Part 12: Love Makes the World Go Round

A/N: What's up, people! I know it took forever for me to update...I am coming down with a serious case of writer's block. Any suggestions WOULD be helpful. I'm also running out of ideas for chapter titles and stuff, so...yeah. If any of y'all listen to Ashlee Simpson, she wrote this song called "Love Makes The World Go Round", and it's really kind of sad. It's like "I just wanna talk to you, my broken heart just has no use, and I guess promises are better left unsaid." Yeah. So that's why I got the title! I got this kick-ass electric guitar today for fifty bucks. I have to get all the parts for it, though (strings, bridge, strap, cable, amp, etc.) but it's worth it! I know it's a bit longer than the last one, but hey, at least it's not as long as Part 10! holy crap, that was long! Anyway...A few notes to my LOYAL reviewers...

Trinity - SO...I see. It seems to me as if you're the first one to review each chapter...EXCEPT FOURTEEN! BAD TRINITY! LOL. Just kidding. Yep. The last chapter was pretty short, I know. My fingers kind of hurt because I've been practicing guitar a lot lately, so that kind of stops me from writing. But...yeah.

HelloGoodbye123 - Ah, you know what's weird? In your review, you were saying that there's the few obsessive readers, i.e, you, Crashetburn, and Trinity, and they were all the ones that reviewed first! Amazing...thanks for all the reviews since like...every chapter. And I waited so long to update because I actually posted the chapter RIGHT after I finished it---it took me forever! I was kind of contemplating who should jump in the pool—Sean or Jay? Or Spinner? Or Alex? I was just...frustrated. So, I chose Jay because Spinner NOT jumping in the pool plays a part in this chapter. Waahaha!

Crashetburn – Hm...I see what you're saying about the whole Cranny thing. Somehow, I just...I don't know. I kind of wonder why you still read this...I mean, it is Crash...I don't know, I'm reading a Cranny story, so...I dunno...Lalala. And yeah...

ENJOY LE CHAPTER!

Craig awoke early on Monday morning. He didn't necessarily feel like going to school today. But, oh well. He was going to go anyway. He turned over and rolled off of the bed, hitting the floor with a loud thud. He pushed himself up with his arms and stood up. He swayed for a minute before opening the door and going into the bathroom. He leaned up against the sink pulled out his toothbrush. He brushed his teeth quietly. Then, he took a shower.

The shower was one of the best things he'd felt all weekend. (great, now I want to go brush my teeth). He'd stayed up late last night talking to Caitlin. After the Valium incident on Friday night, he was never going to take another one of them. Joey made sure of that by hiding them somewhere Craig wasn't too hot on taking one, anyway. The last thing he needed was to lose muscle control when he was doing something important...or dangerous.

He finished his shower and got out. He towel-dried himself and wrapped the towel around his waist before walking to his room. He closed the door and got dressed. Then, he tossed the towel in the closet and retreated downstairs. He sat down at the table with everyone else and closed his eyes.

"How'd you sleep?" Caitlin asked, sipping her coffee. Craig shrugged.

"Okay, I guess," he murmured, not opening his eyes. "You?"

"Pretty good, actually," said Caitlin.

"Hm...I see," said Craig. "That's good." Craig yawned. "Angie..." he muttered groggily. "Angie!"

"What?" Angie said quickly.

"Would you be so kind as to get me some juice?" Craig asked. Angie cleared her throat. "I'll give you five bucks," he added.

"Okay," Angie said, carefully pouring Craig some juice. Craig opened his eyes a little and took the juice. He pulled some money out of his pocket and handed it to Angie. She cackled maniacally and pocketed the money. Craig drank his juice slowly. Joey looked up from the newspaper.

"You look tired," he said.

"I am tired," Craig responded. He took another drink of juice, finishing it. Joey nodded. "Joey...will you give me a ride to school? I'm too tired to walk."

"Yeah, sure," Joey answered. He finished his coffee. "I think we should all be going our own ways right about now. Come on, Craig." They stood up and Craig followed Joey to the car. He got in and closed his eyes again. He yawned, making his eyes water. Joey drove in silence to the school. He got to the front of the building and looked over at Craig, who was asleep against the window.

"Craig!" he said. Craig jumped and looked around. He moaned and got out of the car without a word. He went up into the school and trudged to his locker. He fumbled with it for a minute before finally getting it open. He took a pen out and put it in his pocket before closing his locker. To his surprise, Liberty was standing in front of him.

"What?" he said blankly, staring at her.
"If you ever touch JT again, I swear, I'll—" Liberty began.

"You'll what? Keep looking at me? Ah, my eyes, they burn," Craig said. He turned around and started walking away. That is, until he was tackled to the floor by JT. He was getting extremely annoyed. He stood up, JT still clinging onto him. He threw JT into a locker, then to the floor. He kicked him once in the shoulder before turning. Another great surprise—Mr. Simpson. He sighed; he was afraid of what was going to happen next.

