Ada scrolled through his iPod as Tom drove, her hair still damp from the shower she'd taken at his apartment.

"Hanson?" Her tone was high pitched and amused.

Tom's eyes narrowed on her for only a moment before they returned to the street. "I won't apologize for that. It's a damn awesome cover."

Ada pressed play and listened to the cover of 'Ain't No Sunshine'.

"Well?" he questioned, wanting her opinion. It was a good cover. Just three guys performing live.

"You have Hanson on your iPod."

He kept his eyes on the road and didn't miss a beat. "Fuck you."

Ada laughed and continued listening to the song. He could sense her eyes on him, felt as they wandered, investigated. He wondered what the purpose was. Did she notice the stubble on his face from not having shaved since the beginning of her disappearing act? Did she notice the wrinkles he swore weren't there before?

It convinced Tom this shit had aged him ten years since Friday.

"You look tired," she said once the song ended, her voice small and timid.

There was no point in denying it. "I am tired. I've hardly slept in two days."

"That's my fault, isn't it?"

Tom approached the last stoplight at the edge of town and applied the brakes before looking at her. He kept his sunglasses on, not wanting her to see just how hard this all hit him. She knew, but didn't realize. "Yes."

She looked down toward her lap, unable to maintain his eye contact, and tucked her damp hair behind her ears. "I'm sorry."

"It's bad, isn't it?" Tom questioned, uncertain if he wanted the answer or not.

Seeing her next to him, knowing she was safe at least, served as some amount of comfort, but it was also unnerving not knowing what was happening.

Ada looked up again. "It isn't good. It will change everything."

"You aren't pregnant, are you?"

Her pupils grew and cheeks flushed when he asked that, and she looked at him like he was a lunatic.

Tom didn't know much about her social life. Britt had teased her about not having sex in a year just the other day, but he doubted Britt knew everything about her.

Ada didn't shut herself off, but she didn't share much about those things. Not that she had reason to share with him.

Maybe it was inappropriate to ask her that question. Hell, it was undeniably inappropriate. But they'd pushed the boundaries enough that Tom didn't care enough to respect them now. Not with this.

The car behind them beeped their horn and Tom hit the gas, still shooting glances at her. "Are you?"

"No," she bit back. "I'm not pregnant."

Instead of taking the exit, Tom turned onto the nearest back road and put the car in park. Once he stopped, he removed his seatbelt to face her. "I know you wanted to leave town to get away from whatever the hell is happening. I get that. Everyone has times where they just want to drive away from all their problems, even if just for a few hours of peace."

Tom took a lengthy breath before he took off his hat to rub at his hair. "I thought I could give that to you and if you really need, I'll keep trying. I'll keep my mouth shut until I'm blue in the face if you ask me to-"

"Huntington's," she said the word so fast that it just tumbled out of her mouth.

Tom thought for a moment, trying to connect the word to something. Anything. "The bank?"

"What?" Ada's head tilted and she narrowed her eyes at him. "No."

Realization caught up with him and Tom looked at the dusty road in front of him, unable to look her direction.

Tom rubbed his brow and felt his gut clench. "Huntington's Disease?"

A quiet took over the car. Tom didn't know if it lasted for seconds or minutes, but he listened to Ada's breath hitch, the only admission he needed.

"My mom. I guess she already knew she had the gene, but the appointment she had on Thursday was confirmation she's in the early stages."

He didn't know much about the disease. The only thing he remembered about it was that there was no cure for it. While Tom didn't want to force her to say the words aloud, he knew he couldn't wait and google it later. He needed answers now. "What does this mean? What will happen?"

"It means that my mom will lose control of her body and personality. The nerve cells in her brain will deteriorate until she can't do anything for herself. She'll be able to think, but she won't be able to speak or move."

He looked at her, noticing her struggle to get the words out. Tears were falling down her face, and she wiped her nose on the shirt of her sleeve.

"Ada, I don't know what to say."

She wiped her nose again before using the other sleeve to wipe the tears from her eyes. "And it's hereditary, so there's a fifty percent chance that the same thing will happen to me."

His hands tightened on the steering wheel and a nervous laugh escaped him only for a second or two before his mouth snapped closed again. Unable to look her in the eyes, Tom's gaze fixed on his whitening knuckles.

"Say something."

This wasn't happening.

He could say it to himself all he wanted, but it wouldn't make it true. No wonder she struggled to force the words out. Just thinking about them gnawed at his stomach and Tom wouldn't be surprised if he began vomiting at any moment. He tried to to slow his breathing, but it was if he wasn't in control of it. Maybe he'd get lucky and pass out before he puked.

"I need some fresh air," were the only words he could get out before exiting the vehicle. The further he walked from the car, the worse it all seemed to get until Tom felt like he was struggling to breathe.

Though Ada was likely stronger than her size gave her credit for, he'd guessed she was around 5'5" as she wasn't quite a foot shorter than him, he doubted she was strong enough to drag his passed out, puke covered body back to the car. Knowing Ada, she'd just slap him across the face a few times to wake him, and use his jacket in the car to clean off the puke.

