Summary ~ When a fatal accident occurs, many lives are forever shifted. Elizabeth must take on the challenge of a new role, and Tess must learn how to adapt to her new life.

Genre ~ Mark/Elizabeth/Tess/Kate

Disclaimer ~ Every person you have heard of before are not of my creation. The characters you have not heard of before are mine, although I borrowed their names from Centreville High School.

Need to Know ~ This story takes place in 2015. The last episode that applies to this story is April Showers.

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Tess was not fine, and Elizabeth knew it. It had been three weeks since Elizabeth had tried to talk to Tess, and Tess was getting further and further away from all of them every day. Kate tried talking to Tess one day, but even that didn’t work. Tess blew up at Kate and since then Tess has barely spoken to her sister.

When Elizabeth looked at Tess moping around the house and constantly without a smile on her face Elizabeth felt overwhelmed. She couldn’t stand the site of a young girl so depressed. Elizabeth was almost positive that Tess hadn’t smiled in weeks.

And to make matters worse, she was making absolutely no friends. Kate had made several friends and had grown especially close with her two new friends Susan and Caitlin. Elizabeth had no fears about Kate; she was going to be fine. It was Tess that had Elizabeth extremely worried.

It was a Friday afternoon when things reached their breaking point for Kate. Tess had come home right on schedule, and Kate stayed after school with her friends. As usual, Tess came into the kitchen, grabbed a coke, and then headed up to her room, not even saying a hello to Elizabeth.

Kate came home at around four. She brought a couple of her friends with her. They all giggled and entered the kitchen, looking for something to eat. Elizabeth sat at the kitchen table, going over some bills. She had taken the day off for some much needed rest, but ended up becoming more stressed out by her bank account.

“Hey Kate.” Elizabeth smiled, looking up from her checkbook.

“Hey Elizabeth.” Kate laughed. “Oh, this is Susan, Caitlin, and Alison.” She said, pointing to the short brunette to her right. “Guys, this is Elizabeth.”

“Nice to meet you.” Elizabeth said.

“Yeah, we have to work on a English project together.” Kate said, quickly explaining why she had brought so many of her friends over without telling Elizabeth first.

“Really, what is it on?” Elizabeth inquired.

“Beowulf, it’s some stupid epic poem.” Alison said cracking her gum.

“Well, you better get to work then!” Elizabeth teased.

“We will.” Kate smiled. “Where’s Tess?” she asked.

“Her room.” Elizabeth answered quickly.

“I should have known.” Kate said quietly. “Come on guys, lets go.” She said motioning for her friends to follow. Elizabeth could hear all four of the girls clambering up the stairs.

Kate opened the door to her room and found Tess reading a book on her bed. “Hey Tess.” She said.

“What do you want?” Tess asked, annoyed that she was being bothered.

“This is my room, and these are my friends. And friends usually hang out in bedrooms.” Kate replied.

“Well, hang out somewhere else, this room is occupied.” Tess snapped.

“What’s the matter with you Tess!?” Kate whispered.

“Nothing, what’s the matter with you?” Tess whispered back mockingly

“I’m just peachy, I was just concerned that you might not be feeling to well, that’s all.” Kate said, trying to make her concern less obvious.

“Well thanks Kate, but I think I have had all the physiologic discussions about my fears and anxieties that I can take right now, but thanks for the concern!” Tess said sarcastically.

“Okay, fine!” Kate said annoyed. “Let’s go downstairs, maybe Elizabeth will let us work in the dinning room.” Kate and her friends left the room without saying another word. Tess rolled her eyes and put her nose back in her book.

Kate got home at about ten that night. When they finished their project Susan’s mom came by and took them to a movie. Afterwards they all went back to Susan’s house and just hung out. Hanging out with her friends was something Kate had missed desperately since she had left Seattle. She went out with her friends several times since moving to Chicago, but she never just sat around with a couple of her girlfriends eating pizza and talking about pointless subjects. She was so glad to have that back.

Mark, Elizabeth, and Julia were all sitting in the living room watching an old rerun of Friends. Kate squeezed herself into the sofa beside Elizabeth and watched the last fifteen minutes with them. They all laughed together as they watched Monica dance with a turkey on her head. Kate missed little things like that. The things that make you feel like you were part of a family. She couldn’t express how much she appreciated the little things.

When the show ended Kate announced she would be going to bed and she waved goodnight to them all. She slowly made her way up the stairs, completely exhausted. She opened her door and Tess was just sitting on the bed staring off into space. “Tess?” Kate questioned.

