Sean fell against his side table, causing the lamp to fall over. Ellie jumped out of the bed, and shielded his body with her own. At that moment, Mrs. Cameron and Tracker came running through the room.
"Oh crap," Tracker said, as he saw Sean huddled on the floor with Ellie covering him, staring at Mr. Cameron with hatred in her eyes.
"Sean, what's going on?" Mrs. Cameron asked her son, as Ellie helped him stand.
"I dunno, ask him," he said as he pointed an accusing finger at his father.
Mrs. Cameron looked at her husband, waiting for an answer, "I found them in bed together."
"Sean, you're fifteen years old," his mother screeched at him.
Sean had one arm slung over Ellie's shoulders, and felt groggy, "We didn't do anything," Sean promised.
"Then why was she here?"
"She fell asleep, Tracker, tell them," Sean looked to his older brother for help.
"Yeah, last night Sean asked me if she could stay, and I said yes," Tracker answered.
His dad had calmed down a little, but became angry again, "You asked Trackers permission? We're your parents, but you asked your brother for permission?"
Sean hobbled away from Ellie, and closer to his dad, "I asked the only person who has ever looked out for me. I asked the person who showed up to all of my games, sober, when I was younger and never made a scene. I asked my legal guardian for permission. And that's the way it should be. I know Tracker was trying to help when he called you guys, but it was a bad decision. You never help the situation. You only make it worse. I want everything to go back to normal. I want you guys to go back home. I'm glad that you supposedly "quit" drinking, but now there's no excuse for you guys to be horrible people. That's just who you are. You should just go home, and leave us the hell alone! Pretend like we don't exist like you have for the last fifteen years!"
Ellie slowly walked up behind Sean, and placed a soothing hand on his arm, "It's okay, Sean," she whispered into his ear.
"Sean, I am still your mother and you should respect me. You should respect your elders . . ."
"Well, my parents never taught me that," Sean sneered, "But my brother did teach me to respect those who respect me."
Tracker still stood in the doorway, quietly listening to the conversation. He made eye contact with Ellie, who looked absolutely frightened, "Hey, uh, you guys. How about we finish this later. . ."
Everybody seemed to have forgotten he was there, except for Ellie, who gave him a look of appreciation, "Yeah, I think we're gonna go for a walk," Sean grabbed two sweatshirts out of his closet and, and handed one to Ellie. He glared at his father as they walked out of his bedroom door, and into the hall.
"Just a sec," Sean whispered to Ellie as he ran down the hall to the laundry room, and grabbed their clothes out of the dryer.
"Are you alright?" Ellie asked Sean as they walked out onto the sidewalk. *I'm wearing pajamas that don't even belong to me.* She thought about how strange she must look to the passers-by. *Oh, well, it's still early.*
"I'm fine," Sean grunted. Ellie started to walk closer to him, and he put his arm around her shoulders, "I'm sorry about that."
"It's okay, it wasn't your fault," Ellie reassured him, "But where are we gonna change
"I guess we can go to school. Nobody should be there yet, so we could just change in the bathrooms," Sean suggested, "Or we can go to your house."
Ellie thought about the latter option. *I should probably check on my mom.*
They quickly made their way to Ellie's house, trying to stay out of sight. They didn't notice as a front door opened, and somebody from inside the house watched them walk down the street in their sweats. An evil grin spread across Hazel Aden's face.
Mrs. Cameron took plate of eggs, bacon, and toast, off the small tray she had found. *I just wanted to do something for him. I thought he'd like breakfast in bed.* She set out three plates for Tracker, Mr. Cameron and herself.
They ate in silence, till Mr. Cameron cleared his throat and said, "I thought that maybe I should look for a job up here. Sean obviously needs us more than we thought."
Tracker dropped his fork and turned his head to look at his dad, "Excuse me? You think you're going to stay here? When you guys called to say you were in Toronto, I brushed it off. I knew Sean wouldn't want to see you. But when I thought he had run away, I dunno, I thought we needed you. I thought *I* needed you. Maybe we're just better off by ourselves."
Tracker stood up, and so did Mrs. Cameron, "Please, Tracker. I know how much Sean resents us, but please, I want to stay with my sons."
"Fine. It's not like I'm gonna kick you out. But, you guys sleep in the livingroom. You can't boss Sean around like you're his parents. He's got the typical teenager 'pissed off' attitude, and he doesn't need you guys adding more stress."
Mr. Cameron was about to protest, but Tracker shushed him, "Not a word Dad. Either you guys obey the rules, or you leave. It's all the same to me anyway."
Ellie walked into her house, with Sean following wearily behind her, "The bathroom's right there if you want to go change," Ellie suggested.
Sean nodded his head. He noticed Ellie staring down the hall at what he presumed to be her mom's room, "Everything's gonna be okay," he whispered in her here before kissing her cheek, and heading toward the bathroom.
