Holding On

Chapter 29

Molly's had a lot of customers during busy afternoons , something that made Henry's Dad happy but made the teen tired. Still, Henry tried to treat them all with a smile. Usually the faces blurred together and he got through the que pretty quickly.

That was until Ethan's little sister stepped up to the mark. "How could you?" She demanded, placing her two hands on the countertop with a betrayed expression on her face.

"Excuse me?" He stopped mindlessly wiping down the counter and mentally ticking through his list of jobs to look at the girl. Ethan had always said that she was outspoken.

"How could you stand there and let it happen?" She practically cried at him causing some of the other customers to glance their way.

"Let what happen?" He asked in a worry, craning his neck to glance around the diner. Nothing seemed too wrong.

"Hey kid, Mom needs you to go and get some more diapers and milk asap." His Dad appeared at his shoulder, "I may have forgotten to pick them up and she may be very annoyed when you get home…" He grimaced sheepishly, "Hey Emily, what can I get you?" He asked with a smile.

He obviously hadn't heard her giving out, Henry mused.

"A son that is a better friend for Sarah." Emily told him seriously before leaving the money for her table's bill and walking away.

"What was that about?" His Dad asked, handing him money for the errands.

"No idea." Henry replied.


"Aren't you going to see who that is?" James asked as Sarah's phone chimed again as they were all sitting down later that evening to watch TV with Jason.

Sarah cringed. She had been ignoring her phone all evening. She knew that Connor was with his Mom and he usually only texted her at night before bed lately. So she didn't want to see Ava's jabs at her.

"Yeah." She mumbled, reaching for her phone, bracing herself before finding out that it was Emily.

Heyyy how are you? I haven't seen you in ages. What's up? Xoxo

Sarah let out the breath she was holding.

She texted the girl back, delighted to have her best friend back in contact. She couldn't help the little voice in her head that had somehow become Ava's voice telling her that Emily was only messaging her because Gabby or Monique were busy though. She was the last resort.

They were chatting about school when Emily sent a message asking about Connor.

When Sarah said that Connor's Mom was sick right now and he was off school she replied asking how things were with her and Connor.

Sarah bit her lip in worry, maybe Ava had gotten to her? Maybe everyone knew that he was being distant? Maybe he had told someone he was getting fed up of her?

Things are great.

Sarah sent her message, feeling that it was an utter lie while she sat down to start studying.

She jumped at her phone when it buzzed again only to find the message that she had been dreading.

New girls are novelties, everyone knows Connor will get bored with you. Just like Joey did.

Sarah dropped her phone on her lap. Had Ava gone digging in her past too?

"Hey Sarah." Henry said as he caught up with her going into school the next day. She jumped at his words, lost in her own world.

"Oh, hi Henry." She barely met his eyes.

Henry felt a stab of guilt. Emily's words had gotten to him, was he not being a good friend? He had promised Connor he'd look out for her and he had seemed to be falling miserably

"How was your dinner yesterday?"

"Good thanks."

"Cool." He smiled, "Did you hear from Connor yesterday?"

"No. He texted to say his Mom was having a bad night and he couldn't talk." She nearly had tears in her eyes, Connor wouldn't fob her off would he?

"Oh right, Dad mentioned that…" Henry grimaced.

They didn't have too long to hang around and chat as Sarah had another meeting with Mr Charles.

"Hey man." Will fist bumped Henry in the hall. "You ready for practice this evening?"

"My Dad has our hockey schedule highlighted and copied and taped to most surfaces in our house, I'm ready." He rolled his eyes in a fond way. "Hey Will, did you notice anything strange about Sarah lately?"

"Reese?" Will asked, falling into step beside him as they walked to class.

"Yeah, you guys were close with the bus and everything right?"

"Yes, but now her stepdad is bringing them more often than not lately. Why?"

"I don't know, Ethan's sister mentioned something yesterday about Sarah needing better friends and I just got this bad feeling…"

"Well I know she's in some of my classes now, but with Nat and Nina and Jay making the team, I mean I guess I hadn't noticed her missing at lunch recently."

"Really?"

"Yeah…Leave it with me, I'll ask Jay. Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine. You see how she is with Jason and taking on extra classes, she's a tough girl."


Emily was worrying, because what she was doing might actually be considered stalking but it didn't matter.

