End of Exams Aren't Always a Sweet Release
This chapter has been prompted by a guest and this request was Sandy believes in tough love to raise her sons, but when she grounds the twins on the day of a massive party, what lengths will they go to, to get out of the house? And when the building they're in collapses, what will the Roscoe's do to save their loved ones?
Exams are a difficult time for everyone, A-levels considerably more. They can be stressful and the preparation incredibly time-consuming, leaving everyone between the age of 16 and 18 extremely frazzled any time after April, as on a whole, they tried to cram as much revision into their days as possible.
This was exactly the case for Jason and even Robbie, as their final year of education raced towards the end, the exams quickly looming. But even though both teens felt like jumping off a bridge, so they wouldn't have to take their exams, they buckled down and worked hard, till the stressful events had come and gone, leaving everyone to breath a deep sigh of relief, able to forget about what they had just done and what it meant for their future till the middle of August come results day.
But that was a long way off, and it left the students of Hollyoaks High in need of celebrating, in the only way the teenagers do. With a good old fashioned party, alcohol flowing, drugs left, right and centre, and with the promise of meaningless sex with any of your peers.
So as Jason and Robbie left their final exam, the only thoughts that were on their minds (and the thirty or so other students, who had taken that very exam too), was the upcoming party, which had had more planning and preparation than any of the exams combined.
In just two days time, when the whole of their sixth form had finished with their exams, an end of year party would be held, so big and epic, it would be something that younger years would dream to get.
To accommodate the whole of sixth form, one of the boys in lower sixth, a gangly ginger lad by the name of Eric, had gotten his Dad to let out one of their farm fields and accompanying sheds for the night, promising that he and a team of his friends would tidy up in the morning, and that no irreversible damage to land would be caused.
Fortunately, the kindly farmer had agreed to let the party be held on his land, and soon plans were put into place. A DJ had been quickly secured, and a group of students went out regularly to make sure the warehouse and surrounding field would be ready in time for the party, a group which consisted of both Robbie and Jason.
As time passed, and as they did more and more for the party, the twins found themselves getting increasingly excited for it, till on the day of the party they were practically jumping off the walls. "Eric says everythings ready at his," Robbie told his twin with a broad grin as he ended the call, noting that there were still eight hours till the party itself began, wishing that time would speed up, and get to that evening already. He wanted to start drinking now!
"All right, we got the drink sorted?" Jason asked, just as excited as Robbie, and the 112 of their peers.
"Yeah, Fred's dropping it off later," Robbie said, lowering his voice slightly as he spoke. Ever since Joe had returned, life for the Roscoe's had been turned upside down. Their eldest brother had wasted no time in revealing just what Fraser and Freddie had been getting up to behind the shadows, and both had been duely chucked out of the house for it.
Sandy had been all for calling the police on Fraser, but his threat of getting Freddie locked up to, was simply too great, because whilst she may not want him in her life anymore, she didn't want to see her child locked up in prison. So instead she had kept her silence, a wave of relief washing through her when Fraser had left to go back to London, though Freddie had stayed put in the village, much to Joe's disgust.
Because Freddie wasn't staying with Sinead, no just a week after he had been thrown out on his ear, disowned by the whole family, Lindsey had followed suite, saying she had feelings for Freddie that she simply couldn't ignore any longer.
It had broken Joe's heart, and in a show of camaraderie, the rest of the family were still not on speaking terms with Freddie or Lindsey, or at least in public. But in private the story was slightly different, the twin's had been to Freddie and Lindsey's new place a handful of times already, not wanting to lose their brother when they had experienced losing one already.
It was Freddie they ended up turning to when they needed things that their age still prevented, like alcohol or in Robbie's case, cigarettes, oh the curse of being August babies. The pair knew that the rest of the family would be more than happy to get them some drink on occasion, but under Sandy's watchful eye, it would never be more than a few cans of lager, and both wanted something a bit stronger than that, so had turned to their more... liberal brother in their time of need.
"Fred's dropping off what?" Joe asked, eyes steely as he rounded the corner to fully enter the living room, having heard what Robbie had just said, no matter how careful the teen had tried to be.
"Uhh..." Robbie hesitated, sharing a wary glance with Jason, knowing whatever was going to come next wasn't going to be good. That feeling was only solidified when Sandy came down the stairs, instantly catching onto the heavy atmosphere that flooded the room.
