Part 6: Party Up

A/N: I know you've all been awaiting MORE Craig drama. This also has Craig on his meds, but something happens to him at Sean's party. Mmkay? Something really BIG happens in this one. (It's what you've all been waiting for since part 5.) I've been planning it for a while. So…yeah.

Craig enjoyed his time with Ashley, even though he knew she would leave tomorrow or the next day. He realized that Joey was suspicious of what they'd do alone, in Craig's room, sleeping in the same room…but he trusted Craig…enough. He was also letting him go to the party soon. It was in like, a week, but that was okay.

Joey was just the kind of person that trusted Craig enough to be respected. Without trust, there was no respect between the two. And right now, Joey's trust was something that Craig respected. Joey had been shocked at how Caitlin had handled the situation with Ashley's mom and Craig. He was about to stand up when Kate slapped him, but Caitlin got protective. You see, even though Craig didn't notice it, and Caitlin never showed it, she cared about Craig. He's her boyfriend's step son, and that counts for something. Not to mention the fact that Joey and Caitlin were going to get married…someday.

Caitlin had almost never spent time with Craig, mostly with Angie, but she understood most of the situations involving him. There wasn't really a doubt in Joey's mind that if he put Caitlin and Craig in a room together, they'd get along. But it wasn't really something he'd do. Right now, he was kind of worried about what would happen leaving Craig and Ashley in a room together. He walked upstairs and looked through the slightly open door.

The two were still fully clothes, other than the fact that Ashley almost had Craig's shirt off, so what they were doing couldn't have been too bad. He shrugged and went to his own room. He sat down on the bed and buried his face in his hands. He sighed, and then heard someone coming up the stairs. It must've been Caitlin, because Craig and Ashley were in Craig's room, and Angie was at her friend's house.

Caitlin walked into the room man, Joey's good and sat down next to him. She put a hand on his back and said, "What's up, Joey?" Joey looked up at her.

"I don't know," he said. "Craig's just…Craig's almost gone." Caitlin looked horrified for a minute.

"Does he have cancer?" she asked quickly.

"No, no," said Joey. "He's getting older. I spent the last three years paying attention to Angie and just about everything else…but him. And he's graduating soon, and…then he'll be gone."

"Joey," Caitlin said, sighing in relief, laughing a little. "There's months before he graduates. And he might not realize it right now, but he needs you."

"He won't need me after he graduates."

"Yes, he will. How's he going to go to college?"

"I don't even know if he wants to go to college."

"Don't you want him to have a car?"

"Yeah. He needs a license first."

"Then tell him to get one!" Caitlin said loudly. "You can't expect him to want a car if he has no license!"

"He's wanted a car since he was fourteen!" Joey cried. "I'm pretty sure he wants a license. He just didn't want to talk about it while he was in a wheelchair. He'll want one now."

"I'd suggest asking him now if he wasn't a little busy," Caitlin said, smiling. Joey laughed.

"He's a pretty good kid," said Joey, giving a small sigh. Caitlin nodded in agreement. She kissed Joey on the cheek. They both heard the phone rang, and went down to answer it. Joey answered. "Daddy," said Angie. "Are you coming to get me now?" Joey talked to Angie for a minute.

"It was Angie," he said, finally hanging up.

"Want me to go get her?" Caitlin offered.

"Sure," said Joey. Caitlin picked the keys up off the table and left to get Angie.

Joey sat, alone, watching TV for about a half-hour. He wondered how far away Angie's friend Destiny lived, but then he realized that this was Caitlin driving. She'd been there before. He guessed it was a few miles away. Whatever. Craig and Ashley came downstairs later on. "Hey Joey," they both said, plopping down on the couch next to Joey. Craig sat between Ashley and Joey. Craig turned his head towards Joey and got almost an inch from his face. He stared at him, waiting for him to turn his head. Joey didn't seem to notice him.

Craig tapped Ashley's knee, still holding his head in front of Joey. "Joey," Ashley said quickly. Joey turned his head, and saw Craig. He jumped back, making Craig and Ashley laugh. "Craig!" Joey cried, his heart racing.

The couch settled down again, and Craig turned his head and looked over at Joey. Joey looked over at Craig and raised his eyebrows. Craig raised his eyebrows right back at him, and then he turned and looked at Ashley, who also raised her eyebrows. They all looked back at the TV, their eyebrows still raised, and then burst out laughing.

Caitlin and Angie walked in the door minutes later. "Craig!" Angie said happily, running over to the couch and jumping onto Craig's lap. "Hi, Angie," Craig said casually. He let Angie sit on his leg for a few minutes and watch TV before shoving her off onto Joey. "You're making my leg numb," he said. Angie smiled.

"I know someone else that makes you numb," she said. "Ashley!" Craig glared at Angie, and then looked over at Ashley, who was laughing hysterically. "She's crazy," said Craig. "I think she should live in a mental hospital. She blurts things out like that all the time. Like this morning, I heard her say, 'Daddy, there's giant worms in my orange juice.' She's weird." Ashley stopped laughing for a moment, then looked over at Craig. She smiled and then started laughing again.

