Tyler's POV

"Hey, Sabe, I heard my parents bitching at you last night. What the fuck did you do?"

Sabree jumps out of her own skin at the sound of my voice. I think I interrupted a deep thinking session. She just shrugs her shoulders and flicks her bangs from her view. "I snuck out at like, 10:00 last night and didn't come home 'til 12:00. I guess I didn't lock my door or something. When I came home, they were sitting on my bed, waiting for me.

"Yeah, that sounds like my parents. Why'd you sneak out in the first place?"

"I wanted to see if Stacy was okay. I apologized for the party," she looks at me, "I guess I owe you an apology, too. Thanks, man. You totally saved my ass."

I run a hand through my hair, "Eh, it's what I do." I say, in my ladies man voice. Sabree makes a gagging motion at my brief arrogance. I tilt my head to this side, riddled by the fact Sabree is wearing a thick, black hoodie in the middle of an 80 degree summer in Santa Monica, California. "Sabe, what's with the jacket homes? It like, a bajillion degree outside."

"No reason. Just feel like wearin' a jacket. Is there a problem with that?"

I shake my head, "Oh, no. I just think that a jacket would be a little hard to surf in that's all…"

Her head pops up at the mention of surfing. She thinks a moment before politely shooting me down. "Nah, I'll take a rain check, though. I'll just watch."

"Um, okay. Whatever you want, Sabe. Just hurry up about it, the guys are already down at the pier."

o.o

"Tyler! Shit, it's about time, bro!" Tony rushes up to me. He looks Sabree over and shakes his head. "Sabree, baby, what's with the get up? Last time I checked you couldn't surf in this shit." He laughs, pawing at her jacket with mock interest.

She smacks his hand away like a four year old, "Just don't feel like getting wet today."

"Hey, its cool chicka. How 'bout you and me just blaze up tonigh, alone?"

Sabree stalls, "Define 'alone'." She bends her fingers into little quotation marks.

Tony snakes his arm around her waist, "Alone. As in, you, me, a bowl."

"Wow. As great as that sounds, Tony, I'm gonna have to say no."

He fakes a pained look, "That hurts, Foster girl. That hurts bad." Jay calls him over before he can continue his scene.

"Alright, who are you and what have you done with the real Sabree?" I step up and examine girl who claims to be the Sabree Ann Thomas I've lived with for two months now.

She shrugs, "What's the supposed to mean?"

"It's called a joke, Sabe. You know, ha-ha? You do remember how to laugh, right?"

Aha, there it is-- the Sabree death glare. She must mean business if she's dishing it out already. I let out a sigh. "Sabe, you just don't seem like yourself today."

She gives me a, "You'd better stop with the bullshit" look, "I'm just really tired from last night."

I send a look to rival her own. By now, I've perfected my mothers 'I can tell when you're lying to me' look. It's very threatening when my mother goes balls to the wall angry.

"Ty, I'm fine, man. Really." She reassures, laying one hand on my arm, "Dude, you know I wouldn't lie to you. Now go and surf. I guess I kind of feel bad about making you miss all the killer swells." She says with that certain 'Sabree' kind of way we've become used to hearing.

Sabree's POV

After two hours of watching the boys' mind numbingly boring surfing, we stand outside of the Zephyr shop. We don't dare to take even one step inside, almost like the ageing yellow brick building was some foreign place and the owner and contents inside would devour is if we even thought about going in. Oh well. Watching the boys make asses' out of themselves suits my fancy just fine.

Stacy's normal carefree glow returned to him, something I'm more than positive he missed. I've missed it too, but Stacy can never know that. I sat there, motionless,drifting off into my own little dream land. I was quite happy there, no distractions, no boys, no foster parents. No anything. I was alone, as I like to be some days when the quite side of me takes over.

The slapping of hands on the brick building behind me brings me back into reality. To my misfortune, Jay's impish face is inches away from mine, a serious look painted on his features. I gasp, now realizing that Jay Adams was invading my personal bubble. My person bubble! What the hell is wrong with this kid? "Fuck! Jay, you fucking asshole!" I scream and shove him away with all the strength I have in my tiny body.

He chuckles, returning to his previous position, "Why'd you shoot Tony down? It's not like you to let an offer like that pass by. Afraid a repeat of the party might happen?" Oh, he is an evil son of a bitch.

I stumble for a comeback, but his smart ass has knocked me speechless. I hate him. Not like a two year old "I hate you" to their mother but an intense, I'm gonna rip out your finger nails and make sure you never surf or skate another day in your life hate.