"What's going on here?"
"These two are seeing Freddie. He's dropping something off for them," Joe supplied, fists clenching as he thought of the brother who had betrayed him in more ways than one.
"He's our brother and it's a free country! We can see him if we want to," Robbie said sharply, hoping that going on the defence was the best action, though even he doubted it.
"So what's he giving to you then? My guess is drink what with that party on tonight, and it's obviously not just beer if you two didn't come to us."
"So?" Sandy asked, folding her arms and arching a brow in the way that only parents can manage. "What was it?"
The living room was silent for a moment, as Jason and Robbie tried to figure out whether going with the truth was the best bet in this very instance, or whether they should chance it and lie through their teeth.
"Just some vodka and other stuff," Jason said through gritted teeth when Sandy gave him a pointed look.
"Just some vodka? Enough to land you both in hospital I bet," Sandy snapped, running a hand through her blonde locks in exasperation. "And what are you even thinking Jason? You know what could happen if you drank too much with your diabetes."
"Of course I do, I'm not stupid mum!" Jason exclaimed.
"At the moment, that's really debatable," Joe muttered under his breath, looking unforgiving when Robbie and Jason both shot him twin glares.
"Joe's right. I wasn't happy with you going to this party anyway, what with it being in the middle of nowhere, but I didn't say anything because it was going to be your end of exams party. But after this, I'm sorry boys but there's no way you're going now. I won't be able to trust that you'll be able to safe and responsible."
"You can't do that!" Robbie cried, outraged as he realised that Sandy was completely serious, and that Joe was seemingly backing her up completely.
"I think you'll find that I can. You're both staying in this house tonight, I'll make sure of it," Sandy replied coolly, hating herself for having to punish her almost grown up sons like she was doing, but these things had to be done.
"And you wonder why Freddie's made no effort to try and talk to you," Robbie spat, leaving the living room to go to his bedroom, Jason close on his heels, the slam of their door echoing throughout the whole house.
"That could have gone... better," Joe commented lightly, though it didn't hide how mad he was still at Freddie for worming his way back into their lives.
}}}}}}}}
"I don't care what Mum says, we're going to that party," Robbie said decisively, almost shaking with anger at what had just happened downstairs. He was almost an adult, was less than two months away from 18 and yet, he was still being treated like a little kid.
"She may notice if we just leave, you know what she's like when she gets in a mood," Jason replied, rolling his eyes as Robbie continued pacing.
"Which is why we're going to sneak out of the window. Don't look so shocked, you've done it plenty of times to see Holly and we all know it. Get ready J, cause we've got a party to get to," Robbie smirked, chucking over a tube of neon paint as he spoke.
}}}}}}}}
"Now isn't this worth it?" Robbie said with a triumphant laugh as he and Jason made their way down the country path that led to the party, the bass of the music already shaking the ground. "And we still got our drink, so it's all turning up great for us."
"Yeah until Mum realises we're not in, and then all hell breaks loose," Jason muttered, rolling his eyes as he did.
"Another problem for another day I say," Robbie chuckled, pulling out one of the many cans from the duffel bag he was carrying, pulling open the tab and downing the cool beer, the bitter drink almost all gone in less than a minute.
"So tomorrow, when we'll be hungover to fuck and mum's ranting is going to be a million times worse," Jason said dryly, grabbing a beer for himself.
"Pretty much, but lets not worry about that now J. We're here, mum doesn't know and the night is just about to start. Let's have fun," Robbie grinned wickedly, moving to the barn ready for the night ahead, as Jason trailed behind, sincerely hoping that Sandy would somehow never find out about this.
}}}}}}}}}}
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Leela sighed as she followed Ziggy up the driveway. They'd been dating for roughly six weeks now and it was still going strong. In fact, it was going so well that she was finally doing a meet the family night, having been invited to dinner by Sandy earlier that week.
She had agreed readily, had thought she would have been fine, but as the day came, the blonde found herself more nervous than she should. It was only dinner for Christ's sake, and it wasn't like the Roscoe's were strangers to her, but she felt sick to the pit of her stomach, and nothing seemed to sooth her, though Ziggy's warm hand on her shoulder, rubbing circles onto the joint was certainly doing something to help.