She needed to get to the bottom of it.

Sarah mentioned at lunch when Emily practically dragged her over to their table that she hadn't heard from Connor at all the previous day, when Emily had seen him for herself at Molly's.

She didn't like people lying. She had had enough of it in her early life.

So she was currently at the hospital. Waiting for Connor to come out so she could corner him.

"Emily? What are you doing here?" She nearly fell off the bench when she was spotted by Connor and Henry. She looked up from the book she wasn't reading, wondering if the all black outfit was too much.

"What are you doing here?" She shot back.

"My Mom's here." Connor said, taken aback by her sharp words.

She wouldn't let them throw her from her game.

"Well what were you doing at Molly's yesterday?" She stood up and crossed her arms.

"Getting food?" He answered sending Henry a questioning glance.

"Yeah and cheating on my best friend you jerk." She shouted and stepped forward in fury which made him step back in shock.

"Woah woah woah, Emily what the hell are you talking about?" Henry asked, standing between the pair. "Connor was getting food to bring back for him and Claire."

"You're not innocent either." Emily shot him a glare that rivalled his mother's and made him shrink under it. "Standing around letting that other girl practically feel him up when he has a girlfriend."

"Wait, are you talking about Kim?" Connor asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

"Well if that's what you want to call your other woman, sure." She spat.

A smile played on the corner of his lips, Emily, however was not amused.

"Oh right, Kim was there." Henry smiled, "Yeah Kim Burgess, a friend of Claire's from school, she hasn't changed much…"

"Wait, how do you know who she is?" Connor asked and Emily felt suddenly excluded from her own conversation.

"She has been friends with Claire forever." Henry shrugged as if it meant nothing but Emily could see the red blush rising in his cheeks.

"…Yeah but I never thought you paid that much attention to Claire's friends…" Connor remarked.

"Oh…well…I didn't…not really. You know. We were all friends, I saw Claire around. Not too much. Just you, know I noticed the people she hung around with. Not in a weird way, I didn't like stalk them or anything…Kim has always been nice." Henry ranted.

"Uh. Yes. ." Connor nodded, "She was asking about Mom, she heard from Claire she was back in the hospital, she has a boyfriend."

"Who has a boyfriend? Claire?" Henry jumped in a little too quickly.

Connor shot his friend a look as if he didn't quite recognise him, "No. Kim has had a boyfriend for years. Adam, Claire and her have always kept in touch." He told Emily. "So I've known her forever."

"So you're both cheating then?" Emily asked.

"No." Connor laughed. "She has a boyfriend. I have a girlfriend. She's my sister's friend so that would be weird anyway. I literally bumped into an old family friend, that's all. Besides, I love Sarah why the hell would I mess that up?"

"Oh…" Emily faltered, this wasn't part of the plan.

"Hold on, you didn't tell Sarah your theory did you?"

"No, I didn't what kind of friend do you think I am?" She retorted. Emily wanted the earth to swallow her, and then her mind finally allowed her to register Connor's words. "Wait, you love Sarah?"

"I do." Connor said firmly. Henry looked at Emily, he didn't want to appear amused but the whole situation had been weird enough.

"Oh… I should, probably go." Emily said shyly. "I'm sorry I was just… I saw you with that girl and…" Connor didn't have time to answer as the girl apologized once more and dashed off.

"What just happened?" Connor asked Henry.

"No idea."


"Hi Sarah."

"What's up Reese?"

Sarah found herself in a Halstead sandwich as she made her way from class to class that week.

"Hi guys." She said as the two boys flanked both sides.

"So how are things?" Will asked.

"Good thanks." She eyed both of them, "What's wrong?"

"nothing." Jay said, throwing his hands up in innocence. "Just haven't seen you much lately, just catching up."

"Okay."

"So how are you finding all the new classes?" Will asked.

Sarah shrugged, between Ava and things with Connor she felt distracted and restless and the new classes were turning out to be a bit of a struggle. "Fine. How's practice?"

"There's more to it than I thought. Antonio is one strict captain, has us practicing every day if he could." Jay said, but then he changed the conversation right back to her as if he were suddenly inspecting her life. "How's Jason?"

"Good."

He nodded, as if he had expected her monosyllabic answer and Will jumped in "How's he getting on in school now?"

