episode one
Rosalyn Harmon sat in the back of her family car with her headphones in, and a sketchpad in her hands as she sketched her Chow Chow called Bear, who was her deceased best friends dog, now hers. Her hand delicately danced across the white page, sketching the dog skilfully and the slight bumps and turns the car took did not mess up the drawing surprisingly. All Rosalyn ever did nowadays was draw and paint, it was her escape from reality and pain. It allowed her to focus on something and blur our the heartache and pain and the rest of the screwed up world.
Rosalyn's mother, who sat in the passenger seat, turned around and gently tugged one of the teens earphones out so she could speak to the blonde. "Hey, is our sarcastic ray of sunshine ok?" Vivien questioned her daughter, teasingly with a small grin on her beautiful face. Rosalyn nodded silently, not looking up from the sketch pad. "You sure, kid?" Ben, Rosalyn's father, questioned as he looked at her in the rear-view mirror as he drove the black vehicle. "Yeah, I'm fine" Rosalyn mumbled with a small sigh as she continued to draw. Rosalyn knew why they were so concerned about her well-being and pestering her. It is because the teenager when her best friend died, turned to drugs and alcohol and fell into a dark place to escape her grief. However, Rosalyn is trying to go clean and give it all up for her parents, who have stuck by her side and helped her even after everything she put them through. They held her hair back as she threw up and laid besides her trembling body and held her as she cried. Rosalyn was currently on her eleventh day sober from alcohol and drugs. The blonde rememberers the day she decided to go sober and sometimes she truly regrets it and wonders if it was the right choice.
"Why are you doing that shit?! Are you even sober right now?" Ben snatched the bag of pills and vodka from his daughters hands. "Fuck you" Rosalyn rolled her eyes, still unable to stand being around her father after he cheated on her mother, all respect and love she felt for the man had vanished after she heard the drunk argument Ben and Vivien had. Concern and anger laced Ben's voice as he told his only child "It's going to actually kill you one day and I don't want to find you dead by a dumpster, having overdosed of stupid drugs or with alcohol poisoning. Life is shit, ok? Trust me, I know. It's freaking hard but you just have to get through it like everyone else does, Rosalyn. Alcohol every now and then to take the edge off, tv, and junk food is what everyone else does to deal with it. Most of them don't get drunk every single day or smoke their lungs black or take drugs several times a day to feel better... Sober up. If not for your own health then for Logan. Your best friend wouldn't want you to throw your life away like this, like it's meaningless when you have a bright future. He wouldn't want you wallowing in booze and drugs, picking fights and hitting things and sleepwalking through your life. Drugs and alcohol will ruin your life and kill you, which Logan wouldn't want." "..." Rosalyn was speechless, she looked down fighting off the tears at the mere mentioning of her deceased friend, the wound still very much there and deeply painful. "I want you to get help, Rosie" Ben softly told the blonde, dipping his head to try and look into her eyes. "Why is that? No longer busy cheating on mom that you've actually noticed, being the oh so brilliant psychiatric you are, that your daughters a fucking mess?" Rosalyn glared at her father, showing the anger and hatred she feels towards him and reminding him of the walls she built and that she uses harsh words and sarcasm to cover her constant pain. Ben took a deep breath before pointing out "... Rosie, you don't sleep anymore and you barley eat. You smoke, you drink alcohol like it's your life support, you get high and take drugs." Rosalyn rolled her eyes as she hissed out "I'm fine, don't pretend to care now just because you want to fix yours and moms marriage". "You're obviously not fine, Rosalyn. You tried to kill yourself for god sake and then got addicted to drugs after it. I know that the disability you got from it is also causing you a lot of physical pain.... And I'm not pretending. You're my daughter, my little girl, I love you. I care about you... look I have no idea what it's like to lose my best friend. I have no idea what your going through-" Ben was cut off by his daughter "Exactly! You don't know how I feel, you don't get why I take drugs and do weed and smoke and drink. You don't know what I'm going through, you don't get how I can't sleep or concentrate in class so stop fucking pretending you do, Dad! You don't know what the hell is going on with me!". "Talk to me and I would understand!" Ben shouted back, the pair getting agitated and riled up by each other. "Why?! So you can then just give up on me after you've realised you can't help me, like everyone else?!" Rosalyn threw her arms in front of her, showing her frustration. "I won't do that and you know I won't! You're my daughter, all I want is what's best for you!" "Then why are we moving?!" The blonde retaliated, pointing at the pile of boxes in the corner of the room. "For that exact reason! For you to get a fresh start, so you can grieve properly and make new friends! So you can get better!" Ben yelled. The two then stared at each other, their chest rising and falling quickly and their throats sore from shouting.
