Part 16: Untitled

A/N: Okay, you all (or, most of you) know the song "Untitled" by Simple Plan, and have probably seen the video. ANYWAY, that's where I got the idea for this chapter. Don't worry, Craig's not gonna be in there FOREVER. Sadly, we learn that one of our characters has died. Um...yeah.

It was 9:14 PM on a dry, cold Friday night in March.

He had just arrived at the hospital. He was being rushed down the hall. His eyes were closed, and he couldn't see anything. Suddenly, he stopped. Opening his eyes, he stared directly into the light overhead. He felt a warm hand cover his own cold one. He slowly glanced up. Staring into the worried eyes of his stepfather, he quickly looked away.

He didn't know how or why he was lying on this bed, or why everyone looked so scared. That scared him, and all he knew was that he was in horrible pain. He was suffering, and he couldn't just make it go away. He felt something in his throat. He could taste it and knew it all too well—blood.

Another sharp pain struck him in the stomach and he clutched it. He started to move again, and Joey was right next to him. He knew that something bad either already happened, or it was going to. Taking a few slow, short breaths, he painstakingly looked up at Joey, who didn't know what had happened; all he knew was that Craig was in pain, so he was there for him.

They finally went into a room. On one side of Craig, doctors were hooking him up to an IV, stabbing him with needles, and cleaning the blood from his skin. On the other side, Joey stood. Craig's arm was still laid across his stomach, holding it. He weakly coughed up blood, and then tried to speak. "Joey...it hurts..." he said.

"I know. I know. Shh. Everything will be over soon." Craig wondered what the hell THAT was supposed to mean. Was he expecting him to die? Or go comatose? One of the doctors on the other side of Craig lifted his shirt up past his stomach. Craig's pale skin had a thin layer of dried blood spread across it.

The doctor took a sterile-looking white washcloth and carefully cleaned the blood away. The clean flesh had a medium-sized gash in it. Joey watched as it was sterilized with alcohol. Craig winced as the gash was stitched up and bandaged. Joey couldn't take it anymore. He walked out of the room and drove home.

He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, knowing that he left Craig alone. There wasn't a point to him leaving; just the fact that he couldn't bare to see Craig in any more pain.

Joey made himself a cup of coffee, and sat down at the kitchen table. He sipped it every now and then until it became cold. He slid it to the side of the table and rested his head in his hands.

Elsewhere, the party at Spinner's had ended. Everyone had gone home and was watching the news to see if there was anything about it there. There was. It was all lies. The news reporters knew nothing. Spinner had the solid evidence on tape, but he wasn't going to just give it up. He would let Joey and Craig see it before he handed it over to the public. Before everyone left, when Spinner and Marco had returned from dropping Craig off in the ER, Spinner hooked the camera up to the TV and told everyone what had happened.

Caitlin, who had been watching a boring interview in her little apartment, had her show interrupted by "BREAKING NEWS". This "breaking news" was all over, on every channel, was never really important. At least not to Caitlin. But when she heard the words "high school seniors" and "party", she had to watch, just to make sure. And, several minutes later, she was doing the exact same thing Joey had done—gotten coffee. Angela was sleeping in Caitlin's bed down the hall.

Mascara ran down her cheeks, and she wondered how she could ever be so evil to say what she did to Craig. Now, he was lying in the hospital, in what condition, she didn't know. She just prayed that he was alive.

Ashley was at home, sleeping, unaware that anything had happened. That was until Paige called.

"Hello?" Ashley said groggily.

"Ashley, it's Paige," Paige said frantically. "Oh, my God...did you watch the news?"

"What? Paige, what's going on?" Ashley sat up on her bed.

"Well, your mom's probably going to love this one. Jay and Craig are in the hospital."

"They're...they're in the hospital? Why?" Ashley cried. She had a distinct feeling that drugs had something to do with it.

"They were at Spinner's party, and they were doing something, and Craig asked for a ride home, and...Spinner has it on videotape. I mean, if you want to watch it sometime."

"No, Paige, I don't. Are they gonna be okay?"

