Chapter 13: It Gets the Worst at Night

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

xx

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

xx

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

xx

Daniel Zacchara (Olivia and Johnny)- 17

Mia Webber (Olivia and Steve)- 16

Allie Webber (Olivia and Steve)- 14

xx

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

xx

Lindsey Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 23

Nate Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 17

Noah Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 16

xx

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

xx

Haley Lovett (Ethan and Lisa)- 17

Wes Janacek (Kristina and Kiefer)- 16

Logan Davis (Ethan and Kristina)- 15

Livvie Davis (Ethan and Kristina)- 15

xx

Molly Lansing Webber (Ric and Alexis)- 28

Addie Lansing (Ric and Elizabeth)- 16

xx

Cameron Webber (Elizabeth and Lucky)- 29

Jake Spencer (Elizabeth and Lucky)- 24

Brendan Webber (Elizabeth)- 18

Stella Hunter (Elizabeth and Matt)- 16

xx

Alec Barrett (Brenda and Aleksander)- 23

xx

Ashlyn Falconeri (Lulu and Dante)- 15

xx

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

xx

Tyler Drake (Lisa and Patrick)- 17

Ian Niles (Lisa)- 15

xx

Carrie Corinthos (Michael and Abby)- 15

xx

Ryan Rosco (Faith)- 17

Dominic Rosco (Faith)- 14

xx

Prue Webber (Molly and Cam)- 0

xx

Henry Spencer (Lindsey and Jake)- 0

xx

Sophia Janacek (Rachel and Kiefer)- 4

xx

Kailey Franco (Franco)- 17

xx

Reed Worth (Maggie)- 17

xx

Rhiannon Deusa- 16

xx

Lauren Grayson- 16

xx

Brianna Edwards- 17

xx

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

Chapter 13: It Gets the Worst at Night

PCPD

Molly Lansing wasn't expecting a phone call after midnight from her sister, asking her to come to the PCPD. Of course, she had instantly jumped out of bed and gotten dressed. She grabbed her whimpering baby from the room next door and handed her and a bottle off to Cameron, then ran out the door.

When she walked into the police station, the entire room had erupted into chaos. Sam and Jason, Carly and Jax, Maxie and Johnny, and Sonny and Claudia were making a scene, demanding that their daughters be released. To make matters worse, Gabe, Zack, Hunter, Connor, and Nate were sitting in the corner of the room with scowls on their face, looking like they may pounce at any moment.

"Alright, you all need to calm down." Molly said to the adults, directing them over to a couple of chairs. "Yelling and threatening isn't going to solve anything. Now tell me what's going on."

"The kids were at a party. I guess there was a fight, and the girls got arrested."

"Which girls?"

"Emma, Maddie, Mia, Paige, Courtney, Chloe J, and Brittany." Sam listed.

Molly let out a breath slowly. It must have been pretty bad if they arrested all of them. "Did whoever they were fighting get arrested too?" Sam nodded. "You guys need to stay here. I'm going to go see what I can find out."

Molly realized this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought when she saw the bruise on one of the arresting officer's cheeks. Apparently, Courtney had hit him on accident when she was pulled off the girl she was fighting, but the officer seemed to be holding a grudge.

The girls were released a little after 9am after being told they would each have to complete 20 hours of community service. Molly thought that was a good compromise, and she was glad that it hadn't been worse.

Brittany walked out first. She looked exhausted, her knuckles were bruised up, and she had a handprint on one arm and a bruise on her cheek. Before she could even get to her parents, the boys ran over to her.

"You good?" Hunter asked, studying his younger sister.

"Mmhmm."

"Who hit you?" Zack demanded.

Brittany shrugged. "I didn't even recognize some of the girls. Everything happened so quick."

Paige came next with a split lip and bruises on her arms. Molly knew that this was the first fight Paige had ever been in, so she was surprised that she wasn't a little more beat up. Her cousin could never purposely hurt someone, unless it was absolutely necessary.

Maddie looked ready to explode at any moment. Her hands were bruised and her hair was a mess, showing that there had been a lot of hair pulling. Gabe ran to her.

"Mads?"

"She bit me." She held up her arm, showing a bite mark on her shoulder.

Chloe J was fourth, looking nothing like her usual put together self. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun, her makeup had completely run off, and she had a couple bruises on her arms. Molly didn't know who it was more surprising to see fighting- Paige or Chloe J.

When Courtney came out, you could practically feel the anger radiating off of her. Almost one hundred percent of the time, Courtney was carefree, sweet, and always in a good mood. But now, she looked like she might blow up on the first person to speak to her. Her already curly hair was tangled into knots, her makeup had streaked down her cheeks from sweat, there was a dark purple bruise on her arm, and a faint red mark around her neck.

