A/N: Yes, I added a part in the middle of this chapter. It is a long story to explain. Blame Soccerstar2015  :)

"It's a responsibility."

"We know that," Alex protests. "I'm sorry they broke your rule, but that isn't our fault. We didn't encourage them to." She crosses her arms defensively. "I don't know why you're lecturing us."

Carli eyes her through the rear view mirror. "It's not about them breaking a rule, Alexandra." Her eyes shift to Christen, to me, and then back to the road. She steps on the gas as the light turns green. "It's about how you heard."

I wince. "Our phones were silent. And out of reach."

Carli nods stiffly. "Exactly. Being responsible for another human being is hard work." Her grip on the wheel loosens as she continues. "No ones perfect but these girls have to know they can rely on you. That you'll be there when they need it."

Alex's resolve crumbles. She drops her hands to her lap and fiddles with her fingers. "I want to be there."

"We're almost there," says Carli a bit softer but still with an obvious edge. "Julie said Mal has a cut-" she takes one hand off the wheel and rest it on Christen's thigh- "she's fine though I think. Everyone else seems to be fine, just cold." I hear the blinker start to click and we start to merge.

Once we get in the parking lot and parked, Carli sighs and looks at Chris for a minute and gives her a sympathetic smile; Car's dealt with Mal's antics plenty being so close to their family. She turns around in her seat and looks between me and Alex, "I know you guys aren't officially her person yet, but it's time to step up. Even I've noticed," she gives us a nice smile and taps Alex's knee, "that she looks up to and loves you two. If you need a hug later, my door is open, okay?" She looks back at Chris and they exchange a smile before she looks back at us, "I mean you may have to fight JJ off, but don't worry- I'm here if you need me."

We all laugh a little and then we climb out of the van. I spot the crew on a bench a little down the beach. Actually seeing the state of them all and how small Eleanor looks, I know what I've got to do.

•••

It's time to step up.

I clear my throat. Ellie looks up at me from her seat on the bed. She is freshly showered and dressed in warm clothes Alex heated in a dryer. Ellie's eyes shift down to her lap, and her fingers fiddle together. "Are you mad?"

I hesitate. Not because I'm mad, I could never be mad . . . for long. I'm not sure how to say what I need to say. I want her to understand how serious I'm being. Between us, it's always been easy and simple, but right now it isn't. I am about to change the nature of her relationship with Alex and I. It's necessary, the two of us believe that, but I'm not sure how she'll take it. The last thing I want is for her to pull away from us.

"Toby?" Ellie says weakly, pulling me out of my black hole of a mind. I glance at Alex who is staring at me with a what-the-heck-are-you-doing look.

I sigh. "Eleanor," I start but am thrown off when the fifteen-year-old sniffles and wipes her eyes. I hadn't even noticed she was crying.

She looks up at me with big,wide eyes and begs, "I promise I'll be better. Please don't stop being friends with me. And-and letting me sleep in your room when I-I...yeah. And-and hugging me and letting me steal, I mean borrow your sweatshirts. And—"

"Hey, hey, hey." I sit beside her and pull her into my side, tucking her under my arm. "Slow down, kid. I'm not going anywhere and neither is Alex." I look up to meet Alex's eyes. She looks heartbroken at the teens reaction.

She moves to sit on Ellie's other side, sandwiching her between us. "We're not going to cut you off, sweet girl. Never, ever, and especially not over a mistake. A little mess up."

"I wouldn't say little," I mumble.

Alex throws me a hard glare.

"What I mean is," I continue. "What happened today was very scary for Alex and I. You could've gotten hurt or lost or kidnapped. None of us old people would've known where you guys were. That's very, very dangerous. Don't you think?"

She nods miserably. "I-I'm sorry." She hiccuped. "W-we didn't think it would be a big deal. It was just supposed to be fun."

Alex squeezes her thigh with a tight smile. "I know it can be disappointing to be told you can't do something, but we don't say that to be mean. We say that to keep you safe. Do you trust that we are looking out for you?"

