Chapter content warnings: swearing; sexting; violence; verbal altercation
Don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now and that my ao3 account is wearealloflegendnow (even though I haven't posted there yet)!
~TLL~
Trixie: Jake found out about Lily being a bitch and apparently chewed her out for it!
Rose didn't quite feel as gleeful as Trixie but she was relieved that it was over this fast. Last night in the house had felt like torture, pretending to be the person that she had been since arriving, trying not to show how much she wanted to get into Lily's face and demand an explanation. Rose was not a nice person. It was true; it had always been true. She didn't give a damn about the social norms that governed high school and she wasn't shy about being prideful of herself. It didn't make her many close friends but it did attract a certain group of people who invited her out and wanted something from her. Rose was not about to play pretend in a house that she had been told to make her own. If Lily wanted to be a snake in the grass, Rose was going to treat her like it, because at least Rose was a straight up bitch.
Rose was glad that she beat Lily home because she could be standing still in the shadows of the stairwell, eyes trained on the entryway. Rose hoped that Lily was alone when the door swung open and was relieved to see that she was right. Lily locked the door behind her, apparently oblivious to Rose's presence. Good. Just the way Rose liked her prey.
Lily kicked off her battered sneakers, took two steps forward, and that was when Rose announced her presence, moving forward a half inch into the light and very calmly saying.
"What the fuck is your problem?"
Lily dropped her backpack onto the hardwood and squealed. "You scared me!"
"Good. Because you do not get to act the way that you do and say the things I know you have and not be scared."
"Can we not do this?" Lily asked. "Everyone's already so mad at me."
Rose slammed her hand against the wall and felt satisfied when Lily jumped. "I don't care about everyone and you shouldn't either. You were talking about me. My opinion here is the one that matters."
"You don't like me either," Lily said, "so, what? You're allowed to say it and I'm not?"
"I've never said I didn't like you," Rose said. "I told you, plainly, that I was still trying to figure you out. This type of bull is ensuring that I will hate you."
Lily's eyes welled with tears and it just served to make Rose angrier. So, this was what Trixie meant when she said Lily liked to play the victim. Well, Rose didn't care for that at all. She had been raised to be the opposite of a damsel in distress.
"I'm sorry," Lily wailed, just as the front door unlatched and Carl and Melinda walked in. Lily grabbed for Rose's arm. "I am sorry! It got all twisted and out of hand and I didn't realize how it would affect you!"
It took everything Rose had not to punch Lily in her manipulative little face. She could see the affect that Lily's sadness was having on Carl and Melinda and Rose was not going to be unjustly cast as the bad guy. When she was the bad guy, she owned it.
"You don't get to call me a whore to your friend's faces and expect me not to get mad at you!"
"Whoa, okay," Carl said, stepping between Rose and an increasingly hysterical Lily. "Girls, what's going on?"
"What's going on is you raised a bitch," Rose snarled, pushing by Carl and heading for the front door.
Melinda caught her arm. "Rose, you can't just storm out of this house like this."
"Watch me."
Rose shook off Melinda's hand and left out the front door, leaving it hanging open even though it would have been so satisfying to slam it. She knew there was a good chance that they were going to chase her but Rose knew how to disappear. She wound her way through the streets, arriving at one of the Huntsclan's many hidey-holes. The Huntsman had specifically forbidden any of her trio from working until all of this mess of who did or didn't steal a baby got sorted but Rose didn't care. She scanned her Huntsmark and entered the cache. She knew the Huntsman would be pinged but he received hundreds, if not thousands, of those pings a day. He wouldn't notice this one.
"Hello, Huntsgirl," the room greeted robotically. "Shall I ping the rest of your team?"
"No, thank you," Rose said, dropping her backpack to the ground and rooting for her robes and weapons. "Deliver assignment."
Not that she'd likely be fulfilling it, not without 88 and 89. Rose just needed to get out and try to feel like her old self again and, hopefully, pick a fight. Rose desperately needed to let some of her rage out before she tried to go back to the Dawson house. Rose had to anticipate that Carl and Melinda were going to be on poor little Lily's side and the thought of Lily being the one to be petted and coddled because of mean old Rose really made Rose want to hit something.
