Author's Note: I'm testing the waters on this. I had most of it written before having my heart and trust in people shred to pieces. I took a break from my other story, and may still need some time with that one. I am still trying to balance out my emotions as it is. Part of me hates the idea of friendship and therefore everything the boys stand for. The other part is just becoming numb. But I am curious to see how this goes; see if anyone likes this or not. If so, I will most likely continue. After all, this and the friendship the Monkees are about is only fiction. Not real.
Chapter 1: Teenage Girls
Micky sat behind his drumset with his friends on stage. They were performing a show they'd performed many times before now and all having fun. It had been years since the turmoil they'd faced with their families and they'd moved on. They had finally found steady work. Patty had decided to open a restaurant nightclub that featured music at night and for the past couple of years the boys had been the headliners. They'd made a name for themselves around southern California and had managed to get several other performances as well. They'd moved beyond doing birthday parties and had started doing big events at discotheques.
Micky and Peter were the only two still living at the Pad; Davy and Mike were both living with their girlfriends. Mike had been in the relationship for nearly 4 years and had been living with her for the past 3. Davy had been in a relationship for 3 years and had been living with her for 2 and a half. Micky and Peter missed their friends, but enjoyed living on their own. Mike and Davy came over almost every day to practice, so it wasn't like they didn't see each other any more. But Peter and Micky enjoyed their new space nonetheless.
Halfway through the last song before their break, Micky spotted his baby sister in the audience. It was a Wednesday night, so Micky got a little upset when he saw her. He finished the song, however, then walked off the stage toward her after they thanked the audience and bowed. Davy, Mike and Peter were not very far behind him; they'd seen her too.
"Marcy, what are you doing here?" Micky asked.
"I wanted to see you play," Marcy answered innocently.
"On a school night?" Micky asked.
"I was gonna go home after your break," Marcy argued.
"Shouldn't you be doing your homework?" Micky asked.
"I was doing it," Marcy said. "I finished already. It was easy. My new teachers don't really challenge me that much."
"You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?" Micky asked.
"Oh come on, Micky," Marcy sighed. "You don't trust me?"
"Not since your teacher told me you were missing half your assignments even though you claim to be doing them," Micky said.
"I forgot about those," Marcy said. "That class bores me!"
"Oh come on, Micky," Davy said. "I don't think she'd flat lie to you. And it's just one night out. What harm can that do?"
"Thank you, Uncle Davy," Marcy smiled.
"Seeing as how she's very behind in that class, a lot of harm," Mike said backing up Micky. "But it's not really our place to raise her. It's up to Micky and Patty. So what they say goes."
"Does Patty even know you're here?" Micky asked. Patty had adopted Marcy years ago after the fiasco with their parents to prevent her from being put in the foster care system; Micky had the option, but knew he wouldn't be able to at the time physically or financially. Because Patty and the boys were so close, Patty and Micky had agreed they'd raise her together.
"Sort of," Marcy said.
"Sort of?" Micky asked.
"She thinks I'm at the library," Marcy said as though it were nothing. "But I finished early and don't have to be home yet so I thought I'd come see my favorite uncles and brother."
"She doesn't know where you are?!" Micky asked angrily. "You should have called her!"
"Why?" Marcy said. "She knows I'm out and won't be home till later. She doesn't need to know where I am every second of the day."
"You're fourteen," Micky said. "Yes, she does."
"I'm not going anywhere dangerous," Marcy said rolling her eyes a little. Micky really wasn't liking this teenage phase of hers and didn't exactly know how to handle it. "I don't need to be treated like a baby. Nothing is gonna happen to me between here and the library and home."
"You don't really know that," Micky said. "And yes, we do need to know where you are. It's our job to protect you."
"You're being over-protective," Marcy spat.
"No, we're being parents," Micky said.
"Well, stop then, cause you aren't," Marcy said. The words hit Micky like an oncoming train. He didn't really know what to say as Marcy turned on her heel and left in a huff.
"I'll get her," Peter said running after her.
"Make sure she gets home," Mike called after Peter.
"Micky, you know she doesn't mean that, right?" Davy asked. "She's a teenage girl. They are kinda notorious for saying stupid shit."
"Let's just play our last set so I can go home," Micky said. "Can you play the bass for Peter?"
"Sure," Davy said and the three of them reluctantly played their last set. Micky couldn't focus on it or really enjoy it though. It didn't sound as good without Peter, even though Davy had gotten really good at playing bass over the years. When they'd finished, they packed their instruments behind the stage and walked out to the parking lot in silence. Davy and Mike said good-bye to Micky, but he didn't really pay much attention as they each walked to their cars. Micky and Peter still shared the GTO they'd kept fixed up over the years and Davy and Mike each had their own cars. It was almost midnight, but Micky didn't care. He didn't drive home; he wanted to talk things out. Micky parked the car in the driveway, got out and knocked on the door.
"Hi," Patty smiled when she answered. "It's really late, Micky."
"Did Peter drop Marcy off?" Micky asked.
"Yeah," Patty said stepping aside to let him in. He sat down on the couch and buried his head in his hands. "I take it Peter told you?" Micky asked.
"Yes," Patty answered. "Don't tell me this is the first time she's ever said something like that to you."
"It's not for you?" Micky asked.
"Micky, I hear this on a weekly basis," Patty said. "I've heard how she hates me, how she wishes I never adopted her, and how I'm not her real mother. But I know she's a teenager. It hurt at first, but I know she doesn't really mean it. She's just angry."
