Chapter Thirty-Six

As soon as the car pulled onto the curb in front of the Morello household, Franny caught sight of an unfamiliar car parked in the rocky driveway that hadn't been used since before Stansie had passed away. Immediately, she grew suspicious and took a moment to collect herself before exiting the vehicle. She deterred her eyes towards the back where the teens both sat, each looking out the window in dismay. A sigh erupted from her lungs. Finally, she found the will to move again and forced herself out of the car.

It hadn't taken long for Lorna's brown eyes to stumble upon that unfamiliar vehicle as well, just seconds after the older brunette slammed the front door shut. She swallowed uncomfortably and quickly followed suit, pushing open the passenger door and stepping outside. Nicky did the same behind her, standing right at her side once they were both out in the open air. Lorna felt an immediate sense of comfort when Nicky's arm instinctively snaked around her.

The two followed cautiously behind Franny towards the front door of the house. However, once they were standing on the porch and merely headed inside, a woman in a pant-suit with a clipboard in her hand approached them. Most likely she was the owner of the strange car sitting in the driveway of their father's house, Lorna quickly acknowledged. She shifted her feet and glanced over at her sister who already had the key in the lock when the sound of footsteps had all three girls stop in their tracks.

"Is this the Morello residence?"

Rapidly, they all turned to look at the culprit of that voice. A voice that seemed rather cold, monotone even. Franny folded her arms over her chest and gave a hard stare towards the woman. The woman returned the stare just as hard and that only pissed Franny off even more. To have the audacity to speak in such a cold tone when she was the one showing up to a house that didn't belong to her, it angered the brunette in a way she couldn't quite explain. Who did that woman think she was?

"Yes, why? Who are you and how do ya know the name Morello?" Franny threw out her inquiries in a defensive tone. Her arms still crossed spitefully over her chest as she stared the woman down vengefully. She felt the rate of her heart gradually speed up. A million differing thoughts swirled through her mind while she tried to figure out why that complete stranger was standing on their father's front porch. How did she even find the house?

The woman, who's dark brown hair was slicked back into a neat pony-tail, lifted a hand to push the rim of her glasses back against the bridge of her nose. Her brown eyes looked down on the clipboard for a brief second before returning to gaze back ahead at the tall brunette woman. "My name is Natalie Figueroa, I work with CPS and was informed by the police that there is a minor living here with Mr. Morello and he has been abusive towards her. Which one a you would that be?"

CPS. CPS? CPS! Lorna squeezed her eyes shut, lifting her hands slowly to rest over her ears as she tried to comprehend what was just said to them all. The woman standing before them was from the child protective services, she repeated in her mind. That statement alone was enough to cause her to break into an uneasy sweat. Her hands began to grow clammy from beads of water that slowly perspired from the tiny pores of her flesh. She kept her eyes focused on the concrete beneath her feet, trying to stay calm and remembering to breathe.

Franny peered at her sister for a moment, her heart quickly shattering to see how distressed the smaller brunette appeared to be. She swallowed thickly, turning back towards the CPS worker with clear apprehension oozing from the expression on her face. "Um, that would be my younger sister," she unsteadily replied while gesturing her hand over at the very shaky petite brunette beside her, "Lorna. Why? You're not taking her away, are ya? I mean we just came here to get some of her things before I bring her back to my apartment."

"Oh, good, she can go pack up her things and come with me. Clearly, she can't stay here anymore with an abusive father," the dark haired professional commented matter-of-factly.

That suggestion rapidly drained all color from the older brunette's face. She immediately grabbed a hold of her sister's hand, holding it tightly in her own as if to wordlessly assure she wasn't going anywhere with that strange lady. "Yeah, I know that. That's why I brought her here to get her things because she's gonna come stay with me. I'm her older sister and there's no way in hell I'll let her go off with a stranger like you," she sternly retorted back. Like hell she'd ever let Lorna go with a CPS worker, she thought.