Rose pulled out her mobile and fired off a text to Marcia.
Rose: the twin is dead to us.
Rose put the phone back in her pocket and then pulled her mask on her head. Shrouded in her familiar costume, armed with anonymity, Rose finally felt like she could breathe again. At least a little. Because this was who she was meant to be: strong, capable, independent. Everything her father raised her to be and nothing like the little fool the Dawson house was turning her into.
Rose prowled the streets, keeping her eyes peeled for anything magical. It would probably do her some good to terrorize something. Rose started to show herself a little more. Any ordinary citizen would ignore her or write her off as one of New York's many kooks but magical creatures would see her, know her, and fear her. Rose trawled about until a flash of red caught her eye and her heart leapt.
Was it?
Yes, it was!
Rose grinned as the American Dragon came into view, patiently helping a row of tiny Duende across a busy strip of road. Rose casually took the last place in the line and waited for someone to notice her. As she did, she studied the dragon. He seemed overly focused on his task, a deep frown on his face.
Rose hoped he was thoroughly miffed and ready to have a go. If he was just depressed, Rose would have to make him angry. Aside from ringing the Huntsman himself and asking him to spar, the American dragon was the best fight she was going to get today. Impatiently, Rose not so accidentally nudged the Duende in front of her. It turned, saw her, and screamed. Pandemonium ensued as the little things started screaming and running each way. The American Dragon snarled and Rose felt glee in the way the end of his snout lifted. He was having the same type of bad day that she was!
"Long time no see," he drawled, "I thought you were breaking up with me."
"Boys like you aren't worth leaving my ivory tower for."
The American Dragon didn't seem like he was in the mood for verbal sparring today, which was a little bit of a letdown. If Rose was being honest, the fighting with words was almost as fun as the fighting with fists. Not that she would ever admit it. She wasn't supposed to enjoy seeing him.
What the American Dragon lacked in wittiness today, he made up for in anger. Whatever was haunting him had to be just as bad as what was haunting her because he came after her with a ferociousness that she had never seen from him before. Usually when they fought, he was more defensive, spending more time trying to figure out her plan, keeping an eye out for the rest of her team, and keeping bystanders out of the way. Today, though, they were both all in. There was always a mutual understanding between the two of them that they weren't fighting to kill but this time, they almost acted like it. They threw themselves at each other in a fury, leaving destruction behind them, bloodying and bruising each other. The January sun was nearly gone when Rose took a wrong step and fell backwards into a pond, breaking the thin sheet of ice and soaking herself.
"Wet t-shirt contest? In this weather? It's a little nippy," the dragon commented but he was heaving for breath.
Rose let out a feral growl as she pulled herself to her feet but the thick mud as the bottom of her feet squelched and she struggled to take a step. The dragon laughed at her and Rose wanted to stab him, at least one more time, but he just winked at her.
"'Til next time, Huntsgirl."
Then, he left her to struggle out of the marsh by herself. Rose was covered in the thick mud and was shivering uncontrollably as she made her way back to the Huntsclan cache. She took a quick rinse there just to get the worst of the dirt off but there was no proper shower and she would have to do that back at the house. Rose redressed in her school uniform, wishing that she had stormed out of the house in sweats or something and wishing that she didn't have to go back to the house at all. They were clearly already on Lily's side even though Rose had done nothing wrong. Lily was being an asshole and Rose had a right to call her out and be mad at her.
It turned out that she and the dragon trying to beat each other to a pulp didn't have the full calming effect that Rose had been hoping for. Every time she thought of Lily on the way home, she wanted to hit him all over again. She wondered, briefly, what could be going on in a dragon's life to put him in that mood too but then she decided that she didn't care. Dragons didn't have complex enough lives or thoughts but it was easier than thinking about her own far too complicated life because she was back at the house much sooner than she wanted to be. Rose heaved a deep breath and then went inside.