"You good, Court?" Zack asked, putting a hand on her shoulder lightly.

Courtney wordlessly turned around, lifting up her shirt. Her back was covered in bruises in varying shades of yellow, green, and purple.

"How the hell did that happen?" Gabe questioned.

"I tackled Brianna, then her friends ganged up on me and started kicking me." She put her shirt back down.

"I'll kill her." Hunter nearly growled, pulling his friend into his arms and kissing her forehead. Courtney leaned against him without complaint.

Everyone watched the smug face of Brianna Edwards as she was brought out of her cell. More damage had been done to her than Courtney from the looks of it. She had a black eye, a darker red mark around her neck, and the perfect shape of a handprint on her right arm.

"How does your back feel, Courtie?" Brianna taunted from across the room.

Courtney leapt forward, nearly knocking Hunter over from the sudden movement.

"It feels a lot better than how you're going to feel when I get my hands around your neck again!" Courtney screamed.

Molly stepped in front of Courtney, blocking her view of Brianna. "You're in a police station. You don't make threats after you were just released from lockup."

Emma was released just as Brianna was taken out the door by her parents. Her hands were covered in blood, though they couldn't tell if it was her own or the blood of whoever she had hit. She had a dark bruise on the top of one arm near her shoulder, and another that was mostly concealed by her shirt, but poking out at the top.

Mia shuffled out last, not looking like her usual proud self. Mia had earned the title of the biggest fighter of the Dream Team (and the Crew) for a reason and after she fought someone, she usually looked a little more energetic. Her dark hair was falling into her eyes, but she didn't bother to move it. She had her left hand pressed to her stomach and she was staring down at the ground.

"Are you okay?" Gabe demanded as he ran forward. He started to look her up and down for bruises. She had a red mark across her cheek, but other than that, he didn't see anything.

"Fine."

Gabe put his hand over top of hers on her stomach. "And the baby?"

"Nothing feels different." Mia sighed and moved forward, leaning her forehead against his chest. Gabe wrapped his arms around her in confusion; it was pretty rare that Mia would seek out affection from him, especially in front of people, unless something was wrong. He kissed her forehead.

"Would you all like to explain yourselves?" Claudia questioned as she stared down the group of teenagers. She glanced at the boys. "All of you, sit." They listened to her, knowing that she wasn't playing around right now. "How did this start?"

"It was my fault." Emma said. None of the teenagers were surprised. Emma seemed to attract trouble lately.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"I spilled my drink on some girl that I have a history with. She said something I didn't like and…"

"You can't just hit people because they said something you didn't like." Jason interrupted. "We've taught you better than that. How did all of you get involved?"

Mia glanced at Emma with a frown. She had seen everything happen and she knew that Emma had tried to walk away, but Cecily pulled her back. She was confused on why she didn't correct her father. She figured that if Emma wouldn't, then she would.

"She didn't just hit her because of what she said." Mia stated. "She tried to walk away, but Cecily pulled her back over."

"That still doesn't excuse things." Sam told her. "Mia, what were you thinking? Why would you ever put yourself in the position to be in a fight? Did you forget that you're pregnant?"

"Of course I didn't forget. I saw the fight. Cecily is a lot bigger than Emma, she was hitting her. Emma just kept pushing her back, but Cecily would hit her again. I had to step in."

"You didn't have to do anything. You should have gotten someone else." Sam scolded.

"There wasn't any time. I got in the middle because I knew that if Cecily hit her again, Emma was going to snap. I had to stop it." Mia shook her head. "You don't even understand. You don't know the horrible things that Cecily was saying to her. If I was Emma, I would have hit her until she was unconscious."

"So where were you during all of this?" Carly turned to Courtney as she spoke.

"I was dancing. I turned around and I saw Mia stepping between Emma and Cecily, and then Cecily slapped Mia across the face. That's when the rest of us got involved."

Carly nodded. "I'm proud of you for sticking up for Mia and Emma."

Claudia looked at her stepdaughter. "Is that why you were fighting too, Britt?"

"All I saw was Cecily slapping Mia. I wasn't going to let her or the baby get hurt."

Maxie smirked as she looked at her oldest child. "I can't believe you got in a fight. Now you really are just like me." Maxie had gotten in quite a few fights in her life, but Chloe J had never been interested in physical altercations. It seemed like there was a first time for everything.

