Taken Advantage Of

"You wanna talk about it?" Lyla asked, sitting down on the step beside AJ at the back exit of The Brewberry.

"About what?" AJ asked, taking a sip of her coffee which she was holding with both hands.

"You know what." Lyla said, "What the hell were you two fighting about?" She asked as AJ just shook her head, running her hand through her long hair.

"My mom." AJ nodded.

"Your mom?" Lyla questioned, "Why?"

"When the twins turned one, I told Phil I was going to stop sending her money. I told him that I talked to her about it, and it was fine." AJ said, "But I didn't. I've still been sending her money this whole time. And he just found out." She said as Lyla nodded slowly.

"Don't you get to decide what you do with your money?" Lyla questioned.

"Of course I do." AJ turned to her, "It's because I lied to him. That's why he's so mad. But he doesn't understand how it is for me."

"You mean the situation with your mom?" Lyla asked.

"Yeah." AJ said, "And I… I also never told her I had the twins." She added quietly.

"Oh." Lyla winced, "That's not great. You told me you did tell her."

"I told everyone I did." AJ said with frustration, "Because it was easier. It was easier than actually telling her and then being disappointed when she didn't come visit them."

"You didn't have to lie, though. You could have just told us that. We'd understand. So would Phil." Lyla said.

"I know but it didn't feel that way back then." AJ said, "I tried so hard to hype myself up to call her and tell her that… I wasn't sending money anymore. But every time I called her, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't deal with the drama."

"You know what I think?" Lyla asked.

"What?" AJ turned to her.

"I think Phil is probably madder about the fact she's taking advantage of you." Lyla said, "She's… she's never been there for you, AJ. You don't need me to tell you that."

"I know." AJ said, "I know I owe her nothing, but this is just how it's been. She'd make me out to be the bad guy. And I have the money to spare, it's not like we're struggling."

"It's not really the point." Lyla said, "You know I'd always tell you when he's being a jerk, right?"

"Yeah." AJ nodded.

"I don't think he's being too much of a jerk for this." She admitted. She was always going to be honest with her friend. That was how their relationship worked.

"He said my carrot cake looked shit." AJ scoffed.

"Ok, maybe he is a jerk." Lyla rolled her eyes.

"No… you're right. I shouldn't have lied about it. And I know I shouldn't be giving her money anymore. I have my own children, my own life to finance." AJ said, "But I just wish he could understand that it's not easy for me. He's always caught up in his own feelings. Talking about the kids going to college as if I'm stealing money from my own kids." AJ shook her head angrily.

"Well that's ridiculous." Lyla scoffed, "Why don't you talk to Nico?"

"No, are you kidding?" AJ said, "She thinks I've cut my mom off, too. She'll be just as pissed as Phil." She placed her hands over her face stressfully.

"How did it even start? I mean… with you sending money over to your mom?" Lyla asked curiously.

"She found out through my aunt that I had a fairly successful business with this place." AJ said, "She called me and asked to borrow some money. They were living pretty rough. They always have." AJ said, "I told her she didn't need to give me the money back. Then it got more frequent. Her asking, me giving. And by this point I was making a really decent amount. I figured I'd just set up a payment to her."

"You're too good for this world." Lyla frowned.

"Not how Phil sees it." AJ shook her head, "More like weak and stupid."

"He doesn't think that." Lyla tutted, "He's just mad you lied about it. And it's like you said, he doesn't understand the relationship."

"I don't even understand the relationship." AJ said, "I mean… I was raped and she never even bothered to come see me." She said, as if hearing herself say it made it all the easier to sink in and realise just how awful it was.

"Look… I can't make you do anything." Lyla said, "But you said it yourself, you owe her nothing. Yeah, maybe you have the money to spare but that's beside the point. She's never been there for you. Ever. What's the worst thing that could happen if you told her the payments were stopping?"

"She stops calling me." AJ shrugged.

"Then that's a reflection of her true character. Not yours. You've done more than enough. Way more." Lyla said, "Maybe Phil should have approached it a bit more sensitively but he's… kinda right… she doesn't deserve it. And you have your own family to take care of now. You should never have had to care of your own parents in the first place but you have, and you've done more than enough to help them." She said as AJ sighed to herself.

She knew everything her friend was saying was true.

"So… what's the next step?" Finn asked Shiv whilst they were cleaning down the kitchen after closing. He had been annoying her all day with little comments, to which at one point caused Shiv to throw the rolling pin at him, which made an already angry Punk, angrier.

"What do you mean next step?" Shiv shook her head.

"With you and Daryl?" Finn asked, cleaning some baking trays in the sink whilst Shiv sprayed down the surfaces.

"There is no me and Daryl." Shiv said.

"Yeah, but clearly there's still something there between you." Finn said, "Are you going to talk about it?"

