A/N: Based off of CP Coulters Dalton. Latest in my future fic series, this is the sixth I think...haha losing count woops. The rest are on my profile if you want to check them out. Thanks for reading.x
Old Habits
"I WANT THE COFFEE TABLE." A female voice screeched, echoing around the three storey mansion.
"FINE BUT I GET THE PERSIAN RUG." This time a male voice screamed back. The marble furnishings around the mansion made the house seem tomb like now that it was half empty, the only activity coming from the living room where a middle aged couple were fighting.
"BUT YOU HATE THAT RUG; YOU SAID IT LOOKED LIKE A DEAD DOG." The female voice shouted back her voice filled with fury.
"IT WAS A WEDDING GIFT FROM MY MOTHER, THEREFORE I'M KEEPING IT." The male voice sneered, obviously trying to get a rise out of his opponent. There was an angry huff followed by the click of heels against wooden floors as someone paced back and forth across the living room. And then the screaming match resumed.
Neither of the party realised that outside the door, at the top of the grand staircase sat a beautiful brunette girl eavesdropping on their fight. Paige Siegerson rested her head against the railing as she listened to her parents fight for the umpteenth time that day alone.
Derek and Casey Siegerson were getting divorced, for the second time in five years. Which meant they were dividing everything in the house between them so that they could get half each, which of course meant months of screaming matches like todays. Of course the last thing to be decided was going to be what happened to her twin brother and her. Paige sighed, sometimes she wondered if her parents ever thought about what these divorces and reconciliations were doing to their children, or if they even cared.
A teenage boy with similar features and the same dark hair sat next to Paige, looking over the ledge at the closed living room door where the screams were coming from. He reached out and held one of her shaking hands with both of his own.
"It's going to be alright Paige; they'll probably be back together again before you know it," His voice was quiet as he tried to soothe her. She cringed at the statement.
"It's not supposed to be like this Penn, this isn't how families work. If you divorce, you are supposed to stay divorced. And we should definitely not think this fighting is just an everyday norm in the Siegerson household. It's not normal." She replied glaring at the closed door, refusing to look her brother in the eye.
"No it's not normal, and it's not fair, but it's not our fault or our problem. They're divorcing each other, not us; we can't make them be in love, we're not those creepy twins off the parent trap." He replied, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb now. Paige let out a bitter laugh as a tear fell down her cheek. Penn wrapped an arm around her shoulders guiding her head towards his shoulder, she went willingly. They listened to the fight still raging on in the room below them, their parents fighting over pointless objects neither of them cared about.
"They just don't seem to care about us; they'll fight about who gets the Italian coffee maker or that ugly Persian rug from Grandma,"
"That is an ugly rug," Penn interrupted although it caused a sad smile to spread over Paige's face.
"But they never fight about us, like they don't care who gets us." She nestled further into Penn's neck wishing the fighting would stop.
"They don't fight about us because there is no point, we all know what happens with the custody, one week with mum one week with dad, and then in a few weeks we'll be back at school and spend every other holiday with them, just like last time." Penn was so calm about everything, it was the only thing that stopped Paige from having a complete meltdown.
There was a smash from the living room, Penn and Paige sat up to listen already knowing what was going to happen next.
"I CANT BELIEVE YOU BROKE THE LAMP, YOU ONLY DID IT BECAUSE YOU KNEW I WANTED IT." Derek screamed at his soon-to-be-ex-wife.
"YOU HATED THAT LAMP YOU COMPLAINED FOR A WHOLE WEEK AFTER I BOUGHT IT, AND I DIDN'T BREAK IT, I JUST MISSED YOUR STUPID HEAD." Casey seethed, picking up a less lethal pillow this time to throw at her ignorant ass of a husband.
"Come on," Penn stood up and reached out his hand to help Paige up. Paige looked up confused, but let him help her up anyway.
"Where are we going?" She asked.
"To Ryder and Tobi's, I called them before, we're going to spend a few days there, go pack a bag and meet me at the front door." Penn kissed her cheek before striding off to this own room. Paige followed his example and went to pack her bag, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach at the mention of Ryder Larson-Wright. She hadn't seen him since the start of the summer when he had kissed her on their annual family holiday. She felt the heat in her cheeks just thinking about it, but shook herself out of it. She was fourteen now, about to start at a prestigious private school for girls, in the middle of yet another family drama, she did not need to start thinking about boys. Especially idiotic ones like Ryder.
She tiptoed downstairs, even though it was unnecessary as from the screams in the living room told her that her parents were otherwise preoccupied. Closing the door behind her Paige drowned out the rest of fight, marching off with her brother and missing the next part of her parents screaming match.
"YOU KNOW CASEY SOMETIMES I THINK THAT THE ONLY GOOD THING TO COME FROM THIS MARRIAGE IS OUR KIDS." Derek crossed his arms over his chest frustrated.
"YES THANK GOD FOR THOSE KIDS OTHERWISE THE LAST 20 YEARS OF MY LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN AN ENTIRE WASTE," Casey screamed back, gripping the back of the armchair. They stared each other down for a long moment.
"They are pretty great kids." Derek conceded, his throat raspy from all the shouting.
"At least we got one thing right." Casey shrugged finally seeing some of the man she married back in Derek. Derek looked around the room and rubbed his eyes tired.
"Why don't we just sell everything in this place, including the house, and split the money between us, I hate everything in here anyway."
"I KNEW IT!" Casey pointed an accusing finger at him. And then they were fighting again, some habits really do die hard.