A/N: I am such a horrible person. I really wanted to get this chapter up sooner but I had so much to deal with (being AP tests and finals and graduation). But now I'm done with high school and have the whole summer to write, so hopefully updates will be a lot more frequent now. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :-D

Chapter 5 ~ Hero

Going down the escalator, Rory made sure to stay at least three steps behind Sam.

"Do you know which carousel to go to?" Sam asked.

"I think they said number three."

"It's over there." Sam pointed in the direction of the baggage claim. "I don't think you uhh…need me to go with you, right?"

Rory nodded.

I didn't think I had upset him this much.

Rory tried to get rid of the frown on his face as he walked away from Sam. To distract himself, he pulled out the phone his mother had given him and dialed her number. After half a ring he got an answer.

"Rory? Rory, dear! Did you land safely? Hello? Are you there? Is everything alright?"

"Ma-"

"Oh Rory, you're safe, right? I sure hope nothing bad happened to you on the flight. You better answer me before I get on a plane and come check on you myself."

"Ma, I'm trying to answer you. Just calm down. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes mom," he said with a slight chuckle.

"OK, good. How was the flight?"

"Long. I wasn't expecting it to be so long."

"Well that's what you deserve for deciding to fly so far away from your family."

"Mom, you promised you wouldn't make me feel bad for that."

"OK, I'll let it go. For now. How do you like the Evans family? Are they nice to you? If not, you better tell me."

"Mom, don't worry. Mrs. Evans seems quite nice, if a bit eccentric at times. I haven't met the little ones or the father yet. I'm still at the airport." Rory sincerely hoped that his mother didn't ask about Sam; he didn't feel like giving her any hint of sadness.

"Ok. What about that Sam boy?"

Darn it, Rory thought as he sighed.

"I heard that. What did you sigh for? Is Sam mean to you? Did he yell at you or hurt you? I knew I shouldn't have let you go."

"Ma!" Rory yelled, garnering some odd looks from people standing around. Rory almost forgot that he was supposed to be looking for his bags. There were a dozen or so people left waiting for bags. Rory didn't see his but didn't have time to worry before his mother screamed at him.

"Don't yell at me, Rory Flanagan! It's very disrespectful! I don't know how many times I've told you this!"

"Sorry, ma."

Three more people found their bags.

"You better not speak to Mr. or Mrs. Evans that way, because if I hear that you do, I will have you sent back here instantly."

"OK. Sorry, ma'am."

"Ehh, I'll let it slide just this once."

Five more people walked away with their luggage and Rory started to feel a bit nervous.

"Thanks, ma. Now I gotta go. I still need to find my luggage and stuff. I promise I'll call you before I go to bed, alright?"

"Make sure you do. Love you honey, and stay safe."

"I will. Love you too, ma."

Rory made sure to wait for his mother to hang up first. The last time he hung up the phone before his mother, she thought he was being rude and couldn't wait to get rid of her. He was grounded for a week.

The last few people walked away from the luggage carousel with their belongings. Rory immediately broke out in a sweat. He never was good dealing with pressure. He flashed back to one time to the first day he was sent to a new babysitter's house after Nanny Nora had passed. The girl's name was Chloe. After his mother had left, Chloe attempted to ask Rory what he liked to do for fun and what shows he liked to watch. Rory promptly soiled his pants and began crying. Rory didn't remember much after the accident except for that he never saw the girl again.

Thankfully, Rory was able to control his bowels this time. This, however, didn't stop him from being extremely nervous. Not only was he in a new country by himself, but it also seemed like he didn't have any of his stuff either. This was not turning out to be a very good experience at all.

Sam felt his phone buzz from his pocket.

'I'm out front. Do you guys have Rory's luggage?' his mother texted.

'no but theres only a few bags left. just a few more secs.'

'Ok, I'll make another loop around the airport since I'm not allowed to stay parked here.'

'ok,' he sends his mother and puts his phone away.

Rory just seems to be standing still as the last person walks away from the baggage claim.

What's wrong? Sam asks himself. He gets up and walks over to him. Before saying anything he takes a deep breath to recompose himself. Sam still felt a bit nervous around Rory. I just have to remember not to look straight into his eyes.

"Is everything cool?"

"Huh?" Rory turns to look at Sam as the taller boy averts his gaze.

"Are you OK? Where's your stuff?"

"I-it's not here. I don't know what happened to it."

"Dude, that sucks. Who can we go to for complaining and stuff?"

"I haven't a clue."

Sam watched Rory start to pace back and forth. He remembered what his mother had told him earlier that morning.

'Keep in mind that Rory is coming to an all-new place, an ocean away from his home. You really need to remember that and help him out in all ways possible. Be strong and protect him and help him out any way you can. As far as I'm concerned, he's your new brother and I want you to treat him just as you would Stevie or Stacy.'

"Don't worry about it, Rors. I'll go find someone to help. Just stay right here." Sam patted Rory on the back and then jogged away to find help.

For some odd reason, Sam felt sort of like a knight in shining armor, running off to save the damsel in distress. There was a flash in Sam's mind of Rory in a flowing purple dress but he quickly discarded that from his thoughts.

"Excuse me, sir," Sam said to a man in a security uniform, "but do you know where to go to find missing luggage?"

"Yeah son, just go to the Luggage Recovery Kiosk on the second floor."

"Thank you," Sam said and ran back to Rory.

