So, here it is. The last chapter. It's nothing but mothership feels.

Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers!

Chapter 6: Veracity

Friday Night

Sharon watched out of the corner of her eye as Rusty cleaned the kitchen after dinner. Not that there was a lot of cleaning to do. When she cooked, she liked to put most of the dishes in the dishwasher as she went along, wiping the counters clean as well so that after dinner all that was left was to put their plates, glasses, and silverware in the dishwasher. Whether Rusty did that now out of habit—she'd taught him early on in their relationship to clean up after himself—or because he wanted to make up for his earlier behavior, she didn't know.

His attitude had turned around completely from that morning, but not in the way she would have liked. True, it was a relief to not hear him yelling or arguing, but now he was completely silent. Other than the occasional shrug, she'd hardly gotten any response from him since they'd left the station. Even when she had asked him what he wanted for dinner, a topic he usually had a very loud opinion on, he'd merely shrugged.

Once the dishwasher was running, Rusty, who was purposefully avoiding her gaze, started down the hall towards his room.

"Rusty," she heard herself say before consciously making the decision to have a conversation with him.

He turned to face her, and if Sharon could pick one word to describe him in that moment it would be "defeated." She stood up from the table and walked into the living room taking a seat in one of the chairs, leaving Rusty to decide between the other chair and the couch. Rusty didn't even roll his eyes when she gave him a small smile and an expectant look that clearly communicated her desire for him to join her.

Rusty picked the end of the couch furthest from her chair.

She wasn't surprised. Sharon watched him pick at the hem of his shirt briefly.

"Honey," she began, catching his attention with her use of the moniker. It wasn't something she used if she was upset with him. "Why did you forge my signature?"

Staring at the blank TV screen, Rusty shrugged.

Sharon waited.

"We had a deal." Rusty's voice was quiet and low. She almost didn't hear him.

Her mind ran through every deal she could remember making with him, but none seemed relevant to the situation. "About what?"

"I turn eighteen in two weeks."

"Or that he's over his mother enough that he won't just suddenly pull up stakes and vanish because in four months he turns eighteen and I'm afraid you're going to be very surprised."

Lieutenant Provenza's words echoed in her head, and she barely pushed down the panic those words had caused. This situation was not the same, and Provenza's warning was no longer relevant.

"I know," she said quietly, not understanding the connection between him turning eighteen and his forging her signature.

"We had a deal," Rusty repeated.

She tilted her head in confusion not seeing the connection. "I don't recall making a deal about you turning eighteen. In fact, I think that's going to happen whether we made a deal about it or not."

She'd hoped her bad attempt at humor would at least lighten the mood a bit. Unsurprisingly, it fell flat, failing to make either of them feel better.

"You said you'd give me at least thirty days notice."

Her mind whirled trying to figure out what he was talking about. Thirty days notice? She remembered he wanted that deal. It had almost been one of their first, but…she'd told him instead that she'd always know him. Whether he liked it or not. Was he upset with her for sending him away after Wade Weller nearly killed him? That event had happened almost a month ago, and he seemed to understand at the time. Turning eighteen in two weeks? Was he upset that she hadn't asked him if he wanted to have a party? And what did any of that have to do with him forging her signature on a progress report from school?

"Rusty, I don't understand," she admitted.

Rusty slouched down into the sofa, crossing his arms over his chest. She thought she saw his lip quiver, but his voice was steady when he spoke.

"I didn't realize my birthday was so close. I forgot. And you didn't remind me. Now I only have two weeks before I have to leave, and…"

Sharon's eyes widened, and she sat horrified at his words. Her breath caught in her chest. All her carefully honed skills she'd learned as a police officer left her for a moment, and she became aware of only her swirling thoughts. She tried to grab on to just one coherent thought that wasn't laced with fear.

That had been the last thing she was expecting.

"Rusty…" She leaned forward, only just stopping herself from moving to sit next to him and gathering him in arms. "You don't have to leave."

Rusty nodded his head up and down shakily. She could see his bottom lip of quivering now. "I do, Sharon, I have to."

"Why on earth would you think that?"

"Because I'm turning eighteen. And when foster kids turn eighteen, they have to leave foster care."

"Honey, look at me," Sharon commanded gently. When his eyes finally met hers, she spoke softly and slowly, willing him to listen. "It's true that when you turn eighteen you will no longer be a ward of the state. You'll legally be an adult. But that doesn't mean you have to leave MY house. No one can force you to leave except me, and I have no intention of doing that." She paused to give her words time to sink in. "Do you understand, Rusty? This is my house, and I can share it with whomever I like." She paused again before continuing on, carefully choosing her words. "And when the day comes and you want to leave, always remember this: I will always welcome you back. Just like Emily and Ricky. You are always welcome in my home."

Rusty turned his head away, but she saw him rub his face with his hand and heard a faint sniffle. She weighed the pros and cons of moving to sit next to him. She doubted he'd respond well.

She waited patiently instead.

He turned back to her a moment later. She could see the puffiness around his eyes from the effort to hold back tears. She almost felt bad for having to continue with their original discussion.

"I'm very…happy that we cleared that up, but, Rusty, why did you forge my signature?"

"I'm sorry, Sharon."

"For what?" she kept her voice quiet.

"I get it now."

She didn't say anything. Instead, she waited for him to continue. She certainly did not "get it" yet.

"I thought if you saw that I failed a test…after everything with Wade Weller and Stroh, you wouldn't let me stay. It's stupid, I know. I just…Sharon…"

She didn't give herself time to think about it before moving from the chair to the couch. She didn't sit right next him. She left plenty of space between them, but she faced him, still within arm's reach. She started to move her hand towards him, but stopped its progression halfway. She didn't pull her hand back.

"Please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad, honey."

He reached slowly for her hand.

She let him take it and squeezed gently once his hand was secure in her own. They sat like that for just a moment before Rusty leaned sideways into her shoulder. She wrapped her free arm him.

"I'm sorry, Rusty. If I had known you were worried about this…" she let her voice trail off and hugged him a little closer.

"It's okay." Rusty then pulled away, a small smile on his lips. "Does that mean I can have my laptop back now?"

Well? How did you like this story? Tell me your thoughts on how Sharon will respond to Rusty's request. Any ideas for future stories?