AN: Honestly, I was planning on taking a break from writing this weekend – but your reviews inspired me! Thanks especially to all who take the time to write them – this one's for you!!!

In the detention room, Jeanette and Brittany look at the swinging door in confusion before turning to Eleanor, who is beginning to cry softly into her hands. For one of the first times in awhile, both chipettes turn towards their baby sister and envelop her in a three way hug.

"Ellie… don't you EVER feel like you can't come to us with anything… we all may have our own problems, but you're our baby sister… if we didn't have you…we… we…" Brittany's voice cracks slightly as she speaks.

'Ellie… we're- I'm so sorry…' Jeanette is almost in tears herself as she speaks. Inwardly, she curses herself for the last few years – she'd been so caught up in her blind anger against Simon, and her quest to be the best, she'd ignored Eleanor. Her little sister. The one who had been pasting a smile on her face for the last three years just to be strong for her sisters. Jeanette winces as she remembers the times she's brushed Eleanor off to rush to the library, study in her room, head off for student government meetings and tightens her hold on her sister. Simon was right – if Eleanor had succeeded in what she was apparently going to do, Jeanette would have spent her entire life unable to forgive herself.

Brittany, on Eleanor's other side, is entertaining similar thoughts. Every time she'd ignored her sisters in school, to fit in with Reuben and his dumb jock friends, every time she'd cried herself to sleep at night and found her favorite chocolate chip pancakes ready for her in the morning, every time she'd gone for parties and refused to bring her little sister, because she 'didn't belong' flashed before her eyes. Gulping, she hugs her sister tight. She and Jeanette had always had a soft spot for Eleanor – somehow she'd forgotten that during her own personal disappointment, Eleanor and Jeanette could have been hurting too.

Eleanor continues to cry, tears of shame running down her cheeks. Sandwiched between her two sisters for the first time in years, she realizes that the strong bond between them that had taken them from Australia to America had never really disappeared. If she had shot herself, it would have been the biggest mistake of her life.

As the sisters' sobs die down and they pull apart, they look at each other with a renewed protectiveness. They sit in silence for awhile, unsure of what to say, until Eleanor pipes up.

'Man… this is what it takes to get the attention of the head cheerleader and class president…'

The chipettes break out in uneasy laughter, before starting to do what they hadn't done in years: talk.

'Brittany… if you broke up with Reuben because you realized you were still in love with Alvin – why didn't you actually TALK to him when he came back?'

"It's not like he- wait I never said it was him!" Brittany blushes at Eleanor's question.

'You might as well have… the way you glared at him when Theodore asked the question…'

'And the look on your face when you found out he dated Charlene… you looked like you were going to attack him..' Jeanette and Eleanor giggle at Brittany's red face. It feels like ages since they've teamed up to tease their fiery sister. Even Brittany is forced to smile: they finally feel like sisters again, instead of three strangers who happen to live in the same house.

"It's not like he feels the same way, anyway…" Brittany mutters, looking at her hands. She can't help but feel slightly jealous of her sisters sometimes. Simon and Theodore probably hadn't dated anyone else since they moved, and had told her sisters they loved them at practically the first given opportunity. Alvin had flirted quite a bit with her, and dropped a few hints here and there… and his kisses were the best she'd ever had… but he never actually said anything about wanting something real with her. And now he probably never would, since he knew that she actually loved him. Alvin thrived on challenges, and Brittany had just all but admitted that she was already won. Groaning slightly, she kicks at the floor, before looking up sharply as a random thought enters her head.

"What did Simon mean, he knows what it feels to almost lose a sibling?"

Jeanette and Eleanor look at each other in alarm. Somehow, the chipettes had forgotten the reason they were alone in the room in the first place.

'Oh my god… don't tell me Theodore…' Jeanette's voice trembles as Eleanor's eyes widen in fear. Theodore may not have been one to attempt suicide… but then again neither was she. She really didn't know what to think at this stage.

"We'll find out when they come back in… and I'll kick Theodore's butt for thinking he could actually leave you like that…" Brittany puts an arm around her sister's shoulders protectively as they wait for the boys.

Meanwhile, Alvin and Theodore are in an empty classroom.. telling Simon off.

"Do you have any idea what you just did??"

'I couldn't help it… Eleanor made me so angry.' Simon looks up at his older brother defiantly.

'She was already feeling bad enough…' Theodore is uncharacteristically upset.

'After what happened… what she did just brought it all back…' Simon's voice is low as he tries to hold back tears.

Sighing, Alvin looks at his distraught brother. Theodore is hanging his head, also quiet..

'I know the last few years have been hard… but it's all over now… that's why we came back, right?' Theodore looks up at his brothers, who have been sitting at separate desks, brooding.

"Yeah, it looks like we're pretty much stuck with each other for life now…" Alvin cracks, earning a half smile from Simon and a small grin from Theodore. The chipmunks look at each other again as Simon speaks up.

'I guess… we owe them an explanation, huh?'

'Maybe they… forgot?' Theodore sounds hopeful, causing Alvin to smile at his naivete. He doesn't know what he would do without his brothers, even if Simon did annoy him at times.

"Theo… if there's one thing I know about Brittany… she NEVER forgets…"

Sighing slightly, Simon stands and moves towards the door, motioning for his brothers to follow him.

'Well… I guess there's no time like the present.'

AN: I apologize for the shortness of the chap... the next one will be longer, I promise! Meanwhile, please r/r… they make me write faster!