When he got back, the Irish boy was nowhere to be found and Sam became irrationally nervous. His mother had told him to protect Rory and he intended to take his job seriously, regardless of the fact that he still felt queasy around him.

"Rory!" Sam yelled. "Rory, where are you?"

He ran up to an older woman and asked, "Have you seen a boy with brown hair, just a bit shorter than me, with the brightest blue eyes you've ever seen?"

"What?" the lady asked, seeming to adjust her hearing aid.

"Ugh, never mind," Sam huffed and ran off to some rows of seats he saw coming into the airport. No Rory. He checked around the food court area. No Rory. He went to the last place he could think of, the bathroom.

'I'm here again,' Sam's mother texted him on the way.

'mom theres a problem. the airline lost rorys luggage. i am helping him find it but it might be a while.'

'Oh goodness. I'll find a place to park again. Do you need me to come back in?'

'no i can take care of this.'

He stopped to catch his breath before walking in. He heard someone making gagging noises. He asked quietly, "Rory? Is that you?"

There was another gross noise. "Y-yeah," he heard faintly.

Sam walked over to the stall and asked, "Can I come in?" When there was no reply, Sam just decided to walk in anyway.

After wincing a bit at the smell, Sam bent down and instinctively rubbed Rory's back in an attempt to make him feel better. It's what I would do for my own siblings, he thought.

"Dude, what happened?"

"N-n-nothing. Don't worry about it," Rory said, wiping his mouth off.

"Stop. Don't say that. Tell me what's wrong so I can help." Sam surprised himself with his forcefulness, but he wanted Rory to know that he cared about him.

Sam surprised himself at the intenseness with which he worried about Rory. Even though he had just met him, what his mother told him had really sunk in. But it almost seemed like less of a sibling protection thing and more like a lov-.

No, don't say it, Sam. Don't get ahead of yourself now.

"Sam, I'll be fine. I just…don't do very well in situations like this."

"It's OK. Don't sweat it. I found out where to go to get your stuff and I'm sure they'll help us out. Here, can you stand up."

"Yeah, I feel a bit better now. Thanks Sam."

A sudden urge overtook Sam as Rory stood up. He wrapped his arms around Rory and squeezed as if his life depended on it.

Is this really happening? I thought he was sensitive about touching? I'm not really sure how to respond to this. I guess I should just…enjoy it. I really feel safe in his arms. Maybe this won't be such a bad experience after all.

What the hell is up with me? I'm standing here in a bathroom stall hugging a boy that I just met and…and I really like it. I wish I could describe what I'm feeling but I've never really been good at that…

The two boys let go of each other and Sam made the horrible mistake of staring directly into Rory's bright blue eyes again. He was completely entranced, but only for a moment.

"Uhh, let's go get your bags," Sam said, trying to be as cool as possible. "You OK to go?"

"Y-yeah…" Rory said, blushing furiously.

After receiving a weird look from a man because he they walked out of the same stall, the duo went up to the second floor. They found the kiosk and Sam went to the woman running the desk.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Can you help us find my friend's bags?"

"One moment please," the lady said. "What flight was the baggage in question supposed to be on?"

Sam looked over at Rory. "Oh, number 324, I believe. From Dublin to here."

"Well, isn't that a cute little accent you've got there," the receptionist said, giggling.

Sam rolled his eyes. Can we hurry this up please?

"From what I can see here," she said after some typing, "all of the baggage from that flight seems to have been claimed."

"What?" Rory sounded crestfallen.

"There's no way. Everybody else got their stuff, but Rory didn't. I know you guys must have it somewhere and you really need to find it." Sam's voice rose mid-sentence and he began to become angry.

Rory tried to calm him down. "Sam, don't fret. I can just ask my ma to send me some more stuff."

"No, Rory. They are going to find your stuff now!"

"Excuse me, sir. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I don't appreciate your tone.

"What? Are you serious? What about his stuff? We're just supposed to leave without it?"

"Sir, I will send down a request for someone to look for it but I can't guarantee anything for a couple hours. There a multiple flights we have to monitor and we can't spend all of our time looking for just one person's belongings."

"This is such crap!"

"Sam, please don't get too angry," Rory said.

"If I could just get a phone number, I will have someone give you a call as soon as we have some more information."

"Fine," Sam huffed and wrote down his number.

"Thank you and have a nice day," the lady said with a snip of sarcasm.

"Let's go, Sam."

"Fine."

'were ready'

'Ok, be there in a second.'

Sam and Rory walked outside to wait for Mary. Sam paced back and forth in anger as Rory sat down on a bench.

"Thanks for your help, Sam."

"Not like I was much help," he grumbled.

"You were like my hero. You saw how I was under pressure."

Sam felt a surge of pride after being called a hero. All of his life, Sam had strived to be the sort of person people could look up to, especially is siblings. He knew he wasn't the smartest or the most philosophical, so he settled for being honorable and courageous in any possible situation.

"Really? You thought I was a…hero?"

"Yeah. I don't know how I can thank you for all that you did."

"Don't worry about it."

Mary Evans drove up in the family car and rolled down the passenger window.

"Where are his bags?"

"I'll explain on the way," Sam said and she nodded.

Rory was about to open the side door to the car when Sam pushed his hand out of the way.

"Wha-?" Rory started.

Sam opened the door and smiled widely. Rory returned the smile and got in.

Wow, I really like him, Rory thought.