A/N: I'm back! It took a while for me to write this chapter because again, I know where point A and B are, I just don't know how to get there. But I do believe this would be the last introductory chapter. Because I feel next chapter would be the perfect place to start the actual plot, and begin the movie.
Tell me what you guys think about that. In the meantime though;
Songs that inspired this chapter:
Never be What you Want (Acoustic) - We Are the In Crowd
The Other Side - Tonight Alive
Guts - All Time Low
(I also was watching The Hunger Games while writing this.)
Review Replies:
Jane (Guest): Thank you! I like to develop my characters quite a bit before delving into the actual plot of the story. (If that makes any sense.) I'm glad to see you like the story so far. Here's an update! :)
mamareadstomuch2: Glad to know you're sticking around. Here's an update for ya!
Guest: Thank you! Here's that update.
And thank you to everyone who followed and favorited, it thrills me to see that people like this story. :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my STILL exceedingly long list of OC's.
Hope you guys enjoy!
Sierra
Shawn had called around Wednesday proposing that he and Sierra go out for dinner on Friday, which is the same night that Connor and Murphy wanted her to go with them to McGinty's for a few beers. (That she couldn't have.)
Either way, now Sierra was showered, wrapped in a fluffy towel with Mrs. McDonald on her couch helping her pick out an outfit. So far a pair of bootcut jeans was laid out on her bed with her flats sitting on the floor with George sniffing the bow on her shoes and Luna sleeping soundly on Sierra's pillow.
She couldn't find a nice shirt.
"I just," She sighs and wraps her towel tighter around her torso, "I want to look nice but not look like I'm over achieving." Mrs. McDonald nods.
"I know what you mean sweetie." Sierra looks through her tops some more before the grandmother lets out an; "Oh!" before getting up and setting her mug on Sierra's table before quickly bustling her way out of the flat and heading back to her home for a few minutes before coming back holding a deep purple tank top and a lacey see-through shirt in both hands. "My daughter left this the last time she visited. Might fit you." Sierra frowns a little before getting dressed in the jeans and top after having to have the grandmother's help clipping her bra.
"I don't know…" She mumbles, fixing the three quarter sleeves and pulling up the tank top to at least have the v-neck collar meet with it. "You sure she won't mind?" Mrs. McDonald shakes her head.
"She's in London. She didn't care much for it anyways. He said seven right?" Sierra looks at clock on her wall to see it read six thirty.
"Crap." Sierra hisses and pulls on her flats and blow dries her hair to it's natural waviness and puts half of it up leaving her bangs hanging in her face while Mrs. McDonald picks up the five demons and puts them in the basket and picking that up while Sierra brushes her teeth and shrugs on her coat.
"I'll see you tomorrow dear, whenever you want to pick them up." Sierra nods as she grabs her purse.
"Alright see you later Mrs. McDonald." The grandmother rolls her eyes.
"It's Rose to you darling." She corrects before Sierra nods and locks her door and rushing down the stairs where a taxi was waiting for her patiently.
At least Mrs. McDonald had the foresight to call one to take her to the café that she was meeting Shawn at.
"Lakeview please." She tells the driver who nods as Sierra pulls a twenty from her purse and rolls it between her fingers as she keeps an eye on the little screen that tells her how much she owes at the end of the trip.
Tonight was a tight fit for everything, first she worked from nine to four, talked with the boys on what was going on tonight, (Which then threw them into a very dramatic fit of; "Oh I see how it is! You don't want to hang out with us!") And then she got ready for her dinner with Shawn. (She refused to call it a date because that implies romantic feelings and Sierra was adamant on not trying anything with Shawn again.)
Connor and Murphy had taken great pleasure in making her uncomfortable with calling it a date though. She got them to shut up by telling them she'll meet them at McGinty's afterwards.
"Eighteen fifty girlie." She hears, and she hands him the twenty.
"Keep the change." She tells him, and he throws Sierra a grateful smile as she climbs out of the cab and walks into Lakeview Café where Shawn is talking with the bartender when he sees her walk in.
"Ah, I didn't think you would come." Sierra rolls her eyes.