"Probably not." Shiv said, "Best just to forget it happened. We weren't thinking." She shook her head.

"Why does everything have to be so complicated with you two?" Finn asked with frustration, "Is it that hard for you guys to just admit you still have feelings?"

"I'll always have feelings for him, Finn. I never deny that" Shiv said with equal frustration, "That doesn't mean a relationship will work. So much has happened. We've lived completely separate and… difficult lives for four years. I just think it'd be too hard. And I don't want Brianna getting caught up in everything." She said.

"Ok, fair." Finn nodded, "It just… it seems a real shame to see you guys pretend to dislike each other."

"And it's real annoying when everyone here tells us how we should feel." Shiv said.

"You know that's not what we're doing. You're our friends. We care about you." Finn said.

"Why did he even tell you?" Shiv shook her head, "I thought guys didn't talk about that stuff."

"He's trying to open up more." Finn said, "Don't be mad at him for it."

"I'm not." Shiv sighed, "I mean… I told Becca. She's probably told AJ and Lyla." She shook her head.

"You know he's never going to feel the way he does about you, about anyone else. Right?" Finn said, "You were always there for him. When no one else was."

"I wasn't there these past four years." Shiv disagreed.

"And he wasn't there for you." Finn shrugged, "But it's been and gone. This is now. Are you really going to ignore all the history you guys have just because it might seem a little complicated?"

"I don't want to have a complicated life, Finn." Shiv turned to him seriously, "Not for Brianna. I grew up not understanding my parents. I don't… I don't want her to grow up not understanding hers."

"She won't." Finn walked over to her, "But she might grow up not understanding why her parents aren't together when they so obviously love each other." He nodded to her as she looked up at him.

"Hey, there you are." Shiv said, walking out onto Carol's back porch where she found Daryl sitting on one of the steps.

"Here I am." Daryl nodded.

"Your mom was looking for you." Shiv said, sitting down next to him, both of them dressed in black.

"There's a million other people in there she can look for." Daryl shook his head.

"Hey." She nudged him.

"Sorry." He shook his head, "It sounds awful but it's… it's exhausting seeing her upset all the time. Sometimes I just want to yell at her… tell her to stop crying." He shook his head as she frowned.

"We all… deal with grief differently." She nodded as they both looked out at the back yard, enjoying the peace and quiet compared to the loud house where Daryl's dad's wake was taking place.

"Why do people keep saying… at least he's not suffering anymore?" Daryl turned to Shiv, "Is that really supposed to make me feel better? He's not suffering because he's dead." He shook his head as Shiv looked at him.

It had been hard knowing what to say to him these past few weeks. Normally they talked about everything. Hanging out in his room watching movies and staying up all night talking about anything and everything. But these past few weeks, he'd barely said much to her. And she wasn't sure what to say to him. She wasn't sure what he needed. She knew his dad was his best friend. To see him in pain, it caused her pain.

"It's just something people say." Shiv said.

"Well it's a stupid thing to say." Daryl concluded, staring out at the back yard.

"Hey, remember when he done his back in when he was playing frisby out here with us?" She smiled.

"Yeah." Daryl smiled, the first she'd seen from him in a while, "My mom just yelled at him." He chuckled.

"He was always down for fun." Shiv nodded, "I was… so jealous. I don't think my dad ever played with me, at anything." She realised as Daryl turned to her, "Your dad helped me with my first lemonade stand." She also remembered, laughing to herself.

"My dad loved you." He nodded to her as she smiled.

"He loved you." She said, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it, "You did him so proud today."

"I just can't believe he's not here anymore." Daryl shook his head, "I don't understand it sometimes. How he can just be… gone?" He said.

"He's here for as long as we continue to talk about him and remember him." Shiv said, "No one really dies, not if the people they loved continue to talk of them." She nodded as he turned to her.

"When did you google that?" He smiled a little.

"Few nights ago." Shiv admitted shamefully, "I googled what to say to someone whose loved one has died." She said as Daryl chuckled.

"Please don't change." He nodded to her, looking in her eyes as she looked up at him.

"I'll try not to." She smiled, "All your friends from school came. That was nice." She nodded to him.

"Yeah." Daryl nodded, "As long as you're here. I don't care." He said.

"I'll always be here." She assured him, squeezing his hand which she was still holding.

"I just… it's like I don't believe he's gone yet. I can't understand it." He said, "I can't feel it." He said, his voice breaking a little as she shuffled closer to him, leaning her body into him.

"I'll be here when you do feel it." She promised him as he nodded.

She could feel his body moving a little, hearing him sniffing as she looked up, noticing he was crying. A lot.

"Hey. Come here." She sighed, pulling him closer as he buried his head into her neck and sobbed, "Shh… it's ok. I'm here." She swallowed the lump in her throat, caressing the back of his head as she felt her shoulder get wet.