Chapter 37: It All Gets a Bit More Serious
Characters:
Emma Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 17
Gabe Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 16
Maddie Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 16
Katie Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 14
Selena Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 4
Morgan Corinthos (Carly and Sonny)- 29
Josslyn Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 22
Courtney Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 17
Connor Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 16
Bella Jacks (Jax and Brenda)- 15
Jacelyn Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 14
Chloe J Hunter (Maxie and Matt)- 17
Christian Hunter (Maxie and Matt)- 17
Ava Jones (Maxie)- 14
Mia Webber (Olivia and Steve)- 16
Izzie Zacchara (Claudia)- 22
Zack Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 17
Hunter Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 16
Brittany Corinthos (Sonny and Brenda)- 16
Brenna Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 15
Lindsey Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 23
Nate Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 17
Noah Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 16
Spencer Cassadine (Nikolas and Courtney)- 28
Aiden Cassadine (Nikolas and Elizabeth)- 22
Paige Cassadine (Nikolas and Emily)- 17
Haley Lovett (Ethan and Lisa)- 16
Ben Lovett (Ethan and Lisa)- 15
Logan Davis (Ethan and Kristina)- 15
Livvie Davis (Ethan and Kristina)- 15
Molly Lansing Webber (Ric and Alexis)- 28
Addie Lansing (Ric)- 16
Cameron Webber (Elizabeth and Lucky)- 29
Jake Spencer (Elizabeth and Lucky)- 24
Brendan Webber (Elizabeth)- 17
Aubrey Crowell (Nadine)- 16
Alec Barrett (Brenda and Aleksander)- 23
Matt Zacchara (Lulu and Johnny)- 17
Joey Falconeri (Dante and Brenda)- 17
Lila Rae Alcazar (Skye and Lorenzo)- 28
Jamie Quartermaine (Dillon and Georgie)- 17
Julian Quartermaine (AJ)- 15
Grace Quartermaine (Skye)- 14
Tyler Drake (Lisa and Patrick)- 17
Rachel Janacek (Theo)- 23
Clay Janacek (Theo)- 22
Wes Janacek (Kiefer)- 16
Sophia Janacek (Rachel and Kiefer)- 4
Parker Ruiz (Manny)- 16
Prue Webber (Molly and Cam)- 0
Henry Spencer (Lindsey and Jake)- 0
Corey Spinelli (Spinelli)- 15
Violet Mir (Leyla)- 27
Gabriella Worth (Maggie)- 23
Chapter 37: It All Gets a Bit More Serious
Maddie
From the moment she woke up, Maddie could hear her ears ringing. It took a second for her to realize it was her phone. She reached over and grabbed it off the side table, holding it up to her ear.
"Hullo?"
"Hey Mads!" an overly loud, overly cheery voice practically screamed. "I miss you!"
Maddie sat up, squinting because her eyes hadn't adjusted to the light yet. "Mia? Where are you? I tried calling you like ten times last night. You didn't come to the party."
She heard her giggle, which was uncharacteristic. "I had my own party!"
Maddie groaned, finally realizing that Mia was drunk. "Where's your party at?"
"You can't tell! It's a secret. I did something bad." She sounded serious for a minute, but then burst out laughing.
"What did you do?"
"Some guy."
"Huh?"
"I did some guy."
Maddie's jaw practically dropped to the ground. She turned and saw Connor was lying next to her in the bed. She shoved his shoulder.
"Connor, get up now." She told him. "Mia, what do you mean?"
"Just what I said!"
"Tell me where you are. I'll come get you."
"No! You'll tell Gabe! He'll be mad at me."
"I won't tell him. I'm not even at my house."
"Oooh, Maddie and Parker, sitting in a tree! K-S-S-I-N-I-G!" Mia started laughing. "Wait, that's not how you spell it!"
Maddie gripped her forehead in her hand, trying to calm her headache and be patient. Connor took the phone from her.
"Mia, tell me where you are right now."
"Connie? I guess Maddie and Connie are sitting in the tree!"
"Where did you go last night?" he tried.
"A bar."
"Do you know what it's called?"
"Nope. But I left."
"You did? Where'd you go?"
"The guy's hotel room."
Maddie guessed that Connor chose to ignore that and continued on with his questioning. "What's his hotel called? Is it a cool name, like the Magic Fox or something?"
Mia laughed. "No, silly! It's called Eight-Twelve!"
"Oh, really? How about you go eat breakfast?"
"Good idea! I really want a muffin!"
"Okay, go get a muffin." Connor hung up. "She's at Eight-Twelve."
Maddie wrinkled her nose. "That ghetto motel?"
"Yeah. She said she was with a guy?"
"According to her, she 'did' him."
"She might not know what she's talking about. She sounds pretty drunk."
"I think she knows, Connor." Maddie rolled out of the bed, realizing for the first time that they were at Connor's house. "How did we get here?"
"I drove us. You wanna stay here and I'll go get her?"
"No, someone's gotta drive her car back and…" Maddie's phone started ringing. "It's my dad!" she hit the answer button. "Hello?"
"Madelyn, where are you?"
"Connor's."
"Oh, okay. Do you know where your brother, sisters, and Mia are?"
"Emma went to Chloe J's, Katie is here with Ava and Jace, and I thought Gabe went home."
"No, he's not here and neither is Mia."
"They must have gone out to breakfast or something." Maddie covered, though she had no idea where her brother really was.
"I want you to wake up Katie and come home right now." Jason ordered.
"But Dad…"
"Maddie, come home." He hung up.
Maddie groaned. "I've gotta get home. Can you go get Mia?"
"Yeah. I'll see you later." He kissed her forehead and left.
Connor
Connor pulled up outside of the motel and spotted Mia's car. He went to the door it was sitting in front of and banged on it loudly. A guy wearing nothing but boxers answered.
"What do you want?" he tiredly asked.
"Where is Mia?"
He frowned. "Who is Mia?"
Connor pushed passed him. "This is Mia." He saw her passed out on the bed. "What did you do to her?"
"I didn't do nothing. She told me her name was Olivia!"
"Did she tell you she's only sixteen?" the guy's face paled and he ran out, not even bothering to put some clothes on.
Connor rolled his eyes and lifted Mia up, carrying her out to his car. He buckled her up right as Hunter's car entered.
Hunter and Brittany got out of the car, both of them looking confused. Brittany spoke first.
"So Mia didn't come to the party last night because she was at Eight-Twelve?"
"She slept with some random guy." Connor muttered. Hunter automatically looked angry and so did Brittany.
"Did you kill him?"
"He didn't know she was sixteen. He left."
Hunter sighed. "This is a mess. She's going to regret this so much."
"She sure is." Connor agreed. "Have either of you seen Gabe? Jason called Maddie earlier looking for him."
"Haven't seen him."
Brittany's phone vibrated, signaling a text message. She checked it, her eyes widening. "Oh my God."
"What?" the boys demanded together.
Brittany looked at them, all the color drained from her face. "Addie got attacked last night."
"Are you serious?"
"I wouldn't joke about this, Connie."
"We've gotta get home." Hunter said. "Britt, you wanna drive my car or Mia's?"
"I'll just take Mia's." she looked down at her hands and noticed they were shaking. "C'mon, let's go." They all left.
The Hospital
Gabe walked into GH, seeing some people he knew. He had gotten a phone call from his cousin, Jamie, saying that Addie was in the hospital, so he knew he had to go down there. So far, it was just Jamie and Haley.
"Did you call her dad?" Gabe questioned.
"Yeah. I don't think he's gonna come." Jamie muttered. "I don't understand how you can just blow off your kid, especially when they're in the hospital."
"Did you call Molly?" they shook their heads. "I'll do it. Call Emma and the rest of them. They would want to know."
"I'll text them." Haley pulled out her phone, deciding to tell Brittany first.
Gabe dialed his aunt's phone number. She answered on the second ring. "Good morning, Gabe."
"Aunt Molly, I'm really sorry to spring this on you, but I have something to tell you."
"Okay. Do you wanna come over and talk about it?"
Gabe knew she thought he was talking about some typical high school problem since she met up with him and his sisters at times to talk about stuff they didn't want to tell their parents. He sighed.
