Veronica ended up staying until the sun went down. Sam and her spent the day going back and forth from reading comics in the tree house to learning how to play poker in the kitchen. They used gummy bears as poker chips until Laddie came upstairs and stole their stash. After dinner, she decided to stick around and help Lucy.
"Veronica sweetie, when does your Mom want you home?" Lucy asked as Veronica helped her put away the dishes.
"Oh whenever..." She jumped down from the counter and headed over to the living room where Michael and Sam sat watching TV. Ever since Michael woke up he had been pacing around the room waiting for Star to come home. It wasn't until Sam turned on the TV that he finally sat down. He still wasn't completely calm, though, releasing his pent up anxiety by bouncing one leg in an uneven pattern.
"It's just not like her," he mumbled under his breath as he kept looking at the clock. His brow was in a constant furrowed expression that only deepened as the night went on.
"Did she tell you where she was going?" Veronica asked, sitting down in between the two brothers.
"No, she didn't even show up this morning. She's been gone all day."
"Did you call her work?" Sam questioned.
"Yeah, they said she left work early yesterday and never came back. She didn't come in tonight, either." He let out a rush of air and glanced at the TV. "If she doesn't show up in a half hour I'm heading out to go find her."
They sat in silence for about ten minutes when they heard a rumbling in the distance. Michael closed his eyes and let a curse slip through his lips. When the bikes pulled up and came to a halt, the door opened to reveal four heavily haired men with Star.
"Where's the little Lad?" A dark haired one boomed while marching in with a smile on his face.
"Dwayne!" Laddie's small footsteps thudded up the basement stairs. Dwayne met him halfway there and Laddie's mouth started moving a mile a minute as he began to tell him all about his day at school and what he made in his art class. Dwayne just nodded and smiled, not understanding a word of what this overly-excited boy was saying. A guy with long blonde hair came up next to Dwayne and helped him translate what Laddie was saying.
The one with curly hair walked in with Star and stayed in the corner of the room as she ran up to Michael and hugged him.
"They didn't do anything to you, did they?" Michael asked when he stood and hugged her back tightly, almost in a possessive way. She hid her face in his neck and just shook her head.
Lastly, David strode in like he owned the place. When Veronica looked at him she couldn't help but smile. She tried to hide it by biting her lip, but it didn't seem to work. David locked eyes with her and gave her a small mocking smile. She turned away and blushed at the TV.
"Where the hell have you been?" Michael finally demanded when they broke the hug.
"She was with me, Michael." David answered for Star and leaned up against the wall near the curly haired one. "I kept her safe. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself an awful lot." He gave her a smile that didn't match his icy cold glare.
"Michael," Star mumbled, "I just got stuck out at the cave with them, that's all."
"Why were you out there with them?"
"David wanted to talk to me."
"Oh yes, we did a lot of talking. Didn't we Marko?" David looked toward the curly haired one, who bit his thumb nail to hide a small smile and nodded in reply.
"About what?" This time Michael was looking at David directly in the eyes.
"Things, like life and love." David hissed the last word.
"Uh, not to interrupt some brotherly bonding, but Veronica needs to get home." Sam stood up from the couch. "Michael, can you take her home? Mom's busy. I think she's on the phone with Grandpa, and Max is at work."
"Yeah sure, how's Grandpa?"
"He's done threatening to stuff himself, but now he's thinking of stealing the Widow's cat and sending it back to her...you know. Stuffed and free of charge." Sam's lip quivered and Michael's eyes held a smile.
"Your grandpa was dating the Widow?" The blonde one's mouth fell open. "That old hag has to be ancient! I can't believe she's still kicking, let alone in the dating circle!"
"Now now Paul, you can't judge a book by its cover." David lightly scolded with a half-smile.
"I'm sorry, it's just that...can you imagine her in bed?"
"I try to stay away from horrific images," Dwayne mumbled.
Paul continued, "I mean, come on! She has to be all dried up by now!" David covered his face and tried to hold in a laugh.
"I don't think an ex-prostitute ever dries up," Marko added from his corner.
"Guys! There are kids in the room!" Star's face held a disgusted look. "And she never worked the 'Red Light District'." She whispered as if the younger ones couldn't hear.
Sam glared at her. "I know what that means." He looked over to Veronica who was busy awkwardly looking back and forth from the guys. "So Michael, are you taking her home or not?"
"Aw sorry little guy," David uncovered his face, "we didn't mean to break up your date so early."
"Man, we are such cock-blockers!" Paul laughed.
"Michael just take her home," Star pleaded. "There's no way we can censor them when they get like this."
"She's not my date!" Sam said through gritted teeth.
David gave another half-smile. "Well then, you won't mind if I steal her and take her home on my bike."
"Actually I would, because I asked Michael to. I don't trust that you'll get her home safely."
"Oh? But I'm your big brother, why would I hurt a girl you're crushing on?"
"Stop it," Star mumbled as she leaned against Michael's shoulder.
"You're not my big brother yet, and even when Mom and Max get married you'll only be my dirt bag step-brother!"
