A/N: Sorry it's been a while, hope you all enjoy.
Chapter 42
Dinner was...awkward. The girls quietly stared between Hunter and Stephanie as they ate. Sasha looked around before elbowing Becky in the side as the girl drank water causing the girl to mouthed a confused "what?" Sasha looked between her and their parents, trying to signal for the Irish native to speak to them. Becky understood this and shook her head no. Sasha rolled her eyes and looked to Bayley who was pushing around her food on her plate. Sasha carefully cleared her throat to get her younger sister's attention. Once Bayley looked at her Sasha nodded her head towards their parents causing Bayley's eyes to widen before she looked at the two adults and then shook her head.
Sasha rolled her eyes once more while Becky mouth for Sasha to talk to them, but Sasha shook her head too causing Becky to smirk and call her a chicken before taking another bite of chicken. Sasha glared at her before stepping down hard on the redhead's foot causing Becky to let out a small noise attracting their mother's attention, "Are you alright Rebecca?"
"Peachy", Becky bent forward and grabbed her foot in pain as she glared at Sasha who just smiled at her, feigning innocence as she motioned for her to keep talking. Becky rolled her eyes before saying, "So...mom, you're leaving?"
"Nice" Sasha muttered causing Becky to glare at her once again
Stephanie looked over at Hunter carefully before saying, "I'm just going to help out my father and mother. You all know about your grandfather's Parkinson's, he's already starting to have trouble walking so I'm going to go help him."
"So this has nothing to do with the yelling we heard earlier?" Becky asked suspiciously
"Becky!" Sasha snapped
"What you wanted me to talk" Becky responded causing Stephanie to hold her hand out and stop the girls
"Your father and I had a little argument, but it's fine. I have to go and help my father, just for a week or so"
"But you'll miss Christmas" Bayley said with a frown
"I will be here for Christmas. I'm bringing my parents here so we'll all have Christmas dinner and everything together" Stephanie said with a tight lipped smile
"Well why can't Uncle Shane help grandpa?" Sasha asked causing Stephanie to look at Hunter who simply ate his food quietly
"Your Uncle...is not the best person to handle my father" Stephanie said before taking a sip of water, "But, he will be here to help out your father with things while I'm gone"
"Okay" Becky said nodding at this information while Sasha looked skeptical and Bayley still frowned at the idea
"Are you sure you have to leave?"
"It's not permanent" Stephanie said before looking to Hunter as if to check and see if this was true, but he didn't even look back at her, "It's only for a little while. I'll be back before you know it"
The family nodded at this before falling into silence for the rest of dinner, only breaking this for light conversation about Sasha's twins, Becky's volunteer work which would start on Monday and Bayley's talk with Alexa.
The next day Stephanie packed up her things and kissed all the girls goodbye. She also briefly had a sharp conversation with Hunter that the girls couldn't hear before leaving. While Shane came over and stayed at the house. He moved into the guest room and agreed to watch Sasha and Becky while Hunter and Bayley left out. Hunter took Bayley over to Alexa's house so the girl could talk to her before she left as Hunter had said that it would be better if Bayley talked to Alexa and worked things out before then. Bayley had flat out refused at first, saying that seeing Alexa again would just hurt, but Hunter managed to convince her, so he drove her over and was waiting in the car while Bayley slowly...very slowly walked to the door. There were boxes all over the yard, a moving van parked in the driveway and furniture to be discarded lined the sidewalks, causing each step Bayley took to remind her more and more of the fact that Alexa was really leaving.
"Come on Bayley, just go up there" Hunter encouraged from the car causing Bayley to chicken out and run back to the passenger door
"I can't. What if she doesn't want to see me?" Bayley asked with a pout
"Bayley, you have to control the situation. All you do is go up there and say you want to talk. Work out something so that you guys are still friends and try to keep in touch. If a relationship isn't going to work then that doesn't mean a friendship can't."
Bayley nodded and looked at the door before quickly looking back at her father, "What if she doesn't want to be friends anymore?"
"Then you wish her well and let her go"
"I can't just let her go" Bayley whined as she leaned through the car window, "I love her"
"I know kiddo" Hunter said, ruffling Bayley, "But if you love her and she loves you then things will work out and you two will be together in the end, but for now, it's best to talk things out so it doesn't hurt later on. Get some closure"
Bayley sadly nodded, "Closure...right"
Bayley turned and looked back at the house, taking a deep breath and walking towards the door. Once she walked up the steps and stood in front of it however she froze. She slowly raised her hand to knock on the door, but she never followed through with the action, she just stood there with a gift bag in one hand while the other was raised to knock. Bayley chickened out again and went to turn but stopped when she heard the front door open.
