Next To You

So Close Yet So Far

Tristan was taking a break from school, just until his bruises had mostly faded. He didn't want to answer anyone's questions or hear their words of pity. He did finally tell his Aunt how he had gotten the bruises on his body, but pleaded with her not to do anything about it.

Morrigan came into the gym when Heather was working, she needed to talk to her about Tristan, "Heather? I can't believe how grown up you are now. Tristan mentioned you came by the house the other day, sorry I missed you, how are you?"

Heather smiled and hugged her, "it's so nice to see you again, Morrigan. I'm doing alright, thanks. Do you need anything?"

"Oh, what makes you think I need something? Silly girl."

Heather raised an eyebrow skeptically, "well, for one thing, you're not dressed to work out, so that leaves the second option, you're looking for someone. Like me. What's up?"

"Okay, you got me. I actually have a favor to ask you. Tristan hasn't really been himself since he's come back to me. He's moody, hot-tempered, his self-esteem is zero..." Morrigan began.

Heather smirked, "that sounds like regular teenage problems to me."

"Yes, that's what I thought, like a phase or something, but it's gotten worse. I can't even get him out of bed to go to school in the morning," she said, exasperated.

Heather turned serious as she lifted a weightlifting bar from the floor, "I actually know what you mean. The last time I talked to him, he was pretty depressed. I've actually been trying to think of things I could do to pull him out of it. What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"You've always been very practical and level-headed, Heather. He needs his best friend from all those years ago, he needs you. If you worked more closely with him, we might be able to build him back up again, what do you say?" Morrigan looked hopeful.

"Of course I'll do anything I can to help him, but how do you expect me to do that? He was pretty adamant about him wanting me to go before. I'm not sure he'll want anything to do with me at this point," Heather effortlessly picked up a 40 pound weight and set it up on a rack.

It gave Morrigan an idea, "what if I could get him in here to work out? Would you train him?"

"I don't know, I'm only in here a few days a week, and only occasionally on the weekends. Do you think it would really work?" She really was curious.

"It's worth a try. Just enough to get him some self-confidence, maybe he'll be able to fend off the bullies for once," Morrigan clasped her hands together and waited for her answer.

"Well... How would you get him to come here? I'd expect him to be punctual, and committed, I won't go easy on him," Heather said deviously.

Morrigan beamed, "I'll see what I can do. Is it a deal then?"

"If you can convince him to do it. I wouldn't want to force him to do something he wouldn't want to do. Ultimately, it's up to him to decide, he has to want it, otherwise it'll be a waste, because there are people who come in here who really are trying to better themselves, and their time is just as, if not more, important," Heather wasn't trying to be harsh, but it seemed to be the sort of thing Tristan needed.

Morrigan wanted Tristan to get help, and if Heather was the key to that, maybe he'd be more willing to push himself and do better. It was hard to watch him go through life like that, and she didn't want to fail him. She was never able to have children of her own, so she supposed this was her way of making up for it. Raising a teenager wasn't easy, especially when one was broke and hardly ever able to be around.

One afternoon, after a lot of convincing on Morrigan's part, Tristan finally came in. He was in a t-shirt and shorts, ready to go, but when he stopped near Heather, he expressed himself, "I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing here, but here I am."

"Your Aunt wanted me to teach you how to kick-box," Heather stated bluntly.

"What? Since when do you kick-box? Besides, I already know how to fight," Tristan lied.

"Since we moved here, it was something my father and I did together. I continued to train here on my own though, after everything that happened. It was the only thing that kept me from falling apart," she said as she tossed him a pair of boxing gloves, "and I'll decide whether that is true or not."

She stepped into the ring and got into stance, then waved him in. Scotty and Toby stood next to the ring to watch. It was always a good day when they got to see Heather in action.

Tristan rolled his eyes, "you really expect me to fight you? A girl?"