"You'll be fine babe, mum already loves you, she just wants to get to know you better. And well, it's been a bit quiet at ours lately, since Freddie and Linds... I think she just misses the extra company more than anything."
"Yeah of course," Leela said, nodding slightly and trying to slow down her heartbeat, though it didn't really work.
"Honestly you'll be fine," Ziggy said again, taking Leela's hand in his and squeezing tightly. Their relationship was still so new, but Ziggy already knew it felt different than his previous ones. He'd never met anyone so... full of spirit as Leela was, she didn't put up with his suave cockiness and called him out on it too. She didn't care for cheap gimmicks, and public declarations made her cringe.
She was new, exciting and definitely one of a kind. It made Ziggy excited, kept him on his toes around and her, and he couldn't wait to find out everything he could, he wanted to know how Leela Lomax ticked, and he was damn well going to find out.
And maybe this night would shed a little more light on the blonde fire officer.
}}}}}}}}}}
As Leela and Ziggy were getting ready for their first family dinner as a couple, the party just a few miles out of the village was in full swing. Everyone had arrived and was having a blast, knowing that for the year 13s this would probably be the last time they saw a lot of people, and they were all determined to make it worth it.
Robbie couldn't help but laugh as he continued to dance with his mates, wrapping his arms around the waist of a girl from his English, his smirk growing as she came closer to him, grinding in and directing his hands a little more South till they were cupping her ass.
He vaguely registered the thumbs up that Jason shot his way before turning back to Esther, laughing loudly at something that she said.
But he didn't care what his twin was doing or if he was missing Holly (due to her not being in sixth form, she wasn't put on the guest list, much to Jason's annoyance, and everyone else who had partners in different years), because then Robbie was leaning in, his lips catching the brunette's in a chaste kiss, it deepening as their peers danced around them.
And as they kissed, danced and sang, not a single one noted the way the warehouse began creaking, the framework dangerously frail.
Because that's what happens when damp begins to settle in, and after a bad couple of winters, it had well and truly set into the shed, leaving it more vulnerable to outside forces than it should have been.
No-one had noticed, Eric's checks on the old building hadn't been that in detail and his Dad had thought it had been in better nick than it obviously was. And no-one would notice, because whilst there were over a hundred teens under the very roof, none of them were feeling particularly observant as they continued to dance, drinking more and more.
It all meant one thing though, that when the warehouse collapsed, when its framing failed it like it was looking set to, whoever was in the building at that time was going to be screwed and with a whole sixth form worth of teenagers in there, shaking everything to its foundation with the deafening music, falling into the walls as they were too drunk to stand up straight, there really was little chance of the warehouse not con-caving that very night.
}}}}}}}}
"So we have the whole night together?" Freddie asked for the third time, eyes lighting up mischievously as he spoke.
"Yes Freddie, we have the whole night to ourselves," Lindsey smirked, stirring the bolognese though throwing a mock glare at the younger man when he snorted in disbelief. "Want to share with the class?"
"Nothing, it's just, you've said that every night for the last four nights, and for the last four nights I have been going to bed alone because your bloody pager keeps going off."
"I can't help it if work need me," Lindsey sighed, though she knew her job was not an easy thing to juggle when in a relationship. It had always been a struggle for Joe when they had been together, and he had been there before the night shifts began.
Freddie was right though, because it did feel like she was spending more time at work than she was with her boyfriend, not that she was going to let that stop her. Her and Freddie had done so much to get to where they were now, had hurt so many people, that they weren't going to let their relationship go without a fight. A few lonely nights definitely wasn't going to end it all.
"But I've already booked tonight off through all the right channels, meaning I'm not the second back-up or even the third. I'll only be called in if there's a huge disaster, and that's not going to happen."
"In this village? Yeah I doubt that," Freddie muttered, pulling Lindsey in close and pressing his lips onto her, still amazed two months on, that he could do this, that Lindsey was his to kiss, his to love. It didn't feel real, especially after so many years of heartbreak, but Freddie was grateful his dreams had come true.
It hadn't been easy for either of them, they'd hurt a lot of people, but sometimes love can get you hurt and Freddie only wished that his family would see that someday, and allow him back into the fold.
