Sky lay on her bed, curled into a ball, hugging her knees against her chest.

She was still wearing the clothes that were soaked in Cody's blood, and the thick, heavy scent of iron filled the room, turning Nicholas' stomach. He had tried everything, but Sky had thrown herself into her bed and simply refused to change her clothes, take a shower, or even wash her hands—

As if she was clinging to Cody with all she had, clinging to what was left of him.

Nicholas' chest was collapsing, there wasn't enough air in this room. Sky's silence was suffocating - the only sounds that left her lips were ghost-like, desperate wails, but she hadn't uttered a word since Cody had died. Not one word. It was just like when Kat had died—

Nicholas shoved away that thought. He couldn't think about Kat now, or how Sky had been after her death. He didn't want to remember the horrible weeks and months that had followed, her silence, her tears, the day when she had tried to kill herself the first time.

But those thoughts slithered into his head nevertheless, memories he couldn't run away from. He was painfully aware of the fact that this kind of death always had a long and bloody trail. Violent death was like an infection, it spread like a sickness and all too easily caused more violent deaths.

And Sky hadn't lost just Cody, but Luke too— only a couple of weeks apart—

Devastating. Her pain cut through Nicholas' chest like a dagger, drawing all strength out of him. How could Sky pull herself together after this? How could anyone?

Nicholas would have given anything for Sky to be small again, for her troubles to be small too. He wished he was able to go back in time, to the days when he knew how to comfort her, how to keep her safe. The ache inside of his chest was tearing him apart. He wanted to hold his daughter, to tell her it was going to be okay, to convince her that there were no monsters under the bed, nothing to be feared in the darkness— but Sky had pushed him away as soon as they had gotten home. Pushed him away, and shoved away his hands, she had curled up into a ball without saying a word, but every cell of her tense body screamed leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone!

Nicholas sat on the bed next to her, feeling Sky's agony in his bones. When they had gotten home, she had been crying so hard that she had vomited in the kitchen sink, and still, she was trembling, her breathing was shallow, strained, gurgling.

If only he could help her somehow. If only they still had the meds she had used for her PTSD episodes and panic attacks, the small, white pills that always took away her demons and let her sleep, but—

There were no drugs in the house. There hadn't been since she'd gone to rehab, and Nicholas had thought it was the right decision, but— now he wasn't so sure. An awful, gnawing feeling twisted his gut - he suspected that Sky wouldn't get through this with just yoga and breathing exercises. He feared what she might do if she had to carry all that pain within her skin for days, weeks, months.

I have to call a doctor. She needs help—

But what were the doctors going to do? Give her more pills? A new wave of hopelessness hit Nicholas. He had seen where that road led but what choice did he have? God— he wished he knew what to do, but he had never felt this helpless in his life. His usual remedy to everything was a cup of hot chocolate and a Star Trek -movie, but even suggesting them right now felt impossible.

We never should have moved here. Everything's gone to Hell since we came to the Valley.

That thought was sudden and heavy, the taste of regret was sharp on his lips. He had thought this would be a fresh start for Sky, for the both of them, that here amongst people who didn't know what had happened to her, Sky would get a chance to heal. But now— things were worse than they had ever been, and Nicholas could only blame himself.

I need to move her away from here. Somewhere far away— We could go anywhere, we could move to Chicago or Hawaii or Alaska— Hell, what's even keeping us in the US? Why not move to London—

That thought was interrupted by the sharp, piercing sound of the doorbell that cut through the silence like a knife.

Nicholas glanced at Sky, but she seemed like she hadn't even heard it. She kept hugging her knees against her chest, and her sobs continued uninterrupted as Nicholas reluctantly got out of bed. The doorbell rang again, demandingly.

"I'll be right back," he said, but Sky didn't react. He wasn't sure she heard him.

Squaring his shoulders, Nicholas wiped his wet cheeks into his sleeves as he walked down the stairs. The doorbell kept ringing - the sound made his head ache, like someone was stabbing him in the ear.

I'll just get rid of them. I don't care who it is—

But it was Eli on the door.

Nicholas' heart grew heavy at the sight of the boy. He had no strength to deal with him now, he had said so on the phone, and yet— here he was, at their door, and one look at his saucer-wide eyes told Nicholas that he wanted answers.

"Eli— you shouldn't have come," he groaned nevertheless. "This isn't a good time."

Eli's glance flickered from Nicholas' face to his bloodstained hands and clothes, and his face went a shade paler. He shifted on his feet, nervous and tense as a string.

"Is it true? Is Cody— is he really dead?"

Nicholas managed a shaky nod. Dead. Cody was dead— That thought was a knife twisting his gut, he couldn't force the words through his lips. So stupid of him to let himself care about the boyfriend of his teenage daughter. He had known it wasn't going to last, and yet— Stupid. Careless. Cody had reminded Nicholas of his younger self, and he hadn't been able to stop himself from caring about the boy.

