Memories

XXIX

ALL MY LOVE

'All your love will make us ache
All your love is worth the chase
All my love, I know they'll let it find us'

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Just in case it isn't clear, Kevin and Thea aren't dating in this story, but Thea is still part of the story. Just thought I'd let you know :)

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Thalia was sitting in her room, writing a report on a piece of art she was studying when there was a knock on the door. She was the only one in the room, with the other girls at class.

Nicky stood on the other side of the door, looking frantic and in desperate need of help. Thalia raised an eyebrow. He held out his phone and Thalia frowned. She took it and saw the caller ID said 'mom'. She didn't know why Nicky was frantically trying to make her answer a call to his own mother, but she picked up the call.

"Hello?" she said, looking at Nicky. The other line was silent for a moment, before a voice came through.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," the woman on the other side said. "I must have dialed the wrong number. Again, sorry," Thalia cut in then.

"No, this is Nicky's phone," she said. It was silent from the other side again before a strangled laugh cut through the silence. 

"Oh, well I'm Maria, Nicholas' mother." Maria said. "Are you my son's girlfriend?" Thalia looked confused and slightly repulsed. Nicky took it the wrong way and put his head in his hands as he sat down on the couch.

"No, I'm Thalia, Nicky's teammate." she said. "He's not here right now, and I heard his phone ringing, so I picked it up. Sorry, I'm quite curious." Thalia lied and Nicky looked at her in slight thankfulness.

"Oh, well would you pass on a message?" Maria asked. Thalia hummed. "Could you ask Nicky if he'll come home with the twins for Thanksgiving? We'd like to reconnect with our family." Thalia frowned again but hummed. 

"Sure. I'll tell him, though I'm not sure Andrew will agree." Maria began to thank her but Thalia hung up the phone. Nicky looked at her expectantly. "She wants you and the twins to go home for Thanksgiving." she handed back his phone and Nicky seemed like he was processing things. "Also, your parents do know you're gay, right? Your mother just asked me if I was your girlfriend." Nicky choked a laugh.

"Of course they know. It's why they hate me so much." he leaned his chin on his hands. Thalia didn't know Nicky's whole story, but understood enough that she sympathised with him about his past. "There's no way he'll say yes. It'll be a miracle if he does."

Thalia sat down beside him. "Hey, I don't presume to understand what your family's like, but I do know that it can be hard." Nicky looked up at her. "Get Neil to ask Andrew. He'll say yes."

"How can you be sure." Nicky sounded sad but slightly hopeful. It was clear he wanted to go, even if his parents had treated him badly for things he couldn't control. He wanted to fix things. Thalia could see that much. Nicky was like an open book to her.

"Just trust me." Thalia said, not giving away anyone's secrets, especially Andrew's. Nicky sighed and stood. Thalia followed him to the door. "If you need support, I'll go with you." he smiled in thanks. As Nicky was going out into the hallway, Thalia called his name and he turned, eyebrows raised. "Hey Nicky?" she said. "I do trust you." it took Nicky a moment to realise she was referencing their conversation from a few weeks ago, but he smiled widely and nodded when he did, turning to Neil and Matt's dorm.

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"I've been trying to find you a new home for days now, Thalia." Pig said. "You're not making any of this easier with the way you're acting." she didn't acknowledge him, instead choosing to slump further in her seat and stare at the mirror she knew had more cops behind it. She'd decided to let the auburn grow out, and Pig still didn't think it was her natural colour. 

"Can't I just be a street rat?" she asked sarcastically, still looking at her reflection. "I've heard it's fun. You know, steal bread, save princesses, become a prince. All that fun stuff." Thalia finally tilted her head to look at Higgins with a fake smile on her face. He was standing by the door to the room with his arms crossed and an unimpressed look on his face.

"This isn't Aladdin, Thalia." he said, walking over and sitting down opposite her. "And you don't have a choice. It's either foster home or juvie." she sat up in her chair and leaned over with a smirk on her lips.

"Ah, so I do have a choice." she said. Higgins huffed a sigh and rolled his eyes. "Well, in that case, I'll need three to six business days to give an answer." 

"You don't have three to six business days, Thalia." Pig warned. "The next time you're back in here, you'll either go to juvie straight away, or another home, and if you run away from that one, then you'll go to juvie. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. Straight there."

Those words resonated through Thalia, though she didn't show it. She sat back in her seat and looked over Pig's shoulder to think about what he'd said. He took this as her not caring and sighed again, before standing and leaving her in the room by herself.

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"Renee," Thalia said as she caught up with the girl. She was walking across the Green to Fox tower, and Thalia had seen her rainbow tips from meters away. Rene stopped and turned, a smile on her face.

"Hello, Thalia." they started walking together. "What's up?" 

"Your last name's Walker, right?" she asked, slightly out of breath. Renee hummed a yes. "Is your adoptive mother called Stephanie?" Renee looked to her side at Thalia and nodded. "I met her a few months ago."

"Really?" Renee asked. Thalia nodded, confirming. Renee chirped happily. "That's interesting. And why was that?"

"Why did I meet her, you mean?" Thalia asked. Renee hummed again. "I was in trouble with the cops. They wanted to put me in a new home, and the officer who, for some reason, likes to look after me, brought her in to see if I wanted to stay with her." Thalia laughed. "She called you her little ray of sunshine. I laughed at her."

"It's a small world, isn't it, Thalia?" Renee said, a knowing smile on her face. Thalia nodded and thought about how she'd somehow ended up on the same team as both her brother who she'd been separated from almost a year ago, and someone who'd lived in the same foster home as she had. Then she thought about Kevin, and how she'd lived with him at Castle Evermore for three years, and how she'd almost been Renee's sister, too.

"Yes, it definitely is." Thalia replied. She didn't know how she felt about everything going on in her life at the moment, but realised that the people she was surrounded by were people she could learn to trust. Some of them she already did, but others she was warming up to. Slowly, but it was happening.