"How was your first day back at school?" S asked as she washed the dishes from dinner.
Kira was sitting on Em lap as she drew, her crayons spread out like a rainbow. Em was sat back in the chair, playing with the little girl's long curls, which seemed to run in the family. "Meh, it was the same as it always is, S. An absolute joy!" She answered sarcastically, faking any kind of enthusiasm.
S scoffed, turning halfway to face the duo, "You didn't do anything stupid, though. Something you might want to tell me about? Or were you just so excited to get to school this morning, you jumped out of the window as a shortcut?" Mrs S tried to hint.
Em had been waiting for this all day. She knew she hadn't mentioned something last night about her day with Felix and Sarah. After her heated argument with Sarah at the diner, she had stormed out and forgotten to ask if Mrs S was to know Sarah was back. Although, she didn't see any harm in telling S. If anything, it would give her more time to calm down before they reunited.
Em ignored the latter question, sighing loudly, "No, nothing happened. I kept my head down, did my work and left as soon as the bell rang."
Kira squirmed in her lap and turned to face Em, a confused look on her face, "Don't you like school Auntie Em?"
"Afraid not, monkey." She answered, "It's not as fun when you're my age."
S spun round, wiping her hands on a tea cloth and walked towards the table the girls were sitting at, "But you still have to go." She said informatively, picking Kira up from Em' lap and placing her on the floor, "Go get into your PJ's and brush your teeth, then aunty Em will take you up for a story, okay, love?"
Kira nodded and ran off, bouncing up the stairs.
Siobhan turned to Em and sat down on the chair next to her, hitting her gently, "Tell me. Something's happened. What is it?" She asked seriously.
Em let out a loud, exasperated sigh, turning her head towards the stairs to check Kira had actually gone up stairs, before turning to her foster mother, "Sarah's back."
S' eyes widened immediately, and she leant back in her chair, matching Em' posture, "Bloody hell," She sighed, "When?"
Em was surprised that she didn't sound angry, just slightly fed up. "Erm, day before yesterday, I think. She said she rang you?"
Siobhan reached her hand up to her face rubbing her eyes, slowly, "Yes. But I didn't think she was actually coming back. She was asking after Kira." She whispered. "Did Felix tell you?"
Emma leant her elbow against the table, resting her chin in her palm, "Well, no. Actually…she was there, at Fe's when I went to see him. And then I met her after school today."
"How did she look?" Em could hear the worried, motherly-tone that S refused to show in her pissed off expression.
"She looked fine. She was dressed in some fancy clothes today, actually." Em replied, remembering how strange her sister had looked.
Mrs S almost leapt from her chair and tucked it into the table aggressively, "Another scam, no doubt," She yelled, "That bloody girl!"
"Ready!" Kira shouted from the top off the stairs, sprinting down them and causing both S and Emma to jump, giving each other a 'we'll talk about this later look'.
"Brilliant. Well done, love. Goodnight." Mrs S' tone changing instantly to address the young girl. She bent down to kiss Kira's forehead and gave her a little hug.
"Night, Mrs S." Kira replied, hugging back her grandmother-figure.
Em gathered up Kira's drawing, sighing when she spotted the long, dark hair and brown eyes, captioned 'Mummy', "Don't forget this, monkey." She handed her niece the paper before sweeping her up and squeezing her tightly as she carried her upstairs.
Em tucked in the little girl after reading her a story but stopped when she noticed Kira was still holding the drawing of her mother.
"You can't sleep with that, monkey." She said whilst prying it from Kira's hands.
"Okay." She frowned, "But just put it on the table. I want her to protect me from the monsters."
Em raised her eyebrow dubiously, "Monsters? Kira, there are no monsters here." She said whilst checking under the bed. "See. Anyway, my room's right next door. So you can come get me if you're scared." She said, watching Kira's eyes look over at a picture of her and Sarah from two years ago.
"You look like mummy." Kira stated, looking back at her aunt.
"Of course, we're sisters, silly! Now stop stalling and go to sleep, yeah?" She smiled and leant in to kiss the little girl's cheek.
