Bloodforink: Lmao! You have no idea how much this mental image made me giggle. Yep! It's definitely a lot to take in haha. :)
She'd done a bad thing. She'd done a very bad thing.
And since Nell didn't want to think about said bad thing, she'd decided a great use of her time would be to stress bake. Mrs Carson's retirement party cake and a ton of other orders needed to be made, so tonight was the perfect night to get ahead of her work load. Keeping busy would surely help. She didn't need to think about Hermione, her perfect face, that scheming little sparkle that always seemed to be present in her eyes, or that magical laugh of hers, or how she'd totally just made out with her.Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.How could she fix this? How did you even go about trying to fix a situation like the one she'd landed herself in? Could she even fix this? No, no. She could't think like that. This could be solved. This would be solved!
She was officially never listening to advice about women from Patrick ever again. Her and beautiful women were a horrible combination. They were like bleach and vinegar, ramped up to an eleven. Or attempt number three at Baked Alaska.
But even as Nell shoved her sixth cake into the oven all while ignoring the constant buzzing of her phone, there was no hiding the inescapable facts. She and Hermione had kissed, she'd loved it and she wanted to do it again. For a whole minute Elena and how she'd feel had vacated her mind, and all her emotions were wrapped together in a tangled mess like Christmas lights at the beginning of December. What could she do?
An idea struck Nell. They could both forget about it! Wipe the slate clean, act like it never happened. It wasn't the healthiest of options, but damnit if it worked it worked, she wasn't exactly in a position to be picky here. Nell squared her shoulders, inhaling and exhaling for long stretches of time, as she thought the idea over. Yes. This would work. It was a temporary fluke. A momentary lapse in judgement she and Hermione could both forget about and return to normal. Nell felt a little better with this idea firmly rooted in her head, so long as she didn't consider the fact that she had to actually talk to Hermione again to see this through. Talking to her and managing to keep her head on straight was easier said than done.
Nell froze as she heard keys in the door, scrambling to look busy as she heard Elena greet her as she entered the apartment. "Hey!" She said absentmindedly, flicking through the mail Nell could see Patrick had picked up and sorted for them earlier. Elena pulled out everything that was for her, squealing excitedly as she noticed a magazine that had came for her. "AHHH!"
"What's that?" Nell queried in amusement, willing her voice to sound normal as she kept one eye on the oven.
Elena flipped the magazine around to show her, bounding over to her excitedly like a giddy Golden Retriever. She was so adorable when she was in full blown nerd mode. "Audio Engineers Monthly." She proclaimed proudly, caressing the magazine like it was a prized steed. "Stories from the best in the field, tips, tricks, and everything you need to get ahead." She clutched the magazine to her chest, closing her eyes momentarily as she sighed happily. "This baby is my guide to my future."
"Wow!" Nell exclaimed, finding herself openly grinning at the display. "You're a dork." It was so great to see her excited about the future. It made Nell practically bubble over with pride when she saw it, it was a lovely little reminder of how far the girl in front of her had come since those early days of living with her. She'd pulled herself back from the brink and was heading far, far away from it.
"Thank you, I wear that label proudly." She beamed, eyes falling upon the various baking items spread out in front of Nell. Elena held out a finger, frowning. "Are you stress baking?"
"No. Just getting ahead on some orders." Nell found herself supplying, offering the teenager her best easy-going smile. Internally Nell had never felt so artificial in all her life. "I've been swamped with work recently. Great problem to have though, I'm not complaining. Not by any means. Lemme just get through the last of these and then I'll fire up the pancakes."
"Okay." Elena beamed happily, a pep in her step that made Nell's heart soften. "In the mean time I've got some studying calling my name. Don't work too hard ok?"
"You've got it." Nell's smile slipped as Elena headed into her room, closing the door behind her. She let her shoulders sag, rubbing at a particularly tense one as she tried not to let her mind run into full blown panic overdrive. She would fix this. She had to fix this. This couldn't go on any longer, she'd go insane.
She glanced down at her phone, gulping at the amount of missed calls from Hermione.
No matter what it took.
"Cheryl?"
