"Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny."

~C. S Lewis

"Would you like more, dear?" Sienna questioned Ty, her eyes narrowed at the man beside me. He stared at empty plate, a sheepish look on his face.

"If Alyssa doesn't w-"

"I'm fine." I said, offering a warm smile, "You can give him the rest, Sienna." I watched quietly as Sienna took his plate and headed back into the kitchen. My eyes raked over Ty's face as he stared at the fork on the napkin below him, almost as if it'd been a long time since he'd used something other than his bare hands to feed himself. 

"Thank you." Ty breathed out when Sienna set his seconds in front of him. I took my dish to the sink, shutting my eyes and grasping the edge of it as I tried to catch my breath. 

I hadn't ever seen anyone eat as much as Ty just had. The man had been starving for so long that the second he saw real food, it was as if some sort of switch had flipped on in his head. What he had said back on the street started to replay in my head, breaking my heart even further. I really had no idea what everyone on that street went through on the daily. I'd always been beyond blessed and had taken for granted having a nice warm meal before me.

"Thank you, Alyssa." Ty repeated a few minutes later when he set his dish in the sink, "For everything. But I better. . . I better get back home." I felt a lump form in my throat at his words, at the fact he was referring to a dirty, old purple box as his home.

It was about thirty degrees outside and looked as if a storm was blowing in. How was I supposed to let him go back and sleep in this?

"You can stay if you want." I said quietly, "It's such a big house and nobody is living here right now besides me. Plus it's  really cold outside. I don't want you to have to sleep out there." He only shrugged, running a hand through his damp hair.

"I'm used to it. Sometimes it doesn't even effect me." He mumbled, "Do you think. . . you know what, never mind." He shook his head and started to walk away. I followed him out of the kitchen, confused.

"What? What were you going to say?" He waved it off as if it wasn't a big deal.

"It's fine, Alyssa. You've already done enough." I haven't even come close to it, is what I wanted to say but decided to keep my mouth shut rather than speak up. After a few minutes of trying to figure out what it was that he was going to ask, it hit me

"Your daughter." I guessed, "You want to talk to her?" He nodded, looking  genuinely shocked.

"How did you know?" He whispered.

"It's the first thing I'd do if I was able too." I grabbed my phone from the kitchen and unlocked it before holding it out to him.

"Are you sure?" He looked so grateful I wanted to hug him. 

"Positive." I answered with a smile. He dialed the number and walked into the living room, the phone pressed against his ear.

"He's a sweet boy." Sienna commented from behind me, "He doesn't deserve any of this." I nodded in agreement.

"Nobody deserves to live on the street, Sienna." I could hear my voice catch in my throat as Ty's head perked up.

"Mom? It's me, it's Tyler." I watched as he started to pace the room, his free hand buried in his hair.

"It's a long story. No, I just. . . is Tessie there?" He froze for a second, his eyes on the carpet under his bare feet. 

"Mom, please. You can't. . . I understand that. I just want to talk to her." I felt my heart clench even more when I saw Ty's expression. He looked as if someone had just punched him in the gut. His mother must have said something that hurt pretty bad, because his entire body deflated until he had his palm pressed against the back of the recliner to steady himself. 

"Okay, five minutes. Please." He pleaded with the woman on the other end. I saw his entire face light up a few seconds later. 

"Hi, baby girl. It's Daddy." He laughed, clenching the phone in his hand. "I know, I miss you too." He added, shaking his head to himself.

"No, not yet, sweetie. But Daddy's going to find a job soon and then we can go bye bye and move away." The man standing in the living room wasn't Ty.

He wore his face, but sounded nothing like the sarcastic, angry man I had brought in this morning.

"I promise." He whispered, "I promise that I'll see you soon." I stood up when I saw his face fall again.

"It's a friend's, Mom. Jesus, why do you think I steal everything?" He snapped into the phone, looking beyond exhausted. 

"Fine, here." Ty held the phone out to me, "She wants to make sure I didn't steal it." He whispered.