Bayley turned back around to see Alexa standing at the door dressed in a grey hoodie and jeans and her hair was pulled back by a headband, and Bayley couldn't stop the blush creep onto her face, "uh….hi"
"I saw you through the window" Alexa said before giving a soft smile, "I was going to wait for you to knock, but you were taking too long"
Bayley gave a nervous laugh, "Uh...ye-yeah I...I was..uh"
"Give her the bag" Hunter called out from the car causing Bayley to turn quickly and glare at her father who held his hands up defensively before rolling up the window. Once it was up Bayley scratched the back of her neck and turned around to see Alexa laughing.
"Uh...here" Bayley said holding out the gift bag.
Alexa took it confused, "What is this?"
"Uh, well you're leaving before Christmas, so I...I got you something" Bayley smiled
"You didn't have to do that, I didn't get you anything"
"You didn't have to" Bayley said holding her hands out to stop Alexa, "I also...wanted to sing you a song I wrote. It's uh...it's not that good, but I uh...I just wanted you to know how I felt, and the only way I really knew how to do that was to write you this."
Alexa went to say something but stopped as Bayley swung around her guitar and positioned her fingers, "Bayley I-"
"Just listen...please, and afterwards if you still don't love me the way that I love you then you can pack and leave and-"
"Bayley" Alexa said seriously, "Do you think that I don't love you?"
Bayley's shoulders slumped as she shrugged, "I don't know you broke things off….I mean you weren't even willing to give long distance a chance, and I love you Alexa. I would do anything for you, even if that means only getting to talk to you on weekends. I would write to you, and I would call you and think about you every second, because I love you more than anything I can ever think of."
"Bayley I love you too." Alexa said with a sad smile, "I just don't want you to get hurt. I don't want my dad to find out about us and hurt you, I would never be able to live with myself if that happened, and I especially don't want to hold you back"
"Hold me back?"
"I'm moving away Bayley" Alexa said sadly, "I don't want you to stop living your life because I'm not here. I want you to be happy, to make new friends, even reconnect with Carmella, or date other people. I don't want you to be stuck on me...especially if...if we never see each other again. Also I have my own things to work on, I need to focus on me and my mom and you need to focus on you, your family and your music. I don't want to drag you down with my baggage and my problems. I have to handle it myself first, on my own."
Bayley shook her head no and clenched her eyes as she thought before saying, "Can I just...Can I sing you my song?"
Alexa opened her mouth before closing it and nodding causing Bayley to nod before she began strumming on her guitar.
You say there's so much you don't know
You need to go and find yourself
You say you'd rather be alone
'Cause you think you won't find it tied to someone else
Who said it's true,
That the growing only happens on your own?
They don't know me and you
I don't think you have to leave
If to change is what you need
You can change right next to me
When you're high I'll take the lows
You can ebb and I can flow
And we'll take it slow
And grow as we go, ooh
Grow as we go, ooh
You won't be the only one
I am unfinished, I've got so much left to learn
I don't know how this river rides
But I'd like the company through every twist and turn
Who said it's true,
That the growing only happens on your own?
They don't know me and you
You don't ever have to leave
If to change is what you need
You can change right next to me
When you're high I'll take the lows
You can ebb and I can flow
And we'll take it slow
And grow as we go, ooh
And grow as we go, ooh
And grow as we go, ooh
And grow as we go, ooh
I don't know who we'll become
I can't promise it's not written in the stars
But I believe that when it's done
We're gonna see that it was better
That we grew up together
Tell me you don't wanna leave
'Cause if change is what you need
You can change right next to me
When you're high I'll take the lows
You can ebb and I can flow
And we'll take it slow
And grow as we go, oh
And grow as we go, oh
And grow as we go, oh
And grow as we go, ooh
As Bayley slowly stopped strumming she looked up to see Alexa slowly wiping tears from her eyes. Bayley took the guitar strap off and placed it on the ground and Alexa went to speak before Bayley rushed forward and kissed the shorter girl. The sudden force caused Alexa to drop the gift bag as Bayley wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist and pulled her into her, trying to hold onto the girl and this moment forever. The kiss was rushed and slow at the same time the burst of passion that came from it took Alexa by shook before eventually consuming her as she reached her hands up and cupped Bayley's face as she deepened the kiss.