Mr. Simpson made Craig and JT have a 'conference' with Ms. Hatzilakos. Of course, Mr. Simpson being included helped Craig a little bit; he wouldn't have talked if it had been his word against JT's, even though Ms. Hatzilakos knew that JT did stupid things.

"So, what's going on?" Ms. Hatzilakos asked. She looked at JT, to Mr. Simpson, to Craig. Mr. Simpson spoke first.

"JT attacked Craig in the hallway," he said informatively. Ms. Hatzilakos glared at JT.

"Why would you do something like that?" she said sharply.

"Craig insulted my girlfriend," JT said defensively. She looked at Craig.

"She was harassing me at my locker and she was about to threaten me," Craig replied. Ms. Hatzilakos sighed.

"Archie, could you please get Liberty in here?" she said. Mr. Simpson nodded and left for a minute, returning with Liberty. She took a seat next to JT.

"Liberty, why did you approach Craig at his locker?" Ms. Hatzilakos asked, resting her head on her hand. Liberty inhaled.

"Craig hurt JT. I was just asking him why he did it," she said simply. Craig scoffed.

"Do you have something to say, Craig?" the principal asked, looking at Craig.

"Yeah, I do. That's a load of crap! She wasn't asking me anything! She was telling me that if I 'ever touch JT again, I swear I'll...'" Craig said. He mocked Liberty in a high-pitched voice. Liberty glared at him.

"I never said that!" Liberty cried.

"Liberty," Ms. Hatzilakos warned. Liberty slouched down in her chair. "Mr. Simpson, what part of this scene did you witness?"

"All I saw was JT jump on Craig, and then Craig threw him into a locker. And...I trust him. He's not lying. You can look at him and tell that he's telling the truth," Mr. Simpson answered. Craig looked up at Mr. Simpson. The feeling of someone trusting him...it was...odd, but in a good way. He gave him a small smile and then looked over at Ms. Hatzilakos. She was looking back at him.

"Okay, but what about Craig 'touching' JT? What's that all about?" she demanded. Craig slouched down in his chair because he had been the one to hit JT first. Now he was in trouble. JT looked at him, smirked, and started talking.

"Craig and I were in the washroom, and I was asking him why he hadn't been at school, and he hit me," he said. Ms. Hatzilakos looked at Craig again, but he couldn't look back at her or talk because he knew anything he said would be held against him.

"Is that true, Craig?" Craig didn't answer. He hugged himself and sighed. After a minute of silence, he spoke.

"That's not what happened," he said slowly. "I was in the hospital for all of winter break, and then a few days afterward. A few of my friends knew, and one of them told someone else, and now the whole school knows, including JT. When we were in the washroom, JT asked me if I was on heroin, so...yeah, I hit him. But he wasn't asking me where I was. He accused me of being a drug addict." Ms. Hatzilakos thought for a moment.

"Okay, JT, Craig, and Liberty...please go wait outside the office while I talk to Mr. Simpson," she said. They obliged and sat outside of the office. The one word that Craig heard clearly was 'mental'. Great, now the principal knows.

Craig sat two chairs away from Liberty and JT, who kept looking over at him and whispering. He was getting irritated. Mr. Simpson opened the door and told Craig to come in. He was happy to.

He entered the room and sat down in the same chair he had occupied just minutes before. He leaned over and buried his head in his hands.

"Craig, Mr. Simpson and I have discussed your punishment, and he has helped me decide that a phone call to your parent or guardian would be appropriate," Ms. Hatzilakos said. Craig looked up at her, then to Mr. Simpson. "Because it seems to me as if you're the victim in both situations. JT had no right to accuse you of using heroin, or to attack you, and Liberty had no right to harass and threaten you."

"So...you're just gonna call Joey? I mean, I'm not suspended...or have detention or something?" Craig asked. Ms. Hatzilakos smiled.

"Nope. Just gonna call Joey," she said. "And you're free to go." Craig sighed in relief and thanked them both.

He went to Mr. Simpson's classroom and sat down at an empty computer, as someone had taken his. Spinner came over to his computer and asked him if he was in trouble.

"No," Craig answered simply. "JT and Liberty are, though." Spinner laughed.

"So...you're totally over Ash, right?" he asked. Craig looked up at him incredulously. He paused for a minute before saying, "Yeah. Totally. Over her."

"Good," said Spinner. "Because me and Ash hooked up at Sean's party on Friday night." Craig stared at him, as did several people around him.

"What?" he said.

"Me and Ash. We hooked up at the party. We're together now," Spinner said clearly.

