A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and support! Hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 8: A sort of conceited independence

~One week later~

The fall semester had officially begun now, and for Ana and her sisters, life became much busier than before. Jose and Charlie were now both in Seattle, and while Ana missed her friend a lot, she was thankful she no longer had to suffer through Jose's presence here in Portland anymore. Leila was now a junior in high school, and since she had just gotten her driver's license a few months ago, Ray and Carla let her drive herself to school everyday. Ana, since she had only online classes to take, stayed at home at her computer to work on assignments, occasionally taking her laptop to the local library to get her work done there.

Kate was going back to work at the coffee shop soon since she was no longer in school. Her ankle was almost completely healed now, which she was clearly very excited about, but something else prevented her from being happy. Ana couldn't help but take notice.

"So has Elliot called at all?" Ana now asked, walking into Kate's bedroom. Kate was sitting at her desk while staring down at her phone in her hand. She glanced up at Ana before blushing slightly.

"I'm sure he's just busy," she said dismissively, setting her phone down on her desk. "Dad said Elliot's crew is finishing up the construction project within the next few days."

"That's no excuse for him giving you the cold shoulder," Ana frowned indignantly. "When was the last time you guys talked?"

"We texted three days ago, but since then there's been nothing."

"And have you texted him at all since then?"

Kate nodded morosely. "Twice."

Ana felt her heart sink. She couldn't imagine why Elliot wanted to avoid Kate, and she hated that her sister was so upset by it. "Oh."

"I mean, it's not like he and I were boyfriend and girlfriend anyway," Kate said, shrugging. "He's not obligated to keep in contact with me every single day of the week."

She was trying to put on a brave face, and it made Ana's heart break for her. She walked over and wrapped her arms around Kate's shoulders from behind, hugging her tightly, and Kate let out a giggle.

"I'm sure he'll text you soon," Ana said with confidence. "Just give it a little time. He'd be absolutely crazy to not want to spend as much time with you as he possibly could."

"Thanks Ana," Kate smiled. "I feel so dumb. I don't want to be all clingy or anything, but I really did enjoy spending time with Elliot for the short time that he's been here."

"You guys can still enjoy each other's company. Do you really think that he's just going to drop you as soon as he goes back to Seattle?" Ana asked, letting go of Kate.

"I don't know," Kate shrugged, nodding toward her phone. "I mean, it does kind of feel that way."

Ana felt her anger simmer in the pit of her stomach. Where the hell did Elliot get off, playing with Kate's emotions like that? Was it really only because he lived 3 hours away in a different city? Ana had thought the distance wouldn't have played a factor in their relationship, but apparently Elliot didn't think it was worth the effort.

"Well, in that case, Elliot's a big jerk for treating you like this," Ana insisted. Kate smiled rather sadly.

"Don't worry about me, Ana. I'll be okay," she shook her head. "But enough about me, what about you? Are you still talking to Jack? Is he still on his road trip?"

"He got back a few days ago, and his semester at WSU just started," Ana explained, walking over to sit on Kate's bed. "He's been really busy with his classes, but he and I find time to text each other everyday."

"That's great Ana. I'm really happy for you," Kate smiled sincerely. "So you like him then?"

"Yeah, kind of," Ana shrugged, blushing slightly. "I mean, I don't think we're Romeo and Juliet or anything, but I do feel like I want to get to know him better. I'm fine with just spending more time with him and seeing where this goes."

"So no wedding bells in your future, huh?" Kate asked with a smirk, and Ana let out an incredulous laugh.

"Oh hell no."

"Has he spoken anymore about his situation with Christian?" Kate asked, curious.

"Sort of," Ana said. "We've talked about stories from when we were younger, and a lot of his childhood was with Christian and the Grey family. But he doesn't really talk about Christian himself, he just kind of clams up about him."

"That's understandable," Kate nodded. "I'm sure it's difficult for him to talk about, especially since he knows you know Christian."

"Well, it's not like Christian and I are BFFs or anything," Ana rolled her eyes. "But yeah, I see your point."

"You shouldn't force Jack to talk about his past if he doesn't want to," Kate stated. "It's his story, and if he doesn't want to expound upon it more with you, then you shouldn't push him."

"Don't worry, I won't," Ana said, getting to her feet. "I'm going take Leila out to Dave & Busters again tonight to celebrate the new semester. Do you want to come?"

