(Italics = Flashbacks)
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"The deeper you dig the darker it gets."
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Willow couldn't stop thinking about it. She kept replaying the day over and over again in her head, like that catchy song that you can't seem to forget about and it plays as an endless loop in the back of your mind until it's engraved in your memory and you know it by heart. Except this wasn't some innocent little song she heard on the radio, it was a tragic accident that ended in major loss, it was when everything started to go downhill - that day was the downfall of the DeLaCruz family.
She kept questioning everything, reliving each step of that day and asking herself how things could have been different - what they could have done differently to prevent the accident. Maybe if her and Wes didn't ask to go on a trip for their birthday it wouldn't have happened. Maybe if they waited an extra day they could have all driven up together and avoided that one drunk driver. Maybe if the twins wouldn't have begged their sister to come on the trip she would still be alive - maybe then their father would still be alive.
It didn't make sense. How could what started as a normal day end in tragedy? How could they go from smiles and laughter to tears and broken hearts? How could a celebratory weekend, filled with joy, excitement and love, end in death and a broken family? It wasn't fair. But then again, life isn't fair. Willow knew that, but that didn't mean it still didn't hurt.
She could only blame herself for how she is feeling right now, as she lies in her bed surrounded by a mountain made of her pillows and blankets. The room was dark, only a single beam of sunlight shining through the dark curtains and stretching across her unmoving figure. It was quiet, the only sounds that could be heard was the girls deep breaths and the hum of the fan as it rotated, blowing cool air around the room and acting as dull background noise to fill the surrounding silence. She couldn't move, unable to bring herself any energy to get out of bed. Instead she stayed wrapped in her blankets, her head painfully empty and her body full of complete and utter exhaustion as she stared at the wall, her eyes occassionally moving to watch the curtains wave whenever the fan aimed in their direction. Willow was numb. Her body and mind were so disconnected from each other but seemed to agree on one thing; shutting down. And that's what they did, they shut down, leaving Willow to watch as they did so like she was only a guest, having no say and no choice other than to observe the process. She felt so distant from herself, so far away, and that's what it looked like to anyone outside too. To her friends it looked as though she was gone, like she had disappeared leaving only her body behind. It scared them. The vacant stare and zombie like state they recognized all too well terrified them. They were dreading what was to come as they began to realize that the beginning of the cycle was approaching once more - Willow's cycle of spiraling, depression and pain.
They didn't know what happened to trigger Willow so much that it began to unravel all her hard work, but still they backed off and prepared to restart the process, ready to help bring her back to herself whenever she was ready for that. Until then, Willow was left alone, only having the hurtful memories to keep her company as they continued to haunt her.
She didn't know what to do with herself. She couldn't seem to find any will to force herself out of bed, not that she wanted to anyways, because if she did then she would have to face everyone else, and with that came facing her problems. Willow didn't want to do that, not yet at least. But with her staying in bed, hiding away from the world around her and the four worried friends that sat a room away, came with a catch - the catch being her torturous thoughts and mind that seemed to be more against her than ever. When her head wasn't as silent as the room she laid in, it was raging like a storm, and today the storm was the memory of the worst day of her life. She couldn't escape it, she's tried, using her phone as a distraction and sleep as an escape, but none of those seemed to work. When she was asleep she just seemed to relive the day more, like she was actually there and like it was happening all over again. And so she did what she could to stay awake, preferring to relive the day through flashed memories rather than experiencing it through her dreams as if it was really happening again.
But eventually she couldn't help it, having already stayed up for twenty four hours she couldn't do it anymore. So with a sigh Willow metally prepared herself for the dreams she was bound to have and turned over to face the wall, pulling the blanket up to her chin as her eyes reluctantly fluttered closed, her mind powering down as the movie of that one horrific day and the events leading up to it began to play.
❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁
The DeLaCruz household was always one of chaos, much like the family themselves, but that morning seemed to be more hectic than usual as they all prepared to leave for the twins birthday trip.
Willow and Wes' eighth birthday was coming up and since the day was occurring on a weekend they asked if they could all go on a family trip, that's all the two wanted and so with further discussion their parents agreed that they would all drive up to their lake house and spend the weekend there, ready to celebrate the twins birthday that Sunday. So when Friday morning came the house was buzzing with activity as the family got the last of their things together, ready to hit the road.
"Honey, why aren't getting ready?" Victoria asks Willow as she enters Wes' bedroom. The little girl sat on the boys bed, watching him as he shoved random items into his backpack, offering her help whenever he paused to look around for any other things he wanted. Willow looks up at the sound of her mother's voice, shrugging off the question while insisting that she had already finished. "Are you sure?" Victoria asks unsure.
Willow nods with a proud smile. "Yep, i finished it all hours ago. Wes' taking forever though." The girl complains getting a frown from Wes.