"That was one time Shawn, and even then I was writing a midterm." He smiles as they sit down in a booth and order their drinks. (He gets a beer while Sierra gets a coke.)
"So, tell me, why did you stop drinking?" He asks and Sierra sighs, biting her lip and looking through the pastas. Wasn't much of a leap that this place was an Italian restaurant.
"Decided to stop partying. Cleaned up." She lies easily, sipping idly on her coke when it arrives.
"That's not what you said last time I saw you. You said you couldn't drink." Shawn says, and Sierra suddenly remembers why she ended it with him.
He never learned to back off. And things were always about him.
"So tell me, how's the ER doing these days?" Sierra changes the subject, and Shawn instantly launches into a story.
"Well a couple of days ago we had this teenager, couldn't be older than seventeen, ruptured spleen, punctured lung, and collapsed breastplate. Guess what happened to him?" Shawn says, and Sierra's slightly surprised he could be so lighthearted about this.
"Uhh…" She answers, and he continues.
"He tried to get into a gang, and one of the initiations was to get the living daylights beaten out of you." Sierra sighs and rests her temple on her fist as he prattles on about the different things he sees in the emergency room and Sierra just listens, even after they order and receive their food.
She doesn't even get a chance to input anything into the conversation, and is instantly reminded of college when everything was about him. Whenever she made a bad choice he would get upset with her because it affected him somehow.
"Are you okay?" He asks, once they're done with dinner and outside of Lakeview, making Sierra sigh as he helps her flag down a cab.
"Yeah, no, I'm fine." She answers as a cab pulls up.
"We should do this again sometime." He tells her, making Sierra screw her eyes shut as she tries not to roll her eyes.
God no.
"Sure." She answers, in a high tone that obviously says she doesn't want to see him again.
"Alright, I'll call you." Shawn replies before kissing her cheek and walking over to his Dodge Durango with that.
Sierra shudders lightly and slides in the back of the car and rubs her cheek roughly with the sleeve of her jacket to get rid of Shawn's saliva.
"Erugh…McGinty's please." And there's an urgency in Sierra's voice that the cab driver can't even object to as he speeds off towards the Irish pub.
Upon reaching there and throwing the driver a twenty Sierra gets out to see Rocco leaning against the doorway, obviously waiting for something or someone.
"Hey Rocco." She greets, and the man smiles down at her.
"Hey there Sunshine. Doc's got a Shirley Temple with your name on it inside." Sierra rolls her eyes.
"There better not be any alcohol in it." She chides lightly as Rocco opens the door for her.
"When is there ever?" He teases, and they share a laugh as he takes her coat and sets it on a stool next to Murphy while Doc slides the sprite and cherry juice mixed drink towards her.
"Look like ya had a rough date." Connor teases from across Murphy while Sierra rolls her eyes and takes out the cherries and handing them to the latter twin. Apparently he had a love for cherries that Sierra lacked.
"Shut up. It was the worst date ever." She replies and takes one of the stems back and sticks it in her mouth.
She's made it a personal challenge to successfully tie a stem in a knot.
"Aha! So it was a date!" Connor cries and Murphy laughs with Rocco and a few various others while Sierra sips slowly at her drink. In the few months she's known Rocco, he's learned that her favorite drink was a virgin Shirley Temple and she often favored chips as a snack whenever she did fall off the wagon and start drinking.
"Shut up! I need a cigarette." She grumbles, digging in her purse on the bar counter for her pack before Murphy waves one in her face and she latches her lips onto the filter as Rocco hands over his lighter.
"So how'd it go?" Rocco teases, sitting next to her and getting another beer. She takes the stem out a successful tiny knot in the middle of it.
"Ugh, you know when it's supposed to be the girl that never stops talking?" She asks throwing it on a napkin, and the whole bar ruptures into uncontrollable laughter.
"He wouldn't shut his mouth?" Murphy guesses through his laughs, and Sierra looks at him with a; 'You bet your sorry ass' expression.
