turned towards her and she saw that he looked angry.

"Is dad here?" He demanded, "I hear him, he's here, where is he?"

"What are you talking about?" Ratliff demanded, "your father's in jail."

"No, he's here, I can hear him! Don't lie to me!"

"Ross, dad's not here and the baby you think is missing isn't either, he hasnt been born yet. Ryland, however, is with mom at home." Riker told him, taking on the older brother role. "You need to calm down, I'm not kidding anymore."

Ross turned towards Laura, "you still love me right? Even though I'm fucked up?"

"Yes, of course, you know that." Laura kept her voice steady. She knew now wasn't a time to break down. "But what I want to know something…" She trailed off, looking at everyone in the room, before looking at her boyfriend. "Why did you stop taking your medication?"

"He what?" Riker looked at her, surprised.

"He hasn't been taking his medication for two weeks. I found it the other day. I accidentally knocked it down, it fell all over and then when I filled it, it was filled to the top. I also saw that he'd gotten them two weeks ago and that they couldn't be refilled." Laura answered, she then pulled the pill bottle from her pocket and handed it to Riker. "Why would you do something so stupid?" She asked him, "you know you have to take them!"

"I didn't want to anymore! Okay? All they do is make me feel weak and crazy! I have to take them because I'm crazy, Laura. I'M FUCKING CRAZY!" He yelled at her.

"You're not crazy!" Laura yelled back at him, "you're sick!"

"Well, I'm sick of being sick!"

"It's not like a cold that will just go away, Ross, it's a disease and you're stuck with it for the rest of your life whether or not you want it."

"You think I want to be sick, Laura? Do you really think that?" He stared at her hard. "you know what? I don't have to take this shit, I'm leaving." He tried to go passed Rocky, but he quickly reacted, grabbing his wrist, he stopped him from going any further.

"You're not going anywhere, Ross." Rocky told him, his tone low.

"Fuck you!" He yelled at him and then tried to pull away, but Rocky's hold was so strong on him. Rocky only tightened his grip. "Let me go!"

"No!" He yelled at him, he pulled him close enough they were in each other's face. "You need help! Okay? We're taking you to the hospital."

"Fuck off, let me go!" Ross yelled at him.

"No. I love you, Ross and I'm not letting you go." Rocky told him, his tone serious, but anyone in the room could see the tears in his eyes. "You need help." His tone was softer, almost like he was going to cry.

"Ross," Laura spoke next, her tone breaking. "Please, just go with Rocky okay? He's going to take good care of you." She stood behind him, her hand touched his shoulder and it seemed to trigger something in his mind, because before anyone could react he had turned on her, his hand connecting with her cheek, the sound resonating throughout the room.

Laura gasped and her eyes filled with tears as she held her cheek. Maia and Rydel rushed into the room and ran towards her.

"What happened?" Maia asked and then looked at Ross.

"Don't touch me." He said, his tone low. "All you do is put me down and I don't like it! I won't ever be like you! Not ever!"

"Oh my god, Riker, he thinks Laura is dad. What did she do?" Rydel asked.

"She touched his shoulder, that was probably a trigger." Riker said back.

"I'm fine, guys, really." Laura answered, she looked right at Ross. "You need to listen to me," She said, "I know your probably can't right now, but please…try." She whimpered and Ross just stared at her. "I'm not your father, I won't ever be your father. But if you want to still be with me and you want your son in your life, you need to get help, go with Rocky to the hospital and take your medication. You're sick and it's not your fault, but what is your fault is the fact that you didn't take your medication." She looked around the room. "We all love you, Ross, okay? Every single one of us and I'm sorry your father sucks and he did what he did to you, Rydel, your mother, your family, but you can't think it's okay to do this! This medication is here to save your life. I don't want to have to explain to Riley when he's older that the reason he never sees his father is because his father is really sick. He needs a father, Ross. They need a brother, a friend…" She looked right at him, her hands going to both cheeks, she saw his lower lip quivering and his eyes tear up. Though, he rarely, if ever cried, she just continued, knowing he was going to break soon. "I need you, Ross, okay?" Tears slipped down her cheeks. "I know you're in there somewhere, the guy I love more than anything. I know it. But you have to come back and to do that you have to go with Rocky to the hospital."