"H-how did you know what?"

"I have my ways," he says, giving me a smug look, "Ya know, foster girl, I think Tony deserves to know about what went down that night."

"Jay, I swear to God, if you tell Tony even one little detail, I'll deck that smug face of yours straight in, do you understand me?" I spit, Jay just laughs but that doesn't stop him from giving me that look I despise.

"Tell Tony what?" I look over to see none other than Tony quickly coming up to me and Jay. Jay greets Tony silently, and then turns his attention back to me before he shoves himself off the wall, returning to Sid, Stace and Ty.

"Nothing." I hiss, shaking my head. As much as it kills me to say this, Jay is right. I guess Tony does kind of deserve to know about that night. I run a hand through my hair, a nervous habit I've picked up, and sigh, "Look, Tony. More went on between us at your party than you think…"I trail off, causing Tony's full attention to come to me and only me.

"Yeah, and?"

"And, well, the thing is, you and I sort of...fuck." I stop mid sentence after seeing a figure much resembling my father come closer and closer.

"Fu- what the hell?"

"No. Shit, dude, that's my dad!" I say, pushing my way past Tony, trying to conceal myself from my father behind the building.

A crowd forms around Tony, and many questions arise from the group.

'Dude, what's going on?' and 'Yeah, that's Sabree's dad, bros' are the most frequently asked.

I try to sneak away from the building, away from the boys' and my father, but my father rounds me off, stepping directly in my path.

"Sabree…Sabree, is that you?"

I freeze, and nod slowly, "Yeah, Dad, it's me."

He smiles softly at me, "You changed your hair. I like it. You still look like your mother, though."

'Lucky me…' I think, taking a step back from my dad. I glance behind me to make sure Tony, Stacey, Sid, Jay, and Ty we're still there. They all give me reassuring looks, and that's all I need to find the confidence to face my dad.

"Heh, guess you're all grown up now, eh?" Rick's, my father, hand reaches up to graze against my cheek, and brush through my bangs. I flinch, nearly letting a frightened cry slip from my mouth. It's all a natural reaction by now. "I miss ya, Sabe. Karen, too. I can't wait until I get you back home with me."

I gulp and immediately I feel Tyler's angry gaze burn holes through my jacket. He knows now. I don't want him to. I don't want anyone to know. I open my mouth to speak, but my throat dries up and I have trouble speaking at all, "I'm not going back home, Dad." I finally cry out, loud enough for him to hear.

He shakes his head, and slips his hand underneath my chin, forcing me to look at him, "Of course you are, Sabree. C'mon. Everything's okay now. I'd start sayin' good bye to your little friends now before you get too attached." He lets me go, and continues on his way home, I suspect. He'd been drinking, I could smell the whisky on his breath. Oh yeah. You're really good for me to come home.

I stumble back, almost losing my balance. That was scarier than I would have liked it to be.

"Sabree! Why didn't you tell me that your dad wants to take you back?" Tyler yells, furious at what my father just said.

I don't feel like explaining myself to Tyler. I don't have to explain myself to Tyler. I ignore his yelling, and storm away.

He curses under his breath, taking off after me. "Sabree! Sabree, just, please." He pleads managing to snag my wrist. His fingers come in contact with the fresh scars on my arm, they sting badly. He's hurting me, but he doesn't realize it. Of course he doesn't. I can't just tell Tyler what I did that night, because it'll send him into a breakdown. Just this alone is enough to start one.

I wriggle free of his grasp and turn to face him, "Because I didn't want anyone to know! Because of reasons like this! Because I can't deal with the screaming, or the arguing, right now. Don't you get it Tyler?!"

"Sabree…I- I'm sorry. I just would have liked to know about this. When did you find this out? Do my parents know?" he questions, and tries reaching out to me.

I pull back on instinct, "Just drop it Tyler! Just drop it, and leave me alone!" I scream, beginning to back away.

He takes a step closer to me, and suddenly I feel like I'm ten years old again, trying desperately to get away from my father, when there's only a corner to back myself into, and stupidly trap myself. Hot tears build up behind my eyes, Tyler takes another step closer. I turn around and run, with no destination in mind. It's not like I have a place to run to, anyway. I look behind me, and see Tyler get smaller and smaller as my feet carry me further and further away from him.

Sid's POV

Nobody has said anything. The shock of Rick's sudden appearance still hadn't washed off, and Sabree just ran off like that. I look at Tyler. He's confused, angry, and worried all at the same time. I don't blame him. Sabree's become so much more than just a girl his parents took in. The way he acts around her, the way she acts around him. It's like they we're blood related. I can only imagine what he must feel.

