Author's Note: Not late, but not timely. I've lost a little inspiration since I lost all that stuff I mentioned last chapter. That and the TV Megasite is having "issues" so I can't exactly read over past transcripts to see how this happened on the show. So...this is all from memory, and isn't as good as my usual work, IMO, because I get my characterizations from religious reading of similar-to-my-fanfic transcripts. Hope you like anyway. You guys don't seem to be as critical of my work as I am, lol. And that is a good thing :p But guess what?! I finally, finally have a more long-term idea of what I'm doing with this. Yay!!!
Tamara: Isn't everything Luke does funny? :p I love your idea for a friendship between Em and Courtney, that'd be great! Thanks for reading :D
light*hope: LOL, glad people liked the Q's. Thanks so much for the offer to help, and the error was an "illegal operation." Unfortunately in a moment of pure frustration, I just deleted the document so there's no going back :p Oh well. Maybe this will be better for me having to rewrite stuff. I'm really stretching for positives, aren't I, lol. I like NEm too, but Nikolas was still with Gia so I can't do it :( Maybe I'll include NEm in a fic further down the line...Thanks!
starbright: Hope you like this chapter, and thanks so much for the review! What is with you people? You always like what either makes me nervous or I find sub-par. Not that I'm complaining :p
theblondeone07: No, no, no, you didn't offend me at all! You didn't say a thing that could have possibly offended anyway. I was being sarcastic about my computer trouble in my reply, if that's what made you think that, but no, you did not offend me in any way, form, or anything else! LOL, I really appreciate your reading and your reviewing :D
Samara; Cliffhanger...hmm...like the sound of that ;) Glad you like
ghjourneybabe: I'm going, I'm going...like the little train that could, remember him? I can write this, I can, I can. LOL, I'll stop being weird. Thanks for reading :D
Dawndrina: Hey! I'm slowly making my way through your long fic, and am definitely liking it so far. I'll review as soon as I catch up or maybe I'll review in spurts as I go along :p It's really good. What is with us authors always losing the stuff we like best? It is completely unfair. Oh well :p Thanks for reviewing!
Always Rosalind; Hey you! Long time, no see, nice to see you're still around though :D Totally understand about schoolwork. What's NaNo-ing though? At least one person won't know if I get something totally wrong, lol. I like the "anything goes" thing...makes it more fun. Though harder in a way. Thanks for reading!
tydavislover: Long time, no see to you, too, and it's good to see you. Thanks for stopping by! :D
ElliGHfan: I haven't seen you around the LN, but I will look harder :p I have seen you around here. I was reading your story before I joined I think, but never left feedback, and haven't kept up with it...another great fanfic to catch up with :D Should be fun. I'm glad you like this story, and the way I write Brenda. She's loony sometimes, but she is a blast :p I like the idea of taking things sort of slowly...I like the idea of them being friends before sometime more :) When I get to ballet scenes, I will probably contact you. Between you and Always Rosalind, we should be able to get it right :D Thanks so much for the review!
abc: Aw, thank you [face_blush] You'll get your Journey dance...very soon ;) Not too soon, but very soon, lol
Journey4Eva: Well, not exactly the faster update, eh? LOL, really glad you liked and I'm hoping *crosses fingers* things, aka my writing, will move along faster from here :p
All right, before the author's note becomes longer than the chapter which is just wrong...I do not write short chapters. It's totally not me :p
Reflection
Chapter Seven ~ It's Okay
All eyes were on Courtney, all heads tilted in her direction, all people in the room trying to figure out if they'd heard her right.
Courtney didn't notice. She was in complete shock. This wasn't supposed to happen this way. It wasn't like she'd been expecting a fairytale reunion or anything, but this was not how she'd pictured it in her head at all. She couldn't even remember what it was she had imagined. "Don't you know who I am?" she whispered.
It seemed to take Mike a minute to figure out who she was. It'd been years, after all. Then, it appeared to dawn on him that he was looking on his little ballerina. "Courtney?"
"God, it's really you," Courtney said, feeling the tears come. This was so overwhelming. A couple days ago, she hadn't even known her dad was alive. Now, here they were, standing in the same room. She didn't know what to do. "I thought you were dead," she forced out. "How could you let me think that? Didn't you care?"
Jason looked from each person in the room, but his eyes rested the longest on Courtney, trying so hard to hold everything together. He could tell she was in total shock.
"Mike..." The way Sonny said the name was low, threatening, and bubbling over with barely contained rage.
Mike quickly turned away from Courtney, saying quickly, "Look, Sonny, I can explain."
It suddenly hit Courtney, what that bald African American man had said. He's referred to Sonny as Mike's son. Oh, God, she thought, feeling dizzy.
"Explain? You think you can explain why it is this girl, your daughter, thought you were did? You think you can explain how you managed to walk out on two kids in a single lifetime?"
"I didn't want you to find out this way," Mike said quickly.
"When exactly were you planning to mention I had a sister?"
Courtney stopped listening to exactly what was being said. All she knew was that her father was making excuses, and no one was buying them. What had she been thinking? This had been one big mistake. She never could have come. Before she broke down in front of everyone, she said, "I can't do this." Then she turned around and started running as fast as she could. Carly reached out, trying to stop her, offer a little comfort, but her fingers closed on air, mere inches from Courtney's jacket.
"Someone needs to go after her," Carly said.
"Let me. You're strangers. She knows me. Maybe I can reach her in a way that you can't," Jason pleaded, feeling the need to protect Courtney from all this outside pressure.
Sonny looked at him for a moment, then nodded. Jason let out a sigh of relief and turned to go.
"You think you know my own daughter better than I do?!" Mike demanded.
"Shut up, Mike!" was the last thing Jason heard Sonny say before taking off. He had to get out of there before anyone could object further or try to stop him. Courtney was too important for him to get bogged down here, trying to explain over and over again the reasons why he was the one who should go after her and make sure she was okay.
~*~
Courtney collapsed on the cold cement stairs outside the police station, running her hands through her hair, choking on her sobs. It was too much to take in at once, or even in small pieces. Her mom had lied about so much more than she first thought. She had a whole family she didn't know about. It wasn't just that her dad was alive. Had Janine known all this? God, what was wrong with her? Why was she so angry with her mom? There was no way for her to explain her reasons. She was dead. Didn't that make it wrong to be so upset with her?
She felt a hand gently touch her shoulder. She knew who it was even before he sat down next to her. She needed some kind of comfort, and for some reason, he felt safe. She turned towards him and started crying into his chest. It didn't matter who he was or what he did. All that mattered in that moment was that he was a nice guy. After a moment of hesitation, he put his arms around her, stroking her hair gently.
"Hey, it's okay. It's gonna be okay," he said soothingly.
The words only made her cry harder. It didn't feel like anything was going to be okay ever again.
~*~
P.S. Short, I know. Whatever you want to see happen in this fic, ideas are welcome. I love incorporating what you guys wanna see! I'm somewhat inspired now from watching STLD again last night, so hopefully the next chapter will be out way sooner than this one. And hopefully it will be longer than the author's note [face_laugh]