Summary: Tori finds old photographs of the Cody family and their compound, giving Andrew a chance to see Julia again. As the night goes on and Tori and Andrew get closer, Jack returns to share the news of Detective Raines’ visit at work. Fear, jealousy, and unresolved feelings cause long-buried emotions to surface.
TW/CW: Grief, Jealousy, Language, Sad Andrew.
Note: This chapter took over a week! I finished the other series I was writing (House Call) and between work and life, finding the time hasn’t been easy. I wanted to give Andrew a chance to see Julia’s face again and also wanted Jack to get to see the family he never knew. I needed this chapter to accomplish quite a few things, without it feeling rushed. Hopefully I succeeded.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Tori and Andrew spent the early evening doing chores. Tori smiled when she looked around and realized the house had never been cleaner or more organized.
When Andrew was done scrubbing the stove, he walked into the living room where Tori was sitting, looking at something on a laptop.
“Is it okay if I hang out in here?” he asked.
“Of course! Actually, I wanted to show you something. Come sit next to me,” Tori said as she patted the spot next to her on the couch.
Andrew hesitated for a second and then quickly went to her.
He lowered himself onto the couch, wanting to be as close to Tori as he could be without actually touching her.
“Okay, don’t be mad, but I figured out what high school you went to and found their reunion page on Facebook.”
Andrew looked at the screen confused.
“From there, I found some people who graduated the same year as you and Julia.”
“I didn’t graduate,” Andrew said quickly.
“No, I know, but I found people who were the same age as you that lived near you.”
“Anyway, once I found them, I started going through their Facebook pages and from there I found some Instagram pages and there was this one girl, Corrine…something,” Tori waved her hand in the air.
Tori continued, “When Throwback Thursday was a thing, she posted a bunch of pictures from when she was in high school. Turns out, she was friends with Julia. And well, I think a lot of these pictures are at Smurf’s house.”
Tori turned the laptop slightly away from Andrew.
“I was looking for pictures to show Jack so he could have an idea of what Julia looked like. But I wanted to share it with you too. I think you’re in some of them.”
Tori placed a hand gently on Andrew’s forearm.
“But only if you’re okay with it, of course.”
Andrew’s eyes were wide. He looked down at her hand on his arm. He thought about the picture he had of him and Julia that he lost back when Smurf’s house burned down. Since then, the only time he saw his sister’s face was in his dreams.
He looked at Tori and said, “I want to see it. Will they know that you’re the one looking? Will they trace it?”
“No, I made a fake profile so they shouldn’t know. I don’t think they’d go as far as tracing the IP just for looking at a middle-aged woman’s Instagram. I took screenshots so I wouldn’t accidentally like them or something.”
“Okay, then,” Andrew said to Tori with a nervous look on his face. “Show me.”
Tori clicked on the first screenshot. It was grainy, the colors had faded with whatever filter Instagram had popularized a decade ago. Five teenagers stood shoulder to shoulder in front of what Tori assumed was Smurf’s pool.
Andrew’s stomach dropped when he saw his old house.
The pool, where so much of his life had happened, caused memories to come flooding back to him. Wrestling with Baz, Craig and Deran while Smurf watched and egged them on and Julia begged them to stop. Lena paddling through the water while he stayed close enough to catch her.
He remembered lying on his back in the water, weightless. Slipping beneath the surface whenever the world became too loud because everything went quiet down there.
It was where he had planned to lay down and die after his prison break, until he heard Julia’s voice.
A deep ache settled in his chest for a place that no longer existed.
He scooted closer to Tori, their legs touching. Tori clocked it and felt her skin break out in goosebumps, but Andrew was so engrossed in what was on her screen he didn’t even realize.
Andrew didn’t recognize any of the others, but he saw Julia immediately. He held his breath.
Tori watched him, her fingers tightening gently around his forearm. She started to get choked up just seeing his reaction. She could relate to missing home and missing family, but she knew she couldn’t fathom the type of loss Andrew had lived with.
She pointed to the screen, at Julia’s face, and asked, “This is her, isn’t it? I could tell immediately.”
