It wasn't a struggle for Andrew to go to this week's AA meeting like it had been with the couple he had been to in the previous weeks. The first two he had gone with accompanied by Ali had been at the old location near his old apartment. It was inconvenient and he had been wavering in his committment to them. The battle was far from over with him. ( Read more... )

Ali took a small sip of chocolate milk she had poured into a champagne glass and stood staring at herself in the full length mirror in their room. She had been at work that morning, and she was now just in her slim-line pinstripe tailored business pants and light blue camisole she had worn under her shirt. She ran her hand over her upper stomach ( Read more... )

Are you okay, Lei?

[This is in response to Leila's post HERE but for some reason LJ doesn't want to let me respond to her thread on her journal, so this is in lieu of Andrew replying to her there!]

2.4. "Oh, this is a dear diary moment..."
Matthew Perry

Co-written with agentsullivan
[Follows THIS]Life had to start returning to normal ( Read more... )

24.8.6. Predictably Irrational

[Follows THIS]

( With the temptation right there in his face, it was almost impossible to remember how bad he had felt a couple of days ago. It was impossible to resist... )

LINK: It was something he never thought he would find himself battling again, but it seized him before he could stop it.

38.7. Care

Co-written with agentsullivan
[Follows THIS]Dazed could really be the only way Ali could describe how she felt in the wake of the last twenty four hours. First coming home from hospital, and then thing with Andrew's birthday presents, and finally the whole alcohol nightmare. The few hours Mark was here seemed like a distant memory, but she knew she ( Read more... )

Don't you know
That everyone around you
Has felt the pain you feel today
You're out of control yeah--and you want someone to tell you
When you wake up in the morning it'll only be a dream
You're out of control...
- Out of Control, Oingo Boingo

[Follows THIS]

( When it all got too much, he couldn't even be strong enough to resist the temptation to drown out the pain again, the pride in himself of his eighteen month sobriety falling with him... )

24.1.2. "Sorrow you can hold, however desolating, if nobody speaks to you. If they speak, you break down." - Bede Jarrett

Co-written with agentsullivan & notskywalker
[Part of all HERE and HERE]The discussions between Andrew and Ali's doctors had been lengthy and draining. It took awhile for them to come to a decision with the advice of her psychologist that she should be ( Read more... )

60.5. "Loneliness is just about the scariest thing out there" - Joss Whedon (from Week 23)

Co-written with agentsullivan
[Follows THIS]Ali didn't wake up quickly. Andrew watched her as she roused gradually, almost as if she was fighting off regaining consciousness. He rubbed her hand softly, trying to give her something to focus on so she wasn't spooked waking ( Read more... )