Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 73rd cycle. Now cycle 74!

"Stressed & Locked"
Nora (AU!Beth), Emily, Grace, (Older) Mike/Tina
Sunshine Girls 2 series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

The events of that weekend would later come to be known as their 'perfect storm.'

Both Nora and Grace had been warned about the impending arrival of Emily's parents back in Lima. Their best friend had been in such a state ever since she'd found out about it that they barely got to talk to her anymore, especially in the last days leading up to the visit. They understood her unrest and they respected it, tried to support her in any way they could. This was all brought to a head, where everything threatened to fall to pieces, on the afternoon when Mr. and Mrs. Holt arrived.

Emily's aunt and uncle were having a family get together at their house, at which both Nora and Grace had naturally been welcomed. It had been Emily's uncle Mike who had made it happen, sensing his niece might be in need of some friends nearby, as an out for when it got to be too much.

As the guests had started to arrive, Emily had dispatched her friends to 'mingle,' knowing that as much as she didn't want to be pulled up to stand by her parents and meet the questions of their guests as though the three of them formed a perfect and permanent family, it was inevitable. The moment she'd been able to slip away though, she had gone seeking the others.

She found Grace up in her room, sitting on her bed and looking through some papers Emily quickly recognized as her lists, the ones she'd been compiling in an effort to find her a guy.

"How did you find these?" Emily asked, gathering them up and hiding them again.

"I was just wondering if you had found…"

"I've tried, alright? But it's been crazy, you know that. If it's not enough that I have to spend time with the world travellers who sometimes remember they have a daughter, there's just no guy out there that feels right, and I don't think there will be, if you want my honest opinion. Get back out there, alright, no more snooping," she nudged her back out in the hall and shut the door after herself.

"Emily, I'm sorry, I…"

"Have you seen Nora?" Emily asked.

"Last time I saw her, she was downstairs, near the kitchen."

She'd gone back downstairs with Grace in tow, only to have the Scottish girl pulled aside by little Charlie, who wanted her to play with him. Emily let them go, now turning her search on to find her blond friend. She wasn't near or in the kitchen, but a flash of the top of her head peering out through the window led Emily to go to the back door and look outside.

Nora was sitting on one of the garden chairs, hunched over her phone with a concentrated look on her face as she typed.

"What are you doing out here, you're supposed to be…" Emily started to speak, which made the blonde leap from her seat, startled, as she tried to stick her phone back in her pocket.

"Sorry, it's just Francesca, she texted me and I wanted to reply real quick, but then she got back to me again, and you know how that goes and…"

"Give me your phone," Emily demanded.

"Em, relax, I know today's not your day but…"

"Phone, gimme," Emily shook her head, stepping forward and holding out her hand, palm out. Nora was so shocked that she did as told. Emily looked at the screen, and her face blanched. "Seriously, right now? It is so not the time," she gave the phone back. "Please, I am going to lose my mind in there, I need you with me, I need Grace, if she's done going through my stuff…"

"Grace was going through your stuff? Why?"

Emily laughed.

"Okay?" Nora blinked.

"No, you know what?" she threw her hands out, trying to stop herself laughing. "I've had it. I've spent months now, stuck in between you two, and I'm tired, I'm so… so tired, of having to keep secrets and tell lies and pretend like everything is just fine, when I'm not the one who should be trying to figure this thing out, it's you guys," she pointed back at Nora with one hand, and toward the house with the other.

"Figure what thing?" Nora asked, still completely thrown by the sudden outburst.

Emily didn't give her the chance to find out. Instead, she grabbed her hand and led her back inside the house. Nora, not wanting to make a scene, didn't make a sound and allowed herself to be pulled along. Emily led her through the house until they came upon Grace and Charlie, who were playing in the den.

"Sorry, Charlie, I'm the one who needs to borrow her this time," Emily told her brother/cousin as she took Grace's hand and made for her to stand.

"What are you doing?" Grace was even less aware of the situation and had to scramble to keep up.

Again, Emily gave no answer. She took her friends, one in each hand, and led them to the basement door. She let their hands go only to open it and point for them to go. The basement had been more or less off limits for the last few weeks, as Emily's aunt and uncle were in the middle of renovations. Nora and Grace went down the stairs, and Emily followed behind. The basement was only half done, but they didn't have time to stop and take a look. Emily pointed through the open door of a guest bedroom that was being made. Only once they were inside, Emily shut the door and locked it.

"Emily? What the hell?" Nora called, trying the knob and then banging at the door.

"No!" Emily silenced her. "You're going to stay in there, the both of you, and you're going to have a talk. Until you've got this figured out, you're going to stay right there."

"You can't do that," Grace gasped from the other side of the door.

"Well, I did. I'll come check on you in a while." They called after her, but they could already hear her steps retreating, then climbing back up the stairs, before the door shut there, too. Nora and Grace looked to one another. They were stuck.

THE END/TO BE CONTINUED (DAY 1559)

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!