Andrew didn’t answer right away, but his fingers had curled into the couch cushion hard enough that his knuckles had turned white.
Then he nodded, took a breath, and said, “That’s Julia.”
He lifted his hand as if he was going to touch the screen, but he put it back down and said, “She’s wearing a shirt she stole from Baz.”
Tori didn’t press. She just watched and let Andrew live in the memories for a moment.
“I’m going to go to the next one, okay?” she asked.
Andrew nodded silently and she went to the next picture.
“You’re in this one. In the background,” Tori pointed to the screen and smiled.
Andrew leaned forward a little and looked closer.
“Huh,” he said with a small laugh. “That’s me.”
“You have your skateboard under your arm. Jack told me about how much you loved skating… and how good you were at it,” Tori said as she rubbed his arm gently.
“Yeah, look at that.” Andrew smiled a little. “I loved that board.”
His expression became somewhat sullen so Tori just gave his arm a gentle squeeze.
Tori went to the next picture and Julia was sitting with another girl. Her head was thrown back, eyes closed, really laughing.
“When you smile, I can really see the resemblance. I feel like that’s when you look the most like her,” Tori said.
“Really?” Andrew asked, eyes wide and glued to the screen. A tear rolled down his cheek. Tori was sure he probably didn’t even know he was crying.
“Yeah. She’s beautiful, Andrew. You both have that same smile. Jack too.”
“I’d forgotten,” Andrew said, sounding like he was on another planet.
Tori moved her hand and rubbed circles on Andrew’s back.
“Why’d you go through all this trouble?” he asked.
“Because she’s your sister,” Tori said with a shrug and Andrew just stared at her. She continued, “Jack deserves to know what she looked like. And…I figured you deserved to see her again too.”
Andrew sniffled and said, “Thank you.”
“There’s kind of a lot more. Do you want to keep going?” Tori asked.
“Yeah,” Andrew said softly.
Tori clicked through another and then another. Andrew made little comments here and there, telling her who everyone was and sharing little anecdotes about his life.
As Tori scrolled through more pictures, Andrew seemed to get a little tired and his commentary got a little less detailed.
“You want to stop?” Tori asked.
“No, please keep going,” he said.
Tori clicked through another picture. Julia was sitting cross-legged on the patio with a paper plate balanced on her knees while Craig made some ridiculous face behind her.
Andrew laughed softly through his tears and said, “Craig hated having his picture taken.”
“Yeah… he’d always do something stupid.”
Another picture. Then another. Somewhere between one memory and the next, Andrew leaned a little closer.
His temple came to rest lightly against Tori’s shoulder. Tori kept scrolling, even though her heart ached. Every instinct she had told her to wrap an arm around him.
She didn’t want him to wonder, even for a second, if he’d made a mistake by seeking comfort from her.
Finally, they reached the last picture.
“Well, that’s it,” Tori said quietly.
Then Andrew finally realized how much contact he was making. He quickly sat up straight and wiped his face on the back of his hand. He looked away, suddenly embarrassed.
“Um…sorry,” he apologized.
“Nothing to be sorry about.” Tori placed a reassuring hand on his thigh and Andrew looked down at it, but he didn’t pull away.
“Thank you again for going through all of that,” he said.
“It was my pleasure. I loved hearing about them all. Especially Julia.”
They sat there in comfortable silence for a few moments.
“Maybe when Jack gets home, you guys can go through them together? I’m sure he’d love to learn more about his family too.”
Andrew nodded and said, “Yeah, I’d like to show him.”
Tori looked up and noticed dim light filtering in around the curtains.
“He should be home soon, actually. It’s already morning,” she said with a little laugh.
“Wait, I want to see that one of you pushing Deran into the pool again. That picture was taken at the perfect moment!” Tori said excitedly.
She pulled the picture back up and laughed so hard, she tilted her head back.
Andrew watched her, smiling at how completely she gave herself over to the laughter. He had always thought Tori was beautiful, but she was even more beautiful when she was happy.
She pointed at the screen, “The face you’re making! And his face! I can’t!”
Andrew laughed, still not even looking at the screen.