He missed them all so much and after spending his first twenty seven years as part of a huge unit, it was quite a shock to the system to be practically on his own now. Well bar Lindsey, and Freddie was beyond grateful he had her, because if he didn't, well he'd probably be face down in a ditch by now.
But she understood him, she understood why he had done all he had, because she had done the same. They were two lost souls, meant to be in a world full of pain and loss.
It wasn't perfect, wasn't a fairytale like Freddie had dreamed it to be all those years ago, but it was perfect for him. And as he unbuttoned Lindsey's blouse with vigour, bolognese long forgotten, Freddie knew he'd never have it any other way.
}}}}}}}}
The music stopped with no real warning, as one of the ceiling beams came crashing down, smashing straight through the speakers, debris flying everywhere. The warehouse wasn't silent for long though, as screams quickly filled the air, the teens all racing to the door, desperate to get out and to safety, but that one beam falling had been enough to start off a chain reaction, and soon the ceiling was coming crashing to the floor, crushing and trapping teens where they stood, a few lucky ones managing to jump to safety, before the remnants of the ceiling collapsed.
Out of the 112 teens who had been at that party, only 49 had managed to get to safety, staring in horror at the sight that they were presented with. In less than five minutes, the whole shed had fallen to bits, crushing and trapping the rest of Hollyoaks sixth form under its cruel restraints.
Broken screams and sobs filled the air, as the partygoers tried to desperately escape, though very few had luck, too weak to move far, or trapped under the broken parts of the ceiling, it too heavy to move without some other form of help.
But it was the ones that weren't screaming that Esther found herself worrying for as she began dialling 999 from outside the warehouse, a bit shaken up but otherwise unharmed, because there were areas of pure silence, the teens underneath having lost consciousness almost instantly when the building had collapsed, or worse, who had died.
The blonde sorely hoped that Jason wasn't part of the latter, she had been with him when the building had collapsed, but he had pushed her out of the door, sacrificing his own freedom so she would be okay. If he didn't make it... Esther wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to cope, knowing that he'd be alive if it wasn't for her.
Shaking herself out of the mindset as well as she could, Esther focused on answering the operators questions, trying to give the clearest instructions to the farm as she could in her panicked state.
As she continued talking, she couldn't help but look around for more of her friends, smiling in slight relief as she saw Phoebe, Malia and Tyler all safe and sound, though it quickly disappeared when she realised that a lot of her friends were still missing. Including Robbie.
Both of the Roscoe twins were still inside the building, and God knows if they were still alive.
}}}}}}}}}
"I can't believe the cheek of those two," Sandy snapped, heaping a generous portion of fish pie onto Leela's plate, the blonde too polite, and oddly nervous to try and stop the older woman. "I told them both they weren't going to go to that party, and what do they do? Sneak out and go anyway. I'm going to kill them tomorrow morning, hangover or not."
"Calm down yeah mum," Ziggy said, plastering a fake smile on. He hadn't been hoping for his first family dinner with Leela to be so... negative, and he only wished Sandy would reign in her anger a bit. "They'll both be fine, and it's nothing worse than any of us did when we were their age. Anyway, nothing you can do about it, so just... calm it yeah?"
"I'm sorry love," Sandy sighed, silently berating herself as Joe chuckled by her side. "You too Leela, what must you be thinking about me?"
"Oh don't worry about it," Leela smiled weakly, glad that the topic of conversation seemed to be finally moving on.
"Zig's just getting mad cause he doesn't want to be embarrassed," Joe teased, taking his plate from Sandy with a smile. "But don't worry about that, we're going to get his baby photos out later, hey you should really see the one of him dressed up in mum's clothes."
"Yeah thanks for that Joe," Ziggy snapped, cheeks flushing as Leela giggled by his side, though she was quickly interrupted by a sharp beep coming from her handbag.
"I'm really sorry, this is work," she said, pulling the pager from her bag, eyes widening as she read the incoming information. "I've got to go, there's been a massive accident, a warehouse collapsed with a load of people in it. I'm really sorry about this Sandy, but dinner honestly looked lovely. Maybe I could come round for dinner sometime next week, and actually eat it this time?"
"That'd be lovely Leela, but don't worry about it. When duty calls, you have to go."
"Yeah, I'll drive you babe," Ziggy offered, glad to have an excuse for not having to eat dinner more than anything else. "It'll be quicker that way. Where is it?"
