While his cousins reunited in the morning at the hospital, Tim was catching up on some much needed sleep.

Finally, he heard the knocking on his door, and his mother’s voice.

“Tim? Sugar, it’s almost noon. Are you going to get up?”

He started to answer and had to clear his throat. “Yeah,” he croaked.

“I’ve got biscuits and sausage ready whenever you are,” she called.

Tim smiled. “Be down in a few,” he answered.

Rolling over, he reached for Lyris, smiling at the memory of falling asleep against her soft, warm body after a long night of getting reacquainted. The scent of her hair still filled his nostrils, but the bed was empty.

He opened one eye. It was a twin bed; there wasn’t a lot of room. The sheets were cold; she had been gone a while.

“Lyr?” he asked, sitting up.

The room was dark but he knew she wasn’t in it. He reached over and turned on the light, wincing as he was blinded. On the pillow sat a folded piece of paper. With a sigh, he picked it up.

Tim, thanks for the best night in months. See you on Turkey Day. L.

“Nice,” he muttered. They definitely weren’t getting back together, that message was clear. Despite their feelings, she wasn’t willing to try again. No, she’s not willing to risk you breaking her heart again, jackass, he thought. And I can’t blame her one bit.

With a heavy sigh, he tossed back the covers to get out of bed, wishing they could relive the night again.

***

Tim bit into one of Trixie’s freshly baked chocolate chip cookies as he opened the door to the garage. He had walked over to see Aralyn, and promptly been greeted by the twin terrors, with whom he wrestled for several minutes, putting one in a headlock while he gave him a nougie and then pinning his twin to the ground to see if he was still ticklish. He was. He high fived Sean and hugged him, received hugs from both Bo and Trixie, though Bo’s was more reluctant, along with a kiss on the cheek and a plate of cookies from Trixie, before being directed to the garage, where he found his favorite cousin perched on her bike, having taken part of it apart.

Nearby, a small heater was running, keeping the garage relatively warm.

“Playing grease monkey?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

She looked and smiled. “Yeah. Richie showed me a few things to help keep her tuned up.”

Tim pulled Bo’s stool from the work bench over and perched on it, enjoying his cookies. “Next time you see Richie, give him my apologies.”

She looked up from the bike, suspicious. “Why?”

Tim looked sheepish. “I uh, might have threatened to put his head through the door when he acted like he didn’t know you.”

“Seriously?”

“I knew he was lying!”

Aralyn rolled her eyes and smiled. “I knew you two were having a pissing contest but really…for the record though, while I don’t doubt your fighting skills, Tim, Richie probably would wipe the floor with you. He’s extremely well trained.”

“Huh.” Tim looked impressed. He moved the cookie plate out of her reach when she reached for a cookie. “Uh-uh. You can have these all the time now. I’ve gotta go back to the mess hall.”

She half-smiled. “When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow morning. Crisis over, gotta get back. All that jazz. Wish I could stay longer.”

“Me too,” she said wistfully. Then her eyes twinkled. “Did you get to see Lyris alone last night?”

His green eyes studied her. “Something you want to share with the rest of the class?”

Aralyn shrugged but her eyes gave her away. She knew something.

Tim sighed and reached in his leather jacket pocket, producing the note she left, and handed it to her.

She frowned. “Huh. Well, that sucks.”

“No shit,” he stuffed it back in his pocket. “Can’t blame her, really, considering I’m not so great at the whole long distance thing but…”

“You can’t spend the next few years on an Ex-Sex basis,” she finished.

“Yeah, I know. Eventually she’s going to meet some designer guy, and if he’s not gay, she’ll fall for him.”

Aralyn chuckled. “You might meet someone else too.”

Tim shrugged. “I’m all about the fun right now. I’m surrounded by men all day, or women who look like men-all the hot ones are officers or otherwise untouchable. The local girls keep me sane.”

Aralyn shook her head with a smile. “If you and Lyris are meant to be, it’ll work itself out,” she said. “In the meantime, I guess enjoy the Ex-Sex while you can.”

“Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away,” he grinned. “Then Christmas.”

Aralyn rolled her eyes. “I hope you two didn’t keep your sister awake all night, since she’s on the other wall.”

“We tried to be quiet!” he laughed. “I can’t stay long. Mom’s making me a special dinner, and I slept way later than I meant. I guess they figured tonight was for the smaller families, since Thanksgiving so close.”

