


Filling In

by Goliath



Category: Zoey 101
Genre: Angst, Hurt-Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-08-06
Updated: 2008-09-01
Packaged: 2013-06-28 05:13:42
Rating: K+
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,004
Publisher: www.fanfiction.net
Story URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4453914/1/
Author URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/318754/Goliath
Summary: Set during "Goodbye Zoey". When Zoey goes to England Lola and Quinn promise to watch over Dustin. D/L/Q sibling relationship. Z/D sibling relationship





	1. Chapter 1

**Filling In**

**By Goliath**

**A/N: Obviously Zoey 101 and its characters aren't mine.**

"You lied to me." Quinn said curled up next to her best friend practically laying on top of her in the tight confines of the hammock.

"How'd I lie?" Lola responded staring into the night sky. Quinn turned her head so that she too was looking at the stars.

"You said no one could be depressed if they were in a hammock." Lola thought back to when her father had told her the same thing after the family's beagle, Skip, had been put to sleep. She was five at the time and found that her father had been right. Since that day whenever Lola had felt sad, she would find or set up a hammock to lie in and stare at the sky until usually sleep would overcome her. She sighed.

"Well, this is the first time. I miss Zoey." she admitted.

"Want to go do homework?" Quinn asked.

"Gross." Lola answered "Want to go look at boys?" she asked Quinn hopefully since their were both looking for solutions out of their funk.

"No. I already have a boyfriend." Lola could not prevent the derisive snort from escaping.

"You mean Mark?"

"Yeah." Quinn said somewhat dreamily.

"Whatever." which earned her a mild glare from her best friend. After that they lay in a comfortable silence. Quinn felt she needed to do something productive. She carefully got out so she wouldn't disturb the other girl.

"Where are you going?" Lola asked.

"I need to be doing something. You coming?" Lola shook her head.

"I think I'll stay here a little while longer. Don't wait up for me, I've got my key." Quinn gave her a small smile and walked away. Lola looked back into the sky as the events of earlier played out in her mind.

-flashback-

_Zoey said goodbye to all her friends before ending up in front of her two roomates. She stepped forward between the two girls and hugged both tightly._

_"Take care of him." she asked them simply. Neither had to ask who she was talking about._

_"We will." Lola whispered just before Michael came forward and engulfed them all in a hug, bawling._

-end flashback-

At that very moment the focus of that last discussion was wandering in her direction. She didn't so much hear him coming as felt his presence. Finally she heard the soft crunch of grass beneath the boy's feet and moments later found herself staring up at his tear-stained face.

"Hey kiddo." she said quietly, reaching up to brush an errant tear from Dustin's cheek.

"Hi" Dustin replied, his voice was strained and his face still looked like he could break down sobbing at any second.

"C'mere." she said carefully helping him into the hammock. Dustin layed his head on Lola's shoulder and she wrapped a protective arm around him. He snuggled against her for warmth and a sense of security. Lola could feel him shiver.

"Cold?" she asked. He shook his head and sniffled.

"This is the first time that I've been without family at least a phone call away." Lola understood what he meant. It was one thing to be at a boarding school in another state. It was something else altogether when your entire immediate family was on a different continent. "I was afraid I'd be all alone."

"You won't be." Lola assured him laying her cheek on top of his head gently stroking her hand through his hair. Soon she felt him relax and looked down to see he had fallen asleep. Lola checked her watch and found that it was quite late. She pondered whether to take Dustin back to his dorm and return to her own but as she watched Dustin sleeping peacefully in her arms she decided she could take the possibility of getting in trouble to allow the small boy some peace.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When Quinn got out of bed that morning, she noticed that the bunk above her's was empty. Frantic, she quickly put on some clothes and ran outside to find her missing friend. The young scientist checked all the places that she knew Lola would go to on a Saturday morning. Not finding her at any of her usual haunts, Quinn turned in a random direction and was about to start running when a thought stopped her in her tracks.

"The hammock." she said smacking herself on the forehead. Then she turned in the opposite direction and started to jog. Within minutes she was beside the hammock smiling at the scene before her.