"Oh, that's...great, Spinner. Now I can't even have friends. Oh, well. Jay'll have to do," Craig said. He sighed and looked at his computer screen. Spinner walked away. Craig got an email a minute later. He opened it. It was a picture of Spinner and Ashley...together. He was disgusted. He deleted it and was silent until Mr. Simpson returned from the principal's office.

Mr. Simpson gave the assignment and Craig was almost halfway through with it when his cell phone started ringing. He looked at it. Joey.

"Hello?" he said upon pressing the 'Answer' button. "Yeah...why can't Caitlin pick her up?...What?...Again? Can't you two be happy together without fighting for at least a week? You're so irritating!" Craig shouted before hanging up and shoving the phone back in his pocket. He looked up at Mr. Simpson, who had ignored him.

"What's going on?" Ellie, who was sitting next to him, asked.

"Joey and Caitlin had another fight. He doesn't know where she is, but this time she doesn't have some jerk-off director to go to," Craig said. He didn't want Caitlin to leave. Joey probably didn't want her to leave, either. Caitlin would come back...where else would she go?

"That sucks," said Ellie.

"Yeah, just about as much as Spinner being with Ash. That's just..."

"Wrong." Craig nodded. He missed Ashley, but he wasn't about to let everyone know.

"I mean, while they were hooking up at the party, I was drowning in the pool and had to be saved by Jay."

"Sean would've been glad to save you. But I guess that's kind of my fault because I made him talk to me."

"Yeah, but...oh, well. That was days ago. I'm better now," Craig said.

"That's the important part," Ellie responded. She finished her work and closed all of the windows on her computer. Craig did the same a few minutes later. He sat, staring at his computer for a while. He jumped when he felt Ellie's hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked. Craig looked at her for a second.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine," he muttered. He knew that Ellie knew that he wasn't 'fine'. He was never 'fine'.

"Craig, you're not over her, are you?" said Ellie. Craig stared at her. Her hard gaze made it hard for him to deny it. He shook his head and looked down at the keyboard. "Do you want me to talk to her?" Craig shrugged. Ellie felt bad for Craig; one minute, he had everything going great, and the next, it was over.

"Ash, you're not being fair to either of them," Ellie told Ashley after school. "You're leading Spinner on to make Craig jealous. It's not fair."

"I'm not...leading him on. I like Spinner," Ashley said quietly.

"You 'like' him. That's not enough. You're graduating in a few months; you don't date someone because you 'like' them. I like Craig, and I'm not going out with him."

"That's because you're with Sean."
"And I could get mad at Sean and just suddenly say that I'm not in love with him anymore and go out with Craig and make him jealous. But it's stupid, and it's careless, and it's wrong. You just don't get it."

"I don't get it? Craig cheated on me, Ellie! Probably more times than I know about! Sean...he went to be with his parents! And you didn't want him to stay there! You wanted him all for your greedy self!" Ashley shouted.

"Craig deserves better! He deserves better than you or the way he lives, the way he is! The way he grew up! You grew up with a perfect, loving, safe family! I wish I could say the same for him! And he only cheated on you once! He could have any girl in this school, and out of all of them, he wants you! But, oh, no! You make up some stupid lie to make him feel worse than he already does! You think his life is so simple! That just because he's away from his dad, he's better! That just because he has medications, he's okay! He's not better, and he's not okay! He still has to live with the fact that he was hurt in more ways than you EVER were, and probably ever will be! He's the one with the illness, not you! STOP acting like he hurt you so much! You forgave him and he expected you to get over it! You're SO selfish!" Ellie screamed. Ashley glared at her.

"If Craig's only cheated on me once, then why is he always so friendly with everyone else?" she asked. Her voice was sickly quiet.

"Because that's who he is! He's social! People want to be friends with him! He likes to talk to people! And maybe if you were a little nicer to him, he'd want to talk to you, too!" The two stared at each other. Ellie scoffed and turned. She walked away, leaving Ashley there without a thing to say. Ellie was thoroughly disgusted with Ashley for what she was doing to Craig. She wanted to tell Craig what Ashley was doing, but she didn't have the heart to tell him herself. So, she went home and wrote a letter. Sean asked what she was doing.

"I'm writing Craig a note so that he knows what Ash is doing," Ellie explained.

"What's Ash doing?" Sean said curiously.

"At the party, she hooked up with Spinner to make Craig jealous. Now, she's leading Spinner on to keep making Craig jealous. For what reason, I'll never know. And Craig has the right to know. Ashley just doesn't get that she can't treat Craig the way she thinks she can. I don't treat Craig like crap all the time. Or...ever. We're friends. I mean..."

"No, I get it, Ellie," Sean said. "Just keep writing your little letter. I'm sick of this girl talk." Ellie smiled and continued to write. She finished and then folded it neatly before putting it in her pocket.

Then, she left.

When she got to Craig's, Joey answered the door.

"He's sleeping right now," he said.

