College is crazy! I'm going so nuts I uploaded my Psychology notes to FF by accident! Well, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter! Let me know!

Jonah was supposed to have already called, but I was getting used to the less frequent phone calls and text. He wasn't like me. He had a ton of other kids our age around all the time, and I was just some girl who lived on the other side of the country. It hurt but I kept telling myself it would be okay. That every other teenager in the world had experienced a broken heart and I was no exception.

But try explaining that to big brother like Eliot Spencer.

"I'll kill him," he growled as Hardison pulled up his Facebook page. "He's dead."

"Oh, you just wait! Little boy's going to be humiliated and his little butt is going to be all over the internet. No one messes with our Anna," Hardison added already working on something in Photoshop.

I kept my head against the cool bar, my head hurting for a reason I wasn't quite sure of. "Guys, please. Just leave him alone. I don't want to have to deal with this right now."

"You don't have to, that's what we're here for," Eliot clarified as Hardison tried to lay out a plan.

"Come on, please? I really don't feel like being babied anymore and if Nate or Sophie found out it would be even worse," I mumbled rubbing my head. "I'm going to go home and sleep. Tell the rest of the team I wasn't feeling well."

They both watched Anna walk out of the room before exchanging looks. They knew what they had to do.

"Nate, Hardison and I are going out of town for a couple days," Eliot informed the rest of the team, already almost out the door with his bag.

"Hold on a second. Where are you going?" Nate asked, putting his paper down and giving them an odd look. Rarely do these two willingly spend extra time together.

Hardison shifted, the first to break under Nate's gaze. "Ya know. Some male bonding thing."

Just like that, they were busted. Sophie put down her tea and looked them over with squinted eyes. "Why are you lying?"

Hardison looked nervous now that everyone was staring at him, even Eliot, but that was more of a glare. By now the man should know how to keep his mouth shut, especially when there is a grifter around.

Shifting again, he cleared his throat. "Well-"

"The boy from LA broke Anna's heart," Eliot spelled out for them.

Nate stiffened, Sophie relaxed and Parker just looked confused. "Is she still alive?" Parker asked truly concerned.

Sophie looks at her. "Yes, her heart is metaphorically broken-" She could see she was getting nowhere with that direction. "She's emotionally hurt…" Parker just continued to stare. "Imagine someone took some of your money…"

Parker's face lit up with anger. "Let's kill him!"

Eliot and Hardison seemed to agree, even Nate seemed to sit up at the thought. As usual, Sophie was the voice of reason. She shook her head and placed her mug of tea down in front of her. "Come on guys, we've all had broken hearts. It comes with being a teenager."

"And I remember getting my ass kicked by big brothers for doing the breaking. It's a tradition I'm willing to keep going," Eliot clarified moving past Sophie to the door.

She glared at him. "You open that door and I will tell Anna exactly what you're doing. Big brother tradition or not, do you really want to experience her rash right now?"

He hesitated. Anna was not fun when she was angry. None of them were, but Anna had a way of making each and every one of them truly miserable if she set her mind to it. She has done it before and there wasn't a doubt she'd do it again to get her point across. If it wasn't directed at him, Eliot would be impressed by her unique forms of torture.

Still, they all cared about Anna and no one was allowed to hurt her. She was their girl. The fact Sophie was okay with her being upset like that threw everyone for a loop. If anyone seemed willing to protect Anna it would be Sophie.

"Everyone just give her a few days to cool off. I'll talk to her," she added smiling slightly at their protectiveness. She adored her team, but they needed to let the girl experience some of real, normal, teenage life.

Finally, the seemed to calm down. "Fine, but I'm still up for killing him if I have to," Eliot grumbled moving back toward the door to the stairs.

"Hell, I don't even have to go to LA in order to turn his world upside down-" Just one look from Sophie and Hardison was stuttering. "Just-just in case ya know?"

Parker simply shrugged. "I'm going to go count my money."

All Sophie could do was shake her head as she slid into the booth beside Nate. They sat there, extremely close for a long moment. "How many hearts did you break in high school, Mr. Ford?" Sophie teased, letting her hand run over his thigh.

"None actually. Normally it was me getting my heart broken," Nate said cooly, a smile playing on his lips. He looked at her for a long moment. There was that chemistry. So badly he wanted to take her by the hand and pull her against him and kiss her like he had at San Lorenzo. But this was not the time or the place. "How about you, Ms. Devereaux?"

Sophie sent him a teasing smile. "I broke plenty of hearts, but none in high school. It took me a little while to learn to play the game."

"I would have never have guessed that," Nate said giving her a closer look.

"I'm full of surprises," she teased before sliding out of the booth. "I'd love to share but I'm going to head out. Anna said she had a headache, so my responsibility is calling."

I was curled up on the couch with a pounding in my head still annoyingly evident the next day. On top of that my nose was now running and stomach did not agree with anything I put in it. Being sick was absolutely no fun.

