Ellie was in trouble.
Not the kind of trouble with one's parents, like, 'oh, you did something bad, you're grounded', but the kind of trouble where one was in a situation where something wrong happened, and one was in trouble.
She knew this the instant her friends pulled up to a house with a crowd of people there she normally didn't hang out with.
"Don't worry about it," they had said, partially dragging her into the flat with pulsating music and alcohol being passed around.
She bit her lip and followed them further into the house, not wanting to dampen their moods as they drank freely. These were a relatively new group of friends that she had met through football, and she wanted to let them know she was truly one of them.
Ellie didn't say anything when the group sat her down on a plush couch and handed her a joint.
"Hit it," they said, almost daring her to refuse, "Hit the blunt, El." And she did, visualizing her mum when she smoked her cigarettes.
She emerged coughing after the acrid smoke seared down her throat and her friends shouted their approval, mocking her slightly for coughing like a lightweight.
"Now finish it," they said.
She truly didn't want to. She didn't like the smell, didn't like the feeling of smoke suffocating her as it burned the back of her throat.
But she did.
And as she sat there, stoned out of her mind, she numbly came to the conclusion that she was in a huge heaping pile of trouble as this much older boy sat a little too close to her.
Patsy and Delia had agreed to let Ellie go to a friend's house for the weekend, and were determined to take full advantage of their daughter's absence.
In fact, the moment the door slammed shut, they cracked open a bottle of whiskey and made out on the couch, taking things slow. When they ran out of the liquor, Patsy forlornly shook the empty bottle before sitting up on the couch, her hair astray and her clothes rumpled.
"Go get another bottle, cariad," Delia chuckled, "I'll meet you in bed." Patsy watched, wide-eyed as the brunette flirtatiously stood and removed her shirt, letting it fall to the floor. In her bra, Delia began to walk towards their room before pausing to shimmy off her sweatpants, now clad in only a racy thong and her bra. The brunette disappeared into their bedroom before Patsy leapt up and hastily rummaged around before coming across another bottle and dashing towards the door.
Throwing it open, Patsy's jaw dropped at the sight of Delia in nothing but her own, long flannel shirt, the arms much too long, and the end of it stopping at the middle of her thighs. Without any more prompting, Patsy leapt up on the bed and straddled Delia, while placing the fresh bottle on the nightstand.
"Pats," Delia chastised, "You are wearing far too many clothes."
Patsy leaned down eagerly for a hasty kiss as she ripped off her shirt and Delia giggled beneath her.
Ellie looked down at her knee as her mind perceived a hand, one that was not hers, end up there. With glassy eyes, she followed the appendage up until she came face-to-face with the man next to her.
The guy began to inch his hand up the inside of her thigh.
"Do you like that?" he breathed heavily in her ear.
To be quite frank, no, she did not. Ellie managed to somehow manipulate her numb, tingling limbs away from the guy.
"I've…gotta get some air," she said thickly, looking down to place her hands on the couch and push herself up. The man did not chase her, but seemed mildly perplexed as she hobbled out of the bustling room. Ellie had a hard time realizing what she was doing, not being familiar with the house and also being higher than a kite. She kept on having to remind herself to put one foot in front of the other, and to keep her mind on the task at hand. Reaching the porch, Ellie stepped out into the chill of the air.
Feeling along the rail, she stepped down onto the lawn, away from grappling couples and nosy partygoers.
She was in trouble.
For a second she thought she lost her phone, her hands roaming over her pockets until she came across it in her purse, which she was mildly surprised about. Fishing it out, she concentrated on making her fingers do the precise movements to unlock her phone, before she ran into a conundrum.
There was no way she was getting out of this unscathed.
She could return to the party, get groped again, and get completely black-out drunk. Or, she could call her mum, get out of this situation, but also risk eternal damnation and not being able to see the light of day again.
She chose to be with the people she knew loved her most.
"Damn," Patsy mumbled, reaching over and shaking the bottle experimentally. Delia lay on her stomach, the brunette looking up as Patsy cursed the lack of liquor around their house.
"Don't we have some scotch?" Delia slurred.
"Don't you think you've had enough?" Patsy questioned in mild awe, gazing down at the Welshwoman as the brunette's eyes fluttered closed momentarily.
Delia released a very unladylike belch before growling mutinously, "Never."
"I can't believe you kiss me with that mouth," Patsy said sarcastically.
"Watch what you say, Patience," Delia said, cracking an eyelid open, "Or I'll be very particular about WHERE I kiss with this mouth."
Chuckling heartedly, Patsy reached down and pulled Delia up so as to kiss her passionately.
"In which case," Patsy muttered between kisses, "I will go get…more alcohol."
The ginger rose up, completely nude, before opening the door and trailing down the hall, an equally nude Delia grinning sheepishly after her. Patsy did in fact find an acceptable bottle of scotch, in which she brought back to the room before placing it on the nightstand and breaking the seal of its neck. She went to pour it when her phone started vibrating.
Patsy was about to disgustedly reject it when she saw the caller ID.
Picking it up, Delia frowned from beside her.
"Who is it?" Delia asked.
"Ellie. She probably forgot something," Patsy said, sliding the bar over and raising the phone to her ear.
"Hi, mum?" Ellie asked, fighting off the mounting panic as her disjointed mind tried to focus on her conversation.
'Do NOT sound high, do NOT sound high,' she thought to herself determinedly.
"Yes?"
"I…uh…I need help," Ellie said, having to really concentrate on forming the words in her mouth.
"Why? What's wrong?" Patsy's voice didn't change, though she did hear the strange lilt in Ellie's tone and decided that it was a good time to get away from Delia. She had travelled back into the kitchen right after Ellie had asked for help, and Delia was no longer privy to the conversation.
There was an extended pause on the phone.
