I knew it had been a long time, but I didn't realize just how long. I'm so sorry. I adore this story, but this chapter gave me such horrible writer's block and idek why. Here it is. I think the next one will be easier. I promise it will come sooner. Thank you so much to everyone who's stuck with me. 

 Back at Joel and Moriah's house, they sat down in the kitchen, and Joel cleaned up the new burn and applied the anti-scarring cream to all of them on her arm while Moriah packed everything he'd bought into a beauty bag for her to take home.

Of course, she'd figured Moriah knew. Afterall, the woman deserved some explanation as to why this stray kid kept invading her home. However, her casualness about it was what amazed Adira. No looks of disgust, no comment, even, as she organized the products and chatted with them both while Joel was still working.

It had shocked her enough when both Joel and Rolys had been so calm upon finding out. Then, though, the situations had demanded they address it, albeit with a levelness she couldn't have imagined before. But Moriah had no such obligation to talk about it, and it was even stranger for her to go along like everything was normal and Adira wasn't a freak who hurt herself for fun.

Joel too... he cleaned the burn like it was a scraped knee. Soft, gentle, offering comfort and of course apology whenever something might be painful, but casual. She could search his eyes, locked on the injury she'd given herself, for any trace of judgement or disgust, and find absolutely none. A little sadness, sure. But he didn't treat her like she was broken. He didn't treat her like there was something wrong with her.

She didn't know what to do with that.

They passed the rest of the afternoon with homework and more Boy Meets World before Joel drove her back to the school in time for her to pick up Reagan at her usual time.

As he pulled into a parking spot beside her car, he considered her carefully for several seconds, finally asking, "Are you sure you'll be alright tonight?"

She nodded without looking at him. "I'm fine. Thank you, but I'm fine."

"You're going to eat something, yeah?"

She nodded. Probably. Maybe.

"And you're gonna call if you need anything?"

Once again, she nodded.

"Good. Alright." He offered her a sad little smile. "We'll be praying for you, Adira. Hang in there."

"Thanks," she whispered, then climbed out of the car.

Back in her own, she took a shuddering breath and tried to gather her thoughts and feelings up so she could stuff them at least until later that night. She had a baby to pick up, and unfortunately, parents to go visit, and whatever had happened that day and however she felt about it, it had to cease to exist for the next two hours.

She found herself in the hospital parking lot much sooner than she wanted to be. The trek inside and to the elevator felt ten miles long, and like she was carrying a weight much heavier than her brother's car seat as she made it.

It had gotten her to school on time, but she was about to pay the piper for walking out that morning. She was glad she hadn't eaten since lunch. She'd gotten her fill of puking the day before.

She could feel the tension in the air as soon as she walked into the room. Her mother set down her book and her father clicked off the television, but neither said a word.

This was very, very, very bad.

Adira set Reagan's carseat down and unbuckled him, lifting him out and offering him to his mother. The woman was stiff as she accepted him. He'd be crying within five minutes.

"That was quite the show you put on this morning." Naomi's tone burned with anger as she finally broke the silence.

Adira took a deep breath and fought a battle she knew she was doomed to lose. "I'm sorry I walked out on you. I just really needed to be ontime. My teacher has been on me bigtime about being late."

"Adira, we do not make you late to school!" her father stepped in. "Whatever you do between here and there might, but we've had enough of you blaming us."

The girl opened her mouth, then closed it again simply because she had no idea what to say.

"And regardless," her mother continued. "There is never a good reason to show us the kind of disrespect you did this morning. Ever."

She didn't have the energy to do this, so she shut her mouth and let them rant.

"These past few months, you've been getting more and more insolent and self-important, and we've had enough."

So many words she didn't have the strength to say.

"If we had any way to realistically do it, you would be grounded several times over."

And that was just it... what were they going to do? Take her car? She drove herself to every important thing they pushed her into so hard, not to mention her brother everywhere he needed to go. Her phone? She had to be in contact with the daycare, the school, the hospital, everyone. Her social life? She didn't have one anyway and they had no way of keeping her from going anywhere.

It was hard to punish a functional adult.

"As it is, we are sick and tired of you taking advantage of our situation to do whatever you want."

And suddenly, she had a lot of words and a lot of strength to say them and nothing left to hold them back.

"Taking advan..." She stopped, replaying the last sentence that had come out of her mother's mouth so she was sure it had actually happened. "Taking advantage of it? You are kidding me, right?"

Both parents opened their mouths, but she didn't wait to hear it.

