The next few days of school were uneventful at best and boring at worst. The last day of the week had finally come and Sophie couldn't wait for it to end. She needed some time to herself and some time on the ice to recuperate from the sudden change from summer break to school.

She fiddled with the lock on her locker impatiently, itching to get to her last class but unable to unlatch the stubborn lock. The lock glinted as if teasing her beneath her fingers, light bouncing off the shiny surface.

She was about to resort to pulling at it and hoping the metal would break when Biana appeared, textbooks under her arm and a reluctant Fitz in tow. His annoyed frown changed into a bright smile when he caught sight of Sophie, and she quickly pasted a smile on her face despite the feelings of frustration that were starting to bubble up.

"Hey, Biana."

"Hi! Do you need help with your locker?" She asked, tilting her head in amusement. Sophie realized she was still gripping the lock tightly, and she let go sheepishly.

"Well, if you don't mind..."

Fitz has walked around Biana and grabbed the lock before his sister could even open her mouth to respond. Biana smirked but stayed quiet, and Sophie felt her cheeks heat at his proximity. In a matter of seconds he had undone the lock and offered her another beautiful smile.

"There you go." He swung the door open to reveal the bland gray space of her locker.

"Thanks, Fitz!" Sophie expected him to step back or leave, but he stayed put, so close she could feel his body heat radiating off him in waves and warming her even more. The blush began to creep back up on her cheeks.

"Sophie, do you want to come over to my house this weekend? We haven't really 'hung out' in a while," Biana asked suddenly, distracting Sophie from Fitz and his charming gaze now trained on her.

"Sure, just let me ask Grady and Edaline." Sophie responded, and Fitz's eyes turned from expectant to curious.

"Why do you call your parents by their first names, if you don't mind my asking?" Fitz asked. Biana reached a hand out and smacked his head the moment the words left his mouth.

"Fitz! You can't just ask that out of nowhere." She gave Sophie an apologetic look. Sophie shifted her feet uncomfortably.

It wasn't like she had never heard the question before. It wasn't immediately obvious that she was adopted, and she liked it that way. She had moved in with Grady and Edaline when she was six, and she could hardly remember much more than that. Ella the elephant was the only hint of a memory she had from her life before them.

"It's okay. It's not like it's secret knowledge or anything." She reassured Biana, turning to Fitz. "I'm adopted."

"Oh," Fitz said awkwardly. "I'm so sorry for bringing it up."

"It's fine." Sophie said, more firmly this time. "It's not something to be sorry about. They are my parents, adopted or not." Fitz nodded in hesitant understanding before stepping away.

"We should probably let you get to class." He said after another excruciatingly long second of awkward silence. "Let's go, Biana." Biana rolled her eyes at him and leaned in to hug Sophie quickly.

"Bye, hopefully we'll see each other tomorrow!" She said, before grabbing her brother by the arm and dragging him away. "... stupid question. Why in the world would you ask that?" Sophie heard her hiss as they turned the corner.

She blinked, remembering what she had been doing originally, and spun around. She quickly grabbed her textbook, shutting the locker with a loud bang and latching the lock back on with hurried fingers.

"I can still make it..." she muttered as she walked down the hall as fast as she could, debating running despite the looming possibility of getting stopped by a teacher and losing time. She was nearly to Mr. Astin's astronomy class when an announcement crackled through the speakers above her head, placed throughout the ceiling sparsely.

"Would Sophie Foster please report to Mr. Granite's office?" A woman's voice Sophie vaguely recognized as the front desk lady's came through. Sophie groaned.

"And I was so close to being on time for once." She looked up as the tardy bell rang, the harsh sound ringing in her ears long after it stopped. She sighed and turned around in defeat, heading in the opposite direction. So much for being early.

When she arrived at the school counselor's office, she hesitated before opening the door. Sophie ran through the past week in her mind, trying to recall anything she'd done that would merit a meeting with the counselor. She'd only come here once before, when she'd happen to be a witness of a fight that had involved brightly colored paint balls. She had seen nothing unordinary though, so it must be something to do with her, but she couldn't place her finger on what.

