Have A Little Faith In Me

"Jamie, wait up!" called Madison Landry's voice through the surge of students leaving Tree Hill High after school on Thursday afternoon. The final week of school before the Christmas holidays had progressed uneventfully for the most part, with Logan's new escort party to school being the only recent change in routine.

The twelve-year-old grabbed Logan's hand to stop him dashing off without supervision and turned to face the girl with a grin; "Hey Maddie," he greeted her casually. "What's up?"

She smiled shyly at him; "I uh…I was wondering if you could help me with the English assignment for the holidays? Mrs. Hill wasn't making any sense to me," she sighed.

"I'm lucky that my Mom is so good at English," Jamie laughed. "She even tutored my Dad when they were in high school. You want to come over and take a look at it together?"

"I knew I could count on you, Tutor Son," she beamed gratefully. Jamie shrugged modestly, as a smaller look-alike of the Asian girl wandered out of the classroom they were standing near and latched onto Madison's hand dutifully. "I need to go home first though, drop-off duty," she explained. "This is my little sis, Rebecca." Madison's younger sister clung shyly to her hand, not making eye contact with the boys. "Say hi, Becky," she prompted encouragingly, to no avail. "She's a bit shy," she added unnecessarily.

"Me too, actually," Jamie admitted, nodding at Logan. "The drop-off I mean, not the shy part. This knucklehead thinks eight is all grown up; my Aunt Quinn would never forgive me if I let anything happen to him."

"Sounds like your Mom loves you as much as the new baby, after all, right?" Madison smiled warmly at the younger boy. "What? My memory's not that bad," she giggled at Jamie's awe-struck expression.

"We've lost him, Wolverine," Chuck sighed dramatically, joining the group from a classroom further down the hall at that moment and smirking at Jamie's expression.

"You're an idiot, Chuck." Madison rolled her eyes at his teasing grin, unfazed.

"Maybe so," he shot back, looking from Jamie to the two Asian girls and back. "But I can drop Logan home if you want extra time with your girlfriend," he winked.

"I'm not a baby," Logan protested, ducking out of Chuck's reach to avoid the reflexive ruffling of his hair.

"And Madison's not my girlfriend that way, shut up," Jamie retorted, but he looked visibly tempted to accept the offer. He glanced at Logan hopefully: "Do you think Aunt Quinn would accept a single escort for the walk home, squirt?"

"A what?" Logan asked with a puzzled frown. "You totally talk like Aunt Haley, Jamie," he giggled.

"A single escort means only one person would be walking you home," Chuck explained. "That way, Jamie can go tutor his girlfriend right now, without worrying about you. I think the two of us can handle a little walk, right?"

"I guess so," Logan shrugged indifferently, and Jamie looked instantly relieved.

"Looks like Chuck can be nice after all," Madison said, smiling at Jamie. "You should try it more often, Scolnik."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Chuck said dismissively. "Let's go, junior, leave these guys to their fun with homework." He smirked suggestively at Jamie and Madison and guided Logan away. The pair reached up to the River Court in uneventful silence. Suddenly a dark-haired figure darted past them hastily, and Logan froze, rooted tensely to the spot. "What the hell was that about?" Chuck mused, and it was a sign of his terror that Logan didn't bother to point out the unnecessary swear word.

"Bobby," Logan said simply, resuming the walk when the other boy was safely out of sight. "It's a bit of a habit to freeze, I guess; he can be pretty unpredictable."

"Hmm," Chuck murmured thoughtfully, not looking convinced. "He looked a bit stressed if you ask me," he said carefully, not wanting to offend the younger boy.

"He stole my lunch on Monday," Logan shot back defensively. "Whose side are you on?"

Chuck laughed dismissively and draped his arm around Logan's shoulders as they walked. "Easy Wolverine, it was just an observation," he said coolly. "I think he might be jealous of you, that's all. I used to look at Jamie like that when we were younger, you know."

"No way," Logan said disbelievingly. "You're crazy!"

"If you say so, junior." Chuck dropped the subject pointedly, but he couldn't quite shake the mental image of the rival boy's haunted eyes, an all too familiar sight.

In his haste meanwhile, Bobby arrived home in record time. The kitchen door was open, allowing warmth and pleasant smells to drift out into the main hallway connecting to the living room. Noiselessly Bobby put down his school bag in a corner and peeked around the edge of the door frame. Melissa was standing by the stove, stirring something in a pot, and Kevin had his arms wrapped around her waist. "No more pizza," Bobby heard his mother say soothingly, and Kevin bowed his head so that it grazed against her shoulder blades.

"I'm sorry, Lissa," he murmured, squeezing her tightly. "Those Christmas tunes piss me off, you know? I shouldn't have gone to the bar after work."

Melissa leaned back into her husband's arms as the pot on the stove began to simmer. "It's okay," she said reassuringly. "Small price to pay for making Tree Hill the safe place it is, right?"

She stared into the bubbling pot to fight the growing sense of longing as his fingers trailed through her hair. "I knew you'd understand," he said appreciatively. "If it weren't for that stupid kid, this would be perfect. Don't leave me, okay?"

"Kevin!" she protested sharply. "Was that necessary?" Her fist clenched around the spoon she was using to stir her concoction around the big pot with, but he refused to look rueful. "I'm not going anywhere, but I wish you wouldn't talk like that."