"Oh. Um...could you give this to him?" Ellie asked, handing Joey the note.

"Yeah, sure," said Joey.

"Okay, thanks. Bye," Ellie said sweetly before turning and walking away. Craig must like to sleep; he did it a lot. There wasn't much else for him to do; none of his friends really went anywhere at this time of year.

When she got back home, she put her coat on the couch and sat down. Sean sat down next to her.

"Paige called," he said. Ellie moaned and stood up to go to the phone. She picked it up and dialed Paige's number.

"Hello?" said Paige.

"Hey...you called?" Ellie said.

"Yeah, um...I saw you and Ashley yelling at each other after school. What was that all about?" Paige asked.

"Well...see, Craig and Ash broke up because Ashley told Craig that she didn't love him anymore. At the party, she hooked up with Spinner. So now she's leading Spinner and Craig on so that Craig will be jealous of Spinner."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she doesn't think," said Ellie. She slid down the wall and sighed. "I tried to talk to her, but she just acted like what she was doing was right."

"I'll talk to her. If anything, more than one person should set her straight." Ellie laughed softly.

"Okay, thanks, Paige."

"No, thank you," Paige replied. She giggled as she hung up. Ellie put the phone back on the base and looked at Sean.

"Paige is gonna try beating some sense into her," she told him. She reclaimed her position next to Sean and she leaned her head on his shoulder. They watched TV happily.

Fortunately, Caitlin had just been talking to Spike for a few hours and returned to Joey's that same day. Craig was thankful; he liked Caitlin being around. Unfortunately, however, the call from the school arrived just an hour after Craig got home. Joey waited for Craig to wake up, and then he led him to the garage, where they talked about the day's events.

"Craig..." Joey began.

"Joey, don't," Craig said quickly. "What happened today...it was my fault. I shouldn't have hit JT."

"The school told me that JT was...antagonizing you." Craig looked up at him.

"If...if I was taking the meds, I wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't have hit him, and I...I wouldn't have told Liberty that I find her very, very...very unattractive. There's a lot of things I wouldn't have done if I'd been taking them...like hurting you." Joey sighed.

"Craig, that was a long time ago. And we didn't even know about it then," he said coolly.

"That doesn't make it better," Craig said, looking at the floor.

"No, it doesn't. But it makes an excuse."

"Listen, Joey, I'm on the verge of getting expelled or arrested. Excuses aren't going to help me."

"No. But I can. I'm not calling the cops on you anytime soon. And neither is anyone else. They understand, Craig. Nobody blames you for what happened. Ever."

"Really? What about...what about my dad? For years, it felt like nothing was wrong. But he was still doing it. I didn't tell anyone because I felt like I deserved it. And what about the shooting? We shot each other, but I lived. It's not fair, Joey. It's like, everyone thinks that I should hate him for everything he's done to me. But...I don't." Craig looked up at Joey. "I loved him." Joey nodded in understanding.

"He was your dad. I mean...of course you loved him. You always have different feelings about a person after they die. It's normal."

"It's like, with Mom. I mean, it was her and Angie that kept me sane all those years. I mean, you were okay, but...you know, we didn't like...anyway, I loved Mom and Angie more than anything. I would give anything to protect them, and I would kill someone if they ever hurt

Angie. But...now that Mom's gone...I could almost say that I hate her. I don't really hate her, but I'm mad at her for leaving me, and you, and...Angie. Alone. You had Angie and she had you, but me...no, I get left with my dad. And I used to hate my dad...but now that he's gone, I realize that I really did love him. But everyone wants me to hate him."

"I don't care how you feel about him, and I'm not judging you by the way you feel. It's your emotions; nobody can tell you how you feel."

"I don't even know why I talk to people anymore," Craig whispered.

"You seem to like talking to me," Joey said. Craig looked back up at him.

"That's because when I talk to you I always feel better." Joey smiled softly. Craig leaned over and rested his head on Joey's shoulder. He'd had a lot of hard times, and...through most of them...Joey had been there. And Craig had never given him enough credit for it.

"Thanks, Joey," he muttered.

"For what?" Joey asked.

"For being there for me." Joey wrapped his arm around Craig's shoulder. They sat in silence for a while.

The next day at school, Paige had gotten the chance to talk to Ashley while she was away from Spinner.

"Look at him," Paige commanded. Ashley looked at him.

"I'm looking at him, Paige," she said.

"Okay. Now tell me what he's doing." Ashley sighed.

"He's sitting there. Alone."

"Exactly. Why is that, Ashley? Surely you know," Paige said. She looked at Ashley.

"It's because...he doesn't want to talk to me or Spinner, so he just avoids everyone," Ashley responded. "It's the way he is."

"So you know how he is, do you? Did you ever consider how he felt about anything? Ever? No. You didn't. It's always about you."

