OK guys, here is the next chapter. I am working on Vigil a lot at the moment and think I'm going to work along the lines of the episode by having a flashback in each chapter. If anyone has any requests for scenes not in the episode or also any flashback request send them my way and I'll see what I can do!
Gah! I'm getting so pumped for the last couple of episodes! Soooo many scenes I wanted to add in to last night's though. Anyhow, here we go:
"Jesus! Dinner!" Stef yelled up the stairs. "Come on, dude! Oh. Hey, you two. You going now?" She watched as Jude and Kasey appeared instead.
"Well we have to be back by 8." Kasey replied as Jude strode ahead, he had reluctantly agreed after some firm prodding but he still didn't look even vaguely happy about the arrangement.
Stef pulled the car keys out of the dish and held them out before snatching them up into the air just out of Kasey's slightly shorter reach.
"No. Funny business."
"None, I promise." she let them down slightly before raising them again as Kasey moved to grab and sighed with frustration.
"And not a second late. I'm only agreeing to this because of Jude. You are still very much in the doghouse."
"I know." She nodded earnestly as Jesus emerged behind her.
"And I should really be making you walk..."
"Mom." Kasey put her hands out in desperation as Stef paused and tossed her the keys before acknowledging Jesus.
"About time."
"What?" he complained. "I had to annihilate Nate at least once."
"Mama'll annihilate you, we've been slaving away all night." Thinking back to his chat with Jude he dropped his volume so Jude couldn't hear and smiled at Kasey.
"Annihilating must be theme of the day. How hard do I have to beat someone up to get the car? Kasey? Any advice?" He jibed with a nudge.
"Zip it. Kitchen. Your dinner is getting cold." Stef turned to look at her youngest who stood patiently by the door, disheartened.
"Jude sweets, enjoy, and don't feel bad about putting her through the wringer." She twitched an eyebrow up. "I'll save you an apple tart for when you get back."
"You made apple tarts? Seriously?" Kasey asked cynically.
"Yes. But you don't get one. No apple tarts in your kennel."
"Do I get one?" Jesus asked.
"If you hurry up and eat your dinner. Move it." She patted his back as he jogged into the kitchen.
As Jude nodded and opened the door to leave Kasey nodded a goodbye and followed.
"Remember -"
"Eight o'clock and no funny business. Mom, I've really, really got it."
"And don't even order apple tarts. You're completely banned."
"Mom, you're literally the only person who cares about apple tarts." she called back as she left.
"Well you're not getting one ever again." Stef said spitefully to the empty room, the pressures of the day having now bubbled over to leave a longing for some light relief.
"Now I'm threatening an empty room. I really need to spend more alone time with Lena." she mumbled as she heard Lena call her into the kitchen, almost as exasperated as she herself had been when calling for Jesus.
"Frankie, come on. Help me out." Ana twitched her hair behind her ear. A tattooed barman scooped a glass off the table and pulled his arm away as she ran her hand down it.
"When you can afford your tab I'll set you up Gutierrez, not before. Your old man still owes me. You're lucky I even let you in here."
She slinked off her chair and worked her hands to his chest.
"Come on Frankie, please. I think I'll pass out. We can work something out..." she urged going in for a kiss.
He pulled his head away. "No freebies. I can get that from any whore in here. No money, no goods."
He shook her off as she buckled down onto the edge of the table.
She bit at her fingers looking around the room hazily. Everyone in here knew her which is why none of then would share. She scratched at her arm with her other hand and followed after him to the bar.
"At least let me call a hook up. Please." she sniffed, her head rolling. He stared at her momentarily before tossing her a coin from the tip jar. She grasped it and smiled, nodding her head down as if she was about to burst into tears.
She dialled a number she found scrawled on a piece of paper. She had found it trying to hunt her daughter down any way she could but had no clue if it would work. It was her last chance. She hadn't contacted her since the other morning and she was getting desperate. It rang and rang, feeling like forever until finally a man answered. It didn't sound like it could be her son. She'd know her son's voice. Probably. "Mariana" she blurted out. "Is Mariana there?" the guy on the other side of the line sounded a little confused but more eager to get off the phone.
"Mariana - it's for you!" the boy yelled before another endless silence, Ana finally seeking some comfort in the familiar voice. It wouldn't stop her shaking but it gave her vague hope for the high she craved.