"They might be willing to let their kids off the hook, but we're not doing that with you guys." Jason said as he stared down Emma, Maddie, Mia, and Paige. "Emma, I don't know what you were thinking, but it's time for the fighting and the drinking to stop. If you can't control yourself, then you shouldn't be going to parties in the first place. You cannot attack every person who says something to you that you don't like. I understand that you're going through a rough time, and last year was hard. But it's over and you need to try your best to move on." He looked to his son's girlfriend. "And Mia, I can't believe that you would get involved. I don't know how you could be so careless that you would put your baby's life on the line. Yes, I know you were fighting to help Emma, but it's time to start thinking about what is more important. Your unborn child should be your first priority." He turned to the last two girls. "You two should have never gotten involved unless you were there to deescalate the situation. Joining in on a fight isn't the right thing to do."

Gabe looked like he might explode. "So you're going to yell at them for doing exactly what we've always been taught to do? From day one, you have told us to protect each other, and that family is what matters most in the world. Was everyone just supposed to let Emma and Mia get hurt?"

"There are other ways to protect your family." Sam reminded her son. "We have never told any of you to run off and get into fights."

"This isn't up for discussion. Emma, Maddie, Mia, and Paige, you are grounded. Hand over your phones, and when we get home, I want your car keys."

Everyone stared in shock. The Morgans had never been grounded before, and they couldn't believe that they were now over defending the people they loved.

There was definitely a first time for everything.

Chloe J

As soon as Chloe J got home from the PCPD, she got into the shower. She had never been in a place as filthy as the lock-up cell. She had been kept in a room with Maddie, Paige, and Mia, and even they couldn't distract her from how disease infested the tiny little cell was.

After washing her hair three times and her body five, she figured she was clean enough. She walked out of her bathroom in a t-shirt and pair of shorts, leaving her hair tied up in a towel. She was surprised to see her younger sisters sitting on her bed.

"Well look who it is." Ava started with a smirk. "Who knew our sister was such a jailbird?"

Chloe J rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

Leah, who had been looking at one of Chloe J's magazines (without her permission, she immediately noticed), shut it and rolled over onto her stomach. She propped her face up with her hands. "How does it feel to be a criminal?"

"It's not nearly as exciting as it sounds." Chloe J sat down next to them.

"What even happened?" Leah wondered.

"Emma and Mia got into it with some of the Madison girls. The rest of us jumped in."

"Wait, Mia? As in pregnant Mia?" Ava clarified.

"Yep. It wasn't an intentional thing. She was defending Emma."

"No offense cause I know she's your best friend, but Emma is starting to be more trouble than she's worth." Leah stated. "Did you get put in handcuffs?"

"Yeah."

"Then what?"

"They put you in a holding cell. I just sat in a room with Maddie, Mia, and Paige all night, and then we were released this morning. It wasn't anything crazy."

"Oh, well that's a letdown." Ava said with a sigh. "I thought you might have gotten shanked or something." Leah burst out laughing, while Chloe J just rolled her eyes.

"Thank you so much for your concern." She wrinkled her nose. "I'm done talking about this, it's making me feel like I need another shower."

"I can't believe you got in a fight. That was your first fight, right?" Chloe J nodded. "Why would you do that?"

"Like I told you, it was for Emma and Mia. When someone you love is in trouble, you would be surprised at what you do." Chloe J's phone vibrated. She looked down and saw that she had a text from Brendan, and that he wanted to hang out.

"Oooh, I wonder who that is." Leah joked as she nudged Ava with her shoulder.

"Look at her, she's blushing." Ava stage whispered.

"You guys can get out now."

"Have fun, you delinquent." Leah called out as she pulled Ava up off the bed and led her out of the room.

Chloe J rolled her eyes again. Her sisters could be annoying, but she really did love them.

She took her time blow drying her hand, then chose an outfit to wear. After she was finally ready, she got in her car and drove to Kelly's.

"Wow, it's about time." Brendan said with a smile as she walked up to him.

"Sorry, I had to get ready." She gave him a quick hug. "Did you get us a table?"

"Not yet, I was waiting for you. I know how specific you can be about your seating arrangements."

"Come on, let's go in. I'm freezing." Chloe J grabbed his hand and led him inside. It took her about ten seconds to realize they were still holding hands even as they walked over to a table. Normally, she wasn't the type to get involved in PDA, but she actually thought it was kind of sweet.

"So, are we going to talk about last night?" Brendan asked once they had their drinks and food ordered.

"I would rather not." She admitted.

"Okay. I just have one question." She raised an eyebrow, silently telling him to continue. "Did you win?"

Chloe J smirked. "Well honestly, I did better than I thought I would."

