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Skye awoke early in the morning confused. It took her a few moments to remember where she was. She smiled to herself, she was in her own bedroom, a bedroom she was proud of. Suddenly she felt something wet collide with her cheek and she jumped.
"Arthur!" Skye laughed, pulling the small dog up onto her chest. Skye laid there snuggling the dog for about 5 more minutes before deciding to get up. A quick glance at her phone told her it was 7 o'clock in the morning. Skye sighed, ever since she lived with the Garrett's she had a habit of forcing herself to wake up early.
Skye looked into her wardrobe and saw some new clothes hanging up, she picked out a pair of jeans and a nice top before making her way to the bathroom. Skye covered her cast and then jumped in the shower. It was awkward only using one hand but she managed. Once she got out and changed she crept back to her room. She couldn't hear May or Phil and wondered what she should do. They hadn't laid out any rules and Skye didn't want to disappoint them already.
Skye quietly snuck downstairs with Arthur trailing behind her and decided to cook them breakfast. They had bought her so many things yesterday so the least she could do was behave.
May woke up to the smell of bacon. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 8AM. She never usually slept this late but being at the hospital and constantly looking after Skye exhausted her. Phil shuffled and sat up next to her.
"Morning" he mumbled.
"Morning, do you smell bacon?" May asked him.
Phil sniffed the air "Yeah, mmmmm… wait who else is in the house?" Phil jumped up startled.
May laughed "Our daughter is downstairs your dork"
"Our daughter, now is she?" Phil questioned.
"It may take a while for her to realize it but yes, I fear we are stuck with her" May laughed.
May and Phil both made their way downstairs. They saw Skye awkwardly cooking bacon and sausages left handed.
Phil coughed and Skye jumped "Sorry" Phil said sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know what time you wanted breakfast but it's nearly ready" Skye said.
May carefully approached the girl "Skye, thank you for making breakfast but you don't have to."
"Oh, I didn't know what you wanted. Some fosters like for me to stay in my room until everyone's up and the Garrett's always wanted breakfast ready so…" Skye trailed off and looked at the floor.
"Skye, your fourteen, we should be making you breakfast. From now on you can do what you feel comfortable with. Your old enough to make the correct decisions and we trust you but let us make you breakfast ok?"
Skye smiled and Phil took over cooking. Skye helped May lay the table and Phil served up three dishes.
"What flavor milkshake would you like Skye? We have chocolate, banana, vanilla and strawberry" May asked.
"None?" Skye tested.
May laughed "Vanilla it is then"
Skye sighed and sat down at the table. She felt better that May and Phil were both eating too. Since coming home, Skye had felt calmer. She could walk steady now and the pain in her head had subsided. However, her stomach still felt sick.
Skye looked down and the breakfast in front of her and pushed it to one side to focus on the milkshake. She felt Arthur laying on her feet and considered sneakily feeding him bits of her food but she knew that might make May and Phil mad.
"So how did you sleep last night Skye?" Phil asked.
"Great, the bed is super comfy and it helps that you don't have to jump down a hole to get to the bathroom" Skye laughed.
May and Phil looked at each other, "Jump down a hole?" May questioned.
"Yeah they put me in the attic, well I was meant to sleep in the attic but I only did once" Skye said backhandedly.
"What do you mean once, Skye?" Phil asked softly.
Skye realized how much she had let slip and quickly looked down. May sensed her awkwardness and changed the subject quickly "Skye, we need to go shopping later to get you new clothes, school stuff and you can show us which foods you like" May said.
"It's fine I don't need anything else" Skye said. She felt bad that she was already becoming a burden.
"We want to buy you stuff Skye so please let us" Phil replied.
The rest of the conversation was carried solely by May and Phil but Skye still felt included.
Without realizing it Skye had drank all of her milkshake. Her stomach hurt but she felt far more awake than she had previously.
May documented how much Skye had drank and praised her before taking away her still full plate.
Skye fed Arthur who happily eat up his dog food.
"Are there any chores or anything you want me to do?" Skye asked.
"Skye you are meant to be resting, go and rest in the living room" May said.
Skye went into the living room and grabbed her laptop. She quickly downloaded a couple of games and started to play them.
Skye jumped when there was a knock on the door. May opened it and she saw Miss Carter enter.
"Hey Skye? How are you?" she asked.
"I'm fine thanks" Skye replied.
Miss Carter turned to May and Phil. "Sorry to drop in on you like this but I just need you to sign some stuff to fully authorize the fostering"
May and Phil quickly signed where Miss Carter pointed.
