Orion looked up as a pair stumbled out of the stall. Two men, one of whom he recognized quite well. His mop of messy blonde curls looked like a birds nest in disarray as he stumbled out of the restroom, completely ignoring Orion's presence. Orion shook his hands dry, "I wonder if Marco knows Dylan is cheating on him," he said aloud as he reached for a paper towel.

He frowned as he thought about the consequences that could and would come with telling Marco about what he'd seen. When it came to this situation most advice givers would advice him to stay out of it, that it wasn't his concern. He agreed with that common advice but made a promise to himself that if Dylan were to hurt Marco anymore, he would take action. It's just not something that's fair to someone that'd just grown as his friend.

-X-

"Ellie!" shrieked Kylie as the little girl rushed at the redhead and wrapped her arms tightly around her tiny waist. Ellie smiled as she looked down at the preteen who today was sporting a green bandana that matched her green thermal top. "You're early today," Kyle observed as she grabbed Ellie's hand and walked with her to their group therapy session.

Ellie smiled, "I got tired of being late," she laughed. Ellie adjusted the shoulder strap of her book bag. "I like the new bandana," Ellie complimented as Kylie blushed with the statement.

"Thanks, Mom bought it for me," Kyle smiled brightly, "she says she's going to get one in every color until my hair grows back because I don't like wearing the wigs."

Ellie smiled, but inside she was frowning, because at that moment, it seemed like everyone in the world had a mother that was more responsible and caring than her own. Ellie slumped down into a metal folding chair and watched as other patients of Rhonda's entered the room and began filling the seats. Rhonda walked in dressed simply in jeans and a t-shirt, carrying a backpack filled with her case notes and her discussion topics for the day.

"Okay, I want everyone to split up with a new partner today for a few exercises and then we'll pull back into the group," Rhonda said as she checked off the attendance.

Callie walked over and sat down next to Ellie; she looked over at Kylie and smiled, and "Mind if I take her off your hands today?" she asked the small girl.

Kylie smiled, "that's fine I'll go keep Lizzie company," and skipped across the room.

"Hey Nash," Callie said pulling out a cigarette and slipping it behind her ear, for later. Ellie stood up and positioned herself so that she was sitting Indian style on the folding metal chair. "How've you been El?" Callie asked inquisitively, it'd been a while since the two had had a good talk. The last actually being a week or so prior, while riding the bus.

"It's going alright" Ellie answered.

"and how's your friend?" Callie asked referring to her friend, the blade.

"It's good, haven't really even thought about her in a while."

Callie smiled and licked her ruby-red lips, "good to hear."

Ellie smiled, "I'm actually thinking of going back to work for the station during the summer, the one from my Co-Op."

Callie smiled and nodded, "sounds like you've got a lot figured out."

"What about you? Aren't you finishing up classes before summer break?"

Callie nodded, "you know the norm, finishing up some of my photo-journalism courses and then picking up a few for the summer, you know, to keep busy and what not." Callie shrugged. Rhonda walked passed and tossed a pack of cards into Callie's lap.

"Twenty-Questions...go" Rhonda said before walking off to another pair.

Ellie and Callie looked at each other and laughed.

OoO0Ooo

Ellie stepped off the bus and shuffled her feet as she walked to her house. Slipping the key in the door and gently touching the door knob she suddenly felt ill. Almost like she knew that she'd be upset by the scene she'd encounter while walking through the door. Ellie opened the door and closed her eyes as she walked into the foyer. "Mom?" Ellie called out. When she received no response two conclusions jumped into her head, one her mother wasn't home and two her mother was drunker than sailor and passed out in one of the rooms of the house. Ellie dropped her keys on the end table in the foyer and dropped her bag by the stairs as she walked to the kitchen, where she found her mother hunched over the kitchen table, a bottle of tequila clenched tightly in one hand and a shot glass in the other.

She rolled her eyes as she trudged over to the table and lightly shook her mother. "Mom," Ellie said shaking her harder when she got no response. Ellie rolled her mother's head gently to the side and found that she'd thrown up and had been lying next to the small pool of vomit on the kitchen table. "Mom!" Ellie said more frantically. Ellie sat Judy up and gently smacked her face in an attempt to rouse her. There was no response, even though Ellie noticed that she was breathing, barely, but just enough to suffice. Ellie backed away slowly visibly shaking as she stumbled around the kitchen looking for the phone.