"I'm not taking forever." He defends, arms crossed as he turns to his twin. "I'm done." He tells her,
"You still took forever." Willow tells him unimpressed, a proud smirk forming on her lips as she begins to brag. "I win, i finished way before you."
"We weren't racing!" Wes argues.
"I still win." Willow shrugs, closing the coloring book in front of her and gathering her markers before climbing off the boys bed.
"But-"
"Bye slow poke!" She calls, rushing past her mother straight out of Wes' bedroom and into her own that was right across the hall from his, her open door being slammed shut as soon as she entered. She sits down in front of her already packed backpack and unzips it, shoving her coloring book into it with the rest of her things, dropping the markers inside with it before zipping it up once more and leaving the bag on the ground while she stands and turns her attention to the cage on her desk that holds her beloved hamster - Lovie. That was what the girl decided to name the small brown pet after seeing the one patch of white fur that sat on it's back in the shape of a heart, it also happened to be the same name that she gave her pink bunny stuffy that had a little heart shaped nose.
"Hi Lovie." Willow beams, slowly sticking her hand into the little door and scooping up the animal. She brings the animal up to her face, playfully scrunching her nose at it as a greeting before cradling him to her stomach, running her index finger of her free hand gently over it's back, petting hin softly. "I have to leave soon and mom says i can't bring you, but don't worry, Aunty Shelley and Cam are gonna come feed you." She explains, Lovie simply laying in her palm.
"Hey, Wills, you ready?" Noel asks as he enters the girls room, Phoenix following behind.
She nods. "Yeah, can you take my bag?" She asks the two as she points over to the suitcase Victoria had packed for her the previous night.
Noel nods, ruffling her hair as he walks past her. "Sure thing." He says, grabbing the suitcase before leaving, telling the girl to put Lovie away and come downstairs.
Phoenix stays behind, waiting as the girl puts the hamster away and grabs her backpack before making her way to him, he holds his hand out which she gladly takes and they walk down together finding their way to the kitchen where Noel, Jayden, Ian and their parents were waiting. "Ah, there you guys are." Robbie says once spotting two more of his children entering the kitchen. "Now we're just waiting on Xander and Wes."
"What about Jamie?" Willow wonders as she climbs into a chair, stealing a piece of toast of off Ian's plate.
"You know you're supposed to ask before taking something, right?" Ian tells her, a questioning eyebrow raised.
"Can i have a piece, thank you." She says through a mouthful of toast, a few crumbs falling past her lips as she continues to eat, not paying her eldest brother any mind. He shakes his head, continuing to eat his breakfast without another word.
"Jamie can't make it today. She and Michael are going to drive out tomorrow." Robbie explains, placing a plate of food in front of her.
Willow frowns. "Why?"
"They couldn't get off work today." He answers, quick to add reassurance once he notices the look of disappointment settling on her face. "But don't worry Sweetie, they'll be there tomorrow."
"Are you sure?"
He nods, placing a kiss on the top of her head before moving back to the oven to finish cooking. "Yeah, I'm sure. They'll be there."
"Where's Xander and Wes?" Victoria asks with a sigh, hurrying around the kitchen with Robbie. "Can one of you go get them?"
Willow raises her hand, pushing her plate of food in front of Jayden who doesn't hesitate to begin eating her food as well. "I'll do it." She offers, rushing out of the kitchen and up the stairs towards Xander's bedroom. "Xander?!" She calls, knocking on the door and waiting until she hears him say 'come in' before entering. "What're you doin'?" She asks, glancing around his room before settling her sights on him, more so the large tattoo that sat on his side. She gasps. "What's that?!"
"Shh, close the door." He says as he glances at her for a second to see her doing what he had said. He then turns his attention back to his mirror as he finishes applying the cream to his brand new tattoo. "It's a tattoo."
Willow's head tilts to the side as she looks at her older brother, her big doe eyes full of curiosity and confusion. "But Mom said you couldn't get a tattoo."
"Yes, she did say that." He nods, turning and pointing a threatening finger at her. "And that's why you're not gonna tell her."
Willow's lips formed an amused smile, her brown eyes shining with mischief. She was honored that she was being trusted with a secret - especially one of Xander's who just so happened to be the most distant of her siblings - but as honored as she was Xander should have known better than to trust her with this piece of information, especially after he had ratted her out last week for a prank she and Phoenix had pulled on Jayden. And now, she had the ammo - blackmail - she needed to hold over him, and she knew that he would be desperate to keep his latest offense out of the eyes of their parents, so much so that he would be willing to do anything she wanted if she were to threaten to expose his behavior to their parents. And that's just what she was going to do, when the time was right she would be using this secret to her advantage.
"Ok, i won't tell her." She agrees as she makes herself comfortable on his bed. "How did you get it? Ian told me that you have to be an adult."
"You know Deena?"
"Cam's big sister? Jamie's friend?" She says, unsure on if she was correct.
He nods. "Yeah, her new boyfriend is a tattoo artist, owns his own place. I talked to her and she talked to him for me, he agreed to give me one for half off."
