AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! i know, i know, TOO LONG!!! NHLAM (me) what is wrong with you???? i'm sorry, i'm sorry! i had midterm exams (yuck), and then right after, my family and i took a road trip across nine states to visit a college, so i couldn't update from there! and then i wasn't done this part anyway... but i finally found time between the sea of make-up work and social life and tests and school and sleep to get this up! yay for snowdays where there actually isn't snow!!!! :D
so, thusly, here is the amazing update...
Disclaimer: Actually, now that you mention it, when we went on that lovely nine-state trek, we went by the studio that made once and again! and i was like, with all the money we saved by switching back and forth between all the different auto insurances that claim to allow you to save money by switching, i'm gonna go stop in and buy the rights! and you know what? those ther dern rights were on sale! so i bought them! and now O&A is all mine. so i'm suing all you fanfic authors! how dare you copy my show?! xD haha, no, i wouldn't be that mean if i got the rights. fanfic is too fun. anyway, not mine. :P and no, we haven't switched between all the car insurance companies. we're quite content with the one we have, lol.
bene: not a problem! sorry this one is a half a month late, but it's here, yay! :)
halfreck3929: angry jessie and tomatoes... o.O yes, yes there was. :) and no, no there is not, although they're mentioned twice. i'd recommend reading it, but knowing you... :P skim it, at least, haha.
ParamoreLover: well you is welcome! :D here's another one! haha a late one but let's just ignore that fact... xD
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B+W Testimonial: Grace sits, pensive: I guess a boat would be an accurate way to describe my life at the moment," she says, after a pause, her eyes focusing on some point beyond the camera, "I don't know, everything's just…choppy. Rick's taking off, but," she rolls her eyes, "I sort of figured he would. Not that he's a bad guy, but, I mean, come on. He's my step father. I thought badly of my dad when he was my dad, so. I guess no one is safe," she jokes, and then chuckles. "But, now mom's pregnant. Which is great, don't get me wrong, but…bad timing, isn't it? And Aunt Judy's going to be swinging around a lot more. That's good, I won't always have to be the responsible daughter and take care of my mother…" Grace pauses, "God, I sound really ungrateful, don't I? I just…" she shakes her head. "…And Jessie's just pissed and moody all over again. I mean, she needs to learn how to grow up. Everyone fights. And if was about them coming out…well, I don't know, Jessie never says anything when she's being moody. Point is, it shouldn't be a big deal. And I don't know why I'm so upset about this. I mean…" she sighs, "They're like, the perfect couple! What hope is there for the rest of us if the perfect couple aren't talking to each other? And what is up with Eli, anyway?! I just…" Grace shake her head, "I hate boats."
Judy looked up at the sign of the door opening. It was odd, really. Sure, she left the door unlocked for any early birds. But there rarely ever were any. She spotted Grace as her niece walked purposely, but unsurely, towards where Judy stood, wet paper towel in one hand and coffee pot in the other.
"Good morning, Grace," Judy greeted, smiling when Grace looked surprised, as though she believed herself to be invisible. The thought made Judy chuckle internally.
"Hey, Aunt Judy," Grace returned, and took a seat. Judy watched as Grace sat quietly, and then started fidgeting with things.
B+W Testimonial: Judy narrows her eyes at nothing in particular: The Brooks blood means that anyone in the family are all pretty telling," she says, "I mean, I am too. Hell, I'm proud of my telling manner. If I have a problem with you, you will know it, not only because I will facially express it too you," she gives an example by furrowing her brows, frowning and clenching her jaw, before cracking into a grin, "But I'll flat out tell you. My sister doesn't tell anyone. She's the least telling of the bunch. If she has a problem with you, she won't tell you, and won't make it obvious. Grace, well. If she has a problem, she won't hide it. I think the only people she's ever truly blunt to, though, is family and people she really dislikes…or likes. It's tough to tell, with Grace. Zoë'll just roll her eyes and tell you what's up, what's not, and that if you have a problem with that, then you should shove it up your ass." She pauses, "But probably with different words," she muses.