"... I-I haven't been fully sober for months." Rosalyn admitted, in a quiet voice, a hint of shame in her tone. "It's going to be hard" Ben said in a much calmer voice. "No shit" Rosalyn mumbled, rolling her eyes. "But I'll be here, ok? You won't do this alone. Your mom and I will be here for you, Rosie" Ben comfortingly told her before he opened his arms mumbling "Come here". Rosalyn limped into her fathers comforting arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist as she breathed in his cologne and his scent- the one that comforted her when she had nightmares or got scared when she was a kid. Ben held his daughter to his chest as he swore to himself that he was going to stop at nothing to fix his marriage and be there for his daughter who was in clear pain and needed someone to be there for her.
Going sober... it was one of the hardest things that Rosalyn has ever had to go through because once she got clean and sober, all the grief and misery and pain that the alcohol and drugs numbed or distracted her from came rushing back like wave and right now, she doesn't know how to swim. The waves keep dragging her under because she doesn't know how to overcome or deal with all the pain and grief she feels. Rosalyn feels like she's drowning in a deep, cold sea full of rage, sadness, guilt and pain but is unable to swim to shore and escape its grip.
However, her parents where there for her like they said they would be- they got rid of all alcohol and drugs in the house and didn't give her any even when she begged, sweated, cried and trembled and vomited and complained of headaches. They stayed up all night in case she starts seizuring or having a panic attack as before she started drinking and taking drugs she used to have panic attacks a lot, especially after Logan's death and when she's under a lot of stress.
Vivien voiced, drawing Rosalyn's attention back to the car as the women observed "The light is different out here. It's softer". "It's called smog" Rosalyn told her mother in a bored tone, going back to her drawing. "Oh come on, Rosie, be excited. It's a new start and now you can stop smoking cigarettes and just start taking deep breaths" Ben told his daughter, smiling at his own joke as he looked at her in the rear mirror. "Funny" Sarcastically laughed Rosalyn, glancing at Bear and her moms dog Hallie before going back to her sketch. Rosalyn didn't see her father try to slip his hand into his wife's, only for Vivien to pull it away and looked out the window, still unable to forget or forgive how he cheated on her, but she was trying to forgive him. God was she trying. For her daughter and her marriage and the man she still very much loves, despite all the pain he caused her.
The small Harmon family got out of their black car when they arrived at their new family home in Los Angeles and walked to the doors to their new big Victorian home. Rosalyn has to admit it was nice and had character to it. The family of three stood at the front door, Hallie in Vivien arms and Bear sat at Rosalyn's boot clad feet whilst Ben rang the doorbell. "I love it. Don't you love it, hun? I mean, it looks even better than it did online." Ben asked his wife, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, it's- It's interesting." Vivien nodded, stroking the small dog in her arms. "Awesome, we're the Addams Family now. Let me guess, the house comes with it's own Lurch, the Butler?" Rosalyn rolled her eyes, folding her arms with a sigh. "Hey, come on, Crabby-Pants. You've got to admit this place amazing, right? I mean, look at it" Ben wrapped his other arm around his daughter, pulling her into his side with a smile.