Lola became aware of someone nearby and instinctively tightened her embrace on Dustin in a protective gesture. She turned her head toward the person and slowly opened her eyes. There she saw her best friend smiling.

"I wish I had a camera." Quinn said.

"You wouldn't get a chance to show that picture." Lola responded trying to sound threatening but ending up sounding amused.

"You couldn't catch me being weighed down like that." Quinn pointed out. Lola merely scoffed.

"I could carry him and still catch up with you."

"Yeah but what would you do if you caught me?" Quinn asked.

"Ok, you win." Lola acquised chuckling. Afraid that she was probably laughing a little too loud, Lola covered her mouth so she wouldn't wake up Dustin.

Dustin was awakened by music.

Well, not really music but by laughter except that to him they were pretty much the same considering the source. Girls who were Lola's age he felt tended to have such high pitched giggles that it hurt his ears. Lola's voice was just a touch deeper than her peers which smoothed out the high pitch and gave her laugh a musical quality that Dustin found he quite liked. Often when she was watching something funny he would sit nearby while doing homework. Although the boy had never heard her sing, he didn't just think that she was a great singer, he was sure of it. His eyes stayed shut as he allowed himself these final minutes of peace. Dustin was disappointed when the music suddenly stopped. His eyes slowly slid open.

"Hey you." Lola said softly when she saw he was awake.

"Hi." he replied

"So, you two hungry?" Quinn asked. Dustin didn't need to say anything because his stomach answered for him, rumbling loudly. Which caused Dustin's favorite music to return.

"I'm going to go get changed first." Lola said allowing Dustin to get out of the hammock before standing up and stretching.

"Cool, see ya." Quinn said draping her arm over Dustin's shoulder and leading him to the cafe area.

They bought breakfast and sat down at one of the tables chatting and laughing when Dustin was yanked out of his seat by a large boy a year older than him.

"Give me my money, Brookes!" he snapped while holding Dustin by his neck.

"No!." Dustin yelled defiantly.

"Let him go." Quinn said in a low dangerous voice. "Now!" she snapped. The boy flipped her off and turned back to Dustin.

"Have it your way." the boy cocked his fist and was aiming for Dustin's face. Before he could swing however, he felt a searing pain travel up his arm and let out a small yelp. He turned back to Quinn and saw she was aiming her well known zap watch at him.

"I told you to let him go." her voice was pure venom. When he didn't move she fired her watch again. A beam lashed out and hit the boy on his rear causing him to let go of Dustin and rub the spot where the beam hit. He looked at Quinn now with fear in his eyes. A third shot singed the toe of his shoe and sent him running away screaming like a little girl. Dustin watched his retreating form. He knew that he should feel satisfaction, but the attack had frightened so badly that he just stood there shaking.

Quinn came up beside him and hugged him close.

"It's okay, Dustin. I'm right here." she soothed him running her hand through his hair.

Somehow that was enough for Dustin to stop shaking and feel safe again.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**One week later.**

"Can you believe Chase actually left for England?" Quinn asked.

"Nope," Lola responded, "he is really in love."

"He was pretty much the only semi level-headed guy we know."

"Leaving us to be 'big sisters' more than ever." Quinn looked past Lola's shoulder to see Dustin being guided toward the dean's office by a new teacher named Mr. Marchius.

"Speaking of which..." she said slowly. Lola looked into the sky again heaved a large sigh.

"Please tell me it's not Marchius."

"Ok, I won't." Joe Marchius had started teaching the sixth grade at PCA about a month ago. While Lola and Quinn hadn't really seen him do anything wrong he gave them both the creeps.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Quinn offered.

"Ok," Lola accepted without much enthusiasm, "One, two, three, shoot." Lola groaned when she saw the results.

"Paper covers rock." Quinn said smugly as she grabbed her friend's clenched fist.

"When are you going to pick something else." Lola cried in exasperation.

"When you do." Quinn whispered after Lola was out of earshot. Taking a moment to prepare herself, the young actress walked over to the teacher and looked down severly at Dustin.

