Next To You

Days Not Soon Forgotten

As expected, Heather did get into a lot of trouble. At hearing the reason though, Ferguson stopped Fiona's hysterics. Heather felt fortunate that he was there.

"My dear, compose yourself," he warned, then turned to Heather, "if you had just asked Heather, I wouldn't have minded you going. You're still going to have to face some consequences, I'm afraid."

Heather bowed her head slightly, "I understand Grandfather, I'm sorry for my poor judgment."

"You're excused then," he turned to Fiona as she left the room.

She was glaring at him, "you're going soft Ferguson. I specifically forbade them from seeing each other. This is a direct disregard of my orders."

Ferguson shook his head, "as far I can tell, your orders have been outrageous and unrealistic. That young man has done nothing wrong. What do you have against him anyway?"

"He isn't right for Heather, he's far below her class," Fiona retorted.

"This is the same thing we went through with Shamus, we kept pushing it, look what happened. The difference now is I've learned from that mistake. You haven't. Don't you remember what happened Fiona? We missed their wedding, Heather's birth, and the first ten years of her life. I'm too old to go through it again. The more you forbid her and micromanage every aspect of her life, the more she will act out and defy you, it's what teenagers do, especially one as independent and headstrong as her. Keep that in mind," he poured himself a glass of scotch and took a long drink of it, then collapsed into his desk chair as he looked over some papers.

Fiona sat down with her tea and watched him from across his desk. It had been a long time since she had seen him step in like that. She knew now that he saw Shamus every time he was looking at Heather.

She sighed and took another sip, "she does have a lot of his spirit in her, doesn't she?"

Ferguson looked over at her and sat up straight in his chair, "yes, I've been seeing it more and more as she gets older. I don't want to lose her, Fiona. She's all we have now, you need to remember that."

"But I do. Why do you think I'm so protective of her? I've turned into this because I thought maybe, if she would do everything I say, she'd have a fuller, more successful life. I don't know why I thought it would work this time around. I never expected I would have to raise a young lady, though I admit there was once a time I dreamed of it," she went quiet and stared into her cup.

Ferguson reached over and grabbed her hand comfortingly, "we've done the best we know how my dear, we can only hope for the best."

Fiona gave a small smile, "I've never seen anyone go to such lengths for love, I can't really blame Heather for wanting to give something back, but still, she's going to be operating everything one day, I just want her to reach her full potential."

"That makes two of us, but I fear we are only holding her back. She needs to learn things for herself, through experience, that is the only way she'll succeed in this life," Ferguson let go of Fiona's hand and returned to his paperwork.

Fiona finished her tea and rang for the maid to clean up, "I think I'll go talk to Heather."

Fiona knocked on the bedroom door, Heather's voice was heard inviting her in. She looked up as Fiona walked in and looked annoyed, "have you settled on a punishment then?"

She peered over Heather's shoulder and found that she had been doing school assignments again. She sat in an armchair across from her.

"I've come to realize I may have been a bit too hard on you, dear. You work hard and always do what you're supposed to do, at least until it comes to the boy. In spite of that though, you've always given your best in everything. I never tell you this, but I am proud of the young woman you are," Fiona grabbed Heather's hand and gave her a small smile. "However, I can't let you get away with ditching school and shirking your responsibilities. So, I'm afraid you'll be staying at Hill Crest for most of your break. If there are no more incidents, we might let you come home sooner."

Heather perked up, "are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Fiona was puzzled.

Heather remembered she had no sense of humor and smiled with understanding, "nevermind, but thank you, Grandmother. I promise it won't happen again."

Fiona patted her hand as she stood up, "wonderful. Dinner is at 6, finish your studying and whatever else you need to do, but don't be late."

Heather nodded and returned to her schoolwork. She wondered what had been the cause for it and hoped to talk to them about it one day.

Monday morning, Heather was back at Hill Crest. Fiona was kind enough to unblock Eoin's number from her phone. Which meant she was allowed to talk to him again, but they said nothing about her dating him. For the time being though, Eoin was still grieving and she intended to be there for him as much as she could. Even when she couldn't call him, she always sent him a text message in an attempt to brighten his days.

Gregory had found out about it and was back to his scheming again. He had worked too hard to let it all fall apart now. As he watched her from his window, he pulled his phone out and made a call.

"It's me again, I need you to do what I asked you to do, now.... What do you mean you've been found out?"

Benny walked in and paused in the door way, accidentally overhearing Gregory's conversation.