"You're just like Ellie," Ashley whispered. "Always telling me that I'm wrong."

"I'm not telling you that you're wrong. I'm telling you that you're selfish and what you're doing is pointless. Why make Craig jealous? What did he do to you lately?" Paige asked.

"He..."

"He just wants someone to love him!" Paige cried. "And he almost had that! And then you just take it away from him for your selfish little reasons!"

"Have you seen the way he looks at Manny?" Ashley said. Paige threw her head back and laughed.

"The way he looks at Manny...you do have your head in the clouds, don't you? Craig treats people the way they should be treated! Manny cares more about him than you do! That's probably why he's nice to her!"

"He got her pregnant," Ashley said quietly.

"Yeah. But think about it—would you rather have Craig cheat on you and get Manny pregnant...or have him be with you that night and get you pregnant? You would have to live with the fact that you killed your child, and he would never talk to you again. You're lucky he did that. You are. You would've been in Manny's position, and your mom would've never let you keep it. You know she wouldn't have."

"I know," Ashley muttered. "But...he...hasn't done anything wrong in...a long time."

"So...what're you gonna do?"

"Nothing. I can't do anything now. It's too late, Paige. It's over," Ashley said. She turned and walked away. Seemingly, nothing was going to get them back together.

When Joey and Caitlin went away for a week, Craig felt...awkward. Angie was also away at her grandmother's house. And, of course, Craig was left home alone, a responsibility that he hadn't been granted since he was fourteen.

He had been going to school and such, but he still didn't leave the house any other time of the day. He just lounged around all day after school. After doing his homework, of course. He had to get caught up in all of his classes before he could graduate.

The phone rang. He rolled off of the couch where he'd contently watching TV and walked over to the phone.

"Hello?" he mumbled.

"Craig?" said Ashley. Ashley heard a sharp inhale from Craig and she breathed slowly. Craig hadn't heard from her in...almost two months. "Um...I need to tell you something. Is it okay if I come over there?"

"Yeah. Whatever," Craig said quickly before hanging up the phone. He was surprised that Ashley had called. It was so sudden.

She arrived about twenty minutes later; chances were that she had to sneak out or lie.

He answered the door and hesitantly let her in. They sat on the couch and she talked for about an hour about how she felt about Spinner and Manny, and he, Craig...everything he didn't care about.

"Is there a point to any of this?" Craig asked coldly.

"I was just getting to it," Ashley answered. "Anyway, I'm not sure why I wanted to make you jealous, but..."

"But nothing. You make more mistakes than I do," Craig said. He stood up and went to go get some water.

"I make more mistakes than you do? And Manny? I never cheated on you. I didn't get drunk. Twice. I'm not friends with Jay or Alex, and I haven't been suspended. Oh, and what about your medications? It's not like you take them like you should."

"Do NOT bring the meds into this! That's not even fair!" Craig shouted. He hated it when anyone used his medications against him in an argument.

"That's not fair? You telling me that I make more mistakes than you isn't FAIR! The way you treat me isn't FAIR!" Ashley screamed. She pushed Craig against the table. He didn't even bother to push her back.

"You are such a waste of my time! I was perfectly fine before you got here! Why did you even have to come? Why? Why did you have to call? See? There's ANOTHER one of your million mistakes!"

"You're a mistake!" Ashley yelled. Craig glared at her.

"You want me to take the meds, then?" he asked quietly. Ashley straightened up and picked an orange bottle up from the table. She wasn't sure why it was there, but she pushed it into his hand.

"Good! Then I will!" Craig opened the bottle and dumped the four remaining capsules into his hand. He stared at her for a second before putting them in his mouth and swallowing them.

"That's perfect, Craig! Kill yourself! See if I care!" Ashley cried before pushing him and running out of the house. She slammed the door behind her, leaving Craig alone again. He scoffed and returned back to the TV.

About a half-hour later, he started to feel sick. Craig ran into the bathroom and vomited twice. He held his stomach and then went back to the couch. His head started hurting and he felt tired. It was only eleven; he shouldn't feel tired yet. He'd stayed up later than this before. The phone started ringing. He sighed and stood up. He swayed for a moment and then walked toward the phone.

"Hello?" he said, tired.

"Craig? It's Spike. Joey just...you know, wanted me to make sure you were okay."

"Oh, yeah...Spike...is Emma...there?" Craig said slowly.

"Yeah, she is...Craig, are you okay?" Spike asked in a concerned voice.

"Um...I'm not sure...I feel sick and my head hurts and I feel tired."

"Well...have you been taking anything?"

"Yeah...me and Ashley...we were just arguing, and..." Craig groaned. He could barely stand up, but he was going to keep trying. He started breathing faster.

"Craig!" Spike cried. Craig could barely answer.

"Mmm..." he moaned. "Spike..."

