Monday

The bright red D on his paper was almost mocking him. Grace turned around from in front of him. "What'd you get?" She glanced down at the paper. "Oh. Sorry Patrick." She offered him a small half-smile.

Patrick shrugged, and slid it into his folder.

"Hey- we can tutor you!" Grace brightened up. "We can all come to my house on Friday."

"Sounds fun," he said sarcastically, and she laughed.

"It will be fun," she insisted. "You, me, Cho and Teresa!" She clapped her hands together. "I'll ask her at the football tryouts today!" Patrick grimaced, and Grace's face changed. "… You are still trying out for the team, right?"

Patrick shrugged. "Probably not. I'm not really a… Football kind of person."

Grace pouted. "Please try out? My dad loves new members! I promise it'll be a ton of fun!"

Patrick grimaced again. "I don't know, Grace…"

"Don't worry, you'll love it," Grace decided happily, and Patrick had no choice but to agree.


Teresa dropped her bag down next to Grace on the bleachers. "Hey," she sat down next to her friend. Grace closed the book she'd been reading, and smiled.

"Hey Teresa! Thanks for coming."

Teresa shrugged. "Anytime, Gracie."

Grace rolled her eyes, and smacked her friend's arm. "Shut up, Teresa." They both laughed and Teresa settled in next to her friend.

"Do you think the boys are going to make the team?" Grace perked up again, and Teresa smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Nope."


It was 12:47 when the Lisbon's back door opened. Teresa's eyes popped open from her sleep, and she sat up from where she'd been sitting on the couch.

"Thomas! Where the hell have you been?" She consulted the watch on her wrist as her younger brother stepped into the house. "It's almost 1 am!"

Tommy shrugged, and moved towards the steps.

"Tommy!" Teresa called after him, quickly standing up quickly. "Where have you been?"

"It doesn't matter," he snapped, starting to climb the steps, and Teresa followed him up.

"Tommy, please- I was worried!"

He snorted and turned around. "Yeah. Sure you were." The boy started to ascend the stairs again.

"Tommy, what has been the matter with you? You've been…" Teresa continued to follow him as she mentally searched for a correct word. "… Acting out, all summer and I've been worried!

"No you haven't," Tommy grumbled, and pushed the door to him room open.

"Why would you say that?" She asked softly, surprised when he turned around and pushed an accusatory finger into her face.

"Because you don't care!" He shouted. "You don't care because… Because… You're not mom." Tommy's mouth opened again and tears formed in his eyes. "You're not her because she's gone." The tear slid down his cheek and Teresa stepped forward, reaching her arm out to him but he backed away until he reached and then collapsed on the bed, sobbing with his head in hands.

Teresa sat down next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. He moved closer to her so he could rest his head on her shoulder. Tommy buried his head in her neck and he cried.


So um… As you can tell, this chapter is kind of sloppy and all over the place, but I do apologize. I was stumped with what to do with this chapter and how to ease into Teresa and Patrick's relationship, so this is kind of just a filler chapter. But please please please review- even just one word, one second of your time makes me really happy!