"I'm going to bed," Craig said immediately, standing up. He stretched and walked toward the stairs. "Oh, yeah," he added. "Caitlin, do you have like, some shorts or something that Ash can wear to sleep in?"

"Yeah," Caitlin said. She stood and followed Craig upstairs. He went to his room, and she to hers. She came into Craig's room and dropped a pair of shorts on his bed. "Thanks, Caitlin," Craig called from the closet, where he was trying to find something.

"No problem," Caitlin said, leaving.

Ashley came in as Caitlin left. "Craig?" she called, wondering where he was.

"I'm in the closet!" Craig shouted.

"What're you doing in the closet?" Ashley asked.

"I'm looking for something!" Ashley shrugged and sat on the bed. She looked at the shorts and figured Craig was going to be looking for 'something' for a while. She took her jeans off and threw them aside. She pulled the shorts on.

"Craig!" Ashley shouted to Craig, who was still rummaging around in the closet. "Come here!"

Craig emerged from the closet. "Could you take your shirt off?" she asked. "It's probably warmer than most of the other ones." Craig sighed and pulled his shirt off, handing it to her. She looked at the wound on his shoulder. It was fading slightly, but you could still sort of see it. She moved her hand over it softly.

"That's where he shot you," she muttered.

"Nope," said Craig, turning around. "That's where he shot me." He pointed to the large purple mark on his shoulder.

"Whoa," she said. "Then why do you have a wound in the front?"

"Because that's where they took the bullet out," Craig said informatively.

"Oh," said Ashley. She sighed and got under the blankets after she put the shirt on. She curled up, trying to get warm.

Craig turned the light off and got in the bed with her. "I'll find it tomorrow," he muttered. Ashley wondered what 'it' was, but didn't lose sleep over it. Craig put an arm over her, keeping her warm. They soon fell asleep in each other's company.

Joey went upstairs and looked into Craig's room. In the light of the hall, he could see Ashley and Craig in bed (sleeping), and Craig had no shirt on. "Leave them alone, Joey," Caitlin said, pulling Joey away from the door. "They're just kids! They're not gonna do anything." Joey nodded, sighed, and put Angie to bed. He and Caitlin went to bed afterward.

The Day of the Party!

Ashley had gone home two days after Craig had been slapped by Kate, but she still wasn't talking to her mom. It was now Friday, the day of Sean's party. There were about fifteen people that were supposed to be there, including Sean, Ellie, Jimmy, Spinner, Paige, Ashley, Craig, Hazel, Emma, Manny, and a few others.

Craig took Ashley with him. He'd persuaded Joey to let him borrow the car this one night, which was strange, because Joey never let him drive since the incident with Spinner, Sean, and Marco. He promised to have it back in one piece. Joey was still hesitant, though. But, the trust issue was brought up again, and let him take it. One rule: be careful.

"Thanks, Joey!" Craig shouted, taking the keys off of the counter. He and Ashley got in the car and drove off. It was dark already. He remembered: don't look at the police. When they got to Sean's, there were already a few people there.

Sean greeted him and Ashley at the door, and offered them both drinks. Craig said yes, while Ashley said no, that she wasn't thirsty. Sean grinned and got Craig a drink. Craig took it, tasted it and smiled. "Nice," he said.

Craig saw Ashley talking to Ellie, and didn't want to get involved in their girl talk, so he went and talked to Jimmy. He saw Emma and Manny enter the room. He went and got another drink, which was a bottle of beer from the fridge. He walked past the two girls and said, "Hey, ladies."

"Hey, Craig," the two chorused. Emma saw the bottle in his hand, but disregarded it when Sean started talking to her. Craig went back to Jimmy, finishing their conversation. He finished the beer and went to get another; hmm----these were addicting.

He picked another one out of the fridge and opened it. His hand was red from opening them that way, but that was okay. He ran into Manny on accident. "Sorry, Manny," he said. He realized who it was and said, "Hey, Manny."

"Hey, Craig," Manny said for the second time that night. "How've you been?"

"Can't really complain…" he said. It was awkward talking to Manny at a party. But it felt okay. "You?"

"I've been doing great. I'm going to New York City on Sunday for a photo shoot. My parents are paying so much money for it---five-hundred dollars. But it's going to be so fun."

"That's great, Manny," Craig said coolly. "Things are really going good for you."

"Yeah," said Manny.

"Not to make this weird or anything, but I want a picture of you. I'm graduating soon, and I don't really have any…just one. I have to get a picture of Emma too…hmm…"

"I have one with me," she said. "Of me and Emma." She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small picture of her and Emma. It must have been recent, because Manny had gotten her hair layered just the week before.

"It's okay," Manny said. "I have copies of that one."

"Thanks, Manny," said Craig. He put the picture in his back pocket and finished the beer. He amazed himself at how fast he could drink these.

"Manny!" Emma called.

"Oh, gotta go," Manny said. "Bye."

"Bye," Craig said. He returned to the fridge to get another one, but found a bottle of vodka sitting on the counter. He took his empty beer bottle and filled it with the vodka. It took him about five minutes to drink it, but he did. He felt dizzy, but it felt okay.