Still, being sick meant I had full reign of the TV and Eliot was willing to make me chicken noodle soup and I was able to sleep late, something everyone around here pretty well shuns unless you're sick.

Sophie was in the kitchen stirring a pot of soup and searching making me a mug of tea. "Here you go sweetie," she offered me a bowl and a mug.

I shivered as I took it. I was sweaty and cold, not to mention a little cranky.

"Boys suck," I mumbled as Sophie sat down on the couch and rested my head in her lap. She just shook her head and dabbed my head with a cold rag.

She laughed softly and ran a hand over my forehead and held me for a moment. Just then there was a knock on the door.

Sophie moved to answer the door, leaving me curled up on the couch. I closed my eyes and pulled a pillow over my head in hope the pounding would stop. Of course, it didn't work. Nothing seemed to help.

"Is Anna home?" a familiar voice said from the door.

"I'm sorry, and you are?" Sophie was on high alert, I could hear it in her voice, but her curiosity was also getting the best of her. Damn grifters with their need to nose in people's business.

"Oh- I'm sorry, Mrs. Clive. I'm Jonah."

Suddenly I wanted to dive into my bedroom and hide for the next ten years.

I could almost hear the skepticism in Sophie's voice. "I'm sorry, Jonah, but Anna is sleeping. She's been ill for the last couple days. Can I have her call you?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be in town for about a week. My sister is touring colleges." There was no hiding his disappointment, but then again, he hadn't texted me or called me in over a week. "Have a good day Mrs. Clive."

Sophie muttered a goodbye and moved back toward the couch. "Rather skinny boy, tall, but skinny."

All I could do was shrug. "Can I worry about this after my head stops hurting?"

"Sweetheart, you have a week, and I'm more worried the male on the team are going to kill the boy the moment they realize he's in town, if they don't know already."

They not only knew, the planned it. Jonah's older sister was a senior in high school and with a few nifty tricks on Hardison's part, his family was flown to Boston to be toured around colleges in Massachusetts.

Eliot was following the family and even watched him enter Sophie's apartment building. If Sophie knew, everyone would be killed. If Anna knew, they would have to deal with a whole new kind of hell.

Nate was sitting in his living room looking at the screen. Part of him was even a little worried about explaining to Sophie what he had done, what the team had done without Anna's permission. They weren't supposed to stay out of each other's personal lives unless otherwise given permission.

But this was Anna.

Anna was not going to be screwed with.

"So how are we going to do this?" Hardison asked. "We can't beat up a kid. I mean, not really."

"We could make his trip truly horrible," Nate clarified.

"This boy is a martial artist, a kick boxing champion, in National Honor Society, baseball, basketball, chess team, drama club-" Hardison would have kept going, but Nate cut him off.

"If he wasn't about to break our Anna's heart I'd say good choice. Someone who can intellectually keep up with her." Nate frowned. His girl was smart. If she was in school, there wasn't a doubt in his mind she would be top of her class, schools all over the world looking at her.

If the world was different, if the world didn't have terrible people like Anna's father, that girl could have had the world at her finger tips. Her realism combined with her vision and her ability to learn and excel, she could have been anything she wanted.

Instead she was a thief, living with thieves, and learning how to become the greatest con woman anyone could ever dream up. She was born on the wrong side of the law and that was where she was doomed to stay.

Nate wanted her to be able to be normal. To go to high school, to break hearts and do high school theatre. That may have been the reason he was so angry as Jonah. He was the one part of her that could give her the slightest hope of normalcy and he took it away.

He was a bitter father who wanted to return some of the pain.

"I think the boy could use a big dose of bad luck…"

The next day I was feeling a lot better. My headache had disappeared and I my fever had broke. Sophie smiled as I came out of my bedroom dressed in normal clothing. My hair was straightened and I was wearing a little bit more makeup than usual.

"You look pretty. Where you going?" she asked running her hand through the back of my hair. "Sometimes I forget how long your hair is when it's not curly."

"Jonah asked me to meet him at the diner down the road." I also touched my hair. "I forget too. It was a pain to straighten."

Sophie leaned down and kissed my cheek before squeezing my shoulder. "Be careful. Call if you need anything."

I nodded. "Will do," I replied heading toward the door.

Sure, I was nervous. It was normal to be nervous, at least I assumed it was. This teenage thing was hard. I'd much rather be planning a con, not preparing for a date. Perhaps it was a good thing that we were just going to say our goodbyes and bow out.

Rarely did I carry a purse, but when I need to show class and sophistication, I dressed similarly to Sophie. The day I start carrying backup heels is the day I give up and admit I'm becoming the woman who is currently raising me. There was nothing wrong Sophie, but I wanted to become my own person.

"Anna!" I was pulled out of my thoughts and saw Jonah waving at me from an outside table. Clearing my throat I waved back and headed over.

Part of me almost wished that I had a com in my ear listening to Sophie and Nate bicker, Parker going on about something that no one really cared about and Hardison and Eliot at each other's throats.

