Andie slipped into a doorway as she saw her uncle coming down the hall. She waited until he passed before continuing in the opposite direction and holding her phone back to her ear.

"Sorry, Theo. Just avoiding uncle."

She could hear the sigh in his voice as he replied and noted that it sounded a lot like Damon. Now that the twins were spending time together again they were picking up each others' habits. Last time she had spoken with Damon he had used several of Theo's sayings.

"If it's really so bad why don't you leave? We will figure out another way to beat him."

"I'm fine, Theo." Andie insisted, no longer bothering to stop and consider if it was true. Currently she was better than usual. Anto had left for business and not having him around to remind her what she was doing for her family made the feeling of selling her soul to the devil a lot less intense.

"No, you're not. If you were fine you wouldn't be avoiding him every moment you see him."

"As if we didn't avoid him before. Now I'm simply doing it so I don't have to discuss everything with him. Anto is away on business and every time I have to speak with uncle he asks me why I'm not off seducing Anto. He knows Anto is away but just says if I had been seducing him properly he wouldn't have left. As if a woman would ever stop uncle from doing business."

Again, the sigh. "Why are you doing this? Why won't you let us help? We're not kids that you have to protect anymore."

"Theo, someone in this family has to put a stop to him. You have Aurelia and your baby to think of and Damon is already far too much like uncle, I don't want him crossing any lines."

"And you have Tim, so why won't you come home and let us all work on this together?"

It was Andie's turn to sigh. Tim Riggins was a complication she didn't often let herself think about. He added to the guilt and longing for freedom. If she wasn't in the mess she was already in she might go back and try to convince Tim that she wasn't trying to trap him or force herself into his life. But she was in a mess. A very big, complicated mess. So she accepted her own responsibilities and accepted that Tim would just be that memory that she held onto as a token of her past. A whim loved and lost. Just a dream of a future that would never happen. A broken dream. She would let him have his freedom and try to make a happy life with Anto.

"I don't have Tim, Theo. Tim has his own issues he has to work through and we need to let him do that."

"Andie…"

"No, Theo. I'm doing this. Anto has always been exceedingly kind to me. He is a good friend and life with him will certainly be better than life with uncle. And then Castor can have a real family. We all can. We'll be free."

"That's not freedom, Andie, it's sacrifice!"

"Don't raise your voice at me, Theo. It's my life and I can decide what to do with it."

"It's not just your life. If you're doing this for us then we also have to live with that. Should that not be our choice?"

"Sacrifice is given, not accepted."

"That's bullshit. You're being a martyr and you know it."

He wasn't wrong, but it didn't change that she would do anything for her brothers and after exploring her options she realized she didn't really have any other options.

"Andie, please come home."

It was amazing that a voice so deep could sound so young. Theo's pleading reminded her of when she would be off travelling and she would call home. He had always been the one to ask her to come home. Damon would ask her if she was ever coming home, like it was a joke, but Theo had asked.

"I made my bed, Theo. This time I have to keep my promises."

"But…"

"I should go. Castor will be wondering where I am. Give Damon and Aurelia my love."

There was a long pause before Theo agreed and said goodbye. Andie hoped next time she spoke with her brothers she would have good news but that would only happen when her uncle saw a signed marriage license. Giving herself a moment to wallow in what could have been, Andie shoved everything back into its box and tucked it away in her heart, steeling herself for what was to come.

Theo walked back into the house and tried not to cringe as all the eyes in the room turned to him.

Sighing, he tried to play it cool when he felt anything but. Shrugging his shoulders, Theo gave them a half smile. "What can I say; she got all the stubborn genes."

Everyone groaned or sighed. It was actually pretty loud considering how many people were there. They were at Tim's house and it was moving along really quickly. It was built and the drywall was half up. Today was a rest day for the workers so they had been doing some little stuff themselves. Everyone was pitching in... Damon, Billy, Tyra, Tyra's friend Landry, Anto, even Aurelia was there but she was staying out of the dusty areas. Even Tim's friend, Jason, was visiting and helping out. He was a bit confined to his wheelchair but he was better with power-tools than Theo was. And the guys enjoyed pointing that out.

