A/N: Thanks for all the patience guys! I'm working at it and have you a longer chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it, honestly, it's kind of one of my favorite Stef/Jace moments. Please review!

Her attention was on the kid in the back seat, who had no sooner talked to any of them as herself. She wasn't even sure if she was bothered by what the other kids had said to her. It bothered her to not be able to read her expression. The drive home was full of conversation between everyone, except her. She stared out the window the entire way.

She watched her most of the afternoon while she took to the senior grade homework and finished it quickly, as if not even thinking about it. She sat gingerly down on the couch and stared at the blank television.

Sitting on the other end, Lena smiled. "Hey. How was your first day of class, as a senior?"

She looked up, but didn't answer. And she wasn't upset when the eldest son, came trotting down the steps. "Senior? You're a senior?"

Lena looked up and smiled at him. "As of today she is. She qualified with the entrance exam, so I made a suggestion and Monte approved it."

Monte had approved it? That must have been why she'd felt the need to come out there and comfort her this afternoon. Surely the woman didn't feel guilty for her being bullied by the other kids. It was no more her fault than Lena's for enrolling her.

He grinned. "Welcome to the club, genius!"

He'd said it so casually, she for the first time didn't take it as a negative thing. It was strange. Keeping a straight face, she looked away after a moment so that he didn't think she was mad at him for anything. The woman must have noticed it though because she inhaled and looked at her son.

"What do you need, B?"

"Oh, I wanted to see if you can remind mom that I'm going to practice early instead of late tomorrow because of the recital."

She nodded. "I will."

"Thanks." and he headed for the steps.

"Sorry. Where were we? Oh yes...how was your 'unofficial' first day?"

Jace stared, not pretending she didn't know that Monte surely told Lena about the exchange. Shrugging, she looked down at her hands.

"Do you have any homework?"

Before staring for a moment, she finally shook her head.

"Okay. Well, you tell me if you need anything at all. Dinner should be done soon if you want to help set the table?"

Actually...she did. It'd be nice to feel useful. Stef had stopped her from doing pretty much anything because of her arm being in the sling, and she could tell the rest of the group was starting to get tired of carrying her weight.

She stopped and took the sling off and grabbed the plates. Damn her shoulder still wasn't in great shape. Either that or the plates were heavy. Which was possible as they were ceramic and full sized plates, but she doubted that was actually it.

Biting her lip, she made her way to the table, using everything she had to make sure that she didn't slap the plates on the table. Man it hurt. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly and used her good hand to spread them out on the table. Turning, she noticed that Lena had laid out a handful of silverware. Grabbing it, she turned back around and noticed the blond, staring at her, still in uniform from the days work.

"Where's your sling?"

Setting her jaw, she stared at her, not saying anything.

Lena looked up. "Oh my gosh. I didn't even notice, I'm sorry."

Stef shook her head. "She knows better. And she knew you wouldn't be paying attention." then her gaze went to the kid. "Didn't you?"

Standing up straighter, she didn't say a word.

"Jace, you're going to hurt yourself if you don't start taking care of your shoulder."

Swallowing hard, she listened closely and determined no one was close. "I'm not pulling my weight."

Sighing heavily, her gaze softened toward the kid. She'd been fighting that very thing since she'd arrived and hadn't let up once. "Honey, you can't be expected to pull your weight when you're injured."

Hesitating, she once more made sure no one would show. Speaking softly, she argued. "They're getting tired of me not pulling my own. It's not fair."

Lena stared in disbelief. Never before had she seen a kid, say it wasn't fair that they couldn't do work and chores. "Has anyone said anything to you?"

She shook her head. No one had mouthed a word. But she could see in looks they gave, and sighs they heaved. They were getting tired of it. "It's only fair." she whispered.

"Jace..."

"You have to let me help. It's only fair." she got out a little louder, but not by much.

Stef noticed her bite her lip. "You've already hurt yourself, haven't you?"

She didn't answer. Instead she kept putting the silverware on the plates.

What was it going to take to get it through to this kid?

