It was real quiet at the table the next morning. Ellen didn't sit next to either of us, she was still pissed. I didn't blame her, I couldn't. I didn't even stay the whole morning. I grabbed my white jacket and went outside for a walk.

But before I could, I picked up a note left on the front door...

Hannah, we need to talk.

-Justice

Where was she anyway? She obviously didn't go home. And her letter didn't say anything. Wait, it's on the back.

Meet me at the little park down the street.

Was she sleeping on a park bench? Anyway I headed off where she was, hoping I'd find her.

"Hey," she said nervously.

"Hey." I looked around. "You said you wanted to talk?" She nodded.

"It's about Ellen." I blinked.

"What about her?"

"She's pretty mad right now, isn't she?"

"Extremely."

"I was afraid of that," she mumbled.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" I asked walking toward her.

"Kind of, I think so."

"You think so?" She nodded again.

"See, Malcolm, Cliff, and I were all talking, and the conversation turned to you and Angus."

"It always does," I muttered.

"Yeah well, I mentioned how you two kissed and thought it was adorable, then Malcolm must have thought I meant the one on the roof. I didn't, I meant the time you told me, before the rooftop. Then Malcolm said there was another one Angus told him about. I don't know if that makes three but still. Then a little later I got pulled aside by a woman and she asked me about it. I told her, she ended up being his wife, and now she knows."

I couldn't believe it. Justice told her. I mean, Ellen had overheard, but Justice gave her exclusive details. Even if she hadn't been his wife, you don't just tell personal information to anyone asking around! But now she knew. And didn't like what she knew. "Then what happened?"

"She left pretty mad, then Malcolm found out and called Phil to wait for you when he couldn't find you. Where were you two anyway?"

"On a walk."

"You know, you're not helping yourselves when you two sneak off all the time," she accused. I sighed.

"Where did you stay?"

"Malcolm invited me to stay at his house. Cliff, Brian, and Phil are all staying there too."

"And Linda?"

"What?"

"Mal's wife."

"Oh yeah. Her too."

"Linda's probably not mad at you," I mumbled.

"'Cause I haven't been sneaking around with him!"

"Neither have I!"

"Well Ellen didn't know. So yes you have."

"Just two seconds ago you thought it was 'adorable'."

"I did. But potentially three times?" I put my hands in my pockets and toed the ground.

"Seven."

"What?"

"Seven times."

"Jesus Christ! And you're upset with me for telling her?"

"No. Yes, but it's just that Angus and I should have told her. Not some secondhand source."

"Besides. Wasn't my fault she overheard," she said kind of snooty like.

"No, it wasn't." Justice's face fell. She came up to me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I guess she was gonna have to know sooner or later huh?"

"Yeah. Better now than never."

Justice eventually took me to Malcolm's place. He seemed to be waiting for me."You need a friend?" I nodded and he hugged me. "They won't stay mad forever. Come on in." Phil sat on the couch with Cliff looking at some newspapers.

"Hey kid. A certain man got you down?"

"Or whatever he is," Cliff added.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"I'll call. Tell them where you are," Malcolm said.

"Here, come sit with us, I'm sure you could use a good laugh." I sat next to Phil and he showed me the newspaper. "Here, read that right there."

"Woman bought fifty cats, swears they're in control of her. Dear God..."

"Look at her picture," Cliff said.

"Yikes!" Phil and Cliff laughed. She was as old as the moon with hair to match. Her makeup ran down her face and her teeth were yellow. And missing.

"Cutie ain't she?" Cliff asked.

"Yeah. One nasty cutie. Where's everyone else?"

"Brian's running errands, Linda's sleeping in," Phil answered.

"I could have used more sleep," Justice said sitting on a chair. I'm glad she got comfortable with the guys quickly, I didn't expect her to live with them. A converation started around me but I didn't listen. Just wondered what would happen after all of this. I didn't think it was right to stay with Angus and Ellen while this was going on but there was a lot of people here already. And I honestly didn't want to leave Angus. Malcolm came back a while later.

"Well Hannah, I talked to Angus. We both think it's best you stay with us while they get their business sorted out."

"But-" I sighed. No use arguing I guess. "Okay."

"Come on, we're getting your stuff."

Malcolm drove me back to Angus' place. "You know, Angus sounded concerned when he didn't know where you were."

"He did?"

"Yeah. With all this goin' on, thought maybe you got into more trouble."

"He always thinks that," I mumbled.

"Can you blame him? You do have a history." He laughed a bit but I stayed silent. He sighed. "He's just lookin' out for you Hannah, 'cause he loves you." It was my turn to sigh. Yeah. Now everyone else knew it too.

The car pulled up to the house. "Wait here." Malcolm got out and headed to the door. His brother opened it. "Hey Ang."

"Hey, Hannah with you?"

"Yeah, she's in there."

"Okay." Angus stared at the car for a while. It wasn't fair. "She shouldn't have to leave because of Ellen and I."

"No, she shouldn't. But because you guys are havin' an issue, it's best she isn't around for that."

"She can handle it, she doesn't have to be sheltered." Malcolm put a hand on his hip and ran the other through his hair. "So, so what you're saying is, that Hannah is the problem and she needs to stay away from us to fix everything? That everything will get better all of the sudden?"

"I'm saying Hannah's going through shit and needs a break for a while."

"So am I! And maybe I need her here!"

