Chapter 17 - "Have You Ever Seen the Rain"

by Creedence Clearwater Revival"

0-0-0-0-0

"Someone told me long ago,

There's a calm before the storm-

I know!

It's been comin' for some time"

I quietly sang along as I finished wiping down the bright red table and hung the cloth over the lip of the bucket. Giving it a final once over, I grabbed the supplies and turned to head out back but stopped short at the sight before me.

"I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?"

"Come on, dance with me, Carcar."

I snorted at Taylor as she held one hand out to me, the other keeping her broom in place as a make-shift microphone. "Not after calling me that I won't"

The latina girl groaned and started to whine at me playfully, grabbing the sleeve of my uniform when I tried to walk past her. I started to protest but couldn't help giggling as she goofily waltzed us around the checkered diner floor. Every time we bumped into a table, it would cause more laughs to erupt out of us. My eyes closed as she spun me around and let go, and when I opened them again I tripped over my feet trying to straighten up. "Ha- Hey Mrs Jensen, don't worry, we're all finished, I swear."

The owner, Mrs Jensen, shook her head, grey curls bouncing around her ears. Her laugh lines were prominent as her wrinkled cheeks stretched. "That's alright, girls, it's nice to see you having fun and laughing." The few other staff members that were on made some teasing remarks before saying their goodbyes, heading to the staff exit out back. Taylor gave me a nudge and, after saying goodnight, we went to store everything away in the cleaning cupboards. We clocked off and walked out to the parking lot together and right as we got to our cars, I let out a yawn.

"Hey," Taylor prompted, "You gonna be good to drive home? I can give you a lift and we can come pick Jimmy up tomorrow if you need." I went to argue when she added in "Plus, might make your Dad a little more at ease since the school's probably already told him about you getting detention tomorrow."

I thought it over for a moment before waving it off, "No, I'm- I'll be good. I'll blast some tunes and I'll be fine." At her concerned look I grabbed her hand and swung it a little. "I'll be fine, promise. Thanks for asking though, I don't mean to worry you and the others so much. I'm really sorry."

She smiled ruefully. "What have we talked about about saying sorry so much?"

"Sorry- ow! Hey, no hitting, or I'll tell Katie"

Taylor shook her head and looked up at the stars above us as if to ask for patience. "What are you, a child? I swear you are sometimes." I shrugged my shoulders at her in response and she rolled her eyes before crushing me to her with a hug. "Alright, have a good night then, I'll see you at school tomorrow, yeah?" And with that, we both got in our cars and headed home.

0-0-0-0-0

The living room was silent.

I rubbed the inside of my wrist as Dad sat beside me, hands clasped in his lap. I met his eyes. It was hard to keep contact: they were filled with guilt and sadness and they shouldn't be- I shouldn't have made him feel like that. I faced away.

"Kiddo, hey, look at me." He pleaded, tilting his head around to try and get me to meet his gaze again. He sighed. "C'mon, Carmen. We need to talk about this." I looked at him out the corner of my eye. He gently cusped my shoulder. "You can't keep running yourself ragged like this, okay? It's not good for you and sooner or later you're gonna break from it all. I mean, you've never fallen asleep at school before today. For Christ's sake, you came home in an ambulance yesterday!" My fingers pressed harder into my skin. Yesterday... yesterday hadn't been good. First the zombie-con, then having one of the worst asthma attacks I'd had in years, then getting razzed by Ratchet- and to top it all off, Dad had freaked when Ratchet dropped me off. I was just lucky that he hadn't seen that no one was driving. Thank god for tinted windows.

At least on the bright side of things I got to spend the ride home with my guardian. He'd asked all sorts of questions about different human conditions and I couldn't help but grin when he'd turned on his sirens and started to speed towards the hospital when I told him that's what you should normally do when someone passes out, especially after an asthma attack. He was grumbly afterwards, probably embarrassed, but it warmed my heart.