"This is really serious and it sucks that I have to tell you over the phone, but you need to know now."
"Gabe, are your sisters okay? Your mom?"
"We're all okay, but Addie's not."
"My sister? What's wrong with Addison?"
"She was attacked last night leaving a party. Everyone thinks it's by the same person that attacked Mia and Ava."
"Oh my God. Are you at GH?" he could hear her keys rattling around.
"Yeah."
"I'll be there soon. Love you."
"I love you too." She hung up.
Gabe went back over to Haley and Jamie. "Molly's leaving now."
"I texted everyone."
"Everyone?"
"Yeah. Not all of them will come, but they should all now so they'll be careful."
"Did Mia text you back?" Haley shook her head. "I haven't heard from her at all and she didn't come home last night."
"Neither did you." They all looked to the elevator to see Emma with Selena on her hip, Courtney, Paige, and Chloe J. "Mom and Dad are freaking out, by the way."
Gabe sighed. "That's not really important right now, Em."
"It's not? Because as soon as they hear Addie was attacked, they're going to think you, and Mia, are dead somewhere."
"Emma, stop." Paige said, motioning towards Selena.
"Why did you bring her anyway?" Gabe questioned.
"Because we were on our way to Kelly's when we got Haley's message. Where were you last night, Gabriel?"
"Sitting on the docks. I needed time to clear my head."
"You haven't slept at all?" Courtney asked.
He shook his head. "Right now we need to worry about Addie, so quit with the third degree. I called Molly and she's on her way."
"Has anyone heard anything about her? When did it even happen?" Chloe J wondered.
"Sometime after the party last night. An older couple saw her in her car this morning and called the police." Jamie answered. Emma sat down next to him and grabbed his hand in hers, squeezing it reassuringly.
"She'll be okay. Look at Mia and Ava. They're fine."
Maddie came in, laughing dryly. "I definitely wouldn't consider Mia to be fine."
"Why do you say that?" Gabe demanded.
"She's a mess. She's still got a messed up rib and her emotions are all over the place."
"Do you know where she is?"
Maddie knew she had two options here. She could tell the truth and get Mia into more trouble with Gabe than she already would be, or she could lie and maybe push off some of the yelling her best friend was bound to get.
"No, haven't seen her."
"Mads…"
"I said no, Gabe, okay?"
The elevator doors opened and Nate and Zack entered. "Hey." The latter said, kissing Paige's cheek. Nate nodded in greeting. "Anything?"
"Not yet." Haley replied. "But it better be good."
"Pssst!" Connor said, leaning around the corner. "PSSST!"
Maddie turned her head, frowning when she saw him. She leaned over a little bit and saw Hunter was standing next to him with his hand over Mia's mouth and Brittany was next to him, motioning for her to come over.
"I'll be right back." Maddie said to Courtney and Paige. Chloe J had taken Selena to the bathroom, Emma (and baby Prue), Zack, Nate, and Gabe went to the cafeteria, and Haley, Jamie, and Molly were visiting with Addie.
Maddie walked calmly, trying not to look suspicious, over to where her friends were standing.
"She is seriously messed up." Hunter commented.
Connor sighed. "She did sleep with the guy. He was older, thought her name was Olivia, and didn't know she's only sixteen."
"Oh God." Maddie groaned. "Gabe is going to flip out."
"Not if he doesn't know." Brittany said. "We can keep Mia away from him and try to get her to sober up a little."
"I don't know if that'll work…"
"Mads, we don't really have a choice." Connor interrupted.
"I guess you're right."
"How's Addie?" Hunter wondered.
"She's got a lot of bumps and bruises, and a concussion. No broken bones, which is good. She was unconscious for a while."
"But she's okay?" Maddie nodded. "Good. I'll go with you, you two get Mia away."
Connor and Brittany looked at each other and groaned, not wanting to deal with a drunken Mia. Connor lifted her up, throwing her over his shoulder, and walked in the opposite direction of the waiting room with Brittany following. Maddie and Hunter went over to Courtney and Paige.
"Hey Hunter." Courtney greeted.
"Hi Court." He gave her his dimpled smile and sat in a chair between Paige and Maddie. "Where's Gabe?"
"Right here." Gabe walked over with a coffee in his hand, which he handed to Paige. Nate was right behind him and held out a hot chocolate to Maddie, then a Frappuccino for Courtney. He sat by the blonde.
Emma and Zack followed, the former holding Prue. They were talking quietly.
"Brittany and Connor aren't here yet?" Gabe asked. Everyone shook their heads, Maddie and Hunter trying as hard as possible to not look guilty.
Hunter looked over Paige's head and saw Brittany. He saw Gabe talking to Emma and motioned for her to run by.
"What are you doing?" Zack wondered, seeing that his brother was randomly moving his hand around.
"Huh?"
"You heard me. What are you doing?"
"I don't know what you're…"
"GABE!"
Hunter groaned internally and looked over to see Maddie felt the same way. Gabe turned, surprised when Mia practically fell into his arms.
"Mia?" he studied her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm perfect!" she started laughing.
Gabe looked up and saw Maddie, Hunter, Brittany, and Connor were doing everything possible to avoid his eyes. "What happened?"
The four juniors all glanced at each other, silently arguing about who would say something. Hunter pushed Maddie forward.
"Gabe, now's not the time…"
"I want to know what happened and I want to know now."
"We need to focus on Addie."
"We don't know anything right now anyway. Tell me what happened, Madelyn."
"Not now, Gabriel."
Emma stepped in. Maddie and Gabe hardly ever fought, but when they did, it got ugly. "Okay, stop. Gabe, Maddie's right. It's not the time."
"Thanks, Em." Maddie said in relief.
"I'm not saying you won't have to talk about it. You're telling us what happened later."
"Okay, I will." Maddie glanced miserably behind her at her friends. They all knew she would be getting third degree questioning later from her two older siblings.
Gabe practically dumped Mia onto Courtney's lap, who caught her with an 'oomph'. He started walking away.
"Where are you going?" Paige called after him.
"I've gotta clear my head." He took the stairs instead of the elevator, leaving their sight.
"He's mad." Maddie mumbled. Brittany, Connor, and Hunter nodded in agreement.
"Hi, Prue!" Addie greeted her niece, smiling at her even though it hurt. Her body felt like it was on fire. She didn't remember much of the fight; she had had some alcohol in her system and she passed out.
Molly gave the baby to her sister. "She's a little fussy today, so don't get upset if she starts crying."
Addie rolled her eyes. "You don't have to try and protect me, Mol. I know I look pretty scary and that she might not recognize with me." She stared down at her niece. Two big, brown eyes looked back at her. Prue calmly watched her, not even attempting to get away. "She's such a good baby."
"Yes she is." Molly agreed after noticing how calm her daughter was. "So, how have things been with Dad lately? Are you guys getting along?"
Addie scoffed. "It's kinda hard to fight with someone you see maybe twice a month."
"He's gone that often?" she nodded, causing her dyed red hair to flop slightly. "Why didn't you say anything to me?"
"I didn't want to bother you. You have a great job, a husband, and a daughter. You don't need your messed up half-sister coming in and ruining your perfect family."
"Hey, first of all, I don't have half-sisters. I don't care if we don't share the same parents, you are still my sister. You wanna know something?"
"What?"
"The day Dad brought you home from the hospital, I was twelve years old. I had always lived with my mom, but I saw him on the weekends and once or twice during the week we would go out to dinner. I remember I was sitting on his red couch…"
"The hideous one with the fake leather?"
Molly laughed, remembering the couch their father had loved so much that he kept it from when Molly was little to a year ago. "Yes, that one. I was sitting on the couch and he came in with your little carrier and set it on the table in front of me. I had no idea what to think of you. I loved little kids, but I had always been the baby since Sam and Kristina are older than me. But Dad scooped you up out of that carrier and he put you in my arms and that's when I knew that I could love you just as much as Sam and Krissy, even if you were younger. I promised you that I would protect you and always look out for you, especially after Dad told me you wouldn't have a mom. I failed with that job last night, Addison. I didn't protect you."
"Molls, it's not your fault." Addie assured her. "You couldn't have done anything to stop it."
