Chapter 1: Before the Storm
Jamie huffed to herself as she pulled her hair up in a ponytail. She couldn't seem to get it the way she wanted it and this was the third time she'd redone it. By the time she was done getting ready, Alicia's parents would have left by now. With her parents out of town, Alicia's mom had agreed to drive her to school until they got back. She was very grateful for it and she didn't want to make them late, but her stupid hair just wasn't cooperating.
With a sigh, she left it as is and went to put on her makeup quickly before she grabbed her things and went out the door. She only applied some eyeliner and eyeshadow before she deemed herself presentable enough. After all it was just highschool, not anything important. She was on her last year of that hellhole and once she got out she wasn't looking back. Well, maybe once or twice until Alicia got out of there too the year after.
She exited the bathroom, making a detour to her room to pick up her backpack, and then downstairs. She grabbed a granola bar off the counter and her tin water bottle before heading out the door to walk across the street to the Clark's. Outside the door, she could hear a lot of hustling around and her eyebrows knitted together. A fight, maybe? It was pretty often that the three of them would get into spats here and there.
She raised her hand to knock on the door, but before she even got to do so, it opened right up. Madison paused abruptly, seemingly on edge.
"Jamie? Shit I forgot... Ah, I'm sorry, something happened and we need to swing by the hospital on the way," she sputtered, sighing in exasperation.
"Is everything alright, Miss C? I can head up to the bus station and try to get a ride if you need me to," she assured, feeling the anxiety radiating off her.
Travis and Alicia appeared in the doorway behind her and her best friend pushed through.
"No, no it's fine, it's just Nick."
"He got into an accident," Alicia clarified, slipping past them toward the car.
"Is he alright?" Jamie asked, following her to the car.
"Probably just higher than outer space," her friend mumbled, getting into the car.
Jamie followed suit and got in the other side while Madison and Travis got into the front. She had been friends with Alicia for years now and she had been there through all of the problems that Nick had. Of course by the time they became friends, her brother had already been doing drugs and he was always out of the house so she never really properly got to know him, but she knew everything that happened and had been the shoulder for Alicia to cry on when they weren't sure if he was alive or dead. And for the past handful of months, Nick had been gone with no word of him.
"You gonna be okay?" she asked, looking over at Alicia across the back seat.
The brunette lifted her head and shrugged. "When have I ever been?"
"Alright good point. But we'll get through it. Just like every other time."
Alicia gave her the smallest of smiles and that was good enough for her. So she left her to her thoughts, knowing that this would be another day full of struggles for her and when Alicia was stressed, she needed her space.
It didn't take them long to get to the hospital and they barely got in the parking spot before Madison was rushing out toward the entrance. Jamie slid out of the car and walked side by side with Alicia inside. The hospital was pretty busy and it took a lot of work for her to keep up with the others, especially given that Madison was walking so quickly and demanding to know about her son.
Alicia grabbed her hand so they wouldn't get lost and finally they came to a stop nearby one set of rooms. She could spot Nick through the glass with two police officers questioning him, likely about what happened and what drugs he was on.
As soon as they walked into the room, Madison shooed out the police against their wishes, but since they couldn't protest, they stepped out. She and Alicia stood off toward the back while Madison asked immediately what happened.
"L.A. is not a pedestrian friendly city," he joked, shrugging and turning his gaze away.
But Madison wasn't having that. She wanted to know exactly what happened and why it did. Jamie had seen Miss C get stern on students before, sometimes even herself when her choices brought her to the guidance counselor, but there was a rehearsed, more stern undertone to her voice. After all, this was her son.
Next to her, Alicia leaned against the doorway, watching with a blank expression on her face. She knew how used to this she was, but underneath that stoicness, this was hurting her. Always had. Gingerly, she reached over to put a hand on her friend's shoulder, catching Nick's eye for a brief second. He was probably wondering what she was doing here, but as the two didn't know each other well, they didn't give each other more than a glance.
Travis dared to speak, and this only set Nick off, shaking his head and telling them they couldn't do shit.
"Can you just leave me alone? Can you just let me go?" he whined.
"There's an idea," Alicia mumbled, stiffening.
"Alicia," Travis warned. "Not helping."
"I'm not trying to help, Travis."
Madison questioned what she said, Travis tried to diffuse and Alicia continued to let out her frustrations all while Nick was still asking them to leave. The situation went from zero to sixty in less than a second, but it wasn't the first time she would see them all fight and it wouldn't be the last. Alicia shrugged her hand off her shoulder and crossed her arms, drawing in a thick breath when everyone paused to calm down.
Her friend finally turned away and slipped out of the room, pulling her phone out. Jamie stood where she was for a moment before following suit, silently standing beside her friend to be there for her but also giving her space. Travis's phone started to ring and he also stepped out, but not before Alicia mumbled her thoughts.
