Take Me Away

This is Home

Chapter 3

XOXOXOXOXO

Author's Note: Ah, third chapter already? In one day? Looks like I'm on a roll.

Thanks so much for all the helpful reviews, you guys! You're awesome.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Now that the Chipettes were adopted by Dave Seville, the trio of girls now walked home alongside the Chipmunks.

There were rumors going around (mainly by the more immature students) that they had a very incestuous relationship with each other. The group of chipmunks paid no mind to this, for even though they shared the same last name, and looked to Dave as though he was their father, they did not truly consider each other as brothers and sisters.

"And I totally drove the ball in and got the winning goal for my team! You should have seen it, Britt," Alvin bragged, flaunting himself in front of Brittany. She rolled her eyes at him, smirking.

"Alvin, you've told me that story a thousand times! There is no way that you could have outrun all of the opposing team while carrying a football that's bigger than you," she said, giggling.

Alvin's arrogant grin wavered a little.

"D-Did I say I ran all the way across the field? I meant that Maverick helped me across. But I still got most of the goals!" he went on, puffing out his chest. Brittany sighed, shaking her head.

"Hey Eleanor, did you find a partner for that art project?" Theodore asked, helping her off the bus. Eleanor thanked him, walking alongside him as the bus drove off.

"Yeah, I did. Jeanette and I are going to work together," Eleanor said, taking Jeanette's hand and smiling up at her.

Jeanette nodded. "Yes, that's right."

Theodore looked a little disappointed. "Oh..."

The downcast look on his face did not go unnoticed by Simon, who rubbed his head fondly. "If you don't have a partner yet, I'll help you out. That sound good with you, Theodore?"

"Yeah! Thanks Simon," Theodore said, giving him a small smile.

As the small group reached the front steps, Eleanor steered Jeanette off to the side. Jeanette looked down at her curiously.

"Jeanette, are you still mad at us?" Eleanor asked shyly.

"No, Eleanor, I'm not mad at you at all. It's just Brittany," Jeanette replied, shaking her head.

Eleanor's eyes filled with tears at her words and Jeanette immediately regretted her words.

"I don't want us to grow apart! After what Theodore went through.. it sounded so sad..." the blond sniffled. Jeanette leaned down to hug her, calming Eleanor.

"We won't, Ellie. I promise. I just got a little mad today, I'll get over it," she said cheerfully.

Eleanor nodded tearfully, wiping at her cheeks. "O-okay. If you say so."

"Come on. We don't want to catch a cold out here!" Jeanette said, playfully racing her sister to the front door.


Dave greeted them all as they walked through the front door. He was finally free of his casts and wheelchair. He was still a little sore from the injuries suffered during his sons' latest concert, but he was managing well. He had accepted the girls with open arms, but had kept a watchful eye on all six of them. Even though they were his kids, he was very much aware of their mutual crushes on one another, even if they weren't willing to admit it.

"Hey, guys. How was school today?" he asked, closing the door behind them.

"Great!" they replied in unison, setting down their small backpacks.

"No one got into any trouble?" Dave shot a suspicious look to Alvin, who flinched.

"Oh, come on, Dave! I'm a changed 'munk!" Alvin cried, trying to appeal to his father.

Dave smirked and allowed him the benefit of a doubt. "Mm, we'll see. You guys work on your schoolwork while I get dinner ready."

The Chipmunks and Chipettes walked to their individual rooms; the girls now had a separate room away from the boys. The girls' room was decorated with colors of soft pink, spring green and lush violet. Dave had made sure each of them had enough personal space and could feel right at home.

Brittany's part of the room had a fluffy bed with pink flowers decorating the sheets. She had a stereo, diary, posters, and various music awards near the walls. Though the awards belonged to all three of them, she wanted to keep them near her at all times. It was a constant reminder of how far they'd come.

Eleanor had a horde of stuffed animals around her bed, most of them bunnies. Her bed had green polka dots of varying shades. Her part of the room was pretty tidy, with various storybooks organized in a small bookshelf. Among these books were a couple culinary books. She had taken a great interest in baking, her favorite class being Home economics.