"Hi," I said awkwardly taking a seat across from Jonah and shifting under his gaze.

There was something in the way he looked at me, I hated it. It was a look that I really didn't like. The hair on the back of my neck rose.

"What are you doing here?" I said forcing a smile.

"Sister, college stuff. Ya know. We'll be stuck doing the same thing in two years," Jonah said smiling. He was really bothering me, everything, even the way he was looking at me.

"Yeah, can't wait," I replied sarcastically. Truth is I didn't really know what was so bad about touring colleges. I guess it was just another one of those teenage things I will never understand.

The silence grew awkward and I finally just sighed. "Let's just get this over with, it was nice while it lasted."

Jonah looked at me with those blue eyes and tilted his head slightly. It was supposed to be the look of ignorance, but it was actually a look of deception. Grifting made dealing with people harder than I ever expected.

"Don't pretend like you weren't going to say goodbye," I said exasperated. But when I met his eyes, I began to get concerned. "But you were going to save that for the end of the week."

He reached out and touched my wrist. "Anna-"

I pulled my arm away. Manipulation was fine when you're stealing, but it was to be kept out of everyday life. If you fall onto manipulation to when you want something from someone else that you are supposed to care about, you are not the type of person I want to deal with.

"I'm going home, Jonah. Have a nice trip to Boston," I snapped standing up and nearly knocking over my chair.

He grabbed my wrist. "Let's go for a walk," he snarled also standing up. There was no wait for my response, he just drug me toward the park.

Hardison flipped through security cameras as Jonah and Anna walked down the side walk. Something didn't feel right. He knew Anna. He knew if anything got her in trouble it was her sense of invincibility and for once she looked vulnerable. She looked… like a kid.

Still, there was really nothing wrong. Anna could walk away anytime, she was allowing herself to be in this situation which meant she had a way out. But still, something felt off. Then he saw it. Jonah was nearly dragging her by her wrist.

"Hey!"For a moment he had forgotten he was alone in Nate's apartment and there was no one to call for. Hardison glanced away from the computer for only a second, but they were gone. Still, Anna had trackers.

Snatching his phone off the tabled he bolted for the door.

"Jonah, stop. This really isn't funny," I tried finally jerking my wrist away as he pulled me into the alleyway. "Why are you being like this? You're supposed to be my friend."

Jonah looked at me like I was stupid. "You are my friend. I am your friend. I just want to show you how much I like you," he said closing in the space between us. I was cornered in the alley, his body way too close to mine. He was kissing my neck, just kissing it, his hands holding me against the wall, nearly lifting me off the ground for better access.

Yes, I like Jonah, at least part of me wanted to like him, but I was scared. "Jonah stop," I said again, this time giving him a push away. He only pushed my hand down and covered my lips with his. No, this isn't the way this is supposed to happen. This isn't the way this is supposed to feel.

Part of me felt like crying as he kissed me harder, prying my lips open with his tongue. Freeing an arm, I pushed him harder. "Jonah!" I yelped as his fingers moved underneath my shirt at touched the skin of my stomach.

"Hey!" someone shouted.

Suddenly he jumped away spinning his attention to a familiar face sprinting toward us. "What?"

I nearly threw myself at Hardison as he drew closer. My arms around his neck in a hug and my face damp from nervous tears. "I think you should go," Hardison replied darkly. I had never heard him sound so angry.

Jonah stared for a few more seconds before leaving. I held tight onto Hardison as he pulled me into a proper hug and held me there.

"You okay?" he asked as he smoothed my ruffled hair.

I nodded into his neck. "Will you take me home?"

Sophie paced the floor infront of the rest of the team. Well, minus Anna. Anna was back to being slightly ill, and whether it was her actual illness or her emotional turmoil was anybody's guess. "You spied on her?"

Nate had the first rebuttal. "Actually we spied on him."

The look Sophie gave him was silencing enough. If looks could do physical harm, Nate would have just had his tongue cut out. "You bought plane tickets? You flew a family to Boston to bully a sixteen-"

"Jonah's seventeen-" And Parker also just lost her ability to speak.

"Boy? Yes, I am happy in the outcome but if you would have minded your own bloody business none of this would have even came about!" Sophie snapped, her cheeks flushed from aggravation.

"Anna was upset and you wouldn't let us fly to LA." Eliot was the next on the death list.

Sophie stared at them incredulously. "So you're blaming me?"

"You let her go out with him," Hardison snapped. "You didn't even see what was happening."

Sophie pressed two fingers to her forehead and let out an irritated sigh. "Go, all of you," she said finally moving toward the hallway to Anna's room. "And if any one of you go anywhere near that boy you, I will deal with you."

So, how do you think Sophie will react to what Jonah did? It may be mother-daughter story time. Now, better question: Will the team listen to Sophie even after finding out what all Jonah pulled? You all know I love reviews!