I don't own the Breakfast Club

Enjoy!

The morning rays from the sun seeped through the curtains in the living room. Susan winced as the rays hit her eyes and she adjusted to a sitting position before the light blinded her. Susan had tossed and turned all night. She hadn't been able to get a good night's rest after last night's argument with Richard. Out of all the other days, she was glad that it was Saturday and that she was going to be alone for nine hours. She was more dejected than angry. After the argument and finally calming herself from that panic attack, Susan had decided to just give up. There was no point in fighting for her passion in art if he was going to criticize her for it…and wrongfully so.

Susan looked at the table in front of her where her physics book and graded quiz remained neatly placed. She picked up the quiz and noticed that Richard had scrawled his signature on the corner of the quiz. A way to show that he was made aware of her academic standing in the class and made her aware of his own disappointment. Maybe this was how it was going to be from now on until Susan was able to be on her own. Constant fights and disappointments.

Without her sketchpad present, there was nothing else that Susan could do. She wasn't in the mood to watch something lighthearted on television or escape in a book. The only thing that she could do was just focus on her studies before exam week. Susan opened her physics book and just like before, everything started to turn into a blur. Shaking her head to adjust her vision, Susan placed the book back on the table and took the stack of flashcards that she had made.

After going through the flashcards the first couple of times, Susan took her notebook. With the first flashcard named Ohm's Law, she wrote down the formula and doublechecked it. Wrong. No surprise there.

"Susan?"

Susan didn't expect Richard to speak to her this morning. She flinched, adding pressure to the tip of her pencil and watched it break. Slowly, she looked up and saw Richard standing by the entrance of the living room holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a briefcase in the other. He was dressed in his usual attire, crisp tailored outfit, ready to monitor Saturday detention. "Yes?" Susan answered.

"When did you wake up?" he asked her.

Normally on Saturdays, Susan liked to sleep in. it felt nice getting an hour or two of sleep than she did on the weekdays. "Before six maybe," Susan said. She glanced over at the clock and noticed that it was 6:30 AM.

Richard took in the exhausted look in her eyes. "You look tired," he pointed out to her and placed his briefcase on the floor and the coffee at the table. "Did you have nightmares?"

After her mother's death, Susan had trouble sleeping the first couple of weeks. There would be nights where she woke up from nightmares and couldn't go back to sleep. As time passed, her nightmares became rare, much to her relief. It was considerate of Richard to ask her and Susan tried to brush off the tension that lingered between them. "No, no nightmares. It's okay. I'll try to get some rest later today."

Richard gave her a nod of his head and walked around the table. "Well I have fifteen minutes before I need to take off for Saturday detention."

Susan nodded her head and avoided looking at him. "I hope you have a good day," she told him.

"But before I go," Richard continued, not taking into consideration her words, "I want to talk to you about last night."

Oh here we go Susan thought. Before she had gotten out of the room last night, he had told her that they weren't done talking. She braced herself for the unfinished lecture that she had been hoping to escape.

"I looked at your drawings," he told her.

Susan immediately looked up at Richard when he said that. How could he do that? she thought. Those are private. I'm never gonna hear the end of it! She knew what his thoughts were on her art and the time that she spent on them. Susan felt too exhausted to fight and defend her drawings against someone who wouldn't understand. "Oh…" she managed to say, "they're just…nothing important. Just…doodles."

To her, the word 'doodles' served as a derogatory remark. The amount of time she spent on her drawings, the emotions and soul that she threw on paper, only to have it be called 'doodles.' Susan knew that what she drew now were not masterpieces, but they could be in the future. However, how could she grow when all she got was these types of remarks?

She had echoed the same words that he had told her last night, which would've fueled Richard's frustration. However, he maintained a calm demeanor. "On the contrary," he continued, "you have quite the talent."

Had she heard him correctly? Susan's grip on the pencil lessened as it slipped out of her hand and onto the couch. Her expression changed from shock to surprise as she looked at Richard. What's the catch? Was she dreaming? "But after everything—"

Richard held up his hand and interrupted her. "I was mistaken," he told her and then raised an eyebrow at the astonished look on her face. "Well don't look so surprised."

His admission on a mistake was something that Susan didn't expect. Richard had never admitted to any mistakes. She didn't know what would make him to do it now…or ever. If her friends heard about this, she couldn't imagine how John Bender would react if he ever heard Richard say something like this. "You really think so?" Susan asked Richard.

Richard nodded his head to her. "Yes. But that talent that you have, I want you to use that for your other studies too, understand? The hours that you put in your drawings to create something with meaning, do the same with your other courses."

His compliment on her talent made her heart swell. "It's just not the same Uncle Richard," Susan began, "no matter what I do, I'm always struggling."

"Don't give up," Richard stated, "don't give up on your school, don't give up on yourself, and don't give up…on your drawings." He reached to his left on another counter and took the flyer for the art competition and gave it to Susan. "Here, I found this in your sketchpad."

Susan waited to see if he was going to give her back her sketchpad, but her wish was left ungratned. However, it was cordial of Richard to push her to do better without yelling at her. Susan gave him a small smile as took the flyer in her hand, as if he was extending an olive branch to her. "Thank you."

Richard glanced at the clock and noticed that he had little bit of time before he had to leave. "You'll get your sketchpad back after exam week. I want you to focus on that first," he told her.

