of the school year, and two weeks after the last time Hyde had seen Evie since her sudden radio silence, Hyde was grumpier than ever and it was driving Eric and Donna insane.

After confessing to Hyde the secret she'd been keeping for months, she'd slowly started to pull away from him, talking less, then coming out with them, or rather staying in with them, less until one day she didn't show up. Hyde had called the house, but Maggie had answered and told him Evangeline wasn't there, even though they both knew that she was.

Every day was slightly more bleak than the next, like the sun didn't shine as brightly as it had when she was there. His meaningless conversations with his friends didn't bring him the same joy as when she was sat on his lap, playing with his hair and stealing kisses in between Fez or Eric's ranting. The girl had slowly become an integral part of his life and without it, nothing was the same.

As he lies in bed, thinking about the beautiful blonde with the baby blue eyes, her contagious laugh and sweet-as-honey smile, a deep ache fills his chest. He gets that she told him something personal, and a little intimidating to let someone in on, but he doesn't understand why she would just stop talking to him. The others he doesn't care about; they don't love her like he does.

Hyde shoots up in his cot, the thought that just crossed his mind sending a shock wave down his spine. Love? Never in his twisted mind did he ever think he was capable of love, and yet he had just so effortlessly admitted it to himself. Does he love her? The continuous pounding of his heart tells him yes, every fiber of his being longing to have the girl back in his arms again. He loves her, and she's gone.

Hyde trudges out of his room into the artificially lit basement common area where Forman and Donna are sucking face. The sight simultaneously disgusts and nauseates him as he flips on the TV and collapses heavily into the lawn chair to their right. He groans when they keep at it, not bothering to be courteous to their somber friend. "Can you guys, like, stop or do that somewhere else?"

Donna pulls away from Eric, glancing back at Hyde with a furrowed brow. She knew the boy was upset, despite the fact that he wouldn't let anyone know what had happened. All they know is that they haven't seen Evangeline in weeks. Although Donna hadn't been there all summer, she'd heard from Fez, and angrily from Jackie, that Evangeline had been with them almost every day so the fact that she just wasn't anymore meant something had happened. "Hyde, what's going on man? You're, like, more depressed than usual since Evangeline stopped coming around."

Eric tries to bring Donna back towards him, whining about not having seen her for months, and not seeing her for longer since they won't be going to the same school for their final year. But he gives up when Donna sits back against the couch and turns her full attention to a moping Hyde. "Seriously, dude, you've barely left your room all week. You're supposed to be my buffer at dinner. Now my dad just yells at me."

Hyde just continues to stare with dead eyes, a look Eric hasn't seen since before Evie showed up. "I'm fine," he lies. He didn't know what to say, that the girl he loves stopped talking to him because she's ashamed of admitting her secret to him? He didn't even know if that was true.

"But Hyde, you're miserable, man. More so than usual." Eric wraps his arm around Donna's shoulder and Hyde's eyes subtly follow the movement, thinking about the last time he had done the same to Evie.

Hyde shrugs, glancing back at the TV playing a new episode of a new show called Mork and Mindy, which was pretty stupid, in Hyde's opinion, but gave him something to focus on other than his cheerful and supportive friends. "What's there to be happy about?"

"How long has it been since you last heard from Evangeline?" Donna asks, grabbing Hyde's hand so he'll look at her.

"Two weeks," he says pitifully, his words monotonous and clipped.

Eric shakes his head. "Man, what's her problem? What'd she do?"

Hyde glares at Eric and lets out a long breath. "Eric, she didn't do anything. Just drop it."

"But, Hyde, man, it's obvious she hurt you. She must have done something, otherwise why would she be avoiding you?" Eric looks to Donna to back him up, but the girl simply pulls her lips into her mouth, eyes flickering between the two boys.

"Eric," Donna warns, the sad look on Hyde's face only deepening as Eric continues to go on about Evangeline and how awful she is for making Hyde so upset. He asks his friend again what she did, and this time Hyde just blurts it out.

"She didn't do anything, Eric, okay? She lost her baby and now she isn't talking to me, okay?"

The couple's eyes widen as the turn to look at each other in shock. Baby? "Wait, wait, wait—Evangeline was pregnant?" Eric blows out a breath and laughs awkwardly. "Good job, man. I always figured one day you'd get a girl pregnant."

Hyde reaches over Donna to smack Eric's head. "It wasn't mine, idiot."

"So, that's why she won't talk to you?" Donna confirms slowly, still processing the information she just received.

"Yeah, after she told me about what happened and that the reason she'd even come here was that her parents had basically kicked her out. It's like she wishes she hadn't told me or something."

Eric stares at his friend blankly, before scoffing and straightening up in his seat. He leans towards Hyde and shakes his hand at him. "Damn, Hyde, where're your balls, man? Just go and talk to her! You're only making yourself more miserable."

Donna turns to give her boyfriend a sharp look, slapping his chest and raising her eyebrows in a silent shut up. "Maybe Evangeline wants her space. Otherwise she probably would have talked to Hyde already."

"Or maybe he should just go to her and talk to her because if he doesn't he'll lose her forever!"

As the two continue to bicker over what Hyde should do next, Hyde stands up and crosses the room, not in the mood to listen to them argue. He shoves his feet into his boots and runs a hand through his hair before glancing back at his oblivious friends now making out again on the couch. Hyde rolls his eyes and leaves the Forman house, heading down the street towards whatever lies ahead.

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been avoiding Hyde and the group. Her confession had set her on edge and the thought that at any moment the others would find out and want nothing to do with her, that Hyde would suddenly realize he wants nothing to do with her, plagued her mind. She grew quieter and more distant, and stopped going over to Eric's as often as before, a decision already planted in her mind for what she would do next.

