A/N: This takes place around the time of chapter 6 of "Starting from Scratch."

Chapter 3 - Third Friday

There was one afternoon when both Jon and Jordan arrived at the cabin, but Jordan immediately took out a laptop and started working on an assignment, saying it was due that evening and he had to get through it before he could do anything else.

Cell reception at the cabin was bad, but Sam had decent wifi, so Jordan set to work. Meanwhile, Sam would have liked a few words with whatever teacher thought it had been a good idea to take away from family time by making an assignment due on Friday night. Jordan wasn't even in an online school.

Sam and Jon couldn't go out, but they couldn't make a lot of noise in the cabin, since Jordan needed to concentrate, so Sam took Jon out to wander around and explore in the woods outside of his house. Sam knew them well, but it was all unfamiliar territory to Jon, and he seemed to be enjoying looking around. They took Lieutenant with them, too, which Jon seemed to be happy about. Lieutenant was Sam's dog, but Sam had had to temporarily re-home him to a veteran friend of his when things picked up at the DOD. Sam's friend enjoyed the company, and Sam enjoyed having Lieutenant visit when things were more settled.

Sam took the opportunity to make light conversation. He was supposed to be looking out for the kid and making sure he was being taken care of, but John didn't always respond well to having to have so many heavy conversations. Sam could imagine it was getting exhausting. "How are things going with your online school?" he asked.

Jon shrugged. "It's OK, just boring. I miss my friends, but, you know, they all hate me, so it's probably for the best."

"You haven't seen any of them since all this happened?"

"Not really. I've been grounded, you know? Besides, I need to let the whole football thing blow over before I go back to see anyone."

Sam was pretty sure that wasn't healthy. Maybe he could try to get Jon involved in some sort of extracurricular club or out of school sports league, in the next town or some thing. He could at least run it by Lois. She had to know that it wasn't healthy for him to never be around anyone his age.

"I still get to see Candice sometimes. I mean, not like a real date or anything, but she stops by the store. And I hang out with Jordan. And I get to come here once a week. So I'm all right."

Clark and Lois were overdue for a long talking-to about why that wasn't alright at all. To Jon, though, Sam just smiled and nodded. "How are things with Candice?"

"I don't know. It's kind of hard when I can't actually hang out with her. But… I really like her, and I think she really likes me too. It kind of... keeps me going, you know?"

Sam didn't know much about that girl, but he didn't trust her. Not that he would've thought any girl was worthy of his grandson, but he got a strange vibe from the way Jon talked about her, and the way Lois did. He had a feeling that Jon was becoming dependent on her because of the tough emotional spot his parents had put him in, and that Candice was taking advantage of him. He couldn't prove it, though, and he definitely couldn't blame Jon. "What do your parents think about her?"

"I don't know. They don't really know her, and I'm probably going to keep it that way. I don't know if there's much of a future there, anyway."

For a moment, Sam thought that meant that Jon didn't think he had much of a future with Candice. A moment later, he realized that Jon's comment probably said more about his future with his parents. "How are things with your folks?"

Jon was quiet for a moment. "Better, I guess. I mean, they haven't been yelling at me so much, so that's good. And Dad hasn't been breathing down my neck." Jon stopped short. "Not that… Sorry, that came out wrong…"

"It's OK, son."

"No, it's not."

"Jonathan—"

"Look, I-I thought he hated me for a while, and I don't think that anymore, but… whatever he thinks of me, it's my fault. I made the choice."

"You did. But…" Sam hesitated. Jon deserved to know that he could have boundaries, that he could be angry when he was mistreated, that he didn't have to forgive instantly and without defending himself. But he didn't want to say anything that would drive a wedge between Clark and Jon, at least not any worse than it already was. Based on the way John was talking today, it sounded like they were making some progress. Sam didn't want to undo it.

"But what?"

Sam let his breath out. "Nothing. Just, I think you're a good kid."

Jon raised his eyebrows and let out a little laugh. "I think I left that reputation behind me a long time ago, Gramps."

"You contradicting me, young man?"

"I mean, I am kind of a rebel."

Sam caught up to him and gave him a cuff on the back of the head, though it was a very light one. He would've preferred to give the boy a hug, but Jon wouldn't have taken it well, not then.

"Speaking of the good kid," Jon said. "Think Jordan's done by now?"

Sam looked down at his watch. "If he's not, I'm filing a complaint with the school board," he muttered. "Let's get back inside. I've got some card games and a couple of grandsons to wipe the floor with."

Jon burst out laughing. "Oh, you're on! Wait, can we bet?"

"Money? Your folks would have my head."

"Nah, not money. Play for push ups."

Sam raised his eyebrows. Kid was speaking his language. "Alright. Hope you're ready to be down on the floor."

"Yeah right. You're going down, old man."

Sam walked behind Jon on the way back so the kid wouldn't see his grin, but he could hear it in his own voice a little when he called, "Lieutenant! Inside!"

By the time they all crashed, both of the boys were pretty sore, and Sam was feeling it a bit, too. It just meant they would sleep better. God knew they could all use it.