~Chapter 4~

Julie slammed the door as she walked into the house.
Fuming, she stomped into the living room, where her
parents were.

"I HATE Brook Lynn! But then, that is no surprise.
Everyone hates her! And she'd better watch out. One
day some one will get her. I don't understand how
someone can be so mean to her own sister! I would
NEVER be like that to Camilla!"
She shouted. Both Skye and Jax looked up, surprised at
their daughter's outrage.

"Wow, Julie, where did that come from?" Jax asked.

"Yeah what happened?" Skye asked concerned
"Brook Lynn happened. Not only did she insult Kristen
and her mother repetitively, but she called ME a
mistake!"

"Oh, Julie, you know that is a lie." Skye said,
immediatly. But Julie shrugged.

"I know it is a lie. But NO ONE gets away with making
me feel bad." She said. In that moment Skye saw
herself in the girl. "Anyways, I'm going to take a
shower." Julie good-naturedly ran off towards the
bathroom.

"That was strange." Jax said, concerned.

"Not really. She has that Quartermaine blood, you
know." Skye joked.

"Very true." Jax nodded. "Just look at her mother." He
added jokingly.

"Very funny, Mr. Jacks." Skye crossed her arms.

All of a sudden, they both heard Julie shouting, "Ew!"
from upstairs. "Just hang on, Ben. I'll be right
back." Was the next thing they heard, followed by
Julie pounding down the stairs.
"Okay, so maybe I won't take a shower." She said,
running towards the linen closet. Jax grabbed her arm.

"What is going on up there?" He asked.

"Uh, up where? Julie asked coyly.

"Don't play dumb." Jax warned. Julie gulped and
whispered something in his ear. Then she shot him a
pleading look.
He shook his head. "Go get a towel, then." He told
her.

"Jax? What did she just tell you?" Skye asked, her
hands on her hips.

"Oh, she just - uh - she said Ben is sick." Jax
stuttered. "He's throwing up." At that point Skye
headed for the stairs, but Jax stopped her.

"Skye, he's not sick. That isn't why he is throwing
up." He admitted.

"Why is he, then?" Skye asked, seeming to know where
Jax was taking the conversation.

"Julie said there was a bottle of vodka beside him on
he bathroom floor."

"Oh no." Skye gasped and then headed up to the
bathroom. Ben had seemed to momentarily recover. Julie
quickly ran and stood in front of the vodka bottle,
but Skye was quicker. She grabbed it.

"Ben, really, I can't believe this." She said,
examining the bottle.
Her stare pierced him, and a wave of guilt overcame
him. Skye hurled the bottle into the trash, where it
shattered into a million pieces. Then she turned to
Julie. "Come on. Leave him alone for now." She
instructed. Julie nodded and followed her mother back
downstairs. But before either of her parents could say
anything, Julie spoke up.

"Ben isn't the only problem right now, actually. I
thought you guys should know, since Daddy is Ned's
best friend." She started. "And Alexis'." She added.

"What do you mean?" Jax asked, concerned.

"Well, you know earlier when I came in here?"

"Yes." Jax nodded.

"Well Brook said some things, and Kristen confirmed
it. I was wondering if you could find out if its
true." Julie asked cautiously.

"You need to tell us what it is first." Skye said

"Are they getting divorced?" She asked quietly.

"Why would you think that?" Jax asked.

"Well, the way Kristen was acting. It just seemed off,
and she told me things weren't that good between the
two of them, that's about all though."

"They seemed fine at Thanksgiving" Skye said, trying
to be rational.

"Me and Alecz said the same thing - that they were
fine a Thanksgiving." Julie continued. "But Kristen
thinks otherwise."
"Something about Sonny." Julie added.

"Well Ned has always hated her representing him, not
that I blame him." Jax said.

"Kristen thinks there's more to it than that, so could
you please just maybe ask them?" Julie pleaded.

"I will, Julie." Jax agreed. "Don't you worry about
it."

"Thank you" Julie said but added, "Don't tell them
Kristen suspects anything. She'd kill me."

"I won't," Jax assured her. Then his face changed.

"Julie, did you know your brother had that bottle of
vodka?" He asked.

"No, I swear!" Julie replied quickly. "I just went up
there and he told me his friend gave it to him a while
back. He said he didn't even plan on drinking it, but
then he just wanted to see what it was like. The
bottle wasn't even full, and he did not drink it all."
She rattled out. Skye glanced towards the stairs.

"Looks like I'm going to have to teach him a lesson."
She said.