summary: In which Connor receives a sweater and an airplane, and only one makes it out of this chapter alive

Inspired by:

-Bedroom Down the Hall
-you know THAT part in the show...

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Cynthia had picked up knitting with several other ladies from church over the summer. She spent weeks poring over various instruction booklets before deciding to knit gifts for the children's Christmas presents. After a handful of failed attempts, several discarded projects, and even a few instances where tears were shed, she had finally completed them, although she had slightly overestimated her ability and they were only finished three days after Christmas.

For Zoe, she had made a pink scarf and a pair of mittens; for Connor, a sweater.

Zoe had immediately fallen in love with them, going so far as to wear her scarf around the house, and never forgetting her mittens whenever they went outside. Unfortunately, Cynthia had accidently messed up some of the measurements on Connor's sweater, and did not realize it until it was too late. Despite her frantic efforts to salvage it, it still ended up a little too broad for his shoulders, and hung awkwardly on his small frame. He couldn't help but grimace the first time he looked at himself in the mirror.

"It doesn't really fit."

"I know, sweetie. I'm sorry, I messed up the stiches, I think," Cynthia apologized, still frustrated at herself for not being able to get such a simple present right.

Connor turned around in front of the mirror, trying to tug the sweater into a more comfortable position, but to no avail. Finally, he asked, "Can I take it off?"

"Yes, you may," Cynthia said dejectedly, before an idea came to her and she brightened up, suggesting, "How about I make you another sweater? Just like this one, but with the correct measurements and all. I'll try to get it done in time for your birthday."

"Well…" he hesitated, playing with the sleeves of the sweater. "I don't… it's kinda itchy…" But seeing how her face fell, he quickly added, "But could you maybe make me a scarf? So Zoe and I can match?"

Cynthia smiled, nodding vigorously. "Oh, yes, I can definitely do that." She reached out to take the sweater once he had taken it off.

He shook his head. "I want to keep it."

"But you can't wear it," she reminded him, a little puzzled.

"I know. But I still want to keep it. I'll hang it in my closet, 'cause you made it for me, which still makes it special." He said, hugging the balled-up sweater to his chest.

Cynthia thought she might have a teared up just a little at that.

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It was the last week of January when they next went to Autumn Smiles. Connor loved the orchard, especially in late winter. It was still cold enough that they could see their breath, especially on a clear day. Even though there were no apples on the trees, there was still something eerily beautiful about all the bare branches. Not many people went to the orchard so early into the year, and the place was mostly empty.

Connor liked it this way. He didn't like places with too many people—like school. School was too noisy, and it only got more and more unbearable each day. While Zoe's threats had evidently scared Marcus into silence, Jared had been more than enthusiastic about letting their entire grade know that Connor Lawrence Murphy was a ballet dancer. When Connor had realized that his classmates all knew he danced, he'd gone home and cried so hard that Cynthia thought he would make himself sick.

He'd skipped school for the next two days, until an exasperated Larry put his foot down, demanding that Connor man up and return to his classes. Zoe had indignantly declared that she would 'break Jared's ugly nose' when she next saw him, except that Cynthia threatened her with a grounding if she ever did such a thing, because they all knew that she was highly inclined to carry it out. Of course, Connor was thankful for his sister's support, but he was secretly hoping that he would get an opportunity to punch Jared himself, and make him sorry.

Maybe that was why he liked the orchard so much, because there was no one there that would tease him about being a dancer, or push him into the lockers. It was just him, Zoe, Skywalker, his parents, and the trees.

He liked the trees.

They had been learning about trees in science class, and he loved how strong and pretty they were. Sometimes he wished that he could be a tree, because trees didn't have to talk to people or deal with bullies; they just needed to stick their roots into the soil and grow into something big and beautiful.

And then someone would notice them, and think that they were pretty or strong or at least something that was good and beautiful.

Not like him. The only reason he was noticed at school was because he was a freak.

Cynthia had tried to convince Connor to have a big birthday party, but he hadn't had anyone to invite, even if he had wanted one. He didn't want to invite anyone from school, because all they did was tease him; he didn't want to invite the boys from Little League since he never really talked to them and they would only talk about baseball anyway; he didn't know anyone else at dance other than Luke because they were all girls. And so, his birthday party had just consisted of his family and Luke's.

Cynthia had planned on inviting the Harrises since 'they're family friends and they only live down the street', but Connor had thrown a fit and called Samuel a 'jerk' and absolutely refused to let him anywhere near the party, and even Zoe had taken his side, and Cynthia finally dropped the matter completely.

In the end, he just had a small birthday party, although Cynthia had splurged on the decorations and cake, and Connor felt it was probably more to comfort herself over the fact that her own son didn't have more than one friend to invite to his birthday party.

But it didn't matter to Connor. He had had a blast, the three of them—him, Luke, and Zoe. Luke had even gotten him a remote-control plane as a birthday gift. He had been so excited for the weather to be warm enough so they could fly the plane in the orchard, and not just in their backyard.

Now he fiddled with the remote until the plane smoothly took off into the air. Skywalker barked and was about to chase after it, but Zoe shook her head and gave her a ball instead. For a full fifteen minutes, Connor played with the plane, trying all kinds of tricks and had almost mastered the nosedive when Zoe, bored of playing fetch with Skywalker, came up to him and asked,

"May I play with it for a while?"

"Wait," he brusquely replied. "I want to play with it for a while more."

"But you've been playing with it for so long and I haven't gotten to play with it yet!" she protested.

"But it's my plane!" Connor shot back, turning his back to her.

"Connor," Cynthia called, "Let Zoe play with your plane for a short while."

"But—"

"Remember, you still have to share, even if it's your present."

Connor grumbled and reluctantly handed the controller to Zoe. He watched her play with it for a few minutes, before he impatiently asked for it.

"I'll show you this really cool turn I can do with it," he bragged, and took the controller from her to demonstrate.

"That's super cool," Zoe admitted, "But can I play again after your turn?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Actually, Con, can I try flying your plane, too?" Larry asked.

"But it's my turn and I just started," Connor sighed.

"Just for a little while?"

"Okaaayyyy…" he relented, relinquishing his controller yet again.

He played a short game of tag with Skywalker before returning to where Larry and Zoe stood by the lake, playing with the little red and black plane.

"Make it go higher, Daddy!" Zoe exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight.

"Wait, where is it?" Connor asked, squinting upwards towards the sky, but not seeing a glimpse his plane.

Larry frantically jiggled the controller. "I think I made it fly a little too high," he muttered, pushing the joystick so that the plane would dip back down.

It suddenly appeared in their line of sight, diving towards the lake.

"Wait! Stop!" Connor shrieked. "Go up! Go back up!"

Larry tried to steer the plane back up, but it was too late. The little plane hit the surface of the water before going under, as the three of them looked on in horror.

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hiii i am back from my hiatus and i am done with high school and between my posting this chapter and the last we have had a new connor murphy what is this fuckery oh my god

jk i love alex boniello to death

anyway! leave a comment and let me know what you think! they always motivate me to write more
and don't forget that you can always hit me up on tumblr if you ever want to chat about this fic, or musical theatre in general

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