Chapter 8: The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
Characters:
Rachel Janacek (Sam and Sonny)- 23
Emma Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 17
Gabe Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 16
Maddie Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 16
Katie Morgan (Sam and John; raised by Jason)- 14
Selena Morgan (Stella and Tyler; adopted by Sam and Jason)- 4
Morgan Corinthos (Carly and Sonny)- 29
Josslyn Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 22
Courtney Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 17
Connor Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 16
Jacelyn Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 14
Chloe J Hunter (Maxie and Matt)- 17
Christian Hunter (Maxie and Matt)- 17
Lukas Spencer (Maxie and Lucky)- 16
Leah Zacchara (Maxie and Johnny)- 15
Ava Zacchara (Maxie; adopted by Johnny)- 14
Daniel Zacchara (Olivia and Johnny)- 17
Mia Webber (Olivia and Steve)- 16
Allie Webber (Olivia and Steve)- 14
Izzie Zacchara (Claudia)- 23
Clay Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 22
Zack Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 18
Hunter Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 16
Brittany Corinthos (Sonny and Brenda)- 16
Brenna Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 15
Lindsey Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 23
Nate Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 17
Noah Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 16
Spencer Cassadine (Nikolas and Courtney)- 28
Aiden Cassadine (Nikolas and Elizabeth)- 22
Paige Cassadine (Nikolas and Emily)- 17
Aubrey Crowell (Nadine and Nikolas)- 16
Nattie Cassadine (Nikolas and Brook Lynn)- 15
Colton Cassadine (Nikolas and Elizabeth)- 15
Haley Lovett (Ethan and Lisa)- 17
Wes Janacek (Kristina and Kiefer)- 16
Logan Davis (Ethan and Kristina)- 15
Livvie Davis (Ethan and Kristina)- 15
Molly Lansing Webber (Ric and Alexis)- 28
Addie Lansing (Ric and Elizabeth)- 16
Cameron Webber (Elizabeth and Lucky)- 29
Jake Spencer (Elizabeth and Lucky)- 24
Brendan Webber (Elizabeth)- 18
Stella Hunter (Elizabeth and Matt)- 16
Alec Barrett (Brenda and Aleksander)- 23
Ashlyn Falconeri (Lulu and Dante)- 15
Lila Rae Alcazar (Skye and Lorenzo)- 28
Jamie Quartermaine (Dillon and Georgie)- 18
Tanner Quartermaine (Dillon and Lulu)- 17
Julian Quartermaine (AJ)- 16
Grace Quartermaine (Skye)- 14
Tyler Drake (Lisa and Patrick)- 17
Ian Niles (Lisa)- 15
Carrie Corinthos (Michael and Abby)- 15
Ryan Rosco (Faith)- 17
Dominic Rosco (Faith)- 14
Prue Webber (Molly and Cam)- 0
Henry Spencer (Lindsey and Jake)- 0
Sophia Janacek (Rachel and Kiefer)- 4
Kailey Franco (Franco)- 17
Reed Worth (Maggie)- 17
Rhiannon Deusa- 16
Lauren Grayson- 16
Brianna Edwards- 17
Deceased:
Bella Jacks (Jax and Brenda)- 15
Mason Zacchara (Olivia and Johnny)- 15
Jazzie Corinthos (Sonny and Kate)- 14
Lola Zacchara (Claudia and Nikolas)- 14
Ben Lovett (Ethan and Lisa)- 15
Liam Drake (Elizabeth and Patrick)- 15
Matt Zacchara (Lulu and Johnny)- 17
Joey Falconeri (Dante and Brenda)- 17
Trevor Alcazar (Skye and Lorenzo)- 16
Taylor Corinthos (Michael and Abby)- 14
Parker Ruiz (Manny)- 16
Corey Spinelli (Spinelli)- 15
Bailey Spencer (Lucky and Siobhan)- 15
Max Franco (Franco)- 15
Lily Mir (Leyla and Aleksander)- 15
Josslyn and Lindsey
"Shhh, it's okay, baby. We're almost there." Lindsey said to her four month old son as she pulled into the Metro Court parking lot. Normally, Henry was a happy baby, but for some reason, he wasn't enjoying the car ride today. She found a parking spot and took it. She got out as quickly as possible and went to the backseat, lifting up the carrier. "You're alright, Henry. Mommy's here."
She shifted the diaper bag over her shoulder and walked into the hotel. She immediately spotted her blonde haired best friend.
"Marty, I need you to get all of the center pieces situated. Elaina, where are the menus? This party starts in an hour, people, and it's huge!" Josslyn shouted to her employees. Lindsey watched as they scattered around. Josslyn's eyes met her own and she came over, smiling tiredly. "Hey."
"Hi. You okay?"
"Just stressed out. No one seems to have any idea how to do their jobs all of a sudden." She looked into the carrier. "Why is my godson crying?"
"He's hungry."
"Let's go to my office."
"Are you sure? He can wait a little longer while you finish things up."
"Lydia, do you have this?" Josslyn asked one of the managers.
"Yeah, everything is taken care of."
"I'll be in my office if you guys need anything. Come on, Linds." She led her best friend to the elevator. She took the carrier so Lindsey could get Henry out. She continued to hold it on the short walk down the hallway to her office.
Josslyn put the carrier on a chair in the corner of the room. She reached out and took Henry so Lindsey could make his bottle in the microwave she had in the corner of the room. Josslyn sat in her chair and rolled side to side slowly, trying to soothe Henry's soft cries.
"Do you want me to take him?"
"I'll feed him." Josslyn offered. Lindsey gave her the bottle and she stuck it into Henry's mouth.
"So, how's the wedding planning coming?"
Josslyn sighed. "I don't even wanna talk about it. I have, like, nothing planned!"
"Joss, you've only been engaged for six days."
"Yeah, and I should have had everything planned by now! I'm seriously slacking."
Lindsey couldn't help but laugh at her crazy best friend. "Do you have an idea of what you want your wedding dress to look like?"
"Not really, I just know what I don't want. I want to go look pretty soon for dresses. You have to come with me."
"Duh. Have you thought of your location?"
Josslyn scoffed. "No. I'm not even sure if I want to get married in Port Charles."
Lindsey raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that you and Aiden both come from pretty big families, right? You're going to make everyone fly somewhere?"
"I don't know, Linds, I just want to consider everything. I don't want to rush. I'm only getting married once."
"You know, as pessimistic as you are, I think it's beautiful that you really believe in only getting married once."
"What can I say? I don't wanna be my mother."
"Joss, I'm gonna say something to you and you can't get mad."
She gave her a look. "Famous words right before you tell me something that you know I'm going to be mad about. Just say it."
"Are you sure you're not rushing into things?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"I'm just saying that a couple of months ago, you were saying you weren't sure if you could see yourself with Aiden for the rest of your life. I know that things are pretty crazy right now with his dad just dying, but you don't have to go through with this if you're not sure."
"But I am. After everything happened with the Text Message Killer, I realized how short time was. I'm happy with Aiden and I'm in love with him. I'm only ever going to love him and I'm sure of that."
"If you're sure, then I support you."
"Good because I was gonna do it no matter what."
Lindsey knew that Josslyn was kidding; she wouldn't do anything without her best friend's blessing.
"You do realize what this means, right?"
The dark haired girl wondered what she could possibly say. "What?"
"That we're actually gonna be sisters. You're married to Jake, and I'm marrying Aiden, and they're brothers, so we'll be sisters!"
Lindsey came over to her and hugged her. "You've been my sister since I was six years old."
"Oh God. Don't get all mushy."
"What? I can't be happy for you?"
"Ten seconds ago you were saying that I didn't love Aiden!"
"First of all, I didn't say that you didn't love him, I just said you shouldn't rush into things. I know that you love him; I just wasn't sure if you knew how much you love him."
"Trust me. I know."
Zack
"Court." Zack went to his friend's locker just as she shut it. "Did Em stay with you last night?"
"No, why?"
"Because she didn't stay with me."
"She probably just went home."
"No, the only reason I'm even worried is because Maddie texted me this morning and asked if I've heard from her. Have you?"
"Not since school yesterday."
"What are you guys talking about?" they both looked over as Emma joined them.
"Where were you last night?" Zack practically demanded.
"Chloe J's."
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Just say what you wanna say, Zack."
"Were you with another guy?"
"I just said that I was at Chloe J's."
"The two of you have barely spoken."
"Yeah, well it's not like we're fighting. It's just hard to stay in contact with people at another school. You guys know all about that."
"You swear that's where you were?"
"Yes. I was a little…emotional…yesterday, and she helped me deal."
"Well that's good." Zack let out a sigh of relief when he could see in Emma's face that she was telling the truth.
"There's a Madison party tonight. You guys coming with me?"
And just like that, the relief left. It was no secret that Chloe J had been practically MIA in Emma's life lately, so he had been hoping that their talk yesterday helped her realize how crazy she had been going lately. Clearly, it didn't work.
"Ugh, Madison parties suck, Em."
"The people at the Madison parties suck." She corrected. "They have the best alcohol."
"Who else is going?" Zack asked.
"I don't know, I haven't seen anyone but you guys."
"Not even Maddie?" it was incredibly awkward when any of the siblings in the Dream Team weren't speaking, so Emma and Maddie fighting wasn't really any option.
"I just said I haven't seen anyone."
"You need to talk to her, Emma." Courtney chimed in.
"I will when I see her." Emma promised. "Are you coming, Zackary?"
He knew that he couldn't just let Courtney and Emma go off and get drunk by themselves. He sighed, but nodded.
"Yay! I'm texting everyone in a group message." She got out her phone and sent a message.
To: Chloe J; Zack; Courtie; Maddie; Gabe; Mimi; Connie; Britt; Hunter; Paige; Nate
Madison party tonight. I expect all of you to be there.
From: Hunter
Will there be hot girls?
From: Britt
If the warden lets me out. I've been on full lockdown ever since I got suspended.
From: Paige
Ugh, that doesn't really sound like my idea of a fun Friday night.
From: Britt
P, your idea of a fun night is something lame like knitting. I have changed my answer to a definite yes, Em. Even if I have to sneak out.