Brendan laughed. "My girl the fighter."

Brittany

After having lunch together, Brittany and Noah decided to take a walk in the park. Even though she had been hesitant to hang out at first after everything that happened the night before, Brittany was glad she had taken that chance. Noah was good at distracting her and keeping her mind occupied.

"What do you want to go to college for?" Noah questioned. Though the two of them had known each other since they were children, and Brittany was one of Noah's older brother Nate's best friends, they didn't really know each other that well. It had been fun hanging out and asking each other questions.

"Hmmm, I don't know. I always thought that I might be into something in the medical field. I don't think I could be a doctor, but maybe nursing. What about you?"

"A doctor." Noah said. "I want to be a neuropathologist, like my mom."

Brittany smiled. "Your mom was amazing, and I bet you would be just as good as her." She had grown up always knowing who Robin Scorpio was, and she had been sad to hear about her death.

"No, no one could ever be as good as her." Noah smiled sadly.

"You know if you ever want to talk about her, we can, right?"

Noah nodded. "Thanks, Britt." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Sometimes, it just hits me that she's really gone. When I'm busy, it's easy to pretend that she's just at work, or she's home with my dad. It's when I'm by myself that is the hardest."

"I know, but sometimes it helps to distract yourself or talk to someone about how you feel. That helps me, at least."

Noah studied her. "I always forget how many siblings you've lost."

Brittany bit her lip as she thought it over. She had lost four siblings- Joey, Bella, Lola, and Jazzie- when the Text Message Killer had attacked. She was conflicted on her feelings about Joey, but she definitely missed her younger sisters.

"It sucks." Brittany deadpanned. "But I just try and remember the good times when I'm upset, or I'll find something else to do to distract myself."

"Are you sure that's really the healthiest thing to do?"

She laughed. "No, but it's working for now." For a second, Brittany wondered if it really was working. Obviously, she had a lot of pent up frustration and anger towards the situation, and that was part of the reason the Madison kids could set her off so easily. As all of those feelings started to overwhelm her, she shook her head; she refused to be sad today. She wanted to be in the moment and actually enjoy her time with Noah instead of reliving the most horrible moments of her life. "What's your favorite color?"

"Green. What's yours?"

"Yellow." Even though Brittany knew she should probably talk to someone about her feelings, she would rather just answer mindless questions and pretend it never happened.

Courtney and Christian

"Hey." Christian greeted Courtney as she walked over to him. He grimaced when he noticed the bruise on her arm. "You okay?"

"I've been better." She admitted. They walked into the Metro Court restaurant and sat down at a table.

Christian couldn't help but notice how quiet the blonde was being. For as long as he had known her, Courtney had always been loud and crazy and outgoing. Now, he could barely get her to say a word.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm sick of this." Courtney blurted out.

He treaded lightly. "What do you mean?"

"These girls. I hate being at Madison. It's miserable, Chris, you don't even understand. The way they talk to people is horrible."

"Did they say something to you?" he wondered. He still hadn't found out why Courtney (and his twin sister) had been in a fight.

"No."

Christian knew that her mentioning that wasn't a coincidence, and that there was one person that Courtney would do anything for.

"Did they say something to Emma?" he guessed by her silence that he was right. "What did they say?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Courtney, I…"

"It's just disgusting. I don't get how you can make fun of someone for something bad like a serial killer coming to your school, as if any of us had a choice in the matter." She ranted. "They talk to us like we're not even human beings, and any time we try to defend ourselves, we get in trouble."

"Nothing was said to you or Chloe J though, right? Just Emma?"

Courtney shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't over there."

"Then how did you get involved?"

"Cause I saw one of them slap Mia."

"Oh, so that's why you got involved." Christian said in realization.

"Yeah." She admitted. "Mia's pregnant, which they know, and they still chose to fight with her."

"Well why was Mia fighting?"

"Honestly, the details are still a little foggy."

"Emma didn't tell you?"

"No. I tried to get her to talk about it while we were in the holding cell, but she wouldn't say anything. I guess there's this Madison girl that Emma and Mia have history with, and she said something to Emma and they got into it, then Mia stepped in to break it up, but the girl hit Mia. That's all any of us know."

Christian knew that this wasn't a good thing, and he probably shouldn't be happy about it, but he couldn't help but smile as he watched Courtney explain herself. Everyone always labeled the girls in the Dream Team as selfish and self-centered, but with every minute he spent with her, it was becoming more and more obvious that that was far from the truth when it came to Courtney.

"What?" she asked self-consciously.

