Elena stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her torso before walking over to the bed where her brand new clothes laid. Kirsten had taken her shopping a few days prior because most of her clothes weren't weather appropriate, given the recent heat wave.

She slipped on a white t-shirt along with a floral cut-out pin tuck, navy blue skirt and a pair of large bow sandals. She couldn't remember the last time she wore something brand new but if she was being honest, it was kind of exciting. She never held it against or resented her mother for not being able to provide the same type of things most mothers could but when she'd listen to other kids in school talk about how their mother took them back to school shopping, she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel a pang of jealousy.

She heard a light knock on the door and though she couldn't see who it was because the blinds were down, she called out for them to come in. Kirsten appeared at the doorway.

"Let me see, does it fit?"

"I think so," Elena responded, running her hand across the material. She slowly walked over to the mirror and Kirsten followed closely behind.

"You look beautiful, sweetie."

"Thank you," she said shyly, "For everything."

Kirsten extended her hand out to the little girl. "C'mon, let's go. Dinner's on."

"Is she here?" Elena whispered.

"Not yet."

She let out a sigh of relief and they walked over to the patio area where Seth and Ryan were sitting at the table and Sandy was hovering over the grill, flipping meat patties. Elena took a seat next to Seth and smiled when she saw him staring down at his phone.

When he noticed her looking, he waved the cell phone and said, "Summer."

"I figured," she said, giggling. "Tell her I said hi."

"I will." He smiled to himself before typing something into his phone and slipping it into his pocket.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Elena visibly tensed up. Ryan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down but it didn't seem to help much.

"I'll get it," Kirsten said before disappearing into the house.

A few minutes later, Dawn and Kirsten walked through the back door and towards the patio area, both with fake smiles plastered onto their face. An awkward silence settled upon them as they all stood there, just staring at each other for about thirty seconds until Dawn finally broke the silence.

"Hi," she said softly, taking a step towards her children. "Look at you guys. You look good."

"Dinner is served!" Sandy's voice bellowed throughout the backyard as he set a plate of freshly grilled hot dogs and hamburgers onto the glass table along with pasta salad, potato chips, macaroni salad and corn on the cob. Kirsten began handing out the glass plates while Seth set a pitcher of water on the table and Elena dispersed the silverware.

"You have a beautiful home, Kirsten." Dawn said as she took a seat across from Ryan at the table.

"Oh, thank you." Kirsten said with a smile, taking a seat at the head of the table.

"How have you been, Ryan?" Dawn asked. When he didn't respond, she turned to Elena. "Lena?"

"We've been good." She replied, forcing a smile.

"I'm so happy to hear that." She said, scooping some macaroni salad onto her plate.

"Are you really?" Ryan countered, scowling at his mother. "Because it doesn't seem like it."

"Of course I am," she said with a tight smile, taking a bite of her salad. "Why would you ask me that?"

"Cut the act, mom." Ryan mumbled under his breath.

"Look, Ryan.." Dawn began, setting her fork on her plate. "I'm sorry, okay? You have every reason to be upset with me, but -"

"Don't you think it's a little late for that?"

"I just need you to know that I never meant to hurt you guys," she finished calmly, reaching across the table for his hand.

"Don't touch me," he snapped. "And you never meant to hurt us? Really, mom?"

"Look, I'm trying here."

"You're trying?" He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "No. You can't just show up here and decide you want to start trying - not after sixteen years."

"Nothing I do is ever enough for you, you know that?"

"What you've done for us?" He drawled, letting out a humorless chuckle. "What, you mean when you kicked your sixteen and eleven year old out with no food, no place to stay, nothing? Or when your alcoholic boyfriend beat the shit out of your daughter and you just watched it happen? Or maybe -"

"Dammit, Ryan, enough! I am still your mother and I'm not going to sit here and listen to you tell me all the things I did wrong, okay?"

"She had bruises, mom! How could you sit idly by and just..not care?"

"Bruises?" Dawn asked, shifting her gaze to Elena. "Is that true?"

"Of course it's true, mom." Ryan said before Elena was able to respond.

"You think if I knew that, I wouldn't have broken up with AJ sooner? Huh?"

"Can you guys please stop?" Elena pleaded but her voice was drowned out by the sound of Ryan and Dawn continuing to argue. After about ten seconds and no sign of either of them letting up, she turned to Kirsten and mumbled, "Can I be excused?"

Kirsten nodded and Elena practically bolted to the pool house, quietly shutting the door behind her.

Seth quickly stood up from his spot at the table and ran after Elena without even thinking about it while Sandy and Kirsten attempted to calm down the situation at the dinner table. When he entered the pool house he discovered her lying on the bed, her head buried into a pillow as the sound of a muffled sob filled the room. He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor as he tried to think of what he could possibly say to make her feel better.

"Are you..okay?" He asked, feeling stupid for even asking. Of course she wasn't okay.

"I will be," she said, sitting up and wiping her tears. After about thirty seconds, she slowly crawled over to next to where Seth was sitting and brought her knees to her chest, sniffling. "I hate it when they fight."

"Do they do that often?" He responded, tilting his head.

"Not really," she replied. "But whenever they did, it was usually bad. Ryan tried not to do it around me but..you know him. He can be kinda stubborn."

Seth let out a breathy laugh and nodded his head. "Sounds like Ryan."

"When I was younger, we were happier." She said wistfully after a long pause, looking down at the floor. "But I don't know what happened. We'd, like, do stuff."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Ryan and Trey - my other brother," she clarified, shaking her head. "They took care of me when my mom was too drunk or too busy to. But she wasn't always like that - she had her moments, ya know?"

"Yeah," he murmured, unsure of how else to respond. He reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder and she quickly looked down, a tear slipping down her cheek. "Your other brother..is he..?"

"He's in jail." She said quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry. That sucks." He said bluntly, shaking his head. "Were you guys close?"

She nodded, a genuine smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Yeah," she whispered before dabbing at her tear stained cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Hold on," Seth quickly stood up from his spot on the bed and ran into the bathroom, bringing back a handful of toilet paper. "Here"

"Thank you," she said, offering him a small smile in return.

Suddenly the pool house door creaked open and Kirsten appeared in the doorway. "Is everything okay?" She asked before taking a step towards them. Elena nodded, as did Seth, and Kirsten let out a sigh of relief.

"Is my, um..is she still.." Elena's voice trailed off and Kirsten gently shook her head in response. "Oh. Is she coming back?"

"I don't know," Kirsten responded honestly. "But I have her number in the house if you decide you want to call her, okay?"

"Okay," she said, nodding her head. "Where's Ryan?"

"He's inside talking to Sandy. C'mon, why don't we go eat before the food gets too cold?" Kirsten suggested, holding her hand out to Elena. She smiled and took it as they walked into the backyard with Seth following closely behind.