A/N: Sorry so short but this arc is… well it's painful. I hate it and I love it but it's just not pretty.

Her eraser scratched almost through the paper as she frustratedly scrubbed out her work and tried to start over. She used to love math, it always made sense. But now that she was learning more, it was hard to keep things straight. Reading was still easy but she was behind on her homework because she spent so much time on math. It made her stomach hurt if she thought about it too much. She liked having stickers on her papers and she liked her work nice and neat. Lately it hadn't been that way.

"Hey Mimo, what are you doin' here?"

Avery forced a smile before she looked up at Danny and waved.

"I had to go to the eye doctor to see if I needed glasses. Mama said after it was too late to go back to school, so I am waiting here with my homework until her or daddy can go home."

"Oh, I see," he replied, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "What are you working on?"

"Math. See, it's take-aways. I am not good at them."

"What's the problem?"

"I get confused," she admitted quietly. "There are so very many numbers. And I cannot remember what row goes together. I do not like borrowing numbers either. That is really hard."

"I'm still not too good at that, but let's see if I can help you."

Avery nodded and erased the remaining work off the page, glad to start over. Danny looked over the problem then took the pencil from her, drawing a grid around the problem.

"So the first thing you need to do is keep your lines straight. Sometimes it helps if you write it on another page and work from there."

He handed her a piece of paper from the printer and she took it gratefully, copying the problem down again.

"Okay, so we start with the ones place right?"

"Yes. Look at it as three different subtraction problems instead of one. Don't worry about seven hundred and forty-six minus two hundred and twelve."

"So I worry about six take-away two first."

"Right."

She nodded and worked diligently on the problem until it was done to her satisfaction.

"There. Is that right?"

"Yep, that's right."

She copied her work onto the homework page and sighed.

"Danny, this is a lot of trouble when I got a calculator sittin' right there on the other side of mama's desk."

"I know. But most of math is learning how to solve problems. Not just number problems, but how to think critically and solve all kinds of life problems."

"Oh. Well I got a problem that needs solving."

"You want to tell me about it?"

She nodded and climbed into his lap, twisting his wedding ring around his finger as she thought.

"Danny, you promise you will not tell mama or daddy 'bout me telling this?"

"If they need to know I have to tell them."

"They do not need to know."

"Lay it on me."

"Mama and daddy got it a very, very big huge fight," she started, eyes already filling with tears. "They thinked us kids were asleep but I was tryin' to sneak downstairs to get just one more treat from my Easter basket. Don't tell that part either."

"No harm done, Mimo."

"Well they were in the couch room and they were yelling. I don't know what it was about. I heared lots of mean words. An' then mama comed upstairs and goed in her room and slammed the door an' daddy stayed downstairs to sleep."

"Uh-oh."

"Yeah, an' in the morning, they did not hug and kiss like normal. They do not hug and kiss anymore. Never, Danny. An' you know how much they always do! They do not act sad. Daddy still plays with us like normal and mama still tells us jokes and we get lots of lovin' from them, but they are not givin' that lovin' to each other. It makes me very, very sad."

"When did all this happen?"

"Easter night."

Danny frowned; he'd known Adam and Lindsay to argue occasionally, and he'd seen some of the after effects of their fights, but they were always back to normal within a day or two. This was almost three weeks.

"Mimo, sometimes when people are married, no matter how much they love each other, they fight. And sometimes their feelings get very hurt and it's hard for them to apologize and get back to normal."

"Like when me an' Sarah was not friends for a bit?"

"Yeah. Your mama and daddy just need to talk it out."

"But what if they do not love each other anymore?"

"Believe me honey, they still love each other."

"It doesn't feel like it. They don't laugh together or nothing! It's like they are ignorin' each other, like how me and Ben do when we've had enough. But we always make up and love each other again."

"It's harder when you're an adult. Give it a little time, they'll figure it out."

"I just want to cry!"

"Go ahead sweetie."

She gave into the tears and he leaned back in the seat, holding her close and stroking his fingers through her hair for a few minutes until her crying slowed.

"Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"You really think it will be okay?"

"I do. I hope so."

"An' I should not worry?"

"You let your mama and daddy figure things out, okay? Be patient with them."

"I just love them so most," she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I want them to love each other so most too."

"They do."

He brushed the rest of her tears away and kissed her forehead as the door opened.

"Avery, what's wrong sweetie?" Lindsay asked, rushing over to check on her.

"I… I am just terrible at math," she lied gracefully. "It makes me discouraged."

"I know. It'll get better the more we practice, okay?"

"Are we going home now?"

"Yeah."

"Is daddy coming?"

"He has to stay here for a bit longer."

Avery's face fell but she nodded, gathering up her papers and putting them in her backpack.

"Hey Linds?"

