Disclaimer: Again, I don't intend on taking any credit on Harper Lee's amazing characters.

A/N: Anytime I write Atticus, I feel like I always need to pray that he doesn't seem too much out of character. He may not seem too gentlemanly in this chapter, but I can't help but to think that he gets much joy out of teasing Alexandra and making her life a little more "complicated"!

Three weeks had passed, and if Jean was certain of anything it was that her grandad was never going to die. She would never wish death upon anyone, but shortly after moving in with him Jean began to question whether she would actually be sad when he did finally die. It didn't help that nobody thought to inform old Frank that his granddaughters would become his caretakers, and he repeatedly swung at the girls with his crutch until Maudie was finally able to subdue his hysterics.

To make matters better, the next morning Jean had to prevent Louise from killing Frank after he slapped the tray of medicine out of her hand and growled some profanities at her. Almost immediately, Frank had banned Louise from coming near him. Despite her dislike of her grandfather, Louise was not one to obey commands and determined it would give her great satisfaction to make Frank as miserable as possible. The constant bickering that ensued whenever Louise went near grandad was enough to make Jean want to drive that stupid car into the river not too far off from the property.

If she did that, Jean knew that Alexandra Hancock would have something to criticize about it. Jean barely had any time to miss her mother, considering that Alexandra was so nitpicky and sour it was almost as if Edith had followed them from Montgomery. Since the girls moved in with their grandfather, Alexandra had been over nearly every day for tea. The only day Jean and Louise knew they would have relief was on Sundays, when they made the terrifying trek to Maycomb to go to church and have lunch with Maudie and Robert. While they didn't have to put up with the dry ways of Alexandra, on Sundays Jean was forced to sit through tea with women such as Stephanie Crawford and Rachel Haverford, two difficult women who were always gossiping or complaining.

"I didn't realize us movin' here would make me achieve my goal of being a spinster so young," Louise huffed one afternoon as they cleaned their lunch dishes. "I at least wanted to have a few flings before I achieved such an honorable status."

"You could play around with Alexandra's son, whatever is name is, it would surely be a marvelous scandal. She is always talkin' about how great he is." Jean responded with a laugh as Louise shot her a glare.

"You quit your teasin'. If I hear one more damn thing about that damn Henry I'll just about die!" Louise snapped. "Even if I wasn't already sick of him, I wouldn't dare do anything with him anyway. He also happens to be thirteen-years-old, and me "playing" with him would be a humiliation I just can't deal with. You're a heathen for even suggesting it."

Jean couldn't help but to laugh. "You may just be the most dramatic person I've ever met."

"At least you know where I got it from, now. If pappy isn't dramatic, my hair isn't brown."

Jean finished drying the plate she was holding and sighed. "You know what time it is," she said, the smile fading from her face.

"I can't go there again, I just can't." Louise responded quickly, grabbing Jean's arms in desperation. "She's going to say something or other about how my hair is messy and yours is too long and asking us why we aren't courting anyone and going on and on about her son and her cooking and her husband and whatever else crosses her mind and I just can't do it! Tell her pappy fell or something and I'm here watching after him."

"I will tell her no such thing! She would kill me if she thought I left when he's so desperately in need of help. I'll make something else up." Jean couldn't even imagine the verbal lashing she would receive if Alexandra thought she was abandoning her responsibilities.

"Good luck," Louise smirked as she left the kitchen. "If you're not back in an hour and a half I'll know she bored you to death."

Jean rolled her eyes. "At least I'm not a coward who hides from her." She called as she walked out of the back door.

If there was one thing that Jean enjoyed, it was the walk to Finch Landing. It was scenic, with plenty of trees and plants surrounding her as she walked. She found herself getting so lost in her surroundings that the walk to Alexandra seemed almost too short.

Despite the fact that Alexandra had told Jean she was always welcome to come in through the back, she always felt a little uneasy opening the fence that led to Alexandra's beautiful yard. With care, she closed Alexandra's fence and crossed the yard to her back door. Before knocking, Jean could faintly hear Alexandra from inside, meaning that her voice was raised at someone. For a moment, she reconsidered being here, but knocked on the door anyway.

