early time update because i'm going ice skate and i'll forget. this chapter is a little rough so read with caution please. enjoy :)
Snow flew in all directions as I walked home from school. Ronnie had gone ahead since I stayed back with Betty at the B&G. She was writing the final article before we went on break and she was determined to make it perfect.
The Pembrooke was silent when I walked in the lobby. Andre greeted me from his desk, which I returned, before heading up the stairs. I could hear my family talking to each other from my spot outside, which was never a good sign.
"Hey, I'm-" I stopped short, words failing. My family was sitting at the table, a piece of paper in between them as they all turned towards me. "Everything okay?" I asked as I tossed my jacket on the chair.
My parents exchanged glances before looking at Ronnie. She gave them a glare before turning towards me. "Van, love. Come sit."
I gave them a skeptic look as I walked over, taking the seat next to my sister. Mom pushed the letter towards me, a sad look on her face. I glanced at all of them, taking in their expressions. This wasn't gonna be good.
I pulled the letter towards me as I directed my attention to it.
Mr. and Mrs. Lodge,
Two days ago, Paul Marrows came to my office with his attorney, Penelope Peabody. Mr. Marrows was released from New York State Prison two weeks ago on parole. He was incarcerated for child abuse, domestic violence, and drug possession as well as a few other charges. Since Mr. Marrows has taken a rehabilitation course, it is possible for him to reclaim ownership of his daughter, Savanna Lynn Marrows, if he wishes.
Mr. Marrows has requested to be reunited with his daughter a few days from now. There will be many legal matters to discuss and all members of the family must be present. If you wish to meet with me beforehand, please feel free to do so. I will contact you soon with more details.
Sincerely,
Paul Sowerberry
"Vanna?" Ronnie's touch was almost invisible on my skin.
Daddy huffed, "I didn't even think this kind of thing was allowed."
"This isn't fair," Ronnie fumed, "He was dangerous before, he still is now!"
Mom shook her head. "I was under the impression that she was ours under legal contract, not just social services."
Daddy rubbed his temple. "We adopted her, Hermione. Not just foster care. She is ours. I'll get with Sowerberry about this immediately. There's no way in hell I'm letting that man in this apartment."
"He's done it before," I murmured to myself.
"Excuse me?" Mom's eyes were wide as she looked at me.
I blinked a few times. "I um, I didn't mean-"
Daddy's hand slammed on the table, making me jump. "He was in here? How could you hide that from us?"
I shook my head quickly. "I don't even know if it was him! I assumed with the spray paint and the pictures that he-"
"There were pictures?" Mom repeated.
"I was scared okay?" I yelled, making the room go silent. I looked up at them. "I was absolutely terrified. I was walking home from Pop's and one of his friends tripped me, hence the wrist. He gave me an envelope of pictures."
I reached down into my bag and pulled it out, sliding it over to Mom. She looked at me, concerned, before pulling the pictures out. She shuffled them around as Daddy looked over her shoulders. I stretched my arm across the table to flip a photo over, revealing the red letters. Mom followed my action as they rearranged the photos to spell out the message.
"My God, Savanna," Mom whispered, her eyes not leaving the letters.
My arms crossed as I wrapped them around myself tightly, curling in. Veronica turned the pictures to face her, jaw dropping at the sight. She turned towards me as I quickly looked away, ashamed of my secrets.
"Savanna, this is a threat on your life!" Daddy persisted, "You have to take this seriously!"
I bit my lip and nodded as I looked down at my lap. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I pulled my legs up on the chair, burying my face into my knees. You don't know how bad I wanted to tell you but he always wins. Always.
I heard Ronnie sigh, "Stop yelling for a second and listen. Vanna and I ran into him a few days ago."
"Is there anything else you wanna tell us about?" Daddy raged, his hand clenching into a fist.
Veronica glared at him. "We didn't mean to. It was a quick run in and then we were gone. We haven't seen him since."
