"I need a dress for Drink-A-Date," Cate said as they entered the mall. Cate led the way to a boutique she liked.

"Oh yeah. I heard you guys talking about it on the radio," Lux said.

Cate worked her way through the store, selecting several dresses to try on.

Lux waited outside the fitting room while Cate tried them on.

Cate modeled each dress for Lux and asked for her opinion.

Cate emerged wearing a red silk dress. "What about this one?"

Lux hesitated. "It's kinda slutty."

Cate smiled. "That's perfect for Drink-A-Date."

Lux raised her eyebrows.

"Fans can enter a raffle to win a date with Ryan and me," Cate explained. "Ryan and I have a bet going over who will have more people enter."

Lux smirked. "Isn't that a little...weird since you and Ryan are engaged?"

"I mean, it would be nice if we could be together publicly, but the dates aren't a big deal," Cate said.

Lux smiled. "I think you'll win if you wear that dress."

Cate changed and made her way toward the register. "Do you need anything?" She asked Lux.

"No," Lux replied.

Cate frowned in disappointment.

Cate noticed Lux staring wistfully at a handbag on display. "You like?"

Lux looked at the price tag and gasped. "That's why I like it. It's ridiculously expensive."

Cate smiled and picked it up.

"What are you doing?" Lux asked in surprise.

"Getting it for you," Cate said simply, heading for the cash register.

Lux grabbed Cate's arm. "No! It's too expensive."

Cate waved her off. "It's OK."

"Cate, you don't have to get it for me," Lux said.

"I know I don't have to. I want to," Cate said emphatically.

"I don't want you to spend that much on me," Lux said firmly.

Cate's face fell. "I want to give you things."

"You have given me things. You don't have to keep spending money on me to prove you care. I know you care," Lux said, smiling at Cate reassuringly.

"You do?" Cate asked quietly, smiling slightly.

Lux nodded.

Cate's smile widened.

"Have you talked to Bug?" Cate asked hesitantly as they left the mall.

"No," Lux replied.

"If you don't want to go back there, we can figure something else out. We can find you a studio," Cate said tentatively. She didn't want to fight with Lux again, but she wanted Lux to know she still wanted to help.

Lux smiled gratefully. She didn't know if she wanted to go back to Bug's apartment or not.

Cate breathed a sigh of relief, glad Lux wasn't mad.

Cate met Lux's gaze. "Do you want me to take you back to Bug's?"

Lux hesitated. "Yeah."

Cate gripped the wheel tightly, unhappy with Lux's answer, but decided not to say anything. They were having a good day and she didn't want to ruin it by arguing.

"Do you want me to come up with you?" Cate asked when she pulled to a stop in front of the apartment building.

Lux shook her head. "No. I'll be OK."

Lux took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, as she rode the elevator up to the third floor.

Lux used her key to unlock the door and let herself in. She gasped when she saw the apartment. It was practically empty.

"Bug left."

Lux looked up when she heard Gavin's voice. He stood behind her glowering at her.

"He left?" Lux repeated, failing to comprehend. This was his apartment. How could he just leave?

Gavin nodded, his expression impassive.

"Gavin! Where'd he go?" Lux demanded.

Gavin shrugged. "He left Portland."

"When's he coming back?" Lux asked.

"Never," Gavin said coolly.

"How could he just leave? Without even saying goodbye," Lux said in disbelief.

"He made it look easy," Gavin replied.

Lux curled up in the fetal position on the bare mattress on the floor and cried herself to sleep. Bug was all she had. He was the only person who loved her.

Now she had no one and nothing. She was just a reject. Her own parents hadn't wanted her. None of her foster parents had ever wanted her. Bug didn't want her either.

"I don't want to go to school," Lux groaned when her alarm went off the following morning. She didn't want to get out of bed at all.

"Ditch," Tasha suggested.

Lux opened her mouth to argue, but shut it when she realized she didn't have a convincing argument. She turned her alarm off and rolled over.

Lux slept all day.

Baze showed up at Longfellow to pick Lux up. They were supposed to go to a new action movie. Kids began filtering out of the school, but he didn't see Lux. He frowned and glanced at his watch.

