Hey, guys. Sorry I didn't update yesterday, but I stayed home sick and my mom didn't approve of me on my laptop while skipping out on school, even if I literally couldn't go to school. I'm having trouble with inspiration… but I'm managing to scrounge some up, I think. So, enough of my blabbering.
Disclaimer: Read the other disclaimers. I don't own anything but my characters and my fic.
Kaylie POV-
When my parents showed up on my doorstep, I think it suffices to say that I was shocked. Wrinkles marred my mom's face, new and old. I only know that because when I'd asked about our parents- before I knew why they were in jail- Beca had given me a photo album of them and us. I had wondered at the time why Beca would be so willing to forfeit any pictures of people I didn't remember, but now I realize why. It's because she never wanted to be reminded of them. And after hearing why, well… I don't either. I'm about to tell them to leave, but then my husband Jason comes up behind me and invites them in. He seems confused when I shoot him a glare, as if he doesn't remember that they beat Beca, but then it occurs to him. His face shows regret, but I just shake my head at him and walk off. I pull out my phone.
What the hell, Beca? –Kaylie
What's wrong, Kayl? –Beca
Since when are our parents out of jail? –Kaylie
How do you know that, Kayl? –Beca
Does it matter how I know? –Kaylie
Look, Kayl, I'm sorry. Are they there with you? –Beca
Well… yes, but that's not the point. The point is you lied to me. Again. –Kaylie
I'm sorry, Kaylie. Chloe and I are on the way there. Don't do anything to piss off Jack, alright? –Becs
No, Becs, don't come. Not after what they did to you. I can handle this –Kaylie
Goddamn it Kaylie keep them away from your kids if they get mad and don't tell them I'm coming –Becs
*sigh* Okay. You don't have to come, you know? –Kaylie
Yeah, I do. For you and for me. –Beca
I love you, Beca. U know that, right? –Kaylie
Of course. I love you too. –Beca.
I don't respond after that. I walk ahead of my parents and Jack. Xavier stands up, as do Jamie and Elizabeth. "Who are they?" Elizabeth asks, the first to speak. It hits me, right then, how much she looks like Beca. She's basically a mini-Beca, height included. Looking at my mom, I realize that she sees it too. She looks… devastated. Pushing past that, and the ache it brings to think of, I focus on the dilemma of labeling my parents.
I finally decided on staying simple. "These are your grandparents." I tell her, and she smiles.
Jack steps forward, and I flinch involuntarily. "Don't I get a hug, Kaylie?" He asks, looking somewhat suspicious. I'm not supposed to know anything.
I force a smile. "Of course, Daddy." I assure him, stepping into his arms. I have to resist the urge to beat him for what he did to Beca. I swear it's the longest hug I've ever participated in. After what seems like long, torturous hours, he pulls away. My mother steps forward and hugs me, planting a kiss on my cheek. As she pulls away, I lead them towards the kitchen, offering them something to drink. Just then, the doorbell rings. "Who could that be?" Jack asks, and although it's seemingly an innocent question, there is an edge to it.
I shrug, as if I haven't a clue. And when I open the door, I realize I didn't have a clue. Because who else but the one and only Cassidy. She grins at me. "Hello, Kaylie. Aren't you going to invite me in?"
"Kaylie, darling, who is it?" I tense, waiting for Cassidy to go off when she recognizes my mother, but that's when it hits me. She doesn't know what they look like.
"This is Cassidy." I tell her, not looking away from said girl. "She's… a friend." I say hesitantly.
Cassidy beams at that, and I step away, allowing her to come inside. I hope Beca and Chloe don't get too pissed. Just as I close the door, I hear the roaring of an engine from down the street. Tires screech as Beca pulls into my driveway. "And who could that be?" My mother asks, looking annoyed now.
I don't answer. Instead, I open the door. Chloe walks in first, looking fiercely protective and pissed –feelings amplified in her face when she sees Cassidy- followed closely by Beca. Beca, who looks calmly at all of the people in the room. Beca, who closes the door calmly. Beca, who clasps Chloe's hand tightly before saying the words that set the room into uproar. "Hello, mother."