Judy finished cleaning the coffee pot and eyed her niece skeptically. The girl definitely had something on her mind. Her fingers were tapping on the counter and she kept…twitching. Her eyes couldn't seem to focus, and she continually opened her mouth as though to say something, and then shut it seconds later. Finally, Judy rolled her eyes.
"Alright, I'll bite, Grace. What's up?" Judy said, giving her niece a smile when Grace, again, looked surprised.
"Oh, I, um, just needed to see if you needed a ride to the airport today?" Grace said, nodding her head self-assuring.
"And you had to come all the way down here when you could have used the phone because…?" Judy said, laughing slightly when Grace sighed and deflated, clearly knowing she'd been found out. "What's really on your mind?"
"Can I ask you something?" the younger girl asked, sounding almost hesitant.
"I don't see why not," Judy said airily, "which means yes, if I didn't make that perfectly clear," Judy clarified, smiling supportively at her niece.
"Have you ever…" Grace stopped and shook her head. "Alright, so, I have this friend…" Grace started again.
"Mm-hmm," Judy encouraged, perching an elbow on the counter and resting her chin in her palm.
"And she's in this relationship. Everything's been going smoothly, but, they sort of got in a fight. Which is no big deal, I mean, everyone fights. But now, she - my friend – is getting really moody, and pushing me away, when I'm the one who encouraged her to date her girlfriend anyway," Grace muttered the last part under her breath.
Judy raised her eyebrows.
"'Girlfriend'?" she repeated.
Grace turned her gaze from wherever she was looking to the passive face her aunt wore.
"Yes, she's dating another girl." Grace started cautiously. Judy did nothing but raise a thoughtful eyebrow, so Grace continued, "Which is what I think they were fighting about…you know, coming out, and…well, they're great together. I'd hate to think my friend blew it all out of proportion and ruined their relationship," Grace said. Judy nodded in understanding before righting herself and brushing at her shirt. After making quite a show of it, she finally eyed Grace and then, rather bluntly, though nonchalantly, inquired:
"Grace, are you gay?"
Judy watched as realization dawned on Grace's face. It quickly turned to a scowl, and then was saddened, then back to anger. It was quite the show.
"What?" Grace demanded, and then cut Judy off as she opened her mouth to repeat, "No, I'm not gay! Who…who told you that? Who thinks I'm gay?" she asked, in rapid succession, and then groaned. "Forget it, I don't want to know. I'm not gay," Grace reiterated, her fiery eyes locked onto her aunt's.
"Well, it's just, usually when someone uses 'my friend', it's not so subtle code for 'themselves'," Judy explained, shrugging. "Well, that's good, for your mom's sake anywa-" Judy snapped her mouth shut, effectively cutting off the rest of her sentence, though she realized, too late, that that was rather pointless.
"What?" Grace asked, narrowing her eyes at her aunt.
"What?" Judy repeated, quickly looking away from her niece's suspicious eyes, and quickly attempted to appear busy by fumbling with things behind the counter.
"My mom thinks I'm gay?!" Grace surmised, eyes widening. "Oh, well, that's just awesome. Just so freakin' awesome…"
"Well, I mean, you aren't, so now all she really has to worry about is J-" Judy cut herself off again by clamping her mouth shut and exhaling, loudly, from her nose.
"'J-'…what?" Grace asked, narrowing her eyes further in suspicion.
"Just about the baby, you know," Judy quickly supplied, averting her gaze from the younger girl's.
"Wait…" Grace said, quietly, and Judy hazarded a glance, and quickly wished she hadn't. Grace's eyes practically burned holes into her own as knowing flashed across them. "Do you…do you know…who I'm talking about?" she questioned.
"How could I? You used the very anonymous 'my friend'," Judy tried to back out. There was no way that she was going to rat out the secret relationship between Jessie and Katie. Surely that wasn't the one that Grace was talking about…was it?
"Yeah but you said yourself that it's a not very subtle code," Grace challenged, and Judy sighed.
