"Erm... Do you mind taking me to my car? I need to go do something...." Audrey asked softly, looking what was in front of her. The scenery was changing as the cars were driving to their destinations.
"You're not coming with us?" Madison asked, turning to face the girl, looking at her as if she were crazy.
"I... I am... I just need to see my brother and sister before I do anything else... I need to..." Audrey couldn't finish speaking-- instead she began to cry.
Madison nodded, "Travis." She called. She didn't have to say anything else, Travis knew exactly what she wanted him to do.
"Listen, you meet us at our house when you're done. I'm going to need you to go grocery shopping. We're leaving town-- going to the desert until this all blows over..."
Audrey nodded slowly.
"Nick, stop that." Travis said, not bothering to look over at Nick who'd been scanning radio stations for news about what they'd just witnessed. He wanted answers. He needed answers.
"They're not talking about it!" Nick yelled, aggravated.
In no less than six minutes, they arrived at the diner.
"Thanks." Audrey spoke softly, exiting the truck and walking over to her car. After unlocking it, she stepped inside it, sat down, turned her car on, and carefully backed out of the parking spot.
Once Travis saw her leave, he started heading over to Matt's house to get Alicia.
Audrey took a deep breath and knocked on a green door to a town house that was painted in aqua blue.
She heard shuffling before the door was opened, only to reveal her -needless to say- drunk mother.
"Oh- hi. Do you have the stuff?" The woman asked, not knowing it was her daughter at the door and not a drug dealer.
"No-- mom, it's me." Audrey answered, her face was contorted in disgust. This quickly changed when her mother started looking around as if she were paranoid. "Listen, I need to know if Andrea and Justin are here." Audrey continued, trying to sound as sweet as possible.
"Who?"
"Oh, for fuck's sake." Audrey muttered in frustration, gently moving her mother out of the way and walking into the messy apartment.
"J! Andy!" Audrey called.
"Yeah?" Andrea called back.
"Where's our brother?"
"Baseball practice."
"Okay, well grab your shit, I'm leaving town and you're coming with me!"
"What? Hold on--"
"NOOOO!!!! KIDNAPPER!!!" Their mother yelled, interrupting Andrea's train of thought as she grabbed one of Andrea's old textbooks and slammed it on Audrey's head; right when Andrea had finished making her way down the stairs.
"What the hell, mom?!" Andrea screamed as she ran over to her older sister. Audrey was holding her head in agony.
"Ah, fuck!" Audrey cried.
"Get away from my daughter, you creep!" Her mother yelled once more, getting ready to stab Audrey with a knife she had in her pocket, but hesitating when Andrea got in front of Audrey. Justin just happened to walk into the town house.
"Mom! Calm down! That's not a creep that's your daughter! How many times do I have to tell you this?!" Justin lectured. "Give me the knife, mom." He ordered sternly.
The woman didn't move.
"Give me the knife, Ailene." He ordered once more.
Ailene sighed and handed the knife over to her son.
"Go to your room. If I ever catch you doing something like this ever again, you're in deep shit." Justin warned. Ailene nodded and walked up the stairs and to her room, locking herself in.
By this time, Audrey had some what recovered.
"Are you okay, sis?" Justin asked, turning his attention away from the mad woman and toward his older sister.
Audrey nodded with a sniffle, crying on her sister's shoulder.
"Hey, hey." Justin cooed, running over and hugging his sister. Andrea hugged her as well. "Everything's gonna be okay, sis." Andrea whispered.
"No it's not... Which is why I'm getting you guys the hell out of here." Audrey managed to say.
"What?" Justin asked.
"Yeah... So... Go to your room and pack your clothes and... And pack whatever you think you'll need. Just... Yeah... Umm.. I'll wait here..."
"Okay... It might take me a while, I'll have to pack mom's stuff, too." Justin muttered.
"Why would you pack her shit?" Andrea and Audrey asked him.
"What do you mean? She's coming with us, isn't she?"
"I don't think she should..."