"Who was it?" Stef asked as Brandon returned.
"I dunno."
"Wow, we taught you brilliant phone etiquette.
"Some girl, I wasn't really paying attention. Sounded Spanish."
Jesus' had already been suspicious when Brandon had called out Mariana and the added information caused his head to snap up again. He suddenly lost his appetite.
"Can I be excused for a second?" he asked. "Really need to pee." he commented, leaping up and heading out.
"Great table etiquette too it seems." Stef added. "I think we need to give you guys a manners crash course."
Jesus vaguely heard his Mom's words but was too focussed on trying to catch as much of Mariana's conversation as he could.
"Who was that?" he asked, even though he knew the answer.
She pressed the phone hard against her chest, a knot in her throat.
"Not now Jesus."
"Then when, Mariana? When she turns up on the doorstep?"
She tried to dart past him but he stopped her with a gentle but firm arm. He looked at her sternly. She knew she didn't have go fill in the blanks, he'd predicted them all correctly.
"Hurry up, guys. Come on!" Stef called through.
"Not now." she repeated before striding into the kitchen, Jesus unable to do anything but watch.
Jude kept his menu firmly propped up, obscuring Kasey from view.
She tapped her closed one down on the table. He couldn't still be choosing food.
"You know you can ignore me once you've ordered too, you don't have to drag it out now." she quipped pulling the menu down slightly.
He folded it down and eyed her nervously.
"You good?" she asked, a subtle nod his response. "We're good to go, Benny." she shouted over to the waiter before they both ordered, their drinks being brought over and the waiter leaving them to their silence.
"Easily the best cafe in town, this place." she informed him. "Cafe, stage, bar. Good food!"
Jude pushed the ice in his glass around marking his lack of cooperation firmly.
Kasey tapped her fingers on the table sucking her lip.
"So, Paul asked Amber out yet?" she asked in a hopeless plea. Jude's look of dissatisfaction confirming he wouldn't even care if he was wanting to make this easy for her.
"Right. Of course. You don't care about gossip." she nodded in time with her finger taps. "You can't even cut me a little slack, bud?" she finally pleaded.
"I know what I did was stupid and wrong, but I really was just trying to protect you." he stared at her blankly again.
"The school are making me apologise to Blake and I'm sorry I've made him the victim. I know that must suck, its really you who needs the apology." her latest statement wasn't met with indifference but with apparent anger.
"You don't understand do you? Neither of you do."
The sudden response left Kasey confused.
"Neither of us?"
"You and Callie!" Jude snapped boisterously causing Kasey's head to snap back.
"You always think that you're protecting me so somehow it makes it OK, but it doesn't! It only makes things worse." he folded his arms.
Kasey took a deep breath. He thought back to the conversation she'd had with Callie.
"You act first and think later and assume that because you say you're doing it for me it makes it OK - but you're not doing it for me. If you were doing it for me I wouldn't always feel guilty."
Kasey's eyes drooped with her own guilt.
"Jude, you have nothing to feel -"
"Callie went to Juvie!" he fired back. "How is leaving me alone with that man better for me? How is that protecting me?"
Kasey bit on her bottom lip realising this issue really did run deep and her reaction would have to reflect that. She sipped at her drink planning her next words carefully.
"Jude, I'm sorry." she added softly. "I can't speak for Callie, but you're right, we don't think. The problem is that when you care about someone it's easy to let those impulses take over...and the fact you can control that says more about you than it does about us."
"That doesn't make it OK."
"You're right." she shook her head. "It absolutely doesn't. But just because we get ourselves into trouble it doesn't mean you need to feel responsible. We're not perfect Jude. All we can do is try and learn from our mistakes and seeing you, seeing the example you set. Well I guess that's something we can all learn from - and I'm truly sorry."
He looked up over the rim of his glass, she was making some progress but clearly more was still needed.
"And look, I promise you - I will do everything I can to not make that same mistake again and I will do anything I can to make it up to you."
He thought the words over and took another sip.
"Are you in a lot of trouble?" he asked, his tone back to a soft purr.
Kasey cracked a small smile. "No more than usual." she knew it was a lie but she didn't want him to feel any more guilty than he already was. "I have to apologise to Blake and his parents. That'll be like drinking vinegar, but apart from that..."
