Ok...this one is a long one. However, it's going to give you insight on the lifestyles of the other characters in this story. Bring you down on the level and give you a view into each one of their lives. I like how I set this one up, it really does the title of the chapter justice.

It honestly made me smile.

Hope you like it. :)

Chapter 17 - Circular Knot

Aria sat back on her new game room furniture and sighed in relaxation. She had been having a great day and it was finally time to die down. The legal situation with Al warmed itself over and she felt good about herself. Being sneaky every now and again really paid off. Ed was very thankful to her; not that Al was going to be locked away, she just saved him from listening to Al complain about having to do something for someone else for nothing in return.

The more she thought about that line of reasoning, it made her realize that Al still had a lot of growing up to do. It wasn't always about yourself. The more she thought about that, it made her realize that Clause was the same way; thoguh she was sick, apparently. Aria was a little skeptical, but if things got better from there on out, she didn't see it necessary to dwell on it.

Laying back, she caught a glimpse of of Jean heading down the stairs. "Yo." She greeted him in an informal manner, friendly just the same.

"Yo." He replied in the same tone. "So...I asked your mother to marry me this afternoon."

Aria shot up from the horozontal position she was sporting and knelt down on the coach, leaning over it's arm. "And? How did it go?" She sounded hopeful.

Jean reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box, the same one in which he had showed her a while ago.

"No..." She said with sorrow. Jean was such a nice guy, and he really didn't deserved a rejection. "I'm sorry..."

Jean smirked and quickly popped the box open, revealing an empty shell. "She didn't need the box."

Aria's eye's lit up and she lept off the coach at Jean, trapping him in a vice like hug. "Aaaah!" She yelled in delight. "That's so awesome!"

He hugged her back. Her head was on level with his, so her feet were nearly two feet off the ground. "Yes it is." He carefully let her down only to notice the tears in her eyes. "You gonna be ok?" He smiled at her as he watched her clear off her face.

"Yes." She sniffeled a little. "I'm so happy for your two. Mom really needed some structure to her life, and I know you'll make her happy." She smiled warmly at her 'step-fatehr-to-be'.

"I'm glad I have your blessing with this." He gave her one last hug. "We haven't decided on a date as of yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted."

"Oh! I have to call Paninya. She'll ba happy to know, and maybe..." Aria's face went blank. "I'll talk to you later, ok?" She was released from the friendly hug and she headed upstairs.

"See ya." She heard him say in confusion from halffway up the stairs.

Aria quickly scuddled off to her room and shut the door. Grabing her phone off the desk and flipping it open, she began dialing Bunny's number. "Pick up...come on...it's seven, it's free." She chanted through the phone, as if Paninya could hear her words.

'Yello.' She answered in a casual tone.

"Hey Paninay...guess what?" Aria asked.

'What?' She refused to guess.

"Mom's getting married." She said in such a way that she figured Bunny was going to catch on with what she was about to imply.

'Kay...why do you sound distressed? I thought you liked Jean.' Paninya questioned

"Mom's getting married...she's friends with your mom...maybe she's going to invite her. You said that you wanted some closure...maybe this might be your way to finding her again." Aria remembered that Reanna and Santisha, Paninya's mom, had been friends since they were in elementary school, there was a really good chance of this plan working.

There was a few seconds of silence. 'You're right. I need to get a hold of her. Dad's having a hard time paying the bills, so this would be a good way to get her to pay child support. She has to pay it till I'm eighteen.' She was silent for a brief moment. 'This could work...you have to make sure she invites her, drop a few hints would ya'?'

Aria smiled. "Sure. I figured you'd find that interesting."

'Thanks Aria. I may not care to see her, but I'm just pissed she ditched dad.' She Paused. 'Speaing of which, I left dad in the kitchen alone, I have to go help him finish the supper dishes.'

"We'll talk tomorrow at school." She sat on the edge of her bed.

'Sure. Later.' Paninya said.

