-:BTWD:-

I'mma hold my cards close
I'm a wreck what I love most
I'm a first class letdown
I'm a "shut up, sit down"
I am a headcase
I am the color of boom

Imagine Dragons : Polaroid

Bless This Wayward Daughter

Blood Runs Thick

Prideful Lions

"You are the opera always on time and in tune. And I am the color of- . All my life, I've been living in the fast lane! Can't slow down, I'm a rolling freight train! One more time, gotta start all over! Can't slow down, I'm a lone red rover! Ooohhh!"

Jacob Fuller smiled at his daughter. It had only been a few days and already she seemed to be feeling the affects of a change in scenery. Her hands tapped against the large steering wheel as she sang along with her music. He hadn't heard her sing in such a long time. He glanced over his shoulder.

Scott was in his own world with his headphones in and Katie-Kakes was texting as she nodding her head to the tempo and mouthed the words. She had always been such a self-conscious singer. Shame, since with a little practice he was sure she'd show the talent her mama and sister had. Well maybe not her sister...but a beautiful voice none the less.

As the song lulled, Jacob took the slight intermission to turn down the volume. Trying not to suffocate under the mess of a map he had foolishly unfolded, Jacob asked her to pull over so he could get a handle on where they were without his eyes going cross.

"Can't slow down, I'm a lone red rover!" She sang in jest. He didn't find it as funny as she thought.

"Well, right now you're a lost Fuller." He hands didn't even know where to grab the mess of paper that had somehow become a never ending sphere of red and blue lines that nearly smothered him in his seat. From the drivers seat, Odette rolled her eyes. Her father's unrealistic attempt to keep from becoming dependent on the 'fancy' technology of their generation would never cease to amaze her.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, they were lost.

Not that they had any set direction other than the Mexican border, but after that pit stop at the Museum of the Weird (per Scott's insistent requesting) she wasn't even sure they were headed south anymore. Didn't help that their father was basing his directions off what could only have been a twenty year old map.

Men, she shook her head. Mama was right, not even men of the cloth were immune to the deadly sin of pride when in a car.

So she did what her mother would have done and kept driving until she found a gas station. She shushed her father with a long hiss as he began to tell her how to pull in to the small dirt and gravel station. She was the best driver in the family and they knew it. Technically the one accident on her record wasn't even hers. She had covered for the panicking Kate, who for some reason thought a small bump to someone's bumper was the equivalent to running over their elderly grandmother. At least it felt that way with the way she had curled up on the ground and wheezed. On the upside, the other driver was so worried over her meltdown he didn't even care about the barely there dent to his bumper.

Parking the RV off to the side, Odette made sure she wasn't blocking any possible traffic before turning off the Winnebago and unbuckling. "Bathroom and junk food break!" She called, taking the phone from Katie's hand as she passed by to grab the headphones out of Scott's ears. "Fresh air. Come on." She shooed them up and out. "Want anything?" She called back to her father. Still, he flung about, trying to find some resemblance of an edge to start at.

"I'm good, sweetheart."

Before she closed the door she left him one final piece of advice. "When pride comes, then comes disgrace. Proverbs 11:2." Her father mumbled under his breath a retort about arrogance as he waved her out.

"Katie, you're on soda and energy drinks. Scott, chips and snacks. Don't forget my sour-gummy worms." She motioned for them to split apart and begin their search.

Scott was much more enthusiastic with his little mission, happily confirming a salute and "got it!" before wandering down through the isles while Kate soundlessly headed towards the refrigeration units with a small carry basket.

Towards the back of the store, Odette thumbed through a number of pamphlets and touristy advertisements as she searched for an updated map. Soon enough her fingers were tapping along to the song stuck in her head, then followed the nodding, and finally she began quietly singing. "I am the color of boom, that's never arriving. And you are the pay raise, always a touch out of view. And I am the color of-."

"Beautiful voice." She jumped, not hearing the attendant arrive behind her. "Sorry!" He was quick to apologize.

"Nope, entirely my fault. Should have been paying attention."

"Do you sing professionally?"

The question caught her off guard. "I did." She hesitated. "For awhile"

"What happened? If you don't mind me prying!" He quickly interjected when her face lost a bit of it's shine.

