It was a vast, infinite space of blue. It was clear, but not empty. The sky, that is, but that could also describe the way Bennett was now feeling. He was cleared of those negative emotions, but he didn't feel empty, not even close. He felt happy, he felt renewed, he, especially, felt loved. Over the course of the past week, Bennett gained the support of many people; his sister, his step-father, Mr. Jeffers, Merida, Skylar's family, and especially, the woman herself, Skylar.

There wasn't a day that went by that didn't go with him praising her for her perseverance and her belief that he couldn't make it out of the rut. Much to her annoyance, he showered her with expensive gifts: buying her a laptop and taking her on shopping sprees. She told him repeatedly that it wasn't his money that she was looking for in return, but for the peace of mind that he was okay, physically and emotionally.

Bennett had a smile on his face as he looked out his glass wall window in his office. Her stubbornness always put a smile on his face. Merida called his name pulling him out of his thoughts.

"It's time for you to take your medication." she said with a polite smile before leaving him alone in his office once more.

Another thing Skylar encouraged him to do was go back to his psychiatrist. She figured out the reason why the medication didn't work last time was because he didn't want to get better. Back then, he didn't believe in himself and wanted to stay in that vertex of sadness. Now that he's had a paradigm shift, the medication was just to aide him in his recovery from that crippling depression.

He dry-swallowed one 100mg pill of Zoloft before capping the bottle and tucking it back in his desk drawer. He finished up his last financial plan for the day within thirty minutes. He had an important event scheduled for that night.

He passed Merida with a "goodnight" and rushed down to the lobby where Edward was waiting for him.

"Are you sure you want to do this, sir?" Edward asked when they were well on their way.

"I need this." Bennett said firmly.

Edward nodded, respecting his employer's wishes.

Thirty minutes later, Edward punched in a code for brass iron gates. They slowly creaked open and Edward pulled into the culver stone driveway. His step father's house was lit up by the garden lights and contrasted the setting sun in the evening sky. The pale house seemed unrecognizable to Bennett. He hasn't been here in over a year and seemed to have repressed every memory from his experience here.

Edward appeared, opening his door. Bennett could hear his heartbeat. He stepped out of the car then nodded to Edward before walking up to the door. He pressed the doorbell then stood back waiting for someone to answer.

"Ah, it seems that my guest has arrived." He heard Richard say before answering the door. A smile grew on the older man's face as he saw the physical progression of Bennett, "How are you feeling, son?"

"I'm doing well, sir. I feel better than ever." He smiled.

"Come on in, we are sitting down to dinner." He placed a hand on Bennett's shoulder and lead him into house.

Inside, the house was white and pristine. It seemed too proper to be called home. He felt like he was upholding a fake persona as he looked at the décor. The pair stepped into the dinner room which consisted of a long dinner table for eight people, a china cabinet in one corner and a wine cellar in the other. The walls had a few painting on the bare walls.

"Benny!" Abrielle screamed from her booster chair flailing her limbs around in excitement. An excited gasp came from Grace once she saw him standing next to her father. His mother, who sat at the head of the table, froze and looked up from her cell phone.

"I thought I told you to stay away." Chrystal sneered.

"You did," Bennett confirmed, "but I don't care."

"What did you say, ragazzo?" she growled.

"I said I don't care." He shrugged, "I've realized that I spent my whole life depending on the abstract idea of getting your love and affection, but I recently found out that I don't need it. Someone, important to me, made me realize that. I really was just bringing myself down by relying on something that I knew I wasn't going to get. One thing you were right about that I was making excuses not to do my best. By I'm done feeling sorry for myself and I'm moving on to do my best and make you regret every word you said about me."

"Why you..." her neck turned red, her face was plastered with too much make up for that to turn a different color. "Robert! Do something."

Richard walked over to his wife and pulled a thick manila envelope from his suit coat and plopped it right above her meal.

"W-What is this?"

"I'm doing something." Richard told her, "I'm divorcing you."

"W-Wha? But, me? Why?" she sputtered.

Richard put his hands in his pocket and pursed his lips in thought, "Remember our wedding vows? Remember I said I was going to love you and all the baggage that you said you have? Well, I love your 'baggage' immensely. Your 'baggage' has always been a son to me, and I haven't been living up to the father figure I wanted to be. I want to protect my children from all evil and deception if I can, and to do that, I need you gone."

"Richard!" she gasped, "I-I love my children!"

Richard shook his head, "You told Bennett to his face that you never accept him as your child. Strike one. You told Grace you would kick her out of the trust fund if she didn't follow your career path for her. Strike two. You, you," he took a deep breath trying to contain his rage, "you hit Abrielle in the face, WITH YOUR FIST, for crying."

Bennett's eyes widened and looked over to his sister, who was had calm down due to the tension in the room. Sure enough, he could see a scratch on her cheek, probably from his mother's diamond rings. He closed his eyes trying to contain his anger.

