Disclaimer: I still own nothing. :( Boo. Well, I own the OCs.
A/N: Third day in a row update, yay! I know, I know, it was a sad chapter. Thank you ALL for the reviews and reading. Again, you beat the highest amount of reviews I've had before. I love that everyone loves this story...it makes me happy. :) Again, I start school tomorrow, but I'm going to be writing my tail off for the next 12 hours (with the exception of nessicary things like eating, shower, and ECW ;) ) to get all my writing ahead. (I post normal stories on other sites.) So I don't leave ya hanging this week, which is my fear, because my first week is very busy with trying to get back into the hell...er, school groove. And I also wrote a Morrison and Miz oneshot last night, which I may put up later. We'll see. And the last thing: check out littlerascalash's stories, they're amazing and don't get enough credit. You can go to my profile and under fav authors. :) Enjoy the chapter. :)

-Jeff's POV-

"What the fuck are we going to do?" I ask Matt. Shannon, Matt and I are seated at the table in the kitchen, eyes soggy from seeing Charity's breakdown minutes ago. Matt just shakes his head, sniffling. "This is bad."

"No shit Sherlock," Shannon mumbles. I don't even have the energy to backhand him…everything feels numb. I can totally understand how she feels, Charity. I watched my mother die from cancer when I was nine…I know how she feels. Just watching her interact with her brother for the last time…God, it brought back so many memories and just…damn.

"I hope Beth is doing okay up there," Matt mumbles. After Matt carried Charity up the stairs, Beth decided to stay with her until she woke up. "I just…damn. This is fucking horrible. We're stuck in this fucking house and can't do a damn thing for her," he says, shaking his head, pounding his fists on the table.

"We can just make sure she's comfortable for now, and let her talk if she wants to," I say sadly, memories still flooding my head. "I think Beth should be with her a lot. She's the only damn woman in the house…I'd imagine she could be a better job at comforting her than we could."

Shannon is silent, looking off to the side, eyes cloudy. Matt doesn't say anything either, but he nods, laying his head in his hands. Footsteps thunder down the stairs, and Beth appears, face solemn. "She's asleep…I told her it would be okay, but I'm not even sure what to tell her, you know? This isn't supposed to happen," she states, coming to sit next to me. I kiss her forehead when she sits, her chest heaving between running down the stairs and the feelings we're all feeling.

"What about Friday and…the plan, now?" Shannon asks, looking up, green eyes no longer sparkling like they usually are. He kids a lot, but I know he's hurting just like the rest of us now. "Are we still going to do it?"

All eyes fall onto Matt, who is the master behind the idea. He sighs, looking at the floor. "I guess so; it's a little late to change it. Hopefully, one of us can get her out of her room or something for it, maybe a trick or something," he ponders, shaking his head. "Only time will tell."

"What about now?" I pipe in. "How do we spend the night with this? The girl is heartbroken." Three sets of eyes land on me, but no one says a word. No one is really sure what to say, after all. No one gets how to make this better for her, how to help. I'm not even sure what to say. My sympathy wouldn't be the way it should be for her. All we can do now is just wait and ride out this storm…right? "Let's...just wait, I guess. Someone wanna order food?"

"I'm not hungry," Beth says, resting her head on me, her hair trickling down my face, tickling me. She looks at me with sad eyes, hoping for me too to make it better, but I don't know what to say to anyone. I just want time to go backwards, way backwards.

"Yeah, neither am I." Matt looks at Shannon, who seemed far away, eyes closed to almost slits. "Shan?"

"Huh, wha?" He nearly flies out of his seat. I repeat the question. "Nah, I'm not hungry either…I think I'm gonna go home."

"You okay?" I ask him, arching one eyebrow, slightly The Rock style.

He nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. I just need some sleep." With that, he gets up, grabs his car keys from the counter and heads out into the other storm. I glance at Beth and Matt, both of which shrug, not really sure what just happened either.

"I think we all need a little sleep, don't ya think?" Matt mumbles, rubbing his temple and whistling.

"Definitely," Beth and I say at the same time. I have to smile at that, sometimes it feels as if we're on the same brain wavelength. The girl that is my everything, heart and soul. Her nose wrinkles into a smile, even though it's sad and scared, it's quite possibly the most beautiful smile in the world.

-Matt's POV-

I don't know how to help her. How to make her feel better and to see that wonderful smile on her face. How do you help someone who just lost the person they stated they loved more than they loved themselves? I sympathize when it comes to the dying from cancer aspect of it, but the deaths though very similar to my mother's is so very different from Charity's. I've been sitting in front of my computer now for a half hour, even without power, trying to picture my life without Jeff, and I just don't know how to. My memory floats back to the night of the fire and just how scared I was then, thinking Jeff was inside the house then and Beth too…what a scary fucking feeling it was. It seems just so…surreal.

I have no idea where Jeff and Beth went, but they've disappeared…and Shannon, what was up with Shannon? The way he just busted out of here, no real explanation given at all. Maybe he was just spooked, we all are after all. Hearing Charity talk to her brother one last time…it was haunting. Just the amount they care for each other, like I said, it reminds me of myself and Jeff.

Blinking back into reality, I stare at the dark and blank screen, unable to concentrate on anything. I need to get the plan for Friday into the works, to call Vince and let him know that we plan on doing it. I was surprised he went along with it in the first place, actually, too. Myspace comments are still flooding in about the contest, even though I posted a bulletin of about it a few days ago.