"You've been compensated already, you can't quit on me. Find a way to end this or you'll be paying me with your own sweat and blood!" Gregory growled into his phone and hung up. He spun around and saw Benny there, "what are you doing in here? Don't you ever knock?"

"Y-yes, but you didn't answer, I came to see if you were okay," Benny cowered.

Gregory's other friend, Henry Ross, came staggering in, "hey what's up guys? If you don't turn it down a notch, we'll all get busted by Mr. Beret."

Gregory smelled the liquor on him and shook his head, "are you an i***t? why are you using that stuff during the day? I gave that to you to keep it safe for me. If you get caught, we'll all go down!"

Benny turned red, "are you guys kidding me? I'm out of here."

Gregory grabbed his arm and pushed him down into a chair, closing the door and locking it, "just shut up, both of you. No one is going anywhere."

He pressed his ear to the door as Mr. Beret's footsteps were heard walking through the halls, clomping on the hardwood floors, coming to a stop in front of his door. Gregory held his finger to his lips and held his hand up. After a few moments, Mr. Beret had moved on. He let out a sigh of relief, then angrily snatched Henry by his blazer.

"Listen you moron, never pull this crap again! You got lucky this time, but I'm not waiting around for it to happen again!" he snapped.

"Ugh, okay. Are you under a lot of stress or what? You're short-tempered today," Henry slurred.

Gregory shoved him to the side and ran a hand through his hair as he paced back and forth, "you couldn't even begin to understand."

Benny's heart was still pounding in his chest. He almost got in trouble because of the two of them. His father would skin him alive if he was ever influenced by the troublemakers at his school. He wasn't even sure why he still hung out with the two of them, but they were his only friends.

Heather was walking to the car to go to the office when Gregory appeared by her side, "another day, right? How do you feel about me now?"

"The same, if not more so," Heather quipped.

"How's the lover boy these days?" he asked mockingly.

Heather shot a dirty look at him and got into the car. She wasn't in the mood for Gregory's games. She sat as far as she could away from him, but he kept scooting closer to her. She finally had enough and pushed him off the seat, trying to hide a laugh. It made her feel a little better seeing him struggling to get back up.

He smiled up at her, "glad I could entertain you. We should grab some dinner some time."

She turned serious, "yeah, that's never happening. Just stay away from me and I won't punch you in the neck."

He chuckled and sat across from her, "isn't this how things were between you and Flannery when you first met? I have confidence I can also wear you down and make you give in."

"How would you know about that? Nevermind, that's different, I never hated him, but I hate you. You can't expect that to turn to affection so quickly."

"Well, I've been cracking away at it for years, but I'm not letting up now," he assured her.

Heather rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. He could tell she was texting someone. He watched her the whole ride over to the office. She wasn't even sure he was blinking. He seemed less irritating and disgusting lately, or she was just getting used to him. Her skin crawled at the possibility. She tightened her collar awkwardly, hoping he wasn't trying to look down the front of her blouse, she wouldn't be surprised if he had seen glimpses of things already. When they entered the office building, he was walking too closely to her. She sped up to get away from him. She hoped she wouldn't have to put up with it much longer.

Eoin drove up to his grandparents' farm and found Gerald sitting lethargically on the front porch. He was wearing his robe and slippers, he hadn't gotten dressed or had breakfast yet. Which told Eoin he hadn't worked either. He made a quick breakfast for him, then went to check on the animals. He ended up doing all the work that day. Gerald was still sitting on the porch, staring off into nothing, hadn't touched his food. It stabbed at Eoin's heart to see him in such a state.

"Come on Grandpa, let's get you upstairs to bed," Eoin put his hand on his shoulder and tried to get him to stand up.

"I can't," he said weakly, "she isn't there."

"At least come inside, please," Eoin said softly.

Gerald nodded and let Eoin help him to his armchair in the living room. Eoin covered up the food from the morning and placed it in the fridge, then he made some soup for him. He drove home, packed some things, then drove back. He didn't want to leave him alone for too long.

Once Gerald had fallen asleep, Eoin stepped outside and pulled his phone out to call Heather, "hey you. How are you doing?"

Heather replied, "hey, I'm doing good. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, just tired. I'll be staying with my grandpa for a while. He's pretty broken up still. He won't even go sleep in his room, and he hasn't been taking care of the farm. I don't know how he's going to do it all by himself anyway," Eoin answered sadly.

"I can only imagine how painful it must be for him. My father went through something similar to that after my mom passed away, he did pretty well at keeping to himself though, most of the time. Are you going to be able to do all that work though with your injury?" her voice was full of concern.