I took it from him, slowly bringing it to my ear.

"Hello?" My voice was barely audible. 

"Oh, you're a girl? Raymond! She's real and she's a girl!" I heard the woman yell, her voice echoing back into the receiver.

"I hope my son hasn't been too much of an incontinence. He can be-"

"He's not." I cut her off, "It's not a problem having him here." I heard her laugh on the other end.

"Not yet, dear. Anyway, I won't allow him to see Theresa unless you or his therapist is present. He can't be with her alone." I frowned, glancing sideways at Ty with a confused look.

"What do you mean? It's his daughter." I replied.

" Sure she is, but he isn't a fit parent, darling. He can't give her a house, toys, or clothes. Therefore he won't be her father until he can. He granted us temporary custody once she went into remission. I would have assumed he would have told you this already." I felt my head starting to shake.

"Just because he can't give her materialistic things doesn't make him any less of a father. At least he's trying. But I understand your caution." I hung up before she could respond. Ty's eyes were wide, a mix of confusion and shock in them, lips parted in surprise.

"Why'd you do that? You don't even know me, you don't know if I'm a good fat-"

"I don't know you. But I saw the way your face lit up when you started talking to her." I replied, heading back to the kitchen, "It was the way my dad looked at Steph, it was when I was sure that he had lost all faith that he was going to get his little girl back. It was when I realized just how exactly a father should look around his daughter. A look I never got."

*

The rest of the night seemed to drag on, the sound of Sienna singing in the kitchen the only noise echoing through the large, empty house. I sat in Steph's room most of the night, taking a highlighter to the first two things on the list I had successfully completed.

Go to Lincoln and Fourth and find a purple cardboard box. Ty should be in the box. He is cute, I promise.

"Is this your room?" I pushed the piece of paper under my sister's puffy princess pillow and stared at Ty in the doorway with wide eyes.

"No." I whispered, "It's Steph's." He stepped into the room, running his hand along a Matilda play poster my parents had bought Stephanie a few years ago after seeing the play.

"I used to love BFG, you know." Ty mumbled, more to himself than me. "I tried to get my parents to read it to Tess, but they refused to listen to anything I suggested." He turned his blue eyes back to me, smiling sadly.

"Steph loved all of his books." I said, referring to Ronald Dahl, "She was constantly forcing everyone to watch the movies too, even at the hospital." He chuckled, dropping his hand back to his side and joining me by the bed.

"About earlier, I just wanted to thank you. My parents aren't exactly the most forgiving people, especially when it comes to me." He said. I waved him off, but I couldn't stop the question from fluttering around in my mind.

What had Ty done?

"What's this?" He touched the corner of the glittery pink paper and pulled it out form under the pillow, the small smile on his face soon replaced with a quizzical look.

"Steph made it." I answering, not bothering to take it from him, "Before she died. She wanted me to do the entire list before my twenty-first birthday." I responded. He moved the paper from his face so he could see me again.

"Which is?"

"In a couple months." He started to shake his head, looking confused.

"Why am I on the list? This is what you were trying to explain back on Forth, wasn't it?" I nodded, standing up and taking the paper back from him.

"She wanted me to help you and your daughter." He only stared down at the pink comforter beside us, sighing.

"Why did you do it if it was the eighth on the list? Most logical people would go from the first then worked their way from there." I shrugged, gesturing toward the envelope on my bed.

"My sister loved puzzles. She loved sending me on scavenger hunts and forcing me to solve them." I answered, watching his confused expression starting to return.

"So this is all some big puzzle for her? Is there something she wants to figure out at the end? Like after the last bit of the puzzle is put into place?" He questioned. I leaned forward so I was only a few inches from touching his shoulder, my eyes on the glittery piece of paper.

"I don't know." I breathed, "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

***AN***

Hope you guys enjoyed! 

I know it wasn't super eventful, but the next chapter will be! 

Let me know what you guys thought!

~ChasingMadness24