"Strike three." Richard whispered; his eyes ablaze with fury and hatred.

"You're out of here, Chrystal." Grace added with the smirk on her face.

"You can't leave me! You can't take Abrielle from me." She screamed jumping up from the table.

"I can, and I will." Richard stated staring her down.

Chrystal let out a loud, frustrated scream. She brushed past Richard to make her dramatic exit, but stopped in front of Bennett. Her eyes were dilated and crazed.

"This is your fault. Getting my future taken away again." She spat.

Bennett laughed, "You're right, and this time, you deserve every last penny snatched from your grasp, cagna."

Chrystal's eyes widened and she pushed past Bennett screaming. A loud door slammed before the house went back quiet. Moments of silence passed by.

"Well, that was interesting." Grace said sipping her lemonade.

Richard laughed, "That, it was."

"Hope I didn't ruin your dinner too much." Bennett said with a grin.

"Ruin? You just made it better than the soap operas I watched!" Grace exclaimed.

"Right." Bennett rolled his eyes, "Now that that's done. I have something to do."

"Ooh," Grace said while wiggling her eyebrows.

Bennett blushed and Richard laughed once more.

"Go on, Bennett." Richard said, "We'll be fine here."

"Thanks, Richard." Bennett said gratefully, meaning it in more than one way. Richard's expression softened and pulled Bennett into a hug.

"You're welcome, son." He said then pulled back, "I'm sorry I didn't do this sooner."

Bennett shook his head, "You had to think of Grace and Abrielle. I get it."

"Aw, such a Hallmark moment, but I think you should go before you get a beating."

Bennett looked at his watch. His eyes widened in panic. "Shit, gotta go. See you guys later."

Bennett bolted out then door leaving the three of them in the dining room with cold food.

"I bet he's going to marry her before a year's time." Grace said.

"I'll take you on that." Richard chuckled.

"You're on." Grace said with a knowing smile.

"But for now, let's go get some pizza and bond." Richard said getting Abrielle out of her booster seat.

"Sounds good, Daddio." Grace said looping her arm through her dad's free one.

Bennett quickly brushed over his suit to smooth out wrinkles. He glanced over his shoulder. Edward, from the front seat, gave him a thumbs up. He knocked twice and held the bouquet of tulips in front of his body. The door opened.

"These are for you," he said with his head down, not wanting to see her expression.

"Sorry, man, but I don't roll that way." Bennett's head snapped up to see a black guy looking back at him with an amused expression. "You must be Bennett. I'm Robin, Skylar's older brother. Come on in."

Robin was twenty-seven years old. He was a dark chocolate color that gave him a natural shine and beauty to him. He had dreadlocks that reached just past his shoulders. His bright, white, Colgate smile had comforted him after his embarrassing mistake.

"Skylar, your boyfriend brought me flowers. What did he bring you?" Robin teased when they reached the backyard.

"Oh, hush, Robin." Skylar bypassed him to stand in front of Bennett, "Hi."

"Hey, these are for you." He said giving her the tulips.

"Tulips." She said smiling brightly then taking a sniff, "They're beautiful."

"Yesterday, you told me you didn't like cliché." He shrugged.

"How sweet of you to remember." She said, "I'm going to go inside to put these into a vase."

As soon as Skylar went inside, Monica approached him. "How are you feeling? Skylar told me not to ask, but I'm the mother, so I do what I want."

"I'm fine, Mrs. Woodwork." Bennett said, "I don't know why she didn't want you to ask me."

"Because she's a worrywart. All that girl does is worry about you now-a-days. It's cute, but she's going to turn herself grey before she turns twenty-five."

"I'll talk to her." He said, "Thank you for inviting me."

"Oh, please, darling." She fanned her hand, "You're like family. I'm going to go check on the pie, but help yourself to some beer. Nick should be done grilling soon."

"Okay, thanks again." The two parted ways. Bennett went to retrieve a beer from the cooler when Robin stopped him. His hands felt clammy. Was he about to receive one of those talks that Grace always want him to give to her male friends? He wasn't ready to be thrown out of Skylar's life.

"Can you pass me a beer?" Robin said while Bennett reached down in the ice to get beer. He pulled out two bottles then handed one to Robin, "Thanks, dude."

"That's it?" he accidently said aloud.

"That's what?" Robin looked over his shoulder.

"Aren't you going to give me that big brother talk?" he asked.

Robin laughed. "Nah, Skylar hasn't shut up about you. From what she tells me, you're a good dude. Normally I wouldn't believe it, but I can see what she's saying now. You don't need my talk. You should hope you'll never need my talks because if my sister gets hurt, your life is basically on the line. I threatened four, but Wren... Wren was a beast as getting her boyfriends to shit their pants. Anyways, you're safe for now."

"Right," Bennett blushed, "but you know that I'm not her boyfriend."

Robin shrugged then took a swig of his beer, "That's just technicalities."

Robin left Bennett dumbfounded. "Was that an approval?"