A/N: Sophie's got it a bit difficult at the moment. But don't despair, the stories not over yet. Thanks to those who are leaving Reviews and reading this story. It's super fun to write knowing that there are those invested in where this is going.
Rosie knocked on the bathroom door. "Hey you better realize that you are cleaning up any mess you make in there," she shouted as she heard another groan coming from inside.
She had hauled her mess of a sister up the stairs to her flat. She had instantly gotten off her coat and installed her in the bathroom. Taking away the half empty whiskey bottle she got a bottled water from the fridge and placed it near the younger woman's feet. Sophie was rambling about something incoherently. Rosie stopped her with one firm hand on her shoulder. She lowered herself down to bring herself face-to-face with her sister who was sitting on the floor. She extended out her hand palm up in between them.
"Phone" she demanded.
"Why?" Sophie refused.
"Come on!" Rosie said frustrated.
Sophie fished it out of her pocket and gave it to her sister who took it and went back into the kitchen area.
"Start drinking" Rosie said as she looked at Sophie's missed calls. Of course her mother had called 25 times. All unanswered. No wonder Sally was going mad.
"Why'd you take my phone?" Sophie shouted from the bathroom.
"For your own good, trust me" Rosie said as she went to give her sister more water.
"So?" Rosie demanded leaning on the doorframe looking down at her mess of a sister. Sophie had her head down and shoulders hunched over. She had taken her knees and rested them under her chin. Rosie noted how small her sister looked. She had seen her this way before. Rosie had been 17, Sophie was 15, and dad had kicked off about her sneaking off to Southport amongst other things. Usually Sophie put up a fight right back, but she had come back looking as if someone had died. Rosie had just assumed that her and Sian had been fighting over a boy. If there's one thing Rosie knew about it was fighting with other girls over boys. It came with being as hot as she was. She couldn't help it if all the boys wanted her. Sophie had been sitting on the bed just like this, looking as if the world had fallen away from her. Rosie didn't always get her sister at all, but she'd be damned if anyone would hurt her this much.
"Oi, Well are you gonna spill? And it better explain the state of you" Rosie demanded. Sophie looked up. Her eyes were so lost between the whiskey and the pain in her chest. She fished the cause of it all, out of her pocket and handed it to her sister. Rosie unfolded the paper and started to read.
"Soph, what am I looking at? It's an article in a paper about law students" Rosie said confused.
"Skip to the highlighted portion" Sophie said in a voice so low it was nearly a whisper.
"Oh!" Rosie exclaimed as she read. Now she understood the score.
Rosie had been making phone calls. So many phone calls.
Meanwhile Sophie had hit the getting sick stage. Now was a good time to call her mother. Sally picked up on the first ring.
"Rosie? Is everything all right?" Sally asked in a panicked tone. She had not calmed down.
"Don't worry mum. I've got her and she's not going anywhere. Her heads firmly wrapped around my toilet" Rosie groaned.
"She's been drinking! Oh Rosie what's got her so worked up?" Sally exclaimed.
"Yeah mum, I've sussed it all out" Rosie tried to calm her mother. "You don't have to be Sherlock, mum. Here's a clue: 1 word, blonde" Rosie said archly. Sally sighed. She knew it.
"Well I knew that Sophie was depressed about something, but I thought that she was turning around" Sally shook her head.
"Well that was until this came in the mail today" Rosie produced the letter to read it to her mother. "Apparently this roommate Jamie sent a copy of this article. She felt that Sophie should see it" Rosie explained moving to the highlighted portion.
It was a copy of an article in a UCLA magazine. The headline featured "7 Up-and-Comers" with a little picture and bio. Near the bottom was a picture of Sian with a paragraph beside it. Here was the highlighted section: "Along with studying law Miss Powers is engaged to longtime boyfriend Jay Garrett. Recently engaged they will marry this fall." Rosie read it aloud to her mother with a measure of contempt.
"Well Sophie knew that she was dating…" Sally said trying to understand.
"But did this boyfriend know about Sophie?" Rosie asked angrily.
"I doubt it. He certainly wouldn't be engaged to marry her if he did" Sally surmised.
"No one makes a fool of my little sister" Rosie proclaimed.
Sophie emerged from the bathroom. The contents of her stomach were circling the drain. She reminded herself never to drink again.
Her sister was sitting at the kitchen table. She held out a toothbrush. Sophie's toothbrush from Weatherfield.
"Do me a favor. Brush those teeth-you minger" Rosie said with a measure of disgust.
"Where did this come from?" Sophie said heading to the bathroom.
"And there's some clothes too, in a bag over there" she pointed towards the couch. Sophie went over to it and grabbed some clean clothes. She was still in her outfit from yesterday and after the time she'd had, well her clothes were pretty rank.
"Where did these come from?" Sophie asked her sister.
"While you were getting sick all over my bathroom I made some calls. Like to mum, who was out of her mind by the way" Rosie said with disdain. Sophie did feel bad about that. She hadn't meant to cause her so much stress. She just wasn't thinking straight. "Chesney Brown drove down with your stuff and dropped it off" Rosie explained.
"Rosie!" Sophie shouted surprised.
"What?! I gave him money for petrol, and I swear if you weren't really gay, I'd say he was in love with you" Rosie responded.
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Whatever" she exclaimed.
"Call your mum" Rosie handed her Sophie's phone. "And clean yourself up, we fly out in a few hours" Rosie shouted as Sophie walked into the other room. Sophie stopped.
"Fly where?" Sophie asked.
"Oh we're going to California little sis" Rosie smiled.
"Why?" Sophie exasperated her jaw unhinged.
"Because what she's doing isn't right and I'm not letting her get away with it," Rosie said with an amount of venom that Sophie recognized from their mother.
