(Hello though there beautiful people! So originally I only intended Family Drama to be a one shot short story fanfiction, but here I am about to post a third short to attach to it haha. Hopefully you guys don't mind and maybe even like reading my fanfics based on Defending Jacob. I certainly have fun writing them when the ideas come. I hope you enjoy this! I own nothing but my OC.)

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"Victim is a young boy. Name, Ben Rifkin. Age 14. Probable cause of death, assault by a knife. Multiple stab wounds. Time of death...unknown." Andy barely heard the woman's voice bluntly stated out the known facts while others moved around delicately trying to gather evidence to form a case for the dead boy laying before him.

Noting the large dark crimson stain of blood that had nearly turned the boy's whole sweatshirt a sickening red, Andy swallowed hard and forced himself not to turn away even though the sight was quite gruesome.

Fourteen. This boy had been fourteen years old. The same age as his son and only two years older than his daughter. He had also been a student at their middle school. In other words, he was just a kid. Not even in high school yet.

And he was dead. Murdered...Killed.

A deep shudder rippled down Andy's spine and he blinked quickly, feeling his stomach twist as the image of Ben Rifkin's bloodied corpse suddenly started to morph into that of his own children as cameras flashed and various experts and technicians continued to speak in low hushed voices.

With a shake of his head, he willed the images to go away and tried to focus on the task set before him, only for the sound of his cellphone ringing to jarr him sharply from his thoughts.

"Jacob!" Andy quickly answered, seeing his son's name appear on the Caller ID. "You okay?" He started to pace away through the park, away from his colleagues and the scene of the crime to get a bit more privacy.

"Yeah." Jacob's reply came out low and soft as if he were afraid of being overheard. "The whole school's on lockdown though and no one knows why."

"I know." Andy nodded, glancing back at the crime scene again and trying to gather his thoughts to come up with something he could tell Jacob that wouldn't be lying and yet wouldn't scare him even more than he likely already was.

"Look, I can't talk about it right now, but just listen to your teachers and do exactly as they say, all right Bud?"

"Yeah, but you do know why, right? Like is there a psycho shooter running around or-?"

"No! It's nothing like that. You're safe. I promise." Andy quickly cut him off, forcing himself to keep his voice sounding calm even as he glanced back at the continuing activity around Ben's body.

"Jake?" He continued.

"Yeah Dad?" Jacob answered readily.

"When school lets out, find your sister and go straight home together, all right? Don't stop to talk to your friends and don't walk through the park. Just stay close to each other and don't stop walking till you get home, all right? Can you promise me that?" Andy asked, pulling his phone away from his ear when he heard it buzz.

Incoming Call

Rebeca

"Okay." Andy almost didn't hear Jacob's reply, but he nodded and started to hover his thumb over the answer button on the screen of his phone.

"Good. Rebeca's calling me now. I bet she's as scared as you are. I'm going to hang up and talk to her now, okay?"

"Okay. Uh Dad?" Jake spoke up, his tone initially colored with a sense of urgency before fading out into hesitation.

"Yeah." Andy moved his thumb away from the screen, waiting patiently as he heard the soft sounds of Jacob's uneasy breathing puff into the earpiece.

"What is it, Buddy?" Andy pressed when Jacob remained quiet for sometime, noting when his daughter's name stopped flashing on the screen.

Finally Jacob sighed. "It's nothing."

Andy frowned. "You sure?" He heard his son barely mumble a yeah and nodded. "Okay, I got to go, but I'll see you back at home okay? I love you very much." He added, waving at the woman who was trying to call him over back to the crime scene.

"Okay. I love you too. Bye Dad." Jacob mumbled, hanging up the call and Andy let out a sigh before pulling up his contacts and redialing his daughter's number.

"Daddy?" Rebeca was also whispering when she answered though she sounded even more frightened and shaky than Jacob did which made Andy's heart pinch.