The next thing Spike heard was the phone fall to the floor. She hung up the phone quickly and grabbed her car keys. Emma looked up at her worriedly. She stood up. "Is something wrong with Craig?" she asked.

"Yeah. Something is wrong with Craig. Something seriously wrong," Spike answered.

"I'm coming with you," Emma stated. Spike looked at her for a second before they both ran out to the car and sped to Craig's. The door was unlocked. She opened it quickly and was barely prepared for the next thing she saw.

Craig. Lying on the floor. Lifeless. "Oh, my God," Spike whispered. "Emma, call the hospital." Emma picked the phone up from the floor and called for an ambulance. She was panicking and didn't really know what to say. She finally got off of the phone. She knelt down next to Spike, who had managed to turn Craig onto his back. He was barely breathing.

"Please be okay, please be okay," Emma muttered. After what seemed like hours, the ambulance arrived. They took Craig to the hospital.

Emma couldn't sleep that night. She was worried about Craig; she wasn't sexually attracted to him, but he was one of her friends and she prayed that he didn't die.

She called Manny at about one in the morning. As soon as she told her what was going on, they were both crying. Manny snuck out of her house and came over to Emma's so that they could console each other in their moment of grief. Again, it was Ashley's fault. She had attempted to murder Craig again. Neither of them spoke as they laid on Emma's bed.

Spike returned from the hospital. She came into Emma's room to find the two girls upset. They looked at her pleadingly.

"They're gonna pump his stomach. It was a lithium overdose, and they don't know what's going to happen. And try not to worry about him. He's gotten through these weird kinds of happenings before; he gets lucky."

"But...but...what if this time he's not lucky? What if he goes...into a coma? Or dies? He could..." Emma said before leaning back onto Manny's shoulder and crying again. Spike walked over to the bed and put her hand on Emma's arm.

"Girls, he'll be okay. It wasn't a very big overdose; ten would be a fatal amount. For Craig...a few won't kill him. But if it happens again...then...well, it won't. Now go to bed. Both of you." The girls nodded and they both fell asleep on Emma's bed after a few hours of talking about possibilities of what could happen to Craig. Manny's mom would go crazy with worry if she found that Manny wasn't in bed. Manny could care less, though. She was upset.

Emma had never been more scared for someone else's life. She'd never thought about Craig dying because it didn't seem like something that would happen. All of a sudden, it did. Emma got off of the bed, and Manny followed behind her. They went into the kitchen, where Spike was sitting, talking to Snake.

"Mom? Are...are you gonna call Joey?" Emma asked. Spike looked up.

"I'll call him tomorrow. It's too late right now; he doesn't need to be hurrying back," she said quietly.

"Oh."

"Is that all?" Spike said. Emma nodded silently and the two girls retreated back to the bedroom.

Manny and Emma sat up talking all night. They fell asleep in the early hours of the morning. They decided to go to school late, but they didn't talk.

Several people asked them what was wrong, and they would straighten themselves and stay silent. Even Snake was quiet. The thought of yet another one of his students dying was almost too much to handle.

Paige finally got an answer out of Manny, who promptly cried while explaining the situation. News quickly spread around the school, and soon, everyone knew. Ellie refused to talk to Ashley; she knew that she had something to do with this. She always did.

In an effort to help people, Paige quietly told Spinner what Ashley was doing. Spinner first thought that Paige wanted him back and was making up a lie so that he would leave Ashley. But he looked at her and she looked back and she repeated her words. She wasn't lying. Spinner dumped Ashley about twenty minutes later. Again, Ashley was alone.

Joey drove quickly down the road. Caitlin was in the passenger seat, quiet. Joey's heart raced with worry, and he thought about Craig being in the hospital again. It was expensive, and this time, it wasn't some accident from slicing his arm, or falling down the stairs, or crashing the car into a tree; it was way more serious than that. There were more possible consequences with an overdose.

They finally got to Toronto. Joey dropped Caitlin off at home and went to the hospital. He asked for Craig's room, but had to talk to the doctor first. The doctor took him to a room with a window—a window that looked directly into Craig's room.

Craig was laying in bed. He looked the same way he did when he got in the car accident.

"Is he in...?" Joey said quietly.

"No. He's just sleeping. He got really lucky. I mean, he wouldn't have died, but he was lucky that he didn't take too many. A few more, and the Craig sleeping in that bed would be down in the morgue." Joey shuddered.

"Can...I go in there?" he asked.

"You're the father," the doctor answered. Joey nodded and walked briskly past the doctor. He opened the door to the room and sat down in the chair next to Craig's bed. He watched him sleep; his chest rose and fell, and he looked peaceful. The IV that was connected to his arm was also connected to the stand next to the bed. Fluid dripped inside the bag.