"Dustin, what did you do?" she asked crossing her arms.

"He was in the high school Chemistry lab without an upperclassman or a teacher." the teacher informed her. Lola resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _You've got to be kidding me._ Even if there was such a rule, and Lola was sure there wasn't, it would be such a stupid one that no teacher would enforce it, except maybe one. Lola used her natural gift of persuasion to convince Mr. Marchius that she would take care of the situation. Mr Marchius left glaring at Dustin as he walked past Lola.

"Thanks." the boy said relieved.

"You so owe me." Lola grumbled leaning over so that she and Dustin were at eye level. "You know I don't like dealing with him. He's irritating. He's creepy..." Lola stopped suddenly and looked just over Dustin's head, appearing to be deep in thought.

"He's staring at my butt right now." Dustin could confirm that with a quick glance over Lola's shoulder.

"How do you do that?" he asked in astonishment.

"It's a talent." she told him, "Now please Dustin, stay away from him." she pleaded.

"I will." Dustin said quietly, his eyes looking down at his feet.

"Good." Lola said brightly favoring the boy with a grin. A wicked thought struck her and she planted a quick but firm kiss on his cheek, turned him around, and gave him a gentle nudge. She stood up and watched him walk away still grinning. Then, she rejoined her best friend at the table they were sharing for lunch.

"What did you do that for?" Quinn asked chuckling. Lola just shrugged.

"Well, you know that my favorite holiday is Christmas so I decided to have some appropriate colors for it; red," she said indicating Dustin, "and green." Lola finished pointing to a small group of Dustin's peers who witnessed the whole incident. Quinn's expression turned serious.

"You know that Marchius was staring at you the whole time." Quinn stated.

"Yeah, I guess maybe I shouldn't have worn this skirt." It was Lola's favorite denim skirt which stopped just above her knees. She shrugged again. "Oh well so he'll have some nice dreams tonight."

"This could be a problem. He wasn't even trying to hide it." Quinn told her worriedly. "Maybe you should tell Dean Rivers."

"Tell him what?" Lola asked a bit perturbed, "That you caught him staring at my rear? He'll just say that he was making sure that I raked Dustin over the coals. Besides, I don't think he would try anything that would get him fired and possibly thrown in jail."

"Maybe." Quinn said after mulling over her friend's words for a few seconds.

"If he does anything I promise to tell you and you can zap him into oblivion." Lola told her hoping that would appease the scientist. Quinn nodded.

"Cool." They finished their lunch in silence. A few moments later Quinn rose from her seat. "Well, I better go catch up with Dustin. He needed some help with his math homework. Later."

"See ya."

**A/N In case you were wondering the teacher's name is pronounced mar k us. See ya.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**The next week**

Dustin was seriously irritated.

It wasn't that he minded that Lola and Quinn wanted to celebrate their birthdays together, they were only five days apart after all. It also wasn't that he couldn't think of anything to get them. In fact Dustin had found the perfect gifts, not only for their birthdays but also to thank them for their help and support they had given him since his family had left him. From homework to bullies, giving him the opportunity to vent his frustrations of not hearing from his family since they all relocated to England, being a shoulder to lean on when the frustration threatened to overwhelm him. Zoey, even at her best, had not been the big sister those two had been. Of course he realized that the thought could come from just being upset that she hadn't bothered to keep in touch since moving which was probably unfair but he also thought that the lack of contact was at best odd. No, Dustin was angered by the same thing that usually got in the way of his plans.

His lack of money.

The boy pondered his options, which seemed very few indeed. He couldn't ask Lola and Quinn for money to buy their own birthday presents because that would just be wrong and missing the whole point. He could work for Logan again but Dustin just cringed at that thought. Letting out a long groan of frustration, Dustin walked to the outside cafeteria area to further ponder the problem. As he was nearing it, Dustin noticed Logan making out with a girl on a bench that was partially secluded by trees. Curious he slipped around the couple. Something about the girl made it seem like an important thing to do. When he found a spot where he could remain hidden but see the girl more clearly an evil grin spread across his face. Those birthday presents were good as bought. He waited until they were done and the girl left. Logan leaned back on the bench and pulled out his ipod.