Heather smirked, "what's wrong, Gallagher? Are you afraid of getting your butt kicked by a girl? Relax, it's not a real fight until it's a fair fight."

"Okay then..." He cautiously stepped up to the ring.

Scotty saluted him and grinned mischievously, "good luck kid, you're going to need it."

Tristan put up his gloved hands like he assumed a real boxer would, and he copied Heather's stance, hoping he was doing it right. They started circling the ring as they faced each other in the center.

"You know, I could climb trees and run as well as you could back in the day, sometimes, better than you," she said, trying to get in his head.

Tristan smiled, "no arguments there. Fighting is completely different though. Everyone knows guys are stronger than girls, even at the same level of fighting."

"Still pretending you know what you're doing?" She clicked her tongue, she jabbed a fist at him, hitting his jaw, "point number one, you're too easily distracted." She swiped a leg at him and got him in the side, "point number two, you have too many holes in your defense, come at me."

Tristan took a deep breath, then tried to hit her, she put his arm in a lock and pinned him down. He was stunned.

"And finally," she breathed heavily, and hung closely over him, "point number three, you hesitated and underestimated your opponent." She stood up and pulled her gloves off, offering a hand to help him up, "and I was going easy on you."

He pulled a glove off and accepted her hand, his heart was thumping out of his chest again as she helped him up. This was a mistake, she was too close, and it was tormenting him.

She put her hands on her hips and stared him down, "so, you think you can handle it? Because your line of 'I already know how to fight,' is complete crap. If you let me teach you, those guys wouldn't dare to take you on again. What do you say Gallagher? In or out?"

Tristan ran a hand through his damp hair thoughtfully, either way, she was right. He didn't want to run or hide anymore. Deep down though, he was afraid there would be no going back. He already loved her, and being around her so much would only make it harder for him to move on. He couldn't help but wonder if her boyfriend would be okay with them being around each other that much, but he no longer cared. He could see an opportunity and he was going to seize it.

"Alright, I'm in," he said with a smile.

Heather was thrilled, "awesome. We'll start Saturday morning then. Six o'clock sharp."

He groaned, "that early on a Saturday?"

"If you train with me, you've got to be ready for anything," she said as she passed by him.

He rubbed his forehead, wondering what he had just agreed to. It was the end of Heather's shift now and she was getting ready to leave.

Tristan waited for her and left with her, "I have to admit, you really surprised me today. Does my Aunt Morrigan know what you do?"

Heather smiled coyly, "if she didn't, I'm not sure she would've come to me. I've seen her working in the diner, she probably has seen me working in the gym. She must've seen me training with some of the other kick-boxers that go there."

"I guess that makes sense, I still can't believe it though. What happened to the sweet, gentle Heather I used to know?" He teased her.

She laughed, "I was never that sweet and gentle. I was as wild and mischievous as you, we used to get into a lot of trouble together, don't you remember?"

He smiled reminiscently, "yeah, those were the days, huh? I really miss it."

"Yeah, me too. It really breaks my heart to hear about everything you had to go through," she touched his arm and stopped at a street corner. "I'm glad you're here though."

"Me too," he looked her in the eyes, and thought he saw a hint of something there.

He started to lean in to kiss her, but stopped himself. Heather didn't seem to notice. She glanced down at her watch and sighed.

"Shoot. Sorry Tristan, I've got to get going. Will you be in school on Monday?"

"Oh. I guess so, I'll see you around then," he answered awkwardly.

She smiled and waved as she ran off. He cursed himself, he didn't know what he was thinking. He put his hands in his pockets and started walking home. He kept kicking a piece of gravel as he walked, he didn't know how he was going to do it. There was no way Heather felt that way about him, but still, he couldn't stop hoping.

Back in school, not much had changed for Tristan, except for the amount of attention Heather gave him. She went back to making sure he got to all of his classes, but he knew it was more to protect him than to supervise him like before.

