Thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter! I am genuinely sorry about the long wait between chapters, but I hope you enjoy this one! Happy reading!


ERIN

"So this is your apartment?" He asks as we stand in the doorway, his voice quiet and his body language timid.

"Yep," I tell him, a large tote bag on my arm full of kid stuff from my raid of the office, everything from pajamas to toothbrushes and everything in between. "C'mon in buddy," He doesn't say anything, simply walking in a cautiously taking a seat on the grey couch.

"Do you want some dinner?" I ask as I slowly follow him, shakily standing across from him.

"Sure," He says softly,

"Okay," I respond, "I don't have much in the pantry, but I have some pasta. How does that sound?"

"Good," He tells me.

"Alright," I say, not totally sure how to approach the situation. But I'm doing my best. "Do you like cartoons?"

"Sure," He says.

"I'll turn something on for you," I say, grabbing the remote from the side table and flicking the bright screen on the wall to life.

"Thank you," He says as I flick through the channels.

"No problem," I respond, slightly taken aback by his gratitude for what most kids see as given. "Do you have a favorite?"

"I like Disney,"

"Okay then," I say with a smile, searching through the channel guide, "Then Disney it is,"


JAY

"Aren't you supposed to be at the airport?" I ask as I pick up the phone.

"How do you know that I'm not?"She questions teasingly.

"It's quiet," I tell her, "An airport is never quiet."

"That's true," She responds with a slight chuckle, "I have to tell you something,"

"You're not coming are you?" I ask, trying to keep the hurt of of my voice, not that it's working. I know that she has a good reason, it's not like her to cancel on anything. But that doesn't make it any easier.

"No, I'm not," She tells me, her tone breaking my heart.

"Is it the press? Meeting my family?" I ask rapidly, concern filling my words as I run through every possible situation.

"No," She assures me quickly, "It's nothing like that, you are fine. Something came up, someone came up,"

"What happened?" I ask panicked, "Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's fine," She reassures me, "It's work actually, there's a little boy, we couldn't get him a placement until Sunday. I offered to take him,"

"Oh," I say, immediately regretting it. That was absolutely not the way to respond.

"You're not mad are you?" She asks carefully.

"No, no of course not," I tell her quickly, trying to swiftly right my very obvious wrong.

"I'm really sorry, but I didn't know what to do,"

"You did the right thing," I assure her.

"Really?" She asks.

"Babe," I start, "I'm going to tell you what I'd tell you tomorrow, next year, in twenty years,"

"What?" She interrupts.

"Do you thing," I tell her with a smile.

"You're amazing,"

"Oh I know," I tell her with a laugh. "But how are you doing? Hell of a way to end your first week,"

"I've always been one to jump in the deep end," She responds. "But it's not easy. He's been abused so he's not really opening up, he flinches everytime I touch him."

"Don't you only have him through the weekend though?" I ask her as I lie back on the couch, my feet propped up on the arm rest.

"Yeah," She says, "But I still want him to trust me, I want him to know he's safe,"

"He'll open up," I say, not really sure what else to say. What do you say to that?

"I hope so," She says softly, I'm sure her eyes wandering over to him. "Don't you dare fly out here like my knight in shining armour, go to that gala."

"I will," I assure her, smiling at her quip. "I'll go alone, but it won't be nearly as fun,"

"Goodbye Jay," She says with a laugh.

"Bye baby," I say before hanging up the phone.

"Who was that?" Nora asks as she walks into my living room and drops on the couch. She's only in for the weekend for the gala and she's crashing with me for a couple days.

"That was Erin," I tell her.

"Oh the illustrious girlfriend," She says teasingly. "Excited to finally meet her, she seems to have you in a tizzy,"

"Well you're going to have to wait a little bit longer," I say with a long sigh.

"She's not coming?" She asks, her brow furrowed.

"Yeah," I say, "She got caught up with something at work at the last minute,"

"All weekend?" She questions. "You sure it's not just cold feet?"

"She's a social worker," I tell her. "They couldn't find a placement for a kid so he's staying with her until they can place him,"

"Oh okay," She says with a chuckle, "So she's a saint, basically."

"Yeah," I say with a laugh. "Anyway, I am in need of date now,"

"If you're asking to go with me the answer is 100% yes," Nora answers quickly.

"Why so fast?" I ask her with a smirk.

"Because if I go with my lovely brother, I get to avoid another one of Abby's crazy set-ups," She tells me. Our big sister, a very, very smart woman and one of the best people I know, but all around horrible at setting us up. We've all had our fair share of terrible dates at her hand, most of whom seemed like they had read my Wikipedia page and weren't really trying to hide it, one of them even asking me about the hospital that I was born at.

"She organize a date for you?" I say as I take a sip of the water in front of me.

"Oh yes," She tells me with a grimace. "Graham's cousin,"

"Seriously?" I say, almost spitting out the liquid, knowing the history of Ian. He's had a school boy crush on Nora forever. "I can't believe you actually agreed to that,"

"It was under duress," She assures me. "But now I can duck out of it,"

"You're awful," I say with a laugh.

"Don't judge me brother, don't you judge,"


ERIN

"You ready for bed?" I ask from the other end of the couch. Though Tate has only said a few words to me, I can feel him getting more comfortable with me. He's not so cut off anymore, doesn't flinch at my touch.

"Yeah," He responds, giving me his first smile of the night.

"Do you want to sleep in my bed?" I ask him, more than willing to take the couch for the night.

"But then where are you going to sleep?" He asks, his genuine concern warming my heart.

"Don't worry about me bud," I say, placing my hand carefully on his shoulder. "I'll take the couch,"

"Sure?" He asks me.