Dad gave my shoulder a little squeeze and brought me back to the present. "Ever since you started working more, you just- you're exhausted. You're struggling to smile, let alone keep your eyes open. Even your friends are worried." I peered up at him questioningly, still cowering into the back of the lounge. "Kate came over yesterday looking for you. Said you'd been distant with 'em again. She told me her and the girls were worried 'bout you being so tired all the time and that whenever they try to talk to you about it, you dodge the questions."

I placed my face into my palms and let out a shaky breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry anyone. I- I know I need to cut back but we need the money-"

"I'mma stop you right there." He held up a hand. "We need you to be happy and healthy. Not some walking, working, shell... You're killing yourself, kid." I could feel tears start to leak out at the break in his voice. His fingers came down to wipe at a stray tear. "We can manage just fine. And I'm not saying y'have to stop working altogether- you can go back to doing your old two to three shifts a week at the diner if you want but'chu don't have to. And I know you want to help," I opened my mouth but he cut me off by raising his hand again, "but your Uncle Antonio agreed. We've been talking and, as much as he loves having you around, he hates that you're struggling. Besides, I've got another interview tomorrow so things'll be back to normal in no time."

I sniffled, trying to hold back as my shoulders shook beneath his grasp. My thoughts were racing a mile a minute but at the same time, it felt like my mind was completely blank, like there was nothing to grab hold of. Half of me didn't want to listen. I didn't need his help- I was old enough to take care of myself, and I didn't like being called out on how bad I'd let things get. But the other half… it yearned for it.

Sturdy, worn hands clasped my own, embracing them. The familiar touch soothed me before he pushed on, gently jostling our grip to accentuate his words.. "You don't have to push yourself so hard. You've got a lot on your plate and I'm so so sorry that you felt that'chu had to take this burden on, but you don't have to- I shouldn't've ever even let you start working so many extra shifts or thinking that'cha needed to stretch yourself like that. I know you asked to but we can manage just fine for a while with savings and the little odd jobs I've been doing." At this he gave me a stern, despairing look. "And I really appreciate you helping to pay for groceries sometimes, I do honey, but I want you to use the money you worked for for you, okay baby-girl?" The dam had burst and sobs overtook me. Dad pulled me into a hug and I let the last of my restraints fall away as I cried into his chest. "Shh." he whispered, rubbing my back and holding me there tightly, his head moving to rest on top of mine. I hugged my Dad all the time but in that moment, I felt like it'd been forever since I'd last been held like that. My Dad's lanky yet muscled arms coiled tight, a shield against the big bad world outside. We sat there for who knows how long, letting the stress and exhaustion pour out in the safety of my dad's embrace.

0-0-0-0-0

"Remember, you call us afterwards, okay? We want the deets!"

"You guys are putting too much into this, it's just a date." Olive shrugged nonchalantly but her blush shined brightly against her pale cheeks.

"Yeah, your first date! Our little girl's growing up." Jess continued, pretending to wipe a tear from behind her glasses as we held on to each other. I sniffled dramatically and put a hand on my chest. Olive huffed.

"Jess, you're younger than me."

"By, like, five months."

"Okay, okay, stop teasing her, guys," Taylor cut in, although she had a smirk on her face as she'd been a part of the teasing until now. "She's nervous enough as is."

Kate pulled the short blonde into a hug. "Good luck, 'Livy!"

We took turns before waving goodbye as we all split off. I turned and started walking away from the café we'd just had lunch at. It had been almost two weeks since my talk with Dad and today was the start of a new week of less shifts. Today was a day for me. The girls were ecstatic to hear I was taking it easier and we'd spent the morning shopping and catching up and just hanging out like we used to.

It was also nice to have a day away from base.

Things had been a little... tense lately. Ms Darby had been coming over.