She nods into Alex's shoulder.

"Verbal response, please, Ms. Ellie," I coax.

She bites her lip and murmurs, "Yes."

Alex and I exchange a look. She nods and pats Ellie's thigh to get her attention. The teenager reluctantly peels herself away from Alex, so she can make eye contact. Alex says, "We think it would be good if you had some structure to help you with everything that our lifestyle brings. Being a pro soccer player is hard for anybody, let alone a fifteen-year-old kid."

"I'm almost sixteen," she corrects.

I smirk. "You're still fifteen."

She wrinkles her nose. "Not for long."

We pause letting her fully soak in what we are proposing. She seems to mull our words over in her head. "So, what do you mean?"

"Well," I start. "Everything is really overwhelming, right? It's hard to keep up with it all?"

She hesitates to admit it. Eventually, she nods slowly and says, "A little."

"To put it simply, we'll help you with that. We'll set clear rules and expectations to simplify everything for you. You don't have to worry about all the ins and outs, just what we expect out of you. Well us and coach."

She blushes. "Like having another set of parents, like I'm five."

Alex shakes her head with a small smile. "Not quite. No matter how old, you'll always need your parents," Alex points out. "But in a way, yes. We'll sort of be that for you on the road."

She plays with the string of my hoodie that she's wearing. "People already think I'm a kid. It's gonna make it worse."

I chuckle. "I hate to break it to you, kid, but...well, you are a kid." She scrunches her nose at that. I add, "And you're not the only one to make or have that kind of deal with a special person or people."

She perks up curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Next time you get the chance, pay attention to Carli and Julie. Christen, Julie, Mal, and Rose are another good example. I think Kelley and Tierna might have some kind of arrangement."

Alex agrees, "You'll find pretty much everybody has some kind of mentor or mentor somebody else. We're all one big family."

She seems to warm up to that like butter on a hot pan. "And you'll both be my person?"

Alex and I both nod. "Yes, you'd be our responsibility," I say.

Alex specifies, "But this means that behavior like today wouldn't fly. You endangered yourself and lied to us which will be and are big no-no's."

She pouts. "Does that mean I'm in trouble?"

I look at Alex, trying to keep my expression neutral enough to evade Ellie's critical stare but convey enough to communicate effectively. I'm not sure where she stands. Behavior I can answer, she takes lead, "We don't have established rules, but I'm sure you know that lying will never, ever be tolerated. I think at the very least we can address that."

"No dessert and early bedtime tonight," I decide, already readying myself to resist her pout. "We'll talk about expectations and possible consequences."

She pouts but snuggles closer to me. I blink in surprise, but pull her tighter. "I love you, kid."

She grips my shirt in her fist. "I love you, too."

•••

Dinner is quick since the troublemakers had filled themselves with junk at the boardwalk. Alex and I make Ellie eat at least something substantial at the scheduled dinner time. After she finishes, we agree Ellie would be better off spending the rest of the night in our room. I thought the teenager would be capable of sitting in the room alone for a couple hours, until Lex reminds me of the days events. I realize it is definitely not possible unless we want her to end up in another ocean. Especially with Mallory on the loose.

So I let Alex stay and chat with people, leaving me to go back to the room, and that is when I have my epiphany. I look up from my phone, that I have been occupying myself with. I look over at the still pouting teenager on the other bed and ask with my head slightly tilted, "Where is Morgan?" I jump up not really caring what Ellie has to say because now I have Aunt Toby tunnel vision. I slip on a pair of slides. As I leave the room, I call over my shoulder, "Don't move El. I'll be back."

I quickly walk down the hallway, completely the opposite of how I choose to function on a daily basis, scanning the room numbers on the door. I find the one Morgan is supposed to be in and knock impatiently. "Morgan? Moe, it's Tobin. Can you open the door?" I knock some more, "Mo-"

The door swings open and I almost "knock" Morgan in the face. The younger midfielder backs up and rubs at her eyes from the bright light of the hallway. "What? Why are you freaking out? I was trying to take a nap, Tobs."