"I'll manage alright, it's mostly healed up anyway. I just can't leave him here by himself, and this place needs someone looking after it," he said quietly, so Gerald wouldn't hear him.

"Okay. Take care of yourself, Eoin. Don't forget, I'm here if you ever need to talk," she reassured him.

"I know, thanks a lot Ms. Librarian, you've done more for me than you could ever imagine. I love you," he finally said.

He could almost picture her smile when she replied, "I love you too. Don't push yourself too hard, okay? I expect my boyfriend to be in one piece when I come home for a visit."

He laughed a little, "you're the one keeping me together, but I'll try to be careful. Goodnight."

She bid him goodnight and they hung up. She gave him the strength he needed to do what he had to do. After about a week and a half of him struggling to do all the work by himself, and falling asleep every night on the phone with Heather, she knew she had to do something to help him out. So she made some phone calls.

Morning was greeted by the sound of a rooster's crow. Eoin sat up in bed and glanced around, a bit dazed. He spotted his phone on the pillow and knew he had fallen asleep again while talking to Heather. He got up and put on his work clothes, then started breakfast.

After he ate, he stepped out onto the porch and saw three vehicles coming up the driveway. One of them was a huge SUV. As they hopped out, they were all in old jeans and work boots. He looked at their faces and saw Devon, Tierney and Connor. Out of another vehicle was Ivan, Mya, and Melody. The last one was Honora, her boyfriend, and a couple other guys Eoin had played sports with.

Mya came up to him with a big smile on her face, "good morning Eoin! There would've been more of us, but a lot of people are out of town."

Eoin was overwhelmed, "you're here to help me?"

Ivan spoke next, "of course Eoin, we're all here for you. Just remember, most of us are not used to farm work, you might have to show us how to do some of it."

"Well, alright then, let's get started," he said cheerfully.

He showed Mya, Melody, and Honora how to gather eggs from the chickens, then he and the guys split up into teams, making a competition out of tending the fields.

Gerald peered out the window and was moved to tears at what he saw. It was a joy to see Eoin light-heartedly lead his friends through all the tedious and endless farm chores, even fix things he hadn't gotten around to fixing for months.

After Eoin showed Mya how to milk a cow, he had to ask, "how did all of you know I needed help?"

Mya pet the cow and looked up at him, "you could probably guess that, just think about it."

"I see. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world right now. Thanks for coming out here, Mya."

"Well, you know how we are Eoin. We take care of each other, like family. Heather knows that, and that's why she called us. She hasn't forgotten anything you've done for her either," Mya said happily.

They took a break from working to have lunch on the porch. Eoin went inside to see what he could whip up and found Gerald, dressed, making lemonade.

"Grandpa? I thought you'd still be resting?" He asked in surprise.

"Well I was, until I heard all the racket outside," he answered firmly.

"Sorry if we woke you," Eoin stood next to him as he stirred the liquid in a large pitcher.

He saw Gerald's cheeks were moist right before he wiped them on his shirt sleeve, "it's alright sport, help me pour this lemonade for your hard-working friends."

Eoin smiled and started getting glasses out. They brought the drinks out on trays, then Gerald returned to the kitchen and came back with Maggie's oversized cookie jar. He set it down on the table carefully as if it were something precious, and they both thanked everyone.

"Please, have these. They were the last thing Maggie baked, and I know she'd want you kids to have them after all the help you've given us around here today," Gerald insisted, even though they didn't feel right accepting the treats.

They worked until the sun started setting, then got ready to head home. Promising they'd be there the next day. He checked the time on his phone, Heather would still be working. He decided to send her a text message, he didn't want to wait to thank her.

Heather saw her phone vibrate across the surface of her desk. She opened the message and smiled, Gregory watched her from across the room and felt annoyed. He knew who it was from, and he rubbed his temples to try relieving the pressure he felt in his head.

A couple of weeks later, Heather was excited to be returning to North Ridge for what she had left of her break. When she returned to school she would be starting at Hill Crest as a senior. Eoin and Mya would be seniors too, it was hard to believe they were so close to being done with school. She wondered what everyone's plans were once they graduated. Fiona had relaxed security on Heather, and permitted her to spend as much time as she could with her friends.

She met Ivan and Mya at the diner. As soon as she saw them, she ran up to them and threw her arms around both of them, "I've missed you both so much!"

Ivan blushed and Mya squeezed Heather tighter, "we missed you too!"

Eoin's truck parked along the curb across the street, as soon as he stepped out, she ran up to him and jumped into his arms. They hadn't seen each other since the funeral, it hadn't been too long, even though it seemed like it had been ages.