"No thanks, I have to be up at 6am tomorrow to work at the coffee shop," Kate said with an apologetic smile. "You two have fun though."

"Okay. Let me know if you change your mind."

Ana moved toward the door before glancing back at Kate, who had once again picked up her phone to gaze down at the screen, as if willing it to alert her with an incoming text from Elliot. Ana let out a small sigh before turning and walking out the room, feeling her heart hurt for her sister.

Ana and Leila headed out to Dave & Busters later that night, and on a whim Ana decided to text Jack to invite him along. To her delight he said he could come, and within a half an hour he and two of his frat buddies had joined them at the arcade. All of them were having a great time together playing skeeball and trying out some of the VR headsets; Leila was having almost a little too much fun flirting and giggling with Jack's friends, which worried Ana. Leila may have thought it was cute to flirt with college guys, but Ana didn't know much about them and what their intentions were. Ana knew Leila well enough to know she would never act on her flirtations, however, so that was a small comfort.

Ana and Jack managed to get away from the others for a few minutes to get drinks at the bar, and Ana raised her concerns about Leila.

"Oh, don't worry about Denny and Sanders," Jack said, waving his hand dismissively. "They both have girlfriends, and they know that Leila's underage. They'd never take advantage of her like that."

"That's good to know," Ana said, feeling slightly comforted. "It's just hard having a little sister, especially as she gets older. I feel like I'm constantly worrying about her."

"Well, I never had a little sister, unless you count Mia Grey," Jack said, his demeanor become a bit more reserved. "Although I don't really talk to her anymore, for obvious reasons."

Ana gave him a sympathetic smile. "Is Mia like her brother at all?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Jack grimaced. "She used to be really sweet and kind-hearted, and I always loved playing with her when we were little. But she's grown up and become much more selfish and mean… from what I understand, Christian is paying for her to go to some fancy culinary school on the West coast."

Ana couldn't help but chuckle incredulously. "Wow. It must be nice to have a rich brother."

"Tell me about it," Jack grinned. The bartender finally handed them their drinks, and they made their way back to the arcade. "Denny and Sanders always joke about what they would do with the money I would've had from Carrick. As if they would know what to do with themselves if they were that rich!"

Ana looked at Jack in surprise. "They know about what happened to you?"

"Of course," Jack said easily, taking a sip of beer. "I tell them everything. They don't know Christian personally, though, at least not like you."

"Oh," Ana said, unsure of how to feel about that. She took a sip of her gin and tonic, thinking about how strange it was that his story, which he had told her in confidence, was so easy for him to tell to his friends. But he had also confessed to her his frat brothers were like his only family, so she supposed it made sense he would tell them about his past.

Ana decided not to dwell on it anymore as she and Jack made their way through the crowd and back toward Leila, Denny, and Sanders over by the DDR machines.

A couple days later, Ana learned that Ray and Elliot had finally finished their construction project, and Elliot was going to be heading back to Seattle soon with Christian. Ana knew this day was coming at some point, but she couldn't help but feel disappointed… Elliot was still ignoring Kate for some reason, and it had now been a whole week. It was clear he didn't want to speak to her, and it hurt Ana to see her sister so upset by it. She had hoped Elliot and Kate could have worked out their issues before he left, but that likely wasn't going to happen.

There was still hope, however. Ray decided to throw a barbecue at the house that evening for all his workers, Elliot included. Ana had to convince Kate, who was reluctant to face Elliot again, to attend the barbecue wearing a cute outfit and a little extra makeup.

"I can't believe you made me do this," Kate grumbled at Ana, tugging at the hem of the cute low-cut tank top Ana made her wear.

"Stop fussing," Ana insisted, grasping Kate's hand. "You look awesome."

The backyard patio of the Steele home was currently packed with people chatting and mingling with one another, and at the far end of the deck stood Elliot with Christian and a few other people.

"You're doing fine, Kate," Ana assured her. "You have no reason to be ashamed or nervous."

"Yeah," Leila piped up from Kate's other side. "You should go and talk to him."

"What?" Kate's eyes widened as she looked at Leila. "I can't do that! What would I even say?"

"Just make small-talk with him about the party," Ana suggested. "It shouldn't be that hard. You've talked to him like that before."

