Disclaimer: Still don't own.
A/N: I'm sorry for the delay in update. I'll try to get the next chapter up a little early as repayment. I give no promise on that, though. I usually have a little extra done by the time I post a chapter. That's not the case this time.
This wasn't happening. Cate didn't say what she thought she had. There was something wrong. She had been so careful! How could she know?
"Lux. How long?" Cate repeated, her neutral face twitching with a hint of anger.
"What are you talking about?" Lux shot back trying to feign disgust. Her heart thundered in her ears. Her dizziness had nothing to do with the medication that was slowly kicking in.
"Tasha told me." Cate said softly.
"WHAT?" Lux stood up, shocked. The weight of the cast on her arm nearly toppled her over when matched with the velocity.
"She didn't tell me exactly." Cate countered, realizing what she had. "But when I told asked her about Minnesota, she implied that it was the one and the same as the father. She didn't mean to Lux."
"How do you even KNOW about Minnesota?" All filters were gone. She was going to kill Tasha. She was dead. They were going to kill her.
"It doesn't matter."
"HA! Funny. Last time I said that to YOU, you didn't seem to agree with me." She shot back, her cheeks flushing with anger.
"Hey, hey!" Ryan came out from around the corner, sweats hanging haphazardly around him. "Everything okay out here?" He looked hard at Lux, and then his wife. Lux froze. She had thought of what Baze would do. But Ryan? He loved her just as much as the bio did. He had to be at his last straws when it came to being so accommodating in this situation. He wasn't a saint. How would he react?
"Everything's fine." Cate said calmly. "Girl stuff." Lux looked down at her mother, confused. Why was she hiding this? Why would she?
"Lux?" Ryan caught her attention. She nodded in collaborating with Cate's claim. He seemed skeptical but disappeared back into the bedroom.
When he was out of sight, Lux sat back down. She couldn't speak. Her fist balled, lying heavily on her knee. She found a small hand covering it. Frightened she looked over at her mother.
"I promise you, I won't tell him. Not right now. But you need to work with me, Lux. You need to give me a reason not to." She squeezed her other hand. "Help me understand this. Because I don't know if I can. And if I can't you know Baze won't be able to." She stopped, breathing. "Help me, sweetie, so that I can help you."
Lux stared for a moment. How was this happening? How could Cate be this patient? How could she NOT be seething? Lux couldn't say she didn't understand why they'd be angry. She could see tolerance, but there was also a hint of irritation at the lengthy pause in the conversation.
"He didn't know I was sixteen." She started, her work making her mother's eyes shoot up. "When he first met me, the Open Bar was closed but I was behind the counter. I was confused, Bug had just proposed. And I don't know, it just felt nice talking to him. Clearly not a city boy, waaaay too naive." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "It was refreshing. And I figured, Portland's huge… the chances I'd see him again were minimal. So, I let him believe it."
" Nothing happened." Cate didn't need to know every detail. "But there was something there." Her mother was listening attentively.
"Of course, I go to school the next day and…" She let the sentence trail off. Cate nodded.
She continued on, doing her best to pull one leg up to hug it as she talked. It was a little difficult given her restrictions. But keeping something close to her made her comfortable. As she continued on, telling her mother about how they had kept it all a secret. Lux recalled all the times he had helped her –with her problems that Cate, Baze, and Ryan were too consumed with something else to hear, or her own personal issues be it education related or otherwise. She confessed about Tasha covering for them and begged her mother not to interrupt. She didn't know if she'd be able to continue if she stopped.
She told Cate about how he had told her that he loved her the day of the trial. The thought made her cheeks burn to this day. She explained how soon after he had gone away only to come back to her. That was right after her seventeenth birthday. With a great deal of awkwardness she mumbled that's when things had taken another shift in their relationship.
"But I swear to you," She kept her focus on her mother unwilling, or unable, to look away, "He never pressured me into anything. If anything he's been TOO cautious around me." She laughed. "I've never felt used or like he was just in it because I was younger."
"I know a thousand girls must say this, Cate, but he understands me better then I do myself sometimes. And no, he's not manipulating me. It's more like; he makes me face truths I didn't want to admit to. He calls me out on my bull and pushes me to be a better person. And I…for the life of me…can't figure out how he can even put UP with me some times. But he DOES."
"I don't think it's just about trying to find someone to protect or fix. He could do that without wanting to be with me. Cate… I know it's wrong. I know that it shouldn't be possible for someone like him to love someone like me… but I truly think he does." She pleaded before turning her eyes back to the floor.
