| Kristie |

"Why would you do that?! You told me you liked her." Syd complains, giving me the tough love, honest speech of annoyance. My sister nods along, clearly in agreement.

"I didn't mean it-"

"That's the worst line I've ever heard." Sam mumbles, shaking her head in disappointment.

"I just don't understand, Mew." Syd begins, "You know everything that she's been through and you still do that to her. Fuck, you know she's Alex's kid, and you still do it?! Do you have a deathwish?"

"I just need to talk to her again, I need to explain-"

"Well, I hope you have a better excuse than 'I didn't mean it', cause that's not gonna buy you any kind of second chance." Sam tells me. "Where is she anyway?" I shrug as Syd speaks up.

"She's at dinner with Jack and the moms."

"The moms?"

"Yeah. Hope, Kelley, Alex and Tobin." Syd answers, as if we should have known.

"Tobin? I thought Ali was her second guardian."

"She is, but she's not dating Alex. Don't question it too much, just let my general terms be!"

| Cody |

After the impromptu phone call, I head to the lobby with Jack to meet up with mom and the others. I'm relieved when nobody mentions what happened with Kristie, instead my mom just throws an arm around my shoulder as we walk out of the hotel.

"How are you holding up?" My mom whispers in my ear.

"I'm good." I smile at her when she throws me a questioning look, and she drops it. "But I need to talk to you later. Alone."

"Should I be worried?" She asks jokingly but I can tell that she's already started to worry.

"No. It's a good thing."

When we get to the restaurant, I sit between my mom and Tobin, directly across the table from Jack who has been wedged between Hope and Kelley. For the first time in a long, long time, I feel at home. Like I'm surrounded by family. I'm lost in my thoughts until I feel a hand on my knee, giving it a slight squeeze.

"Cody?"

"Huh? Yeah?" I ask my mom, meeting her concerned expression.

"Are you ready to order?" She chuckles when she realizes that there's nothing wrong with me, I was just day dreaming.

We eventually order, eat and talk. Nothing serious, just small talk and jokes. Jack and Kelley catch up and it makes me smile when I see that my best friend has really settled into the small family that Hope created the moment she adopted Jack.

My smile falters for a second when my phone pings, and I instinctively think that it's Kristie, but my smile grows when I see the familiar name.

- Eh...hi Codes. Can we talk when you have a min?

- Definitely. I'll call you soon.

"She finally reached out, huh?" I hear my mom ask, and I raise an eyebrow at her.

"That was private." I narrow my eyes, urging myself not to smile, but I fail. I've missed my Aussie, and my face can't deny it. "Anyway." I begin, rather dramatically, simply to catch my best friend's attention. "Bathroom."

She nods, and follows me there, knowing that I need to talk to her alone.

"What's up, buttercup?" She asks, closing the bathroom door behind her.

"I just got a text from El." I pause to study her reaction, but she doesn't give me one.

"Okay? I know she's your friend, you're allowed to talk to her." She chuckles, but something about it seems fake.

"You know I love you, right?" She smiles and nods. I pull her to me and embrace my best friend in a hug so tight that she gasps for air. "Turn around, jerk." She does as I say, and I jump on her back, taking the picture and immediately posting it.

"Aw that's cute. You're not usually this sappy, what's going on?" She asks, immediately suspicious, and I love that she knows me so well.

"Nothing's wrong. Let's go, before Kelley-"

"Damn! I thought yall would be kissing. Now I owe Tobin ten bucks." Kelley groans as she interrupts us, sulking back to her seat. We follow behind her, laughing as she slaps the bill into Tobin's hand and we get our jackets, ready to leave.

During the walk back to the hotel, Kelley and Tobin were curious as to how Jack and I became friends and how we're so close. We couldn't answer most of their questions, because we don't know how we became great friends, sometimes connections just appear and trust builds at a substantial rate.

"But...how did you become friends?" Kelley continues as Alex looks at me, clearly interested.

"Uh...well, we were on the same soccer team, in the same classes but never spoke. Until one day, my mom dropped me off for practice early because she had work, and I seen little Cody here." Jack wraps an arm around my shoulder, patting my head with her other hand. "She was taking shots into an empty net when these two girls that were defenders approached her, and shoved her to the ground." As Jack tells the story about how she came to my rescue, trying to beat up two girls, my mom was watching me with sadness in her eyes. "-and as they were walking away, I just hit one of them with a ball. They taddled on me, and I got dropped for the next game." Jack glances at me "Totally worth it." I laugh as Jack plants a kiss on my cheek, the sounds of laughter cut off by a shutter sound.

"Seriously?" I groan as Alex grins.

"Seriously. I'm happy you had Jack while you were growing up" My mom tells me, typing on her phone and my own phone alerts me that my mom posted the picture. I freeze, simply because it's the first time my mom has addressed the 'rumor' of having a kid.

"Mom..." I remove myself from Jack, and throw my arms around my mom's neck, unable to fight the tears that stroll down my cheeks. "I love you." I whisper, and feel her hold on me increase.

"I love you too. Now, let's get back to the hotel and have that talk?" I nod, wiping the tears from my eyes, only for Jack to grab my hand a moment later as we continue the walk back to the hotel.

_______

"Okay, I'm here." Alex announces like I didn't just open the door to let her in. "Jack, out you go. Kelley wants to see you."

"Oh no. Why? It wasn't me!" Jack states as she rushes to put her shoes on, and literally runs out of the room to find Kelley.

"Is she in trouble?" I ask my mom, suddenly interested.

"No, not that I know of." Alex laughs, shaking her head at my best friend's behavior. "So, what did you want to talk about?" She asks, sitting on my bed.

"Okay." I take a deep breath, sitting on Jack's bed, looking directly into my mom's eyes and smiling softly. "You know all of those offers I got earlier last year? From teams and colleges?"

"I do." Is all my mom says, waiting for me to finish.

"I've decided to accept one." I tell my mom, in blunt fashion, so as to not lose my nerve as the knot in my stomach begins to tighten and my palms start to sweat.

"Okay, a college or a team?"

"A team." She nods.

"Okay, and you're telling me because you're not 18 yet?"

"Yeah, and you have the right to know, anyway."

"Which team?"