A few days later, Tesia was looking for her brother, and was surprised to find him sitting in the back of the bus by himself. He was sitting upon the couch, and had his face buried in his hands. She wondered if he was playing peek-a-boo with somebody, and looked around. But, when she saw no one else there, she shrugged, and went on her way to where he sat.

“Jay?”

A.J. didn’t look up. “What is it, Tesia?”

Tesia frowned. Since when did he call her Tesia? She shrugged it off slightly, and held up the baggie of sugar she had found. “What this?” She asked innocently.

“What’s what?” A.J. countered, looking up. His eyes went huge and his face paled when he saw what his baby sister now held. He quickly grabbed it from her and gave her a cold look. “Where did you find this, Missy?”

Tesia now looked confused. “Yer bag,” she told him. “It a sugar!”

“No. It’s not sugar!” A.J. snapped slightly. He then thought of something – what if Tesia had tasted it? “Did you try any of this?” He demanded. He got no answer. “Answer me Tesia! Did you try any of this?”

Tesia’s eyes welled up with tears as she shook her head. She hadn’t tried any - she knew well enough to ask what something was first, before sticking it in her mouth.

A.J. heaved a huge sigh of relief, but then glared at her again. “Now, what were you doing in my bag? You know better than that!” Normally, he let her root about in his bag for as long as her little heart desired, but these days he had to make sure to retrieve the baggie she’d handed him just now, before letting her play with it.

Tesia’s bottom lip trembled. “Teddy…” She whimpered. “Wan’ Teddy…”

A.J. sighed again, feeling like a horrible brother. He stuffed the baggie deep down into his pocket, and ran his hand over his face. “I’m sorry, Honey,” he apologized. “I didn’t know you were looking for Teddy.”

Tesia sniffled. “Where he at?”

“I dunno, Babe,” A.J. told her softly. “I just – dunno.”

Tesia pouted her famous little pout – the one that always got her, her way with any of the Boys. “Help find him, J.! Pwease?”

“In a moment, Honey,” A.J. replied. “Give J. a moment to calm down.”

Tesia’s pout turned to a frown, when she noticed a tear trickle down her brother’s face – which was hidden back in his hands – and down onto the floor. “J. sad?”

“Baby, go ask Kevin to help you find Teddy, alright?” A.J. suggested.

Tesia frowned even more. He always helped her look for Teddy – always - why wouldn’t he now. She gave him a sad look, then with tears welling up in her eyes, she ran off in search of Kevin. She found him and ran for him.

Kevin scooped her up once she’d reached him. “What’s wrong, Baby?” He asked concerned, noting her tears.

“J. sad,” Tesia sniffled. “He no help find Teddy.”

“Well, maybe J. doesn’t feel well,” Kevin offered. “But I’ll help you find Teddy.”

“He cry,” Tesia told Kevin quietly. “J. no cry. J. no sad.” She rubbed at her own teary eyes.

Kevin kissed her head. “Well, why don’t we wait a moment, then go back and cheer him up, okay?”

Tesia nodded, and buried her face into Kevin’s chest, whimpering softly. She didn’t like to see her brother cry – and she didn’t like to be the cause of it either.

Meanwhile, A.J. sat in the back of the bus, fingering the baggie of white powder in his pocket. He’d never felt so relieved in his life, as he had when Tesia had assured him she hadn’t tried any. If she had, he would’ve had a lot of explaining to do – and what scared him even more, was that should she be alright, he’d probably never be allowed to see her again. And he knew if he couldn’t see her, he’d go crazy – even crazier than he already was. He loved his little sister more than anything else in the world – even his music. She was his little Angel – though, she had her devilish streaks like every other child.

“I’m such an idiot,” he thought to himself miserably. “I could’ve killed her with this shit! I gotta keep it hidden better. Dammit! I gotta remember there’s little hands here now, that will grab up every and anything they see!” He quickly retrieved his hand from the pocket that it was in, when he heard someone enter the room. He looked up only to find Kevin holding a tearful Tesia. “What’s wrong? You still can’t find Teddy?”

“She’s upset because she saw you crying,” Kevin answered, kissing the small girl’s head. “She doesn’t want you to be sad.”

A.J. sighed, and rolled his eyes ever so slightly. He stood up and retrieved her from Kevin. “Baby, you didn’t do anything wrong, okay? And don’t cry, because I had something in my eye. I love you too much to see you sad. You stay sad, and I will cry. I don’t like seeing my smiley Baby T. sad. Can I have a smile, please?” He gave her a pout of his own.

Tesia giggled slightly, and gave him the smile he had asked for. “We find Teddy?”

“Yes, Baby. We can go find Teddy,” A.J. agreed. “Long as Kevin helps.”

“Yeah!” Tesia cheered. “Kevy help!”

Kevin chuckled. “Sure. I lost the crazy eight countdown tournament anyway.”

The three of them then set off to find the missing Teddy. One wondering why the other had been upset, the other secretly upset as he thought about what could have happened – and the third, the third was just happy to have help finding their missing stuffed friend.