So here's where I left you last time . . .
"I'll get it," Annie said getting out of her seat and heading for the door. She grumbled as she approached the door. She had worked all day on this meal, and she wanted everything to go perfectly. Who could possibly be coming by at this time anyway?
She plastered a fake smile on her face and opened the door.
"Hi, Mrs. Camden"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Annie was taken aback, "Cecilia," she managed to get out, "what are you doing here?"
Cecilia looked nothing like the last time they had all seen her; her hair was longer, with dark roots that she obviously hadn't taken care of in awhile. She looked sick almost, pale and thin. And sadly, this was an improvement.
She cleared her throat, "I just got into town, and I heard from someone that Simon is getting married, so I thought I'd come by and say hi to everyone."
"Oh, oh of course" Annie stammered, "of course, come in"
Everyone at the dinner table was waiting impatiently to see who was at the door and why they had insisted on interrupting them. Then they heard the boys scream from the kid's table in the other room, "Cecilia!" Sam and David shouted running towards her. Lucy perked up, and tried to see around the corner.
A minute or two later Annie and Cecilia came to see everyone else.
"Look who's here" Annie said with fake-enthusiasm. They all smiled their fake smiles, and most of them had a look of shock. But not Simon, he didn't seem so surprised to see her.
Annie and Eric really did love Cecilia, and they wanted to be happy to see her, but no one at that table forgot the last time they saw her . . .
~*~*~*~*~* 2 years before, Christmas *~*~*~*~*~
Simon was sitting on the kitchen counter talking to Tristan on his phone while Annie washed dishes. The back door flew open and a familiar voice rang through the house.
"Hello Camdens!" Cecilia said as she stumbled into the kitchen.
Annie shot Simon a look, "hey baby," he said into his phone, "I gotta go ok?"
Cecilia was staggering towards him with a twisted smile.
"Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too . . .uh huh . . ." he looked away from Cecilia before he said, ". . . yeah love you too . . . bye"
"Was that the girlfriend?" Cecilia asked, all of her words slurring together. Simon nodded, staring at her swollen, purple eye.
"Does that still hurt?" he asked quietly, hopping off of the counter and reaching out to touch her face.
"No!" she snapped, batting his hand away. A few days before, Cecilia had gotten in a fight with her boyfriend, Jim. He was this big, scary drunk guy who she had been living with. This particular fight Cecilia had lost, and that's how she got the black eye.
Cecilia threw her arms around Simon's neck, and kind of hung there, putting all of her weight on his shoulders, "we need to talk" she whispered.
It was very apparent to Simon how she had been spending her evening; he could smell it on her breath. "Cecilia, are you drunk?" he asked sternly, peeling her off of him. She nodded giggling.
The twins ran down the stairs and shouted, "Cecilia!" as they ran to greet her Annie grabbed both of them, "Cecilia isn't staying," she said shooting Simon a look, "and its time for bed" both of the boys kicked and screamed as Annie drug them up the stairs.
"Come on" Simon said dragging Cecilia to the living room. He sat her down on the couch, "ok, what do you want?"
She just looked at him smiling stupidly. It killed him to see her like that; her hair all messed up, with a huge black eye, smelling like alcohol. He kneeled in front of her while she just leaned forward and giggled.
From the twins' screaming the rest of the family had figured out that something was going on downstairs. They crowded around in the hall and on the stairs.
Simon looked up at Cecilia with tears in his eyes, "God, look at you," he sighed, "what happened?"
She stopped her drunken laughter and looked at him very serious and angry. "This is all your fault, you should have never let me go. We were perfect for each other and you know it" she said gravely. She turned to see everyone staring at her, "all of you!" She screamed, "You're the reason I'm like this!"
Everyone just stood silently, ever since she had graduated everything went downhill. She went to college and got into the party scene, way to into it, and she failed out of school. She'd been living with this Jim guy for a few months, and every time anyone saw her around town she was covered in different bruises. When she wasn't drunk she was very quiet, and never said anything to anyone.