"For how much?" She wonders, remembering how much Ian had complained he had to pay for his own.
He scoffs out a laugh. "A lot."
"Yeah, that's what Ian said." She tells him, climbing off the bed and walking back over to the door. "Mom says to hurry up."
He nods. "K, I'll be down soon."
She mumbles an 'ok' as she opens the door, quickly pulling it shut again behind her before walking down the hall to her twins room. This time Willow doesn't bother to knock, instead throwing the door open and walking in as if it was her own room. "Hi." She greets, not looking to the boy until she's comfortable on his bed once more. Willow lays on her stomach, one hand under her chin propping up her head as her eyes dart back and forth watching her brother rush around his bedroom, tossing things around in search of something. "Whatcha doin'?" She questions, eyebrows raised in amusement and wonder, her voice slightly concerned at her twins stressed actions.
Wes' eyebrows scrunch in together in worry as he continues to desperately tear apart his room in search of his most prized possession, his teddy bear, Roscoe. When the twins were born the two were showered with toys but they each grew attached to two specific stuffed animals, Willow's pink bunny - Lovie, and Wes' blue teddy bear - Roscoe. They have had them since they were born, they were their favorites amongst all their toys and they were both extremely attached to the two items, but Wes more so than Willow. Whereas she had already grown out of her obsession and need for Lovie, Wes hadn't, he always brought it to sleepovers, on vacations, he had even brought the teddy to school on several occasions, a habit of his that he often got bullied for. But of course Willow had handled that last problem for her twin, unwilling to let a bunch of kids bully her brother.
"Wes?" Willow frowns, her voice soft and full of concern as she moves off of his bed and to his side, stopping his frantic searching. "What's wrong? What are you looking for?"
"I can't find Roscoe, i think i lost him." He stresses, his lips forming an upset pout as unshed tears glisten in his brown eyes.
She shakes her head. "No you didn't. Look," She says, moving to his packed suitcase that sat in the corner of his room. Laying it down carefully she unzips it and pulls the teddy bear off of the top. "I made sure Mom packed it for you earlier, see?" She assures, handing the stuffie over to him. "I'm sorry, i forgot to tell you."
He smiles in relief, hugging the toy to his chest before moving to hug his sister. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." She nods, hugging him before moving away to zip up his suitcase, telling him he needed to hurry if he wanted breakfast. He nods as he shoves Roscoe into his backpack, pulling the handle of his suitcase up as he follows Willow out of his room and back down the stairs.
"I got Wes." The little girl announces as she walks into the kitchen, sitting back down in her previous seat and stealing an apple slice off of Noel's plate, him simply ignoring her action as he continues on eating, it's not like he could stop her. Willow was always stealing food from her family, didn't matter who it was, one of her brothers or her sister, her parents, her Aunt Shelley or one of her cousins, Willow didn't care, if she seen something she liked she would steal a piece. It's not like it was a big deal, it was only food.
"Thanks baby." Victoria sends her daughter a smile, walking by to place a plate of food at the table, instructing Wes to eat quickly so they could leave. "Did you tell Xander to hurry?" She asks, getting a nod from the girl.
"Yeah, he said he just had to use the bathroom first." Willow lies smoothly. "Want me to go tell him again?"
Victoria nods. "Sure, that'd be helpful."
"Ok, I'm going." Willow rushes off once more, running up the stairs and knocking on her brothers door, Xander opening it less than a second later with his luggage in hand.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." He grumbles in annoyance, hating being rushed.
"Well hurry up then." Willow rolls her eyes, not waiting for the boy as she's running back down the stairs, starting to breathe heavier from all the rushing around she has been doing in the past ten minutes. "I got Xander." She announces, stopping in the doorway of the kitchen before walking away, into the Livingroom where she flops down onto the couch awaiting to leave for their trip. "Can we leave now?!" She calls from her place a room away.
"Soon, honey." Victoria answers.
Willow releases an exaggerated sigh. "This is taking forever." She complains with a groan, the others laughing at her impatience.
❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁
"I changed my mind." Willow groans, hitting her head back onto the headrest of her seat. "Let's just turn around and go home instead."
Robbie glances at the girl through the rearview mirror. "Why? What's wrong, Wills?" He asks.
"Wes is annoying." She grumbles, glaring over at her twin who had been relentlessly pestering her since they had left and begun their drive over an hour ago and she has finally had enough.
"Weston, leave your sister alone." Victoria scolds for the fifth time, sending the boy a final warning look over her shoulder before turning in her seat and focusing her attention back to the book she was reading.
"Yeah, leave me alone." Willow repeats in annoyance, pushing his hand away from her once he continues to poke at her. Wes simply laughs completely unbothered as he continues to bother the girl. The last straw was when she had begun to fall asleep, only for Wes to pull the blanket her head was laying on out from under her, causing her to hit her head on the window. "Ow!" She hisses, hand rubbing at her forehead as she turns to Wes, harshly flicking him in his forehead.