"I am raising your son, and I'm taking advantage of it? Heck, I'm raising myself, and I'm taking advantage of it? And how? By walking out the door so I can be on time to school? Do you hear yourselves? Do you know what most parents have to worry about? Drugs! Sex! Grades! And you flip out because I want to be ontime to school! That's it! That's all you have against me! I will stand here and wait for you to name one legitimate thing that I've actually done wrong in the past year, but I will stand here forever, because you won't be able to do it!"

"It's the disrespect, Adira!" Her mother's voice was getting higher. "Do you hear yourself? When did you decide it was okay to talk to us like this?"

"I guess that was whenever you decided it was okay to bully me for nothing every time I turn around!" She had started, and she just couldn't make herself stop. "I don't have time to breathe, much less get into trouble, and yet you're constantly accusing me of going out and being an idiot! I go and have lunch with friends and I get accused of abandoning my brother when I literally took him with me and they loved him! All I do is run and eat freaking rabbit food, yet I still get a bi-weekly turn around to make sure I'm not getting fat! I... I do everything for myself and Reagan, by myself, with no complaint, and yet it's never enough for you! Why am I never enough for you?"

She hadn't felt the tears coming on, but now they were suddenly streaming down her face and her entire body was shaking in pure emotion.

Before her mother knew what was happening, she had reclaimed Reagan from her and was strapping him into his car seat as she continued to sob.

"Adira, don't you even think about..."

She walked out.

She heard her mother yell for her, heard her father echo it, but she kept walking.

He didn't even chase her.

No, because that would require work on his part. Effort that wasn't sitting still telling her to do better. They didn't know how to parent beyond that anymore.

She made it out to the car through several hallways of staring guests and nurses, curious but too scared to ask why she was crying. With Reagan in the backseat of her car, she climbed in the front and told herself to just go home, but somehow, she couldn't do it.

The darkness and aloneness of the house taunted her even from here, as did a fact she couldn't deny.

If she went home, she'd put Reagan to bed and burn half of her arm off. She didn't want to do that. If she did that, someone somewhere would find out and then they'd... and Joel would...

So she picked up her phone and called Austin.

He picked up on the third ring.

"Hey there, hot stuff." They'd phone greeted each other like that since they first became friends.

"Can I come over?"

The question was sudden and desperate and full of tears she couldn't hold back, and she knew it sounded every bit as desperate as she felt.

"I... I'm sorry. I just... I..."

"Hey." Worry was heavy in his previously light-hearted tone. "Of course you can. You don't have to explain yourself. Do you want me to come and get you?"

"No, no it's okay..." She choked on a sob as she started the car. "I just... I can't... I don't want to be alone." The last part came out a whisper.

"Hey, and you don't have to be," he told her seriously. "I'm not gonna hang up until you're in my driveway, alright?"

"No, it's okay, you... you don't have to..."

He cut her off. "I know I don't. But I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. Yeah?"

"Yeah," she whispered as she switched the call to speaker. "Okay. Thank you."

"Course, Love." It was said casually, like he didn't even notice what he was doing.

Even in her current state, it made her heart skip a beat.

There was a pause as she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road, en route to the highway which would carry her out to Austin's home, a little outside of town.

"You watch the new Walker episode yet?" he asked after a moment.

She shook her head before realizing he couldn't see her. "Not yet. You?"

"I started it like five minutes before you called," he replied with a small smile in his voice. "I'll wait for you to get here and restart it."

"Thanks." She hesitated before asking, "How's the first five minutes?"

"Intense. Good. It's gonna be a good one."

He'd gotten her hooked on Supernatural back when they'd first become friends in August. They'd watched the final episodes together before she'd gone back to start the fifteen-season show from the beginning in what little free time she had. When Jared Padalecki's new show, a reboot of Walker, Texas Ranger, had begun airing in January, they'd buckled in to watch it more or less together as well.

The first few episodes hadn't been anything spectacular, but with tonight's fifth installment, the show was just warming up, and definitely had the potential to be amazing. And besides that, they'd started watching it in the first place to support Jared and enjoy his phenomenal acting, so it was an easy choice to stick it out while the show found its stride.

"I was afraid they were gonna go relationship drama when they brought up a girl from undercover," Austin went on, "But the way they're going with this is actually really, really good."

"Good," she affirmed, trying to force herself to relax. "Yeah, I was nervous about that too. But I think from the promo and everything it's pretty clear that he doesn't actually love her so, I... yeah. Good."

More silence stretched between them. She focused on the road and trying not to cry.

"You wanna talk about what's going on?" The question was hesitant and gentle. "If you don't, no pressure..."

