Crissy lingered in that hazy in between, not quite awake, but not quite sleeping either. The ache of exhaustion in her body was never eased and when she did finally touch consciousness, the memories flooded back to her mind in all their ugly glory and she closed her eyes, drifting off again.

Distantly, somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt Quinn still with her, occasionally whispering to her softly, but most of the time he said nothing at all as his hands smoothed over her skin, over her hair.

Then he wasn't there and her heart beat spiked with panic. She pulled herself to consciousness, fighting off the bitter memories and the burn of tears that demanded to be felt all at once. She rubbed at her eyes and propped herself up on one elbow, listening for any signs of Quinn.

Just as she pushed herself up to swing her legs off the bed, Quinn slipped into the room, closing the door as quietly as possible before he turned.

"Hey," he said softly. "Did I wake you? Go back to sleep."

She shook her head. Quinn eased onto the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She let out a small breath of relief she didn't realize she'd been holding as he kissed the top of her head and his hand came to rest against her cheek. She didn't say anything for a minute or two, closing her eyes against the faint, sweet scent of his skin.

It felt as if she'd been stripped raw, every nerve shredded to ribbons. She thought she was okay after the fire, piecing herself back together, only to wind up here again, exhausted and drained. The fire had taken her home, her dreams, almost everything she had worked so hard for in her life. But this...this hit deeper, struck a chord that had been frayed and close to breaking for a very, very long time. And now it had snapped.

"How long have I been asleep?" she finally whispered.

"Three days," Quinn replied.

She pulled back, startled and confused. "You're joking."

He shook his head and brushed his thumb over her chin.

"Wish I was," he said. "You needed the rest anyway."

She rubbed at her forehead with the back of her hand. It didn't feel like she'd been asleep for three days. Her body was tender to the touch and her head ached from crying. How could she have slept for three days and still feel like she wanted to sleep for three days more?

"You've been here this whole time?" she said.

He nodded.

"But...what about your job?"

"A couple of the guys owed me a few favors so I got some time off. I didn't want to leave you after...all this. So you have me for as long as you need me. Or if you would prefer to be alone...I can make myself scarce too."

She leaned into him and his arms came around her, his fingers tangled in her hair.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he said. "You tried to warn me and I didn't listen. I didn't think it would be that bad. I should have convinced you to not go at all."

"I knew you'd never do that. Family is important to you. And I...really wanted to be there for my sister. Amy told me not to go but...I insisted."

After a pause, she asked very quietly, "How much did you hear?"

Quinn let out a long, slow breath. "Right around the time your mother said I would dump you at the first chance that came along."

She groaned and buried her face in his chest.

"I wish you hadn't heard any of it," she said. "The things she said about you..."

"You were the one who took the most damage in all this. Don't worry about me, Crissy. I can handle it. "

A hot flash of anger surged through her chest and she pulled back.

"I don't care," she said. "You shouldn't have to handle it. You have been nothing but gentle and supportive and you've loved me in a way I never could have dreamed of. She had no right to say those things to you because they weren't true, none of them. And after all you've done for me, you don't deserve those words she put into your head. I've lived with her words in my head for years and I never, ever wanted that for you. I never..."

Her voice broke and she sucked in a breath of air through the tightness in her throat.

"All right, I hear you, sweetheart," Quinn said, cupping her face in his hands. "It's okay, it's okay."

"No, it's not," she said, her voice shaky as she curled her fingers over his wrists. "It's not okay. It's so far from okay right now."

"I know, I know."

"Please don't believe a word she said about you. Because she's wrong. She doesn't know the first thing about you and she has no right to judge you like that. Please."

"Consider it already forgotten," he said, drawing her into his arms again.

She huffed a bitter laugh. "Her words never go away once they're in your head. You're just saying that to make me feel better."

He smiled slightly as his hand came to rest at the back of her neck, his mouth resting against the top of her head.

"Yeah, maybe a little bit," he said. "I don't like to see you so upset."

She closed her eyes with another sigh as she listened to the steady thrum of his heart beat, the even rise and fall of his breathing.

"She was wrong about you too, you know," he said.

Crissy said nothing and her fingers tightened against Quinn's back.

"You are everything to me, to Amy," he continued. "Just because your mother can't see what you're capable of because it doesn't fit what she wants doesn't take anything away from the incredible, caring, kind person that you are, Crissy. Please don't ever forget that."

