Disclaimer: Nwope, Still don't own them last I checked.

A/N: Wow. I need to thank ALL of you. I went away on vacation and came back with the most AMAZING surprise ever! Thank you so much for all your kind words and encouragement. I hope I don't let all of you down! As always, thanks to the amazing Evelyn for all her support and pimpage.

For further notice I'm going to attempt to update once a week, probably either Monday or Tuesday. Enjoy!

The question pounded in Lux's head. They know. They know. They know. It echoed in her head over and over until her mind locked on to a single word. Her left hand fisted the blanket at her side.

"Were?" She barely managed to choke out. Her reaction made them blink and exchange one of those secret parent looks that she wasn't sure how they actually worked. But she could read it as well as they could. They hadn't expected her to know what was going on. After all, they thought they had moved past the lying issues a year ago.

"Are." Cate said slowly. Lux let go of a breath she hadn't known she was holding in. Her hand relaxed on the sheet and she found herself looking up at the bleak ceiling in a mixed sense of relief and dread. This was only going to get worse.

"So…you knew?" Baze clarified, opting to take a chair that he hadn't been using until now. Lux's mind went into protection mode.

"Not…for long." She admitted. That was truthful at least. The words felt like sandpaper against her tongue. Her mother reached out to take her hand.

"Why didn't you tell us?" She could see the uneasiness in Cate's eyes and the rage in Baze's. For now he was withholding his reaction.

" I was going to!" Lux said quickly. "I just… I couldn't figure out a way that…that wouldn't hurt you." That much was also true. As much as this scared her, as much as they weren't ready for any of this, she knew how much her own mistakes weighed on her parents' shoulders. They'd blame themselves for this – after they were done blaming Eric. Well, at least the nameless father.

"Hurt us?" Baze blinked. "Lux… you're the one who's been—" Luckily his rampage was interrupted by the arrival of a blessedly matching white coat and a clipboard.

"Ah, Miss Cassidy. It's good to see you with us." He was far too perky for someone who had spent the bulk of his 24-hour shift wide-awake and on his toes. Immediately picking up on the atmosphere he offered to leave. Lux was quick to assure him everything was okay.

The doctor repeated the process that he had with her parents. He reassured her that she didn't seem to be in any immediate danger. Her blood work and scans had come out promising. She'd be sore for a week, of course. And her casted arm would take a while to heal. He inquired to how she was feeling now, checking her monitors and the fluids they had been giving her. He told her that unfortunately, due to her pregnancy, medication was limited. He saw the collective flinch when he brought up the subject they had clearly been talking about and proceeded with caution.

"Lux you were very lucky. But if you intend to carry this child to term, we're going to have to treat your case as high risk. I can draw up a list of specialists at the hospital for you and your parents to look over. Your body is one of the best things to protect that baby but when it's shaken up it can cause some complications. I don't see any signs of abruption at this time. But if you feel anything abnormal, have any bleeding or pain, we need to know immediately, okay?" Lux nodded at his words. "Also, we should schedule another ultrasound –soon. Just to make sure things are still on track."

He gave a moment to let the information sink in before he continued. "Now, there is another matter I'd like to speak with you about." The group's heads cleared, thankful of the chance. "The man you were in the truck with,"

"Is he okay?" She asked again, not knowing when Cate and Baze had been informed last.

"We've stabilized him for now, and wishing for the best. It's still a bit of touch and go. Which is why I need to ask you something. We pulled his ID from his wallet and have picked up his medical records but we're having some trouble locating an emergency contact. Would you know anyone?"

"Ryan's sister." Cate piped up. "She dated him for a while…I could give her a call."

" Geezer." Lux said without thinking, attention being drawn to her. "His phone…Geezer is the listing. It's his uncle. George I think? He's over in Corvallis. He could get you the other numbers."

"Lux?" Cate was weary. Lux snapped out of the trance like state she had been in when she relayed the information.

"Paige was telling me the story behind it. Believe me, you wouldn't forget it either." She tried to smile. Neither of her parents entirely believed it.

"Alright. Thank you. Now rest up. I'll be later to check in on you. Don't hesitate to ask the nurses for anything."

When the door locked behind him, it felt like he had sealed the air out as well. Lux sank back against the pillow. This felt like a really horrible dream. The only issue was that she knew it wouldn't go away when she opened her eyes.

]o[ ]o[ ]o[

"You SERIOUSLY expect me to go to school?" Tasha blanched at Ryan who was balancing Alex on his hip, the baby drooping to sleep as he tried to stay awake as more sounds disturbed him.

