Healing Wounds

Chapter Twenty-Four

Author's Note: Hope you like this. Sorry for the long, long, long wait. I'm starting to get things under control. It should be easier to update.

“Why didn't you tell me?”

Andy turned to the door way with a sigh.

“Adam said something to you didn't he?”

He was sitting in the window sill with a cigarette like he had the day he agreed to treat his brother like a human again.

“He's just worried about you,” Jared said sitting on the window sill beside him. “When did you start smoking?”

“When I was fifteen,” he said softly. “It helped me relax. I kind of grew up prone to anxiety.”

Jared nodded in understanding and fell silent. Andy felt sorry for the man. Jason had been the last thing he had left in the world and not only had he lost Jason in person, but he lost the person he had considered to be his brother. In life Jason had been nothing but a hassle for Jared. He hadn't ever been able to hold down a job. He was prone to anger and fits of semi violence. Then he had developed a drug problem. That had been the final straw for Jared. He was losing his brother and it was destroying him.

Andy knew that once Jason had entered rehab Jared had suffered a small break down. He had been on the phone with Andy's mom constantly listening to her babble about him not giving up on Jason. And now Andy had turned him into a monster. At that thought Andy took a long drag from his cigarette, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. He felt like he had done nothing but cry like a baby for the last two days. He wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

“I wish you would have told me. I wish I would have noticed. How did I not notice?!”

“I'm good at keeping secrets. I was ashamed. I didn't want you to know,” Andy admitted.

Jared shook his head silently.

“My mom. . . she knows doesn't she?” Andy asked suddenly and Jared froze.

“She knows, but. . .”

“She's on Jason's side. I lied. She believes I'm just trying to destroy his name,” Andy said bitterly taking another drag from his cigarette before putting it out. “Figures.”

“Oh, but you should have heard Adam tear into her. You would have been proud,” Jared said softly.

“I bet I would have. He's got a temper on him,” Andy replied.

Silence reigned again and Andy turned to the window. He didn't know what to say to his Uncle. He still trusted Jared above everyone else, but Jason, Jason had ruined it all. He had created this distance between Andy and the people he loved the most. Andy didn't know how to reach out to people. He felt so alone all the time. A part of him felt as if people would never accept him because of the truth. And once people knew, he didn't know what to say to them.

“Just remember, me and Adam, we're here for you,” Jared said putting his hand on Andy's shoulder. “If ever you need us, we're here.”

“Thanks,” Andy said softly.

Andy felt weird, that was the best description he could come up with. He was sitting in group, which was normal for every Wednesday now. He had gotten used to going to group, and he liked talking to the people around him. However, this Wednesday Gabe wasn't talking to Helena in hushed tones, in fact, he wasn't talking to anyone at all. He was keeping to himself in the corner, repetitively pulling on the sleeves of his long sleeve shirt.

“Gabe, what's wrong,” Mr. Williams asked softly.

“Nothing sir,” Gabe replied.

Mr. William's nodded and turned to Andy.

“Well, you haven't said anything all night Andy, why don't you take a turn now?”

Andy sighed and nodded.

“My Uncle's funeral was this weekend,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I didn't go. I actually went to Tobias's house while he and my brother were at the funeral.”

“Why didn't you go to his funeral,” Helena asked softly.

“We have unresolved issues, well had,” Andy replied cryptically.

“You skipped someone's funeral because of unresolved issues? That's kind of cold man,” one of the guys said.

“Whoa, Andy had his own reasons for not going I'm sure,” Mr. William said cutting the guy off before he could say anything else.

“Thank you,” Andy said quietly.

Group ended soon after that and Andy found himself walking out the door with Gabe and Helena. He had his gaze trained to the floor trying not to bring attention to himself as he walked past the other people from group.

“Are you okay?” Helena asked him softly.

He nodded as he looked up at her.

“I'm fine,” he said softly.

“We'll see you next Wednesday won't we?” Gabe asked him.

“I'm not sure. The way they will judge me now that they know I let a personal grudge keep from from supporting my family at my uncle's funeral makes me slightly nervous.”

He wasn't lying. He was nervous about attending the next week, however it wasn't the other members of group he was worried about. It was Gabe and Helena that worried him. He was worried they would think less of him for not attending his uncle's funeral.

“You had your reasons,” Gabe said with a shrug. “It's no one's business but yours.”

Andy gave a small smile and nodded as Gabe and Helena climbed into Gabe's car. He climbed into his own and drove to Tobias's house. He knew for a fact that he would not be allowed at home. Not after Adam confronted his mom.

“You've got to be kidding me?!”

“I thought you'd be happy about it,” Shawn said softly.

“Happy? Happy is an understatement,” Andy said with a huge grin looking down at the ticket in his hand.