"Fine. He's made friends." She told them, wondering when the investigation was over. She just wasn't in the mood for talking anymore. She had enough on her mind. And with Connor unavailable, her best friend occupied with Gabby and the rest of them running to work or hockey or anything else, she felt like she was on a slippery slope.

Maybe Ava was right. Maybe she was just a novelty. And the sheen had worn off her.

She was right back to where she was in Michigan.

Invisible. Unwanted.

And on top of it she was still terrified about the situation between James and Jason.

And she still had to get to class.

"I have to get to Math guys, see you later." She told them as she ducked around Will and into her classroom.

Jay and Will swapped a look. Henry was right. Something was wrong with Sarah. She hadn't been that shy and quiet since her first day at Gaffney.


Sarah walked through the library, thankful it was quiet. Apparently not many other students spent their lunch times studying. She walked through the shelves, perusing the titles before finding a book that would cover the topic they had started to tackle in math with a different method. She liked to know all methods and solutions so she could teach everyone else. She liked to know all the answers to any possible questions.

That was what made her feel safe.

She made her way back to the group of tables at the back that she usually had to herself so she could spread all her notebooks and books out on, while also staying far enough away from the librarian's desk that she could sneak a few snacks in.

But today there was someone else sitting at her spot.

"Oh hi Sarah." Ethan Choi looked up from where he had been intently writing notes from the highlighted section of his textbook.

"Hi Ethan." She said with a shy smile. Apart from the fact that he was Emily's older brother and seemed disciplined and responsible, she didn't know much about him.

She sat down and unzipped her backpack and began unloading her study supplies. Between the two of them they nearly took over the entire space.

Ethan grinned, "What will we be like when we're seniors huh?"

Sarah laughed quietly, "I'm going to need my own library."

She decided she liked Ethan a lot after that because he just let her be. He went back to studying and let her do the same. He didn't carry on awkward small talk or pepper her with questions.

Her phone vibrated with messages during lunch but Sarah just checked the sender now and finding it was privated, she just tried to ignore it. Ava did not get to ruin her study time.

Sarah started to pack up her things a few minutes before class and she was picking up a folder when three notes fell to the table.

She knew that she should just put them in the trash, but she never did anything but shove them back into her locker in case anyone would see them. And now they got stuck in her things.

Ethan looked up as she started packing up and stretched. He raised his eyebrows when he saw the folded pieces of paper. "Love notes?"

Sarah wished.

"Oh…Um…no…" She scrambled to get them out of sight and zipped up her backpack.

"Okay." Ethan nodded and started to clear up his notes as she stood up.

"Hey Sarah…" He said just as she turned to leave.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Just…" He paused as if searching for the right words. "Just don't ever let anyone make you feel lesser than you know?" He said. "And you're part of the group now and a good influence on Emily, you're part of the family now."

Sarah nodded hurriedly, hoping to distract from the tears springing in her eyes.

Ethan shrugged his backpack onto his back and smiled, changing the topic. "So I see you're in nearly all my classes now. How do you do it? Biology is hard enough without skipping a grade…"

They chatted as they walked to the next class. She liked it, feeling that Ethan had somehow become some sort of bodyguard, and she didn't look over her shoulder for Ava and her cronies.

She navigated the rest of the day focused on school and Jason when she got home. Her brother asked about Connor again and she tried to assure him he'd see him soon, but honestly, she wasn't sure.

Connor had enough going on, she couldn't be sure of anything, not even about their relationship. She hated herself for even thinking it, but old habits died hard, she was beginning to learn that the hard way.


Henry couldn't shake the odd feeling of noticing Sarah was out of herself, Connor had asked him to keep an eye on her and he apparently hadn't done a very good job.

But he wouldn't dare text him, he was already dealing with a lot, including his father and trying to keep a strong front for Claire. So much for keeping his secret crush hidden.

"Henry, what was so important?" He found himself face to face with Natalie Saturday morning in a rare occasion in which he didn't have to work at the diner.

"Have you noticed Sarah acting strange, lately?" He asked.

"Ah, I really haven't paid attention, why? She probably just misses Connor."

"Nope, that's not it." Henry sighed, flopping on Natalie's bed as she sat on her desk chair. "I'm sorry, how are you?"