The two pulled away only for air causing Bayley to laugh with tears in her eyes before saying, "Alexa Bliss. I love you, I don't care about people thinking I'm too young, I know how I feel about you, and I know how you feel about me. I want to be by your side, forever, through everything. I want us to grow and learn together. I'm not perfect, nothing is, and I know that I have my own stuff to work on but I want to do that with you too. I want you to confide in me and trust me with your heart like I trust you with mine. I want us to work through this together, because I swear, nobody, not your family or mine can keep me from loving you."
"Bayley-"
"I will take every single ounce of pain that you have ever felt and all of your baggage as my own. I will carry the weight of the world and more for you if you just ask me to." Bayley kissed Alexa quickly before leaning her head against Alexa's as she said, "So just...ask me"
Alexa stared up at Bayley as she wrapped her arms over the girl's shoulders. The two stood in silence before Alexa's sobs could be heard causing Bayley to hold the girl's waist tighter. Alexa took a deep breath before muttering, "I'm sorry Bayley. I can't."
Alexa moved to pull away but Bayley held on tighter with her eyes closed, "Alexa...please"
Alexa finally pulled free and took a step away from Bayley with tears in her eyes as she shook her head no, "I'm sorry"
Bayley watched as Alexa slowly backed away, towards the door before she called out, "Wait. I wanted you to have these"
Alexa looked at Bayley as the girl picked up the gift bag and the guitar, "Bayley-"
"Please." Bayley said barely above a whisper as her voice cracked while she held out the guitar by its neck in her left hand and the gift bag in her right hand, "Just take them. At least do this one thing for me"
"Bayley I can't take your guitar"
Bayley gave a sad smile as tears rolled down her face and continued to hold out the guitar, "I want you to have it"
"I can't even play"
"You could learn" Bayley said but Alexa still didn't take the guitar, "I'm not taking no for an answer. I want you to have this...to remember me by. I have other guitars and this one has a note for you on it"
Alexa slowly looked at the guitar to see words written on the face of the guitar basically saying that Bayley would still love her on her best and worst days, and from right beside her or from miles apart, "I can't take it Bayley. Any of it. I'm sorry"
Bayley watched as Alexa quickly went back into the house and closed the door, leaving the girl to stand by herself. Bayley slowly lowered the guitar and bag as she stared at the front door for a few minutes before she angrily clenched the bag and the guitar. She set the bag down before looking at the note written in sharpie on the guitar.
This is not a temporary love. I will love you Alexa, from here on until the day we die, and even then I don't think I would be able to stop loving you. No matter how bad things get, from the highs to the lows I will love you. No matter how far we are, I will always love you and you will always have my mind, heart and my shoulder when you need it.
Bayley held back her tears and she looked around before taking the guitar and bag and placed them in a box in the back of the moving van before getting in the car. Hunter looked at his youngest daughter before asking, "You okay kid?"
Bayley just sat there staring out into space as tears ran down her face. Bayley quickly looked at the house and wiped her tears before she slumped back in her seat, "I think I'm ready to go home"
"Anything you want to talk about?" Hunter tried
Bayley ran her hands down her face as she groaned and threw her head back against the headrest, "You saw what happened. She doesn't want anything to do with me"
"I saw that kiss…"
"Aw dad I-"
"She looked like she loves you" Hunter said cutting off his daughter, "Think of this as a temporary pause."
"That's not how she said it"
"I know Bayley but sometimes, people that love each other, need some time apart...to grow as individuals, and if their love is strong enough then they will come back together."
"Is that what's happening with you and mom?" Bayley asked causing Hunter to smile before he began to drive off from Alexa's house
"Yes" Hunter said sadly, "But...I still love your mother, very much, but we have to work on ourselves for a bit. The trick is not to see it as a bad thing that you're apart but a good thing that you get the chance to develop yourself. I mean they always say, you can't learn to love someone else until you learn to love yourself"
Bayley nodded at this as she slowly took in the information, leaving the two in silence for the rest of the ride home.
With Sasha
"What about this? I was thinking about this mint green color" Sasha said as she showed some pictures on a tablet to Seth as the two sat together at the Island in the Hemsley kitchen.
"Sure babe whatever you want" Seth said with a shrug
"Oooo, what about this color?" Sasha asked showing Seth a burgundy color causing Seth to shrug causing Sasha to set the tablet down and roll her eyes, "Seth you aren't even really giving me any input. I want to pick the colors and get everything ready before the baby...babies come"
"I know" Seth said with a shrug, "I just don't think the colors matter. I mean, they're babies they don't know anything about colors."
"I know that but I just want them to have everything." Sasha said with a smile as she scrolled through pictures of baby items and clothes, "Also we need to come up with names"
"Okay" Seth looked up like he was thinking before saying, "Joshua and Jennifer"
Sasha smirked, "I think Finn said Joshua too, but I don't like Jennifer"
Seth sat up and frowned, "Why was Finn saying anything about our baby?"
