Author's Note: Special thanks to SoManyJimFeels, JJ2008, redbrainbluebrain, JMS529, and Jayne Leigh for the reviews! I apologize for the bitterness of the first one, but I had to look up the finale balcony scene and it made me bitter. Really bitter.

PROMPT #013 – MARY/BRANDI

"I thought that all the risks would be worth it, because just beyond the next planet, just beyond the next star... there would be something magnificent, something noble. And now he is dead, and I have to make a speech about how worthwhile it's all been."

"No!" Mary screamed, bolting upward.

"Mary!" Brandi shouted, bursting into Mary's room. She gasped when she saw Mary hunched over, sweat pouring from her body. Timidly, Brandi sat down on the edge of the bed. "Mary?"

Mary took a gulp of air before looking up at her sister. Her eyes were slightly wild, but she seemed to be calmer than just a few minutes ago. "I'm okay. It was just a bad dream."

Brandi bit her bottom lip. "Another one about Marshall?"

"Yeah," Mary whispered after a slight hesitation.

"He died again?"

Mary huffed in irritation. "Yeah."

Brandi reached out and touched Mary's blanket covered leg. "You know, I took a psychology class and in it, we talked about dreams and about symbolism in dreams."

"You can't even spell symbolism," Mary said, flippantly.

"Anyway," Brandi continued, pointedly, "the fact that you keep dreaming about Marshall dying probably means that you feel that he's no longer part of your life; that he's abandoned you in some way."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Sigmund Freud." She rubbed her face when Brandi patiently stared at her. "Marshall's getting married next week."

Brandi frowned. "I know. That doesn't mean you're going to lose him."

"You're right," Mary agreed. "I already lost him."

"Mar-"

"Don't pretend you haven't notice, Squish," Mary cut her off, "that he hasn't been around here the last few months. Even Mom asked where he was after Kenny and I... whatever."

Brandi nodded. "I just thought he was busy with the wedding and adjusting to being the boss."

Mary glanced away. "He asked me not to be his friend anymore."

"That doesn't sound like Marshall," Brandi commented, rubbing Mary's leg. "What did he say?"

"He asked me to release him. He told me that as long as I called, he would come, and that he couldn't do that anymore. He said he had to be free." Mary's tone was hushed.

Brandi froze. "What did you say?"

Mary looked down. "That I want him to be happy. That she makes him happy. That I like Abigail."

"Mary, you can't stand her!"

"What was I suppose to say?" Mary shot back. "I wasn't going to stand there and let another man that I trust walk out of my life. No. This time, I get to walk out. See, he thinks everything's fine. He thinks he has his perky wife and his sassy best friend, but he doesn't. She doesn't even really know him. She knows this image that he portrayed to him. But come next Saturday, that's all he's going to have."

Brandi pursed her lips. "I don't understand."

Mary folded her arms. "It's quite simple, really. I won't be showing up to the wedding and my transfer papers will be waiting on his desk when he returns from his honeymoon."

"Are you sure you want to do that, Mare?"

Mary smiled defeatedly. "It's already done."

PROMPT #014 – MARY/ABIGAIL

"We deny that we're tired, we deny that we're scared, we deny how badly we want to succeed. And most importantly, we deny that we're in denial. We only see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe, and it works. We lie to ourselves so much that after a while the lies start to seem like the truth. We deny so much that we can't recognize the truth right in front of our faces."

"Why am I here, Abigail?" Mary asked, her eyes roving over the woman standing in front of her, dressed in a fluffy, white wedding gown. "You're minutes away from getting married."

"No, I'm not," Abigail replied, a slight hint of anger in her tone. She briefly closed her eyes. "I can't do it. I can't marry a man that isn't fully in love with me."

Mary huffed. "What are you talking about?"

Abigail folded her arms. "Don't play stupid, Mary. It doesn't become you."

"I still don't understand why I'm here," Mary told her, her own voice taking on a tinge of bitterness. "If your fiance isn't in love with you, you need to take it up with him."

"I- I will," Abigail replied, all the fight leaving her suddenly. "I know he told you not to call him. I know you've done just like he asked."

Fire ripped through Mary's body. "Exactly. I gave up my best friend so that he could be happy, so that you both could be happy. The one person I actually wanted to keep around, but I gave him up for you."

Abigail ran her hands over her hair, causing it to fall from the bobby pins in places. "And he's been miserable ever since. He works long hours, even longer than Stan worked just so that he can be with you in some capacity. He doesn't laugh anymore. He barely smiles. Seth won't look us in the eye. His mother thinks there's something wrong with him. He's a shadow of the person he used to be and it's because he doesn't have you."

"I'm sorry," Mary said. "I don't really know what to say."

"Just... just take care of him, Mary," Abigail begged. "Let him in. And for both your sakes, tell him how you really feel. Straight out. Not the half-finished sentences and nonsense that you've done in the past."

Mary hesitated for a moment before giving Abigail a single nod. "What are you going to do?"

Abigail smiled despite herself. "Wait until everyone gets into the church then try to sneak out the back." She pointed to a table off to the side. "I've written Marshall a note. Can you make sure that he gets it?"

"Yeah," Mary agreed. She grabbed the letter and began to leave, pausing at the door. "Good luck, Abigail."

"Good luck to you."

PROMPT #015 – MARY/NORAH

"When I let a day go by without talking to you. That day is just no good."

"What's the matter, Bug?" Mary asked her eight-year-old daughter, sitting down next to her at the dining room table. Norah had her arms stretched out across the table and her chin on her arm as she stared absently out of window.

"When's Marshall coming home?" Norah asked.

Mary hid a smile as she rubbed Norah's back. "In two days. You know that."

Norah shrugged. "Are you sure that he can't come home sooner?"

"I'm sure. He has to work."

"I know," Norah sighed. "It's just..."

Mary waited for Norah to explain further, but she fell silent. "It's just what, Bug?"

Norah shifted her head so that she could see Mary. "It's just that I wanted to show him my science project and he's suppose to help me with my spelling test."

"I can help you with your spelling test," Mary offered.

"No offense, Mom, but Marshall's like a million times smarter than you," Norah told her, rolling her eyes.

Mary made a face. "I'm pretty sure that I'm smart enough to help you with your spelling words."

Norah sat up, abashed, terrified that she had hurt her mother's feelings. "I know you're smart, Mama. You can help me with my spelling words."

"Norah, it's okay," Mary assured her, knowing that her sensitive daughter would be mortified if she thought that she had caused her mother any grief. Mary sometimes wondered how she ended up with a daughter so delicate, but she attributed it to all the time that she spent with her stepfather. "I know you're just missing Marshall."

"I am, Mama. I haven't talked to him since yesterday!"

"Bug," Mary sighed, brushing Norah's hair from her face, "You know that Marshall loves you very much, right?" Norah nodded. Love was too weak of a word to describe the adoration that Marshall held for his stepdaughter. "And you know that he tries to be home as much as possible, right?" Again, Norah nodded. Marshall had taken a demotion after he and Mary married so that he could spend more time with Norah after Mark moved away. "And if he could call you, he absolutely would. It just means that he's really busy."

Norah nodded. "I-"

She stopped suddenly when Mary's cell phone rang. With a smile that would light up the whole city, she jumped up and ran to answer. Mary herself grinned when she heard Norah answer, "Hello, Marshall? I missed you! I know. I love you, too."