"Well, I might possibly…" she started, but Grace cut her off.
"Know about Jessie?" Grace hissed, extremely quiet, as though she believed some invisible person to be listening intently to everything they'd been saying.
"And Katie?" Judy said, just as quietly.
"And how they're…?" Grace left it open-ended, but enough had been said. Judy simply kept her gaze steady on Grace's.
"How long have you known?" Grace asked, finally.
"Long enough. You?"
Grace snorted, "I've known longer than Jessie has," she muttered, shaking her head, "but, how did you find out?"
"They weren't very subtle about their public displays of affection," Judy offered as an explanation, and shrugged. "I hope they've improved on that, or they won't be a secret much longer."
"They haven't," Grace muttered. "Maybe that's what they were fighting about,"
Judy shrugged. "Could be, Gracie." Grace nodded and appeared to be mulling it over, eyebrows slightly furrowed in thought and a finger tapping on the counter quietly. Judy nodded at the silence and turned around, pulling out several coffee filters and returned to readying the shop for the lunch rush.
"Why is life so complicated?" Grace asked, finally. Judy gave Grace a questioning look.
"I mean, secret relationships, immaturity, people randomly packing up and leaving, random girlfriends," Grace scowled. Judy furrowed her brow and studied her niece for several seconds.
"Well, if it wasn't so complicated, then the good stuff just wouldn't be good anymore," Judy said, and shrugged.
Grace nodded mutely in understanding, but nevertheless made a sour face.
Finally, Grace sighed and stood. "All right, I have to go, I guess," she said, and then took her leave, the bell on the door signaling as it swung open and shut. Judy nodded to herself, satisfied with how the conversation had gone, and abruptly looked up when the bell rang again, and Grace wandered back in.
"I, uh…thank-you. And…you won't, tell anyone, right?" Grace grimaced.
"Well, it's not really my place to do any such thing," Judy reminded her. Grace nodded.
"Thanks," she said, flashing her aunt a smile and then turned to leave.
B+W testimonial: Judy smiles, amused: "Of course, we may be a very open family, but even we are capable of keeping our mouths shut when we need to. I suppose it's quite the talent. I, for one, believe I deserve a damn metal for it," she states, proudly, and grins.
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Eli shut the door as quietly as possible, careful to make sure it didn't make a sound. He'd smartly thrown his shoes behind a bunch of coats, so as to make it seem like he'd been home all night. With the quiet click of the door shutting, Eli grinned and straightened himself. With long strides, he walked from the entry way towards to kitchen.
"Where have you been, Eli?" the sound of his mother's voice made him freeze and turn towards her, wincing slightly.
"In my room, mom," he said, rolling his eyes and turning back to his task of making it to the kitchen.
"Do you really expect me to believe that, Eli?" his mother asked, acidly, and Eli shrugged, his back still to his mom.
"I guess," he answered. Karen sighed, frustrated.
"Eli, this has to stop," she said.
"I'm not doing anything illegal, mom," he muttered, exasperated.
"No, not yet," Karen shot back.
Eli clenched his jaw. "Gee, mom, with an attitude like that, it's a wonder why we don't get along better," Eli stated sharply.
"Well, maybe if you actually looked at me, Eli, I wouldn't have to be so-"
"We both know that's not going to change anything!" Eli snapped, turning around to face her, to prove his point. Karen made no move, just scrutinized her son as he shrugged and made an exaggerated "oh well!" face before crossing his arms tightly across his chest.
"So where were you?" Karen asked, after a pause.
"I was here," Eli said, with mock-sincerity.
Karen sighed in frustration and dipped her head, rubbing her temples with her free hand, the other grasping her cane.
"Eli," she said, warningly.
"What, mom? What do you want me to say? I was out spreading world peace? I secretly got a job and I just haven't told you yet? I'm taking night classes?" Eli shot, opening his arms as an invitation, "What?"
Karen eyed her son. "I would have liked to know where you were going. I may not be the coolest person on this planet, but I am your mother and I have a right to know where you are! At least a simple 'Mom, I'm going out for the night, be back by ten!' would have sufficed!" Karen said, sharply. "Even your sister is capable of telling me where she's going!"
