Title: Ever Present Past

Time setting: seventeen years after the sixth season's final, more or less.

Chapter: 3/?

Main pairing: Alex-Cristina

Minor pairings: Alex-Ava/Rebecca (Kirsten and Lachlan), Derek-Meredith (Zola and Logan), Callie-Arizona (Sofia), Mark-Lexie (Dawson), Jackson-April (Toby and Max)

Sarah had a problem. Two, actually. The first one was that, being at Alex's, she didn't have many clothes with her, only a few outfits for the weekend, and certainly nothing to wear to meet a guy. The second one was that, being at Alex's, it would be way more difficult for her to go out, because her father only saw her on weekends and he wanted to spend time with her.

"Can you play with me?"

She glanced at her brother, who was looking up at her with sad eyes. "Later. Could you go get Zo for me?"

"No, I wanna play with you, Sarah!"

Sarah sighed. "Come on, Lachlan, I'm late!"

"Late for what?"

"Great." the teen groaned. "What are going to do now, question me? Get lost, please, and take the kid with you."

"But Sarah!" the three-year-old whined, wrapping his little arms around her legs.

"Why are your clothes on the floor? Aren't you like, obsessive about tidiness?" Isaiah joked.

Sarah glared at him. "Because I don't like my clothes. And I'm not obsessed." she walked to Zoe's clothes, but her sister didn't have much either, strangely.

"Sarah!"

"Lachlan!" she snapped, looking at him severely, and the child burst into tears. She immediately felt a little guilty, but she was too nervous about meeting a complete stranger to really care about it.

"What's going on in here? Why are you crying, honey?" Rebecca picked her son up, rubbing his back to calm him.

"Nothing." Sarah answered. She needed someone to talk to, but not Rebecca. Never. "If you could all get out my room... I'm busy." she pushed Isaiah out, and as soon as her stepmother walked away as well she closed the door.

She took her phone and dialed her mother's number, hoping she wasn't in surgery.

"Hello?"

"Mom! Hi, it's me. Look, I need to talk to you about something..."

"Okay. Uh, I've just got out of the hospital actually, so shoot, what's going on?"

"Uhm, I have a date tonight. And... I have nothing to wear. And... I don't know how to make Dad agree..."

"Slow down, sweetie, you have a date? Really?"

"Why, is it so hard to believe?"

Cristina laughed. "No, of course not. So, who is he? Do I know him?"

"No, Mom, you don't."

"Is he from your school?"

"Oh, yes." she lied. Agreeing to meet Austin probably was the most irresponsible things she had ever done, considering she had no idea of who he was and his texts hinted to a parties-and-sex guy. "The problem is, I only have a pair of jeans and a few shirts. I wanted something... more elegant. Zoe doesn't have much either..."

"I hate to say this, believe me, but what about Dani? You're about the same height and you have the same physic, right? I think you could borrow a dress."

"Mom!"

"I know, I know, but you don't have many options, do you?"

"But what about you hurry a little and bring here a couple of my best stuff?"

"Sarah, your father's apartment is on the other side of Seattle, and I'm still driving home from the hospital."

"Please, Mom! I don' wanna wear Dani's clothes. And I don't wanna ask Rebecca for help. Please. I'll, I'll improve my grades at school. Promise. I won't skip any more classes and study reeeeally hard."

"What did you just say about skipping?"

"I was saying... will you bring me a dress?"

Cristina faked exasperation. "I will, I will. But we'll talk about it once you get home. Which dress?"

"I don't know! You choose."

"Okay. Tell your Dad I'll drive you to your date, okay?"

"Oh, God help me when I tell him I have a date. Bye."

After hanging up, Sarah walked to the living room where the rest of the family was. "Uhm, Dad, Mom's coming to get me. We, huh, we have do to something together."

"Oh... what is it?"

"She has a date!" Isaiah announced with a smirk.

"She has a what?"

"I don't!"

"I heard you telling Mom, don't lie."

"You were eavesdropping?"

"So you do have a date?"

"So what, Zoe's dated boys before."

Alex went pale.

"Alex, they're teens, it's normal." Rebecca cut in.

"Exactly."

"Why is your Mom driving you? I'll drive you. And who is this boy? How old is he? How did you meet him?"

"Mom's driving me because she has to bring me a dress here. I have no proper clothes to wear. His name is Austin, he is my age and I've met him at school. He's my friend Jenna's brother." Sarah invented, hoping nervousness didn't make her unbelievable.

"That's so cool, Sarah, you gotta tell me everything after." Zoe clapped her hands.

"Will do." someone knocked at the door. "That's Mom." as she put on her jacket and grabbed her purse as quickly as she could, Rebecca opened the door. "Hello, Cristina. Come in."

"Thanks. Hi guys. Alex." she nodded, and smiled briefly at the twins who were watching everything curiously. "Sarah, I brought you my blue dress, it should work. And that pair of shoes you bought and never wore."

"I'll change in the car, let's go."

"No way, I'm doing your make-up and your hair!" Zoe grabbed her hand and pushed her towards the bathroom ignoring her when she claimed to be late.

"So, who is he?" Alex asked again, this time to his ex-wife.

"I don't know, Alex, but we can trust Sarah."

"I do trust her, I have doubts about him."

"I meant we can trust her in her choice of people to hang out with. She has judgment."

"I'll drive her, I want to see this guy."

"Alex, I drove all the way here, let me at least give her a ride there!"

"It's my night with them, Cristina!"

"Alex, please, let her enjoy her first date. You can go pick her up. You'll bring her back here and tomorrow, I don't know, why don't you let the kids stay home from school and spend some more time with them?"

"Fine." he gave up. He knew that if Cristina got to the point of suggesting that their children skipped school, she must really want to drive Sarah to her date.