"We were coming here, that night. It's why I called, to make sure you were home. He said enough was enough. He didn't want me to face you alone. He..." her throat had begun to tighten. "He said he didn't care what happened to him, he didn't want me to have to put my life on hold. He didn't want you to put the blame on me." She put her forehead against her knee. She felt her mother's hand at her back rubbing slow circles.
The hand turned into a hug. Cate was mumbling something her ear that she didn't comprehend. She came apart in the maternal embrace around her. The floodgates had opened. And while she knew there would be pain to come, Lux was taken aback at how therapeutic it had been not to have to keep all of this from Cate. She only hoped that how she felt, how they felt about one another, came through in a way that Cate would be able to understand.
]0[ ]0[ ]0[ ]0[
Cate's feet felt heavy against the floor as she walked away from the dozing teenager on the couch. Teenager. The word reverberated in her head. Before it was an ominous taunt of how much time she had missed, how much her daughter still needed to be a kid. What was it now? Her confidence, the way she had spoken, what she was going through right now, Cate wasn't quite so sure she could keep that same philosophy now.
"Hey?" Ryan pushed himself up on his side when she finished the long trek down the corridor and rounded the corner to her room. "What was that all about?" Concern lined his face.
Cate shook her head. She had changed while Lux was getting ready for bed. But the slippers she tossed off felt like rocks. A few sluggish steps more she was kneeling on the bed. Her husband was waiting for her with open arms. She gladly fell into them to lay her head on his chest. Her eyes dropped as she felt a large hand make its way through her hair.
"Thank you." She murmured.
"For?" He said against her.
"Acting like this isn't a problem. For being the only one who's remotely in control… as always. I know it can't be as easy as you're making it look." She cranked her head up to look at him directly.
"No, it's not." He admitted. That was one thing they had tried to work on –being honest without compromising a safe sense of self. "But I know it's what you guys need. That makes it a little easier."
Cate stared at him. She didn't know Mr. Daniels well, but if he made her feel remotely as safe as Ryan was making her now…she could see why Lux was infatuated with him. Which was what made this entire situation so insufferable. Everything logical in her head was screaming no. She didn't need to keep her word to Lux. She could tell Ryan, or Baze. They could check this guy out if not drive him away before he hurt her. Not that he could do much more damage then he already had. But something was holding her back.
Lux was always passionate. That was another trait she inherited from her –and the teenage years. It would be easy to get swept up by someone and believe your were in love. Maybe she really was in love with this man. There was a slim chance he genuinely cares for if not loves her –a thought that didn't settle so well with Cate. But at that age, with these things that chance was so thin.
It was that annoying little thread of a chance that made her snuggle in closer to her husband. It made her wonder if it was safe to trust in someone as malleable as a teen. Miniscule as it was, it kept her quiet until she found restless sleep in the arms of someone she knew loved her.
]0[ ]0[ ]0[ ]0[
That stupid alarm clock. He was going to kill it. No, really. He was. How could one little piece of plastic and wire make a sound so irritating that it could wake up the dead? And from the way his head pounded from one too many beers and a previous lack of sleep—he wasn't entirely certain he didn't have zombie status. He'd have to watch out for a craving for brains.
The sun that leaked through his curtains was what finally dragged him out of bed. He almost mumbled to Emma to turn it off only to remember she had to leave last night after she made sure he was going to be okay. Looking over at his clock he realized that it wasn't just beeping for a minute. He had snored through forty-five minutes of it's insistent blaring. Where the hell was Math this early on a Sunday?
The screech of the alarm was soon replaced with the shivering of the telephone tone. Baze growled to himself as he threw his pillow across the room. Lunging across the mattress he fumbled for the wireless.
"What?" He snapped still not alert in his morning buzz.
"Well hello to you too!" The voice said with a hint of laughter on the other line.
"...Paige?" Baze half yawned, scrubbing his face with his hand.
"That would be me. You're apparently still alive." Baze hadn't seen Ryan's sister since she moved out after a job opportunity came up six months ago.
"So I'm going to be in town...maybe for a while." She moved on when there was a dead response. "Was wondering if my old room was still open at least for the weekend. Unless you have Lux it's kind of crowded over at Ry's place." She was never too slow to the point.
"Uh, yea. Sure. It's still open." He managed to say through his fog. "You...haven't talked to Ryan have you?"
"Should I?" She paused in their conversation, now curious to where he was going with this.
OH boy. Baze took a deep breath. From his mouth flowed the tale that was the past two days. For once, he listened to Paige be silent. That was shocking in its own right. As he did so he got out of bed attempting to become fit for the day. When he was done, full vent about Lux's secrecy, he took a deep breath. "But, thanks for telling her about Geezer…or whatever his name was. I guess you helped out Mr. Daniel's family."