He nodded, his lower lip quivering more and then Rocky let him go, as his arms wrapped around Laura and he held her close to him, burying his head into her shoulder he finally broke. He cried, hard and Laura cried with him, both holding each other so close and so tight, it was a wonder they were even breathing.

"I'm so sorry, Laura." He whimpered, as they both fell to the ground on their knees. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." She whispered, "I know you didn't mean it, I love you, I always have and I always will." She said back and hugged him. "I'm not going anywhere."

Ross shook his head, still crying and just held her. He didn't want to let her go and everyone gave them the time they needed. Rydel was watching crying as well as she realized just how much of an effect Laura had on Ross. She had single-handedly calmed him down, something that not anyone else in her family could do before. She looked at Maia and Maia raised her head to everyone else. It was an emotional moment and not one person said anything about the other crying or having tears in their eyes.

And it stayed silent, until Rocky gently nudged Laura and she stood up wiping her tears under her eyes, she helped Ross up.

"Go with Rocky okay? I'll be there soon, I promise." She whispered and then she kissed him so that he wouldn't think she was leaving. "He's going to take care of you."

He nodded and wordlessly walked with Rocky out of the apartment.

She turned around to face her friends and Maia put her hand on her red cheek, "I'm proud of you, you did amazing." She smiled tearfully at her and then hugged her. "Come on, let's get you to sit down, drink some water and some ice on your cheek."

"You do know he didn't mean it, right?" Rydel asked, "when he hit you? He thought you were our father."

"I know." Laura nodded, "I know." She said and then Maia led her out of the room. She couldn't help but cry a new set of tears and wondered if that was what her life was going to be like from that point on. Ross not taking his medication, having manic episodes and then hitting her.

She knew she'd never break up with him. She loved him far too much to ever leave him.

But with a baby on the way, she wasn't sure what the right thing to do was anymore.


Ross woke up, drowsy and disoriented and looked around to see he was in a hospital room. He looked down and saw that he was in a room by himself, plain white walls and a bed. Where the fuck was he and why was he there?

He tried to remember, but honestly, the last thing he remembered was when he told Calum and Raini he was bipolar, the same day he and Laura found out they were having a boy, the day before he stopped taking his medication.

What the fuck had happened in that time frame? He felt like he lost out on two years of his life or something.

The door to the room opened and he saw his doctor come in. She gave him a smile and he looked away.

"Hey, Ross, how are you feeling?"

"Confused, why am I here?" He asked her, "I can't remember anything that happened in the last two weeks."

"I don't know what went on in the last two weeks yet, but what I can tell you was that you had a very bad manic episode last night." She told him, taking a seat next to the window by his bed. "Your brother brought you in here at almost midnight. You were crying, disoriented and talking a mile a minute, do you remember any of that?"

He shook his head, looking down he saw that his wrists were red. "What happened?"

"You tell me." Dr. Ryan said, tilting her head. "Why did you stop taking your medication?"

He said nothing.

"Did anything happen that made you question why you needed it?"

He still didn't say anything.

"Look, Ross, I know it's tough, having to take something that will help keep you alive for the rest of your life, but you have to talk to me. I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

"I…those pills, they make me feel like I'm crazy."

"You're sick, not crazy. They are both completely different." Dr. Ryan assured him.

He laughed humorlessly, "I'm sure that's what you say to every sick person."

She shook her head, "I've had patients who are truly crazy." She told him, "but you're not one of them. You're sick, you have a disease and you can't help that."

His eyes filled with tears and he immediately hated himself for it.

"You can't hold back how you feel anymore. That's a habit you have and it's got to stop. You need help for anything you have to say something. So, if there's something you need to tell me that caused this, now would be the time." Her tone was gentle, he actually found comfort in it.