"Hey Sport, you okay? Sorry, I didn't answer your call. Your brother had called me just before you." Andy explained and he heard his daughter sniff.

"It's okay. Ms. Brandt just said no one's allowed to leave and some of the kids are saying there might be a shooter in the school...I'm scared." Rebeca whimpered and Andy shook his head.

"Sweetheart no. You're going to be okay. It's not a shooter. It's..." He bit down on his lower lip and leaned tensely against the tree he had been standing near.

"Just do what your teacher says and find Jacob when school is over for the day, okay? Just head for home immediately once you and Jake find each other. Stick together and don't stop on the way for anything. Do you understand?"

Another sniff. "Yes...But Dad?"

Andy took a deep breath. "Yeah Sport?" He responded, using his favorite endearment for his second child.

Rebeca took a deep breath. "You're sure there's not a shooter?"

Andy shook his head. "I'm sure. I promise." He affirmed, hoping his daughter would believe him and try to calm down.

There was a muffled cough. "Okay." Andy barely caught her response. He smiled despite himself nodding again when his colleagues tried again to get his attention.

"I have to go now, Rebeca. We'll talk more later at home, all right? Are you going be okay now?" He started to move slowly back across the park.

There was a brief silence and a few more sniffles. "Yes." Rebeca's voice seemed a bit less shaky now and Andy's smile widened slightly upon noticing it. "Good girl. I love you very much okay?"

A final sniff. "I love you too. Bye Dad."

Hearing the disconnecting beep in his ear, Andy sighed and pulled his phone away from his ear, moving to tuck it back into the pocket of his jacket as he rejoined his colleagues and the other first responders to the case.

"Sorry. My kids needed me. What do we have so far?" He inquired.

...

The sound of the door slamming shut made Laurie jump uncharacteristically as she stirred the chili on the stove.

There was a sigh then the sound of quickly approaching footsteps before she felt a familiar pair of lips land a quick light kiss on the side of her neck.

"Hey, I'm home." Andy mumbled in a voice that emanated with tiredness and stress. Turning, Laurie moved to reciprocate her husband's gesture of affection before pulling back to look into his face.

"I'm guessing they called you over to investigate the dead boy that was all over the news today? They say he went to the same school as Jake and Beca." She fretted. Andy nodded heavily.

"Yeah, it was Ben Rifkin. He was Jacob's age."

Laurie grimaced and Andy pulled her back into his arms again for a moment.

"It's so horrible to think this kind of thing happened in our town. In our neighborhood!...All day I kept thinking what if it had been one of our babies? I don't know what I would have do-."

"I know!" Andy quickly cut her off, barely suppressing a shudder. "I couldn't stop thinking it either." He murmured. Laurie shut her eyes and shook her head.

Andy took a deep breath.

"Speaking of the kids...how are they? They both called me up in a panic earlier when their school went into lockdown." He asked looking around before his gaze fell on the staircase that led upstairs to the bedrooms.

Laurie shrugged. "They seemed okay. They're still worried obviously, but the Franklins let Emma come over earlier this afternoon and Derek Yoo came an hour ago as well. I know we don't usually let the kids spend hours on the TV or the video games on school nights, but I thought with what's happened..." She trailed off.

"I get it." Andy softly responded to her, nodding as he knew he would have made the same decision that his wife did if he'd been home before her. He glanced towards the stairs again.

"I'll tell you one thing." Laurie continued, drawing her husband's attention back to her. "Jacob and Rebeca are never walking through the park again to get to school." She shook her head.

Andy nodded in agreement.

"Agreed. Actually I was planning on talking with them a little more about all this as soon as I got in. You know, help them understand what's going on better and..get a feel for how they're feeling about it."

Laurie nodded her head in understanding. "Sounds like a good idea. Emma went home twenty minutes ago, but Derek's still here. Did you want to wait till...?" She started to ask and trailed off when the doorbell rang.

Andy slowly turned towards the front door just as Laurie slipped past him to answer it. "Oh hi. Derek's upstairs with Jacob. I'll tell him you're here."