"Because we were talking and he was giving me name ideas" Sasha said waving Seth off, "It doesn't matter. I was thinking about Marcus for the boy and maybe Maya or Serenity for the girl"
Seth wrapped his arm around Sasha's waist before whispering into her ear, "He knows you're mine right?"
"Calm down Seth" Sasha said with a smile
"I'm just saying." Seth said seriously before looking over Sasha's shoulder as she scrolled through images on a baby website, "Let me take you out"
"What?" Sasha asked pulling back to look at Seth
"Let me take you out on a date" Seth smiled before placing a kiss on her cheek, "I want to treat my baby mama right. Take you somewhere nice, maybe that burger place that just opened up around the corner."
Sasha blushed and laughed as Seth kissed her once more just as Becky opened the backyard screen door and came in with Shane following her in. Becky was wearing a simple black tank top and shorts and her hands were tapped up as she and Shane had been carefully working out in the backyard. Shane knows about Becky's chest and he decided, after much convincing, that slowly working out and conditioning would help to strengthen Becky's lung. So the two ran around the backyard and work on a few punches while Hunter was out.
"Gross" Becky muttered as she walked past the couple and took a bottle of water out of the fridge
Seth pulled away from the kiss and smirked at the Irish girl, "Hello to you too Becky"
Becky rolled her eyes as she closed the fridge and looked at Seth with a look of disgust, "Why are you even here?"
"I invited him" Sasha said placing her hand on Seth's chest
"Great" Becky said sarcastically as she opened her water and walked over to where Shane was leaning against the counter opposite the couple, "I thought you were done with this idiot"
"Seth and I talked things over and we worked things out" Sasha explained causing Becky to roll her eyes
"Sure. Whatever. You two do you" Becky threw her hands up before she left the kitchen and headed back outside, leaving Shane and the couple.
"It's getting late isn't it, Shouldn't you be heading home Seth?" Shane asked causing Sasha to turn her attention to her uncle with a pleading look
"Aw come on uncle Shane"
"Nope. I think it's getting pretty late. Your father will be home soon" Shane said, "But I mean. I'm sure he'll love seeing the boy who knocked up his daughter"
"Uncle Shane-"
Shane walked over to the screen door and opened it before yelling out, "Hey Becky where does your father keep his baseball bats?"
"Closet by the door" Becky yelled, "His gun's in the dresser in his room"
Shane smirked and thanked Becky before closing the door and turning back to Sasha and Seth. Seth was no longer smiling and Sasha had her head in her hands fully embarrassed by her sister and uncle.
Seth slowly nodded, "Alright."
"Seth wait" Sasha said but the boy slowly shook his head and stood before placing a kiss on Sasha's forehead
"I'll take you on our date. I'll pick you up on thursday" Seth said with a smile before waving goodbye to Shane and heading out the front door with Shane following behind.
Sasha groaned before standing up and marching outside to where Becky was hitting the punching bag set up outside and grabbed her by her ear. Sasha dragged Becky inside before yelling for her uncle to stop watching Seth through the window and come in the kitchen.
"Ow" Becky said as Sasha removed her grip from the redhead's ear
"Are you two serious?"
"I didn't do anything" Becky said causing Shane to nod before saying
"I don't think I did anything either"
"Really? You basically threatened my boyfriend and you" Sasha pointed at Becky, "You, told him where dad's gun was"
Becky shrugged, "He asked a question, I was just happy to answer"
"Uh huh sure" Sasha said before running her hands down her face, "Seth and I are-"
"Toxic" Becky said trying to finish her older sister's sentence only earning a harsh punch in the arm from the girl, "ow"
"I was going to say that Seth and I are complicated, but he is the father of my children. I will always have a place in my heart for him. So he apologized and we talked and worked things out."
"Great. The one time you're mature and want to talk things out it is with a manipulative asshole" Becky muttered
"Look I'm not asking either of you two to like him but-"
"I think I'm speaking for both of us when I say we don't" Shane said causing Becky to nod while Sasha just rolled her eyes
"BUT...he is the father of the twins. He is going to be in their lives and thus be in our lives. So I would rather you all not fight. Especially when the babies come. This process is stressful enough I don't need you all arguing to add to that." Sasha said causing Shane and Becky to look at each other before Shane responded
"Fine"
"Really?" Sasha and Becky both asked
"Yeah, I don't want to stress my niece out. It's bad for the baby" Shane said before planting a light kiss on Sasha's forehead as he passed her and walked into the living room, leaving the two sisters to talk.