"I could have watched out better for you. If I would have checked up on you more, asked you more questions about Dad, anything, you might not have gone to that party." Molly sighed. "When you get released, Cameron and I want you to come stay with us."
"I can't…"
"You have to. I'm not willing to bury my little sister and if that means having you come live with me, then so be it. Plus, we could use a little help with the baby and she adores you."
Addie sighed. "Are you sure?"
"100 percent."
"And Cam is too?"
"Yep."
"Alright, but if I start getting on your nerves…"
"You won't."
"But if I do…"
"But you won't."
"Molly! If I start getting on your nerves, just tell me and I'll leave, okay?"
"It won't happen, but I guess I can agree to that."
"Then it's settled." Addie smiled at her older sister. "Thank you, Mol-Mol."
Molly smiled at the nickname her sister had given her when she was a child. "You're welcome, Add. Give me a hug."
The two Lansing girls shared a hug, squishing Prue between them. They laughed when she just smiled.
Josslyn
"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for a spa day!" Josslyn said as she got out of the driver's seat of her car and locked the door. Lindsey, who had been in the passenger's seat, caught up to her and they waited for their other three guests. Rachel Janacek, Izzie Zacchara, and Gabriella Worth followed.
"I can't believe I'm back in Port Charles." Izzie said.
"Thank you for inviting me. I'm excited to get to know you guys." Gabriella added.
Rachel smiled. "Yeah, me too."
"C'mon, let's get in there!" Josslyn led the way into the spa. The workers greeted her by name. Her guests, Rachel especially, seemed surprised by the way Josslyn practically ruled the place.
"Is she always so…powerful?" she asked.
Lindsey and Izzie (who had grown up with Lindsey and Joss and knew them really well) looked at each other before nodding. "Yes."
"We're in room five." Josslyn said, handing each of the girls their robes.
Twenty minutes later, the five girls were sitting in chairs that faced in a circle getting pedicures.
Rachel leaned her head back in her chair. "It's so relaxing finally getting a break. Being a mother is hard work."
"How many kids do you have?" Gabriella wondered.
"One, a four year old. Sophia Summer."
"Cute name. You don't look…"
"Old enough to have a four year old." Rachel finished. "I'm 23, I had her at 19."
"Do any of you guys have kids?" Gabriella looked at the others.
"Well, Sophia's basically my stepdaughter." Izzie offered. "I'm dating her father."
"I'm in the process of adopting a little boy. Henry Thomas." Lindsey stated.
Gabriella looked at Josslyn expectantly. The blonde shook her head. "Oh, I don't have kids.
"Josslyn apparently hates children." Lindsey said with a roll of her eyes.
"I never said that, Linds. I'm not ready for kids right now. I don't wanna be like my mother."
"What's wrong with Carly?" Izzie questioned.
"Nothing is wrong with her. But she had Michael with AJ, married Sonny and had him adopt Michael, had Mo, divorced him, dated my dad, married him, had me, Court, and Connie, separated and my dad had Bella, and then got back together and had Jacelyn. It's too much to handle. I wanna marry one guy and have kids with only him. Is that really that bad?"
"No, but I want Henry to have a best friend!"
"And he will. But it won't be my kid."
"What if you just adopt one too?" Josslyn gave her a death stare. "Okay, I get it! No kids for you in the near future."
"What if you just became unexpectedly pregnant?" Izzie quizzed.
"Then I would force Aiden to marry me and we'd have a kid."
"You're really that set on marriage before children?"
Josslyn shrugged. "Not really marriage. Just knowing that is the one person I wanna spend the rest of my life with."
"You don't think Aiden's that guy?"
"I love Aiden, I really do. But I feel like I never really got to explore my options, you know? What if this is just a high school-type relationship and he's not really the one for me?"
Lindsey knew she had to be the voice of reason here. "Josslyn, you and Aiden have been in a serious relationship for two years…"
"Zack and Paige have been together for three. Courtney and Tyler were together for four. Molly and Cam were together for seven years before they got married. You and Jake have been together for six years. Two years isn't anything."
"You wanna know how soon I knew Jake was the one for me?" Josslyn looked at her expectantly. Lindsey held up two fingers.
"Two years?"
"Two months."
"Really?"
"Mmhmm."
"How did you know?"
Lindsey shrugged her shoulders. "I just did. It's just like, you wake up one morning and you realize that you never wanna wake up another day without that person."
"Awww." Izzie, Rachel, and Gabriella all gushed. Josslyn rolled her eyes.
"You know I'm not into all that sappy, mushy crap, so can you give me some better advice?"
"Just listen to what your heart is telling you to do, Joss. You have pretty good instincts, even if you hardly ever use them."
A bunch of laughs, a few bathroom breaks, and a couple of hours later, the girls were ready to go. They exited the spa. Lindsey and Josslyn were riding back to the guys' apartment together, but the other three were getting rides.
The first car to pull up was a sleek, black limo. The door opened and Kiefer Bauer got out. Josslyn and Lindsey immediately tensed up; they had been 7 and 8, respectively, when Kristina dated him, but they heard the stories.
"Mommy!" Sophia flew out of the car, running over to Rachel. She lifted up her daughter, shifting her to her hip.
"Hey, Soph!"
"Your nails are pretty!" Sophia admired the pink polish Rachel had gotten on her fingernails.
"Thank you! I picked pink because I know it's your favorite. Maybe one day you can get your nails done."
Izzie hugged Josslyn and Lindsey. "I'll see you guys soon."
"Kay." Josslyn hugged her back, followed by Lindsey.
Izzie went over to where Rachel was holding Sophia. She kissed the little girl's head. "See ya, Sophia."
"Bye, Izzie!" Sophia hugged her and kissed her cheek. Izzie got into Kiefer's limo and left.
Another car, this one a simple one, pulled into the parking lot. A girl who was a few years older than them was in the driver's seat.
"Hey, Vi!" Gabriella greeted. "I had a good time. Joss, put in a good word for me with Alec?"
"Sure." Josslyn agreed. "Bye!" Gabriella left.
"Thanks, guys. I had a really great time." Rachel said as a final car pulled up.
"Welcome." Josslyn smiled at her. "I'll talk to my godfather about getting Selena and Sophia together for a play date."
"Alright."
A guy with black hair and piercing blue eyes got out of the car. "Are you ready to go, Rae?"
"Yeah." She turned to the girls. "This is my little brother, Clay, he's 22. Clay, this is Josslyn Jacks and Lindsey Scorpio-Drake."
"Nice to meet you." Clay's eyes lingered on Josslyn. "You're very pretty."
"Thank you." Josslyn smiled.
"Aiden." Lindsey whispered in her ear.
Josslyn shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts from her brain. "I'll text you, Rachel. We should all get together sometime." She smiled. "And for the record, I like you way better than Gabriella."
Rachel laughed. "Thanks, Joss. See you two later."
"Bye. Bye Sophia, bye Clay." Josslyn unconsciously fluttered her eyelashes even more than usual. Lindsey rolled her eyes and pulled her away.
"You are awfully flirty for a girl with a boyfriend."
Josslyn scoffed. "I was not flirting."
"Then what do you call that?"
"I was…exploring my options."
Jake
"Are you sure he doesn't need his diaper changed?" Alec whined.
"Dude, I told you like ten times that I already checked!" Jake said, bouncing Henry up and down. The little boy continued to scream at the top of his lungs.
"Just call Lindsey!" Aiden groaned from the couch, pressing a pillow to each of his ears.
"No! I can do this on my own!" Jake stared at his son. "Come on, buddy. Just stop crying for Daddy, okay? Mommy will never trust me alone with you again if you're screaming when she gets home."
"Try the bottle again." Alec suggested.
"He'll just spit it out."
"Well try!"
Jake held the bottle to the baby's lips and they all sighed in relief when he immediately quieted. But then he spit all of the formula out and started to cry again.
"Listen, Jake, I'm all for you being a dad and getting married and everything. But you need to play house with your crazy kid somewhere else!" Alec shouted, going to sit next to Aiden.
"Henry, stop crying. Whatever it is, I promise it's not that bad." Jake rocked him back and forth, but nothing would help.
The front door opened and Lindsey and Josslyn entered. The latter went over to her boyfriend and plopped down in his lap, stealing the remote from Alec. Lindsey went to her fiancé.
