A/N: Sorry for the delay; I've been packing and having family visiting. I'm moving back to Indiana next Saturday, woooooo. This is a little shorter than usual, but I thought it was good to have the big fight in one chapter. Please enjoy and review.
Riley swallowed uncomfortably once again, trying not to look at her father's frightening gaze. Sara was now making her way over from the dining room, where she'd been making calls on her cell phone. She let it skid on the counter top and crossed her arms as she joined her husband. Obviously, they knew she wasn't at Mandy's house, so lying about that wasn't going to get her anywhere but into a bigger heap of trouble.
"Um…out?" She tried to be as evasive as possible, though deep down she knew that strategy wouldn't get her out of trouble. They interrogated murderers and rapists for a living; Riley was sure she was just easy game.
"You wanna elaborate on that a little?" Nick raised his eyebrows and shifted his stance slightly, showing his obvious displeasure with his daughter. When she hadn't come home for curfew, he'd made the call to Mandy's house and her mother didn't know anything about a sleepover, and Riley had turned her cell phone off. In short, it had been two hours of his worst nightmare.
"No, not really." Riley said honestly, managing to still have a bit of attitude even in the face of the deep shit she was in. She moved to go back to her room, but her father's voice stopped her in warning.
"You can park it right there on the couch. We have some talkin' to do." He informed her sternly, stepping closer to Riley, and then firmly steered her to a seat. Nick guided her down and had to put a little bit of force into it. He really hoped Riley would be cooperative with them, but sensed it wouldn't be that easy. Most of the time now, Riley was a pretty manageable, happy child. It was when she was in trouble for something that sass and curtness shone its ugly head. She could easily become defensive and mouthy, like the Riley they had been introduced to almost three years ago.
"I know how cliché this sounds," Sara began, standing next to Nick in front of the couch, "But you had us worried sick!" Nick looked at his wife and could tell she definitely did not plan on going easy on Riley. She was pissed.
Riley sighed and studied her purple toenail polish, hoping the lecturing would pass soon and she could just go to bed. Sara continued on vehemently.
"Your curfew is eleven o'clock on the weekends, and it's after one!" She told Riley, in case she hadn't realized. Riley winced and scratched the back of her head. In all her fun, the time had slipped her mind. She guessed she kind of blew that one. "Do you know what we've been doing the past two hours?"
Riley shrugged. Their questions were basically begging her to give them mouthy comebacks. She didn't like the feeling of being handled still after all this time with the Stokes. It was something she'd never gotten used to. "Flippin' out for no reason."
"Flippin' out for a very good reason." Nick corrected her, not at all impressed with her smart comebacks. "You turned your damn phone off and we had no way to reach you. You lied about being at Mandy's house. I called her mom and she knew nothing about sleepin' over. Where have you been, and don't you dare lie to us."
"I was at my friend Casey's house. You don't know her." She picked at her chipped nail polish on her thumb.
"And why's that? You're not allowed to people's houses we don't know." Nick reminded her, as if she had forgotten. That was half the fun.
Riley rolled her eyes. "Look. I'm not seven years old, and I'm not an idiot. That rule is stupid, and you know it. You don't need to micro-manage me."
"I was beginning to think we wouldn't have to either, and then you go and pull something like this." Nick guilt-tripped her. "That rule's there for a very good reason. If Casey was good news, I bet we'd know about her, right? But you lied because she's up to no good. What went on at the party?"
"It was an orgy."
"Dammit, Riley!" Nick snapped, and Riley had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. Sara put her hand on Nick's arm to calm him, but gave her stepdaughter a stern warning look. Riley shrugged at her and looked back at her thumbnail. "If you can't tell already, I'm not in the mood to be messed with, and you're in a huge amount of trouble. If I were you, I'd quit with the cute answers and start spilling."
Riley sighed again, and knew she couldn't tell him the whole truth. He'd probably have a coronary and keel over in shock. "Fine. It was a little get-together, and there was a little alcohol, but no sex. I promise." As if that would soothe his mind.
"How many people were there really?" Nick was already starting to read his daughter quite well, and he knew she was fibbing.
The teen in question let out an annoyed huff and finally met her father's eyes. How did people still manage to lie to him so much all the time at work? If that face wasn't scary as hell, she didn't know what was.
"I don't know. A lot." She muttered.
"And the alcohol. Did you have any?" He stared her down, reminding her not to lie.