She smiled, always sweet Henry. "Okay, but it's getting a bit harder to not be tired all the time."

"Oh yeah, second trimester can do that to you." He said casually. "Sorry, I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

"You're going to be an amazing uncle Henry."She laughed.

"Really?"

"Of course." She told him. "So, about Sarah, I'll keep an eye out. Sorry, I've kind of been zooming out since…"

"Jeff?" Oh yeah, the guy had suddenly decided to make an appearance back into her life, he hadn't guaranteed her anything, but at least they were on speaking terms again. " I get it."

"You're still swooning after Claire?" Henry didn't seem amused. "What?"

"I am a really crappy friend." He said frustrated. "Being in love with my best friend's sister."

"Henry…"

"So, did I tell you about Emily Choi?" Henry tried to steer the conversation. He told her about the strange moment in which Emily had accused Connor of cheating and his admission afterwards.

"Wait, he loves her?" Natalie asked, surprised.

"That's what he said." Henry sighed. "Did you know?"

"No, I mean with everything that happened with his Mom…" It hit them both hard, the idea that they seemed to be so far from Connor even though they both tried to be there for him the best they could. "I can't believe neither of us knew."

"What should we do?" Henry asked. He was not a leader, that much he was aware of, when they were younger, Natalie and Connor generally led the way and he followed.

"About Sarah?" Nat asked. Her best friend nodded. "Well, she's coming over on Monday to study, should we try and talk to her then?"

They stayed quiet for a while until Henry realized he had to head home. "Henry?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you drive me, to the hospital later? I want to check on Connor…"

"You really shouldn't…"

"We can go to the cafeteria down the street, I just… I need to talk to him, he told Sarah he loved her and neither of us knew, Henry that's not okay, I don't want… this." She gestured to her belly "Or the fact that we might have to grow up too fast to break us apart, we promised."

"I guess, but Nat, the thing is, we are growing up, I mean you are having a baby and Liz might not have a lot of time left." She was almost in tears as he spoke.

"I know, darn it Henry, I don't need reminding okay?"

"Sorry but…"

"But what?"

"Since when am I the normal one?" Henry smiled, Natalie sneaked one herself as she tried to control her emotions.

"I always knew you were, you've always been the glue keeping us together." Natalie sat on the bed with him. "So, will you drive me?"

"Sure, we can have dinner with him or something?"

"Okay."

"But don't mention anything about Sarah, I don't want him to go all Connor about it."


Connor paced back and forth as they waited for the doctor to come out of his Mom's room as Claire was sitting on a chair with Katie, the older woman held the girl as best as she could. "Connor, honey, sit, you are going to drill holes on the ground…"

His phone buzzed.

"Seriously, sit." Claire said tiredly. He did, taking the other chair beside Katie. "Is it Sarah?"

"Henry." Connor said checking his phone. "He says he and Natalie want to come over."

"Natalie really shouldn't…" Katie commented.

"No, they want to go down the street to have something to eat." He sighed.

"Go, you could use it sweetheart, you've been barely out all week." Katie said sweetly.

"Connor, Claire." Dr. Haas came out of the room. Katie stood beside them both. "Well, results are so much better than yesterday, she seems to be responding to treatment. If you'd prefer her to be at home, which I think would be best, she could leave Monday if all keeps improving…"

"Thank the heavens." Katie sighed.

"Is your father around? I need to speak to him."

"I'll go get him…" Katie offered, but Claire stopped her. "He's probably on a call…"

"I'll go Katie, stay here with Connor, I'm sure Mom will be glad to see you."

"Claire…" Connor called, his eyes pleading silently. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright, when you find him, please tell him to meet me in my office."

"Okay." Claire thanked the doctor and went in search of her father.

"Can we see her?"

"Perhaps just one of you?"

"Go ahead Katie, I'll be right back." She gave him a tender brush on the cheek and headed inside. Connor shook hands with Dr. Haas and glanced one last time in the direction of his Mother's room before going down the hall in hopes to call people and give them the good news and text Henry and Nat to chat, trying to avoid having to see them.

He wasn't ready, he didn't want them to see him like that. It would worry Natalie and put more pressure on Henry to try and be the perfect friend. Instead, he texted them and said he'd probably see them Monday.


"Chris?" Cindy found her husband washing the dishes after dinner Saturday night as the kids got ready in the living room to watch a movie. "Honey, everything okay?"