"Ow!" He whines, slapping her hand away. "Willow!"
"What?" She glares.
"Mom, Willow hit me!" He tattled to the woman in the front seat who sighs, slamming her book closed and shoving it into her bag.
"I didn't hit him!" Willow scoffs. "I flicked him."
"Willow." Victoria turns in her seat to look around at her daughter with a look of disapproval.
"He started it!" She defends, pointing an accusing finger at her twin.
"All i did was poke her!" Wes lies, Willow turning her full attention to him as the two begin to argue, their voices loud enough to drown out the radio and give their parents a headache, the two adults sharing a tired look.
"Enough." Victoria snaps as she turns to face her two youngest children. "Weston, if you keep bothering your sister you will be grounded for the entire weekend, that means no video games, no swimming, nothing, you'll stay in the house by yourself while everyone else is out having fun. Is that what you want?"
He shakes his head, eyes trained on the ground. "No."
"That's what i thought." She turns to the girl. "And Willow, don't hit your brother. Both of you apologize."
"I'm sorry." They mumble out quietly, unwilling to look at eachother out of anger.
"Good. Now, the next one of you to misbehave is being taken home, you can stay with Shelley while the rest of us go spend the weekend at the lake." She threatens. "Here, listen to the radio, we're almost there." She tells them, turning the volume of the radio up just as one of the twins favorites songs comes on, the two becoming distracted as they begin to sing, both forgetting their previous argument.
It wasn't long after that the family arrived at their destination, the two cars parking in the driveway before meeting up at the door of the house waiting as Robbie unlocked the door allowing everyone to pile inside. "Ok, everyone has the same rooms as the last time we were here. No arguing over rooms." Robbie says, sending a pointed look to Jayden, Phoenix and Xander, the three who fought over their rooms the last time.
"Yeah, yeah. Got it. No fighting." Jayden mumbles with a roll of his eyes, already taking his things to his room with everyone else following suit.
"Come on, Wes." Willow rushes, pulling on her twins arm before running ahead of him towards the stairs.
Once the twins had finished unpacking Willow was quick to rush off, making sure to drag Wes along as she searched for something to do and for one of their older brothers to make them join as well. "Where are we going?" Wes asks as he watches the girl aimlessly walk around the large house as if exploring, which in a way she was, they hadn't come out to this house in years and so she decided to have a look around while figuring out a way to occupy them.
"I don't know yet." Willow shrugs, entering another room which happened to belong to her favorite brother - aside from Wes, of course - Phoenix. "Nix!"
The boy turns around at the sound of the girls voice shooting her a quick smile before turning back to what he was doing, unpacking. "Hey Wills, Wes. What're you guys doing?"
She shrugs, glancing over to her twin before responding. "Nothing yet." She answers, walking closer to the older one of the three. "Can you do something with us?"
He shakes his head. "I can't right now."
Willow frowns. "Why not?"
"I have to finish unpacking."
"Will you do something with us when you're done?" Wes asks.
Phoenix nods. "Sure."
"Ok, we're gonna wait downstairs." She tells him, once again pulling on her twins arm as she leads him away, back downstairs and to the Livingroom where they find Ian and Noel. "Hi."
"Hi." The two older brothers greet as their eyes move from the tv in front of them to the twins who sit next to them.
"What're you watching?" Wes questions getting the response of 'friends'. "Is that the one Jamie likes?"
Noel nods. "Yup, it's her favorite show."
"Why? It looks boring." Wes frowns, Willow gasping dramatically and turning to her twin with a look of offense.
"How dare you! I love this show!"
Wes shrugs. "It still looks boring."
The girl narrows her eyes at her twin before sticking her tongue out at him acting as the child she is, Wes mirroring her actions. "K, are you guys ready?" Phoenix asks as he enters the room, his appearance distracting the twins who quickly nod and rush off with him.
Willow could remember the rest of that day clearly. From the hour she, Wes and Phoenix spent at the lake alone before being joined by the rest of the family.
"Doesn't this look cozy." Ian's voice startles the three who jump, turning to look at their eldest brother before spotting everyone else coming up from behind. "Mind if we join?"
"Not at all." Phoenix says as he turns back to what he was doing - teaching the twins how to skip rocks.
"I can't do it!" Wes complains, dramatically flopping backwards onto the deck after once more failing to skip a rock.
"Just try again." Willow urges her twin while giving him an encouraging smile, trying to help him do it though he had quit after another failed attempt, leaving her and Phoenix to themselves as he began to bother Noel.
All of them messing around in the water.
"Stop splashing me!" Willow exclaims as she clings tightly to her father's back, the man carrying her around the water.
"Then don't be such an easy target!" Jayden argues, continuing to splash the water they're in at the girl.
To her watching her brothers wrestle.