"You are way different than I expected." He told her.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Courtney asked hesitantly.

Christian smiled. "Definitely a good thing."

Parent Meeting

Sam, Claudia, Carly, and Maxie sat around the table together in the dining room at Sonny and Claudia's. They had shut the doors in hopes that none of the kids would overhear so that they could finally have a discussion about what had happened the night before.

"I can't believe you grounded them." Carly blurted out almost immediately. Sam went to respond, but she interrupted her. "Seriously, Sam. After all the fights you and Jason have gotten into, it's kind of hypocritical of you to punish them for defending their family."

"I don't think your kids have ever been grounded. Do they even know what that means?" Maxie joined in. "Poor Mia looked so upset when she walked out of that room, I don't think I could have ever grounded her."

"It wasn't just the fight." Sam said. "It's everything. It's the lying and the drinking and the sneaking around and covering for each other. Emma spends about one night a month at our house, and the rest of the time, we have no clue where she actually is because who knows if she's ever telling the truth. It's not like we can even ask Maddie or Gabe how she is because the three of them have this crazy little bond where they can lie and defend each other and make it look like it's the truth, and I wouldn't even dare to ask Mia because I know she could lie right to my face and I would believe it. I feel like we've completely lost control of our kids."

The others were quiet as they thought it over. It was true that the teens had been a little crazier since last year, but they had been so lenient on them because of all the hard times they went through. Maybe that's where they went wrong.

"It's hard." Claudia agreed. "You just have to take it one step at a time."

"I'm sick of having to watch their every move." Sam said, looking like she was on the verge of tears. "They make me feel so horrible about this pregnancy, and it almost makes me regret having this baby."

"Don't say that." Carly chastised. "This baby is a good thing, even if it may not have happened at the most convenient time. They're teenagers. They're going to push the boundaries and act out, and that's intensified by a thousand because of everything they've been through. You just have to show them that you're there for them."

Sam bit her lip. "I don't think Emma trusts me anymore. She won't talk to me about anything."

"I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but Emma is here almost every night." Claudia said. "At least you know she's safe and with people who love her, and she seems comfortable here. You know she's welcome to stay here any time."

"Thank you, but that's not something that I want to put on you. She should be home, with her family."

"She'll get there." Maxie promised. "You just have to keep trying with her."

"Jason and I don't know what to do anymore. We're hoping that maybe if we start laying down some rules, we'll be able to have a little bit of control over our house."

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think I've ever had control over my kids." Maxie stated. "Ever since Chloe J came into this world, she's been the boss. Our entire family revolves around her and what she wants. That child is definitely my payback for everything I've ever done in life."

"My house isn't much better." Carly chimed in. "I know that Courtney drinks a lot, but I never really say anything because at least she's with Zack and Emma, and at least I know she's not forcing herself to throw up. Connor comes and goes as he pleases, and Jacelyn is starting to follow in their footsteps."

"Well my kid just got suspended for breaking a football player's nose, and now she got arrested and we let her off without any punishment, so there's that." Claudia added. "I think we're all a little out of our element here. Parenting is hard, and it's even harder when you have a bunch of teenagers who were attacked by a serial killer. It's hard to punish them when you know how close you came to losing them."

They were all quiet as they considered the children they had lost. Claudia had lost both Lola and Jazzie, while Carly lost Bella, and Maxie lost Matt and Mason. Sam knew that even though her kids were hard to manage, she was lucky to still have them all.

"We have to get better." Sam said. "We all need to make it a point to be more involved and ask more questions and set some rules, even if it makes them upset. That's the only way that anything will get any better."

"Sounds good to me." Carly agreed. "And for God's sake, please unground those kids!"

The Morgans

Maddie woke up right as her alarm went off. Even though she was tired, she knew that she would just be more exhausted if she let herself sleep a little longer because then she wouldn't have time to get ready. She forced herself to get out of bed and into the shower.

When she came out, she made sure to be quiet so that she didn't wake Mia up. She was honestly kind of surprised to see her still in the room; usually, Mia woke up when Maddie's alarm went off and went to Gabe's room. She moved around quietly and got ready in the attached bathroom.

A knock on the door got her attention and she poked her head out of the bathroom to see who it was.

"Hey, we need to have a meeting downstairs before school." Sam told her. "Wake Mia up before you come down."

"Okay." Maddie agreed. She was still angry at her parents. Most people would probably think it was because she was grounded, but she didn't even care about that. She cared that her parents had taught her to behave one way her entire life, and then when she did exactly as she was taught, she got punished for it. It didn't make sense and it wasn't fair.