"What did you do to my baby?" she joked. Jake passed Henry to her. "Shhh, it's okay, Little Man. Mommy's here." She rubbed his back gently and he stopped crying.
The three boys stared at her, their mouths hanging open in shock. Josslyn laughed. "What?"
"How did you do that?" Jake demanded.
"Do what?"
"Get him to stop crying! He's been screaming for the past half hour!"
"You just have to hold him and talk to him." Lindsey said.
Alec shook his head in disappointment. "The kid's a Momma's boy already."
Morgan
Morgan held open the door to the Metro Court restaurant so Lila Rae could enter. She smiled at him in thanks and walked in. He followed, already dreading this double date.
Back in high school, Morgan and Spencer had been cool. Spencer is his cousin Molly's age (and Molly's cousin), so they had known each other for a long time. It had all been okay until Lila Rae came crashing through.
"Lila Rae! Morgan! Over here!" Violet called, waving them over. That's another thing he didn't like. Violet just irked him. She was too friendly.
Spencer stood as they approached, always the picture of manners. He shook Morgan's hand and gave Lila Rae a brief hug. Morgan didn't care what they said; he would always be suspicious of Nikolas's oldest child.
"So, what's good here?" Violet questioned.
"Everything." Morgan, Lila Rae, and Spencer answered together.
"Good evening, Mr. Corinthos." The waiter came over. "Would you all like some wine today?"
"Yes, red please." Morgan ordered, knowing it was Lila Rae's favorite.
"Wow, you must come here a lot. They know you by name!"
"Yeah, my mom owns the hotel."
"No way!"
"Yeah." Morgan was glad that the waiter returned. He put the bottle on the table and took their orders.
Lila Rae started pouring everyone their wine. "So, how was everyone's day?"
"Great!"
"Busy."
"Sucky."
Lila Rae started at Morgan in alarm. "Why was your day sucky?"
"My cousin Addie is in the hospital."
The others all stared at him in shock. Spencer spoke first. "What happened?"
"She was attacked. The police think it was the same person who attacked Mia Webber and Ava Jones."
"I should go see Molly…" Spencer said, starting to stand up.
"Who is Molly?" Violet questioned. "Ex-girlfriend?"
"Actually, she's my cousin."
Morgan stepped in. "Maybe you could just call her tomorrow. She's probably resting since she was at the hospital all day, plus she's been dealing with Prue."
"Yeah, you're right." Spencer sat back down. "So, Lila Rae, how's ELQ?"
"I don't even wanna talk about it. The company is going to get run straight into the ground. Ever since Grandfather picked the person who will get the company after he dies…"
"He picked someone?" Spencer interrupted. "Who?"
"Maddie! She is sixteen years old! What could she possibly know about running a company?"
Morgan decided to drink his wine and say nothing. His loyalty would always lie with his family, and by extension, that meant Jason and his children, Maddie included. He knew she could do it if she really set her mind to it.
As the other three talked, Morgan stared at his watch, wondering when this incredibly awkward dinner would end.
Addie
"Hey." Addie looked up to see Josslyn, Lindsey, baby Henry, Jake, and Aiden standing in her doorway. She was surprised.
"Hi?" she didn't mean for it to come out as a question, but she was confused on why they were there.
Addie had been sitting in her hospital bed reading. It was the first time she had been alone since she was admitted; Molly had to go home so she could get Prue ready for bed, and Jamie and Haley had gone to their houses to shower and change clothes.
"Morgan told me about what happened and I told them." Josslyn filled in. "How are you?"
"I'm doing okay. I'm kinda sore, but I'll live." Addie sighed. "I didn't really wanna do this, but I guess I have to. I'm gonna need to drop out."
The young adults immediately knew what she meant. "We understand." Jake said, speaking since she had been on his team. "Have you spoken to your partner about this?'
"Yeah, my partner was Corey. He said he didn't mind and he would support me in my decision."
"Good."
Josslyn sat on the end of her bed. "Molly told me you're going to be living with her. I'm glad."
"Yeah, it gets kinda lonely in that big empty house."
"Our brother can be kinda annoying." Aiden warned. "You're gonna wish you were alone after a day."
Addie laughed. "I think I'll be okay. I'd rather have an annoying person around than no one."
They hadn't realized how big of a front Addie put on until that moment. None of them could really sympathize since they all had at least one parent that was constantly around.
Henry started to cry. "I'm sorry." Lindsey apologized "C'mon, Jacob. I hope you get better soon, Addison. Call us if you need anything."
"Thank you."
Gabe walked into the room right as Lindsey was leaving. "Hey Joss. What are you doing here?"
"Just stopped by." She stood up and went over to hug her brothers' cousin. "Get well soon, okay? If you need anything, I'm here."
Addie smiled. "Thanks, Joss. Bye, bye Aiden."
"See ya." Aiden walked out. Josslyn gave Gabe a noogie, laughed at him and hugged him, and then left.
"Corey and I dropped out of the Games." Addie said.
"Smart choice."
"I didn't want to, but I don't really have a choice."
Gabe sighed. "Addie, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Did you ever get any…weird…text messages before you got attacked?"
Addie's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah…how'd you know?"
Gabe groaned. "If I tell you this, you have to swear to me you won't tell anyone. Not Haley, not Jamie. No one."
"Okay, I swear. What?"
"Mia and Ava got messages before they were attacked too."
"Really?" he nodded. "But why?"
"I guess it's this person's signature. All I know is that I trust no one anymore, and you shouldn't either."
Addie tried to lighten the mood with a subject change. "So, are you going to that party tonight?"
"No, no one in the Crew is."
"Why?"
"Because it wouldn't be right with you sitting in the hospital."
Addie rolled her eyes. "Gabe, you better go to that party and get everyone to go with you."
"But…"
"No buts. If I can't party, someone should."
"You're sure?"
"Yep. Have a lot of fun for me."
Gabe smiled and hugged her gently. "Feel better soon, okay? And if you get scared or you just want someone to come talk to you, call me. I'll be here as soon as possible."
"Thanks." He left.
Maddie
Maddie held up different shirts, staring in her full length mirror. Haley had texted everyone and told them that Addie said they needed to go to the party, so if Addie wanted them to go to represent her, then she would.
She heard a snore and rolled her eyes. Mia was passed out on her bed, trying to sleep off her hangover. Maddie really didn't think she should go to the party tonight, but the other girl would do whatever she wanted.
She could hear the front door slam and winced. Gabe was home. She had been dreading the talk they were bound to have.
"Mads?" Mia asked from the bed, raising her head. "What time is it?"
"Time for us to listen to Gabe scream for forever." She rolled her eyes. "If you wanna leave, I'll handle it…"
"No. I'm the one who screwed up, it's my responsibility."
There was a knock on Maddie's door before it swung open. Gabe invited himself into the room, staring back and forth between the two brunettes that meant the most to him.
"It's time for the two of you to start talking. What happened last night, and why were Connor, Brittany, and Hunter told before I was?"
Maddie rolled her eyes. "Will you chill out?"
"No, I won't. I deserve to know what is going on."
"Okay, Dad."
"Madelyn, you really don't want to start with me right now."
"Why? I know you're not going to hurt me, so what's the worst you can do? Scream at me for a few hours? Not talk to me? Newsflash Gabe, we can protect ourselves! Just because we're girls doesn't mean that…"
"Doesn't mean what? That you can't get attacked in the middle of the woods, or on the side of the road, or leaving a party? Because I never expected those things to happen to anyone I care about and, yet, they have!" Gabe shouted. It always scared everyone a bit when Gabe raised his voice since he was usually so calm. "I want to know what happened last night and I want to know now!"
Maddie looked over at Mia and saw that her bottom lip was quivering involuntarily. She could take on the whole world, as long as Gabe was on her side. She could tell how badly his yelling was affecting her; Gabe tried as hard as possible to keep his cool, especially around Mia.
"Can you stop yelling?" Mia asked, practically whimpering.
"No, I can't, because I need to know what is going on and I expect someone to tell me right now!"
"You need to stop." Maddie told her twin brother before turning to their best friend. "Go to Kelly's and get us some food, okay? We need to eat before the party tonight."