Henry peeked his head their way and Hermann asked him to keep an eye on his siblings as he led his wife to the laundry room.

"What's wrong?" Hermann reached to the back of the washing machine and got out a leather folder. One he'd hidden as soon as he got home. "What's this?"

"Open it." He said, Cindy eyed him curiously but did it anyway.

"She doesn't have a lot of time baby…" Chris said as she read it. "I just told her I had to talk about it with you before we made any decisions…"

"He has a father Chris…"

"Yeah, a crappy one." He huffed. "He cannot possibly care for him, have you met him? What kind of man do you think Connor will become if he raises him?"

"He's not a little kid Chris, and let's face it, we cannot give Connor the life he's used to and what about Claire?"

"They don't have to move in with us, this is just in the worst case scenario…"

"Which is?"

"That Rhodes thinks too much of himself and neglects them."

"You honestly think he'd do that?"

"You don't know him like I do Cin…"

"Yes I do and he is still their father Chris, even if he's not around...he needs those kids, because as much as we hate to admit it, he's going lose his wife too."

"Like he cares…" Chris huffed.

"Maybe not, but his kids are the one thing he can control, he'll never let go of that power."

"Then we'll fight him…"

"Chris, listen to yourself, we have the kids to think about, 6 of them… or have you forgotten?"

"Of course not, but Cindy, I have to do something, I owe it to Lizzie to try and make sure those kids are alright. Connor's still Henry's best friend."

"I know."

"And our godson."

Henry was the oldest of 6, it wasn't a coincidence he knew how to listen in on his parent's conversations, especially when he'd seen his father rattled up after coming home from the hospital the day before and he was sure to have something to do with Elizabeth.

"I know."

"Then we should do it."

Henry heard his Mom sigh, "It's not that easy Chris. There's a lot of people involved here."

"Just...think about it?"

"Alright. Fine. But I'm not making any promises."

"Alright, I love you, you know?"

Henry backed away when he heard his Mom give a quiet laugh, at least they wouldn't start the argument now.

But he couldn't quite get his head around it.

Did Elizabeth want them to adopt Connor?

Getting him a car was one thing, asking them to take in her son was a whole other ball game.


Sarah was sitting at her desk in her room on Saturday morning, her phone turned off. She had been sent a link to a blog page that someone had created dedicated to taunting her. Quotes from anonymous people were posted.

She's such a nerd.

Stop trying to act like you're smarter than everyone else.

If you spend lunch in the library then you definitely don't have friends.

She couldn't stop reading them, so she turned her phone off after telling Connor she had to study.

Her boyfriend was on a high ever since he was told that Elizabeth had turned a corner and as everything was going to plan, she would be home on Monday. It was so nice to hear the happiness in Connor's voice again.

James had taken Jason out for the day. "Sarah?" Her Mom called.

"Yeah?" Sarah called back as she read the same line from her textbook for the fifth time.

"You have visitors."

That made Sarah sit up and push herself away from the desk and she left the room and descended the stairs.

She kind of hoped it wasn't Connor. She knew he had seen her at home before but after reading all those posts about how ugly she was, she really didn't want him to see her in all her messy glory.

"Will and Jay are here to see you." Her Mom said as Sarah looked around her to see the Halstead brothers standing in the doorway.

"Oh hi guys...did I miss a study session?" She racked her brain, maybe she had promised them and forgotten.

"No." Will shook his head with a smile. "You have too much school on the brain Reese."

"We just thought we'd come by and see you. I said we hadn't caught up in a while." Jay added.

"So what do you say Reese? I finally dragged this guy away from Erin for a few hours, we were thinking of going to the rink, you can watch me put him through his paces."

Jay both blushed and shoved his elbow into his brother's ribs. "What he means to say is that I got him away from Nina and we thought with Connor at the hospital, we could hang out." Jay said, "If you're allowed." He sent her Mom his sweetest smile.

Sarah knew Susan couldn't say no, Jason still mentioned Jay regularly.

"Sure, but be back before 6 okay? Jason will be back before then." her Mom told her.

So she ended up in Will's car that was making more bangning sounds than the last time.

The brothers were oddly silent and it was beginning to make Sarah feel uncomfortable.

"So...how are you guys?"

