Bring Her Home

Gladys was frantically pacing the living room. She collapsed onto the couch and buried her face into her hands. She cursed at herself for being so stupid, Larry came towards her.

"I'll find her Gladys, I promise,"

Gladys looked up towards him. He knelt down to be at level with her. He held her hands and looked into her eyes.

"Everything is going to be ok, you'll see,"

She nodded weakly. Although she was still afraid; something about his words made her trust him.

Larry got up and went out of the house in his determined stride.

From above, Lola looked out the window and watched as he took out his car and went off to find Katie. She sighed as she walked away from the window. Filled with so much anguish in her heart, Lola found it very difficult to get her things ready for the day. How could she treat this day like any other?

While at school, she did all she could to hide her pain. She kept serious, and silent. Alienating herself from the group; avoiding eye-contact with all. Her teacher noticed her odd behavior. She came up to her seat and spoke to her.

"Lola, are you ok?"

"I'm fine,"

Her response was direct and emotionless. The teacher pressed on.

"You're oddly quite today, is something wrong?"

"No,"

"Is someone bothering you? Did something happen at home?"

"No, no, everything's fine…" she said twitching slightly

Darn it Katie, why did you have to runaway? Why? Why are you doing this? Why did you go and do something so stupid?! Why are you making us hurt so much!? Why… why… WHY!!!

Lola's mind was racing.

"Mrs. Nieves? Can I be excused?"

"Alright,"

Lola got up from her seat, grabbed the hall pass, and went outside. With a swift stride, she went down the hall towards the bathroom; her footsteps echoing in the empty corridor. When she reached the bathroom, she made sure she was alone. She clutched her fist and punched the tiled walls of the bathroom, releasing an angry growl. She cursed under her breath and leaned over the sink. She sighed heavily as she stared down at the drain clogged with chewing gum. She looked up at the mirror and stared into her reflection.

Dammit Kate…why?

Afterwards, during the lunch period…

Lola held her head in her hands as she leaned over the cafeteria table. She kept staring at her plate. She hadn't even touched her food. To make matters worse, the same group of boys from yesterday were heading her way again. When they sat down at her table, Lola shot them all an evil glare.

"Well, well, if it isn't Dolly Madison…"

Lola wasn't going to put up with them. She got up from the table and left. However, the boys weren't going to give up that easily. They got up with her and enclosed her within their circle. The leader came up to her face.

"We didn't finish what we started doll face…"

Lola had had enough. She grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him towards her.

"GET THE HELL OUTTA MY WAY!"

She screamed with a stone cold glare beaming through her messy bangs. Her yell silenced the cafeteria. Lola pushed the boy away and strode away, out of the cafeteria, paying no mind to the disturbed and confused faces she left behind.

Don't mess with me, punk…

Meanwhile…

Larry had been following his instincts, performing an investigation to find his estranged daughter. He went to her high school, to places where she often visited, even asked a few of her friends.

"She hasn't been at school today…she wasn't even at the mall or the pizza shop…Kate, where could you have gone?"

Driving around all over the neighborhood, interrogating everyone he met…he was determined to find her, and bring her home.

Larry went up the stairs and down the hallway, when he noticed the door open to the trophy room. He looked inside the room and noticed Mindy looking through a photo album. She noticed him there and looked startled.

"It's ok," he said

"Sorry Grandpa, I should've asked for permission,"

"Don't worry about it,"

He walked over and peeked inside the album. There were pictures of Kate in the show and as well as pictures of the family from that same night.

"Mom looked so pretty,"

"Yup, she hasn't changed one bit,"

"That's where she met my dad, right?"

"Right…"

"I think it's sweet that they were high school sweethearts…it's so romantic."

She touched the picture where her mother and father were with the rest of the cast. She smiled.

"You're father is one special character…"

"How so?"

"At first I didn't know what to think of him. But as I got to know him, it became apparent to me that he's very mature for his age,"

There was a knock at the door. A teal colored rabbit with black hair opened his door. He nearly gagged at the sight of Larry looming over his doorway.

"Desmond Rabbit?" he said sternly

"Yes?" he muttered nervously

"I'm Larry Bunny, Kate's father. Is she here?"