"What is she angry about?" Micky asked.
"She's a teenage girl, so everything," Patty laughed.
"I'm serious," Micky said. "I want to know why she hates me."
"She doesn't hate you, Micky," Patty said. "It's hard enough to be her age as it is and you add into that all the issues that come with her life."
"Isn't therapy supposed to help with that?" Micky asked.
"Yes, but she stopped going," Patty sighed.
"What?" Micky asked. "Why?"
"She didn't want to go anymore," Patty said. "He tried to say she has abandonment issues and she doesn't feel she needs it."
"Abandonment issues?" Micky asked. "Our parents didn't abandon her…"
"I know, that's not what he was trying to say," Patty said.
"What, I abandoned her?" Micky asked. "I let you adopt her cause I thought she'd be better off."
"She knows that," Patty said. "That's why she doesn't like him. She knows you thought it was best and she knows you knew you'd still be part of her life."
"Maybe we should just find another therapist," Micky said.
"She doesn't want to do it," Patty said.
"So?" Micky asked.
"You ever hear the phrase 'You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink'?" Patty asked.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Micky asked.
"We can give her the tools in therapy, but we can't make her use them if she doesn't want to," Patty answered. "She has to want to work at it or it's just a waste of time and money."
"So what do we do?" Micky asked.
"What makes you think I know how to handle this any better than you?" Patty asked.
"You just know how to raise kids better," Micky said.
"Why do you think that?" Patty asked. "If you say I'm a woman and have natural motherly instincts, I will smack you."
"AJ seems to be ok," Micky said smiling at the picture of Alan Jr. on the table in front of him.
"He got sent home from school today for throwing a crayon at the teacher's head," Patty said.
"Oh," Micky laughed.
"It's not funny," Patty smiled.
"It's kinda funny," Micky said. "So I guess neither of us has an idea what to do."
"I don't know," Patty answered heavily. "I really do wish I had the answers, but I'm flying just as blindly as you are here. She wants attention, I know that. That's why she's acting out in school, not doing her homework and doing this stuff. I don't want to reward her bad behavior by giving her what she wants. But I can't ignore her, either. I don't know what to do."
"It's not like she's starving for attention," Micky said. "We spend time with her. Is it not enough?"
"Well, for now she's grounded," Patty said. "We just deal with the rest as it comes."
"Thanks," Micky said.
"Feel better?" Patty asked.
"A little," Micky answered.
"You can't take this stuff personally," Patty said. "She loves you with all her heart. You did everything for her and she knows that. She just needs to work through some issues. And remember, she's only 14 so we have a really long road ahead of us. Pretty soon she's gonna be dating and-"
"No!" Micky said suddenly. "No dating and no anything else. Not while she's under my watch."
"So you're saying we keep her from knowing the ways of men until she's 18 and on her own so she can make the mistakes without our supervision?" Patty asked smiling at him as though she knew she'd won the argument with that simple statement. But he sighed knowing she was right. "You can't muzzle her, Micky. But you can put a leash on her. Let her explore and learn now while we can still pull her back."
"I know," Micky said. "I just wish she was still 8. She's growing up too fast."
"It's late, Micky," Patty said. "You look tired. Go home and get some sleep. I need to get to bed so I can take the kids to school in the morning."
"Thank you, Patty," Micky said before leaving to go home. Marcy's words still bothered him a little, but he did feel better. Patty and his friends were right, Marcy was a teenager and he couldn't really listen to what she said.
Davy walked inside the home he shared with his girlfriend of nearly two years and sat down with a heavy sigh before taking off his boots. He felt tired and drained and didn't really want to leave the couch but knew he'd have to; he couldn't sleep on the couch. It wasn't uncomfortable, but Libby had been extremely picky lately. If he didn't join her, he wouldn't hear the end of it for days.
"Where were you?" Libby asked from the hallway just as Davy stood. She had long brown hair and was about as tall as Davy with blue eyes.
"I was at the show," Davy said. "I told you I had a performance tonight."
"I didn't think you'd be gone so long," Libby said.
"I wasn't really gone any longer than I normally am," Davy said. "What's really going on?"
"Who's Anna?" Libby asked firmly crossing her arms.
"I don't know," Davy answered honestly.
"She called looking for you," Libby said. "Is she your girlfriend?"
"No, you are," Davy answered. "You really think I'm cheating on you?"
"She said she wanted to meet for lunch tomorrow," Libby said.
"I don't know who she is," Davy sighed heavily. He knew by now that trying to argue further was pointless. "Did she say why she wanted to meet for lunch or maybe even give a last name?"
"Moody," Libby said.
"Oh!" Davy said laughing now.
"This isn't funny, David," Libby snorted.
"Miss Moody is Marcy's teacher!" Davy said.
"So you're cheating on me with Marcy's teacher?" Libby asked.
"Of course not!" Davy answered stifling his laughter. He thought once Libby understood who this person was, she'd drop it. He was starting to tire of these fights.
"Then why would Marcy's teacher need to talk to you?" Libby asked. "Why not Micky or Patty?"
"I have no idea," Davy said. "But I guess I'll find out tomorrow."
"Of course you will," Libby said snidely and stormed off. Davy sighed and rolled his eyes. He sank back onto the couch and made himself comfortable throwing the blanket over his legs and feet. He would sleep on the couch tonight after all.