Daddy sighed angrily. "I'll get this handled accordingly. But mijas, if there's even a little sign of something, anything, you need to tell us immediately. Understood?" Ronnie and I nodded in response. My father took a sip of his drink before looking at me. "Princesa, I don't want you worrying about this. You're part of the family now. Don't ever think you're not."
I gave him a small smile as he and Mom excused themselves and headed into the study. Veronica sat back down beside me, turning to face me fully.
She smiled at me sadly as she rubbed my shoulder lightly. "Want me to get Jug?"
I didn't say anything but nodded, making her get up to grab her phone. She returned soon, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand.
"Here." She lifted it towards me. "I added some peppermint, just how you like it."
I took it from her hands. "Thanks, Ron."
"Vanna, it's going to be okay. Your parents didn't deserve you. They still don't. I'm not saying this just because you're my sister but because it's true." Veronica leaned forward on her elbows. "You're a light to so many people, me included. We're going to make sure you don't have to go back to him."
The hot chocolate burned my tongue as I took a sip. "I don't wanna leave, Ron. He's so mean and I can't....I just can't go back to that." My voice cracked as tears filled my eyes. "I love you guys too much to leave."
Ronnie wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a hug. I buried my head into her shoulder, letting out a deep breath as I relaxed into her embrace.
I knew this wasn't the end of Paul's attempts to get me back. This was just the beginning. He wouldn't go down easily. He never did.
"You know, I remember meeting you for the first time like it was yesterday," Veronica mumbled into my hair. "You were so shy and reserved."
I laughed, "You freaked out when I told you I didn't know what foundation was."
Veronica pulled out of the hug, a smile on her face. "It was a horrid crisis."
"Ron, we were ten. Makeup wasn't even the first thing in my mind." I rolled my eyes at her. "Was that the reason you wanted me to come with you? So you could fix my lack of makeup knowledge?"
"Definitely," She teased, smoothing her dress out. She kept her eyes on her lap as she sighed. "That, and you were so, so deserving. Deserving of a second chance, a better family, happiness. You were so thankful that day."
I smiled at the memory. "I was terrified on the inside. All that foundation was horrendous and I didn't want to end up like that." Veronica reached forward and flicked my forehead. I whined and brushed her hand away before drinking my hot chocolate again. "No, but for real, Veronica. I was over the moon. I thought I wasn't ever going to leave that town."
"And here we are, three different moves later. Not exactly the best town ever but-"
"But it's home," I interrupted, "And that's more than enough."
"Why do I feel like I've just walked into a sibling moment?" Jughead's voice broke us out of our flashbacks. I turned in my chair to see him, Serpent jacket and all, standing by the door.
Veronica stood up and rubbed my hair. "I'll be in my room if you need me."
I gave her a grateful smile as I stood up and crossed the room to wrap my boyfriend in a hug, burying my face into his jacket. "I missed you."
I felt him laugh. "Baby, I was literally down the street."
"Yeah," I mumbled, "But that's not here."
Jughead's eyes landed on the mess of pictures on the table plus the letter. He looked back at me. "Wanna tell me what's going on here? Your sister never calls me, of all people."
I shrugged, my arms still wrapped around his waist. "Nothing bad."
"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" Jughead leaned down to press a kiss to my forehead.
"Yeah, I know," I sighed.
Jug stepped away from me to flip all the pictures over, his eyes widening at some of them before he grabbed the letter. "Please tell me Hiram's handling this."
I bit my lip. "He is. I just didn't think-"
"Wait, wait. Hold on. Penelope Peabody?" Jughead looked at me, shocked.
"Yeah, so?" I stepped towards him to look at the name on the paper.
His gaze didn't move from it as he shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Look, how about we head to Pop's and get some milkshakes? Something to take your mind off of this," He suggested.
I nodded, still looking at the letter in his hands before pulling it away to set it back on the table. Daddy would handle this. I knew he would. I wouldn't have to worry about Paul trying any tricks ever again.
I hope.
--
Yeah, okay. I lied. Luck wasn't on my side and that's how I ended up wedged in between Jughead and Veronica while Paul Marrows sat across from me. My parents were standing to the left of Veronica, then it was Mr. Sowerberry, leaving Paul and Penelope next to each other.