"Yeah, before he started ignoring me," Kate muttered, looking down.

"Don't think like that," Leila said bracingly. "Just go and talk to him, and you'll know for sure where his head is at."

Kate didn't say anything for a moment or two as she gazed over at Elliot, who was still in a conversation with Christian and a few other guys. She looked away and shook her head, her cheeks pink. "No. If Elliot has anything to say to me, he can come find me himself."

With that, she turned and walked in the other direction toward where Ray was grilling some hamburgers. Ana and Leila watched her, both feeling rather dejected.

"I don't get why Kate's so reserved about showing her feelings," Leila said, and Ana looked at her. "It's like ever since Elliot came along, she just clams up and acts all shy and stuff."

"Kate's always been a bit shy," Ana pointed out. "And she likes Elliot a lot. I can imagine it must be hard for her to show how she's really feeling."

"Yeah, but if she doesn't at least try to talk to Elliot or show him that she cares, he might never know how she really feels about him," Leila said seriously. Ana couldn't help but laugh at that statement.

"Are you serious? Of course he knows how Kate feels about him," Ana looked over at Elliot. "He'd have to be completely blind not to know. "

Leila grimaced. "I hope you're right."

Ana didn't say anything as she gazed at Elliot across the deck; he was turned away so she couldn't see his face, but she saw Christian look up from their conversation toward her and Leila. He said something to Elliot before walking over to them.

"Uh oh… here comes Mr. Jerkface," Leila muttered under her breath so only Ana could hear. Ana discreetly shushed her, trying not to giggle.

"Hi," Christian greeted them politely, his eyes on Ana.

"Hi Christian," Ana nodded at him. "Glad you could make it to my dad's barbecue."

"Thank you. I'm glad to be here," he said, still in that cordial tone of voice.

There was a short awkward silence as the three of them just stood there, avoiding eye contact. "I think I'm going to go see what Mariah's up to," Leila said, and before Ana could stop her she walked away, shooting a look over at her sister as she did so.

Great

Ana didn't really want to speak to Christian alone, but she figured she had no choice. "So what can I do for you?"

Christian hesitated a moment before clearing his throat and shoving his hands in his pockets. "I just thought I'd come over here to say goodbye. Elliot and I are heading back to Seattle tomorrow, and we probably won't be in the Portland area again anytime soon."

"So I've heard," Ana said simply. Since she was so curious about Elliot, she couldn't help but ask: "Do you have any idea what's going on with Elliot? He's apparently been ghosting Kate for the past week or so."

An unreadable expression fell over Christian's face. "I can't say," he said in a rather flat voice.

Ana raised her eyebrows. "You can't say or you don't know?"

"I don't know," he said, still in that odd flat voice. "That's something only Elliot can talk about, not me."

That was a very weird non-answer, but Ana decided to let it go. "Whatever."

There was another short silence, and Ana wasn't really sure what else to say. She had no idea why Christian came over to talk to her if he was just going to be all weird and reserved like this.

Christian cleared his throat again. "Well, I should be getting back. If I don't see you again… goodbye."

Ana gave him a smile that was more like a grimace. "Goodbye."

With that, he swiftly turned and walked away. Ana watched him leave, not at all sorry to see him go.

She then turned her gaze over to Elliot. He was now facing her direction and she could see the expression on his face: there was a pronounced sallow complexion in his features and a sadness in his usually bright and happy eyes. Ana distinctly saw him glance over at Kate standing by the grills.

He's miserable.

Ana could see it clear as day, and she watched as Christian walked over to Elliot and placed a hand on his shoulder, saying something to him. Elliot nodded, and the two of them then made their way off the deck toward the back door, leaving the party.

Ana was shocked… she had assumed Elliot was just being a jerk to Kate, but now she wondered if something else was going on with him. He was obviously miserable without Kate, so why was he deliberately ignoring her? She wanted to find out, but he and Christian were already gone.

Ana didn't know what was going on, but for the first time in days, she felt hopeful that her sister and Elliot could find a way back to each other. Elliot lived up in Seattle though… maybe Ana could convince Kate to make a trip up there soon?

Perhaps we could pay Charlie a visit?

Ana smiled to herself, thinking of how she could get Kate and Elliot back together again.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that! Next chapter, Kate and Ana go and visit Charlie up in Seattle.