"I don't know," Paige whispered. "I don't know."

"This totally sucks," Ashley said. "I gotta go." She hung up and tossed her cell phone on her bed. She ran downstairs and ran into Toby.

"What's the big rush?" Toby said rather rudely.

"Craig's in the hospital!" Ashley shouted.

"So?" Kate said carelessly.

"So? It's not just SO! Craig doesn't deserve any of this! I don't see why you still hate him! I hurt him! Joey doesn't hate me! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Ashley screamed. She ran out of the house in her shorts and tank top. She jogged barefoot to Joey's house. She got to Joey's, panting breathlessly, and knocked on the door. Joey slowly went up to the door and opened it.

"I just heard," she said quietly. Joey let her in and they sat down on the couch. "Craig and I don't really talk much, but...I still care about him."

"Everyone cares about him. But he...he doesn't want that. He wants to be left alone."

"He acts like he does. I mean, usually, he probably does. But...I don't know."

"Has Craig ever told you...about something his dad did to him when he was younger?" Joey asked quietly. Ashley looked up at him.

"That...he beat him, that's all I know," she replied. "Why?"
"Well...yesterday...I took Craig to this hypnotherapy session. And...he freaked out. He was just...scared out of his mind. He was shaking and he couldn't talk for hours. I finally got him home and he fell asleep. I put two and two together, and...I found out what happened. He told me it only happened that one time, and I believe him, but..."

"Joey...Craig has kept so many things to himself, and...I wouldn't be surprised if his father intentionally had tried to kill him at one point. But right now we just have to hope that he's okay."

Joey nodded understandingly. Ashley felt bad for Joey; he worried about Craig constantly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and they hugged for a minute.

They pulled back and Ashley said, "I should probably get home now. My mom's probably worried out of her mind."

"I'll give you a ride. I need to get out of this hellhole of a house." Ashley nodded in agreement.

So, Joey drove her home. He hadn't had the chance for such a calm ride in the car for a while now.

When they reached her house, Ashley looked over at him. "Hang in there. It'll get better," she said. Joey nodded and Ashley skipped inside quickly.

The next morning, Joey woke up really late. He forgot for a moment why the house was so quiet. When he turned on the TV, it all came back to him. The call from Spinner, and...everything.

He got dressed quickly and had some coffee. After finishing, he ran outside and drove to the hospital.

Upon arriving, he went down several halls and found Craig's room. Craig was sleeping on the bed, but he didn't look like he was very comfortable; he was connected to about four machines. His face was covered in bruises and scratches: nothing too serious.

A nurse walked in and messed with the IV bag, and then looked at Joey. "He got out of surgery a few hours ago," she said. "They had to remove four ribs. He'll be fine." Joey nodded.

Hours that seemed like days passed. Nothing had happened. Craig's arm had twitched once or twice, however. There was little hope that something good was going to come out of this.

Joey was surprised when Spinner walked into the room, and he looked just as surprised to see Joey. He had something in his hand. "Has he woken up yet?" Spinner asked quietly.

"No," Joey answered.

"That...sucks," Spinner said. "I have a tape. Of what happened. At the party and stuff. I don't know if you want to watch it or let him watch it when he gets up, or..." Spinner held out the tape and Joey looked at it for a second, but then took it.

"Thanks, Spinner," said Joey.

"Well, I have to go. I'm supposed to meet some people. Um...if he wakes up soon...tell him I said I hope he gets well soon. Really." Spinner took another glance at Craig, then turned and left the room.

The only other thing that would happen that day was another nurse entering the room and messing with the IV bag again.

Sunday, Snake showed up. Joey had come and gone several times by then, and still, no sign of him waking up.
"Hey, Jeremiah," Snake said. "How's it going?" Joey looked up at him emotionlessly. "I know it's hard to sit in here and watch your unconscious son sleep, but...you need to take a break."

"I can't take a break. Caitlin has my daughter; Craig could be on his deathbed, and..." Joey stopped talking and looked at his hands, then back at Snake.