"Glad you moved in?"
He didn't give her a second glance.
This family was screwed up in its own way, but she had been a part of it now for years so she was right in it all. With a gentle sigh, she pulled out her phone and took a seat on the floor next to Alicia, pulling open her text messages to occupy herself while they all waited. They only had to wait ten minutes before Travis returned and they were headed off to school with Madison. No one said a word as they drove and she fiddled around with her apps while Alicia kept her earbuds in.
"He's gonna be okay," Madison spoke after a few minutes. "Would you take those things off?"
"I can hear you," Alicia bit back.
"Take them off. Please."
She tore one out, giving her mother a scathing look. "He's going to be okay."
"Yes, he will be. Thank you."
"Well while he's restrained."
This caused Madison to sigh.
"Could you carry some hope into the discussion?"
"He's an adult. You can't just ship him off to rehab. You can't just send him away like when he was young. All you can do now is what Nick said."
"I'm not cutting off your brother," Madison stated.
"He's worse," Alicia said with a shrug.
"He just needs to get the junk out of his system."
"Okay..."
And that was the last of the discussion before they got into school. She and Alicia silently headed inside, putting their bags through the inspection like usual and then heading to their lockers. Unfortunately their lockers were in different halls because of their age differences, so this was where they said goodbye until lunch.
"See ya in a few, text me if you need," Jamie offered, knowing that she'd likely want to text while they were in class to talk about what happened.
"Okay," she muttered, giving her a light shoulder bump before disappearing down the hall.
First period was Spanish for her so she grabbed her books and headed straight there. Alicia was a genius with languages so her grade in Spanish had improved greatly because of the outside help. Still, class was boring and first period always was the toughest, so she had trouble paying attention. She waited for any texts from Alicia, but none ever came, meaning this had to be hitting her harder than usual.
The first time she heard from her was around lunch when she texted her that she and Matt were having lunch together today and wouldn't be in the cafeteria with everyone else. Alright, that was fine, but that left her to wade through the lunch line alone so she was a bit bummed.
Hours flew by, with only a bit of small talk between the two here and there. Because she had volleyball practice, she had to stay late and take the bus. By the time she got home, it was dark out and she decided she needed to crash rather than bug Alicia all night and try to get her to open up.
The next day brought the same routine as the morning before, with Travis being the one to bring them to the hospital this time because Madison had stayed overnight. She hadn't gotten much else out of her friend, but it wasn't unusual for her to not want to open up, especially about such a touchy subject. Her friend would often hold stuff in and then blurt out her thoughts when she couldn't take it anymore before retreating back into herself again to brood some more.
When they got to the hospital, they found that Madison had fallen asleep next to Nick and she took a seat nearby, knowing that this would take a few minutes before they would head to school. She used the time to open up some homework that she had slacked on the night before, but that didn't mean she wasn't listening into the conversations.
"That was sweet, you and the step," Alicia commented once Travis left.
"Not our step...," Nick mumbled.
"Mom likes him. Who knows, she's used to disappointment."
Alicia got up to open up the food tray on the bedside table. Jamie remained silent, shifting her gaze down to her work and pressing her lips together. All this time, she had kept pretty quiet about her opinion on Travis. He was a decent guy in her opinion, had always been pretty kind to her, and seemed like he was trying his best to get along with everyone. She understood why Nick and Alicia had it out for him, but sometimes they could be a bit harsh.
Her friend moved to help feed her brother and she let herself tune out and focus on her homework until she heard her name.
"Hm?" she asked, looking up.
"I said, do you think Nick's crazy?" Alicia asked, raising an eyebrow.
Nick acknowledged her, obviously expecting her to side with his sister.
Jamie shrugged. "Depends on the definition. And what behaviors of his you're labeling as crazy. But uh, yeah I'd say so if we're talking about, you know, the drug thing and whatever crazy shit he said he saw."
"From the mouth of babes," Alicia snickered, watching Nick shake his head and sigh.
"No it's not gonna be like that anymore. I'm ending it now. I'm choosing to," he assured, probably more sincerely than anything else he had said today.
"Okay."
Alicia was skeptical, but she had every right to be after everything that Nick had pulled.
After everything that this family had been through, Jamie had to hope that Nick would follow through. So when Alicia left to go to the bathroom, she moved from her seat and across the room, stopping in front of him. He looked up at her, breathing a sigh.
"You gonna tell me how crazy I am too?" he mumbled.
"No. Listen, okay? I know this is your life and you can do whatever you want, but please at least consider Alicia. She's been through hell already without you disappearing and not knowing whether you're dead or not. If you say you're gonna get clean, be a man and actually do it," she murmured, not taking her eyes off him.
