Derek's heart seemed to stop the moment his ears caught the words escaping from his sister's unfeeling lips. For a moment, his body froze, unable to find the strength to react to what he had just heard. It was as if time had stopped in that instant and everything around him had plunged into a deep silence.

His eyes locked onto Addison's, searching for denial in her gaze, a sign that it was all just a horrible mistake, a foolish act from his sister to make him angry. But what he found was the reflection of anguish and pain in her blue eyes, a deep sadness that it threatened to shatter her into a thousand pieces.

"Oops..." Amelia said mockingly, stepping out of her room and leaving them both alone in the hallway.

"Derek, I..."

"Can you please explain to me what just happened? I... I don't understand anything, Addison," he said, his voice trembling. "I don't understand anything."

"Derek... oh, Derek," she whispered, a knot forming in her throat.

"Tell me it's not true. Tell me she's so drugged that she can't speak clearly. Tell me she's delirious. Addison, I... tell me it's not true."

"No..."

"Addison! Tell me it's a lie!" Tears threatened to spill from Derek's eyes, gathering at the edges of his eyelids, but he refused to let them fall. He didn't want his weakness to reveal the pain overwhelming him at that moment.

"It's true..." she whispered, making an enormous effort not to break down in front of him.

"Is it true?!"

She nodded. Below, Mark, Callie, Lenny, and Richard listened silently, unsure of what to say.

"So it is true?!" he repeated, wanting with all his strength for her to deny it.

"I lost a baby, Derek."

"No..."

Addison's voice echoed in his mind, repeating over and over the same words that had left him breathless. "I lost a baby, Derek." Each syllable was a direct blow to his soul.

The silence between them seemed to grow with each passing second, heavy with unbearable weight. Derek bit his lower lip hard, desperately trying to hold back a sob that threatened to escape. Pain and sadness gathered in his chest, threatening to overflow at any moment.

"I... should've told you earlier... I... Derek, I'm so sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am."

Addison's crying shattered the silence in the hallway with its immense pain. He now understood everything. Now all the strange behaviors she had exhibited lately made sense.

"I'm sorry..." she kept saying.

He slowly walked towards her and looked at her, his eyes filled with sorrow. He couldn't help but reach out to her face, gently caressing her tear-streaked cheek. Even though his heart ached for the loss, he was willing to hold her up. He knew she needed him.

Addison clung tightly to his arms, just as she hadn't done in a long time. Derek enveloped her and drew her even closer. He succumbed to the immense pain he felt, allowing tears to flow freely down his face. He allowed himself, for the first time, to show his vulnerability in front of her.

Together they embraced, holding on to each other in that moment of darkness. Their sobs intertwined, creating a melody of shared pain. In that hug, Derek felt the bond that tied them together, that unbreakable commitment to be there for one another, no matter how devastating the storm.

~•~

"Amelia... seriously?" Mark asked as soon as he saw her come down, still moved by the scene they had just witnessed.

"Oh, come on. Are you gonna give me a lecture now? What are you doing here? Who called you? Don't you know this is Derek's family and not yours? Why don't you get yourself something of your own and stop trying to steal his whole life?"

"I'm here because we agreed to be here for you. And I'm here because you don't know how lonely many people are... many go to work... go to work, go home... they might have friends, but in their lives... they don't share as much, don't care as much... don't support each other like you all do on a regular day... and yes, I know it's Derek's family, but it's also mine. We are family."

"You stopped being family to me when you slept with my brother's wife."

"You have a family here and... I see you're destroying it. If you continue on this path, you won't sink alone, Amelia. You will drag everyone who loves you down with you."

Amelia simply turned around and walked to one of the downstairs bathrooms, where she locked herself in again.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Mark asked, looking at Lenny.

"She'll go into withdrawal soon..."

"What?"

"She's using. At certain point... she's going to into withdrawal. That's our chance. We just have to keep her here until that happens."

"Yeah, but she's not high right now..." Callie said timidly.

"Yes, she is," Lenny insisted.

"No, she's not..." she repeated.

"She is. She is. She'll be coming through that door any minute. Her high will be on its way out and we stand between her and getting out of here to get more drugs. She'll be a little bit sweaty, irritable, twitchy, tweaking. My guess she's an oxy girl... Nothing like oxycodone to turn a nice girl into a bitch on wheels... any minute... she'll walk through that door."