Dustin emerged from his hiding spot "Hi Logan." he said with a friendly smile. Since Logan was now in such a good mood, he returned the smile.

"Hey kid, what's up?"

"Oh not much. Was that Stacy Potter?" he asked. Logan's grin became wider.

"Yeah." the young man answered seeming very satisfied with himself.

"You know she's dating Jimmy Pankin, don't you?" asked innocentely. Logan looked at him curiously.

"She is?"

"Yeah, I saw them together this morning doing pretty much what you were doing just now." Logan's eyes widened in surprise.

"You saw us?!" he asked in shock.

"Yeah, just passing by, you know, and I didn't want to disturb you." Dustin's expression changed as if he was seriously trying to remember something. "Jimmy's captain of the football team isn't he?" Logan gulped.

"Yeah."

"You probably wouldn't want him finding out about this. I mean you of all people know how the football players can be." Logan's mouth slowly dropped open. Dustin's expression remained impassive but on the inside he was loving this. Logan regained his composure slightly and sighed in frustration. The kid had him and he knew it.

"What do you want?"

"I can show you if you can arrange for us to get to the mall."

Grumbling to himself, Logan pulled out his phone and stood up.

"Come on then."

Logan had to admit when he saw the gifts that Dustin had chosen, that the kid had taste and class when it came to picking out a present for a girl. He thought that the next time he needed to get one, he'd pay Dustin to help him out.

& & &

Two days later, Sushi Rox became a private party for Lola and Quinn. They had gone through all their presents except for the last two which were small and wrapped in identical paper. Each noticed that the gifts were from Dustin who they both smiled at with great affection before tearing off the paper to reveal identical jewelery boxes. Lola and Quinn looked at each other with confused expression. Logan bit his lip to prevent a knowing smirk from crossing his face. Dustin just sat there happily. When they opened the boxes what they saw inside took their breath away.

Hanging from two golden chains were two small identical heart shaped pendants. The pendants had identical inscriptions on them in fancy script.

Big Sister

They pulled Dustin into a hug between the two of them. They had received cooler presents. They had received more expensive presents. However, when the evening ended, no present was as important to them as two small necklaces which hung around their necks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Lola and Quinn spent their free time wandering around and having a friendly debate about whatever mundane topic came to mind. Presently, they were discussing which boy in their psychology class was the cutest when Quinn noticed that Lola had stopped answering her.

"Lola, what's up?"

In response Lola snatched Quinn's glasses off of her face and put them on. She pointed at something at the front gate and her mouth flopped open like a fish gasping for water. She was trying to form words but nothing intelligible came out. After squinting to see what had her friend so exicited that she couldn't even speak, Quinn grabbed her glasses off of Lola's face and put them back on. What she saw made her heart skip a beat and brought a huge grin to her face.

At the edge of the parking a familiar blonde girl had just got done gathering her belongings together on the ground next to her and paying the cab driver who drove off. Quinn and Lola exchanged shocked but excited expressions before breaking into a dead sprint crying out the girl's name.

Zoey was just about to collect her things when she heard familiar voices screaming her name. She turned to them just in time to get nearly tackled by her two best friends giggling as she caught them both in a giant hug which they returned.

"How did you get back here?!" Lola cried excitedly.

"I convinced my parents that England just wasn't for me and they agreed to let me come back to PCA!" Zoey answered just as excited.

"This is so amazing!" Quinn added then all three squealed and hugged one more time before Lola and Quinn helped Zoey gather her things and headed to their dorm. A thought suddenly struck Quinn.

"We better go see Ms. Burvich first. She needs to find a place for Stacey." Zoey couldn't help but looked shocked and amused at the same time.

"They put Stacey in with you guys?"

"Yeah." Lola said, her tone making it clear that it was certainly not what she had wanted. They headed over to housing and got the situation cleared up much more easily then they had expected. Stacey parted amiably with her former roommates seeing Zoey back. After they got Zoey unpacked she turned to her two best friends and told them about seeing Chase admit his love. She was somewhat surprised that their reaction wasn't as elated as she expected.