"I also have some news" Miss Carter told them, after checking that Skye was still out of earshot, "The police investigated the Garrett's house but they found nothing. The place had been scrubbed clean. They all have legitimate alibis and are protected by high end lawyers. Unfortunately, even if Skye made a statement it wouldn't be enough to convict him"
May swore and Phil hit the table "Are you serious? He's a monster! what he's done to that girl in there is unforgivable" May ranted.
"I know but there's nothing we can do" Miss Carter sighed.
After Miss Carter had said goodbye to Skye and left, May and Phil got ready to go shopping.
Skye took her medication and was eager to get out into society. She was still anxious, but she felt safe around May and Phil.
Once they had gotten to the mall Skye paused. It was the same mall she had visited with John. May saw Skye's hesitation, "Skye, are you ok?"
Skye forced a smiled "Yeah I'm fine".
"Do you think you can walk around because we can always borrow a wheelchair?" May told her but Skye shook her head, she wanted to walk.
The first stop they made was into a clothes store. Phil grabbed a cart and Skye stayed with one hand attached to the cart to avoid getting lost or overwhelmed.
"Well we need a bit of everything so just pick out what you like ok Skye?" May directed.
Skye nodded but after walking around for a bit it became apparent that Skye wasn't going to speak up. May decided to point to things and gauge Skye's reaction. Eventually, once Skye had realized that they weren't going to go home without any new clothes, Skye started picking clothes which she liked.
Skye kept picking dark clothes such as black and dark purple so May kept throwing in some bright colors too 'just in case'. After they had gotten Skye a whole new wardrobe including some dresses for formal occasions and shoes, they moved to get Skye some school things.
May had gotten Skye clothes that were one size too big, hoping that she would grow some more before having to go back to school. Skye pretended not to notice that.
By the time they had picked out a new backpack, Skye felt exhausted but she was enjoying herself so much that she kept quiet. May and Phil had stuck to their word and let Skye pick out what she wanted, so Skye was having fun pulling out the most hideous of items and watching their reactions before putting it back. Skye was pretty sure she had never had as much in her life. She couldn't stop smiling as she thought of how she was bound to fit in now.
After Skye had gotten more than what she needed for school, they had decided to take a lunch break. They went to the mall cafeteria and sat down looking at the menu.
"Do you want to try any solid food?" Phil asked Skye.
Skye thought about it, she wasn't hungry and it felt as though her stomach hadn't digested the whole milkshake she had drank this morning. But she didn't want to make May and Phil mad by not trying, they had bought her so much stuff. Skye bit her lip and looked down.
"You don't have to Skye, I brought one of your milkshakes if you want that?" May said softly.
Skye nodded "Yes please"
Phil and May ordered a sandwich each whilst Skye sat and drank her milkshake. She was trying hard to drink it but today had been overwhelming and she could only manage a few sips. The mixture was extremely thick and she gagged when it got stuck in her throat. May was by her side in an instant "Are you going to be sick?" She asked but Skye shook her head and closed her eyes, forcing the mixture down.
"I don't think I can drink anymore" Skye said.
May tried to hide her disappointment, she had hoped that Skye's appetite had finally come back after she had finished her milkshake that morning. However, she didn't want to push the girl.
After cleaning up they got back into the car and went grocery shopping. As they walked around May tried to encourage Skye to pick out food, but Skye kept her head down. She wasn't sure when she would be able to eat again and didn't want to get Phil or May's hopes up by picking anything out.
May and Phil picked a lots of things that they assumed teenagers liked and kept their worry hidden.
When they got home, Skye was tired. It was around 3 o'clock and Skye's head was pounding. May noticed and gave Skye some painkillers. "Why don't we watch a film?" May suggested.
Skye agreed and she settled down on the couch in between May and Phil with Arthur snuggled on her lap. Skye didn't even know what film was playing as next thing she knew she was asleep.
May watched Skye's sleeping form. She looked so peaceful and it broke her heart to see the now purple bruise under her eye and the cast on her arm. Carefully May grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over Skye. Skye's head moved and she snuggled into Phil who wrapped his arm around her.
Phil looked like he had just won dad of the year "Looks like she likes me better" He teased May.
May laughed "She can't control where she goes when she sleeps you dork. But this is good, it means she trusts us".
Shortly after Skye fell asleep, May moved into the dining room to catch up on marking and Phil done the same in his office. At around 5 o'clock Skye woke up feeling achy. She had slept in an awkward position and she stretched out trying to wake her body up. She smelt dinner cooking and the scent made her stomach turn.