"Just a little." She admitted, just as Nick's cell phone rang. He didn't think he should answer it, but checked the caller ID. It was Officer Bradshaw, a buddy of his in the police force. For some reason, he chose to answer it, thinking it was important. And from what Nick was told, he was certainly glad in some capacity he'd called, because it could save Riley from certain danger in the future. After a little conversation, Nick snapped his phone shut and set it on the coffee table.
"Officer Bradshaw just had something interesting to tell me about that party. Do you know what it might be?" Riley hated those type of questions, when she knew he was aware of something she'd really screwed up on, and he was just waiting to see if she'd lie about it. Or to see how much she would really reveal to him without spilling all the beans.
"Okay…why don't you just tell me instead of treating me like a damn mass murderer?" She offered, really hating to play his games.
Nick cleared his throat and whispered something to Sara that Riley couldn't hear. "You have a boyfriend I should know about?"
The eyes rolled for the second time that night. "Oh, did cop of the year rat me out on making out with someone? Oh, that's such a crime!" She stood up, ready for this unpleasant conversation to be over.
Nick simply pointed back to the couch, causing Riley to huff and take her seat again. "You were doin' more than that, apparently. And with Cody Brooks? I thought we made it quite clear we didn't want you hanging around with him anymore."
"Whatever. Are we done now?" She tried to hurry them along.
"No, not yet." He refolded his arms. "Lying multiple times, alcohol consumption, hanging out with a guy you're forbidden to hang out with…" Nick named off her offenses on his fingers.
"Don't forget breaking curfew and turning off her cell phone." Sara reminded him. Riley realized she sounded like a pretty horrible kid right now, but she was just having a little fun.
"Yep. And back talking. Pretty long rap sheet for a girl who's been begging for a sweet sixteen party." Nick pointed out, putting his hands on his hips now as he studied the teen in front of him. He was going to let her have a party? And this was what she did at parties? Of course, he knew she wasn't dumb enough to try half that stuff with him and Sara around, but she was into some harder partying than he'd realized. She'd deceived them, lied, and could have racked up some serious legal offenses. In short, he didn't think he could trust her. And she didn't deserve a kick-ass party in less than three weeks now after pulling this.
"Sorry." She half-heartedly apologized. "I'll never do it again."
"You took it too far this time, Ry." Nick informed her, looking down at his feet momentarily. "You pull stuff like this, I don't see how you deserve a sweet sixteen party." He said honestly, and noted that Sara was shaking her head in agreement. That sure caught Riley's attention, because her head shot up to look at him in worry.
"So, am I grounded until my party?" She checked hopefully, and waited in anticipation.
"Oh, you're grounded alright. And I think you just lost your party." Nick delivered the bad news. She'd gone one step too far this time, and he had to take a stand.
Riley gaped at him in disbelief. "What?!" She almost yelled, standing up once again. "Why?! You can't take away my birthday party! You already paid the hotel!" Riley thought for sure she'd be safe because of that.
"You showed us tonight that you can't behave responsibly at a party. You lied, you drank alcohol, you were with Cody." He reminded her. "Tell me why I shouldn't take away your party, Ry."
"Because it's the only time I'm ever gonna turn sixteen!" She piped, as if it should be so obvious what a rite of passage it was. Come on, who got their sweet sixteen party taken away? Juvenile delinquents, maybe, but she certainly wasn't one. Riley knew he was strict, but she never thought he would go as far as canceling her party. None of her friends' parents were like this.
"Well, you should've thought of that before you betrayed our trust." Nick reminded her, not willing to back down. Sara hadn't jumped in for a while, and he wondered if she was with him on this. He hadn't consulted her on this, but he thought it was a major enough offense to warrant such a big punishment. "My punishment stands. When your grounding is over, you can have a few friends over for a sleepover and cake, but you're definitely not getting a huge party that you obviously don't deserve. You partied enough tonight for everyone combined."
Riley just wanted to cry, and knew her dad would not be backing down, unless Sara could talk some sense into him. She didn't know what to say, because she was so crushed, and the alcohol wasn't helping. A few tears swam in her eyes, and when she looked at Nick, it about broke his heart. He reminded himself she'd brought this upon herself.
"You're a fucking asshole, you know that!" She barked at him and stormed away, on the verge of tears. Nick torqued his jaw at the comment, and Sara put her hand around his bicep to calm him once again. "An ASSHOLE!!" She screamed as she reached her room and slammed it so loudly, the downstairs walls shook from the wrath of the teenager.