The front door behind the three opened, making them all turn to see the realtor Marcy, who greeted "Welcome". Marcy then showed the Harmon family around the large, beautiful house "It's a classic LA Victorian built around 1920 by the doctor to the stars at the time. It's just fabulous. These are real Tiffany fixtures. As you can see, the previous owners really loved this place like a child. They restored everything". "Gay?" Vivien guessed from beside the realtor, Hallie still in her arms. "What do you think?" Marcy replied, sending the women a look.
"Tiffany. Wow." Ben joking bumped shoulders with his daughter, grinning when he got a small smile from the blonde. It's been a while since he's seen any form of smile on his daughter. "Is she talking about the lights?" Rosalyn quietly questioned her father who pulled a confused face "I though she was talking about the windows". The two then pulled a almost identical 'don't know' look simultaneously and shrugged, a face that Rosalyn pulled a lot in maths. The father and daughter and dog who walked by Rosalyn's feet followed after Vivien and Marcy.
"Do you cook?" Marcy asked as they walked into the large kitchen. "Viv is a great cook. I got her cooking lessons a few years ago and she ended up teaching the teacher a few things." Ben told the realtor, taking off his hat, grinning at his wife proudly. "Cooking lessons- Romantic. Aren't you a psychologist?" The lady questioned. "Psychiatrist." Ben corrected as Vivien put Hallie down, Ben questioned the realtor "You said something on the phone about there being a study that I could use as a home office? I'm planning on seeing patients here so I can spend more time with the family". "How refreshing." The realtor said before the two dogs started barking at something in the other room.
Rosalyn frowned her eyebrows, walking over to where she heard the two barking "Hallie, Bear?". Rosalyn found the two barking at what she assumed was the basement door and questioned "Hey, what are you two barking at?", which made the pair of dogs instantly stop barking. Rosalyn walked over to the wooden door, pulling at the handle but it was stuck due to it not been open for years but Rosalyn was persistent to get it open so she kept pulling and pulling at the handle until the wooden door finally opened with a squeak. She then, with Bear by her side, walked down the wooden stairs to the dark, dusty basement with great difficulty due to the nerve damage in her right leg so she had to use the handrail for support.
Rosalyn was aware that if life was a movie they'd likely be a serial killer down there ready to pounce on her and she was that one idiot in the horror movie that made everyone beg for her to turn around or run but she truly didn't care if there was anything down there that could harm her, she was just curious what caused that reaction from the usually well behaved, quiet animals. Her bluish green eyes scanning the room for a reason to why the dogs were barking- only to find nothing down there besides dust and darkness. So she whistled, signalling for her Chow Chow, who was sniffing around, to follow her back up the creaking stairs to a waiting Hallie.
Rosalyn then walked back to her parents and realtor with Hallie in her leather jacket clad arms and Bear again by her side after shutting the door. Marcy said just as Rosalyn walked back into the room "Speaking of the last owners, full disclosure requires that I tell you about what happened to them". "Oh, God. They didn't die in here or anything, did they?" Vivien asked, pulling a worried, scared expression as her eyes widened. Marcy nodded instantly, informing the family "Yes, actually. Both of them. Murder-suicide. I sold them the house too. They were just the sweetest couple. You never know, I guess". "That explains why it's half the price of every other house in the neighborhood, I guess" Ben said, pursing his lips together, trying to think of what to do with the information. Marcy offered the blue eyes man "I do have a very nice mid-century ranch, but it's in the Valley and you're going to get a third of the house for twice the price". "Great" Ben sighed as he ran a stressed hand over his face.
"Where did the murder happen?" Rosalyn asked from the doorway, being the curious person she is. "The basement" Marcy informed the teenager who's expression remained stoic. "Cool, we'll take it." Rosalyn nodded, making both her parents turn to her with the 'are you crazy?' look. However, the family did just that after Rosalyn convinced them with logic that the house was the best option after going off on a rant about how the houses dark past doesn't matter since ghosts aren't real. So, a red sold sign was put up and the furniture was moved in by moving guys from the truck and Rosalyn was grabbing her bags from the boot (trunk) of the car.