Ellie grabbed the cordless phone and quickly dialed 9-1-1. "I think my mom has alcohol poisoning," Ellie said as calmly as she could manage. She listened intently to the EMS operator's instructions and breathed a sigh of relief as the operator told her an ambulance had been disbanded.

-X-

It was a little after midnight when Ellie stumbled up to the Cameron home. Dropping an oversized purse and messenger bag beside her she slumped down on the wooden stairs she dropped her head into her hands rubbing her temples. "Well you've really done it this time, mother." She said aloud. She frowned as she thought about the conversation she had at the hospital when her mother finally woke.

Judy Nash sat up slowly, moaning in discomfort as she took in her surroundings, "where am I?" she asked as she saw Ellie cuddling her knees as she sat in chair in the corner. Ellie looked up, her red-hair disheveled from the constant stressful tugging she'd done as the doctors worked on her.

"You're in the hospital mother, you had alcohol poisoning."

Judy frowned at her daughter, "don't give me an attitude Ellie."

"Wow, could you be any more…" Ellie groaned, "I don't even know why I'm still here." She dropped her feet to the floor and stood up. "You don't get it, do you Mom, I found you passed out in a pool of your own vomit, you almost drank yourself to death."

Judy closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, "well I'm fine now Eleanor, I'm ready to go home."

"Well if they even let you go home, I'm not going with you." Ellie said sternly.

"Oh? And where else would you go?" Judy said getting angry, "to your white trash boyfriend and his brother?" Judy rolled her eyes, "no Eleanor, you're coming home with me."

Ellie's hands curled into fists, "it's Ellie, Mom, and yes, I'm going to go stay with Sean until you either clean up your act, or Daddy comes home, I'm sick of worrying about whether or not I'll come home and find you dead." Judy glared at her daughter.

"Ellie?" Tracker said stumbling outside in a pair of wrinkled pajama pants, ruffling his short messy hair as Ellie looked up, her eyes red and swollen from rubbing to keep from crying. "You okay?" he asked. Kemmie came stumbling out the screen door behind Tracker to find Ellie sitting on the wooden steps and helped the tired and stressed girl to her feet.

"Sean's inside on the couch, why don't you go in," she said gently, but was taken by surprise when Ellie turned to the young woman and wrapped her arms around her tightly in a hug, and started pouring tears into her tank top.

Tracker rubbed his face awake as he ushered the girls inside and grabbed Ellie's bag and purse and dropped them just inside the door while watching as Sean stirred awake from his position on the couch, lounged back in a pair of loose boxer shorts, and jumped to his feet at the sight of his upset girlfriend.

"She's in the hospital," Ellie choked out as she tears subsided. Sean hugged her and gently rubbed her back. "The stupid bitch almost drank herself to death." Sean smirked as she referred to her mother as a stupid bitch but continued to console her. He eased her onto the couch and laid down, pulling her head to his bare chest to lay down with him while Tracker and Kemmie watched on.

-X-

"Alex we need to talk," Jay said, watching his reflection in the tinted windows of his Civic. He ripped his hat off his head and crumpled it in his hand. "No," he groaned trying to think about how to talk to Alex about the Amy situation. As much of a pretentious prick as he was, he loved Alex, he respected her, and Amy was annoying him, 'at least if Alex knows…' he thought to himself, 'she'd kick her ass, and I won't have to worry.' It made sense in his head. After all, he'd never hit a girl, he decided he'd leave that to Alex. He turned back to his tinted window, "Lexxi…" he paused.

"Yea Jay?" Alex said walking up and pulling him into a kiss.

"Oh hey, Lexxi, babe," he said kissing her a second time.

"Jay…were you just talking to yourself?" she asked tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear and smirking at him while she adjusted the shoulder strap of her book bag.

"Uh, no…"

"Do you feel like skipping today?" she smiled.