He nodded and lost his gaze in his drink again.
"You want to make it up to me?" he asked after a few moments contemplation. Kasey perked her head up, eager to do anything to help repair their relationship.
He studied the willingness in her face. "Anything, Jude."
"When you apologise to Blake...I want you to mean it." his eyes grew wide as Kasey's head dipped ever so slightly. She could see why he was making it sound monumental. It was.
"Jude..." she gulped. "what he was doing to you..."
"And how is what you did to him any better? I don't like violence." he added earnestly, Kasey seeing what she had done through his eyes, she felt remorse for hurting Blake panging her for the first time. "That's not OK, Kasey."
She breathed deeply, processing the words before finally nodding. "You're right. And I will do my best."
He gave her a small smile as their food was brought to the table.
"You know though Jude, I can't promise you that we won't be protective of you. I mean, any of us. Your our little brother right now. Wouldn't you do anything you could of someone was trying to hurt Callie?"
"Of course." he said defensively. "But that doesn't always mean violence."
Kasey nodded again, blown away as always by the maturity with which he could articulate his points.
"I wish we could all think like you Jude. I mean, the world would be a better place - but sometimes something needs to happen to make a change."
"Blake couldn't bully me forever. I would have gotten used to it."
"Buddy, it can't work like that though. I know the way I handled it was wrong, but the way you were handling it wasn't good for you either." she creased her eyebrows thinking about the difficulty he must have been going through. "I know you try not to let it bother you - but how long has it been going on?"
Jude tried to get lost in his plate. His confidence getting lost in the redirection.
"You don't have anything to be embarrassed about Jude. There's no shame in being bullied."
"I'm not ashamed. Bullies don't scare me." he replied swiftly, making it even easier for Kasey to see through his front.
"Maybe not." she replied softly. "But you know, you were hiding at lunch with us today - I don't think you can face them as well as you like to think."
He took a long sip of his drink again, clearly uncomfortable.
"Look." Kasey decided to ease the tension. "Let's forget about what's happened for now, but just like you have given me some good advice, I want to give you some. Asking for help isn't the same as giving in to them. Maybe Callie and me aren't the best role models in the world, but you have a lot of people who can help you. I mean, maybe avoid Jesus because I'm pretty sure he'd bust some ass too...and come to think of it, Mariana has a pretty badass streak..." she racked her brain and winced. "Yeah, and Brandon would probably want to defend you and end up being the one shoved in the locker..." she teased, provoking a small smile. "There we go." she winked as Jude tried to bury it by biting into his burger.
"OK so we're all pretty crap at not getting into trouble - but seriously, we can behave if you need us to and I promise you with all my heart - if you need our help and come to us I will do my best to ensure we help you in a way that you are happy with. If it means telling Mom or even escorting you around in a completely non-violent way we will do it. Just don't suffer in silence. You're not alone anymore."
He nodded.
"Promise?" she nudged him with her foot under the table.
"Promise." he laughed finally after four persistent prods.
"Good." she smiled. "Now finish that up, you only have till 7.45 to take advantage of my wallet." she smiled as he continued to plough through his plate.
As the evening unfolded and the laughter returned they packed up and headed to the car. Distracted from the surroundings they didn't spot the brooding figure that walked in after, following them out with his eyes.
He stormed to the bar and clapped his palm on the counter.
"Hey, you the manager?" he asked, demanding the attention of a startled looking barista.
"I wanna talk about the girl who just left..."
Next Chapter Preview: Mariana and Jesus return from Ana's, Jude and Connor see Blake in a new light while Brandon and Kasey revisit their past.
He didn't have to clarify it any further. Kasey and Brandon had their own secrets they shared, even if they hadn't been touched upon for a while. "That doesn't mean he's drinking again." she quickly replied, more a look of desperation than anger at the suggestion.
"Maybe not, but maybe if you'd noticed something too. Maybe it could help us figure out what it is. If so we should maybe tell Mom." He took up a seat next to her.
"We agreed never to tell Mom." She replied immediately as if he had broken a sacred oath. The instinct that came out in hearing it from Brandon made her realise part of her underlying discomfort. Had that dormant memory been the deeper reason she had kept stopping herself from telling Stef?