Well, here we are. Chapters are officially in double digits! Thank you, of course, for the reviews left, they mean so much to me and truly bring such a smile to my face when they come through. I don't know why the general annoyance towards Brooke shocked me, but it did for some reason. I love that you're having opinions on my characters though, it makes me feel like I've done a better job at writing them! Hopefully this chapter is all good. Enjoy!

Chapter Ten

It had been a month. A whole month since she'd talked to Paul. A month since she'd scared the life out of her sister. A month since she'd put her parents on edge. A month since anything had felt okay.

In spite of finally having her cast off, she wasn't back at school thanks to spring break. That's right, just as she'd been looking forward to a little bit of normal again, it was gone. She heard through the grapevine that Paul had flunked their project, but that truly didn't shock her. She'd also heard that he'd been seen making out with Amy Kahn and Jackie Adams though, so she tried not to think of him too much.

She had, briefly, returned to work, but after just one shift, the hostility between her and Skylar had posed such an issue that Jet himself had asked her to take yet another break. She simply accepted that she was being fired and left, clearing out her locker as she went.

It wasn't like she didn't understand. She'd absolutely been the asshole in their breakup, so while losing the gym sucked, nothing sucked quite as much as realising that she really didn't have anyone anymore.

This, she realised, was the rest of her life. She'd have to move from deadbeat job to deadbeat job, avoiding Paul and Skylar for the rest of history.

With that forever on her mind, upon losing her job, she became something of a hermit. Well, more of a hermit. The worst of it though was the anxiety. It wasn't crippling, per se, but she found that leaving the house just didn't have the same ease to it as it had done. After all, she didn't feel welcome in Forks and she sure as hell didn't feel welcome on the res anymore.

She wasn't sure how many people had seen or heard the video, but she wasn't surprised that everyone had somehow sided with Paul. The guys out of solidarity, the girls in hopes of getting with him. From what she'd heard, the girls were doing well with him. Thinking about that though? Well, thinking about that had made her physically throw up twice and pass out from panic attacks three times.

To put it mildly, she wasn't doing well.

Still, when her mom offered to take her car hunting in Port Angles, she immediately agreed. She knew that her display of aggression against Brooke had scared her parents, probably more so when their mother realised that she couldn't have stopped her than anything else, but she wanted so badly to just feel normal again.

The drive there was tense, but with just the two of them, River knew what she had to do. She had to apologise, right?

"Hey, Mom?" She muttered as they pulled into a parking garage.

A slight sigh followed by a look, her mother smiled sadly. "Yes, honey?"

She didn't know why, but that almost broke her. "I'm sorry." She spoke quietly, feeling tears building as her throat got tight and her chest got heavy.

Her mother released yet another sigh as she pulled into a space, this time shaking her head lightly. "Do you think that it's me that you should be telling that?" She asked, looking across the car at her daughter with what River could only describe as shame.

It made her blood run cold. She didn't want her mother to be ashamed, not ever. "You want me to apologise to Brooke?" She asked, feeling a little bitter distain at even suggesting it. "She made that stupid video-"

"You said the words, River." Her mother cut her short. "Your sister loves you more than anything and I know that you love her, too. You were so close as little girls. Don't you think, maybe, that she was trying to connect with you? After all, boys are just about all the two of you have had in common for a long time." Wait, so their mom really was siding with Brooke? Brilliant. Just brilliant.

"Wait, you're on her side? She recorded me and still won't admit that she sent it to everyone she knows!" She couldn't believe it. Well, actually, she could. In fact, the more she thought, the more she realised that they always sided with Brooke.

Alma sighed, clearly having been expecting some annoyance from her eldest. After all, she and her husband had raised their two girls not to take anything from anyone. "Well, you saw it yourself. She sent it to Krystal. Sweetie, you were there when she showed us." She stated, reasoning gently, feeling the pressure in the car rising with River's mood.