"I don't like this either Angus. Maybe after Christmas-"

"I can't wait that long."

"Then don't wait to make up with your wife." Hannah walked up the driveway to them. None of them spoke. "Guess you'd better get packed huh?" Malcolm asked her while looking at Angus.

He hesitantly stepped out of the way and Hannah stepped inside.

I assumed Ellen had gone upstairs to her room. Hoping I wouldn't run into her, I went to my former room. It was a bad idea to put all my clothes away, but for a different reason than I thought. But I guess I was leaving either way.

My suitcase was eventually packed and I went back downstairs. Malcolm and Angus were outside talking. Looking around one last time, I joined them. "You got everything?" Malcolm asked.

"Yeah." I put my suitcase in the back and closed the door. I glanced at Angus. "Most everything."

"Should we get going? Or don't you want to say goodbye first?" Angus stood there with his hands in his pockets looking kind of sad. Probably more than he looked. I feel like with everything I've started, saying goodbye wouldn't help matters, but leaving him here like I was mad at him wouldn't help. Walking up to him I wrapped my arms around his neck and he returned the hug.

Sure it felt like a cheesy movie moment, but who cares? My face burrowed into his neck and I shivered. Not from the cold, more from his warmth. We wouldn't be seeing each other for a long time and we both knew it. "It isn't fair," Angus whispered.

"It never is." I let him go and got in the car.

"Behave yourself, okay?"

"No promises."

"We'll be back soon Ang," Malcolm said. He got in the driver's seat and we were off.

"You okay?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't like this either Hannah. Not at all."

"So then what's the point?"

"To get the original couple back to normal, I'm sure you don't want to be in the middle of their arguments do you?" I turned to look out the window.

"No."

"We'll be gettin' the house ready for Christmas soon. That should be fun." Oh yeah, a real treat.

Justice and I were building a house of cards at the table. Well, she was anyway. I was out of focus. "How come you're not helping?"

"Don't feel like it."

"Will you ever feel like it?" I shrugged. "Come on, you can't let this man make you sad."

"It's not just him, it's this whole situation. I almost ruined a marriage. I lost a friend. I don't even live with them anymore. That's why I'm sad. But in losing a friend I gained another." I looked up at her. "I'm glad you're here."

"Uh, Hannah? There's something I haven't told you."

"What?"

"I'm gonna leave soon." I frowned.

"Why?"

"My parents called the police to report me missing. I'm gonna go back to New Jersey in a couple days. Spend the holidays with my folks."

"Oh," I mumbled.

"It's just like your friends. I guess I should staighten things out with them. Shouldn't I?"

"Yeah. Yeah, go ahead." Another friend leaving. That's just frickin' great. Justice didn't say anything in reply. The air conditioning came on blowing her house of cards over. "Oh, dammit. About to fall over anyway."

"She gone?" Ellen asked coming down the stairs.

"Left about a half hour ago."

"Did you-say goodbye?" Angus nodded. "I didn't."

"I know." The couple was silent for a while.

"So, uh, what do you want to do?" Angus didn't answer. "Do you want to talk?" Still nothing." Ellen sighed. "You know the sooner we talk the sooner she comes back."

"What's there to talk about? Might as well start yelling now."

"I'm not gonna yell now that I'm calmer. I've thought about things."

"So have I. Look I really am sorry for hurting you like that. That's the last thing I want to do. And that's what I thought sixteen years ago too."

"But you still kissed her."

"I didn't want to hurt you so I kept in my feelings. Hannah and I almost fell apart that last time, I almost died. Naturally, I didn't want that to happen again. So I told her how I felt. How I still feel. But maybe I shouldn't have done that. Look at us now."

"You can't show your feelings to someone else when you're married! It's unethical!"

"You can't always hold them in, it's unhealthy!"

"Sometimes you just have to! What's the point of getting married if you don't love that person?"

"I never said I didn't love you. Why do you think I asked you and not her?"

"Because she wasn't here for you to ask! She left before you could! You thought she'd never come back, so you just settled with me!"

"That's not true!"

"Isn't it though?" Ellen stepped up to him. "Isn't it though?"

"...No!"

"And you just carried on with me, bearing through it all until she came back again."

"Ella-"

"No, no listen. She came back and you were overjoyed. But you didn't want to hurt me is that correct?"

"Ells, I-"

"So you were rude to her, and drove yourself over the edge and reconciled before she left again."

"I never-"

"And now she's back AGAIN! And now you two are still so much in love that screw the fact that one of you is married! Why can't you two just agree to be friends? Without pretending the other doesn't exist?"

"It's not that easy Ellen. The only way I can hide my feelings is by pretending she doesn't exist. And you know how that went. When Hannah first left that night, I was out of it. I didn't realize how much I loved her until she was gone. Then years later I met you. Of course I fell in love, why wouldn't I? You're you. So we got married and I don't regret it. Not a single bit. Then Hannah came back. How do you think I felt about that?"

"So you love me, but you just love her more."

"I never said that." Ellen sighed and went back upstairs. This was not going well.

There was a change of plans. Malcolm was taking Justice back to the airport that night. I gave her a long hug goodbye. "It's gonna get better," I told her. "You'll see."

"Thanks. It's gonna get better for you too," she said.

"I wish I could say the same." She gave me a half smile and left. Both of us had tears in our eyes. The car drove off and I went to bed.