Miss Figueroa frowned slightly at the blatantly upset taller brunette girl; she adjusted her glasses once more and recoiled her shoulders in a shrug. "You're her sister? Well, unfortunately, you have no say in the matter. Lorna has been court ordered to come with me. Until a judge can deem Mr. Morello fit to have her back, she will be going to stay with a foster family that the county has picked out. You are free to visit her whenever you like but you have no rights to her since you're not her parent or legal guardian."

"Wait, what? I have no legal rights to be my own sister's guardian? The hell are ya talkin' about? She's my sister. Why would the stupid county force her to live with complete strangers when she can just come stay with me? I don't understand. I'm over the age of eighteen I should be allowed to take my own sister in," Franny desperately cried out, enraged to hear such news. How could their lives be turned upside down like this in less than twenty-four hours? Everything was happening so fast that she barely had time to make sense of any of it.

The older woman crossed her arms over her chest and exhaled a breath of air. She shook her head in a merely impatient fashion; there certainly wasn't enough time for them to continue to stand out there and argue over something that had already been decided by a court, she silently thought. "No, just because you're her older sister does not mean you free reign get custody of her if your parents aren't fit enough to raise her. You would need to apply for legal guardianship, which would go through the court system. And, still, she will have to stay with a foster family until that's settled. It can take months for guardianship to be granted so I advise if that's what you want, you better do it now."

Her dark eyes deterred over at the smaller brunette, who's legs very faintly trembled as they tried to hold her up, and motioned her hands toward the door. "Can you go inside and pack up your things, Lorna? We need to get you to your foster family's house. They're waiting for you and I have some other stops I need to take care of."


Watching the whole interaction made Nicky feel immensely uneasy about it all. She instinctively wrapped her arm protectively around the quivering brunette's waist and cautiously led her into the house. They made their way up the stairs to her bedroom—both Franny and the CPS worker choosing to wait down in the living room—and once the pair were in it, she hurriedly shut and locked the door. It was obvious to her how pale and shaky Lorna had gotten and Nicky certainly wasn't going to allow her to leave with that bitch of a worker when she was in such a state like that.

Laying the trembling brunette carefully against the mattress of her bed, Nicky lain there beside her and engulfed her arms securely around her waist. Her lips rested atop her head, brushing soothing kisses all along it. There was a tightness clearly evident in her chest as she lay there with her girlfriend in her arms—somehow, she felt like all of this was her own fault. She'd done this to Lorna, to Franny. Even though the rational part of her brain knew that was a bunch of horse shit. The only person truly responsible for what was now going on was Mr. Morello.

"It's gonna be okay, kid," she murmured warmly against the younger girl's ear. The same ear that she tenderly tucked a strand of brown hair behind. Her arms pulled Lorna closer, so close that her head was resting directly over her chest. She brushed a hand lovingly through dark waves of hair, letting her eyes gaze out into the abyss. A stickiness was felt on her cheeks, startling her. When she lifted her free hand to explore the cause, she was shocked to realize she was crying.

Lorna innately threw her own arms snugly around the redhead's middle, closing her eyes for a moment. Laying in the older teen's embrace was one of the only places she truly felt at peace. Truly felt safe and cared for. A sniffle made its way to the surface and she finally acknowledged that everything in her life was about to change. Something she wasn't sure she was okay with. She lifted her head just enough so that she could look at Nicky's face. The second she did, she noticed the tear stains on her cheeks and felt her breath hitch.

"Nicky," her voice hummed warmly, she placed a shaky hand against Nicky's soft cheek and stroked away her tears. "You're crying, hon. Are you okay? So much has happened the past day and I haven't even realized the effect it's all had on you, my Nicky." Raw emotion inflected from her voice; she let the tips of her fingers caress lightly along the flesh of her girlfriend's face. Guilt once again came to the surface when she observed the blatant agony that seeped from Nicky's big brown eyes.

"Tell me how you're feeling, Nicky. I'm so sorry you hadda go through all this with me, it's too much. You don't deserve any a this, hon."