She stumbled toward Eric, who was coming out of his office, "Reverend Camden," she started crying, "you were always so nice, why did you marry a bitch like her?" she grimaced at Annie, then looked up at everyone else, "what are you looking at!?" she shouted.
She turned to Simon who stood in the living room, his mouth wide open. She walked up to him, put his face in her hands, and kissed him hard. She pulled away and walked towards the door, throwing her keys at Simon. "Drive me home Simon! I'm too drunk" she snickered slamming the door behind her.
Simon shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he followed her. Just before he closed the door behind him he looked at his family, his shocked father, his crying mother. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "she needs help"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She had gotten help, thank God, she went to stay with her aunt in Arizona after she went to rehab. From the way she talked at dinner, everything was wonderful. But the way she looked showed that she definitely wasn't fine.
There were no apologies for what had happened that Christmas, because she didn't remember any of it. And no one felt like bringing it up anyway.
Later that night everyone sat around the living room catching up on each other's lives, one by one they started heading off for bed. Around midnight only Mary, Tristan, Simon, and Cecilia were left. Mary decided to go to bed, and Tristan thought she would follow her.
"Nice meeting you Cecilia," she said hugging her warmly, "if you're still in town for the wedding I'd really like you to be there"
"Sure thing," Cecilia said smiling back, "good night"
Tristan walked over to Simon, "you're forgiven," she whispered. She had just decided that he was innocent and had to let it go, at least for now. She kissed him, "see you in the morning"
He smiled at her, "2 days"
"I can't wait" Tristan grinned. Mary couldn't take anymore of this almost newlywed mushiness.
"Well, I'm off, night everyone" she said heading up the stairs.
"Yeah, me too" Tristan said following her, "g'night!"
And she left Simon and Cecilia alone in the living room.
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***************************************
Wow, this was a long one, ok well this is now officially my longest story! And it's half over! *tear* well that's all I got to say! And apologies to any Cecilia lover's, this is obviously not a Cecilia-friendly story, and there is more bashing ahead, terribly sorry.
Review please!
"I'll get it," Annie said getting out of her seat and heading for the door. She grumbled as she approached the door. She had worked all day on this meal, and she wanted everything to go perfectly. Who could possibly be coming by at this time anyway?
She plastered a fake smile on her face and opened the door.
"Hi, Mrs. Camden"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Annie was taken aback, "Cecilia," she managed to get out, "what are you doing here?"
Cecilia looked nothing like the last time they had all seen her; her hair was longer, with dark roots that she obviously hadn't taken care of in awhile. She looked sick almost, pale and thin. And sadly, this was an improvement.
She cleared her throat, "I just got into town, and I heard from someone that Simon is getting married, so I thought I'd come by and say hi to everyone."
"Oh, oh of course" Annie stammered, "of course, come in"
Everyone at the dinner table was waiting impatiently to see who was at the door and why they had insisted on interrupting them. Then they heard the boys scream from the kid's table in the other room, "Cecilia!" Sam and David shouted running towards her. Lucy perked up, and tried to see around the corner.
A minute or two later Annie and Cecilia came to see everyone else.
"Look who's here" Annie said with fake-enthusiasm. They all smiled their fake smiles, and most of them had a look of shock. But not Simon, he didn't seem so surprised to see her.
Annie and Eric really did love Cecilia, and they wanted to be happy to see her, but no one at that table forgot the last time they saw her . . .
~*~*~*~*~* 2 years before, Christmas *~*~*~*~*~
Simon was sitting on the kitchen counter talking to Tristan on his phone while Annie washed dishes. The back door flew open and a familiar voice rang through the house.
"Hello Camdens!" Cecilia said as she stumbled into the kitchen.
Annie shot Simon a look, "hey baby," he said into his phone, "I gotta go ok?"
Cecilia was staggering towards him with a twisted smile.
"Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too . . .uh huh . . ." he looked away from Cecilia before he said, ". . . yeah love you too . . . bye"
"Was that the girlfriend?" Cecilia asked, all of her words slurring together. Simon nodded, staring at her swollen, purple eye.