"Go Ian!" Willow cheers, Wes covering her mouth as he cheers for Noel.
"You can do it Noel! Get him!"
The way her mother had snuck up behind everyone and pushed them into the water which ended in everybody ganging up and doing the same to her.
"Say you're sorry!" Robbie says as he corners her on the dock, Noel by his side while Phoenix and Jayden block her other path, Ian and the twins still in the water watching the show.
"Never!" She calls, running towards her youngest sons, pushing them both back into the water as she makes her escape, though Xander catches her before she could make it too far. "No! Wait! I'm sorry! Ok? Don't do it!"
"Hmm, what do you say, Xander? Think she deserves mercy?" Robbie speaks to his son with a smirk, the boy wearing a matching one.
"Yes! She does! I do!" She says wiggling in Xander's arms though stills when she looks over her shoulder at him. "You wouldn't throw your own mother into a lake, would you?"
Xander hums, head tilted in faux thought. "I don't know? Would you ever throw your own kids into a lake? Oh, wait, you already did." He let's out a playful scoff. "Payback, ma." He says as he moves them to the edge, Victoria beginning to thrash but Xander is quick to lock his arms around her torso as he throws them both backwards into the water, Victoria shouting empty threats as he does so, a final scream escaping her lips just as they hit the water while everyone laughed at her.
Victoria and Robbie making everyone take family photos.
"Ok, Jayden, scooch in a little closer." Victoria orders, rolling her eyes when Jayden shakes his head. "Honey, come on, just one photo. It's not going to kill you."
Jayden stays stubborn, only moving when Xander grabs his arm and pulls him closer, Ian standing on his otherside as they both place an arm around the boys shoulder to hold him in place. "Ok, hurry." Ian tells her as Jayden groans in annoyance, shoving his brothers arms off of him though staying in his spot for the photo.
Victoria smiles as she looks at her children, Robbie by her side as they take the photo, the man grabbing the camera from her hands once she's done. "Ok, you're turn. Get in there."
"You first." She retorts as she takes the camera back, nudging her head toward their kids. Robbie reluctantly agrees, making his way over and posing with everyone while Victoria snaps another photo, Robbie quick to walk back over to her and insisting he take the next photo so she too could have one with the kids.
"Come on!" Jayden throws his head back. "You said we were only taking one photo!"
Phoenix snorts. "We all know one photo means at least five."
"Yeah, well, they said only one, so that should mean just one." He grumbles.
"Stop complaining." Willow tells him, picking the pink nail polish off of her nails as she waits for the next photo to be taken.
"No one was talking to you." Jayden narrows his eyes at her.
"So?" She shrugs unbothered.
"So then be quiet."
"You're such a grouch." She mumbles, Jayden rolling his eyes in response followed by a 'whatever'.
"No arguing." Victoria warns as he joins the group, pointing to the camera that her husband holds. "Smile."
Jayden huffs but complies, shooting a very unconvincing smile in the direction of the camera, eyes narrowing into a slight glare of annoyance until the click of the photo is heard and he rushes off, not giving his parents a chance to include him in another one. "Jayden!" Robbie calls.
"You said one photo and we've taken five! Count me out of the next ten!" He shouts, jumping back into the water and leaving the family behind.
"Like i said, he's a grouch." Willow concludes with a shrug, rushing off to continue annoying Jayden.
The sandcastles she had made with the help of her mother, only for them to get trampled by her brothers while they were playing football.
"Xander!" Willow shouts, her eyes glued to the pile of sand sitting in front of her where her sandcastle that she had spent thirty minutes perfecting used to stand.
"Oh shit." He gapes, glancing to Phoenix who sends his sister an apologetic look.
"Sorry, Wills." Phoenix cringes.
"You broke it!" She exclaims, looking up at the two with teary eyes that she knew would make them fill with guilt, and she was right, as the girl looks up at them like they had just kicked a puppy they were immediately struck with guilt.
"We- we can fix them." Phoenix says, Xander nodding along with his younger brothers words.
"Yeah, we can help you." He says moving to sit beside her, picking up the bucket in front of him and dumping sand inside. "See? It'll be easy." He tells her as he flips the bucket, patting the top before gently pulling it over to reveal a lopsided castle. "Easy." He nods, cringing slightly as the top crumbles off.
Willow's eyebrows raise as she looks to Xander. "I thought you said it was easy?"
"Yeah, it is." He insists. "I'll just... try it again."
It was only after Xander's fifth failed attempt Willow had shooed him away and rebuilt the castles herself, finishing just in time to go home. It was such a good day, a day full of fun from the moment they arrived to the day in the water, right up to the family dinner and movie night. Willow went to bed with a smile on her face, excited to wake up the next day to have another day just like that one, though this time with the addition of her older sister who she knew would make the day better than before, the thoughts had her beaming with excitement by the time she had fallen asleep, the little girl blissfully unaware that in only a few hours time the world around her would begin to crumble much like the sandcastles she had worked so hard to build.