Everyone fell silent, looking at each other, not knowing what to say. What were they supposed to say?

~•~

"The day after Olive's birthday, I started feeling nauseous... the food didn't sit well with me, and I wanted to throw up all the time... I thought it was a normal reaction from my body due to the stress we had experienced that day with Olive's poisoning. Then, the next day Bizzy called me and completely threw me off balance. Arleth cried the entire flight from New York to Seattle, and... I thought all those emotional factors were affecting my digestive system. That's why I didn't pay much attention to it... when we were in Seattle, that same night when we got back, Amelia urged me to take a pregnancy test. I... I don't know. I don't know how she realized it before I did, but... I took the test and... I was pregnant. And at that moment I felt like my life was completely crumbling..." Addison said, sitting on the edge of her bed. They had moved into her room.

"Addie..."

"I didn't understand what had happened... I didn't understand how life worked... It seemed absurd to me that I had been trying for over a year to conceive Arleth without success, and this... happened without even thinking. I started doing calculations in my mind, connecting dates and encounters, and... I think I got pregnant during Thanksgiving week. Do you remember that quick encounter in your office? I think it was that day..."

"I remember..."

"I was terrified, Derek. I felt so irresponsible, such a bad mother... Olive had just been hospitalized due to a serious oversight on our part, a social worker had interviewed her to evaluate if we were abusive parents... I could've lost custody of my daughter... then Arleth had cried the whole flight... I could feel the furious stares of the passengers piercing the back of my neck saying, 'oh, that's a bad mother, she can't even control her daughter'. Truly, I didn't know how to manage my daughters. It was all chaos... And you... you were at the hospital all day, you were the chief, and you left me home with the girls all day. How was I supposed to handle a third baby when I could barely manage the two I already had?"

"We would've figured it out, Addie. We always figure things out."

"I knew you were going to say that. I knew you wanted another baby; you've always expressed wanting a big family, and that... that terrified me, you know? I grew up in a dysfunctional family, where my closest maternal figure was just a nanny instead of my own mother. How was I supposed to handle three kids? I didn't even know how to be a good mom..."

"You are an excellent mother..."

"The thing is... I kept the baby secret to myself until I decided what to do. I wanted to listen to my inner voice, I wanted to reason it out, I wanted to know what my heart wanted before I communicated it to you. I needed that moment alone with myself. And so almost three weeks went by... Three weeks where my head, and my stomach, didn't stop tormenting me. I felt like I was in a movie, replaying flashbacks of my previous pregnancies over and over in my mind. Moments with Olive in my belly, moments with Arleth... they tormented me all day. They didn't even let me get a wink of sleep at night. And at the same time, the symptoms of the new pregnancy didn't cease. I would wake up to vomit every morning, without you noticing. And at night... cravings would hit me... it was as if the baby knew I was hiding it and wanted to make itself known. It demanded attention and made me cry inconsolably for pickles in the middle of the night..."

"I really didn't notice... God, if I had known... I would've been there with you, Addison. I wouldn't have let you go through all that alone."

"I know. But I needed to go through it alone to know what I wanted... and one night, suddenly, my heart gave me the answer. I managed to connect with the baby in a deeper way and... I started to love it. I began to love it intensely, just like I loved Olive, just like I loved Arleth. I started imagining all the future experiences we would have with that baby, being a family of five. I liked that new odd number in our family. I started visualizing Olive and Arleth playing with the baby, taking care of it. Teaching it things, sharing toys."

She made a small smile with sadness, and Derek tenderly caressed her face. It pained him terribly to see her like this, so sad, so vulnerable.

"I jumped without a parachute into the abyss and decided to keep it. And... I decided to do it in the early morning. You were sleeping, and... I regret every day of my life not waking you up to tell you I was pregnant. I didn't want to take away the few hours of sleep you had left before going to work, and... I guess I fell asleep. When I woke up, you had already gone. I took the phone and dialed your office number at the hospital, and... you answered. Again, I regret not telling you, even if it was over the phone... We agreed we would see each other for lunch, and I stopped by an Italian restaurant for mushroom risotto."

"Oh, the risotto you were talking about the other day..."

"Even though I wasn't far along, I had some really strong cravings. One of them was for risotto... I bought it to celebrate at your office that we were gonna be parents again. I walked, excited, to the third floor... I remember talking to the baby, thinking about their future, how they would look. About their physical features... I don't know. The thing is, before I got there, you surprised me by appearing in the hallway..."