From: Zack
Dad's gonna kill you.
From: Britt
Then I deserve one last party, don't I?
From: Mia
You guys are all so lame. I'll come.
From: Gabe
Uh Mia, in case you forgot, you're pregnant.
From: Mia
Uh Gabe, in case you forgot, I'm not disabled, and you're also not the boss of me.
From: Courtie
Awww snap! Mimi got him!
From: Hunter
Dang, Mia! He's just a concerned little housewife!
From: Nate
You're all insane. But I'll come.
From: Connie
Em, how do you even find out about these parties? The majority of the student body hates us.
From: Emma
I have my ways. Chloe, Mads, Gabe, Hunter, and Paige, what are you doing?
From: Hunter
If there's alcohol and girls, you know I'll be there.
From: Mia
^ Same
From: Chloe J
Oh my God, Mia. I'm coming, Em.
From: Paige
I guess I am too.
From: Courtie
Gabe? Maddie?
From: Hunter
You know Gabe will be there if Mia is. He's gotta look out for his woman.
From: Gabe
Got that right.
Zack, Emma, and Courtney walked down the hallway together. The shortest of the three sighed.
"I guess Maddie's still mad."
"What even happened between you two?"
"She told me I need to take anger management classes. I'm just standing up for myself!" Right when she finished speaking, their phones vibrated.
From: Maddie
I'll come.
Emma smiled. "This is gonna be a great night."
Zack followed her into the classroom with a groan, knowing that a great night for her meant a miserable one filled with babysitting for him.
Chloe J
"Hey, sorry I'm late. I was watching Selena and I had to wait for Sam to get home and Gabe got home at the same time and lectured me on 'proper party etiquette when pregnant' for forever." Mia rushed out as she set her bag down.
"You're fine." Chloe J reassured her. "We haven't even started yet."
"What? Why?"
"I was just going over some stuff with the girls. Talking about competitions and stuff like that."
"We didn't even really know how they are scored." Lauren admitted.
"Wow. You guys have never gone to a competition?" Mia asked incredulously. Lauren, Rhiannon, and the NYCS cheerleaders shook their heads.
"That's crazy." Katie commented from where she was sitting on the floor between Ava and Jacelyn.
Paige was sitting on the ground next to Aubrey and Nattie. "Are you guys seriously going to this party tonight?"
"What party?" Leah, Katie, Ava, Jacelyn, and Nattie immediately demanded.
Chloe J laughed. "Wow, you guys excited?"
"You shouldn't be. It's a Madison party." Mia rolled her eyes when she spoke.
"What's so bad about Madison?" Rhiannon questioned.
"Seriously?" The PCH girls all said in unison.
"What isn't wrong with Madison?" Chloe J scoffed. "They're snobby, they're rude, and they have been bullying all of the PCH students, especially the ones who were attacked by the Text Message Killer or had a sibling or family member killed." Chloe J absolutely refused to talk about Trevor, so she always just referred to him as the TMK. She didn't think he deserved to be known by his actual name after he killed her stepbrother. She looked at Paige and Mia. "I'm glad that Brittany stood up for herself, even if it got her suspended."
"Why did she need to stand up for herself?" Lauren wondered. She didn't know Brittany, but Chloe J had quickly learned that Lauren and Rhiannon were nosy and liked to know any information that they could find out.
"Brittany was dating the TMK and she had no idea it was him." Chloe J revealed, making the NYCS girls look at her in shock. The girls from PCH looked down uncomfortably; no one liked to talk about it. "Someone mentioned it to her and she kicked some lockers, so the kids started calling her 'Whacko'. Earlier this week, someone basically made fun of her younger sister who was killed and called her 'Whacko' again, so she completely lost it and punched him in the face. She got suspended."
"What did the Madison kid get?" Rhiannon asked.
Chloe J shook her head with a disgusted smile. "Absolutely nothing."
"Why don't the PCH kids just transfer to NYCS?"
"Well my parents are forcing my sisters Emma and Maddie to go there." Katie stated. "They don't really have a choice."
"And a lot of our friends are there for Emma and Maddie." Chloe J added, not bothering to say names since she knew that they didn't know them.
"When do we get to meet the famous Emma and the rest of your friends?" Lauren questioned.
Chloe J looked at Mia, who had a big smile on her face and turned to look at Lauren and Rhiannon. "You guys wanna come to a Madison party tonight?"
Nattie
After cheerleading practice, Paige and Nattie returned to the penthouse. The older of the two went upstairs to get ready for the party tonight and Nattie intended to get her math homework done so she wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of the weekend, but Sam called out her name right as she got to the stairs.
She went into the kitchen and found her cousin (or whatever Sam was to her, she wasn't even sure at this point) getting a snack for Selena.
"Hey Sam. What's up?"
"How was cheerleading?"
"Good. The routines aren't nearly as complicated as they were at PCH and I think that kind of irritates Chloe J a little bit, but the NYCS girls aren't at the same skill level as us."
"Chloe J will find a way to make it work." She handed Selena a bowl of grapes. The four year old thanked her and disappeared into the living room. "How are you feeling?"
"What do you mean?"
"About everything that happened. You learned a lot in such a short amount of time and I want to make sure that you're okay."
Nattie sighed and dropped her backpack on the ground. She sat on one of the bar stools. "I guess I just don't understand."
"You don't understand what?"
"How she could just leave me." Nattie met Sam's eyes. "I know that there are amazing moms in this town, one of them being you, and then I know that there are moms who couldn't care less about their children. My mom had some flaws and I always knew that, but she had been there for me for the day that I was born. She acted like a mom to Paige. How could she just leave us?"
"I don't know." Sam admitted.
"I wish I could see her one more time just to ask that. I just want to know why she thought that she could go and not even say goodbye or tell me anything. Or why she didn't want to take me with her. Did I really mean that little to her?"
"Nattie, I can try and track her down if you want." Sam offered. "You could go see her and ask her all these questions, and who knows? Maybe she's changed her mind but she thinks that you don't want to be with her anymore."
"You would do that for me?"
"I'd do anything for you. You and Paige are my responsibility now. I will do anything for you that I would do for my own children; just ask Mia. If you want to find her, then I'll go with you to meet with her."
"I'll have to think about it." Nattie got up and hugged Sam. "Thank you. I love you."
"I love you too."
Mia
After cheerleading practice, Mia dropped Katie, Jacelyn, and Ava off at Jacelyn's house. She figured that since she was pretty close to Kelly's, she might as well stop. She had been craving chocolate chip cookies and she could practically taste them already.
As soon as the bell over the door rang, Mia's eyes landed on her mother. She automatically wanted to turn around and leave, but she was trying to be more mature considering she would be having a baby in a couple of months. She took a deep breath, released it, and then went to the counter. There was always a chance Olivia hadn't seen her yet and…
"Mia!"
Of course not.
Mia turned to face her. "Hi."
Olivia pulled her into a tight hug. "How are you? Are you feeling okay? How's the baby?"
"I'm fine." Mia pulled away uncomfortably and made sure she kept her place in line while she was talking. Olivia was silent and just stared at her. "What?"
"You're just so beautiful." Olivia touched her cheek. "I've missed you so much, Mia. I wish you would come home with me."
And there it is. Mia had been praying that Olivia wouldn't bring up the living situation, but of course she did.
"Have you talked to Allie about the dinner she, Daniel, and I had not too long ago?" Mia questioned.
"No…"
"I told her that I don't want to live with you. She was supposed to tell you that. And by the way, I don't appreciate you sending your fourteen year old daughter out to try and persuade Daniel and I into coming back. If we wanted to be with you, then we would take the initiative and do that ourselves."
"I don't understand why you can't just come home with me." Olivia grabbed her hand. "You belong with your mother."
"No, I don't!" Mia was trying not to make a scene but it was getting harder and harder since all she wanted to do was yell. "You haven't been a mother to me in years."
"Mia, don't do this. Don't try and make our relationship something that it wasn't. I love you."
"No. Your love for me is conditional and it always has been. You continually put Steve before your children. You didn't care that Dante hated him from the beginning, or that he said that if I got shot then I would understand why he didn't want me around Gabe and Maddie, or that he kicked me out, or that he got physical with Daniel and that made him, Mason, and Allie all move out. Do you even care that when your son died, he wasn't with you? You chose Steve over him and you'll never get the chance to make that right, just like I'm never giving you the chance to make it right with me."
"Don't you dare say that. I love my children!" Olivia was crying now.
"But not as much as you love yourself. You will do anything to be happy, and you thought Steve made you happy, so you stayed with him even if it wasn't what was best for us. So no, I won't come back home because I don't want to be controlled and manipulated by a woman who is too weak to stand up to her husband for her children."
Mia stormed out of the diner, ignoring Olivia's cries from behind her. She got into her car and slammed the door shut. She rested her forehead against the steering wheel and immediately started crying.
"Stupid pregnancy hormones." She choked out to herself. She sat up and slammed both fists into the steering wheel in anger.
She wasn't sure what else to do, so she got out her phone and dialed the most used number. He answered on the second ring.
"Hey, I just wanna apologize for being annoying earlier. I'm sorry that I'm so overprotective, I'm just worried about you and the baby and everything." Mia let out a loud sob. "Mia, what's wrong? Are you okay? Where are you?"
"Thank you." She managed to get out.
"For what?" she could hear Gabe's confusion even over the phone.
"For always caring enough about me to worry. For putting me first and loving me and being there for me. For letting me move in with you and being around for the baby even though there's a possibility that it might not be yours. And even though it bothers me when you're so overprotective, I never realized how much I loved you for it until now."
"What happened?"
"I just ran into my mom at Kelly's." Mia cried. She told him everything that had happened. "And now I'm sitting in my car in the parking lot, crying like an idiot because of these stupid hormones."
"I'm sorry that you saw her. You shouldn't feel guilty at all for what you said. You were right, Mimi. She hasn't put you first and why should you just pick up and move from a place where you feel safe right back to with the person who let your father speak to you however he wanted? You're not wrong in this situation."
"She was crying and I just feel so bad. As much as I want to hate her, she's still my mom."
