Happy Friday evening, my lovelies! My schedule has devolved to me updating the night before the scheduled day and I don't know why. This chapter is a little bit of Darcy love, and next chapter is the dreaded visit from her father. Will he be as terrible as she thinks he'll be? Who knows? (I do, but that's beside the point.) Hopefully you lovelies enjoy the chapter! ~Shaymie

Darcy's POV

"Darcy, are you sure that now's the time to be doing this?" John asked, pulling back from our makeout session. I traced my finger lightly on his abs and frowned. This was better than sitting around, worrying about Lori. Anything would be better than that. I couldn't stand the uncertainness of not knowing if she was going to be alright. The stress of that, combined with my father's upcoming visit, was going to kill me. And on top of that, we had to fight off sleazy paparazzi trying to get information about "Senator Washington's poor daughter". As if they cared about her.

"I want to forget about all our problems, J. Even just for a little bit. Please… For my birthday?"

"...Alright," he murmured, pulling me back in for another kiss. His hands quickly undid the clasp on my bra. I took it off and smiled at the awestruck look on his face. This was the first time he was sober while seeing me topless. I wasn't as big as my mother or sister, but the way John was staring at me made me feel… special. It made me feel less inadequate.

His hands slithered up my body, sending shivers down my spine. Every touch from him excited me, in more ways than one. And I could see quite clearly that touching me excited him too, if the tent in his pants was anything to go by. His mouth went into a dazed smile as he lightly cupped my breasts. I let out a shameless moan as the pads of his thumbs lightly ghosted over my sensitive flesh. It had been months since I'd had sex, and my fingers only got me so far after awhile.

"Hurry up and fuck me," I breathed, kissing his collarbone. "I want you to fuck me until I can't walk anymore. Then I'll-"

The door slammed open suddenly. John scrambled to pull his shirt on, while I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Henry Laurens. Hadn't he heard of knocking? My anger flared as he blatantly turned his gaze down to my chest and licked his lips. John wrapped a blanket around me and glared at his father.

"What the hell, Dad? Haven't you heard of knocking?"

"I wasn't aware I had to knock in my own home," Henry drawled, his eyes narrowed. "What are the two of you doing in here? It's a school day. You should be at school- or perhaps in your girlfriend's case, at a strip club."

"Excuse me?" I got dressed underneath the blanket and walked over to Henry. I could see why his wife had left him. He was an asshole. He was probably even worse than my own father. "What the fuck did you just say to me?"

"Darcy, he's not worth it." As usual, John was the one trying to keep the peace. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into a hug, effectively restraining me. He looked at his father, grimacing as he did. "If you must know, Father, school's out until the school board figures out a way to improve security."

"Oh yes, that mute girl did get shot," Henry murmured. My hands curled into fists. How could he talk about Lori so casually, like he didn't even care? And she wasn't mute. Well, not completely. She could talk. She just had trouble talking around certain people. Was Henry the reason she never came over here? Whenever I asked if she wanted to come to John's house with me, she always refused.

"That 'mute girl' has a name, you bastard. And she's my sister, so I'd appreciate it if you talked about her with respect." I squeezed John's arm and held onto him tightly. If I let go, I would probably lose it. I wanted to get rid of that stupid smirk off of Henry's face. John pulled me to my feet, practically dragging me from the room. He led me to his car, slamming the front door of the house behind him. His hands were trembling as he pulled his keys from his pocket and started the car.

"Dar, you can't talk to him like that. You don't know what he's capable of. He could have hurt you."

"Someone needs to put him in his place, J. He's such an ass," I huffed, crossing my arms as I looked out the window. I knew what he was capable of. Did John forget that he had been in the hospital because of his father? I didn't understand why he didn't want to tell anybody about him. "And he killed our fun. Where are we going, anyway?"

"...I don't know. I just had to get out of there. Do you have anywhere you want to go?"

"I want to see Lori." John nodded and turned his attention back to the road. I grabbed my phone from my pocket, sighing as I noticed all the emails I had been getting. My former employer was trying to get me back. They had fired the guy who harassed me at the New Year's party, and they were willing to pay me twice what they were paying me before. I frowned. I did need a job, and that modeling gig was far better than any fast food job I'd ever get. I needed money. As much as I loved living with Lori (for the first time in my life), I couldn't keep leeching off of George and Martha's kindness.

I spent the rest of the drive to the hospital replying to the most recent email, saying that I would considering going back to work once I worked through some of my personal issues. By the time I finished up the email, we were in the hospital parking lot. As an afterthought, I grabbed my ukulele from the backseat. Maybe I would play Lori something. I took a deep breath as we walked into the hospital. I had never liked hospitals much. Something about them bothered me. My hands trembled as I held onto John's arm. Our trip to Lori's room was silent.