Jack had told me about how MECH kidnapped her last week but I wasn't expecting her to be sitting on the couch trying to make conversation with Miko and Raf when I went over there the other day. She was a nice lady, don't get me wrong, but it was awkward for everyone while she was there, even for Jack. It must be nice though, I thought as I kicked a pebble off the sidewalk, not having to lie to her about where he is or who he's with. I feel so bad lying to Dad and my other friends all the time. I grimaced. Then again, if Dad found out, I don't think we'd be able to handle having two overbearing parents, and he would so freak out if he knew the kind of stuff that goes on. Not that I'd be able to blame him. After the MECH incident, the bots had become extra protective, even Ratchet. They'd been on high alert, waiting to see if the bastards try anything again, but from the sounds of things they were pretty sure MECH only went after Jack because of Airachnid. They might not even know who Raf, Miko and I were.

I rounded the corner and crossed to the other side of the street to the Main Square park. Sitting down at one of the picnic tables, I leant back on my arms and stared up at the clouds. It was mostly clear at the moment but I could see some darker clouds on the horizon. Huh. Haven't had a storm here in a long while. I smiled as a memory came to me.

It was raining and steadily getting heavier. Big, fat drops landed on the leaves of the trees, soaking up the much needed water. 8-year-old me jumped up and latched on to a thick branch, shaking it with her weight and causing a cascade of water to fall.

"Carmen, get down from there!"

She giggled but did as her father asked, dropping to the ground and sprinting out into the rain. She twirled around before spotting a large puddle by the slippery-dip and, taking a starting position like they did at the athletics carnivals, she bolted over and landed with a splash! Mud went flying, coating her boots and splattering her rain jacket. Her Dad groaned at the mess but at his wife's laugh, he couldn't help but join her. Little Carmen turned and skipped over to where her mother sat at the picnic table, her baby sister on her lap and her Dad holding an umbrella above their heads. "Mamá!" she cried and fidgeted eagerly by the woman's feet, staring up into her big, brown eyes. "Did ya see me? Did ya see? I made a tidal wave!"

Her mom laughed, a deep but airy sound that caused her wavy, chestnut locks to bounce and she smiled. "I did see, mi amorcito, anyone could see it from miles away!" Little Carmen beamed. She reached her finger out to the baby who grasped it in her little fist.

"When you grow up, I'll teach you how to make the biggest splashes too! And we can do it together!"

There was a crack of lightning followed by booming thunder, making the little girl scream and run to her dad. "It's alright marshmallow," he soothed, and turned to his wife. "I think it's time we headed home, hey, V?" At her nod, he bent down and hefted Carmen up. She latched on to him tightly and they strolled to their car, the rain continuing to fall around them.

I blinked as my eyes opened, trying to clear the film of tears that had formed. My gaze turned up to the sky. I miss you so much. I let out a long breath and rubbed my face, pulling myself back together. Standing up, I lumbered over to where I'd parked my car earlier on and, with a final glance at the park, started it up and went for a drive.

0-0-0-0-0

Humming filled the bedroom accompanied by the pitter-pattering of rain on the window. I put the brush in my hand down and slid my fingers through Lily's hair, finally free from knots. I separated it into sections and started to braid it.

"So..."

"So...?" I mimicked her, a grin sliding on to my face. That was her 'I'm trying to be sneaky' tone.

"When's your boyfriend coming over?"

I spluttered and she yelped as I accidentally pulled her hair. "Sorry, sorry. I just- I wasn't expecting that. What gave you the idea that I even had a boyfriend?"

"That boy you went out with a couple weeks ago." I almost laughed at her put out expression; it was like she was mad at me for not having a boyfriend. She 'humph!'ed dramatically and crossed her arms in a pout. "You know, Curly Boy."

"Curly Boy?" I questioned, amused, before realisation struck me. "Oh. Harley." My lips pursed as I thought back to the night he'd taken me racing and ditched me. Well, technically I walked away but he should have taken mehomewhen I asked! I huffed and blew a strand of hair out of my face. I hadn't talked to him since. Because he's a jerk and deserves it. "I thought you were asleep."

