A/N: I apologize for taking so long to update. A huge heartfelt thank you to all of my reviewers for keeping me motivated. Thank you!!

Just a reminder, I only own Sarah and her family. Cole belongs to HGMonkey017 (thanks again!).

Sarah was lying awake in bed. She didn't know what to do. Cole could lead her to her brother. But at what cost to Sarah? There was a reason why they hadn't been able to find each other all these years, and if her parents caught wind of this – she'd be on the next bus out of town, having to start all over again.

The easiest thing to do would be to tell Peter the whole story, and hope that he could do something that no one else had been able to do – reunite her with her brother. But Sarah wasn't sure she could trust him with this. It was her life she was dealing with now, and she didn't trust that to just anyone.

The next morning, Sarah awoke early and snuck down to the kitchen. If she knew Peter at all, Cole would be working kitchens for a very long time. Sure enough, he was standing inside washing dishes. Sarah glanced around, making sure no counselors were in sight, and called out, "Hey, Cole!"

Cole turned around, confused. "Sarah, what are you doing here?"

"We need to talk. Meet me down at the docks in ten minutes."

He knew he would be in a heap of trouble if he were caught, but he didn't care. He needed to talk to Sarah. He owed that to his best friend. "Alright."

True to his word, Cole met Sarah at the docks. She was sitting at the edge, dangling her feet in the water. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even hear him walk up behind her.

"Hey." She jumped, startled at the interruption. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She just shook her head as he sat down beside her. "So, what's up?"

She didn't hesitate. "Tell me about Darek. How's he doing?"

Cole shrugged. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"Ten years ago."

"He's changed since then you know. His life hasn't been that great."

Sarah stared out at the distance. "Who's has?" She was quiet for awhile before she asked, "so why's he on the streets?"

"His mom. She's pretty messed up. She goes through these phases…"

"Does she hit him?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. It's drugs mostly. Most of the time she's too strung out to notice if he's home or not. He's had to take care of himself. She's been known to up and disappear for weeks at a time. And with his dad being gone…"

Cole stopped when he heard Sarah draw a sharp intake of breath. The mention of Darek's father, her father, had brought home painful memories. She didn't want to think about them.

"So, does he talk about me?"

Cole nodded. "Like I said, he has this picture of you that he carries around. It's a few years old, but it's definitely you."

Sarah smiled as she remembered sending him that picture. It was in the last letter she sent to him. She had been snooping through her parents things one night and came across a letter from Darek's mom. Sarah had memorized the address, knowing it would be too risky to write down anywhere. They started writing letters to each other, but it wasn't long before her letters were being returned to her. Sarah was sure that her dad had something to do with that.

"What else can you tell me about him?"

Cole shook his head. "Look, he's my best friend, but we didn't exactly sit around talking about what our lives were like. We watched each other's backs. We helped each other survive." He paused. "I know he really cared about finding you, but he didn't talk about it much. He never went anywhere without that picture though."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Probably where I left him. His mom had just gone off on one of her benders. They usually last awhile."

When Sarah didn't speak for awhile, Cole interrupted the silence. "Sorry, I really should get back before someone notices I'm gone."

Sarah nodded. "Thanks Cole."

"Anytime." He stood up and headed back towards the kitchen, leaving Sarah alone with her thoughts.

She didn't know what to do. She finally knew where her brother was, but there was nothing she could do about it. She wished that he could be there with her at Horizon, but she had no idea how that could happen. Unless, of course, she told Peter and risked her life all over again.

All these years of searching for her brother, and now that she found him she was even more confused and hurt than ever before. She stood up and headed back to her dorm. The other girls would be waking up soon and Sarah didn't want them asking questions about where she had been.

Sarah was surprised to see Shelby sitting at a picnic table alone. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I could ask you the same thing," replied Shelby. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were sneaking out to meet someone at the docks."

Sarah didn't respond to Shelby's teasing. She had too many things on her mind.

"Sarah, are you alright?" Shelby had noticed the strange behavior.

"Yah," Sarah shook her head. "Actually, no, I'm not. I just don't know what to do."

Shelby stared at her. "What's wrong?"

Sarah sighed and sat down next to her first week buddy. "Do you trust Peter?"

"That's a strange question."

Sarah started to stand up. "Never mind, I'm sorry I asked."

"No, wait. Don't go." She waited for her friend to sit back down. "Do I trust Peter? Of course I do."

"I mean really trust him. Like if your life was on the line?"

Shelby wasn't sure where this line of questioning was going, but she responded anyway. "All I know is that he has already saved the lives of so many kids at this school. Why wouldn't you trust him? Haven't you seen the way he cares? If you can't see that then you're really missing the point, newbie. He's given me a reason to care about my life when no one else ever has."

Sarah pondered what Shelby told her for a long time. Peter did seem to care, but nothing in Sarah's history had ever given her a reason to trust someone. She wasn't sure that this was the time to start

"You coming to breakfast?" Shelby had stood, ending their conversation.

She shook her head. "I'll catch up. There's something I have to do first."

Sarah knew she might not ever be this close to seeing her brother again. It was time she stopped running and finally let someone help her. She needed to talk to Peter.