Scoffing, River leaned back, slumping in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest petulantly. "She could have told you guys that sunlight falls from her very own butt cheeks and you'd have sided with her." She muttered, pushing a dry, crusty paintbrush around the footwell with the toe of her shoe.

"What was that, young lady?" Alma, of course, had heard exactly what had been said. Was that truly how River felt? She wanted to slam the breaks on and yell, grab her by the shoulders and tell how exactly how often they'd had to advocate for her recently, be it at home, at school, even with other members of the tribe in the streets. Alma loved her children more than anything in the world, but they didn't make parenting an easy feat.

"Nothing."

"River."

"Nothing, Mom." River snapped, screwing her eyes shut as the familiar feeling of her newly developed anxiety rolled over her. She could feel it, prodding at her stomach, pulling on her skin, whispering all the while.

A deep, uncomfortable silence settled over them as Alma parked the car. Neither of them spoke as they got out, nor as they began to walk toward the stores. River wasn't sure whether she was more hurt about her mom not taking her side, or about the fact that still, no matter what, she simply couldn't get Paul off her mind. Part of her wanted to apologise to him, or to explain to him at the very least, but he ignored the three messages she'd sent him, so she'd left it at that in an attempt to save face.

It didn't take long for them to reach the shops, nor did it take long for Alma to be, outwardly at least, back to the fun, gentle mother that River loved most. They both knew that it wasn't what she felt in that moment, but both of them simply tried to act as if their little spat hadn't happened. Neither of them wanted to ruin the day.

For what felt like hours, River followed her mom around stores, picking up different paints and brushes, feeling different canvases, trying so desperately not to wonder if Paul was around any of these corners. Gods, she just couldn't help it. Even though, in her heart, she knew that she would have felt him had he been near, she still held out hope. Hope, or was it dread? She didn't know anymore.

It wasn't until later on in the day that they found themselves looking at cars. Only then had River realised just how easy she'd had it on her bike. Looking at the different cars, she couldn't help but think that it had been far too long since she'd learned how to park. What if she hit another student's car while parking? "Breathe." Came her mom's voice just as, unbeknownst to her, she began to panic.

Looking down the few inches she had on her mom, she felt a deep sadness. Had she always been able to see her struggle? "I ruined everything." She admitted in spite of knowing that it wasn't the time or place.

Sadness falling over her otherwise jovial eyes, Alma's entire body softened. It wasn't easy watching your child break, but she knew that, on occasion, the best thing that you could do for someone as they fell apart was to simply hold their hand, not hold them together. "Oh, my love." She cooed gently, reaching out and taking her daughter's hands in her own. "You couldn't ruin everything, not even if you tried."

Immediately, River felt a tear on her cheek. This was absolutely not how car shopping was meant to go. "I feel like I just can't stop fucking everything up." She raked in a breath, feeling it fill her chest with dread and pain.

"Language." Her mother scolded softly, smiling when she got a small, unexpected laugh through the tears. "Come on, let's sit." She pulled her into the nearest car, an old truck of some kind that had absolutely seen better days. It smelled of damp and looked like rocking it too hard would just shake the wheels right off.

Sighing, River, sat behind the wheel, braced her hands on the dash and shook her head. "I don't know what's wrong with me." She admitted, taking a breath. She trained her eyes down, choosing to look at the dials and instruments rather than her mother. "I feel like I'll explode sometimes. Or maybe that I'll just fade away and no one will notice. I've not got any friends, I'm driving away all my family. And Paul." As she spoke, she closed her eyes, seeing flashes of his face flying across her mind. "I just- I don't understand why it hurts. It hurts when I think about him, but then it hurts when I don't?"

Laughing softly, Alma shook her head. "Oh, honey. Your father and I knew that this day would come." She told her daughter, clearly shocking her. River opened her eyes and sat a little straighter, confused. Her mother reached out and wiped away the couple of tears that threatened to mar her beautiful cheeks. "Falling in love. It can happen at the drop of a hat. It can be the most wonderful, beautiful, fantastical feeling, but then something happens and it's gone. Heartbreak."

