After the burglars had been arrested and the police got everyone's statements, Emma finally got to go home. She was shaken from the fight because she had never had to use her training against actual people before. A gun had been pointed straight at her, and she even indirectly shot someone with it. The entire ordeal had her physically shaking.

Her mother decided to drive her home instead of having Emma walk in that state, and tried everything to get her to talk. Olivia tried to comfort her, ask her questions, even provoke her, but Emma simply sat in silence, trembling.

When they arrived at the house, Emma unlocked the door and headed straight for the dining table. Gavin came downstairs, looking like he needed to talk to her about something, but when he saw Olivia, he stopped in his tracks. "I- Mom?"

Mrs. Goodall rolled in her suitcases behind her. "Hey, Gav. Long story, but I'm back. We probably should talk later though." She nodded her head towards Emma sitting alone at the table and Gavin got the impression something had happened.

He agreed to talk later, but gave her a hug. "I'm glad you're here, mom. I've missed you so much." He then slowly trudged back upstairs, knowing he'd have to save his apology to Emma for later. His curiosity was piqued though, so he stayed by the stairs where he could hear their conversation. Gavin knew eavesdropping was wrong, but he couldn't help himself. He hadn't seen his mom in months, and it had been ten years for Emma. Something had to have happened and he wanted to know what.

Olivia filled a glass of water for her daughter and set it near her as she took the adjacent seat. "Emma, we should talk-"

"No, mom. We shouldn't talk. We shouldn't do anything. I told you to go, for your own safety. You need to listen to me. Did you see how dangerous that was? You could have been hurt or killed!"

"You can't be upset with me for staying when you were the one who charged at the guy with the gun. That was way more dangerous than me just being in the store. What were you thinking? And where in the hell did you learn to fight like that?"

Emma shook her head. "That's not important. Do you not realize? You and me are all Gavin has. I told you to go because I knew I was going to take a risk. If something happened to me, at least he'd have you. Don't you understand that? He can't afford to lose you. So next time, god forbid there is one, you need to listen to me. I know what I'm doing. If I had been shot, there would have been nothing stopping them from coming to raid the supply room and killing you."

"Emma, please... I just-"

"No. In this situation, I was right and you know it. I had it under control and you still put your life in danger. What would have happened if both of us didn't leave the Brainfreeze tonight? That would have been on you, not me. And I'm all for you moving back in. You can be Gavin's mom and help get him to treatments and pay for things so I don't have to anymore. But you don't get to control me. You don't get to choose when to be my mom. You don't get to leave me alone by myself with an abusive father for a decade and then just come back and start trying to mother me.

I've been living by myself for months just fine without a parent, and even before that I survived in worse conditions. You don't get to badger me constantly about bruises on my neck when I clearly ask you to stop, you don't get to tell me what to do, and you certainly don't get to do reckless and irresponsible things, claiming it's because you know better. You lost your right to be my mother the day you walked out on me. So you can be here and you can be Gavin's mom, and we can be civil. But even if you are my mother, you'll never be my mom. That's the difference."

Emma stood up and left, but right before she reached the stairs, she turned back.

"You sent him here so I could take care of him, and I did. I took such great care of him, and most times, at my own expense. I proved I am responsible and capable and I did all that when you couldn't. You were incapable of doing it, so you stuck that responsibility on me. I think the least I deserve is some tiny sliver of your respect. I'm not the scared little girl you left behind. If I ask you to drop a topic, or do something, the least you could do is listen."

With that, she stormed up the stairs. Gavin heard her coming up and left to his room, so she didn't find him snooping. While he listened in to their conversation, he became extremely alarmed by all the talk of danger and guns, so he searched the news to see if something had happened. When he saw the breaking news update about a burglary at the Brainfreeze, where a teenage girl fought off two men and an armed gunman, his alarm only increased.

He knew Emma was not okay, and with his mom dropping in so suddenly, it was too much. Gavin still needed to apologize to her about what had happened earlier, and he wanted to talk to her about everything, but he knew he needed to wait until she cooled down.

So, he walked down to find his mother sitting at the table, miserable. When she heard footsteps, she looked up. "Gavin, how much of that did you hear?"

He just shrugged. "Let's not talk about that."

So he caught his mom up on the months of his life that she had missed and she in turn explained why she was here, and that she was here to stay. Two hours later, she decided to unpack her stuff into the guest bedroom. Gavin figured it was time for him to go as well, so he thought it would be a good time to check on his sister.