AN: Ok, so originally chapters 3 and 4 were one big chapter that I wrote immediately after publishing chapter 2. But it split into two chapters better, so I'm releasing them as two chapters, but I'm publishing them at the same time.

Chapter 3

After leaving Abby at her house, Connor trudged wearily to his home. Connor wasn't really looking forward to seeing his mum today, but then again, he wasn't looking forward to seeing her any day. When Connor was eight years old his dad, Peter Temple, left him and his mum, never to be seen again. At the time, Connor thought it was all very sudden, but as he got older, he began to realize exactly what had driven him away.

His mother began sinking into depression soon after his birth, and as he got older, her depression got worse, but she refused to get medicated. That was what prompted his father to leave Connor and his mother for good; she never heard from or saw him again. Connor's mother began to ignore Connor, it never got as bad as neglect, and she always kept food in the house, paid the bills, and made sure the necessities were taken care of; she just didn't care about Connor. It took him a while as a child to understand everything that was happening, but eventually, he learned to adapt. Connor made his own lunch in the mornings, walked himself to school, rain or shine, did his school work, made his supper, and made sure he was up again in time the next morning. Connor knew it wasn't a perfect life, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could be, and Connor was thankful for that,

Unfortunately, having no one to talk to at home was what caused Connor to delve deeper into his science fiction and fantasy worlds for support. This was what caused his great divide from the rest of his classmates in his early years. No one wanted to talk to the boy who would only talk about his Star Wars action figures, or about the newest episode of Doctor Who. Primary school was a hard time for Connor to grow up in, but he survived.

Secondary school was a bright light on the horizon; it was there he met two fellow nerds like himself, his friends Tom and Duncan. They became like a second family to him, someone who he could talk to about anything and everything. That was what made losing Tom so hard, he'd realized, it had been like losing a brother, and then Duncan as well.

Connor walked up the steps to the small house he shared with his mother, completely lost in his thoughts about his family and Tom and Duncan. He never said he lived with his mum, always that they shared a house, because by his logic, they didn't actually live in the same place. Connor always chose to see them as two people on separate islands who were close enough to communicate if they wanted, but they never did. Connor walked inside, immediately going straight upstairs to his room and closing the door. He's make something for supper later, but while he was contemplating what to do now, his phone rang. I hope it's Abby, Connor thought excitedly. When he checked the caller id, he became even more excited and immediately answered the phone to talk to his best friend, Duncan.

"Hello, Duncan" Connor spoke into the phone, "Dunk, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here Conn," Duncan replied, "I was just calling to see how you've been. School started today didn't it?

"Yeah, it did. Didn't feel the same without you mate. How's boarding school been?"

"Good, good. Not the same as school with you and… So anyways, have you had a lot of work yet?"

Connor winced inwardly as Duncan tried to skate over Tom's name. "No," he replied, "there's not been a lot of work yet, but it's comin'. So guess what? I met a girl today, mate."

"No way!" Duncan exclaimed, "How'd you meet a girl?"

"No need to sound so surprised mate, I do alright with women."

Duncan scoffed on the other end of the phone "Don't give me that line, Conn. We both know it's a lie. So, how'd you meet her?

"She's new to the school," Connor admitted, "So she didn't know about how much of a nerd I am or about… about Tom."

"You'll have to tell her eventually, Conn." Duncan reminded him, "About both of your secrets. She's gonna find out about Tom, it's not like it's a secret. And it's only a matter of time before you let your nerdiness slip."

"I know, I know." Connor replied dejectedly, "it was just nice having someone who didn't either treat me like an outcast, or give me pity just because they felt guilty about treating me like an outcast before one of me best friends died."

"I know what you mean." Duncan replied, "I haven't told anyone over here about Tom, I mean, why should I. I don't want people treating me differently just because I lost someone. It's nice to know who's really friendly and who just feels guilty."

"That's the problem I'm having with Abby," Connor blurted out suddenly, glad he had someone he could confide in. "We seem to becoming good friends, and I don't want that to change out of pity."