Kira's arms wrapped tightly around Emma's shoulders, keeping her against Kira's cheek as the little girl whispered, "One more story?"
Em laughed at the girl's attempt to avoid sleep for as long as possible but pulled away, "No, come on, Kira. Go to sleep. Remember Uncle Felix and I are both picking you up from school tomorrow, yeah?"
Kira beamed broadly and answered excitedly, "Okay. Goodnight."
"Night, monkey." Em said from the door as she switched off the light and pulled the door behind her, leaving a small gap so it wasn't completely closed.
"Did she brush her teeth?" Mrs S asked Emma when she was back downstairs.
Emma rubbed her eyes, tiredly and nodded, "Yeah." She landed on the couch with a thud, spreading her body out so her feet sat upon Siobhan's lap. S turned her body to face her foster daughter and started to massage her ankles.
"She's back for Kira, isn't she?" Siobhan broke the soft silence.
"Of course she is." Emma replied.
Siobhan sighed, wearily, far too used to the trouble her eldest foster child brought home with her. "Is she staying at Felix's? What's she doing now?"
Em flung her arms out, palms up, "Please. Can we not talk about Sarah?" Noticing Siobhan's surprised expression, Em explained, "We got in a fight."
Sarah climbed out of the car and walked over to the tree her former foster mother stood under, staring through a pair of binoculars at the lake in front of them.
"I've seen your elaborate disguises before, but, how do you do this? How do you fake your own demise beneath a tree?" S doesn't sound surprised as she continues staring at the birds ahead.
"What? How do you know?" Sarah asks defensively.
"Vic called me, letting me know where and when the memorial was and so I called Felix."
Sarah shuffled in her spot, shaking her head at her brother's attempt at a memorial service, "Does Kira know?"
"Neither of them do. And it's going to stay that way." She gave Sarah a warning look, "Kira is still blissfully unaware that your back and Em is too excited with your return."
"Doubt that," Sarah scoffs, thinking back to her argument with Em.
"Oh, Sarah. How is it that you still do this?"
"Wouldn't you rather know why?" Sarah asked not sure what S was referring to.
"I don't care to know why."
"Because, I saw I way to dump Vic and get out of that life. And get away with Kira." She added firmly.
S let out a short smirk, before returning to the binoculars, "Take her on the run with you. Brilliant." She said sarcastically and gestured to Beth's car, "New clothes and a Jaguar do not a mother make. Via the point," She handed the binoculars to Sarah.
Sarah sighed but took them and stared through at the birds ahead. "Uh, I don't remember. Buffleheads?"
"Barrows Goldeneye. Just passing through."
Sarah glanced back at S, hurt.
Siobhan noticed how her words must have sounded and gave in to her eldest child, as she always did. "I'll set up a visit, but the only way you will regain custody of Kira is to show me that you can be still."
Sarah knew that this was as much as she would get from S for now, but she was still angry and determined to see Kira today if she could.
Mrs S turned to walk away before Sarah grabbed her arm, firmly, "You're not her legal guardian. Mine either anymore." She stated through clenched teeth.
"You can visit. Any other approach and I will stop lying to social services for you." She challenged Sarah.
"You wouldn't do that to Kira."
"No, I'd do it to you." And with that, S left. Leaving Sarah to wipe at her tears and watch the Barrows Goldeneye fly away.
Heading back to the car, wearily, Sarah climbed into the driver's seat and just sat for a few moments until she heard one of Beth's phones ring.
Rummaging through her bag, she found the source of the noise and pulled out the bright pink phone, noting the caller ID gave only a number.
She deliberated on whether or not to answer for a few seconds but was slightly curious as to whom this person was and why they wanted to speak to Beth so badly that they'd rang non-stop since Sarah had become Beth.
"Hello?" Sarah immediately adorning Beth's voice.
"Beth! Hey! Why haven't you been answering your calls?" A young, female voice asked quickly.
"Uh, battery died."
"Well? Do you still have it?" When there was no answer from Sarah, the anonymous voice elaborated, though in a rather exasperated tone, "The briefcase, Beth. It's still in your trunk, right?"