Veronica cautiously approached the sobbing cheerleader in the girls changing room, her heart in her throat as she watched her cry. Veronica had felt compelled to run after her after seeing her flee the football field, sensing that the other girl needed someone at that moment. Evidently her suspicions were correct. "Cheryl what is it?" She pressed, sitting down next to her. "What happened?"
"Jason." Cheryl surmised. "He's gone."
Logically, Cheryl had known from the second she'd laid eyes on his body. But the true weight of her twin's absence -in her life and in her heart- hadn't hit until she'd seen those football players running out on to the field without him. He was gone. No more long talks over the dinners they'd have at Pop's to escape the confines of Thornhill, no more hearing the day to day noise coming from his room, no more seeing him walking down the school halls, no more inside jokes, nothing. The pure screaming abyss of nothingness had forced its way through the door, and was threatening to pull her into its embrace. Her twin, her first friend, her only ally left in that house had been murdered.
"I know. I know he is." Veronica replied softly, suddenly seeing why her sister was so fiercely protective of the girl in front of her. Who else would do so?
"He was supposed to come back." Cheryl sobbed. "We had plans, we-" A bitter sensation crackled violently in her chest. "We were going to leave it all behind me and him. Just like Patrick. Jason was convinced he was waiting for us to contact him, and that when we finally could we'd be a family again."
Veronica placed a hand on her shoulder, uncertain as to what to say. How did you go about comforting someone who was going through what she was? She could feel the pain and grief radiating from her like an airwave, overwhelming in its intensity.
"What if she leaves me?" Cheryl suddenly pondered aloud, making Veronica's brows raise in confusion.
"What do you mean?" She questioned.
Cheryl wiped furiously at her eyes, trying her best to stop crying but with limited success. "Elena. W-We can't fully be together yet. I've forced her into the shadows with me. What if she gets sick of having to wait? What if she finds someone else?" If was her deepest most closely kept fear. Elena had assured her time and time again that she was happy to wait, but the patience of even the most patient people sometimes wore thin. What if she got tired of waiting for a future in the foggy distance?
"Cheryl that's not gonna happen." Veronica assured her, firm and unwavering. "I've seen the way she looks at you. Like-" Veronica smiled. "Like you personally placed every star in the night sky. She's all in with you, believe me. There's no other girl for her. She'd wait a hundred years for you, if that's what it took. Once Elena Lodge takes you into her heart, you're there for life. That's one thing you never, ever have to doubt. I speak from experience."
Cheryl spun around and embraced Veronica, burying her head in her shoulder. "I'm sorry. For-" She sighed. "Well give me a minute and perhaps I can compile a list for you."
"It's okay." Veronica rubbed comforting circles into her back. A moment passed, before finally she spoke once more. "I'm glad Elena has someone like you. And vice versa. I think you've been pretty good for each other."
Later, as Cheryl approached her car readying herself to go home, she found a familiar someone waiting for her by her car. Cheryl rolled her eyes as Patrick perked up at the sight of her, barely supressing the urge to fly off the handle and start screaming bloody murder at him. She'd had a long, horrible night and just wanted to get a phone call in to Elena and then go to bed.
"Cheryl." Patrick greeted as she met him by the car, his caution evident.
"Fuck off Patrick." Cheryl hissed. She went to grab the handle for the door, but found the space blocked by her annoyingly persistent brother. Cheryl glowered furiously at him. "Do you not understand the meaning of stay the hell away from me? I thought it was a simple concept, but then again you didn't finish high school, did you?"
"Ow. And yeah, I heard you but-" Patrick shrugged, pulling something from a messenger bag he had over his shoulder. "-I needed to give you this."
It was a file. And a decently sized one. With the stamp of Hermosa's business logo on the front.
"I was gonna let Hermosa give you this, but then I decided to just bite the bullet and do it myself." He sighed, watching Cheryl's face transform as she took the file from him.
"How did you-"
Patrick held up his hand and pointed to the ring on his finger she hadn't noticed before. "She happens to be your sister-in-law."
Cheryl's eyes went wide as she registered his words, utter bafflement impeding her ability to reply. "You- You're-" She stuttered. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Your wife is Elena's tutor?"
"Of all the beautiful women in all the world, right?" Patrick joked, earning himself an even fiercer glare from his sister.
"Unbelievable." She muttered to herself, slightly embarrassed at being caught out so easily. Of all the people she could have gone to! She was so getting her money back. "Well good to know she's just as duplicitous as you."
