Due to the snow, school was cancelled the next morning. Lisa spent most of the day sitting by the window reading a book and waiting to see if Bart would show up. Around lunchtime, Lisa ended up calling Milhouse to find out if Bart had made his way over there. Milhouse said no but for some reason his voice seemed to say yes. If Bart was there, that was fine with her; she just wanted him to be in a safe place that was warm and not so lonely. She made sure to tell Milhouse to let Bart know that the girls were worried about him.
To help keep her mind off Bart, Lisa went outside to play with Maggie in the snow. They built a snowman, built a fort and even chased Santa's Little Helper through the snow. Marge would watch from the kitchen window, glad that Lisa was trying to take her mind off the problems that were going on. She wanted Bart home just as badly as Lisa but knew that he needed his space and that he could come back when he wanted, hopefully without a fight.
The evening came and Lisa lay in bed listening for any sounds coming from the house that might be from Bart. She had done so for the past few nights but the house was as silent as the auditorium when Superintendent Chalmers came for a visit to talk with the children. She was about to give up and nod off into sleep when she suddenly heard a noise.
Lisa sat up quickly and listened, she did not know how long she stayed still but by the time she did hear something again, her back felt very stiff. It was the unmistakable sound of Bart coughing and it was coming from the tree house.
Knowing how the tree house lacked the important essentials, she quickly grabbed a pillow and one of her quilts that Grandma Bouvier made and dragged it downstairs where she made some hot chocolate before quietly exiting out the back door to be with her brother.
Lisa then climbed up the tree house and as soon as she peered in, she found Bart sitting alone in the far corner looking terrible. He wasn't wearing anything to keep him warm save for a long sleeve shirt and some pants, his hair looked very stringy and unkempt. But what Lisa noticed first were Bart's eyes, they were red, he had obviously been crying.
"Hey Lis," he said in a voice that was very raspy and sick sounding.
"Oh Bart you sound terrible!" said Lisa as she quickly gave him the quilt to keep warm with. Bart took it from her and wrapped himself up tightly with it. He did not look up at her; he only looked at the floor while she saw tears forming in his face.
"Have you been here this whole time?" Lisa asked hoping to get something out of him.
"Only at night," Bart replied while Lisa tried to hand him the hot chocolate, he only pushed it away.
"But where were you today?" asked Lisa wanting to get a straight answer from him. She would not tell her mother unless Bart wanted her too.
"Nowhere that concerns you, now leave me alone," said Bart as he covered up his whole body with the quilt.
If it were a different situation, then Lisa would gladly have left her brother alone but the situation did not call for that. She had been worried sick for him for the past few days, she wanted to talk to him and hopefully get him to understand what was going on. Lisa leaned forward and peeled the quilt off of Bart's face and looked down at him. As soon as his face was in view, she saw that he was looking up at her and his face contorted as he tried to keep himself from crying.
"Bart, you've held it in longer than anyone. You can't do that forever, you need to let your emotions out. I am here to listen and to give you a shoulder to cry on," said Lisa.
Bart stared at her for a moment like a lost puppy alone in an alley meeting its first human. For a moment Lisa thought he was going to get up and run, instead he went full force at her and began to cry heavily on her shoulder. As he did so, Lisa could feel how hot his face was and noticed how nasally his throat sounded. He was getting sick and she knew she had to talk him into coming home. But letting him cry his heart out was more important at the moment.
"He's gone Lisa, he's gone and I'll never see him again," cried Bart after five minutes of heavy sobbing.
"I know Bart," said Lisa quietly.
"We watched him die and we could do nothing to help him. My last vision of him was him waving goodbye to me and I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to beat this, he wanted to see us grow up. He was in so much pain Lisa," Bart cried, this time looking Lisa in the eyes as he did so. It was so sad to hear what he said that even Lisa began to cry.
"That's why we need to stay strong Bart, he would have wanted that," said Lisa as she tried to wipe a few tears out of her eyes.
"What do you think I've been trying to do!" exclaimed Bart in a frustrated voice that was enough to make him cough heavily and reveal the extent of his cold. Lisa tried to ignore it at the moment.
"Not that strong Bart, its okay to cry, no one will see you as a sissy. There are times when you need to let your emotions go, show how much he meant to you," said Lisa as she stroked Bart's hair. Bart let out a heavy sigh, letting his sister comfort him for a moment while he continued to sob quietly.
"I know I didn't show it, but I loved him, he wasn't the best father but he knew how to take care of us and that's what really mattered," said Bart once he felt calm enough to continue.
"We all loved him, you saw how many were at his funeral, he really made an impact on everyone," said Lisa.
"Then Mr. Burns ruined it, but that reminds me, you should have seen the look on Mr. Burns' face on Saturday when me and Milhouse decided to do the money on the string trick to him. We saw him walking down the street so I took out a dollar and dragged it on the sidewalk. He followed it before he ran into a pile of manure in the park, it was hilarious," Bart laughed between the tears and the soreness in his throat.
Bart quickly stopped laughing when he saw Lisa stare back at him with an angry glare. "I know it makes you feel better to pull pranks on him, but revenge is not the answer, it doesn't help anything," said Lisa in a very serious voice.
"Don't start to sound like Mom Lis, next thing I'll know you'll stick up for Flanders and start calling him Dad," said Bart angrily.
"Bart, what Mom did was a mistake, she had too much to drink that night and was probably reminiscing about Dad and forgot who she was kissing. She loved Dad, she always will, I don't ever see her loving anyone else. He is only helping her ease the pain," said Lisa trying to remember the words Homer told her on Friday night, it was so long ago though that she was starting to forget everything he told her.
Bart gave her a cold icy stare as he stood up and faced her, Lisa backed away a little, startled by his sudden burst of anger and unsure of what her brother was about to do. Surprisingly he stayed where he stood the quilt wrapped around his shoulders for warmth.
