Carly was laughing as she and Zander walked down the street with hands wrapped around to-go cups full of hot chocolate. They had been on their first actual date and it had gone really well despite Carly's apprehension. When Zander said he wanted to take her ice skating Carly suddenly started picturing herself re-breaking her wrist or cracking her head open on the ice. When he picked her up at the brownstone she had tried to talk him out of it, arguing that she was born and until recently raised in Florida, what the hell did she know about cold weather sports? What did she know about sports at all? She wasn't the athletic type. Zander however held firm and swore to her that she'd have fun.

"Well?" He asked as he walked her home.

"Well what?" Carly asked in return. She knew what he was getting at but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of saying anything out loud.

Zander gave her his lopsided smirk as he asked, "Did you have fun?" Carly made a face that made Zander laugh. "Come on, just say it! I know you did!"

Carly batted at Zander's hand as he tried to playfully poke her in the side. "Ok, ok, I had fun!" She laughed. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

The look on Zander's face showed his pride and triumph. He had wanted to show Carly a good time, he'd wanted her to have some fun. She'd been pretty limited in what she could do with a cast on her wrist, and she'd been on an emotional roller coaster following the accident. Hearing that Sam had nearly been blown up and Zander being shot hadn't help matters.

Carly smacked him on the arm. "Don't look so smug!" She teased. "Even you have to be right once in while."

Zander laughed. "I'll have you on the ice playing hockey in no time."

"That's a big fat not a chance." Carly replied as they stopped in front of the brownstone. The two teens sat on the top step after sweeping away some snow. They chatted for a while before Carly headed inside. She paused by the door with a smile and then leaned in and kissed Zander on the lips before slipping inside.

"How was the ice skating?" Tony asked from the sofa when Carly came in.

Carly was trying really hard with Tony for Bobbie's sake so she came into the living room and curled up in her favorite chair. "It was surprisingly fun." There was a smile on her lips that remained even as she said, "But I think I'm going to be really sore tomorrow."

Tony smiled a little at the girl's smile; it was Bobbie's smile. "Do you think you'll give it another try?"

"Maybe." Carly replied. "I mean it was a lot of fun, but I could live without all the falling down."

Tony chuckled. "That's part of the process. Just remember to be careful. If you break something your Mom will have a cow."

That got a chuckle from Carly. "Yeah."

"Are you hungry?" Tony asked after a bit of a pause. "There are some leftovers from dinner."

Carly shook her head. "No, we ate at Kelly's, but thanks. Where's Bobbie?" Since the accident Carly called Bobbie Mama when they were together and around people like Sam and Alexis, but it was a really personal thing for Carly and she just wasn't comfortable saying it with Tony.

"Double shift." Tony explained. "She'll be home late."

Carly was a little disappointed. She'd wanted to tell Bobbie about her afternoon and evening. "Oh. Well, I'm going upstairs to call Krissy." She gave Tony a small smile and then headed up to her room to call her friend. After walking in and closing the door behind her she yelped when she saw someone standing in the corner of her room. "Jason! What the hell!"

"Sorry." Jason said as he held up his hands to show he meant no harm. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"What are you doing here?" Carly asked. Since the accident she and Jason had been spending more time together. The Quartermains were being really pushy and Jason needed someone to turn too, someone who didn't expect him to be someone he wasn't anymore. Only part of his memory had come back since his release from the hospital. He remembered his parents, but he'd lost any real emotional connection to them. He'd lost any real emotional connection to almost everyone but his grandmother and sister. It wasn't that his emotions were gone, they were still there; it was just that the pathways that connected them to memories and such were damaged. And what was there was overshadowed by his anger, and his lack of impulse control.

"I had to get out of there." Jason replied. "Alan and Edward just wouldn't stop."

Carly nodded in understanding and then asked, "How did you get in here?"

"Side door, up the backstairs." Jason replied. "You don't mind do you?"

"Of course I don't." Carly replied as she sat on her bed and looked up at him. "Are they still trying to make you remember?"

Jason nodded as he sat in the chair across from her bed. "They don't understand when I tell them I'm not the boy they remember. I look around his room, I look at his pictures, and I don't see me in him at all."

"I guess that would be hard for them." Carly said carefully. "But it's harder on you."

Jason just shrugged.

Carly was about to say something when there was a knock on her door and Tony's voice. "Carly."

She motioned Jason to hide. "Just a sec!" She called out. "I'm changing." She added as she quickly kicked off her shoes, shoved out of her jeans, and pulled her sweater over her head. She pulled on a pair of sweats and was about to put on a t-shirt when her door opened. "Hey!"

"Sorry!" Tony said as he quickly closed the door. "Monica called. She's looking for Jason."

"So you decided to check my bedroom!" Carly yelled at him as she pulled on the t-shirt. Once she was dressed she walked over and swung her door open. "You have no right to just open my door and walk into my room!"

"I'm sorry." Tony replied. "I thought…."

"What?" Carly said angrily. "That I was hiding Jason Quartermain in my room?" Jason was under her bed where he couldn't be seen so she flung the door wide open. "Do you see him? I told you I was changing!"