"But Maddie…"
"No, Mia. Go."
Mia attempted to walk out, but Gabe blocked her path. "You're going to talk to me about this, Mia. I promise you that."
Maddie went over and grabbed Gabe's shoulder, shoving him backwards. He stumbled, surprised by the physical contact.
"If you're gonna yell at someone, you can yell at me, but leave her alone. Mia, go." Mia hurried out, closing the door behind her.
"Really, Maddie? You're going to push me now?"
"Yeah, I am, because you're acting like an idiot! Seriously, Gabe? Do you not even realize that you just yelled at Mia? She gets enough of that from her parents; she doesn't need it from you too."
"And what could you possibly know about that? Mia is my best friend and she tells me everything, not you! Are you happy that you finally know something I don't? Is that why you're trying so hard to avoid the subject?"
"No, I'm avoiding the subject because I know it's going to hurt Mia and I don't want to put her through that!"
"Fine. You know what? That's cool, Maddie. Just know that we're done. Don't come to me for anything, don't talk to me, nothing. Yeah, I'll watch out for you when you decide that it's 'cool' to get drunk and act reckless at a party, but we're not going to be close. And good job taking all of our friends with you."
"Will you stop?" Maddie screamed. She was now yelling at the top of her lungs. "If I could tell you, I would, but I'm not going to do that to her!"
"I AM YOUR TWIN BROTHER!" Gabe shouted back even louder than Maddie had. "You are supposed to trust ME before anyone!
"Oh, like how you trust me? You tell me nothing, Gabe!"
"I tell you everything, so don't even play that card."
"I'm done talking to you. If you wanna cut me off, then it's whatever. I don't care anymore."
"You're really willing to throw away how close we are for a stupid secret?"
"It's not a stupid secret!" Maddie was back to yelling now. "God, why can't you just understand that sometimes we need some space! You crowd everyone twenty four-seven, demanding to know any possible information. I'm allowed to have a life, you know!"
"Yeah, except for the fact that this has something to do with Mia, not you! Just tell me, Maddie!"
"NO!"
"Tell me!"
"NO!"
"Maddie, I swear to God…"
"What? You wanna hit me? Hit me. I don't care. I'm not betraying her like that."
Gabe turned and punched her wall in frustration. "For God's sake, will you just tell me where Mia was last night!?" Maddie was silent. "Whatever. Don't tell me. I'll just scream at her until she eventually weakens and admits everything, because we both know she will. You really want to put her through that?"
Maddie didn't know what to do. She knew that if she told Gabe and tried to get him to be sympathetic, it would be better for Mia than if she told him herself and got yelled at and lectured for three hours.
"First of all, I want to let you know that I hate when you get like this because you get really mean and I don't appreciate it. Second, if I tell you this, you are going to promise me that you won't turn around and lecture Mia. I can assure you that she knows what she did is wrong."
Gabe took a deep breath, trying to control the anger boiling inside of him. "I'm not promising anything."
"Then I'm not telling."
She knew he would give in eventually. He really wanted to know, and she was stubborn enough to hold off on telling him.
He sighed. "Fine, whatever. Tell me."
"Last night, Aubrey got really high. She came over to me and Britt and we volunteered to get her out so she wouldn't get in trouble for smoking on school grounds. Mia was leaving at around the same time, but she drove separate and was going somewhere else. This morning, I woke up at Connor's from a phone call. It was Mia and she was really drunk. Connor got her to tell us where she was and we were going to go get her, but Mom and Dad called and said I needed to come home. Connor said he would go. He called Britt and Hunter to meet him there so one of them could drive Mia's car home.
"We found out that Mia slept with some older man last night. He didn't know she was sixteen and thought her name was Olivia. She regrets it a lot and she has been really closed off ever since. She's terrified, Gabe. Just please don't yell at her."
Maddie could tell Gabe was trying to process everything. He nodded once.
"Fine. I won't say anything." He ran a hand through his hair. "You should have called me. I would have helped somehow."
"We just didn't want you to be mad at her. One of the first things she said was 'Gabe is gonna be so mad at me'. We were trying to protect her, just like you would."
"I'm mad, but not at her. Did you find out anything about this guy?"
Maddie shook her head. "Connor and Hunter looked for any evidence at all, but there was nothing."
Gabe sighed. "I acted like a jerk. She's going to hate me."
"No she's not. You guys just need to talk, calmly. It'll be okay."
Gabe went over and hugged her. "Thanks, Mads." He kissed her forehead. "I love you, you know that, right?"
"Mmhmm."
"Good. I'm really sorry. Sometimes when I get mad, I just see red and I can't control anything."
"I get the same way. It's fine."
He looked at his phone. "Britt just texted me. I'm picking her up and going to the mall for something, see you later."
"Kay." Maddie watched him leave. "Well, that went better than expected." She whispered to herself.
Brittany and Gabe
"What's wrong with you?" Brittany asked as soon as she got into the passenger's seat of Gabe's car.
"Just got in a fight with Maddie. I freaked out on her, and Mia."
She groaned. "Gabe…"
"I know. Mads and I are okay. I haven't talked to Mia though."
"I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Yeah, but she shouldn't just have to brush it under the rug and pretend it didn't happen. I feel like such a jerk."
"And you probably acted like one."
"Not helping, Britt."
"I'm just saying. When you get mad, you get mad."
Gabe chose not to respond and focus on the road instead. He pulled into the parking lot of the mall and found a good spot.
"This thing is seeming like more trouble than it's worth." Brittany said, referring to the Games. Their 200 point dare was to shoplift. "But hey, I need an outfit for the party, so I guess it works out nicely for me."
"Yeah, if we don't get caught." Gabe reminded her. "What store?"
Brittany quickly picked where she wanted to go and they walked inside. She started looking around.
"What about this?" she held up a tiny skirt.
"No."
She rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I even bothered asking. Of course you're not going to like anything I…" she trailed off, going over to a dress. "Oh my God! This is what I want. Look, Gabe!"
Gabe came over, staring at the black dress Brittany was holding. "What's so special about that?"
"It's so cute!"
He sighed. "Yeah, sure. Let's just get out of here."
Brittany casually glanced around. When she saw no one was watching and there were no cameras near her, she shoved the dress into her purse. She and Gabe exited the store with no problems.
"That was easier than I thought." Gabe admitted.
"Same. You got the camera?" he snapped a picture of the dress. "Good. Now let's go get ready to par-tay!"
Mia and Tyler
"I hate this." Mia groaned, waiting for the man to hand her the T-shirt he was currently customizing.
"Hey, don't give up now. We're going to win this thing." Tyler assured her. "I just wish it wouldn't be such a sucky challenge."
For their 200 point dare, Mia and Tyler would both have to wear T-shirts with their biggest secrets on them. Mia chose one that said 'I slept with a stranger', while Tyler would wear one that said 'I cheated on my girlfriend with my ex'.
"Do you think this'll be a good party?" Tyler wondered.
"The party is what you make it. I'm planning on having a good time, so yeah."
"Me too." Tyler agreed. "So…how are you feeling?"
"I hate when people ask me that."
"Everyone is just worried. Stuff like people getting attacked doesn't happen in Port Charles."
"I'm fine, Tyler."
"Good."
They were silent. The man held up the shirt. "Here you go, ma'am."
"Thank you." Tyler pulled out his wallet and paid for both shirts and then they left, going to his car. They were going straight to the party and Mia figured she could get a ride home from someone, so she let Tyler drive her. As they moved down the road, she fixed her makeup.
"Why do you do that?"
"What?" Mia paused to look at him.
"Put on makeup. You're beautiful without it."
"Shut up."
"I'm serious. You're a pretty girl, Mia."
"Look, if you're trying to talk me into…"
"I'm not trying to talk you into anything." Tyler interrupted. "Courtney is one of your best friends and I don't want to violate the girl code or whatever. I'm just telling you, as a friend and a guy, that you're beautiful."
"Well thanks."
"You're welcome."
"Can I tell you something as a friend?"
"Sure."
"I really don't want to go to this party. I don't wanna see Gabe."
"Wow. That's a first."
"Yeah, we're kind of fighting. Well, more like he's mad at me."