Sarah found him after school, while she was on her way out of a committee meeting. He was just getting ready to leave.

She called out to him, "Tristan, wait up!"

He looked around him, then spotted her, "hey. What's up?"

"I'll be brief. You're in the tutoring program. I was just assigned to be your tutor."

"And?" He didn't know what she expected from him.

"And I'm supposed to be tutoring you right now. Every day, after school," she said as simply as she could. Was he really that simple-minded?

"I never agreed to it, my aunt signed me up for it without my consent," he brushed her off and started walking away.

She shook her head, annoyed. She thought he knew better than that. Sarah just let him go, she didn't want her time to be wasted on someone who didn't even want help when there were so many others who wanted and needed help.

She was about to walk off in the other direction when she heard some type of struggle going on. She ran around the corner where Tristan had gone. He was being beaten on by three guys she recognized as some seniors.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" She shouted as she grabbed at their arms, trying to get them away from him.

One of them laughed and pushed her back. Tristan got angry and lunged at him, punching him as hard as he could in the face. He got hit in the gut and it brought him to his knees.

Sarah was a little scraped up, but she was okay. She got up and ran to get help. She found Heather coming out of one of the classrooms.

"Heather! They're hurting Tristan!" She yelled as she ran towards her.

"Who is?!" She yelled back as she ran with her.

"Some upperclassmen, I tried to stop them but they just pushed me away," Sarah said breathlessly.

When they reached the spot where she had left them, the damage had already been done. Tristan was on the ground, spitting blood out of his mouth. Heather and Sarah helped him up. She looked around, wondering if they might come back.

"Are you okay? Are these the same guys who have been bothering you?" Heather asked as Sarah handed her a handkerchief.

Tristan coughed and groaned, "yeah, some of them."

"There are more? How often does this happen?" Heather was deeply concerned.

"Usually there are. It happens almost every day. It's why I hate coming to school."

"Oh Tristan, why didn't you tell me it was this bad?" Heather asked as she dabbed the side of his mouth with the handkerchief.

Sarah observed them intently. There was no doubt the two of them had a special kind of friendship. She felt awkward sitting there. It was difficult to see him like that, they gave him a pretty bad beating. She wished she could've prevented it, but she wasn't strong.

That Saturday, Tristan showed up at the gym at the time Heather gave him. Scotty saw him walk in, with cuts and bruises all over.

"Whoa kid, what happened to you?"

Tristan shrugged, "these guys like to rough me up for no reason."

"I don't know about that," Heather said as she came into the room, "there has to be some kind of explanation for the way they treat you."

"Are you implying that it's my fault somehow?" Tristan asked angrily.

"Cool it Tristan, that's not what I meant," Heather said as she stood in front of him. "Bullies always have reasons why they act a certain way, that doesn't make bullying okay, but the fact of the matter is there are always reasons."

"So? I thought this whole thing about training was a way to fight back and put a stop to it," Tristan snipped.

Heather gave him a fierce expression, "let me make something absolutely clear; I'm teaching you how to defend yourself, in no way are you to use kick-boxing as a means to get ahead. Don't use it unless it's totally and unavoidably necessary. Got it?"

He rolled his eyes, "yeah, okay."

"Here's another tip; lose the attitude," she said as she tossed him a rag.

"What's this for?"

She handed him a spray bottle of window cleaner, "don't question, just do."

Tristan groaned and started cleaning the windows. All morning Heather had given him cleaning jobs. Late morning rolled around and his stomach was growling loudly.

Heather heard it, "did you eat breakfast today?"

"No, I was too tired. I just got dressed and came straight here. Who really eats breakfast anyway?" He tried to joke it off.

Heather clocked out then dragged him to the diner, "you need to eat breakfast, your body needs it. Have you ever paid attention in health class?"

"Yes?"

Heather shook her head, "how do you ever expect to get stronger if you don't take care of yourself?"

He shrugged, "a miracle?"