"Bye." Sighing, she flipped her phone shut.

Paninya hit the end button on her phone and laid it on the desk. Everyone else went with a flip phone, while she stuck with her bar phone. She leaned in her closet and grabbed a sweater. Pulling it over her head, she headed back downstairs.

"Where'd you go?" He father asked as she re-entered the kitchen

She hooked her thumb behind her. "I was cold, so I went to go get a heavier shirt." She lied. She didn't mind the extra layer, she just didn't want her father knowing that Aria called and told her about Santisha. Bunny was just thankful her father didn't hear the phone ring, so she was able to keep this potential meet a secret. Paniny's father told her to just drop the entire situation, and that he didn't care. She, however, still did, it wasn't at all fair for him. Rolling up her sleevs, she sunk her hands back into the cooling dishwater.

"You don't mind washing do you?" He asked quaintly.

"No, it's ok. You washed the morning dishes." She said politely, handing him a wet plate.

"If you change your mind, just tell me." He said as he placed the newly dried dish in it's proper place. Casual conversation seemed to elude the two of them for a while until there was a slight knock at the door. "I'll get it." He laid the drying cloth down and made his way over to the side door, the one in which was most frequently used. Upon opening the door, he came face to face with none other than Leo.

"Hey." He raised a hand and waved. "Mom wanted me to drop off some of her chilli." He held out the large container of the spicy mixture. Even through her pain and fraility, she still managed to ook up a storm.

"Thank you." Justin took the container from his daughter's friend. "Did you want to come in?" He refrenced the rest of his house to Leo.

He smiled in return. "Nah, sorry. Mom's got me running this stuff around to everyone, so I have to get going before curfew...but." He peeked into the kitchen at Paninya. "Do you want a drive to school tomorrow there Bunny? Ed said he's getting the Van."

"Sure." She said through the mess of dishes.

"Cool, I'll be sure to tell him. See ya tomorrow." Leo waved and headed back down the stairs and into his car, rather, his mother's car. He heard the door close quietly behind him.

Leo didn't mind driving, his mother was took weak to drive a vhecial, so it was up to him to taxi her and his brother around.

Leo pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road, all the while, wondering why it was so important that he drop that one off first. It seemed that his mother, Aisha, had a soft spot for Paninya's father. Not in a romantic sence, but rather in sympathy. Leo had lost his father in a mall bombing four years ago, shortly before his little borther was born, so she sympathized with him.

Leo's father wasn't able to live with his family any longer because his uncle, and only living relative, was on his death bed. So for the last four years of his life, Leo didn't see his father. Luckily, they had received their grant shortly before he left, so living in and of itself didn't become anymore difficult.

Adil was a good man, but sadly was met with such a terible end. If not for his mother and younger brother, along with the support of his friends at the time, Leo wouldn't have made it. Depression was a terrible thing to deal with, espically at such an impressionable age, but he pulled through.

He owed a lot to his friends, so he tried his hardest to keep them all together.

Finally, he made it back to his own place, a nice modern style, two story house, situated in a quiet part of town, only a few blocks away from the hospital. If the car was out of comission, they could just hoof it the whole way there and not be dead tired upon arrival.

Leo finished all of the deliveries and then finally made it all the way to his house and was greeted by his little brother at the door. "Hey brother." He hugged onto his leg.

"Hey there little guy, how come you're still up? It's gettin' late." He smiled as he placed a hand on the four year old's head.

"Mum's sleepin' so I was sneaky." Rick smiled in a cute way.

Rick was a good kid, he was sneaky at times, but he was four, so it was expected of him. Not that he ever caused any real trouble. "Come on, you better scoot off to bed. Git." He shooed him along.

"Ok." He smiled and gave his brother's leg one more hug and then headed upstairs.

"Night." Leo walked into the living room to see his mom, laying lifelessly on the arm chair. She liked to doze off in that spot, but it still looked erie when she did. Carefully approaching her, he nudged her slightly and she stirred from her restful sleep. "Mom?"

