I don't own Home Alone

A/N: Apologies for the lack of updates.


Kate sorted through the amount of bills that had gathered on her kitchen stand. Ever since she and her family had returned from their trip, her mind had been too occupied with Kevin's safety as well as the well being of her other children to the point where some of the bills were past due. She delicately ran a hand over her forehead when she saw the date on the bill that was due in the past couple of months and yet, she neglected to pay it. So much for a new year resolution where she wanted to pay her bills on time, even though she knew herself that it was a silly resolution to have. Even though these bills were a priority, she still had to cook for dinner before Peter got home.

The entrance door opened as Jeff and Becky entered and took off their shoes. "Put your shoes in the closet please," Kate's voice rang from the kitchen not even looking up from the potatoes that she was cutting to see who it was.

Jeff took both pairs of shoes and threw them into the closet.

"Neatly please," Kate's voice chimed in again after she heard the clatter of the shoes.

Jeff was about to walk away from the closet but went ahead and arranged the shoes neatly. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked into the kitchen. "How's it going mom?" he greeted her walking around the countertop and giving his mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Fine," Kate replied with a nod of her head, "just getting dinner ready." She looked up from her food preparations and noticed only Becky who had walked into the living room and was sitting beside Kevin. It took all of Kate's will power not to roll her eyes when even her own daughter didn't greet her. Teenagers was the first thought that came into her mind. She couldn't help but think that Becky had been a bit on edge for the past couple of weeks, but she just couldn't put her finger on what. Kate had asked Becky how school had been going, along with the newspaper, and when asked to present her schoolwork it had been well for the most part. However, there was one child missing from the group who would usually come home with Megan and Becky, even though Megan had been staying home. "Where's Linnie?" Kate asked.

Jeff reached over to a plate for a carrot stick and popped it in his mouth. He shrugged his shoulders towards his mother. What Linnie did was none of his business and he didn't wish to get involved in whatever situation she was in, especially of the way that Becky reacted when he mentioned Lucas. "Last I saw of her she was in the football field."

Kate tilted her head to the side and slightly furrowed her brows. "What could she be doing there?"

Jeff hated this sort of, what he considered to be, an 'interrogation' for a lack of better word. "Maybe something with the French Club," he quickly answered and slung his backpack over his shoulder once more. "I have a lot of homework to get to mom. I'll be down for dinner."

Over in the living room, Becky couldn't help but hear the conversation that her mother and brother had been talking about. It had taken all of her will to not let her tongue lash out and tell her mother what Linnie's whereabouts actually were. It was this whole secrecy that was painful and to the fact that her sister was going out with her best friend.

"It would have been nice if my own daughter said 'hello mom' to me," Kate's voice came from the kitchen, breaking Becky from her thoughts.

Becky sprung up to her feet and immediately walked over to the kitchen and greeted her mother, before offering her apologies to her for being negligent. "I don't know if you heard the conversation with Jeff, but do you know where Linnie is? Jeff told me she was at the football field."

How nice it would have been to make her revenge at this point! However, a part of Becky thought that it was extremely immature to betray her sister like that, even if her sister had 'betrayed' her. The more Becky thought about it, the more a part of herself realized that she was being silly about it all, but she just couldn't help herself. "I saw her..." her voice trailed off as she thought of the last words that were hanging in the air. With Lucas she wanted to say but her words were frozen. "With some classmates," she finished her words.

"Hmm," Kate hummed, a part of her feeling relieved by the answers that both teenagers gave her. If by 'classmates' they meant from the French Club, Kate was relieved by all of that. "I hope she gets home soon for dinner."

All Becky could do was give her mother a nod of her head. "Well, I gotta go and get some homework finished...and my newspaper article for the soccer game." Then again, it was a good way to get her mind off of Linnie and Lucas.

Becky made her way upstairs and into the bedroom where Megan was. Her sister was still in bed with the covers thrown over her head, causing Becky to plop onto her bed and startle her sister awake. "Oh," Megan breathed out as she shut her eyes again and let her head fall back onto the pillow. "What Becky?"

"You have been in bed for the past couple of days. You need to get up," Becky said as she jumped up and down on the bed.

"Mmmh!" Megan groaned as she rose up her foot and pushed Becky off the bed, "leave me alone. I don't want to do anything."

Becky got up to her feet and pulled the bed covers off of Megan. She grabbed Megan by the arm and gave her a pull causing her to limply come up from the bed before falling back down again. "I will get you out of this bed if it's the last thing I do." She attempted to pull her sister by the shoulders but to no avail in getting her up from the bed. "Okay! Plan B!"

Becky sprung up from the bed and over to the bathroom where she filled up a plastic cup with some water. "Hope you're hydrated."

"NO!" Megan yelled as she leaped away from Becky and out of the bed and held her arm out in front of her. "Don't even think about or you'll be sleeping with one eye open!"

Becky grinned at Megan. "At least I got you out of bed. You can't just let this dictate over you."

"If you were in my shoes, you'd understand," Megan said Becky, "and I haven't been feeling well."

"That's because you've been in bed, crying over something that's not going to make sense in your future," Becky said to her.

Megan whipped her head towards Becky and flashed her a glare. "I am not like you and Linnie or Jeff and even sometimes Buzz who is goof with their schoolwork. I liked soccer. I always have and look at what's happened. I can't even play."

Becky took a deep breath and looked at her sister. She couldn't recall a moment where Megan had been happy after coming home from practice and not complaining about her soccer practice. All of those complaints had been the turning point for their mother to stop this activity for the better of her daughter. Becky understood why Megan was upset about it all. She would be upset too if being a member of the newspaper had been ripped away from her too, but if she was unhappy with it and her grades suffered she didn't want to be there a single second of it. "The answer me this, were you really happy?"

Megan furrowed her brows and stared at Becky as if she was growing another head. "What are you talking about? I was."

"Uh-huh," Becky replied, "were you happy of all those drill practices that you're coach made you do? Were you happy of her yelling and belittling you all the time? Were you happy that for the majority of the games you had to sit out? Were you happy that you were always on towel duty? Were you-"

"Shut up!" Megan yelled and placed both of her hands on the sides of her head, "stop butting into my business just like mom!"

"And stop being so blind about all of this!" Becky pressed on, "you're skills on that field did not shine because you were not given the chance."

"And how would you know?" Megan shouted and folded her arms across her chest before sending Becky a glare.

"Because I had nothing to write about you in the newspaper during those practices and now that the opportunity had come, I can't even write about that either!" Becky yelled and spread her arms out. "And don't you dare say that this about the newspaper, because it's not. Think about what all of your efforts have done for you and how you've only been unappreciated because of it all."

Megan only stood in front of her sister with her arms continuing to be folded but her expression had softened through all of the words that Becky had thrown at her. She let out a sigh and ran her hands over her face. Perhaps her sister was right, perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps her mother had been right about this whole situation the whole time but she chose not to accept it.

"I'm gonna go to my room," Becky said as she picked up her backpack and turned on her heel before marching out the door. "Hope you feel better and get out of this room soon."

And she would...starting with dinner.