She sighed, "a miracle wouldn't even help you. You want a quick fix rather than putting in the hard work and effort, that's it, isn't it?"

"You're not totally wrong, I guess. I just don't understand why you're making me do all this," he sulked.

"Tristan, it's really very simple. If you want results, you have to put in the time. You need discipline and consistency. You can't go through life doing things half-heartedly, if you really want to achieve something, anything, you have to work for it," she lectured after she ordered food for him.

Tristan went quiet. He could see how serious she was. There was obviously truth in her words, even when they were younger, Heather was always the ambitious one, no matter how big or small her goals were. He realized she clearly knew what she was doing.

When they had returned to the gym, she had him scrub the toilets and showers in the mens' locker room. He kept his attitude to himself though. Finally, she started teaching him the basics.

Once he made it back home, he collapsed on the sofa with a groan, "that woman will be the death of me."

Morrigan giggled, "I take it your first day went well then?"

"If by well you mean absolute torture, then yes. I get to do it all over again tomorrow," he said as he closed his eyes.

"At least it's progress, right?" She waited for a response, but all she got was a snore.

She laughed to herself as she peeked into the living room and saw him sleeping where he had fallen, "he's already doing better."

Even though he was exhausted and completely drained, she saw a hint of a smile there. Her heart swelled as she mentally thanked Heather, there was no doubt in her mind it was exactly what Tristan needed.

Eoin had an away game that Saturday. Heather wasn't able to go. He supposed that's why she was keeping herself busy with Tristan, but he still wasn't sure how he felt about it. He was so distracted during the game, he was missing all his shots and passes. Coach finally had to take him out of the game.

Jenks glared at him on the bus ride home, "Flannery, we should've won that game. What in the hell is wrong with you?!"

Tierney shouted back, "hey, you couldn't do any better, so back off Jenks!"

He turned to Eoin, "you feeling okay man? You've been out of it all day."

"I don't know, maybe I'm coming down with something," Eoin answered blandly as he stared out the window.

"It's that girlfriend of yours, isn't it? What's the matter Flannery? Is she two-timing you?" Jenks said with a mocking laugh.

Connor jumped in, "hey! He said back off, you moron!"

As he walked up the driveway to his house, he found Sarah taking some recycling out, "hey Sarah."

She answered cheerfully, "hi Eoin, how was your game today?"

"Not great. Pretty sure the guys hate me right now," he sighed as he leaned over the fence separating their yards.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true. Everyone has their off days," Sarah answered optimistically.

"This was an important game though, I'm the captain, I should've gave it my all, but I didn't."

"Why? Is everything okay?" Sarah eyed him carefully, wondering what was bothering him.

"Something just doesn't feel right. I don't know exactly, but ever since this Tristan guy appeared, I hardly ever see Heather anymore. This guy has got nerves, he treats me like an enemy, and I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. For all I know, he could be trying to steal my girlfriend," Eoin finally voiced his frustrations.

Sarah froze, then gazed up at him, "do you want to go for a walk or something?"

He smiled a little, "sure, a walk sounds nice."

"Okay, let me go grab my coat, I'll be right back," her stomach was full of butterflies as she ran inside. She ran by her dad's home office, "I'm going for walk with Eoin, be back in a bit!"

He looked up from his desk, "okay sweetie, bundle up!"

She ran back outside, Eoin looked a little surprised, "wow, that was quick."

She blushed, "yeah, I've been inside all day, I really needed to get out."

It was getting dark, so the street lights were coming on. She peeked over at Eoin through the corner of her eye. He was staring straight ahead with his hands in his coat pockets.

Suddenly he spoke, "have you ever just cared so much about someone that it hurt to see them spending time with someone else, seemingly forgetting about you in doing so?"

It caught her off guard, but she kept him on the subject, "yes, is that how you feel?"

"Yeah, lately anyway."

Sarah shyly touched his arm, "I'd never forget you, Eoin."

