A/N - I've actually been intending to post this so much earlier since this was written months ago. I just got caught up in life and all. So sorry I forgot to post here! There are two chapters so enjoy! Reviews are appreciated.

The Girl Next Door

By caramelapples

Chapter 10

Laura kicked as hard as she could, one hand gripping the locket that seemed to sparkle even more underwater tightly. She struggled against the water that pulled at her, swallowing her whole. Her lungs burned and she longed to open her mouth to breathe but knew that she would be swallowing water instead.

Reaching up desperately, Laura felt the moist cool air on her fingertips and kicked even harder, trying to reach the surface so she could breathe. It seemed an eternity before she broke through the surface of the water and took the desperately needed breath. She couldn't scream - her lungs were too tired to allow her to scream. Before she knew it, water rushed over her head and dragged her under the strong currents again. Laura gripped her locket harder, refusing to let go of it. She couldn't.

And Laura struggled less, thinking of Bill and how nice it would be to see him when she woke up. If she woke up. Darkness settled over her like a fog, heavy and suffocating. She tried to kick, but her legs wouldn't move. Her mane of red hair floated around her face and she could see bubbles come out from her mouth, only to float above her, to the surface. To the place she wanted to reach but couldn't even with her hand outstretched.

Bill gave it to her…

"And when I'm a Viper pilot, I will come back and marry you, Laura!"

Her mother was baking blueberry pie today… Oh it smelled lovely when she left the house this morning!

"So we can be together forever!"

Laura wanted to stay awake and she wanted to see Bill but she couldn't, her body betraying her. It felt as though she was floating and she knew she had to kick harder and reach the brightness of the surface, but she couldn't. The currents were too strong.

"I will never leave you alone, Laura Roslin!"

All of a sudden, she felt distant arms encircling her and holding her firmly against a body. She struggled, trying to break free. It was going to pull her down, she thought faintly. Finally, tired of fighting and getting nowhere, Laura stopped struggling and allowed the heavy fog to cloud her mind, lulling her into unconsciousness.

Bill followed his father with a determined step, distress permeating from every inch of his body. "Is she all right, Pa?" he asked, barely keeping the quaver from his voice. Laura looked so small in his father's arms, so pale and so weak. Everything she was not. He clutched at the locket he had taken from her hands just now when his father had laid her on the ground beside the creek.

Laura went to look for this, Bill thought. Laura fell into the creek because she went to look for the locket he had given her. If he hadn't given it to her, she wouldn't have lost it and she wouldn't have gone to look for it.

She wouldn't have fallen into the creek.

The older man looked down to his son without slowing down his steps. "I think she will be." He started to walk faster. Joseph was soaked from head to toe, his clothes sticking onto his body like it was part of his skin. The girl he was carrying was shaking, her dress clinging onto her small frame.

Bill had stood frozen on the bank as he watched his father search for Laura in the creek. His gaze had never left his father as the older man submerged beneath the swift-flowing waters. His Pa would save Laura, Bill had thought. His Pa will save Laura. The immense relief he had felt when his father had finally emerged from under the waters with her had flooded his heart and Bill felt as though he could float.

But that had been before he saw how pale and lifeless she looked.

Bill followed wordlessly, willing Laura to be okay. She had to be okay. There was no other option.

Everything else that happened after that seemed to go past in a daze. Bill could hardly remember when they reached the house and when the doctor came over. He couldn't remember when they took her upstairs or how he ended up sitting on the countertop with his mother cleaning the deep scratches on his knee. He couldn't even remember how he had gotten them in the first place.

Had he fallen down? He would have remembered it if he had, wouldn't he? Perhaps not.

Bill played with the chain and locket he still held in his hands. "Will Laura be all right?" he asked his mother for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, brows drawn together in concern and obvious worry.

Evelyn looked up at her son and smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure she will be. What was she doing alone on the creek anyway? I thought she was playing with you boys."

Bill winced when his mother applied more pressure on his knee.

"Sorry sweetheart."

"She was playing with us," Bill started and then wondered if he should continue.

If only he had been with her all the time…

"Why did she go to the creek?" his mother asked, nodding encouragingly.

"Saul said she went to look for something," he continued and unconsciously tightened his fist.

"Alone? What did she look for?"

He wouldn't have let her go alone. He wouldn't have let her go to the creek at all.

"This." Bill held up his hand and dropped the locket from his fist so that it would hang from his fingers.

Evelyn looked up and her gaze caught the sparkling locket dangling from a chain entwined around his finger. "Ah…" Understanding dawned. Now, she understood the attachment that had developed between both children. She had told him to give it to a girl he liked. And he had.

Her son liked Laura Roslin.

"I gave it to her at the creek yesterday, you see," he explained, dropping his arm.

Evelyn nodded, not able to hide the small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Yes, I see."

"And she must have dropped it or something. So she went back today to look for it and I didn't know she went back," he said quietly, looking down. Before his mother could say anything, he looked up at her, eyes brimming with tears. "I wasn't with her. I didn't know she went back," Bill repeated softly, feeling an ache in his heart. It was similar to the heavy feeling he got whenever he upset her. Only this time, it was so much worse. So much so that Bill didn't bother to fight the tears as he usually would.

"Oh sweetheart…" Evelyn kissed her little boy's forehead, not able to do anything else at the moment that might offer him comfort. It tore at her to see Bill so upset over something he had no control over.

"I wouldn't have let Laura go if I was with her!" he declared, sniffling. "I would have made her stay and find her another locket if I had to!" he huffed, crossing his arms. Bill was angry and frustrated. At what he couldn't even begin to decipher. "There are many other bushes here that I could look under," he added.

Evelyn cupped her son's cheek and brushed his tears away with a thumb. "Sweetie, it's not your fault. It is not your fault."

"But I gave her the locket. If I didn't give it to her… And if I knew that she wanted to go back - "

"Stop. Look at me, sweetie." Bill looked down onto his lap. "No, look at me." Evelyn kept her voice stern. Eventually, he looked up at her and she was struck by the sorrow she saw in his blue eyes. "This is not your fault. Okay?"

He nodded but kept silent.

"Laura wouldn't want you to be like this. Laura would want you to be strong for her, wouldn't she?" Evelyn prompted.

"Can I see her?" Bill asked in a small voice, sniffling.

"See what the doctor says before you go," Evelyn told him and kissed his head.

Bill nodded and leaped off the countertop before running up the stairs. There was nothing more he wanted than to go to Laura. He wanted to give her the locket and make sure she wore it this time. He wanted to tell Laura that she was absolutely not allowed to go anywhere alone without him because he had to be there to protect her.

He also wanted Laura to be safe and laughing again when he went to her.

To be continued…