River's heart felt like it stopped. Heartbreak? Was that what she was feeling? "I... I'm not in love with Paul Lahote." She muttered pathetically.

"No?" Her mother asked simply, looking deeply into her eyes in a way that only a mother could.

That was when it dawned on her. "Oh my god." She grumbled, letting her head fall forward, sounding the apparently working truck's horn. "I'm in love with Paul Lahote." She grumbled, feeling a somewhat comforting hand on her shoulder. She simply groaned. How was that possible?

"You are." Her mother confirmed, speaking as though it was the simplest, most clear observation that she'd ever made. "Now, what do you think about this truck? I think it's got character."

River changed an actual look at it as her mind raced. "Well, it's already hosted one crisis." She muttered, feeling the wheel with the tips of her fingers. "If it's in budget, I'll take it."

Who knew that shopping could be so simple yet so painful.

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With Dick and Alma out, having a grand time at some police party that Dick and his cop buddies kept on throwing, River had promised that she and Brooke, no matter what, wouldn't come to blows. Upon making the promise, she'd considered going for a walk to keep the space between them, but the way Brooke was avoiding her? Well, the space wouldn't be an issue.

It was an odd thing, seeing the looks of pleading in the eyes of her parents as they begged their girls not to fight for just one night. She could handle that, right? Just one night.

Still, as she found herself standing outside of Brooke's door, ready to knock and ask her what she wanted for dinner, she still had the urge to barge in and do exactly what she'd sworn she wouldn't.

Thankfully, before long, the dilemma was taken from her as Brooke, dressed to go out, swung her door open and yelped, stepping back as quick as she'd tried to go forward. "What the hell is your damage?" She barked, pushing past her older sister, rolling her eyes as she went.

River collected herself and her thoughts. "You're going out?" She asked, stating the obvious as Brooke grabbed her car keys.

Spinning, the younger girl looked at her sister with distain. "You think I want to sit here and get pummelled instead?" She spat, spinning again.

Okay, that was fair. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" She didn't know why apologising to Brooke was so hard, but dammit, the middle finger that she got didn't make it any easier. "I'm trying to be better, Brooke. Come on, just give me a chance!" She pleaded, following after her sister only to get the door slammed in her face as she left hastily.

Great.

An evening alone. It was almost like a teaser trailer for the rest of her life. After all, that's how she'd be spending it at this rate.

With Brooke gone, she wasn't too sure what else to do. She'd spent hours in her room, planning just what to say, so what now? She knew that there were two other people she could apologise to, but Paul had ignored her messages and so had Skylar, so what was she to do?

Instead of thinking too hard, she simply went outside after a few minutes, long enough for Brooke to have driven away, finding herself shocked when her sister was still sitting on their driveway. They made eye contact for a long second before River dropped it, heading over to her truck. Yes, the same truck that she'd spilled her heart out to her mom in. As it turned out, it needed some loving, but was otherwise fine, so she took it.

Barely ten feet apart, for some time, the sisters sat in their own cars, neither one of them turning on the engine. River didn't really understand what they were doing, but when Brooke, with a roll of her eyes, got out of her own car and hopped into River's passenger seat, she didn't want to question it. "Brooke, I'm-"

"It smells like something fucking died in here." Brooke complained loudly. "Also, seriously, shut up."

River couldn't help but chuckle. "So... pizza?" She asked instead of continuing, glad when she got a shrug in reply. "Pizza." She confirmed, more to herself than anything, turning the key in the ignition and hearing the engine roar to life.

They drove in relative silence, River's occasional slip into the wrong gear and the tapping of Brooke's nails on her cell the only sounds filling the space between them as River drove them to the pizza parlour; the former happening an embarrassingly high number of times. Thankfully however, upon reaching the place, they had the distraction of heading inside and choosing their food.

It wasn't until they reached the counter that River felt it. It was that tingle, the same one that she'd felt so many times before. Paul. She absolutely didn't understand it, but she knew that he was nearby, getting closer by the second.