"Come on, Joey," said Snake. "We can go out for coffee or...a drink or something. You've spent half of the last year in this hospital." Joey sighed, but knew that Snake was going to argue him into leaving one way or another.

"Fine," Joey said. "Let's go."
They went out for drinks at a bar, and talked for hours. At the end of the day, when they finally got 'cut off', they both stumbled out of the building.

Fortunately, they both got home safely, and Joey fell asleep at the kitchen table.

On Monday afternoon, after Archie had finished teaching, he came over to Joey's. The front door was unlocked, so he just waltzed right in. Joey was sleeping, head-down on the table. Snake walked over to the table and shook Joey's shoulder until he stirred and woke up.

"Wha...?" Joey mumbled, picking his head up off of the table.

"Joey, you need to be awake. The hospital called the school. Craig woke up a few hours ago, but he's asleep now."

"What? You mean he's okay?" Joey cried. He stood up and then stumbled again, finding balance when he leaned up against the table.

"Yeah, he's fine. Calm down. You can go see him in a little while."

SIX HOURS EARLIER

Craig had been sleeping on a bed in the hospital when a nurse walked by. She glanced into the window and noticed that Craig was moving, but he didn't look awake.

The nurse went into the room and watched him for a second, then realized that he must've been having some sort of odd dream or nightmare.

She shook him gently, waking him up. Her eyes met Craig's own dark ones, and he slowly came to the realization that he was in the hospital. He couldn't even talk, but he wanted to. The nurse gave Craig some water, and he fell asleep again.

SIX-AND-A-HALF HOURS AFTER THAT

Joey rushed to the hospital, and jogged through the empty halls. He almost ran past Craig's room, but then saw him sleeping in the bed. Taking in the image before him, he sat down in a chair next to the bed. Craig stirred and awoke. He was weak and tired, and could barely keep his eyes open. He tried to talk, and looked over at the water, which seemed so far away. Joey saw the water, took the glass, and held it up to Craig's lips. He drank some of the water and then breathed. Feebly, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Hey, Joey," he muttered.

"Hi, Craig," Joey said softly. "How're you feeling?"

"I feel like I got hit by a truck. And I'm tired. Other than that, I'm fine," Craig said.

"Well, you did get hit by a truck."

"Why am I in here? I don't even know what happened. What day is it?"

"You got in another car accident. It wasn't your fault though; a truck ran a red light. And it's Monday."

"Monday..." Craig moaned when a pain in his side struck him. "How long have I been in this hellish place?"

"Three days. Since Friday night. You're lucky that Spinner and Marco got you out of the car when they did."

"Stop talking. You're confusing me."

"Shh. I know. You need to rest anyway. Go back to sleep."

"Joey? When can I get out of here?" Craig asked, watching Joey hopefully.

"I'm going to go talk to a nurse and I'll see when they can get you out of here. Okay?" Craig nodded and closed his eyes. He fell asleep again and Joey went to go find a nurse. He talked to her for a while, and then he walked by Craig's room again.

Craig was still asleep, so Joey decided to go home. The nurse said that in four days, Craig could go home. But, he needed bed rest for one week after that.

When he pulled in front of the house, Joey noticed something—Craig's car wasn't there. That was the first time he'd realized it at all. Then, he remembered. It must've been parked at the old house where Craig met up with Jay. Then he wondered what happened to Jay. He had gotten hit the hardest...

Joey decided that he would wait until Craig got out of the hospital to go and get his car.

The next day, Joey got up and went to go see Craig. He took one of Craig's CDs with him, along with a CD player. He knew that it was going to take a while for Craig to wake up.

Around noon, Craig did wake up, and they talked for about an hour. "Joey, let me see that CD," Craig said. Joey opened the CD player and handed Craig his Jimi Hendrix CD. Craig took the CD and held it, facing the silver side. He looked at his face for the first time since he'd woken up. Running his fingers along the dark bruises, he was left in a silent shock. Looking away from the CD, he handed it back to Joey, who carefully placed it back into the CD player.