"I stayed up to see him." she said proudly. I shook my head with an eye roll.

"Of course you did, Goosey."

"At least I have a boyfriend-"

"You what?!" I spun her around and, at the devilish smirk on her chubby little cheeks, I shook her. "You little rascal! Since when?"

She copped my playful thrashing and beamed. "Today."

"No way," I chimed as I pushed her over. She grappled on to me and pulled me down with her and rolled me over so she was laying on my back. "You can't have a boyfriend."

"Why not?"

"Because, geese can't date humans." She rubbed her palm in my face, smushing it up and I laughed as she whined at me to stop calling her a goose because 'I was 5 and it wasn't funny' and 'those geese were scary'. "Okay, I'm sorry, I yield." She let me up and I went back to braiding her hair. "So, who is he? Is it Ryan? If it's Ryan I'm gonna cry."

"No, it's not Ryan." She blushed and I made a noise of disappointment which she hit me for. "His name is Blake and he's really nice and funny and he likes soccer too!" She went on about him - apparently he was in a different class, he was cute, he liked to play tag, he was funny, he had two dogs that were so huge, he was cute, his favourite colour was green, and did she mention he was cute? - and I smiled at how giggly she was getting. We eventually moved on to some other topics and had started talking about her new teacher when she stopped. "Hey, Carmen?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you used to be so busy all the time?"

The corners of my lips turned down, "I had work, Lily."

"But you were always at work. You were never here and when you were you were doing school work or sleeping!And even now, you're with your friends all the time. You never spend time with me anymore."

My hands paused for a beat. "I'm here now aren't I?" She turned her head and gave me a blank look. Aww, she's too cute for it to look menacing. I sighed before angling her to face forwards and continued. "I know, I know, and I'm trying to balance everything but you don't understand."

"Then tell me!" Lily groaned in frustration and turned towards me once more. "I know more than you think I do, I'm not a baby." She jabbed a finger in my direction and my eyes went wide. "I know something's wrong and that's why Dad's got a new job now and why you were working more!" My mouth parted in shock. Sure Lily and I argued sometimes or got upset with each other but that's just how siblings are. I'd never seen her quite like this though. Then again, we'd never had anything that was actually serious to fight over before. "I want to know. I can take it."

We were locked in a stare down, brown against green. I had a distinct flashback to about 4 months ago, walking out the door as Lily griped about how she wasn't a little kid anymore. I felt my mouth quirk bittersweetly. "Since when did you become so grown up, huh?" She grinned giddily before remembering that she was 'meant to be serious' and schooled her expression. I snorted - she looked ridiculous. But she's trying, I reminded myself and after resuming our original positions, I explained why things had been so different lately while finishing her braid. For her part, she was quiet and listened with only a few questions here and there. At the end, she had a pensive but determined set to her face. I knew that look all too well. "What are you up to in that noggin' of yours?"

"Nothing." She smiled impishly. I squinted at her but decided not to push. After all, I'd just told her that we'd been on the verge of being broke.

"Alright, but I don't want you to worry about it, okay? Dad'll take care of it, and I don't want you feeling like you can't ask for things or do stuff because of it." She nodded in reply. With her hair finally done, she jumped up and grabbed something out of her bookshelf and shook the familiar box of 'Pay Day' in my direction.

"Wanna play?

0-0-0-0-0

Spanish Translations:

Mi amorcito = My little love

0-0-0-0-0

I just wanted to say thank you all so much again for all the love and support you've been showing me, it means the absolute world. I really enjoy writing this story and its always held a special place in my heart.

Now I am going to be putting up a little something fun in a couple days time: it's not another chapter as such but I think it's fun :D And hopefully it'll be a little bit of fun for you guys too. So keep an eye out!

Stay safe everyone! And I hope you have wonderful days.