"What's wrong?" Zoey asked. Lola and Quinn looked at each other nervously, unsure of how to tell Zoey that Chase had actually followed her to England.

"Um," Lola took a deep breath, "I don't know how to tell you this, Zoe, but..." she was saved from having to continue by Michael and Logan showing up on their doorstep to welcome Zoey back. Zoey looked surprised.

"How'd did you guys find out so soon?" she asked, "I just got here."

"Well," Logan explained, "we heard these two screaming your name and kind of put two and two together."

"Ah. Well I've been worried sick about my little brother since things settled down in England and especially on the way back. Do you know where he is?" she asked no one in particular. Quinn and Lola exchanged a hesitant glance. They were unsure whether they should tell her right away without talking to the boy first. They knew that Dustin still loved Zoey dearly but they were still working with him to get him over his feelings of being abandoned.

"He's had a ton of homework lately." Lola said which was actually true. She left out the part about him having an appointment with the school counselor. Zoey seemed very disappointed by this but eventually managed to shrug it off.

"Anyways, who's up for a celebration at Sushi Rox? My treat." her friends all raised their hands and Zoey chuckled as they all walked out the door together. They took their sweet time making it to the campus-based restaurant, partially because Zoey was hoping she would see Dustin somewhere along the way. They had arrived at Sushi Rox before that happened. Zoey just sighed and followed her friends inside. After they got their food and sat down, Zoey finally decided she had to breach the subject.

"So how has Dustin been doing?"

"Oh he's been doing really well. He's been getting straight A's and B's, hasn't got detention once this semester, and he's in the creative writing club." Quinn said quite proudly.

"I thought that the creative writing club was only for 9th grade and above." Zoey said.

"It is but Dustin been keeping a 'journal', boys don't like calling a diary, for about a month." Lola told her, "From there he got into writing poetry and short stories. He let me and Quinn read a few of those and we thought they were good so I persuaded the adviser to give him a chance and the rest is history."

"He even got first place in a writing contest just a little while ago." Quinn added.

Zoey smiled, truly proud of her little brother. They discussed things that had been going on since Zoey had left for England. She generally just laughed and shook her head at all the mischief her friends had gotten into while she had been gone. She, in turn, told them about her time in England, getting used to the time change as well as the new school, and trying to make friends which had proven somewhat difficult for her because she just couldn't get acclimated to the cultural differences and having to wear a uniform which made Lola groan to even think about. The group went back to the girls' dorm and continued chatting. Nobody kept track of the time so they were all surprised when Coco came to kick the boys out. Zoey grimaced in frustration. She had really wanted to see Dustin but it was now far too late to do so.

"Don't worry," Lola soothed "we'll see him tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, you're right." Zoey replied climbing into the single bed though she still sounded disappointed, "Night."

"Night." Lola and Quinn responded at the same time before Quinn shut the lights off with her remote and the three girls fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The next day Lola convinced Zoey to go to breakfast promising her that she would catch up with her and make sure to bring Dustin. Zoey was somewhat sucspicious but complied without voiceing any argument. Lola walked toward the boys dorm and waited outside while trying to think of how to tell Dustin that his sister had returned and worrying about his reaction. Sooner than she had hoped, her opportunity came.

"Hi, Lola." Dustin said wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Hey, Dustin." she replied hugging him back. Dustin expression turned to confusion as he looked up at the young actress.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned. Lola took in a large breath and let it out slowly before slipping out of the boy's arm and sitting on a nearby bench, indicating that Dustin should join her which he did.

"I have to tell you something." she hesistated.

"What?" Dustin asked his face beginning to show fear. Lola hated seeing him this way and decided it was best to treat the situation like removing a bandage, get it over with quickly.

"Zoey's back." she said quickly then waited for what she thought would be an obvious reaction. What she got was wanted yet completely not what she expected. After a moment to let the news sink in, a broad smile spread across the boy's face.

