Sara sat at the bus stop beside A.J. They were going to a different school, but she was just thankful that they were going together. It would be tough enough without having to do it alone. Self-consciously, she pulled up her turtleneck a little higher.

Dealing with strangers might be easier than having to deal with people she knew at her old school. Either way there would be whispers and rumors, but at least these people would only be guessing hand have no clue what the truth was.

As though sensing her thoughts, A.J. grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze as they boarded. Sara smiled at the contact. Ever since the hospital, they had grown more affectionate, holding hands often, or otherwise stealing touches like an arm on the shoulder. It made Sara feel like everything would be ok. With him constantly telling her as much, how could she doubt it?

He was constantly pushing her, expanding the limits she tried to impose on herself. Going out in public, not allowing the horror of her brush with death to dominate her life. Despite the enormity of the task, he never pushed her any further than she could handle. A.J. would stop when it was all becoming too much. When she wanted, he would simply listen to her fears and nightmares. He encouraged her to talk; he simply refused to let her shut down her life because of it.

Sara was also seeing a psychiatrist, and A.J. encouraged her to talk there as well. It was difficult after living so long holding things in. But she always managed to say something. Even if it was just a small little insight into herself. She did this because A.J. was always so proud of her for doing even the smallest thing. If she didn't speak she knew he wouldn't hold it against her, but she wanted to get better as much as he did.

The bus stopped and Sara got off with her head up. While A.J. was with her she could stand the curious looks she got when people noticed her bandaged peeking out. IT would be a different story when they separated for the day. For the moment at least, she reveled in the confidence boost his presence provided.

"Act normal and no one will even notice," A.J. said with a smile.

"I know, but it still feels like everyone's looking," Sara replied.

He nodded, always understanding. "Yeah. It'll pass though. The bigger a deal you make of it, the bigger they will too."

She kept that thought with her the rest of the day. Sara tried to act like she would on any other day she didn't have an embarrassing bandage on her neck. The day went pretty well, and there were even moments where she forgot about it herself. The few people that did ask received a slightly flustered "accident" in response. Luckily that seemed to satisfy them, or at least stop them from asking more questions.

As she walked home with A.J., Sara realized that she was spending most of her time with him or with Olivia. She was just fine with that, it certainly made it easier to sleep at night. The nightmares didn't come as often, and when they did it was much easier to get back to sleep after. It really helped to be surrounded by so much love and positive energy.

"So," A.J. started, "where are we going tonight?"

Another new situation in her life, he could actually go to the place she was calling home. There was a strange novelty to something so simple. She shrugged, they were pretty much going back and forth anyway. "I guess over to mine. We can study for that math test tomorrow."

He frowned, and Sara laughed. Math wasn't one of A.J.'s better subjects. He was more into hands-on things. Numbers had always come easy to her, so the tutoring was one thing that had always made her feel helpful.

"Geometry wouldn't be so bad if they didn't want you to remember so many stupid formulas," A.J. grumbled.

"They do give you some of them."

"Some," he parroted.

Sara rolled her eyes. Playfully, and certain to be extra careful, she shoved him. She knew his behavior was as much due to his general dislike of the subject as it was to get a reaction. An attempt at normalcy. But none of this was really normal to her, and Sara had never been more glad of the fact.

"A.J." Sara said, making him stop and turn to her. Her following actions were so foreign to her that she couldn't come up with an excuse for them if she tried. Unsure what to do with themselves, her hands braced on his shoulders. Sara pulled up on her tiptoes to get up to his level, pressing her lips against his.

The kiss was chaste, and over just as soon as it had begun, but it was still the boldest action she had ever taken.

Realizing what she had done, Sara's face burned a bright red. Her gaze dropped down somewhere towards the sidewalk, but she noticed the color beginning to stain his cheeks as well. A.J. squeaked as he tried to say something, cleared his throat, and tried again.

"Cool," he stuttered.

Sara smiled out of awkwardness. She didn't regret it, far from it, but she was in new territory. This was the first time she had kissed someone. "I like you."

