Convincing Roxie to settle down

A/N

Written for QLFC Chaser 3 Position, Holyhead harpies. Round 10 Season 6

Prompt - Write about a family fight

Optional Prompts -

(object) Television

(word) Objection

(object) Blanket

W/C w/O authors note - 1087

Roxanne tiptoed into her parents house through the kitchen door. Faint noises of the tv came from the den but she ignored them. High heels in hand she started her ascent up the stairs.

"Don't wake up Mum and Dad," Came a familiar voice.

"What are you doing here?" Roxanne replied.

"Emma's out of town and her parents have Liz," Fred replied, motioning for her to join him.

The familiar friends theme song hit Roxanne's ears as she walked into the living room smiling, she took a seat on the couch next to Fred.

When Roxanne woke a familiar pounding was present and Fred was gone. The TV screen was black. She sat up slowly and blinked a few times feeling around for her glasses. She slowly walked into the kitchen. Her father was sitting at the kitchen table however Fred and Mum were nowhere to be seen.

"Morning Dad" Roxanne said reaching for a glass.

"You look like shite" Dad commented glancing up from the paper.

"Thanks dad, that's what every daughter wants to hear in the morning," Roxanne replied raising her eyebrows at him.

"Just stating the obvious," He replied lifting the mug in his hands to his lips.

Roxanne rolled her eyes but said nothing more.

Roxanne turned to see her mother standing in the door.

"Here to yell at me?" Roxanne bent down to pull the ankle straps of her shoes up.

"Depends, are you going out tonight?" Angelina already knew the answer but she wanted to hear it from Roxanne.

"Yep," Roxanne replied before straightening up.

"Where?"

"Me and David are going out for dinner" Angelina's brow furrowed but it was a few moments before she replied.

"I thought you two were just friends?"

"Friends can grab dinner mum, I'll be home by 10" Roxanne replied before stepping past her mother out the door.

"Where is she going?" Fred asked his father as he watched his younger sister apparate away at the end of the lane.

"She's just going out with David," Angelina replied as she walked in the room.

"And you didn't stop her?" Fred replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"They're Friends, and she promised to be home by ten" Angelina shrugged her shoulders. Legally she could do nothing about her daughters extracurricular.

"Mum, we were supposed to talk to her tonight!"

"Maybe you should have talked to her last night instead of watching friends."

"She was drunk! She probably wouldn't have even remembered the conversation." Fred flung his arm at the wall in a display of anger.

"There is many things that your sister will do that I do not approve of but she doesn't get fall down drunk! I saw her last night, she was walking straight. That's maybe a little drunk."

"Really, my sister decides to go out and just do random people then? Almost sober. That's so much better," Fred replied sarcastically.

"Oh stop being such a hypocrite Fred, " Georges voice interjected from where he was seated on the couch watching the tv. "You were screwing women 100% sober and me, along with your mother said nothing because you were figuring your life out. Just because your happy with the love of your life now doesn't mean Roxy can't go through the same motions"

That left Angelina and Fred both speechless. George never participated in family arguments.

"When did you decide to have an opinion?" Fred replied, still quite shocked.

"When your yelling started interrupting my saturday night live!" George replied looking quite serious. But the atmosphere didn't last long once Fred and Angelina broke into a laughing fit.

Promptly at nine-fifty-nine Roxanne apparated to the end of the driveway. Ready to be bombarded by Her mother and Fred. She knew she was a mess, at least she could recognize it. Going out and screwing a different guy every night was not the way she envision her early twenty's going. She was supposed to be moving in with David, enjoying her job. Instead she was single, living at home and was working a dead end diner job.

"How'd it go with David?" Fred asked as soon as Roxanne went to get a drink.

"Fine, we chatted and then he left 'cause Missy called him. I finished dinner and came home." Roxanne leaned against the counter top sipping on her glass of water.

"Missy, that's his sister right?" Fred asked, sitting down across from Rox on a bar stool.

"Yep." Roxanne took a long sip of water.

"You okay?"

"Just Peachy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep." Roxanne finished her glass of water and dropped it in the sink. She turned to head up to her room but Fred grabbed her arm.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I said I was fine Fred." Roxanne ripped out of his grip and stalked out of the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Angelina ask as she came out of the cellar a basket of canned goods in hand.

"Roxy's being difficult again," Fred replied, running his hand through his hair. "I've gotta go, Emma's gonna be back early tomorrow. See if you can crack Roxy yeah?"

"Yeah," Angelina replied.

Angelina opened the door to Roxanne's room later that evening to see her baby girl curled up on her bed. She opened the door farther and stepped inside the room, she summoned a blanket from the closest. And laid it over top of her daughters sleeping form.

"Hey Mum." Roxanne knocked on her mother's office door. "Your receptionist said you weren't busy" She lifted up a bag filled with Chinese takeout containers.

"What's that for?" Angelina asked putting her quill down.

"I know we haven't really been talking lately. But I just need to get this off my chest," Roxanne replied sitting down across from her mum and started laying out the containers.

"What do you want to talk about?" Angelina asked moving papers around to make space for the containers.

"David." Roxanne snapped her pair of chopsticks apart and opened a container.

The surprise was evident on Angelina's face but she said nothing, hoping her daughter would continue to talk.

"I know you objected to me and David breaking up," Roxanne held up her hand before her mother could form the noises she was making into words. "But I needed space, that happens after you catch him making out with your best friend"

That was the bombshell that Roxanne had been holding onto for months. The source of many a family fights, the thing she had been coming to terms with. And the weight was finally lifted.