"So, what now?" I speak up.

Tyler looks up at me, "We go home and wait. That's all we can do."

…

We've been at Tyler's house an hour, and still no sign of Sabree. The arms of the clock indicate its half past 11:00. Again, Tyler's parents and my parents were out of town for a time, leaving Tyler's house a usual hang out.

My gaze travels over to Stacy, who shares the same expression as Tyler. He remained quite, twiddling his thumbs. I wonder what he was thinking about. Jay told me some shit about him maybe liking Sabree, but sometimes Jay isn't the most reliable source. But, Stacy is hard to read sometimes. It's just his nature to care about people in times like these. He did say something about the beach last night. I don't know anything for sure.

I hear a window being shut from upstairs. We all look at Tyler in a questionable manner.

"Think that's her?" Stacy speaks up.

Tyler shrugs, "Has to be, no one else knows how to open that fuckin window in Sabree's room."

"Well, someone should go and check," I suggest, and everyone looks at me. "W-wait! Why me?" I stutter.

"Why not? She won't talk to Tyler, I know for a fact she won't let Jay in there." Stacy explains, whisking his blonde hair behind his shoulders, "Sid, man, if it doesn't work, then I'll go up there. And, if I can't get anything out of her, we'll send Tony."

"Tony? He's supposed to be our ace in the hole?" I exclaim, and Tony looks a little insulted, "No offense, T.A, this isn't exactly your area of expertise."

Jay scoffs, "You can say that again."

I groan, "Fine…I'll go." I push myself out of the chair, and head upstairs to Sabree's room. "Sabree?" I rap softly at the door, and it opens enough for me to peek my head in. I wasn't ready for what I saw. Blood dripping down her arm, from a gash she created herself. How could she do something like that to herself? I take a deep breath, and enter the room. "Sabe…" I say softly, drifting off.

Her head jerks up at the sound of my voice, her hair flying in front of her face, sticking to her tear stained cheeks. "S-Sid…please don't tell anyone." She sobs, pressing the sleeve of her sweater against her wound to stop the bleeding.

I shake my head, crouching down in front of her, "I wouldn't dream of it."

It's silent for a few minutes, but Sabree finally breaks down, and confesses to me, "Oh, Sid. It's not supposed to be this way. I'm not supposed to go back to my dad. I'm not supposed to leave Tyler, Tony, Stacy or you!" she cries, resting her head in the crook of my neck. This is the closest I've been to Sabree, making it slightly awkward for me. I nod. I understand what she means. I give her a quick embrace, but gently push her away, resting my hands on her shoulders. I really hate to break this to her when she's in this condition, but I think this will help her more when I say I understand.

"Sabe, look, I know. I know how things don't work out like they're supposed to."

She shakes her head, "How could you?" she asks tearfully.

I hesitate, brushing a strand of hair of her cheek, "Because…I…you know how I have bad ears?" I state slowly, and she nods, "Well, that's not all that it is. When my parents took me to the doctor to have a look at my ears, they found a tumor. On my brain…"

She cries out harder, I can tell that defiantly that she wasn't what she needed to hear.

…

I figure we've been in her room for an hour and a half. Most of the time was spent with her crying, and me being there to comfort her. The flow of tears had stopped, and I think Sabree had officially cried until she couldn't cry anymore.

"You know you have to tell them." I say, tracing my fingers along the cuts on her arm.

"I know."

"Especially Stacy. He really cares about you, you know."

She takes a shaky breath, and shakes her head, "Yeah, but he cares about everyone."

"Not the way he cares about you."

She looks at me, with an almost hopeful, but more shocked, glint in her eye. Shit, I think I said too much. I shake my last statement off, "Um, why don't you get cleaned up, and I'll meet you downstairs."

She nods, holding her hair back with her hands.

Everyone's eyes landed one my as soon as I hit the first stair.

"Sid, she okay man?" Stacy asked, with that worried Stacy look on his face.

"Yeah, she's fine, guys," I pause, taking a deep breath, "I told her about…" I drift off. They all know what I'm talking about.

"Sid! Why did you tell her that? That is not she needs to hear!" Tyler fumes.

"You think I don't know that? Look, she just… ugh." I groan. "I just had to tell her, okay?"

Sabree's POV

Arguing? Great. Yeah, that's exactly what I need to cheer me up. I press my back against the wall, listening to Tyler fight and scream with Sid and Stacy. I clear my throat, and place my hand on the stair railing.