"That's really how bad I look, isn't it?" Craig said quietly after a few minutes. Joey nodded truthfully. "Dammit! Why does this always happen to me? I'm always screwed no matter what I do!"

"Craig, they'll go away. I promise; they will. But you have to promise me something." Craig looked into Joey's eyes. "You have to promise me that...that you'll try and be happy. For a day. For a week. Whenever. Wherever. But for at one time in the last year...try and be happy."

"It's really hard for me. I want to be happy."

"I know it's hard. With everything that's happened in the last year...but look—you're popular and have a ton of friends that love you and care about you. And when the day's over, there's still me and Angie. And you'll always have us, no matter what you do or what happens. Just promise."

"I promise," Craig whispered. "I promise." Joey smiled softly and Craig painfully leaned up in his bed. He hugged Joey quickly and then couldn't stand the pain from the gash in his stomach anymore, so he laid back down.

"I need to get going. There's cars that need to be sold, so...I'll be back after work. If you're awake. Some of your friends know your room number, so...you might get visits or phone calls today. Okay?" said Joey calmly.

"Yeah, okay. Bye, Joey," Craig said. He watched Joey leave the room, and then settled back down into his bed. He tired and fell asleep.

When he woke up, he saw Spinner, Marco, and Paige. "He lives!" said Marco happily.

"Hi, guys...and Paige," Craig mumbled wearily. "What's up?" He used the little strength he had to push himself up. He looked over at the clock; it said it was ten, but there was light outside.

"What's today?" Craig asked.

"Wednesday," Paige answered.

"What the hell? I've been sleeping since like, 1:30 yesterday afternoon!" Craig said in surprise.

"Yeah, Joey came by last night, but you were sleeping," said Spinner.

"Oh. Well...what're you guys doing here?"

"We skipped."

"Cool."

"Yeah. When are they letting you out?" asked Marco.

"Tomorrow. And then I can't go to school until next Friday."

"Lucky. How've you been?" Paige asked.

"In pain and lots of it. You?"

"Fine. Everyone is worried sick about you, even Ash. You should call her."

"I can't call her. She's...I can't."

"Craig, come on! She really wants to talk to you."

"I don't want to get hurt again."

"That's...understandable. In that case, take your time."

"Thank God. So, Spinner, am I fired yet?"

"If you want to be. You're on medical leave. We've got a temp working in the kitchen doing dishes, but...he's not very good. Are you, Marco?" Spinner said, turning to Marco. Paige, Spinner, and Craig all started laughing. Marco blushed.

"Don't worry, Spin," Craig said. "I'll be back in that kitchen next Friday."

"Cool. Our customers are complaining that Manny's lip gloss is still on the glasses."

Craig laughed, but then went into a painful coughing fit. He finally stopped. He held his stomach afterward, as the pain from coughing had struck him there. He looked up at the door and his eyes widened. Spinner, Marco, and Paige turned around and faced the horror that was standing in the doorway.

"Mr. S," Spinner said nervously. "What're you doing here?"

"I get a day off every month," Mr. Simpson said, "and I'm here to drop something off for Craig. You, however, are supposed to be in school."

"Yeah, but we all have to work after school today, and we wanted to see Craig and make sure he was doing okay," Paige said quickly.

"That's very nice of you, Paige," said Mr. Simpson. "You may go to school now."

Craig's friends sighed heavily and said goodbye to him before leaving the room.

"Craig, Joey wanted me to give this to you." Mr. Simpson handed Craig a small box. Craig opened it.

"It's my car keys!" Craig said happily. "But how did he...?" Mr. Simpson shrugged and Craig forgot about it within the next hour.

Joey visited a few hours later, during his lunch break.

"Joey, where did you get these keys?" Craig asked, holding them up.

"I got them from the police. They found them last night," said Joey.

"Oh, I see," Craig said.

"Yeah..."

"So...have you gotten to see Angie lately?" Craig inquired when he looked up.

"Angela...no. I've been working for the last few days. She's still at Caitlin's, though."