Tender words brought a warmth to Nicky's chest. Her arms only snuggled Lorna closer to her body, she craved the closeness. The warmth, love, and affection such a sensation provided. But then the word sorry coming from precious Lorna's mouth tensed her up once more. She swallowed uneasily and let her eyes peer down into the brunette's. "Please stop apologizing, kid. You haven't done anything wrong. None a this is any a your fault, ya hear me?"

When the smaller girl reluctantly nodded, Nicky brushed a loving hand through her hair and continued. "I'm okay, kid. I'm just…I'm sad that all of this shit is happening to ya, yeah? It's not fair that you have to pay the price for what your asshole of a father did. He was the one being an abusive piece of shit and they're taking you outta your own home? It makes me angry. He should be the one hauled the hell outta this house and thrown in prison. You shouldn't be the one who is dragged to a strange environment with people who know nothing about you. On what fucking planet is that fair?"

"It's okay, honey," Lorna quickly soothed, moving her arms up to wrap lovingly around Nicky's neck. She pressed her lips comfortingly over the flesh of her forehead, stroking the palms of her hands slowly along the outline of her face. "I know it's not fair but there's not much we can do, is there? I just, I don't want you to burden yourself over this. Please, Nicky. One of the reasons I never said anything was because I didn't want you to worry and stress yourself out over everything. Because you do that a lot and it's not good for ya, hon."

She pressed her lips delicately over each of Nicky's cheeks, desperately hoping to bring her any form of comfort she could. Maybe she was slightly projecting her own need for comfort onto the redhead, or maybe it was the noticeable trepidation that seeped through her eyes convincing her she needed it. Regardless of reasoning, Lorna rearranged their positions so that she was the one holding Nicky against her own body. She rested her chin tenderly atop the mess of red curls that made up her girlfriend's head, using a hand to tussle lovingly through a few thick strands.

Nicky shook her head profusely. None of anything was okay, she mentally affirmed. The whole situation was fucked up and the complete opposite of okay. Lorna's life turned upside down in less than a day and that wasn't fair. Someone as caring and loving as her girlfriend didn't deserve what was currently being done to her. Her hands reached to cradle around two pale cheeks. "None of what's happened to you is okay, doll. You don't deserve any of this, not a single damn ounce. I just—I wish there was something I could do to make all of it just go away," she firmly assured the younger girl, letting her forehead rest softly against hers.

Inhaling slowly, Lorna closed her eyes for a quiet second. The feeling of Nicky's forehead resting on her own, she let herself become momentarily immersed in it, allowing everything else to disperse away. Nothing mattered other than being aware of only herself and Nicky together. She sucked in more air, easily pressing her lips overtop her girlfriend's. It was merely an automatic response. Her eyes remained shut for as long as their lips touched; the thought of opening them once more meant that she would have to return her focus on reality. And right now, her reality hadn't looked too optimistic.

Their lips being brushed delicately together in a warm kiss, Nicky cradled both of her hands around the brunette's porcelain cheeks. She moved their faces in order to deepen the kiss; there wasn't a more affectionate sensation than the feeling of Lorna's soft lips gliding ever-so-delicately atop her own. Several minutes slipped by the pair as they lay on the bed together engulfed in each other's arms—lost in the kiss and agonizing despair—before they were both brought back to the present from the harsh knocking on Lorna's bedroom door.

"You needa hurry up and get your stuff, Lorn, that lady ain't very patient," Franny called out while standing in the hallway with her hands held against the wooden frame of the door.

With a disgruntled grumble, Lorna untangled herself rather unenthusiastically from the loving embrace of her girlfriend and jolted up off of her bed. She hurriedly made her way over to her closet to retrieve a suitcase and then began to throw clothes from her dressers into it. Her eyes didn't pay much attention to what she was choosing to pack, none of it mattered in the grand scheme of things. Everything appeared to be occurring at such a swift pace that she barely had the time to process anything—her emotions, feelings, let alone what the fuck clothes she was taking from her wardrobe.

The older girl was at her side in a matter of seconds. It wasn't challenging for her to see how distraught her girlfriend clearly looked, she mentally noted. A tightness slowly loomed in the pit of her chest. Yet again, she knelt down on the floor beside Lorna and found herself feeling just as helpless as ever. Nothing she could offer to do would make of any of this better, she acknowledged with a huge puff of air expelling from her lungs.