"Oh, Skye your awake, dinners ready" Phil told her, and Skye moved to the dining room table. Phil had cooked Spaghetti bolognaise which looked delicious and Skye desperately wanted to eat it. She was getting fed up with her body's repulsion to food.
After getting settled at the table, Skye took the milkshake and started forcing herself to drink it straight away. May smiled when she saw this and was pleased that Skye was getting better and eating.
"Um, when do I have to go back to school?" Skye asked.
"Well Bobbi said in a week or two, we can ask her again tomorrow, but it depends on how you feel, it's only Wednesday today" May said.
Skye sighed "I really want to go back to school soon. I miss my friends, do you think I can try to go back Monday? Most of the day is with you two anyway" Skye asked. In reality Skye wanted to keep busy. If she was in school then she had less time to think or feel and she didn't want to be hurting anymore.
Phil considered this "Let's see how you feel Sunday and then possibly."
"Oh and does this mean that my awful punishment of hanging out with you is forgotten?" Skye asked with a mischievous smile.
Phil glared at Skye before laughing "Luckily, Nick Fury is a good friend of ours so I think because of the circumstances everything will be forgiven. I might even let you off my homework"
Skye rolled her eyes. Bobbi had said that she wasn't allowed to over do anything because of her head injury and that meant no schoolwork.
Skye suddenly lost her bravo, and looked up at both her teachers anxiously. "What if I'm bad at school? I attract trouble like a magnet and sometimes I can't concentrate"
"Well, then we will deal with it if it happens, you can't always be perfect Skye" Phil told her.
This seemed to release some of the tension that Skye had as she continued sipping. Suddenly, she found that she had drunk all of the milkshake and it hadn't seemed too bad. Skye smiled as she held up the cup like a victory trophy.
Phil and May both congratulated her and laughed at her humorous celebration.
After dinner, Skye helped May with the dishes and then went upstairs to call Lincoln. She was laying in bed with her phone pressed up to her ear as she waited for it to ring.
"Hello?" Lincoln answered.
"Long time no see…" Skye replied.
"Yeah, we all missed you. Class hasn't been the same without you and the cover teacher in English is super boring. And our PE teacher has decided that we should run for no reason"
Skye laughed "I miss you too and I'm so sorry I have been stealing your education"
"Nah, it don't matter. You missed our computer science project though. But don't worry we made sure you got some of the credit too. Our teacher was extremely happy and said ours was the best"
Skye groaned "Oh no, I was looking forward to doing that. I'm so sorry I missed it"
"Don't be. How are you feeling?"
"Honestly, I don't know. It's… It's like there's all this pain, inside which I can't ignore. I just want to explode and scream and punch something, but I can't. Lincoln, I just want things to go back to normal" Skye whispered.
"I can't pretend like I know what your going through Skye, but I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."
Skye smiled "And that means more than you could know".
"Um… Skye remember what I said about um maybe meeting up?"
"Like a date?" Skye tried hard not to laugh when she heard an awkward shuffling down the other end of the line. "I would love to"
"When you get better we can arrange that then".
"Yep it's a date" Skye giggled.
"I've got to go, it's getting late and some of us have school tomorrow"
"Okay, goodnight Lincoln Campbell"
"Goodnight Skye"
Skye sighed and hung up. She felt a lot better after talking to Lincoln and for some reason very uncharacteristically giddy. She loved the feeling and wanted to hold onto it forever.
Skye heard a knock on her door "Come in" she called.
May entered and sat down on the bed next to Skye. "It's getting kind of late" May said.
"Yeah I was just about to go to sleep. May, can I ask you something?"
May nodded "Anything"
"What happened to Ward and the Garrett's?" Skye asked. This had been on her mind for a while now but she was too scared to find out.
May sighed "Ward served a week in Juvie until his lawyers got him out. The Garrett's left town and have high end lawyers too. I used all of my old contacts in the FBI to try and catch them out but there were nothing. I'm sorry."
"What so that's that, they're free? I guess I really am so insignificant that no one gives a damn!" Skye ranted.
"Skye, you are not insignificant, don't ever think that. They will get what's coming to them. Sometimes the world doesn't seem fair, but everything always happens for a reason".
Skye thought this was far too optimistic, but she kept her mouth shut and laid down to go to sleep.
"Goodnight Skye" May said getting up "Sweet dreams"
Ok, Is this story getting worse? I defiantly have loads more things planned but sometimes I get too excited and merge all of my thoughts. Please give me some feedback and if you have any ideas please let me know! The next few chapters are going to get a bit more dramatic...