"It figures. You should get her back. Caitlin's evil."

"Craig, she's not evil."

"Yeah she is! You should've heard what she said to me!"

"I know that she said some rude things to you, but that doesn't make her evil."

"Yeah, okay. Whatever. Why don't you beg forgiveness and tell her that I'm leaving soon so she can come back and you can be one big happy family."

"I don't want to argue with you right now."

"You never want to argue with me."
"That's right. But especially not now. You need to sleep."

"I know. I know. But I don't have any morphine to help put me to sleep. I can't just do these things on my own. And did you ever consider that maybe I don't want to sleep? I would rather have aspirin than morphine!

I want my bed moved by the window, where I can see a tree," Craig said in a very Hannibal-Lector-like voice. (Think Silence of the Lambs, where Dr. Lector is talking about where he wants to be transferred.)

"Well...I'll bring you a picture of a tree. Bye, Craig."

"Okay. Fine. Goodbye, Joey." Joey

He doubted that Craig just wanted it to sleep, but he wasn't going to confront him.

The nurse eventually got Craig some morphine and he quickly fell asleep.

The next day was the day that Craig would get to go home on bed rest. And when he woke up, he never remembered a time when he felt so...bored. He had to wait until Joey got off work...at seven.

He called Joey several times, but he kept saying the same thing—"Craig, just wait until I get there!"

Craig sat bored in the hospital room for hours. He wished that someone would come into the room and entertain him for a while until Joey got off work or until he fell asleep. Sadly, that never happened.

At 7:19 that night, Joey came into the room and Craig stood up instantly. Joey had brought a clean pair of jeans and a shirt for Craig. Craig got dressed quickly and put the shoes that had been sitting on the floor for a while on. "Let's go!" he said. And so it was done.

Upon arriving home, Joey handed Craig the video of the party. "I won't be able to sleep if I watch it now. I'll wait until tomorrow," Craig said quietly. He went up to his room and took his shirt off before crawling in to bed.

Days passed, and Craig tried to avoid watching the video. He hadn't gotten any calls from anyone.

On Sunday, while Joey was home, he put the video into the VCR and pressed 'Play'. He fast-forwarded through the first half-hour, and then when he saw himself, he stopped.

He watched as he kissed Marco...willingly.

He was instantly disgusted. His hands ran through his hair and his tongue slid into his mouth...Marco's. And Marco, being the sicko that he was, didn't try and stop him.

The camera followed Craig around for a few minutes, all up to him seeing Jay. Jay had something to do with it. Why didn't he remember any of this? Jay and Craig turned around, with the camera still following them. Jay drove off, with Craig in the passenger seat. He wondered why he didn't have his own car that night.

They drove down the road for several minutes, and then Craig knew what was about to happen. The side of Jay's car was slammed in to by the front of a Pepsi truck.

Watching himself moaning in agony, Craig rested his head on his hands, but continued watching the video.

He was taken to the hospital, and that was the end. Joey put his arm around Craig's shoulders, and Craig hugged himself. He sat there, the scene replaying in his mind hundreds of times.
After a long, long while, he fell asleep. Joey laid him down on the couch and covered him up with a blanket.

Craig woke up to a loud knocking on the door. He looked around and saw that Joey must've already gone to work. "Come in!" Craig shouted from the couch, not wanting to get up and open the door himself. When the door opened, Caitlin walked in.

"Joey's not here," Craig said immediately.

"I didn't think he would be," Caitlin replied.

"Then why are you here? Surely not to see me," Craig muttered, turning onto his back.

"As a matter of fact, I am here to see you. How're you feeling?" asked Caitlin.

"I just got out of the hospital a few days ago. I'm feeling bad," Craig said. Caitlin closed the door behind her and walked to the couch, sitting down on the end. She leaned over and put her hand on Craig's forehead.

"Craig, you're burning up!" she said in a concerned voice.

"I have migraines, Caitlin. It's common to have fevers," Craig said flatly.

"I know. But you shouldn't have to put up with them." Caitlin went into the kitchen and got Craig some ice water. He hesitantly drank it.