"Oh my god, first it was stories from the ER, then how the past five years were without me…just…ugh. And he wants to do it again!" She cries indignantly, throwing her hands up and rolling the cigarette in the ashtray before more ash falls off and she takes another drag before she exhales the smoke through her nose. "And I'm just too nice to say no…" She mumbles and Doc gives her hand a squeeze.
"B-b-best t-ta let the boy down easy l-lass." He suggests before turning his head and screaming; "Fuck! Ass!" which made Sierra almost burst into giggles. She's only been in here a select few times simply because the temptation for a beer was far too strong, but the times he'd do that…it never failed to make her laugh.
"I know I know." She sighs, taking another drink and drag from the cigarette and frowning at the taste. Not as good as her reds. "What kind of cigarettes do you guys get?" She asks, genuinely curious because these ones taste like crap.
"Whatever's cheapest." Murphy answers, blowing smoke in her face before she returns the favor.
"That explains why they taste so bad." She grumbles teasingly, offering him a smile as a few other guys laugh.
An hour or two later, and about six Shirley Temple's later, Sierra's gone through the remainder of her pack, (Which was only about three or four anyways, she'll have to get some more), and she occasionally is either using Rocco or Murphy as a pillow.
"Fearr a fháil ar a teach. Sula théann sí amach ar orainn." (Best get her home. Before she passes out on us.) Connor says to Murphy, who nods and Sierra's head jerks back up. She doesn't even know what time it is, just knows that she got yelled at twice at T.G.I's today because she apparently forgot the ranch to someone's wings. (Excuse her.)
"Stop talking about me dammit!" She cries teasingly but by the way the boys are getting up and laying twenties on the counter she figures they're leaving.
"C'mon lass, let's get home." Murphy tells her as Rocco drops her empty pack in the trash can by the door.
"Alright. What was that by the way?" She asks, bringing out her wallet before Connor ignores her and snatches it out of her hands and Murphy drops another twenty by her drink. "Hey!" She cries.
"Hay is fer horses." Murphy tells her as Connor drops her wallet back in her purse and helps her up. "See ya t'morrow Doc." He calls, and his brother raises a hand as Sierra shrugs on her coat and grabs her purse.
"See you later guys." Rocco gives her a hug and a kiss on her head as Doc squeezes her hand.
"Take c-c-care of yerself lass." He tells her before she nods and gives his cheek a kiss before following the boys out and shouldering her purse.
"So, lass," Connor starts as they pass a block or two, "How late do ya work t'morrow?" Sierra sighs as she finishes buttoning up her coat.
"Well I got a long shift at the bookstore tomorrow so around seven-ish. It varies on Saturdays. Why?" Connor shrugs as Murphy brings out more cigarettes, handing Sierra one even though she doesn't like the taste of the crummy ones he's got. Still, it's a cigarette.
"Curious." He answers vaguely, and Sierra raises an eyebrow at the twins who both share a mischievous look before popping their cigarettes in their mouths and the walk continues in silence until they all get home.
Sierra hates slow Saturdays, especially when the demons behind the counter won't shut up. She kept George and Luna at home because now that she's named them she can't possibly give them up. All the while she can afford two cats, just not five.
So a gray cat, a black one, and a Siamese are climbing all over the counter and wandering the bookstore while Allen, her boss, is talking with a customer over by the teen fiction section.
She's only seen one or two people in the last hour, and Allen had said she could bring the cats to see if she could get rid of them here, because honestly she can't afford anymore cans of tuna, and she was stopping by the store on her way home for the cat food and bowls for both George and Luna.
"Well 'ello there lass." She sighs at the sight of Connor and Murphy walking into the store.
"Really? Are you guys stalking me now or what?" She laughs a little as Connor scratches the Siamese behind her ears.
"Nah, we're lookin' fer a book here fer Murph. He wants ta learn Portuguese." Sierra raises an impressed eyebrow.
"Well foreign languages are three from the back on the right aisle. Not sure if we have Portuguese but you're free to look." The boys nod and Murphy specifically walks towards the directed section while Sierra looks at Connor's hand. "Truth." She says finally, feeling successful.
"Aye, ya finally figured it out then." He says and she smiles.
"Didn't take very long, especially when you have this." And she pulls the Latin dictionary out from one of the many shelves behind the counter.