"Mr. B?" Ada spoke from behind him. He hadn't heard her get out of the car. He didn't know how far he'd walked or how much time had passed. "Tom?"

Her voice released him from his train of thought and Tom took off his sunglasses and hat, dropping them on the ground, and rubbed at his face until he felt her hand touch his shoulder. Her touch was so light he could hardly feel it. It was almost as if Ada feared he'd lose it; snap.

"Tom?" she repeated.

Tom watched as her arms reached around his stomach and felt her head lean against his back. The simple action slowed his breathing to a less erratic pace. "Why couldn't you have just been pregnant?"

He felt her laugh against his back and turned to take her in his arms. Tom's hand reached for her hair, petting the strands to soothe her, or soothe himself.

"You know this means I'm not going to Brown in the fall," she said against his chest.

Another hit. She'd worked her ass off in school for four years to get into that place. She worked her ass off at the coffee shop to save what she could and worked with relentless vigor to find scholarships. "I didn't know, but thanks for that."

Ada looked up at him, her green eyes still glistening. "You okay?"

"Not really," he admitted with a sway of his head. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "Not really," she answered with a light, melancholy smile. "Want to be not okay together?"

"Yeah." Tom swiped this thumb across her cheek to remove a tear. He picked up his sunglasses and hat from the ground and put his arm around her shoulder to lead her back to the car.

Tom swung the car around after Ada clasped her seatbelt. He'd felt his own tears filling up his eyes and hid them by putting his sunglasses back on.

"I know this will be hard for you," Ada said as they pulled back onto the road and took the exit. "But I just need to forget about all of this. Even if it's just for a couple of hours."

"I'd be happy to forget for three seconds, and you're shooting for a couple of hours?"

"Tom-"

"I'll be cool," he agreed, figuring that's where she was going with it.

She gave his hand a light squeeze. "Thank you."

"One question, though. Then I promise that I'm done."

Ada ran her fingers through her damp hair. "One," she agreed.

"Why me? Why not Brittney? I mean, you two have been friends for forever, haven't you?" Considering how many times Britt's tried to get a hold of her over the last couple of days, it was a reasonable question. He thought it was, at least.

"That's just it. We've been friends for forever. My mom is like her second mom and I can't bring myself to tell her. It's hard enough saying the words out loud for the first time to someone who doesn't already know. How am I supposed to tell Britt that a woman who's been there for her since she was five years old is about to go through something like this?"

That was fair and understandable. The only emotional investment Tom had in this was knowing Ada could have the disease too. A thought that would kill him every time he let it enter his brain. "I didn't handle this well, did I?"

Ada shrugged next to him. "You looked like you were going to pass out for a while there, so I guess it could have been worse."

She'd given him two questions, so Tom didn't push his luck. "Why don't you pick some more music?"

"Don't tell me you have N'Sync singing a Frank Sinatra cover on here." Ada teased as she grabbed the iPod and began scrolling through.

"Nope, just the Spice Girls singing 'At Last' a cappella."

Ada laughed. "I think they would have gotten struck down by the hand of God right there in the studio."

As Ada went through the music, things went back to normal, at least on the outside. Tom snuck glances at her throughout the drive, remembering the girl he met four years ago.

She called herself fat, but she wasn't too bad. She just had a size two for a best friend, who was friends with a bunch of other size two's. Ada spent about half of her lunch breaks in his room. He didn't know how that one started, likely because he was so close to the cafeteria and her locker and he didn't have a class during that period. Sometimes when she was having a tough day, she would talk about it. Other times they both just sat in silence.

When she completed her first year of high school, she was a size ten. He only learned that because Brittney's friend, Rayna, would talk about how being a size ten wasn't that bad, always finding some way to bring up Ada's weight.

She began her sophomore year as a size eight and now didn't know what size she was because people stopped bringing it up and Tom hadn't a clue how sizes worked in women's clothing. Bigger than Britt, but small enough that she began turning heads her junior year.

She'd come a long way since her first year of high school. Ada was confident, but not annoyingly so. She was strong, but still wasn't reluctant to ask for help when she needed it. Ada was comfortable in her own skin and refused to apologize for being different. This woman marched to her own drummer, which was rare for the popular crowd. He guessed she was only popular by association and didn't hang out with those people outside school if she could help it.

Somehow Ada seemed to know who she was during a time where most struggled to find their voice and sense of purpose.

Tom loved teaching Ada and loved watching her grow to the young woman she was today. It was incredible to witness her coming into her own. Ada was Tom's favorite student, and not just current favorite. She was also becoming his favorite person in general.

Tom would deny if anyone asked, however, that there was dread as the end of the year approached, knowing that she would no longer be in his class every day and would move far away come fall. Yes, he was disappointed she wasn't going to college. She deserved the brightest future imaginable, but there was also a bit of a relief hearing that come the end of August, he wouldn't have to say goodbye. He only wished it was for a different reason.