Jay looked at her and smirked, "I'm for it babe, if you are." He said happily. He never could turn her down when she smiled. He unlocked the doors to his Civic and walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for Alex to climb in. Crawling into his seat he put the key into the ignition and started his car, pulling out of the DCS parking lot. "So, where are we going?" he asked.

"Somewhere…to talk,"

Jay turned to her nervously, "about?"

Alex rolled her eyes, "I might as well just say it,... I'm late."

"For school? But it's your idea to skip…"

"No Jay not for school," Alex said glaring at him, "my vagina isn't bleeding," she said bluntly. And braced herself as Jay slammed on his brakes before he could run a red light.

"you're…"

"pregnant?" Alex said, "yes, Jay."

"I mean, are you sure, I thought you were on the pill," Jay said anxiously as the light turned green and he sped through the intersection. Alex, noticing his frantic driving asked him to pull over.

"I'm sure Jay, I've taken like three tests and I have a doctor's appointment today."

"but I mean, you're on the pill, did you like skip a day or something?"

Alex stared at him in disbelief, "the pill isn't totally effective Jayson"

Jay looked at her as she parked the car, "is it even mine?"

Alex was silent for a few moments and then began tugging at the handle on the door, trying to open it. She kicked the dashboard and turned to Jay, "unlock it, Jayson." Jay unlocked the doors and she climbed out, slammed the door and kicked the door, leaving a dent.

Jay turned off the ignition and angrily got out of the car and walked around to look at the dent she'd left, his gaze following her as she walked down the street, "are you crazy!" he shouted, "you left a fucking dent!"

Alex spun around, "fuck you Jay."

"Well you know since you're going to be a fucking bitch about this, I've been fucking Amy!" Jay said angrily as he measured the dent with his hands, wondering if he could pull it out. Alex glared at him, but said nothing. She just shook her head and walked down the street towards the Planned Parenthood clinic to get a proper pregnancy test. Jay slumped down next to his car and pounded the back of his head against the dent Alex had left. "I'm fucked," he said to himself.

-X-

Joey and Craig sat in the office of Dr. Rhonda Crescent. Craig looked stressed and tired, his brown hair a mess atop his head, his eyes red from lack of sleep, and his hands raw from the constant nervous rubbing. Joey placed a comforting hand on Craig's shoulder as they waited for Rhonda to enter and give them the results of the mental tests they exercised.

The door opened and Rhonda walked in and sat down at her desk, "well Mr. Jeremiah, Craig…I've gone over the results thoroughly and it looks as though…" she looked at Craig, "you're bipolar."

Craig furrowed his eyes, "so I'm crazy?" Craig shook his head, " well that's just great."

"No Craig, you're not crazy, you just have a chemical imbalance and it's very treatable with some therapy and medication." Rhonda said in a comforting tone.

Craig remained silent for a moment, and Joey spoke up, "so he takes whatever medication is necessary and he's fine."

Rhonda turned to Joey, "no it's not a simple as that, we need to fine the right medication for Craig, and hopefully with some therapy sessions he can learn to adjust to his condition, I'm going to start you off with." Rhonda reached for her prescription pad and wrote him, "a prescription for Lithium, and then we'll see how that works for you."

She handed the prescription sheet to Joey and then reached down to her bottom drawer and pulled out a composition notebook. She turned to Craig, "do you keep a journal, Craig?" she asked.

Craig shrugged, "online at school…" he said dejectedly.

Rhonda smiled, "that's good, but I want you to write in here, write about how the meds make you feel, about anything you want," she said sweetly, and looked at her calendar, "I would like to see you every Thursday for a private session with me, and on Wednesdays for a group session."

Craig groaned, "alright."

Rhonda smiled again, "buck up Craig, I promise you, we'll get you feeling better."

Craig attempted to smile and popped to his feet and followed Joey out the door. As they exited Middleburough Medical Center, Craig drug his feet to the car and curled up in the passenger seat as Joey started the car.

"We'll pick up your prescription and then head home, do you want anything special for dinner?" Joey asked, trying to soften the blow of the news they'd just received.

Craig shook his head, "not hungry."

Joey looked at his step-son and frowned as he pulled out of the parking lot and into traffic. This was not something he expected for his family to deal with. "You sure?" Joey asked, "I mean I can pick up something up on the way back…"

"No…I'm fine," Craig said in a rather melancholy tone, rubbing his hands and picking at his skin to keep from getting upset.