As they ordered their pizza, he neared. River, upon hearing that they would have to wait fifteen minutes, felt her heart sink into her stomach. She realised that, as well as feeling like crap, she looked insane. Well, not insane, but she definitely hadn't dressed for anything other than a late evening trip to get pizza. In fact, upon looking down at herself, she realised, mortified, that she was wearing the sweatpants that he'd walked her home in. The same ones that she'd had her bike crash in. They weren't ripped or bloody, but she knew that he would recognise them as his. How the hell had she not when she'd put them on?

"Fuck." She muttered as the door chimed, feeling her blood chill and her heart pound.

"Dude, what's your- oh." Brooke, looking over River's shoulder, confirmed everything. It was him. Paul. He had, on that night, chosen the same pizza place as them. Truly, what were the chances? Well, the chances were higher than her being able to stand there for another fourteen minutes without heaving. "It's Paul!" Brooke then whispered non-too-quietly, looking wide-eyed at River.

Only then did the younger sister see that River had... tears welling in her eyes? Quickly, not thinking, River stuffed her hand into her pocked, feeling around for money. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna wait in the car, okay?" She told Brooke, handing her what she knew was easily enough cash, getting an are you serious look in return.

As she turned, not waiting for an answer, she could feel his eyes on her, but she trained hers to the floor, feeling as her chest began to heave with each breath. Each step sent waves of pain shocking through her ankle, through her ribs, through everything that could have possibly hurt in that moment. Everything that she knew the heat of his touch would soothe.

All too quickly, she was outside, not even remembering having swung the door open as she raked her nails over her head, hissing lightly as she pressed much too hard over her forehead, remembering the bruise that her fractured eye socket had left these couple of months ago.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets again, this time in search of keys. It wasn't as if she had more than two pockets to search, but as she rifled through them, rushing, panicked, she somehow couldn't find them until they finally rattled out and hurtled to the floor. "Fuck." She cursed, somehow out of breath as the world spun around her. She zeroed in on the fallen keys, crouching down for them, feeling the world drop and crush her beneath it, holding her there, blurring her vision. "Not now. Please. Not now." She panted, feeling her knees soak instantly as they hit the ground.

She heard as her head made contact with her car door, but feeling clearly hadn't entirely caught up.

Still, as things started to fade, she continued to fumble, even as her heart felt like it would beat right out of her chest, until she finaly found her keys.

"River?"

Just as quickly as everything had fallen apart, it snapped back, lurching back into place like the release of a rubber band.

Paul. His voice. His presence.

She stood, turning and facing him, seeing his beautiful face for the first time in over a month. Fuck. Had he always been quite so handsome? She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the eyes from inside the pizza place. Everyone in there was looking at her, but why had Paul come out? She'd expected Brooke maybe, but even then not really. "Paul." She finally got out, trying to keep her voice steady. Trying and failing.

He didn't say anything else, not at first, but as he stepped closer, she could feel the heat of his skin even with the distance between them. "Are you... okay?" He asked, looking at her, pulling her apart at the seams with his gaze.

Although she wanted nothing more than to fall and have him catch her, she held herself together just a little longer. "Fine. I'm... I'm fine." She replied, knowing that he wasn't stupid enough to fall for that.

For the longest time, they simply stood there in the rain, looking at one another. Had it been raining this whole time?

"I should go." She choked out, finally sticking her key into the door, unlocking it.

"Don't." He was quiet, unsure even, but she heard it.

Hope blossomed in her chest. Alas, the pain of knowing what she'd done to him, what she'd put him through, it was stronger, pushing down the hope, crushing it. She wanted to run, to run away as fast as she could. She wanted to cry ad scream, to throw things, to break something, but her feet remained rooted.

"I'm sorry-"

"New truck-"

They spoke at the same time, both stopping for the other, clearly with their minds on different tracks. River reminded herself that, as much as she wanted for things to be different, Paul didn't owe her listening to her apology, just as Skylar didn't. She was being selfish again, wasn't she?

