A/N: I'm SO sorry it's been so long. School has been incredibly busy this year. But I've been out of school because I'm snowed in! Hahaha. Thank you so much for sticking with me this long! I appreciate every review! The next chapter won't take as long, I promise!

Thursday. Calvin was coming home.

Susie wouldn't stop pacing. It was five in the morning. She needed to be at the hospital at nine. But she was wide awake. It's hard sleeping in a bed with an empty space. Calvin needed to be in that space. Susie hadn't been able to sleep since he got in the car accident.

She heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Her heart jumped. But it was only Kasey, rubbing her eyes.

"Mom? What are you doing?" she asked sleepily.

"Nothing, honey. Go back to sleep."

"Why are you awake?"

"It's nothing, Kasey. Go back upstairs." Susie waved her hand toward the door, getting frustrated; not realizing Kasey would understand more than she thought.

Kasey didn't listen; she climbed up onto Calvin's side of the bed and watched Susie.

"I mean it, get back to bed," Susie insisted.

"I thought we were going to help each other. Let me help you." Kasey scowled, she was determined.

Susie sighed. "There's nothing you can do to help me. I…I just can't sleep. I need your dad to be here."

"Yeah, this bed is cold without him, isn't it?" Kasey stroked the bed sheets and Susie looked at her. "Can I sleep here with you?" Kasey asked, "I can fill the empty space on the bed."

Susie blinked, and almost burst into tears. Kasey was trying so hard to help her. She wasn't sure if Kasey being there was going to help her sleep, but what did she have to lose?

"Ok, honey," Susie said, smiling, "You can sleep with me." Both of them got under the covers, and Kasey got close to Susie, something she had always hated doing in the past. Every time Susie had hugged Kasey in public, she would complain about how embarrassed she was and push Susie away. Susie had gotten used to not hugging her daughter very often, but she liked this change, and decided not to make comments on it.

"Mom?" Kasey asked sleepily, yawning.

"Yes, Kasey?"

Kasey knew her mom needed to hear this from her, because Hobbes was probably right. They had been talking in her room because she couldn't sleep either. Yet, she still couldn't bring herself to say it. It was too different, too strange. She had to say something though. The silence was getting too long. "Um…goodnight," she muttered.

"Goodnight honey." Susie could tell that wasn't what Kasey wanted to say, but decided that physical contact was enough progress for now. She watched the digital numbers on her clock slowly change and put an arm around Kasey.

This is weird, Kasey thought to herself, It's weird being this close to her. But I guess she needs it right now. She allowed her eyes to close and started to relax. Susie's arm was warm and her breathing was calming. Kasey started to drift off, and soon she was asleep.

Susie wished Kasey had the same effect on her. She was still wide awake. Comforting her daughter made her happy, but not sleepy. She continued to watch the clock until her body couldn't take it anymore and she fell into a deep sleep at eight.

The alarm clock was blaring an hour later, and Kasey, although tired, woke up promptly. Susie still slept.

"Mom," Kasey said as she shook Susie lightly, "Mom, get up." She turned the alarm off and continued to shake Susie awake, or try to. But she didn't budge. A snore escaped her throat. She was completely and utterly exhausted.

Janey had woken up an hour ago, and she heard Kasey's attempts to rouse her mother. She went downstairs.

"Kasey," she said softly and beckoned her to the hallway. "Your mom had a rough night, so I'm going to go get your Dad from the hospital for her. I'll be back soon, ok?"

"C-can I come?" Kasey asked quietly, suddenly not wanting Calvin out of her sight. She couldn't let him get into another car accident.

"I know you want to come, but you need to get some more sleep too." Janey spoke gently, and smiled. "I'll drive careful, I promise." She tousled Kasey's already bed-head hair, and left quietly.

The door shut and was locked. Kasey's ears rung in the silence. "Please don't let him get into another wreck. Please let him be safe." She wasn't sure if she was talking to Janey, God, or something else, but she needed to say something out loud. Becoming tired again, Kasey climbed back into bed with Susie and fell asleep.

