A/N: For those who reviewed and favorited/followed this fic thank you and I hope you will continue to enjoy it. Here's the next chapter.

Chapter twelve

The three of them were seated in Lizzie's living room. Red was sitting on the couch with Abby closely next to him. Jethro was on his rug in front of the fire place. He was vast asleep. And Lizzie was seated in one of the chairs in her living room near the couch. There wasn't much conversation. After finishing her drink, Abby started to lean into Red. She was getting tired. She snuggled closer to her uncle and yawned.

Red ran his hand over his niece's blond hair. He needed to get her home. "Let's get you home."

Before he stood up to gather Abby, Lizzie spoke. "Why don't you put her in my bed. She can sleep and we have some more time together." She probably sounded a bit too eager for him to stay, but she didn't care.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Red wanted to ask Abby if she was okay with staying but she was already asleep. Not wanting to wake her up, he carefully lifted her in his arms. Instinctively she snuggled closer. He followed Lizzie into the hallway to her bedroom. He waited for her to close the curtains and pull back the sheets. He gently laid Abby down on the bed. Pulling the sheet back over her, he sat down on the bed. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Standing up, he ran his hand over her blond curls before he followed Lizzie out of the room. He left the door open in case Abby would need him.

Lizzie surprised him by taking his hand and leading him through her house to the porch. She left the doors open, in case Abby needed them. Seemingly out of nowhere, at least to Red, Lizzie wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. At first he tensed because her move was so unexpected. But quickly he gave into the comfort she offered and he needed. He wrapped his arms around her and let himself relax. He was glad she'd sought him out first.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked. She stepped back out of the embrace and missed the warmth of it immediately. It always amazed her how his closeness always seemed to bring a peace within her. Her body needed him near that much was clear even if she often tried to deny it.

Red shrugged. Turning his back on her, he took a few steps away from her. "I don't want to burden you."

"So you'd rather carry the burden yourself no matter what the cost?" She saw his shoulders tense. Getting him to let her in was going to be such a big fight, maybe even an impossible one. Especially if he wasn't going to try. It was something to add to their already difficult situation.

"I…" He faltered and hung his head. "You still have so much to deal with."

"And so do you." Lizzie countered.

One of the problems they had was that they were both stubborn. That frequently caused them to end up at crossroads. One of them would have to be willing to really go all in but neither seemed able to. And so a tense silence fell over them.

"I promised him to take care of his family. I can't fail them. I won't fail him." Red's voice was soft and pained, but clear.

"Tell me about him." Lizzie said just as soft.

"He was a couple of years younger. He was adventurous, outgoing and easily made friends. Ever since I was young I contemplated my every move. Jarod didn't. Nothing scared him. Everything was an adventure. He never saw any problems. It always made me want to look out for him, protect him." He paused for a moment. "We both grew up and went our own ways but always stayed in contact, always made sure we visited each other as often as possible. Even after I took that turn that led to my current life, we always visited each other. It took him a while to settle down, but he did so when he met Angela. The birth of Abby made him the happiest man on earth. He loved the life they had."

He took a deep breath to control his emotions. He hadn't let himself mourn his brother's loss. "He called me almost six months ago. Told me he was sick, that there was nothing the doctors could do for him anymore. He accepted it all much easier than we did. He stayed strong for Angela and Abby, but when we were alone he shared his fears with me. Leaving his two girls behind scared him. He was adamant I should take care of them and of course I promised him. I can't fail him, Lizzie." But he was scared that he would because he knew he had to be there for Lizzie also.

Though he tried hard to keep the emotions from his voice, Lizzie knew him well enough to hear the difference. It tore at her. She wondered if he had even let himself mourn the loss of his brother. He probably hadn't. Taking care of those he loved, protecting them even, was so important to him that he tended to forget himself. He needed someone to take care of him. She knew it would be quite the fight to get him to let someone do that. A fight she was willing to fight, a fight she was going to fight. She stepped closer to him and put her hand on his back. He was still tense.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie." He apologised.

"For what?"

"For not being able to be the person you need."

"And who is it that I need?'

"Someone who will be there for you. Someone you can rely on. Someone who will do whatever he can to make you happy and take care of you." He looked up as if he would find the answers in the sky. "Someone who won't disappear from your life."

"Are you going to disappear again?"

He shook his head. No. No matter what would happen, he would always stay near.

Lizzie took the last step to stand next to him. Wordlessly she reached for his hand and entwined their fingers. "Then we'll get there."

TBC...