A.J.'s response was adorably clueless. "Yeah..."

"A lot," Sara clarified. She was finally looking up at him again, her hands shoved into her pockets to keep them from shaking.

"Oh," he answered. Then, he finally understood. "Oh! I get it. Yeah... yeah. Um, did not see that coming."

"Me neither."

They both just stood there for a while, equally confused at how to continue. Sara wondered just what A.J. thought. Maybe this was a bit too sudden. And what if he didn't want to be any more than friends in the first place? There was hardly anything that could be done about it either way; she was as surprised by it as he was.

"I'm glad," A.J. said.

Sara blinked, expecting rejection. "What?"

"I like you too. A lot. But I didn't want to put you in a position you weren't comfortable with. Figured it was best not to say anything about it."

"I see."

A.J. was now beaming, and held out his arm in a chivalrous fashion. He raised an eyebrow. "Shall we?"

Sara giggled at his antics, and her face flushed again as she looped her arm through his. It just felt entirely too silly. But she still went along with it. Hell, at this point a little embarrassment wasn't going to stop her. She was far too giddy now for that.

Most of the trip back to the house was a blur. And studying became the ultimate practice in concentration. Her mind was stuck on the fact that they both liked each other that she could hardly care less about the volume of a cone, much less remember how to calculate it. A.J. didn't seem to be doing much better, but they did at least make the attempt.

"Sara!" Nina Sawyer, one of her new foster parents called out, "Olivia's here."

She got up and opened her door. A.J. just smiled, walking down to Tad's room. The six year old thought that A.J. was the coolest, and was always trying to get his attention whenever he was there.

"What's up, slick?" A.J. greeted as he went in, waving to Olivia as he did.

"Didn't realize you two were busy," Olivia said.

Sara's face was turning colors again. "Just studying."

Olivia gave her a curious look. "I see... Should we be having some sort of talk?"

"No!" Sara shut the door behind her, and regained control of her voice. "We didn't do anything."

"You seem awfully flustered over nothing," Olivia commented. She sat down on Sara's bed.

"Not that. We... kissed."

"Kissed."

"Yeah." Sara sat on the chair at the small desk. Her face was once again on fire. "Well, actually, I kissed him."

"Lucky guy," Olivia cooed.

Sara was mortified by her reaction. Of all things, she didn't expect a playful response. Not that she had really thought about telling her yet. "Stop it."

"Did world's collide? Stars align?"

"Come on!" Sara pleaded. She hid her face in her hands, wishing away the bright color she knew it now sported.

"Ok, ok. On the serious side, I'm surprised it took this long."

"What do you mean?" Sara asked.

Olivia shook her head. "After five minutes it was obvious you two had something, even if neither of you realized it."

"That obvious?"

"To the trained observer. Well, to pretty much anyone I'd guess."

Sara felt like an idiot. "Jeeze. I didn't know it was that bad."

Olivia smiled. "It's cute."

"Not helping," Sara warned. She was starting to feel less embarrassed at least.

"Sorry. Anyway, I came here to give you something."

"What?"

"Well, given recent developments, you're probably not interested in it."

Sara frowned. "You're being mean."

"Ok... so, I figured you might want this." And with 'this' Olivia reached into her jacket and pulled out the old bunny. It gleamed from the recent cleaning, something it hadn't received since Sara had laid eyes on it. She had wondered what happened to it, but hadn't been able to bring herself to ask. Part of her was worried that it had been lost forever.

"You found it?"

"The crime scene guys had to keep it for a while until everything got sorted. Thought you'd appreciate having it back," Olivia said. She got up and handed it over to Sara carefully.

Sara squeezed it affectionately, then launched herself at Olivia and gave her a big hug. "Thank you!"

"Anytime," Olivia managed to wheeze out. She returned the gesture with equal enthusiasm.

Tears of joy ran down her face; for the first time in her life Sara felt she belonged to something.

FIN – Hope you enjoyed it.