She started to move towards the stairs and Andy followed after greeting the parents of his son's best friend who lingered in the foyer.

Hearing the familiar sounds of the boys playfully arguing from the Jacob's room, Laurie sighed before knocking on their son's door while Andy paused in the open doorway of their daughter's room.

"Hey Sport. You doing all right?" Andy asked, walking in once Rebeca looked up from the book she was reading to acknowledge him.

"Yeah. Kinda." With a light shrug, she turned to put her bookmark back in to mark her spot before letting the book close. "Mom let Emma and me watch a lot of iCarly today." She grinned wryly and Andy smiled back.

"Yeah she told me." He sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and put his arm around her to which Rebeca responded by leaning her head against his shoulder.

"So...have you seen anything or has anyone told you anything about what happened?" Andy asked slowly, feeling the pit of his stomach twist as he remembered how scared his little girl had sounded on the phone earlier.

The light smile on the twelve year old's face quickly melted into a frown. "I heard...Emma's Mom tell Mom that someone was killed and that's why the lockdown happened...She said it was a boy in Jacob's grade." She began to chew on her lip.

Andy nodded and gave his daughter another gentle squeeze to try to soothe her. "Yeah, his name was Ben Rifkin. Did you know him at all?"

Rebeca shrugged and wrung her hands. "No. Not really. I don't know any eighth graders besides Jacob and his friends." She started to gnaw a little harder on her lip. Andy gently patted her shoulder.

"Hey, it's all right. What do you say we go over to Jacob's room together and talk about this with him and Mom? I'm sure Jake's as scared as you are about this whole thing." He suggested.

Rebeca let out a soft scoff and slid forward off her bed, letting her book drop onto the mattress as she came to a standing position.

"Jake's not scared." She laughed a bit and Andy raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?" He asked, getting up to follow his daughter out of her bedroom.

Rebeca shrugged. "I don't know. He didn't look that scared when we were walking home." She mumbled, tugging at the cuffs of her sweatshirt sleeves as she and her Dad got out into the hall nearly bumping into Derek.

"Oh! Sorry. Goodbye, Mr. Barber." Derek quickly greeted Andy before shuffling on his way towards the stairs to meet his parents, barely acknowledging Rebeca.

"Take care, Derek." Andy called after him before guiding Rebeca towards Jacob's room where Laurie was just sinking down on the edge of Jake's bed.

Rebeca hurried to sit in Jacob's desk chair, turning to face her brother who was still sitting in one of his gaming seats focusing on the first person shooter he had been playing as Andy joined Laurie on the bed.

"Hey Jake? Can you put that on pause so we can talk for a minute?" Andy addressed his son, making him turn and give a quick nod before leaning forward to put his controller back on top of the TV stand.

"Oh. Sure Dad. Yeah." Laurie took a deep breath and glanced at Rebeca before speaking.

"Dad and I just want to see how the two of you are doing right now. You know, how you guys are feeling...about what happened to Ben." She said carefully.

Rebeca averted her eyes to the floor and began fiddling with the sleeve of her shirt. Jacob mildly shrugged a shoulder. "I'm fine I guess. I mean yeah it's a little weird and stuff, but...I mean it's not like we were close friends or anything so."

Andy started to nod in understanding. "Well yeah, but it still must be pretty scary knowing someone who got murdered. Someone who was your age."

Jacob averted his gaze, chewing on his lip. "I guess. Yeah a little bit."

"Beca?" Laurie turned to address her daughter. Rebeca shrugged and looked up at her. "Do they know who did it?" She asked and Laurie turned to exchange glances with her husband.

Andy shook his head. "No Sweetie. Not yet, but they're working very hard to find out."

"Jacob, didn't you have a class with him?" Laurie asked and Jacob gave a nod. "Yeah. Math."

"And? Was he a nice kid?" Andy pressed. Jacob pulled a face. "Ben? He was all right."