"She'd probably take that as a compliment." Patrick quipped, adding as an afterthought: "Everything's in there."
Cheryl raised a quizzical brow at him, tucking the file under her arm as she assessed him.Try and lie to me.She thought, willing herself to stay composed in front of him.Just try."How do I know this isn't altered? That you haven't doctored a bunch of pictures or put something in there to make yourself look good and ultimately better my opinion of you?"
"Well I'm terrible at Photoshop and I really don't have that much free time on my hands." Patrick shrugged. "Everything in there can be verified by the internet or a half decent detective who you aren't related to. Some of it..." Patrick blew out a breath. "Some of it isn't great, but you'll find that aside from some questionable employers and a few too many nights out on the town, I'm squeaky clean. Though ah-" He pulled a face. "I sense when you're done reading it I'm gonna have an angry Elena on my case. I wasn't exactly forthcoming about the fact that I worked for her father."
Cheryl froze. "You worked for Hiram Lodge? As in-"
"As a driver. Or as some would refer to it, his bitchboy." He clarified. "A driver who saw some shit he really wouldn't want me talking about to the feds, but just that. He tried to shape me into something more, but I respectfully declined and quit." Patrick took in the pale expression she was wearing, worry slipping into her features. "You know don't you?"
"That you're an idiot for willingly working for a man like that?" Cheryl supplied dryly. "Yes Patrick, I do."
"In my defense I didn't know at first." Patrick defended. "I thought he was just a weaselly tax evader when I started out at his club."
"And yet you kept on working for him." Cheryl noted.
"Cheryl the money, the security I have now... It's only recent. I was a poor high school dropout, so I wasn't exactly in a position to say no to a paying job. I had to claw my way back to wealth, bit by bit. And I'm still nowhere near where I once was." He was now safety within the new money column, but the Blossoms had been old money for longer than Riverdale's existence as a town. He had to carefully watch his wealth, while each member of his family could go on crazy shopping sprees and not make a dent in their accounts.
As much as she wished to smack down any argument he tried her way, Cheryl found that she couldn't argue against him there. With this at least, she found that she could believe him. Particularly given the fact that the proof was staring out at her from the pages of the file as she flicked through it. "I'm going to read this in full." She promised. "And then I'm calling Elena."
Patrick winced at her words, but he wasn't the least bit surprised. He'd anticipated as such. And if she hadn't, he would've done it himself. He was in for it when he got home from Nell and Elena, that was for sure. "I figured as such."
"She's going to kill you. I'm half tempted to do it myself, knowing how she feels about him. If you're here on his behalf-"
"I'd sooner drink something our mother made up for me." Patrick fired back, a look of disgust so foul on his face that Cheryl couldn't help but allow a small smile to tug at the ends of her mouth. "I should have come out with it right away, I know, but I didn't wanna upset anybody." Patrick softened as he took in her fiercely protective expression. "You're a good friend to her."
"I still don't believe you."
"I know." Patrick blew out a heavy breath. "But I need you to know something, okay? I love you." Both of the siblings stared at the other, the loss of Jason, regrets and the weight of the past weighing heavily between them. Cheryl found herself swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat, blinking back tears. "Always have always will. And that love? It's got zero expectations or conditions attached to it. You can be as awful as you want to me. Call me names, insult every aspect of my life if it makes you feel better. But I'll keep on loving you Cheryl. You deserve better than a life trapped in that gilded cage. So you can hate me until I'm a withered husk, but I'm not going anywhere until you're out of that house and safe. I'll never forgive myself for letting my shame control me. I should have known they'd find another punching bag." He stared shamefully at the ground.
"What do you mean?" Cheryl found herself pressing, unable to help herself. There was nothing fake in the way he'd just spoken. She was missing something.
"It doesn't matter. Just-" He'd do whatever he needed to do to make her feel safe. He owed her at least that. "Read the file. Okay?" Patrick moved past her, resolved in letting her draw her own conclusions from it. He began to walk away to his own car, glancing back only once to see her staring down at the file in her hands.
Patrick knew he was in hot water the moment he stepped through he door and found Nell angry cleaning.
