What's up, guys? It's been a good few months since my last update (sorry!) but I finally got past the block I had to bang out this chapter for you. I'd particularly like to thank othvampire and Ashy143 for the PMs they sent me as they really did motivate me to keep on trying with this chapter. A big thanks to absolutely everyone who reviewed as well!

p.s. From what research I did into foreign pet names, kárdia mou actually means my heart in Greek. I thought was was cute and a bit unusual/not cliché so I decided to use it. If anyone thinks/knows that I'm wrong, feel free to correct me and/or suggest a better pet-name to use.

"Hey there" – speech

Hey there – thoughts

-GIYOS-

Chapter 4: Potential Tomorrows:

The waning sunlight glowed fiery red across Elliot's body as he jogged down the dirt path leading to his family's 'modest' lakeside cabin. He could feel the evening chill beginning to set in, the breeze's feather-light caress causing his tanned skin to break out into goose bumps.

Though his surroundings were idyllic and almost poetic in nature, a sight to which many others would simply stop and stare, they were far from his mind. Instead Elliot was going over his recent encounter with his best friend, her sisters and her mother.

Elliot's jog slowed to a walk as he put his hands in his pockets and turned his eyes to the newly emerging stars in the deep violet and navy palette of the night sky.

It's hard to believe that Sarah is sisters with someone so completely her opposite, he thought with snigger, recalling the white and baby pink summer dress Lorraine had been wearing and comparing it to Sarah's shorts, band merchandise top and hoodie ensemble.

His hoodie.

Climbing the stone steps to the double front doors of The Boulders, Elliot let an amused yet satisfies smile emerge onto his lips.

Since getting that hoodie a year ago, he could the number of months that he had been able to keep for himself on one hand. After letting Sarah use it, after an incident in which they had been caught in a cloudburst while travelling back to their house from the school library one evening, his feisty friend had been quite loathed to give it back. To be quite honest, seeing the sight of Sarah, skin flushed and hair damp from her post-cloudburst shower, practically drowning in the thick navy blue material had caused a stirring in his gut. A stirring that drove him to do the zip up higher, pull the hood over her head and tell his best friend that the hoodie suited her far better than it did him.

It made those pompous; rich-ass retards back off from her a bit too, now that I think about it. Elliot's smile turned slightly predatory and he made no apology for feeling primal satisfaction at Sarah wearing his name, even if it was just his nickname.

After all, a gentleman is still a man, and mankind has always been possessive in nature. Those idiots didn't even acknowledge her existence when Sarah first arrived but I was her friend from the beginning. Now we're best friends, surely that means I'm hers just as she is mine-?

Elliot was roughly knocked out of his musings by a football connecting with the middle of his forehead. Elliot rubbed the now sore spit while raising his dark eyes to glare at the grey ones both of his elder brothers had inherited from their father.

"Really, guys? What the fuck was that for?"

Calvin and Daniel Murtaugh smirked at their little brother while moving down from their seated position halfway up the grand wooden staircase in the entryway of The Boulders.

"Chill out little brother." Calvin said as he and Daniel crowded into Elliot's space, "It's not our fault that you were lost in your own little world."

Daniel continued on from Calvin, "Yeah, baby bro. We wouldn't be doing our job as older brothers if we didn't mess with you every now and again. What were you thinking so hard about anyway? A girl with deep brown hair, soulful eyes and dainty featu – Ow!"

Elliot slammed the football into his brother's stomach while raising an eyebrow, "I know who you're referring to, brother-dear, and I wouldn't let her hear you calling her dainty unless you want her to slam this football a bit lower like she did when you took the piss out of her height."

Daniel groaned in remembrance of the pain Sarah had inflicted on him the last time he had said one short-joke too many to her. Calvin also winced at the memory. They all knew Sarah and had either witnessed or been the 'victim' of her temper when they pushed her too far. The elder Murtaugh brothers had quickly found out that Sarah did not tolerate being pushed around by anyone, even if they were almost twice her size at the time.

"Yeah, yeah. I know your girl can pack a damn punch when she wants to. Let's just get to dinner before Dad comes looking for us."

Elliot didn't comment as he followed his brothers in the direction of the large family dining room where the rest of his family were undoubtedly waiting for them.

My girl? He thought as he took a seat next to his eldest sister, Anne, who sent him a smile. Not really, not yet. I'm definitely working on it though.

-GIYOS-

As the Murtaugh clan were sitting down to their undoubtedly expensive dinner, the Bakers and their brood were doing the same though their supper was less 'nouveau riche' and more 'fill me quick; I'm famished!'

Though the evening chill had begun to become stronger, the campfire Charlie had lit stopped it from settling into their bones. Instead it seemed to fuel the energy and conversation of all those sitting at the two old wooden tables.

"Dad, can you pass me the sausages?"

"Lorraine, honey, a bit of chicken wouldn't ruin your salad you know…"

"Mom! Nigel keeps stealing my tomatoes!"

"Hey! Give me back those potatoes, you little –!"