When she awoke again, Susie was frantic.

"Mom," Kasey said sleepily, "Mom, it's ok. Janey's getting Dad. She's picking him up."

Susie stopped short and stared and her daughter. "What?" she asked, "She did?" Then tears started forming. "I was supposed to. I was supposed to pick him up. I had one job, and I failed. I can't believe I let sleep overwhelm me like that. Why would Janey do such a thing?" She was exasperated, and still very tired. Feeling like a failure when you are this tired is never has a good effect on emotions.

Kasey got up, concerned. "Mom, it's ok. It's almost nine thirty. They'll be home any minute. You didn't fail. You were just tired. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"When you're a grown-up Kasey, you'll understand that sometimes sleep is your enemy." Susie finished getting dressed and went upstairs, yawning. Kasey followed her, but then went to Hobbes, who was reading.

"What's going on?" Hobbes asked. "I heard noise downstairs."

"She's acting really weird. She thought she was a failure for not waking up in time to pick up Dad. Then she said sleep was my enemy." Kasey was confused. Adults had never acted this frantic around her before.

"She's scared, no doubt about it," Hobbes remarked.

Kasey was about to argue, but Hobbes held up his paw.

"She wants to be with your dad. Being away from her scares the heck out of her. Your mom needs help from you Kasey. Did you tell her what I asked you to?"

"No. It was too weird." Kasey suddenly felt ashamed.

Hobbes threw up his paws. "You need to tell her Kasey. It will change everything if she hears it from you. And you have to mean it to."

Kasey nodded, tears brimming in her eyes for no reason. "Ok."

"Kasey," Hobbes' eyes softened, "Go back to sleep. You're obviously emotionally drained."

Like a zombie, Kasey pulled up the covers and closed her eyes. But she was too tense to fall asleep. She lay there for a good fifteen minutes until Hobbes spoke again.

"Can't sleep?" he said quietly. Kasey nodded. "Here," he said as he worked his way under the covers and into Kasey's arms. "This usually worked for your dad." Hobbes was fluffy and soft. Kasey could see why it worked. She started relaxing. She soon fell asleep, but not before she let a few tears escape. She tried wiping them away, embarrassed, but Hobbes stopped her.

"Kasey, let yourself be sad. It's ok."

She sniffled but didn't let herself fully cry. Then she was asleep, still snuggling Hobbes close to her chest.

She awoke to the sound of Janey and Calvin talking in the living room. She shot up out of bed. Immediately she sat back down as she was overcome by dizziness by getting up too fast.

"Hey there sleepyhead," Hobbes said and grinned. Kasey wasn't listening. The dizziness passed and she stood again and rubbed her eyes. Her dad was right outside that door, but she felt nervous for some reason. Like if she went to see him then his leg wouldn't heal or something.

"You want me to accompany you to see your dad?" Hobbes asked.

Kasey shook her head. "I'm not a baby, I can do this myself." Hobbes decided not to protest this time. Kasey had to learn things on her own, even if it meant learning things the hard way. Even though she accepted that she was scared, she had a lot to learn.

Kasey heard Calvin and Janey talking in low voices as she crept down the hall. She felt she had to sneak around for some reason.

"It's been pretty bad since you've been gone, Calvin. The girls are taking this pretty hard. But neither of them wants to admit it, which only increases the stress on them."

"That's terrible," Calvin replied, "I hope it'll settle down. I can't thank you enough for willingly staying with us until everything's back to normal."

"Don't mention it, it's my pleasure."

Kasey was too far down the hall to continue hiding. She cleared her throat to announce her presence then stepped into the living room. She smiled when she saw Calvin. She really wanted to run up and hug him, but she stopped herself. Although she admitted she was scared (finally), she was still a big girl. Little girls run up and hug their daddies. Not big girls. She hugged Calvin in the hospital in a moment of weakness. She convinced herself it wouldn't happen again. Hobbes listened from her bedroom.