"Seriously? She's our mom! She needs us, and you're gonna let her fend for herself? We don't even know what's going on! I'm not going anywhere if mom doesn't go." Justin stood his ground. "We owe her this, Audrey."
Audrey sighed, giving up, "fine... We'll take her with us... Just pack your shit and quit wasting time. You know what? Don't worry about packing mom's shit, I'll pack it."
With that, Audrey stood up quickly. She got up a little too quickly, she almost fell over because she was dizzy. "Woah..." She mumbled.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Andrea asked.
Audrey nodded as she made her way up the stairs and to her mother's room. She entered the room without knocking. Not bothering to say one word to Ailene. Not even bothering to look at the woman, she made a bee line to the closet and began stuffing a red suitcase with clothes.
"Guys, make it quick! I still have to go grocery shopping and meet mom at her place!" Audrey yelled.
"Okay!" They answered.
"You're pathetic, you know that, right?" Audrey insulted.
"I'm not. You are. You're a sorry excuse for a daughter, Audrey." Ailene shrugged, crossing her arms, lying on her bed and looking up at the ceiling.
"Oh, so now you remember me? What, did you sober up in the last twenty minutes?" Audrey scoffed, tossing her mother's favorite shirt in her suitcase and walking out.
"Finish packing your own shit. Your kids shouldn't be the ones taking care of you. It's supposed to be the other way around. That's why you're the pathetic one."
"Audrey." Ailene called.
Audrey ignored her.
"AUDREY." She repeated loudly.
"Yes, Ailene?" Audrey answered as she turned to face her suddenly sober mother.
"I want to tell you... I'm sorry about everything that I've done to you..." Ailene apologized, hugging her daughter.
Audrey stiffened. She didn't know how to react.
What shocked her more were the words that came out of her mother's mouth next.
"I love you, Audrey."
Audrey teared up. That was the first time she'd heard Ailene say those words since her father was sent to fight a war ten years ago.
She automatically softened up and hugged her mom back. "I love you too, mom." She whispered softly, burying her face in the crook of Ailene's neck and hair.
"Okay, you guys know how our grocery missions work." Audrey began speaking as they huddled together in the coffee section. "I need you guys to grab shit that has long shelf life but doesn't taste like shit, got it?" Audrey asked.
Andrea and Justin nodded, "got it!"
"Okay, get to it!"
Tap tap tap tap tap.
"Guys, it's me." Audrey said.
Alicia quickly went to open the door.
"Hey, Aud-" Alicia stopped, looking over Audrey's shoulder, spotting Andrea, Ailene, and Justin helping with some groceries.
"Umm... Come in Andy, J... Put the stuff on the table..."
"Thanks." Audrey muttered, walking toward her car and taking the rest of the groceries out.
Alicia stepped out of the house and cornered Audrey when she was about to shut her trunk and everyone else was inside. "What's she doing here?" Alicia questioned angrily.
"I had to take her with me..."
"No you didn't."
"Yes I did. Justin wouldn't have come if I didn't let her tag along... Plus... She apologized to me... She said she loves me." Audrey responded nervously.
"She's toying with your emotions, A."
"She's not... She hasn't said that to me in a long time, so I know she meant it."
Alicia sighed. "She has said it before to guilt trip you into doing something she wants you to do! Remember when you and your band played at school? How she was all nice to you up until you decided you wanted to hang out with Nick, your dad, and I? How she started screaming at you and smacked you in the face in front of everybody there? How you literally had to keep me and Nick from kicking her ass? How she had the audacity to insult your father who had just come back from Iraq and even worse, insult you? How she insulted me, Nick, and our mom? How she 'sincerely apologized' to you when she needed your help in getting her some meth from her stupid drug dealer?" She ranted, flailing her arms around.
"What's your point, Ally?" Audrey asked, hurt was heard in her voice.