"Yes sir," Susan agreed with a nod of her head.

However, Richard was not done with her yet. There was one last issue that he wanted to check in. "Your drawings," he began, "the majority of them were very…" he paused and tried to find the right term to describe them. Sad? Melancholic? "Dark."

Susan knew which drawings he was referring to. She had been keeping every emotion to herself, in fear that no one understood how she was feeling. Drawing them helped her release her emotions. It had served to her as a friend, helped her reflect on herself, but there was a limitation to it. The sketchpad didn't talk to her or offer advice. "I was hoping nobody would see them."

"I'm not just a 'nobody,'" Richard said, as if she needed reminding that he was her family.

"I didn't mean it like that," Susan quickly interjected.

"I know," Richard assured her, "but those drawings…" he took a moment. It was just as hard for him to reach out after the fracture that they endured. But he just had to do it. "Are you okay, Susan?" he finally asked her.

Are you okay? He had never asked her such a question. Why? After so many months? All those times when she had acted out, cried out of anger, yelled at him…now he asked her if she was okay? Susan had grown accustomed to the idea that her mother had died and that her father had no interest in being present in her life. Her life, now, seemed to be a bit better. New friends, a boyfriend whom she was grateful for, her grandmother's care, and now Richard's concern. However, no matter how many people she was surrounded with, they would never be enough to heal the inner wounds that she had gone through. Susan felt tears forming in her eyes and ducked her head, in fear that Richard would reprimand her for crying.

"Y-Yeah," Susan said and cleared her throat to hide the inner grief that was surfacing once again. "I'm…I'm okay."

It didn't go unnoticed when a single tear fell from her eye and stained the notebook that rested on her lap. Richard reached over and raised her chin where he saw her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "No you're not," he said.

Susan lowered her gaze and ran a hand over her eyes, trying to wipe away the tears as much as possible.

Richard had been used to seeing many students cry, especially those who wanted to get out of trouble. Those were the theatrical ones. But this was different. Her tears were authentic and held a lot of hurt that couldn't be taken away. The only thing that he could do was show that somebody was there for her; and family was deeper than anyone outside of it. He took a gentle hold of her arm and Susan rose to her feet and faced him. "You're still hurting."

Susan nodded her head. "I'm trying not to think about it but I can't. I miss her so much and…it hurts. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be okay."

He reached out but there was a moment of hesitation. When Susan was the first to reach out to him after coming back, she had made it look easy. Why couldn't he do the same just as easily? Taking a deep breath, he said pushed away any form of hesitation that threatened to stop him.

"Come here," he said and gathered Susan in his arms, pulling her close into a hug. He felt Susan stiffen until she finally relaxed into his embrace and hugged him return. "No one can replace her, but that doesn't mean you won't be okay."

Susan tried to push away on analyzing what was happening. She never expected her uncle to be so sincere after everything that happened. It was nice to see this other side to him that she never thought he had. "I…don't know," she managed to say. "It's not just mom."

"What is it?" he asked her.

"I keep disappointing everyone around me," she answered him, thinking back to the conversation they had last night. "I don't know what to do anymore. I feel like a failure no matter how hard I try."

He knew those last words were directed towards him when he reprimanded her about her grades. Never did he think it would affect her this much. Richard gently pulled away and gave her a stern look. "Don't you talk like that. You have some Vernon blood in you. We're tough and we can get through anything, you hear me?"

Susan choked out a small laugh as she wiped away the remainder of her tears. "Not as tough as you Uncle Richard."

Richard shook his head at her words. "Don't sell yourself short kid," he told her. Even though their discussions were a constant back and forth, he had to give himself some credit. He was trying and he was glad that he finally got through to Susan. He pulled her back into his embrace and gave her a protective hug as if she was going to slip away from him. "You're not a disappointment or a failure. You're a smart girl. Just apply yourself a little more."

Susan eyes filled with tears once more. They weren't tears of sadness or joy, but of feeling accepted. "Thank you," she whispered as she clung onto Richard and hugged him tightly.

Richard gave her a final squeeze before pulling away. He straightened up and looked at Susan, the air of authority returning. He placed a gentle yet firm hand on her shoulder. "Now you dry those tears and get to work on your studies. I need to run," he looked at his watch and saw that it had just ten minutes to get there, "You will be okay?"

Susan nodded her head. "Yeah. Brian is coming over to study for physics. We're going to the park and I should be back before you come home."

Now this was news to him. The thought of Susan being alone with a boy without supervision didn't rest well with Richard. It didn't matter it if was a good student like Brian Johnson. He could stay her and ask Susan countless questions, but he was going to be late for work. Though he made a mental note to ask Susan about this later, and why the hell would Brian Johnson know the way to his home, but this was a discussion for another day. "Next time, let me know what you're doing beforehand."

She would have if they didn't have the argument last night. "Yes sir," she nodded her head to Richard.

"And make sure that you study," he told her with a pointed finger as he was making his way towards the door. "Your future is still important."

A small smile formed on Susan's lips. "Thank you Uncle Richard…for caring."

Richard halted for a moment when he was almost out the door. He looked at Susan. "I've always cared Susan." He gave her a nod of his head and shut the door behind him.

Susan took a deep breath. It seemed as if every single tension had been lifted between them and she hoped that they were both on the right path to fixing their relationship.