Aralyn nodded. “Mom wants to make dinner for my birthday. Somehow I forgot about it. I guess I’m officially no longer a teenager.”

“Does that mean you’re going to start acting like a grown up?” Tim asked with a smirk.

Aralyn snorted. “Not likely.”

“Good.” They grinned at each other.

“Mom said Tiff is doing better.”

Aralyn nodded. “She’s expected to be released this evening, so be sure to stop by before you leave. I saw her this morning, and she forgave me.”

“I will. I meant to go this morning and check on her but I uh, slept late.”

Aralyn snorted. “I wonder why.” She ducked and laughed when he playfully swatted at her.

“You should have told me you were going after her last night,” he chastised her gently. “You know I would have gone with. Maybe could have kept your face out of the line of fire.”

She sighed. “I know. I got there and realized I shouldn’t have snuck off, but I didn’t even think about it. It was just autopilot. I was looking at the computer and next thing I know, I’m pushing my bike down the street and taking off. And trust me, I was wishing you were there to back to me up. By the time I thought about it though, it was too late to call you in. And I figured the others would have talked me out of it. Cam has this thing about me putting myself in risky situations.”

Tim snorted. “I think you’re underestimating Kent. He might not have liked it, but I bet he would have gone with us. Even if it was to rescue you and be your white knight,” he smirked. “We definitely would have kept you from taking on that guy by yourself. And how many of our crazy adventures as kids did Dean join us for? Now, Nat and Lyr, yeah they would have protested but I think they would have gone along in the end.” No need to mention his verbal meltdown with Natala. Aralyn didn’t need to know about all of that.

Aralyn sighed, “Yeah, maybe. But I really didn’t think it through, Tim. All those months working with Duncan, facing my demons, working on self-control…the first thing I do is go running straight into danger when I find out Tiffany was in trouble.”

“It wasn’t without merit,” Tim polished off another cookie, snatching the plate out of her reach when she tried to snag one again. “It’s not like you woke up and decided to go take on a crazed old convict. The one thing that could bring you back to the family happened, and that was Tiffany’s life was in danger. You weren’t thinking clearly, and you acted in a manner that impulsive and reckless in order to save her. It was one hundred percent Aralyn Duke, and it wasn’t completely unexpected,” he said dryly. “I’m just annoyed at myself I didn’t realize what was going on in your head first.”

She raised one eyebrow. He had been distracted by Lyris’ presence, she knew.

“Kent knew you were up to something. That guy watches you like a hawk, Ari. Even when he thinks no one else is looking, he’s got one eye on you. Not in a creepy perv way, he just can’t take his eyes off of you. I saw him studying you before you went upstairs, and he was clearly mulling something over. When Nat realized you were gone, he said he could telling you were planning something.”

Aralyn chuckled. “I really wasn’t, Tim, I swear. It was more…more like something was rolling around in the back of my head, you know? Irvington Estates was niggling at the back of my head and I couldn’t figure out why. And Tiffany was never far from my mind. I guess subconsciously, maybe I was thinking about going after her. It wasn’t until after my shower that I remembered the old Willows place was over there.”

“Kent’s got your number,” Tim said casually.

Aralyn gave him a sharp look. “And he’s still boning the psycho, so don’t be looking for us getting back together any time soon.”

“Dean mentioned something about that. I’m sorry to hear it. Kent’s a good guy.”

Aralyn shrugged, clearly wanting a topic change.

“You staying put?” Tim asked.

Aralyn nodded. “Mostly. I do need to go back, finish some lessons with Duncan. But,” she added hastily as he started to protest, “I’m taking the girls with me. Tiff and Nat already agreed to go. That ought to smooth things over with the parents, prove to them that I won’t disappear again. I’ve got a lot of making up to do.”

“Hey,” he looked her in the eyes, “you did what you needed to, to take care of you. It may not have been the best thing to do, but it was what you needed. Don’t let them make you feel guilty for that, however much they might try. I know it sucked for all of them, but they didn’t really understand what you needed.”

“Sean’s had terrible setbacks, Tim,” she said softly, her eyes filling with tears. “He’s having nightmares, tantrums like never before, being violent, and he threw things at me last night, screaming at me to leave. Mom says he was yelling at me because I left, not telling me to leave but it was horrible. Dad had to restrain him, and he slept next to me all night. It scarred him, really badly, when I didn’t come home. I didn’t think about how he might react, I just took off.”