"I love you, Lissa," he moaned with a disarming smile. "See you after another bloody night shift, okay?"

"I'll be waiting," she said softly, but her smile barely lasted till he was out the door. Profanities always dimmed the sincerity of Kevin's sweet-talking, and she was done falling for his charm. A few minutes later, the stew was done, and Melissa quickly transferred it into a container and stored it in the fridge. Then she made her way down the hall and peered up the staircase to the upper floor, the lights on the landing above were switched off. "Bobby?" she called, but there was no answer. Biting her lip in concern, Melissa made her way up to his bedroom quickly. Miraculously considering the stony silence, his door wasn't locked, and she simply hesitated in the doorway and watched him scribbling away aggressively at something on his desk. "How was your day, kid?"

"You're a liar," he choked, without looking up.

"Excuse me?" Melissa frowned uncomprehendingly and walked over to the desk he was bent over. She pulled the sharp pencil from his grasp before his aggressive force could damage the homework sheet he was puzzling over. "What have I done now?"

"You trust him," Bobby spat; there was no need to clarify who he meant. "He hates me, and you always believe those stupid apologies."

"Bobby, that's not true," she said firmly, as he aimed a heart-breaking, teary glare at her. "He's a cop; I had to make him believe that I'm not deserting him."

"But he hates me," the eight-year-old repeated dully, his lips quivering with anguish at the fact. "Do you think Aunt Katie will finally come home?"

"I'll make her," Melissa vowed, holding his head against her chest. She closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer to the heavens that her sister would cooperate. For whatever reason, Bobby had always believed that Katie could make things better for them. "Screw him," she said boldly, cursing Kevin as she cradled their son affectionately. "I love you more than anything in the world, and I will get Aunt Katie to come home. If it is the last thing I do, we'll get out of this mess, I promise!"

When Jamie and Madison arrived at his house a little later, it was to find Haley staring in awe at a blurry black and white ultrasound photograph. Beside her on the couch, Quinn was clutching a mug of tea and smiling with pride at the enthusiastic audience her baby sister provided. "Amazing, isn't it?" she prompted eagerly.

"It's just wonderful," Haley grinned. "It's a great feeling, right?"

"Especially now, I'm not getting sick as much," Quinn nodded. "But at this point, it honestly feels like any side effect would be worth it, you know? I'm only three months along, and already Clay's getting ultra-protective. I've never seen him so over the moon about anything before, and that makes me happy."

"Babies do that," Haley said wisely. "You both so deserve this, I'm so happy for you, honey." She whipped around as Jamie entered with Madison in tow, equipped with drinks of juice after coming through the kitchen. "Oh, hey kiddo," she smiled. "Look who's here."

"Madison needs help with the English homework for the holidays," Jamie explained vaguely, coming over to the couch to hug Quinn. "Hi Aunt Quinn, is that the baby?" he asked in wonder. "Looks kind of like a blob right now, no offense," he giggled mischievously.

"Quit insulting my kid, Jimmy Jam," she protested affectionately. "You'll be babysitting this little guy or girl one day, you know."

"I think it's cute," Madison chipped in diplomatically, leaning towards the coffee table to examine the scan.

"Thanks, Madison," Quinn beamed as Jamie flopped down on the couch and cuddled close to her.

"I was only joking," he said reassuringly. "I can't wait to babysit this kid; I hope it's just like you. Because whether it was the superhero exposure or what I don't know, but Logan is a lot more like Uncle Clay."

"That's true," Quinn consented. "Not that that's a bad thing, I love my boys." Then she glanced around and frowned; "Speaking of Logan, where is he anyway? Weren't you supposed to be walking him home, bud?" she asked, fixing her nephew with a piercing stare.

"Relax, Chuck's walking with him," Jamie explained coolly. "The real question is, how you lost track of time?" he smirked cheekily. "They must be back at the beach house by now, and you're not."

"The kid has a point," Haley admitted reluctantly. "Guess I distracted you with my enthusiasm, huh Q?"

"I fail," Quinn declared dramatically and rose quickly to her feet. "In all the excitement, I forgot to mention the real reason I'm here anyway."

"You mean it wasn't to show off the scan?" Haley asked, raising her eyebrows skeptically.

"Well, that too," Quinn confessed. "But I also wanted to tell you that we won't be here for Christmas." Jamie's mouth dropped open in dismay, and his aunt raised her hand to prevent a protest. "I know it's unfortunate, but all Logan's grandparents are in Raleigh, and naturally, they want to see him over the holidays. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Jamie said, slightly sadly. "At least he still has three grandparents, that'll be pretty cool. Come home soon, okay?"

"We will," Quinn promised, giving him a tight squeeze before she went to grab her coat. At the door, she glanced over her shoulder once more; "Hey Jamie? Don't tell him about our trip, okay? We're heading out as soon as school's out for the holidays tomorrow, and it's a surprise." With that, she pulled the front door open and gave a reluctant sigh when a blast of cold December wind greeted her; "Now I better go find my kid, see you guys."

Jamie and Madison dashed up to his bedroom to wave at her from the upper window, while Haley wandered into the kitchen to prepare them a snack. The simple announcement of holiday plans had unleashed the spirit of the season, and even with less of her family around, Haley had the feeling it would be a good Christmas.