(Back at the Carlin house)

"Paula, I can’t believe you just let her walk out the door."

Paula just stood there, not responding, not moving.

"Do you know our only daughter now things you don’t love her? Tell me you can’t be that cold?"

Paula hung her head slightly. She felt like a little girl, being punished after stealing cookies from the jar before supper.

"I’ll always love her, Arthur, she is my daughter."

"THEN HOW IN THE HELL COULD YOU LET HER JUST WALK OUT THE DOOR?" Arthur could feel his anger building in his chest, ready to explode at any minute.

"You aren’t going to change her Paula, and I’m not going to lose her over your unwillingness to accept her choices in life."

(At Ashley’s)

The door swung open to reveal Spencer, bags in hand, tears streaming down her face.

Ashley took a step towards her as Spencer fell into her arms, breaking down into all out hysterics.

"Oh Ash, I don’t know what I’m going to do," she managed to force the words out between the tears.

"Spencer, what happened?"

"Mom… she, she… threw me out. I told them and she threw me out of the house."

A look of shock fell over Ashley’s face. "Spencer, are you kidding me? I can’t believe it."

"Believe it. I don’t know what I’m going to do."

"It’s going to be alright. Spencer, you know she will come around, she’s your mother." Ashley pulled Spencers head down onto her chest, stroking the back of her head and running her fingers through her hair.

Spencer wasn’t so convinced. "And what am I supposed to do until then? When she magically just decides to accept me and us." She could feel her pain turn to fury and spread inside her like a cancer.

"It’s going to be alright, Spence. You can stay with me for now, c’mon, come sit with me."

Ashley picked up Spencer’s bag she has hastily dropped in the doorway. She placed her hand on the small of Spencer’s back, guiding her into the bedroom.

"Ash, will you hold me."

Ashley smiled sadly, knowing that she would do whatever it took to make the tears stop and make things okay for the one person who always made her bad disappear. She layed herself on the bed and held out her arms for Spencer to come down beside her.