"Sarah…" Will frowned at the road.

"We don't want you to think we're trying to ambush you or something…" Jay put in.

"No, exactly...it's just we're worried." Will said as he pulled into the rink's parking lot.

"Yeah, we've been your bus buddies since your first day." Jay said as he leaned forward from the backseat. "It's kind of our job.

"Worried about what?"

"You. I know we've been awol lately but something's up." Will said.

"Is it Connor? Is he treating you right?" Jay jumped in. Sarah bit back a smile. Apparently they were never going to trust Connor all that much. She appreciated the concern though.

"No, Connor's great." She said, hoping to avoid further probing.

"But you've been avoiding the cafeteria, leaving school quickly, and not even putting your hand up in class anymore." Jay laid all her behaviour out in front of her like she was a puzzle to solve, like he was trying to form a coherent argument.

"So…" She shrugged, "I need to study more and classes are harder, I don't know all the answers." It might have sounded like the truth if hadn't said it so harshly.

"Is someone bothering you?" Will asked quietly. Sarah was pretty sure she had stopped breathing. She wanted to tell anyone who thought Will Halstead was just some happy-go-lucky guy was completely wrong, he was smarter than anyone knew.

"No." Her voice wobbled.

"Sarah, you can tell us. We're here for you, you know?" Jay smiled softly.

"It's stupid. It's nothing."

"It's not nothing, if you're upset." Will interjected.

"I know we haven't been great friends lately but you can still trust us. Is it someone in school?"

"Is it Noah? Because I'll fight him for you. I haven't gotten in trouble in a while, Mr Charles will start to think there's something wrong." Will tried to joke.

"Is it Ava?" Jay asked and Sarah's chest constricted. Because they would know now and think she was being ridiculously stupid.

Jay narrowed his eyes, "I mean, I knew she was never the nicests person, she wasn't even nice to you on the bus the first morning… but this is so wrong. You should tell someone."

Always seeking justice, Jay was.

Will butted in when Sarah felt like she was going to have a heart attack, how could she just drop that into conversation with Mr Charles when he was talking about moving her up a grade? "You don't have to tell, but you have to talk to us. You can't deal with this alone Sarah. No one should be bothering you."

"It's stupid, it's just messages...I'm not smart or I'm too smart. Or I'm not pretty or Connor is delusional or I have no friends...it doesn't matter."

She didn't mean to start crying.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. You have us on your side remember? And Connor would be definitely delusional not to date you and well screw her, she's just jealous she's not as smart as you. We'll get you through this Sarah." Will said, "We're family."

Sarah blinked the tears away as she was wrapped in a Halstead sandwich.

They really cared for her, Sarah never thought that would be possible when she first arrived to Chicago.

She had a good time with them afterwards, Will kicking Jay's butt in the ice. "You and Connor should play again, I'm sure he'd still give you a run for your money big brother." Jay said to annoy Will.

Sarah laughed. "Oh yeah, do that Reese. Laugh."

"Sorry."

"Nope. it's actually good to hear it. Should we go get ice cream then, kids? I'm buying."

"In this cold?" Sarah said.

"Best time of the year for it." Will mused. "Come on."


Sunday went by in a blur for Sarah as she got to spend time with her Mom and Jason without James.

But her late night call with Connor actually made her feel a little bit anxious about the next day but she wasn't going to let him in on that. She'd actually been avoiding him so he wouldn't discover what was going on at school but she wasn't sure how much longer she could pretend everything was okay.

"So, I'll just settle my Mom at home." Connor explained the logistics of him skipping yet another day of school, but thankfully, between her and Henry and Nat, they hadn't let him slack off. Like they'd promised Elizabeth.

"Good."

"Just in time for Valentine's Day." Sarah's heart sank."Sarah? Are you there?"

"Yeah, sorry my Mom is calling me… I need to go."

"Oh, okay."

"Give your Mom a hug for me?" Sarah said.

"I will. You still have to come over next week, she'll never forgive me if I fail Downey's test."

"Of course I will."

"Hey Sarah? I love you."

"I… I love you too."

She hung up. She had never been in such a hurry to get off the phone with him and she hated herself for it.

"What's gotten into you?" Claire asked as Connor stared at his phone. "Ah, Sarah's not too excited about you coming back to school?" His sister joked. He looked up at her.