Across the hall from the twins bedroom was the parents of the DeLaCruz kids, both of which were sound asleep when Robbie's phone began to ring, the name Jamie flashing across the screen. The man groans as he blindly reaches for the cellphone, swiping accept once he finds it. "Hello?"
"Hey, dad! Sorry, i know it's late but i need some help." Jamie's voice comes out rushed and full of frustration.
"What's wrong? You alright?" The father asks slowly sitting up, careful to not wake his wife who sleeps soundly next to him.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, but my cars not." She groans, the sound of a car door being closed heard in the background.
"What'd you do to it now?" He sighs rubbing a hand down his face.
Jamie scoffs. "Nothing! I wasn't even driving, it was Michael." She confesses, throwing her boyfriend under the bus. "It just broke down, Michael says it's just a flat tire but we don't have a spare."
"And you were hoping i would?" He guesses.
"Yeah we were hoping, and if you didn't we were just gonna ask if you could come get us."
"Where are you guys?" He asks as he stands beginning to gather clothes.
"I'm... not exactly sure?" Jamie sighs out. "I'll figure it out and send you an address, sound good?" She offers, Robbie agreeing before the two hang up.
The man gets dressed and collects what he needs before turning to his wife, gently shaking her awake. "Hmm?" Victoria hums, slowly turning to look at her husband. "What's wrong?"
"Jamie just called, they got a flat tire and i have to go get them." He informs, the woman nodding and offering to go with him. "No, it's alright."
"Ok. Be careful, alright?" She tells him, giving him a peck on the lips before he stands. "Love you."
"I love you too." He sends her a smile. "We'll be back soon." He tells her getting a nod.
Victoria watches her husband disappear out the door, his quiet footsteps fading into silence as her chest fills with a feeling of dread, a gut feeling telling her something wasn't right, though she ignored it, figuring she was just tired and instead turned over and went back to sleep, she too blissfully unaware of the fact that that would be the last time she would ever see her husband again when he was alive and well.
To Willow it was a blur, as if it was all happening in slow motion yet at the same time it happened so fast that she wasn't able to process anything going on, it was like she was living a nightmare, which in a way she was.
She could remember her mother shaking her awake, the tears rolling down Victoria's cheeks setting alarms off in Willow's head.
"Mom? What's happening? What's wrong?" She questions as she watches her mother wiping her tears away.
"Come on, you need to get dressed." Victoria says as she digs through the girls dresser, grabbing clothes for the girl and handing them to her as she rushes to Wes, doing the same for him. "Hurry up, come on. We have to go home."
"Why?" Wes questions, his tired voice shaking as he does.
"Just get dressed, please." Victoria pleads. "I have to go wake up your brothers."
It wasn't until hours later when they reached the city, settling in back home that the twins were told by Ian what had happened, how when Robbie was changing Jamie's flat tire a car had collided with them. Robbie was trapped under the car and had died by the time paramedics arrived. Jamie was sitting inside the car and died on impact and Michael was left in a coma, his parents pulling the plug on him after months of him showing no signs of recovering.
Robbie and Jamie's funerals were held together a week later, that day being the last time Victoria was seen by anyone other than her kids. The family began to fall apart as more time went on, Ian had taken over running Robbie's company's while doing his best to also keep Victoria's buissness in tact. Noel helped Ian in anyway he could while also looking out for their younger siblings as Victoria was too unfit to do it, the woman unable to even get out of bed on her own. Xander distanced himself from the family more than he ever had before. He was barely ever home, disappearing to his friends houses for nights on end. Phoenix stuck around for the twins, trying to be there for him while he pushed away his own grief, not being able to face it and instead focusing on others. And Jayden began to act out, getting into fights nearly everyday, hanging out with the wrong crowds and getting into more trouble with each passing day.
Willow and Wes didn't know what to do, there wasn't anything they could do. They were freshly turned eight year olds who held a world full of guilt on their shoulders for being the cause of their family's demise. They were the ones to ask to spend their birthday weekend out of town, they bugged their parents for days trying to convince them to take them up to their lake house and they practically begged Jamie to come along too. Maybe if they hadn't done that then she and their father would still be there and maybe they would be stuck watching their family shatter.
A month had passed until Victoria had finally cracked, tearing apart her room and shoving her clothes into a suitcase, ordering her kids to do the same and eventually they had, each piling into their cars and following her as she drove them to a house she had bought saying that she could no longer handle living in their old home where too much memories were made, and no one could argue with her there because those memories had been haunting them too, constantly reminding them of their loss. And so, they each piled into the penthouse apartment Victoria bought without any complaints.