Theo found it slightly amusing that after everyone had been filled in on the situation, they had all taken it as a personal challenge. He had to admit Andie had found herself some good people. They all wanted to help in any way they could and despite Tim being a little too proud to accept much help, Damon and Theo were quickly teaching him that it didn't matter what he thought; they were helping.

Now if only they could streamline their plan. Making plans to come up with a plan and rescue Andie had been a lot easier than actually developing a plan that would work. They had a bunch of ideas they just couldn't seem to figure out one that wouldn't land one or more of them in jail.

Surprisingly enough, Tim had stopped flinching when they mentioned that it was a real possibility for him. After all, leaving the Dillon area would land him in trouble and they were proposing flying him to a foreign country under a fake name to do some questionably legal things. If it was ever proven he was involved, his previous sentence would seem like a vacation.

Landry spoke, snapping Theo out of his thoughts. "Wait, so if she doesn't want our help, why are we helping?" Both Tyra and Tim took a step towards Landry who took step back and held up his hands. "I'm just saying, usually the cavalry is wanted. She seems to be quite content marrying this guy." He motioned towards Anto and Theo could feel Tim tense beside him.

Anto had admitted that he and Andie were not engaged because Anto sensed her heart wasn't in it. Of course that didn't mean Tim liked him. Theo wasn't going to complain though. Tim's dislike of Anto only proved to Theo that Tim liked Andie a lot more than he was willing to admit. At first Tim had tried, and failed mind you, to pass off his concern for Andie's well-being as friendship but now he didn't even bother to try to correct Theo's comments about love.

Of course he didn't declare his feelings either. Damon was constantly saying that if Tim screwed up their plans and hurt Andie, Damon would make sure nobody ever found him. Big words for a guy who had his pants ironed for him.

"She cares about me, I know that," Anto said, "But only as a good friend. We have known each other a long time and are close, but I know she doesn't love me like that. She is doing this because she doesn't think she has any other way to save her brothers from her uncle. We're here to find another way."

"And what have we got so far?" Jason asked.

Damon sighed. "A whole lot of dead ends." He ran a hand over his face. "Our uncle has so many contacts in his favour that it's hard to get around him in a way he won't have help or see coming."

"It doesn't help that we don't know the exact details of their deal." Tyra said. "I mean, who knows what he promised. All we know is what we've assumed. It's a fair assumption that she's supposed to marry Anto, Andie has said as much over the phone, but how do we know if that's where the deal stops? What if there is more things we should be planning for and we don't know to plan for it?"

"Thank you, Tyra, for pointing out more problems." Tim grumbled.

Tyra stepped towards him but Landry grabbed her arm, keeping her in place. Tyra shook off his hand, glaring at Tim. "I'm just saying she won't tell Damon or Theo what the full deal was, so how are we supposed to get her out of something when we don't know what it really is?"

"Why is she being so stubborn about that?" Aurelia asked, rubbing her stomach.

Her actions made Theo smile but her question made him frown. Theo knew why. For all Andie said about doing this for family, for her brothers, she'd also given Theo a little insight on the phone without meaning to. Theo was almost certain Andie wasn't fighting it because she didn't see another plausible future for herself. She had convinced herself the one she wanted she couldn't have. And the only person who could tell her it wasn't true was too god-damned southern to admit he loved her. Of course Theo wasn't about to say that and embarrass Tim in front of everyone.

Billy wasn't so subtle. "Because Timmy told her he didn't want her to stay."

Almost every face in the room turned to Tim in shocked anger. Tim turned and glared death at Billy. "I did not!"

"It's true," Tyra said, "Tim didn't say that. At least not in those words. He more said he didn't care if she went."

Tim turned to glare at Tyra. Theo was going to stand up for Tim, if he could figure out how, but Damon poured gas on the fire. "Actually, he said he didn't want to take on the responsibility of deciding if she should stay or go and then when she forgave him he slept with her and then left her."