"Don't worry about it Conn," Duncan said finally, "what happens will happen."

"Yeah, I guess," Connor replied, "So how've your classes been going?"

Connor and Duncan continued talking for another hour before Duncan had to go and finish some homework. When he hung up, Connor sat back in his chair, feeling decidedly better about himself. He would tell Abby about Tom tomorrow, he decided. His nerdy obsessions, however, could wait.

XXXXX

Abby Maitland liked cooking dinner. It was a job that made her feel wanted, needed, and appreciated. She discovered that about herself at an early age. Unfortunately, the reason she had to start cooking dinner was her mother leaving when she was twelve and her father's alcoholism as a result. Abby realized early on that if she didn't start taking care of herself and her baby brother, Jack, no one would. Their father was an only child and their mother's only sister stopped all communication after her sister left. So Abby was left on her own to take care of Jack. She did everything she could, from filling out school forms with her father's forged signature, to packing his lunch and tucking him in at night. And during all of this, she realized she needed Jack just as badly as he needed her. He needed to be cared for and looked after, and Abby just wanted to be valued and loved. As Jack's surrogate mother, they both got what they wanted.

"So Jack how was school?" she asked as she put served their dinner. Their father was already gone when Abby got home from school, most likely at another bar.

"It was fine." Jack responded. Because he was nine years old, Jack attended the primary school two blocks away from their new house, which let out thirty minutes before Abby's school did. Abby always worried about him walking home alone, but she knew it couldn't be helped.

"Did you make any new friends?" she asked, trying to draw him into conversation. As she discovered growing up, Jack was incredibly talkative and loved to talk about anything that concerned him. The fact that he wasn't talking about his first day at his new school worried Abby.

"Yeah," Jack replied, keeping his eyes on his plate.

"Jack," Abby began cautiously, "what's wrong. You know you can tell me anything, I won't be mad."

At this, Jack began to break down into tears. "I-I'm so s-sorry, Abby." He sobbed, "I j-just wanted to sh-show him to the other kids. I didn't m-mean to. I'm so s-sorry."

"Jack," Abby said calmly, "tell me what happened. You wanted to show who to the other kids?"

"R-Rex" Jack managed to get out before he completely dissolved into tears.

Rex was Abby's pet lizard, a common lizard she had found outside the door of their old house. She had taken him in and, after researching what type of lizard he was and what he ate, she fed him and made him a house to sleep in. It was the only pet she was able to take with her when they left their old home, their dogs, Sid and Nancy, had to be given away. She knew Jack loved Rex, but she'd always told him to never take him out of his cage unless she was there. She had to find out what had happened to Rex.

"Jack," Abby said soothingly, "What happened to Rex? Did he get away, or… what?" she finished lamely, she didn't want to think about what else might have happened to her poor lizard.

"I was showing him to some of the people in my class," Jack said slowly as he started to calm down. "And then one of the bigger kids, Tony, took his box out of my hand and he ran away. I tried to chase him, but some of his friends held me down, and then recess was over, and then afterschool, I didn't see him, but I looked, and then I had to go home." He finished his story in a quick breath. "I'm so sorry, Abby. Please don't leave me."

Abby's heart melted. He was so scared of being left alone for doing something wrong that he began to cry again. Abby moved over next to him and held his head while he cried.

"Shhh," she whispered soothingly, "I'm not ever going to leave you Jack. I'm your big sister and I will always be there for you." Abby continued to hold Jack until the crying stopped.

"You're not mad?" He asked, his eyes full of tears.

"No," Abby responded, "I'm not mad at you; you didn't mean to lose him. I'm going to try and get him back, ok. Do you know Tony's last name?"

"D-Durran, I think." Jack replied, "I think I heard someone say it was Durran."

"Ok," Abby replied, "why don't you go on upstairs and get cleaned up and ready for bed, I'll see about getting Rex back from this Tony Durran."

