𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 | jj maybank

XXIX. That One Scene in Tangled

Somehow she managed to get an hour or two of sleep—fading in and out of consciousness so much that she would hardly consider it a nap. And when she woke up completely, she felt very, very shitty.

"Morning, Mom," she yawned as she walked into the kitchen.

Emma was standing in front of the stove, spatula in hand as she scrambled a pan of eggs. "Good morning, baby. How'd you sleep?"

Stella shrugged and grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter. "Alright." She then turned to leave, tossing the apple in the air and catching it in her hand.

At the same time, Emma turned and raised a brow. "Uh, uh," she tutted, waving the spatula around. "Where do you think you're going? Sit down. You're going to eat an actual meal before going to school."

A sigh escaped Stella's lips. Knowing that her mom wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, she headed to the kitchen island where a plate of steaming eggs and two pieces of toast waited for her. "Whatever you say, boss."

Emma watched her daughter as she ate her food, studying the tired frown on her face. The last few weeks had been hard for the young girl, so she hesitated in her next words.

"The most interesting thing happened last night," she started. She placed her elbows on the island across from Stella and leaned forward. "I was in the middle of a surgery—some guy decided he was going to learn how to throw knives—and I got a very peculiar call. Wanna guess from who?"

Stella paused. "Uh... Who?"

"Shoupe."

"Hm." The golden girl continued with her breakfast, hiding her panic well. She kept her head down to avoid her mother's gaze. "That is peculiar."

Emma nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, it is." Her eyes ran over her daughter as she tried to find a crack in her cool facade. "So there I am, standing over my patient's perforated bowels, phone on speaker, and tell me why my entire OR had to listen to Shoupe explain that my teenage daughter and her friends called him to say Ward Cameron killed someone."

"Mom—"

"Care to explain what you were doing last night, Stella-Anne?"

When Stella lifted her gaze, she saw that her mom hands were now on her hips and her brows were curved into an expectant expression.

Under normal circumstances, Stella wouldn't have hesitated before telling a little white lie about her whereabouts. She would've said she spent the evening at the Chateau or the Wreck. But after two hours of sleep and a boulder of emotion sitting on her chest, she did the opposite and said nothing at all.

Emma saw that she wasn't going to answer. "I don't ask much from you," she stated, trying to reign in her curiosity and worry, "I try not to do that. But if anything has to do with Ward Cameron, I want you you stay far away from it." She didn't want Stella or her friends meddling in places they shouldn't, especially not now. "I don't know what you guys think you're doing, but it is dangerous. They're still investigating Peterkin's death—"

"But they're not doing a good enough job!" Stella snapped, the exhaustion getting the best of her. "Peterkin's real killer is currently snorting coke down the street and they're not doing anything about it!"

"Stella," her mother replied calmly. "Shoupe is handling it."

"Poorly. He's handling it very, very poorly."

The surgeon's hands dropped to her sides as she let out a sigh. When Shoupe and Batcher requested her help in their case against the Camerons, the first thing she did was ask if Stella could know. She wanted her daughter to find comfort in the fact that someone was working towards justice for John B. The two men decided against it, arguing that Stella would tell JJ, who would then tell Pope, who would then tell Kie, who would use that knowledge as a way to lash out at Ward. It would compromise their entire investigation and they didn't want the kids to stick their noses in places they shouldn't. Emma argued that they would do so regardless, but was ultimately overruled.