Effie kept clicking on the pictures, no light in the room the monitor. Fred put pictures up on Facebook every day about his trip. Fred fishing with his dad. Fred eating ice cream. Fred on a bike. Some animal that Fred likes. Fred drinking a beer with Maxxie.

More and more pictures. He was having a great time. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world, and he certainly looked like she wasn't bothering him. Effie always wondered how that worked. How people were always able to get over her so quick, go back to being their normal happy selves, and she sulked for days on end because she couldn't stop missing them. He came on his AIM, and she clicked on his avatar, started to type in 'FREDS!' but hesitated.

Did she really want to hear a lecture right now? Did he really want to be bothered by her?

Fred was exhausted. His dad wanted to go on a side trip out of London, and he let Fred hang out with Maxx for a couple of days. He had his own flat. It wasn't much, but there was always a party going on there. Fortunately, by midnight, all the people had vacated the apartment for a club, and Fred decided to stay behind, and log online. And there she was. She was on AIM, too.

He saw her status 'Tony's trying to get me to do the how many orange slices can you get in your mouth at one time contest, and he's real convincing when he's so orangey he can't talk' and wished he could be there, but that didn't make sense. He came to London to forget about her, forget about all of the shit associated with her. But she had just changed her profile picture. She looked so cleaned up, put together, sober. Fuck it, he thought, and clicked on her IM screenname.

FredsROCKSit: Hey

Betheffers: hi

Betheffers: well. this is awkward.

FredsROCKSit: no kidding.

Betheffers: how's London?

FredsROCKSit: rainy. I didn't know they let you out of hospital.

Betheffers: I never went in. Didn't really think you gave a shit.

FredsROCKSit: come on Effie. you know that's not even close to true.

Betheffers: oh yeah? London's calling you, Freds. London's calling.

FredsROCKSit: ?

Betheffers: are you fucking kidding me, Fred?

FredsROCKSit: what?

Betheffers: you leave me without a word after what happened and then get on here and chat me up about London like nothing happened? I at least thought you were going to have the decency to break up with me.

FredsROCKSit: I don't really know what to say. Except that I was scared, and I miss you. Your new profile picture is pretty.

Betheffers: i was scared too. if you can't handle what's going on i understand, and i don't blame you. but don't run like a little boy, Fred. and fuck off. Have a good fucking time in London.

FredsROCKSit: effie i'm sorry. i was a jerk, okay? but, no. i can't handle that. i can't handle the possibility of something happening to you.

Error: your message was not sent: Betheffers is offline.

Freds cursed, and checked Facebook, clicked on her profile. This was just self-torture. All of her photos, games, comments. She didn't have too much for comments, just talking back and forth with Pandora, but when he clicked refresh, he saw Cook's comment. "See YOU soon, awesomeness." And then he called his dad, to see when they were getting back to Bristol.

His dad was confused, since he had been so eager to hit the open road. Not for at least another week or so. Oh, the things he was going to do once he got back to Bristol.

The best thing about living with Tony was that there was no curfew. None. So when she wanted to go out with Cook, he just said yes. He didn't ask who was going, if parents were going to be there. She didn't have to lie and say Pandora was in town and she was going to see her. All she had to say was 'BYE!'

He just wanted her in by sun-up. Coolest. Brother, and, according to the hospital, guardian, ever.

She hadn't partied like this since…well…it hadn't been that long. It felt, because she'd been hanging out with her now straightlaced old brother again, like it had been years or something, like she should get an AA Token. But it had been a week or two since she started living with him. A party it was – a party on the beach. Enough people there to get lost, but not too much.

Cook grabbed drinks for them, and, for a while, they got good and bloody drunk. The party started to filter out though, eventually, and they stayed. Effie lay on the sand, cold and moist, a nice contrast to her sweaty skin from running, jumping, dancing. Kissing Cook. Letting him push her up against a tree. Letting him do whatever he wanted.

As soon as he picked her up, he slipped her that little white pill she wanted with a heart in the middle. Now, the X was fading, and she lay there calm, the tide tickling her toes. She heard Cook crash into the sand beside her. She grinned at him. "Thank you for rescuing me."

He laughed but he sounded miles away. "Anything for you, my queen." He kissed her, and then he got back up and ran back into the crowd. She sat up. The tide was so beautiful. She stood up, and started walking out into the waves. Those beautiful waves.

The water was warm tonight, and she felt like some kind of mermaid princess with her skirt, and when she flopped over onto her back and floated, her hair moving slowly. She imagined her hair a bright red, glitter all over her face, a bra made of rubies, making a beautiful chime sound whenever she moved. Her eyes would be green, and so crystal like that they would strike any man down who she crossed. When she came on land, they would call her the ice queen, because she'd breathe, and cover their skin with diamonds. They'd kiss her, and their lips would ache with the cold.

Underwater they'd follow her down into the depths until they choked, and as they drowned, she'd come back up to see them. She'd swim around them, smile at how beautiful they look reaching for air instead of water. Then she'd dive, and grab their ankles. She'd take them, and she'd feed them to a shark.

She turned on her side, noticed, on the remarkably far away surface, that her cellphone light was on. She noticed Cook turning around, picking it up. Time to elude him, she thought, because he'll notice me out here, follow me into the depths, and I'll drown him. So she dove, making a little splash with her feet as she went down. Come on, boy. Come chase me.