"Becky"
"You know I don't like him"
"I know but he-"
"He raped you Sasha"
"We talked about that and he said he didn't"
"Of fucking course he said he didn't. His ass would be in jail if he admitted that he did!"
"Becky-"
"No Sasha! He raped you and I think you need to get that through your head"
"He didn't-"
"Do you remember it?"
"No but I-"
"Then it's fucking rape Sasha. If you weren't conscious to give consent then it's fucking rape."
"He's my boyfriend of course I give consent"
Becky threw up her hands in frustration before she began pacing, feeling anger rise up inside her as her blood began to boil. She quickly took a few deep breaths like Shane had taught her before calming down enough to say, "Sasha...Seth is not a good person, and I feel...as your sister that you are allowing yourself to get sucked back into an abusive relationship."
"I don't care how you feel" Sasha said with her arms crossed causing Becky to grit her teeth, trying to fight back her anger, clenching her fist tightly, "I don't care how any of you feel, I love Seth, and he promised to be there for me and the babies"
Sasha fully believed this. She had seen the sincerity in Seth's eyes and the way he was with her now was so much different than before. He even wanted to take her out on a date. Sasha just smiled at the thought of this while Becky stood across from her biting her tongue. The redhead carefully looked at Sasha's growing stomach, trying to remember the twins are inside her idiot sister, so she couldn't punch some sense into like she so badly wanted to. Becky counted to ten before taking a deep breath.
"Sasha he doesn't care about you"
"He does. He took me out, he bought me things, he even got me a new phone when mom and dad took ours"
"Yeah a phone that only had his number in it" Becky muttered
"Who else would I need to call?"
"I don't know fucking, 9-1-1." Becky yelled before stopping herself and calming down once more,"Sasha...he considers you an object that he owns"
"He thinks I'm a queen. He's taking me on a date thursday to that burger place by the school"
"Oh you mean that one that gives half off on burgers on Thursdays! Jesus Sasha, he is trying to look good while spending as little money as possible."
"So"
"So? Is that really the only answer you have now that I poked a hole in your fantasy world. Sasha, wake up. He used you for sex, he raped you, he told you to get rid of the baby until you turned on him because of that, so now he's acting like he's all for keeping those babies when really he just wants to keep you under his thumb."
"You don't know him"
"And you do?"
Sasha shook her head, "Don't you have your own relationship to worry about? You talk about Seth being a bad boyfriend at least we talk, you completely shut out Dean. I wouldn't be surprised if he moved on to the next piece of ass that walked by. I heard Renee Young had a thing for him"
Becky gave a sarcastic chuckle before moving past her sister, bumping her shoulder as she quickly told her, "Get your shit together Sasha. Because you will end up high and dry without any of us to have your back"
"I don't need any of you" Sasha muttered back causing Becky to nod
"I hope you remember that"
Sasha soon stood by herself in the kitchen with the tablet of example baby rooms dimming from nobody using it. The dark haired girls groaned and sat down at the island as she ran her hands through her hair, letting silence fill the room.
With Charlotte
"You really said that?"
"Of course I did. Sasha's an idiot living in a fantasy world"
Charlotte shook her head. She had been on the phone with Becky for around twenty minutes now, as she had an hour and a half of phone privileges saved up for the holidays, "Yeah but you didn't have to keep bringing up the fact that he raped her I mean…"
"It's not like it bothered her. She still believes that it didn't happen. When I told her that if she wasn't conscious then she can't give consent, do you know what her response was?" Becky paused for a second as Charlotte muttered a small what, "That Seth was her boyfriend and she always gives consent"
Charlotte let out a groan at this, "Gosh"
"Yeah. So i've been dealing with that all morning."
"What else is going on?" Charlotte asked as she sat up in the office chair
There was a brief pause before Becky slowly said, "weeeeelllll"
"What? What happened?"
"Mom and dad are kind of...split up right now"
"WHAT!?" Charlotte asked in disbelief
"They had been arguing for a while and it got to the point where they weren't talking, but now...mom is going to stay with grandma and grandpa. She says its because of grandpa's Parkinson's but...we know better."
"How long is she gonna be gone?"
"She said like a week"
"She's gonna miss christmas"
"So are you" Becky said half jokingly
"That's different"
"I know" Came Becky's small reply before there was silence causing Charlotte to sigh before asking
"How are things with you? You been doing okay?"
"Better actually. I feel almost back to normal."
"Have you been eating? Sleeping?"