Soon her laughter died down and she realized Andrew was watching her.
“Sorry, sometimes I laugh too loud,” she said.
Andrew furrowed his brow and he asked, “Who told you that?”
Tori shrugged, still smiling, but a slight sadness was hidden there behind her eyes. “People in my family. My ex.”
Andrew’s jaw clenched. His hand curled into a fist against his leg, but he forced it open again.
“Well, they’re idiots. Your laugh is as pretty as you are. You should do it more.”
Tori laughed, but it was more of a giggle. She hid her face, embarrassed by his words.
“Don’t do that.” Andrew gently touched one of her wrists and guided her hand away from her face. “Don’t hide your smile. It’s beautiful.”
Tori’s face got red. “Andrew…”
“No, it’s okay. I’m bad at taking compliments. Thank you,” she said, looking into his eyes.
“I’m bad at taking them too,” he laughed.
Neither of them looked away. The silence stretched until it became something neither of them knew how to name.
The sound of Jack’s key sliding into the lock of the front door jolted them out of their trance.
They moved a little farther away from each other quickly.
The door opened and Jack walked in, his backpack slung over one shoulder.
“Oh, hey,” he said, seeing them both on the couch. Jack’s gaze moved briefly between them before settling on the laptop.
“Glad you’re both here. I have some news.”
Jack set his bag on the floor and started to walk to the recliner. He stopped when Andrew stood up.
“Here, man, you should sit on the couch,” Andrew said.
“It’s fine,” Jack said, a little too quickly.
Tori couldn’t quite get a read on his tone. She thought it was irritation, but then she thought she could be projecting her own feelings of guilt and assuming Jack was mad at her.
Andrew didn’t say anything and sat back down, his thigh touching Tori’s just slightly.
Jack started with a sigh and then said, “Well, a detective came to see me today.”
Tori’s heart sank and she felt Andrew’s body stiffen.
“There’s good news and bad news. Mostly good, I think.”
Andrew leaned forward. “Do they know about me?”
“No,” Jack answered. “That’s part of the good news. The other part is that, like we suspected, they’re not really looking for you either. It’s not worth it to the department to run DNA.”
“And this cop just told you all of this?” Something in Andrew’s voice had changed. There was distrust with a hint of anger.
His tone made Jack pause for a moment. “Hello, Pope,” he thought to himself.
Then he figured Andrew had not had the best relationship with law enforcement and spent his whole life thinking they were the enemy. Jack internally relaxed a little.
“I know him,” Jack replied. “He was part of the SWAT team I rolled with before he got promoted to detective. He came to see me because I was the first to treat Elena. And because we’re friends.”
Andrew gave a short, humorless chuckle at the word friends, as though he couldn’t imagine choosing to be close to a cop.
Tori placed a hand on Andrew’s forearm.
“Andrew, these are all good things,” she said reassuringly.
Andrew seemed to calm, and some of the tension left his posture.
Jack stared at Tori’s hand on Andrew’s arm and was surprised by the wave of jealousy that shot through him. He shook it off and continued.
“The bad news is that Elena’s sister happened to be in the hospital…with Elena’s daughter.”
Andrew leaned forward again, looking worried.
“She was a sweet kid. The problem is, she thought I was Andrew,” Jack said as he rubbed his leg, uncomfortable after a long shift.
“She kept saying I saved her mom, which I tried to play off as if she meant as a doctor, but the things she said made Raines suspicious, I think. Robby too.”
Tori sighed. “But you were working when the shooting happened. You have a solid alibi.”
“Yeah, but this all happened while Raines was on his way upstairs to question Elena about the mysterious hero. If he asks whether she knows me, seeing my face might jog her memory.”
“What happens if she remembers your face?” Andrew asked with a shrug.
“Raines could start asking questions. Like why the man from the diner looks like me. Maybe he takes my picture around to other people who were there. You ever eat at that diner before? You said it’s close to your work,” Jack asked Andrew.
Andrew thought about it for a minute and replied, “Yeah. Couple of times.”
“Maybe a cook or a server remembers you. Then Raines starts asking around the neighborhood and then he finds the garage you worked at,” Jack speculated.