Tony was a bit flustered. He thought he'd heard talking as he approached her room. "I'm sorry Carly. I shouldn't have just walked in like that."

"No, you shouldn't have." Carly replied. "Because you're not Bobbie and your not my father, and even if you were you're a guy, you don't walk into a teenage girl's bedroom. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Tony narrowed his eyes at the girl. "Watch it, Carly. I said I was sorry. I didn't mean anything. I thought I heard voices…"

"Maybe you should see Dr. Collins about that." Carly sniped.

Tony sighed. "Do you know where Jason is?"

"I was out with Zander all afternoon." Carly answered. "I've been home for what fifteen minutes? How the hell am I suppose to know where he is? Now if you don't mind I would like to call Kristina and then I have some reading to do."

Tony eyed her for a few seconds before leaving.

Carly sighed and shook her head. It was always like that with her and her mother's husband. One minute they'd have a friendly moment and then the next they'd be at each other. Once Tony was gone Carly closed her door and locked it. Then she turned her radio on low just for the sound in case someone decided to listen as they came close to her door. Then she called out, "Ok, you can come out."

Jason came out from under her bed and dusted himself off. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"I'm not." Carly replied as she sat on her bed again. "And he doesn't matter anyway. He's just my Mama's husband."

Jason gave her a bit of a nod before saying, "I should go before Bobbie comes home."

Carly smirked at him. "Still crushing on her?" Her smile brightened when he blushed. "I can't believe you hit on my Mom!"

"I didn't know who she was." Jason defended himself. "I didn't remember her when I did that."

"Don't worry about it." Carly chuckled. "I think she found it kind of flattering. She's working a double shift, you don't have to leave yet"

"Ok." Jason replied. He stuck around until it was nearly time for Bobbie to come home. "I should go."

Carly nodded. She knew that if Bobbie found him here she'd call his parents. "Are you going back to the Q's?"

Jason shook his head. "I can't. Not right now. I can be gone for twenty-four hours before they call in the cops. I just need some space."

Carly nodded. "Be careful."

Jason nodded. "Don't worry. I'll call you."

An hour after Jason left there was a knock on Carly's door. "Come in." She called out as she looked up from her book. She smiled when her mom walked in. "Hey."

"Hey." Bobbie replied as she walked over and sat on her daughter's bed. "You're still up."

Carly nodded. "I was waiting up." She admitted with a slight blush. "I was kind of hoping we could talk."

"So was I." Bobbie replied with a slightly raised brow.

The teen groaned. "Tony told you I blew up at him." Her mother nodded. "Did he also tell you that he walked in on me changing?"

"He did." Bobbie replied. "And he realizes that he can't do that with you."

"It was embarrassing Mama." Carly told her. "And really uncomfortable."

Bobbie nodded. "I understand, and so does Tony."

"Does he?" Carly frowned.

Bobbie reached out and tucked some hair behind her daughter's ear. "You don't have to be afraid of Tony, honey."

"I didn't say I was!" Carly said defensively and then eased back a little as she added, "I just don't trust him."

"Why?" Bobbie asked.

Carly shrugged. "I just don't. Besides, he doesn't trust me. He came busting in here because he thought I was harboring Jason when all I was doing was changing my clothes."

Bobbie watched her daughter carefully. They had gotten much closer since the accident. They'd both realized that wasting time wasn't a good idea because you don't really know how much time you'll have. Since the accident Bobbie had become a little more comfortable with asking about Carly's past, and surprisingly Carly had become more at ease with answering. "Were you close to your Dad?"

For a moment Carly went stiff when Bobbie asked about her Dad. Bobbie must have noticed because now she was doing that comforting touch thing that melted Carly into a puddle. "Not really. He was gone a lot for work."

"What kind of work did he do?" Bobbie asked gently.

"Whatever he could get." Carly answered. "Lumber, construction, truck driving, migrant field work. He'd go where the work was and send the money back to us."

Bobbie had had a feeling it was something like that. Carly didn't know what it meant to have a father around, so she didn't know how to deal with Tony. Then again Tony wasn't really helping matters. He was uncomfortable having Carly around. He still treated her more like a guest in their home rather then her child. It didn't help matters that behind closed doors they were having marriage issues, but they tried hard not to let that have any effect on the children. "What about your Mom?"

"She was a hostess at a restaurant." Carly replied and then smiled softly. "I think she would have loved Ruby."

That made Bobbie smile as she caressed Carly's cheek. "I bet they would have been great friends."

Bobbie moved so that she was sitting beside Carly on the bed, both of them sitting with their backs against the headboard. Carly told Bobbie more about her adoptive parents, and Bobbie told her daughter a little about her grandmother. Bobbie never talked about her own father, but Carly had been able to get a few bits of information from Laura, so she knew asking Bobbie about him was a bad idea. Then they talked about Carly's afternoon with Zander. Before they knew it, it was after one in the morning and Carly had dozed off on her mother's shoulder. Bobbie simply sat there for a while taking her daughter in, playing gently with her hair, and giving a prayer of thanks for having the girl back in her life.