A lot more going on

"Oh." Erik looks at Alice grimly. "Sorry... you can't go get any of your stuff."

"You turkey!" Twila gives him a shove, sending him off his chair and onto the floor. She smirks with triumph, looking back to Alice with a giggle. "I stay here all the time. I'll even stay here tonight so you're not the only girl here to start off."

Kyle can't help it that his eyes are wide and he just shakes his head. "I can't get over this... you realize this all sounds so unreal."

Erik picks himself up off the floor to sit back in his chair again. "Meet reality."

"Why though? You could have... anything. Yet you sought me out, you're offering your home... I don't get it."

"I was brought up to give, Kyle," Erik explains. "It's just the way my family is. My parents happen to be extremely blessed financially, and me too as a result. The group of us here..." He gestures at the rest of the band. "We're all kinda like family too. As strange as it may seem, everyone here is welcome to come and go from here all the time. I'm not going to let that offer stop with you, just because I haven't known you for as long."

Kyle laughs, still amazed. "Wow... okay..." It did seem strange, and had it been anywhere else, he would have been weirded out. But there was something about this group... this home... these people... it was full of peace. There was a Godly peace here and Kyle felt it. There was no fear.

He looks back to Alice. "Well, if you want, I guess that means we go get out stuff."

Theo quirks an eyebrow. "I feel a movie night coming on."

"Nothing like a movie night before the real work begins," Russ agrees.

"And you've never experienced a movie night like one here," Theo adds. He grins. "Can you say 'home theater?'"

Erik laughs and shakes his head. "Alright alright, we can have a movie night. Then we gotta start practicing tomorrow if we're gonna be ready to show our stuff." He looks to Kyle and Alice again. "You need any help bringing stuff over?"


Mick takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. His eyes did not stray from Dan's. The young man was a hard worker - of that, Mick couldn't deny. He did a good job, he was faithful, and he could be trusted around the ranch. But there had been something from the beginning that Mick sensed and he didn't like - though he hadn't figured out what it was yet. Tonight, that feeling was still there. He searches Dan's eyes deeply, though still finds no answers.

Finally, he gives a little shrug, his lips pursed. He didn't want to be mean - he knew Dan was telling the truth, and it was obvious from the time that had they not had a flat tire, they would have been back on time. And Mick trusted the group as a whole. It wasn't really what he had a problem with. But what he did have a problem with, he couldn't put his finger on.

"I know you're not lying, Dan. Crap happens. Jade's home safe, so I'm not worried about it." He grins a little. "And stop shaking in your boots - you're making an idiot of yourself."

Turning around, Mick aims for the door, stopping for another moment to look at Dan again. "You only got a few hours left until chores - I suggest spending them wisely... in bed."


It seems forever, but eventually, Gunner begins to calm down. He felt sick to his stomach and his head throbbed. He felt like such an idiot, yet at the same time, he didn't care. He was sitting on the floor of a mental hospital... if he were normal, then there would be something wrong.

He might not have responded to Hope's words, but he heard them... he heard them and he did think about them.

"Bree's... got a lot more going on than... than just seeing me." He swallows hard, his voice dry and raspy.

Quiet for several minutes, he finally moves back a little relieving Hope and resting back against the bed. His eyes burned like never before, and it hurt just to keep them open. He doesn't look up... he doesn't feel he can. Not and face Hope.

"What's gonna happen to me now?" he asks quietly. How long would he have to stay here? What would it take to get out? If he promised he wouldn't walk off a bridge, was that his ticket out?