"Now, Atticus," Alexandra said testily as she nearly slammed open the door, scaring Jean. "If you are going to come here for lunch, you will eat a proper lunch. An apple does not suffice!"

"Sister," A deep voice responded from the dining room. "In my defense I said I would come for something to eat, not lunch. I have eaten, and now I need to get back to work. You're not exactly a short distance away."

"You sit right there," Alexandra replied through gritted teeth. "I know for certain you don't eat properly, so you are eating a full lunch even if I have to strap you down and feed you myself. Your criminals can wait."

That last statement made Jean's eyes grow wide. "You know I don't practice much criminal law, Zandra." The stranger replied, almost defeated, from the other room. "But as you wish."

"Jean, please excuse me," Alexandra scowled. "My older brother can be quite the pain."

"Zandra, if you're going to talk to your imaginary friends about me I would suggest being a little more subtle," Atticus teased from the dining room.

That caused Alexandra to turn red. "I have company, Atticus!" She nearly screeched as she hastily began taking her tea saucers and plates out of a cabinet. "Jean, honey, please take these to the dining room—we'll have our tea in there instead of the parlor."

Quietly, Jean gently took the cups and brought them to the dining room. The elusive figure was sitting with his back to the kitchen door so she couldn't see his face. For a moment, she stood there silently, not sure of where to sit.

"I'm not sure what my dear sister has said about me, but I promise I don't bite." He said seriously. Was he trying to joke with her? Quickly, Jean scurried to the opposite side of the table, put down the saucers and mugs and took a seat. In front of him, Atticus had a newspaper and was looking intently at what was in front of him.

Awkwardly, Jean called out: "Um, Ms. Alexandra? Is there anything you need help with in there?"

"No, honey, just stay where you are."

Damn it. At least if Alexandra needed help, she wouldn't be behaving so awkwardly.

Atticus looked up from his paper. Because his head was inclined at an awkward angle, his glasses had slid down to the end of his nose. "Who are you?" He asked, dryly.

Embarrassed, she replied: "My name is Jean Graham, sir."

Inquisitively, he stared at her. She mentally kicked herself when she nearly picked up her empty tea mug in an attempt to drink from it. "Graham sounds familiar." He finally said, returning his gaze to his paper.

"I-I'm visiting," She responded. "My sister and I are staying with our grandfather, Frank Buford, since he's ill."

That caused Atticus to look up again. "I think I remember the word around town that Maudie's cousins were coming. Besides that, once Frank took a turn for the worse I assisted him with his will. I don't recall seeing a Jean in it, but if my memory doesn't fail me I do think I saw a Eugenia."

"That's my full name, sir."

"Well, I hope you were fond of your granddaddy's gun collection." He replied, looking back down at his paper. She swore she could see a hint of a smile on his face. He must have noticed the strange look on her face because he quickly added: "That was a joke."

They were quiet again. Thankfully, Jean didn't have to endure the agony for too long because Alexandra came bustling into the dining room with a sandwich for Atticus in one hand and a pot of tea in the other. "Sorry that took so long," she said to Louise as she took a seat next to her brother. Quickly, she began pouring the tea into the mugs.

"She would've been quick as lightning if she had just let me leave," Atticus flashed a smile at his sister. She glared in response.

"Excuse him, he thinks he's funny."

"I wasn't trying to be funny."

"Please behave yourself!"

Atticus didn't respond. Instead, he was concentrated on propping his newspaper on Alexandra's candlestick holder to give him a better angle while he ate.

"Where's Louise?" Alexandra asked, trying to sound concern. It was no secret that Alexandra had a difficult time understanding Louise.

"Oh," Jean gulped as she took a sip of tea. She couldn't help but to think that if Edith were here, she would want to kill Jean for acting in such a way in someone else's house. "She felt a migraine comin' on so she decided to stay home so it wouldn't get worse."

Alexandra shook her head. "Poor thing," she said. "If it gets worse you can call me, I'm sure I may have something that could help her."

Jean couldn't help but to feel a pang of guilt. "Of course, thank you."

