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"Shit, shit, shit!" Elena cursed, as she locked up her car and began to race towards Pop's Diner. After practice Cheryl had commandeered her for some rather lengthy activities which had made her extremely late for her after school shift at the diner. Not to mention it was her Mom's first day, and she had had been tasked with showing her the ropes. Damn Cheryl and her glossy lipstick to hell.
"Sorry!" Elena apologised as she entered the diner, panting desperately as she ground to a halt. Hermione was sat by the counter already dressed in her uniform, an amused smile gracing her lips as Elena began to gather herself up from the floor. "Car trouble... then there was so much traffic... need a minute..."
"It's okay." Hermione smiled, "I was just familiarising myself with the coffee machine."
"Tap the button twice for espresso orders," Elena advised, as she strolled round to the other side of the counter, "that thing is so old I'm pretty sure it had a bicentennial at one point. How's the uniform treating you?" Elena asked, gesturing to Hermione's uniform. "It suits you."
"It's no Chanel but it'll do nicely." Hermione replied with a casual shrug.
Elena tried her best to ignore the distinct sensation of her hands shaking nervously, as she bent down to retrieve her apron from where she had last stored it. Her mother was here, and they were talking no less. The two of them had barely been able to string two words together around the other the last time they had been alone, with their previous conversation ending in a shouting match and Hermione leaving the room in tears. It had been the day she'd announced her intention to become emancipated, and effectively managed to get herself blackened off the Lodge family tree for good.
"Elena what the hell is this?" Demanded Hermione, waving the letter in her face.
"What does it look like?"
Hermione glowered at her daughter, unamused by her use of sarcasm. "You're filing for emancipation due to parental neglect? Is this some kind of late April Fools joke or something mija? You better tell me now!"
Elena shrugged, Hermione's show of emotion unable to prompt any feeling from her. After last month, the situation with Nick St Clair and his friends and everything that had been building up over the past few years, the fear of her parents getting mad at her no longer motivated her anymore. She just didn't care. So what if she would be the family embarrassment, they would refuse to talk about? They'd probably be happy without her, just the two of them and Veronica like she knew they secretly wanted. No troublesome daughter acting out and showing them up in front of their snooty friends anymore, they could all be free. "It's not a joke," she offered simply, "it is what it is."
"Negligence?" Hermione scoffed. "Elena did you forget where we live?"
"Don't equate wealth to good parenting mother, you've done it enough already." Elena snapped, as the floodgates threatened to burst.
"Hey-"
"I'm fifteen and you and Dad leave me and Veronica alone constantly! Believe it or not Mom but I'd love to have an actual set of parents, not glorified roommates who foot the bill for me." She ranted, years of frustration flooding free from her mouth. "I kept waiting around for you or Dad to notice me and step up but you didn't. God I don't even know you two. I could be dead and you wouldn't even notice!" Elena found her voice rising, her anger bursting through. "Try throwing a dollar at this to fix things mother."
Yet Hermione remained wordless throughout her speech, frozen to the spot as she listened to her words. When she did mange to finally bring herself to speak, a faint tremor clung to her words. "You really feel that way mija? You can let yourself out, I won't stop you."
Though it took only a few moments for Hermione to make her way over to her bedroom door and slam it shut, Elena still managed to hear the beginnings of the rare sound of her mother crying.
"Elena?"
Elena jumped at the sound of her mother's voice, bringing her back to reality. "Do you need some help?" Hermione nodded to her apron, which she still had yet to tie around her.
"Sure." She nodded, grateful for the offer. Were these her baby steps? Towards easing them away from the antagonistic relationship that had built up between them over the years? Hermione finished tying the apron together, tapping lightly on Elena's shoulder to indicate that she was done. "All set."
"Thanks." She thanked her, whilst willing the wariness she had always held towards her mother to stay at bay. She wanted to believe that Hermione was willing to change, hell she had longed for it for a long time. But the doubts continued to niggle at her, the seeds already planted despite her best efforts. She and her Dad had been attached at the hip for as long as she could remember, setting the example of a relationship that meant that they were partners both in and out of their relationship. Despite Hiram's crimes effectively making her and Veronica broke, Elena couldn't see her cutting him out of their lives anymore then she could imagine herself telling her Dad what Nick St Clair had almost pushed her into doing all those years ago or the fact that she was gay. Not to mention it was Dad. She'd catch the odd comment sometimes at one of his business dinners, an underlining threat in his words that Veronica had never seemed to notice. He could be scary when he wanted to be, and she certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of his anger.
Elena spared a glance at her Mom, her mind made up.
Once chance, and that would be it. She wouldn't be burned again.
"Elena!" Veronica chirped happily as she caught sight of her sister, waving in greeting as she walked over to join her at the counter. Elena was on money duty, whilst Hermione had been sent out to handle the rabble of after school kids who'd flocked to the diner for some food. To Elena's surprise, she was handling it rather well. Her Mom was certainly handling it better then she had done, she'd been on the verge of an anxiety induced panic attack the first time she had taken on the shift.