“But you said it yourself,” Tori interjected, “there’s no reason to go through all that effort.”
Jack rubbed his face. “I don’t know,” he said. “It was just the way Raines looked at me as he was getting on the elevator. He’s a young detective, hungry to prove himself. He might chase it down.”
Tori and Andrew shared a worried look.
“I should go,” Andrew said, still looking at Tori.
“What?” Tori and Jack asked at the same time.
“I’m putting you both in danger. I’m healed enough now. I should leave before this Raines gets any closer.”
To Tori’s surprise it was Jack who protested first.
“No. Look, at first, I wanted to convince you to turn yourself in. But now…after all of these years. I finally have a brother.”
Andrew looked at Jack and then looked down at the floor.
“And I know you’ve done terrible things, but meeting Maria today. The way she ran to me thinking I was you. The gratitude in her eyes. You saved her, Andrew,” Jack said, his voice hoarse with tiredness and stress.
The three of them sat in silence for a moment.
“Her name is Maria?” Andrew asked softly, his eyes raising back up to meet Jack’s gaze.
Jack nodded. “Yeah. As soon as she saw me, she ran up and hugged me. She said everyone else just stared, but you were brave.”
Andrew smiled, Jack let out a small laugh and Tori looked at the two brothers, her heart feeling very full.
“Maria kept calling me Dr. Rabbit.”
All three of them laughed this time.
“That’s so cute,” Tori said.
“Yeah,” Jack rubbed his face again. “I ended up buying her a stuffed bunny from the gift shop and a toy stethoscope. I wrote on a card that the bunny’s name was Andy.”
Andrew laughed, then quickly tried to suppress it. The rare sound filled Tori and Jack with equal parts joy and heartache.
“I wanted to tell her so badly that it wasn’t me. That it was my brother Andrew that saved her and her mom.”
Andrew looked away and upward, as if gravity might keep the tears from falling.
“There’s so much good in you, Andrew. I see it now. Tori saw it from the beginning,” Jack said and he locked eyes with Tori.
“I don’t want you to go now. Whatever happens with Raines or anyone else, we’ll face it together,” Jack kept his gaze on Tori as Andrew was still trying to hide the fact that he was crying.
Tori gave Jack a small, but loving, smile. She got up and walked to him. She held his face in her hands as he looked up at her and she leaned down and kissed him in a way that was more affectionate than sexual.
Tori walked back to the couch and placed a hand on Andrew’s shoulder. Before she could say anything, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed the side of his face to her stomach.
Tori ran her fingers through his curls. Jack stood up and walked over to them.
Andrew let go of Tori and stood up. He embraced Jack.
“Thank you,” Andrew said.
“Of course, brother,” Jack replied and he slapped his back and the two separated.
After a moment of the three of them just standing in the living room, clearing their throats or drying their tears, Tori looked at the laptop sitting on the coffee table.
“Hey we found some pictures today that Andrew wanted to show you,” Tori said to Jack. “Why don’t I help you get your prosthetic off and then you can shower?”
“Be right back, Andrew,” Tori said as she walked down the hall with Jack.
As Tori and Jack entered the bedroom, Tori placed a hand on Jack’s back. He sat down on the edge of the bed and Tori knelt down in front of him.
She helped him remove his scrub pants and then his prosthetic and the lining.
He had thanked her for helping, but he had barely looked at her.
Tori helped him stand up, but when she reached for him again, he had turned toward the shower and said he was tired.
He went into the bathroom and shut the door, something he never did.
Andrew sat silently in the living room, thinking about everything Jack had told him. Andrew was still convinced that leaving was the only way to protect them even though it was the last thing he wanted to do.
Next he thought about the feel of Tori’s body as he hugged her. He softly touched the side of his face that was pressed to her stomach.
Tori came back down the hallway a few seconds later.
“Jack’s in the shower,” she said as she made her way back to the couch and sat down next to Andrew.
She had come back much quicker than Andrew had expected.
“Everything ok? You still feel like you messed up with Jack?” he asked.
Tori flopped against the backrest and covered her eyes.
