A/N: Thank you for all the lovely and interesting comments. I am so glad you are invested in this story, and I hope that you continue to enjoy reading it.
Once again, I would like to thank the brilliant Blossom-of-snow for beta reading this story. She is incredible.
Sharon watched as Father Redmond angrily walked out of her office after agreeing to readmit Rusty back to school the following day. Sharon knew it had been a difficult week for Rusty after her mother lied about coming to Los Angeles and retaining her custody of the girl. She had watched the girl going through the motions since the incident, and she decided to give her some space to deal with the fallout. She had tried to talk to her the evening it happened, but Rusty refused. Now the girl sat in front of her, staring at an invisible spot on Sharon's desk and sulking.
"Rusty, look at me," she said softly. The girl raised her gaze. "I need an explanation for the story I just heard from Father Redmond."
"I'm a loudmouth maniac who can't control herself, is that a good enough explanation?" Rusty called out, and Sharon felt taken aback by the rage in the girl's eyes.
"Is that what you really think of yourself?" Sharon asked. Despite knowing Rusty's background, she was surprised when Father Redmond brought her over from school to PAB with the claim that the school wanted to expel her for making inappropriate comments to one of the nuns. Rusty shrugged and lowered her gaze again. "First of all, you are not a maniac. And I think we both know that you are very capable of controlling your mouth."
"Of course I am, Captain," Rusty's tone oozed with sarcasm.
"I didn't mean it like that," Sharon narrowed her eyes. "I think we can both do without all these sexual comments, okay?"
"Sure, from now on I'll be a good girl who goes to a Catholic school and only gets down on her knees for Jesus. Just like you."
"I don't expect you to become Catholic, Rusty. I sent you to St. Joseph's because it's a good school," Sharon clarified, ignoring the girl's attempt at an insult. "And I still want an explanation for your behavior."
"What explanation do you need? That stupid nun pissed me off, so I told her to go and suck JC's dick!" Rusty exclaimed.
"You said what?" Sharon tried to keep calm, even though she could feel anger rapidly spreading in her chest. "Do you even know how horrible this is?"
"You clearly don't know. You've probably never done it!" Rusty retorted.
"My sex life is none of your business, Rusty," Sharon was beginning to lose her patience with Rusty.
"You don't have a sex life," the girl quipped.
"The mouth on you…" Sharon felt her restraint slipping away from her.
"I know how to use it better than you can use yours," Rusty countered.
"Alright, that's enough!" Sharon called out. "You are being rude and disrespectful."
"Well, at least I'm not a washed-out prude!" Rusty raised her voice and Sharon was sure her words could easily be heard in the murder room.
"If you think that throwing insults at me makes you sound smarter or win this argument, then I am sorry to be the one who lets you know that it does the absolute opposite," Sharon pushed her chair back and stood up. She placed her hands on her desk and leaned forward. "I want you to stay here; I want you to think why you are so mad and why you are throwing away an opportunity to change your life for the better."
"You want me to stand in the corner too?" the girl had the audacity to ask.
"If that will help you think this through – by all means!" Sharon exclaimed and was relieved when a knock on the door put an end to the argument. Buzz walked into her office and updated her on the progress of their case, and she gladly left her office, hearing a crushing sound a moment after she closed the door.
"Problems with the kid?" Lieutenant Flynn asked.
"Teenagers, they think they know everything," Sharon said with a shrug. The Lieutenant smiled at her, and she felt the anger dissipate. She returned a smile to him as she walked to the interview room.
Several hours later, when Sharon returned home from a stakeout, she relieved Cynthia of her "babysitting" duty, and after Rusty's case worker left, Sharon made a beeline to her bedroom and shed her clothes before going into the bathroom. It was one of those days that felt like it was never going to end and Sharon needed to wash it off her skin. She took a quick shower and then went to her bedroom and took a seat on the bed, rubbing the back of her neck. Her muscles were aching from the strain of her day, and if her stomach hadn't growled loudly, she would have just let herself fall into bed and sleep until the morning. After getting dressed, she hung her bathrobe in the bathroom and walked out of the room to get something to eat and prepare Rusty's and her lunch for the following day.
"So, are you just not talking to me on purpose or what?" Rusty who was sitting at the dining table and scribbling something in a notebook asked after a while.
"I try to avoid conversation with people who don't treat me as respectfully as I treat them," Sharon replied and shoved Rusty's lunch bag into the fridge.
"Yeah," the girl sighed. "Okay. I probably shouldn't have said those awful things to you earlier." Sharon hummed affirmatively. "I was just so angry. Sister Clara said something about how premarital sex was a sin and that only bad things come out of doing it, and I just flipped. I don't want people to think that I'm a bad person because my mom was unmarried or because of everything that I've done. I'm sorry, Sharon. I'm sorry I screwed this up and for talking to you the way I did." The haunted expression on Rusty's face made Sharon realize that the girl feared that she would be sent away. As frustrated as Sharon was with the girl's behavior, she had no intention to get rid of her, to begin with. If anything, Rusty's words just made her realize just how lost and out of place the girl felt.
