Layla. Chapter Eight: "Roll Will It".

1986.

"Did Layla tell you?" Evie asked her husband.

Steve shook his head, not looking away from his current task at hand. "No," he answered absentmindedly, "What happened?"

Evie smiled as she wiped the tools on the counter with the rag that was in her hand. "She's going to the homecomin' dance at the school."

"What?!" Steve began to shoot up to a straight position, but stopped and let out a yell of pain when he hit his head.

Whenever it came to his daughters and their love lives, Steve was always a bit jumpy. Even when it came to things that involved romance in one way or another, he got nervous. He had never been that way until his oldest child- his oldest daughter, no less- had turned thirteen years old. He figured, based off what he knew from his own teenage years that once one became a teenager- that meant romance. He had always dreaded the day that all that would happen, and thought that he had escaped from it for a while- but now it was all hitting him like a truck, and now all he could do was wait and go with it as the cars crashed and continued to pile up behind that truck.

Evie ran over to her husband as he got out from the car he was under. "You ok, babe?" she asked him urgently.

Steve sat up and rubbed his head with his hand, trying to soothe his discomfort. "Yeah, I think so," he grumbled, "And I thought Layla said she wasn't goin' to that?"

"Well, a boy asked her to go to homecomin' with him and she said year." As she explained this, she got a few ice cubes from the ice chest in their garage, wrapped them in a clean towel and gave it to him.

He accepted it gratefully and held it to his head. "Who's this guy that asked her to go with him?"

"Calm down, Steve. He's a friends of Layla's, so it's not like you don't know him."

"Who. Is. He?"

Evie was hesitant. "It's Tommy Abbott," she answered.

"That boy who she was studying with?" Steve asked in an annoyed tone, "In her room?"

"Ya act like you've never met him before. We've known him and all her other friends for years now. And you know they went to the dance together two years ago."

"Yeah, I know. But they were younger then and it was just cause they were goin' as friends."

"How do you know they're not goin' as friends now, neither?"

"Cause they're older, I don't know!"

Evie couldn't help but roll her eyes at her husband's words. Being the woman of the house, she couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards he daughters in these situations. She knew that her husband only wanted to keep his daughters safe and happy, but when it came to romance- unless the situation was not good- she'd almost always be on their side when it came to love. She thought that was fair enough, since her husband was obviously against the concept of their girls having a romantic relationship of any kind.

"Steve," Evie scolded lightly, her tone full of the sadness she felt over the situation.

Steve gave a defeated look at his wife. "Evie," he sighed, "I just…"

"She's eighteen years old, Steve. TO be honest, you're lucky to have gotten along this far without havin' to deal with boy Layla and Bella not havin' any guy problems. But trust me, it was bound to happen at some point sooner or later."

"How 'bout later?"

Evie gave him another look. "It is later. C'mon, Steve. You had to expect this at some point."

Of course Steve expected it at some point. Despite his hopes, he knew that the day would come when guys would enter the picture. He loved all his girls- and his son, of course- more than anything else in the world, but this was always the one downside he thought of when it came to having three daughters. This with his son, he had to make that he treated girls with the respect that they deserved, no matter what.

"Course I expected it," Steve shrugged, "But it never really hit me before. But now it's all hittin' me at once."

Evie gave him a sympathetic look again. She knew all of this made her husband anxious, that was no secret. She'd tried to prepare him over the years for this, as not to overwhelm him, hinting at the idea that their girls would start dating and have relationships at some point. She was going off of her own original experiences with her father when she first started going out, as well as stories from friends of hers as a teenagers. She felt bad for her daughter for suddenly having to deal with guy problems, and for her husband for suddenly having to deal with the pressure that came along with having a daughter that was having guy problems.

"Steve," Evie said gently and sat against the car with him, "I know this isn't easy for you. But you gotta realize that it's not easy on Layla right now, either. In fact, it might be harder on her than it is on you. She's never been involved with a boy before. Not like this, anyway."