Tea had almost gone completely normal. As usual, Alexandra talked on about how hard her son was studying, even though it was the summer, and how she knew he had such a bright future ahead of him. When she wasn't talking about Henry, she was talking about different recipes she was going to try for the holidays. The only thing that wasn't normal was the fact that for most of the conversation, Atticus sat silently reading the paper.

As Alexandra was telling Jean about a new glaze she was considering using for a ham, Atticus cleared his throat and said: "Zandra, I'm sure she doesn't care about your ham glaze."

Jean shot upright and quickly looked at him. Was her boredom really that evident? "T-that isn't true." Jean replied, still looking at Atticus. "I am quite interested…I've been hoping Ms. Alexandra could teach me—"

"I'm joking again," he explained, and Jean wondered if he knew he wasn't very funny at all. "I was just tired of hearing about her ham glaze."

Jean felt herself turn pink. "Please excuse him," Alexandra said through gritted teeth. "He's never learned how to behave himself in front of ladies."

"Your poor wife," Jean teased.

"Luckily for her she doesn't exist." Atticus responded as he folded up his newspaper. "As much as this has been a pleasure, I really must get back to town."

Jean felt both embarrassed and relieved. Embarrassed that she had acted like such a fool in front of a complete stranger, but immensely relieved that her mother hadn't been there to witness it. While many aspects of Alexandra reminded her of Edith, it seemed as though Alexandra was too preoccupied by her brother to be critical of Jean's behavior.

Alexandra scowled as her brother kissed her cheek. "Thank you for lunch," he said. "Though you really didn't need to."

"Whatever you want to believe, brother."

Atticus smiled at Jean. "It really was nice meeting you, Eugenia. I apologize if my jokes weren't as funny as they were in my head."

Turning redder, Jean returned the smile. "It was nice meeting you as well."

Swiftly, Atticus crossed the room and left from the front. The moment he left, Alexandra sighed. "I hope he didn't insult you, he's really quite harmless. He just spends so much time at work or alone that he tends to forget he doesn't have a very good sense of humor."

"He seemed kind," Jean smiled, not knowing what else to say about him.

"Oh, he is," Alexandra said as she sipped her cold tea. "He really is a true gentleman. I think that was one of the reasons why he was elected to Legislature. He's accomplished a lot, but part of me certainly wishes he focused more time on makin' a family for himself."

Jean remained smiling at Alexandra and nodded her head in agreement. In all honesty, she had no clue how to relate to Alexandra's strife about her brother. "I ramble on like I'm his mother," Alexandra laughed as she started cleaning up the dishes. "I think that might be why he feels the need to tease me so much."

Jean chuckled in response. "Do you need any help cleaning up?" She asked as she began to rise from her seat.

"With this? Heavens no! I would rather you go back to your sister, you wouldn't want to have two sick people to tend to."

"Thank you again for tea," Jean said as she made her way to the door. "I can see myself out. Have a good evening."

"You too, dear." She heard Alexandra say as she walked out of the back door.

Usually, Jean left Alexandra's house bored. Luckily, in most instances she had Louise with her for the walk home. Together the two sisters would mock Alexandra and the things she found important, and while it was highly inappropriate, it was very fun. This time, however, Jean left feeling both bored and embarrassed and wondered what Louise would have thought of Atticus. She probably would have had something snarky to say in response to his "jokes". Jean couldn't help but to laugh at the thought of that.

"I just can't believe I missed it!" Louise exclaimed as she set her grandfather's dinner tray. The two girls were sitting in the kitchen, getting ready for supper while Jean described what had happened at tea.

"You're actin' like you missed a show or something. He was actually quite boring." Jean responded as she set two places at the kitchen table.

"Well, obviously he was boring! He's a lawyer who's in the Legislature. That doesn't exactly scream excitement." Louise rolled her eyes. "But it would've been fun just to mess with him."

"You wonder why you're an eighteen-year-old spinster," Jean teased as Louise lifted the dinner tray up.

"Pray he doesn't bite me this time," She grumbled as she left the kitchen.

Jean laughed as she started to serve both of their plates. She wasn't quite sure what was funnier—the fact that her grandad bit, or Atticus' reaction to Louise's merciless teasing.