"She told you to say that didn't she!" Bart exclaimed in as much anger as he could muster.
"No Bart……" Lisa was about to say more when Bart threw the quilt at her obviously trying his hardest not to do anything drastic.
"She does love Flanders and you want to become Lisa Flanders just like that time he tried to baptize us, he's gonna try for that again and the next thing you'll know, Mom will be married to him and we will be step siblings to those two halfwits Rod and Todd. I don't want that Lisa, I want to be a family again……………," Bart cried as the tears began to fall down his cheeks again. Bart then let out a frustrated groan and sat against a corner before covering his face between his knees. "…………I want our Dad back."
Lisa moved forward slowly, even though he was angry at her, she was still willing to help him. Bart didn't move as Lisa bent down to his level and patted his back, letting him cry his heart out again. She could sense that he was scared, afraid of what would become of everyone around him. His life had changed enough and being the man of the house was harder than it looked.
"It's really not what you think Bart, Mom loved Dad and I don't think she wants to replace him with anyone. If you talk it over with Mom she will also tell you that. Why can't you listen to what she has to say, I bet she would be willing to talk, besides she is worried sick about you, we all are," said Lisa trying to sound as calm as possible.
"Because if I do talk to her she will tell me that she is in love with Flanders, no matter what you tell me. And she will tell me that I will have to learn to accept that and I just don't want to hear it and I want her to know that's how I feel," said Bart as he got back up and walked over to one of the openings in the tree house and leaned on the edge watching the clouds slowly part revealing a few stars.
"By not coming home?" asked Lisa.
Bart nodded. "I'm not coming home until she knows that she made a bad choice in falling in love so soon again."
"But talking is the best answer, not moping around in a tree house getting sick and acting like a baby," said Lisa now getting frustrated with Bart's response.
"Dad's only been gone for four months, four months and already she is trying to love again, it's too soon. If her love was so strong with him, why is she doing this?" Bart asked while he stared up at the sky as if he was finding answers from up above.
It was now too much for Lisa to take, Bart was not listening, he was only thinking about himself and what his future held for him, no one else. As a last resort, Lisa moved toward Bart and grabbed him by the collar. As hard as she could, Lisa slapped Bart hard on the face, enough for him to fall back and then stare back at her filled with shock.
"AREN'T YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ANYTHING I SAY?" Yelled Lisa, her face filled with anger.
"Yeah I should talk to Mom," said Bart after a moment of bewilderment
"Then go do it right now," said Lisa, her eyes blazing.
"You're not the boss of me!" said Bart still rubbing his sore face.
"I can if I want to be, and I have been, you should know from experience since you learned that the hard way," said Lisa as she recalled the time she had to baby sit Bart when their parents went out for a romantic night together.
"Yeah well I still don't have to listen to you, I'm two years older and I decide what I should and shouldn't do," Bart yelled, his nose pressed up against hers, still defending himself.
"Then you should act two years older than me, right now you are acting like Maggie, like a little THREE YEAR OLD!" Lisa cried out making sure Bart heard her loud and clear.
"Yeah well you're acting like our Mother who you are not. You don't want to be a whore do you," said Bart.
Lisa backed away this time, she was so angry at Bart's response she wanted to throttle him. She knew doing so was not the answer, especially to a Buddhist like her, so she had to stay back a little to keep herself from hurting him.
"Take that back Bart," Lisa said as calmly as she could.
"Hell no!" said Bart.
"Take it back NOW!" Lisa screamed, it was probably loud enough for all the neighbors to hear, even Ned.
"I said hell no," said Bart he was now backing away and making his way toward the steps of the tree house.
"Bart, why are you being so difficult?" Lisa sobbed. Tears were now forming in her face as she wished that he would take a moment to listen to her. He was being stubborn and was only thinking about his problems.
"Because I know I am right about this," he said as he now began to climb down the stairs.
"You're just being stubborn, and where the hell are you going?" asked Lisa as she watched him climb down the stairs.
"Somewhere where you won't bother me," said Bart as he made his way through the snow. Lisa quickly climbed down and began to follow him.
"Bart you can't hide from your feelings forever, you need to come home, Mom needs you, Maggie needs you, …………I need you. We are like a broken link to a chain that can only be fixed if you come back and fill it," said Lisa now trying desperately to get him to turn around and talk to her even if she had to use a silly simile.
Bart continued to walk away for a moment, not looking back. He finally stopped as he rounded the corner and then looked Lisa in the eyes, they were filled with sadness but also they had so much anger in them.
"Our family was broken the day Dad died, it will never be fixed," Bart said before walking away again while Lisa stood there in the snow watching him leave, making his way hopefully to Milhouse's where he would be warm and safe.
When Bart finally disappeared, Lisa let out a heavy sigh and looked up at her mother's bedroom window. Marge was standing by it staring down at her with a worried and unhappy face. Lisa wiped a tear from her eye and shook her head, knowing that what her father told her had failed. She only hoped that someone else could get it through Bart's head that things were not what he thought. But who else could?
A/N: I am so glad this chapter came around when it did, it helped me let off some steam after a very busy weekend at work for me, if you want to read about an experience I had at work, feel free to visit my Deviant art page, link is located in my profile. I just hope that whatever these two said came out the right way and that you all enjoyed reading it. I know the beginning was a little weak so I apologize for that, I just didn't want to start any conversations and I seemed to be out of descriptions for that part. So what's going to happen now you ask? Well I won't tell you, you have to wait and find out, you might be a bit surprised.
Well please remember to review, it makes me all warm and gushy. Share your thoughts and make predictions, I want to see if anyone gets these predictions right and I like hearing everyones thoughts on the matter. Hee Hee. Well see you all in a week.