"I remember that. You were wandering alone around the hospital, and I nearly fainted when I saw you there... I locked you in the cleaning room because we were in lockdown."

"You locked me in the cleaning room... and I was left alone there, with the baby in my womb and... terrified. Thinking about our daughters who were with Amelia in the cafeteria, thinking about you, walking down the halls like you were invincible, without any protection and... then I saw Amelia for a moment. She was looking for you frantically. She wanted to reach you to warn you that the shooter was Gary Clark."

"And what happened to the girls? Did Amelia leave them alone?"

"No. They stayed with Mark. He made sure to keep them safe the whole time."

"We owe our lives to Mark..."

"We do..." she sighed and wiped away another couple of tears that had escaped from her eyes, "You know the rest of the story... you were shot... my world collapsed at that moment. Everything stopped making sense... everything became chaotic... you were still conscious, and I begged you to keep answering me... we took you to the OR, you asked me to kiss you... and I asked you to stay with me... and... then it happened."

"Did you lose the baby while I was in the OR?" he asked in a soft voice.

Addison nodded sadly.

"I feel so guilty for that... maybe I overreacted, maybe I shouldn't have thrown myself on the floor and screamed... maybe I should have thought a little more about the baby before doing everything I did..."

"Addie, it's not your fault..."

"Owen was shot at that moment... I made an effort I shouldn't have made to help him onto the stretcher and... we went to the OR and... while I was assisting him... I started having strong cramps in my uterus... they felt like labor contractions, but a little less painful and... then I saw the blood running between my legs and... I felt so scared, Der. Like I never had before. I knew what was happening, yet... I was afraid of dying at that moment, bleeding out. I was afraid you would die too, and I would die, and our daughters would be left orphaned," she started to cry again. "I had never been afraid for myself like that before... Yet, I acted recklessly. I took some feminine pads and went into the OR to be with you..."

"You were there by my side while you were having a miscarriage?"

She nodded her head and Derek felt his heart clench even more. Imagining that scene was incredibly painful.

"After that... I don't remember much of what happened. I had lost a lot of blood and... I lost consciousness. I only know that when I woke up, I was in exam room 2, with an on-call OB asking for my consent to begin a dilation and curettage... I had requested an ultrasound... I needed to see with my own eyes that the pregnancy had ended because a part of me still refused to believe it... so the doctor turned on the screen and..."

Addison paused to catch her breath and continue. Remembering those moments in her head and repeating them aloud in front of her husband was much more painful than she had imagined.

"And there was no heartbeat... the embryo... the embryo wasn't complete and..."

Derek hugged her tightly again, feeling the pain in every word she spoke.

"I understand... you don't have to continue, Addie."

"I know... it's just that... it was in that very moment, when I saw it for the first time, that I had to say goodbye... I couldn't even hear its heart... I couldn't see my little light shining, and it was already extinguished forever..."

"Addie..."

"Amelia was by my side the whole time, holding my hand... she was my only support at that moment..."

"Did she stay with you?"

"Yes... and she promised me she wouldn't say anything about what had happened... I... Derek, I truly regret not telling you. Keeping this secret for weeks nearly destroyed my physical and emotional well-being."

"Why did you do it? Why didn't you tell me?"

"How was I supposed to tell you, Der? You had just survived a complicated surgery. You were in the ICU... we were focused on your recovery. How could I go and tell you that I lost a pregnancy?"

"But you should have told me anyway... as soon as I got home."

"I know... I tried several times, but... I couldn't. I didn't wanna see those eyes filled with suffering again and... here we are... suffering again..."

"Thanks to Amelia's subtlety... always so considerate..."

"I think... I think it's better that we go back downstairs, Derek. We'll talk about this another time..."

~•~

"Whatever you have to say, just spit it out so I can go. I don't have all day," Amelia said, appearing in the living room and sitting on one of the sofas.

"Okay..." Lenny started, "Everyone here will take turns to speak. Everyone is here because they wanna help you. So try to keep that in mind. This is not about anyone judging you. This-"

Amelia laughed sarcastically, interrupting her.

"Okay, lady, you have clearly never met these people."

"Amelia..." Mark murmured.

"Fine! Who's taking first?"

"Well... I could start..." Callie said.