Ellie sighed as she gently knocked on her mother's door, "Mom? It's me, Ellie," she carefully opened the bedroom door, and saw her lying down across the bed.
Ellie shook her head as she carefully pulled her mom's legs up onto the bed, and covered her up, "Everything's gonna be okay," she repeated Sean's words to her mom.
As she was about to walk away, she saw her mother was holding a picture. Ellie cautiously slid it out of her grasp, and looked at it as she set it on the night stand. It was a family portrait from about five years ago. Ellie smiled when she saw how happy her family looked. She shook her head sadly. *We weren't really happy. I remember that day. The night before, Dad told us that he had to go away for training. Mom had stayed up all night long, and I could hear her crying in the livingroom. The next morning, with the magic of make-up, she fooled everyone. Including my dad. He thought she was fine. We got the picture taken, and two days later, he left. That's when she started drinking. A month or so later, when dad got back, he helped her stop. She was acting like normal again. Like the person I knew before Dad went and signed up. Of course, the moment he left this time, she was back to drinking. Back to pretending I didn't exist.*
She felt a tear roll down her cheek, and immediately went to wipe it away. But someone else beat her to it. She noticed Sean was there as he gently brushed her tear away, "I'm sorry, Sean," she apologized.
"You really need to stop apologizing so much," Sean said as he pulled her to him, "You should probably get dressed," he whispered into her ear.
Ellie nodded her head. Sean turned her around, and led her out of the room. As he was about to close the door, he gave one last sorrowful look at Mrs. Nash. He shook his head and quietly shut the door.
"With Sean Cameron?" Jimmy was shocked.
Hazel nodded her head, "Yeah, they were walking down the street in pajamas. I think they were coming from Sean's house."
"You think they . . ." Jimmy raised on eyebrow suggestively.
"I don't know, but maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions," Hazel tried to reason.
Jimmy slowly nodded his head. He still didn't really like Sean, but he didn't want to spread rumors about Ellie. *Sure, she's a little different, but I think she's really nice.* Jimmy remembered how much he had wanted to go out with her before. He almost laughed. *Yeah, like she'd really be interested in Sean Cameron.*
"Yeah, you're right. It might ruin Sean and Ellie's reputations," Jimmy smiled at the thought of Sean actually having a reputation to ruin, "Don't tell anyone about seeing them together this morning."
Hazel nodded, and they walked off together. They didn't notice as Emma walked around the corner with a shocked expression. She had heard the end of their conversation.
"Oh crap," Tracker said, as he saw Sean huddled on the floor with Ellie covering him, staring at Mr. Cameron with hatred in her eyes.
"Sean, what's going on?" Mrs. Cameron asked her son, as Ellie helped him stand.
"I dunno, ask him," he said as he pointed an accusing finger at his father.
Mrs. Cameron looked at her husband, waiting for an answer, "I found them in bed together."
"Sean, you're fifteen years old," his mother screeched at him.
Sean had one arm slung over Ellie's shoulders, and felt groggy, "We didn't do anything," Sean promised.
"Then why was she here?"
"She fell asleep, Tracker, tell them," Sean looked to his older brother for help.
"Yeah, last night Sean asked me if she could stay, and I said yes," Tracker answered.
His dad had calmed down a little, but became angry again, "You asked Trackers permission? We're your parents, but you asked your brother for permission?"
Sean hobbled away from Ellie, and closer to his dad, "I asked the only person who has ever looked out for me. I asked the person who showed up to all of my games, sober, when I was younger and never made a scene. I asked my legal guardian for permission. And that's the way it should be. I know Tracker was trying to help when he called you guys, but it was a bad decision. You never help the situation. You only make it worse. I want everything to go back to normal. I want you guys to go back home. I'm glad that you supposedly "quit" drinking, but now there's no excuse for you guys to be horrible people. That's just who you are. You should just go home, and leave us the hell alone! Pretend like we don't exist like you have for the last fifteen years!"
Ellie slowly walked up behind Sean, and placed a soothing hand on his arm, "It's okay, Sean," she whispered into his ear.
"Sean, I am still your mother and you should respect me. You should respect your elders . . ."
"Well, my parents never taught me that," Sean sneered, "But my brother did teach me to respect those who respect me."
Tracker still stood in the doorway, quietly listening to the conversation. He made eye contact with Ellie, who looked absolutely frightened, "Hey, uh, you guys. How about we finish this later. . ."
Everybody seemed to have forgotten he was there, except for Ellie, who gave him a look of appreciation, "Yeah, I think we're gonna go for a walk," Sean grabbed two sweatshirts out of his closet and, and handed one to Ellie. He glared at his father as they walked out of his bedroom door, and into the hall.
"Just a sec," Sean whispered to Ellie as he ran down the hall to the laundry room, and grabbed their clothes out of the dryer.
