Warning: Strong Language and Sexual References!
******************************
Ary was in a pretty decent mood until she pulled up to the River County Sheriff's Office. She didn't want to see her uncle. She had wanted to be left alone to focus on her work and her life with Rave. Leaving her family behind was going to be more difficult than she originally thought.
Ary was a coward when it came to dealing with her emotions. She ran when the going got tough. It was easier to just flee and bury herself in danger than it was to actually feel things. She fled from Sophie all those years ago, she fled from Rave after their first night together, and she was constantly fleeing from her family after they had one of their signature blow up arguments.
She was shocked that she hadn't taken off sprinting down the gravel road when Rave had confessed his love for her. The way in which she relied on Rave should have been terrifying to her, but it wasn't. For the longest time she felt that she was getting more out of the relationship than he was, but she was slowly coming around. Rave did seem happier now, more carefree. Obviously he wasn't the brooding bastard that he had been back in April when she first asked him to watch out for Luke. That was what a relationship was, give and take. Rave supported her and gave her an emotional stability that she never had and in return Ary did...well, she didn't actually know what she did for him, but clearly whatever she was doing made Rave happy. She'd have to remember to ask him about it later. After she got Mason the hell out of dodge.
She spent a few minutes taking deep calming breaths before she actually went inside. Bette, the receptionist that had worked at the Sheriff's office since before Ary was born, smiled warmly at Ary in greeting.
"Bella, your uncle has been expecting you. He's back in his office, dear," she said.
Ary immediately went into defense mode at her words. She should have expected something like this. All prisoner calls were monitored. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that her uncle knew exactly Mason had called. It also didn't take a genius to know that her uncle wouldn't pass up the opportunity to pounce on her after the week long hiatus she had been on.
She went back to her uncle's office and was immediately pissed off. Not only was her uncle back there waiting for her, but Maddie and Mason were there as well. They had played her and she had fallen right into their trap, like a total idiot.
"You tricked me?" Ary gave her uncle and sister a seething look. Then she looked past them to Mason, who was handcuffed to the radiator in her uncle's office. "And you helped them?"
"Not willingly," he exclaimed, rattling his handcuffs for emphasis. In his defense, he seemed just as upset about their predicament as she did.
"Bella, we've been trying to get a hold of you. Your cell was disconnected. We were worried," Maddie told her.
"Please. When have any of you ever been worried about me?" she laughed, bitterly.
"Of course we worry about you. We're your family," Maddie exclaimed. She honestly looked shocked at the thought that Ary doubted their love for her.
"I don't have any family, Mads. I lost all of that in one single day. You might remember it? Your mother threatened to kill me," she sneered at her sister. She was intentionally lashing out, a terrible defense mechanism on her part. Hurt others worse than they were hurting her. It was the code she lived by.
"Bella, what mom said was totally out of hand. I don't know what came over her. She was just upset about dad-" Maddie began.
"Are you actually defending her!?" Ary exclaimed, her voice going up an octave. "Mom has been a psychotic nut job our entire lives. She cheated on your father, had a kid, and lied to him about it for twenty-one years. She told Scar to stick it out with her abusive husband. She told you to drop out of med school and marry a man that had no respect for your dreams," Ary said as she mentally ticked off all the nasty and underhanded things her mother had done in the past.
"She's from a different time, when they thought all women needed a man to be happy," Maddie said. She was actually defending their mother.
"I can't believe this, or you. Fuck, why is mom so deserving of all this love and devotion? Why is it that she gets caught in this huge lie and everyone still treats her like a saint?" Ary shouted, to no one in particular. Tears burned the backs of her eyes.
She knew she played it like she didn't care what anyone thought about her, but it honestly hurt like fuck to know that she had done all these things to protect other people, protect her family, and was still treated like a disease. Her mother could stab a guy thirty-seven times and everyone would still worship the ground she walked on. Ary would sneeze and she'd get yelled at for spreading germs.
Ary didn't know how to make her family love her and she should just take Rave's advice and cut them out completely, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She wanted them to love her, or at least like her. Hell, she'd settle for indifference towards her. There had to be something about her that at least one person in her family liked.
"No one is calling mom a saint," Maddie rushed to sooth her. "She's made mistakes, just like everyone else has. You're not perfect either, Bella. You don't exactly have the right to condemn mom for anything."
Ary gave her sister a hard look. Maddie had always tried to be the peacemaker in their family. She certainly wasn't as judgmental as Juliana and Scarlett. Ary knew that her track record of getting into trouble and being a career liar was working against her to earn Maddie's trust. Maybe it was time to come clean. About everything.
"The day you picked me up from the gas station? Mom had asked Garrett to kidnap me and forcibly shove me into rehab. I had to find out from my kidnappers that I wasn't actually related to half my family. I spent three days tied to a fucking chair and all I had to pass the time was the thought of what few people in my family that actually seemed to care about me now wouldn't have a reason to even pretend to give a shit about me!" she shouted at her sister. Her stomach twisted painfully in knots as she recalled what it was like when Garrett had first told her the truth.
"What?" Maddie's eyes were huge. Jack looked thoroughly pissed off. Apparently Maddie hadn't told anyone about that day. Not even the fabricated version that she let Maddie believe. Ary didn't know whether she should be relieved or not.
"I also lied about my injuries while I was in Colorado," Ary continued. If she was going to be honest, she had to get all of it out at once. Who knew how long it would take for another wave of honesty to hit her?