"You don't have to hate her, but you do have to realize that she's hurt you in the past and there's a pretty good chance that she'll hurt you again. Mia, if you want to go home, I'll support you. But don't make a decision based on your mom's feelings. This has to be about what's best for you, and for the baby."
"I don't want to go with her."
"Then you don't have to." Mia could feel herself calming down at his words. Gabe always knew the right thing to say. "Do you want me to come get you?"
"No, I feel better now that I talked to you. Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me for being there for you. I'll see you when you get home, okay? I love you."
"Love you too." She hung up. Hopefully the party tonight would make her feel better.
Morgan
Morgan walked into his mother's house and saw that Connor was sitting on the couch while Courtney held up two different dresses to him.
"…and this one gives a good amount of cleavage, but this one makes my butt look good. What do you think?"
"Um Court, I'm not sure your brother is the best judge for that." Morgan said as she sat down next to Connor, who looked relieved to finally have a distraction.
"You guys are no help." She groaned dramatically and sat down in the chair, holding both dresses in front of her and studying them.
"Can I admit something to you guys?" Morgan said.
"You know you can." Connor told him.
"I hate that Aiden chose to propose now. Josslyn's wedding is going to completely overshadow mine."
"Awww, is Mo nervous that Jossy will get more compliments on her dress than him?" Courtney teased.
"Shut up, Court."
"Seriously though, you both have such different tastes that they won't really be comparable; they'll be special in their own way. Maybe if you and Lila Rae didn't decide to put your wedding off until next year then you wouldn't have to worry."
"I could barely get Lila Rae to agree to marry me at all, let alone have the wedding be soon."
"Then maybe you shouldn't marry her." Morgan gave his sister a look. "I'm just saying if she's putting up that much resistance, then she can't be that happy."
"She's just not really the commitment type. She's always had a hard time moving to the next step in our relationship, but she warms up to the idea and then she's okay."
"Why don't you just ask her to move your wedding up?" Connor suggested. "You could have it before Josslyn's and then it would be done and over with and no one would talk about how boring yours was compared to hers."
"Hey! My wedding won't be boring!"
"Morgan, Josslyn is an amazing party planner." Courtney reminded him. "Moving your wedding probably is the best bet."
"I thought you said they wouldn't be comparable because they would be special in their own way!"
The only girl in the room laughed. "Yeah, I lied."
Morgan ignored Courtney and Connor's laughs and dialed a number on his phone. Lila Rae answered on the third ring.
"Hey."
"Hi. Listen, I've been thinking about it a lot, and we should move the wedding. You know that Josslyn is getting married now too and I just don't want there to be any awkwardness with our family comparing the weddings and all that."
"I don't know if I'm ready to get married that soon, Morgan."
"Josslyn doesn't even have her date set yet. We'll just wait until she says when it'll be and then we'll move ours up to before it. Please, Lila Rae. It would mean a lot to me."
Lila Rae sighed. "I guess we can."
Morgan could tell by Courtney and Connor's facial expressions that they weren't impressed with his fiancée's hesitance, but he ignored them. "Thank you! I'll see you when you get off work. I love you."
"Love you too."
He hung up. "My wedding is gonna blow Josslyn's out of the water. Just you wait and see!" he started to leave.
"Wait!" Courtney shouted. He turned to look at her. "Which dress should I wear?" He ignored her and went to the front door. "YOU'RE SO MEAN TO ME!" Morgan just laughed and shut the door behind him.
Molly and Cameron
"There are my beautiful girls!" Cameron walked into his house, immediately taking his daughter from his wife's arms. He leaned down and kissed Molly, then kissed Prue's forehead. "How was your day?"
"Busy." Molly admitted. "What about you? Did you catch any dangerous criminals?"
"Not today, but we got a lead on one of the cases I'm working on, so that was good." He looked down at Prue. "What about you, angel? Did you have fun at daycare?"
"The teachers can't stop gushing about how beautiful and smart and well-behaved she is." Molly proudly announced.
"Tell them that we're just destined to have perfect children. They'll learn all about that when the next one is just as great as Prue."
Molly raised an eyebrow as she led the way to the kitchen, starting to pull the items she needed to make dinner out of the cabinets. "Next one?"
"Uh-huh. I don't want Prue to be an only child. I was thinking we would start pretty soon."
"Um, how soon?"
"Next month?" Cameron suggested.
Molly shook her head. "Sorry, but that's not happening. I want our kids to be close, but not that close."
"Then when do you think?"
"We can consider starting to try for another one when Prue's a year old. I just want us to be able to give her all of our attention right now and we can't do that if we're constantly worrying about having another baby."
"I guess you're right." He sat down at the table they have in their kitchen and held Prue on his lap. "Where's Addison?"
"With Jamie. They're going on a date tonight."
"How romantic!" Cameron said in a fake high pitched voice. He knew that his wife was a hopeless romantic and absolutely adored Addie and Jamie's relationship. "Did you give young James the speech?"
Molly smiled. "What speech?"
"The 'if you hurt my sister I'll hurt you' speech."
"They've been together for three years. I think it's a little late for that."
"It's never too late. Don't worry, I'll handle it when he drops her off."
"You're such a dork." Molly giggled. "But I have to admit that I love how you're protective over my sister."
"Hey, family is family, whether it's yours or mine. Addie lives with us, she's a great kid, and she's amazing with our daughter. I'm always going to protect her."
"Thank you. She's never really had that since she didn't know about her mother until a few months ago and my dad wasn't exactly Father of the Year…"
"Don't thank me. It's easy to love her." He smiled. "She must get that from her sister."
Molly laughed and rolled her eyes. "Dork."
Rachel
"…and I'm thinking that Katie is probably my best bet." Rachel said to Alec. "She seemed to open up the most."
"I'm really surprised Maddie was so closed off. Normally she's the easiest of them to talk to." Alec told her. Rachel had been talking about the lunch she had with the Morgans constantly, even though it was five days ago. It was nice to see that she was so dedicated, but he wasn't sure how many more angles there were to analyze it from. "So, we've got a lot of weddings coming up to go to. Do you have some nice dresses?"
"I'm sure I can find one, it's not like there's gonna be a wedding tomorrow." Rachel rolled her eyes at him. "The only one I'm really looking forward to is Izzie and Spencer's wedding. I don't know Morgan Corinthos or Lila Rae Alcazar, and I barely know Josslyn Jacks."
"But you're my date and I'm practically required to go."
"Why?"
"Well Morgan's father is my mom's ex-husband, so I've known him for forever, plus my mom is close to the Quartermaines and Lila Rae is a Quartermaine. And then even though Josslyn's a pain, I love her to death, and Aiden is my best friend's younger brother. And then Izzie was my friend in high school, so I have to be there for that one too." He realized that he didn't know some important information about his girlfriend. "What do you think about marriage?"
Her eyes widened. "Alec, I really like you, but…"
"I don't mean right now!" he interrupted quickly. "Just in general, Rae."
"Oh." She laughed. "I don't really know. I want to get married someday, but when I find the right person and I'm absolutely sure."
"Do you think I could be that person?" he questioned with a grin.
"It's very possible." She agreed. "I don't know though, there's a lot of things I want to do before I get married. Like get closer to my family."
Alec braced himself for yet another conversation about the Morgans.
Party
"So I have a quick question." Rhiannon said as Chloe J pulled up to the party. She had offered to drive both Lauren and Rhiannon since she invited them.
"Okay…"
"Are your friends nice? Like from a stranger's point of view. The way you and Mia talk about them, and from things I've heard from other kids who transferred from PCH, they seem so…perfect. Are they snobby?"
Chloe J smiled. "Trust me. If you can deal with me, you can handle them. I'm probably the worst one. Quit worrying and let's go!" The three girls got out of the car and walked up to the house together. "Now like we said before, Madison kids are snobs. It's probably better to stay away from them. Just stick with NYCS or PCH kids."
"Do NYCS kids go to these parties?" Lauren wondered.
"I don't think they usually do, but who knows? There could be some that I didn't know were from there that you guys know." They entered the house, immediately being overwhelmed by voices and loud music.
"HEY!" Chloe J looked to her left and saw Mia. The younger girl hugged her, then Lauren and Rhiannon. "Do you guys go to parties a lot?"
"Not so much anymore. Lauren was a bit slutty last year, so she needed to calm it down and I agreed to take one for the team." Rhiannon explained. Mia and Chloe J both laughed.
"Trust me, we all go through our slutty years." Mia smiled. "At least you didn't have two of them."
"Where is everyone? Did you come with Gabe?" Chloe J questioned.
"Mmhmm. I saw you guys so I came over here. He's over there with Nate, Hunter, and Paige. Britt just got here, so let's wait for her."
"She's gonna be crazy. Isn't this the first time she's gotten out of the house since she got suspended?"
"Yep. I hope she doesn't get too wild because as the pregnant one, everyone is automatically gonna assume that I'm taking care of the drunks and I'm not doing it. I refuse to hold back hair while anyone pukes."
"Even me?"
Rhiannon and Lauren looked as a tall, blonde girl approached their group. She had curly hair, blue eyes, and she was beautiful.
"Even you." Mia stated. "Guys, this is Courtney Jacks. Court, this is Rhiannon Deusa and Lauren Grayson."
"Nice to meet you." Courtney smiled at both of them. "You're cheerleaders, right? We're planning on taking down the entire Madison cheer team pretty soon if you're interested."
"Don't bother them with your crazy schemes." Chloe J said, shaking her head. "You never, ever want to get involved in any of Courtney's plans. They never end well."
"Excuse me, yes they do!"
"Name one time your plan worked." Mia challenged.
Courtney thought for a minute and then rolled her eyes. "You guys are so annoying." Mia and Chloe J laughed. "BRITTY!"
"COURTIE!"
The two NYCS girls watched as Courtney collided with another blonde who completely jumped on her, wrapping her arms and legs around her body in a koala kind of hug.
"That's Brittany Corinthos. You guys are gonna love both of them. They are two of the easiest people to get along with." Mia told her friends.
"Who do you think is the hardest?" Lauren asked.
Mia and Chloe J looked at each other, considering all of their friends. "Well, Gabe's just really overprotective, so he's not gonna automatically want to be your friend, but he's not mean. Honestly, we're probably the most difficult." Mia answered.
