A/n: Well, I think I owe all of you guys an apology for keeping you all waiting. My schedule has been so busy but with Christmas Break slowly creeping amongst us, I had a chance to finish this chapter. Hope you'll like it and please excuse me for any flaws in my writing as I haven't written in a while...

.:.

Megan's POV

Megan awoke to the glowing rays of the sun and a rather wet pillow. That was the best sleep that she had had in years. No problems, no nightmares, just a mellow slumber. As much as she didn't want to get up, she knew that she wasn't going to stay in bed for the entire day due to an aching heart. No matter how much she wished that time could stop, she knew perfectly well that life doesn't change its patterns for anyone. In the halls, she came face to face with Hailey, Megan couldn't describe the look that Hailey gave her; it was just something she couldn't read. Thoughts bombarded Megan's mind, 'She thinks you're weak', 'You're pathetic', 'You know she's only doing this because you're her sister's friend'.

"Don't ever let a guy hold you back," were the words that peeped out of Hailey's mouth.

"What?" Megan answered with a questioned look on her face.

"I remember the first big fight that Evan and I had, he told me to quit the soccer team so that we could spend more time together but I refused to and he said that if I didn't he'd break-up with me. The next thing I knew, I was running home crying and weighing out whether I was making a wrong decision by holding onto the sport that I loved the most over the my boyfriend. A couple hours after, I realized that a boyfriend is just a temporary thing, I'm dating him because he won my heart over but my passion, my hobby, that was what defined me and so, I decided that I wasn't going to give up on soccer even though I loved him. A few days later, he came and apologized to me, saying that he thought about it and asking me to give up soccer was practically telling him to give up what he loved. Don't let the guys get to you Megan. I know you're stronger than that."

As Megan watched Hailey turn her back and head into her bedroom, she was still left standing alone in the halls with her mouth hanging open, trying to take in the story that Hailey had just told her. Perhaps that's the thing about life, you can never know a person to the full extent, and certainly not see the vulnerable sides of such a strong opponent. It just reminded a lot of us that everyone has a past and that all it takes is just one moment to start showing them to someone else, for comfort, for laughter, for entertainment.

.:.

Finn's Pov

Most of the boys were already seated at the kitchen table crunching at their cereal, fighting for the last spoonful of jam or waiting anxiously at the coffee maker. It wasn't until Doug asked, "Hey, where's the B cup?" did any of us notice the absence of the soulful girl.

It was true, she had walked into my room and I had told her to leave but I didn't think that she would still be in her bed sleeping until midday...

"Hey Finn, what happened to your little girlfriend?" mocked Caleb.

I could feel all the eyes on the table swiftly turn their heads towards me as my cheeks grew beet red. "She...is...uh, probably...sleeping or something," I stuttered not letting my eyes off the flakes of cereal in my bowl.

"She's such a pig," complained Ian. "Of well, more eggs for us then."

I wondered what mom was thinking as I looked up and saw her small figure. Her back was turned to us and not once did she saw sign of curiosity as we sat at the table gossiping about Megan who would be down any minute now.

The room grew quiet almost instantaneously as we all wondered what could have been keeping Megan up. There was no doubt that her presence made us all uneasy, I mean we've been living our entire lives in a house of 8 guys and 1 girl, if that's what you would consider my mother but not really right? So I guess it was the youngness in Megan, the fact that she's only 17 makes us all a little weird. I swear I saw my brother's eyes sparkle when they first met Megan but that was probably before they found out that she would be staying over at our place. "Megan's not coming back," my mom spoke ever so lightly that if you munched your cereal during that time, you would have missed it.

I was the first one to speak of this bewilderment of course. "What do you mean?"

Still with her back towards us, she answered: "Check her room. She left this house for good." The tone in her voice was inevitable. It was as if she was on the edge of breaking down... As I shared questioned looks with my brothers, we rose from our seats in unison and headed up the countless flight of stairs in an orderly fashion. For the first time, it was as if all the McGowan boys had rewired our brains so that we would uncover this mystery in some sort of mannered way. The way we walked up the stairs from smallest to oldest, not peeping a single word or rushing past each other was so formal, it was scary.

One of the twins must have opened the door because by the time I got into the hall, the door to Megan's room was already opened.

There it was. Her room filled with her scent. The bed was neatly made with the curtains closed perfectly at the middle. The floor was left spotless. She was really gone.

"How could she just leave like that? She didn't even leave any service fees," remarked Caleb.

"Are you boys happy now?" asked my mom as she stood in the doorway. Her eyes were watery, there was no doubt that she had cried, for the absence of the daughter she never had.

Our eyes all averted to the floor as if guilt had consumed us all.

.:.

Your review replies from last chapter:

Iluvmcgowanboys123: Here's chapter 3. I hoped you enjoy it. Sorry that I kept you waiting.

Esmeralda Diana Parker: Love your little bit on the story. Hey, the boys definitely deserve a beating for treating Megan like that.

Katiebear95: Thanks haha. Hope you liked chapter 3 too!

NCISlover96: Sorry I kept you waiting for so long. Hope you liked it.

Booboo33: Hope this chapter satisfied an even softer side to Hailey as she tells her enemy a little about her past.

TKShipper: I agree with you. It's really nice to see the nice sides of Hailey, and hey, they're both dealing with the McGowan boys' right? So yeah, they should look out for each other :]

Ace5492: Here's chapter 3! Haha. Sorry to have not updated in so long.

MusicAddict101: I'm not going to end it here. Here's chapter 3, but sorry to bring the bad news, the story is nearing the end...one more chapter will help finish this story.

Marissa: Chapter 3 is finally up. Hope you didn't have to check in for too long.

.:.

A/n: There's only going to one more chapter to finish this story. Hopefully I'll squeeze it in before the end of this break. Thanks for everyone for the messages and all the wonderful reviews: