Disclaimer: any and all characters are not owned by me, simply borrowing their images for readers entertainment.

Warning: Mentions and dustings of homosexual pairing, IF YOU DO NOT LIKE DO NOT READ.

Chapter 4: Better Late Than Never

Over the next few days the argument that her parents had had plagued her mind. Each of her father's words swirled around her mind forming conflicting emotions that battled vigorously for dominance . Her dad said she was strong. But in that moment, she feared he was mistaken. She woke the following morning with led in her veins, weighing down the stream of confidence that had begun to form. She wanted nothing more than to stay in bed and worry herself ragged but then she'd have to come up with a reasonable excuse not to go to school. This task seemed even more difficult than just biting the nail and facing her parents. Dragging her feet, Judith got ready for the day, worrying less about her appearance and putting on a black hoodie to hide behind, if needed. She couldn't even bring herself to stick around for breakfast. Jude hurried down stairs and went straight for the door, yelling from the hall that she was planning on meeting Sophia early this morning. This was a lie however and if her daddy knew it, she wasn't sure because she had only stopped quick enough to tell him before heading out for the day. On her way she pulled out her cell phone, sending her best friend a text to see if she were up yet. In all honesty, Judith didn't really feel like talking to anyone but she could never shut out Sophia like she did to the rest of the world.

When the young brunette found herself standing outside of Sophia's house with no reply from her friend she decided to call her. No one picked up, so she left a voicemail about needing to go in early to take care of some stuff and that she would meet her there.

When Judith arrived, there were substantially less bodies occupying the front of the school. It was still quite early, so she made her way inside and took a seat at one of the round tables in the lunch room where she took out her sketch pad. Mindlessly, she made several doodles on a page while the school began to fill up the closer it got to the first bell. She had been so engrossed with drawing the detail on the jacket of a skeletal circus ringleader that she jumped when someone sat down next to her.

"Woah, relax. I won't bite. Promise." Francis was smiling over at her as he laid down his bag.

"Sorry, wasn't paying attention." Judith continued her drawing, unsatisfied with the proportion of the straps on either side of her ringleader's coat.

The dark haired boy chuckled as he removed a textbook from his bag, "Man, first few weeks are ruff already. We've got an English paper due already and I don't have a clue what's goin' on in Science."

Jude couldn't help but mumble, "You're tellin' me." as flashes from last night played in in her head.

Francis leaned over to catch a glimpse of what she was working on before letting his jaw drop slightly, "Woah, that is so cool. Never pegged you for the artist type."

Her pencil stopped moving at this as she looked up to meet Francis's eye, "What do you mean by that?"

She always hated being judged by her appearance, good or bad, it was a trigger for her.

He was silent for a moment, shock written in his features at her sudden coldness. It took him a moment to recover before he held up a hand in defence, "oh- uh, nothing. Really, it's just- well, that you're in Sophomore classes and- and I, uh- I always thought you looked- um, looked like the sophisticated scholar type, is all. And- and well, you're so pretty and uh-" he dropped his gaze at that last part, face growing red with embarrassment. Judith raised a brow at his rambling, wondering if the 'pretty' comment was just to flatter her into not yelling at him. He appeared genuinely apologetic however and she felt bad for taking out her bad mood on him. In the week and a half that she had known Francis he had never been anything but nice to her.

Judith took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, didn't me to snap. I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Its cool. Did- did you wanna talk about it, or-?"

She shook her head before he could continue, "No."

An awkward silence filled the air before she felt the need to redeem herself, "Do you want help with your Science homework?"

Judith spent the time before classes explaining Newton's first 3 laws to Francis until Sophia arrived. The three sat for a while talking about the pep-rally scheduled at the end of the day until the first bell rang, signalling class. Their light conversation helped to lift her mood and Judith found that her school work took her mind off of the turmoil that settled in her mind.

Thursday came and went before she knew it, dinner being spent avoiding her parents eyes as she ate in silence.

It wasn't until Friday in homeroom that she had all but forgotten her troubles. Judith had just returned to class from switching out her books for the day, hoping to beat the crowd if she didn't have to go to her locker after the final bell. When she walked back into the classroom her spot had been taken by someone, desk pushed over to study alongside a friend. Judith hesitated for a moment, knowing that they didn't have a seating arrangement and took a new residence in the back. She had just taken out her copy of Staying Fat for Sarah Barnes, which she was reading for English class, when someone made a loud, "PST!" noise in her direction. She looked up to meet the heavily make-uped eyes of Lorelie, the blond pixie-cut haired girl she had admired on her first day. "Hey, Judith right?"