"Yeah, I hate practically everyone and Mimi's basically antisocial."
"I am not!"
"You've gotten a lot better, but you are." Chloe J argued. "She used to only talk to us. If she doesn't know you, Mia won't talk to you. She is terrible at making friends."
"Um, I made friends." She gestured towards Rhiannon and Lauren.
"Yeah, because I introduced you to them. You're welcome." Chloe J gave her an overly sweet smile.
Brittany came over and hugged Mia tightly, pressing a loud kiss to her cheek. She hugged Chloe J next, then looked at the other two girls.
"I don't know you. Who are you?"
"Rhiannon and Lauren." Chloe J introduced. "Have you been drinking already?"
"Mmmm, I don't think so." Brittany giggled, even though she clearly had been.
"How did you even get here?"
"We brought her."
Lauren and Rhiannon studied the two new faces. The boy was tall and had blonde hair and blue eyes and strongly resembled Courtney. The girl was somewhat tall and had dark hair and blue eyes. They were holding hands.
"Connor Jacks and Maddie Morgan." Mia said. "This is Rhiannon and Lauren."
"Hi!" Maddie smiled at them. "And Britt was like this when she got in the car so we have no idea how this happened."
"I told you! I went in Hunter's room and I found something and I drank it!" Brittany explained slowly like she was talking to a toddler.
"But that doesn't make sense! Hunter wouldn't just have alcohol laying around in his room."
"Uh-huh. My brother's a lot dumber than you would think."
"Ouch." A tall, dark haired, muscular guy came over. He gripped his chest in fake hurt. "That hurts, Britt."
She rolled her eyes. "Not you, Zack."
Chloe J quickly made the introductions before she was pulled into Zack's arms. He leaned close to her ear.
"Thank you for talking to Emma yesterday. I don't know how much it helped, but she really misses you."
"I miss her too. I don't want to tell her what to do and push her away, so I just tried to listen to her and not judge."
"Thank you." He pulled back. "It's good to see ya, Mimi. How's the kid treating you?"
"Well I'm not throwing up as much so that's good." She shrugged. "I dunno, I'm just taking this one step at a time."
Zack didn't really greet Courtney, Connor, or Maddie since he saw them earlier at school. "Where is everyone else?"
"Gabe, Hunter, Paige, and Nate are somewhere over there." Mia gestured to the left side of the room. "That just leaves Emma. Where is she?"
He sighed. "God only knows. Let's go over to Gabe and the others and then I'll look for her."
The group started to make their way through the crowd when suddenly Mia started laughing. They all stopped to look at her but she was bent over and clutching her stomach.
"Are you okay?" Courtney asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Maddie, is that…" she trailed off, pointing ahead of her. She couldn't even get the words out from how hard she was laughing.
"Thomas Ashby? It sure is." Maddie said with a small smile, knowing exactly why Mia was laughing.
"I'm gonna go apologize for not paying for his dry cleaning." She giggled, clearly not intending to apologize. Maddie was going to let her go until she looked up and saw Brianna standing next to him.
"Court." Maddie grabbed the taller girl's arm, directing her attention from her conversation with Connor to what was going on with Mia.
"Oh this is definitely not happening." Courtney groaned. "Has anyone told Mia that Brianna said something about her baby being deformed?"
"She said what?" Brittany growled, storming over to where Mia was walking.
"This isn't going to end well." Connor grimaced as Courtney and Maddie followed the other two girls. Chloe J, Zack, Connor, Rhiannon, and Lauren joined them, figuring they had no other choice.
"Hey Tommy." Mia called out with a huge smile, still trying to keep in her laughter. "Did you ever get those pants dry cleaned?"
Thomas gave her a dirty look. "Get away from me, you trailer trash little whore."
Brittany pushed past Mia right as he spoke and moved so she was standing within inches of Brianna's face. "You wanna tell me why you thought it was okay to say an unborn baby was going to be deformed?"
It took Mia less than half a second to process that Brittany was talking about her child. All traces of a smile disappeared from her face as her eyes narrowed and she moved forward.
"Excuse me?"
"Mia, stop." Courtney reached her and grabbed her arm. Mia yanked it from her grasp.
"Number one, who are you? Number two, you know absolutely nothing about my child. Number three, why would my child ever come up in a conversation that some random girl is having?" Mia said.
Lauren and Rhiannon watched from where they were standing next to Chloe J and Connor. They had never seen this side of Mia, but it was clear that others had. She was extremely tense, her face was drawn into a frown, and her hands were in fists at her sides.
"She won't actually fight her, will she?" Rhiannon whispered to Chloe J.
She bit her lip. "Hard to tell. Mia's got a bit of a temper, and she's always been known as the one in our group who is the most likely to get in a fight. Add in that someone was talking about her baby? I would say it's pretty likely unless Maddie can stop it."
"Why aren't you trying to stop her?"
"Because I know that when Mia gets to this place, only a couple of people can get through to her. Maddie is one of those people, so it's better to just stay out of the way and let her try to calm her down. Brittany, however, I can work with." Chloe J stepped forward and grabbed Brittany, yanking her backwards.
"Get off of me." Brittany threated.
"It's not your battle, Britt. Mia doesn't need to be fighting while she's pregnant and you're only pushing her on." Chloe J kept a hand around Brittany's wrist, who didn't fight her on it.
"I'm assuming you're Emma Morgan's brother's slut of a girlfriend, am I right? My name is Brianna, not that it's any of your business. I know that you had chlamydia and that can cause birth defects, so when your child comes out deformed, it's going to be your fault."
Mia wrapped her hand around Brianna's throat before anyone could stop her. It was clear by then that this had escalated beyond the point that Maddie could stop it.
Zack moved forward, wrapping an arm around Mia's waist and trying to separate her from the other girl. "Maddie, get Gabe. Now." He pulled her back. "Mia, let go."
"You're okay with her talking about my child like this? Acting like she knows anything about my situation? You all might be fine with letting these Madison punks walk all over you, but I don't have to be. I don't go to school with them and I don't have to take this." Her grip tightened and Brianna gasped for air.
Thomas grabbed Mia's wrist and tried to pull it. Chloe J let Brittany go at that point, but Courtney had already dug her heel into his foot, making him let go of Mia.
"You can back up now." Brittany said, standing in front of him with a glare. "I don't think it's a secret who my father is and I have no problem giving him a call."
"Chloe J, I need some help here." Zack called. Mia had grabbed a handful of Brianna's hair in her other hand to try and prevent her from moving away.
Chloe J quickly moved forward, grabbing Mia's wrist that was holding the hair in her hand and untangling the hair from around her fingers. She looked into Mia's eyes and saw that they were practically black from her anger. She got her other hand off of Brianna's neck and moved so she was standing between the girls.
"I suggest you walk away." Chloe J told Brianna with a dirty look.
"I suggest you make me." Brianna stepped closer.
Before anyone even knew what was happening, a tiny little body squeezed between Chloe J and Brianna. She grabbed a fistful of Brianna's shirt and shoved her backwards.
"Emma, stop." Zack called out warningly.
Rhiannon and Lauren looked at each other in surprise. They didn't know when they agreed to come to this party that it would be like this. While it was scary to see Mia look so angry, it was also nice to observe how protective her friends were over her.
They both looked at the girl they were assuming was the famous Emma Morgan. She was a lot shorter than they expected, but she was gorgeous. She had long, dark hair, hazel eyes, and dimples.
Brianna pushed past Emma and got in Mia's face. "Are you trying to start something here?"
"Are you trying to start something?" Lauren and Rhiannon immediately recognized Gabe as he protectively stood in front of his girlfriend.
Brianna looked up at the boy. "You would hit a girl?"
"If it meant protecting my girlfriend and my child."
"Wow, nice to see that all the men from PCH are women beaters. You're just like your cousin, aren't you?"
Emma lunged forward and knocked Brianna to the ground. Mia struggled in Zack's arms and Connor had to grab Brittany before she could do anything. Gabe leaned down and lifted Emma completely off of the ground, holding her back into his chest and yanking her backwards. There was no one to grab Courtney though and she picked up where Emma left off, landing a solid punch to Brianna's eye.
Lauren and Rhiannon saw two boys they recognized as Hunter Corinthos and Nate Scorpio-Drake run over, followed closely by Paige.
"Breathe, Mads." Chloe J told Maddie from where she stood next to her. Maddie had never been a fighter, so she was trying to calm herself down and not do anything stupid.
Hunter picked up Courtney. "Let's go!" He told the others, gesturing with his head towards another area of the house. He didn't put Courtney down, listening as she screamed profanities and fought hard against his grip.
"Don't you ever, EVER, talk about PCH like you know what happened there! And if you ever insult my child again, I swear to God that I will kill you!" Mia screamed as Zack dragged her away.
Gabe was still holding Emma as she fought against his grip. "I better not ever catch either of you around Mia again." He told Brianna and Thomas. He kept his arms locked around his older sister and got her away from Brianna. Connor had gotten Brittany calmed down enough so she could be trusted to walk away, but he held her hand tightly in his. Chloe J, Maddie, Nate, Paige, Rhiannon, and Lauren followed after them.
They all followed Hunter into a quieter area where there weren't any people. There was a couch and he put Courtney on it. Zack and Gabe put Mia and Emma next to her.
"Does someone wanna explain to me what that was all about?" Hunter demanded.
"Oh you know, I just felt like getting in an argument." Mia said, shrugging her shoulders. She leaned forward. "She said my baby would be deformed because of the chlamydia. My baby, Hunter! What did you expect me to do?"
"I expected you to not get in any fights." Gabe told her, moving to take the place Hunter was standing. "Mia, you can't put our baby's life at risk like that!"
"So I'm supposed to just sit back and take this?"
"No, but it doesn't need to be physical!"
"Stop." Courtney interrupted, running a hand through her hair. "I shouldn't have said anything."
"Me either." Brittany agreed. "I'm sorry, Mimi."
"Neither of you should be sorry. You just let me know that random people think it's okay to comment on my life." Mia glanced over at Emma. She noticed her eyes were completely glazed over, her face was pale, and she looked completely out of it. Some of her anger started to disappear. "Em? You okay?"
Emma's breathing sped up, but she didn't speak. "Back up." Nate ordered, stepping forward. He knelt in front of her. "Emma, you're okay."
One second, Nate was kneeling in front of Emma. The next, he was clutching his face as Emma cried, holding her wrist. She had punched him in the face.
"Get away from me! You're a monster!" she cried, moving as far away from him as she could and holding her wrist in her hand.
"I think she's hallucinating." Zack stated.
Hunter went forward and sat next to her. "Emmy, it's Hunter. You're alright. You're safe now. He's never going to hurt you again."
She lifted her eyes to meet his and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Hunter?"
"Yeah, it's me. You're alright. Everything's okay." He pulled her into his arms.
Zack put a hand on her back and she flinched, moving further into Hunter. She buried her face into his chest and he stroked her hair, giving everyone a silent look to leave Emma alone right now.
"Gabe, Maddie, Chloe J, Court, can I talk to you for a second?" Zack asked, gesturing to the side. The four teenagers followed him over a couple feet so they could talk privately.
Mia cracked her knuckles. "I really wanted to punch her."
"Well your handprint is gonna be on her neck for at least a couple of days." Brittany commented.
Mia smiled proudly. "Britt, don't think one little suspension is gonna give you my title of Ultimate Fighter."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Mimi."
Rhiannon glanced at Paige, who was standing next to her. "Are you guys always like this?"
"We didn't use to be, but lately, it seems like someone is always in a fight or having an argument." She shook her head. "I just can't believe this whole situation happened. It's crazy."
"I never would have imagined Mia being like that." Lauren commented.
"Mia's the sweetest girl in the world to the people who know and love her, but if someone she doesn't know says something she doesn't like, she completely loses it. She's always had a problem with controlling herself. You might never see that side of Mia again, but it's there." Nate came over to her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just didn't realize Emma could hit so hard." He rubbed his jaw. "Are you ready to go?"
"Mmhmm." Paige smiled at Lauren and Rhiannon. "I'll see you guys on Monday." The two of them walked out.
"Where are they going?" Brittany demanded.
"They said they were leaving." Lauren responded.
"I love them, but I swear they are two of the most boring people I have ever met." Brittany went to the NYCS girls. "You guys wanna go get something to drink?"
"Sure." They said together.
"C'mon."
"Wait for me, Britt!" Courtney called from where she was standing. The conversation ended and the four girls went to find something to drink.
"Where are Nate and Paige?" Chloe J wondered.
"They left."
"Of course they did." She rolled her eyes. "Mimi, you're right! You're stuck with drunk duty!"
"No!" Mia groaned.
"I'm gonna take her home." Zack told his younger brother. He reached out to grab Emma's hand, but she buried her face in Hunter's shoulder.
"I'll take her." Hunter offered. "You stay here and try to have fun. You've been watching out for Emma so much that you haven't really had the chance. I can handle her."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Have you drank anything?"
"No."
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Call me if anything happens."
"I will." Hunter agreed. "Em, we're gonna go, okay? You can come spend the night at my house. I'll protect you."
"Okay." Emma's voice was tiny and it broke Zack's heart. Hunter got her up off of the couch and they walked out of the house. That left Zack, Chloe J, Maddie, Connor, Gabe, and Mia.
Mia wrapped her arms around Gabe's neck and hugged him. "I'm sorry for getting in a fight. I don't regret defending our baby, but I shouldn't have gotten physical."
"I know that it's hard to control yourself when the people you love are hurt." He kissed her forehead.
"Who's drinking tonight so we can decide who's driving?" Connor wondered.
"Well clearly Brittany and Courtney are." They looked to where the two girls, along with Rhiannon and Lauren, were drinking. "Chloe J, what's the deal with your friends?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why did you bring them tonight?"
"Hey, they're nice girls." Mia immediately defended.
"I'm not saying you shouldn't have brought them, I'm just wondering why you did. Neither of you are very friendly, so it's weird that you brought random people."
"They've been listening to us complain the past couple of weeks about all of you guys and how annoying you are and they wanted to meet you. Tonight seemed like a good opportunity." Chloe J grimaced. "They probably think we're all insane."
"It's good for them to learn it now." Maddie said. "After all this, I'm not really in the mood for partying anymore."
"Let's go then." Connor and Maddie said their goodbyes and then they left.
"Where are Maddie and Connie?" Courtney demanded as she led Brittany, Rhiannon, and Lauren back over to the group.
"They left."
"Mia, do you wanna stay or go home?" Gabe asked his girlfriend.
"Go home. I already know I'm gonna get stuck with Britt and I'm not prepared to deal with her issues right now."
"Rude!" Brittany gasped, then nearly tripped and started laughing.
"Point taken." Gabe agreed. "We'll see you guys later."
Zack and Chloe J sat on the couch, watching Courtney, Brittany, Lauren, and Rhiannon drink and talk and laugh. Since everyone else was gone, they knew they would have to stay and get the drunks home.
"Do you think she thought Nate was Joey?" Chloe J asked quietly.
"Probably. I don't know how Hunter knew what to say, but I'm glad he got through to her."
"It sucks that Nate got punched in the face though. Who knew Emma was so violent these days?"
"A lot has changed about her." Zack sighed. "It's rough. Some days, she's my best friend and the girl I grew up with. But others, she completely loses herself in alcohol and it's like she doesn't even know who she is. It's scary."
"I'm sorry that I kind of left you to deal with her by yourself. I just don't know how to handle her and I can't sit and watch her self-destruct."
"It sucks."
"Has Courtney been helpful?"
"To Emma, yeah. They both drink constantly, but it's terrible for me."
"I'm really sorry, Zack."
"It's not your fault. Just don't disappear from Emma's life. She needs you. The two of you have some weird sort of balance over each other and she needs that now more than ever."
Emma
Emma woke up extremely confused. She was lying in a bed and facing a wall and had no idea where she was. Then, she suddenly felt the urge to throw up. She rolled over and realized that she was in Hunter's room. She jumped over him and ran into his bathroom. She fell to her knees in front of the toilet and immediately vomited.
She gripped onto the sides of the toilet as everything in her stomach came back up. She felt a pair of hands grab her hair and pull it out of the way, but she couldn't turn around and see who it was because she had to throw up again.
After another minute of vomiting, she figured she was done. She turned slightly and Zack gave her a tired smile. He handed her a wad of toilet paper and she wiped her mouth and then flushed the toilet. He stood and pulled her to her feet.
"Mouthwash." Zack offered, grabbing it from the cabinet under Hunter's sink.
"Thanks." Emma swished it around her mouth for a couple seconds and then spit it out. "How did I get into Hunter's bed?"
"He's the only one that you would let touch you. Come on, my dad made breakfast." Zack and Emma exited the bathroom and went back into Hunter's room. The older boy shook his younger brother's shoulder. "Get up, Dad made breakfast and he wants us all downstairs."
Hunter sat up and rubbed his eyes. He focused on the tiny girl standing in front of him. "You okay, Em?"
"I'm not throwing up right now, so I guess that's a plus."
"Way to be positive." He joked, standing up and following them out of the room.
"What do you mean by I would only let Hunter touch me?" Emma questioned as the three of them walked down the hallway.
"You freaked out and he was the only one who could get close to you. He brought you home."
"But why?"
"We had no idea." Hunter answered for Zack. "I guess you just couldn't resist my devilishly good looks."
"Shut up." Emma rolled her eyes. They walked downstairs and went to the Corinthos' dining room. Claudia was seated at one end of the table with Brenna and Brittany to her left, followed by an empty chair. On her right were the seats that belonged to Zack and Hunter, followed by another empty chair, and then there was the head of the table where Sonny sat. Emma always felt kind of awkward eating with them because she knew that those two seats belonged to Jazzie and Lola.
"Sit next to me, Em." Brittany commanded. Emma went over and took the seat that had been Lola's. She sat down and Brittany immediately leaned her head over onto her shoulder. It didn't take long for her to realize that Brittany was hungover, and she wondered what they had done last night. All she could remember was going to some Madison party. She knew she had gotten there with Zack, but she couldn't remember anything after her first couple drinks.
Conversation was mostly dominated by Hunter and Brenna as Emma and Brittany both dealt with their hangovers. As soon as everyone was finished, the teens excused themselves and went upstairs. Brenna went to her room to get ready for the day while Emma pulled Brittany and Hunter into Zack's room.
"I don't remember anything from last night." She informed them.
"You missed an eventful night." Brittany told her. "It was pretty crazy."
She frowned. "What happened?"
"Well, Mia found out that Brianna Edwards said that her baby would be deformed. The two of them got into it and Mia choked her so hard that her handprint was practically imprinted onto her neck. Zack had to pulled her away and Chloe J had to physically remove her hands from Brianna's neck and hair." Brittany explained.
Zack picked up from there. "Then you got involved and tried to break it up before anything happened with Brianna and Chloe J. But Brianna got in Mia's face again and Gabe told her to back off and Brianna said something about how all the guys at PCH are women beaters."
"You, Mia, Court, and Britt flipped. You knocked her down, but Gabe picked you up before you could do damage. Zack was still holding Mia…"
"Yeah, she clawed my arms up too." Zack held his arm out to prove his point, showing them the red marks that Mia had made with her fingernails.
Hunter continued. "Connor grabbed Brittany. But no one was there to get Court, so she got a good punch in on that Brianna chick's eye. Then I came over, a hero as always, and got Courtney and we took you guys to a separate area."
Emma noticed the hesitation on all three of their faces to continue the story. She wondered what had happened next and why they didn't want to tell her. "Then what?"
"Princess, have you ever hallucinated before?" Zack asked gently.
She shrugged. "I don't know. Why?"
"You punched Nate in the face."
"What?"
"You yelled at him to get away from you and called him a monster." He grabbed Emma's hand in his, looking at her bruised knuckles. "I think you were hallucinating Joey."
Emma shook her head. "I don't think so. It was probably just the alcohol."
"No, this was different. You could see it in your eyes."
"I don't know what happened, Zack. I don't know what you want me to say. I don't remember."
"Anyway, you let me talk to you and I picked you up and took you back here." Hunter finished. "From what I heard, pretty much everyone else left."
"Yeah, it was only Court, Chloe J, Zack, and I." Brittany told her, joining into Hunter's effort to change the subject and make Emma a little less uncomfortable. "And Chloe J and Mia's friends, Lauren and Rhiannon. Do you remember meeting them?" Emma shook her head no. "They're really cool. You would like them."
"Yeah, I bet." Emma said, though her head was far away. Was she hallucinating? It's not like that was too far off from nightmares, so she wouldn't be surprised. She fought the urge to cry. Even after his death, Joey was still haunting her.
Chloe J and Courtney
Chloe J woke up and immediately knew that she wasn't in her bedroom. It only took her a couple of seconds to realize that she was in Courtney's room, and then she remembered that she had come there after the party last night. The party had been awful; the Dream Team hadn't even got to spend time together because the majority of them left after the fight that broke out. She just wished that they could all be around each other and actually enjoy it.
She glanced over when she heard the bathroom door open and she watched Courtney exit the bathroom. She looked pale and shaky and not at all like her usual, confident self. Courtney came over to the bed, lifting back her blankets and taking her place next to Chloe J again.
"You okay?" she couldn't help but ask.
Courtney nodded. "Yeah, just hungover and puking. It sucks."
Chloe J wasn't so sure that that was it. Courtney had a history of bulimia and she wouldn't be surprised if the girl was reverting back to her old ways. She just hoped that she knew she could trust her friends enough to come to them if she was having issues.
"So, that party sucked." Courtney commented after a couple minutes of silence. It was kind of strange. It had been a while since Chloe J had hung out with just Courtney and she missed the other blonde.
"Yeah, definitely."
"I noticed that B-Dubs showed up." Courtney smiled at her. "What's going on with the two of you?"
Chloe J couldn't help her smile. "He actually asked me to be his girlfriend last night."
"What did you say?" Courtney asked, shooting up to a sitting position. She looked like she immediately regretted it based on the grimace on her face.
"I said yes."
"Oh my God. Who would have ever thought Chloe J Hunter and Brendan 'B-Dubs' Webber would be an exclusive couple?" Courtney laid back down. "Seriously though, I'm happy for you." She was quiet for a second.
Chloe J studied her. "Say what you want to say."
"Huh?"
"I know you, Court. I know that you have something on your mind. What is it?"
"I can't believe you're finally settling down."
"It's not like I'm engaged."
"Yeah, but you have an actual boyfriend again. It kinda makes me sad. I miss being in a relationship and having someone to talk to."
"Courtney, you're gorgeous. You could have any guy that you wanted."
"I'm trying to be smarter this time around. I wasted a lot of time when I dated Tyler and I don't want to make that mistake again." She sighed. "Does this mean you're over Ryan?"
Chloe J raised an eyebrow. "You wanna date Ryan?"
Courtney laughed. "No. I'm just asking. You must be if you are willing to date Brendan, right?"
Chloe J thought it over before she responded. "I don't know if I'm completely out of love with him, but I'm ready to move on and try something new."
"I'm really happy for you."
"Thank you. And your time will come. I think it's good that you're not rushing into any relationships or anything like that."
"Yeah."
Chloe J turned to look at her. "Are you going to give me the speech?"
"What speech?"
"How I need to be more involved with Emma and stop letting her destroy her life? I've already heard it from like three different people."
Courtney bit her lip. "I honestly don't know what to say about Emma. Last night when she punched Nate was scary. I've never seen her do anything like that before. I looked at Zack and even he looked surprised, so I think it's new for him too. I don't think it's fair for anyone to put that on your shoulders and expect you to have all the answers and be able to 'fix' her. I think we're all doing the best we can with a sucky situation."
"I just don't get what people think I can do for her."
"I know that it's wrong, but the drinking numbs the pain. She doesn't have to think for a little while. Doesn't she deserve that after everything she's been through?"
And finally, Chloe J understood a little bit more about why Courtney and Emma spent so much time at parties and bars instead of actually taking the time to heal.
Mia
Mia gently closed the door to Maddie's bedroom, trying not to wake her friend. She walked quietly down the hallway to Gabe's room. She entered and immediately climbed under the blankets, trying to warm herself up.
Gabe wrapped his arms around her. "You okay?"
"Mmhmm."
"Are you feeling sick?"
"No, I just wanted to be with you." She rested her chin on his chest so that they could make eye contact. "How are you?"
He smiled, showing his amusement. "I'm good, how are you?"
"No really, Gabe. How are you? We always talk about the baby and me and everything else, but we don't really talk about you. Are you okay?"
"I'm good, Mimi. I'm happy with our relationship and with our baby. School is going well. I just wish that all of our friends were doing okay."
"Talk to me about it." She prodded. She knew that Gabe held back sometimes because he was worried about stressing her out, but she didn't want him to carry around anything by himself.
"I talked to Brittany the other day about everything going on with her. I hope that I was able to get through to her because I can't stand the idea of her not being okay. She doesn't deserve it. Have you ever thought about how much she lost, Mia? Four siblings. Joey, Bella, Lola, and Jazzie. Her boyfriend was the one who killed them all, and he attacked her too. You can see how conflicted she is about Joey and Trevor because of all the bad things they have done, but also because of her personal connections to them. And now that Grace transferred from Madison and she's their new target, I'm worried about what it will do to her."
"Brittany's a lot stronger than people give her credit for." Mia reminded him. "All of you boys think that we need protecting, but we can handle things. Britt is going to get through this because she has to. There's no other option."
"Would the Brittany you know ever get in a fight and get suspended from school?"
"Gabe, none of us are the same people we were before the Text Message Killer. We all have so much more baggage now and that's something that we're all going to have to accept. The Brittany I know stands up for people she loves, and that's what she was doing. She was standing up to someone who talked about her dead sister."
"What do you think about Courtney?" Gabe asked, changing the subject.
"What about her?"
"We've all been so focused on the fact that Emma is out drinking all the time that I never really considered that Courtney is with her. What do you think she's trying to cope with?"
"Well, her little sister was killed, she's struggling with an eating disorder, and she found out her boyfriend of four years cheated on her. I would say that's a lot, but I don't think that's necessarily Court's reason for drinking." Gabe looked at Mia, waiting for her to elaborate. "I think she's just doing it so Emma doesn't have to drink alone. That's her way of being there for her."
Gabe shook his head. "It's not smart."
"Everyone is healing in their own ways."
"How can you say that after what happened with you? You hated the person you were when you were going to bars and drinking to try and numb your pain. How can you possibly say that that is an okay way for Emma, or Courtney, to heal?"
Mia thought about that time in her life. She thought about when she finally hit rock bottom and realized that she needed to change.
"Gabe, I don't think there were any magic words that anyone could have said to me to make me feel better. It wouldn't have mattered how many times you hugged me or told me you loved me and you were there. I needed to crash and burn so that I could pick up the pieces and start over, you know? And I needed you there to help me with that. I'm not say that that is what will happen with Emma; maybe tomorrow she'll wake up and realize that she's over drinking and she'll be okay. But you have to consider how much your sister has been through in the past couple of months. It's been crazy for her and while I know from experience that this isn't the best way to deal with things, you should be grateful that at least she lets Courtney and Zack in."
Gabe nodded his head. "I guess that makes sense to me. She's my sister though. I just want to protect her and end this all for her."
"I know you do. But Emma is going to have to do this on her own. She has to make that decision."
Leah and Brenna
Leah and Brenna walked around the mall together, glad to finally be with each other. The divide between the schools had been hard on them. With Leah going to NYCS and Brenna going to Madison, they didn't get to see each other as much and it was taking a toll on their friendship.
"So, how's cheer going?" Brenna asked.
"It's pretty good. You know how Chloe J is as a captain; she lets the power go to her head and gets a little too bossy. But it's better than not cheering at all. The skill level of our team isn't as good as PCH's. The girls at NYCS didn't even know how competitions are scored!"
"Wow." Brenna was surprised. She had been cheering since kindergarten, so it was practically second nature to her. "The kids at NYCS are nice to you?"
"Mmhmm. The PCH kids mostly stick together still, but when we do talk to NYCS kids, they're not bad. I feel bad that we took over their school though. It was already overcrowded before and now with all the extra bodies, it gets hard to move around sometimes."
"Still, you should be grateful. It sounds better than Madison."
Leah had noticed the change in Brenna's demeanor. Her best friend told her that the kids at Madison were snobs, and she had heard stories of them bullying people, but they had never really approached that subject. She decided to start of slowly.
"Why don't you join the cheer team there? Maybe that would make it a little more bearable."
Brenna laughed. "Yeah right. PCH girls are forbidden from joining the Madison cheer team."
"What? Why?"
"That was the announcement that their cheer captain made at tryouts."
"Is she allowed to do that?"
"The kids at Madison do whatever they want."
Leah frowned. "Why don't you go to the principal? I'm sure he would find a way to get you on the team."
"Yeah, but then the girls would just torture me and I don't want to deal with that nightmare." Brenna shook her head. "They're not very good anyway. I watched their tryouts and even their captain sucks. Emma would put her to shame."
"Bren, do you ever get bullied?" Leah questioned.
Brenna nodded. "We all do. Didn't you hear about Grace transferring to NYCS because she had been bullied so much? Brittany just got suspended because she hit a boy who was making fun of Jazzie's death. They don't care at all that we went through an actual serial killer terrorizing us. If you were a victim of the TMK, you get it worse. If someone in your family was killed, they taunt you with that. It's horrible, Leah."
Leah leaned over and hugged her. "I'm so sorry."
Brenna just leaned her head against her shoulder. "Yeah, me too."
Sonny and Claudia
Sonny was surprised that his house was actually empty. There was almost always someone home, but right now, he was all on his own. All the kids had gone out with their friends and Claudia had gone to visit Izzie, which left him to his own devices. He chose to spend his time in the kitchen, preparing a meal for dinner.
He heard his cellphone ring and picked it up, rolling his eyes when he saw who it was. "Corinthos."
"Sonny!" Brenda screeched into his ear. He winced, moving the phone back a couple inches so that he didn't wind up with a headache by the end of this conversation.
"Brenda, what's going on?" he knew it was best to just get to the point with her.
"Where is my daughter?"
"She's out with her friends."
"I want her with me."
Sonny rolled his eyes and sighed. "That's not going to happen."
"What do you mean! You are evil, Sonny. Do you not care that I lost two of my children? Don't I deserve to have my last little girl with me?"
"I am sorry about the loss of your children, but I won't force Brittany into doing anything that she doesn't want to do. It doesn't matter how many times we have this conversation, Brenda. My answer will still be the same."
"She should be with me!"
"We spoke to Brittany and asked her if her feelings had changed on where she wanted to live. She told you no, and she has told you no multiple times since then. When you bring this up to her, you do nothing but upset her. If you keep calling like this, then I'm going to have your number blocked."
"This is all because of Claudia!" she spat out his wife's name.
"Excuse me?" Sonny asked. "How does Claudia have anything to do with this?"
"She poisoned my daughter against me!"
Sonny couldn't resist the urge to laugh. "You're crazy, Brenda." He hung up the phone even though she was still yelling.
He heard the door open and close and wondered which member of his family was home. A few seconds later, he heard his wife's voice.
"Hey." She greeted.
"Hi."
"What's wrong?" she wondered.
He smiled. She always knew when something was going on with him. "Just got off the phone with Brenda."
Claudia rolled her eyes. "Was she doing her daily phone call about how Brittany should live with her and you're evil for not letting her?"
"That's the one." Sonny sighed. "I want to block her number and get a restraining order."
"Good." Claudia said, sitting down on one of the barstools in the kitchen. "Her negativity is the last thing Brittany needs right now."
"You'll love this. Today she was talking about how you poisoned Brittany against her and that's why she doesn't want to be around her."
Claudia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, cause it couldn't possibly be the fact that she abandoned her as a child for her job, then continued to pretty much ignore her for her entire life until her other children passed away." She shook her head. "I wish that I had just adopted Brittany when she was little."
"It would make life much easier."
"Maybe I still can." Claudia said shyly. It was new for her; she always seemed one hundred percent confident in everything she was saying. "I'm just sick of the effect that Brenda has on Brittany's life. I already treat her like she's mine anyway; we might as well make it official."
Sonny listened to her reasoning. Claudia had been the woman who raised Brittany and she did deserve the right to call herself the girl's mother.
"We'll have to talk to Brittany about it." He agreed. "I think it's a great idea."
Claudia smiled, hoping that soon, the sixteen-year-old really could be hers.
Maddie
Maddie pulled her coat around her tighter as she found the gravestone she was looking for. She hated how many times she had been to the cemetery in the past few months, and she knew she had certain people she could only visit here for the rest of her life. But today, she was only here to see one specific person.
"Hey Parker." Maddie sat down in front of the grave of her former boyfriend. She had dated Parker Ruiz in secret for a few months, hiding their relationship from her parents because of the fact that his father was Manny Ruiz. But Parker was a good person and Maddie would always regret not coming clean about him.
Parker had been raised by his uncle, Mateo, but after his death, he moved to California to be with family. Now, his grave was in Port Charles and he had no family to visit it, so Maddie tries to come as often as she could. Even though she was now dating Connor, she still had a place in her heart for Parker and she was sure that she always would.
She quickly caught him up on all the latest drama, including Brittany's suspension, her argument with Emma, and what had happened at the party last night. When she finished talking, she sighed.
"I need you to do me a favor, okay? I need you to watch over Emma. I'm so worried about her. She hasn't been acting like herself lately. I'm scared of what she might do and what kind of trouble she might get into. I know she has Courtney and Zack to watch out for her, but a little extra guidance could never hurt, right?" she traced her fingers over the lettering that spelled out his name on the gravestone. "I've gotta get going now, but I'll be back soon, okay? Bye, Parker." She left flowers and stood, walking back to her, praying that he had heard her.
The Morgans
Emma walked through the front door of the penthouse, seeing that everyone else had already gathered in the living room. Mia, Nattie, Katie, and Maddie were all squeezed onto the couch, Gabe was standing by the fireplace, and Paige was sitting in the recliner with Selena on her lap.
"Emmy!" Selena greeted her. She held her arms up and Emma picked her up as she passed her, sitting down on Maddie's lap and putting Selena on her own lap.
Sam and Jason came into the room and saw that all of the kids under their roof had finally arrived. It was crazy how quickly their family had grown, but they wouldn't have it any other way.
"Mom? What's behind your back?" Katie asked, seeing that Sam was holding something in her hands.
"This," she pulled out a large, rolled up piece of paper, "Is the blueprint to our new house."
Sam spread out the blueprint on the coffee table and everyone gathered around it, trying to see what it would look like. It was kind of hard to decipher, until Jason started to explain what everything would look like.
On the first floor, they would have a living room, kitchen, bathroom, dining room, a place for the piano Paige had requested, Jason and Sam's office, which was attached to a playroom for the little kids, a theater room, and a guest room. On the second floor, there were bedrooms with private bathrooms attached belonging to Jason and Sam, Selena, the new baby, Katie, Nattie, and a guest room, along with a bathroom. On the third floor, there were rooms with bathrooms for Emma, Maddie, Gabe, Mia, their baby, and Paige, along with a guest room and a bathroom. The house with enormous and Jason told them he also had plans of adding an inground pool with a water slide and diving board, along with an inground trampoline and a treehouse. It was all their dreams come true.
Gabe was pouting. "Mom, are you serious?"
"About what?" she asked.
"Mia and I having separate rooms."
"Of course we're serious. We make you sleep in separate rooms here. What made you think you would be sharing a room when we moved into the new house?"
"We're going to have to take care of the baby."
"Your rooms both have doors that open to the baby's room." Jason explained. "That way, you'll both be able to hear when he or she cries. Gabe, you're not sharing a room with Mia. Sorry, but we don't want any more grandkids for a long, long time."
"It looks amazing." Maddie complimented. "I can't wait to move."
"Me either." Katie agreed. "The penthouse is way too small for all of us."
"When will we be moving?" Paige asked.
"As soon as possible. Hopefully now that we've got this all ready, it won't take too long." Jason rolled the blueprint back up. He couldn't wait until they finally moved onto the next chapter.
Emma and Maddie
"I feel bad." Maddie said as she walked into Emma's room. She was honestly surprised that her sister had even stayed after their little family meeting. It was no secret that she didn't exactly love sharing a room with Paige, which Maddie was sure had to do with why she had been gone almost every night since Paige and Nattie moved in.
"For what?" Emma asked. She was sitting on her bed and staring at her phone. She was alone in her room right now; Paige was downstairs with Sam.
"For what happened last night."
"I don't remember anything from last night. Britt, Hunter, and Zack filled me in, but just so you know, I don't know specifics."
"I just mean with how we acted around Chloe J and Mia's friends. They seemed really nice and then everyone got in that huge argument with Brianna. They probably think we're crazy."
Emma shrugged. "We are."
Maddie rolled her eyes. "I think we should have a sleepover at the Enchantment tonight and invite them."
"Why do you care so much what some random strangers think of us?"
"Because, Em. It's not like any of us really have any reason to not be nice to them. You know Chloe J and Mia never get along with anyone, so if they like Rhiannon and Lauren, then they must be nice. Besides that, I was excited to be with everyone last night and then we all ended up leaving."
Emma thought it over. It could be fun to have a sleepover with the Dream Team. Another thought occurred to her. She wondered how long it would be before her parents started to crack down on her spending the night with Zack. Judging by how strict they were getting with Gabe and Mia, it wouldn't be long, so she knew she had to take her opportunities now.
"Alright. Text everyone."
"Yay!" Maddie hugged her. "Hey Em?"
"Yeah?"
"You know, I love you, right?"
"Yeah, Mads. I know."
The Dream Team
Everyone had quickly agreed to a sleepover at the Enchantment, and Chloe J liked Maddie's idea of inviting Lauren and Rhiannon so they could make a better impression. She had texted them the address and she was surprised when they pulled into the driveway at the same time as her.
"Hey guys!" she greeted with a smile, grabbing her bag from her car.
Rhiannon looked a little intimidated by the size of the house. "What is this place?"
"It's called the Enchantment. It's the Morgans' home that we always go to when we want to hang out and have sleepovers. We all spend pretty much the entire summer here."
"Their parents don't care about them having this many people stay the night?" Lauren wondered.
Chloe J shook her head. "They don't live here. They just own the house and keep it for their kids to use to have fun in."
"Wow." Rhiannon and Lauren said in unison.
"Come on." She led them up to the door and opened it. "All of my friends wanted to make a better impression on you, so I doubt tonight will get anywhere near as crazy as last night. Sorry about that, by the way. I had no idea that anything had been said about Mia's baby or…"
"Don't worry about it." Lauren interrupted her. "It wasn't a big deal. I still had a good time."
"Me too." Rhiannon agreed.
They heard voices and Chloe J led them towards the living room. She pointed towards where they could drop their bags. She practically threw hers on the ground and then walked to the kitchen, hearing the two girls behind her.
"Hey." Chloe J greeted. Rhiannon and Lauren recognized Maddie, Mia, and Gabe. Gabe was eating a slice of pizza, Mia was sitting on the counter, and Maddie was looking in the refrigerator.
"Hi guys." Mia smiled. "There's pizza, help yourselves." She gestured towards the boxes of pizza on the table. "Sorry you had to see me almost kill someone last night."
"It's okay." Rhiannon said. "I don't really blame you for that."
"We didn't exactly make the best impression." Maddie chimed in. "I hope you guys weren't too scarred by last night."
"No, we actually had a really good time."
Chloe J rolled her eyes. "You keep forgetting that you all abandoned the party. We stayed and they got to drink with Courtney and Britt while Zack and I took care of everyone.
They heard the door open and close and knew someone else had arrived.
"You better get some pizza before Hunter gets here." Maddie warned the girls. Lauren and Rhiannon each grabbed a piece.
Nate came into the room. Everyone greeted him as he went to the pizza, then went over to sit next to Mia on the counter. Chloe J grabbed her pizza then and they all settled into an easy conversation.
A loud crash brought their attention back towards the front of the house. Mia smiled. "I bet you guys $20 that was Brittany."
"Emma." Gabe wagered.
"Courtney." Chloe J countered.
They heard laughing and then Hunter and Brittany came into the room. "You guys should have seen Brittany trip when she walked in the front door." Hunter cackled.
"Pay up." Mia held her hand out. Chloe J and Gabe each gave her money, huffing as they did.
"I hurt my shin." Brittany whined. She grabbed pizza. "Hey Lauren, hey Rhiannon."
"Hi Brittany." They said together.
"Who all are we missing?" Nate asked.
"Emma, Court, Zack, Paige, and Connor." Maddie replied.
"Why didn't all of you guys just ride together?" Chloe J asked Maddie, referring to the people living in her house. "Weren't you all home?"
"Yeah, but we went to go get the pizza. Paige didn't want to go and Emma said Zack was coming to get her." Gabe explained.
They heard Courtney before they saw her and they weren't surprised to see Emma and Zack right behind her. After all, the three of them spent more time with each other than with anyone else, so it seemed natural.
Emma went right over to the two NYCS girls. "Hi, I'm Emma Morgan. We didn't exactly get introduced last night."
"Rhiannon Deusa."
"Lauren Grayson."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you came."
As Emma was talking to the girls, Connor and Paige entered the kitchen. Everyone else said their hellos to them and finally, they were all there.
After they all had enough pizza, everyone migrated into the living room. Zack sat down on the recliner and Emma immediately went to his lap. Hunter, Paige, and Connor sat on the big couch and Courtney plopped herself down on Hunter's lap. Mia, Brittany, and Maddie squeezed themselves onto the small couch. This left Gabe, Nate, Chloe J, Rhiannon, and Lauren to sit on the floor.
"Let's play a game or something." Brittany suggested. This got a few groans and eye rolls.
"How about a get to know you game?" Lauren said. "Chloe J and Mia are always telling crazy stories about you guys and it would be fun to learn more about you all."
"Let's do it!" Mia agreed.
"These girls are kinda strange." Hunter whispered to Courtney.
"Shut up, it could be fun." She replied.
"Yeah, telling random strangers all of our secrets. Fun." He scoffed.
"So how do we do this? Are you guys going to answer the questions too, or just us?" Connor wondered.
"We'll just answer them." Chloe J decided, not wanting to put the girls on the spot. She knew that her friends could get a little too personal and she didn't want Lauren and Rhiannon to have to deal with that.
"Alright, first question. How old are all of you guys?" Rhiannon quizzed. They all went around and answered- Zack and Paige are 18, Nate, Chloe J, Courtney, and Emma are 17, and Hunter, Connor, Brittany, Gabe, Maddie, and Mia are 16. "Second question, how many people in this room have you kissed?"
Hunter went first. "I've kissed Courtney, Emma, Mia, Chloe J, and Brittany and Zack when we were kids."
Paige was next. "I think I've only kissed Zack."
"Nope." Mia corrected her.
Paige gave her a look. "I kissed you?"
"Yeah, it was at some party, I was 13, you were 14. It was the best night of my life, P. It really hurts that you don't remember it." Mia joked, earning a few laughs.
"Then I guess just Zack and Mia. Your turn, Connor."
"Maddie, Brittany, and Mia, and then Courtney when we were kids."
Courtney was up next. "Do we really need to count our siblings?"
"She said anyone in the room." Emma reminded her friend.
"I've kissed Connor when I was little then. And then Zack, Emma, Mia, Hunter, and Gabe. I think that's it. Go ahead, Mimi."
"I've kissed every one of you."
Silence took over the room as they all thought about it, and then they all nodded their heads in agreement.
Brittany said that she had kissed Nate, Connor, Mia, and her brothers as kids. Maddie was next in line and she had kissed Connor, Mia, and her siblings.
Gabe looked around the room. "I've kissed Mia obviously, and Courtney. I think the only other people were Emma and Maddie when we were little."
"When did you and Courtney kiss?" Chloe J asked curiously.
"It was at a party before I started dating Tyler. I think I was 13 at the time?" Courtney guessed.
"It's crazy that you guys went to parties when you were that young." Lauren commented.
"Yeah, they weren't as intense as the high school ones, but I guess it is kind of young." Emma agreed. "You go, Chloe."
"I think just Mia and Hunter." She looked at Lauren and Rhiannon. "Unlike the rest of my friends here, I actually like to date outside of this little group. It makes life so much easier."
Nate rolled his eyes at his cousin before taking his turn. "I've kissed Britt, Mia, and Emma."
Emma was next. "I've kissed Zack, Nate, Mia, Courtney, Hunter, and then Maddie and Gabe as kids." She looked to Zack for his answer.
"Courtney, Em, Paige, and then Hunter and Britt when we were kids." Zack finished.
"I've never kissed a girl before." Rhiannon stated. "I'm surprised that so many of you girls have."
"Yeah, well, when you're drunk, sometimes you do stupid things." Mia explained. "Next question."
"Who have you had an actual relationship with out of the people in this room?" Lauren asked. Now that she knew many of them had kissed, she was curious to know who had dated who.
"I dated Zack in 8th grade." Emma answered.
Zack chose to go next. "I dated Emma in 8th grade, and then Paige from when I was 13 until last year." Everyone felt the awkwardness in the room as Paige and Zack's relationship was mentioned.
"What about me?" Courtney questioned.
"What about you?"
"I think I'm pretty important."
"We didn't date."
"So?"
Zack gave her an unimpressed look. "And Courtney and I lost our virginities to each other when we were 13."
"Why do you have to get that deep?" Mia groaned, leaning her head back. The rest of the Dream Team knew it was most likely because she didn't want to talk about her own past and if Lauren and Rhiannon thought they were open to it, they might ask.
As they went around, Mia and Gabe said they had only dated each other, while Paige said she had only dated Zack. Hunter told the story of how Courtney "stole" his virginity from him. Maddie said she dated Connor, and Connor said he dated Maddie and lost his virginity to Brittany. Brittany admitted she lost her virginity to Connor, but she had never actually dated someone in the Dream Team. Chloe J and Nate had never dated or slept with anyone within their group.
"I've never had a relationship with anyone. But I did sleep with Zack and Hunter. No, I'm not a whore." Courtney said, finishing off that round of questioning.
Lauren looked around at them all. "If you had to date someone in this room, who would you date?"
They all felt the awkwardness immediately, though the two girls seemed to be oblivious to it. Mia had to appreciate how they managed to dig right into everyone's feelings. She knew there was some unresolved tension in the room surrounding Zack and Paige, along with Emma and Nate. She also knew that there was something going on between Emma and Zack and she was curious to see if they would say each other.
"That's enough of this game." Chloe J stated. "Let's watch a movie or something."
"No!" Mia called out. Everyone looked at her. "I like this game."
"I'm ready for a movie too." Nate agreed, earning a nod from Zack, Emma, and Paige. Cowards.
Mia leaned back against the couch with a huff. Once everyone else was occupied again, Brittany leaned over to her. "Who do you think Zack and Emma would have chosen?"
The dark-haired girl looked across the room. Zack was still sitting in the recliner with Emma on his lap. She looked so calm and relaxed in his arms. Mia and Brittany watched as Zack kissed her forehead, and then Emma cuddled into his chest.
"I hope they would have manned up and chosen each other." Mia whispered back to Brittany. "Something tells me that they wouldn't have liked that." She gestured towards Paige and Nate, who both had their eyes glued to Zack and Emma.
Maybe it was better that Chloe J stopped the game.
"I'm going to go get a drink." Mia said.
"I'll come with you." Lauren stood up and joined her. They walked down the hall together in silence, but once they were in the kitchen, the blonde girl started to talk. "I'm confused."
"About what?"
"Why does Paige look like she wants to rip out Emma's throat?"
Mia sighed. "It's complicated."
"Isn't everything with you guys?"
"Zack and Paige dated for four years, like he just said. Paige broke up with him at the end of last year. Zack and Emma started to get closer and now, they're pretty much inseparable. I think all of us want them to be together, except Paige."
"And Nate?" Lauren added questioningly.
Mia smiled. "You're very observant, you know that?"
Lauren laughed. "Were Emma and Nate dating before or something?"
"Or something." Mia said vaguely.
"Mia." Lauren groaned. "Tell me!"
"They had been close, but they grew apart after everything that happened. Any more questions?"
"Yeah. Why were you going around kissing everyone?"
Mia smiled. "Come on, Lauren." She led the way back to the living room, knowing that the questions were done for now. She settled back into her spot on the couch, resting her head against Brittany's shoulder. She glanced over and saw that Zack was playing with Emma's hair and he kissed her cheek. She knew that Paige was watching too when the girl got up and went to the bathroom.
All Mia knew was that Paige needed to get over her issues quickly. Emma and Zack deserved to be happy and if that happiness was with each other, then so be it.
When do you think Zack and Emma will finally act on their feelings for each other? Zack is obviously jealous of the idea of Emma with another guy, but will he step up and admit he likes her?
What do you think will happen if Nattie and Sam go to visit Brook Lynn?
Is Mia being too hard on Olivia, or are her feelings justified?
Do you feel like Morgan is pressuring Lila Rae into getting married?
Thoughts on the Brianna/Thomas vs. Mia/Brittany/Courtney/Emma argument? If someone was to get in a fight with Brianna, who would you want it to be?
What do you think about Emma and her punching Nate? Do you think she was hallucinating?
Chloe J and Brendan are officially dating. Thoughts?
Do you want Claudia to try and adopt Brittany?
What do you think of Rhiannon and Lauren? Did you like their get to know you game?
Sorry for the EXTREMELY long wait! I don't know if anyone is interested in this; it was never one of my most popular stories, but this series is definitely my favorite that I've ever written. I don't know when I'll update again, but hopefully it'll be soon. Let me know if you're interested in reading it!
This was posted first on the That's Life website, and I'm going to try and do some updating over there, so please check that out!