"Oh." She sat up carefully, her hair fasened within the head wrap, the one she was acustomed to wearing, framing her face as she made eye contact with her oldest. "I fell asleep again. Sorry."

He nodded. "No problem...do you need help up the steps?" He held out a hand.

She smiled warmly at Leo. "Thank you." She took his hand and feebely stood up.

He really didn't mind helping her up the stairs when she was too tired to do it herself; he was just thankful that she woke up when he shook her. He knew that there might be a day when that won't happen, but until that day came, he would remain by her side, helping her step by step.

After helping his mother to her room, he went into his own room and laid back on the bed, finally relaxing after delivering various types of food and baked good to friends and the few family members they had in this country. In his own opinion, his mother was the best cook he'd ever met.

Making a quick motion of getting into his pyjamas, Leo made a straight line for bed. No sooner had he started to doze off when he started hearing a small tapping on his window. Groggily, he kneeled down on his bed and peeked through the curtain right at the head of his bed. Yet another pebble was thrown directly at him, fortunatly, the window was in the way.

Opening the window, he spoke through the screen. "It's late dude, what's up?" He said sleepily.

"Not a whole lot, ya busy?" Russell spoke form the front yard.

"Kind of...sleep and what not." Leo looked behind him to the rest of the bed, where he wished he was.

"Aah, come on. I gotta hunt down my little brother, he wandered off again." Russ jammed his hands into his black jeans pockets. "Wanna drive to the park?" He smiled.

"Are you high? It's late and I'm in bed." He rested his chin on the window sill.

"...actually yeah, I am. And too bad. Get up. I need someone to talk to, people are starting to wonder why I'm talking to myself." He said, before taking another drag on his 'cigarette'

"Nah, I gotta sleep. Sorry man." Leo smirked. "Maybe if you showed up a little earlier."

"Sure, sure, not a problem. Talk to you tomorrow." Russ waved and walked off the lawn and back onto the sidewalk. Leo's house was a block away from the hospital park, where Fletcher usually went to sit and stare.

His younger borther had a condition, a learning disability, the inability to comprehend concequence. It became most noticible when the neighbour's dog got hold of a popsicle one year, when he was six, and in response, stomped the dog to death. He then wondered why everyone was mad at him. It was a rare condition to say the least, and even harder to cope with. There was no amount of medication to put him on to curbe the behavior, just dicipline and a strict lifestyle, one of which no one in that house was getting.

Russell's mother, Judith, was rarely ever home. She had taken any opprtunity to go and have herself a good time, leaving the rest of her family to fend for themselves. She was a gold digger, a leach as his father refered to her as, and she abandoned the people that needed her the most for a few quick flings and some easy money. Needless to say, Richard, his father, didn't have a whole lot of respect for her.

Finally making his way the park, surprisingly quickly in his 'elevated' state, he found his younger brother Fletcher. "Yo." Russell squatted next to him. The younger of the two was sitting in the grass next to the pond in the park where he usually took off to. "Why do you always come here? I drag you home all the time, but I never think to ask."

Fletcher looked at his older sibling. "...are you high?"

"Yes...now why are you here?" He sat down and placed his fists on the ground in front of himself.

"Mom took us here. For that concert...you remember, right?" He glanced off over the small pond, he could see the shiny outline of bats flying around over the surface of the water. "The only real memories I have of her, are when she took us here. Well...maybe except for a couple." Fletcher wasn't too distraught over not having his mom around, he just didn't understand.

"...she really isn't around all that often, is she? Dad's always there, you got to go easier on him." Russell fixed his faded green bangs behind one of his ears. "You gotta stop doing this."

"Why? I'm just sitting here." He reasoned with him while running his fingers through his short, spiky blond hair.

"Because you worry dad. If you're out late at night, he may think that you're hurt, or worse." Russell didn't know why he was bothering to explain anything like this to him. It wasn't that he was frustrated with doing so, he knew his brother just didn't comprehend it.