"Mark, you can't just have meat. That's not a well-balanced meal…"

"Where's the barbeque sauce?"

"No! I want the ketchup!"

Though any outsider looking in would see this mealtime as a complete and utter shambles, Sarah couldn't help but smile and let the loud familiarity of it all settle over her as she scooped a little more potato salad onto her nephews plate and then her own.

Even the Year 7s at school aren't this chaotic when it comes to food! Sarah snorted at the thought, And considering that they managed to blow up an oven during their Food Technology class while the teacher was actually there, that's actually saying something!

Feeling the pressure of Tommy's body leaning into her side, Sarah wrapped her left arm around him while continuing to eat with her right. Considering it was now nearing 10 o'clock at night, the boy was clearly finding it hard to stay awake for much longer.

I should probably ask Nora if she wants me to take him up to bed soon…

DING, DING, DING!

Both Tommy and Sarah, as well as the rest of the Baker brood, jerked violently at the piercing sound of Tom hitting the side of his glass with a knife.

"Okay, guys. Settle down now –"

A little hard to do when you scare the hell out of the lot us like that, Sarah though as she hugged Tommy back into her side.

"– I just want to make sure that tomorrow's plans are clear to everyone."

Sarah groaned in unison with her sibling while their father laughed.

"Hey now. Don't be like that. I was just going to say that your mother and I need to sort out a few things at the Lake Winnetka Visiting Office and then get some supplies from the shops to last her stay." Tom paused to make sure that everyone was listening, "As this will probably take most of the day we're allowing you to whatever you want tomorrow – WITHIN REASON BOYS! – so long as you tell your mom or myself before you go off."

Everyone cheered and begun excitedly muttering ideas to each other regarding the many possibilities of what they could do the next day.

I'm just glad that I don't have to cancel on Elliot tomorrow, Sarah thought, pulling her dozing nephew onto her lap, Not to mention that Dad said that we could tell him OR mom where we're going so he's not going to be able to jump down my neck about hanging out with a 'hormone-driven' boy and a Murtaugh at that!

Though her father had never really mentioned old high school rival, Sarah had found out enough from the stories Jimmy Murtaugh had told her once he realised why exactly the young girl reminded him of Tom 'King of the Campus' Baker.

Surprisingly, Jimmy showed no bitterness or bias when retelling these stories and often made a point of highlighting the stupid things both he and Tom did while fuelled by this rivalry. Jimmy did, however, also mention that he probably wouldn't be able to resist riling Tom up if he ever saw him again…

Sarah was jostled out of her thoughts by everyone around her standing up and beginning to pile up the dirty dishes and what little left-over food there was. She looked up when her mother placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Take him up to bed, Sarah" She said, gesturing at the sleeping boy, "He wanted to stay with you tonight and it's the boys' turn to clear and wash up since we did all the preparation and serving."

Sarah laughed as her mother winked and lifted her nephew into her arms as she stood up.

"I'm not going to argue with that logic since it's in my favour." Sarah replied with a cheeky grin, "By the way, Mom, I'm going over to El's tomorrow. Do you think I'll be allowed to take Tommy with me?"

Kate stroked the soft blond hair of her grandson as he pressed his face into Sarah's neck.

"Well, I don't have a problem with you going. Elliot seems like a nice young man and you know him from Royal Trinity which gives me some peace of mind. I can't see Nora having much of an issue with you taking Tommy but you'll have to ask her yourself."

Sarah nodded. That was a fair enough answer and she had inadvertently gotten her mother's permission to go to The Boulders which was good. All she had to do now was get permission from Nora to take Tommy with her.

He's going to love the jet skis and the floating trampoline and just about everything else at The Boulders too, if I'm being completely honest! Sarah chuckled as she turned to head back into the cabin and to the room she was sharing with Tommy and Lorraine.

Know that all of the Murtaughs are here at Lake Winnetka but I wonder how many of them will actually be at home tomorrow…?

Sarah shoved the door to her room open with her hip so as not to disturb her sleeping nephew and walked towards her bed before setting Tommy down on it while she pulled out a pair of pyjamas with little footballs all over it.

Calvin, Daniel and the younger ones will probably be out doing fuck-knows-what as soon as they can in the morning. Uncle Jimmy will probably be out at the golf-course, socialising with some random yet influential rich idiot.

Sarah carefully removed Tommy's clothes, trying not to wake him too much, and then began to redress him in his pyjamas.

He might take Serena with him though she might opt to stay at home and enjoy the peace and quiet. Anne will probably do the same thing though she might go up to that secluded part of the lake as well…

Sarah moved Tommy over to the wall-side of the bed that they were sharing. She placed one of the pillows next to him to prevent him from falling out of the bed before pulling the curtains shut and turning out the light as she left to go and find Nora.

El will definitely be there seeing as he's the one who invited me over in the first place. Sarah laughed to herself, Him and Tommy seem like they're going to get along great anyway, which is awesome because at least I'll have one Baker-boy (though he's technically a McNulty) on my side when the rest of them find out about Elliot and the rest of the Murtaughs.