Desmond opened the door wider so Larry can see for himself that Katie was indeed there, sitting on the couch. When she saw him, her face turned to shock. Desmond stepped aside to let him in.

"Kate…"

"Dad, I'm sorry but I couldn't stay. You guys don't want me, I'm just a disgrace…" she hung her head in shame

"Katie, I didn't come here to scold you,"

She became silent; she slowly looked up at him.

"Katie, we don't want you to leave us. We all love you very dearly. We want you back home,"

"But…Mom…"

"Mom wants you back more than anything. She loves you very much,"

"But…she was so mad…"

"Yes, she was…but she's more worried than angry. She scared for you; she only wants to protect you,"

"But she's choking me Dad! I can't make a single move without her there,"

"It's because she wants to protect you. She sees so much of her in you, and she only wants to protect you from the trouble she got into at your age. She wants to make sure that what happened to her…doesn't happen to you,"

Katie knew what he was referring to. Memories of the pain were seeping into her mind…when she and Lola were kidnapped by that….fiend

"Katie," said Larry, "your mother only wants what's best for you,"

Katie looked away, unsure of what to do. She was confused of what was going on between her and her mother. What she thought to be true her entire life was being shrouded in doubt. Did her mother just want to control her or protect her?

She sighed, and buried her face in her hands. Then Desmond came to her side, and held her hand.

"Kate, running away isn't going to help anyone," he said

She looked up at him; then towards her father.

"We have to make things right," said Desmond

Kate looked at the floor. She sighed heavily and looked towards her father.

"Ok…" she whispered

When Gladys heard the door lock click, she quickly rose from the couch to see who it was. Katie came in, followed by Larry and Desmond. When Gladys saw her daughter, her first reaction was to embrace her. Katie was slightly taken aback by her sudden affectionate outburst.

"Don't do that again Katie…I was so worried..." she cried

She pulled away and held her at arms length, looking her over making sure she was alright. Katie was too ashamed of herself to even look at her mother straight in the face.

"We all need to talk…" said Larry

As the tense conversation went on, the two youngest siblings were listening from behind the railings of the stairs. Both were relieved to see Katie back. But only one seemed to show it

"Lola, you ok?" whispered Brandon, noticing her dead serious face

"I'm fine,"

"You sure?"

"I said I'm fine…" she said in a harsh tone

Darn it Katie! You had me worried sick! You have no idea what hell I went through today! But…what's important it's that your back…that's all that matters…

Lola slowly got up from the step and went back upstairs silently to her room, leaving Brendan on the steps to eavesdrop alone. She closed her door and leaned against it. She sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling.

I will never…show any weakness…

"Unlike most boys his age, he took responsibility for his actions. And he stood up to me and your Grandma, which isn't easy…"

"Don't I know it…" she muttered

"Hey…" he chuckled in mock frustration

"Nothing," she smiled

He ruffled her hair and she giggled in response.

"Yeah, I'm proud of my Dad. I was one of the lucky ones, I had both my parents,"

"Two parents that love you very much," he added

"Yeah,"

Mindy continued looking through the pictures in the album. She saw pictures of her mother when she was pregnant with her and many other pictures of the family. One in particular caught her attention.

"Is that my auntie?"

"Yup,"

"She looks…different…"

Lola had a very serious face, almost bitter, in the picture. She was fourteen years old in that picture. She was wearing a long black and white striped shirt over jeans. Her hair was long and messy, with her ears still cast back in her usual ponytail.

"Why did she look so…upset?"

"That's the first day she went to highschool,"

"And she was mad?"

"You know how Grandma is…with the video cameras and the pictures…."

"Oh…I can see it now…" sighed Mindy knowlingly, "Oh you look so cute! snap snap...over here! snap snap! Awww!! You look sooo grown up!"

"Something along those lines," he smiled

Larry chuckled at the thought of Gladys going crazy with a camera; snapping pictures of Lola, the freshman, in front of her new school. Embarassing her in front of her schoolmates and such.

Highschool...

He sighed inwardly.

If only I knew what was coming…