"Just...didn't like the lifestyle anymore."

He picked up on her desire to change the topic. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, actually. Do you have a map?"

"Sure do! Loads of them! Which kind? Sights to see? Local discounts? RV logging?"

"Texas?" she smiled hopefully.

The attendant smiled and adjusted his cap. Boyd, as his name tag red, wrinkled his nose in amusement. "Texas is a big state, Ma'am."

"Yes it is. Very big! Easy to get lost in...kind of why I need the map." She hinted.

Her leaning in might not have been the best idea. It, paired with the quiet tone, seemed to send the wrong signal. "Well I'll have to look in the back for a big one but... I'm sure I could give it to you." He whispered to her with a wink before eyeing her up and down.

Odette made no obvious sign of rejection or acceptance to his blatant advance. In all honesty she was taken too much by surprise to do anything other than lift her brow line and feel her eyes widen. When he stepped closer she stood still but moved her head back. Wow. Just...wow.

"Excuse me!"

God bless Kaitlyn Anne Fuller.

Odette looked over his shoulder to see Scott and Kate glare at the older man with obvious distaste. "Yes, sweetie?" He tried to be friendly through his annoyance at the interruption.

"We'd liked to be checked out."

When the attendant looked back to Odette with a clear misunderstanding of the phrase, Scott cleared his throat loudly.

The littlest Fullers were not amused. Before he had a chance to respond, they raised their filled hands and basket towards him.

Odette had to cover her mouth to hid the shit eating grin as he unenthusiastically took the bags Scott held out and the basket Kate handed over. Like a gate, they parted to give him room to leave before turning to observe him as they closed their ranks. A protective barrier to their sister.

They hadn't done that since they were little kids.

Wrapping an arm around each other their shoulders, she pulled them close to her. "God bless you two." She rubbed at their heads. And just like when they were children, they pushed her away and tried to fix it.

Maybe some things don't change after all.

"-the department of public safety has just put out an advisory for two men reportedly behind a violent bank robbery in Abilene this morning. They're looking for two males, late 20s, wearing dark-blue suits, believed to be armed and danger-" The emergency news broadcast was cut off when her father turned the channel.

Odette scoffed a laugh, looking at him with disbelief. "I was listening to that, ya know."

"No need to be listening to things that'll only scare your siblings."

"Their closer to twenty than twelve, dad."

"Well then there's no need to hear things that'll give me nightmares." Finding a gospel station wasn't that hard in the heart of Texas. And when their father heard the hint of one he turned up the radio, effectively ending their discussion. Not particularly caring for the tune, she huffed and moved to the back table. Kate squeezed passed her into the newly emptied passenger seat.

"Oh, come, angel band come and around me stand oh, bear me away on your snowy white wings to my immortal home." He caterwauled. Seeing Kate take Odette's place, he spared her a smile. "You and your sister got your mother's voice, obviously. Guess I should have used some of that collection money for singing lessons." He a joke to cheer up the still crestfallen girl.

"I don't think the congregation could stand it, daddy. So, have you decided yet? Are we going to the beach?"

"Well, I don't rightly know, Katie-kakes. Why? Do you want to go to a beach?"

Kate's brows furrowed. "What else is there to do in Mexico?"

"Well, I'm sure there's lots to do there. They do have beaches, but they also got mountains, and deserts, and ruins. Hey, remember when your sister went down for her class trip? To the uh.. Talsa...Tumber?"

"Tulum Ruins." Odette called from the table. Opening up her laptop, she spared Kate a glance. "Ruins and a beach." Her thumbs up may have seemed sarcastic but they were entirely genuine. Beautiful place, the Tulum Ruins. She's make sure to make them do it. The beautiful beach and fresh air would do Katie some good.

"Thank you sweetheart."

Kate turned back to her father. "So, which one are we going to?"

"Wherever the wind takes us." He was quick to change the topic. "Come on. Sing with me. I am weak but thou art strong!"

"Yeah, right. No, thanks." She rejected the offer. Kate Fuller did not sing anywhere but a church pew.