"...I love you so much, Lo," Alexander was saying as we walked into the room. He didn't look up as we entered. "I've probably told you that a million times since Valentine's Day. I know you must be sick of hearing that by now."

I took a seat across from him and looked at Lori. She looked exactly the same as she had the last time I visited. I couldn't look away from the various tubes entering her body. I couldn't even imagine having so many tubes in your body felt like. Did they hurt? Seeing them made my sister look smaller than she already was. What if she shrunk down to nothing? What if she never woke up and had to spend the rest of her life on a feeding tube? ...What if we had to make the decision to pull the plug?

Calm down, Darcy. It's only been a week.

"Happy birthday, Darcy," Alexander said, tearing his gaze away from Lori. He didn't let go of her hand, I noticed. He looked like a ragged mess. His hair was falling out of its ponytail and covered his face. His skin was paler than I'd ever seen it, which only brought out the bags underneath his eyes. I made a note to myself to force him to get out of this room more often and smiled sadly as I tuned the ukulele. I bit my lip as I thought of what to play Lori. It took me a few moments, but I finally decided on a song. I took a deep breath and started playing.

"Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side?" I started off shakily, feeling Alexander and John's eyes burn into me. I wasn't like Lori and Eliza, who were used to performing in front of others. My voice wasn't anywhere near as good as theirs, either. If I had a choice, I would have waited until I was alone in the room with Lori, but Alexander never left unless Angelica or myself dragged him away.

"...Did you just sing The Rainbow Connection?" John asked as I finished playing. My face heated up as I nodded.

"Mama used to sing it to us… I thought that Lori might like it. Even though she's not awake, I know she can hear us. So I just wanted to play it for her…" I looked at Lori and sighed. Some childish part of me hoped that she would wake up when she heard the song. But this wasn't a fairytale or one of those Disney movies she loved so much. I couldn't just wake her up with a song.

I grabbed my sister's other hand and squeezed it. There was nothing more I wanted for my birthday than for her to wake up. Things just aren't the same. I missed her voice, her laughter… I missed her. I wanted my sister back. We had spent so many years separated, and the second I got back, everything fell apart. This wasn't fair. Why couldn't anything good ever happen to her?

"Are you okay, Dar?" John asked, rubbing my shoulders. I couldn't help it. I laughed. What kind of question was that?

"I'm not the one in a fucking coma, John. Compared to my sister, I'm fucking fantastic." My eyes filled with tears. I angrily swiped them away. I couldn't cry. Everyone was looking to me to be the strong older sister. I couldn't break down now. But God, this was painful. It hurt more than anything else in the world. I hated being such a useless sister. The only good thing I've ever done for Lori is helping her get away from her father, and that only ended up pushing us apart.

"Darcy, it's okay to cry." I looked up at Alexander and saw that he was smiling at me. His eyes were bright and rimmed with red. He chuckled and wiped at them. "I've been crying basically non-stop. Nobody will think any less of you for it. You don't have to be strong all the time."

"I'm fine. I just… need some time alone." I set the ukulele down and left the room, swiping at my eyes. I rubbed at them furiously as I walked down the hall and flinched as I bumped into someone. My eyes narrowed as I saw who it was.

"Maria."

"Hello, Darcy." She tucked a bit of dark hair behind her ear and swayed awkwardly on her heels. I noticed that she was carrying a bouquet of flowers and raised an eyebrow as she extended them to me. "I'm… sorry about Lorin. I tried to stop James, but he wouldn't listen to me. I knew he was dangerous, but I never dreamed that he would do something like that."

"You knew he was coming to my sister's school with a gun and you didn't think to tell me? Instead of wasting your time trying to get me to date you again-which would definitely never happen- you could have warned me! Lorin is in a fucking coma, you bitch!" I slapped her, feeling satisfied as my nails raked against her cheek. The feeling of satisfaction did nothing to quell the tears running down my face. Maria stared back at me blankly, still gripping the flowers. Funny. I was expecting for her to fight back. Instead, she looked towards the door to Lori's room. She looked almost… regretful.

"I really am sorry about Lorin. I did love her, in a way. I just didn't know how to show it. My mother told me that tough love is the best love, and I took it too far… Way too far. I should have never hurt her." She pressed the flowers into my hands and kissed me before running away. I held a hand up to my lips and scowled. I'd never forgive her for this. None of it. I knew how people like her worked. They showed up when your guard was down and weaseled their way back into your life. Then when you least expected it, they'd turn back around and stab you in the back. I wasn't falling for it. Not again.