"Oh my God, Bella! How could you lie about something like that? You made us all feel guilty!" Maddie scolded her. Ary was sure that Mads did feel guilty about it, but she highly doubted that Juliana or Scar gave a flying fuck about her.
"See? You just assume that I lied about the whole thing. Don't even get the benefit of the doubt. Sorry to kick you off your high horse, but I actually played down the injuries," Ary sneered at her sister.
Because Ary didn't give a fuck anymore she lifted up her shirt to show them the starburst scar partially visible beneath the left cup of her bra and the incision that disappeared underneath the fabric of her bra. Maddie gasped and brought her hands up to cover her mouth. Jack cursed underneath his breath. Even Mason looked shocked. She didn't know what Rave had told anyone about the extent of her time in Colorado last year, but he had been the only one to actually see the scars up close. They were a little horrifying to see. She was still startled to see them and she had been living with them for almost a year.
Feeling that she had shocked them enough, Ary lowered her shirt. Her eyes focused on her sister, who had silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Maddie could be a drama Queen, but Ary felt that her sister was honestly upset about her wounds. Of course it could just be wishful thinking on her part.
"My side is that I got caught up in a case that I was way too green to know how to properly handle. I was cocky and a smartass, like usual. It caught Michael's attention. I guess I'm just naturally drawn to crazies. He shot me when I kept turning him down. He threw me in my truck and drove it into a river. In the middle of November, mind you," she laughed it off. She was still bitter about that.
"I woke up about three days later in a Denver hospital. After about two and a half weeks they discharged me and I came back home. I didn't expect to be coddled. I never expect that. I just expected someone to be concerned about where I had been and what had happened to me. You weren't. You all assumed I'd gotten involved with some lowlife and he'd taken all my crap," Ary finished off her story.
"Hey, that's not fair. We asked you what happened and you just blew us off," Maddie objected. Anger had replaced her tears.
"Could you blame me? With mom's track record of completely ignoring what was actually going on in our lives?" Ary gave her an incredulous look.
After a long moment of deliberation, Maddie sighed. "You're right," she said. "We really didn't give you the benefit of the doubt. Mom kept pushing her story of an abusive druggie and we just believed her. I'm sorry," Maddie apologized.
"Awesome," Ary breathed out. She didn't know what else to say.
Ary honestly hadn't expected them to be so willing to accept her answers. The shooting she could obviously prove because of her injuries, but she could have easily gotten shot because of a drug deal gone bad. There was on formal statement of what had actually happened to her. When the police had questioned her, Ary feigned amnesia, fearing Michael's retribution. They actually believed her and that meant a lot to her. To be believed in. It made her feel like she didn't have to have five witness statements and photographic evidence for anything she tried to tell them.
"Bella, I hope you can forgive me. I've been a shitty sister. If there's anything you need, just name it and I'll be there," Maddie promised her, conviction in her voice.
"Um, can we uncuff Mase now?" Ary asked as she awkwardly tried to change the subject. Hugging and touchy feely crap was just a little too much for her at the moment.
"Oh, yeah," Jack coughed awkwardly as he stepped over to the radiator, pulling the cuff keys out of his pocket. Mason looked relieved.
"You should stay for dinner. Dad really wants to see you, Bella," Maddie said, giving her a pleading look. She looked like a dog begging for a bone.
"I don't know," Ary paused. She remembered some of the voicemails her dad had left before she changed her number. He had seemed concerned about her and he apologized over and over again for just leaving her when Garrett had told him the truth.
"Dad kicked Mom out," Maddie blurted.
"What!?" Ary's jaw dropped open.
"They had a big fight. You were right about the other affairs. Dad knew about them. He said he was tired of her crap and kicked her out." Maddie looked embarrassed. She was probably concerned with how that looked to other people. Dating a guy whose great-great-grandfather helped build their town would definitely make a person more self-conscious about public appearances.
"What did Mom do?" Ary asked. She couldn't imagine her mother would willingly leave the house she had lived in for nearly thirty years.
"Well, she smashed a whole bunch of things. Dad called Uncle Jack and had her hauled away," Maddie said, shooting a look over at their uncle.
"Technically the house is still in my parents' names. Tom could kick out Juliana if he wanted," Jack shrugged. His expression was unreadable.
"You could, uh, invite your boyfriend as well," Maddie suggested. She struggled to get the words out, her face heated from embarrassment.
"That I know is a bad idea. Rave isn't as forgiving or understanding as I am," Ary explained, sharing a look with Mason. She wasn't even that forgiving either. It was just that she was so desperate to be wanted by them that she gave in pretty easily. Rave didn't give a shit about what her family thought. He'd definitely be an asshole.
"I suppose he has a right to be mad. We haven't been very fair to you, or him," Maddie mumbled. "I'd just like to give him the chance to prove that he's not an abusive ass," she shrugged. Ary smiled. Maddie could be feisty when she wanted to be.
"You're right about him being an ass. He's just not an abusive ass. He can actually sometimes be a decent guy," Ary said, trying to make her sister feel better. Mason snorted, trying to cover up his laugh with a cough. "Hey, I did say sometimes."
*****************************
Thinking hard about this. There will be a third book for Ary and Rave, but I'm also thinking about doing a spin-off for Maddie. What do you guys think? Would you be interested in that?