"What I'm saying is, this has all happened before. And it'll keep happening if you don't stand up for yourself. I just don't want to see you get hurt over and over again. You're destroying yourself by letting her get to you. It's not right. I can't stand her! Neither does Nick. And neither does mom. You know mom will be pissed when she sees Ailene in there."
Audrey sighed, "I just wanted to give her another chance... She sounded genuine when she asked for my forgiveness..."
"She also sounded genuine when she wanted some weed, what's your point, A?"
Audrey sighed once more, "we'll figure this out... I just don't want to see Justin or Andrea get mad at me. Or think of me as a bitch. Do you know how mad Justin got when I told him I was only planning on taking them- not Ailene? I just don't want to lose them, Ally. I wouldn't be able to handle either of them hating me." Audrey sobbed.
"I'm sorry..." Alicia said, hugging her best friend/ sister, and stroking her hair. She furrowed her eyebrows when she felt a bump on Audrey's head.
"Why is there a bump on your head?"
"Oh... Um... I fell and hit my head earlier... You know how clumsy I am..." Audrey lied, chuckling nervously.
"Okay, that's it..."
Alicia immediately walked into a heated argument between Nick and Ailene. Audrey walked in soon after.
"Why are you even here?" Nick asked, crossing his arms. Even if he were sick, he was going to stand his ground. Especially, when it involved Audrey.
"That's exactly what I want to know." Alicia said, crossing her arms as well. For the first time in a while, Alicia and Nick were teaming up. Audrey fiddled with her thumbs anxiously.
"Your girlfriend said I could come." Ailene answered, glancing at Nick with a smirk.
"Doesn't mean you're allowed in the household." Alicia said smartly.
Before Ailene could open her mouth and let any type of sound out, Nick spoke.
"You know, you've gotten too ballsy when it comes to Audrey. She may not defend herself when it comes to you-- but she's got an army behind her to do it instead. Now, we're not gonna decide whether or not you're staying with us because my mom is the decision maker. But IF she lets you come with us, and that's a big IF because I doubt she will-- you better not do anything to fuck it up. You will not continue using Audrey as a punching bag. You will not manipulate your children into thinking Audrey is the bad guy and you're a saint. You will not take your anger out on Justin or Andrea. And you will most definitely not disrespect anyone here. I'm tired of you thinking you run shit when you don't. You have absolutely no right to come into my fucking house and talk shit about my family." Nick ranted. "Fuck you." He said.
"Fuck you." He repeated. "Fuck you, your bullshit, and fuck the way you treat people. You don't deserve any of the great children you have. Fuck you. Fuck your bullshit because you ARE bullshit."
"You know what? You're staying outside until my mom gets home. We'll see what happens then." Alicia ordered.
"Dumb bitches, I hope you all die." Ailene muttered under her breath as she walked out.
"Did you hear something, Nick?"
"Yeah, I believe it was an idiot talking." Nick laughed as Alicia shut the door and locked it.
"I can't believe this bitch." She huffed.
"It's not a big deal, guys... She apologized..." Audrey mumbled.
"For what? The five millionth time already?" Nick asked sarcastically. "Babe. I'm telling you, you'll keep feeling like crap until you stand your ground."
"I did stand my ground! And then I got smack in the back of my head with a hardcover science text book!"
"Then why is she here?!"
"Because Justin wanted her to come with us!"
"You should've told him that she is not welcome here!"
"I did! But he said he wouldn't come unless she tagged along..."
Nick sighed, "I'm gonna go talk to Justin."
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Just don't. You're sick. You shouldn't be worrying about anything right now, so lie down and rest." Audrey changed the subject.
Alicia sighed, "I'll be in my room..." She informed before grabbing her phone and quickly running to her room.
Audrey took a deep breath and stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen, opening the fridge. "Do you need anything babe?"
Nick didn't reply.
Audrey huffed and walked over to him.
"What's wrong?"
"Everything. Everything's wrong. Everything's fucked up."
"We'll get through it, though."
"Are you sure?"
Audrey nodded in response to Nick's question.
"Things will get worse before they get better."