"Why?" Still, he didn't budge.

That was the response he always received. "Because your family loves you."

"...you mean...you love me." Fletcher wanted clairfication.

"Of course I do." Russ was sincear.

"...Ha! Fag." He joked with his sibling.

"Cute. Let's go." He stood up and teetered next to Fletcher. "I'll lead the way!" He said with a finger pointing straight up in the air.

"Sure you will." He followed close behind.

Making it safely home, he decided to find his father and inform him that he had returned safely. "Oh dad...where are you...come out, come out." He muttered as he wandered around the house.

"I'm in the kitchen." Richard said from the other room.

Russ flowed into the kitchen and faced his father. "Was he at the park?"

"Yup. Did you know there's a lot of bats out there? Looks really nice under the stree lights. All shiney and such." Russ nodded as he enlightened his father with his 'doubious' information.

"..." He stared blankly at his oldest. "Are you high?"

Russ flopped his hands at his sides. "Is it really that obvious? Yes." People kept pointing it out, so he was beginning to think that he wasn't so secretive about it.

Richard shook his head. "You know I don't like you doing that." He rolled his wheelchair out from around the lowered island in the middle of the kitchen.

"I know, that's why I do it outside...and only on Tuesday's, Thursday's and Saturday's..." He could still sence his father's diapproval. "Don't worry, if it becomes a problem, I'll stop."

Richard watched Fletcher go down into the bacement where his room was. "You're not being a good influence on your brother."

Russ folded his arms. "Honestly...I don't think he understands the effects of smoking pot...so I think we're good."

Once again, he shook his head. "Just try not to end up like your mother. Alright?"

He nodded. "Sure...I'm gonna head off to bed." He pointed both his thumbs in the direction of his room.

"...goodnight." Richard went to wheel away into the adjacent room when he got caught on an old floor board. "Damn..."

Hearing his distress, Russell quickly approached the chair and dislodged him from the crack. "Maybe we should take some of mom's money and replace the floor. You know I know how, and I don't mind doing it, it's fun." Aside from being a wiz with electronics, he was great at carpentry. His mother, even though she was never around, she always dropped off money to Russell.

Judith liked her freedom, but she still loved her family. Though money was never enough to fill the gap, it sure took the sting out of being abandoned. But that's what the weed was for. Russ knew it wasn't the best way to deal with stress, but one form of escapisim was as good as the next, so he just did what he did. "Come on, we've been talking about re-doing the floor for a while now."

"No!" He snapped. "I'm not accepting money from her. Dirty money is all she has."

"Yeah." Agreeing with his father, he followed up. "But it's valuable money."

"Not to me." He quickly jerked his wheels away. "I've almost got enough on my own, we don't need her." That being said, he exited the kitchen.

"...ah, dad." Russell flung his hands behind his head and walked off to his room, whisteling all the way. They weren't short on money, his father ran a sucessful internet business, designing web pages and hosting servers, so they weren't in the red. For all the pride Richard had left, taking money form the woman who constantly broke his heart would more than likely end him.

Russell laid back on his bed and shut his eyes, allowing himself to just exist for a few moments. It was nearly eleven, so he was going to have to get some sleep soon. Only a few seconds passed when his phone began to ring. Grabbing it off the desk, he flipped it open. "Sup'?"

'Hey.' It was Aria. "Are you getting aride from Ed tomorrow?" She questioned.

"Yea." He said, half paying attention.

'That's cool...Did I wake you up- No, it's Tuesday, isn't it?' She snickered.

"Yup." He said again with a smile. "Tis' Tuesday."

There you have it. I really enjoyed writing this one, it actually took me a few days to do it. Normally it take me half a day to write a full chapter, but this one, I had keep going back, double checking, making sure the transitions were smooth enough. Really, this was a challenge.

Seriously, tell me what you guys think. I really do want to know. This was growth for me...yeah...freaky.

Anyway, thanks for reading. :)