She nodded her confirmation when she realized the girl had in fact been speaking to her.

"You're a freshman right? I noticed we have Geometry together."

Judith nodded again, wondering where this was going. Before Lorelie could continue however, the curly head of Connor materialized in the seat next to her, "Man Lor, you are terrible with small talk. Geometry? Really?"

The blond swatted at him, "Shut up. Friendly ain't my thing."

Before Jude knew it, a third form joined them and sat on Connor's desk. This form being raven haired with heavy looking black leather boots which she propped on the edge of judith's chair, "It's true, her first words to me were 'Outta' the way'."

The three friends laughed at what Judith guessed were fond memories.

Lorelie flipped her bangs from her eyes, "Whatever. You bitches love me. Anyway, my mad-man-a-jamma' here tells me you had a bad run in with the shrew."

Judith stared at them blankly for a moment until she realized that they were referring to the encounter she had had with Tess last week.

"Oh, uh, yah. She always that friendly?"

Connor let out a loud laugh that drew a few wandering eyes, before he curtly and quite seriously said, "Yah."

Lex snickered, "Connor hates her with a fiery passion."

"Oh, and you don't?" Lorelie cut in.

Lex nodded, seeming to contemplate the question asked at her, "Yes but Connor has a reason to. I just hate her cuz' she's a stuck up, rich bitch, who always gets her way."

Connor nodded along as if he agreed with this analogy before Lex leaned in closer to Judith, her voice low, "She's a Junior and in our freshman year she tried to get in ta' Connor's pants but when he shot her down she started a rumor that he was selling drugs in the school bathrooms."

Connor continued the story for her, unashamed, "It was funny. Until it got to a teacher and suddenly they were searching all my shit. But whatever, I have my reasons."

Lex and Lorelie laughed and Judith couldn't fight the feeling that she was missing something. Before she could help it, her sarcastic humor got the better of her, "What, herpes?"

The three doubled over in laughter, Lorelie whipping at her eye as she choked out, "This chick! Oh man, I like her, she can stay!"

When their laughter died down into repressed giggles, Connor mustered up the most innocent smile he could manage, "No, I'm just not into chicks. The fear of Tess having Herp's is a close second though."

Judith's eyes grew wide for a moment at his bluntness. She had kept her mouth shut about being a surrogated child herself due to the cruel treatment she had received over the years, but here Connor was saying it proudly. Instinctually not wanting to give her family away the only thing that left her mouth was, "Oh."

The three giggled at her, gauging her reaction before Lex nudged her, "What? Never met a gay guy before?"

Judith stammered, "No, it's just- it uh-"

"What?"

There was an extended moment of silence, while Judith struggled with what to say before deciding to lay all of her cards on the table, "My- my uh, parents are gay, I have two fathers."

The three hadn't seemed to expect that, a second moment of silence occurring before Lorelie stammered a laugh, "No shit? Like what, your ma' is just gone?"

Lex turned to slap her friend, "Lorelie! The hell?"

Judith couldn't stop the laugh that passed her lips as she shook her head, "It's cool, no, my parents used a surrogate."

Connor extended his fist in offer, "Right on."

Judith met the action with a smile on her face. She knew that telling such things to practical strangers wasn't the wisest choice but if Connor could be so open with her than she could too.

When the conversation commenced, it had nothing to do about what she had just told them. It was as if the three had took what she said, accepted it as ordinary and moved on. They spent the remainder of class talking about the upcoming choir concert, which Lex and Lorelie would be participating in and ended the day on a good note.

Over the next couple of weeks, the three had taken to Judith. Homerooms could be found with the four chatting over textbooks and occasionally being teased by Mr. Danahoo for their rambunctious antics when things got boring. Lex and Lorelie often asked her to compare answers in Geometry when they had free work time, more as an excuse to talk than to actually run over equations. She also had Biology and 2D Design with Connor and the ginger haired boy took to pairing with her for any group tasks. She had even been ecstatic when her three new friends invited her to eat outside with them at lunch one A-Day. While she always loved her best friend Sophia's company, she wasn't really into the arts. Judith found that the one subject that would always spark an engaging conversation where drawing, performing, and writing with her new peers. While Judith never really got on stage to act herself, she enjoyed the art-form and all of its theoretical meaning. When she wasn't with the three, she had realized that her only other close acquaintance was Francis, who would sit with her and Sophia on B-Day lunches and chatter away with them in History class.