Adira exhaled heavily. "It's nothing. It's stupid. I just... it's just my parents."

"They on your back again?"

"I walked out when they were lecturing me this morning because I didn't wanna be late to..." She faltered the moment before realizing she couldn't tell him she'd been meeting Ellis that morning. "to class. So they were pissed. And they started going off about me and how I was taking advantage of their situation, and I just..."

"They said that to you?" The absolute disbelief in his voice comforted her just a little if only because it meant the sentence really was as awful as it had felt.

"Yeah." She took a deep, shaky breath. "They said that to me."

"Oh my... Adira, I'm so freaking sorry. They... I can't believe..."

"It's okay, Austin," she said softly, though she knew her voice betrayed her that it wasn't. "People say stupid stuff. I shouldn't be this worked up about it, but I..."

"People say stupid stuff, but that was just cruel and ungrateful and just... you have every right to be worked up, okay? I'm really glad you called."

"Thanks for picking up."

"Always. I mean that."

"Thanks," she repeated simply, her voice barely audible.

They spent the rest of the ride talking about school and sports and everything else that wasn't them kissing that afternoon or her calling him in the middle of a breakdown and asking if she could come over with absolutely zero notice.

Finally, she was pulling into his driveway, letting him know she was just about there, seeing him step out onto the porch with his phone still held to his ear.

"Yeah, there you are, hot stuff."

She didn't know how to respond to that, so she didn't, parking the car and ending the call and tiredly climbing out. He beat her to the back door to retrieve Reagan in his carseat.

"Awe, hey you," he murmured as he lifted the carrier from the car. "Yeah, someone's tired."

With the carseat on his arm and the diaper bag over his shoulder, he looked up at Adira and offered her a half-hearted smile.

"Someone else is too."

She looked at the ground because she knew her attempt to return the smile was an utter failure. His hand found her back, rubbing a little before guiding her up the porch steps and inside the house.

Austin was one of five children, and his family home held inside it all of the noise and warmth you'd expect. After so long coming home to a quiet, cold, and empty house with a carseat on her arm, walking through its front door was one of the most foreign things Adira had ever experienced.

Through the entry room and in the family area, she was greeted by the welcoming smile of Austin's father.

"Adira!" Harrison Levy was a tall, muscular man with broad shoulders, a large frame, and a smile that could instantly make you feel at home. His hand clapping her shoulder did the same. "It's so good to see you! It's been too long since you were out!"

She did manage a shaky smile this time. "Yes, Sir. Good to see you too."

He bent over the carseat in his son's hand, his smile only growing. "And look at you!" he cooed at the baby inside. "Oh, you've gotten so big!"

"There they are!"

Adira looked up as Austin's mother rushed into the room, beaming as wide as her husband was. "Oh, I can't believe how long it's been, Addi!"

Erica was a beautiful woman, strong and fierce and relentlessly loving, with brown hair streaked with grey, grown to her shoulders since having been shaved off and a body that had borne five babies and one difficult bout of cancer and was filled with life and strength nonetheless.

Both her hands found Adira's arms as she looked her up and down, her face shining. "Look at you! I'm so happy to see you!"

"Hi," Adira managed, unable to manage much more as the overwhelmingly comforting feeling his family carried with them set in for real.

"And Reagan!" she crooned as Austin set the baby's carseat down on the coffee table. "Oh, my sweet child, how you've grown!"

She looked up at Adira with a hopeful face. "WIll you let me take him off your hands for the evening?"

"Oh, you don't have to..." the girl started, but Erica cut her off.

"There is no have to about it! Please let me... it's been far too long since I held a baby."

Adira hesitated a moment longer, still wavering in guilt, but the eagerness on the woman's face was too much to refuse.

"If he's driving you crazy, please throw him my way again," she sighed at last.

"We could say the same about our child you're babysitting for the night," Harrison chuckled, playfully shoving his son on the shoulder.

Austin grinned. "Me? Drive her crazy? Constantly."

Before she could respond, a mini stampede of ten-year-old girls rushed through the room, the twins who were the babies of the family up to their usual antics.

"Hi, Adira!" one yelled as she dashed past. The greeting was echoed by her sister a moment later.

"Hi, Collins, hi, Dallas," she called after them, unable to keep herself from laughing a little.

Another head poked up above one of the nearby couches, the fourteen-year-old sister making her first appearance of the night. "Hi, Adira."

Adira returned the smile the girl was offering her. "Hi, Tampa. Good to see you."

"Have you eaten?" Austin asked as she turned back his way.

She nodded quickly. He wasn't even close to being fooled.