“What?” Tess said, not caring.

“What are you doing?” Kate asked.

“Thinking.”

“Oh, about what?”

“You.” Tess replied. Kate didn’t reply to that, not quite knowing what that meant. “Did you have a good time?” Tess asked.

“Yeah, it was fun. You should come next time.” Kate smiled.

“No thanks. Hanging out with a bunch of bimbos who wear sunglasses on a rainy January day isn't exactly my idea of a good time.”

“Oh, but sitting in here moping is?” Kate fired back.

“Shut-up Kate.” Tess retorted. Kate sighed in annoyance and frustration at that comment. "I don’t get you Kate.”

“What is that suppose to mean?” Kate inquired.

“Mom and dad died and we left everything behind and you don’t even seem to care!”

“I care Tess! I care a lot!” Kate answered

“Well, you don’t show it! You act as if mom and dad were just a small part of our lives. Like a pet or something.”

“What? Just because I don’t treat everyone like crap and lock myself in my room means that I don’t miss mom and dad?” Kate yelled. “Well let me tell you something. Tess, I miss mom and dad more then anything! More then I ever thought I could miss anyone! Sometimes I miss them so much I go into the bathroom and cry! Sometimes I dread getting up and going to school! And sometimes I just want to shut myself out from the world! But I don’t! And would you like to know why?”

“Enlighten me.” Tess smirked.

“Because crying, and yelling, and locking myself in my room isn’t going to bring mom and dad back. And not talking to anyone in school isn’t going to get us back to Seattle. Mom and dad are dead Tess! Seattle is nothing but a memory! Nothing we do is going to make anything any different! So I figure, as long as we are stuck here, I might as well try to make the best of it! And if I can’t be with my old friends, I might as well make new ones! And if I can’t have mom and dad, I might as well try to get to know Mark and Elizabeth. And if I do all that, maybe I won’t be as miserable as you!” Kate huffed.

Kate took a deep breath and continued, “You are aloud to make new friends! You are aloud to like Mark and Elizabeth! You don’t have to love them, and you don’t even have to make a best friend here! You are aloud to like Mark and Elizabeth and still love mom and dad! It’s not one or the other here Tess! If you open yourself up and try to deal with this horrible thing that has happened to us, maybe you will see that mom and dad dying wasn’t the end of the world. It was the beginning of a whole new one.” Kate finished, almost in tears. She then turned and walked out of the room, and into the basement, where she would be spending the night. She didn’t want to be with Tess right now. She didn’t know if she wanted to be with her ever again.

Tess sauntered down the stairs that Saturday morning. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were puffy. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. She had spent most of the night thinking.

She heard laughter coming from the family room. She peered around the corner and saw Elizabeth, Julia, Kate, and Michael all watching some sort of video; they were laughing fairly hard.

“Oh my God, look at me!” Kate laughed pointing to the screen. Tess became very curious and stepped into the room.

“Morning Tess.” Elizabeth smiled.

Kate swung her head around and smiled, “Oh God Tess, look at you!” she said pointing to a little girl in a brownie uniform.

“What?” Tess questioned approaching the television.

“That! That is you!” Kate laughed. Tess sat down right in front of the television and watched for a few minutes as two seven year old brownies sang cute little songs about friendship and helping people. Tess knew that the smiling little girl was herself, but knowing the predicament she was in right then, she hardly recognized herself. “Elizabeth found a tape mom and dad sent them in the basement” Kate said, never taking her eyes off the screen.

Music began to play and a song that both Tess and Kate hadn’t heard in a long time began to be sung. “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other’s gold.”

“Oh God, I remember this song from when I was little!” Julia squealed. She began to sing along with the tape as if she was six again. Elizabeth laughed and Michael rolled his eyes. “One is silver and the other’s gold!” she laughed.

Kate glanced at her sister. “One is silver, Tess” Tess didn’t say anything. After a few minutes she got up and walked into the kitchen, afraid of another lecture.

Tess wasn’t in the mood for home movies and reminiscing. She didn’t want to believe that Kate was right; she didn’t want to admit that the only person making herself miserable was herself. She didn’t feel like any more lectures or anymore talks. She didn’t feel like doing anything anymore. Everyday was the same for her. School, homework, eating, bathing, and sleeping. Nothing was ever different. Tess didn’t want to warm up to Chicago. Tess didn’t want to warm up to anything.

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