The Things You Give

Chapter 2

The next morning, Y/N found herself waking up at noon. She cursed at herself because she hated waking up late knowing her day was now gone, but at least it's Saturday and her day off from work. She dragged herself out of bed and trudged her way down into the kitchen where she was greeted with Red, Kitty, Steven, and Eric eating lunch at the table.

"Well, good morning, sunshine," Kitty greeted, looking up from her glass of lemonade. "Or should I say 'afternoon?'"

Y/n yawned as she plopped herself in a chair across from her mother. "I was up late last night."

"Doing what?" Red questioned like she didn't have any good excuse.

Y/N eternally cursed herself as her eyes flitted towards Hyde's wide ones for a split second. She didn't think this through. "I-I just couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning."

"Again?" Kitty asked. "This has been happening for the last couple months. You might be suffering from insomnia. At first I thought it was because of your finals and looking for colleges, but this has gone longer than that. You might have insomnia."

She chuckled to herself, relieved. "Yeah, probably do." She grabbed a sandwich from the middle of the table and at the bag of chips, dumping it on her plate.

"Eric, what's your plan for today?" Red asked.

"Well, since I'm on my one year of doing nothing, I'm going to answer with nothing," he responded with no emotion in his voice.

"Wrong," Red answered harshly, like he normally does when he spoke to Eric. "You're going to trim the hedges, sweep the driveway, and fix the dent on the Vista Cruiser."

"Dad, that's like eighty bucks!" Eric cried. "I don't have that kind of money."

"Then it looks like you're going to have to get a job!" Red said.

"But that just interferes with my plan!"

"Exactly," Red responded slowly. "If you're going to live in my house you will do as I say. Or you can drive around town with that big ass dent."

Eric thought it over for a split second before pointing at Red. "Can't Y/N pay for it? She has a job."

"No!" he said. "She's not the one who put the dent there."

"Neither did I!" Eric argued. "Mr. Fitzgerald ran into me."

"And don't worry, I already talked to him, but unfortunately our insurance won't cover it. So it falls on you to replace it."

"This totally blows, man. I'd rather drive around town with the dent."

Red rolled his eyes at his son and turned to face him fully. "Why can't you be like your sister? She got a job straight out high school working at the bridal store, applied for college in Denver, and has her life planned out. While you sit there eating my food, taking up my heat, taking up space, being a no-good bum."

"Red, honey, that's enough," Kitty interjected. "Let's just enjoy our lunch."

"Dad, I only stayed because of your heart attack!" He shot back at his ill-tempered father. "You know, to take care of you guys. I could be in Madison right now."

"And that's worked out great so far, hasn't it?" Red spat.

"You're so ungrateful!" Eric said, clearly hurt. "Why can't you just say 'thank you' for once?"