After she had her uniform on and her makeup and hair finished, Maddie went over to wake up Mia. She shook her shoulder. "Get up, Mimi."

"I'm tired." Mia groaned, pulling the blanket over her head.

Maddie moved the blanket down. "Well, the hypocrites want us downstairs for a family meeting."

"Don't talk about them like that." Mia mumbled sleepily. Her eyes shut again as she drifted back to sleep.

Maddie sighed. Right as she went to shake Mia again, she saw her twin brother come to stand in the doorway.

"Get your girl up." Maddie told him, gesturing towards the lump under the blanket.

Gabe walked into the room, ripped the blankets off of Mia, and lifted her up over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" Mia practically growled.

"Should have gotten up when Maddie asked you." He replied before walking downstairs. Maddie grabbed her backpack and followed after him.

When they got downstairs, Paige, Nattie, and Katie were standing around, already dressed for school with their backpacks on their backs. Sam and Selena were on the couch, and Jason was on the phone near the balcony.

"Excuse me." Gabe said as he walked past Sam so he could drop Mia onto the other side of the couch. Selena giggled.

"When your baby comes out with two heads, just know it's because of you manhandling me." Mia grumbled. Gabe just rolled his eyes and sat on the arm of the couch next to her.

Maddie sat down on the chair, glancing at her phone. Madison started earlier than NYCS, so she knew she had to leave in a few minutes.

Emma walked in, squeezing onto the chair next to Maddie without a word. Sam and Jason looked surprised at the easy entrance of their oldest child; it seemed like lately, she always had something that she wanted to argue about.

"We have to go to school so…" Maddie began.

"Jason, come on." Sam urged. Jason ended his phone call and came over to his family. "We just wanted to share some news with you all. Construction on our new house has officially started."

Everyone in the room started to cheer. Even with all the tension lately, no one could deny being excited about a new house where they would all finally have their own space again.

"How long until it's done?" Paige wondered.

"Well it started being built last week, and we have a really good team working on it. We're actually paying extra so that they'll work on it at night too. We're hopeful that we can move in in about a week."

"That's awesome." Emma stated. She couldn't wait to have her own room again. "We've gotta go."

"Emma and Maddie, you need to be home right after school." Jason told them. "Mia, you are only allowed to leave to go to cheer practice since you made a promise to Chloe J. After cheer, you and Paige both need to be home."

Emma rolled her eyes and stood, walking towards the door. "We mean it, Emma." Sam called out. "It's time for us to lay down some rules around here."

"We'll be here." Maddie said in annoyance before following her older sister out.

Madison PCH Kids

"I'm so irritated." Emma complained as she sat down at their usual lunch table. Zack took the seat next to her and Courtney was on her other side. Maddie, Connor, and Brittany sat on the bench across from them.

"Why?" Connor asked.

"Because we're grounded for no reason. We didn't even do anything wrong!" Maddie practically shouted at her boyfriend.

"Sorry I asked." Connor said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"I'm sorry." Maddie sighed. "It's just frustrating."

"Trust me, I understand." Brittany chimed in. "Remember when I got grounded for breaking that kid's nose?"

"Yeah, but you kinda deserved to be grounded for that one, Britt." Zack reminded her.

Brittany scoffed and threw a chip at him. "Traitor."

"The most annoying part was Mom's little comment afterwards." Emma told Maddie. "It's time for us to lay down some rules around here. Maybe if you were more worried about the kids you have instead of trying to add more, then there would already be some rules."

Everyone could see Emma and Maddie's frustration with the situation. It did suck that Sam and Jason had pretty much let them do what they wanted for their whole lives, and then suddenly wanted to crack down on rules.

"It'll be over soon." Zack reassured his girlfriend. He leaned towards her and Emma kissed him without hesitation.

When they pulled back, Emma noticed the other four were staring. "What?"

"It's so weird to see you guys being all lovey-dovey." Courtney informed them.

"Yeah, I've never seen you kiss before." Brittany agreed.

Zack raised an eyebrow. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Both of the blondes shook their head. "No, I kinda like it." Courtney said. "I mean, it'll take some getting used to, but you guys are good for each other."

"Do you ever feel like a third wheel?" Connor asked his sister.

"No. Emma and Zack are pretty good about including me in things."

"Hmmm. I was just wondering since you're always around."

"Yeah Courtie, maybe it's time for us to find you a new boyfriend." Brittany raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"Speaking of that, what's going on with you and Christian?" Emma wondered. "You know we all saw you at Izzie's wedding, right?"

Courtney shrugged as she took a drink from her water bottle. "I don't know. We're friends."