Tyler's head snaps up, "Sabree."

I pass him an odd look, "Yes...me Sabree. You Tyler."

He shakes my comment off, "You okay? I mean, you kind of ran off today." He questions as I slide down the railing, jumping off before I hit the floor.

I play with my hair, tying it up into a ponytail, "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry 'bout that, bro. I just don't like being' around people when I'm pissed off like that." I take a seat on the couch, between Stacy and Jay.

Jay looks around, "Shit, bro, how long have we been here?"

Stacy shrugs, glancing at his watch, "A few hours, it's almost 1:50."

"Fuck, dude. We gotta get you guys' outta here."

I gawk at Tyler in disbelieve, "Tyler! Dude, it's almost two in the fuckin' morning, bro! What happened to Venice not being the safest place at this time of night?"

"Yeah, for you. Not for these guys, they can handle themselves."

I open my mouth, ready to argue with Tyler's statement I look over at Josephine, who's just getting ready to head to bed herself, "Hey, JoJo, you can keep a secret right?"

The Mexican woman nods, "Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've had to do this, but as long as you get these boys out before Mia and Larry get back, I can keep my mouth shut."

I smile, "Thanks JoJo. Ty, the point is that if they come home this late at night, their parents will flip, and behead them or something like that. They'd be better off crashing here for tonight."

Tyler lets out an aggravated sigh, "Fine, they can stay here for tonight. But they can't stay in the living room. What if Mom and Dad come home early?"

"Ty, our rooms are fuckin huge. Just one could fit all of them, plus us. So, we'll just sleep in your room or something."

Tyler nods, standing up, "Alright, alright. Get your dirty asses upstairs, all of ya." He begins to herd them all up stairs, but Stacy and I stay behind. "You guys comin'?"

I shake my head, "Nah. Stace and I are going to stay down here for a while longer." Tyler gives me a look, and then grins. I groan. I swear, sometimes I wonder about that boy. "Tyler!! Fuck, we're just gunna talk! Jesus Christ!" I pick up a pillow, and chuck it as hard as I can at his head.

"Shit! Kidding, Sabe!" he shakes his head, running upstairs. I sigh, resting my head against the arm of the couch. Stacy just bursts out in laughter, shaking his head.

I feign a chuckle, "This is funny to you, Peralta?"

He nods, "Yeah, actually, it really is." I pick up another pillow, and gently smack Stacy in the arm with it.

….

My eyes peeked open slightly, California rays shine through the window, and cast a shadow from the shadow placed in the middle of the living room. Strands of long, blonde hair fall into my face, tickling it gently. I would assume it to be my own hair, but the thi strands intersecting do not match. I might be crazy. Might be. But I feel the warmth of another presence. Not the warmth of a blanket, we're in California for Christ sakes, but rather of somebody.

Tyler runs downstairs, and shakes me fully awake, "Sabree, you have like five point six seconds to get Stacy out of here. Mom and Dad are home early for some unexplainable reason." Stacy? I fell asleep on Stacy?! Greeeeatttt.

"Sabree? Didn't you hear me? Get Stacy out of here now, or we are toast!" Tyler shouts, sprinting down the stairs to stall the parentals.

"Um. . .right. Uh. . ." I contemplate how to wake this boy up. "Stacy?" I press my hands into his stomach. He jolts up with an 'oof.'

"Thanks for the wake up call Sabe," he rubs his eyes and stretches his magnificent beach bod out.

"Thank me later Peralta. If you don't get outta here stat, me and Ty are dead."

Stacy pulls himself off the couch, and I trail behind him, searching for a way for him to get out. Right now, the kitchen window is looking like the only way out.

"Kitchen, go, go, go." I whisper, fleeing into the kitchen first, pushing the window open. You'd think living in Venice of all places, Mia and Larry would have enough sense to put screens over their windows. I guess their not worried about their place getting mugged. Oh, well. Their ignorance just makes it easier for me to run.

"But, Sabe," he begins, as he tries climbing out the window, pushing himself until his feet dangle above the ground.

"Stace, just, ugh. Just, go. Whatever you have to tell me, just tell me later. If you ever want to see me or Tyler again, just please." I say, slightly aggravated.

He sighs, but pulls himself in a bit more, until he's almost face to face with me. I have no idea what he's doing. He doesn't hesitate, pressing his lips against my cheek. After the deed was done, he slipped from the window and vanished.

I touch my cheek in awe, listening to the lock of the front door click and open.