5 (jaylor) forever fearless nights and a mirrorball spotlight

chapter five.

"Something happened today," Taylor murmured as Joe pulled her in for a hug. Thea had gone straight to her room, and Taylor knew it was important to give her a little bit of time to process what was going on. Then she'd go up and see if she could make her feel better. "But she refused to talk to me. Do you think she's being bullied? Do you think-"
"We won't know until we talk to her," Joe told her softly. "She didn't sleep much last night because she was so worried about that maths test. Perhaps she's just tired-"
"I've been in that place, Joe. I lost track of how many times that I told people I was just tired when really I was struggling. What if she's-"
"Let's go and talk to her. Before the kids get home, before they all have to be rushed here, there and everywhere. We'll make sure that we help her."
"What if-" she was cut off by Joe, who held a finger gently to her lips.
"Let's just wait until we talk to her."
Taylor couldn't even begin to stop the thoughts flurrying around in her mind - they refused to be quiet. There were just so many different possibilities going through her head that she couldn't stop. She took a deep breath, even though she felt like she couldn't breathe. Thea was struggling at the moment and she was just so worried that-
"Taylor, take a deep breath, my love." Joe kissed her cheek. "Let's go and talk to her. Maybe she just needs us to listen to her before we jump to any conclusions."
Taylor nodded.

This was always going to be, and always had been, one of her biggest fears. Something being wrong with one of the kids that she couldn't fix with a kiss or a snuggle under the covers. Something that she didn't even know how to fix.
She knocked on the door and heard silence. Joe was holding her hand.
"Thea? Can I come in?"
There was silence and it was deafening.
She took a deep breath before she headed inside, Joe right behind her.
"What's wrong, Theabear?" Joe asked as the two of them sat beside her on the bed. "We're here to listen."
"I'm fine." She tried to say, but of course, both of her parents were all too familiar with this deflection.
"You're not, sweetheart, but that's okay. We are here to listen to whatever you have to say. Whatever is wrong, we can help you." Taylor wrapped an arm around her daughter. "Even if you just want to have a big cry."
"I'm fine." Thea said again, but it was so clear that she wasn't. "Really. Just... the kids at school said something mean... again."
"What did they say?" Taylor asked softly, and heard Thea sigh as she finally glanced up to look at them. Taylor always knew that there'd be a time when the conversations would move from discussing Disney Princesses to actual problems, but right now, she just wished she could bundle Thea up in a blanket and protect her from everyone.
She could tell that Thea was thinking about whether to answer her question or not. She sighed again, and Taylor looked out the window, trying to stay calm. If those kids were bullying Thea again... she would freak out.
"Just a stupid news article. But what was... what was in it didn't bother me," Thea murmured slowly.
Elsie was sitting on the shelf above her desk, and Taylor remembered how she used to carry her everywhere she went. "What bothered me..." Thea paused. "Was the fact that I didn't hear it from you first. I had to hear about it from the kids in my class."
"What was it about?" Joe asked quietly, but Taylor already knew. There'd only been one story that every single media outlet had been focusing on.
"You." Thea finally glanced up at the two of them.
"Your dad and I talked about it," Taylor moved closer to Thea. "We talked about telling you last night, but you'd been studying so hard for that test that we didn't want you to have anything else to think about."
Thea pulled her knees into her chest. "You barely tell me anything, Mom. I don't get to know anything about anything and I always end up finding out at school!"
Taylor didn't even know what to say.
"And that's not fair! I'm not like Luca and Nora or Elena. I see and understand things that they don't! And you just... keep things from me. I'm not a little girl anymore. I deserve to know when things like this happen so that I can at least be prepared to face the kids in my class." Thea got up and stormed out of the room. Taylor had never seen her this mad before, had never seen her this upset.
"I'll go," she murmured softly to Joe.
She knew exactly where Thea would be.