"How can I help, kid?" Still, she thought, she needed to do something for the brunette. Sitting back and watching her struggle to gather her necessities wasn't sufficient for Nicky. She wanted to be there for the girl she so desperately loved and adored. The girl who certainly deserved none of what was currently going on in her life.

Zipping up the suitcase, Lorna finally turned her head to fix her gaze on the frantic redhead beside her. An uneasiness now materialized through the room. As it so often had, the utter apprehension that melded on the other's face involuntarily caused a strong bout of guilt to pour through Lorna. She generously reached a hand over to place on one of Nicky's cheeks and brushed the palm of it along her flesh. "You already are, hon, just being here with me," was her truthful response.

Nicky felt her heart immediately turn to mush and enveloped her arms protectively around the brunette's waist. Tears threatened to pour from her eyes at any second. They peered down at Lorna, her heart constricting at the pain that emanated from her cherub face. A face that pure, she deemed, hadn't deserved any amount of pain. She lifted a thumb onto the flesh of her cheek and used it to draw a tender circle around it. "I'll always be here for you, baby, don't ever forget that. I love you more than I can ever say," she murmured, laying their foreheads against one another.

"I love you more, hon," Lorna whispered back.

Her own hands cupped over Nicky's cheeks and, once again, their lips naturally found their way back together. It was slow and tender, sweet and warm. Lorna sighed when she remembered the reason they were in her bedroom to begin with. She didn't want to end the kiss, their intimacy but she knew they couldn't put off the inevitable for long. Her eyes rolled slightly into her head as she begrudgingly pulled herself back from the gentle touching of their lips and stood up with the suitcase handle in her hand.

Lorna stood in the same spot for some time, unsure of what was to come of her by the end of that day. She didn't want to leave her bedroom because that meant leaving with that CPS worker, who she wasn't entirely fond of. The whole day had been strange, her mind rationalized the longer she stood in said spot. It didn't even feel like the same day with how many different things had taken place in such a short length of time.

Deterring her eyes over at her girlfriend, she exhaled abruptly. Her mind pondered on how all that was about to change in her life would affect the relationship between she and Nicky. More than anything she hoped that it wouldn't. But be it that she had no idea where this mysterious foster family lived, there was no telling if she'd have to change school districts or not. And not knowing was highly unsettling to her. She needed to be in control of her own life, so, to not have any in her current dilemma caused a distressing aura to fall over her.

"I don't wanna go with that lady, Nicky. I really don't. This doesn't even feel real," Lorna hysterically cried out, her bottom lip faintly tremoring as she tried her hardest to suppress her emotions.

The hysteric instinctively lured Nicky over to her side once more and her arms wrapped tightly around Lorna's small frame, pulling her body closer to her own. Her lips found their way to the top of her head where she pressed an affectionate kiss to, letting them rest there for a few peaceful seconds. Nothing caused her heart to ache more than seeing how much pain Lorna seemed to be in. "I know, baby," she murmured softly back, giving another warm kiss to her head before rearranging them so that she had Lorna's face in her hands. Her eyes gazed tenderly down into hers and she reached a hand up to lightly move a piece of hair from her forehead.

"I don't want ya to have to go with her either, kid. It's not fair and makes no sense. How can they take you away when ya have a sister who wants to take you in, ya know? I'm just, I'm so sorry you have to deal with this." A thumb she used to caress delicately along Lorna's face, stopping abruptly when it came across a tear drop and wiped it softly away.

Lorna narrowed her eyes slightly, a gesture she hadn't realized she'd done until after the fact. "But-but you were saying earlier how it's Franny's fault that our dad isn't very nice…which means you don't think she's fit to raise me just like he always said. How-how do I know that you didn't tell the cops that when you called yesterday? You think Franny's bad, don't you Nicky?"