By the time five months had passed nothing had gotten better, instead they got worse. Victoria was out at bars every night getting into fights and causing problems for Ian and Noel who were now the owners of each of their parent's buissness', and with the two having taken over the company Victoria had once ran had caused the woman a breakdown and she ran off on a bender, days later getting arrested for crashing one of Ian's live events. The media ate it up and by the next day a photo of Victoria DeLaCruz sitting in the back of a police car was on the front page of every newspaper, story after story being written about the once well respected woman and her family, stories being written about how much they had lost and how they've fallen apart. And so with reporters harassing the DeLaCruz kids everywhere they went, questioning whoever they could for more information they could use for stories, Ian had reached his own breaking point and left with the excuse of needing to keep a good image for his company and of course Noel followed behind his brother as well, leaving Xander as the next in line to care for the younger ones of the family, Ian and Noel not being heard from again.
It had worked for a while, Xander tried his best with running the household and it was all going good. He lasted two months and all was well until he couldn't do it anymore. Xander wasn't made to look after anyone, he never did well in the family department, he was distant and considered himself the black sheep while growing up and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to change, no matter how much he wished he could it just wouldn't happen and eventually he gave up, packing a bag and following in his older brothers footsteps as he left without a word, he too never being heard from again.
Phoenix was always Willow's favorite brother, the one she looked up too the most, so when Robbie had died she depended on him the most, sticking by his and Wes' side through it all. And so when Phoenix was the next to go she was devastated, his leaving hit her the hardest and she fell apart. She didn't care if Jayden tried to take over - which he didn't even bother to try and do - and she didn't care if any of her other brothers came back. Willow realized that she couldn't stop it, everyone was going to leave and there was nothing she could do to prevent it, she had tried, begging each of her brothers to stay but they never did, instead she was stuck watching them pack their bags and disappear out the door. It didn't matter how many times she called them or how many voicemails she left, they never answered. So why should she expect Jayden to stay when she knew he was always the most likely to leave without a second thought?
And she was right. Within only a week of Phoenix leaving a sixteen year old Jayden packed a bag and ran away without so much as a goodbye.
It wasn't long after that Victoria had packed up their things again and moved them to another apartment, though this time it wasn't a fancy penthouse like the last time she had done it, or even as cozy as the home they were raised in. Instead it was an old two bedroom apartment that looked as though it was on the verge of collapsing in on them.
"Why do we have to live here?" Wes asks his mother as he walks around the small livingroom that holds an old couch that was covered in dust.
"Because Wes, we aren't rich anymore. We can't afford a ten bedroom house or a penthouse."
"What about the money grandma and grandpa send?" Willow wonders.
"That's how we're affording this." The mother answers with annoyance. "We still have money, enough to keep us comfortable without worry while I'm out of work. We just don't have enough to spend like we used to."
Willow learnt that her mothers words were a lie at the age of ten when she found her mothers wallet and bank account full of thousands of dollars and by the age of eleven she had figured it all out thanks to her mothers drunk rambles. It was only a month after Skyla was born and Victoria had spent that time catching up on the nine months of drinking she had missed out on, leaving Willow to look after her when she stumbled through the apartment doors at five am wasted.
Throughout the hour that Willow spent cleaning her mother up she had listened to her Victoria's confession and learnt about the several sources of money they were earning. She already knew that Vince had been giving them money, wanting to help out even after he had moved them to a new apartment in a better area, but she knew that Vince wouldn't have given them that much money no matter how rich he was and she was right. According to Victoria she was still being given a lot of money by her parents, being paid to stay out of their lives and to keep the secret that she was the oldest child of the great Branson family, as well as some money they had been sending for Willow and Wes so they would have no worries as they grew up. She was also told about how Victoria was renting out some of her other properties, their lake house, the house they grew up in and even the penthouse she had moved them into after the accident, she had been renting them out for extra cash. But the one she was most surprised about was that Victoria was still earning money from her old company as well as Robbie's. Victoria had explained it to her daughter as best as she could with the alcohol in her system, telling her that even though Ian and Noel were now in charge of running the company's she was still involved with them since she had built them from the ground up and all the rights went to her, but Ian didn't like that and so he had made her a deal, she could still be involved as long as she stayed away and behind the scenes since he didn't want her to ruin the image he had built for himself, and so with some convincing Victoria had reluctantly agreed and stepped back, officially giving Ian and Noel the head jobs.
Willow wasn't mad. She knew they were ok, they had plenty of money to get by for years without needing to worry or so much as even consider getting a job, they could stay comfortable and still have lots to spare, and so if Victoria wanted to spend some of that money who was she to stop her? No one. But just because she wasn't mad didn't mean Willow approved on how her mother spent that money, how what Victoria had kept for herself would be partied away. It made her sad and she was concerned, but there was nothing she could do other than stand by and watch, and she did just that for the next four and a half years, right up until today as she found herself stuck in the strong hold of depression.
Within the span of a year the DeLaCruz family had completely fallen apart. Two of them had died, five had walked away, three were left behind and eventually a new one was brought into the aftermath of what was left of the once happy family. It was sad and now that the memories became fresh in the girls mind once more it was like she was reliving it all again, experiencing it through the eyes of her younger self and it made her realize a few things.