She finally pushed the door open, immediately regretting it when she met a pair of sympathetic, cool blue eyes across the room. She walked forward and sat in the red, uncomfortable chair in front of Mr. Granite. He smoothed his pale blonde hair back before clasping his fingers together and setting them in front of him on the wooden table separating the two.

"What did you need, Mr. Granite?" Sophie spoke tentatively. His face broke into a frown, the skin of his olive-toned forehead wrinkling at the name.

"Sophie, I told you, call me Tiergan. I know you much differently than I do any of my other students." He said, displeased.

Tiergan was right, though it made Sophie a bit uncomfortable to be calling a teacher by their first name during school hours. She knew it would only bring unwanted attention, and she'd already gotten more than her fair share of that from a certain frizzy-haired bully.

His words brought back memories, though. A long time ago, back when Sophie had needed a new home, the person tasked with finding it had been a man named Prentice. Sophie remembered his warm smiles and constant reassurances that he would find her the best mommy and daddy she would ever meet, and she believed him with all of her heart.

It was the only thing she could believe.

Shortly after he had found Grady and Edaline and Sophie had finally gotten the wonderful family he had promised her, he had fallen mentally ill and later forced to be moved to a psychiatric hospital called Exile for constant and extensive care. Two years later, his wife, Cyrah, had died, leaving their son, Wylie, parentless.

Wylie was a few years older than Sophie and had finally reached out to her when he realized she had known Prentice well, eventually befriending her and becoming the older brother she had never had. Cyrah had died back when Prentice was still able to talk and remember coherently, and he had asked Tiergan, his close friend, to take his son in. Tiergan had agreed, and now he was like a second father to Wylie and a serious uncle of sorts to Sophie.

"How are you dealing with your sister's passing?" The question jolted Sophie from her thoughts of Prentice, and she flinched violently as thoughts of her sister consumed her.

She was shocked by the question. Everyone tiptoed around the subject, she tiptoed around the subject, and she hadn't expected Tiergan to be so blunt about it, or bring it up at all.

"I..." Sophie tried to form words, but her mouth refused to do what her brain was screaming at her. All she could do was dig her nails into her palms and swallow hard, waiting for Tiergan's next words.

"Not well, I take it?" He said, though the sentence was less of a question and more of an assessment. When Sophie wouldn't look at him, he sighed and leaned closer over the desk. "Sophie, I'm sorry for being up a touchy subject, but as the school counselor and as someone who cares for your well being, I feel compelled to check in with you. Losing a loved one is never easy."

His eyes turned into a maelstrom of sadness and anger, the way they always did when thinking about his best friend, lost to the cracks in his own mind. "But I have faith that you can rise from the ashes of your turmoil even as you keep your sister's memory in your heart." His eyes softened again as he reached over and placed a hand on Sophie's shoulder.

"You're Sophie Foster. You can do this." He smiled, and Sophie felt her lips turn up at his words in a small returning smile as she blinked away tears she didn't even realize were forming. After a moment he let his hand fall away, but Sophie could still feel his warm presence lingering, strengthening her. "And one more thing, before I let you go." Sophie raised her head back up. "You should go see Wylie sometime. I'm sure he misses you. Maybe you could go visit Prentice together, the way you used to."

"I miss him too." Sophie said softly. Tiergan smiled again.

"You are free to go now, Sophie." She stood up to leave, but he placed a hand on hers. "Remember. You are stronger than your pain. Don't fight it, but embrace it, and let it strengthen you and better you. There will always be room in your heart and your mind to grow and recover, if only you'll allow it." He pulled his hand back.

Sophie leaned over the desk and hugged him suddenly. She felt him tense up, before relaxing as he patted her back slowly. He wasn't normally one to show or accept affection of any kind, but when he did, Sophie knew he truly did mean what he said. She drew away slowly, keeping her eyes on his.

"Thank you," she whispered. "So much."

Then she turned and left the room, his gaze and words still warming her inside, even as his comforting presence was long gone.

A/N: new chapter new chapter new chapterrrr

And it has been revealed! Or some of it, anyway ;)

And yes, I did make Tiergan the mentor character, s u e m e

Tbh writing this and future scenes I was listening to It's Quiet Uptown and other sad songs obsessively. Ig I like making myself sob-