Joey put his hand on Craig's, which was cold from lying outside of the blankets and away from the rest of his body heat. He fell asleep about an hour later. Joey spent the next four days going in-and-out of the hospital to see if Craig was awake yet. He hand't woken up. The doctors assured him that he was just sleeping.

On the sixth day of Craig's hospitalization, Joey was yet again asleep in the hospital room.

Craig's eyes opened slowly as he woke up. He caught a glimpse of Joey next to him, with his hand a few inches from his own. The bright lights coming from the ceiling made Craig close his eyes immediately. He slowly moved his hand the few inches toward Joey's. He rested his hand on Joey's and sighed.

Joey woke up a minute later and looked up at Craig, who still looked asleep. Craig opened his eyes a little and looked at Joey. Joey smiled at him and Craig returned it with a weak grin. Joey was glad that he was able to see Craig...concious.

"How're you feeling?" Joey asked calmly.

"I'm okay," Craig said hoarsely. "At least I'm still alive." Joey nodded.

"I was worried about you," he said.

"I think everyone is. My shoulder hurts." Craig turned his head and looked at his shoulder. Sure enough, there was a large bruise. "It's probably from whenever I passed out. I don't even remember what happened."

"Spike said that you told her that you were arguing with Ashley," Joey said.

"Oh, yeah," Craig said, the events dawning on him. "She came over and talked about a bunch of nothing for no reason for like, an hour, and then she started yelling at me and telling me that I make a lot of mistakes. Then she said that I should take my meds, and...I did. All of the ones that were left in the bottle. I don't know how many were in there. Then I started feeling sick and I could barely walk. Spike called and I talked to her for a minute, and...that's all I can remember." Craig closed his eyes and sighed.

"She didn't call me until the day after it happened."

"Did anyone call?" Craig asked.

"Yeah...Emma, and...well, there's a list of people at home," Joey replied.

"Are you mad at me? For what happened?" Joey looked at Craig, who had opened his eyes again and was looking at him, waiting for an answer.

"No. I'm not mad. People do things that they regret; I'm not mad. Don't worry about it."

"I have to worry about it! Look at me! I'm always causing problems, and—"

"Shh. Craig, you need your rest. Just sleep, okay? You need it. Just calm down and rest." Craig looked at Joey and slowly closed his eyes. Joey ran his hand through Craig's hair and Craig sighed contently. He fell asleep in just minutes, and Joey told him goodnight and went home. He got a good night of sleep for once. He hadn't been able to sleep as good as he did that night in months. He'd been worried so much about what else could happen to Craig that he'd actually stopped focusing on his own health. He'd only been able to sleep about seven hours every night.

He didn't have to worry about Angie that much. Angie never really did anything. She just sat around in her room and played by herself. Sometimes, Craig would go in and play with her, but he usually kept to himself, too. Joey had heard him playing guitar a lot before he and Caitlin left. Joey admired Craig; not because of his looks, or his guitar skills, but because of his temperament. Because of how he managed things. His strength. The way he acted around most people.

The next morning, Joey took his time getting to the hospital to go see Craig. However, when he got there, Craig wasn't in his bed. He was about to go look for a doctor when Craig popped into the room from the hallway. He was wearing his regular clothes and looked pretty happy. They looked at each other for a second before Craig cleared his throat and gently pushed past Joey. He sat down on the bed and looked down at the floor.

"They're letting me out today," he said. There was no emotion in his voice at all. A flat, calm voice. "They just told me not to take more than the recommended dose on the bottle."

"Craig...is something wrong?" Joey asked in a concerned voice. Craig sighed, but didn't move.

"No. Not really. Just thinking," he replied. "About stuff." Joey was quiet.

"When are you coming home?" he asked a few minutes later.

"Whenever you want to take me there," Craig said. He still didn't look up. "Joey, I'm sorry about all of this. Really. Making you worry and making you pay for all of this, and...sorry for everything."

"Stop worrying about it. Sales have been great at the lot, and you don't need to worry about money." Craig was silent.

They didn't leave for about another hour. Craig was anxious to be home again. And when he was, he wouldn't be able to describe how happy he was. He didn't show it, though. That was one of his recent observations; he didn't show when he was happy. He was solemn.

"Hey, Craig!" Caitlin called. "You wanna come play Monopoly?" Craig looked up.

"Sure," he said. He got up and went into the kitchen. He sat down at the table. He picked the hat, and received confused looks from Joey, Caitlin, and Angie. "What?" he said. "I like the hat."

"Well, usually, you pick the dog," Angie said informatively.

"Well, usually doesn't mean that it happens everyday. I like the hat." Joey and Cailtin shrugged and picked their pieces.