"Just all right?" Laurie questioned.

Now it was Rebeca's turn to make a face. "The only thing I remember is when he bumped me in the hall once. He said sorry I think." She scratched at her chin as if thinking hard about the incident.

A brief hint of amusement flickered in Andy's expression for a second before it faded back to the tense heavy frown he was wearing before.

Jacob looked over at his little sister and gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah, he wasn't really mean or anything, but he...he was one of those kids that was always pretty full of himself. Like he thought he was really cool." He rocked a bit in his seat and Rebeca nodded in agreement.

"Was he?" Andy asked and Jake shrugged.

"To some people, yeah. Like girls were into him."

Laurie sighed. "Well we just want the both of you to know that we're here for you, okay? Whatever you're feeling, if you're scared or unsure about something, you can tell us okay?"

Biting her lip again, Rebeca nodded. "Yeah I kinda just did." Jacob murmured. "I'm fine really." He tried to sound confident.

Laurie turned towards Rebeca. "Rebeca, you going to be okay Sweetheart?" She asked. Rebeca shrugged. "I guess." She looked towards the window.

Exchanging another look with her husband, Laurie got up from the bed, moving first to wrap Rebeca into a quick hug before doing the same with Jake.

"Okay. I love you both." She kissed them both on their foreheads before moving away towards the door. Andy followed.

"Yeah love you too." Jake replied. Rebeca echoed him, attempting to smile genuinely at her parents, though they must have known she was forcing it a little.

She looked back over at her brother just as her Mom opened the bedroom door. "We'll be downstairs if either of you need anything."

Jake nodded his head. "I know. Thank you." He reached to pick up his game controller again and hit the start button.

Andy gave a half smile to him and then to Rebeca who made no move to get down from the chair. "Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes." He called softly to them.

When both middle schoolers mumbled an acknowledgement to this, Andy quickly followed his wife out the door of his son's room, closing it on his way out.

As soon as she heard the door click, Rebeca slid off the swivel chair and went to sit down in the empty gaming seat next to Jacob.

"Jacob? Are you really not scared?" She asked, furrowing her brows.

"No. Well, maybe just a little. Why? Are you scared?" Jake asked, without looking away from the TV screen.

Rebeca looked down at her feet. "Kind of." She said, not wanting her brother to tease her. "I mean what if the guy who killed Ben is still around?" She murmured.

Jacob shook his head. "Hey look, it's going to be fine. Dad'll figure it out. It's his whole job to figure these things out, remember? It'll be fine." He leaned back in his chair a little, biting his lip.

Rebeca dug her fingernails into her palms. "I guess so." She mumbled, blinking as she felt her eyes begin to sting.

Shuffling off the gaming chair after a moment, she quickly scurried out of her brother's room, stopping in the doorway of her own room before continuing to the stairs.

She ran so fast she nearly tripped on the second to last step down.

Laurie and Andy both looked up when they heard the noise, their expressions going from calm to worried when they saw the look on their younger child's face as she paused awkwardly in the doorway of the kitchen, panting slightly.

"Sweetie, are you all right?" Laurie asked softly, turning away from the stove.

Swallowing audibly, Rebeca opened her mouth to respond only for a soft strangled whimpering sound to come out instead.

The kind of sound that one makes when trying desperately not to cry and failing at it.

"Oh Honey!" Eyes widening, Laurie dropped the wooden spoon on the counter and rushed over to her daughter's side. Throwing her arms around her, she softly started to shush her as Rebeca quickly lost her struggle against her sobs.

Andy knelt and pulled both of them into his own arms.

"Hey, hey, hey. Shhh! It's okay."

He gently ran his hand through Rebeca's hair, feeling his heart break with every whimper and sniffle that burst from her as she continued to cry.

"It's okay to be scared, Sweetheart. It's okay." Andy tried his best to be comforting and Laurie nodded in agreement.

"It's okay."

...