It was very much like regular cleaning, only with more aggressive spraying and wiping of kitchen countertops. When his friend was frustrated and faced with no other productive outlet, the dusty and dirty surfaces surrounding her soon felt her wrath. She was currently engaged in wiping down the counter, where from the small icing remnants he could see that she had been baking.
Elena shot him an unimpressed look from the stool she was sat on, looking very much like she was tempted to give him a hard shove. Not that he blamed her. He'd lied to her face.
"So..." He began awkwardly, shoving off his bag as he eyed his two roommates warily. "Who's gonna throw the first punch?"
"Do you still talk to him?" Elena demanded at once, her eyes alight with fury and barely concealed panic. Patrick felt guilt writhe in his gut, swallowing uncomfortably at the look on her face. He couldn't imagine how unsettling it had to feel, to know that Hiram had been keeping an eye on her this whole time.
"No." Patrick denied. "Believe me that's the last thing I wanna do. I moved out of the country just so I didn't have to see him."
"You lied to me." Elena pointed out, her face tense with anxiety. Patrick could see her emotions warring within her. Was he being truthful, and had he just fallen in with a shitty crowd? Or was he truly one of Hiram's flying monkeys, lying like a pro to slip seamlessly into her life and report her goings on back to him? He was a fucking idiot. Twenty-five years old and he was still so desperate for people to like him, that he carefully rearranged the truth and landed himself in trouble with the person anyway. "I have seen you before."
"I drove you and your sister to school for two years when you were both little." Patrick explained, sitting himself down on a stool on the other end of the counter from her. "I used to wait tables at one of his Miami clubs. He got me the job after I sold some Blossom family secrets to him. Rose up the ranks while I was there, met my wife who sang my praises, which led to me getting promoted to being a glorified taxi driver. Then..." He blew out a breath. "Then I saw exactly who your Dad was. I got scared shitless, ran, and built my career elsewhere." Patrick cringed as he spared a glance at Nell, seeing that she'd now moved on to scrubbing the kitchen sink.
"And you're married to-"
Patrick nodded grimly. "Yeah."
"And she's-"
"Gunning for the world's creepiest stalker award? Also yes." Patrick tapped his foot against the stool, still very much aware that Nell hadn't so much as made eye contact with him since he'd walked through the door. "And she's-"
"You said it was Hermosa's dad that employed you."
Patrick felt himself straighten as he heard Nell finally speak, catching her eye as she gave him a cool look. Nell titled her head, pointing a warning finger at him. He knew that finger well. It meant fess up now, or face a very angry me. Patrick felt himself shrink under it, willing for his father in law to step on a thousand Lego bricks for having the gall of being in a prison cell in New York and not having to face a pissed off Nell. "Patrick-"
He heard Elena let out a small laugh of disbelief. "I can't believe she's the kid."
Patrick and Nell balked in alarm, exchanging a silent glance that communicated a thousand words at once. She wasn't surprised. Why wasn't she surprised?
Nell dropped the cloth she had been cleaning with and moved over to Elena, placing a concerned hand on her shoulder. "Honey what do you mean?"
Elena met her eye, shrugging casually as she looked between the two friends. "Well you know how Eddie Fisher cheated on Debbie Reynolds with Elizabeth Taylor?"
Nell and Patrick both nodded.
"Well in the case of my parents marriage, my dad's Eddie, my mom's Debbie, and any woman that continues to draw breath is Elizabeth. Not that they know I know that." Elena explained, laughing to herself. "They both think they're so slick, but they're sloppy when they think no one's watching them. I found a child support check in my Dad's office when I was ten, that he made out to a Gabrielle Reyes. I showed it to my Mom and Veronica, but my Dad spun some story about how he was being all white-knighty and helping out a bunch of his employees. Veronica bought it but I could tell my mom already knew. It's-" An exasperated laugh escaped her, as she recalled the very first crack in the perfect image she'd once held of her father. "If I don't laugh about it I'll cry."
Patrick truly didn't know how to respond to that. She'd known about Hermosa for that long?
"I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, just that they were out there." Elena rested her head against her hand, watching him closely as Nell whirled on him.
"How could you not tell me all of this?" Nell demanded, eyes wide with incredulity.
"Well in my defense I'm an idiot."
"Patrick!" Nell exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, ok?" Patrick looked between them, pleading for them to understand. "I just- I didn't want you to get the wrong idea and hate me-" Patrick pointed at Elena, as he ran a hand stressfully through his hair. "-and I didn't want you to be angry." He pointed at Nell, who batted his hand away in annoyance.
"You and your obsessive need to be liked." Nell rolled her eyes, folding her arms.
"I'm not perfect." Patrick conceded. "My timing isn't aways the best and my taste in women has led me into some not so lovely situations. But I'm getting this all out now because I want you -both of you-" Patrick made a point of looking at Elena. "-to be able to trust me. All of my cards are on the table now. No more lies. I don't wanna be tied to some stupid Lodge family conspiracy to spy on Elena. I just wanna focus on Cheryl."
Elena visibly softened as she listened, finally letting herself relax. She got the impression that Patrick was a people pleaser who didn't think beyond the present moment very much, but she didn't think he was malicious. He'd put himself in the firing line in order to do the right thing in the end. "I believe you." She assured him, her belief all the more cemented as she watched Patrick's whole body practically collapse like a pack of cards from relief.
"Thank you." Patrick smiled gratefully.
Nell sighed, shaking her head at her friend. "Is that it? Is that everything?" She checked.
Patrick nodded. "I'm all wiped out. I love Hermosa, but I'm no bitchboy anymore."
Nell smiled at that, the tension she was wearing in her body evaporating as she sat herself down in between Elena and Patrick. Nell began to tug at a strand of her long blonde hair, twirling it between her fingers as she looked between them, before speaking to Patrick once more. "No more secrets, ok? Especially not where Elena and Cheryl are concerned. Cheryl's counting on you, and I've got to keep this one-" Nell nodded towards Elena. "-from taking a train to New York and squaring up to her father."
"If I had the element of surprise I could take him." Elena quipped.
"Agreed." Patrick promised, thankful to see that he could go to bed tonight with his friendship with her still intact. "I'm an open book here on out."
Nell turned to Elena, nudging her gently with her arm. "What do you want to do? About the Hermosa thing?"
Elena took a moment to think the whole thing over, before turning to Nell with a firm objective. "I'm gonna go see her. Tomorrow. I wanna know exactly why she's been pretending to be my friend."
The next day bright and early, Elena was heading through the doors of the Riverdale Community Centre to meet up with Hermosa. Patrick was waiting in the wings per her instructions, and happily so. The elder Blossom sibling seemed mostly just glad that she and Nell didn't hate his guts. Elena didn't quite understand panic liars. Why not just deal with things as soon as possible, rather than put off the inevitable? The anxiety of it alone would make her explode.
Her whole body was humming with anticipation, as she thought over what it was exactly that she was going to say. For once she didn't feel anxious. Instead her sheer fury was in the driver's seat, fueling her forward and making her feel braver as she marched toward Hermosa. She could feel it brewing beneath her skin, crackling like electricity as it begged to be unleashed upon her half-sister. Elena began to count her breaths, imagining a cool stream of water flowing through her body. She couldn't lose it in front of her. She had to stay calm and composed. She'd never get any answers out of her otherwise.
Elena had never really allowed herself to think about the sibling she'd known was out there. Thinking about them meant thinking about her father after all, and that was a complete no go. But now she had to confront the fact fact that it was Hermosa. The woman she'd joked with, bonded with, trusted without thinking. That was her sister. Half of her that she'd been denied. All for what? To keep their father's shiny reputation intact? To keep his marriage from imploding? Had she never wanted to know her and Veronica? Elena could only guess. The life that they might have had together, where she was the middle sister, and had an older sister to turn to for guidance made the hurt of it all really sting an extra bit more. Who might they have been, if they'd been allowed to be sisters? How had Hermosa sat there all that time, helping her with sums and equations all while knowing what she was to her? She'd really liked her. She'd slotted into her life like it was nothing. And now... Now it felt like someone had taken off a layer of paint from a beautiful painting she loved, only for her to find an ugly horror lying beneath. She was one of her father's capos. The casual trust they'd once shared with each other was over, and that was more painful than Elena cared to admit.