"Tasha, who knows how long Lux is going to be in that hospital. And right now, she needs some time to herself. Cate and Baze need time with her. What we don't need is to let both of our kids missing school. She's going to need the help when she gets better." He tried to reason with her through his insomnia-induced migraine.

"Besides, I need to run down to the school to let them know what's going on anyway. Show them the doctor's notes and estimates." He half reminded himself.

"And about Mr. Daniels." Tasha piped up, surprised by now natural she had jumped to include him into the conversation. Yea, she had been privy to Lux's secret for way too long.

"Right. Almost forgot." Ryan nodded. Tasha had confirmed the identity of the other passenger, almost by accident. And it had been confusing. Regardless, his workplace had a right to know of his situation if they needed it. Still, things didn't seem to add up.

Quizzically Ryan asked Tasha why it didn't seem strange to her. After all, it was certainly not going to look great for whomever he talked to at school. Tasha shrugged, rambling off something about him being a family friend. It was true. Ryan recalled the teacher being present at the thanksgiving they found out about the impeding presence of little Alex. And he had seen him hanging out with Math from time to time. Then there was the whole Paige thing; he shuddered at the memory of his sister's time there with them.

"Right. Fine. I'll probably just sleep through half the classes anyway." She sighed heading up to Lux's room to borough a couple books before heading to the school.

]o[ ]o[ ]o[

First period had already passed by the time they had pulled up to the private institution. Ryan had dropped the baby off at daycare on the way, apologizing for being late. Much to her dismay he dragged her directly to the office to personally excuse her tardiness. She didn't stick around for his long detailed explanation of what was happening, simply grabbing her permission slip and trudging down the hall to slip as quietly as possible into her second period calc class.

The teacher looked up at the sound of the door opening. The glasses on the rim of his long nose fell as she put herself at the mercy of dozens of pairs of eyes turning her way as she made her way up to hand him the 'get out of jail free' card. He looked over it quickly, and nodded for her to take her seat. Her day just got better as she saw her normal place –right across from Jones as this was one of the few classes they had together—was taken by Amber. He looked at her apologetically, and confused. She just shook it off.

Placing her chin the palm of her hand she stared attentively at the chalkboard as her teacher droned on about one thing or another—like she could actually focus. Oh well. She had warned Ryan. She saw Jones, while the teacher had his back to the class look discretely over his shoulder to her. She gave him a little smile of reassurance.

Finally, the bell released her from her tortuous chamber. Fifteen minutes until the next herding, she told herself. Half-heartedly she gathered her stuff waiting for her boyfriend to reach her. They didn't have the next period together, but at least they went in the same direction.

"Hey… you're late." He said, placing a hand at her elbow as she hoisted her bag over her shoulder.

"Yea, well... at least I'm here." She said gloomily. He looked around, something dawning on him.

"Lux wasn't in World. She out?" He guessed.

"She," Tasha stepped out into the hallway, "Is sitting in a hospital bed."

"What? Is she okay? Wait! Why are you HERE?" He stopped their progress down the hallway.

"She'll be okay, I think." Tasha confirmed, sighing as she started walking again. She neglected to tell him the other detail she had overheard Cate and Baze telling Ryan. Who knew if the baby even made it anyway? That, and Jones had no clue about her friend's love life. "Mr. Daniels picked her up when he saw her walking and some guy lost his breaks. He, unlike Lux, is not so okay."

"Like, how not okay?" The quarterback had him in his fifth period. All and all, he liked the guy. He didn't have the easiest work, but at least he managed to make things fun. "Is it like we get a day or two of movies or we have a temp-permanent sub?"

"Thinkin' the later." Tasha responded, "Last I knew he was still listed as critical. But you can only hear so much about things by nurses lounges and outside of the doors."

"You were spying in a hospital?" Jones' lips curled into a smirk.

"What? It's not like they ever tell you anything in those places unless you're blood. And if I was Lux, and someone was practically put on their death bed because they did something to help me, that would be the first question out of my mouth." She said, reasonably. At least that logic couldn't be debated. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was someone she loved.

"Shit." Jones said, loitering outside of the door to his next class. "Well, look. I have the last one free. You have gym, right?" She nodded. "You can get Math to let you out. I'll make a break for it and we'll go see her."

Tasha stopped, her stress breaking for the first time the morning. "What did I ever do to get someone like you?" She blushed.