"Are you alright?" Ellie asked Sean as they walked out onto the sidewalk. *I'm wearing pajamas that don't even belong to me.* She thought about how strange she must look to the passers-by. *Oh, well, it's still early.*
"I'm fine," Sean grunted. Ellie started to walk closer to him, and he put his arm around her shoulders, "I'm sorry about that."
"It's okay, it wasn't your fault," Ellie reassured him, "But where are we gonna change
"I guess we can go to school. Nobody should be there yet, so we could just change in the bathrooms," Sean suggested, "Or we can go to your house."
Ellie thought about the latter option. *I should probably check on my mom.*
They quickly made their way to Ellie's house, trying to stay out of sight. They didn't notice as a front door opened, and somebody from inside the house watched them walk down the street in their sweats. An evil grin spread across Hazel Aden's face.
Mrs. Cameron took plate of eggs, bacon, and toast, off the small tray she had found. *I just wanted to do something for him. I thought he'd like breakfast in bed.* She set out three plates for Tracker, Mr. Cameron and herself.
They ate in silence, till Mr. Cameron cleared his throat and said, "I thought that maybe I should look for a job up here. Sean obviously needs us more than we thought."
Tracker dropped his fork and turned his head to look at his dad, "Excuse me? You think you're going to stay here? When you guys called to say you were in Toronto, I brushed it off. I knew Sean wouldn't want to see you. But when I thought he had run away, I dunno, I thought we needed you. I thought *I* needed you. Maybe we're just better off by ourselves."
Tracker stood up, and so did Mrs. Cameron, "Please, Tracker. I know how much Sean resents us, but please, I want to stay with my sons."
"Fine. It's not like I'm gonna kick you out. But, you guys sleep in the livingroom. You can't boss Sean around like you're his parents. He's got the typical teenager 'pissed off' attitude, and he doesn't need you guys adding more stress."
Mr. Cameron was about to protest, but Tracker shushed him, "Not a word Dad. Either you guys obey the rules, or you leave. It's all the same to me anyway."
Ellie walked into her house, with Sean following wearily behind her, "The bathroom's right there if you want to go change," Ellie suggested.
Sean nodded his head. He noticed Ellie staring down the hall at what he presumed to be her mom's room, "Everything's gonna be okay," he whispered in her here before kissing her cheek, and heading toward the bathroom.
Ellie sighed as she gently knocked on her mother's door, "Mom? It's me, Ellie," she carefully opened the bedroom door, and saw her lying down across the bed.
Ellie shook her head as she carefully pulled her mom's legs up onto the bed, and covered her up, "Everything's gonna be okay," she repeated Sean's words to her mom.
As she was about to walk away, she saw her mother was holding a picture. Ellie cautiously slid it out of her grasp, and looked at it as she set it on the night stand. It was a family portrait from about five years ago. Ellie smiled when she saw how happy her family looked. She shook her head sadly. *We weren't really happy. I remember that day. The night before, Dad told us that he had to go away for training. Mom had stayed up all night long, and I could hear her crying in the livingroom. The next morning, with the magic of make-up, she fooled everyone. Including my dad. He thought she was fine. We got the picture taken, and two days later, he left. That's when she started drinking. A month or so later, when dad got back, he helped her stop. She was acting like normal again. Like the person I knew before Dad went and signed up. Of course, the moment he left this time, she was back to drinking. Back to pretending I didn't exist.*
She felt a tear roll down her cheek, and immediately went to wipe it away. But someone else beat her to it. She noticed Sean was there as he gently brushed her tear away, "I'm sorry, Sean," she apologized.
"You really need to stop apologizing so much," Sean said as he pulled her to him, "You should probably get dressed," he whispered into her ear.
Ellie nodded her head. Sean turned her around, and led her out of the room. As he was about to close the door, he gave one last sorrowful look at Mrs. Nash. He shook his head and quietly shut the door.
"With Sean Cameron?" Jimmy was shocked.
Hazel nodded her head, "Yeah, they were walking down the street in pajamas. I think they were coming from Sean's house."
"You think they . . ." Jimmy raised on eyebrow suggestively.
"I don't know, but maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions," Hazel tried to reason.
Jimmy slowly nodded his head. He still didn't really like Sean, but he didn't want to spread rumors about Ellie. *Sure, she's a little different, but I think she's really nice.* Jimmy remembered how much he had wanted to go out with her before. He almost laughed. *Yeah, like she'd really be interested in Sean Cameron.*
"Yeah, you're right. It might ruin Sean and Ellie's reputations," Jimmy smiled at the thought of Sean actually having a reputation to ruin, "Don't tell anyone about seeing them together this morning."
Hazel nodded, and they walked off together. They didn't notice as Emma walked around the corner with a shocked expression. She had heard the end of their conversation.