He laughed and spun her around, "I could get used to this, but how will you be when we spend several months apart?"

Heather smirked and shook her head, "let's hope it won't be that long, I might burst. It just feels too good to be home again. Where's Tristan?"

"Probably working," Mya said as she joined them next to Eoin's truck.

"Oh yeah, Eoin mentioned something like that in one of his emails. Where is he working?" She asked as she turned to him.

"The music shop. He's pretty good at running things there," Eoin said as he stepped onto the sidewalk.

They all joined him and walked down to the shop together. Tristan was tuning a girl's guitar. She was trying to flirt with him, but he didn't really seem to notice.

Eoin knew what Heather was thinking, "this happens a lot actually. I don't think he knows what it feels like to be flirted with."

"And none of you have said anything to him?" Heather laughed in disbelief.

The girl had given up and sulked away with a guitar that hadn't needed much tuning in the first place. Heather sighed, then she walked over to where Tristan was straightening up.

"Hey, how's it going?" She asked warmly.

He looked over at her and smiled wide, "Heather, I heard you were coming for a visit. I didn't realize it would be so soon. So, what do you think? I'm a working man now."

"I see that. It's a good look for you, I'm surprised that girl didn't give you her number," Heather teased.

"What girl?"

"The one that was just here, flirting shamelessly with you," she smirked, "we all saw it just by walking into the shop."

"Oh. I guess I didn't realize," he shrugged it off and turned away again.

"Tristan, what gives? There's nothing wrong with you liking people, why do you ignore it?" Heather pressed.

Eoin stared at Tristan from across the store. They had become friends, in spite of the obvious elephant in the room. He knew Tristan had feelings for Heather, he wondered if he was going to tell her.

Tristan pretended to be focused on organizing the repair station, "I've just got bigger goals than dating or being in a relationship."

"I see, well I'll let you get back to work then. Maybe we can hang out later," she said as she stepped away from the counter.

He waved over his shoulder, "sure, I'll call you or something."

He listened for them as they left. Once they were gone, he exhaled with relief. He wasn't in the habit of chasing other guys' girlfriends, and he wasn't about to start, no matter how strong his feelings were.

One of his co-workers came from the back room, "it sucks being the nice guy, doesn't it?"

Tristan gave him a questioning look, "what do you mean?"

"Come on man, I could feel how awkward it was from the back room. You're not fooling anyone. That chick is probably waiting for you to admit it," he taunted him.

"No, she wouldn't play with someone like that, she's too considerate of other's feelings," Tristan put his head down and started going through an appointment book.

His co-worker shrugged and started filling out order forms, "whatever man, you believe what you want."

Heather turned to Eoin, "he's not going to call me, is he?"

Eoin shrugged and stared ahead. It was not something he wanted to spend time talking about on the limited time he had with her. She must've sensed something was up, because she grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

"Hey, how are you and your family doing?" She carefully watched his expression for hints.

"We're okay. They want you to come over for dinner tonight, do you think you'd be able to make it over?" He asked hopefully.

"My grandparents haven't mentioned any other plans to me, so it should be fine."

He smiled and grabbed her hand, "I hope you know how much I've missed you. I'm still kind of bummed we won't be seniors together."

Mya spun around, "not as bummed as I am! Heather, you have no idea how exhausting student leadership club has been without you. I feel like a chicken running around without a head!"

Heather giggled, "calm down, Mya. You know you can call or text me if you need help. I can't be there physically, but I can be your advisor."

Before they realized it, a week had already flown by. Eoin was aware of the pending farewells. He had to do something memorable, something that they could think back on if it got too difficult being apart, to find comfort in.

He turned to Mya for advice, "what should I do? It'll be weeks, or months before we see her again."

"Yeah, I'm freaking out about it too. We all need to do something together," Mya started thinking long and hard about it.

Ivan overheard them as he joined them at their table in the diner, "what about a trip or something?"

"That's right. Maybe we could use my grandpa's lake cabin," Mya perked up.

"The one you mentioned before?" Eoin was referring to the story she had told him about Heather.

She picked up on it and laughed, "yes! She'd be so embarrassed if she knew I told you that story."

"So are we in agreement here about the trip?" Ivan chimed in, not really sure what they were talking about.

Mya nodded, "I'll ask him when I get home, then I'll call you guys and let you know."

After the plans were made and Mya got permission, they went to Heather's house to see if her grandparents would let her. Fiona and Ferguson were both there, to their surprise.

Heather came walking in, "what happened to the stuff I had out in the li-" she saw Mya and Eoin sitting there and smiled, "what are you two doing here?"