As Jack walked off, Abby began panicking to herself. Who could she get to help her find her lizard? She barely knew anyone here. The only person she thought might help her was Connor, but even then, why should he run around helping someone he just met find her pet lizard. He'd seemed like a nice person, but everyone seemed like a nice person at first. Monica, her dad's new ex-wife, had seemed like a nice person at first. Abby had been elated to get a new mom, someone who could help her with the cooking and cleaning and Jack. Someone who would love her. But when they started living together, everything had changed. Monica hadn't done anything but belittles Abby and torment Jack. Even their alcoholic father noticed and had enough. The divorce was messy and took two months, bringing the total time Monica had been a part of the family to six months. Then they'd had to move here, because Monica had won the house and spent her time spreading rumors, and the occasional truth, about Roger Maitland. With no house and his reputation ruined, Roger Maitland had uprooted his family and moved them here to London.

No, she decided, no one was ever as good as they seemed to be at first. But unfortunately, she had no other choice. Abby picked up her phone and began punching in Connor's number, which he had scrawled on a scrap of paper. As a joke, he'd written: in case of emergencies. Well, Abby thought, he was getting a minor emergency, but an emergency all the same.

XXXXX

Connor sat at his kitchen table, witnessing an almost unprecedented event. His mother had walked into the kitchen while he was in there making himself a grilled cheese sandwich, and in a departure from nine years of tradition, she continued into the kitchen, poured herself a pot of coffee that Connor had brewed that morning, and sat down to read the newspaper, which Connor had also brought in before he left for school. Usually whenever they ran into each other, one of them would leave the room and come back later. Through years of unspoken communication, they had managed to establish a set of ethics that dictated what to do in each situation, depending on who was in what room and what they were doing. Ethics dictated that if Connor was making a meal, then she had to leave and check back in half an hour. Yet here she was, sitting down at the table like nothing was wrong.

Connor cautiously sat down at his seat across from her with his supper. She looked at him.

"You've had grilled cheese for the past three nights, you'll clog your arteries and die of a heart attack if you keep it up."

Connor made a tremendous effort to keep his jaw from hitting the floor when she spoke to him. The last thing his mother had said to him was happy birthday, and that was for his thirteenth birthday. Connor was seventeen now. He tried to keep his voice under control as he responded to her.

"We don't speak for over four years, and that's all you have to say to me. Well, we're out of milk." He looked at her defiantly, as if daring her to comment on his snarkiness. Connor felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but he sent the call to voicemail without looking to see who it was.

"I mean, jeez, mum." Connor put extra emphasis on the word 'mum'. "What prompted this sudden outburst of love and concern? Thanks for telling me I'm clogging my arteries, that's the nicest thing you've said to me in the past four years. Of course, that's the only thing you've said to me in the past four years, so that's not saying much!" Connor was standing up now, his face red with anger. In his pocket, his phone vibrated insistently, but he continued to ignore it.

"Look Connor!" his mother shouted, rising from her chair as well, "You know your father leaving hasn't been easy for me, but-"

"Dad's leaving?" Connor shouted angrily, cutting her off. "Dad left nine years ago. You lost the right to use dad's leaving as an excuse for your distance eight years ago. You don't talk to me because you're clinically depressed but you refuse to get medication for it. That's the same reason dad left."

"How did you know that?" she asked angrily, "who told you that?"

"He did." Connor yelled, "He's been e-mailing my since I was fourteen and old enough to understand your problem. It may not be the best parenting technique, but at least I hear from him."

"What do you want me to say, Connor?" she shouted back, almost in tears.

"I didn't want you to say anything!" Connor yelled suddenly. "This was working for me, I was just going to suffer one more year of silence, then go off to a university and we would never have to have anything to do with each other again. That was the plan, why are you screwing things up?"

"I don't want that plan Connor." She said desperately, "I want to get to know you again; I want to have a relationship with you, mother and son."

"Yeah, well you missed that boat, you missed it by a longshot." He said finally. "I'm going out," Connor said, standing up and grabbing his hat off the table. "And I'm taking my artery clogger with me." He added, grabbing his grilled cheese sandwich and heading out of the door.