Jeanette's portion of the bedroom was accented with lavender and violet hues. She kept flowers near her window, loving anything to do with nature. She was a very spiritual individual. Feeling that she was very lucky to have made it to the status of a popular songstress, not to mention having been adopted into a very loving family, she prayed that the happy moments would never end.

She climbed onto her bed, spreading out a large piece of white paper. Eleanor combed through her closer, tossing out crayons, markers, and pencils. Brittany had walked past Jeanette without saying a word, hopping onto her bed and turning her back to her.

She doesn't even have the decency to apologize, Jeanette thought, scowling.

Jeanette decided to focus her attention on the twin-tailed little girl, not wanting to upset her anymore than she already had. Eleanor hummed as she settled down next to her, picking up a blue crayon with both hands.

"Oh, maybe we should draw our old home! Remember that den we had in the meadow?" Eleanor said excitedly.

"Oh, that's a good idea, Ellie! That's a perfect way to show where we came from," Jeanette said as she stood up. She then walked across the sheet of paper with the point against it, slowly drawing out hills and grasslands. Eleanor took another pencil and drew a large circle near the base of one of them. She stood back to look over their handiwork.

"Mm... we had a hollow log right by the lake, remember? We used to play hide and seek there all the time!" Eleanor pointed out.

Jeanette nodded and sketched out a log not too far from the den while Eleanor drew out the general shape of a lake.

Before Jeanette could finish detailing her sketch, a loud blast of music from Brittany's stereo startled her into running her pencil off the page. She whirled around, watching Brittany dance around in tune to the music, completely oblivious.

"BRITTANY!" she bellowed, covering her ears to block out the ear-splitting music.

Brittany continued to dance, obviously not hearing Jeanette.

"BRITTANY!" screamed both Eleanor and Jeanette.

She stopped, jumping to the stereo and stepping on the 'stop' button.

"What? What happened?" Brittany asked.

Jeanette glared at her. "Why are you playing your music so loud? Eleanor and I are working on a project, you know."

Brittany came over to the two of them, examining their artwork. "What is this supposed to be?"

Eleanor looked at her in disbelief. "It's our old home, silly!"

Brittany's normally beautiful features pinched into a scowl. "Why draw that? I thought it was all in the past now."

Eleanor cast her eyes down, kicking her small feet. "It's to show where we came from, you know?"

Brittany sighed, suddenly looking tired. "Girls, I thought all of that was in the past now."

"It's the past that made us what we are today. Yes, it was tough. But it made us that much stronger, right?" Jeanette said softly, erasing her mistakes. "What's the old saying? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Brittany was silent for a few seconds. She then picked up a third pencil, drawing out some clouds. Eleanor and Jeanette looked at each other in surprise. Brittany smiled to herself, moving to draw some curvy, upside-down arcs that connected. After a few seconds of watching her, Jeanette realized she was making out the distant form of birds in the sky.

"You're right, Jeanette. It did make us stronger. That den, Momma, Daddy...all of it made us stronger. It's just... thisis our home now. Dave, Alvin, Simon and Theodore. 'Home is where the heart is'. That's what Dad told us," Brittany's smile wavered a little at the mention of their mother and father. "I just don't like talking about it, okay?"

Eleanor and Jeanette remained silent, their heads swimming with painful memories of their parents. Jeanette could still hear her father's calm, caring voice. She could still remember her mother's warm embrace. She still longed, how impossible it might be now, for the long afternoons spent together just watching the sunsets everyday after dinner.

"I..." Brittany whispered, swallowing. "I just want us to try and move on. Do you guys understand what I'm saying?"

Jeanette could not, nor would she ever want to, forget what brought them here. But she understood why Brittany had such a hard time looking back on it. She nodded silently, helping her sisters finish the pencil work for the project

If home is where my heart lies,I guess that means I have two homes I never want to leave.


Author's Note: Woo, done with Chapter 3! The fourth one is in progress even as we speak. Still brainstorming.

Thank you for reading and for any reviews!