Sarah cringed at the thought. Even though she was the least 'girly' out of her sisters and had never been in a relationship with a boy, her brothers were still very protective over her. Charlie and Jake were the worst and several of her friends at her old school had had certain experiences with her brothers, essentially all because they were male and her brothers like to come to unfounded assumptions.

As Sarah neared the door of the room her sister and her husband were staying in, she noticed it was open and could see Lorraine helping Nora with her nightclothes.

"Knock, knock." Sarah said, pushing open the door and walking into the room.

"Hey, Sarah" Nora greet her little sister with a smile, "Thanks for putting Tommy to bed. Did he go down alright?"

Sarah perched herself on the rustic, dark-stained wooden footboard of the bed and shrugged, "He went out like a light."

Lorraine let out a short laugh, "After spending hours stuck in a car and they staying up way past his bedtime, I'm not surprised!"

Nora just smiled, glad that her baby gave into sleep so easily. He'd been starting to get into the "I'm not tired!" stage where he'd refuse to go to bed and exhaust his parents in their attempts to get him to sleep.

Funny. He's never given Sarah the trouble he gives the rest of us, Nora gave a sigh of exasperation, I wonder how she does it?

"Anyway," Sara interrupted her sister's musings, "I came in here for an actual reason."

"What reason would that be, Butchy von Butch, dear sister of ours?" Lorraine asked, walking over and squishing her little sister's cheeks together.

"Hey! Gerroff!" Sarah growled back, trying to push Lorraine away but only succeeding in pushing herself off of the footboard and onto the bed itself.

Nora couldn't help but laugh at their antics as Sarah huffed and glared at the older blonde.

"I came," Sarah began, throwing one last glare at Lorraine before lying back to look at Nora, "to ask if Tommy can hang out with me tomorrow?"

Nora cocked her head to the side, "Why? Are you going somewhere in particular tomorrow?"

Sarah rolled over to face her sister properly, "Yeah, I'm going over to The Boulders and I kind of promised Tommy that I'd take him up there at some point."

"The Boulders, you say?" Lorraine drawled out while climbing onto the bed to sit of Sarah's back while the younger girl swore and hurled a few muffled profanities in her general direction, "That wouldn't happen to be the same place as your little friend's holiday home now would it? You know; the one who gave you that memory stick full of pictures which you refuse to show us."

Sarah huffed and rested her head in the palm of her right hand as she gave up trying to throw Lorraine off of her, "It might be."

Nora couldn't help but laugh, yet again, at her sisters. It was good to see them like this as opposed to the times when they would viciously fight and argue back and forth, all day, every day when they were younger.

Well, that Elliot boy seemed alright when we met him earlier. He's clearly good friends with Sarah and Tommy seems comfortable around him anyway.

Nora sighed and shrugged her shoulders before replying to Sarah's original question.

"As long as you take good care of him and keep me updated on where you and Tommy go, what and when you're eating and when you're coming home, I don't really see why I shouldn't allow him to go with you."

"Awesome!" Sarah grinned at her eldest sister before suddenly twisting her body underneath her second-eldest sister and shoving Lorraine off of her and onto the floor.

"Ow!"

Sarah just cheekily stuck her tongue out at the blonde, stepping over her to give Nora a hug goodnight. Turning back to Lorraine, who was picking herself up from the floor, Sarah quickly wrapped her arms around her sister's waist and squeezed tightly, lifting the young woman off of the ground for a moment.

"Oof! Geez, Sarah, ease up on the butchiness will you. I'd like to live to see tomorrow!"

Sarah just laughed, releasing Lorraine, and walked out of the room and back towards her own.

Nora laid back against her pillows, hands resting on her protruding stomach, and let out a small chuckle, "It's good to see her so happy, isn't it?"

"Speak for yourself." Lorraine snorted, "You didn't just have three of your ribs cracked due to her so-called happiness"

-GIYOS-

A little while later, the door to the room Sarah and Tommy were sleeping in was quietly opened. Lorraine crept in, being careful not to wake the sleeping pair, and quickly got changed into her own nightclothes.

Creeping over to the bed Sarah and Tommy were sharing; Lorraine knelt down beside them to gaze at their peaceful faces in the small sliver of moonlight, peeking in from behind the curtains. Lorraine leant over and kissed Tommy's forehead before looking at Sarah, gently stroking her sister's brow with her manicured thumb.

I remember being so excited when you were born because you were a girl and even though you've turned out nothing like I hoped you would, I still wouldn't change you for the world.

Lorraine then kissed Sarah's forehead before going back to her own bed and closing her eyes.

-GIYOS-

Well, that's it for that chapter! Not exactly an exciting chapter but necessary for preparing the next one. Chapter 5 is going to have a lot more interaction between Sarah and the Murtaughs and, most importantly, Sarah and Elliot themselves.

Until then people, don't forget to review!

Sentarstage