She nodded. Quinn placed a hand against the side of her head, his thumb skimming over her cheek bone. He shifted until he settled his back against the wall, taking Crissy with him. She tucked her head under his chin, her fingers tracing the hollow of his throat and down his chest.

After a few minutes had drifted by in silence, Quinn reached into the pocket of his sweats and pressed Crissy's phone into her hand.

"Andrea called earlier."

Crissy said nothing. She wasn't ready to face Andrea. Maybe they had been getting along for a few minutes but after all this time, all this planning, Crissy hadn't been at Andrea's wedding after all and she wasn't ready to deal with that mess at the moment.

"But you really need to call Amy," Quinn continued. "Tell her what happened. She's freaking out."

Crissy grunted and screwed her eyes shut. "Not yet."

"Yes, now. You were supposed to call her right after the wedding and you didn't. Your phone has been going off almost every hour for the past three days. I finally called her last night to tell her you were safe...but she saw right through me and she knew you weren't okay. Instead of calming her down, I think I might have managed to get her even more freaked out."

"Did she threaten to cut her trip short?"

"Yes. I barely managed to convince her that would not make you happy at all."

"You're right, it wouldn't. Did she actually listen?"

"Only because I told her you needed to sleep. But I keep expecting her to break down my door any minute now anyway."

She smiled slightly at that image and rolled onto her back, pulling up Amy's number. She blew out a breath and turned to kiss Quinn's shoulder.

"You're amazing and I don't know what I'd do with you," she said.

Quinn took her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm before he grabbed a shirt from the end of his bed and pulled it over her head.

"I'll be right here if you need me, sweetheart."

She nodded and trailed her fingers over his cheek before she headed to the kitchen and called Amy. The phone rang only once before Amy was rattling away at her ear.

"What happened?" she demanded. "Why have you been completely silent for three days? Why did I get a phone call from Quinn and not you? I knew I should have stayed at home with you. Are you all right? Wait, I don't know why I asked that. You're obviously not all right and..."

"Amy," Crissy said quietly. "Slow down."

Amy went silent for the span of a heartbeat. Crissy drew in a deep breath as she sat in a chair at the kitchen table and pulled her knees up to her chest. Sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating every tender spot in her body even more, especially compared to the dark, soft comfort of Quinn's bedroom. But this was familiar territory too, with the lingering smells of cinnamon and sugar still floating in the air. This was always where she belonged, where she felt at home, at peace.

"What happened?" Amy repeated, her voice a little more level, a little less frantic this time.

"Everything went to hell, that's what happened."

Amy growled. "I'm coming home. Right now."

"No, you are not."

"That's exactly what Quinn said."

"Because he's right. You can't do anything for me at the moment, Amy. You'll be home soon enough. You need this time with Manu and his family. Especially after all this. They've accepted you. They love you. I'll still be here when you get back in a few days, as scheduled. So don't cut your trip short for me please. Quinn is right here. He hasn't left my side, okay? I'm not alone, I know that."

Amy blew out a breath. "Fine. Then start talking."

Crissy closed her eyes and sank deeper into her chair. "Mom exploded. She was practically yelling in the middle of the front hallway that Quinn was going to leave me because he's selfish and she knows men better than I do."

"And she's basing that off of...what exactly?"

"Because that's what Dad did to her when I was born. So she assumes it will happen to everyone."

"That...doesn't make any sense. But okay keep going. I hope you appreciate the massive level of self-control it is taking me right now to not call up your mother and completely go off on her."

"I told her to go to hell," Crissy whispered.

Amy went dead silent for a full minute.

"Holy shit," she muttered.

"I'm not really sure if I feel guilty at this point for saying that or just...tired."

"I'm not the right person to ask that, I know. I have no filter. I say what comes to mind and I don't have any tolerance for people's crap. But I will say...Crissy, I am unbelievably proud of you. I always have been but right now, I'm over the moon. It's about time you said something to her."

"But not that way. I mean, I should have stood up to her a long time ago, I realize that now. Maybe I always realized it but I didn't have the guts to do it. I feel like...I feel like they were her words and not mine."

"What do you mean?"

"Mom has always been so careless with her words, using them like knives. She throws out whatever hot, blistering comment is on her tongue and she doesn't care what the consequences are or how it might affect someone else. And I feel like maybe I did that too."

"Okay, sugar, listen to me very carefully and I'm sure Quinn will agree with me on this so if you need a second opinion, ask him and he'll back me up. Those words came from you. For your entire life, you have put up with more bullshit than I have ever seen another human being take. And your heart never got hard. You have always been a kind and thoughtful person. The fact that you are worried about what your words might have done to your mother shows that you are not her. You are not her at all. Those were your words and they were necessary."