"My father told me I was going to end up just like him," He finally said, "right before he beat the shit out of me."

Dr. Ryan nodded, "and what did he mean by that exactly?"

"He-he cheated on my mother, got the woman pregnant, he also um, hit me and sexually abused my sister." He looked up at Dr. Ryan, "I can't end up like him, I don't want to be him. I may have wanted to when I was a kid, but now that I'm going to be a father, how am I going to treat me son? I want to be someone my son is proud of, someone he can look up to and I just want to be in his life."

Dr. Ryan gave him a soft smile, "your son is going to be fine and so are you. You are nothing like your father and you know how I know that?" He shrugged, "because you've got a heart and you've got compassion. Your father did what he did and didn't even think of the repercussions. But you, you think differently and you already see that you don't want to be like him, at all. That's a step in the right direction."

Ross silently nodded, a tear slipped down his cheek and his jaw shook a bit. "Is Laura here? Or one of my siblings? I need to talk to them." He said and Dr. Ryan nodded.

"Yes, they're outside, but we need to talk first okay?" He nodded, "alright, now I want you to tell me everything. About your father, what he did and what made you decide not to take the pills anymore."

Ross nodded again and then opened his mouth, after some struggle and for the first time ever, let everything out. He didn't miss a single detail and the truth was after he was done, he felt relieved and like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

He felt infinite.


After a couple of hours, the door opened and he looked up to see Laura, Rocky, Riker, Rydel, Ratliff and Maia were all there. He tried to smile at them, but found he couldn't. His eyes went to Laura's cheeks and they widened.

"Laura, what happened?" He asked her, concerned.

Laura looked at Riker and Maia. They had told her that he wouldn't remember anything. When someone had a manic episode, they normally didn't remember what had gone on during it. She sighed and looked back at him. "You hit me last night."

"What? I did that?" He asked and she nodded her head. "Oh my god." He looked down at his hands and then back up at Laura, "I'm so sorry Laura, I didn't-"

She softly smiled, "I know, it's okay. You weren't yourself and I knew that if you had been yourself, you would never do that to me, ever." He nodded, but then the guilt started to build up and he started thinking about what happened with Ryland. Then, for the first time ever (that he could remember) he shook his head and started crying, his head going in his hands, his shoulders started to shake and he just cried.

"Ross, it's okay, she's not mad at you. You didn't do anything wrong. You weren't you last night and that was the scariest part," Maia assured him. "We're just glad to see you're okay."

Rocky nodded, "dude, you scared the shit out of us last night."

"What were you thinking, not taking your medication?" Riker asked him and he slowly lifted his head up. Riker didn't look angry, he just looked sad and worried.

"I don't know," Ross answered, "I honestly don't. I tried to figure that out, but I can't. The medication just made me feel numb and zombie like. My hands would shake, I'd get sleepy or nauseous and I just didn't like it. I didn't like being known as the sick one, the mentally fucked up one. So… I stopped taking them." He paused for a moment, "it was stupid, I know."

"You should've come to one of us, we could have helped you." Rocky told him, "we wouldn't have judged you. You're our little brother, her boyfriend, their best friends." He added motioning to different people in the room who owned the title. "you're not alone, you know that, right?"

He nodded, "I know that.. now. I just felt like ever since Laura found out about it and then I told Raini and Calum, that they were pitying me and I didn't like that."

"Well, we weren't." Laura firmly told him, "if anything we were worried and concerned, but we wouldn't have pitied you." She looked down at her hands for a moment and then back at him, "last night you were crazy things like you thought Riley was in the car because you saw him or heard him, whatever it was and then you said something about Ryland being in the car and hating you, but I have a question first, before you answer those, if you can remember why, but you thought your father was in the apartment. You said some things and I just realized something. You never talked about that night when he hit you again, what happened? Can you tell us?"

Ross looked down at his blanket covered legs and shook his head.