Elena found her already seated at their usual table, eyes trained on her phone to keep herself occupied. No doubt texting their father her every move. At 9.25, Elena bought a bottle of Coca Cola. From 9.26-9.30, she had several fantasies about lobbing said bottle at your head. Looking at her, so relaxed and poised in the infuriating way their father always seemed to be, made Elena realise just how angry she was. She thought she had been free and clear this whole time, but she'd underestimated how much of a fucking control freak her father was. She felt so naive. All that time, and he'd been having the three stooges report her every move back to him. It made her skin crawl just thinking about it. No. He did not get to win this. He did not get to keep his claws in her life all the way from prison. She would hack the fucking hand off if it came to it.
Elena came to a halt in front of the table, her looming shadow making Hermosa look up from her face.
How could you do this to me?She wanted to scream.Why slip your way into my life, when you could have just watched from afar and I'd have been none the wiser? You're supposed to want to look out for me, love me, protect me.
But the big sister fantasy was just that. A fantasy.
"Hey you!" She greeted, a cheerful smile tugging at her painted red lips. Did she even like her? Or was she just pretending to be kind and understanding, all while sniggering about her various deficiencies to their father behind her back? How real was the version of Hermosa who Elena had thought was her friend?I will not be intimidated by her. I have every right to some god damn privacy, just like she does. She's not better or more refined than me. She's just... A woman.
As Elena stared at Hermosa, armed with her newfound knowledge, she couldn't help but feel as though she should have known. It felt obvious now, as she pulled apart every one of her features and held them to her own and Veronica's: the large brown eyes, the glossy black hair, the great cheekbones, the near identical smile that reminded her of her own. But the one big indicator that should have really tipped her off was the set of pearls she always wore around her neck, staring back tauntingly at her.
The fucking pearls. She'd had a big, red, flashing neon sign in front of her face this whole time. The first thing Elena had ever done to piss off her father, was to stop wearing the set of pearls he'd once bought for her. It was a weird branding thing she'd noticed he'd done with every woman in their family, which included her mom, Veronica and her grandmother. After one too many rants about how she needed to try harder at school, Elena had decided to stop wearing them a few years ago. He'd whined, called her ungrateful, but she'd held her ground.
The fucking pearls. She couldn't get over it. Of course she had a set of her own.
Elena bit back a laugh, forcing herself to continue.
Rather than answer Hermosa straight away, she merely stared at her, tilting her head in observation. "You kinda look like him you know." She realised, her stomach churning at the thought. She gestured with her forefinger towards the top of her face. "Especially around the eyes."
The smile that Hermosa had been wearing fell at once from her face, realisation taking root. "You know." She stated, her face hardening into an inexpressive mask Elena didn't doubt she'd learned from their father. The role of the friendly math tutor fell away, and the reality of the capo climbed to the surface to say hello. She sat her phone down on the desk, rubbing furiously at the side of her head like she was developing a migraine. "Patrick?"
Elena nodded in confirmation, keeping her own face free of any kind of expression. She was in enemy territory now. Any micro-expression, any hint of emotion or weakness could be weaponised against her if Hermosa found it. She had to walk this tight rope with extreme delicacy and care. "At least he felt guilty about lying to my face."
Hermosa shook her head to herself. "It's why Patrick never would have lasted in our world. He feels so strongly, to an overwhelming degree. It's his blessing as well as his curse."
"It'syourworld." Elena made a point of correcting, letting a little bit of harshness slip into her tone as she narrowed her eyes at her. "Not mine."
Hermosa merely smiled in response, a small, bittersweet thing that tugged on her lips only slightly. "It's nice to meet you properly hermana. I wish it was under better circumstances, but-" Hermosa shrugged. "What can you do?"
"Not stalk me?" Elena offered casually.
An amused chuckle escaped Hermosa, light and airy as a hand flew to her mouth. "I didn't stalk you," she countered, "Papi asked me to watch out for you, to make sure you were safe out here on your own. You must have known you'd be a prime target for his enemies."
"I beg to differ." Elena found herself arguing back, unable to help herself. "You integrated yourself into my life and pretended to be my friend, all while reporting a ton of shit about my life back to our father. You-" Elena smacked her hand against her forehead in frustration. "I told you about therapy. Which means you told him about it. AHHHH!" She cursed, letting her hand fall to her side. She glared at Hermosa, barely keeping herself from screaming.