Melinda was there in a second. "Oh. We were so worried! What happened to you?"
Rose didn't think she looked that bad. "I got into a fight."
"What?" Carl said, coming out from the kitchen. "A fight?"
"A spar. I asked for it. I wanted to work off some of my energy."
"You're bleeding," Melinda said. "What kind of gym do you go to?"
"It's fine," Rose said roughly. "I just need to shower."
"And then we need to talk."
Rose didn't like the tone Carl said that in.
"Is Lily ready to apologize?" Rose asked.
"She does feel awful about it and she wants a chance to explain herself –"
Rose cut Melinda off. "I understand perfectly well how it came to be that she said it. She's miserable in her own life and she wanted to feel good about something and joining in on making fun of me is the way that she chose to do it. Despite the fact that she does not know me and keeps talking about wanting some sort of relationship, she chose to be a bully and a bitch –"
"Let's not call each other names," Melinda said.
"She's a bitch," Rose repeated, letting each syllable roll off her tongue. "She told everyone I was a whore and that I was trying to sleep with her boyfriend and that I have been going out of my way to make her life a living hell. Even though, apparently, she didn't even have friends before I was forced here – because she wanted to find me, mind – and invited her and included her in what I was doing and tried to get to just know her boyfriend and his friends because, again, she has no one."
"Rose!" Carl said. "That was cruel and you should feel ashamed for it."
Rose heard a little hiccupping sob from the top of the steps. Good. It was what eavesdroppers deserved.
"At least I am saying it in the privacy of a house and not spreading it all around my school where it will leak into her school," Rose said. "What Lily did was worse and until she apologizes, I won't feel ashamed for anything."
"We're not saying that Lily didn't do something wrong –"
"You are because you didn't make her come and join this conversation before trying to get me to feel bad for her. You are very clearly choosing her side because you don't see the difference between an apology and an explanation." Rose shook her head. "That's not how I was raised or how things go in my real home and I'll be grateful to go back to it."
That was also a low blow but, again, Rose didn't feel bad for it because it was also entirely true.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I really do need a shower."
Rose left the two of them and climbed the stairs. Lily was sitting on the top stairs, tearstains on her cheeks. She looked up as Rose passed.
"I'm sorry."
"It's too late for that."
Rose went to her room, digging around for comfortable clothes. Loose sweats and her fluffiest hoody to hide in because this day called for it. Maybe she'd even brave downstairs after her shower to heat up her socks because she really hadn't done anything wrong, after all. Sure, maybe it had been rude to phrase things the way that she had but she hadn't said anything that was untrue. And name-calling was petty but it made her feel better and Lily had done it first. Rose checked her phone.
Marcia: Oh? Is this because of Danika because that girl is trouble
Rose: No. It's just because of who twin is.
Marcia: Bet. If she goes to Stacey's we'll make it look like an accident
It made Rose smile and she sent back a winking emoji to Marcia before putting her phone down and going to take her well-deserved shower.
Rose took her time in the shower, pampering herself, and trying not to think about Lily or any of the Dawsons or the fact that she was hiding. She lingered in drying herself off and putting on her lotion. She stared at herself in the mirror for a long time and, then, when she couldn't put it off any longer, she left the bathroom. When she walked back into her bedroom, Melinda was sitting on the end of the bed. Rose sighed audibly. This was why she was hiding in the bathroom.
"I think we should talk, just you and me."
Rose wanted to be petulant but she tamped down on it. She'd had enough outbursts today and she needed to regain some control over herself. Rose stood by the window and chose her words carefully.
"I will listen."
Melinda nodded, as if it was what she had been expecting. "We're not on Lily's side. We're not on anyone's side."
Rose wanted to scream: YOU SHOULD BE ON MINE! What had she done? Except, exist, and try to cope with some things that were very hard to cope with.
"We're just trying to understand what happened and try to bring you both closer. You are sisters and part of having a sister is fighting. Part of being a teenager is making mistakes and, yes, even hurting people. It's about learning to deal with it when things happen."