"I honestly don't know, she… she sounded strange."

"Strange how?"

"Like she was avoiding something?" Connor sighed as Claire joined him on the couch.

"Maybe she's got your Valentine's Day gift and doesn't want you to find out about it?"

"Maybe…"

"You know that girl is crazy about you, right?" Claire bumped his shoulder to try and make him feel better.

"Honestly, so am I."

"Aww, my little brother is not so little anymore."

Connor smiled. "I guess not."


Monday began with James announcing he'd be gone for the week so the kids would have to take the bus, for which Jason made some comment about Jay and Will and he sounded happy about it.

Sarah walked Jason to class, only to be met by Will and Jay as she was making her way back.

"So, how was Sunday?" Jay asked casually as they both walked side by side with her.

"Okay. Yours?"

"Finally fixed that sound the valve kept making, pretty soon we'll be able to drive it to school." Will commented, warming up his hands together.

"Really? Jason will be sad about that." Sarah replied.

"Oh well, we can always give you guys a ride. Your Mom seems okay with it anyway." Sarah wasn't sure if Susan would allow Jason into Will's car though because she didn't even liked the few times Connor had driven them home, even though Jason had said he'd liked it.

There was a thing about cars and boys and her Mom. They talked about the rest of their weekend although the brothers seemed to not ask her about Ava again, they already knew and were ready to defend her if necessary.

Sarah had class with the juniors so Jay said their goodbyes to them and walked the other way, Will kept the small talk until they met Nina by the classroom's door.

"There you are, hey Sarah."

"Hi." She said with a kind smile. Nina pecked Will on the lips and Sarah felt herself glancing over at Connor's empty seat.

Until she saw Doris and Ava arriving too, she then slipped into her seat next to Henry who had just gotten there.

"Hey, so Nat offered her house so we could study. Nate's got a game so it will be just us, my house is a little crowded."

"Sounds good." Sarah smiled. Will shot the both of them a look as he took his seat and Downey began class.

The rest of the day was uneventful as she had blocked the private number and she was waiting for a text from Connor about his mom being brought home. Plus, between Jay and the other juniors she was never left alone.

Time came for her to take the bus with Jason again and he was quite happy to find himself in the seat beside Jay like old times, plus, Ava seemed to have gotten a car so she didn't take the bus anymore. It was honestly a good time for Sarah to take a breather and relax as she saw her brother ask Jay and Will some questions, some about the older's Halstead girlfriend who sat on the other side of the aisle.

"Do you kiss and are not married like Connor and Sarah?" the little boy perked up, Will and Nina glanced at each other. "Grandma says it's what big kids do before they have to get married."

"Uh…" Sarah shot them both an apologetic glance. "Well, we're not married. No" Nina said. "But I guess we are like Connor and Sarah in a way."

"Connor hasn't come to school in a week because his Mom is sick." Jason went on, seemingly happy with the answer. "I made her a card and she wrote me back. Want to see?" Jason took out a small piece of paper from his bag. "Sarah says she's better now."

"He misses Connor huh?" Nina asked Sarah as Jason turned to ask Jay something.

"Almost as much as me I think." Sarah admitted shyly.

"Well I for one think you are adorable." Nina said with a smile.

"Whose adorable?" Jay asked.

"Connor and Sarah." Both brothers looked at each other.

"So, not us but them?" Will mused.

"Do you want us to be adorable?" Nina inquired. "We can be."

"Awww." Jay joked, earning a glare from his brother and a muffled laugh from Sarah.

"It is definitely good to see you laugh Reese, even if it's of me."


Sarah had told Sisan that she was going to Natalie's house to study. She wasn't sure but she had a feeling that her Mom knew something was up and didn't even put up a fight for her to stay home. Henry came to pick her up in his car, that was still as clean and shiny as the day Elizabeth had gotten it for him.

"So it's good news about Elizabeth huh?" Henry grinned as he drove her to Nat's.

"Yeah it really is."

"Thanks for coming over this evening. We have that Chem test on Wednesday that I am so not looking forward to."

"You'll be fine."

"That's what you say. Antonio is on my back to keep my grades up, reckons I could have a chance at a scholarship next year with hockey but I need to look good all around."

"Is that what you want to do ? Play hockey?"