When her phone chimed with a new text, her father cut his singing. To Jacob it seemed the girl got more text messages the past three days then he's received all his life. "Who's that?"

"Nobody."

He'd heard that line before and knew exactly what it meant. A boy.

Lord save him.

"Is that that Winthrop boy from church?!"

"His name is Kyle." She corrected. "And he just wants to know when we're gonna be back."

"Kyle can wait." He glanced back at his elder daughter in the review mirror bad memories coming to him. "As a matter of fact, waiting is a fine skill for him to acquire."

"Ha, ha. Very funny." She droned. "Daddy? This whole thing...it's all so sudden, don't you think?"

"Well, I prefer spontaneous."

"But we're not gonna be gone too long, right? I mean, we got school."

"Well, you and your brother are both exceptional students. So you'll catch up, or you'll go back to homeschooling."

"You're kidding me, right? It's my senior year, dad! I-I have homecoming and-and friends and I have a life!"

The sudden outburst from the quietest Fuller pierced Scott's music. Looking towards Odette, he began to take his headphones off when she motioned for him to keep them on and go back to reading his comic.

"You certainly do, with me and Ettie and Scott, right here on this RV." He gently slapped the steering wheel.

Kate stared at him with such coldness he wasn't sure if she was gonna scream or cry. Instead she looked towards the open road, not a single other car in sight. Despite her attempt to keep calm, she found herself unable to make peace with it. She huffed indignantly and marched to the back.

When she slid in across Odette, he knew he had stuck his foot in it. Jacob Fuller was no fool. He hadn't missed the callousness in which Kate regarded her older sister. Though the two had never been the closest, the distance between them now seemed to stretch as long and wide at the state of Texas. And while he wished for the happy family they had once been, he was ashamed to admit he wasn't sure he wanted them to forgive her.

No matter how hard it had been on Jen and him, it was nothing in comparison to what those kids went through. Ettie had always shone like a star. And when she took off the Fullers were left in darkness. He had faith in the lord and his daughter. But damn if he prayed everyday they wouldn't be put through that again.

And thus Odette froze. Scared that the subtlest motion would send her skittering away like a baby deer. Kate fumbled with the phone in her hands before looking at her. Odette immediately turned back to her computer, trying to get the damn thing to get a signal. She felt Kate's stare before she heard her scoff.

Damn it. "What's wrong, now?" Why did she do this to herself?

Kate looked out the window and then back to her. Obviously wanting to talk about something but not yet wanting to end the cold war between them.

Closing her eyes to keep them from rolling, Odette gave a terse smile. "You can ask me something while still hating me. Don't worry, I don't expect to be braiding hair and talking about boys anytime soon."

It seemed to crack her. "Actually..."

Boys. "Boys?"

"Just one."

"Kyle Winthrop?"

"I don't want to go to Mexico."

"Well you're sorta on the wrong bus for that aren't you?"

"Kyle thinks it's stupid, what we're doing. I don't disagree."

"Katie, I love you, even if you don't believe it." She added when Katie looked away. "But, I say this with all affection and sincerity, Kyle's an asshole."

By the glare she received, Odette had a feeling the war was no longer cold. "No he's not. He's sweet and smart and-"

"And an 18 year old boy. Who he is with you is not who he is as a person. Trust me. No matter what he's like, he's an asshole. Can't help it! They're just programmed that way!" She gave a closed mouth smile to the fuming girl. Plugging her earphones into the computer jack, Odette leaned closer to whisper. "So whatever you and he are planning..." Kate tensed up. "Just don't." Kate had forgotten that when she was sober, Odette had the eyes of a hawk.

As her sister began fiddling around on her music library, Kate opened up the new text from Kyle. Hesitance suddenly creeping up on her, she tried to stall for time.

The light sleep Odette had fallen into was cut short when her body was propelled off the couch by the RV's sharp stop. Bracing herself with the table at the last minute, she couldn't even contain the curse that left her startled lips. Luckily only Scott heard it. He, too, was too jarred to call her out on it.

"What the frack, dad?" Scott used what a politer version of how his sister choose to express herself. Whatever he and Kate had been talking about up here was enough to make him lose his temper.