They were once a happy family and Willow missed that, she missed her childhood and all that it once was before it was stolen out from under her and now she was left to grieve that. But still, no matter how much she missed it and no matter how many days she spent wishing things could have been different, she wouldn't change a thing because everything that happened turned her into the person she was now, and despite the self hatred she often felt whenever her mind was in a dark place, she still loved who she was and she loved everyone around her. If the accident hadn't happened she wouldn't have found her new family, her chosen family, and she would die before ever thinking of changing that because they were her everything, they were her light in the dark and they were there whenever she needed them the most, they always picked her back up when she's fallen. And that wasn't changing anytime soon.
"Hey, Wills." Wes says quietly as he enters their bedroom, closing the door behind him and slowly approaching the girl who lays half asleep on her bed. "How're you feelin'?"
"Tired." The girls raspy voice is heard for the first time in the last twenty four hours.
"Are you actually tired or do you just want to be left alone?" He raises his eyebrows at her.
"Both." She sighs.
"Yeah, i know." Wes lets out a sigh of his own as he lays down next to her. "What're you thinking about?"
"Nothing." Willow is quick to answer.
"Really?" She nods. "Are you sure you're not thinking about dad and Jamie?"
Willow silence is the only answer he needs to know that his assumption was correct and without another word Wes pulls his twin into his side for a hug. "I miss them." She mumbles into his shirt, a tear escaping from her glossy eyes.
"I know. I miss them too." Wes says, rubbing soothing circles on her back.
The twins stay like that for a few minutes, Willow finding comfort in the arms of her brother while he works up the courage to drag her out of bed, until finally he decides to just rip the band aid off and get it over with, blurting out what he, Sasha, Sophia and Cameron had been discussing for the past hour leaving Willow stunned.
"No." She immediately says, pushing him off of her bed and pulling the blanket over her head as if she was trying to disappear.
"Why not?"
"Because i don't want to." She answers simply.
He groans as he pulls himself off the floor, yanking the covers off of his twin so he can argue his words further. "Come on, Willow. You can't hide in here forever! And besides, we're not asking you to do anything, all you have to do is lay there and watch the tv."
"But if i do that then i have to move." She whines, pulling a pillow over her head that Wes immediately takes away from her. "Wes!"
"No, you're not getting it back." He shakes his head. "Get up."
"No."
"Get up." He repeats.
"No!"
"Willow Alexandria DeLaCruz!"
Willow gasps dramatically at his use of her full name, now knowing how serious he actually was she groans. "The full name?! Really?"
"Did it work?" She sighs before reluctantly nodding, Wes smiling in victory at the sight. "Good, now get up."
Willow rolls her eyes but stands nonetheless. "Fine, fine. Whatever." She mutters with a huff as she grabs her blanket, wrapping it around herself and venturing towards the door, shooting Wes a glance before signing once more and opening it only to reveal their friends on the otherside, the three having been eavesdropping. She shakes her head but says nothing about their actions, instead walking past them and to the livingroom where she curls up on the couch. "Don't expect me to help!"
"We weren't!" Cameron calls from her room.
Five minutes later and the friends had gotten what they wanted as they set up the livingroom. Wes and Sophia drag out the boys mattress while Sasha and Sophia bring out Willows before laying them down on the floor next to each other, piling as many blankets and pillows as they could onto them. The five friends pile onto the beds, all cuddled together, wrapped in blankets and surrounded by pillows with a variety of snacks before them as they binge watch Friends, a show they each loved.
Willow wasn't feeling better, her head was still twisting with dark thoughts and memories but those seemed to quiet down when she was in the company of her friends, blocked out by the sounds of their talks and their laughter. Sure, it wasn't better - Willow wasn't better, but she was happier, and her problems seemed more bearable now which proved to her once more that her chosen family was her safe place, the people she would always need.
Now she just had to hope that the world wouldn't tare them apart like it had with her blood family.
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This chapter is so long and it took me forever to write. I'm so sorry it took so long for this update, I've been trying to write this for the past few weeks but i couldn't get it into a way that i felt was good and liked so i kept rewriting it, but it's been too long since i last updated and i decided this was as good as the chapter was gonna get so i hope that you guys like it cause that's all that really matters.
Sorry for any marjor mistakes in this chapter but it's really long (8000+ words) and I'm not up for editing it.
Not sure when the next update will be, my mental health is super against me right now so my writing hasn't been the best, especially for Forever Us Against The World. But for anyone interested i do have two other stories published that I'm going to be focusing on and updating more, they're fanfics though (both for Teen Wolf) so I'm not sure if anyone is into reading those?
Anyways, thanks for reading, i hoped you enjoyed<3
Does anyone have anything they might wanna see in future chapters? More flashbacks? More interactions between certain characters? I'm open for suggestions and ideas so lmk what you think.