"No you haven't."

And he was pulling her in the direction of the kitchen.

"Austin, really, I'm fine," she tried, but she knew deep down it was no use.

The final Levy sibling was waiting for her in the next room, having overheard their most recent conversation. "No one comes and goes from this house without supper," she chided. "And I've got yours all fixed up. Healthy and everything."

Adira sighed, but accepted the plate from the smiling twenty-year-old. "Thanks, Joplyn." The eldest sister was currently enrolled in cooking school, so whatever was tucked into the plate of meat and rice, she knew it was going to be good.

She climbed up onto a barstool, Austin slid into the one beside her, and Joplyn leaned on the other side of the island.

"So how ya doin, Lovely? We've missed you around here."

"Yeah," Adira sighed. "I've missed y'all too. I've just been slammed."

"You always are," the older girl replied as she took a bite of her dinner. "Austin says you're kicking butt on the volleyball court."

Adira rolled her eyes at the boy beside her, saying when she'd swallowed, "Austin likes to exaggerate."

She just smiled at her. "Can't exaggerate when it comes to your skill."

She looked away, bringing her hand up to push that grin to face a different direction. "Yeah, okay, you're disgusting."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

One immaculately-cooked dinner and one immaculately-produced Walker episode later, she found herself tucked against Austin in an oversized bean bag on the floor of the Levy den.

She allowed her head to drop onto his shoulder as she said softly, "You were right. That was really, really good."

She supposed she should expect nothing less from the Always Keep Fighting actor, but four on-screen panic attacks in one episode was still a beautifully bold move in mainstream television.

He nodded a little. "Crazy good. This show is really hitting its stride."

She just hummed her agreement, closing her eyes a moment and drinking in the comfort of being so close to him in such a loving and joyful home.

She felt him looking down at for several long seconds before he finally asked, his voice gentle, "You okay?"

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak through the tightness in her throat.

His arm around her tightened a little, holding her that much closer. "No you're not."

She exhaled heavily, opening her eyes but making sure they stayed far away from his. "I'm fine, Austin. Just... my parents and everything... it's been a long day."

"What your parents said was really, really awful," he replied seriously. "And you have every right to be torn up about it. But I think it's more than that."

"Austin..." she sighed, but he cut her off.

"Addi, you're the strongest freakin person I know, and I know you don't need me. But I care about you... a lot. And people weren't designed to do everything on their own. You're not okay, and that's okay, but I just... I wish you'd talk to me about it. I wanna hear it."

She was silent for a moment, blinking back tears and searching for something to say. "That means a lot," she managed finally. "I... I don't know what I'd do without you. But sometimes there's just... not much to talk about. It's just life. What you do... I mean I'm here right now, aren't I? It's enough."

It was his turn to sigh, but he nodded anyway. "Okay. I... just know I'm always here. One call away."

She was tired and just a little loopy off chemistry and he smelled so good and he was so close.

She allowed her gaze to drop from his eyes to his lips. "Sometimes talking's not what you need anyway," she said softly.

It was safe. It could be just a continuation of what she'd just said, just...

He kissed her again.

This one was longer, sweeter than the one in his truck that afternoon. Less breathless, but more buzzed.

When they pulled back, she immediately buried her face in his hoodie to hide the way she was blushing and enjoy more of his cologne.

She could hear the smile in his voice. "Supernatural now?"

"Yes, please."

I posted this on my message board a while back, but for anyone who missed it... I kinda did a thing in November which kinda came up in this chapter lol. I started watching Supernatual. And Dean Winchester and J2 kinda took over my life so then I started watching Walker when it started coming out and it kinda did too. I was scared to post the fics I've been writing for those two fandoms here because I didn't want y'all to be mad at me for starting new projects when I'm already so bad at updating the ones I have but I just... these fics are like my favorite things I've ever written. They're just passion projects, things I wrote because I wanted to and only because I wanted to. And I love them. So if you're in either fandom and you'd be willing to give them a shot, it would mean the world. If you're not in the fandoms, but you like my brand of writing, they don't require a lot of context. Y'all know I'm all about the angst and less about the plot. So if you'd like to read them and you want me to fill you in on the basics of what you need to know, I would love to do nothing more. I'm sorry for shamelessly begging you to read these things but they're just... really important to me as dumb as that sounds. So anyway. The Supernatural one is called "Where Do You Think You're Going" and has four parts so far, and the Walker one is called "Hold On, I Still Need You" and has two parts, but those parts are 8k and 6k words long so yeah. Sorry for that I'll stop now. Love ya. 

- Line