"Fine, what's Macho Murph's then?" Connor challenges as he leans on the counter and Sierra takes the Siamese off and puts her in the basket where her two brothers are now sleeping.
"Justice." She grins, feeling extremely successful as Connor smiles at her.
"Very nice job lass, well done." He congratulates as Murphy comes back with a few Portuguese textbooks, mostly translated into English but it's just the basics on the language.
"Geez, got enough there?" She teases but checks them out anyways as Murphy brings out his wallet.
"This really what you do all day?" He asks, once the books are paid for and no one else comes through the door, the person Allen was talking hadn't found what she was looking for and just left.
"Basically, Saturdays are usually our busiest days. But I guess because of the roads most people just decide to stay indoors." She's talking about the snow last Saturday and it continually snowing all week, thus icing over the roads. Sierra's just glad she has to take the T to get to work. "It happens." She finishes and the boys nod in understanding.
"Sierra, I don't believe I pay you to stand around and talk to your boyfriends." Allen quips from over by the Science Fiction section, probably restocking. The girl in question just rolls her eyes.
"Guess we should be going then." Connor says, making Sierra sigh as Murphy scoops up his books and shoves his wallet in his back pocket.
"See you later guys." She cheers, and they leave with that and she turns to Allen. "I don't have multiple boyfriends Allen." She chides irritably, knowing how rude what he just did was. Besides there was nothing to do around the place.
"Whatever, restock the kids section for me please?" He replies and Sierra sighs before grabbing one of the boxes from the back and heading over to the kids section.
After fixing one or two of the shelves, because children just love to confuse others and put different books in front of others, Allen calls her back to the front where a mother and her two kids are looking at the kittens.
"Hey guys, you all set?" She asks, and the kids nod while they stack their teen fiction books on the counter.
"How much are the cats?" The mother asks after Sierra rings them up.
"Oh, they're free. I saved them from some teenagers and I've been trying to get rid of them for a long while." Sierra replies and the boy smiles while petting the black one and the younger girl is cuddling with the Siamese.
"Mind if we take all three? I have another one at home who would love this gray one." The mother replies and the kids smile widely.
"No, not at all. Go right ahead." The boy smiles before they put the cats back in the basket and the mother pays for the books.
"Thank you." The little girl grins and Sierra smiles down at her, the girl's bright blonde hair tied back in a braid and her blue eyes glowing as Sierra sees her toothy smile.
"You're very welcome honey." She replies making the mother smile as Sierra bags the books for them and the boy grabs all the cats. "Oh, go ahead and take the basket, I don't need it anyways." The mother smiles.
"Thank you." Sierra nods.
"Yeah, you guys have a good one." And after they leave Allen looks at her.
"We could've made some good money off those cats." He tells her and Sierra rolls her eyes.
"Let it go Allen, those cats would've been free off the street anyways." She says and he shrugs, lifting his gray shirt a little.
Allen is a very stout man with a bit of a beer belly, he's balding slightly at the top of his head and almost always wears a stained gray t-shirt, holey jeans, and sneakers to work. He often tells Sierra to dress up a little, modestly at least.
Explains why she's wearing a black long sleeve, jeans, and her boots while her hoodie and jacket slung over her swivel chair while her purse is stowed in the counter's shelves hidden behind the register.
"Just saying." He says before walking away and probably going to smoke a cigarette in the back. She can't smoke on breaks, but apparently he can.
Whatever.
Sierra makes do with picking at her nails and lips until she's let off.
She just wants to go home, eat, shower, and sleep.
Which is exactly what she does.
A/N: I don't know about you guys, but to me this chapter feels kind of rushed. But still! It's an update. And I found Irish on Google translate, so I'm settling with that. Not entirely sure if it's Gaelic, but still. It's Irish. I'm okay with that.
Moving on, I might not be able to update until sometime next week all because of Superbowl Sunday, I'm catching up on latework as it is, etc., etc. But I'll try to update as soon as I can.
Review for questions/thoughts.
Follow/favorite if you liked and would like to know when I update next.
See you guys around!
-Alice