Now that she was alone again, the nights were quieter and it takes her longer to fall asleep. The past few nights she'd laid in her bed staring at the dark ceiling until three in the morning. She tried everything: listening to music, drinking a cup of hot tea, cuddling with an extra-long pillow, but nothing worked. The music just kept her up longer, the tea made her have to get up and use the bathroom, and the pillow only made her miss Steven more.

Maggie's house is a mausoleum compared to Eric's where something is always going on. It unnerves her to see and hear nothing and no one, except the occasional bark from Bilbo or the sound of a car passing the house.

Her grandma would come home from her friends' houses after a bridge game or from shopping and find Evangeline sitting under the window staring out into the world, Bilbo at her feet as she strokes his head mindlessly. Occasionally she'd be holding a picture of her brother that Maggie kept over the fireplace, staring at it wistfully. Maggie knew she missed Jamie. He was the only one besides her who had paid her any attention, who had loved her and taken care of her. At almost eight and a half years older than her, he was unbelievably patient and involved in his little sister's life, up until his last moments.

That's the way Maggie discovers Evangeline that morning as she descends the stairs, sitting at the bay window with the photo in her hands as she silently cries.

The photo reminds Evangeline of a simpler time, when she didn't know how truly absent her parents were, when everything seemed right in the world. She traces the faint smile on Jamie's face and pulls her lips into his mouth, remembering how when she had asked him once why he barely ever smiled, he'd said my smile is only for you, angel. You're the only one who deserves it.

What would he think if he could see her now? Would he be proud of her, or tell her he was disappointed in her? After all, she'd abandoned her promise to him reach for the stars, because he knew what great things she was capable of—words not unlike those Steven had told her weeks ago—in spite of their parents' apathy in their accomplishments.

Though neither parent gave either child what they expected love to be, they treated her brother slightly better. He was planned; she was a broken condom. Even as the golden child of the family, the bar had been set so high that, no matter what Jamie did, it was never enough. When the pressure finally caught up with him, there was only one way he knew how to release it. That was the first time Evangeline had ever experienced a broken heart.

He had always been there to love her and be her rock, and she guesses she didn't do enough of that for him.

Maggie rushes over to her granddaughter as she breaks down, dropping the photo onto the floor to a surprised Bilbo who yelps and runs off into the kitchen. "Oh, Evangeline." The girl wraps her arms around her grandmother as she cries, letting out all the emotions she's bottled up over the past few years. "I hate seeing you this way. I wish there was something I could do."

Evangeline's shudders a breath and shakes her head, burying it further into her grandma's shoulder. "I'm—fine. Really."

"Honey, you're not fine," Maggie says, tilting her head up to look into her eyes, tears glistening in the sunlight streaming through the window. "I can't imagine how this must hurt you. I can't even begin to comprehend your pain. But, honey, losing a child isn't something that you just get over. It's okay not to be fine."

A choked sob breaks through her closed lips and she sobs for her brother, for her parents who couldn't give a dam, for her lost child, for Steven, for herself. The two remained wrapped up together on the bench for almost an hour when Evangeline runs out of tears. Maggie leads her to the kitchen and makes her a hot cup of tea, setting it at the counter that Evangeline leans against. "You know I love you, right?" her grandmother inquires, giving her a small smile as she pushes the glass towards the girl's clenched fists.

Evangeline uncurls her fingers slightly and tugs the mug closer. "Yeah."

"Okay," she says softly, pouring her own cup of tea and leaning across the counter top towards Evangeline. "Now, as much as I respect you and your decision, and am unsure about that boy of yours, I do wish you'd reconsider."

Evangeline pulls the cup away from her lips and shakes her head dejectedly. "I can't, Grandma."

Maggie sighs and they settle into silence as they finish their drinks. As Maggie takes a final sip of her steaming drink she looks to Evangeline who does the same and asks, "Are you packed?" Evangeline nods and tells her grandma that her bags and things are upstairs. "Okay, well, help me load the car and we'll be off." Evangeline places her empty cup back onto the counter and heads towards the stairs. Before she can reach them, though, Maggie grabs onto her hand. "I do love you, Evangeline, and I'm sorry if I ever made you feel otherwise."

Evangeline takes a deep, steadying breath, and throws her arms around Maggie's neck in a loving embrace. "I love you, too." She pulls away with a tiny smile and heads up the stairs to grab her things.

A few minutes later she meets Maggie in the backyard, following her to the side of the house where she's backed her '70 Impala out of the garage and to the side door. They begin to load her things slowly in silence, neither truly wanting Evangeline to leave.

As she's shoving the last bag into the trunk and Maggie slides into the driver's seat to start the car up again, a voice calls her name from down the driveway. She lifts her head to see Hyde jogging towards her, shirt untucked and glasses bobbing on the bridge of his nose. "Evie!" He slows to a stop, panting ever so slightly, and glancing at the bag in the trunks and her grandma sitting in the front seat. He grabs her hand as she moves to shut the lid. "Evie, why are you putting your stuff in Maggie's car?"

"Steven," Evangeline sighs, avoiding his gaze and wrenching her hand from his grip as she ignores the distraught look on his face, "I'm going home."

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okay, so one more chapter, probably gonna be a short one, and then it's over!

i honestly have been planning for this to happen since the beginning

and i know i'm the one who wrote it

but it still makes me sad :(

although as much as i love a happy ending

i'm also a sucker for a bittersweet parting

anywho, thanks for reading! xx