Both parents let out a sigh of pent-up breath when they were left alone in the living room. Sara turned her husband to give him a supportive hug. "She's just upset, Nick. She doesn't think you're an asshole."
He shook his head, the words still biting in his mind. "Am I?"
Sara sighed. She wouldn't have handed out such a severe punishment, but it was a bit too late now. "Of course not, but do you think that was a little harsh?"
Nick pulled back so they could talk face to face. Sara's eyes revealed she was serious. Had he gone too far? "How does she deserve one after that? She stepped way over the line, Sar. Way over."
"Well, how much of that was wise father, and how much was a scared one?" She pointed out, raising her eyebrows. Nick dropped his head a little and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I agree. She went way too far, but are you just angry with her because she's growing up a little too fast?
His frustrated breath showed how clueless he really felt. "I don't know. I'm too angry with her to talk to her anymore tonight." Nick admitted, scrubbing his hand over his face. It was well past their bedtime, and it had undoubtedly been a stressful evening for both of them.
They thought Riley was done, and was sulking in her room, but moments later, she stormed back out, her face red and wet from tears. Nick and Sara's breath caught in their throats, dreading what that angry mouth had to say to them.
"You don't know anything, Dad!" She accused him almost hysterically, pointing her finger at him from across the room. When Riley got started, she was hard to stop, and it was her mouth that got her in the most trouble. "I didn't get up to half of what the other kids were doing! And I'm freakin' losing my party? How is that fair?" She demanded more answers.
Sara briefly glanced up the stairs, fearful that the younger two kids were going to wake up from all the yelling. Carly was down for the night, and hadn't gotten up yet for the first time in three nights.
"Keep your voice down." Nick told her firmly, speaking in a calm, but stern voice. "If your friends are getting up to way worse than you are, I really think you need to rethink your choice of friends. You knew we wouldn't approve of what you were doing and you still did it. You broke my trust, and I'm not gonna reward that with a party."
"What makes you think I have the same values as you? Maybe I want to get drunk off my ass and make out with guys!" She spat back at him, knowing he hated the thought of her doing either of those, especially with Cody. A cry was heard from upstairs, causing both parents to sigh and close their eyes in regret. Sara began to climb the stairs to comfort Carly, and Nick quickly crossed the room, leading his oldest to her bedroom by the upper arm, which she fought. He let her go when they reached her room, and closed the door as calmly as was possible.
"I'm your father. I'm trying to teach you good values. Getting drunk when you're fifteen isn't safe, especially around that guy. I don't trust him." In fact, Cody seemed to be his worst nightmare. It scared the crap out of him how trusting his daughter was in Cody, and how quickly she could throw away her values in exchange for a cheap thrill with him. Nick wouldn't be surprised if he turned up at one of his crime scenes sometime in the near future, either as a victim or a perpetrator.
"Well I don't want new values. I liked the ones Mom was teaching me just fine." She took the low blow, turning to walk to her closet with a toss of her wavy brown hair.
"And look where that got her." Nick pointed out, without a second thought. Her mother Laura was not how Nick wanted his daughter to turn out. She had very little self-respect, and not much going for her. Riley was so much smarter than that.
Riley shot him an evil look from where she stood in front of her closet. "You don't know shit about my mother." Her eyes were practically drilling holes through his forehead, the intensity of them, and the obvious protectiveness over her late mother.
Nick realized he may have touched on a sore subject, and decided it wise to drop it. "We're not gonna discuss this anymore tonight. We're both tired and frustrated. If you wanna talk to me respectfully tomorrow, we can. If you're gonna be rude like you have been tonight, you can just stay in your room."
He turned to leave the room, and Riley made ugly faces to his back, not caring how childish it made her look. Her father didn't know the first thing about high school, teenagers, and parties. If she was back home with her mother, or even her grandmother, they'd understand.
Nick left the room and closed the door, leaving his teenager to think about the events of the night. Riley wondered if she did live with her grandmother, if she'd allow her to have a great big sweet sixteen party like she deserved. She knew without a doubt that she would. Her grandmother loved her to pieces, and Riley adored her right back. Tomorrow, she would call her and tell her what an ass her father was being. She would agree with her granddaughter, and talk about the old times and how much fun they used to have.
Riley fell asleep on top of her covers, still in her jeans and tank top, thinking about being anywhere else but here.