"You know what's bad about being on bed rest for a week?" Craig asked.

"Having to put up with evil ex-half-step-moms that come up to your doorstep?" Caitlin said.

"No, not being able to see my friends. I miss the little idiots. I wonder what they're doing now..."

"Well, I should probably get going. You seem able enough to entertain yourself, and I'm just getting in the way of that." Caitlin stood up to leave.
"Sit," Craig commanded. "You're the only person that's bothered to come and visit me for days. It's just me and Joey."

Caitlin sat back down quickly.

"I'm hungry. Could you get me the phone?" Craig said, pointing over to the phone sitting at the table. Caitlin handed him the phone and he dialed a few numbers.

"Yeah, could I get a number seven and a number three?" he said. "Fifteen? Okay...thanks." He hung up and set the phone on the floor.

"Chinese food," he told Caitlin. "Joey let me use his credit card so I could get food during the day. Don't worry; I haven't gone on any wild shopping sprees or occupied a hotel room. Anyway, they said it would be ready in about fifteen minutes. You should go get it for me."

"What's wrong with your car?" Caitlin asked.

"It's not in my possession and I'm not really supposed to move around," Craig answered.

"Oh. Well, then. Okay. Um...I'll go in ten minutes. While we're waiting...what do you do when you're home alone all day?"

"Sleep. Drink water and juice and pop and order pizza. Sometimes, I play video games, but crashing into walls and other cars has kind of lost its thrill."

"It must get pretty lonely in here," Caitlin said.

"Yeah, it does. Every day."

"That's all you do?"

"Yep. Wanna listen to some music?" Craig got up from the couch and went over to the stereo that was on the floor. He picked up a Pink Floyd CD and popped it into the CD player. He turned it to "The Great Gig in the Sky".

"I got this CD the other day. Joey bought it for me. How's Angie?"

"She's fine. I dropped her off at school this morning. You don't want her back, do you?" Caitlin said jokingly.

"No, of course not. Never. Okay, yes. I do. I want Angela back."

"I'll bring her by after she gets out of school today."

"Okay."

"Um..."

"This is weird. How's life at your new apartment?" Craig asked, not even half-interested.

"Boring. Lonely. Sad. All the things keeping me from staying there," Caitlin said sadly.

"Oh. What are you gonna do about that?"

"I don't know. I want to talk to Joey, but he's..."

"Busy making a living. He'll be home at seven. Talk to him. Call him. Write him a letter! For God's sake, do something!" Craig cried desperately.

"Joey doesn't want to see or talk to me right now. Or ever, for that matter."

"That's exactly what I thought with Ash. And she talked to me...a week...or two...or seven...about a month-and-a-half ago," Craig said in a mock-serious voice.

"Well, that's the way you teenagers are. You're all just...so forgiving," Caitlin said, sighing.

"Not true. Ashley still hasn't forgiven Manny and probably never will. Either way, life sucks really bad."

"Yeah, it does. Someday, though...everyone's gonna be happy."

"When I get out of this life, I'll be happy. I want a life where I have my real parents, and friends, and...maybe a yellow lab or something..."

"That would be nice."
"Do you remember when I was happy? Before I got diagnosed or before Jimmy got shot?" Craig asked Caitlin hopefully.
"Yeah. I do," Caitlin responded quietly. "I mean, you were sad twenty-five percent of the time, mad another twenty-five percent of the time, happy thirty percent of the time, and all the other time, you were probably bored."

"I know. But I could've gone out and done something...I just didn't feel like it."

"Well, that was a long time ago. Archie told me you haven't been taking your medication," Caitlin said interestedly.

"You know what? I think it's time to go get the Chinese food," Craig said quickly, standing up.

"I'm not going until you tell me the truth," Caitlin yelled. She stood up and watched as Craig went in to the kitchen. He rummaged around in the cupboards for a few minutes. Caitlin was utterly confused. She had no idea why he was going through the cupboards or what he was looking for. "Craig, stop it," she said. Walking over to him, she grabbed his arm.