"Urh, Bakers Farm," Leela said, re-checking her pager to make sure she had got her details right.
"What? Are you sure?" Ziggy asked, sharing a worried glance with Joe and Sandy.
"Yeah, why? Do you know it?"
"It's where the sixth form party is being held. And Jason and Robbie are there right now. They could be trapped in that building," Sandy gasped, already halfway out the door before the others had shaken themselves out of their shock. They had to get to that warehouse, to make sure that Robbie and Jason were going to be okay.
}}}}}}}}}
"Oh my God," Freddie breathed as he pulled his car up the driveway, jumping out just half a second behind Lindsey. She, like every other person from that area had been called into help with the collapsed warehouse, and once Freddie had realised where it was, he had insisted on driving Lindsey there himself.
And whilst Lindsey had briefed him in the car, had told him what to expect, that there were still dozens of teens trapped in the building and it had completely collapsed, he hadn't expected the damage to be so... extensive. It looked like a bomb had gone off, and Freddie had to wonder just how this had happened.
Because how had no-one noticed the barn was this unstable? How had over 100 teens, all drunk and vulnerable been allowed to have a party in that building?
His train of thought was cut off when Freddie caught sight of Phoebe, and he ran over to her to try and get some answers. "Phoebe!"
The younger girl whirled around, tears streaking down her face as she glanced back at the devastating sight in front of her, the screams of her friends still filling the air, though the various sirens were drowning them out not, as well as the whirr of the fire engines and other machinery, with all the one task of getting into the building and the various teenagers out.
"Where are Robbie and Jase? Have you seen them anywhere?" One look at her face told Freddie all he needed to know, his younger brothers were still trapped inside, but he couldn't just accept that. No, he needed to hear the very words himself.
"Freddie, I'm so sorry," Phoebe began, choking around her sobs. "But they're still in there. Esther said Jason helped get her out but was trapped himself, and Robbie was with Caley all night and no-one's seen either of those two."
Freddie cursed as he realised that his worst thoughts were coming true, and that he could permanently lose two of his brothers, if he hadn't already. But that wasn't something he could focus on at the moment, because Phoebe was a complete wreck and he had to get someone to see her, to calm her down.
So in silence he lead Robbie's former crush to one of the ambulances, glad to see that more of the teens were being rushed out of the building with increasing speed, as the firefighters worked to remove the heavier bits of debris, to free up more of the building, but as he failed to spot either brother, Freddie only grew more concerned.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Joe's growl snapped Freddie out of his thoughts, and he spun around to come face to face with the rest of his family, Leela running out to the closest fire engine, to grab what kit she could before she entered the carnage.
"Lindsey got a call about what happened, I couldn't not come," Freddie replied numbly. He didn't want to fight, he missed his family more than words could show, but after what he had done, there was no hope of him ever being reunited with them, especially Joe.
"Well you probably would have been best off," Joe snapped, taking a step closer and looking like he wanted nothing more than to beat Freddie to a pulp.
"Can we not do this now?" Ziggy asked, sending a fierce glare to his two older brothers. "We have no clue where Robbie and Jason are, or what state they're in, so can you at least wait till we know they're going to be all right before you two beat each other up."
Joe and Freddie didn't say anything in reply, though their cheeks flushed a deep red as they remembered just why they were where they were.
"Oh my God Jason!" Esther's cry startled the family even more, and as the one they turned to see Jason being pulled out of the wreckage, barely conscious, as the firefighters struggled.
The three brothers ran over to one of their own without a second thought, climbing and ducking around broken beams to get to Jason, holding up some of the broken plaster up so the firefighters could get the teen free, though not even a second after they had done so, did even more of the building come flying down, causing dust to go everywhere, blinding everyone in the process.
As Freddie rubbed the dirt away from his face, coughing furiously, he realised he was sprawled out on the floor, a good few feet away from where he had been before before the roof had fallen through.
In fact, where he had been standing was no longer there, as a portion of the roof had just landed there, and would have undoubtedly killed him had it not been for the person who had just pushed him back. It took longer for him to realise it wasn't one of the fire crew, but was in fact Joe, who was now getting to his feet, coughing harshly as he did so.
"You... you saved my life," Freddie breathed, unable to believe what Joe had just risked to save him, especially after all he had done to his older brother.