"Rosie...it's okay. I knew that she was seeing other guys...I just…" Sophie trailed off.
Rosie just shook her head. "Well I'm going and do you really want me to go alone?" Rosie said grinning.
Sophie sighed and dialed her mother's number. There were apologies to be made.
Sophie barely remembered being pulled thru airport security. Apparently Rosie could pull some major strings. She had convinced her agency to pay for her and Sophie's flight to LA. Who knows what lies she had managed. Her sister could be so shameless. It was still a late night flight and Sophie hadn't gotten much rest. She felt terrible about the whole situation. Guilt-ridden, Sophie couldn't help her conscience. Exhausted she slept thru the majority of the flight. At least it was faster than the one she had taken before. And her sister had managed to get them into first class so it was a bit more comfortable.
They arrived at Sian's apartment door straight from the airport. Rosie really meant business.
"How did you get this address?" Sophie asked in the cab that they had grabbed at the airport.
"Duh I got it off the letter" Rosie said. Rosie knocked on the door, which Jamie answered. Sophie briefly remembered her from the last time she had shown up here unannounced. Sophie waved to her from behind Rosie as Jamie took a drag from her cigarette.
People inquired whom they were from within the apartment.
"Oh just more people with funny accents" Jamie yelled back to the unseen voices.
"Oi!" Rosie held up the letter that Jaimie had sent. "Where is she?" Rosie demanded.
Jaimie shook her head and wrote down an address. "I just thought that you should know what she was up to," Jamie said. Rosie gave a curt thanks, took the paper, and then gave it to the cab driver for our next destination. Sophie had to give it to her sister-even though she had been traveling for at least 9 hours she still looked amazing. Maybe she was being fueled by good old Webster vengeance. Sophie sure felt knackered in comparison.
They proceeded to a split-level house where apparently a family get together was happening. Sophie trailed after Rosie as she hiked up to the house in spiked heels. There was no stopping her, even though Sophie tried. But there was no stopping Rosie Webster when she was intent.
Rosie stopped one of the serving staff, giving him a come hither look for good measure, to point out the happy couple. He couldn't resist her of course. Rosie knew exactly how to turn it on. Sophie saw Sian and the bloke across the room. Sian was holding a glass of bubbly and talking to a group. She looked stunning, but then again she always did. Sophie remained glued to her spot. She looked pretty minger in comparison to everyone else. This "Jay" bloke looked nice enough, if a little boring. A typical future lawyer Republican type he seemed to be. He could have been the poster child for corporate America, square jaw and all. Sophie felt a bit bad for the guy. He had no idea that hurricane Rosie Webster was coming his way. Sophie believed it was Sian who saw Rosie first. Sian's jaw became unhinged at the sight of her.
"Sian Powers! Long time no see! You must be Jay Garrett" Rosie went to shake his hand. "So I wonder if you remember who I am Sian. Oh right, I'm the one whose sister you've been stringing along. Yep that's right Jay, Stringing Along" Rosie emphasized the words. "What cat got your tongue? Oh did Sian not tell you that she slept with my sister for 3 nights in a row about 2 ½ months ago?" Rosie said. Both of them looked around to see if anyone had heard what Rosie had just said. Sophie was sure that at least a few were listening in. Sian's eyes locked with Sophie's across the room. There was still apart of Sophie's soul that wanted to take the pain away. This was too much but Sophie knew that to try to stop it was futile.
"Being lawyers, or at least training to be ones, I guess you want proof aye?" Rosie asked clearly rhetorically. Sophie saw Sian fold her arms in front of her, trying desperately to keep herself from kicking off. Or crying.
"Well I wonder why my sister would have these pictures" she pulled out Sophie's phone and started flipping thru some of the pics that Sian had sent her. Sophie went red. She knew she should have deleted them. "Oh and then there's the text messages. Good thing that Sophie keeps them all. Yeah this series is from about 4 months ago, so there you go" Rosie showed the poor bloke. "Are you quite finished?" Sian asked keeping her voice even. Rosie turned from Sian to Jay. "Yeah I think so. Oh but one more thing: Stay away from my sister" Rosie said as she haughtily walked out of the room. Sophie trailed behind.
"Was that really necessary? And give me back my phone" Sophie demanded as they got back in the cab.
"Man I wish I had been there!" Hayley exclaimed. Sophie and Hayley were sitting in her apartment. Sophie had insisted on visiting her, while Rosie went back to the hotel. Sophie was perfectly happy with staying on at Hayley's but Rosie had insisted that she needed a full body massage and a good mattress.
"Yeah well you missed a proper Rosie Webster scene let me tell you" Sophie laughed. She couldn't help herself. It really was drama award-worthy theatrics. And the fact that her sister had done all this for her, was not missed. Sophie felt really chuffed that her sister had gone to such lengths to defend her. "Well they are lucky that it wasn't my dad, then there would have been a brawl" Sophie finished up her tea.
They paused, looking at each other. Sophie felt how nice it was to relax and be comfortable again. It had been so long. Hayley always brought this out in her. They had a proper laugh between the two of them. With Sian it was always a desperate epic need that could consume them. Neither was necessarily better than the other, it was just different. She had known that with Hayley it would have never lasted as a love affair but she also knew that Hayley wouldn't hurt her the same way that Sian or Ellie would. But it still wouldn't last all that long. Sophie knew it now. She needed more than just good times.
"She's lucky I wasn't there because I might have punched her myself," Hayley said reaching to get them another green tea.
"Rosie nearly did. But still I know that Sian didn't mean it. I'm sure of it" Sophie said.
"You know it's gross how saintly you are?" Hayley mocked her.
"Oh I'm no saint, you know that, but I do know that holding onto painful things just weighs you down" Sophie explained.
"Good luck with that" Hayley said laying back on the couch.