"Cool! Where is she?!" he said excitedly. Lola sighed in relief and smiled. That had been much easier than she had dared to hope.

"She's waiting for us at breakfast."

"Let's go!" Dustin said grabbing Lola's hand and nearly dragging her off of the bench, causing her to chuckle. While they walked, with Dustin thoroughly intent on their destination, Lola looked into the sky and mouthed a 'thank you' to whatever diety might be listening at the time. Within a few minutes they were in sight of the boy's goal. He let go of Lola's hand and just as she and Quinn had done the day before, sprinted toward his sister calling out her name. Hearing it, Zoey stood up and caught her baby brother in her arms spinning around twice before putting him back on the ground in front of her. Lola could not help smiling at the scene before her. She walked over to the table and took the seat opposite Zoey and Dustin.

"Told ya I'd bring him." she said with a grin. The three of them sat and ate as Dustin filled Zoey in on what he had been doing. Even though she knew pretty much everything Dustin told her since Lola and Quinn told her the previous night, Zoey listened intently happy to see her brother's exicitement. After finishing their meals Dustin got up from the table.

"Sorry, I have to go study for a science test. See ya later." he gave Zoey a hug then went around the table and gave Lola one as well. Zoey felt emotions conflicting inside her. On the one hand she was grateful to Lola and Quinn for taking such good care of her little brother. On the other hand she felt a small pang of jealousy but didn't allow it to show in her expression. She watched Lola intently as the young actress watched Dustin's retreating form.

"He's such a sweetie." Lola said with a grin. Zoey tilted her head in confusion as she looked at one of her best friends.

"What's that?" she asked pointing to a spot just below Lola's neck. Lola looked down and saw her necklace.

"Oh, that's one of my birthday presents." she told Zoey happily as she lifted it gently with her hand to let Zoey see it better. Someone else may have realized that letting Zoey have a closer look at the pendant, particularly its inscription, might have led to an akward moment between the two but if Lola felt akward, it didn't show.

"Oh," Zoey said after a moment, "it's pretty."

"Yeah, I think Dustin must have found a way to blackmail Logan for the money." Lola said with a chuckle which Zoey joined her in. Lola didn't notice that Zoey was only laughing half-heartedly. Zoey felt strange as they fell back to silence. She had too many thoughts running through her head and felt that she should lie down. Lola finally caught on to her friend's discomfort.

"You ok, Zo?"

"Too much sun." she tried to joke. "England never had any so I guess I'm just not used to it yet. I think I should go lie down."

"You need anything?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. See you later." Lola waved goodbye to her friend but still watched her with concern.

**& & &**

Zoey opened the door to her dorm and was somewhat startled to see Dustin sitting on her bed reading a textbook with Quinn sitting beside him. Quinn looked up and grinned at the other girl.

"Hey, Zoey, what's up?"

"Not much, what're you guys doing?"

"Quinn's helping me study for my science test Tuesday." Dustin told his big sister.

"Oh." Zoey responded quietly. Quinn and Dustin gave her the same concerned look that Lola had back at the breakfast table.

"You ok?"

"Yeah." Zoey said with a sigh really getting tired of answering that question. She gave them the same excuse about getting too much sun.

"Oh, well, we can go to the library." With that she and Dustin collected the books off of Zoey's bed and bid her goodbye. Just before Quinn passed her, Zoey noticed a glint of metal around her friend's neck which caught her eye. When she turned to see it fully, Zoey had to fight the instinct to let her jaw drop. Around Quinn's neck was a necklace that was exactly like Lola's. After they left Zoey dropped on to her bed and stared up at the ceiling her mind still going far too fast for her to keep up. There was only one thought she could latch onto solidly.

_He's never gotten something like that for my birthday._

**&**

Zoey spent the rest of the day, interrupted by only bathroom breaks, laying on her bed and trying to sort her thoughts out.

_'Why do I feel jealous? I mean it's obvious Dustin still loves me. He jumped into my arms when he saw me this morning, but come on; hugging Lola?'_

She could remember a time when Lola would limit her contact with Dustin as much as possible.

