Alex was his saving grace, the one who was well weathered and seasoned to catch heat when everything was amiss. Connor looked at her from where he sat and offered a simple kind of smile. It told her he wanted to be anywhere else but where he was in that very moment.

The tour of the grounds with the director of their mother's program had been nice. It was a tranquil kind of place, quiet while affording a sense of privacy people like Johanna cherished. As much as she loved her self-appointed role as housewife and town socialite, the talk around her absence was one she was quick to curb quickly. With the privacy of the rehabilitation center, she'd been able to keep her friends off her heels. As far as Connor knew, it had something to do with her traveling up north to spend time with her ailing mother who wasn't really sick at all. Strike one.

Now at a table in a gazebo out in the grass, he tapped at the sterile marble surface with impatience. He and Alex had been waiting for their mother to arrive. The director had mentioned something about this being cathartic, a good way to further her progress in the program.

"If this is such a great idea, why aren't Sabi and Tony here too?" he asked, sweeping his hand across the table. He avoided eye contact with Alex mostly because he knew she'd been suckered into believing this would actually work.

"Because she asked to see you and me. Mostly you, and I know you'd never come here on your own. So here I am. Here you are." She pulled a drink from a coffee she'd bought on the way over.

"There are a million other things I could be doing than entertaining the woman. This is nothing but a game." Connor was sure of it. Johanna had tried in the past, each attempt ending in her admitting defeat so she could pack up and head back home to the same ol'. Her love for the bottle was too strong, sometimes even stronger than the love she had for her children. He couldn't fault her for it, only in the way that back home his own life was in shambles. Completely.

"Don't be so callous. I tell you that all the time, Connor. And I get that you have issues with her, I really do, but can't you put them aside for at least half an hour?"

Connor couldn't help but scoff. Strike two. "You should be the last person telling me this kind of bullshit. After everything? Really? She had nothing to say the last time I asked why she never stopped dad. Did that stupid lip puckering thing and went off to her room."

"I know." Alex dropped her gaze, fumbling with the metal clasp of her purse in her lap. "Do it this one time and we'll see what happens. Deal?" Even through the scolding and the disagreements between the two of them, she remained his saving grace.

"Yeah, alright." Except the wait had been far longer than he'd built himself up for. The minutes ticked by while the birds chirped and the leaves in the trees around them rustled incessantly. She was inside, no doubt, but it was taking her ages to get around to coming out. It was to the point he could feel his freshly diagnosed anxiety flare and gnaw at the edges of his nerves.

"My babies!" The voice came from behind him. Oddly enough, it held a clarity Connor had never heard in it before. "I'm so sorry I made you wait. I was talking to one of the new ones that just came in. She's a nervous wreck, the poor thing. I'd tell you more but..." When he stood and turned to look her way, he could see how much purpose and delight it gave her to offer that sliver of gossip. Strike three.

"Hey mom," he greeted. The hug was quick and stiff on his end. It was one of those things he couldn't get himself into. Everything was too new, too raw, and with Micah back home on the verge of... who knew, all he could do was offer the bare essentials. As they talked, most focus was kept on his mother. He preferred it that way, because the less she knew about his personal life, the more likely he'd be safe from a biting tongue down the road.