"Hmm?"

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, why?"

"Look, if you don't want to tell me that's fine, but don't lie to yourself."

She sighed and bit her lip in thought.

"We're having some trouble. We'll fix it, just needs time."

"You sure?"

"No, but that's all I've got for now. Averylin, let's go."

Danny watched them leave, hand in hand like nothing was wrong. He couldn't say that he'd ever been where Adam and Lindsay were right now, nor did he really know what was going on in either of their heads, but he knew this behavior wasn't them. And that was a very bad sign.

Putting on a happy face wasn't fooling anyone and Lindsay knew it. Clearly Avery had not been upset about her math, though it was a legitimate excuse. The big fight had been horrible and they were both still cooling off, keeping their emotional distance. Neither one of them were happy with each other, and she knew that the kids could sense something was amiss, but she'd hoped they didn't put two and two together. Obviously something needed to change.

There had been several times over the last few weeks when it felt like they might be ready to discuss things, but something had always interrupted. She could understand what he was so stressed about but she couldn't figure out his anger. He'd been dealing with his sister a lot, almost weekly having to pick her up from a party or another bad situation, letting her sleep it off on the couch. He was worried and had no idea what to do, but didn't have the slightest urge to ask for help either. His preoccupation with that was not something she wanted to hold against him, but she didn't want it to be a wedge between them either.

The kids were in bed and she figured it was as good a time to talk to him as any. Terrified that it would turn into another fight and they would be worse off, she vowed to remain calm and collected, keeping her voice steady no matter how hard it was.

She found him in the basement, gathering the paint cans that he was going to use in the morning to start touching up spots around the house. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, watching him for a moment and trying to figure out what to say first.

"What's going on?" he started for her, voice quiet and neutral.

"We need to talk."

"I know."

"I don't want to fight because I'm not mad."

"I'm not either."

"Okay. This isn't good."

"I know."

She waited, staring him down until he'd found everything he needed and put the few cans off to the side.

"Let's go upstairs, it's cold down here."

She nodded and headed up the rickety steps, glad when she heard his steps behind her. He closed the basement door behind them and moved the accent table in front of it, then followed her to the couch. It wasn't lost on either of them that they were sitting at opposite ends.

"Adam, this isn't us. Fighting the way we did, saying what we said and then not speaking for three weeks. That's not who we are."

"No, it's not."

"I need to know how that happened. I can't fix it unless I know."

He nodded, not meeting her eyes.

"Linds, you married an idiot."

"What?"

"I know you want to talk about everything but I'm just not ready."

"Why?"

"Because I'm still mad. And if we talk about it, I'm going to be angry with you, even though it's not your fault. I need you to just stop asking me."

"Okay. But I need to talk about it."

"I know you do. And I wish I could for you, but I can't."

"Okay. I'll stop asking to talk about that. In exchange you've got to tell me what's going on with your sister."

"I don't think I can talk about that either."

"We have to compromise somewhere."

He wanted to let it all out, all his frustrations and failures and anger, but he couldn't do that. He couldn't lay that all on her, not when he was supposed to help and protect her. It was so much easier, so much safer to just let it go, than it was to risk hurting her.

"Lindsay, it would be better if we just let this go for a while."

"No."

"It's not about you and it's not about us or our marriage-"

"But that's what it's hurting. It's hurting me and it's hurting our marriage and now it's hurting the kids too. We can't keep doing this."

He scooted across the couch and pulled her into his arms even as she fought him away.

"Lindsay, I love you. I do. And I don't want to hurt you but there's too much going on right now. I need to just get through it okay?"

"Why won't you let me help you?"

"Because you're going through things too. I can't put everything on you."

"I don't care! I don't care, Adam. I don't like this, I can't keep feeling like we're in a fight or that we're drifting apart."

"We're not. We're okay. I just need you to be patient with me. Just like I've been with you in the past."

She shook her head and wiped at her eyes, standing up from the couch.

"Okay, I'll give you time. But we can't do this in front of the kids."

"I know."

"You're the one who needs time and space or whatever so I'll just take your cues. I'm going to bed."

"Linds."

"What?"

"I'll get there. I promise."

"I know."

She started for the stairs then sighed and turned around.

"Will you come up with me?"

He nodded and made sure the door was locked before he followed her upstairs and they climbed into bed. They lay quietly side by side, a small gap between them, not touching. Over thirteen years of marriage and she couldn't remember one time when they didn't sleep in the middle together. It was cold like this.

"Adam?"

"Hmm?"

She rolled on her side and reached out for him, hating how far it was.

"Please just remember that I'll be here when you're ready. No matter how impatient I am or how upset I get, I'll still be here."

"I know."

She nodded and rolled back to her side of the bed, holding the tears back until she was certain he was asleep.