"Yes mom" Becky laughed causing Charlotte to smile into the phone
"I'm just worried about you. I'm worried about all of you"
"I know, and now that i've gotten my head out my ass I feel like I have to take up your position as the responsible one, which is difficult to say the least. With Sasha's whole thing and Bayley with Alexa...they have their own stuff to worry about. They shouldn't have to be responsible, especially Bayley. She's still young"
"So are you" Charlotte said still smiling
"I know that, but I mean...young. You know how Bayley can be,"
Charlotte nodded, their youngest sister tended to act much younger than she actually was on occasions, "How is she handling things?"
"Well things with mom and dad. She's ignoring it, I think she wants to believe that mom really is going to help grandpa, and when it comes to things with her and Alexa. I don't know. She and dad went to talk to Alexa today but when she came back she just locked herself in her room."
Charlotte sighed, "Could you try and get her to talk to me?"
"Sure"
Charlotte sat there and waited, looking around the small office that held the phone. It was Ivory's office but the woman usually decided against staying in the room while Charlotte was on call the blonde having earned that trust, but today she wasn't standing outside the room waiting because she was out at a meeting somewhere in Los Angeles. There were a few pictures of Ivory and the four other men that ran this place. There were also a few awards, plants and stress balls stacked neatly on the shelf behind her desk.
"Hello?"
"Hey Bay. How are you feeling?" Charlotte said carefully once she heard Bayley hoarse voice, probably from crying
"Terrible"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Charlotte sat and listened as Bayley retold the story of going to see Alexa and how it ended in a disaster. Charlotte nodded along to the story sympathetically even though Bayley couldn't see her through the phone, "Oh Bayley"
"I just...I really love her"
"I know sweetie but sometimes people need to go get help on their own. That doesn't mean they won't come back, they're just doing what's best for them so then they can do what's best for everyone else."
"Like you?" Bayley asked in a small voice that immediately made Charlotte think about the four year old girl she used to be
"Yeah...yeah like me. Look Bayley. I've been hearing them talk about releasing me early. I could be out late january, maybe even february"
"You'd be back in time for babies. You know Sasha's having twins right?"
"Yes Becky told me" Charlotte smiled, "How do you feel about that? You ready to be Auntie Bayley?"
There was no response but Charlotte could tell that Bayley was nodding before the girl eventually said, "I'm supposed to be meeting with my birth mom and Dakota the day after Christmas"
"Really?" Charlotte asked this being the first time she had heard about this
"Yeah. I had forget but I got a christmas card in the mail from Dakota and it reminded me."
"Well that's exciting" Charlotte said but Bayley didn't respond leaving the conversation in silence, "Is there anything else you want to talk about Bay?"
"No...but, I really miss you Charlotte" Bayley basically whispered
"I miss you too. I'll be back before you know it, don't worry Bay" Charlotte responded lightly before the two were in silence causing Charlotte to say, "Alright Bayley. I'll let you go, but hey. Can you do one thing for me?"
"Anything"
"Do bottle up your feelings Bay. You see what it's done to Sasha, Becky and I. Y-you're a good kid and I hate to feel like this but sometimes I don't think the three of us are good role models for you. I just want you to learn from our mistakes. Don't bottle things up. Use your music, write what you feel, talk to Becky or Sasha, hell even dad. Just don't shut us out okay. We love you Bay."
"I love you guys too" Bayley said as she smiled on her end of the phone
"Okay. I'll talk to you guys later" Charlotte said before hanging up the phone and placing it back on it's spot on the desk before standing to leave. She quickly brushed off her jeans before walking out the room and heading to the living room where her group of friends were sitting. Cesaro, Sheamus and Dana were sitting on the couch while Braun and Jeff where on the other couch and Matt was sitting on the floor.
"Hey Blonde" Cesaro said from the couch, holding up a fist for Charlotte to bump as she passed.
"Hey guys" Charlotte said half heartedly, just now noticing how much that conversation with her sisters took out of her
"What's wrong?" Jeff asked, immediately knowing something was off with the tall blonde
"Nothing just got off the phone with my sisters"
"Are they okay?" Dana asked causing Charlotte to nod
"Yeah. Everything's fine" The blonde said before moving and taking a seat on the empty chair
"Well…we were arguing about what's the best Christmas movie" Cesaro said with a smile
"Which is obviously Die Hard" Sheamus said with a knowing look which caused everyone to roll their eyes
"That's not a christmas movie" Dana said, "What about Home Alone"
"Never seen it" Sheamus dismissed
"That was a dumb movie anyway, the best christmas movie by far is the Grinch" Jeff said seriously
"Oh that's a good one" Dana agreed
"Is this seriously what you guys have been arguing about?" Charlotte asked with a raised eyebrow
"Yes" Braun said with a straight face before looking at the group and saying, "And you're all wrong. It's the Nightmare Before Christmas"
Everyone paused to look at Braun before Jeff looked at the much bigger man and sad, "Really? I never took you for a disney kind of guy Braun"
"Is that Disney?" Cesaro asked confused
"Yeah I think so" Jeff said with a shrug to which Matt agreed
"I like the songs" Braun said causing everyone to look at him in silence before they all busted out laughing at the bigger man.