Hermosa's brows furrowed together in confusion, as she took in her reaction. "Why do you care if he knows?"
Because he can use this against me.Elena chose not to voice that though, knowing the paranoia accusations would soon come flying as a retort. "Well how would you feel if I told him a bunch of things about you? Because it was private! That's why! I thought I was confiding in my nice tutor, not one of my father's flying monkeys. Those are two very different things." Elena explained, huffing in annoyance through gritted teeth.
"I'm a flying monkey?" Hermosa snorted.
"Well I've never tried to melt Dad with a bucket of water, but I'm willing to give it a try." Elena shrugged, making Hermosa smile fondly at her.
Silence fell between the two sisters. Hermosa inclined her head towards the chair across from her. "Sit," she urged, "please."
Reluctantly Elena did just that, slipping into the chair with crossed arms as she continued to observe Hermosa closely. "You and Dad must have had a real good laugh at my expense. But I guess he needs all the entertainment he can get where he is."
Hermosa's face fell at her words, something oddly emotional crossing over the face of the usually closed book of a woman. "Elena..." She began, her tone soft as she cautiously tried to assure her. "We weren't laughing at you. No one was laughing at you."
"Bullshit." Elena spat. Of course they were. Why else would they do this?
"I swear it!" Hermosa insisted. "Both Papi and your mother knew they couldn't just drag you back, so they opted for the path of least resistance. Keeping you close, but watching you from afar, and stepping in only if the need arose."
Elena's eyes widened in surprise, her heart pounding all the more loudly in her ears. "Hold on, my mom knew about this batshit little scheme?"
"She wasn't aware of my involvement, but of its existence? Yes."
Son of a- Elena blew out her a breath, a number of curses sprouting up all at once in her mind at the revelation. Of course she'd gone along with it. She found herself sighing sadly as she looked at Hermosa, the full weight of what this whole thing truly meant sinking in. The sadness she felt was a bitter pill to swallow. "I really liked you." She admitted. "I thought I was so lucky to get someone as nice as you. I thought I could really talk to you. But instead-" She shook her head. "Instead I was the problem child you had to babysit. None of it was real."
"I wasn't acting." Hermosa argued, earning herself an eyeroll. "Alright," she conceded, "I may have been at times, but not when it came to what I think of you. You're a good kid Elena. You've come a long way from what I've heard." Hermosa offered what she hoped wouldn't be interpreted as anything other than a proud smile. "Any girl would be lucky to call you her little sister. And I do." Elena found herself thrown by her words. Did she mean that? Was there an actual human being hiding underneath the capo sat across from her?
Elena didn't meet her eyes for a moment, lost in thought as she took a while to process everything. She took the time to focus on the world around her, allowing herself to calm down significantly as she observed the comings and goings of the people around her. Some busy, some hurried, books and laptops in hand as they all rushed off to wherever they needed to be. What were their lives like? Did they feel like they were arming themselves to head off to war, whenever they were forced to have a conversation with an estranged family member? Elena would have given the world for her family to match the one she had in her head, who communicated like normal human beings and treated each other with respect. That perfect dream family had never felt so far away from her. The bar was in hell, and yet somehow her father still kept finding ways to limbo right on under it.
Hermosa sounded genuine. Elena didn't detect anything particularly artificial in her voice. She wanted her to be telling the truth so badly. She wanted nothing more than to shrug the entire thing off, and embrace her as her sister. She wanted to bring her into her life, get to know the real Hermosa and love her with all her heart. And in another life where she was less paranoid when it came to the subject of her father, she might have done just that. But she'd proven to be a fantastic liar. She'd pulled the wool over her eyes with seemingly no effort. What if this was just some very good improv on her part? Distrust had been carefully stitched into Elena's heart upon finding out that she was in cahoots with their father, and now there was no way of pulling the thread out. This once lovely thing now felt tainted.
"You know this isn't normal right?" She met her eyes once more, desperately searching for some recognition of that fact in her sister. "Pretending to be someone you're not? Not being able to tell me who you are?"
"Of course." Hermosa acknowledged, a sheepish look gracing her features. Elena felt a small thrill of victory, as she saw her words pierce her perfectly polished armour. "This is far from an ideal situation."
"So why do it?"
