There was a loud crash followed by a soft thud. Emily heard someone scream her name as she struggled with every fiber of her being to catch her breath and open her eyes.

"Emily!"

It was Nick.

"Holy shit Em! What the hell happened?"

Emily finally opened her eyes and tryed to focus. She was clearly lying on the floor of their hotel room, the lamp from the bedside table was in pieces around her. She couldn't catch her breath and her sobs were coming harder and stronger with each passing second. She looked up at Nick and he looked down at her and his expression displayed a thousand emotions, not the least of which Emily recognized as complete and utter terror.

She could only imagine.

Nick crouched down on the floor next to Emily and took her in his arms.

Somewhere across the room a door opened... Emiy could hear Brian's voice as Nick stood to talk to him, but she couldn't tell what they were saying over the sound of her own sobs.

And the crying continued for several long, seemingly endless minutes before finally her breathing started to even out and she found herself able to concentrate... though only slightly, once again.

Emily felt something cool touch her forehead and she jumped before realizing it was only a cold towel Brian had placed on her head. She jerked back when Nick began cleaning her arm with wet cloths. She hadn't even realized she was bleeding.

She glanced up again moments later to see that AJ and Howie had now entered the room, concerned looks etched upon both of their faces. She didn't care though. Not what they thought... not anymore.

She did her best to continue concentrating on her breathing, still unable to really hear what they were saying over the rushing of her pulse in her ears, or focus on anything other than trying not to have a heart attack.

It was many more minutes later before things finally began to become clearer for Emily. She could hear Nick's voice coming through now, uneasy and startled, but still trying his best to reassure her, "It's okay Em... I'm here... it's okay."

She looked up into her brother's eyes and watched as he focused on hers. She tried to think about the past few days and how much fun they'd had... she tried to think about anything at all to take her mind off the things she'd just seen. But she couldn't. It was all she could think about. It was all she could see. She had to tell someone.

She had to tell someone right now.

"N-Nick," she choked out as she struggled to fight back the sobs that threatened to return.

"Yeah sweetheart," he asked, leaning over and taking her hand tightly in his, obviously aware that she really needed him right now, "I'm right here."

Emily breathed deeply, "like a bandaid"... she reminded herself... "I've got to just get this over with."

With one final breath and a sob, she blurted it out.

"Nick, he killed her!"

The sobs came again and Nick was right there in a second, hugging her tightly and trying to make sense of things, "Who sweetheart? Who killed someone? Somebody in your dream?"

Emily shook her head emphatically... "no.." she sobbed... watching as all four of the guys raised their eyebrows.

"Ch... Chr..." but she couldn't bring herself to say his name. No matter how hard she tried or how hard she focused on doing it. He still had control of her to the extent that she may never be able to say his name outloud again. She tried to focus as hard as she could on just letting it out, "Chr... the guy I told you about!" she finally found herself crying out instead.

Nick looked at her alarmed now, still not quite knowing who or what his sister was refering to, but trying his very best to take her seriously, "Who'd he kill Em?"

"He... he... he..." she choked back more and more sobs as she tried to get the words out... "He killed my mom!"

Out of the corner of her eye Emily could see Howie and AJ jerk their heads towards where she and Nick were sitting. Brian stopped fiddling with the first aid kit on the bed. Nick stared down at her. Clearly none of them knew the right words to say.

In a sitation like this... there were no right words to say.

And so in the following moments the room grew completely, eerily silent.

"How do you know Emily?" Nick asked, finally brave enough to break the silence.

She shook her head and wiped yet more tears. "Because"... she whispered, not daring to look at any of them... "because I remember."

"You remember?" Nick asked looking confused. A look Emily had grown very familiar with. "You mean... you remember the accident?!" His looked changed from one of confusion to one of surprise.

Emily rubbed her eyes furiously as she nodded her head.

Nick shook his head in disbelief, "What happened Emily?"

She took a few more deep breaths and then... she told them the entire story. From the moment they left the school, when she'd smelled the whiskey on his breath... to the moment where her mother had thrown her from the door of the moving car. And then, she stopped talking and sat in silence. Tears poured faster and faster down her face as the realization finally struck her...

The guys had all stopped staring as soon as she'd started recounting that day. Howie was pacing the room now and AJ and Brian were seated next to one another on Nick's bed, staring down at the floor. None of them had uttered a single word.

"What is it Emily?" Nick asked after the uncomfortable silence had gone on for several agonizing minutes and he turned to her, noticing the tears sliding down her cheeks and soaking her t-shirt.

"Oh God... Oh my God..." she whispered repeatedly as the tears grew stronger... "oh my God... my mom saved my life."

Nick reached for Emily and pulled her close, hugging her tightly as she finally released the sobs she'd been holding in the entire time she'd been trying so hard to tell her gutwrenching story. Brian whispered to Nick to call him if they needed anything at all and with that, he, Howie and Aj slipped quietly from the room, leaving the two of them alone to work things out.

Emily sat there for what felt like forever, wrapped in Nick's arms where she felt safe and secure. He told her over and over again that everything would be okay. That he was there for her. That he loved her.

And for the first time in a really long time Emily truly believed him. For the first time in a really long time, Emily believed in love.

She cried until she couldn't cry anymore and then... she stood silently and climbed back into bed. Nick tucked her in beneath the covers and sat down beside her. He would sit there for the rest of the night, never leaving her side. Emily wanted to sleep. She was as exhausted as she'd ever been in her whole life. But she was also afraid.

"Go ahead and go to sleep Em," Nick whispered as she closed her eyes and tried to relax.

He rubbed the hair from her forehead with one hand, the other she was still holding onto for dear life. She could hold on as long as she wanted... he wasn't letting go.

"I'll be right here beside you," he whispered as she drifted off. "I'm so proud of you Em."