"I know I was a bit harsh on your sister, Lorna, but I never said any of it was her fault or that I don't think she's fit to raise ya. I just said she could of done more to get you outta that damn situation, ya know? I mean I am pissed that she knew you were being abused by your own father and kept letting you go home to that. It wasn't right. But that doesn't mean I would ever intentionally try to make something like this happen to you. The last thing I want is to see ya put in the damn foster system, kid. Because that's not right either. I just—I want you to be safe and no where near your piece of shit dad. Is that so bad of me to say?"

Bowing her head, the brunette let her eyes focus down on the floor. She mentally counted each visible panel of wood to distract herself from the punitive truth that now awaited her. There was obvious frustration in Nicky's voice. Justifiable frustration, nonetheless, she knew. Which only increased the guilt that bubbled through her veins. She knew, in her heart, that Nicky hadn't done anything to cause her harm. Nicky would never intentionally do any thing of the sort. Yet, the anger building within herself didn't care about how she felt or whether or not what was happening was intentional or not. The anger only wanted to release itself from Lorna's body.

It tried to turn her away from the one person who cared so mercifully for her. Despite the response having felt gravely mechanical, she highly regretted it. A nausea welted in her gut. She finally seemed to get a steadier grip on reality. Her eyes shifted once more onto Nicky's and easily took in every feature of her face, including the miniscule ones as well. The expression Nicky grasped onto made Lorna shameful of her outburst just moments prior. That wasn't very fair of her to say what she had, she accepted.

"I shouldn'ta said that. I—I'm so sorry, hon, I didn't meana be a bitch. My, uh, my mind likes to confuse me and I'm real dumb for letting it," she admitted, gripping her hand tighter on the handle of her luggage.

"Stop, doll, you need to stop being sorry. You're not at fault for anything—"

Lorna instantly interjected at her girlfriend's observation. Her head shook rather violently. Maybe she wasn't at fault for her father's behavior or the choices he made, or for Franny's failing to go to the police, but that didn't excuse her from letting her emotions overtake her and cause her to spew out such hurtful words to the girl she adored so fervently.

"No, Nicky, I do need to apologize. It may or not be my fault that my father's abusive but that's not what I'm saying I'm sorry for right now. I had no right to come after ya like I did, hon. That wasn't real fair a me to do that to you and I am real sorry for that. I-I shouldn'ta let myself get so upset like that because I know the situation isn't really good on you either."

"The only fucking person who's to blame for your father's abuse is himself, Lorna; don't even think that there's a possibility it's yours because that's simply not true," Nicky instantaneously responded, her teeth gritted together in an attempt to cover up the rage that her girlfriend's words implicated. Nothing infuriated her more than Lorna's incessant need to inadvertently blame herself for the wrongdoings that other's had provoked upon her.

With a deep breath in, Nicky released it gradually in an effort to dissipate some of the anger that was boiling inside her. Lorna wasn't who, or what, her anger was directed at, she knew. It was more a general sense of anger. She sighed, peering over the shorter teen with fierce eyes. "I understand why ya reacted that way, though, kid. You don't have to beat yourself up over it. You're dealing with a lotta shit right now, it makes sense that your emotions would try to control your thoughts and make you say things ya don't mean. That's why I don't want you to be sorry because it's not your fault. I can understand why ya said what ya said."

"But what I said wasn't nice, hon, and I'm sorry for that. Please don't make excuses for me. I don't want you to do to yourself what you say I do to myself. I just, I wish I could go back to yesterday morning and none of this ever happened. Today is close on the list of worst days I ever had and I just want to erase it from existence," Lorna honestly admitted aloud. A rarity for her to ever allow the negative thoughts to escape her mind but, in that instance, they slipped out without her usual backlash.

Nicky nodded solemnly her agreeance with the younger girl's words. She, too, had wished that they could go back to the morning prior where everything was normal again. When her girlfriend wasn't being carted off with a Child Protective Services employee to some random foster family, who probably only chose to foster for the money. She felt a breath of air erupt from her lungs the more her mind wandered on the matter. If, she thought, if none of what happened in the previous twenty-four hours hadn't, she would still be sitting in the dark of Lorna's being abused. She sighed again. No matter how she looked at it, it proved to be a lose-lose situation.