About an hour-and-a-half into the game, Craig had ownership of Boardwalk, Park Place, and a few of the other properties. He also had all of the railroads. He was raking in the fake money every few minutes. On Boardwalk, Craig had two hotels. He had about $5000 now. Caitlin rolled the dice. She moved her thimble a few spaces. That was when she landed on it—Boardwalk. Her eyes widened. She stared up at Craig, who smirked. She sighed heavily and handed him his money.

"Well, that's all the money," said Joey. Craig cheered.

"I win!" he said happily. "You all lost to me! Waha!"

"Okay, Pennybags, you can clean up the game," Joey said, smiling. Craig's face fell.

"But—but—all the money—and the cards—" he stammered. Joey laughed.

"I'll help you," he said. So, they cleaned up the game. Afterward, they went into the livingroom and sat down.

"What's today?" Craig asked. He looked up at Joey.

"It's...Wednesday," Joey said. Craig nodded.

"School tomorrow," he muttered. "I hate school."

"Well, it doesn't hold that many good memories for you, does it?"

"It doesn't hold any good memories for any of us."

"Who's 'us'?" Joey asked.

"Me, Emma, Sean, Marco, Jimmy, Paige...us. I mean, me...I get into fights with people, and that day...when I saw Jimmy..." Craig stopped talking and inhaled. He hugged himself and leaned over. Joey put his hand on Craig's shoulder.

"Craig, it's okay. It's okay," he said softly.

"Every time I see Jimmy in the wheelchair, I think of him laying on the floor. I can't even go near that part of the school anymore." Joey looked up at the clock.

"It's getting late. Maybe you should go to bed," Joey suggested. Craig nodded and stood up. He went upstairs to his room and took his shoes off. His door opened and Joey entered. Craig looked up at him. He crawled into bed and faced Joey.

"Joey, could you turn the radio on?" he asked. Joey nodded and went over to the stereo. He pressed the power button and Craig smiled. "Thanks. I can't sleep when it's quiet." Joey smiled.

"Goodnight, Craig," he said. He walked over to the door and turned the light off. Craig fell asleep almost instantly.

At school the next day, Craig didn't talk to anyone. Except Manny and Paige, that is. Of course, neither of them were because of his personal choice.

Paige was the last person he would've expected to talk to him. She'd been talking to Ashley, and he'd been sitting in the front of the school on the steps, minding his own affairs. He was thinking about things and he didn't really notice that they'd been standing a few feet away from him. He was quickly drawn out of his thoughts when he felt someone's cold hand on his arm. He jumped and looked up. Paige was looking back at him.

"Hey," she said casually.

"Hey," Craig said. He stood up and faced her. He was still a few inches taller than Paige.

"Um...I was just wondering...did you get Ellie's letter?" Paige asked. Craig stared at her.

"No," he answered. Paige sighed. She dreaded telling him everything, but she did.

"Ashley's was just with Spinner so that she could make you jealous. She's stupid. She doesn't even like Spinner. She's going to go to someone else and keep doing it." Paige dared to look up at Craig. Big mistake. His dark eyes reflected sadness and pain. Craig turned and went into the building.

When Manny talked to him, it was actually important. They talked by her locker.

"I feel so stupid. I never should've done that to you," Manny sobbed. "I hurt you so bad, I shouldn't have..." Craig wrapped his arms around Manny. He looked into her dark, brown eyes.

"Manny. You didn't make the mistake alone. We made it. It shouldn't have happened at all. But I promise you, it will never happen again. Ever. And you did the right thing. Maybe it didn't seem like the right thing then, but now that I look back on it, it does. I mean, come on—we weren't fit to be parents. We will be someday."

"Craig, I could've...given it up for adoption...or something..."

"Stop it! Why would you want to spend nine months nurturing something that you're just gonna give up to someone else? Why would you want to gain all that weight and become some fat lard? You wouldn't! You would give a lot up because of all the extra weight! And that wouldn't be fair! Okay?" Manny nodded. "You might want to go into the washroom and wash some of the makeup off of your face, 'cause it looks a little odd." Manny blushed and smiled and ran down the hall to the bathroom.

Craig sighed and started off to class. When he got there, he found a piece of paper folded up. A note! 'To Craig, From Ashley.' Craig looked up at Ashley, who was looking right back at him. He picked it up and unfolded it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! CLIFFHANGER! DOES HE READ IT? RIP IT UP? THROW IT AT HER? EAT IT? YOU'LL ALL FIND OUT IN PART 13! WAAAAAAHA! I KNOW, I'M EVIL! IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO WRITE THIS! PANT, PANT. MY INTERNET'S BEING RETARDED, SO I GUESS I'M GONNA HAVE TO WAIT FOR IT TO BE SMART AGAIN...WAAAHA! IT'S SEPTEMBER FOURTEENTH RIGHT NOW! AND IT'S 8:03 AT NIGHT! FROM HERE ON, WE'LL ALL COUNT HOW MANY MINUTES IT TOOK TO POST THIS!