"Hey!" Elena smiled, as Veronica sauntered and pulled up a stool across from her. "Come to see her work?"
"How's she doing?" Veronica asked.
Elena nodded in Hermione's direction, where she was handing out orders to a table full of people. "Pretty good considering it's her first day. She hasn't dropped anything. Yet."
Veronica glanced between the two. "And what about you guys? How's that going, working with Mom?" Elena swallowed at the sight of Veronica's all to eager face, as it made her think of a kid with their face pressed to the window of a candy store. Suddenly her sister's thoughts were all too clear. "Veronica... It won't be that easy."
"What?" She questioned innocently.
Elena cocked an eyebrow. "You think if me and Mom spend enough time together, things between us will eventually work themselves out. And that maybe if that happens, you could orchestrate a tear-filled reunion with me and the Wolf of Wall Street." She summarised, noting that she was indeed correct as the colour drained from Veronica's startled face. "Am I wrong?"
"No." She admitted, letting out a sigh. "But is it so wrong that I want us back together? Things weren't the same without you Ellie, everything fell apart!"
"So it's my fault dear old Dad can't go five minutes without breaking a law?"
"No-"
Elena eyed her sister seriously. "Ron I love you, but it's just not that easy. Dad made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me after what happened, and I don't expect that to change any time soon."
"But what if it did?" Veronica pressed, leaning forward as she spoke. "What if things do work out with Mom? Would you talk to him again?"
Elena was saved from answering by their mother's reappearance, flustered from the past hour as she approached her two daughters. "You're doing great Mom!" Chirped Veronica, as she joined Elena behind the counter. "Better than me this week."
I'll say.
"Yeah Ronnie, we're surviving by our wits. Because that's what we Lodge women do. If your Dad could see us now..." Hermione trailed off self-consciously, still clearly unused to the sudden change in lifestyle.
"He'd say you look stunning in that new uniform." Complimented Veronica. "Right Elena?"
"Right." She forced a smile, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. And then he'd make a comment about how cheap it must have been for Pop to purchase. Or ask how many times you could dry clean it before you needed a new one.
"I'm going for this Joan Crawford/Mildred Pierce look thing," Hermione fretted with her hair, as she glanced between her two daughters for support, "is it working?"
"Definitely." Veronica confirmed.
"Without a shadow of doubt." Elena smiled, meaning the words sincerely. She deserved time to get used to it at least. Before anymore words could be exchanged between the three of them, the cause of all the drama between Betty and Veronica walked through the door. There stood Archie Andrews, clearly flustered once he caught sight of Veronica.
Veronica and Archie stared awkwardly at one another, only serving to elicit their mother's attention. "And who might this heartbreaker be?" Questioned Hermione, as she looked over Archie with the all too knowing eye of a Mom.
"I'm picking up an order for Andrews." Archie replied simply. Taking that as her cue to scuttle off to collect the order, Elena was all too happy to hurry away from her sister's boy troubles.
Not for the first time in her life, Elena thanked whatever deity was out there for keeping her away from the heterosexuals and their love triangles.
"Well that was long." Commented Hermione, as she pulled her bag over her shoulder.
"Just wait until the double shift," Elena chuckled, as a surprisingly good mood began to settle over her. "Then you'll surpass tired and head straight to walking zombie mode."
"How the hell do you cope?" Wondered Hermione. "I'm exhausted just after one day."
"As a by product of this job you can now officially call me the third Gilmore Girl," Elena joked, as she recalled her love for coffee that had emerged after she had started working at Pop's. "We may be dead inside, but at least we're getting paid."
"True." Hermione smiled, as she settled down on to a chair as Elena piled her things into her bag from her work locker. "You know, the only real work I ever did was at the convenience store your Grandpa worked at? Two summers max. My parents always took care of me, then I married your Dad and then it was straight to the penthouses of New York." She recalled wistfully, a sense of nostalgia prevalent in her voice.
Hermione glanced up, locking eyes with Elena. "You know, I'm proud of you mija." Elena's heat thundered at the comment as she registered the words, unable to believe what she was hearing. She had longed to hear those words all those years ago, and now here they were... Hermione rose from her seat, clearly nervous as she did so. "I want to make things right with the two of us Elena. If you'd let me, I'd like the chance to make it up to you." She offered.
"Sure." Baby steps right? "I'd like that."
But as Elena reached for her phone, their brief agreement came to a standstill. "Elena what's that?"
She'd forgotten to cover her wrist. On her right hand's wrist was a single unmistakeable scar, short but unwavering as the white colour cut a distinctive line across her skin. There no hiding it, Elena thought solemnly. Now that she had seen it, there was nothing she could do to keep her from asking.
"Elena?" She spared a glance at her mother, a look of concern etched on her face as the realisation dawned on her. "Sweetie-"
"Don't!" She snapped, taking a step away from Hermione. "Just don't!" She insisted, before pulling her bag over her shoulder. Before she realised what she was doing, Elena was practically sprinting out of the diner and out into the night to escape.
Shit. Lemme know what you thought!