"Perfect, the ortho surgeon's words. My favorite."

"Well... I know we're not very close, so I don't have anything personal to... umm... so I just... I just wanted to ask you if you're feeling okay. Because... you're sweating and your foot is shaking..."

"Well, your wife is cheating on you with a locum. So... I think I could be worse off."

"What are you saying?"

"Amelia…" Mark interrupted.

"It's fine... I don't know what she's talking about, but... it's okay." Callie continued. "She's scared, she's lashing out... my patients after suffering trauma also behave like this, even worse than she does and..."

"Great. Are you looking for applause? What are you doing here, anyway? Do you also think you're family just because you got pregnant by this man-whore who calls himself Derek's brother?"

"Amelia!" Mark shouted.

"It's okay, Mark. It's fine."

"All I can think is... why didn't Gary Clark shoot you instead of my brother? If you're always trying to steal his life, why didn't you steal that shot too? You would've done the world a favor, 'cause you know... you're like an idiot. Maybe you're a waste of life. Maybe all this tragedy could've been avoided if for just one moment, just one moment, you had placed yourself where you needed to be. But no... now you're here trying to give me morality lessons. What face do you have, Mark? What face do you dare to say something to me when we all know you're a waste of a human being?"

"Okay, I think it's best if we change speakers..." Richard said, trying to mediate between them.

"Really, Richard? What are you doing here? Are you here to tell everyone how you used to get drunk on vodka before going into surgery and Meredith Grey covered for you? Or do you wanna tell how you always cover up the stupid things she does just because you feel guilty for sleeping with her mother while your wife was waiting at home? Do you really wanna come give me morality lessons after what you did? You're one of the worst. You're all crap!" she shouted with fury.

"Amelia..." Derek said, coming down the stairs followed by Addison.

"Oh, here comes the King of Assholes. Shouldn't you be crying in the corners over your wife's dead fetus?"

"Can you please calm down and stop shouting? You sound like a rabid dog."

"Is that all there is? Is this your great intervention, brother? Just screwed-up people telling me how screwed up I am? Because last I checked, I'm a world-class neurosurgeon with a near-perfect surgical record. Much better than yours, Derek! But you'll never admit it because you're a narcissistic bastard who thinks he's superior to me just because he's a man. So, if you wanna intervene, fine. I can go all day."

"Can you?" Lenny asked, in a peaceful voice, "go all day?"

"Are we talking in riddles now? Are you The Ridder? Are you riddling me stuff right now? Because I might need a pen to write this down."

Lenny started laughing.

"I gotta admit, I'm king of loving you right now," the gray-haired woman said between laughs. "I am loving you. You are winning better than Charlie Sheen. As long as I overlook the fact that you're a giant oxy addict who's killing herself..." she said in a much more serious tone, "everyone here is in agreement. You will no longer be enabled."

"Enabled? Is that one of your special SAT words?"

"I will call Mom, and our sisters, and everyone in the family will find out what you're doing," Derek said, approaching her, "and then I'll call the Medical Board and report you. Because I love you Amelia, but I won't love you to death."

"Water?" Mark asked, offering a bottle of water to Amelia which she quickly took in her hands and got up from the sofa.

She stepped away a few paces to drink the water, but the moment she twisted off the cap, she could smell something peculiar inside the bottle. She sighed in fury and turned to look at them. Did they think she was stupid?

"Bupe. Nice little drug... you dissolve it in water..." she took the bottle and began to examine it closely, "it'll make withdrawal symptoms go away immediately... it also prevents any drug from getting me high for 72 hours... excellent work. Big Pharma has done us all a favor."

"Amelia, please, it can help you..." Addison murmured.

"It will give you the chance to listen to us, without being high... without having to go through withdrawal," Mark added.

"I told you, I'm drug-free. I haven't done it in several days! I'm not going through withdrawal. I'm clean!"

"Then take the buprenorphine," Derek challenged her.

"No."

"Amelia, just try it..." Richard said.

"Please?" Addison pleaded, looking at her seriously.

Amelia took the bottle in her hands again, nervously.

"Do you want me to stay and listen so I can be sober?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Yes," Addison replied.

"Okay..." she said walking back toward them and sitting on the sofa, "get me some oxy..." she asked with her head down.

"What?" Derek asked.

"Get me some oxy," she said while throwing the bottle at her brother. "And I'll stay as long as you want."