A few minutes later, Sarah and Zoe walked back in the room.

"You look beautiful." Rebecca offered her a smile.

"Thanks. Can we go now?"

"Be careful. And call me if you need anything." Alex kissed Sarah on her forehead. "I'll come pick you up at eleven."

"Eleven thirty?" the girl pleaded.

"We'll see, I'll let you know. Have fun, baby girl."

Cristina rolled her eyes as she opened the door. "Good night."

"Bye. Night, twins!"

Alex watched her close the door, then he sat back on the coach between Kirsten and Lachlan. He stroked Kirsten's blondish hair, absentmindedly. "Don't grow up too fast."

Isaiah looked at Zoe, approaching her quietly. "I know Jenna's sister. They don't have a brother." he told her in a whisper.

x

Sarah looked around, the checked the rime again. It was 9:07 and the place was desert.

"Hey there, gorgeous!"

She turned around in agitation, and gave a clumsy smile to the boy in front of her. He had ebony skin, curly black hair, an hint of beard. He was tall, thin, and he had a golden ear piercing.

"Hi, I'm Sarah." she said.

"Hello. Well, how about we go to a pub?"

"Oh, but I don't have a fake ID."

He raised his eyebrow. "The park then? We can walk around."

"Okay." she smiled again, and squeezed his hand when he took hers. "But really, who gave you my number?"

Austin laughed. "I have this friend who's in most of your classes. But he asked me not to reveal his identity so..." he blinked, and Sarah blushed. "So tell me about you."

"Oh... well, I have a brother and a sister. And... uhm, my parents are surgeons."

"Cool. They must earn a lot."

"Pretty much." she nodded. "It's a nice place. I've never been here."

"There's a bench over there under the willow. There's also a little pond. Let's go."

They sat on the bench, and Austin put his arm around her shoulders.

"Where do you go to school?"

"I don't go to school, babe." Austin laughed slightly. "My father wanted me to go to college but I refused. Not my thing. So now I live with a couple of other guys in a ridiculously small apartment but at least I'm out of my parents' house."

"How old are you exactly?"

"I'm nineteen and a half. Why, is that a problem?"

"No, of course not!" Sarah hurried to say. Well, it wasn't a problem for her, but her father couldn't know. "And, do you have a job?"

"Yeah..." Austin let the word fade, and he leaned in, reducing the distance between Sarah's face and his. He kissed her, slowly, and Sarah thought that his lips were smooth, warm and soft. The girl closed her eyes and instinctively moved her hands up to wrap them around the boy's neck. "You're a good kisser." he said, before placing his lips back on hers. That time, he slowly parted them with his tongue, and Sarah felt a shiver along her backbone.

Austin rested his hand on her thigh, then he moved it slowly until he reached the hem of her dress. "Mmm, and you're so hot and warm. You're sexy, Sarah."

Sarah smiled through the kiss, moving her lips to his neck like she had seen in all those romantic movies that she always watched with Zoe, Sofia and Zola.

Austin kept caressing her thigh, reaching her panties. Sarah panicked for a moment. What was he doing? Did he want to... now?

She pulled back slightly, looking into Austin's hazel eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... yeah. Sure."

"Does it feel good, when I touch you there?"

Sarah started to feel very warm and good. "Yes." she closed her eyes again.

"Then you'll love this too." he pushed aside her panties and caressed her.

The teenager winced when she felt the boy's finger inside of her. She inhaled air sharply.

"Relax, sugar."

She did as he told her, and after a while it stopped hurting but she actually found herself enjoying it. She let out a moan, and allowed him to capture her lips again. She had never felt that way.

Austin pulled back after a few minutes. "What about you do something for me now?"

"O-okay."

He smiled, pulling down his jeans zipper. Sarah was starting to get nervous again, but she pushed bad thoughts away. There was nothing wrong in what she was doing, and it would end perfectly if Austin didn't understand that she had never done it before. Slowly, she leaned in until her lips were on his member.

Austin immediately seemed to enjoy it, letting out a pleased moan and touching her hair and her back with his hot hands.

x

The car ride with Alex was terrible. He kept asking question, and all Sarah wanted was to escape to her bedroom so that she could smile in peace and think about her night. She also hoped Zoe was still up, because she was dying to tell her everything. So, after Alex awkwardly kissed her on her forehead and said good night, she finally went into her small sanctuary. Zoe was sleeping, so she quietly dropped her bag and kicked away her very painful shoes, before laying on the bed.

She heard a muffled beep and looked around for her phone. As she hoped, it was Austin.

-Gnite sugar-

-Night to you too- she answered with a satisfied smile. It probably was the best night of her life.

She looked up when she heard the door opening. "Iz? What are you doing here?"

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. Just, we went to the park."

"Look," he sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his sister. "I know Piper, Jenna's younger sister. And they don't have a brother. So I don't know why you lied, and I won't tell, but are you okay?"

Sarah's smile faded. "I'm feeling pretty amazing right now. You have nothing to worry about. And I can assure you that you won't see another day if you ever tell Mom or Dad."

"I won't! But I told Zoe."

Sarah punched him on his arm.

"Ouch!"

"Shh!"

"Sarah? Are you back? I'm sorry, I didn't want to fall asleep but I guess I did." Zoe sat up in the dark room. She rubbed her eyes. "So, why did you say it was Jenna's brother? Who's this Austin?"

"Just a guy I met! Stop annoying me. I had an awesome night and you two are not going to ruin it with your stupid questions!" she hissed.

"Fine, fine. But if I find out something's not right I will tell our parents."

"So suddenly you're acting like an over-protective brother? I liked you more before."

"Sarah, you need to tell me everything! The littlest details. As soon as Isaiah leaves, of course."