Crissy managed a small, shaky smile. "You think so?"

"I know so. You have always been gentle when it comes to your family, forgiving them over and over when they continually hurt you. But using a little sharpness is good, Crissy. I promise you. Has your mom tried to contact you after the wedding?"

"No. But Andrea left a few messages. I haven't looked at them yet. Not ready to."

Amy made a small hesitant noise.

"What?" Crissy said.

"Just...it's your sister. You know she's been really tight with your mother since forever."

"I'm not sure she is anymore," Crissy said, trailing her finger in lazy circles over the table top. "I never could have dreamed that she would agree to run interference for me either but she did. I have no idea how she handled the blow up with Mom but I think I'd like to know, to see where she stands. But not right this second."

"Good point. Just be careful, okay? Take some more time away from everything if you need it. Whip up some chocolate covered strawberries for me or something."

"You're not even here to eat them."

"But I'll be back in a few days and I'll need a fix while I pester you with questions."

Crissy laughed softly and shook her head. "I'll make sure to have a batch ready and waiting."

"That's my girl."

"By the way, you scared Quinn."

"Oh, I did? What did I do exactly? I need to take notes for future reference."

"He keeps expecting you to break down the door at any minute. Which, I have to admit, was a more than mildly terrifying image he put into my head when he told me that."

Amy chuckled. "Have to keep him in line somehow."

Crissy let her hand trail away from the table and wrapped an arm around her middle.

"He's been very good to me, Amy," she said.

"I was impressed when he called. I was still flipping the hell out because it wasn't you calling me like you were supposed to, but impressed anyway. And I'm so relieved he's there with you now. I'd be nothing but a bundle of nerves if you were there alone."

"Mom was wrong about him."

"I could have told you that one, sugar."

"I mean, when I look at him. I see it in his face. And when he's been right with me through all of this mess...I..."

Crissy broke off and shook her head, trying to piece together the words she wanted to say when her mind continually blanked on coming to terms with this feeling growing in her chest, foreign and warm and yet still so welcome it scared her more than a little bit. Amy said nothing, waiting.

"I can practically hear you smiling from here," Crissy said. "Stop it."

"I'm just happy for you, sugar, that's all. Would you like to finish what you were going to say? Or would you like me to fill in the blanks with my fabulous and wild imagination."

"No, do not do that. All I'm saying is that...I wasn't sure. Before. I knew I...cared about him, very much. And I wasn't sure if I could allow myself to let someone in again."

"But..." Amy prodded.

"But I've already let him in and I didn't even realize it. And he hasn't hurt me like I thought he would."

"That's a good thing, right?"

Crissy didn't hesitate. "Yes."

After a few minutes more of reassuring Amy that she was fine, Crissy hung up, silenced her phone, and set it on the table as she headed back to the bedroom. Quinn was sitting on the bed, his back to the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him with a book open on his lap. He set the book aside as she came into the room and he held his arm out to her. She crawled onto to the bed and tucked herself in against his side.

"Everything settled now?" he asked. "Or is she still threatening to break my door down?"

"I can't promise that but she sounded better once I told her what happened."

"And what about you?"

He brushed a lock of hair away from her face and she tipped her chin up to look at him.

"I'm getting there," she replied. "I'll be okay eventually."

"Do you feel up to getting out of the house for a little while?"

She wrinkled her nose and pressed a kiss just below his ear.

"Maybe tomorrow. Or the day after that." She paused then pulled back. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Just asking."

"For what?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Can't I ask my girlfriend if she's interested in going out for a little while?"

"Not without a good reason. You're not telling me everything."

He raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing across his lips.

"Only when you're ready, sweetheart."

"Do I get a hint?"

"Maybe."

"Does it have anything to do with food?"

He rolled his eyes. "I think you already know the answer to that one. If it involves you, which it does, there will be food."

She squinted at him. "Now it's going to bug me until you tell me what's going on."

"That's exactly what I hoped it would do. Get your mind off of everything that's been happening. But there's no rush," he said, wrapping his arms around her again. "We've got plenty of time."

Crissy almost wanted to protest. The thought that life would go back to normal was tempting, especially if she could forget the disaster this weekend had been. But then Quinn kissed the top of her head and she closed her eyes. The rest of the world could be put off a little while longer...