"Does it have anything to do with your shirt?"
"Everything."
Tyler pulled up to the party and found a spot. He climbed out and waited for Mia to get out before he started walking. "You know that you guys will be okay. You always are."
"Yeah, but it still sucks when there's tension."
"Guys are idiots."
"Sure are." Mia opened the front door. She scanned the area for any familiar faces, but didn't see any. "Do you see anyone?"
"Not right here, no." Tyler walked further into the house. "Stay with me, okay? Just until you find your friends."
Mia agreed, only because this was the first actual party she had been to since her attack and she was a little shaken up. They both went over and got a drink.
"Hey Mia." Haley came over to her. "Ty."
"Hales."
Haley and Tyler are half-siblings from their mother, Lisa Niles, but they don't see each other much since Tyler lives with Lisa and Haley lives with her father, Ethan.
"Have you seen anyone?" Mia questioned, trying to clear the awkward tension.
"Yeah, Zack, Paige, and Connor are all here. I haven't seen the others yet." She looked down at their shirts. "Uh, interesting T-shirts."
"It's a, um, dare." Tyler said.
Haley immediately got what they meant. "Oh. Biggest secret?" they nodded. "Pretty brave of you guys to do it."
"Well we don't want to lose!" Mia spotted Zack. "I'm gonna go talk to Zackary. See you guys later." She walked away.
Courtney and Livvie
Courtney looked down at the slip of paper in her hand. 200- Invite your partner do something with you that they normally wouldn't. She pulled up in front of her partner's house and got out of the car, knocking on the front door.
"Courtney?" Kristina opened the front door. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to get Olivia."
"Bye Mom." Livvie came over, kissing Kristina's cheek and brushing passed her to go out the door.
"But Livvie…"
"We've really gotta go. C'mon, Courtney." Livvie walked off the porch quickly. Courtney was a little confused, but followed. Once they were in the car and buckled in, she asked about it.
"What was that about?"
"What?"
"You rushing out the door."
Livvie sighed. "Oh, that. My mom talks a lot and she's really annoying. I didn't want you to have to deal with her."
Courtney had always thought that Livvie was so bratty because of Kristina, but it seemed that even the younger Davis twin didn't really get along with her mother.
"Where is the party at anyway?" Livvie wondered after a few seconds of silence.
"It's closer to Madison." Courtney said, checking her mirror so she could switch lanes.
"Ugh, stuck up kids." Livvie groaned. The older girl nodded in agreement. "How did you learn to drive?"
"Officially? My dad took me driving. Actually? Zack, Emma, and I used to go drive around on empty roads in the middle of the night. Zack had his license, but Em and I didn't."
"Chloe J and Paige and the others didn't go?"
"Chloe J and Paige, and Nate too, are all a bit too…I don't really know the word. Chloe J hates driving, and Paige and Nate are too good to just go around driving illegally."
"So you, Zack, and Emma…you guys are really close, aren't you?"
"Mmhmm."
"But I thought Paige was your best friend, and Chloe J was Emma's."
"They are, but Zack and Emma are my oldest friends. The three of us have been close since the day Emma was born. They were my first friends, and I know I can always count on them. Don't you have friends like that?"
"Not really. The only one who has always been around is Logan." She said, referring to her twin brother. "But even he doesn't really like me."
"Like I told you before, Livvie. It's possible to change, you just have to work at it." She was quiet for a minute. "Do you drink a lot at parties?"
Livvie shrugged. "Sometimes. Why?"
"I was just wondering." Courtney sighed. "I don't think I can ever drink like I used to again."
"Getting old?" Livvie joked.
Courtney smiled, but shook her head. "You know how Mia was attacked at Emma's congratulations party?" Livvie nodded. "I was passed out and didn't go to the hospital until the next morning. If she hadn't of made it…" she trailed off. "I just need to be ready if anything happens."
"It's understandable." Livvie told her.
"You wore Joey's jersey yesterday, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"Just do me a favor and don't get mixed up with him, okay?"
"Courtney, he's my cousin. I know Emma's your friend and they're together but…"
"Livvie, this isn't about Emma. Joey is dangerous." She sighed, knowing this would be risky, but she had to try anyway. "Did you hear those rumors about Emma?"
"The ones about Joey hitting her?" Courtney nodded. "Yeah."
"Well they weren't rumors."
"WHAT?"
"You can't tell anyone. I wasn't supposed to tell, but I don't want you to end up hurt the way Emma was after it happened. He's dangerous, Olivia. Just don't play with fire unless you're ready to get burned."
Chloe J and Jamie
"You ready for this?" Jamie Quartermaine asked, looking over at his partner.
Chloe J rolled her eyes. "Might as well get it over with."
When they got their partner assignments, Chloe J had been thrilled. She and Jamie are cousins from their mothers, Maxie and Georgie, but they had grown apart since his mother's death. This could finally be their chance to reconnect.
They walked into the party and people immediately stared. Chloe J ignored it, but Jamie smiled in amusement. He glanced over at the blonde- well, former blonde.
"Hey, it could be worse."
Zack saw them and burst out laughing, pointing at Chloe J. Her face got red with anger as she glared at him.
"Zackary, I swear…"
"I'm not scared, Pinky J." he laughed even harder at his joke.
"Wow, you're so funny." She looked at Jamie. "Can we leave now?"
"Why would you wanna leave, Chlo?" Christian came over with Haley at his side, who was crying from laughter. "Don't you want to show off your pink hair?"
"Speaking of hair, we need a picture." Jamie handed the camera they all recognized as coming from the Games into Christian's hand. He got closer to Chloe J. Christian took the picture and looked down at it. Jamie was smiling, while Chloe J had a completely straight face and was flipping off the camera. He laughed.
"You look so pretty." Haley laughed.
"Haley, you better shut up before I…"
"This is payback, Chloe J. Remember when you got B-Dubs to follow me around all day instead of you? I had to deal with his annoying self, so now you get to hear all my comments."
"Guys, leave her alone." Nate said, approaching them with his brother Noah next to her. "The pink really brings out her eyes." That caused everyone to laugh again. He held out a drink to Chloe J.
"Uh, no thanks." She told him with a tight smile.
"But it's your favorite…"
"I said no, okay?" she tried to be quiet so she didn't draw attention to the fact that she wasn't drinking but, of course, it didn't work.
"You're not drinking?" Zack questioned. "Why?"
Originally, it had been Chloe J that convinced them all to try drinking back when they were just 12 years old. She, Emma, Courtney, Paige, Zack, and Nate all sat together in Paige's bedroom, drinking some of her father's wine. Ever since then, they hadn't stopped, even if some of them did drink less than others.
Chloe J looked uncomfortably at her feet. "I just don't want to."
"But Chloe J…"
"Just drop it, okay?"
Zack nodded and looked at Noah. "Now who's drink are we gonna spike?"
"Why would you spike someone's…oh." Nate realized the only reason why they would have to do something that crazy. "Are you gonna tell the person?"
"Nope." Noah answered. "C'mon, let's go find someone."
Chloe J rolled her eyes. "Wow, the person who they choose is so lucky."
Zack and Noah
"Emma's?" Noah asked.
"No, I don't want to risk it. She'll realize what happened and rip us apart in the morning." He spotted the perfect target. She was standing over by the makeshift bar, already on her way to being drunk.
Noah grinned. "Oh yeah."
"You do it, I'll take the picture?"
"No way."
Zack rolled his eyes and took the bottle of vodka from the younger Scorpio-Drake. He went over to the brunette.
"Hey Mimi."
"Hi Zack." She smiled widely, looking up at him. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Oh nothing. What are you drinking?"
Mia giggled. "I dunno."
For a second, Zack frowned. "Who gave it to you?"
"Ja-Jamie." She stuttered through her giggles.
Zack knew Jamie would never intentionally hurt Mia, so he took her word for it. "Can I try some?"
"Sure!" she shoved her cup into his hand. He turned so his back was to her and dumped some vodka into it, seeing that Noah was giving him the thumbs up. He gave it back to Mia.
"Why are you alone? Where is everyone?" he demanded.
"I didn't see them. I just wanna have fun, Zacky."