Charlotte smiled at her friends and laughed along as Braun threatened to punch them all in the face if they didn't shut up, which only made the boys laugh even harder. While Charlotte was laughing she looked over so see Roman and the blonde girl from before making out in the hallway. She could just barely see them through the archway of the hallway, but she could see Roman clearly looking at her as he began to kiss on the blonde's neck.
Dana seemed to catch Charlotte's line of sight and could barely make out Roman's figure from her position but the way she saw Charlotte staring made her quickly say, "Uh...we should play a game. Or do something fun"
"Video games?" Sheamus and Cesaro asked at the same time
"I have a better idea" Dana said with a smile, "Ivory is out for the afternoon. Which means..."
"I see where you're going and yes, yes, yes to all of it" Jeff said with a smile as he stood up quickly causing Matt to follow and stand up as well
Charlotte stared at the group confused as Jeff began instructing the boys and Dana on what to do as Sheamus and Cesaro jumped up from the couch and ran upstairs while Braun went to the storage room to grab things with Matt following behind him shouting and laughing. Dana smiled and walked off before Jeff turned to Charlotte as she asked, "What are you guys doing?"
"Charlotte...let us introduce you to the RTC Olympics." Jeff said with a smile as he placed his arm over her shoulder and waved his hands in the air as he talked, "It's a great event that has a bunch of different obstacles throughout the house and only happens when Ivory is out the house, which is not often. So you my friend are lucky to be here when you are, there are some who come here and never get to experience what you are about to witness and compete in."
"Compete?"
"Everyone competes" Jeff said causing Charlotte to raise an eyebrow, "Well almost everyone. It's just some good fun for everyone."
"And the rest of the staff allows this?"
"No that is the best part my dear friend." Jeff said with a devilish smile, "We have to do this without getting caught, If you get caught or fail to complete an obstacle you're out."
"Okay...what are the obstacles?"
"I'm glad you asked. Walk with me" Jeff said with a smile as he and Charlotte began walking upstairs to where Sheamus and Cesaro were taping string across the walls making small diamonds and spaces that people could barely squeeze through, "This is mission impossible, you have to spin around 15 times and then come through here. You take out a string and you have to start over, you touch it 3 times and you're out."
Jeff the guided Charlotte to the game room where Matt was standing with a smile, "WELCOME to the House of Horrors!"
Jeff looked at Charlotte before saying, "This room is going to be dark and you have to find the tiny flashlights hidden throughout the room. This is where you will start also. The lights will turn out and you have to find the flashlight, then you go and spin and do mission impossible."
"But there will also be some mystery-"
Jeff cut his brother off by saying, "There will be people in here to scare you and throw things at you while you're looking"
Charlotte nodded and followed Jeff out the room, the carefully passed the stringed wall and headed around the corner down a hallway where Dana was dumping a bunch of legos, as Braun stood beside her handing her a new bag once she was done with one. Jeff watched them with a smile before saying, "This is the walk of fire"
"Since we can't set anything on fire for people to walk on we just use legos" Braun said
Charlotte nodded as she looked around, the building was huge and this floor was a square with four hallways and two stairwells, "So I'm guessing you go through here and then down the back stairs?"
"Correct, down the stairs to the next obstacle" Jeff said before guiding Charlotte around the legos and heading downstairs to a long back hallway that passed Ivory's office, "Here is where we have the chair race. You'll have to roll your chair to the end of the hallway using whatever you can find in between the legos and here. Your feet can't touch the ground until you get to the doorway."
The doorway at the end of the hall led to the living room where Charlotte and Jeff headed next, "This is where the floor becomes lava and you have to get to the back door without touching the floor. Then you have to find the golden marble at the bottom of the pool."
"Wait we have to get into the pool? It's winter" Charlotte said taking note of the cool temperature
"Ah come on, it's California winter. It's not that cold." Jeff said waving the girl off before the two turned back and headed inside, "So that's that"
Charlotte nodded, "So who won last time?"