"It's just, Ross, you can tell us anything." Rocky assured him. He then put his hand on Ross' shoulder, "after what I saw last night, nothing will make me think any differently of you ever again. Meaning that I'm always going to be by your side, okay? No matter what."

"What happened last night?" Ross asked him.

"First talk to us, then I'll talk to you." Rocky answered.

Ross nodded, taking a deep breath, "he told me that I would end up just like him, that I ruined the family and made everyone turn against him," Riker tried to protest, but Rocky stopped him. He gave him a look and Ross, grateful, continued. "He also said that by me getting Laura pregnant, I ruined our relationship and that eventually, she'd break up with me. Then after that he hit me." Ross shrugged and looked down.

Laura looked at everyone and then knelt all the way down to his height, she put her hand on his cheek and turned him towards her. "Can you tell me something? And be honest about it." He nodded, "how did you feel that night? I know it was hurt and anger, but how did you really feel?"

"Betrayed," Ross finally answered. "He was my father and he just… said what he said and did what he did. I looked up to him, I wanted to be him. He wasn't the man I thought he was, hasn't been for a while, if you want me to be honest."

Tears fell from his eyes and Laura hugged him, he held her and she cried a bit herself.

"I'm so sorry Laura, for hitting you, I don't know what happened and I just-"

"It's okay, Ross, it's okay." Laura whispered to him. "I'm not mad, you didn't mean it, okay? It wasn't your fault." She leaned her forehead against his, as everyone watched, as emotional as they were. "And I need you to always remember something okay?" He nodded, "you, Ross Shor Lynch, are not your father. You are you and that's all you ever have to be, no matter what anyone else says. Whether its me, one of your brothers, your sister, Maia, your mother or even a fan, nothing anyone ever says is ever going to make you be someone different. Stay you okay? Because you are pretty fucking amazing."

He smiled, tearfully at her and then before he could say anything she just hugged him and didn't let go.


"Crazy night last night," Riker muttered as he, Rydel, Ratliff and Rocky all walked into their house. He put his key down by the table and turned, noticing that Rocky seemed a bit, off like he was in a trance. "Rocky? You okay?" He asked, catching the attention of Rydel and Ratliff.

Rocky looked up but didn't say anything. Before he could, Stormie and Ryland came down the stairs, both in a panicked rush.

"What happened?" Ryland asked first.

"Is Ross okay? Where is he?"

"He's fine. He's at the hospital, they're keeping him there for a few days for observation," Riker explained, taking on the older brother leadership role immediately. "You can visit him tomorrow if you want, but visiting hours are kinda over now."

"I'm his mother, they have to let me see him."

Riker shrugged, "go ahead and try it. I encourage that actually."

Stormie nodded and left the room to grab her keys and leaving the house while Ryland turned to Riker, "what happened to him?"

"He had an episode," Riker explained, walking into the living room and taking a seat on the couch.

"Wait, what, why? Isn't that why he has medication, to prevent that from happening?"

"He went off them and has been off them for the last two weeks," Rydel told him, her eyes filled with tears as she thought of the night before. "It was just so scary seeing him like that, he wasn't making any sense and he was delusional. He thought he saw his son and you in the car with him."

Ryland eyes lowered to the ground, "he's still guilty about that night he almost…" He trailed off, but he didn't have to say it for anyone to know what he wasn't talking about, "isn't he?"

"Yeah," Ratliff answered, "it looks that way."

"He almost killed himself last night, he wanted to do all sorts of crazy shit." Riker said.

"He's not just guilty about what happened with you," Rocky finally spoke up, having been super quiet the entire time. "He was going on at the hospital about how he hit Laura and how he felt like dad and a fuck up. He kept calling himself that, a fuck up."

Rydel turned to face Rocky and saw tears in his eyes, "Rocky?" She asked and he looked at her, "what exactly happened when you two went to the hospital last night?"