~•~

"There's no way I'll give her drugs in my own house," Derek said, arms crossed.

They were all gathered in the kitchen, debating what to do about Amelia's request.

"Maybe it's the only way she'll cooperate..." Addison murmured quietly.

"Are we seriously considering doing this?" Derek looked at her, confused.

"What if we make it worse?" Mark asked, "we don't know what's in her system. We could cause an overdose."

"We're talking about giving her 40 milligrams of oxycodone, not injecting her with heroin," Addison said, "we're five doctors, she'll be in good hands..."

"No. We're not doing that," Derek interrupted. "We won't support her addiction! Just because she lacks discipline and acts like a child..."

"She's an addict! She's sick. It's a disease, Derek," Addison said impatiently.

"Okay. Alright, I think we should vote," Callie suggested, "those in favor of giving her oxy?"

Addison raised her hand a little hesitantly, but no one else did.

"I don't know if I should vote, given my condition..." Richard said shyly. The whisper of his words mingled with the heavy air that hung in the room, accentuating the atmosphere of doubt and concern.

Mark, breaking the silence, raised his hand decisively.

"If Addison thinks it should be done... I'll support her decision. So... I vote for the drugs..."

"Seriously, Mark?" Derek said, annoyed.

"Who else?" Callie asked again.

"You have no idea what you're doing," Derek, showing his displeasure over the situation, expressed his disagreement clearly and decided to leave the kitchen. His abrupt exit was a clear reflection of how difficult it was for him to accept a decision he didn't agree with.

Addison followed him.

"Derek, wait."

"No, Addison!"

"Look, we have different opinions, but..."

"This isn't about opinions. It's about doing what's right. And drugging Amelia isn't the solution if we want to get her out of this addiction!"

"And what do you want us to do? Lock her up here forever? Do you think addicts should be institutionalized instead of treated?"

"I think Amelia needs to take responsibility for her actions."

"Do you think you should take responsibility for your heart surgery?"

"That's not the same."

"Why not?"

"Because that was an accident, it was a shooting and... it wasn't something I could control."

"And her situation is a disease. She can't control it."

"That's your opinion."

"Derek, you're a doctor. You know how drugs work in the body. Every body reacts differently..."

"That 'disease' doesn't show up unless you're doing drugs. Amelia has control over that, right? She chose to take drugs the first time, just like she has the option to choose not to today."

"Wow... do you really think people choose that misery? Do you think people choose that life? Do you think she chooses to inject drugs into her veins and give up the job she fought for years to have? To destroy her family? To kill herself a little more every day? Do you really think someone who isn't sick would consciously choose that? Is that what you think?" she shouted.

"Addison..."

"The shooting ruined our lives! Is it so hard for you to see that?" tears started to pool in her eyelids, blurring her vision. "You were shot, you took the biggest hit, but... the shockwaves from that shot reached all of us in this family. It destroyed all of us inside..."

"Addie..."

"It hurt all of us and we're all trying to move forward. Each of us has our way of doing it and... some are stronger than others. I admire that you have the strength to keep going despite the tragedy. But the truth is... we're all just as messed up inside."

Addison turned to walk away, but Derek grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I'm sorry..."

"Do you understand that we didn't choose this? Do you understand that we're trying to piece ourselves back together? To try to be who we once were? We need help to do that... and sometimes... sometimes that help comes at the cost of harmful substances."

"Addison..."

"Stop Addisoning me! Do you know why I understand Amelia? Do you know why I support her? 'Cause I know what hell she's going through! Because I've known her since she was a twelve-year-old girl. That thing over there used to be a person, okay? and she was sweet, and she was funny, and I took her to get her ears pierced, and I-I… I did her hair for prom, and I taught her all about birth control when she didn't know who to ask. And we were sisters, you know. I understand her because we're sisters! We're closer than any kind of sisters! I know what she's going through! Because I know how much she adores you! Because I was there that day and I know what it feels like to see with your own eyes the person you love most in your life get shot!"

"Addie, calm down. Please."

"I can't, Derek. I can't go on pretending that day didn't tear us apart forever! I lost our baby, I almost lost you, and I don't want to lose Amelia too! If she wants drugs... I'll give them to her. But I don't want to lose her! I don't want to live through another loss!"

"Listen, you need to calm down..."

"Gary Clark pointed his gun at me too."

"What?!"