"Be one sexy chick who knows how to handle a ball?" He said, looping an arm around her waist and giving her a quick kiss before the hall monitors wrote them up for a very against the rules public display of affection.

]o[ ]o[ ]o[

"YES, Lux, it DOES matter!" Baze had finally lost his temper, standing up and pacing around.

"WHY?" She shouted back. "What difference would it make if I gave you a name? ESPECIALLY now! You'd just run off and make everything so much worse!" She was red in the face, holding back the tears that would have otherwise came. Stupid hormones.

Cate stood up, going to Baze in an attempt to calm him. Lux looked the other way. She had seen this coming a mile away. No sooner had the doctor left then they had jumped in. How far was she along? How long had she known? Did the father know? Who was he?

"You have to understand this from our point of view, Lux." Cate tried to remain calm. "We didn't even know you were seeing someone. We just," She stopped trying to figure out the words she wanted to say. "We want to make sure that you weren't pushed into something you didn't want to do."

"I wasn't raped." Lux said plainly. "Or convinced, or pressured. If anyone was doing the pressuring, it was me." That made her mother flinch just a little.

"But, I don't understand. You're on birth control." Cate said while Baze stood towards a corner. That made him snap around to look at Cate.

"It helps her with some skin issues, so I kept her on it after she broke up with Bug." Cate explained quickly, afraid he'd think she was privy to some secret information.

"I am." Lux confirmed, though hesitantly. "It's never really been about sex for us." Her voice was low. It wasn't the easiest thing to say. "So I'm not always great at taking them like I should."

"Then why the hell didn't you use a condom?" Baze erupted again.

"We DID." She glared over at Baze. She knew this had to be a hard revelation for him. She knew he just was too protective. But this wasn't helping. "Obviously, it was faulty. The universe, apparently, hates me."

Baze sat back down, his leg tapping nervously. "What I don't get, Lux, is why if what happened wasn't shocking or out of place, why wouldn't you tell us about this guy? If he's so important to you, if it was more then just sex, why wouldn't you introduce us?"

Lux took a deep breath. Oh, I don't know. He's just seven years older then me. He's someone you guys trust to not be making moves on me. And, oh yea, he could go to jail if Baze went into shelter and defend mode like he was. She wouldn't say that, of course.

"You guys flipped over Bug. You were happy when he left. I didn't think you'd like things about this guy either." They didn't seem to be moved either which way.

"Look. What happened, happened. It's done. And I'm not going to tell you anything about him until you all just calm down. Because I'm sorry, you're wrong. It's not important. Not right now." She said, calmly and even trying not to aggravate them more.

"Then what is so much more important, Lux?" Baze attempted to play her game?

"More important? Oh maybe the fact that in the same accident, two people are already DEAD? That someone who was HELPING me might be dying? The fact that this is happening, but apparently instead of figuring out what now, all you can think about is WHY!"

"Lux!" Cate interjected, leaning over to press her hand lightly to her daughter's shoulder. "The doctor told you that she had to stay calm." Lux clenched her jaw at the demand, huffing through her nose.

This was a nightmare.

]o[ ]o[ ]o[

Getting Math to let her go wasn't half as bad as she had anticipated. He seemed just as anxious as she did. So with some careful evasive techniques, they headed out to the hospital with minimal trouble. Jones had put the music low, letting Tasha drift out to her thoughts. Despite everything that had happened, she felt happy here with him.

"You didn't have to do this."

"I know." He responded, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as they pulled into visitor parking.

Not particularly wanting to hear a lecture about the importance of school from Cate at the moment, Tasha sat in the car for a moment. They needed to waste time. And while Jones' hand rubbing her neck was a perfect release…or at least the best of one they could get in a public space like this, her head kept spinning.

"We should head in." He suggested. She took a deep breath and slipped out of the vehicle.

Once inside the buzzing structure, Tasha walked the route she had memorized last night only to practically run into a clearly distracted man who had rounded the corner at the same moment. He raised his hands in apology. He had a strong face with rounded features that seemed a little out of place on his mostly slim body. His sandy gray eyes were clouded with worry, but seemed pleasant enough.

"Sorry there…uh…you look like you know where you're going." He suggested.

"Yeaaa…" She started.

"Could you happen to tell me how to get to the ICU?" He said weakly, "These maps aren't doing me any good and, truth be told, I totally glazed over what the receptionist had said."