"Hey pumpkin. How's my girl?" Calvin tried to remain positive. He had no idea that this would upset his daughter so much.

"Fine," she said quickly. "How's your leg?"

"Healing. It'll be all better in a month or two."

"Kasey," Janey said, "Do you want some breakfast? There's some muffins on the table."

Kasey grabbed one and started heading back to her bedroom.

"Woah, woah, where are you going?" Calvin said suddenly.

"To my room," Kasey replied.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about this whole situation? This is a big deal after all."

"No it isn't, Dad. Everything's fine. People get into car accidents every day. This isn't a big deal."

"Not everyone gets into car accidents that affect you," Calvin said.

It was true. This was the first time anything "bad" had happened to someone so close to her. This was why she was acting so weird. This had never happened to anyone she knew. At least, she thought that was the case.

Calvin knew that. Janey knew that. Even Hobbes had figured it out. But Kasey didn't know they knew.

"I'm fine, Dad."

"No," Calvin said, "You're not allowed to eat that muffin in your room."

For some reason, this made Kasey's eyes tear up. Maybe she was still tired. She ate in silence and gave only one or two-word answers to Calvin and Janey's questions. After she was done she trudged to her room. Her head hurt. Right behind her eyes. This time Calvin and Janey didn't stop her.

She plopped onto her bed and sighed. Hobbes approached her.

"Why are you crying," Hobbes asked, "What happened out there?"

Kasey turned so Hobbes didn't see her tears. "Nothing happened."

"Then why are you—"

Kasey shot out of bed. "I don't know Hobbes! I don't know why I'm crying! I just don't know." She buried her head in her hands. "My head hurts."

"Do you know why?"

"I don't know…"

"It's because you're stressed, Kasey. Your headache won't go away unless you let it out. You need to accept the fact that you're scared."

"I already told you I was scared!" Kasey snapped.

"Yes, you did. That's good progress. Now you need to act like you're scared."

"Why would I do that? That wouldn't do me any good."

"Yes it would! It totally would! If you show your true emotions then you'll be able to work through it with your family. If you hide it then no one will know how to help you."

"What if I don't need help, Hobbes?"

Hobbes crossed his arms. "You do need help. Your whole family needs help. This isn't going to work unless you all help each other just like Janey said! Stop trying to be the strong one! It isn't going to help anything!" He sat down next to her and started putting his arms around her.

She struggled, but was failing. "No! Let me go! Leggo of me you stupid tiger! This is why my dad stopped talking to you! You never let him do anything himself!"

Kasey's words hurt. But he knew better than to get angry over them. She was just overwhelmed. He succeeded in getting his arms around her. He pulled her close to him tightly. This was the only way to get her to calm down.

"Let me go! Let go of me! Hobbes, stop it!" She flailed and kicked. But tears started flowing down her cheeks. It was working.

"No!" Hobbes said firmly, "I'm not letting you go until you start showing how you really feel! I know you want to cry. You've wanted to cry this whole time. This is what it's come down to. I need to make you relax!" He wasn't hurting her, just hugging her. Kasey knew if he hugged her then she'll start relaxing and start crying. She didn't want to relax, but she was growing tired of kicking.

"IhateyouIhateyouIhateyou…" she murmured over and over again until she finally became too tired to struggle anymore. She panted. The tears couldn't stop now, although by this point Kasey couldn't remember why she was crying in the first place. Hobbes wouldn't let go. He could feel Kasey's muscles starting to relax and she let her head rest against his fuzzy chest. He could feel her heart pounding.

"There," Hobbes said softly, "This is what you need."

He was right. Kasey had known all along that he was right. She started crying. Hard. Her sobs were muffled by Hobbes' fur.

After a while, Hobbes remarked, "You know this is only the beginning, right? One day of releasing your true feelings isn't going to fix everything. It's good progress, but now we need to help your mom out. And eventually you're going to have to tell your friends why you've been missing school."

Kasey sniffled. "That sounds hard."

Hobbes smiled. "It won't be easy, but there's a reason that I'm around."