_'Quinn is helping him with his homework?'_

Actually that was to be expected. In the past, Quinn would help Dustin with his homework, usually in return for helping to test her "Quinnventions". Plus, even though she was used to his coming to her for help, Zoey knew that the sciences were definitely not her strong suit.

_And those darn necklaces!_

Zoey knew that this shouldn't have surprised her either. Dustin was well known in his family for being able to give sweet, thoughtful gifts. She had been the recipient of many herself, usually made by his own hands. The logical part of her mind was arguing these points but the angry voice of jealousy was now screaming its view inside her head. Zoey looked out of the room's window to see that it was dark. Just after that realization, Quinn and Lola entered the room. Zoey started at the with her lips pursed together into a frown.

"Hey, Zoey, feeling better?" Zoey shook her head.

"Look, we need to talk."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"About what?"

"About Dustin." Lola turned to Quinn with concern in her eyes.

"Is he ok?" she asked.

"He was as far as I could tell." Quinn replied. Zoey's hands balled into fists as the two carried on this conversation as if she weren't even there, never mind her being the one who had brought the subject up. She sucked in a deep breath through her teeth and let it out slowly.

"He's fine." she answered with a forced calm, "I'm not."

"What's wrong?" Lola asked as she joined Quinn on the bottom bunk bed. Zoey didn't know where to begin. Part of her brain was still trying to dissuade her from this course of action but she had learned long ago to tackle problems head on whether or not someone got hurt, so she plunged ahead.

"You two need to stop acting like big sisters." Zoey stated bluntly. Lola's mouth fell open in shock but before any words came out Quinn spoke up calmly and the actress decided it was best to let the more logical Quinn take the lead in resolving the situation.

"Zoey, you're the one that asked us to take care of him." Quinn said passively and logically, "In fact that exactly what you said."

"Well I'm back!" Zoey snapped "and he's _my _brother!" Lola clenched her fists so tight that she could feel blood being drawn from her palm by her long fingernails.

"Well," she said through clenched teeth trying to keep her voice even, "like Quinn just said we were only doing what _you_ asked us to do." Quinn placed a calming hand on Lola's arm which helped her friend relax enough to open her hands revealing four blood-marked half moons on her hands.

"And now you've stolen him from me!" Zoey snapped in response, "I can't believe I ever trusted you two with anything that important!" At this Quinn finally leaped up from the bed.

"OK, first of all, stop talking about him as if he were some sort of possesion or I will_ electrocute _you!" Zoey looked startled at that. Quinn didn't often show her anger but when she did it could be quite frightening. Especially considering that was one of the easiest threats for her to actually carry out. Lola stood up next to the scientist and waves of anger practically made her glow.

"If you were so concerned about him, why didn't you call, or e-mail, or write, or answer all the calls, e-mails, and letters he sent you!"

"What in the world are you talking about!" they were all now shouting at each other.

"For the first couple of weeks your were gone he tried everything to communicate with you!" Quinn informed her. "After he realized you weren't responding he gave up and almost withdrew into himself. _We_ kept him from doing that!"

"Remember yesterday?" Lola added, "We didn't tell you that the real reason he wasn't around was because he had an appointment with the school counselor!"

"What did you do to him!"

"Nothing!" Quinn screamed "He was seeing the counselor because he felt like his family had forgotten him!"

"And what about those!" she said indicating their matching jewelery.

"They were birthday presents to people who were there for him when he needed someone the most! We won't apologize to anyone for that!"

Zoey had heard enough.

"You two just leave him to me!" she yelled.

"This is some gratitude for doing what you asked us to!" Lola snapped. With that parting statement she and Quinn walked out of their dorm, slamming the door behind them and leaving a fuming Zoey behind.

Through all their shouting, none of them noticed the sound of foot falls racing away from their door. By the time Quinn and Lola entered the hallway, a small figure was racing away from the girls dorm into the night.

**A/N: Apologies for my lateness in getting this one up, I just wasn't sure how to go with it. **


End file.