Tasha smiled a little nodding. "Take this," She pointed to the elevator they were standing by, "To level four. Take the first right you see in front of you. Can't miss it." She and Jones boarded the box behind the very grateful man.

"Thank you." He said sincerely, "Are you visiting?"

"Yea, a friend of mine was in a pile up last night." She said, a little weary of this overly talkative visitor, but if he was going there his nerves were probably shot. She couldn't blame him. Though she did notice Jones staying closer to her then he otherwise would have. His protectiveness was endearing.

"So was my nephew." The man's friendly cheer died completely. "He's a teacher at one of the schools here. Got him the job, even." She could read that voice. It was the guilt voice. But her mind fixated on one other thing.

"Wait… is your nephew Eric Daniels?" She asked. He shot her a look just as the doors dinged open on the second.

"You know him?"

I wish I didn't, Tasha thought to herself. "Yea, my friend was in the same truck. How is he? My friend's okay, but she's worried sick." She didn't like the disappointment that was in the older man's eyes.

"They didn't tell me everything on the phone, I think they're waiting for his parents to get here. They're catching the next flight out of Minneapolis. But from what I hear…he's very lucky to be with us still. Maybe your friend's his good luck charm?" Tasha's stomach churned when he assumed that.

"Maybe."

"Well, lets hope so." The man focused on the metal doors in front of him. "Maybe if his luck is alright, his won't run out."

The door clanged for the third floor- Tasha's stop. It was Jones who had to urge her out of the doors and into the hall. When they closed she looked back at them. Her boyfriend waited.

"They'll be okay." He tried to reassure her. She could only nod.

Coming closer to the room they had put Lux into, she saw that the door was closed. The closer she got, the more she could hear yelling. She saw the nurses on duty shaking their heads in shame. Jones looked more than a little confused.

"I know this is really awkward for you." She turned to him, apologetic, "But could you maybe wait out here for a little bit?"

"Yea, no problem." He agreed, not taking his eyes off the door. She smiled and kissed him thankfully before making it to the door.

She knocked once but wasn't heard. Gulping air she walked in to see Cate and Baze yelling at one another. "WOAH1" She yelled, getting their attention. "You do realize the marathon can be heard all the way to the elevator right?"

All the parties stopped in shame. With Cate and Baze silenced for the moment, Tasha's eyes turned to her best friend. Lux's hair was matted and flat. Her cheeks were red, and her eyes puffy from tears. "Oh my god." She rushed over to hug the other girl, careful of the cast. "Are you okay?" Lux shook her head no in her friend's shoulder.

"We'll give you some time alone." Cate relented, death glaring at Baze as she walked out. He threw his hands up in defeat.

]o[ ]o[ ]o[

"I'm the one who's over reacting?" Baze hissed lowly as they walked out towards the exit. "Cate, she is SEVENTEEN. She can't have a baby!"

"Yea, well, I was sixteen." Cate snapped, slamming the elevator's down button with the force of a hammer.

"And it was so the best decision of your life." He snapped stepping into the box. They road down in silence, though when they emerged they continued to walk side by side.

The doors and blast of light shocked their senses a little. The last time they had been near them it had been dark out. And now the late afternoon sun saluted them. The cold rush of air seemed to rejuvenate their senses.

"I'm not saying that this is alright with me." Cate clarified. "All I'm saying is that I understand how scared she is. And she's right. We're not going to get anywhere with how we've been doing this. Maybe we need to back off a little bit, and focus on helping her get better."

"Hey, I'm all for helping her Cate. She's my little girl!" He protested. "But I can't sit there and watch her destroy her whole life over one fling. And I'm not going to let whatever asshole did this to her do what I did. She deserves better then that."

Cate nodded. While it wasn't an immediate concern as much as the rest, the fact that Lux didn't want to tell them who she had been seeing did worry her. She had always though her and her daughter had a fairly open relationship.

"Do you even have a clue about who it could be? She never even talks about anyone outside of Tasha and Jones. Sometimes Sam. Or whatever chick's being a bitch to her at the time." Baze sighed heavily. "What if she's just ashamed of something?"

"I just…don't think she'd lie to us about that." Cate whispered, the wheels in her head turning.

"Cate…there's something she's not telling us…There's a reason she's not." He kept his gaze her. "I think we need to know what that is."

"So do I." Cate crossed her arms.

"Then what are we going to do?" Nathan Bazile, asking for advice. Who would have thought she'd see the day.

"I may have one idea…" She said slowly, not liking where this would take her.