"It would make my Dad so happy." Henry smiled wistfully.

"Would it make you happy?"

"I think so." He pulled over into Nat's driveway. "Connor and Nat have always been the smart ones, I'm just the drifter you know? And I guess I have a diner to run and we still have my brothers and sisters to get through school."

"You're a really good guy Henry."

"Ah." He waved off her compliment as they got out of the car. "Come on in."

Sarah was still sort of amazed by it, as she watched Nat open the door and saw that the other two still wore their bracelets on their wrists. Sarah instinctively reached for her own.

They got down to study pretty quickly, stopping to make some pasta.

"Oh I got a call from Connor, his Mom is asleep and Kelly is happy with her progress." Nat said as she got some plates ready.

"Oh good I'm glad." Sarah said and Henry agreed.

"You'll never guess though," Nat all but snorted, "Ava and her Mom called over to see how Elizabeth was…can that girl be more of a gold digger? She thinks she has Connor in the palm of her hand because she has some big trust fund too."

Sarah dropped the glass she was holding almost as soon as she heard Ava's name.

"You okay Sarah?" Henry asked, concern etched on his face as they got about clearing up the broken glass.

She just nodded and apologised for the mess.

They were half way through eating when Henry kept opening his mouth to say something and then would close it and shake his head as if rethinking his words over and over again. It was driving Sarah mad.

"Are things okay Sarah?"

"Yeah, the pasta's great Henry thanks."

He smiled softly, "Thanks, but I meant with you?"

"Have you been talking to Will?" Sarah shot in reflex.

"Will? What does he have to do with anything?" Nat asked, worry in her voice.

"Nothing." Sarah tried to back track. "It's nothing."

"Okay, well, it's definitely not nothing." Natalie said, "What's going on?"

If she wasn't so desperate to hide her weakness she would have thought it was sweet. She seemed to have gained two sets of friends that were trying to intervene with her. Maybe they did care after all.

But was she honestly ready to tell Connor's best friends about what had been happening?

"Sarah, you can tell us." Natalie said. She offered the younger girl a smile.

"I.." Sarah bit her lip. "I can't…"

"Why not?" Henry asked worriedly.

"Because it has something to do with Connor, doesn't it?" Nat replied as Sarah froze. "Come here." They led Sarah to the couch. "See that bracelet?"

Sarah nodded. "Well here's the thing about those. We can only give them away to one person. That's part of the deal." Sarah raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even give mine to Jeff and he's the baby's father."

"What Natalie means Sarah is that. You can trust us. Doesn't matter if Connor is our friend, you are too."

"It's Ava, isn't it?" Natalie inquired as Sarah's eyes began to water. "Oh honey, what did she do?"


Sarah didn't want to get up for school Tuesday. Not even because Connor was coming back, but she had to, only to not alert Jason about it.

So she went on the bus, sat beside Will and watched her brother and Jay talk.

Routine was good, because of routine, she could pretend.

Until she would have to face Connor. He'd read her right away.

That was the main reason she had been avoiding seeing him after things had gotten a turn for the worst.

Henry and Natalie walked over to their first class of the day, Connor had said he was running late.

It was then when they met Will and strangely Jay by the door.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Henry asked the brothers.

"We were waiting for Sarah, have you seen her?"

"Sarah? No, wasn't she on the bus with you?"

"Was, but she stayed behind at Jason's building. We figured she'd be here by now." Will said, he shared a glance with Natalie.

"You know." Natalie said. She could never fail to read Will.

"Yeah. We know."

"Maybe we should talk to Mr. Charles, I honestly don't know how he hasn't noticed." Jay huffed.

"Because Sarah knows how to pretend, she's dealt with this before."

"Yeah, I mean we didn't know either." Henry said embarrassed.

"Still think we should tell someone." Jay added.

"Sarah would never forgive us." Natalie said.

"That doesn't change the fact that Reese isn't here."

"And she's never late."

"Connor is just getting to school, maybe they met somewhere?" Natalie offered.

"Guys?" A familiar voice said behind them. "Have you seen Sarah? I keep texting her but she's not… Natalie was the first one to turn around and face him. "What's going on?"


Awww poor Sarah... wondering how Connor's going to react when he finds out the truth! Thanks for reading you guys, this is the longest chapter yet!