Rose stared incredulously at Melinda and immediately forgot her vow to only listen. "Are you telling me this is supposed to be a lesson for me on being the bigger person?"
"No!" Melinda reached out for Rose but Rose didn't reach back. Rose kept her arms firmly crossed over her stomach. "I am saying this is an opportunity for both of you. Lily needs to apologize because she did a terrible thing, talking about you like that. However, you need to apologize too."
"For?"
"For calling her names in anger. You also need to apologize for running out of the house on me and Carl."
Rose lifted her chin.
"Or there will have to be consequences, for both of you."
"Are you going to ground me?"
"If we have to."
Rose wasn't going to get anywhere by pointing out that this was a temporary arrangement and she was nearly eighteen so that thought of being grounded was, at best, a joke. Rose looked out the window, watching people walk by, and then she turned back to Melinda.
"I think I also deserve an acknowledgement that you were more defensive of Lily, despite not knowing the circumstance."
Melinda nodded. "Yes, you're right. And I would like to hear your side of the story. You deserve to tell your side of the story."
Rose sat down on the bed next to Melinda. "I apologize to you and Carl. It was rude of me to run out. I should have been calmer."
Melinda offered a small smile and rested her hand over Rose's. This time, Rose didn't pull away. "Thank you."
"I will offer Lily an apology, after she offers me hers," Rose said, even though it made her want to pull her teeth out. Conceding wasn't something that she did easily – especially when she knew she was right – but Rose did know when she had to do something to make her own life easier.
"Well," Melinda said, "it's a start."
Of what, Rose wasn't sure.
(-.-)
Lily kept her head down as she walked into school the next day. She felt too embarrassed to go and sit with Danika and Courtney at their usual table in the cafeteria as they waited for the first class to start and she hadn't heard from Jake last night and she just couldn't take the looks that Trixie and Spud would give her. Lily went straight to the art room, which was normally her happy place, but even as she settled in the corner and pulled out her sketchpad, Lily didn't feel an ounce of peace. She stared at the blank page, reliving last night, just as she had stayed up all night doing.
Her father had been right: Lily did need to apologize to Rose. Rose wasn't graceful about it at all, though, staring down her nose at Lily while Lily stumbled and cried and tried to bare her soul. Lily had just been trying to fit in and she had gotten caught up in the moment and she shouldn't have said all of those mean things. Please, could they just get along, now? Rose hadn't said yes or no, just issued an apology for calling Lily a bitch in a tone that wouldn't have been out of place for a robot. And their parents had just seemed so excited about the interaction because Rose had made steps and Lily was just here, existing, being the background character she had always been.
Lily watched the door, wishing that Jake would appear, a box of chocolates in his hand, ready to talk about it and apologize for everything that had happened. Lily felt untethered most of the time now but the one thing that she knew for sure was that she couldn't lose Jake. He was the one constant in her life, the thing that she could always rely on. She wanted to reach out to him but all she could think about was how he had turned away from her the last time that they had spoken, and she didn't know how to be the one who reached out after that.
Lily's phone buzzed and she hoped it was Jake. When she saw that it was Marcia, her heart soared.
Marcia: Did you know you're forbidden fruit now?
Lily: Like an apple?
Marcia: It makes you sweeter.
The devil emoji that Marcia included made Lily's heart stop, her stomach twist, and it sent that same lust feeling through her as when she had seen Marcia's breast spill over the top of her dress for the first time.
Marcia: send tit pics
Lily: What? How?
Lily was rewarded with a picture of Marcia in her high school bathroom. She was wearing her short uniform skirt, her white top unbuttoned to reveal the pinkest bra that Lily had ever seen, one that barely contained her breasts. Lily stared at the expanse of skin between the top of the bra cups and up to Marcia's collarbone and then down to the expanse of skin of Marcia's stomach, her skirt tugged low enough that Lily could see the top of her matching thong. Lily felt her insides twist and she felt like she should be viewing this at home, in her own bed, rather than sitting in the art room.