"I accept your apology, Rusty," she said softly and shoved the other lunch into the fridge. "And you were not a bad person just because you had premarital sex." She walked towards Rusty and motioned towards the couch in the living room. They both walked over to it and sat down. "You're a sweet girl, you really are. And your past doesn't have to define who you are." Rusty looked at her with disbelief.
"So you're not sending me away?" she asked. Sharon shook her head. Rusty buried her face in her palms for a long moment. "Everyone at school will think I'm trash. Can I study at home?"
"I think it's not the best idea," Sharon replied. "Let's make a deal; you keep going to St. Joseph's, and if in a month from now we'll see it's not a good fit, we will look for another school, okay?"
"What if everyone hates me because of what I said at school today?" Rusty wondered.
"If that happens, we will deal with that, but try to be positive, alright?" Sharon looked at the girl who nodded reluctantly.
"Will I have to apologize to Sister Clara?"
"Yes, you will," Sharon responded.
"What she said wasn't the only reason I got mad." Rusty looked at Sharon with a guilty expression. "I was upset, and I thought being mean to her will help me take my mind off things."
"What things?" Sharon inquired.
"I keep thinking about my mom," Rusty admitted. "I know you said that her leaving has nothing to do with me, but it does. It's my fault she left and that she doesn't want to come back and see me again."
"I don't think that's true, Rusty. I don't think you are the reason why she doesn't want to come back. She sounded happy to hear you on the phone. She was glad that you are okay, and that you are safe."
"You don't know the things that I've done, Sharon," Rusty said quietly and looked downwards. She shook her head violently as if she tried to force her thoughts out of her brain physically. "My nail polish is beginning to bore me," she suddenly changed the subject. "Do you have any cool colors?" She lifted her hand so Sharon could see her sky blue nail polish.
"I have a few colors on in the drawer in the bathroom," Sharon said. "Go and pick whichever one you like and I'll help you apply it." Rusty pushed herself off the couch and went to the bathroom. She returned a few minutes later with a bottle of coral nail polish and nail polish remover. Sharon moved to the dining table, where she applied Rusty's nail polish.
"I always mess up my right hand when I try to do it myself," Rusty said and inspected her hand after Sharon was done applying top coat on her nails. "How do you get yours to be so perfect?"
"I get them professionally done," Sharon replied. "You can come with me to my next appointment and get yours done too," she offered. Rusty nodded enthusiastically. "Great, I'll let you know a few days in advance."
"Can you help me tie my hair up? I can't touch anything until the nail polish is dry," the girl asked. Sharon carefully slid Rusty's elastic band off the girl's arm and began gathering her hair.
"How high do you want it?" she asked.
"Just a messy bun, you know? Like a ballerina, but loose," Rusty explained. Sharon hummed and twisted the hair into a bun and wrapped the elastic around it.
"When I was your age, I wanted a hair color like yours," she smiled as she spoke.
"Who wants a hair the color of rust?" the girl wondered.
"I did. I grew up in an Irish family. Half of the clan was redhead, and the other half was brunette. I wanted to be a redhead so badly," Sharon said.
"You're not missing anything. People laugh at redheads," Rusty made a face.
"I happen to think it's beautiful, and I like your hair," Sharon smiled at the girl. "And the people who laughed at you secretly wish they were ginger too." The girl rolled her eyes dramatically. "I don't know how you feel about your name, but if it's okay with you, I'd like to call you by your legal name."
"If you want to, I guess it's alright," Rusty shrugged.
"Good," Sharon let a wide smile spread across her lips. "Now, if you don't mind, it's a school night and a workday, so I think we should head to bed."
"Is it eleven already?" the girl groaned. Sharon nodded at her and got off the chair and began shutting the lights off. "Thanks for the nail polish and I'm sorry again for being horrible today. I'll try not to be like that again."
"Don't worry about it," Sharon replied as they walked down the hall together. They stopped in front of Sharon's room.
"Good night, Sharon," Rusty said.
"Good night, Rainie," Sharon responded. She liked the name, and she hoped that calling the girl by a name that wasn't given to her as an insult would help to improve her self-esteem. She closed the door behind her and changed into her nightgown. She knew that even though Rainie was beginning to warm up to her, there would still be obstacles in the way and bad days where the girl would be insufferable. She thought Rainie would benefit from talking to a therapist, but so far, she refused to hear anything about it. Sharon hoped that she'll be more open to the idea once she learns to trust her. For the time being, she would consider this day a challenge that ended in a more positive way than it began. She truly hoped that this was the worst it would get, and she couldn't be happier that it was behind them.
-TBC-
As always, I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter, so please feel free to leave comments or send me a PM.