"Don't touch me!" Craig shouted, pulling his arm away. He rubbed his arm, which was still lightly bruised from the last few weeks. "Why the hell is it any of your business whether or not I'm on medication?"

"Because I care about you," Caitlin said sadly.

"It's not your job to care about me! I know you really don't give a crap. You're not Joey, you're not any of my friends, you're not Angie, and you're not my mom."

"There isn't going to be anyone there to be your mom, Craig! I'm sorry that she died but you have to get over it!"

"I AM over it! All I was TRYING to say was that she was the only woman who could ever care about me the way Joey does now! You're not my mom and you don't care about me!"

"Fine, then. I'm leaving," Caitlin said. She turned and went to the door. "Just know that I really do care about you." Craig waited until Caitlin had gotten into her car and left before calling Joey.

"Joey, I ordered some Chinese food, could you go get it for me?" Craig asked as soon as Joey said 'hello'. Joey told him he'd go retrieve it for him, and he arrived several minutes later.

"Finally!" Craig cried happily, standing up and rushing to Joey.

"Sit down," Joey commanded. "You might hurt yourself."

"I've been walking around all day, Joey. I haven't hurt myself yet."

Joey looked sternly at Craig. He handed him a pair of chopsticks and a box of rice. Craig opened it and began rapidly eating the rice.

"A little hungry, are we, Craig?" Joey asked, slowly eating his own rice. Craig nodded.

When he'd finished his rice, Joey was only halfway done with his. Craig reached for the chow mein, quickly eating that, too.

A few more Chinese food boxes of food, and Craig was moaning on the couch. "My stomach..." he said.

"You know, Craig, it really makes me wonder WHY your stomach hurts. It couldn't have anything to do with eating five boxes of food, could it?" Joey said tauntingly, slowly eating his own food.

"Nope," Craig said, laughing. "Not in a million years."

-FRIDAY, THE DOT-

Craig was happily washing dishes in the back room of the Dot. He was glad to be working again, and was going to TRY and rebuild what he had before. On his break, he talked to Spinner, and any of his friends that came in during the short break. He talked to Emma and Manny when they walked in. They seemed indifferent and happy. "So what's going on with you two?" Craig asked.

"Nothing much," Emma said. "Me and Manny are going to see a movie."

"Ooh, which one?"

"Don't know yet," Manny replied. "We'll find out when we go."

"That's what I usually do." The two girls laughed and ordered milkshakes.

"I gotta get back to washing dishes," Craig sighed. "Um...I'll talk to you two later." Craig hesitantly went back to washing dishes.

At the end of the night, when he and Spinner were sitting at the counter, they started talking about the party.

"Marco's kissed me before...ew. He didn't even try to stop me. That's just...sick," Craig said, frowning in disgust.

"Marco's a pretty sick little monkey," Spinner agreed. "I never should've let you and Jay leave."
"Spinner, look at me, I'm pretty much unharmed...except for the fact that I had to get fourteen stitches on my stomach, but...that's beside the point."

"It's not you I'm pissed off at myself for," Spinner said. His expression changed and he looked solemn.

"What happened to Jay?" Craig asked after a moment of silence. Spinner slowly turned his head and looked at Craig.

"Craig..." he said quietly. "Jay died."

What? Could you kindly repeat that, Spinner? I don't believe I heard you.

"Huh?" Craig said in disbelief.

"Jay's dead."

That's what I thought you said.

"I have to go," Craig said quickly. He stood up and jogged out to his car, which he had just gotten back the day before.

"Craig! Wait!" Spinner called. But he was too late. Craig had already gone.

Craig drove as fast as he could home. He halted in front of the house, got out of the car, and ran upstairs. He quietly closed his door behind him, locking it, and crawled into his closet.

A/N: MUHAHA! I HAVE FINISHED! I WILL MAKE IT LONGER NEXT TIME! THE NEXT CHAPTER IS CALLED 'BREAKING THE HABIT'! MUHAHAHAHAHA!