Maddie smiled. "Friends, huh?"

"Yep. Just friends."

Emma turned to Brittany. "And what about you and Noah?"

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Can't a girl have a friend that's a guy without everyone assuming they're dating?"

"Not really." Connor said. "Everyone always thought me and Maddie were in love with each other, same with Gabe and Mia…"

"That's a horrible example considering you're all dating now." Zack told him.

The bell rang to signal that lunch was over. It didn't go unnoticed that Courtney and Brittany were the first ones out of their seats, practically running towards the doors.

Emma couldn't help but smile. She had known Christian and Noah all her life, and she knew they were both good guys. Courtney and Brittany both deserved a win, and she would definitely consider that one.

NYCS Cheerleaders

"5…6…7…8!" Mia called out as the NYCS cheerleaders ran through their routine. After three counts, she groaned. "Stop! Alyssa, you're still behind on your toe touch."

"Seriously?" Chloe J demanded. "I just don't understand why it's so hard for all of you to count and actually stay with your count. You need to be jumping on 6, toe touching on 8. How is that difficult?"

"Not all of us were raised in a cheer cult." One of the NYCS girls mumbled.

"Well welcome to the cult, girl. Get it together." Chloe J smiled. "Maybe a little cardio will help."

"No!" all of the girls groaned together.

"Yep. Five laps around the gym." Chloe J looked at Mia with wide eyes. "They're never going to get it."

"Yes they will. We just have to stay on them."

"I feel like I'm working with a team of kindergarteners."

"They'll get there." Mia repeated.

"So, how's the grounded life?"

Mia shrugged. "Honestly, I don't really care that much. At least I'm still allowed to come here to help you. When my parents would ground me, I had to miss cheer."

"I'm surprised you're taking it so well."

"Yeah, well I've had my fair share of groundings. I know Emma and Maddie aren't happy about it."

"They shouldn't be. None of you should be grounded. Jason literally kills people for a living, but he gets mad that his kids got in a fight?"

"Chloe J!" Mia scolded in shock.

"What? It's not like it's a secret."

"But you don't talk about it!"

"Whatever." Chloe J rolled her eyes. "I just wish that the team could move in sync. That's all I'm asking. But I guess they've never seen a cheer team that actually knows what they're doing before."

Mia's eyes lit up as she looked at the older girl. "I think I have a suggestion on how we can work on that."

Brittany

Ever since lunch time, Brittany couldn't get Noah Scorpio-Drake out of her head.

Contrary to popular belief, Brittany wasn't stupid. She knew that the others would see her talking and dancing with Noah at Izzie's wedding and that they would have questions. She just wasn't exactly sure how to answer them.

She knew that she and Noah were not dating. They had never had that conversation, and it was too early into things for them to even consider that.

At the same time, she didn't feel like she could just go off and talk to other guys whenever she pleased. They had been texting nonstop since the wedding, and everything still felt new and amazing. For the first time in a while, Brittany actually felt happy.

But then, she had to stop herself. Was it too soon to be in a relationship? She wasn't in denial. She knew that it wasn't healthy that she couldn't even hear Trevor's name without going ballistic. How could she talk to someone new when she still had so many issues from the last guy she dated?

Sometimes, when she was by herself, Brittany would allow herself to think about how she was starting to like Noah. He was so sweet and considerate and he never really dug into her personal business. It was nice to talk to someone that didn't know every one of her deep, dark secrets, and who wasn't comfortable enough with her yet to question her on everything that had happened with the TMK last year.

Brittany's phone lit up with a message from Noah, and when she felt herself instantly smile, she knew. Whether she was ready or not, things were starting to happen with Noah Scorpio-Drake.

Tyler

Tyler came into the house after a long day at work. He instantly stripped out of his uniform and got into the shower, letting the hot water pound down on his shoulders.

He wished that he could be like the rest of his friends and just live off of his parents' money, but he knew it was time to step up. His friends didn't have a four-year-old daughter that they never knew existed, but desperately wanted to know.

After he got out of the shower, he got dressed and grabbed his backpack. He was starting on his math homework when his phone vibrated. When he saw "Sam Morgan" flash across the screen, he instantly answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tyler. How are you?"

"I'm okay, how are you? How is Selena?"

"We're good. How is Stella? Have you heard anything about her?"

Tyler's relationship with Stella was a little strange. They had dated when they were younger, and he cheated on Courtney with her a while ago. But everything felt weird now that he knew Stella had given birth to his child. He hadn't ever gotten to talk to her about it because she was in a coma.

"No change as far as I know."