Jughead's hand was intertwined with mine, constantly reminding me to breathe, but also hidden under the table from Daddy's view. My other hand was tucked under my thigh so I didn't have to feel it shaking in my lap. The glass of water in front of me had already been drained, the effects of a panic attack and headache from before. I knew this wasn't going to be fun.
"Thank you for allowing us to come, Mr. Lodge." Mr. Sowerberry smiled at Daddy.
Daddy's gaze didn't leave my ex-father's. "It didn't seem we had much of a choice."
Penelope folded her hands on the table. "My client has proved his successful recovery and is wishing to reclaim his child. All necessary documents have been validated and-"
"Wait, hold on," Jughead interrupted, "You're actually allowing this nutcase to fight for her custody?"
Penelope gave him a sickly fake smile. "Mr. Jones, I didn't know you were a part of this."
I squeezed my boyfriend's hand. "You know her?"
"She works with the Serpents." He glared at the blonde woman with all he had. "I guess she's defending drug dealers as well."
"Excuse me?" Mom leaned forward, her hand on the table. "There is no way in hell you're taking Savanna with you, drug dealer or not. She's legally ours and there is no discussion about it."
Paul crossed his arms, a smirk forming on his lips. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to try to get what's mine."
"She's not yours anymore! You lost any rights when you left her beaten and bruised ten years ago!" Daddy clenched his fist as he shouted.
"You can't stop me from seeing my own daughter." Paul kept his chill, only pissing Dad off more.
To my shock, Veronica slammed her hand down, her cool composure gone. "Alright, that's enough. Mr. Sowerberry, how is it even possible with his charges to regain custody of Savanna?"
Mr. Sowerberry shrugged. "Ms. Peabody just requested we have this meeting, Miss Veronica. For this to all go through, the courts would have to be involved and-"
"No!" My voice made the room go silent, all attention on me. "I'm telling you all right here, right now, that I'm not going anywhere with or near him. Do you hear me?" I pointed directly at Paul, my eyes narrowing into a glare.
"Savanna, baby, listen," Paul attempted to look like the good guy.
"She said no, asshole. Isn't that good enough?" Veronica tilted her head, almost challenging him.
Jughead squeezed my hand, alerting me of his presence. I almost forgot he was there. Whoever this Peabody chick was, Jughead knew she wasn't good. She was probably the only person crazy enough to even bring Paul's case further. Anyone else would be wise enough to turn him away.
"It's final." Mom pulled the attention back to her. "Mr. Marrows, your wishes will not be granted. Not in this apartment, this town, or even this country. A restraining order will be put into place and you will not be coming back near us or our daughters ever again. Andre, please escort them out." She waved her hand toward the doorman who had been positioned in the corner as a precaution.
I watched from my spot as the man I had grown to hate, to despise, was led away from me for the second time in my life. As soon as the door clicked shut, I let out a sigh of relief. That went better than I expected but I would've liked if it didn't happen at all.
"Well, that's over. Savanna, your father and I will handle the restraining order and getting the pictures to the police, alright?" Mom looked at me sympathetically. I nodded, leaning into Jughead's shoulder. His arm wrapped around me, pulling me closer.
My eyes widened as Daddy looked at me confused. My mouth scrambled for words but I didn't have any. He held his hand up. "We can talk about this later. Just get some rest tonight, alright?"
Veronica and I nodded as our parents excused themselves and exited the room. Ronnie turned towards me, a knowing smirk on her face.
I rolled my eyes. "He was gonna find out eventually. Let's just hope he doesn't kill me."
"He won't." She shrugged. "Wanna head to Pop's and meet Arch and Betty? I'll buy your shakes."
"Yeah, I don't care if you want to or not, we're going." Jughead pulled me out of my chair, wrapping his jacket around my shoulders as he practically pushed me towards the door. "Free food is free food. I'm not about to miss out on that."
I chuckled and let him drag me along, happy that Paul was finally out of my hair.
For now.