"I'm sure," I tell him with a smile. "I'll be fine,"

"You promise?" He asks, looking up at me with those big green eyes.

"I promise," I assure him.

"You're not going anywhere right?" He asks. "I like you,"

"I like you too Tate," I tell him with a smile. "And I won't be leaving you, but on Monday morning, you're going to go live with a family in Glenview. They're names are Nicole and Steve, they have a daughter named Beth and they're going to take care of you." I tell him. "But I'm not going anywhere," I quickly tack on.

"No," He says, tears starting to stream down that precious face of his. "No I'm not going,"

"What's going on buddy?" I say, moving closer to him on the couch. "They're are going to take such good care of you,"

"But I want to stay here," He tells me, "You don't hurt me,"

"Oh Tate," I say, my heart breaking all over again. "They aren't going to hurt you,"

"But how do you know that?" He asks. "That's what Lexi said too,"

"I'm not Lexi," I tell him, realizing how badly the system has failed him. "And I promise that I will come see you all the time until you feel okay, alright?"

"You promise?" He asks, staring up at me.

"Pinky swear," I assure him as I loop my finger with him. "No one is ever going to hurt you again,"


"Erin?" I hear, the words shaking me as I wake up to a knot in my back, looking up to see Tate standing above me.

"Tate?" I say sleepily, my words raspy as I rub my eyes and the picture in front of me becomes clearer. "What's wrong buddy?"

"I had a bad dream," He tells me as I notice the fresh tears on his cheeks.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask him, careful to not make any sudden movements.

"No," He tells me. "Will, will you come lay with me?"

"Of course buddy," I say, taking his hand in mine and walking him back into my bedroom. "You sure you don't want to talk about it?" I ask him again.

"I'm sure," He tells me. "I just want to go to sleep,"

"Then that's exactly what we'll do,"


I blink my eyes open to sunlight streaming through my window, Tate's tiny body draped around mine. I can't help but smile, looking at his small frame, finally getting some peace. I'm careful not to move, not wanting to wake him, but I can reach my phone on the bedside table. I can't help but smile at the message lighting up the screen.

Missing you out east, love you. -JH

Wish I could be there. -EL

I quickly toss my phone away as Tate begins to stir, his bright green cast weighing him down.

"Good morning," I say with a smile, brushing his hair away from his face.

"Hi," He says, looking up at with me a smile, looking a million times better than he did last night.

"So," I say, "We've got a whole two days together and I was thinking that we would go do something today," I say.

"Like what?" He asks, those green eyes sparkling.

"Anything you want," I tell him with a grin.

"Well I like space," He says quietly. "My teacher read me a book at school about it.

"How about the planetarium?" I offer.

"What's that?" He asks, cocking his head to the side with a sweet smile, more than reminding me of my boyfriend.

"It's a place where you can look at the stars, learn about the planets." I tell him, his eyes swimming with wonder at my words.

"And we can go there?" He asks.

"Absolutely,"


"Do I really have to go?" He asks, holding my hand as we walk up the front steps of the Matthews house on Church Street, big oak trees lining the road and Tate's small suitcase in my free hand.

"We've been over this buddy," I tell him, my heels clicking along the pavement. "I'm not abandoning you, but these people are going to be really good for you. They're going to take care of you, it's going to be great,"

"You promise?" He asks as I ring the doorbell. I hesitate, I know the dangers of promising in this job. I have to earn his trust, but I want to make him feel like he's okay, that everything is going to be alright. Luckily I don't have to answer as Nicole Matthews answers the door as my breath catches in my throat.

"Hi, you must be Nicole," I say, putting the suitcase down beside me as I feel Tate begin to hide behind me.

"Yes," She says with a smile, one that seems to be made brighter by her blue eyes and blonde hair. "It's very nice to meet you,"

"You as well," I say, shaking her hand.

"Come on in," She says, a slight bout of nervousness cracking through her put together demeanor. "My husband and our daughter are waiting in the kitchen,"

"Alright," I say with a kind smile, trying hard to hide my nerves. I've established a great bond with Tate and I'm nervous about letting him go. But on the flip side, this is my first time handling anything without Olivia holding my hand. I'm on my own, in the real world. "C'mon Tate," I don't hear anything but a whimper as look down, finding him holding onto me as he hides behind me.

"Could you give us just a minute?" I say, looking up at Nicole. "We'll be right in,"

"Of course," She says, quietly closing the door in front of her.

"What's wrong T?" I ask, squatting down to his height.

"I'm scared," He tells me, "I don't want to go,"

"It's all going to be okay," I tell him, rubbing my hand over his shoulder.

"Are you going away?" He asks fearfully.

"No," I tell him with a solemn smile. "I'm going anywhere buddy,"

"But I still have to live here?" He asks.

"Yeah," I respond. "But I think you're really going to like it here."

"How do you know?" He asks. Damn it. I don't know. I don't have any idea, I'm just saying what I think I'm supposed to say.

"How about this," I start, trying to change the subject, "How about I come over to dinner tonight? I can ask Nicole and Steve, see if they're okay with it?"

"Yeah," He responds with a small smile. "I'd like that,"

"Okay then," I tell him. "Can we go inside now?"

"I think so," He replies shyly.

"You're being so brave," I tell him as I raise back up to my usual height, grabbing his hand with one hand and taking his suitcase with the other, my brown tote resting on my shoulder. "And I'm very proud of you,"

"Thanks Erin," He says, giving me a quick hug.

"You ready?" I asks as I reach for the doorknob.

"I'm ready,"


Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 18! I've got a few things that I think you guys are going to like coming up in the next few chapters, so stay tuned!

Please review!

xoxo,

Addie