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Allison, after telling Andy off forever, had thought she'd feel better, but she only felt worse. She'd emerged from the bedroom and sent Helene out for tequila so she could drink herself unconscious. She and Aaron now were on the couch. It was coming on ten at night. Aaron had Allison in his arms as he comforted her. She didn't cry, but moaned and longed for the alcohol. Aaron tried to talk her out of drinking. When they first met, Allison had nearly fallen into alcoholism as a result of being ditched by Andy. Aaron and Helene were a wonderful support system, and Allison was able to bounce back. But still, she had a tendency to drown her sorrows in vodka and liquor. Tragically, when there was no Andy, it was her escape. All three of them had a deadly addiction they used when they wanted to mourn alone. Allison turned to alcohol. Helene had her violence and anger management issues, and Aaron secluded himself, refused to eat anything for days, and wrote furiously. When two or more of them were depressed, they'd put on a Bon Jovi tape and turn the volume to the max.

"Allison, I personally am on your side. You did the right thing for you. Although, I think you would have made it," said Aaron.

"Do you?" asked Allison.

"I still do. Andy is a douche bag for what he's done to you, but even now, nothing's set in stone," said Aaron.

"How could he expect me to accept a proposal after what he did to me? It was as if he thought a simple "I'm sorry" could solve all our problems! Our problems will be there forever. Nothing can be said or done to get rid of them!" said Allison.

"That may be true, but Mouse, you can work at them and make them less significant. Nothing's impossible!" said Aaron.

"I need some vodka," said Allison. Aaron groaned.

"Mouse, I don't think you should drink. You have a problem with using alcohol to solve your problems," he said.

"Where else can I go?" Allison sulked deeper into Aaron's lap. Aaron, on the other hand, groaned and cleared his throat.

"A-HEM! Me! Allison, Helene and I have done nothing but try to help you! We are a family here. You help us and we help you!" Aaron suddenly got an idea and smiled from ear to ear. He bent down and whispered in Allison's ear softly, almost mischievously. "Why hit the bottle when we can have a Circle like we used to?"

Allison sat up straight. The Circle! Of course, how had she forgotten that? It was an old ritual the trio developed when depression sank into their apartment. Allison, Helene, and Aaron would turn off all the lights, lie in a circle with their heads in the middle, and they'd hold hands and spill their guts. Then Aaron would write down Helene's complaints, Helene would write Allison's, and Allison would write Aaron's, and then they'd take the papers out on the deck and burn them until not even the ashes were left. They'd stopped when Mrs. Ramirez downstairs began complaining to local policemen and they were told to stop burning things. It never failed to make all three of them feel better.

"Mrs. Ramirez died a few months ago, her daughter downstairs doesn't know anything about it..." said Allison.

"Let's do it!" said Aaron, he and Allison getting up. Aaron lit a small torch of incense, Allison turned off the lights, closed the curtains and got paper. Then they laid down with the tops of their heads touching. They extended their arms until their hands met. As they let their emotions go free, Allison felt a sudden weight lift off her body. She felt tranquil. The problem was still there, but this was dulling her agony. Aaron felt better too. He expressed how he felt like Allison was his sister and how he hated seeing his sister hurt. The entire ritual felt soothing. And when they went onto the deck to burn the papers, Allison let out a sigh and felt like nothing had happened. They set the papers on fire and released them into the night air. A gentle breeze carried the flaming ball of paper off into the night, until it fell onto the road and smothered out. Allison smiled. She realized that she should try and patch things up with Andy. The fact was, she still was deeply in love with him. She needed to confront him and they needed to remain in touch. The worst case scenario was that they would remain only friends. But even that case didn't seem as bad as regressing back to alcoholism. Allison told this to Aaron, who nodded and squeezed her hand.

Suddenly, Helene came into the view on the ground below the porch. Helene was panting, as if she'd been running awhile. Allison and Aaron peered over the edge.

"HELENE?" hollered Aaron.

"ALLISON!" replied Helene. Allison turned to Aaron. Helene continued. "ANDY NEEDS YOU! HE'S BEEN BEATEN!"

Allison gasped and slipped on her clogs, running out of the apartment and meeting Helene on the stairs. Aaron was right behind her.

"Ally! Oh god. Vanessa's brothers were pissed, and they went to find Andy to kill him, and they did!" Allison could feel the blood draining from her face.

"Holy shit! Is he dead?" Allison gulped. No, not now!

"He's alive, but he's literally mutilated! He's got lots of broken bones, cuts, bruises, and internal bleeding. He's in the ER having an operation right now, but no one can visit him, except-"

"-except WHO?" begged Allison.

"Family members," said Helene. Allison cried. She wasn't related! Now what was she going to do? She had to see him!

"So I can't see him?" asked Allison. Aaron took her shoulders and began rubbing them. Allison felt like crawling into a corner and dying. Andy needed her, and she couldn't be there. Wait...did she say Vanessa's brothers kicked his ass? Oh, if she could get her hands on that slut for just one minute, Allison would rip out her 3,000 dollar implants and beat her over the head with them! And she'd take even more pleasure in making Vanessa eat chunks of hand-torn hair from her own head! This was a disaster! She couldn't even be at his bedside to comfort him!

"Oh, you can see him!" said Helene. Allison's thoughts were interrupted by the phrase. Aaron and Allison looked at each other. Helene gave Aaron a wink.

"How?" Allison perked up for a second. What the fuck had Helene done?

"I kinda bullshitted the paramedics into thinking Andy was engaged to a Miss Allison Reynolds..." Helene smirked. Allison's jaw dropped.

"You little shit!" Allison joked. "Of all the goddamn stunts you pulled, this one takes the cake! What would I do without you? Where is he?" she asked.

"He's at Manhattan General on 13th Avenue," informed Helene. Allison nodded.

"Thank you...both of you!" said Allison, taking off down the staircase. Suddenly, she stopped midstep. Aaron looked at Helene. Allison reversed directions and dashed back upstairs. Aaron and Helene shrugged at each other.

Allison stumbled back into the apartment and grabbed her purse off the sofa. The she dashed to the coffee table with the pictures on it. She sifted around for the one of her and Andy on his father's car hood. She threw it in her purse, then literally fell into the bedroom and into the closet, pushing aside a few old articles of clothes and old bags. On the floor was a small brown business envelope with a red heart marked on the front. Allison sntached up the envelope and stuck it in her purse as well. Then she again left the loft and ran down the stairs (this time, not even noticing Aaron or Helene) and headed for the nearest bus stop.

Aaron smiled at Helene. "How much do you wanna bet she took the envelope?"

"A MILLION dollars!" replied Helene. Aaron and Helene smiled and headed back upstairs.