Not Good Enough (Falling in Reverse and Escape the Fate FanFic)

30. A Tad Bit of Resposibility

Carter's POV: 

"Ronnie!" I screamed into my phone. I heard him laugh before saying 

"CARTER!" just as excited.  

"How's it going?" I asked 

"Good. Our tour has gone well so far." he said 

"That's good. I'm happy your happy." I answered honestly. 

"Well I'm happy that we'll be home in a month." 

"Me too! I'm flipping out. Feels like forever since I've seen your beautiful face!" we laughed before I heard someone yell sound check in the background. 

"Hey babe, I gotta go. Sound check. I'll call you later, bye." he hung up before I could say bye. I laughed at his rushing before going downstairs to find Jacen and Runt playing Wii table tennis. 

"Hey idiots." I greeted them. 

"Hey barfface." Runt asked not missing a beat. 

"I love how mean we are to one another." Jacen said taking her attention off the game long enough for Runt to win. 

"AH! Suck it!" she yelled pointing downward and pelvic thrusting. We all laughed at her and I asked 

"So what was the bet this time?"  

"Jacen's car keys for the day." Runt replied with a satisfied smirk holding her hand out to Jacen who huffed and handed over her keys. 

"Well that was dumb Jace. You saw what she did to Craig's car. And she doesn't even have a permit!" I said looking at Jacen in disbelief. It's not like her to do something that stupid and irresponsible. I guess Max is rubbing off on her. 

"You don't need a permit to be badass silly." Runt said slipping on her vans and grabbing her Bring Me the Horizon hoodie. 

"I'm heading out. See you guys whenever." then she slammed the door behind her. 

"You know, we need to start being more strict with her." I said going to the couch and sitting with Jacen. 

"What makes you say that?" Jacen asked slipping her phone out and shooting a text. 

"We let her stay here in hopes it'll turn her life around. If we just sit back and let her do the same shit she was doing before we aren't helping anything." I said sighing and running my hand through my hair. My brown roots were beginning to peek from underneath the blue. 

"True. I guess we've been acting more like her friends then anything else." Jacen said, sending another text. Rude. 

"Who are you texting?" I asked as she slid her phone into her pocket again. 

"Max. He says he's leaving sometime this week. We'll get to see him!" she said excitedly. I smiled, a true, genuine smile. I missed my brother! I can't believe it's been five months since I left him. Since Runt moved in.  

"Really! Yay! I've missed him so much....." I trailed off seeing I got a text. 

**Runt** 

-Help. Get to my old house. Now.- 

I flew to the door grabbing my bag and slipping on my shoes somewhere in the process. Jacen followed my urgency not knowing what was happening. Once we were in the car safely I started it and pulled away with a screech, practically on two tires. 

"Whats going on?" Jacen asked putting her seatbelt on. I follwed her actions and handed her my phone so she could see the text. 

"Do you know what happened?" she asked putting my phone in the cupholder. I couldn't talk, I was too busy swirving around people, so I just shook my head no. We pulled up to Runt's old place not long after. We saw Jacen's car but couldn't see any sign of Tayleyy. We hopped out and went to the front door, it was closed but we heard screaming from inside. I opened it and we took a look inside and saw complete chaos. Tayleyy was pinned to the ground with a very angry, and assumingly drunk man over her. Broken furniture and glass littered the room. Jacen pulled out her phone and dialed 911 telling them to get here as fast as they could.  

Neither Tayleyy or the man had realized our presence yet so I took advantage. I grabbed the leg of a broken chair that was at my feet and snuck up behind the man. I took the leg and smashed it as hard as I could into his temple. He fell over off of Runt and I helped her up, pulling her into a hug before ushering her out the door as quickly as possible. Less than two minutes later the cops and an ambulance showed up. The police ran inside and so did the medics. They brought the man who I assumed to be Tayleyy's dad out on a stretcher then a police man approached us. 

"Excuse ma'am. Would you care to explain what happened?" he asked soothingly to Runt. 

"I was driving to my friend's house. She lives down there," she pinted down the street, "when I got a text from my dad. He said he was sorry and he wanted to talk. I was doubtful but came anyway, I knew something was up so I texted Carter. I decided to walk in anyway though. The second I walked in he slammed the door behind me and shoved me into the wall. He started screaming in my face about being ungrateful and all this shit. I tried to leave but he grabbed my hair and slammed me into the dining room table. When I screamed he slapped me across my face and threw me to the floor. 

"At that point my ribs were hurting so bad and I was coughing up blood. I tried to crawl away but he kicked me and pinned me down. He kept screaming in my face and I almost threw up from the smell of liquor that poured out of him," she shivered a bit but continued "That's when they walked in." she said pointing to Jacen and I, we offered small waves and weak smiles. 

"Okay. Thanks. And you two, what did you do?" 

"When we walked in he had her on the floor so Jacen called 911 and I grabbed a chair leg and hit him in the head with it." I said afraid I'd get in trouble and I stared down at my feet. 

"Don't be afraid. You probably saved your friend's life here." he said pointing to Runt then closing the pad he had been writing on. He turned to Runt 

"You said that man is your father?"  

"Yeah, unfortunately." she answered 

"Well we can contact Child Services to find a more suitable place..." but Runt interupted him 

"I haven't been living here. I've been staying with Carter and Jacen." she said. The cop nodded and turned to us 

"And how old are you ladies?" 

"Well I'm 18 and Jacen is 19." I answered. He just nodded and said 

"Well I won't involve Child Services. They'll just try and take you from your friends. Just stay out of trouble and I'll take care of the rest. Night kids." he walked away and another one came over to collect our names, numbers, etc. Then they all left. 

"That was eventful." Runt laughed. I looked at her like she was physcho, well she was acting like it! 

"Dude. You could've gotten really hurt. Or killed. This is so not a joke." Jacen said in a serious tone. Runt shrunk a bit and didn't say any more. Jacen hopped in her car and Runt got in with me. We drove in awkward silence until Tayleyy spoke in a low almost inaudible voice 

"I'm sorry. I'm such a fuck up." 

"No you aren't. I've been where you are. I know what it's like to have no one the for you. But hey, I'm not gonna let that happen to you." she gave me a weak smile and we pulled into the driveway.  

We all hopped out and went inside. Jacen went upstairs, probably to talk to the boys about what happened. I stayed with Runt and talked to her. All she needs is someone the for her. 

"So. When is your birthday?" I asked her. 

"Two weeks from tomorrow. I'll be fifteen." she smiled and I returned it. We spent a very long time there, just talking. This is what I need. Something to worry about. Something to bring a little responsibility into my life. 

It's like a goldfish. Only, if I flush it I'll go to prison. Here we go. Responsibilty. I can conquer this.

I mean, how hard can it be, right?