“Ugh I have no idea,” she said, clearly frustrated. “I felt for a second there we were back to normal, but once we were in the room alone he got…I don’t know. Distant, I guess.”
Tori took her hands off of her eyes and turned her head to look at Andrew.
“It’s just so unlike Jack,” she said. “Normally he’s extremely straightforward about things and now I feel like he’s almost being passive aggressive.”
Andrew leaned back against the couch too and turned his face to Tori’s. They were just a few inches apart.
Tori smiled and said, “I’m so happy about what he said to you though. About not wanting you to leave.”
“I still think I should. If the cops ever find out the two of you helped me…” Andrew didn’t finish that thought. “Also, if me being here is causing problems between you and Jack, I don’t want that either.”
“You’re not the problem, Andrew. I think we’re being forced to address certain issues within our…relationship that we’ve just been avoiding.” Tori touched Andrew’s hand. “But I promise, it’s not your fault.”
Andrew looked into Tori’s eyes. He caught her glancing down at his lips, and for a second, he stopped thinking. He slowly moved his head forward, toward her.
Tori’s words were cut short when Andrew pressed his mouth to hers. He felt her start to pull back a bit before sinking into the kiss.
He ran a hand through her hair, something he had dreamed of doing since they met. Something he had always forced himself to push away because he wouldn’t do that to Jack.
Jack…his brother. Andrew suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He pulled back.
“I’m so sorry,” Andrew said, his voice full of regret and panic. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” he repeated.
“It’s okay. Andrew, it’s okay. Please. Just take a breath,” Tori went to place a hand on his shoulder but he recoiled.
“It wasn’t just you. I wanted you to kiss me, and then I kissed you back. You’re the one who stopped. So please don’t act like you did something to me.”
Tori sat up straight and started to stand up.
“Sounds like the shower stopped. When Jack comes out, I’m going to go in the room. I want you to show him the pictures of you and Julia, okay. Tell him all the stories. He deserves to know more about his family.”
To Andrew, she sounded like she was far away and maybe on the verge of tears. He wanted to say something, but he was having trouble finding the words. Then he heard their bedroom door open.
“Hey, I’m feeling super tired so I’m going to lay down,” she said as she passed Jack in the hallway. “You should definitely look at those pictures with Andrew, though. They’re really cool. Especially with his stories.”
“Alright,” Jack said, sounding a little confused. “Get some rest. Good night.”
“Good night,” she said before turning into their bedroom.
Jack made it to the living room.
“Hey, I really want to see those pictures, but I’m starving so I’m going to make a sandwich first, if that’s okay.”
Andrew nodded and Jack could tell something was wrong, but he just assumed he was still recovering from their conversation earlier. It was a lot of emotion for Andrew.
“You want one? It’s going to be bologna. If you trust me to make it, of course.”
“I’ll make them. You’ve been working all night,” Andrew said.
“Well, I’ve been working, but you’re still recovering. In fact, I need to check that wound. I haven’t checked it at all today,” Jack said.
Andrew stopped in front of Jack. “I’ll make the sandwiches and you can check my wound. There’s gloves in the kitchen.”
Jack smiled, happy that Andrew was asserting himself without turning it into a fight.
“I kissed Tori,” Andrew said.
Jack was surprised by the admission for a second and then replied, “I know. When you were pretending to be me. We already talked about this-“
“No,” Andrew interrupted Jack. “A few minutes ago. On the couch. While you were in the shower.”
Jack’s face twisted in confusion.
Andrew continued, “Tori will try to say it was her fault, but it wasn’t. I kissed her. It was just me. It was my fault.”
Andrew stood there waiting for something from Jack the way a soldier waits for dismissal from a superior officer.
“I don’t really know what to say, man,” Jack said. “Why did you kiss her?”
Andrew kept eye contact with Jack, “She was upset that she might have messed things up with you. Hurt you. She’s scared you don’t love her. I wanted to comfort her and I wasn’t sure how.”
Andrew looked down and Jack closed his eyes for a moment and sighed.
Andrew continued, “But that’s not the only reason. I also just wanted to kiss her.”