I look confused, "Have...have you been here all day?" She scratches the back of her neck. "Why didn't you go with the others to the beach?"

Morgan turns around and walks back in her room, "Cause I'm not stupid?" She falls face first on her bed. "I know what 'going shopping' means when we're on the coast. And Mallory already told me that Julie told her no and Mal doesn't listen to that word."

Tobin follows her inside and lets the door close behind her making the room basically black. She hits around on the wall until she finds a switch and turns it on. Morgan groans at the light and pulls her pillow over her head. "Did you try to stop her? Why didn't you at least tell Ellie?" Tobin sighs, "why didn't you tell me?"

Morgan peaks her head out with a duh look on her face, "cause Mallory doesn't care and Ellie is her friend." Morgan tilts her head, "why do you care any ways? None of them are yours. I was here all day."

I rub my neck. "Well, Ellie kind of is. Now." I trail off awkwardly.

Morgan rolls over and sits up with a smirk. "Really?" She laughs. "Aww, I can tell Mama Aunty Toby is growing up." She pauses and then laughs again.

"Watch yourself, Morgan Paige. I still reserve the right to tan your backside."

She clamps her mouth shut but doesn't even try to hide the fact she is suppressing laughter. I roll my eyes and cross my arms. Eventually, I smirk too. "You know who else is growing up?"

She blinks.

"I'm proud of you, kid. I guess troublemakers do outgrow the trouble magnet."

She blushes and rolls back over, grabbing a pillow to throw over her head. "Yeah, yeah. You would know all about outgrowing the trouble magnet. Now get out, please. I'm trying to sleep."

I head out saying, "And to think I was gonna tell Cheney all good things about you."

"You should still do that," she calls out, muffled by her mattress.

•••

Knock, knock.

I glance at Alex questioningly. She looks at the time and shrugs. She just continues playing with Ellie's hair. Ellie is cuddled into her side being lulled to sleep by the dimmed lights and low murmur of the TV. I look through the peephole to see trouble on the other side. With an eye roll, I pull open the door. "How can I help you, Ms. Mallory Pugh?"

"Did you kill her?" She demands.

I raise an eyebrow. "What?" She attempts to squeeze by me, but I move to block her way. "Uh, uh, uh. Where are your Mamas?"

She rolls her eyes. "They're in their room. They said I can say goodnight to Ellie and check to make sure she's still alive."

I smirk knowingly. "First of all, of course she is alive. Second of all, your mamas said you can just come in and out as you please?"

She huffs impatiently. "Well she told me to ask but if you killed her, time would be of the essence. Duh." Her eyes widen. "Don't tell her I didn't ask first. She already made me all ouchie." She rubs her bottom sadly.

I rolled my eyes with an amused smirk. "Ellie is almost asleep, Ms. Sugar high. You should be heading to sleep too."

She seems to calm down at that. "Can I please just say a quick, super duper quick, lightning fast, millisecond goodnight?" She pouts and digs her shoe into the carpet. "We always say goodnight."

I can't help but melt. "Okay, okay. Be quick and try not to shake the sleep out of her, okay?" Just a quick pop-in, okay? Quick."

"I can say goodnight the way we always do?"

I nod just wanting to get her out. "As long as it's quick, sure."

"Aye, aye captain." She salutes. She ducks under my arm and rushes in. "Ellieeeeee."

I groan. I shut the door behind me and avoid Alex's dirty look as Ellie calls back, "Mallllllllllll."

"Tobin says we can say goodnight, but we have to do it fast." Mal grins. "Goodnight, alligator."

"Goodnight, basketball."

"Goodnight, Colorado."

"Goodnight, dogs."

"Goodnight, Ebola."

I groan. "What are you two doing?"

Mal pulls an innocent face. "Saying goodnight."

Ellie giggles. "We go through the alphabet and try not to repeat ever."

"Goodnight, fettuccine."

"Goodnight, grass."