Erin shook her head slowly when she heard a soft knocking on her car window thirty minutes after she had ended her call with Penelope. Still, it felt like her head was a ball of coton, and she turned slightly in her seat to look out the window, trying to make out who was disturbing her that late at night. A deep frown turned down her lips when she saw both Penelope and Alex standing outside her door, and Erin let out a long breath through her nose as she opened her car door and managed to elegantly climb from the vehicle to stand in front of the two women, exhaustion bowing her shoulders forward as she waited for one of them to speak.

"Sweetling, would you please hand me that bottle?"

She turned her head to focus her gaze on Penelope, giving her a small nod. Erin felt, though, like she was moving through jelly when she extended her arm and pressed the whiskey into her waiting hands. Penelope hurriedly took hold of it before dropping it to the ground. Erin was a bit shocked when the bottle didn't break, but only had a moment to think of that before the younger woman was pulling her into a tight hug, shuddering breaths filling Erin's ears as Penelope rubbed her back in slow, soft, circles. That seemed to be enough to break open the dam on her own tears, and she burst forth in a torrent of cries as she clung to Penelope. In moments, Alex was also joining the embrace, and she subtly turned from Penelope to her oldest friend, closing her arms around Alex's waist as she continued to sob.

"We have you, Erin," Alex whispered in her ear, and she nodded as she nuzzled in closer to Alex, feeling Penelope let go of her so that she could entwine herself with Alex. "Garcia picked me up, and said that I'm to drive you to her place, since we weren't certain if you'd be in any condition to drive when she got here."

"That's fair," she whispered as she clung harder to Alex, rubbing her cheek against Alex's shoulder as she began to take longer and longer breaths in an effort to calm herself. "I'm okay now, you both can go home, and I'll go home, and we won't talk about this again."

She heard Penelope let out a little scoffing laugh, and so she turned her head to look at the younger woman once more. "You nearly lost your sobriety again, Erin, and are in a vulnerable space. Blake's going to drive your car to my place, and then we're going to have a girl's night, minus the booze, and try to help heal this shattered heart of yours a little."

Erin watched Penelope reach out and closed her eyes as she caressed her cheek, and she nodded a little as fresh tears spilled down her face. "I don't want to burden you with this. I created the whole fiasco with my lies and I do deserve whatever comes my way."

Alex exhaled a rough breath through her nose, and Erin turned her head to look at her friend. "You need to stop with the martyrdom, Erin. That attitude nearly got you killed in New York, and nearly reset your sobriety just now. Did you make mistakes in your past? Yes. But which of us haven't?" She flinched a little as Alex reached up, wondering if she was going to hit her. Instead, Alex ran her knuckles along her cheek. "And maybe one of your mistakes was the result of one of my mistakes."

She pursed her lips as she nodded. "Maybe."

"All right, let's get you over to Penelope's place. I think I heard that she was going to order us Chinese, and I've been tasked with getting us dessert and snacks. Are you ready?"

Erin looked between the two women, knowing that she couldn't fight against both of them, and gave Alex a tiny nod before going over to the passenger side of her car and getting in. From the corner of her eye, she watched as Alex and Penelope spoke for a few more moments before Alex slipped behind the wheel of her car and started the vehicle. "I expected you to be angrier with me," Erin whispered as they got underway, and Alex gave her a soft look. "I know that Spencer is your protégé, I know how close you are to him, and I know I've lied to you since we first met."

"Was it lying at that point? Or were you still healing from a broken heart?"

"Does it matter?"

Alex shrugged as she let out a long breath. "Yes. And it helps me to understand you a little better. Because you were so good with Ethan, and I treasured those moments when you came over and talked to me like an adult and also took care of Ethan so that I could get a break. You saved my sanity, but you were probably hurting yourself in the process."

"It healed me, so much, to take care of him. You didn't know what I was dealing with, because I wanted to forget that half of my heart was walking around without knowing a thing about me. I just wish that I had handled Amerithrax better, you didn't need all that stress on top of watching Ethan fade away."

"It was a kindness, when I look back on it. Because I could fuel all my rage and sorrow on you and not think about the fact that I was losing him so quickly. But a part of my heart hoped you'd somehow be at the funeral."

Erin flushed guiltily as she looked down at her lap. "I was there, at the back of the sanctuary. I left during the closing prayer, so that you wouldn't see me. I knew that I wouldn't be wanted, that I'd cause you more pain than necessary, but I had to honour Ethan's life. And I've had a tree planted in his name every year on his birthday."

"That's you?"

She nodded as she looked over at Alex. "I wanted to do something meaningful for him."

"You did." Alex slid her hand off the steering wheel and patted Erin's knee a few times before placing it back on the steering wheel once more. "Now, I was thinking that we could get some candy and chips at the store, and then stop for ice cream for all of us before we head over to Penelope's. Does that sound good?"

She nodded her head as she turned in her seat so that she could more easily watch Alex as she drove. "Did one of you tell David that you're taking care of me?"

"Garcia did, so you don't have to worry about that."

Though she was starting to feel a bit like a bobble head, Erin nodded once more before pulling out her phone and tapping a quick message to her lover. We're together, and they found me before I broke my sobriety. That's one small miracle, right? I love you.

"Do you feel better now?"

She broke out into a sheepish smile as she nodded. "I just, ever since New York, I find my emotional center off kilter, and it's harder to recover from the littlest bobbles. Not that this is a little bobble, but…"

"But it's releasing thirty odd years of guilt and worry and remorse, so it makes sense that you'd be off kilter. So what you need to do is reach out to us more. We're here to support you."

"But what about Spencer? He needs support, too."

"And we'll offer him a different sort of support. Right now, he has Dave, so that we can shore up your heart." Erin sighed a little as she curled up further in the seat, watching Alex drive towards the store. She was so grateful that she had friends like Alex and Garcia that would seek her out and make certain that she was okay, even as her life imploded around her.