"Who?" Paige asked. Baze recognized the sound of her distraction.
"Uh, Eric? Is that his name? Lux's tutor…the one you dated for a while."
"No no, I KNOW him." He could almost hear the giggle in her voice. "The other person." That caused Baze to pause his task of grabbing clothes from his drawer.
"Geezer." Baze repeated. "His uncle who lives in state?"
"He has an uncle in Oregon? I thought all his family was back in Minnesota." She questioned.
He repeated the conversation the doctor had with Lux that afternoon in the hospital. But Paige was still stumped. Finally, Paige moved on asking when would be a good time for her to pop by. When Baze hung up the phone he stared at the device for a long minute.
Something wasn't right.
]0[ ]0[ ]0[ ]0[
Cate sat on the couch, watching her daughter play on the rug with Alex. Ryan had told her that when he had woken up, Lux had him in her lap feeding him breakfast. He hadn't asked how she had managed him with one arm out. But as the day progressed it was clear that Lux was trying to keep busy with him.
She was going out of her mind. The hints were subtle but obviously there to someone who knew her as well as Cate did. Or, at least, she thought she knew her well. Things weren't always, as they appeared it seemed. Every few minutes she'd catch her daughter sneaking a look at the phone almost willing it to ring. Or to use it. Cate wasn't sure.
Tasha had stopped by around 11, but Lux had spent most of the conversation ensuring her friend that it was okay for her to go to Jones' football match. They were facing their mortal enemy tonight after all. In her daughter's words, 'You have better things to do then helping me not mope.' Lux was good at acting, Cate realized. Maybe it's something they should encourage her to do?
Around one Lux finally relinquished her little brother to his father saying she better try to tackle the schoolwork her friends had given her. If that wasn't hint enough that something was off, Cate wasn't sure what one would be. Ryan walked over to her at the couch also watching Lux head into the kitchen to make use of the chair and table there.
"Well. That's one good thing at least—she's really good with him. First-time parenting might not be as hard on her." He said regrettably. Cate nodded somberly.
Their homely peace was interrupted by a heavy knock on the door. Cate groaned but swung onto her feet. She had a good idea of who it was. Sure enough, on the other side, Baze stood half messed.
"Forget where you hid your brush?" She asked half-heartedly, not really feeling up to the usual banter exchange they went through.
"Lux lied to us." He said plainly. Cate opened her mouth but no response came before he continued on. "Paige didn't tell her about Geezer." Cate just nodded.
"Okay?" The fog that covered her mind was hard to navigate. From the conversation she and her daughter had the previous night she knew exactly how Lux had learned the information she did. But she had also sworn herself to secrecy. "Then he mentioned him in passing maybe?" Baze shook his head.
"I say we get down there and question this teacher of hers ourselves." Cate recognized that look. It was the driven wildness that always sent shivers along her spine.
"Baze, look. Don't you think you're making quite a jump?" She placed one hand on her hip.
"Am I Cate? Because from where I'm standing—"
"From where you're standing, your daughter is in trouble. You don't know how to help. And when that happens, when you see you're not in control, you go crazy." She said quickly. Harshly. He hadn't expected that.
"Look, that guy may not even be awake let alone up to questioning. His family is likely to be just as defensive as you are now. So before we go rushing in to make accusations, don't you think we might want to consider other possibilities first?" She rambled on, seeing the confliction arise in Lux's father.
"Exactly. Now, Baze, why don't we just give Lux today? Just today. We can start this talk after her appointment tomorrow. Alright?" She offered, not pushing him out the door, as he hadn't come in.
"Oh. Okay?" He was uncertain.
"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me…" She turned to the coat rack at the doorway that held her coat and car keys. "I'm out of milk."
]0[ ]0[ ]0[ ]0[
Tasha sat on the bleacher, the cold air swirling around her face despite her scarf and a hat she had unabashedly stolen from Lux. What could she say? Their style wasn't the same but Lux knew what was warm. The game itself was nearly tied, having just passed the intermission. The opposing team had one touchdown to their name with an additional field goal in the try. The home team had two field goals, making them one point below their enemies.
Needless to say the audience was getting antsy. Seeing her boyfriend back on the field she cheered loudly with half the crowd. It wasn't over until it was over. And they had two more quarters to go. Focused on the start she almost didn't notice the body slip beside her on the bleachers.
"So. Tasha." The person addressed almost jumped until she saw who it was.
"Hey Courtney." She said, turning her head back to the game.
Like her, Courtney had a guy on the team. Unlike Tasha, she could be an absolute bitch. The girl from the foster system tried to give her some slack. She knew how it was when new people came onto your turf. She also knew that everyone had their own baggage to deal with. And half the time what they said to you was to get away from their own shitty lives. From what she had heard, Courtney had her fair share of demons.