Rocky shook his head, looking down at his feet for a brief moment, then he looked back up at his family, "he was talking fast again, going so fast about such different and random things, I couldn't keep up with it. He was convinced dad was following us, he felt like a fuck up for slapping Laura and just completely lost it." Rocky began as the memories began to hit him at once. "It was scary."

He didn't look like he wanted to talk about it, so they just let it be, for the time being.

"I'm just glad he's okay," Ratliff said quietly.

It was silent after that. No one said a word and knew that they didn't have to, to know what the other was thinking. It was like it was just there, in the middle of the room, for everyone to see.


Rydel quietly walked up the stairs with Ratliff, leading him to her room and shutting the door behind him. He looked at her and she looked back at him, tears in her eyes.

"It's okay to cry, you know," He said to her.

She nodded, opening her mouth to say something, but closed it, letting the tears fall for a few more minutes. She opened her eyes again and then looked at him. "Last night was the worse I've ever seen him, not even what happened with him and Ryland was that bad. The last time he had a bad episode like that was seven years ago, when we first moved out here. And it just, that reminded me of it."

"Why's that?" Ratliff asked her gently as she sat down on her bed and he went to sit down beside her, his hand going to her knee.

"I was the only one with him at the time. It seemed like everything was normal, but he said he wanted to go outside and skateboard so I let him go. I didn't think anything bad was going to happen, but after a while, I went outside to check on him and he was sitting on the grass, staring up at the sky. I went to sit beside him and I nudged him and saw that he was crying. When I asked what had happened he just shook his head and then started to laugh. It didn't make sense to me what was going on. He was just stuck inside his own head and then suddenly stood up, he started to speak super fast and then decided he wanted to ride his skateboard again. I told him that wasn't a good idea and tried to get him to stay with me, but he refused. Then he started screaming at me, telling me that I was hurting him when I hadn't even touched him. I took his skateboard from him before he could do anything but he just started to fight me and pushed me to the ground. He took the skateboard and said he was going to skate all the way to the other side of the street, super fast until he got to the wall, then he was going to jump off it at the last second. I stood up and told him it was a bad idea, took him by the wrist and tried to pull him inside. He wouldn't let me and fought against me more. But I still held on. Then, when we got inside, I locked the door and he just started going crazy. I quickly picked up my phone, called my mom and she told me to call 911 and that she'd be home soon. He then suddenly fell to the ground his hands in his hair and just started crying and saying he was sorry that he hurt me and that he'd never do it again. I didn't understand what was happening, but after he got evaluated, we discovered he'd forgotten to take his medication and it had caused this episode to come about."

"Wow," Ratliff sighed, "it looks like Ross is going to need a lot of babysitting."

She nodded, "he may think he's invincible, but Eli," She said, her voice breaking, "he's really not."

"I know." Ratliff whispered, as he put his arm around her and let her head fall onto his shoulder. "I know."

She held onto him, crying and hugging him tight.

"It's scary, but this is something he's got to deal with, whether or not he wants to," Ratliff told her.

She nodded and then realized something. She looked up at Ratliff, pulling away from him. "I'm ready. I'm ready to tell you everything that happened with my father."

"Rye, you don't have to. I know with what happened with Ross was probably-"

She shook her head, "no, if anything what happened has shown me that I, I need to talk, tell you what happened or I'll explode. I don't want that to happen."

Ratliff just stared at her for a moment, before finally nodding his head. "Okay." He finally said, "let's talk."


No, Rydel and Ratliff didn't have sex.

I broke this up into two parts. Rocky's kinda of a bit unstable, I don't know if you caught that, but what he saw, he can't forget. He's going to tell Laura and Rydel what happened later on, but for right now, I'm going to kind of give him his own demon, you could say, I guess.

It's all going to be explained more and continued in the next chapter. I literally went through ten rewrites for this so I hope it was realistic enough (if not, then let me know) and yeah. Please tell me what you thought about it because I worked so hard on it. More so than any other chapter. I did research, I thought about what happened in my own personal life and I applied it here.