"Jamie, you don't have to-"
"Yes I do. I've been by Alicia's side through it all, okay? When you're gone, you don't know what she goes through. You and me might not know each other that well, but I know that if there's anyone on this planet you actually care about it's your sister."
A long stretch of silence followed and Nick looked up at her, sighing and then nodding slightly. "Okay."
It wasn't much, but it was as good as she was going to get. Next it was on to Alicia, who she finally to open up during the school hours, though likely only because it was over text. If anything, she was at least a little relieved that Nick hadn't made a hospital escape yet. Though that didn't stop her from voicing those concerns over text.
'I'm just waiting for the inevitable news that he's gone.'
Jamie could only reply with, 'hope for the best, expect the usual.'
'I'm just tired. One more year and I'm out of here. I wish you could take me with you when you leave.'
'I know. I'll pick you up on weekends and we can get our work done together. Get you away from everything for a bit.'
'Yeah. And Matt can come too. Maybe bring one of his friends for you ;)'
'Ha ha, very funny.'
'You know I am ;) oh and btw, I'm hanging out with Matt tonight, so I won't be able to help you with Spanish. Just need some time alone with him.'
'Okay no problem. Enjoy your alone time ;)'
However, it seemed that their alone time never got a chance to happen. By the time Jamie had showered, finished her homework, and started making dinner, the brunette had texted her saying she was on the way back home because Matt didn't show up and wouldn't text her back. It was awfully strange, given that Matt had always been a good guy to her and hadn't done anything like this before. But with her friend upset, the only thing she could do was invite her over to eat with her and listen to her rant.
And rant she did. As soon as she opened the door, she was bombarded by those frustrations.
"I can't believe he didn't show. He suggested it, didn't even text me to tell if something was going on. And my mom called me on the way over...Nick he...he left. Gone. Just like I said he would be."
Jamie held in her breath. She really hoped that maybe this time, things would actually be different. But it only left the Clarks with disappointment again. Even after she had spoken to him, he just...disregarded everything she said.
"Dammit...Alicia I'm sorry. Come on, sit down. I made some soup, we can watch a movie or something, take your mind off it," she suggested, putting her hands on her shoulders and ushering her to the kitchen.
She quickly scooped her a bowl of canned soup and got her own before heading to the living room. The two of them sat down on the couch, and Jamie flipped on the television to a random station. For a few moments, they sat quietly, slurping down their meal and sending each other occasional glances. She waited until her friend was absolutely ready, because prodding would only make her retreat further into herself.
"I expected Nick. I really did. None of his promises ever mean anything. I just thought that...maybe this time it could be different. I hoped it would be. But Matt? I mean come on, he's never like this! Wouldn't answer my calls or anything. If he's at school tomorrow I'm going to flip out on him. I don't care what everyone else thinks. He knows the shit I go through, with mom and Nick and the step. If something came up he could have told me," Alicia huffed, shaking her head.
"It's really out of character for Matt. Give him the benefit of the doubt, okay? It is a shitty thing to do, but just hear what he has to say first. Nick on the other hand...," she trailed, looking down in her soup, "Nick will be Nick. He's never going to change. It sucks and I'm sorry that you have to deal with it, but...I think you just have to focus on other things. I'm always going to be here. And I know you and your mom don't always see eye to eye, but she'll be here too."
Alicia remained silent, her fingers gently tapping against the bowl as she thought. This wasn't the first time they had talks like this and she was sure that it wouldn't be the last. Sometimes her friend just needed to be reminded of all the good things she actually had.
"You're right. As per usual, wisdom from the year you got on me," she snorted, a small smirk gracing her lips.
"You know it," Jamie snickered. "I am the queen of wisdom and good advice."
"Alright, don't get too cocky there."
The brunette pushed her lightly and they shared a laugh. A mischievous smile graced Jamie's lips and she put her soup down on the table, reaching behind her to swiftly grab a couch pillow and chuck it at her friend. She was barely able to put her soup down before her face was squished by the cushion.
"Oh you're on!" Alicia shouted, taking the pillow and charging at her.
She leaped over the couch to avoid, letting out a laugh and ducking into the kitchen. She needed ammo and fast.
Needless to say, by the end of the night the two had completely messed up the living room and fallen asleep on the couch, Nick and Matt forgotten.
If only that was all they had to deal with in the morning.
A/N: Hey guys! New fic! I've had this in my drafts for so long. But the last few Fear episodes have gotten me motivated. Nick has always been my favorite character, but it was hard coming up with ideas for a fic for whatever reason so it's taken me a while. But I'm just gonna write and see where it goes! This is a slower chapter, with not much in it, but I needed to introduce Jamie and where we are in the plotline of the show. Next chapter will be much more interesting. Hope you guys enjoyed and thank so much for reading!