Marcia: Your turn
Lily packed her bag and walked off to the nearest bathroom. There were girls in there and she wasn't as quiet as brazen as Marcia was – she certainly wasn't going to take off her top and take a mirror selfie when just anyone could walk in. She sealed herself in the handicap stall, put her phone on top of the toilet paper dispenser, and grabbed at the bottom of her sweater. Before she could pull it over her head, Lily stopped.
What was she doing? Was she taking nudes? What had happened to her? Jake had never seen her shirtless and she had never seen him shirtless and they had been together for over a year. Now, there was this girl who had her head so twisted that Lily had known her for, like, five minutes before she had lost her virginity to her. Was she really going to do this?
Lily looked down at her phone. Marcia hadn't texted her again and Jake hadn't texted her at all. Lily's head spun but she knew that one of them made her head spin in a good way and one of them made her head feel like it was too heavy. Lily pulled her shirt over her head, picked up her phone, and struck a pose. She took several pictures, trying to shake up the angle, and then she went back through them. She didn't look anything like Marcia, who was to the nines all of the time. She didn't even think she looked anything like Rose, where everything was an effortless beauty. She just still looked average, normal, unappealing in her basicness. Lily was just wearing a white bra and her stomach bunched above the top of her blue jeans.
Hot girl shit, Lily reminded herself, the mantra that she had kept as a talisman running through her mind.
Lily could do hot girl shit. It was a state of mind, not a state of being. She could be someone who was worthy of Marcia's attention and Courtney and Danika's friendship. She could be someone who did cool things like go to parties and get drunk. Hot girl shit meant that she was someone who didn't have to be bothered by what Spud and Trixie thought of her because they weren't doing hot anything.
Lily sent one of the pictures to Marcia and then she shoved her phone to the bottom of her bag, her cheeks burning. Lily quickly redressed and left the stall, washing her hands even though she didn't need to, just so that anyone didn't think that she was weird. She left the bathroom, staring down at her paint flecked dad sneakers. What had she just done?
Lily collided with someone, a sorry bursting out of her lips before she looked up and saw that it was Jake. The blush on her cheeks only intensified and she wished that she hadn't seen him at all.
"Hey," Jake said, because that was what Jake did. He was always the one who was able to be soft and open, attentive and engaged, when Lily felt too awkward to even hold his hand sometimes.
"Hi." But, this wasn't right. Jake was her boyfriend of over a year. And Lily wished that she could delete the picture that she'd sent – all of the pictures she'd taken, even. Jake was the perfect boyfriend and she needed to be the girlfriend who deserved him. It was what she was supposed to do, wasn't it? That was why they started dating in the first place, right? "Um, I'm sorry we haven't talked."
It was the thing to say and Lily felt lighter now that she had said it.
"Me too." Jake's face relaxed. "I was just really hurt and I felt like you didn't understand, really."
"Maybe I didn't," Lily admitted. "I just wanted friends. I wanted people who were my friends and not yours and liked me and I forgot to be me, I think. I know I hurt you and I'm sorry. It happened fast for me and I know that's not an excuse but it's what I felt."
Jake's dark eyes were so focused on her that Lily felt like she needed to fidget or he would see all of the dirty, wrong things that she had been doing lately.
"Do you want to come over for dinner tomorrow?" Lily blurted. "We can go for a walk and talk, just you and me, when there's not all of this going on?"
Jake smiled and the relief Lily felt almost knocked her to her knees.
"Yeah, I'd like that." Jake leant forward and kissed her forehead. "It's a date."
"A date," Lily agreed.
The first bell rang before she had to say anything else and she was able to quickly scamper off, because she was a good student like that. She slid into her lab seat in bio and then pulled out her phone along with her notebook.
Marcia: come sit on my face again
Marcia: tomorrow after school
Lily: I have to be home at 5
Marcia: I can do amazing things in an hour. Don't say no.
Not that Lily wanted to but the little tongue that Marcia sent long with it made her powerless in a way that she liked.
Lily: Wear red?
Marcia: that's my girl
And that felt better than any of Jake's kisses ever had.