Disclaimer: I don't own it, but I wish I did.

The first flash of the camera surprises him, but then he expects every other one after. Once Sharon is done taking pictures with her phone, she places it back on the end table and sits down. She carefully unscrews the tube of ointment and squeezes a drop of it onto the tip of her finger.

As she gently begins to rub the ointment onto Rusty's lower lip, a hiss of pain escapes Rusty's lips and she worriedly says, "Rusty, am I hurting you?"

"A little bit."

"I'm sorry. I'm almost done."

When she finishes up, she screws the lid back on, and then walks over to the drawer, placing the emergency kit back in it. She washes her hands, flips the light switch in the kitchen off, and then walks back over to the couch and sits down.

She notices that Rusty is carefully holding his tears back and realizes that she is too. Both of their emotional walls are down tonight.

"Come here," she says and leans in toward Rusty. She carefully places her arms around him and, like the first time, he stiffens at the contact at first. Then, once his head hits her shoulder, he relaxes.

He feels the tears start to fall, but he doesn't pull away. He instead leans more on Sharon's shoulder and cries silently.

She knows he is crying because his whole body is trembling against hers. She raises her hand and runs it down the back of Rusty's head, and then begins to lightly draw circles on his back.

As she hears his breathing begin to even out, she knows that he has fallen asleep. She doesn't want to wake him, but she also knows that her fifty-nine year old body will not appreciate sleeping on the couch. She decides to make her body suffer so she can know that Rusty is safely sleeping in her arms.

She pulls the blanket off the back of the couch and lays it across the both of them. She then reaches over and shuts the lamp off and slowly sinks into the couch, while kicking off her shoes. She cradles Rusty into the side of her body, remembering when her daughter use to snuggle up with her and fall asleep. Some of her best memories are of when she would read to her daughter and she would fall asleep snuggled in her mom's arms. Her son was never the type to show affection, a lot like Rusty. Maybe that's why she took an immediate liking to Rusty, because he reminded her so much of her son.

She begins to gently rub circles over Rusty's arm. As she relaxes more and more, she feels the aches and pains of her old age begin to ware off. She had no idea that she would be working and taking care of a teenager all at the same time at this age. After her kids went off on their own, she thought that she was done with all of the parenting stuff, unless she got grandchildren. But now that Rusty is here with her, she realizes how much she missed being a mom at home and how much she needed him. She knows that everyone at Major Crimes considers her cold and calculating, and she also knows that she doesn't have very many friends. Having Rusty here is a blessing for her because she finally has someone to look after her here. This job at her age is stressful and tiring, so having Rusty here helps her feel younger and gives her a new sense of energy. Rusty really has no idea how much he has helped her.

As Sharon begins to drift off, she tightens her arm around him and whispers, "I love you, Rusty."

And with that, she falls asleep.