"Okay." He turned towards his three children pointing a finger at them in stern warning. "This is the last time I'm gonna say this. I've told you both all I care to say about that night. Now, the subject is closed. Nothing good is gonna come out of dwelling on it. Now, we're going on this trip, and we're moving on with our lives. Is that clear?"

"You're right, dad." Kate's tone went flat. "I won't ask any more questions."

A heavy silence encompassed the RV as Kate went to seal herself off in the back. Whatever sign she needed that leaving was the right thing, that was the closest she was gonna get. It was pretty clear, too.

In the front of the RV, looking at his oldest and youngest, Jacob swallowed and tried to change the topic. "Ettie, why don't you use that fancy phone of yours to find us someplace good to eat."

Without another word, he began to move like nothing happened. Scott looked towards Odette. Odette looked towards their father. When no one said anything, she turned her wide eyes to Scott and with a hand on his shoulder steered him back to the table. "So...barbecue anyone?" She's always been good at distractions. But she wasn't so sure this was something to keep sweeping under the rug.

She should have known something was off when Katie opted to stay in the RV while they grabbed lunch. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Bob's Brisket's ribs were surprisingly good for being in the middle of nowhere. The three of them were having a nice time with some damn good food, and in full Fuller mentality it just didn't seem as happy with the knowledge someone was missing out. So Odette had been asked to try and coax Kate from her pouting.

Imagine her great surprise to find the RV void of anyone. Placing a hand over her forehead she looked around the empty unit with disbelief. "Kate Fuller, you'll be the death of me."

Which was true. Because if the stress didn't get her, her father likely would.

Dropping their food, the three asked other patrons to keep and eye out for her as they went searching in the woods. Alex's teachings had once bored her beyond belief, but now that little bit of Comanche hunting How-To was coming in handy. Behind her Scott and her father called for her endlessly.

Guilt settled deep in her stomach, making it hard to focus as she wondered if this is what they felt like and what it had to feel like going through it again.

"Kate, come back!"

"Where are you, Katie-Kates?"

When they found the dirt road, it took less then a minute for them to jog and catch her. Having been caught red handed, she seemed conflicted as she looked at them, ruffled and worried, before looking at her boyfriend who stood stoic and intimidating. He slammed the red truck door closed and wandered up to her.

"Kate, w-what are you doing?"

"Kate, what the hell? You were gonna leave me, too?" Scott's voice broke.

Odette ran a hand through her hair, fixing the loose strays out of her face before holding them back and scratching at the back of her head. A habit of hers when she was irritated and needed to think. "What's the hell are you doing?"

"She texted him." Scott glared. "I saw her."

"Tattletale."

"Sorry you had to drive all the way out here, son. I do appreciate your concern for my daughter, but this here is a family matter. It's-It's none of your business."

Something seemed off about the Winthrop boy. Something about the way he looked at the Reverend with narrowed eyes. The Kyle she remembered meeting was too fidgety and respectful to do such a thing. "With all due respect, Kate made it my business. She's downright scared the way you just packed her up and took her out of her life like that."

"Katie." Odette's soft tone made the younger girl step back. She didn't want to be comforted or talked out of it. She just wanted to go home. Home was where mom used to be. And it was easier remembering her smell and smile when she was there then it was in a cramped run down RV.

"Now, listen, I know your family for a long time now from church, and I don't want to have to call them up on account of you giving me any kind of trouble out here."

"Go ahead. Call 'em." Kyle challenged.

Odette's head tilted. Again, the newfound confidence and menace was out of place in the literal choir boy.

"Daddy, don't you dare!" Kate objected.

"Now, Kyle, you're a good boy." Jacob tried to talk him into walking away but his patience was wearing thin. He wouldn't lose another daughter to foolhardy hearts. "Don't do anything to betray that."

"You're the traitor, Reverend!" He glowered. "What kind of man up and abandons his congregation?"

All at once the Fuller family let out breaths of air. Some in shock, one in acceptance, and the other a sharp scoff of annoyance.

"Abandons it?"

"What's he talking about, dad?"

"He didn't tell you?" Kyle knew exactly what he was doing. That smug smirk telling the older Fullers he enjoyed breaking the news to them. "I talked to my mom. He quit the parish for good."