"That's horrible. I'm sorry to hear that." Sam said, the sadness clear in her tone. "I was actually just calling to ask you if you worked tomorrow."

Tyler did have a shift, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "No, I'm free. What's up?"

"Is there any chance you would want to come over and play with Selena tomorrow?"

There it was, the moment he had been waiting for. "Yeah, I would love that."

"Okay. How does 4 o'clock sound? You can come to the penthouse."

"I'll be there. Thank you so much."

"I want you to know that she doesn't know you're her father. Eventually, Jason and I will tell her, but not right now. We don't want to confuse her."

"I understand. I can't wait to see her. I'll be there at 4. Thank you so much, Sam."

"You're welcome. See you then."

They ended the conversation. Tyler immediately texted all of his co-workers, begging someone to take his shift. If he needed to, he would just call off. Nothing was going to take away his chance to see his daughter for the first time.

Sam

After talking to Tyler, Sam thought about the fact that her youngest child would be meeting her biological father (though she didn't know it) for the first time for the rest of the night. There was already so much going on in their home that she didn't know if they could handle any more excitement, but Tyler had worked hard and he deserved to get the chance to meet the child he had never known about.

Surprisingly, the girls had all come home right when they were supposed to. Sam was shocked by that; she expected at least one of them to put up a fight. She considered it a win, even though she had noticed that Paige spent the majority of the night in the living room while Emma stayed locked in her room.

Sam didn't know when things had changed between the two girls. Jason and Emily had always been so close, and their daughters followed in their footsteps. Sam knew that Paige broke up with Zack and that Zack was one of Emma's best friends, but she couldn't believe Emma sided with the boy over her own cousin.

Before she knew it, it was nighttime. She got Selena ready for bed, said goodnight to each of the kids, then went to sleep. A couple of hours passed before she woke up in the middle of the night. Pregnancy had been rough on her bladder, and it felt like she had to pee every hour.

Sam went to the bathroom, then quietly made her way into the hallway to get a drink of water. On her way back upstairs, she heard crying from down the hall. Her first instinct was that it was Selena, but as she listened closer, she recognized Emma's voice.

She moved quickly to her daughter's room and opened the door, finding Emma tossing and turning in her bed. She glanced over towards Paige and saw that she was still asleep.

Sam sat down on the edge of Emma's bed. The 17-year-old had tears streaming down her cheeks as she sobbed in her sleep. She wiped her cheeks off and leaned down close to her ear.

"Shhh, you're okay, baby. You're safe. Mama's here." As she spoke, Emma seemed to calm down. "You're alright. I've got you."

Sam's heart broke at the look of pain on Emma's face. She remembered what some of the others had told her, and she sent a quick text message before turning her attention back to her child.

Emma woke up with a gasp, sitting up and looking around. Her face showed her confusion when her eyes landed on Sam.

"Mom? What…what are you doing in here?" she questioned.

"You were having a nightmare." Sam said gently. "What's going on, Em? What were you dreaming about?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Emma…"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay? I'm fine. It was just a dream."

Sam could see the way Emma's hands shook, and how she kept biting her lip. For someone who claimed to be okay, she was giving off a lot of signals that said the opposite.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and a few seconds later, the door opened. Sam studied Emma's face as the new person entered the room.

"Zack." She breathed out, her face visibly losing some of the tension.

"Hey baby girl." He greeted quietly before taking his shoes off. "You good?"

"Uh-huh." Zack sat next to Emma and she leaned into him. "How did you know?"

"Your mom texted me." He hugged her. "Come on, try and get some rest. We have to be up in a few hours."

"Okay."

Sam stood, watching as Zack and Emma settled into the bed, the much larger boy wrapping his arms around her daughter. She could tell how much more relaxed Emma was with Zack around.

"Goodnight. I love you, Emma."

"Love you." Emma responded.

As Sam exited the room, she didn't notice that Paige was awake. No one seemed to care as the other girl stared at the wall, dying inside at the fact that her ex-boyfriend was lying in bed with his new girlfriend on the other side of the room.

How do you feel about the pacing of the story? Are things moving too slowly? Right now, each chapter is over a period of two days, and there is still so much more to come, so I think I'm going to start skipping around in time a little bit.

Do you think Sam and Jason were wrong in grounding the girls?

How did you feel about the parent meeting? Would you like to see more of this?

What do you think Mia's suggestion for the cheer team will be?

How do you think Tyler and Selena's meeting will go?

How long will Emma and Zack be able to keep their relationship from their parents?

Is there anything you would like to see more of? Less of? Any suggestions?