"I'd like to think you'd have done the same if it was me," Joe shrugged, before turning back to Jason and helping the fire-crew move him out of what remained of the warehouse, Freddie and Ziggy close behind.
"Give it time bro, Joe will be fine eventually," Ziggy muttered in Freddie's ear before running to catch up with Joe, the two Roscoe's helping move Jason to an ambulance, praying that no other damage had been caused.
}}}}}}}}}}
"We're sorry, but you can't go any further. The site's too dangerous," A policeman told Joe as he tried to go back to the warehouse. A painfully long twenty minutes had passed since Jason had been rescued from the wreckage, and whilst a handful of other teens had been carried out, none of them had been Robbie.
The Roscoe's fears had only increased when the first body had been taken out, because people were dying now due to having waited too long in what remained of the building, and it made them wonder if Robbie was in a similar boat. Would they ever get to see him again?
Sandy had gone to the hospital with Jason, making her three other sons promise they'd phone her if any light was shed about Robbie, something they had all readily agreed to.
They had all tried to go back to the warehouse and help out like they had been doing previously, but the presence of the police completely prevented that, leaving them, and all the other families who had arrived as the news spread, all waiting anxiously on the sidelines.
"Chief we've got someone!" Leela yelled from where she was positioned, pushing away all the debris that was covering the body from view. She gasped as she saw it was Robbie, covered in blood and deathly pale, though it was made even worse when she realised that the three other Roscoe's had realised it was their brother too.
But she couldn't focus on that just yet, she had a job to do, and she was damn well going to do it. "Doctor! We need a doctor over here, he's not breathing."
And as Lindsey rushed over, having spotted her former brother in law almost instantly, Leela only prayed that he'd be okay, that they'd all be okay, because no kid deserved to go through something like this.
}}}}}}}}
"You gave us a fright there bro," Joe said with a shaky smile as he watched his brother regain consciousness, blearily looking around the hospital room he had been put in. "Mum was going crazy, wouldn't leave your side, we basically had to hold her back when you went into theatre."
"What – what happened?" The teen asked, frowning in confusion as pain shot through everyone of his nerves.
"There was a massive accident at that end of year party. You were trapped in the building with a load of others."
"Was everyone okay?"
"No, urm some people are still in critical care mate," Joe sighed, the scenes playing through his head on an endless loop. The past twelve hours had been pure hell for him, and he didn't think he'd ever be able to get it out of his head.
He was emotionally drained and wanted nothing more than to collapse, but whilst he still had the image of Robbie's pale form lying completely still, not breathing or reacting to anything, Joe knew sleep was something that was a long way off.
"And others didn't make it. There's been urm.. five people have been confirmed as dead so far, but there's a lot of people who probably won't make it through the night."
"Jase?" Robbie asked, his mind instantly on his brother, a sense of dread hitting him instantly.
"I'm fine mate," said teen said from the doorway, wheeling himself in with the wheelchair he'd been given for the night. "Bar the concussion and broken leg I'm fine, it was you who gave us a fright."
"What? Why?"
"When they found you, your heart wasn't beating. Lindsey had to re-start it and then you had to get a blood transfusion because you'd lost so much when you'd hit your head," Joe filled in for him, wincing as the memories came back to the forefront of his mind.
Robbie was silent for a second, allowing the news to hit, unable to wrap his head around the fact that he had been so close to death. "But I'm going to be okay right?"
"You're going to be just fine love," Sandy said from the doorway, entering the room with Freddie and Ziggy close behind her. "You were both extremely lucky, but if you think I'm letting you go to a party like that again, you have another thing coming."
"Yeah, we get it mum," Jason sighed, sharing an exasperated glance with Robbie, though both teens knew just how close they had been to death that night. But it proved just how much their family would do for them, how they'd move past their own quarrels to save them, and if that didn't give you some form of comfort, then what could?
They were safe, they were going to be okay and they had the best family around them, making sure they were all of those things.
Next Chapter - Freddie's boss used to be Trevor. Trevor's boss is Fraser. But Fraser's boss? Well it's someone quite unexpected – prompted by hattiexoxoxo
lala1996 – I'm glad you're enjoying this story and hope you continue to do so! However prompts are now closed and have been since chapter 50, which was posted almost a month ago. Sorry but it means I can't do your request!