"Uh, yeah. Right, it's still here." Sarah stammered, turning her head towards the back of the car as if she could see through the material to the trunk.
"Great, so I'll be over in a couple of days. Guard it with your life."
"Alright." Sarah answered, still confused but climbed out of the car after hanging up with the anonymous caller.
There it was. A shiny, silver briefcase. Just like in the movies. Sarah pulled it towards her and attempted to pull open the locked clasps.
"Shite." She groans, tossing into the passenger seat behind her and reversing rapidly away from the lake.
It hadn't been a long day for Emma. It should have been, but it hadn't.
She had left for school as usual and even stayed in lessons until recess but that was definitely enough for the day.
She walked out of the school, unnoticed by any teachers, and headed out of the suburban area until she was back to her familiar surroundings of the grimy area of the city. Home.
With her hands tucked into her leather jacket and music blasting she walked down the damp alley, stopping only to find that the door was locked.
With a sigh, she let her bag fall down her arm as she knocked angrily on the door. "Open up, you silly tits!"
After a few moments, she heard a key turning and the door cracked open enough to reveal a slither of dark blue hair, "What's the password?" A gruff, post pubescent voice questioned.
"Fuck off, Liam." Em banged the door open, almost knocking Liam out in the process.
The room was basically a hotbox. Smoke was hanging on everything, Em could barely see the half a dozen young men perched in different positions around the small apartment.
"Shite. You guys start without me?" Em joked, coughing as she tried to bat away the mist. She threw her bag and jacket onto the floor and headed to the fridge where she collected two beers and spun around to find Jax.
"Hey baby," His voice rang out from the edge of the room and she walked towards him with a smile.
Jackson, or Jax as everyone called him, who was in his mid-twenties, much like the rest of the guys, sat on the windowsill tapping the ashes off his joint.
"Alright," Em greeted, handing him a beer as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up against his side.
"I missed you. Where you been?" He said drowsily, taking a sip from the bottle.
"Just family shit." She let out with a sigh, "And I got suspended so S decided I was house bound."
Jax scoffed, leaning in to whisper, "Like that would have stopped you." He nibbled her ear.
Pushing him away she smiled and took a sip, looking around at the room at all the red, bloodshot eyes, focused on the television screen which was the provider of their not-so-intense video game.
She turned back to Jax, whose lips had found her neck, and swiped the joint from his fingers, "I'd better catch up." She took a deep drag.
"What have you been up to, whilst I've been gone?" Em asked, exhaling and blowing excess smoke into Jax's face, flirtatiously.
Jax smiled, swinging his legs off the window and planting them either side of Em. He looped his fingers into the belt loops on her pants and pulled her in until their hips touched. "Fuck all with these douchebags." He said cocking his head towards the others in the room, "Other than that, you don't want to know."
Em cocked her eyebrow, dubiously, bringing the joint to her lips again, "Hmm." She looked at the time and turned back to Jax, "I can't stay for long."
"Well then, we better get started." He pressed his lips to Em, aggressively as they fumbled into the bedroom.
The smell of something burning woke Emma from her slumber. She reluctantly opened her eyes, recognising her surroundings.
With a quick look over her shoulder she noticed Jax sleeping soundly up against her as she removed his hand from across her waist and climbed out of his hold.
She reached for her bra and began dressing herself, slowly however as she had taken some kind of pill earlier of which was now wearing off and restricting her movement.
Creeping out of the room and holding onto the walls to keep her upright, Emma swayed into the front room to collect her bag and jacket.
Half of the guys were still playing on the Xbox whilst the other half too high to function. Emma watched Liam take some food out of the fridge, "Oi, Liam, what time is it?" Her voice raspy from sleep as she rubbed her eyes awake.
"Almost three." He answered and walked back over to the couch.
"Shit!" Emma suddenly woke up and pulled on her jacket, "I gotta go. Tell Jax, uh, bye."
Em tried to run as fast as she could but she was still slightly high and very disoriented as she ran through the streets to Felix's. She needed to wash herself and eat something before presenting herself to a seven year old.