"You know that Steph's mother is in the police force, right?" She asked casually in between hoots of encouragement.
"I guess I heard that." Tasha replied keeping her eye on the advance. She wasn't sure she liked where this was going.
"I heard from her that Lux got into an accident. That's why she wasn't around Friday."
"Yea. So?"
"She was in the car with Mr. Daniel's right?" Courtney was fishing. Tasha knew that look in someone's eye.
"So tell me…" She leaned closer to whisper in Tasha's ear. "Did he go off the road 'cause she was blowing him? She has been doing awfully well in class lately. Can't say I really blame her for that one, but…"
Tasha snapped, scooting away as fast as possible. The person beside her was apparently oblivious to the girls' conversation. She could tolerate a lot. Taking down her best friend was not on that list of things she could ignore. Especially not right now.
"Okay, first, she was only in that truck because she needed a ride and he knows her family. Second." She leaned back into Courtney's space, controlling, and the scowl very apparent. "Lux may be a lot of things, but she wouldn't sink down to YOUR level—believe me, girl, janitors closets are not the best places to sneak around in. Poor idiots like me who stop at near by water fountains hear a damn lot."
"So before you go flapping your jaws around school, trying to bring down my girl just because you're damn jealous of the fact that if he WAS some kind of pedo she'd be a million places ahead in the line before you, just remember that Lux is guilt free. But there are a dozen girls in that school who think just about as highly of you as you do of her. And I can PROMISE you that with the right amount of pressure, I could get them to come down on you. And sadly, not in the way you'd like." Tasha stood up straight, slamming her boot on the metal bench beside where the other girl was sitting before she trounced off to another place.
As she walked, a heavy feeling settled in her stomach. Why did she feel like she had just made a horrible mistake? Why hadn't she just waved her off?
Crap.
]0[ ]0[ ]0[ ]0[
After Cate had left, and Baze had ashamedly followed her to make sure she was actually getting milk, he found himself driving around Portland aimlessly. He didn't feel like going back to the loft. He couldn't go and check on Lux after his confrontation with Cate. Somehow, as if his brain was on autopilot, he found himself pulling into the hospital parking lot.
Before he knew where his feet were taking him, he found himself up in the ICU. He knew what Cate had said. His blood was boiling. At the very least he had to see what kind of shape this guy was in. If he wasn't still there and was about, then he might not be able to hold back.
With a quick question to the receptionist, she pointed to a door a little ways down the hall. She took a moment to caution him that the mood surrounding it was not always a pleasant one. Before he could make the way down the hallway a teen that wasn't too much older then daughter walked up to him leaving a woman he assumed to be his mother.
"You're Lux's dad?" He asked with some hesitation.
"Uh…yea?" He looked between the young man and his mother who had gone from a neutral sadness to a deep frown.
"I'm Grant, Eric's younger brother. His doctor told us she was the one who tipped him off on how to get in touch with Uncle George. Thank her for us, will you?" Baze heard his mother rush.
At that moment there was a rush in the room. All moved aside as a gurney was brought through. Doctors followed him, with a pair of police officers trailing behind. The brother's mother seemed about to say something to Baze when one of the officers calmed and backtracked. Her partner had already headed out the door.
"Mr. Bazile, right?" her eyes were tired but attentive. "My daughter knows yours. I told her about the accident. How is she doing?" She said slowly.
"She should be fine…" Baze said, the relief of saying it out loud was more then he imagined.
"You were there?" Mr. Daniel's mother piped up.
"Yes ma'am." She affirmed. The mother introduced herself quickly. "I take it your son's still not in the clear?" Grant took his mother's hand for confidence.
"I know this is hard for you, but as far as I'm concerned your son's a hero." Both parents looked at her curiously. "I think it's safe to say that you owe that young man your daughter's life." She began as she shifted her weight from one side to another.
"When we came upon the scene, it was clear that Mr. Daniels had deliberately quickly changed his initial course to take her out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. When we found them. He had then used himself to become a shield for her. She was almost completely covered by him." Baze couldn't help but look at Eric's mother. Her paleness was probably echoed in his own face.
"I suppose it's reassuring to see that teachers still care this much. We were considering talking Steph's little sister into going elsewhere. But if Westmonte has that kind of care… maybe not."
Baze stood, his jaw a little loose. He knew that he was hurt, that he was driving. But for the first time he took a glance into the room. What he saw made him sick—and not just because of the patched and bruised body.
"Excuse me." He mumbled before making a run for the exit.