Hermosa shrugged. "I was curious about you." Elena gestured for her to continue, not satisfied with such a simple answer. "I've thought about you and Veronica a lot over the years," she admitted, a smidgen of vulnerability entering her tone, like she was offering up a huge part of herself to Elena. "I grew up as an only child, wishing for siblings to play with so badly. So when I found out about you two, naturally I wondered what you both were like. Were you nosy like me? Shy? Confident? Adventurous? All of the above? Would the two of you like me? So when Papi asked me to watch you... I felt like I'd been given a chance to peer through the window, and see what you were like for myself." Hermosa came to rest her head in her hands, an affectionate twinkle in her eye as she spoke. "And you didn't disappoint. I've enjoyed our time together Elena. Truly. It's been nice getting to know you."
"I've known about you for years." Elena informed her matter-of-factly. She chuckled at the genuine look of shock that came over her. "Oh wow! I guess you don't know everything Veronica Mars."
"How did you-"
"I found a child support check. Dad got Veronica off the scent but I never bought his story, he's not as good a liar as he thinks he is." Elena's eyes swam with emotion as she forced herself to open up to Hermosa, allowing just a little of everything she tried not to think about out into the open. "I thought about you too. A lot. I kind of figured out the why of why he kept you away when I got older, but I always had this stupid little fantasy." She laughed, smiling sadly. "Me and Veronica would go out into the world when we were older and we'd track you down. We'd hash things out and then... Then we'd bond and make up for lost time. No lies, none of Dad's crap hovering over us, just me, you and Veronica. The Lodge sisters three."
Rather than laughing at her or making a joke at her expense, Hermosa froze at the confession. She hadn't expected her to say something like that. "That's not stupid at all."
"I never thought this would be how I'd meet you." Elena murmured. "But I guess this was only gonna go one way, given that you're under Dad's thumb."
It was Hermosa's turn to roll her eyes. "I'm hardly under his thumb."
"Really?" Elena blinked. "You're running around doing your little reports on me, defending his every action, all at the cost of your own life." At Hermosa's questioning look, Elena smiled mockingly. "I hear your marriage is on the rocks."
"You're very petty." Hermosa observed, unaffected.
"And the sky is blue." Elena snarked, rising to her feet. "Ask Dad, I'm sure he can give you plenty of stories that'll attest to that fact."
"He still loves you hermana." Hermosa affirmed, making Elena freeze in place. It was like she was had shoved aside every inner would wall she'd constructed inside herself, reached into the deepest depths of her heart, and pulled out what she'd been hiding in its deep recesses. "You may be under the impression that because things ended badly between you two that might have changed, but you're wrong. He's spoken about you with so much affection and love to me Elena. He wishes he'd been truly listening to you that day. He knows there was more you were trying to tell him."
Elena's breath caught in her throat. He'd told her. He'd told her everything. Panic flared in her mind. "W-W-" Elena began to mentally count her breaths, inhaling deeply. "What are you talking about?"
Hermosa latched on to her panic, her eyes narrowing as Elena saw her file away the little tidbit she'd seen. Fuck. "Papi and your mother know you were failing school-" Fuck, fuck, fuck. "-and he asked me to speak with Elio Grande."
"What?" Elena's heart began to pound all the more violently.
"He wouldn't explicitly tell me what went on between you two and why you stopped being friends, but he hinted at the fact that you were going through something." Hermosa arched a curious brow at her. "Papi offered some financial incentives to him, and yet he refused to elaborate no matter how high he went. He said it was something you needed to tell him in your own time. That he'd made you a promise."
Motherfucker.
Fuck being composed. "Hermosa, I'm gonna say this only once," Elena shoved the chair back under the table with more force than necessary, eyes blazing with anger at the gall she had to go poking into her personal life. "Stay the fuck away from me! I don't wanna know you. You're nothing more than a brown-nosing capo with way too much time on her hands. You stay away from me, my friends, my ex friends, and keep your nose out of my god damn business. Dad's sorry? Well fuck him. I hate him! I hope he rots in prison and spends the rest of his miserable life alone and unwanted."
And with the finishing touch of a snarky smile and a middle finger, Elena marched away from her. She scoffed at the sheer nerve of her half sister, but found herself smiling proudly all the while. The hacking of the hand had commenced.