Craig took a second to make sure he could still stand, and then walked over to where Sean and Spinner were standing; talking about things that he probably wouldn't care about.

"Hey…guys," he said.

"Dude, what're you doing?" Spinner asked.

"Huh?" he said blankly.

"Are you drunk or something?"

"Uh…no…I…I think…hmm…" he mumbled.

"You want me to drive you home?" Sean said coolly.

"Nah, I can drive myself."

"You're drunk off your ass, Craig. You're gonna wreck."

"I can drive my own self, person. What's your name again?"

"Sean. And that's Spinner."

"Spinner…Sean…Sean…that's a funny name, Sean. Shh…on…ever notice how weird that sounds? Shonn…" Craig laughed. The two boys stared at him, and Spinner started laughing hysterically. Craig looked at him.

"Heh," he said. "You have funny hair." He rubbed Spinner's head softly. Sean started laughing. Spinner stood there and stared at Craig as he stroked his hair. He was like a little kid when he was drunk. His eyes were wide with amazement at Spinner's hair.

"I think he likes me," said Spinner. "He told me he's bipolar. You know, 'bi'. He likes me because of my hair."

Sean looked at Spinner. "Do you even know what bipolar is?" he asked.

"Yeah. It means that Craig likes girls and boys, thus the word 'bi'. 'Polar', meaning 'top', right? Meaning that Craig likes both girls and boys because of their hair. Craig's got the hots for me because of my hair."

"Spinner, bipolar means that he has a 'chemical imbalance' that makes his brain go faster than everyone else's, so he freaks out without medicine."

"Whoa. Seriously? I was just trying to sound smart a couple weeks ago when we were at the store. I just kept repeating everything Emma said. How do you know this stuff?"

"That's what happens when you're good friends with people."

"Who you talkin' 'bout?" Craig asked.

"One of our friends," said Sean.

"Really? Does I know this friend?"

"Yeah. You do," Sean said quietly. Craig stood there for a second before retreating back to the kitchen to refill the bottle. He stood there and drank it all. He almost fell over. He looked around for a minute.

He walked over to talk to Ashley. He looked at Ellie, laughed, and said, "Heh. You're pretty." He stroked her hair softly, as Ellie and Ashley stared at him.

"Craig, are you drunk?" Ashley asked. Craig stared at her blankly for a second.

"Drunk…n…no…why?...Are you d-drunk?" he said slowly.

"Should I have someone drive you home?" Ashley said calmly.

"I am ca…p…b… I can drive my own self back to Joe's."

"Craig, really," Ashley said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Craig pulled away.

"Why are you touching me? I don't even know you! Are you retarded or something? You don't go around touching people you don't know!" Craig said loudly. Everyone stopped doing what they were doing and watched the two.

"Craig, it's me—Ashley. You know…your girlfriend?" Ashley stared at Craig.

"Stop staring at me! You're a freakin' psycho! Why are you even talking to me? Better question—why am I talking back?" He turned around, about to leave.

He ran into the wall. Manny put a hand on his arm. "Craig, are you okay?" she asked. He was almost falling over. She led him to the couch, and sat him down. "Stay!" she ordered. She went and got some water.

Craig drank the water and thanked her. He looked like he was about to throw up. Manny pushed him up from the couch and ran him to the bathroom. She pushed him on his knees and closed her eyes as he threw up. She patted his back.

He slowly stood up. "Maybe you should go home," said Manny, leading him out of the bathroom. Craig nodded. "I'll go find someone to drive you." Just as she was about to walk off, Ashley slammed her into the wall.

"What's your problem?" she screamed. "Have to steal my boyfriend again?"

"Look at him! Does it look like I was trying to steal your boyfriend?"

"What were you two just doing in the bathroom?"

"HE'S DRUNK!" Manny shouted. "WHAT DO YOU THINK WE WERE JUST DOING IN THE BATHROOM?" Ashley ignored her and moved on to Craig. She slapped him hard across the face.

"Never again, right Craig? You and Manny are over?" She slapped him again.

"What...we…were just…talking…" he slurred.

"I hate you, Craig. Just get out of my sight."

"Ash…please…you don't even know what happened!" Ashley pushed him.

"Don't push me!" Craig cried. "We didn't even do anything! I swear!"

"Right, Craig," Ashley muttered angrily. She pushed Manny, who was still standing, watching the scene like everyone else, into Craig. "Leave."

Craig took the keys from his pocket, ran out to the car, and sat down. He started the car. Emma and Manny ran out of the building and towards Joey's car. "Craig!" Emma cried. "Don't leave! If you're going anywhere, let someone drive you!"

Craig hit the gas and drove off.

A/N: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WHAT NOW? EH? GONNA GIVE ME A BUNCH OF REVIEWS BEGGING ME TO WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER? ANYWAY, I'M WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER. I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT IT'S CALLED, BECAUSE THAT WOULD GIVE IT AWAY! ANYWAY, THIS IS SUSPENSFUL, AND….YEAH! SO… REMEMBER THE 3 R'S : READ, REVIEW, RATE