out there somewhere

Gage forged on. He was right by Halie's side the whole way and he took care of Alec. He knew his Dad was furious with him, but his mom was so excited. She'd even paid for the plane tickets for both Alec and Halie.

"Where do you suppose you're mom's getting all of her money?" Henry asked ever so quiet while the girls were up, and Alec slept soundly on Gage's shoulder on the plane ride home.

"Maybe, we don't want to know, but she took care of it." Gage looked at Henry, as if it was none of their business, but the question had been on his mind.

"Is this really going to work with you and Halie?" Henry winced asking a question Gage didn't know the answer too.

"Hope so." He left it at that. No need to tell Henry much. "So what's up with you and Josie?" Gage decided to turn the tables.

"Well..we want to move in together." Henry shrugged.

Gage nodded, keeping even lipped. Hopefully, Henry would get as much grief as he would. Gage sighed. Didn't envy Henry one bit.

Halie supposed it was just revenge sex with Gage, when she looked back at last night. And then she laughed softly. On the inside, she was so happy. Even if a sly smile surfaced as she was waiting for the bathroom.

"What's the matter?" Josie wanted to know when she opened the compartment of the tiny restroom.

"Oh..uh..its..really nothing." Halie managed, but it felt like something. In fact, she was a little dizzy when she went to the bathroom. She hadn't eaten a thing since yesterday. It was all such a rush.

But she could still see the scene in her head of how Dustin came to Macy's rescue. It was just sick, she thought. And she'd ran, almost into the street, because..she really didn't care. But Gage did. And when he hugged her, it was solid.

And everything felt so right, until she called her brother Jules before they left.

"You, can't change your mind, like that. You're so indecisive." His words hurt. Jules made her feel like a child.

"Well, I'm not Mum." She bellowed back. Jules always said she was just like mum. Everything she did. And to think, all this times, she thought her mother needed her, but she wasn't so sure, anymore.

She didn't want to make things so hard for Gage. But she knew her mother would be furious without that child support coming in.

She could hear it now. "You'll,  have to work. You've never had to really work, Halie."

At first, she vowed she would not ask Jules for a job, but maybe she would. If it came to that. Honestly, she didn't need her brother's influence. She didn't want to be a burden.

Finally, they made their way back to their seats. Halie wanted to keep her mind on getting to the states. But like a flashback that might have gone forward...Halie wondered now if she'd been a burden to Dustin all, this time.

Her face flushed and flooded with tears.

"What's wrong?" Gage took her hand. She started to hyperventilate. She could hardly breathe.