"When you were unconscious... he pointed the gun at me. And Amelia... Amelia stood in front of me."

"She did that?"

"She wanted to protect the baby..."

"Oh... was Amelia willing to give her life for the baby?"

"Yes. And for you too... she loves you so much, Derek. You can't imagine how much she loves you."

"It doesn't show."

"Amelia... she doesn't know how to express her feelings. She doesn't want to show vulnerability in front of others. She doesn't want you to see her suffer... she... she started using after the shooting. She couldn't stand living in a reality without her brother and... I guess it got out of hand. She has a problem, Derek. It's a disease. You think it's something against you or your family, but really... she's an addict and she can't help it. She needs containment, she needs us to be here to support her..."

"And you think the containment she needs is drugs?"

"If I need to give her some oxy so she can shut up and listen, to make her reason and not leave, then yes. Great. Fine. I'll be her drug dealer! I just want her back. Do you understand that?"

Derek nodded and began to move away from Addison with determination. The weight of the situation was heavy on his shoulders, a difficult burden to bear. His mind was overwhelmed by the reality surrounding them. He knew he couldn't let the storm that loomed ahead sweep them away without a fight.

"Where are you going?" she asked, following him cautiously.

Derek looked at her intensely, letting his eyes reflect all the insecurity and anguish within him.

"We have some oxycodone in the upstairs cabinet," he replied, his voice trembling.

His heart raced, and he felt a lump in his throat. He knew he couldn't face what was coming without her by his side. He reached out a shaking hand toward her, and Addison took it firmly. Their crystalline eyes reflected the same fear and determination that dwelled in Derek's.

~•~

Once they had the pill in their hands, Addison and Derek walked towards Amelia. She stood there, arguing heatedly with Mark and attempting to leave. Derek's heart sank upon seeing her so dejected, so vulnerable amidst the turmoil.

"Oh, Addie. I love you, Addie. I understand why everyone loves you," Amelia said, her excitement evident at the sight of her sister-in-law offering her the drug.

"What are you doing?" Mark asked, confused.

"Shut up, Mark. Thank you, Addie. Thank you," Amelia took the pill in her hands and began to walk away.

"Oh no. Come here," Derek demanded.

"What?" Amelia turned back, bewildered.

"Do you want to get high? Do it in front of everyone who cares about you. Show them who you really are... or don't get high. Show them who you wish to be. It is your choice."

Amelia fell silent for a few moments, immersed in her thoughts about what she should do. The look of concern on Addison's face made her feel guilty, but the gaze from her brother propelled her onward. Just to challenge him. Just to annoy him. Just to prove to him that he did not have the power to dictate her life.

Determined, she took a few steps toward the kitchen and placed the orange pill on the cold surface of the countertop. She ensured that everyone present could see it clearly, aware that her action would not go unnoticed. However, her act was not a meaningless challenge; it was the result of an internal struggle that had been brewing for some time.

She took the bottom of a wooden pepper grinder and began smashing the pill with force and determination, not stopping until it was reduced to small bits of powder. The intensity of her blows perfectly reflected the conflict raging within her. She felt a mix of emotions: anger, sadness, helplessness.

Once the pill was turned to powder, Amelia gently lifted the small white line she had formed and brought it closer to her nose. Without hesitating for a moment, she inhaled deeply, immediately feeling the powder enter her system and begin to take effect.

The atmosphere filled with an uncomfortable silence. Addison and Derek stood frozen, unable to react after witnessing such a shocking scene. Their eyes met, searching for an explanation on each other's faces, but all they found was astonishment and confusion.

Notes

Hey, guys. Amelia's intervention was almost the same as what happened in Private Practice, adapting to the characters and the environment she lives in. I feel like it was a very delicate moment, and I wanted to respect it almost in its entirety.

I wrote this story almost two years ago and made some decisions that I wouldn't make today. I know some of you read it when I originally posted it, and the intervention was quite different from what I've included now, but for the reason I mentioned above, I decided to change it.

I wanted to thank you for all the support I've had during this time. A big shoutout to the girls from the twitter gc, and to those who are always on ig. Love u, guys.

And now, well... the worst has already happened. And although what's next won't be easy, things are definitely going to get better for Addison, Derek, Amelia, and the girls. There are still seven chapters and an epilogue before we say goodbye to this story.

Thank you for reading and have a lovely day!