Disclaimer: I own nadaaa! :)
A/N: Sorry for the wait of this chapter. :( Been really busy with school and life. Hopefully, I will be updating more regularly soon enough. Spring Break is coming! Enjoy!

Chapter Eight:

Shannon sighed as he took a seat, a bowl of Lo Mien in front of him. It had been an hour since Coral had slammed out of his house and he was honestly glad for the silence, as horrible as it sounded. With his dogs surrounding him, he felt fine. Coral's a big girl; she can take care of herself.

You dumbass, she doesn't know the area! She's probably lost or hurt. How can you act like you don't care?

Shannon ignored the second voice. Coral didn't want to be found. She'd rather spend her time miserable and alone than spend time with her brother. Sure, they hadn't known each other, but that wasn't his fault. He had been willing to make amends and bring her into his life. Why couldn't she be a little more understanding? It wasn't only her who had to adjust. Shannon hadn't lived with a woman in years, not counting his dog.

You know you should go out and look for her. Don't be an asshole, Shannon.

Shannon rolled his eyes, flipping on a movie on TNT. He was planning on ignoring that voice. Coral would be fine. She'd come home when she felt like it and then they'd go back to fighting.

Sure, keep telling yourself that. What if she's hurt?

"She's not hurt," Shannon chided back to his mind, outloud. "I'm not going after her. She's being a little bitch."

Silence. Shannon sighed, picking up a bottle of beer from the table. With one look at the clock, he took a sip and closed his eyes.

-

When Shannon awoke, he found it to be almost midnight. With a yawn, he stood up, shoving both Hela and Oz off his lap. They grunted as they pranced on the floor, expecting something from their owner. He brushed them off, dragging the dishes he had used into the kitchen.

"Come on babies, potty time," he called out and then heard all three dogs come running. They were outside in seconds. Shannon smirked, looking around him. Had Coral come back yet? He shrugged, not seeing anything on the table touched. Then again, she could have thought he'd poison her… With another sigh, he headed for his stairs, looking in the upper part of the house. Yet by the time the dogs were barking to come in, Shannon had figured out that Coral had not come home.

Even though he wanted to be the ass, he knew he couldn't just go to bed without finding her. Being out at midnight, alone as a female wasn't something anyone should do. "Damn this girl," he growled, closing the back door to his house and grabbing his keys. At least they're still here, Shannon thought.

He drove around the neighborhood slowly, looking for any signs of an egotistical teenage rebel, only finding the darkness the night brought in.

Finally, he pulled over and grabbed his phone. It rang twice after he dialed a number before Matt answered. "Shannon?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"What's up, man?" Matt replied. "Going crazy with Coral?"

"No," Shannon snapped back. "Actually, I sort of lost her."

Matt bellowed out a laugh. "What do you mean, you lost her?"

"She sorta stormed out a few hours ago and I let her… she seemed pissed and I didn't want to deal with Hurricane Coral so…"

"So where is she now?"

"Good question."

"You lost your sister?" Matt yelled.

"I just said that!"

"God," Matt replied loudly. "How the fuck do you lose your sister?"

In the background, Shannon heard Jeff ask, "Coral's missing?"

"I don't know," Shannon muttered.

"So what do you want me to do?" Matt asked finally. "You called for a reason, I'm guessing."

"I was wondering if you could help me search…"

"Hey, man, tell him he doesn't need to," Jeff said in the background again. "I think I know where she is."

It went silent on both lines for a moment, before both Matt and Shannon asked, "Where?"

There was a brief, humorless chuckle from Jeff. "You'll see."

-

Five minutes later, Jeff was heading out slowly through the wooded area that joined his and Matt's house, also Jeff's motorcross ramp. With a strong flashlight in tow, he was sure he knew where the missing Coral was. Earlier that day, she had mentioned what a big part motorcross was in her life.

As he came up to the clearing, he saw her. The blonde's back was to him, and she had her arms wrapped around her knees. She seemed to be staring out into the night, on one of the lower dirt ramps.

Slowly, he came closer to her. She didn't hear him as he climbed over a hill and turned the flashlight off. Then, he finally got to her spot, sitting down. If she knew he was there, she didn't acknowledge him.

At last, Jeff spoke, "You know, running away from your problems never helps anything."

Silence.

"Shannon's really not that bad of a guy. He's just… stupid. Maybe if you guys tried to work something out…"

Silence.

"I know why you came here. It's peaceful. I come here too sometimes. I understand."

Silence.

"Look, Coral. I know I don't know you too well, but I'm trying to help here. I don't know what's the matter or how to make you feel better. I know how hard it is to lose a parent, my mother died when I was real young. It sucks."

There was a short breeze and finally, Coral said something, "It's weird," she said softly. "I don't know you either and yet I feel like I've known you forever."

Jeff smiled a little. "Well… that's good."

Coral smiled back at him, turning in his direction. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Like I said, I've come here plenty of times in the past. It helps me think. But running away from Shannon isn't going to help you think, Coral."

"You have no idea," she muttered in response.

Jeff sighed. "He's not bad," he repeated. "You got to give him a chance. He's suddenly got an eighteen-year-old sister who was thrust into his life out of nowhere. He's new—"

"He didn't need to take me in. I'm eighteen. I can technically move in a place on my own. I don't need him."

"Everyone needs someone to love them," Jeff replied softly.

Coral didn't answer.

"Look, why don't I call Shannon back and tell him you're safe and you can stay at Matt's house with Beth and I. We don't mind. We'll make you a guestroom up. How's that sound?"

Coral shrugged. "I don't care."

Jeff sighed, looking away as she stared into the dark night. "Fine."

About ten minutes later, after giving a call to a very anxious reject, Beth was making up a guestroom for Coral. She was seated in Matt's kitchen, sipping some tea, made for her by Jeff. She was cold to everyone but him, which perplexed Matt. He didn't know why. Every time he tried to talk to her, he either got a glare in return or a snapped reply, so he gave up.

Just before she headed to bed though, she pulled Jeff over. "Hey," she whispered. "Thanks."

Jeff smiled, touching her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. If you ever need to talk, I'm here." With that, they parted ways and went to bed.

A/N: Interesting? Why does Coral like Jeff, why doesn't she wanna kill him? Well... that's it. Read and review and update I shall. :)