Baze waited for Lux for half an hour before driving to Bug's apartment. He rapped on the door urgently. He had to make sure Lux was OK.

Cate had said Bug was verbally abusive to Lux. What if he was physically abusive as well? If that punk had hurt his daughter, Baze didn't know what he'd do. He balled his hands into fists, ready to kick the door in if he had to. One way or another he was going to get to Lux.

Lux's eyes fluttered open. She squinted, shielding her gaze from the afternoon sunlight, surprised she'd slept all day.

She heard someone knocking on the door and glanced around. "Tash? Gavin?"

Lux was alone. She wasn't expecting anyone. She decided to ignore the door. She didn't feel like talking to anyone.

A few minutes later the knocking turned into banging. "Lux? Lux!"

Lux frowned and jumped up when she heard Baze's voice. She threw the door open. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What do you mean what am I doing here?" Baze stared at Lux. "We were supposed to go to the movies. I went to school to pick you up."

Lux sighed. "I'm sorry. I completely forgot."

Baze tried to hide his hurt. He studied Lux and noticed her eyes were red and swollen from crying and she was still wearing pajamas. "Have you been in bed all day?"

Lux glanced down at her pajamas and blushed. "Yeah. I'm not feeling well." She crossed her arms in front of her chest protectively.

"Where's Bug?" Baze narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Tears stung Lux's eyes at the mention of Bug. "He's not here."

"If he did something to you-" Baze began, his tone threatening.

"He didn't!" Lux said quickly.

Baze looked unconvinced. "You've been crying."

Lux raised her eyebrows. "Bug's not the only one who can make me cry."

Baze shifted uncomfortably. "If you're sure you're OK."

"I am," Lux lied. "Look, I'm sorry about the movie. Rain check?"

Baze forced himself to smile for Lux's sake. "Of course."

Baze drove straight to Cate's house without thinking. He knocked on the door.

"Hey," Cate said as she opened the door.

"Hey. Lux and I were supposed to go to the movies. I went to Longfellow to pick her up, but she never came out after school," Baze began.

"Oh my gosh! OK. We need to call the police," Cate interrupted panic-stricken.

"Cate, she's OK," Baze said quickly.

Cate glared at Baze and punched him lightly, furious he'd scared her like that.

"Sorry," Baze mumbled. "I went to Bug's apartment. She'd been in bed all day and she'd been crying."

Cate frowned. "I'll go check on her."

Lux opened the door and rolled her eyes when she saw Cate standing there. "Let me guess. Baze told you I'd been crying?"

Cate nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, no," Lux replied, holding the door open.

Cate entered, but remained standing near the doorway. There wasn't anywhere to sit.

"Where's Bug?" Cate asked when she realized the usually crowded apartment was empty.

Lux didn't cry this time, but her pained expression didn't escape Cate. "Not here."

Cate's heart literally hurt when she saw how much pain Lux was in. She wanted nothing more than to hold Lux in her arms and tell her everything would be OK, but she feared Lux would push her away.

"Did you guys have another fight?" Cate asked.

Lux rolled her eyes. "Is this us not talking about it?"

Cate frowned. "It's just, I can tell something's wrong."

"A lot of things are wrong," Lux said shortly.

"If you tell me, I can help you make them better," Cate said hopefully. She wanted desperately to make everything bad in Lux's world go away.

"I'm sorry, Cate. I know you're trying to help, but I can't do this right now," Lux said.

Cate opened her mouth to protest.

"I just can't," Lux said, shutting the door.

Lux dialed Bug's cell phone. She needed to know what happened. One minute she was telling him she deserved to be treated better and the next he was gone. He obviously didn't think she deserved better. Maybe she didn't. No one had ever treated her better. Lux bit her lip.

The phone went straight to voicemail. Lux hung up and slammed the phone down in frustration. He didn't want to talk to her. He obviously didn't want to be with her. He didn't want her. It was that simple.

Lux started crying again. She cried until she had no more tears left. She had nothing left. No one.

Lux lay down on the stripped mattress and allowed numbness to overcome her. She didn't feel anything anymore. She just wanted to sleep and be left alone.