It startled her when he stopped and stared down at her, "I know you wouldn't Sarah, you're a good friend, I was just thinking about Heather."

He started walking again, Sarah could feel her cheeks burning. She couldn't believe she just said that to him, she was too embarrassed. For the rest of walk, neither of them said anything. Eoin felt a strange tension, but didn't think about it anymore.

"Thanks for the walk Sarah, I needed it," he gave her a quick half of a hug then headed for his front door.

"I was just trying to pay you back for all the things you've done for me," she said as she stood at the end of the driveway.

He smiled at her, "what things? You don't have to pay me back for anything, unless you're referring to that time I beat you at Go Fish, you still owe me ten pieces of candy by the way."

"What? Really? That was like eight years ago, how could even remember something like that?" She wasn't sure if he was being serious or not.

He smiled playfully and winked at her, "goodnight Sarah."

Sarah laughed once she realized he was teasing her, "goodnight Eoin." She watched him go inside, then with a sigh, walked back to her house, "why does he have to make it so hard?"

After another long day of training Tristan, Heather was leaving the gym and heading home. She was starting to see her efforts were beginning to make a real difference in Tristan, he had even agreed to be tutored. It was good progress after only two days.

She walked through the gates and up the driveway. Once she reached the top, she was surprised to see Eoin's truck there.

She ran inside and was greeted by Connelly, "good evening Ms. Heather. Mr. Flannery is in the parlor talking to Mrs. O'Reilly."

He was about to take her coat, but she walked past him. She stood outside the door and tried to hear what they were talking about.

Her grandmother's voice was cold and unfeeling like always, "... Enough of the pleasantries Mr. Flannery, why are you here?"

Eoin's voice was much gentler and kinder, "you said I had to have my plans for Heather approved by you, I want to take her horseback riding on my grandparents' farm, next Saturday, my family will be there."

Heather waited in anticipation to hear what her grandmother was going to say. There was a long pause, then she heard her start to speak, she rang for Connelly.

Connelly walked by Heather, glancing at her before walking in, "yes Mrs. O'Reilly?"

"Has Mr. Flannery been keeping up his end, as per our agreement?"

Eoin became anxious, wondering how much he actually knew about all the things he and Heather did. Connelly had seen things he knew the O'Reillys wouldn't approve of, he could see how nervous Eoin was.

He didn't hesitate or blink, "yes, Mrs. O'Reilly. Everything seems to be in order."

"Very well then, I will allow it," she said as she returned to her task, "you may go now, Mr. Flannery."

Heather suddenly realized she was still covered in sweat from the gym and ran upstairs before Eoin came out. He caught her running up the stairs as he was about to leave.

"Heather, you're home," he glanced around awkwardly, Connelly was waiting by the front door with his hand on the handle.

Heather stopped and slowly turned around, "just got here, and you're here, in my house... Why?"

"I guess I should've called, I was wondering if you had any plans next saturday?" Eoin asked as he stepped in her direction.

"For some of it, yes. What's up?" Heather folded her arms in an attempt to hide her body odor.

Connelly hid a smirk as he stood there. Eoin took another step closer, Heather stood still, afraid he might smell her if he got any closer to her.

"Well, since we've both been so busy lately, I felt it was important for us to plan something, and, you know, reconnect, catch up," he asked hopefully.

"Sure thing, just call me later with details, I got a lot of stuff to do right now, so I should really get started," Heather felt unbearably dirty just then, she couldn't stand it.

"Oh, alright then. I guess I'll call you later," he backed away and headed for the door.

After he left, she turned to Connelly, "not a word."

He chuckled to himself as she ran up to her room. Heather may be smart and practical, but it never ceased to amaze him how much of teenager she really was. His sense of duty had turned to a more fatherly type of affection, and he was thrilled to see her finally enjoying things rather than studying and working all of the time. He just hoped he hadn't been wrong to cover for them.