"Matt?" a weak voice asks. I know immediately that it's Charity. Slowly, I spin around in my chair and face her. Her usual gorgeous face is swollen from crying, eyes bleeding mascara, nose puffy and red. Her hair is buried around her face, matted in many parts.

I resist the urge to cringe for her; she probably knows how terrible she already looks. "Yeah, sugar? Do you need something?" I keep my voice gentle, trying to stay calm and not ask her a million questions. Motioning for the seat next to me, I offer her a spot.

She moves slowly over to it, eyes damp. "T-thank y-you. I just didn't w-want to be a-alone right now. I couldn't find Beth, so I came to you…is that okay?" she asks weakly, looking at me with those innocent eyes.

I smile at her, trying to reassure her that something is okay. "That's completely fine. You can sit here as long as you want." I glance at the screen again, biting my lip as an uncomfortable silence overcomes the room. "Did you find your cell?" I almost didn't want to ask the question, but I must I figure.

"N-no. It's got to be somewhere here though, right? It's battery is off though, it must have run out." I can't help but notice how she doesn't say the battery is dead.

"Oh, well, yeah. I'm sure you'll find it." After another short glance at the computer, I turn away once more and turn towards Charity. "Hey, let's go watch TV, shall we? Maybe something good is on." She doesn't say anything, but gets up, lurking into the living room and sitting down on the couch, legs wrapped around her arms, holding herself in, almost like a barrier so no one can touch her. What do I say, how to I make her feel better?

I settle down next to her, but keep my distance. That would be all we would need now, is to have her flip out because I was too close or something. Awkwardly, I reach for the remote, and then remember.

She's smirking, because she realizes too. "I guess we can't watch TV without power, can we?" I ask her, chuckling. "Um…well…"

"Let's just sit here. The quiet is nice," she whispers. I nod, feeling the awkward tension rise around us. I'm tempted to say something, maybe to make it right somehow, to change what's happened. "Matt?"

I guess she'd do the talking for me. "Yes?"

"Will the pain go away?" she whispers, voice hoarse, most likely from crying. "I don't know what to do with myself right now. Everything feels broken and aching. Will it hurt forever?"

I bite my lip, unsure what to tell her. Her pain would heel at it's own pace, and I don't want to upset her by saying the wrong thing. "Sugar, all I can say is that it'll take time, and it depends on how you take it and are willing to move on. Think of it this way: would Penn want you to be sad, or happy?"

"Happy," she whispers. "Definitely happy. He hated seeing me sad when we were younger."

"There you go," I say, still pretty awkwardly. I scoot a little closer to her, and slide a smile on my face. "Time will heel a lot of the pain. Of course, it won't ever go away fully, but the pain will be duller. Much duller. You just need to grieve now, and move on with your life, not just for yourself, but the life that Penn won't get to live for him."

A tiny smile became her mouth. "Do you always talk so optimistically?" I think she may have even giggled a little.

I smile back. "Of course, sugar. Haven't you read my myspace blogs by now?" This time, she does laugh. I feel a little tingle in my heart, knowing my lame joke helped somewhat. "Tell you what, you stay strong and I'll have a big surprise for you before you leave, how does that sound?"

Before she answers, I feel her wrap around me into a hug, soft and caring. Beth comes down the stairs softly as she's hugging me. I smile at her, nodding that everything was okay. Finally, Charity whispers, "that sounds great."

"How's she doing?" Beth asks me, a mug of milk in her hands. Charity said she was going to go take a nap about fifteen minutes after our little chat. So, here sat Beth and I in the kitchen, trying to brainstorm what to do with the power still out. The thunderstorms had dulled to a faded rumble, the lightening barely able to be seen over the gray afternoon skies.

"She's holding up. I think she'll be okay eventually," I say, sipping my own cup of milk. I'm already sick of the stuff. "I just hope that she'll want to go on Friday."

Beth nods, sitting down at the table and running her free hand through her dark hair. "I hope so too. Its gonna be too fun of a day not for her not to go. If we have to, we'll just take her along."

"Is that a good idea though? She trusts us, let's not break that," I remind Beth.

"Break what?" a groggy Jeff asks, coming into the kitchen.

"Nothing," Beth says, kissing him lightly on the lips. This cracks a smile on his face, something that says other than kissing.

I roll my eyes, and look around the house. "Well, the storms have settled down. Why don't we see if we can get her out for dinner? It's a little too late to cook, nor do I really have the energy to do so…"

Beth and Jeff nod. "I'll ask her," Beth replies, heading towards the stairs. "We'll just have to see." She turns around, a smirk on her lips. "Call reject too. See if the dumbass wants to go with us."

"He really didn't want to come?" Jeff asks, pulling on a sweatshirt over his head, and nearly toppling down the stairs. My older brother instincts make me jump forward and pull him back, but of course, rolling my eyes too. He glares at me.

"Yeah…he's acting really weird," I say, shrugging. "Let him stay home…it might do his crazy ass brain some good." And give me more alone time with Charity, I add mentally. Is it bad that I thought that? I mean, the girl is in pain, and I'm hoping for more alone time with her, even when one of my best friends is falling head over heels for her. I'm horrible, damn.

Beth laughs, and calls out for Charity. "C'mon hun, we're leaving now!"

I do tell you right now, Shannon is up to something...or already did something. It will all tell in time. Read and review my pretties, and update I shall. :D