It's a whirlwind, the second the word escapes her mouth. Cassidy, looking burned, jumps away from our mom, a look of hatred overcoming her face. Chloe squeezes Beca's hand, who in turn leans against the wall nonchalantly. My mother's eyes brim with tears, her mouth dropping open in shock as her hand goes to her throat, going deathly pale. Jack rushes in from the kitchen, shock on his face, followed by my kids. And my kids… Xavier bursts into tears, confused by the commotion. Jamie's eyes are wide as he takes it all in, obviously as confused as Xavier and as shocked as Jack, but for different reasons. And Elizabeth looks slightly confused and very curious.
We all freeze for a moment, the only sound Xavier's wailing, and then Beca rolls her eyes. "Oh, for Christ's sake." She growls, freeing her hand from Chloe's and brushing past Jack as if it doesn't take anything. She goes directly to Xavier, and every gaze in the room follows her. She scoops him up into her arms, cooing at him. "It's alright, sweetie. Auntie Beca's got you." She murmurs, bouncing him lightly in her arms. Once he quiets down, she looks up. She takes in everyone's gazes- all of which contain shock- and scowls. "Oh, c'mon. I'm not heartless." She bounces Xavier while she keeps talking. "I may be overly cynical, sarcastic, and guarded, but I don't enjoy little children crying." Her gaze locks on Cassidy. "And Jesus Christ, Cassidy, what are you doing here?"
Cassidy flinches. "Oh, you don't ask what your parents are doing here, but you ask what I'm doing here? Do you really hate me that much?" She asks, genuine hurt on her face.
But Beca rolls her eyes. "Obviously, I knew they were here, Cassidy." She points out, and some of the hurt fades. Some, but not all. "And secondly, you still don't have the right to be hurt." And it comes back. Then Beca looks at me, and there's hurt in her eyes, obviously because I didn't tell her that Cassidy was here.
"If I'd known she was coming, I would've told you, Becs." I say helplessly.
And then Beca smiles at me. She turns to Elizabeth, handing her Xavier, who has fallen asleep. "Can you take your brothers upstairs, please?" She asks, her voice soft. "You can play music really loud, and I need you to make sure that you guys don't try to listen to the adult conversation, alright?" Her voice is like music and honey and everything good, and Elizabeth beams, nodding at her.
She holds her hand out for Jamie, but he shakes his head and plants his feet stubbornly. "No."
Beca rolls her eyes. "Of course, you get the stubborn genes." She sighs, squatting down beside him.
Jamie, obviously confused, shakes his head slightly. "I'm not wearing any stubborn jeans."
Beca laughs, a clear, bubbly laugh that shocks all of us –except for Chloe, apparently- and shakes her head. "Forget that." She tells him, and he nods, clearly relieved. "I really need you to go upstairs with your sister so the grown-ups can talk, and then afterwards I'll take you three to go get ice cream. Sound good?"
Jamie shakes his head again. "I don't want ice cream. I want to help you." He insists.
Beca rolls her eyes amusedly, shaking her head softly. "That's the best way you can help, Jamie." She tells him. He hesitates, and Beca puts on a serious face. "Don't make me carry you upstairs." She deadpans, and he smiles a little bit.
"Can we still do ice cream?" He asks, and she ruffles his hair, standing back up to her normal height.
"Of course, little man." She fist bumps him, and he slides his hand in Elizabeth's, walking upstairs with her. Beca turns to all of us. Again, she sighs, scowling. "I'm not heartless!" She protests, and Chloe slips between my parents and plants a soft kiss on Beca's lips.
"Of course you aren't." She assures her, and Beca blushes, smiling softly.
"You're a dyke?" Jack asks, clearing his throat. Everyone but Jason and my mom shoot him looks. He runs a hand through his hair. "That's unacceptable." He glares at her. "Fix it."
To my surprise, Beca laughs. "You're an abusive step dad with no anger control?" She mocks. "That's unacceptable." When she steps forward, her face becomes furious and vengeful. "Fix it." She growls, her voice hard. He pulls his fist back and strikes her cheek.
"You asshole!" Chloe shouts, stepping forward. Beca puts her hand out and shakes her head at Chloe, sending her a silent message through eye contact.
She reaches up, wiping blood off of a cut on her lip. She wipes it on her pants. "Not bad, old man, but I've been in worse fights." She cocks her head at him. "And… I believe that counts as assault." She informs him.
Jack's face goes pale, but not as pale as mine. Because memories are hitting me harshly.