"Mia, maybe you should lay off on the drinks…"
"Please don't tell me what to do. I have enough people telling me what I need to do."
Zack nodded. Even through Mia's drunken haze, she could still feel the pain of her everyday life, mostly her parents' behavior towards her.
"Okay. Well, find Maddie or something. You shouldn't be alone."
"I will." She hugged him and gave him a small smile that made him wonder if she was really as drunk as she was acting. "Thank you."
"No, thank you." Before she could question him, he walked away, high fiving Noah.
"What are you two doing?" Emma stood in front of them, her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised.
"What do you mean, Princess?" Zack gave her an innocent smile.
"Don't play that with me, Zackary. I saw you taking pictures, Noah. What did you do to Mia's drink?"
"We just added a little vodka. It's for that thing."
Emma groaned. "Seriously? Of all people, you picked Mia?" she tried to punch him in the arm.
"Hey!" Zack caught her hand before she could hit him. "We were gonna spike Chloe J's, but she's not drinking tonight apparently. What's that about?"
Both boys saw the tiny look of realization cross Emma's face, but it was gone as soon as it came. "I don't know. I guess she finally decided to change her maniac ways."
"Yeah, I guess." Noah said, not believing that she didn't know for a second.
"Why Mia? Gabe is going to knock both of you out."
"Relax, baby girl! It's a party, go have fun!" Zack told her.
"Whatever. I'm gonna go find Courtie. Don't spike anyone else's drink, and if you do, do it to someone we don't know." She walked away.
Paige and Connor
"Sloppy drunks." Paige said, shaking her head in disappointment as two girls pushed past each other to throw up. Connor laughed from beside her.
"So, how are we going to do our challenge?" he held up the paper that said 200- Act opposite of your personality.
"I guess just act different than we usually would at a party." Paige shrugged. "I don't really know. They could have been more specific."
"Well, in that case." Connor handed her a drink from the bar. "Drink up, P."
"You too, Connie. You don't usually drink that much."
"Yeah, because I watch out for all you girls."
"Then don't do that. Drink and have fun." She reached behind him and grabbed a drink, then put it in his hand. She slammed their plastic cups together. "Cheers!"
Connor sighed, but drank some of the liquid. He could have a good time if he really tried. Maybe Paige was right and he should loosen up a bit tonight.
"Wow, are you two actually drinking?" Courtney stared at them in shock.
"Mmhmm. Challenge." Connor stated, taking another sip of the alcohol in his cup.
"Fun." She watched Paige chug her whole cup and then grab another one. "Jesus, Paige. Slow down."
"It said act opposite of my usual personality. I'm not gonna do it halfway." She started drinking her second one.
Courtney smiled in fake pride. "Look at my little girl. All grown up."
Julian Quartermaine (AJ's son) walked by, laughing happily. "Hey guys."
Connor nodded in acknowledgement, Courtney smiled, and Paige stepped closer to him. "What are you doing, Julian?"
"I'm gonna go smoke."
"Can I come?"
Courtney, Connor, and Julian all stared at her in shock. "Dang, two good girls in two days. You sure can, P." he led her away. Paige looked over her shoulder with a smile and waved to them.
"Nose goes on taking her home tonight." Courtney said. Connor laughed in agreement.
Haley and Matt
Haley crossed her arms in annoyance. "What do we have to do again?"
Matt Zacchara (Johnny and Lulu's son) held up the slip of paper. "It says 'Make out with a stranger'." He read.
"God, Christian is going to kill me." Haley sighed and looked around the room. "I know most of these people. Who am I even going to pick?" she spotted a boy she wasn't familiar with. "There's one who isn't hideous. I guess I better get this over with."
Haley marched over to the boy, who was laughing and talking to some guy on the football team that wasn't part of the Crew. He had a beer in his hand and flipped his brown hair out of his face, seeing her as he did. He turned to look at her with a dorky half smile.
"Well hello there." He grinned.
"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I need you to make out with me so he," she pointed across the room at Matt, "can get a picture. I have a boyfriend and all I need is for you to kiss me. Got it?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Do I at least get to know your name first?"
"No."
"Oh. Well my name is Wes…" she cut him off my grabbing the back of his neck, pulling his head down to meet her. She pressed their lips together. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as she thought.
"Get it, Hales!" Mia shouted from across the room, Brittany and Aubrey laughing along with her. She pulled back and flipped her off, looking just in time to see Matt go over to her.
"So Mia calls you Hales."
"Why do you know Mia?" Haley didn't know that Gabe allowed anyone to know his best friend.
"She wore my jersey yesterday. I'm guessing Hales is short for something. Hallie? Haley? Hailstorm?"
"Don't worry about it." She took the camera out of her own bag and approached Matt, who grabbed Mia's face just as she approached and kissed her. Mia, who was drunk already, happily kissed back.
"This is over." Hunter came over and grabbed Matt, throwing him off of Mia. "You're not going to take advantage of her. How about you go talk to your girlfriend, you know, Grace?"
Haley looked next to Hunter and saw Christian, his eyes planted on her face.
Uh-oh.
Hunter and Christian
"200- Do something you are afraid to do." Hunter read. He looked up at his partner, but something over Christian's shoulder caught his eye. A certain black haired girl was kissing the Janacek kid. "Uh, Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"Why is Haley kissing Wes Janacek?"
Christian whipped around just as his girlfriend pulled apart from the boy. She started walking towards Matt Zacchara, Mia, Brittany, and Aubrey, so he headed in that direction, Hunter following. The younger boy went ahead of him and yanked Matt off of Mia. Christian wondered where Gabe had been tonight since it was usually him doing all of the protecting.
"Do something you're afraid to do." Christian said to Hunter. "I've been afraid to fight with Haley."
Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"You haven't seen her when she gets really angry." He walked over to his girlfriend. "What were you doing?"
"Huh?"
"Why were you just kissing that kid? First of all, he's dangerous. He's a Janacek for God's sake, Haley! Second, you have a boyfriend. Me, remember?"
"Christian, calm down. It was a dare."
Suddenly, he felt like an idiot. He knew it wasn't really optional for her to do these dares; Haley has always been extremely competitive.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize." Haley told him. "You had every right to be upset. I should have told you what I was doing first, and I'm, uh, I'm…sorry."
Christian grinned. "Did the Haley Lovett just apologize?"
"Don't get used to it." She grabbed his hand, leading him over to the bar.
Hunter kept the recording device he had used when Christian was speaking running. He looked at Mia, who was now alone. He hadn't even seen his sister, Aubrey, or Matt walk away.
"Hey Mia, can I tell you something?"
"Uh-huh." He knew she could barely focus on him and she wouldn't remember anything he said anyway.
"I've been really scared to admit this, but I…I don't really know how I feel about Bella."
"You looove her, Hunter." Mia slurred.
"I thought so, but the thing is, I'm not really sure."
"It's okay." Mia fell into him. She stared up into his eyes and then stood on her tippy toes, trying to kiss him.
"Mia, quit." He pushed her off, not meaning to do it as hard as he did. He reached out and grabbed her wrist to keep her from falling. He moved his fingers and saw three horizontal scars across her wrist. "Mia…"
She laughed. "Whoa! I almost fell!"
Hunter knew that right now, it would be pointless to ask her anything, but he was pretty sure that Mia cut herself.
Brenna
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ben Lovett (Haley's younger brother) asked for what seemed like the millionth time. Brenna's phone rang before she could reply.
Sweet Brenna. It will B a shame.
Fear immediately coursed through her body. She had seen the message Mia got before she was attacked. She realized it was probably someone, most likely Hunter, messing with her. She turned back to her partner.
"Ben, I already told you. This is my dad's warehouse. If we get caught, it won't be a big deal. I can talk my way out of it."
"Are you sure?"
"One hundred percent." She smiled confidently and continued to walk along the road. Since neither she nor Ben could drive, they had to walk to the warehouse. It wasn't far from the party, only about a ten minute walk.
"So what are we going to do?"
"We'll go in, take a bag of coffee beans, and leave."
"What do we do with the coffee beans?"
"I dunno, I didn't think that far. I guess we'll take a picture with the bag, then take some out and keep them as actual evidence."
"Okay."
