That New Generation Fic

AvalonReeseFanfics

A/N: So here we are. The next chapter of this interesting little fic. It's a flashback chapter. Where we get a little look at the how this sort of started. Don't forget to tell me what you think!

Chapter 2: Flashback to Sadville

March 29th 1996 – 8:02pm - Point Place Wisconsin, Chris Forman's Basement

Chelsea Forman, was desperately trying to avoid the awkward conversation going on upstairs in the living room. She had walked blindly into it, just wanting to make herself a pre-dinner snack, something like toast or carrots and found her Uncle Stephen looking like he might have been crying but she couldn't tell with the glasses in front of his face, surrounded by her family and her family friends. Uncle Michael and Uncle Fez were both there, her mom was sitting beside Uncle Steven with an arm around his shoulder. They had stared at her in muted horror, for how could a child walk into this situation, a situation that her mighty parents couldn't even handle and take it well? Her father tried to shoo her away as if nothing was wrong so Chelsea ran into the kitchen happy to pretend that everything was fine. She had no desire to go back through that door to get to her room, it was too late at night to go next door not that she really wanted to talk to the girly and prissy Sarah, so she made her way downstairs.

She thumped down the stairs, hoping to watch T.V., but the T.V. was on and someone was already sitting in the couch. She had heard a little bit of the conversation upstairs, she knew a little bit of what was happening, but she didn't think that the person they were talking about really cared. Junior was a whole year older than her, he was more mature and wiser than ever these days, always having to be smartest person in the room in the most condescending of ways. He always acted as if emotions didn't exist in him, except for anger and the need to punch things. Chelsea vaulted over the back of the couch and sat down beside him, slapping the back of his curly haired almost blonde head in the air before her butt hit the couch seat.

She laughed to herself, amazed by her own dexterity but when she turned to look back at Junior to see if he was maybe going to wrestle with her she saw that he was angled away from her and his shoulders were shaking.

Chelsea's eyes narrowed at him. "Are you crying?" she asked.

There were a few sniffs before Junior snapped out a very shaky: "NO!"

There was a minute of silence where Junior attempted to stifle his sniffs and Chelsea sat there in shock. "Well… geeze… I didn't hit you that hard," she sighed after an unbearably long awkward silence.

"Shut up!" He snapped again and this time Chelsea got angry.

"Okay look, obviously you're upset and I'm going to guess that it's because of what the grown-ups are talking about upstairs. So here's what I'm going to do, either you start talking to me about this or I'm going to punch you and give you a real reason to cry," she warned.

Junior turned to look at her, his tear-tracks obvious on his splotchy face. His frown was mostly because Chelsea was making him talk but she didn't care.

"What do you care?" he snapped. "What? You want to just tease me about it?"

Chelsea's glare was a dry one. "No!" she snapped. "Come on Junior. You're upset and you're down here alone. You obviously have emotions, so freaking talk to me about them before I change my mind!"

"What do you want me to say? That it sucks that my mom left without even saying good-bye? That I had no idea she was gone, that she's been gone for days and I just thought she went to see my dad or on a spa day without telling me? How about how it feels even worse that my dad doesn't want me either so I'm moving into the basement once the Forman's get the room habitable?" he cried.

"Okay! Stop being stupid, Junior. Firstly! Your dad does want you, you dingus! He just doesn't want to pull you out of school half way through the year," Chelsea told him. "And secondly, dude! This is pretty much a permanent sleep-over and my parents adore you so they're going to treat you even better then they treat us!"

Junior glared at her. "Stop calling me that," he ordered.

Chelsea softened a bit, she had always called him Junior, just like his mom did because the nickname bugged him. "Sorry… from now on, when it's just you and me… you're Steven, okay?" she murmured. She scooched over on the couch until their thighs touched, she very slowly and carefully put an arm around his shoulder. "I can't say I understand how you feel, but I'll be here if you ever need a shoulder to cry on."

At this Junior turned and wrapped his arms around Chelsea who froze almost immediately. Junior was sobbing now, his head buried in her shoulder as he cried, she could feel the dampness soaking through her sweater. She hugged him back somewhat stiffly as comforting people wasn't her forte. She nothing else to him and instead just let him cry it out.

After a while he pulled away from her. He dried his tears with his sleeve, which included running that same sleeve under his dripping nose. Chelsea didn't hide her look of disgust, both disgusted by his need for a tissue and not a sleeve and by the fact this this older boy whom she had known for literally all her life had been sobbing like a little girl all over her. She fought back the urge to make some snarky comment as he very much needed her to be nice and not a little bully like she usually was.

They were still sitting closely though and Chelsea was realizing that she was beginning to reach that stage where she was very much aware of boys and their proximity to her and their hotness. Junior had never been hot to her before, and he had been much closer to her in the past, especially since they used to wrestle non-stop and still did whenever their arguments got super-heated. He was looking into her eyes, his green eyes were misty and shining and almost breathtaking.

He was leaning in, oh god, oh god, was he going to kiss her? Was this going to be her first kiss? Here in the basement with a tearful Steven Hyde Junior?

There was a pounding on the stairs and before Junior could even move away Chelsea had punched him right in the stomach. Winded and in pain Junior doubled over, falling off the couch in shock coughing and sputtering as he went. Chelsea stood up and glared up to Chris who was slowly coming towards them his mouth open in shock.

Chelsea pointed at Junior who was still groaning on the floor. "He's crying 'cause I punched him!" she said before walking around the couch and heading up the stairs.

As she made it to the top she heard Junior call out: "Thanks Chels!" and she shot back a snarky "You're Welcome Junior." And then made a mad dash through the living room and up towards her room avoiding everyone's eyes

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