"Does that still hurt?" he asked quietly, hopping off of the counter and reaching out to touch her face.
"No!" she snapped, batting his hand away. A few days before, Cecilia had gotten in a fight with her boyfriend, Jim. He was this big, scary drunk guy who she had been living with. This particular fight Cecilia had lost, and that's how she got the black eye.
Cecilia threw her arms around Simon's neck, and kind of hung there, putting all of her weight on his shoulders, "we need to talk" she whispered.
It was very apparent to Simon how she had been spending her evening; he could smell it on her breath. "Cecilia, are you drunk?" he asked sternly, peeling her off of him. She nodded giggling.
The twins ran down the stairs and shouted, "Cecilia!" as they ran to greet her Annie grabbed both of them, "Cecilia isn't staying," she said shooting Simon a look, "and its time for bed" both of the boys kicked and screamed as Annie drug them up the stairs.
"Come on" Simon said dragging Cecilia to the living room. He sat her down on the couch, "ok, what do you want?"
She just looked at him smiling stupidly. It killed him to see her like that; her hair all messed up, with a huge black eye, smelling like alcohol. He kneeled in front of her while she just leaned forward and giggled.
From the twins' screaming the rest of the family had figured out that something was going on downstairs. They crowded around in the hall and on the stairs.
Simon looked up at Cecilia with tears in his eyes, "God, look at you," he sighed, "what happened?"
She stopped her drunken laughter and looked at him very serious and angry. "This is all your fault, you should have never let me go. We were perfect for each other and you know it" she said gravely. She turned to see everyone staring at her, "all of you!" She screamed, "You're the reason I'm like this!"
Everyone just stood silently, ever since she had graduated everything went downhill. She went to college and got into the party scene, way to into it, and she failed out of school. She'd been living with this Jim guy for a few months, and every time anyone saw her around town she was covered in different bruises. When she wasn't drunk she was very quiet, and never said anything to anyone.
She stumbled toward Eric, who was coming out of his office, "Reverend Camden," she started crying, "you were always so nice, why did you marry a bitch like her?" she grimaced at Annie, then looked up at everyone else, "what are you looking at!?" she shouted.
She turned to Simon who stood in the living room, his mouth wide open. She walked up to him, put his face in her hands, and kissed him hard. She pulled away and walked towards the door, throwing her keys at Simon. "Drive me home Simon! I'm too drunk" she snickered slamming the door behind her.
Simon shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he followed her. Just before he closed the door behind him he looked at his family, his shocked father, his crying mother. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "she needs help"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She had gotten help, thank God, she went to stay with her aunt in Arizona after she went to rehab. From the way she talked at dinner, everything was wonderful. But the way she looked showed that she definitely wasn't fine.
There were no apologies for what had happened that Christmas, because she didn't remember any of it. And no one felt like bringing it up anyway.
Later that night everyone sat around the living room catching up on each other's lives, one by one they started heading off for bed. Around midnight only Mary, Tristan, Simon, and Cecilia were left. Mary decided to go to bed, and Tristan thought she would follow her.
"Nice meeting you Cecilia," she said hugging her warmly, "if you're still in town for the wedding I'd really like you to be there"
"Sure thing," Cecilia said smiling back, "good night"
Tristan walked over to Simon, "you're forgiven," she whispered. She had just decided that he was innocent and had to let it go, at least for now. She kissed him, "see you in the morning"
He smiled at her, "2 days"
"I can't wait" Tristan grinned. Mary couldn't take anymore of this almost newlywed mushiness.
"Well, I'm off, night everyone" she said heading up the stairs.
"Yeah, me too" Tristan said following her, "g'night!"
And she left Simon and Cecilia alone in the living room.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
***************************************
Wow, this was a long one, ok well this is now officially my longest story! And it's half over! *tear* well that's all I got to say! And apologies to any Cecilia lover's, this is obviously not a Cecilia-friendly story, and there is more bashing ahead, terribly sorry.
Review please!