It was on one cold Saturday when Judith had been working on her 2D Design project while watching TV, that her phone went off. She had shared her number with her new friends, texting from time to time and getting to know one another. The text was from Lorelie, asking if she wanted to meet her, Lex, and Connor at a local coffee shop called Adam Street Espresso for something warm to drink. She had jumped at the offer, grateful for a reason to give her aching hand a break. She had asked her daddy and when he approved he offered her spending money, happy that she was getting out of the house and making friends. Rick had offered to drive her as well but Judith didn't want to bother him, seeing as the shop her friends had directed her to was only a few blocks away. Her daddy smiled and told to call her dad if she wanted a ride home than, seeing as he was already out at his brothers place, helping him move furniture.

Judith briskly made her way to the coffee shop, the signs of an early winter biting at the tips of her fingers. She let her mind wander, a repetitive tune clinging to her brain that she couldn't quite place, when she thought of Sophia. The brunette grinned to herself as she located her cell phone, knowing that if she didn't invite her best friend, Sophia would hold it over head for weeks.

'Going to hang out with some new friends, wanna go? -J'

It only took a minute or two for a reply to come through.

'Who's gonna be there? -S'

'Lorelie, Lex, and Connor -J'

'...Who? -S'

Judith could help but chuckle.

'I DON'T KNOW THEIR LAST NAMES, JUST COME! -J'

'Fiiiiiiine wer? -S'

'*Where? -S'

'Adam street espresso? -J'

'Be there in 10 -S'

Judith pocketed her phone and walked another block before she entered the business district of South Atlanta, admiring the different shops as they came into view. Looking up at a small shop, painted a dark green and sandwiched between two other stores, Judith noticed the sign that read Adam Street Espresso over the door. She entered the shop, shrugging off her jacket and shivering from the cold as she took in her surroundings. It was a dimly lit hole-in-the-wall place, decorated with art work by local artists and bustling with customers. Judith approached the counter as her eyes scanned the crowd, searching out her friends. Lex was already standing in the back, waving to get her attention, indicating the dark booth that they were occupying. She had just waved back to indicate that she knew where they were when a tall brunette barista with glasses asked her what she would like. Jude ordered a vanilla cappuccino and paid for her drink before winding her way through the cluster of buzzing coffee-drinkers toward the back of the establishment.

"Sup, Chicka?" Connor greeted from behind his cup.

Judith slid into the booth beside him, seeing as Lorelie and Lex already occupied the other side, as they usually did with most things.

"Hey, hope you don't mind, I invited someone else." Judith told the group as she wedged her jacket between her and Connor.

Lorelie took a long drink from what looked like a very sweet frappuccino before saying, "That's cool, who?"

"Sophia Peletier. She's a freshman."

"Uuhhhm, nah, don't think I know her." Lorelie wracked her brain with seemingless inconclusive results.

"I don't think any of you have any classes together." Judith offered to confirm that their being unacquainted wasn't strange in the least.

Idle chatter ensured as the four waited for Sophia, thankful for the steam rising from their cups to warm their trembling hands, except Lorelie who complained about the freezing feeling of her iced coffee.

She hadn't noticed when her friend had entered the shop until she was standing in front of their table, steaming cup in hand. Judith slid over as far as she could to offer Sophia a seat, her thighs now snugly pushed up against her friends on both side.

Lorelie leaned over the table, inspecting their new guest, "Oh I've seen you before, I think we have science together."

Their conversations persisted into animated story-telling and laughter as the five dwindled away the time. Sophia found it easy to find common ground in dark humor with the group and before long they were teasing one another as if they had known each other for ever. It didn't take long for the sun to set, making the dim light shine brighter in a pocket of warmth of the little shop. As the hours passed, the crowd thinned out, making it seem later than it actually was. It wasn't until the shopkeeper announced closing-time that Judith realized that not once had she worried about her problems, be it school or home and she couldn't help the smile that snuck its way onto her lips.

Wow-y its been awhile. Sorry about the wait on this one! One month ago I moved into my first apartment with my roommates and started a new job downtown. Plus we have been soaking up the assets in our free time, full gym, hot tub, ect, plus there is a lot to do in LA (and since i've already lived here, I'm playing tour guide for my ex-Oklahoma resident roomies).

But any who, this was a fun chapter, I wrote a lot of this a few weeks ago and didn't include the coffee shop scene, just skipped ahead but I felt like that was pushing it too much. I already have ch.5 started, so hopefully i can make up for my long bout of silence!

Oh! I almost forgot, last night I also started a new Tumblr page called alwaysdixongrimes (URL: ) feel free to follow that page for strictly Rickly content such as: RPs, links to fanfics, fan art, gifs, and more!