"Alright," Joey agreed, "but if you want anything, just let me know."

Craig attempted to smile, "alright."

-X-

Ellie laid curled up in Sean's arms as they lounged on the couch. He gently played with her long red hair, twirling it between his fingers as he watched her sleep. Kissing her forehead he eased her up into his lap as he sat up and slipped an arm under her leg and one under her arm and rose to his feet, carrying her to his bedroom and letting her curl up in his bed before walking out into the kitchen, scratching at his stomach as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of orange juice and taking a swig before being slapped on the head from behind.

"You and your brother are both alike," Kemmie complained, "use a glass!"

Tracker walked into the kitchen and swiped the carton from his brother and received glares from his girlfriend as he took a drink. Tracker laughed as he put the carton away and then turned to his brother, "she alright?" he asked.

"Yea, she's sleeping, mind if we skip classes tomorrow?" Sean asked, hoping this would get him a day off of school.

"Sean, the years just ending, go get sleep, suck it up," Tracker said kicking him towards his room.

Sean laughed, "alright, alright," he said rubbing his rear, where Tracker had kicked him and returned to his room and crawled into bed with Ellie, wrapping an arm around her waist and gently rubbing the skin above the waist band of her jeans. Ellie stirred in her sleep and rolled towards him.

"Sean…" she moaned in her sleep as she began to rouse awake.

"Yea Els…" he said softly as he nuzzled his nose into her hair.

" love you," she said softly before falling back asleep, an arm draped across Sean clinging to him.

-X-

Ashley sat at her piano watching as Mark lay asleep on the couch. He'd spent a fair amount of time at the Kerwin-Isaacs home, trying to escape the stress of his parents fighting about him. Kate and Jeff didn't mind his company, in fact they loved seeing Ashley happy and with someone who wouldn't break her heart. She gently ran her fingers over the keys and began to play quietly, humming a tune.

Mark stirred on the couch and opened his eyes to watch Ashley engrossed in tickling the keys of the baby grand piano. He found it so attractive the way she let down her guard with him. She wasn't wearing much make-up just a quick swipe of liner and mascara and lip balm, and her hair was down and in a mess of frizz and color. Her dark hair was littered with gorgeous red highlights and the reflective tone almost making her glow. He smiled as he watched her lips open and began to sing. And suddenly the music stopped as Ashley caught sight of Mark watching her with a smile on his face.

"Hey sleepy head," she said from the piano bench.

Mark smirked and stretched his hands up over his head as he sat up and motioned for her to join him on the couch. Ashley smiled and slipped out from behind the bench and walked over and curled up on the couch next to him. "Mm, hey Sweets," he said as she nuzzled her face into his messy dark hair as he wrapped his arms around her.

Somehow the feeling of Ashley in his arms didn't seem to fill the hole he was experiencing inside himself. It seemed like no matter how much he knew someone loved him after the surgery, he couldn't love himself. As much as he confided in Ashley, he just couldn't rely on her to deal with his depression. 'Can I even call this a depression?' he thought to himself. He closed his eyes tightly as if in pain, but the only pain he seemed to feel was that of feeling alone, of feeling like he didn't deserve to have the heart beating inside him.

He gently played with her hair. He looked down at her, "what do you have planned for today?" he asked as he twirled a strand around his finger.

"Mmm" she thought aloud and sat up, pulling her legs up onto Mark's lap, "spending time with you?"

Mark smiled, "want to go on a field trip?" he asked.

Ashley smiled, "where are we going?"

"I need drive over to the university for a bit and register for a few classes for fall trimester and maybe stop by that café you like so much?"

"Can I fix my hair?" she asked flattening it self-consciously.

Mark chuckled, "yea, go, fix your hair Sweets, I'm gunna go grab a glass of water."

Ashley smiled and slid off the couch and head up to her room to freshen up while Mark walked into the kitchen, pulling a glass from the cupboard and walking to the sink he turned on the tap and watched as the water began to fill the cup, his eyes focused on the flow to the point where he zoned out completely even as the water overflowed the cup and ran along his fingers as they gripped the glass tightly.