Tim reached over and took her hands. “You know I love Sean like he’s my own kid brother. And I hate seeing anything that upsets him. But again, Ari, you had to put yourself first. You’ve always been our leader. Even I looked to you for leadership when we were kids. It comes with being the oldest. But our leader was lost, and we all knew it. If you hadn’t left, if you just kept spinning your wheels, you were going to do more harm than good to yourself. Talking to the shrink might’ve helped for a while, I don’t know. But you clearly weren’t getting what you needed, and you found it in North Carolina. I know it caused a lot of trauma to your whole family, and believe me, I’m sorry about that, but you had to put you first. So you did. And now look at you. You’re back. This is the Aralyn I know. This confident, brave, ass-kicking girl who went rushing into danger last night to rescue our cousin—that’s the Aralyn Duke I know and love. Not the shadow of Aralyn that was hiding out in her bedroom and hiding out from life. This is you. This is who you are, and this is who you had to go find. So welcome home, cousin, because now you can start putting things back in order, because you really are back where you belong.”

Aralyn smiled at him, and rose, stepping over the bike to hug him. The cousins hugged for several minutes.

“I owe you,” she finally said, pulling away and blinking back tears. “You risked everything with the family for me, Timmy. I can’t repay that.”

She couldn’t really read the look on his face.

“Let’s call it even, Ari.” He didn’t want her to know that he knew everything she had done for him all those years ago.

She shook her head. “I don’t see how.”

He paused for a second too long. “You got Tiffany back. That settles it in my book.”

Aralyn just smiled and hugged him again. “I miss you. I wish you were up here with us.”

“I miss you too. Be careful going down to North Carolina, ok? Stop in Annapolis and visit. I’ll show off my gorgeous cousins on campus and make all those horndogs drool like crazy.”

Aralyn laughed.

"Stop messing with your hair, okay? It looks awful."

She nodded. "Your mom is taking us to the salon this week. Sulan will fix it, if he doesn't strangle me."

"No more stupid bets. Or I will ram that Richie's head into to a door."

Aralyn chuckled.

“Hey, Ari, there’s nothing sexual going on between you and those guys in North Carolina, is there?”

Aralyn snorted. “No. Duncan is insanely hot but Richie makes me think too much of Logan in about ten years.”

“Just checking. I better get going. I told Mom I wouldn’t be long.”

“Ride safe.”

“I will.” Tim picked up the now empty cookie plate, kissed her forehead, and walked to the door. “Hey, Ari?”

“Yeah?”

“Go easy on Kent. He’s a good guy, and you won’t find anyone better. Give him a chance when it comes knocking.”

He shut the door behind him, leaving a visibly startled Aralyn in the garage.

Trixie was waiting for him, with a large Ziploc bag full of cookies.

“I’m sure Daisy is packing you a bag full of goodies to take,” she said, “but I wanted to add these.”

“Thanks, Trixie,” he beamed. “Trust me when I say I’ll savor these. What they pass off as cookies in the mess hall are little bland hockey pucks.”

“Tim,” Trixie put her hand on the young man’s arm. “I also want to thank you.”

Tim gave her a faint smile. “Sure you don’t want to smack me?”

Trixie shook her head. “Part of me knew you knew more than you were telling. But you kept my baby girl as safe as well as you could, and you kept tabs on her, which was more than any of us could do. You went to get her when we needed her and you brought her back to us, safe and sound. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Tim felt a very unfamiliar sensation in his chest and his eyes. “She’s my best friend, Trix. I’ll do anything for her. And you.”

The petite woman hugged him tightly, and Tim gingerly hugged her back, then smiled, and hugged her tighter.

“We all thank you, Tim,” she smiled. “Bo might seem a little gruff for a while; he spent months hunting for her, and his ego took a beating, but he is very grateful.”

Tim nodded. “I didn’t want to lie to you guys, Trixie, I really didn’t, but I knew if I didn’t, she’d just vanish. And I couldn’t let that happen.”

Trixie nodded. “I’m glad she came to you instead of disappearing.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Timmy.”

Tim smiled at her, his heart warm, and clutching his bag of cookies, headed home.