Fiona turned to her and spoke first, "your friends were just asking if they could steal you away for a few days."

"For what?" Heather was intrigued.

Eoin spoke next, "Mr. Aiko has graciously agreed to give us use of his lake cabin. Ivan is coming too."

Heather smiled excitedly and looked to her grandparents, "may I please go?"

Fiona and Ferguson exchanged looks, "will there be a chaperone?"

"My grandfather will go with us," Mya beamed.

"Very well then. Heather make sure you use lots of bug spray and sunscreen, and don't do anything dangerous this time," Fiona made sure to emphasize her last words.

"Yes Grandmother, I promise," Heather wanted to shout for joy. "When are we leaving?"

"The day after tomorrow," Mya said happily.

Heather spent most of the next day looking for her outdoor clothes. Mya came over to help.

"What made you all decide on planning this trip?" Heather opened up a box in her closet.

"Well Eoin wanted to plan something fun, and Ivan was the one who suggested a trip, and it just all came together after that. I'm so glad you're going to come with us. Remember, we're all going on our last year of high school, so this could be the last time we get to do something like this," Mya explained.

Heather knew what she meant by it and it was a little saddening, but she looked forward to spending quality time with them. She loved the outdoors and rarely got to experience it, so she intended to make the most of it.

It was early morning when they came to pick up Heather. Eoin hopped out and put her bag in the back of Mr. Aiko's vehicle, then she sat in the back with Ivan and Eoin.

It was a beautiful sunny day, she couldn't wait to get to the lake. By the time they got there, it had gotten hot. So they unpacked and changed into swimsuits. Eoin and Ivan were already waiting on the dock when Heather and Mya came down from the cabin.

They turned around as they were approaching, their jaws dropped at the sight of the girls in their bikinis. Eoin didn't remember ever seeing so much of Heather's skin before.

Mya giggled and whispered to her, "I think we put them in shock."

Heather tried to hide a blush, it was the first time he had looked at her that way, "enough of this standing around, that lake is calling my name."

Her and Mya raced to the end of the dock and jumped off of it. Eoin and Ivan exchanged looks and jumped in after them. They laughed and splashed around for a while, then Ivan and Mya disappeared beneath the docks. Eoin seemed to know what was going on by the display of his mischievous smile.

"You p*****t! Get your mind out of the gutter," she teased and splashed water in his face.

Eoin chuckled, "how could you possibly know what I'm thinking about?"

"Because I'm very familiar with that expression," she laughed as he playfully wiggled his eyebrows at her.

He just shrugged and kept swimming in a circle around her. She felt awkward as she watched his bare torso float by her. She had to admit to herself she hadn't looked at him that way either, before that day. They loved each other, but it seemed shameful to think that way. She supposed that her grandmother had gotten into her head in that way. After a while Ivan and Mya came back, both red-faced and awkward around Heather and Eoin. She realized there was no mistaking something had happened, but she didn't dare question Mya about it.

Eoin was feeling romantic, but it seemed cliche to mess around with Heather like that, where it was so obvious. Late afternoon, they went for a hike and came across a small cliff. Heather's eyes sparkled at the thought of climbing up to the ledge. Even though she promised Fiona she wouldn't do anything dangerous, she hoped to climb it anyway.

"Oh no, Heather, don't you dare!" Mya shouted at her as she was scaling it with her eyes.

"I'm not doing anything dangerous, I'm just climbing a little!" Heather shouted back over her shoulder.

They all stood there and watched her climb to the top. It was taking her a while to come down, and the sun had started going down. Eoin couldn't wait anymore.

"I'm going up to make sure she's okay," As soon as he said it, Heather peered over the ledge.

"The view is amazing up here!" she hollered.

Eoin climbed up and joined her at the top. He pulled his camera out and started taking pictures. Ivan came up next. Mya was freaking out.

"You're all out of your minds, don't expect me to climb up there!" she yelled.

Heather peered down again, "come on Mya, stop being so wishy-washy!"

Ivan sighed, "I'll go back down then and help her find a way up without having to climb."

Eoin was thrilled at the idea of finally being alone with Heather. This was the moment he'd been hoping for. Heather had sat down on a boulder to watch the sun set, he sat next to her and snatched up her hand to kiss it. She looked over at him and smiled, he kissed her, then there was a click and a flash. They turned around and spotted Ivan and Mya with their camera pointing at them. He acted stunned like Heather, when she took their picture, but he was grateful to Mya. He swore to himself he'd pay her back someday for all she had done to help both of them.