"Ow, feisty little fellow there, eh?" Paul laughed an air-heads laugh. "Come on Laddie, show me your art project downstairs. It looks like things are getting a little heated up here." Dwayne and Paul followed the still excited boy back to the basement.
"How about this you little brat," David's smile disappeared. "You let Veronica decide, since you know, she is a human with the capabilities of making up her own mind."
"Fine," he turned to Veronica. The room went silent and all eyes were on her, including those silver blue eyes of the man who made her knees tremble. Well, at least she thought they were trembling from him, but embarrassment could do that job, too.
"Maybe I should just walk home," she barely got out in a whisper. She looked to the floor and admired her handiwork on her Keds.
"David, why are you being cruel to her? She's just a little girl." Star interrupted.
"I'm not being cruel; I'm just letting her decide. Kind of like a proper gentleman would do." He said with heavy sarcasm in his voice.
"More like a proper jerk," Sam uttered under his breath.
"Listen, I'll just take her home and then we can finish our little chat when I get back." Michael headed toward the door.
"Uh, why don't you drive her home in the car?" Sam suggested.
"That's what I was going to do." Michael looked at his brother quizzically. Veronica got a small deflated look in her eyes, which David picked up on right away.
"Well now you've just made it a lot easier. Would you rather ride in a car or have me take you home on my bike?" David stared at her waiting for the answer he knew was coming.
Veronica made the mistake of looking at him. They locked eyes and she couldn't look away even though she knew her face must be bright red.
"I think that settles it," David gave a smile, but his eyes gave a sort of dead look. He headed out the door and started his motorcycle.
"Wait...what just happened?" Sam looked back and forth from Veronica to Michael.
"David won, that's what happened." Michael said scornfully.
"Michael, not everything's a game with him. He may try to make it, but you-"
"Enough Star. I'm going to follow him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Come on Miss V."
Veronica felt relief that Michael didn't seem mad with her, but when she looked back to Sam on her way out she saw a look of hurt on his face. She waved good-bye with a small smile and walked over to David. When she looked back for Michael, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Your chariot awaits madam." David watched her from his side mirror. She stood next to the rumbling machine and shifted her weight from foot to foot. He lifted an eyebrow to her.
"I've never really been on a motorcycle before," she eventually whispered when she looked down to the ground.
"Just hop on and hang onto me. I promise I won't go too fast." His eyes darted up to the roof of the house, but looked back to Veronica just as quickly.
"Well actually I lied; I've been on a motorcycle before, it was just when I was still in my mom's stomach and she went on my Dad's. But I suppose that doesn't really count."
David laughed, "So you were born a motorcycle baby? How come you don't ride with your Dad?"
"'Cause he's dead." David's smile vanished. "He died on his motorcycle."
After a few seconds of silence David turned his head and looked at her. "You know what happens when people die?"
"They go to heaven?"
"Close, they turn into angels. And since your Dad died on his motorcycle, he's out there watching over all the bikers."
"So he'll keep me safe?"
"Yeah," this time a kinder smile appeared on his face. One that Veronica hadn't seen before. She got up her courage and let him help her on the bike. She felt awkward about it, but she put her arms around him. As soon as he took off she was glad she did; she worried that if she hadn't she would have be splattered back on the driveway. As he took off down the street she swore she saw something jump down from the roof of the house and land onto Michael's bike.
Just like he promised David delivered Veronica safely to her house. She waited until he was gone to open the door and face her mother. She found her at the kitchen table picking apart a ham and cheese sandwich.
"So you were at Max's place?" She eventually said, tossing aside the plate.
"You called Max?" Veronica softly responded.
"I was worried sick about you, but luckily you don't have many friends, so where else would you have gone?"
For some reason those words hurt Veronica, even though her mother's voice was slurred from alcohol and they were the truth. She shrugged and took a step out of the kitchen.
"Hold on, I'm not done with you." Veronica walked back in and when her mother pointed to a kitchen chair across from her, she sat. She noticed a case of empty beer bottles and a freshly poured wine glass.
"Don't think I'm going to let you get away with this young lady. For the next month...no, two months, you are to do the dishes every day, cut the lawn, and clean both bathrooms. Plus you'll be washing my car and I better not see a speck of dust in your bedroom for the next whole year. I'll be looking in everyday to make sure. And you're not allowed to go anywhere without my permission, even if you're over at Max's and you and Sam want to go for ice cream or something; you must call me first."
"What if you're not home?"
"Then I guess you won't be getting ice cream." Silence filled the room. Veronica kept her head down expecting more chores to come her way, but when her mother stood up from the table and threw away her uneaten dinner she knew her punishment was over and was free to go to her bedroom.
☢ ♥‿♥ 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝒇𝓸𝓻 𝓻𝒆𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰! 𝓓𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝒇𝓸𝓻𝓰𝒆𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓿𝓸𝓽𝒆 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝒇𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓲𝒇 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝒆𝓷𝓳𝓸𝔂𝒆𝓭 𝓲𝓽 ♥‿♥ ☢