Ellie was beginning to realize just how much shit she was in. And she was scared.
"Mum," she whispered hoarsely, "I…I'm sorry…I'm not at Nicole's house, I'm at a party, and I really, really need to leave…I'm a little fucked up, and I can't…I don't know what to do."
Patsy was quiet as she digested this.
"Gosh," Patsy said, fully meaning the word, "Okay…where are you at?"
"Jonathan's house…I think. I'm not for sure, I wasn't paying attention when we showed up."
"I'll be there as quick as I can. Stay outside, and don't do anything stupid…again," Patsy sighed, reaching for her discarded clothes.
"…hey mum," Ellie whispered, eyeing the darkness around her.
"Yes?"
"Thanks for this," Ellie said, sitting down on the grass, "but I think it would be best if you hurry."
"What the hell are you doing?" Delia demanded, watching as Patsy tugged on some jeans and fished around for a shirt.
"I…uh…Ellie forgot her…toothbrush!" Patsy said brightly, "I'm just going to run it over to her."
Delia's expression became one of disbelief.
"You are going to give our 17 year old daughter her toothbrush at 10:30 at night?" Delia said sardonically, making the situation sound just as invalid as it truly was.
"Yes, I am," Patsy insisted, "She kisses boys, remember?"
Delia smiled at this, but whined, "But…Pats!"
"I won't be long, Deels," Patsy said, bending over to give Delia a frustrated, passionate kiss. The ginger made for the door, shouting over her shoulder, "Don't drink all that scotch!"
She went to pick up her keys when she glanced over at the dog bed and noticed Fanw.
The corgi looked up and wagged her tail stub merrily at Patsy.
"Go watch her," Patsy sighed, knowing full and well that the dog didn't understand a thing she said.
Ellie was getting attacked by a moth.
She was trying to skirt around the house to get to the front and wait for her mum, when she received a frontal assault that left her reeling into the bushes. It took her a moment to spot her enemy, circling around for another attack.
"Oh, no," Ellie cried, "Please, what did I do to you?!" She closed her eyes tightly, awaiting complete annihilation while plucking up the courage to run the rest of the way to the front lawn.
She made a mad dash for it, the ground alien and uneven before she tripped over a drainage pipe and fell onto the ground with an "Oof!"
Ellie lay there, mumbling, "Man down, Man down," and thinking about how her attempted escape possibly deserved her a Distinguished Service Cross.
She heard heavy footfalls before a sudden presence appeared by her.
Oh dear, was she dead?!
"Ellie?! What on earth, are you okay?!"
"MUM!" Ellie exclaimed, eyes snapping open as she lurched up and grasped her mum's forearms.
"Oh my God, I'm alive! Oh, shit, Mum, we've gotta go, there's a moth, I-"
Ellie broke off when she registered the look on her mum's face, who was gazing back at her daughter as if Ellie had seriously gone off the deep end.
"Here," Patsy said, helping her daughter to her feet, "Let's go."
"I'm sorry," Ellie repeated again as she nervously watched her mother, the streetlamps lighting up the older woman's face periodically with orange light.
Patsy released a huff, and appeared to be trying to figure out what to say.
"Ellie, I don't even know where to begin," Patsy said sadly, "you lied to me and your mam, you went to an underage party, and you just reek of pot!"
"I'm sorry," Ellie said again, not knowing what else to say.
There was a pause before Patsy added in a softer tone, "I'm just glad you had enough sense to call me when you did…Ellie, something really bad could have happened to you! That's why we don't want you going to these parties!"
"I know," Ellie said darkly.
The car descended into silence, Patsy not mentioning Ellie's dark tone.
It really surprised Ellie, then, when Patsy pulled up to a fish and chips vendor and looked at her daughter expectantly.
"Huh?" Ellie blurted.
"Hurry, tell me what you want, I left your mam home with a bottle of scotch," Patsy said.
They ordered three meals and soon were in their driveway, picking at their food.
"Do you realize how much trouble you are in?" Patsy finally huffed.
"Yes," Ellie said nervously.
"And that tomorrow you are going to have to explain to your mam why I had to pick you up from a party tonight?"
"Mum!" Ellie whispered in horror. That was punishment within itself.
Patsy gazed sadly on her daughter.
"I mean it, Ellie," Patsy sighed, "Now go finish this and get to bed."
"Deels," Patsy murmured, gently pressing open their bedroom door. The hallway light alighted on the bed, showing a heap of bedcovers and a small lapdog curled up next to it. A gentle snore came from the sheets, and the scent of alcohol was heavy in the air.
Fanw looked up and watched Patsy toe into the room, carrying two baskets of fried matter.
"Fanw, that is MY SPOT," Patsy said in mock outrage, "Go get your own lady-friend to sleep with!"
It was safe to say Patsy was still slightly under the influence.
The corgi only seemed to react to the sound of her name, bounding up and coming to the foot of the bed before curling up and showing her belly.
At Patsy's voice, the snoring stopped and the heap of covers shifted.
"Pats?" Delia slurred.
"Delia, did you drink the rest of that bottle?"
"No, only half," the brunette said, sitting up and fixing Patsy with beaded stare.
"You were gone for a long time," Delia whined.
"I know, I'm sorry," Patsy said earnestly, holding out a basket, "I picked up some dinner."
Delia spared her one more despairing look before taking the olive branch. Pleased, Patsy sat down next to her wife, Fanw curling up between them.
"I thought we discussed no dogs on the bed," Patsy said idly, scratching the corgi behind the ears.
"We did no such thing," Delia sniffed before plopping a chip in her mouth.
"Really? I could've sworn we did," Patsy said with a frown.
"You must've been dreaming it then," Delia said airily, before snatching up one of Patsy's battered fish and impishly stealing it into her mouth.