She woke up suddenly, and this time, she was surprised no one was around. She must have been quiet about her dreaming for once. Though she doubted that. But maybe...she heard a creak. Dammit, she hadn't been quiet at all apparently.

Not moving, she let her breath out slowly until she heard something in the kitchen. Curiosity piquing her interest, she lifted her head up and turned over quickly. She realized suddenly that she moved too fast and turned over on her shoulder, shifting it and biting her lip to keep from screaming, but couldn't stop the whimper that escaped.

Locking eyes with the girl, she sat there at the table, waiting for her to wake. Though she didn't expect her to let on she had any pain. She'd been watching her dream for almost ten minutes and she never got very loud once. But she'd heard something and was checking on the kids when she heard the small groan, indicating she was dreaming. Seeming innocent, she nodded, indicating to the kid she'd seen her. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you, just had a sweet tooth." then she lifted the mug. "Hot chocolate?"

Staring, untrusting, she didn't say one way or another, she simply sat up on the couch. She had to admit, hot chocolate did sound good. It'd been a long time. The last time she'd had it...she squeezed her eyes shut. She wouldn't think of a time when her family was whole. Before her dad killed her mom. Before she was a disgrace to her family name. Before something she said out of anger caused the only person in her life that mattered, to die.

Deciding finally to stand, she made her way slowly as she was still trying to wake up. Stef stood and got a mug down out of the cupboard. Setting it down, she poured some of the warm liquid, right out of the pan. Then she put the pan down on the stove and sat back down across the table. "Another nightmare?"

Her brows knitted, she chewed her bottom lip. She needed to work on that. That was one of her biggest tells. Finally she shrugged and picked up the liquid holder, noticing her hand shaking when she got it yay high. Hoping the woman hadn't noticed, she set it down quickly then jumped at the chance to keep her from seeing anything was wrong. "It's always the same."

Letting her breath out through her nose, she studied her for a moment. "You're very good at deflecting. Why don't we just deal with one issue at a time. While I would love it if you'd actually open up about your dreams, your shoulder is a bit more important. You hurt yourself tonight, didn't you?"

She shook her head softly.

"Then why is it shaking when you tried to pick up your drink?"

"Did you give it to me to see if I would prove a point?"

Boy she really didn't trust anyone.

Closing her eyes, Jace shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Leaning back she sighed. "Why are you sorry?"

"You're mad."

"I'm not mad. I've just honestly never had my motives questioned when I genuinely was trying to help figure out what's wrong. It makes me a little sad to know that you've been through so much that you would think everyone is just trying to get something out of you." then she took a drink from her cup. "No. I didn't give you the hot chocolate to see if you would shake from your injury. I genuinely wanted to know if you wanted some. I noticed it as soon as you picked it up, but I'm a police officer. I've been trained to notice little things. And not just physical, little things, either."

She knew she was talking about her emotional scars, and she'd been right. She did deflect, often. Swallowing hard, she picked the ceramic vessel up and took a drink, with her other hand this time. "I was pushed into a locker today by a few kids. I hit my shoulder."

The initial question of whether or not she was wearing her sling instantly jumped to mind, but she knew that wasn't the time to ask that question. Leaning forward she asked her, "Did you tell Lena?"

She shook her head. "Monte saw it."

"I'm sure setting the table didn't help earlier either, I know how heavy my plates are when there's just the seven of us."

Her shoulders rose and fell. "It's fine."

Stef studied her again. "How bad is it hurting? Be honest."

"It's fine." she said quietly once more.

"Do you need something for pain?"

Her head shook back and forth.

Deciding to change the subject herself to try and get her to open up a little bit, she softened her gaze. "So what do you think? It's my grandmother's recipe."

This time she nodded. "It's very good. Thank you."

"Well, it's about time for me to go back to bed. I snuck down because I heard something. Turns out it was just one of the kids in the bathroom. But then I wanted something warm to drink. Thanks for sharing." and she lifted the concoction one more time before taking the last swig. She stood up and looked at the kid, now completely confused. Adding to it, she blew her away completely when she leaned in and kissed the top of her head and started to walk away. "I'll get the dishes in the morning."