"You said it was just a break." Katie's face molded into a hard stone of anger. "When were you gonna tell us?"

"Soon as the time was right."

Scott looked to his father for answers. "But why, dad? Why would you quit?"

Jacob didn't know what to say. Odette had warned him they would find out sooner or later but in his head...

Get RV. Get kids in RV. Get to Mexico. Start over.

It had been a simple plan.

But then when does anything ever live up to our expectations...

"Answer him."

"Kate." Odette warned. The trouble of knowing truth, you knew the pain people hid. Their father shouldn't be pushed on this. And Odette knew if Katie knew the truth of that night she wouldn't dare bring it up again. She wouldn't need to. Because, like them, it would then be running through her head all night and day.

"Answer him, or I swear to God, I will get in Kyle's truck, and unlike Ettie, I will never look back."

The threat was all it took to make him come clean. He just had to hope the children would understand the way Ettie did.

"If you're a man of the cloth, be it any cloth, not a day goes by that you don't look in the mirror and wonder, "am I a fraud?"

"What are you talking about, dad?"

"A shepherd can't lead his flock if he's lost the path himself."

Kate, the most faithful and serious of the children looked as if her father had stuck her across the face. "Are you saying that you don't believe anymore?"

Jacob honestly couldn't find the strength to answer. His silence went noted by all.

"I told you. Come on." Kyle grabbed Kate roughly and steered her towards the truck. "Let's go, now!" The slight gasp Kate gave was all it took for the Fullers to converge.

"Hey! Let go of her!" They maybe a god fearing family but damn if they wouldn't protect their own. Like the Lions of the Book of Daniel, they stalked after them, unrelenting in their glares.

"Let go of her, young man!" Jacob grabbed the boy by his other arm in an attempt to make him stop. It triggered a violent outburst from the Winthrop boy. Kyle punch the much older man in the cheek, followed by a sucker punch to the gut, before Ettie pushed them apart and Scott restrained him.

"What are you doing?! What has gotten into you?!" Kate screamed at him as she kneeled over their fallen father. Ettie grabbed Scott and pushed him behind her. The boy wasn't right in the head.

"Don't let him fool you!" Kyle scoffed as if they should thank him.

"He's my dad!" Katie stood up.

Their family was broken.

Flawed, cracked, with missing pieces...

But a family none the less. And Fuller's don't turn their backs on each other. No matter what they've done or who they've wronged.

No one was gonna change that.

"I want you to leave." Katie glared with a renewed fire. When Kyle still wouldn't move she stomped around her sister and pushed him away. "Now!"Ettie pulled her back to a safe distance when the boy's jaw ticked.

"Fine!"

Scott and Katie helped their father to stand as Odette stood guard. At 54 he wasn't at the age to be getting hit like that.

"So long. God save your soul with this murderous whore and your rice-monkey brother."

"No! No!" Jacob managed to hold back Scott from flying at the boy but he couldn't have calmed Odette in time. Her face showed hurt before it twisted into a furious sneer. She lashed out and placed an impressive kick to his lower stomach, crashing him back into the grill of his jeep.

No one could ever say Scott's outbursts were unfamiliar.

The air was effectively knocked out of the Winthrop boy. A sneer staining both his and Odette's faces as he tried to regain breath. "Bunch of freaks." He spit to the ground. Cradling his stomach he glared at them. "You deserve each other."

"Let's go, kids." Jacob pushed the children away from the clearly unstable young man. "Come on, let's go. Ettie!" He called when she remained glaring at Kyle. When he stood before her he saw a darkness in her eyes. Something was happening in that head of hers. "Odette Elizabeth!" He barked at her.

Finally she turned and walked away, Jacob wrapping an arm around her as they both glanced back at him. "Don't you listen to that-"

"Save it." Odette shrugged out of his grip. Storming ahead of even Scott and Kate, the three Fullers looked at her back with remorse and pity.

God help that girl.

Please Review :)

Bet you didn't expect another chapter this soon. Yeah, me neither, but the surprising amount of interest and reviews for this fic drove me to do it. ;) Please keep it up! Sorry it's a bit of a filler but it sets up the next.