And now he was dead.

It hurt. It hurt so much that Nicholas couldn't stop the tears that made his voice wet when he spoke.

"Yeah— it's true."

"Shit—" Eli cursed, his voice barely more than a strangled breath. "Jesus— what happened? Why— why did he do it? Is Sky— shit, of course, she's not okay— Nicholas, I need to see her. Please—"

Nicholas groaned. His thoughts were a heavy, tangled mess inside of his aching head. He wasn't sure when this headache had begun, but it had grown into a dull, nauseating throb inside of his skull during the past hours. He brought a hand to rub his temple as he leaned on the doorway, searching for the right words. Why had Cody done it? He didn't know. He had no answers to give, no words that would make this better— But he knew that Sky had broken Cody's heart. Knew it must have been devastating for him.

How much of what had happened was Eli's fault? Nicholas didn't know. He didn't want to know. Blaming Sky, or Eli, wound't bring Cody back.

"Come in," he sighed and stepped aside to let the boy enter.

There was a large stain that looked like pasta sauce on Eli's shirt - an awful reminder of normalcy, of the fact that Sky had been supposed to have dinner at his place that night. She had been so happy, so excited, and now—

Nicholas' chest ached. He would have done anything to take Sky's pain away, but there was nothing he could do. He wasn't sure there was anything anyone could do. With a heavy heart, he turned to the stairs, leading the way and Eli followed in his step.

"How— how did it happen? You said he shot himself—"

"I don't know exactly," Nicholas' voice came out raspy, rough. "The police called me a couple of hours ago, that I needed to pick Sky up. They said— that Cody had shot himself. In the head, apparently. And Sky—"

"She was there?" Eli's voice shook. "What— what was she doing at his place?"

"I don't know."

"It's Valentine's Day. I was waiting for her to— to come to our date— Why— why would she go to Cody's?"

Nicholas stopped on the stairs and turned to look at Eli, something like anger stirring in his broken chest.

"I don't know. And you're not going to ask her that. Now is not the time for your jealousy. Sky just saw her ex-boyfriend die. She's covered in his blood. If you can't stomach that, then you shouldn't be here."

Eli swallowed hard. His lips trembled. "She— she saw it?"

"I don't know how much she saw," Nicholas groaned as he continued walking. "She hasn't said a word— but the police said she was trying to help him, that she was trying to—"

He couldn't finish that sentence. They had said Sky had been trying to put Cody's head back together. Nicholas' stomach was turning, he feared he would be sick. Sky's hands were still covered with a thick layer of sticky, dried blood and God knew what else. Awful. So goddamn awful— she had looked like she'd walked through a battlefield.

Again Nicholas hoped he had something to give to her, anything that would calm her down, that would let him wash her hands, her face, her hair, let him throw away those blood-soaked clothes. A doctor. He needed to call a doctor.

Eli's voice had a tremor in it. "How— how is she?"

They stopped in the hallway outside of Sky's room, and Nicholas let out a ragged breath as he heard the silent, desperate sobs through the door.

"It's bad," his voice broke with a sudden burst of emotion. "It's— really bad. She's in pieces. Eli, I know you wanted to see her, but— you can— you can still leave if you want to."

He didn't say what he really, meant - that he wouldn't think any less of him if he chose to walk away now. Sky was a mess. She had been for a long time, but now— now she was broken so badly that Nicholas had no idea how long it would take to patch her back together, if that was even possible…. And sure, Eli had made his share of mistakes in the past, but deep down he was a good kid, a nice kid, just a boy, and he didn't deserve this awful mess he'd been dragged into.

Eli's sharp jawline turned hard and he tilted up his chin, as if he understood what Nicholas meant, even if he hadn't said it out loud. The blue of his eyes was a shade darker than before.

"She needs me," he rasped. "I know she does. So I'm not gonna go anywhere, not before— before she tells me to."

With a jolt came a memory of another day, months ago— when Nicholas had stood here with Eli, trying to get into Sky's room. They had found her lifeless on the bed, in a pool of her vomit— and God, they had almost lost her. It had been so close— The memory twisted Nicholas' gut like a blade, it brought a sharp, foul taste to his lips - but he didn't try to push it away. Even after what had happened that day, Eli had never wanted to walk away from Sky.

Nicholas had to respect that.

Maybe Eli was just stubborn as Hell, but maybe— Maybe he was here now because it was true love.

Nicholas remembered how that felt. He had been young once too. Young and in love, and if someone had tried to drive him away from Elaine's deathbed, he would have burned the world to ashes.

So he just reached a hand and opened Sky's door, to let Eli in.