Sid barely let himself seperate from Cassie. He had to, when they went through airport security. But as soon as they got through, he held her hand again. They let her out of the hospital after two days, after they got her weight back up to an acceptable range. And Sid could tell Effie was exhausted, and maybe she needed a break. He knew that she needed more than a break.

But, for treatment to work for her, for them, they needed not to be strained. So his mom bought them the ticket, the hotel, everything. They were off to Cocoa. When they looked through the Florida travel guide, she kept giggling at the word Cocoa, and so they went, with one mission on their minds- find the best cup of hot cocoa in Cocoa.

She slept through the plane ride, but he wasn't so lucky. The kid in front of them kept peering at him through the crack in the seats, making bomb and gunshot sounds at Sid. How lovely and appropriate for a plane ride, Sid thought. So he kept trying to distract himself from terrorist-child, kissing Cassie's forehead and rubbing her arms, looking out the window at the black. He even closed his eyes to try to sleep himself. The flight didn't last forever, though, thank God.

When she woke up, getting ready to de-board the plane, a baby started crying. Sid stood behind Cassie, trying to see how she was reacting. She looked back at him and smiled. He half-smiled back at her. The parents wouldn't shut the baby up, and it seemed like forever for them to get out of the plane. She kept smiling at him, even in the taxi ride to the hotel. But the crying was even bothering him. Surely, she had to be hearing it too.

"We dodged a bullet, Sid," she said quietly as they settled into their fantastic hotel room. Spacious bed that, he knew, they were going to spend a lot of time in. Cassie opened the blinds – beautiful view of the beach – or it would be. It was the middle of the night, pitch black out there. They collapsed onto the bed, and they didn't even turn the lights off before they both fell asleep.

Effie smiled at Tony sheepishly. He didn't smile back. The ankle-bracelet they put on her already felt claustrophobic. "Effie, what were you thinking?" He didn't start talking until they were in the car, on the ride home.

"I wanted to be a mermaid…" she murmured. He looked over at her, shook his head.

"I wasn't supposed to give you such a loose curfew. Mom chewed me out over the phone like you wouldn't believe. And everyone knows you don't swim in the ocean at night, Effie. It's common knowledge."

She didn't even bother nodding.

"I mean…Effie, you have to start trying. Especially if you want Fred back."

"I don't want Fred back."

"What?" He pulled into the apartment parking lot.

She shook her head.

"Yeah, well. No more going out with Cook."

"Oh come on, Tony, you were just like Cook when you were his age."

Tony opened the door for her and closed it, swiftly, behind him. "Was. Key word."

"And then you found Jesus…" she said mockingly.

"So?"

Effie flopped down on the couch and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not getting arrested for tresspassing, I can tell you that much, Effie."

"So…I'm…guessing I'm grounded?"

"Well, yeah. House arrest, 1 week, due to how awesome your counselor is," he said while getting his lap-top out and sitting on the couch. "Then we get to negotiate."

"Yippee."

She got up and went into the kitchen, and tried the liquor cabinet, but it was locked. She walked back into the living room and crossed her arms. "Oh, like I'm letting you drink." He looked up at her incredulously. She groaned and flipped him off, then headed off into the guest bedroom which she had claimed.

Sid woke up on the first morning of their vacation feeling like a vampire – mostly due to the fact that he had the window side of the bed and Cassie gave no warning when she pulled the curtains open. "Good MORRNIINNGGGG!" She sang, hopping on top of him. She kissed him, then began jumping on the bed until he stopped trying to go back to sleep.

"OK OK I get it. I get it. I'm up."

When he got out of the shower, she was sitting with her lap-top, speaking into the web-cam. She smiled at him and said "Oh Mom Sid says Hi!"

Sid was surprised- they hadn't heard from her in months – "Hi Margarit!" He went and sat beside Cassie.

"Cassie tells me you are enjoying your vacation!" Benjamin, Cassie's 5 year old little brother, was sitting on the ground playing with his dinosaur. He smiled as Cassie leaned into him. "We sure are! We're looking forward to all the relaxing we get to do." Benjamin started speaking all sorts of assorted nonsense- mostly telling the camera about his dinosaur. He looked over at Cassie, she was delighted, giggling and asking him questions. Margarit didn't know about the miscarriage. But Sid could see the look on Cassie's face and he knew for sure – they hadn't dodged a bullet.

They got out in no time, and began strolling down in the area around their hotel- searching for the perfect coffee shop. It didn't take them long to find one that looked suitable. They quickly ordered their hot chocolates and sat down. The order taker looked a little non-plussed, like people ordered hot chocolate here all the time. Hot cocoa- not surprisingly on demand in a town called Cocoa.

They got their drinks, and both of them started giggling incessantly as they looked down at them. Sid stopped a man walking by them, asked if he would take a picture of them. And he did, Sid and Cassie toasting the morning to each other. Soon after the flash he clumsily spilled his. She just laughed, thanked the man and took the camera from him, and stole a few more pictures of him trying to clean chocolate off of his t-shirt. "Oh, Sid," she said, and wanted to say how he would make the most excellent father.

"What would I ever do without you?" He smiled up at her and shrugged. "You would be terribly lonely because you wouldn't have someone to drink hot cocoa with, who knows the ins and outs of it as well as you do." They laughed, and sipped their hot cocoas, being the cheesy tourist British couple who probably looked like they were on their honeymoon.