“Thank you for your honesty,” Jack said, much to Andrew’s surprise. “Again, Tori and I still haven’t established clear relationship boundaries so…I’m not mad, per se. I’m confused more than anything.”
“I think we all are,” Andrew said, making Jack laugh. Andrew smiled weakly. “Just please don’t be mad at her. She loves you so much.”
“She loves me so much that she kissed you twice in less than two days.” Jack scoffed.
When he looked back at Andrew, Andrew’s eyes had narrowed and his brows were pulled in. His head was tilted slightly down, lips drawn tight, and jaw clenched.
“She does love you,” he said in a slow monotone. “She’s just confused too. She’s a good person who deserves love and respect.”
Jack straightened up, fully aware that he was talking to Pope now.
Jack kept his tone even, calm. He didn’t want to antagonize Pope, but he wasn’t afraid of him either.
“I know that. I’m just kind of hurt. Jealous, maybe. Even if I technically have no right to be. I’m stressed about a lot of things and I’m not handling any of it well right now. I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Really talk to her,” Jack said.
Andrew’s body became less rigid and Pope seemed to leave. He nodded once and stepped into the kitchen.
Jack checked Andrew’s wound (and was happy with the progress) while Andrew made the bologna sandwiches.
Once the sandwiches were eaten and the dishes cleared, Jack suggested they go back to the couch so he could finally see the pictures.
Jack unlocked the laptop and Andrew opened the folder.
“This is Smurf’s house. There’s the pool where we spent most of our time. And there’s—“
“Julia,” Jack said, sounding mesmerized.
“Yeah,” Andrew said as he swallowed hard. Seeing Julia brought him so much happiness and so much pain. She wasn’t here anymore. Another thing that he was convinced was his fault.
“You weren’t kidding about her being beautiful,” Jack said, eyes still glued to the screen.
“But of course, she’s our sister so how could she not be?” Jack joked and Andrew laughed.
Andrew scrolled to the next picture. He pointed out Deran and Craig. He told Jack about them and all their shenanigans at the pool.
Through the photographs and Andrew’s stories, Jack began to get a sense of their personalities.
Then they saw Andrew with his skateboard which made Jack happy. Eventually, Andrew got to the picture of Julia laughing.
“Wow,” Jack said and he leaned forward and put a hand over his mouth.
In the light of the laptop, Andrew could see Jack’s eyes welling with tears, threatening to spill over.
“Tori said she has the same smile as us. Called it a beautiful smile,” Andrew said softly.
Jack reached a hand out and touched his fingertip to Julia’s cheek on the screen. He blinked and a tear broke free and rolled down his cheek. He sniffled and Andrew put a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“Thank you, man,” Jack said. “Thank you for sharing this. For sharing their stories…and yours. I know that can’t have been easy.”
Andrew grabbed a tissue from the coffee table and handed it to Jack.
“You’re welcome. You should thank Tori too. It took her hours to find these.” Andrew’s voice had grown hoarse from talking more than he usually did.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Jack said, wiping his face. “I’m pretty beat. I’m going to go stretch out, see if I can get any sleep. Are you going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I’m going to lie down too.”
Jack nodded and when he was at the beginning of the hallway, he stopped when he heard Andrew’s voice.
Jack turned and looked at Andrew. “I know,” he said.
Jack knew what Andrew was trying to say. He understood how sorry Andrew was and how desperately he wanted to protect Tori. More than that, he knew all three of them were being pulled in directions none of them fully understood.
When he walked into that room and saw Tori, there would be a stab of pain and anger because of the one thing he still couldn’t bring himself to say.
His two words seemed to convey all of that to Andrew, who just returned a slight nod.
And with that, the two brothers went their separate ways as the early morning light filled the apartment.
Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
One more note: I’m really not a fan of infidelity. Like I hate it. Especially as someone who has been cheated on. But I feel like Jack and Tori’s undefined relationship and the way Andrew just kind of burst into their lives makes it a much more complicated situation than just someone straight up being a cheater or a home wrecker. I hope it doesn’t make you (the very few people who read this series) hate any of the characters.
