When we last left Benji and Jessa, they were in the beginning of one of their most trying times. With Benji's mom sick in the hospital and his family being thrown into turmoil, Benji was doing what he does best, shutting out his friends and family. Jessa meanwhile was having a hard time dealing with 4 kids and another one on the way. And with her husband lost in his own world it was getting tougher.

Now almost 6 months later, Benji and Jessa are not only barely speaking, they're in two different countries. Robin Madden's disease progressed quickly and Joel and Benji took their mother to one of the top care facilities in the world, which happened to be in Paris, France. Living in a hotel for the past 3 months has put more than a little strain on Benji and Jessa's marriage, especially when Benji has not been home once to visit, while Joel has visited his family several times since being away.

Back at home pregnant Jessa has been busy decorating a nursery and trying to take care of the kids all alone. The pressure of their parent's seperation has taken it's toll on the Madden children. Ben has grown up more over the last 6 months than anyone could have imagined. He feels responsible for his brothers and sister's happiness while his parents are falling apart. He's like an adult, not a 12-year-old. Isabel has frequent nightmares and sleeps with her mother most nights. Noah and Joel are more competitive than ever before. So much so that Jessa is planning to give them separate rooms.

All Jessa wants is to have Benji back home where she is positive he belongs. As angry as she is with him, Jessa misses him terribly. She is almost out of her head with worry all the time she doesn't spend being angry at him. His phone calls are infrequent and he never reveals how he's really doing. Joel tries his best to make up for Benji's absence, but even he can't defend his brother's antics anymore.

The truth is Benji has spiraled into a hole of self-destruction and despair. He is unable to deal with his mothers progressively worse condition. He spends all day in the hopital and all night crying himself to sleep. The longer he stays away the worse Benji feels. He knows he should be home and he knows he should be talking to his brother and especially his wife, but he's somehow unable to find the right words to set things right. Instead he falls back into old habits and feels guilty in advance for everything he hasn't told Jessa. Everything.
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*"the World has Its Shine (but I Would Drop It on a Dime)" is by Cobra Starship and I would recommend you listen to it. :)

More to come soon.
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