"Well your's truly" Jeff said with a smile
"You should have seen his swanton bomb into the pool" Cesaro said with a smirk as he walked past the living, "Dude almost cracked his head open on the pool wall"
"BUT...I got the golden marble first" Jeff said proudly, "So I am the reigning RTC champ"
"Well champ, you're gonna be very disappointed when I win this time" Cesaro said with a smirk before walking off
Jeff smirked and turned to look back at Charlotte, "Things are gonna get pretty intense around here. You think you can keep up?"
Charlotte paused for a second before smiling and nodding her head, "Definitely"
With Bayley
Bayley laid on the floor under her bed playing the guitar she got from Alexa's brothers, it wasn't the same as her old regular guitar but it still worked. Bayley had been in this position ever since she got off the phone with Charlotte. She knew the girl wanted her to talk out her feelings but Bayley really didn't have the voice for it. Her throat was scratchy and her voice was hoarse from crying earlier so she just decided to lay here and play music. She didn't sing along to any of it because of her voice so she just let the melodies of her unwritten songs and some of her old songs fill her room. She went through every song she knew how to play on guitar until she came to the song she and Alexa first sang together and began to sadly play, singing very lightly.
I'm... good at wasting time
She thinks my lyrics need to rhyme
And you're not asking
But I'm trying to grow my hair out
She eats cheese, but only on pizza, please
And sometimes on a homemade quesadilla
Otherwise it smells like feet to me
And I, I really like it when the moon looks like a toenail
And I love it when you say my name.
Bayley mentally cursed as she stopped playing and let her eyes wander to the bedsprings above her as she muttered, "Loved. Past tense"
Bayley sighed and let her hands fall away from her guitar before she turned her head to the side as a knocking came from the door, "Bayley?"
Bayley didn't respond, so she just watched from under the bed as the door opened and a set of feet walked in before stopping at her bed, "Bayley I know you're under there"
Bayley didn't respond again, she just watched as the figure bent down carefully, revealing red hair before Becky's face could be seen. Becky lowered herself to the ground and slid under the bed beside Bayley like Stephanie had done once before. The two laid there in silence until Bayley looked over at Becky who was just staring up at the bedsprings, "Becky?"
"Yeah?"
"What would you do if Dean moved away?"
Becky frowned at this and thought for a second before saying, "I don't know….I would be sad for a while, and I would call him every day, and if we still loved each other I would do anything to stay with him"
"Do you love him?"
"Of course" Becky said with a frown still on her face
"But?"
"There's no but" Becky said seriously before pausing, "I do love him."
"But you said and if we still love each other.."
Becky turned to look at Bayley, "People can fall out of love"
"Like mom and dad?"
"No!" Becky said seriously, "Mom and dad are just arguing right now..they still love each other"
Bayley didn't say anything at this, she just looked up at the bedsprings, leaving the sisters in silence for a few minutes until Becky spoke, "You write any new songs?"
"I wrote one for Alexa but she didn't like it...well she didn't like me so…" Bayley stopped talking and her eyes glazed over with tears before she shook her head and cleared her throat and said, "I wrote another one...I'm still working on lyrics and it's kind of sad"
"That's fine Bayley, you write how you feel" Becky said with a shrug before turning to look at Bayley, "Can I hear it?"
Bayley shrugged, "It's on the piano and I don't really feel like moving right now"
"You can't stay under the bed forever" Becky said with a frown
"I know"
There was a pause before Becky said, "I remember you used to hide her all the time when we played hide and seek. You always thought you were invisible under here."
Becky smiled while Bayley just looked blankly at the bed above them. Becky turned her head and looked at her younger sister sadly as tears slowly fell from the girl's eyes, "Bayley…"
"Can I be alone for a bit?"
Becky frowned but nodded and slowly moved from under the bed, stopping once she was knelt down beside the bed and said, "Bayley. You're my little sister and I love you okay? We all do, and we'll all be here whenever you're ready to talk."
With that Becky watched Bayley sadly as the girl didn't move or respond before she carefully stood and left the room. After what felt like an eternity Bayley wiped her tears and pulled up her guitar as she began to sadly strum.
I won't tell you I'm lonely
'Cause that may be selfish
I won't ask you to hold me
Cause that won't mend what's helpless
There's not a thing I could say
Not a song I could sing
For your mind to change
Nothing can fill up the space
Won't ask you to stay
But let me ask you one thing
When did you fall out of love
Out of love?
Oh, when did you fall out of love
With me?
A/N: Make sure to review what you think and what you want to see in future chapters. Also make sure to follow, favorite and all that good stuff so you can be updated for future chapters.