Stumbling up the stairs of Fe's apartment building, she collapsed against the door and gave a pathetic knock, "Fe? Fe, open up."
Footsteps grew louder as Em ear was pressed against the door, of which she had no interest in moving away from until it started to move, "Woah, trippy." She mumbled to herself.
Felix took in his younger sister's form, catching her before she fell through the space where the door should be. "Bloody hell, Em. What did you take?" He asked, sounding a mix of amused and worried as he half carried her to the couch.
"Piss off. I'm fine." Em waved her hands around to emphasise how capable she was at walking, instead collapsing into the cushions.
"Yeah, you look fine," Felix muttered, sarcastically, bending down to her level and lightly slapping her cheeks as he tried to sober her up. "You're supposed to be at school, Em. Shite, where were you?"
Em winced at his anxiousness and pulled her hands out of his, "Nowhere. Fe, stop fussing. I'll be fine in a minute."
"You're not picking up Kira like this, Em. We have to be there in half an hour!" His tone serious.
"I'll be fine, Fe. It's nothing. Can you get me some water, I'm gonna go take a shower." She asked as he hesitantly left her to fetch the water.
Em heaved herself off the couch and trudged slowly towards the shower, pulling off her clothes in the process and leaving a trail of garments leading from the couch to the bathroom.
Felix shook his head, calmer now, and set the drink on the table as he picked up his sister's clothes and set them by her bag as Em showered. After noticing the bag, he opened it suspiciously, trying to look for some evidence as to where the teenager had been all day.
Reaching for her phone, he unlocked it and searched through her messages looking for anything auspicious. He found nothing titillating, only messages from himself and Sarah, and a couple of her friends from her old school. Sighing in defeat, he threw the phone back into the bag and walked back to his paint as he waited for her to finish.
"Sure you're okay?" Fe asked Em as they walked away from his apartment building.
Em rolled her eyes and sighed, exasperated, "I'm fine. Bloody hell, Fe, it's not the first time you've seen me high."
"Yeah, but you're never that….incapable. What did you take?" He asked, linking his arm with hers, a spring in his step.
"I don't know. I only meant to get baked, but I think Ja-," she stopped herself before announcing who she'd spent time with, "this guy, must have slipped me something." She told her brother nonchalantly.
Felix stopped suddenly and faced the teenager, "What?!" He almost yelled.
Em ignored him and carried on walking ahead, "Oh, give it a rest, Fe. I can handle myself, yeah?"
"Not when you can't function, Em! Jesus Christ! Do you remember anything that happened afterwards? Who were you with?!" He questioned, running to catch up with her and tried to pull her to a halt.
Em shrugged him off, "Felix! Leave it, yeah? It happens all the time. Let's just go get Kira."
Felix gave in, hanging his arm over his sister's shoulders, keeping a tight hold on her, "Christ, you're just like Sarah, it's scary."
Suddenly, Em swung her arm out, pushing Felix away from her and stood firmly, "Stop! Alright, just stop! I'm fed up of everyone comparing me to Sarah! We're not the same person, yeah!"
Fe stood, jaw open, hand resting flat on his chest in surprise, and hurt written in his eyes.
Emma sighed, lifting her hands up to rub her face, "Sorry, Fe," She muttered. "She's back and I don't know how to feel. But I hate that we're not talking, I miss Sarah but I don't want her to know." She admitted and leant into Felix's side, wrapping her arms around his back.
He stood, shocked firstly at the physical contact his sister was showing which she usually never initiated unless it was with Kira. Nevertheless, Fe leant into the embrace, rubbing his baby sister's back, "I'm sorry. It will be okay soon, you'll see. You know that Sarah has always run away, it's just how she deals with everything. You of all people should know exactly what she goes through." He heard a sniffle from his chest and tightened his hold on the girl, planting a kiss into her hair. "We all deal with our messed up shit differently and that's at least one big difference between the two of you; you don't run."
After a few moments, Em lifted her tear-stained face and forced a smile at Fe as he wiped her cheeks, "Sorry," Her voice cracked.
"Don't be a silly tit," He smirked, "Let's go pick up monkey and then grab a cuppa at S', yeah?"