A/N: I'm so sorry I'm late again with posting this chapter. My week has been crazy busy and future weeks may be similar. I have a lot going on in my life. All of it positive, so there's no need to worry. Anyway, the plot thickens, as they say, and both Rainie and Sharon get to reflect on their lives and actions... This chapter takes place in the middle of episode 2x08. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

I'd like to thank the superwoman who helps me so much with this story, blossom-of-snow!

Sharon stopped for takeout on her way home from work. Rainie liked Thai food, so Sharon made sure to get her favorite rice dish, which consisted of steamed fish in green curry sauce and Thai eggplants. For herself, Sharon got a rather simple but delicious Tom Yam soup. She had hoped that after the hard day she and Rainie had, a comforting dinner would help both of them relax. To her surprise, when she walked through the condo door carrying the brown paper bag with food in it, Rainie informed her that she already ate dinner twice.

"I brought your favorite from Chiang Mai Sky," Sharon tried to coax her into eating with her.

"I can heat it and have it for dinner tomorrow night," Rainie replied.

"You don't have to eat, but I'd like you to keep me company during dinner," Sharon insisted.

Rainie huffed and rolled her eyes.

Sharon arched her eyebrows as if to indicate that she expected the girl to do as she said, and Rainie's shoulders slumped. She walked to the kitchen and quickly set the table as Sharon took their food out of the paper bag. They sat, and despite Rainie's refusal to eat dinner, Sharon still placed her dish in front of her, just in case.

"I had a very interesting conversation with Kris's mom," she said to the girl, who grabbed a fork and began playing with her steamed rice, without eating it.

"Really? What did she say?" Rainie asked, staring into her plate.

"Well, she implied that something happened last night during your sleepover," Sharon explained. "And since she and her husband now forbid Kris to spend time with you outside of school, I am struggling to understand what it was about." She raised her eyes from her soup and looked at Rainie, whose gaze was still buried in her plate.

"Nothing happened," Rainie sighed.

"I find that hard to believe, considering Mrs. Slater's reluctance to let the two of you hang out together," Sharon replied.

"It was nothing, Sharon. Kris spoke about this guy at school that she likes and said that she's never kissed anyone, so I offered to teach her how. And her mother walked in as I helped her practice," Rainie raised her gaze and looked at an invisible spot behind Sharon.

"I see," Sharon sighed.

"It didn't mean anything, Sharon." The girl's terrified expression made Sharon's heart break inside her chest.

"Even if it did, there's nothing wrong with it," Sharon replied. Now she understood what Rebecca Slater meant when she said that Kris was not like Rainie. Her foster daughter shook her head to refute Sharon's suspicions further, but her persistent denial that the kiss meant something to her only strengthened Sharon's impression that Rainie had a crush on Kris.

"I was trying to help her, but I just made everything worse for her," Rainie buried her face in her palms, making Sharon's mind drift back from the significance of the kiss to the meaning of the ban Kris's parents put on her foster daughter.

"Rainie, if Kris agreed to the kiss, then you've done nothing wrong," she tried to reassure the girl, but she wasn't sure she managed to convince Rainie. She watched as the girl withdrew into herself for a long moment, her gaze becoming distant and blank. Sharon pressed her lips together, suppressing a sigh of frustration. Rainie was so vulnerable, and life has scarred her so severely that every little bump in the road triggered drastic attempts at self-preservation. It hurt to see this smart, beautiful girl fighting to keep her head above the water all the time. For a swift moment, Sharon also closed her eyes, squeezing them shut when the thought about the abuse this girl lived through crossed her mind. When she opened her eyes, Sharon could see the tears that shone in Rainie's eyes and threatened to cross the threshold of the ginger lashes and make their way down her freckled cheeks.

"I can't explain it. It's like I know that I don't have to do those things anymore—what I did to survive – but I don't know… how else to be close to someone. I just end up doing the same shit anyway." Tears rolled down Rainie's face. "Do you understand?"

Sharon hummed. While there were noticeable differences in their situations, Sharon found herself physically and emotionally drawn to Jack every time he was around, even if it was clear that it would not end well. "I know this feeling. It's powerlessness, lack of control," she said softly. "You keep doing the same thing you promised yourself you'll never do again. The habit is stronger than you," She continued.

"I'm such a slut."

The declaration stunned Sharon for a moment, and she watched Rainie leaving the table and hurrying to her room. Sharon heard the door slamming and buried her face in her palms. She felt as if her breath caught in her lungs and she couldn't release it. The more that Rainie believed that she was promiscuous, the harder it would be to convince her that consensual physical interactions between humans are normal and sometimes even expected. She wasn't sure how she could help Rainie understand that what she had to do to survive didn't have to define who she was.

Sharon pushed her chair back and walked to Rainie's room. She knocked on the door and walked in without waiting for a response. Rainie was lying on her bed, her face buried in her pillow.

"Sweetheart," Sharon took a seat next to her. "You know how much I care about you, right?" She heard a muffled sob coming from the pillow. "Did I ever tell you how brave I think you are?" Another sob was the response she got. "You're making a great effort to put everything you've been through behind you. Do you know how hard that is?" Rainie mumbled something into the pillow. "Some days, it's going to be harder to deal with all of that, and that's fine. And I am always here for you. Always," Sharon paused, choosing her next words carefully. "But I think we've reached the point where it may be helpful if you also had a professional to talk to, who could provide you with the right tools to deal with your experiences."

"I don't want to talk to a doctor, Sharon," Rainie raised her head from the pillow. "I can't… I just can't tell another person about this."

"Are you sure? I think you could…"

"No!" Rainie exclaimed. "No shrinks, Sharon. I am not the one who needs a doctor! My mom needs a doctor, Phillip Stroh needs a doctor, Gary and all those other men who came to me on the street, they need doctors, okay?" Sharon was taken aback by the sudden rage she saw in Rainie's eyes. "I'm not crazy, Sharon."

"I never said you were," Sharon said, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes again.

"Then I don't need any doctor," Rainie replied and laid back down.

Sharon wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath and trying to think of a way to fix the situation. "Consulting with a mental health professional doesn't make you crazy, honey. All it means is that you are making sure that you can grow from horrible things that you've experienced and become stronger," she explained.

"No, Sharon. No. I am not crazy, and I am not sick. Stop trying to make me feel like I am," Rainie called out.

"Okay, if you change your mind about it…"

"I won't," Rainie exclaimed.

Sharon nodded wordlessly. Maybe if she suggested it again in a time when Rainie was less upset, the girl would be more open to the idea. For now, she was going to put it aside.

"If you want, I can try talking to Mrs. Slater again and explain to her what she saw. Maybe she'll be understanding and let you spend time with Kris again. How's that?" she offered in an attempt to appease Rainie and find a productive solution to this depressing issue. The spark of hope that lit in Rainie's eyes was enough to lift Sharon's spirit up as well, and she prayed to the heavens that Mrs. Slater would be willing to forget the little incident, whatever it meant to the two girls, and let Rainie and Kris rekindle their friendship.

-TBC-

As always, I'd love to know your thoughts about this chapter, so feel free to leave a review or send me a PM.