"Beca, are you alright?" I ask, scooping her into my arms. She's unconscious, I realize that now. "Beca, wake up!" I run into the hospital, and they check her in. I fill them in on everything, and they send people to get my parents. When I'm finally allowed back to Beca's room, the sight kills me. "I'm sorry, Beca. I never should've left today. Just wake up. Please." I'm begging her, desperate.
Other memories hit me. The day Beca did wake up. The first day I came home from school and Beca was a bloody ball of abused child, when she was four and I was eleven. The first time she brought Cassidy home. The conversations I'd had with Jack and my mom while they were in jail. Conversations I'd had with them in the years before they were arrested. Memories of Beca and I after I became her legal guardian. Memories of Beca talking to me while I was in the hospital, crying over me, thinking it was her fault. And so many others. I finally remember the full day that Beca told me about, when I found her. I'd been on my way to my boyfriend's house. His name was Tyler, and I was surprising him. When I found him, he was with my best friend. And they were having sex. I remember the heartbreak. I also remember feeling grateful, after a while, because not only were two betraying people gone from my life, I also didn't know what would've happened to Beca had I not come home. She could've died. Jack turns to me, just as the memories fade. There is sweat in my hairline, but he doesn't notice. His eyes are wide and distressed. "Don't let her call the cops on me, Kaylie." He pleads. "Whatever she told you, she's lying. She's always been jealous of the relationship we've had. She lied to the cops and somehow they believed her." He seems to be grasping for straws that are being pulled away from him, standing on a sliding chair that just won't hold still. And I'm the one that pulls it out from under him as I say the one thing I've always wanted.
"I remember everything." I say coldly. "You're the one who is lying. And quite frankly, I couldn't stop her from calling the police if I tried." I turn to Cassidy. "You broke my little sister's heart. You promised me, promised that you wouldn't. You knew all about them-" I jab a finger at my parents, not bothering to look at my mom, "You knew all about them but you left. Her. Anyways."
Cassidy sniffs, and that's when I realize she's crying. "I know. I know, and I'm so sorry." Her gaze shifts to Beca, who in turn shifts her gaze to me, locking it there. "I still love you, Beca. And I'm not giving up.
"You need to leave." Beca says coldly to her. "I'm not interested in anything but friendship from you, if even that. I love Chloe, and I'm happy." She then starts to address me. "I never told you that Cassidy promised you not to break my heart." She states, looking confused
"You didn't have to, Beca." I reveal softly, watching her emotions shift. "I wasn't lying. I remembered all of it. At least… I think all of it." And then suddenly, Beca's throwing herself into my arms. I wrap my arms around her, the motherly and sisterly love I'd felt for her before suddenly amplified a hundred times. I can only imagine what it felt like to her, to lose that. At least I didn't know what I'd lost, and before I could miss it, I had it back. "I'm sorry." I sob into her hair. "I don't know how I could forget you." She keeps crying, sobbing into my shoulder, and Chloe comes up behind her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. I rub my little sister's back, kissing her cheek and her forehead before placing my head on her shoulder. "I love you so much."
After what seems like forever, yet not long enough, Beca pulls away. A slow grin spreads across her face. "Kaylie." She breathes out. "You're back!" And then she's hugging me again.
When we pull away again, Beca steps into Chloe, who wraps her arms around her as we face our parents. Jack's face shows a surprising amount of remorse and sadness, while my mother's is full of love and relief and pain and regret. "Please," She begs, stepping forward and holding out her hand. "Please, Beca, Kaylie." She repeats. Her eyes search ours. "Forgive us, I'm begging you."
Beca and I turn to each other, looking for answers we both don't have. Beca glances uncertainly at our mother's hand again, but doesn't do anything. I don't either. And I realize then, that no one in the room knows how we're going to react, or what we'll do. But then, no one ever knows what Beca is going to do. So that's why, although it seems semi-rational, I don't expect what Beca does.
So… I'm sorry I didn't update the past two days, I was sick and I didn't have that much access to my computer. Hopefully, this will make up for it. Please R&R, guys. I really love getting reviews from you guys. So, here goes:
123a456e: Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed!
Chloe: Aha, yeah it was pretty short. I'm glad you liked it!
gossipssweetlips: Yeah, I was feeling very fluffy, and I was also being really depressive and decided that I probably shouldn't write something angsty that day because I didn't want to go crazy from sad overload. I'm glad you're enjoying it, though.