"Mark?" Ashley called out as she walked into the kitchen. He snapped back to reality, quickly shutting off the tap and moving the glass to his other hand and shaking the now wet hand dry. "Got enough water there?" she asked walking over to him as he took a sip.

"obviously not," he said smirking. Ashley smiled and pecked her freshly glossed lips on his cheek and ran a row of fingers down his arm and laced her fingers with his and tugged him towards the front door, and climbing into his small car.

-X-

Sean walked into his room, a towel wrapped around his waist and a small towel draped over his head. He rubbed the towel over his head vigorously and then tossed it into the corner of the room before walking over to his bed and nudging the sleeping redhead, "Ellie," he said softly, "come on, get up." Ellie stirred in the bed and opened her eyes tiredly and smiled as she caught sight of Sean in a towel.

"Hey," she said yawning as she sat up, stretching her arms up over her head. "Is there enough time for me to jump in the shower?" she asked.

Sean chuckled, "I wish you'd said that five minutes ago when I was still in it," he smirked and Ellie glared. "Yes, El, there's enough time."

Ellie walked towards the bathroom as Sean pulled on a pair of boxers underneath the towel. "Do you think…?" she began to ask.

"…that I grab a few of your clothes out of your sleep over drawer?" he finished for her. Ellie smiled, and nodded as she walked over and pecked him on the cheek before rushing off to jump in the shower.

As Ellie stood beneath the rushing water from the shower head Sean slipped into the bathroom and rested clothes on the sink counter top, "Els, clothes are on the counter, and there's thirty minutes til homeroom."

Ellie pulled back a small bit of the shower curtain, "thank you," she said puckering her lips, weaseling a kiss out of Sean.

"don't tempt me like that, I just got dressed," he said as he pulled away from her lips, "hurry up" he said leaning over the sink and reaching for his razor.

"almost done," she called from the shower as rinsed her hair clean.

"You know…I was thinking," Sean began as he lathered his face with shaving cream. Eying the shower curtain in the mirror as Ellie turned off the water and her towel slipped over the curtain rod and she pulled back the shower curtain, "about?" she asked, as she wrung her red hair in the tub before stepping out onto the bath mat.

Sean continued to shave as Ellie dressed with her towel on. "Well I mean, if your mom is really in such a bad place, why are you still there?"

Ellie peeled the towel away as she stood there in a bra and the jeans she'd pulled on under the towel. "She's my mom Sean," Ellie answered as she rubbed her hair with the towel.

"And my parents are my parents, but you don't see me living with them," he answered and rinsed his face clean and reached for a towel as Ellie tossed one at his face.

"Even so…" she said tugging a shirt over her head, "what's the point you're trying to make?"

"move in…" he said turned towards her, "I mean you practically live here anyways…" Ellie looked at him cautiously, "you have the bottom drawer of my dresser as it is already."

"Well who's going to take care of my mom?" Ellie asked.

"I don't know Ellie, maybe she should learn to take care of herself." Ellie glared at him as he mentioned the thought, he cocked his head and pouted concernedly, "at least think about it," he asked of her as he gently ran his hands up and down her arms before leaning in to kiss her gently.

"fine…I'll think about it," she said smiling into the kiss, "as long as you think about what you'll be wearing to the end of the year dance."

Sean groaned, "we're still going to that?" he said glumly. Ellie rolled her eyes and punched him gently in the arm before walking out of the bathroom. She quickly poked her head back in to catch Sean laughing to himself, "if you don't go, you don't get to see me in my dress."

Sean laughed, "I'd rather see you without the dress," he said cockily.

Ellie rolled her eyes and smiled, "let's go, we can grab something for breakfast on the way."

A/N: I apologize for the EXTREMELY long wait. I've been insanely busy with moving, and graduating, and just things are bit of a hassle and a bit of a mess. Reprise (the sequel) is in the works...but don't expect anything too soon. I'll get on it when I can. For the most part, I'm not that happy with this final chapter. I tried to tie up all the loose ends I wanted to, but for the most part I haven't been all too happy with any of the work I've been doing.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the final chapter, and Encore in the long run, and I can't wait to get started on Reprise for all those interested in reading it.