Stop it

Kip opens his one eye to see the buzzing chicken nugget and he smirks a little. If it were anyone else, he'd be upset and assume they were making fun of him, treating him like a little kid. But he knew Karla was just trying her best to get him to eat. He also knew that if he didn't give in, she'd be even more worried about him, and he didn't like doing that to her.

After a little sigh, he pulls himself up to sit, trying to ignore the pain as he leans against Karla. Reaching over he takes the chicken nugget and nibbles on it slowly. It hurt to eat. His lip was still tender and his jaw was sore. But he couldn't deny that the chicken tasted good, and his stomach was indeed grateful.

Erik watches in the rearview mirror, pleased that Karla had gotten him to eat at least a little. She had a way with him, no doubt. They had started out with Kip finding purpose in helping out Karla - now she was helping him. Who knew the purposes God had from the beginning?

By the time the food was gone, Kip had eaten two nuggets and sipped a little bit on the milkshake. It wasn't much, but it was enough to settle his stomach for a while. Lying down again, he wouldn't sit up for the rest of the ride home, falling in and out of sleep as they drove.


"Yeah, I'll let you know when we're in town." Kyle is quiet for a moment as he drove, smiling at Alice's final statement. "I love you too," he replies softly. "I'll drive safe - no worries."

Ending the call so he really could be safe on the road, he keeps driving behind Erik, hoping that his friend in the front vehicle was doing alright. Kyle really hadn't had a whole lot of time to sit and think about this situation, but now as he drove alone, it was starting to bother him. He wasn't as close to Kip as the others were, simply because he hadn't known him as long. But he was certainly a friend, and they'd really clicked, as far as personalities and interests went. It burned Kyle up inside to think about what Kip's father had done. And they still didn't even know why. It didn't matter though... Kip's father's actions were inexcusable.

Realizing he was gripping the steering wheel quite tightly, Kyle loosens his grasp a little. He'd lost his father that had been so caring and loving. Kip's dad was still around and he was a monster. Why did things have to be that way?

It was that question that plagued him on the drive back home. As they entered town though, he had a nice distraction as he had to call Alice once more. "It's me again," he greets cheerily. "We're gonna be at Gram and Gramps in about fifteen minutes and we'll have to get Kip settled in. You can meet us there if you want."


Justin relaxes under Beth's touch and though his eyes are closed, his lips turn up into just a slight grin. "Always a first.... for everything," he mumbles groggily.

Pulling the blanket up a little more, he stays where he is as long as Beth seemed willing. He was too sick to care about being proper or ultra careful.

Falling sound asleep, he's unaware of just about everything. Even when woken for some more tylenol, he wouldn't remember a thing, falling right back to sleep as his body tried to combat the sickness and his mind tried to combat his emotional war. It wasn't until the middle of the night when the nightmares return, running rampant through his imagination.

He was a kid again, but not really, though the surroundings were those of when he'd grown up and everyone else was young like when he'd been a child. He was with his family part of the time, but part of the time it was people he didn't know. As the dream shifted and turned, his father was killed, though this time he was witness, standing back to watch the car collision. Someone to his left began to mock him, taunting him and laughing, reminding him that it was because of him that his father was coming home early. It was because of him that the accident had happened. Justin tried to fight it off, telling the man he was mistaken. Then he was at the funeral, staring into the casket at his father, so still. His brother came up beside him and began to shout at him, blaming him and telling him it was all his fault. His mother stood behind Jared, glaring at him, agreeing with her eldest son. Justin backed away from the casket, overwhelmed, angry and guilt-ridden. No...no... it wasn't me. It wasn't my fault. No... Stop it... stop it...

Thrashing about on the couch, blankets tangled and twisted, Justin's hand had somehow found Beth's wrist, putting it in a vice grip as he mumbled incoherently. Sweat poured down his face and neck as he fought against an unseen enemy.

In a final effort to wake up, he shoots up, letting go of Beth. "Stop it!" he shouts. Putting his head in his hands, he rocks back and forth, trying to rid his mind of the horrible images. "Just stop it!" Tears spring into his eyes and a sob catches in his throat. "I didn't do it," he insists as he cries. "It wasn't my fault... it wasn't my fault." Rocking and crying, his mind is trapped in a fever-induced fog while his emotions tried to sort through his past trauma. Any witness who was not aware of what had happened recently would have no idea what was tormenting him so badly. But his surroundings were lost in the fog as he desperately tried to claw out of the nightmare.