Lex watches the mall burn with tired eyes, feeling pretty dead inside. Hannah clings to her, sniffling, and the teen rubs her back absent-mindedly. There's not much she can say to make her sister feel better, she knows.
Mr. Houston's sister-in-law shows up, and takes them to somewhere that's safe. The nurse who'd shot Linda- Becky, Lex thinks she might've heard Mr. Houston call her- drives separate in her own car, taking the Foster sisters with her since there's not much room in the other one.
Lex tries not to think about her boyfriend, but it's hard. Where the hell is he? He was supposed to stick with Hannah and keep an eye on her. She shouldn't be surprised. He probably bailed at the first sign of trouble. Maybe her mom was right about one thing, that Ethan Green was a no good, washed up punk who would only break Lex's heart.
If Lex ever sees him again, she's going to kill him, she decides. It doesn't matter how much she thought she'd loved him, or how much he'd supposedly loved her. He abandoned Hannah.
"Bad blood," Hannah mumbles beside her, and Lex frowns. "Bad blood… his blood."
"What was that, Banana?" Lex asks softly. She remembers her sister's vague warnings from that morning. She understands black and white now, but not cross or bad blood.
"Ethan…" Hannah mumbles.
Becky seems to freeze up in the front seat. "Wait… you're Lex, right?" The teen nods and gives a small noise of confirmation, holding her sister tighter. Becky groans. "California… of course. I- I'm such an idiot."
"What are you talking about?" Lex snaps. "How do you know about California?"
"Ethan," Hannah mumbles again, whimpering.
"Your boyfriend," Becky explains. "I'm so sorry, we were too late- he thought I was you for a minute…"
Lex feels like the wind's been knocked out of her, carefully moving Hannah off her so she can lean forward between the front seats. "What are you talking about?" she repeats, voice cracking. She thinks she knows, but hopes she's wrong. Please for the love of God, don't say it.
"Your boyfriend, Ethan," Becky says quietly, keeping her eyes on the road. "He's dead, Lex. I'm so sorry. Tom and I- we were there. He was beaten real bad. He thought I was you, and promised to get you to California. Then he was gone- I'm so sorry…"
"My fault," Hannah whimpers as Lex leans back. "Shouldn't have run… he told me to, Lexie- I should've stayed!"
Lex absorbs the new information, feeling the guilt overwhelm her. Of course he wouldn't abandon Hannah, she thinks. I never should have doubted him…
A few silent tears slip out, and she feels too numb to wipe them away. All she can do is hold her sister and try to soothe her, knowing that nothing will ever be the same again, that they'll never make it to California now, that she'd never want to go to California without Ethan…
That she'd never even told him she loved him, and now she never will.
It looks like Lex's mom was right... Ethan did end up breaking her heart.