“We leave in two days, might want to call your friends and see them one last time before we go,” his dad said quietly.

“When will we be back?”

“The day before school starts,” his dad told him.

“Sounds great to me!”

Alex stared at the tickets nearly jumping for joy. They were plane tickets scheduled for two days away. The destination was Daytona Beach, Florida. He couldn't believe it. His dad had bought them tickets to go to Daytona Beach. It was crazy, but he knew he had a summer break worth remembering now.

“I thought so,” his dad said chuckling.

“How did you afford this, “ Alex asked.

“I've been saving up for a while Shawn said with a shrug.

“This is great,” Alex said looking at the ticket in his hand.

Shawn grinned and sat silently as Alex stared at the ticket in his hand.

“I feel sorry for him,” Helena said softly looking down at the magazine she was reading.

“Feel sorry for who?” Gabe asked, he was sitting on the floor playing a video game.

“Andy,” she said.

Gabe grinned to himself. This was the fifth time she brought up Andy in the hour since Group ended. He knew she wasn't just feeling sorry for the guy.

“You mean the Andy you can't stop talking about?” Gabe said pausing his game and turning to her with a grin on his face.

“It's not like that,” she said with a pink tinge rising on her cheeks.

“It is definitely like that,” he said jumping up an hugging her. “This is the greatest moment ever. I've never seen you like this. You've seen me like with with a hundred different boys, when I was still hiding who I was but this is beautiful. You actually have a crush, and not just any crush, but you have one on Andy, a guy so obviously into you it's not even funny.”

Helena turned beet red and pulled her cover over her head to hide from him. She didn't want anyone to notice her crush on Andy. It was her own fault for not trying to hide it anyway.

“He's a nice guy Helena, you guys would be good for each other,” he said.

She pulled the cover down and stared at him.

“You think so?”

He nodded with a grin and pulled her into a hug.

“But what about the episodes he has?”

“Well perhaps, you could help him out with those,” Gabe suggested.

Helena smiled as she hugged him back. She knew she wouldn't say anything to Andy about her feelings for him for a while, but it felt good for someone to think that they could be good together.

“Florida huh?” Clay asked as he sat down beside Alex on the couch.

“Yeah, dad surprised me with that one,” Alex said with a chuckle. “I never expected something like that.”

“I hope you have fun kiddo,” Clay said with a smile.

It had been hours since Alex had received the tickets from his dad. His dad had left soon after because he had a date. He wouldn't tell Alex who the date was with. He had no idea why he was hiding the person's identity, but he was.

“Come on, let's go to my apartment and pick up some movies to watch,” Clay said.

Alex nodded and got up from the couch to follow Clay. However, once Clay opened the door, Alex froze in his tracks along with Clay. Standing in front of Clay's apartment door was Kate and Shawn locked in a kiss.

Alex couldn't believe it. Shawn knew Clay and Kate were living together. That had to mean something, they had to be serious. Why else would they be living together? Alex turned to look at Clay to see how he was reacting, and was surprised to see that mixed with the shock that was showing on Clay's face, was a smile. Clay was happy to see them kiss.

Clay cleared his through and Shawn and Kate jumped before turning to face them. Kate's face turned bright red, and she buried it in Shawn's chest who was just smiling at them as if nothing had happened.

“When did this develop?” Clay asked with a chuckle.

“About a week ago,” Shawn replied running his fingers through Kate's hair.

“But aren't you and Kate?” Alex asked cutting off the sentence early.

“Dating?” Clay asked. “Me and her, no way. We're just best friends. Totally platonic.”

“Oh. . .” was all Alex could say.

He was in shock. He had thought Clay and Kate were dating. He had never suspected they were anything else. Seeing his dad with Kate had definitely thrown him for a loop. However, it definitely made sense considering how Kate and Clay treated each other.

(End Chapter)

I know, it's crap. Sorry about the long wait. I've been exhausted, but soon I get a month off from school, expect updates then.

Angel-drug-head: Glad you got your Internet back too, I missed your reviews. I'm glad you liked the chapter, and yeah, I figured it was about time everyone knew about Andy's dilemma. Hope you enjoy the Alex centric chapters.

SerialXLain: Yeah, Andy needed to stop being so dramatic and tell someone. And now, he may have a shoulder to cry on :) Adam definitely socked one to the 'rents in that one. Poor Jared, why did he have to be present? Lol.

Vicious Hyperbolizer: I'm glad you love the Gabe story line, but I hope I didn't confuse you. There was never to be a love triangle because Adam, Andy and Tobias. Tobias is definitely in love with Adam, and Andy is totally straight, if you were confused on that. Glad you like their characters though.

Fuzzysquawk: Give him a virtual hug. He needs it. Don't fall in love with him. He's got Seth remember? Glad you like it so much.