Beyond The Void || doctor who

Chapter Ten: Argumentative Affiliations

Jess knew that walking through the front door was a mistake as soon as she heard the piercing shrieks of her mother.

"Where the hell have you been?" she seethed, slamming the door behind the Doctor.

"I was – um – we were –" Jess stammered, her mind going blank. She felt her stomach nestle into the tight crevice that was her throat.

"We were at a – um ... party, at Elaine Harper's house." The Doctor's eyes dared not meet Melissa's in fear that she might set him aflame with the absolute fury trembling through her.

"I wasn't asking you! You!" she screamed, jabbing her finger into the Doctor's chest. "I don't want you anywhere near my daughter again, do you hear me? You keep causing trouble for everybody! You – you madman! You're crazy! You come here, with your silly, insignificant box – or whatever the hell it is – and bring my daughter, who's fifteen, to a party? At Elaine Harper's? And wearing that tiny little thing! I swear –"

"MOM!" Jess yelled with her eyes squeezed shut, to which the entire room went silent. She opened her eyes slowly, absorbing the image of her mother, red in the face, and the Doctor, looking like a lost puppy. She wasn't sure where to pick up in the argument. "Mom," she said more calmly, exhaling gradually, "what do you have against Elaine?"

Melissa looked taken aback, as this was not how she imagined her daughter to react. "I – she's just a bad influence –"

"Worse of an influence than you? She's one of the best things that's happened in my life, and the only thing that actually makes sense." Jess's voice quivered. She'd never really yelled at her mother since her father had left, at least not to the extent they were heading to now.

"Was there alcohol? Older people?" Melissa questioned, completely ignoring Jess's previous input.

"Yes." Although the two women were standing rigid and stiff, the Doctor took a seat and let them talk.

"Did you – did you do anything you'd regret?" Her eyes dropped to the floor. She would never have thought that Jess would ever do something illegal or inapt, but how well did she really know her own daughter?

"Yeah." Melissa's eyes shot back up in confusion. "I walked through that door."

Jess was crying now. She hated shouting and fighting – she was definitely more of a tranquil and placid person – but the fact that her mother had treated her like a piece of meat for the past fifteen years was enough to spit fire out of her chest.

"Do you know how much of a burden you've made me feel like I was? You've treated me like I was nothing since my father walked out that door eight years ago! I always felt second-best, even though there was nobody else to compete with. You made me feel like I wasn't important at all; that I was just some fluke that didn't account for anything. You ruined my life from the moment it started, and I hate you for every second."

With her throat like sand paper, she turned around, grabbed the Doctor's hand furiously, and walked out the back door.

As she was about to leave, a firm hand grasped her shoulder. "Jessica, don't."

Melissa Bennett was like ice and fire. Her voice was of razors, and her eyes were of steel. The façade she applied was terrible and shameful, but overpowering nonetheless. However, in those few moments when Jessica saw her mother for who she truly was – scared and lonely and delicate – it took all of her willpower to shake off her hand and slam the door behind her.

The Doctor was already sitting in one of the tan, leather seats in the main control room when she stumbled in, her eyes red and blotchy and her throat dry and rough.