"I know," Steve sighed and ran his hands over his face, "I'm just nervous. I don't want her to get hurt, ya know?"

"I know. You think I want her to get hurt? Cause I don't. But, we can't help it if things happen with her and tommy and they end up goin' south for the winter."

"And if they do?"

Evie ran her hand up and down his arm in attempt at comfort. "Then we'll be there for her. To comfort her."

"Can I kill Tommy if he hurts Layla?"

She let out a light chuckle. "Sure, babe."

-/-/-

That evening, Layla Randle sat on her bed in her room doing her homework. Both her notebook and her textbooks sat on her crossed legs, her head down as she read the questions and equations in her chemistry textbook. She tapped her pencil back and forth rapidly as she read. Her record player sat on its specified table across the room, the sound of Elvis Presley's voice singing and drawling out from the speakers of the plater; Presley had always been a favorite of hers, right along there with the Doors and Eric Clapton.

As Elvis began to sing Are You Lonesome Tonight?, Layla's bedroom door opened gently. She looked up and saw her father begin to enter her bedroom. He gave her a small but obviously anxious smile in greeting, and she gave him a smile back as he entered the room. She adjusted her position on her bed, placing her books on the comforter, as he pulled her desk chair over an sat down in front of her bed in the backwards facing seat.

"Hey, Layla," Steve greeted as he sat down.

"Hey, Daddy," Layla greeted; she only unconsciously called him Daddy instead of Dad when she was vulnerable, when she was upset, or when she had something heavy on her mind.

He took note of her words and moved closer to her. "You alright, Layla?"

She looked down and let out a heavy sigh. "I don't really know."

"What's the matter?"

"Guy stuff."

"Is it what your mom was tellin' me about?"

Layla gave a questioning look. "What was Mom tellin' you 'bout?"

"'Bout how you're goin' to homecoming with Tommy."

"I'm just overwhelmed, I think," Layla sighed heavily, rubbing her face with her hands.

"What about?" Steve asked, trying to sound as neutral as he possibly could as to be more helpful.

"I don't wanna lose a friend, ya know? I mean, we've been close since we were just kids. If things happen between us and then they fall apart, our whole little group would suffer. And I don't want that, I really don't. I'm not ready for that."

"See, there's your problem."

Layla gave a confused look. "What is?"

"You can't think so negatively about this," Steve said simply, "Things like this are always scary, Layla. But, it's all a part a' life, whether we like it or not. And all we can do is just go with it as best as we can."

Layla nodded, then gave a small smirk. "You tryin' to tell me that, or yourself?"

Steve let out a chuckle. "A little bit of both." He held out his arms to her. "Now, come here."

Layla shifted and did as she was told, Steve engulfing his oldest child in a comforting hug. "Thanks, Dad."

He took note of her words again, smiling at the change. "Course, sweetheart."

When they pulled away from the hug, Layla noticed a mark on his head. "Dad," she began awkwardly, "What happened?" She pointed to his head.

Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Don't ask," he said as he got up and started toward the door, "Now back to the homework! Whatever it is you're doin'." She laughed at his words before she did as she was told.

Hi there! How are you all? Sorry about the updating process now, but I have a good reason. Updates will only be once a month now at most. If I finish writing a chapter earlier than planned and have time to type, then I will update earlier than this schedule. But, this may not always be the case. Hopefully, next update should be at the end of June (today is the last day of May). But I have a reason for this.

I was just hired as a cashier at Sears, meaning I'll have a summer job (woot woot!). I also start college at the end of August as a freshman, meaning work. I am also currently writing a few stories on Episode Interactive, which takes a while due to coding and choices. I'm also currently writing a book that I wish to bring to a publisher to try and get published in the future.

I am sorry for the updating gaps, but blame life. Anyway. I hope you liked this chapter, and I hope that you'll wait for me to update. Thanks for reading, and peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=