Brenna could see the warehouse was getting closer and closer. She picked up speed.
"Did you see Mia Webber today?"
Brenna might not be part of the Dream Team, but she was fiercely protective of her three older siblings and all of their best friends. "What about her?"
"She was wasted. I don't think she could have even told you her first name."
Brenna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she handles her alcohol pretty well. She can do a lot more than you would think." They were now right by the warehouse. "Let's go around back."
Ben followed her lead, letting her show him the way to the backdoor. She pulled the handle, but it didn't budge.
"It's locked." She frowned. "I thought for sure that it would be open."
Ben pointed towards the window. "What about that?'
"It's too high; I won't be able to reach."
"I'll lift you up and you can come around to the door and let me in."
"Good idea." Brenna complimented. She walked over to the window. Ben wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up so she could grab the window sill. She pulled herself up as much as she could and then he pushed her legs. She balanced on the top of the sill and then turned, letting herself drop into the warehouse.
As soon as she hit the ground, Brenna knew something was wrong. Before her knee surgery, her knee had popped out of place a lot. It was painful and made it difficult for her to walk. She immediately recognized the feeling as she fell to the ground.
"You okay, Brenna?" Ben called out.
"Ben…I hurt my…" before she could say anything else, a large hand covered her mouth from behind. Her brown eyes widened as she struggled in the grip of her attacker.
That message had been real. She was actually being attacked by the same person who had hurt Mia, and most likely Ava and Addie too.
She tried to scream, but the sound was muffled. She felt the person grab her by her hair and throw her to the ground. She cried out in pain at the angle her knee hit the floor. A fist came crashing down against her arm. She sobbed as the blows increased, praying for this all to end.
Maddie and Nate
"I'm glad we got away from that party." Nate said as he and Maddie settled into their train seats. "Sloppy, rich punks are no fun."
"Definitely not." Maddie agreed. She and Nate were doing their 200 point dare by taking a train to Manhattan. It seemed pretty simple, and they might even have some fun while they were doing it.
"So, I'm guessing that Mia's T-shirt has something to do with why Gabe was so mad?" Nate wondered.
"Uh-huh. Don't say anything though."
"You know I won't, Mads." He sighed. "Mia's been crazier than usual. Ever since she was attacked, it's like she turned it up a notch."
"I know. I guess she's just really stressed out and when she's drinking, she forgets about it. It's not a good habit."
Nate sighed. "Maybe we should have an intervention."
Maddie laughed. "Oh yeah, I'm sure that would go great. She's not an alcoholic; she just likes to have fun."
Nate looked down at his phone, scrolling through Twitter. He started laughing.
"What?" Maddie demanded.
"Look at this picture Jamie just put on." He showed her. A certain brunette they knew was doing a keg stand.
"Is that Paige?" Maddie asked.
"Yep. Everyone is definitely going to be blaming Addie for all the craziness going on tonight."
Maddie frowned. "What happened to her sucks. I was hoping that it would end with Mia and Ava. But no, now there's one more added to that list .What if there's more, Nate? Obviously this is a planned sort of thing. I mean, they all got texts right before and everything."
"I don't have any answers, Maddie. We'll just have to be really careful."
"Total change of subject, but have you been working on getting closer to Emma?" Maddie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Madelyn…"
"What? You're both single!"
"She's kind of messed up right now. I'm not going to move in on her while she's vulnerable."
"You're a good guy, Nate. Too good. Just get in there! You have to tell her how you feel!"
"She probably doesn't feel the same way…"
"But she might." Maddie reminded him. "You can't just give up because she might not feel the same. Take a risk, Nathan!"
"Maybe I will, but I wanna wait until all of the Joey stuff blows over. I don't know how she would handle it right now."
Maddie sighed. "I guess that's the smart thing to do." She was interrupted by the beep of Nate's phone. She watched as all color drained from his face. "What?"
Nate held up his phone. She saw that Olivia was written at the top of his text message.
Hey Nate. I just thought I should let you know that I'm pregnant…and it's yours.
Zack
"Body shots! Body shots!" the crowd cheered happily. Zack rolled his eyes and laughed as he watched Courtney lick tequila off of Emma's stomach. His phone started ringing and he prayed that it wasn't either of his parents. He glanced down at the name on the screen- Ben Lovett.
Zack only had the boy's number because he was Haley's little brother, so he was a little surprised that the sophomore was actually using it. He motioned towards Brittany (who had been standing next to him) that he was going outside; she nodded her head.
"Hello?" he answered once he was away from the cheers and music.
"Zack?" the boy's voice sounded panicked. "This is Ben Lovett. Brenna and I were doing a challenge thing and we had to break into one of your dad's warehouses. I guess someone was inside. She got attacked."
Zack felt the whole world practically spin. There was no way that his sister, his baby sister, had been attacked by this psycho.
"What?"
"She's bleeding and she's unconscious and I called 911, but I thought you should know."
"Stay with her, okay? I'll call my parents and all that. Thanks, Ben." He hung up and ran inside, crashing directly into Emma. He grabbed her arms right before she fell.
"Zack?" her frown was a large contrast from the way she had been laughing less than two minutes ago. "What's wrong?"
"B-B-Brenna. She got attacked at my dad's warehouse."
"Oh my God." Emma covered her mouth. "I'll drive you to the hospital, okay? You don't need to be driving. Find the Dream Team and let them know." Zack nodded. She wrapped her arms around him. "She'll be okay, Zacky."
"Thanks, Princess." He went off to find his siblings.
Emma
Emma couldn't believe that yet another one of her friends had been attacked by this psycho. She saw a flash of pink and knew it was her best friend. She grabbed Chloe J's arm, yanking her towards her.
"You still haven't drank, right?"
Chloe J rolled her eyes. "I might not want it but I'm not going to hurt it."
"Brenna just got attacked."
"WHAT?"
"I need you to get Mia and take her somewhere. She can't show up at the hospital like that." She looked over at Mia, who was drinking with Paige. "On second thought, take Paige too. Hurry up."
"I'll be at GH right after I drop them off. Call me if anything major happens." Chloe J ran towards Mia and Paige.
Emma saw Courtney was now talking to Gabe. She went over to them. "We've gotta go."
"Why?" Gabe immediately picked up on his older sister's mood.
"Brenna's at GH."
"What?" Courtney practically whimpered. Brenna had always been like a little sister to her and she couldn't imagine her being hurt.
"We don't have time to do this. Can you two start finding out which ones of the Dream Team siblings don't have rides, and take the ones who don't to the Enchantment? We can't afford another one of our family members being put in the hospital."
"What is everyone else doing?" Gabe questioned.
"Zack was going to find Brittany and Hunter and tell them what happened. Chloe J is taking Paige and Mia somewhere since they are so far gone they can barely stand. I'm going to find Maddie, Nate, and Connor." She turned away from them and slammed into the blonde boy. "Connie, where's Maddie?
"I don't know. Why?"
"Brenna is in the hospital and we need to go."
"I'll call her."
"Nate too." Emma ran past him and saw Zack, Hunter, and Brittany standing together, the only girl of the group sobbing her eyes out. Zack turned to his best friend in horror.
"How am I gonna tell my parents?"
"Don't worry about it, I'll do it. How much have you guys drank?"
"Not much." Hunter said, his siblings nodding in agreement.
"I still don't think it's really a good idea for any of you to be driving. Did you all three drive?"
"I drove with Gabe." Brittany stated.
"I took Hunter." Zack answered.
"Nate drove me. I'll drive your car, Zack. Let's go."
"What about everyone else?"
"Chloe J's getting the drunks, Courtney and Gabe are looking for younger kids, Connor's gonna find Maddie and Nate. We're leaving."
"I'll drive, Em." Zack told her.
"Zack…"
"I can handle it. C-Can you just call my parents?"
"Yeah." They walked out to Zack's car together. Brittany and Hunter got in the back while Emma got into the passenger's seat. She found Claudia in her contact list and hit send.
"Hello?" her voice sounded groggy, which Emma contributed to the fact that it was almost two in the morning.
"Claudia? It's Emma." She began, her voice shaking a lot more than she wanted it to.
"Emma? Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"It's not me. I-It's Brenna. You need to get to General Hospital."