Theo's shocked gaze on Tim made a total of six pairs of eyes. Damon was the only one not looking at Tim. Tim turned and glared at Damon but Damon just stared back so Tim rounded and stormed out the door.

"Was that necessary?" Theo asked.

Damon shrugged. "It's not untrue."

"It's also not kind, helpful or respectful of him or our sister."

"Oh piss on the both of them. Someone needs to step up and do something and we can't do anything when no one is willing to take a risk." With that Damon stormed out in the opposite direction.

Everyone seemed to disperse a little so, sighing, Theo went out to see where Tim had gotten to. Not far. He was pacing mad lines in the driveway. Five steps out, five steps back. There were lots of ways Theo could see a football player in Tim but right now he definitely looked like he wanted nothing more than to suit up and run full force through someone.

Theo was tall and he was strong, but he was lean. More athletic than muscular. Damon was a little more Football built and yet for someone so angry, Damon wasn't one for sports. He was good at them, he just had other interests. Theo liked sports, but given his body shape compared to Tim, Theo wondered if he wanted to risk disturbing the football fullback. It might hurt.

"Are you trying to walk the distance to Romania in your driveway."

Theo froze. For a moment he didn't understand how he had spoken. Soon enough he realized he needed to pay more attention. His senses were getting rusty. He turned and followed Tim's glare to the steps where Anto was standing.

The sound that came from Tim was a little too close to the sound that preceded a charging bull so Theo quickly stepped closer to Tim and drew his attention. "I'm sorry. Damon shouldn't have said that in front of everyone."

Tim stared at him a moment. "Do you and Damon have that twin thing where the one of you feels what happens to the other?"

Theo felt his stomach tighten. "No."

"Good. I don't want to be tempted to hit you."

Theo didn't know what to say to that.

"Damon was disrespectful," Anto said, coming down the steps despite Theo wishing he wouldn't, "but was what he said untrue?"

The only answer Tim gave was a clenching of his teeth. Theo hadn't known that was what had happened but he had guessed it was true enough. Damon wouldn't be stupid enough to say something like that unless it couldn't be denied.

Anto nodded. "Then perhaps you should take responsibility for your anger. You're not angry at Damon for saying it. You're mad at yourself for his words being true."

"What would you know?" Tim growled.

Anto smiled. "I do try to conduct myself in a gentlemanly manner but that doesn't mean I haven't done things I've regretted. I'm not perfect."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Alert the press."

"Hate me all you want, Mr. Riggins, but I am here trying to help. It's not my fault I am involved in this matter. I am trying to do the right thing. If what Damon said is true then it is you who chased her away. You made her believe you don't love her."

"You don't know anything about me and Andie."

"I know Andromeda. And she wouldn't be so easy to give up on other options if she wasn't trying to forget the one she wanted."

Tim just stood there and Theo was intrigued. Not just by how well Anto did seem to understand Andie, but also because of the way Tim reacted. Had he really not understood how much Andie cared about him? Had Theo not impressed upon him that Andie cared, loved him even? Was it so much more compelling and believable coming from a rival?

Slowly, Tim turned to Theo, his expression clearly reluctant but looking for confirmation. Theo frowned. He hated being the bearer of bad news. "When I was talking to Andie I told her to come home. That she had you here and we would all work it out together. She told me that she didn't have you. She said that you had to work your own stuff out and that we should leave you alone. Her words said it like it was a simple parting of ways, but her voice… her voice said it like it had been parted with a knife, one that had cut through her heart on the way down."

Tim's mouth slowly grew into a smile, but it wasn't one of happiness. More irony, like he finally understood that he'd had everything and let it slip away. His smile said irony but his eyes shone with anger and, before Theo knew what was going on, Tim spun in a full circle and thrust his fist through the driver's side window of his truck.

AN: Hey Guys. I apologize for the long wait. Had too many balls in the air and life happened and sadly my stories are one of the balls I dropped. Hopefully it won't be quite so long until the next one. I have it begun, just have to finish and edit. As always, I hope you'll enjoy and review.