"Oh, well, sorry that I'm not Jessie. Sorry I'm not your perfect little girl telling you everything about my perfect little life!" Eli snapped.
"Jessie is not perfect," Karen stated.
"Oh, no, but she's pretty damn close to it, isn't she? Compared to me, the screw-up!"
"Eli," Karen said, but Eli interrupted.
"You want to know where I was, mom? I was out with my girlfriend. Yeah, I have a girlfriend, I bet you didn't know that," he seethed.
Karen's nostrils flared. "Well, maybe if anyone bothered to tell me anything-"
"You don't listen!" Eli cut her off. "That's your problem, mom! You never listen! You were doing pretty good after your accident, but now you're just back to who you were before. You just keep asking so much of me, of Jess, and when we try and tell you something, anything, you don't listen! Ever!" Eli shot.
Karen stared at her son, slightly taken aback.
"I-" she started, and then paused. Swallowing, she continued, "I listen," she said, feebly.
Eli snorted, "You keep telling yourself that. You clearly don't listen. Why else would I not tell you that I have a girlfriend? And what about Jessie? I bet you don't even know that she's dating someone. Because she won't tell you, because you don't listen and you expect us to be perfect and we're not!"
Karen's knees buckled as she stared at her son, her head suddenly spinning.
"Jess-" she started, and had to stop herself to collect her thoughts. "Jessie is…dating someone?" she asked, and Eli watched as his mother suddenly seemed to shrink with the impact of his words, her eyes looking lost. Finally, she looked into Eli's eyes, "She…she told you that?"
"Well," Eli said, and then shook his head, "No, but, I mean, she's being pretty obvious about it. You didn't notice?" Eli asked, and Karen shook her head. The hand on her cane started to shake and she edged towards the arm of the couch, and sat once her knees hit it.
"Oh my god," she whispered, more to herself than Eli, "Why…why wouldn't she tell me?"
"I don't know," Eli said, shrugging scornfully, "she probably thinks that you won't approve. That any of us will approve. What other reason could there be?"
"I'm a terrible mother," Karen said, suddenly. Eli paused in his thinking of why Jessie would be hiding who she was dating, and stared at his mother as she hung her head.
"What?" he asked, taken off-guard.
"I'm a terrible mother!" Karen replied, tears welling in her eyes.
"What?" he repeated, coming closing to her. "Oh, no, mom. You're…" Eli paused and sighed. "You aren't a…terrible mother," he comforted, but it didn't seem to be working.
"Yes I am! I can't keep track of my own children!" she said, shaking her head, looking shell-shocked, "And you don't feel you can confide in me? What kind of mother does that make me?" she asked.
"Not a terrible one," Eli said, wandering over and leaning against the wall across from his mom. "You just…don't listen. You need to learn to listen. And…not over react. I mean…" Eli started, and hesitated when he realized his mom was hanging on his every word, actually listening. It was…an odd feeling, to realize this. "You…you were doing good, for a while, but…well, you over react a lot, mom, and that mixed with the not listening? Not exactly a good combination," Eli explained.
Karen sighed. "I…"
"Don't worry about it, mom," Eli interrupted, recognizing what she needed at that moment. A person to listen to her. "Just work on it, a bit, okay?" he encouraged.
"Will you help me?" she asked, and Eli nodded. Karen smiled at him tentatively, and he returned it with a roll of his eyes.
"Okay, enough mushy moment, I need cold pizza," he commented finally, and pushed himself off the wall. As he went to leave, he paused, turned and came back to his mom.
"Love ya, mom," he said, wrapping her in a hug.
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aw, you're done reading it already? quick! go back and read it again, slower! so then it'll last longer! and then it will seem like i update on time if i end up updating late again, which i hope never happens again but... :/
anywho, drop a review if you will! if not, well, hope you enjoyed the read. :P thanks for stoppin' by! until next time, toodles! :D