When Jethro opened the door and caught his name on Mother T's lips, he knew the mother and daughter were in their night chitchat which usually has him as the culprit.

Rose was grinning at him above her dish of meatloaf and he returned a frown. The girl pouted and then gave a quiet laugh. Such an annoying girl. Mother T looked back when she saw her laughing.

"Evening Mum." Jethro greeted and quickly fell into steps before the woman could say a word.

"Hey, hold your horses." Mother T stopped him as he was about to open the door to his room, "You said you were going to see Gavin, right?" She demanded.

Jethro rolled his eyes. There was something about the question that didn't go well with him. Maybe Mother T had caught him. He had lied to the woman he was going to see Gavin but went to Ava instead.

He hesitated for a minute and then answered cautiously, "Yes."

Mother T swallowed a spoonful of her meal and then stared at him, "Really? But Gavin came here and he said..."

"Yeah, he said his Mum told him Jethro came and even waited for some time before leaving." Rose came in before Mother T could finish her statement.

"Did he?" Mother T's eyes fluttered at her in confusion.

"Yes, Mum." Rose lied, "Maybe you missed that." She said and then gave Jethro a meaningful wink.

Jethro smiled as he saw that. Rose had come to his rescue. She was just a frustrating girl. She could be bitchy at a time and then a sweet sister moments later.

"Alright," Mother T breathed in agreement and then beamed at her son, "Your food is here. Your favorite." She said with glee.

Jethro chuckled in a small delight and then shifted glances between the two females, "And is that why you two were discussing me?" He asked playfully and the response he was given was a roar of laughter.

Jethro continued to smile as he watched Mother T and Rose chortle, and he wondered what was funny that he had said.

"Sorry, Jeth. Mum told me she met with your twin today." Rose laughed, her voice shaking in the mirth.

"My twin?" Jethro's brows arched.

"Yeah, that boy." It was Mother T who laughed now, "Just rude as you are. You see the way he yelled at his Mum." Mother T honked. She was talking about how Finn had behaved to Emma.

"And have I ever yelled at you that way?" Jethro smirked and then scowled when Rose gave a snicker.

"Someone didn't receive a slap yesterday for being rude, did he?" Rose had returned to her annoying self.

Jethro's eyes hardened the more and Mother T just laughed quietly. She seemed to also enjoy how Rose always taunt him.

"Sorry. Sorry." Rose grinned an apology when his scowl would tarry on her.

Jethro did not say a word. He just turned and before he could open the door to his room, Mother T's voice stopped him again.

"Jeth, can you remember the boy's name?" She asked teasingly with Rose's snigger weaving along with the question.

"No, I can't." He spat, knowing he was being played. He yanked the door open and slid in before another word could stop him.

He threw his backpack on his bed and finally had time to check who had been disturbing him with calls for the past one hour. He brought out his cellphone and it was Gavin as expected. And as usual, the boy had strangled his inbox with a flurry of messages.

'Hey Jeth, wanna ask you something.'

'Just tell me it isn't true.'

'You didn't do laundry for Finn, did you?'

'You didn't scrub his toilet, did you?'

'Gosh! He sent some pictures to his friends and they were saying you scrubbed his toilet for him. Tell me you didn't do that, Jeth'

Those were the first set of messages sent by Gavin in the space of three minutes. Jethro's head burned as he read them. He cursed Finn under his breath. Finn had taken his pictures while he was doing the laundry and sent them to his friends. He had even lied he scrubbed his toilet. Jethro felt his head throb with an ache and he sought the best way to reply to Gavin.

'Yes, I did laundry for him, but..'

Hell no! That sounded ridiculous.

He raked some fingers through his hair, thinking of a better response.

Okay. He breathed.

' That was a lie, Gav. I never scrubbed his toilet!'

Yeah. That made more sense. He had to instantly debunk the bloody news that he scrubbed Finn's toilet for him. He would rather die than do that.

He read what he had typed again and then sent it with some satisfaction. He scrolled down for the remaining messages from Gavin.

'And dude, I and Jessy talked'

'She told me something you'd love to hear '

' I'll be at your house tomorrow. I came today but was told you were away. Where did you go? Don't tell me it was Ava's place'

Jethro could sense a scoff from Gavin at the end of the text. The boy had guessed right. He had been to Ava's place. And he had not gone in vain. He had put a smile on Ava's face and the girl had told him something that could be useful. She had talked about the name she heard from those boys who attacked her and Stan.

THE BEAR.

Jethro mouthed the word and his face squeezed bemusedly. Ava had said she heard her attackers that night continually saying the vague name, the bear. Jethro tried to figure out whatever the name could mean and then discarded it off his head. His thought went back to Gavin's messages. Gavin had said he talked with Jessy and something was interesting he had to tell him.

"Stop thinking about her and eat your food." Rose's feline voice teased him as she shuffled into his room, carrying a tray along.

"Stop thinking about who?" Jethro hissed and sat up on his bed.

" Your mind answered you already, didn't it." Rose chuckled and Jethro laughed at the aptness of her response.

"Thanks for the other time." He said, recalling the moment earlier when she had rescued him from Mother T.

"What of now?" Rose eyed him funnily as she dropped the tray on his desk.

Jethro's face furrowed, trying to get what she meant. And he cracked up when the meaning finally hit him. Rose had wanted him to thank her for bringing his food in for him.

"Alright, thanks for bringing in the food." He beamed.

"Better." Rose snorted in a typical Mother T's manner and then gave that her unique trouble-seeking smile, "How's the laundry today? Hope you had fun doing it." She asked mockingly.

"Can't you go just a night without teasing me?" Jethro gave her a false frown.

"No way," Rose wagged a finger, "How do I have a good sleep without doing that?"

"Really!" Jethro honked and Rose burst out laughing as she exited his room.

Jethro loved this version of Rose Wills. Playful and sweet. But then you could never trust that side of her, she could wake up tomorrow morning and start a brawl with him. Such an unpredictable being.

Jethro chuckled as he took his food from the desk. Mother T had prepared him Macaroni and cheese, his favorite dinner. He took in the aroma and midway through his delicious meal, his phone buzzed annoyingly.

He grasped it and scowled at the screen. His face softened when he saw it was James calling him. James would not call him if it had nothing to do with Ava.

"Hello." He said in a muffled voice as he swallowed a lump of food.

"Hey son, please can you come over to see Ava tomorrow, she did the unbelievable tonight." James sounded in agitation.

"The unbelievable?" Jethro asked softly, wondering what that could mean. He just left Ava's place not more than a couple of hours ago.

"Yes. She..she..." James' voice trembled nervously and then trailed off.

"She did what?" Jethro was already getting restless too as he stood up anxiously from his meal.

"She attempted suicide."

"What!" Jethro screeched.