"Yo, Zack!" Rodolfo continuously hit his 'cousin' with a pillow while balancing on the ladder to Zack's loft bed. "Come on, Zacky, Aunt Emily says to get up or we'll be late!" Zack, reaching for his glasses, gave Rodolfo a skeptical look.

"Since when do you care about being on time for school, Rodolfo?" he asked. "You're always complaining to Alvin and me about how much you hate school."

"Yeah, I do," Rodolfo agreed with a Cheshire cat grin. "But we have that field trip to the Guggenheim today, remember? Field trips mean no homework, and we don't even have to pay attention." When Rodolfo had finally gotten Zack out of bed, the two boys headed out into the kitchenette, where Mark was sitting at the metal table with a mug of coffee, a solemn look on his face. Over on the couch, Lucia was petting Maya the cat, who was asleep on her lap, with Wenceslas lying at her feet. She was also looking pretty down at the moment.

"Morning, Dad," Zack greeted, helping himself to a box of cereal, having a pretty good idea why everyone was upset. Before Mark could return the greeting, the creak of a stair made everyone turn their heads. Emily was coming down from the upstairs bedroom, looking just as morose as Mark and Lucia.

"She's still the same, isn't she?" Mark guessed when he saw Emily's expression.

"Yes. There's not much difference," Emily confirmed. "Even when she's not up there crying, she looks as if she'd start up again any second."

It had been nearly a week since James had explained about his history with Hannah, and the truth about him and Sammy. Ever since then, James had kept out of contact with Penny, not even accepting her phone calls. It didn't take much of this sudden distance from James to leave Penny crushed. She spent most of her time in her room, she barely touched her food at dinner, and when she was at work, she was like a zombie, barely speaking with anyone. It was clear for anyone to see that her usual ardor for life had dimmed significantly because of James severing contact with her, and everyone felt great sympathy for her.

"Will Penny be okay, Mommy?" Lucia asked sadly.

"I don't know, Lucia," Emily sighed. "I hope so. Having your heart broken is one of the hardest things to deal with in life. Sometimes, people can't recover from it completely."

Over at the metal table, Mark stared into the contents of his coffee mug, slightly churning the brown liquid around, deep in thought. Suddenly, as if he'd reached a decision about something, he placed the mug back onto the table with a dull clunk and pushed his chair away from the table, getting up.

"I'm heading out for a bit," he announced. "I'll be back later."

"Where are you going?" Emily asked, looking after him. "I know you're not heading for work. It's your day off."

"I…uh…I just thought I'd take a bit of a walk, that's all," Mark replied vaguely. "Besides…it's been a while since I visited Roger and the others, you know?"

Okay," Emily nodded in understanding. "Be sure to tell them I'll be stopping by soon as well, all right? I would go down with you now, but I have work to do at my studio today."

"Don't worry," Mark looked back with a faint smile. "I'll be sure to tell them that." With that, Mark left the Condo.

James sat alone in the parking garage in the middle of his lunch break, taking an occasional sip from a can of Campbell's Soup at Hand. His coworkers were all giving him space, seeing that he wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Because of that, when James sensed the shadow fall over him indicating that someone had came up behind him, he let out a groaning sigh.

"For the last time, guys," James refused to even turn around. "I don't want to talk, okay?"

"Sorry, James, but I'm afraid I'm not giving you a choice." The reply came in a familiar voice, one that made James look over in surprise to find Mark standing there.

"Mark!" James blinked in amazement to see the filmmaker there. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk with you," Mark announced, sitting down next to James without asking for an invitation. "James, Penny's been really upset lately, and I think you know why." James focused his eyes on his can of soup, not wanting to hear what Mark was going to say. Even though Mark noticed this, he chose to continue speaking.

"I don't suppose you realize how much it hurts when you have to see your daughter so heartbroken, when someone she cares a great deal for, someone she loves, won't even return her phone calls."

"Can't say I can know how that feels," James replied bluntly, clearly thinking of Mattie.

"James, believe me when I say that I sympathize with your loss and the pain you've went through," Mark's tone softened. "However, I also believe you've suffered enough, and you don't need to put yourself through more pain. So why are you trying to distance yourself from Penny?"

"I'm doing what's best for Penny," James insisted. "Hannah might try to go through Penny to get to me again. Next time, she might actually end up killing her. It's better if we end it now, so she won't get hurt again."

"She's already hurt, James!" Mark challenged. "Do you realize Emily and I have to watch her cry herself to sleep every night just because you won't even see her? She wants to see you, James, not to be cut out of your life just because you had a dark past. And here I was thinking that you actually loved my daughter."

"I do," James closed his eyes against the pain, his grip tightening on the can of soup as he fought back tears. "I do love her, Mark. But that's why I need to let her go. Even if it wasn't for Hannah, the man she thinks she loves was a lie. I'm not that guy."

"Why don't you let Penny be the judge of that?" Mark cried. In response, James looked away, taking another sip from his soup. For a time, they were silent, until Mark stood up so his back was facing James. This act wasn't meant to snub the young man, but to make it easier for Mark to say what he said next.

"James," he began. "Have you ever been told about Roger and Mimi?"

"Rodolfo's parents," James nodded. "Yes, Penny's mentioned them quite a few times."

"Well, I don't know if she's ever told you this," Mark continued. "Roger cared a great deal about Mimi from the very start, but in spite of that, from the moment they met, he tried to distance himself from her. He did so for quite a few reasons, but the main one was because he had HIV, and because he didn't realize she also had it at first, he was unwilling to put Mimi in danger of getting it from him, or have her feel pain when he died before his time and left her to mourn him. He tried to shut her out of his life, and in doing so, he put himself in danger of letting something that turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him disappear from his life forever. And here you are, doing the same thing with Penny.

"Roger…he'd been my best friend my entire life, and I loved him like a brother. We knew just about everything about each other. And that's why I have no hesitation in saying…that he would have liked you, James. In fact, I really believe that he'd have seen a bit of himself in you. I know he would have, because I do, too. Because of that, I believe with all my heart that Roger would have told you to not make the same mistake he made in pushing the girl you love away, especially one who loves you in return. Even if your intentions are in the right place, doing something like that will not only hurt yourself, but the person you're pushing away as well.

"I'm not telling you how to live your life, James," Mark concluded as he started to walk off. "I just want you to think about what I said, because I don't want to see you go through the same torment that Roger put himself through. Because chances are, Penny's most likely feeling the same kind of pain you're feeling right now. Perhaps even more so." When James finally made himself look up, it was only to see Mark walking out of the garage, leaving him alone with his now-cold soup, and Mark's words echoing in his head.