Wrapping her arms securely around the shorter girl's waist, Nicky gently pulled her against her in a tender embrace. She let her lips stroke on the top of her head. Whatever happened she vowed that she would do everything in her power to be there for Lorna, even if it were just phone calls and texting. "I know, kid, I know. I wish none of this was happening, either. It's not an easy thing to deal with but I'm here for you, yeah? Whatever ya need just tell me and I'll do it. I love you so much, Lorna. I will be here for you through all this shit and that's a promise," she sternly reassured, freely pressing another kiss atop her head.


After twenty minutes of saying goodbye to her sister and girlfriend—much to Miss Figueroa's dismay—Lorna finally, with an intense resistance, followed the CPS worker into her car that awaited in the rocky driveway of her family home. The older woman motioned for her to place the suitcase in the trunk and after which gestured her to sit in the front passenger seat. Lorna silently complied, situating herself in the seat opposite of her. She nonchalantly leaned her head against the rim of the window and let her eyes become immersed with the swiftly passing surroundings.

The sun was blatantly visible in the sky, shinning through rather brightly on her face. If the circumstances were different, the sunshine would have easily been a welcomed sensation. But Lorna felt nothing good about having the damn brightness of sunlight oozing onto her face as she sat somberly in that car. No, in fact, she felt nothing at all. There was a numbness that loomed over her now. She rested in her spot while mentally contemplating what was going to happen to her now that she was seemingly on her way to her new family—temporary family, technically, but to her it felt like it'd be an eternity before she'd reunite with Franny.

It wasn't a pleasant car ride, yet, it wasn't entirely unpleasant either. A neutral car ride, Lorna pondered. Numbing sounded of a more appropriate descriptor for it. By the time the vehicle came to a stop in a surprisingly elegant driveway, and with a quick glance of the time on the stereo, it turned out to be only fifteen minutes since they had left her father's house. The realization came as a slight relief to Lorna; maybe the house was located in the same school distract as the Morello's, she thought. That would make the experience a little less dreadful. Because to have to attend an entirely unfamiliar high school on top of living with complete strangers had not sounded the most appealing to her.

The clearing of the older woman's throat deterred Lorna's attention back on the external reality. She sucked in a heaping breath before unfastening her seatbelt and exiting the car. Standing outside of it, not having taken a step yet, she focused her eyes on the new environment with an indecipherable expression melded onto her face.

The house was larger and much fancier than she had imagined it would be. She didn't think she'd be taken to a rich family's house, that was for sure. But, despite what she expected, she was shocked that her expectation was met with the opposite. What was some rich family like whoever lived here doing taking in some random teen like herself? She swallowed thickly and slowly followed behind Natalie once she'd retrieved her suitcase from the trunk.

It took two boisterous knocks before the mahogany door was opened to expose a superficially nice looking middle-aged couple standing on the other side of it. Lorna apprehensively walked inside behind the much taller brunette woman and looked the elder adults over with a scrutinizing eye. Smiles were clearly observed on their faces, smiles that seemed rather forced and not entirely the most genuine. She shifted her feet out of discomfort and averted her eyes back on Miss Figueroa.

Tapping the rim of her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose, the dark-haired professional gestured her hands between the young teenager and the grinning couple. Suddenly, a blonde woman—probably not much older than Franny, Lorna presumed by the smoothness of the skin on her face—and blond man—or boy, Lorna couldn't differentiate whether he was a young adult or older teen—appeared at the side of the middle-aged couple, who presumably must have been their parents.

"Lorna, you will be staying here with the Chapman family," Natalie Figueroa stated matter-of-factly while pointing at the four people who stood opposite of the petite brunette. She gestured her hand to over to the couple, "These are Bill and Carol or as I'm sure they'd insist you call them, Mr. and Mrs. Chapman. And over here are their son and daughter," her hand moved towards the younger blondes, pointing to both separately as she introduced them all, "Cal and Piper. They're a nice family and I think you will be just fine here with them, Lorna."