When he took another step closer though, all she wanted was to be selfish. She wanted to reach out and grab his face, to kiss him, to feel his body against her own. She wanted- Brooke?

With the sounding of the bell above the door, out came Brooke, snapping them from whatever had been happening, two pizzas in her arms. Only then did River realise just how close she and Paul had gotten. They were a mere foot apart. That was, until she shot back, all but leaping into the side of her truck. "Do- Uh, you want to come over for pizza?" River was shocked when the words left Brooke's mouth, even more so when she saw that she was looking up at Paul.

She almost reached out and punched her sister. Almost. "Brooke." She hissed instead, feeling the deep, heavy weight of dread clasp her stomach.

"Sorry." Brooke shrugged. "Or you could both just mope around and pretend that you don't want to-"

"Brooke!" River barked, mortified. "Get in the truck."

Alas, Brooke ignored her, rolling her eyes as she always did and turning away from her sister, looking directly at Paul. "Look, you weren't meant to see that video, okay? My stupid friend shared it, not me. She's got, like, half a braincell. Also, fuck you for ignoring my sister. You think you're real hot shit? Well, I've got one for you, buddy-"

"Brooke-"

"No, he needs to hear this!"

"Brooke-"

"Fuck you, Paul Lahote. You literally bullied my sister, then you wonder why she won't admit she's sleeping with you or whatever weird fucking thing you have going on?" She scoffed in Paul's face, getting closer until she was reaching out, forcefully prodding his chest. "I literally don't see the appeal in you, but she's stupid and she does. Either stop being a jackass and make up with her, or go to hell and tell your slutty followers that I'll break their fingers if they talk shit about her, got it?" River wanted to know immediately where the hell that had all come from. Still, she grabbed her sister and swung them both toward the car, not missing the look of shock on Paul's face.

"Get in the car." She hissed, yanking the door open and all but throwing Brooke in.

She didn't spare Paul another glance, simply walking past him, ignoring that her body felt alight as he reached out, letting his fingertips brush her hip. She didn't stop though, jumping in and putting the truck into reverse, desperately turning the engine on, wanting to leave more than anything. "That wasn't your place." She growled at Brooke as the engine finally came to life.

Their ride home was silent. Brooke texted furiously while River simply tried not to think about turning around and going back.

When they got back though and hopped out, River shocked herself, rounding the truck and wrapping Brooke in what she knew was probably a painful hug. The younger of the teens protested briefly before returning the hug with a grumble. "Thank you." River muttered into her sister's shirt, releasing her. "I really am sorry. I don't care if you shared that video, okay? Honestly, I shouldn't have said what I said if I didn't want him to hear it-"

"What? River, I didn't spread it. It was fucking Krystal. She's literally so stupid, you know? She just didn't think."

Krystal? Krystal, the same girl who cried when she found that an egg wasn't vegan, was the person who'd shared the video? River almost couldn't believe it. Almost.

Shaking her head with a light laugh, River shrugged. "Come on, let's go eat pizza." She chuckled. "You know I love you, right?" She asked as they neared the front door.

Brooke, clearly over their moment, fake-gagged.

For the rest of the evening, they ate pizza and talked, feeling like sisters again for the first time in a long time. Brooke revealed that, just like everyone, she'd been genuinely shocked when River had told the family that she liked guys as well as girls. Apparently she and their dad had never even considered that she'd ever bring a guy home.

After a night of laughing and talking about boys, the sisters were fast asleep, cuddled up under a blanket on one of the couches when their parents got home. It was then that Alma and Dick sighed deeply, knowing that they'd not done too badly as parents after all.

Maybe not such a hostile take on Brooke this chapter? After all, sister can do some strange things in poor judgement, but they can also have your back in tough spots, which Brooke and River are finding out! I'll be honest, I tend to struggle writing family dynamics, so I'm just preying that I'm doing okay. Either way, enjoy and have a great day!