S2:E2 reveals
-
"I'm so happy you called me for this." Vivian said giddily, taping the paper onto the Rocher hall dorms building. "I've missed our good old mischief times."
"Yeah." I stared down at the paper before tossing a few into the hall, knowing most of the students were sleeping and wouldn't see it until the morning. "To be honest.. me too."
"Sure you were mainly a goody two shoes in high school but you got lowkey evil when you were with.. uh.." she trailed off as she took off her, unnecessary, black gloves and I chuckled.
"You can say her name, she's not Voldemort." Her eyes rolled as I grabbed my backpack, nodding her to follow me. "Yes, with Reign I did.. things but it was only to seem cool. Now this, this is all me. She tried to ruin my life, I can't just let that go."
"No the fuck you cant." She said with a clap. "What's next? Dose her with some roofies and put her out on the lake with an inflatable mattress?" I frowned and gave my sister a look. "What? That's what I would do."
"Not surprised." I taped a paper to the window of a random dorm and kept walking. "But no, this is enough. Once this is out... it'll be enough suffering for the rest of her senior year. She wanted to play like we were in high school so I'm gonna play back."
Vivian laughed happily and I seriously felt like I was sibling's with the damn Joker or something.
We came up to my dorm and I pulled papers out, only to cringe back when I saw Vanessa walking out with Quincy. "Oh fuck." I looked down at the papers in my hands before shoving them into Vivian's arms.
"The hell?" She gave them back to me. "I don't want my fucking prints on them."
"Just take them!" I hissed out under my breath, seeing the pair draw closer.
"No, you!"
She shoved them back. "But Viv- heeeyy." I sung out, crossing my arms behind my back and trying to nonchalantly throw them but, of course, Quincy saw.
"You dropped your papers, Y/n." She let go of Vanessa's hand and skipped over, picking up the papers. The toddler then looked down and read over it before looking up. "Mommy, what's crack co- cocan?"
Vivian snorted and turned around to cover up her laugh while Vanessa grabbed the paper from her daughters hand. "What's this?" She read over it quickly before looking up at me.
"I- I found them. Can you believe it?" She tilted her head, her eyes not wavering. "Someone just dropped them outside of Rocher hall and I was like 'hey Viv look' and she was like 'oh wow that's-' what are you doing?" I questioned as she walked up to me slowly, gaze firmly planted on me. I truly hated it when she did this shit. "Anyways, how are you hun?"
She reached forward and pulled off my backpack, leaving me no choice but to let it go. She then ripped the zipper open and stuck her hand in, brining up the stacks of other papers. All Lisa's drug tests reports. "You happen to find these too, hun?" Shit.
I looked down for a moment before raising my head when she handed me my bag back. Her eyes were in a hard glare as she grabbed Quincy's hand, mounting, "We're talking later." And I simply nodded.
"Where we going?" Q whined as Vanessa pulled her away. "I tought we was getting ice cream with Phin."
"Another time, donut." She responded, pulling her hand. "Come on."
"I wanna stay with, Y/n!" She exclaimed before crossing her arms with a pout. "No fair, mommy."
"Quincy Sefina Moe." She demanded, pointing at her side. "Now."
I frowned and pulled my backpack on before stepping up and crouching down to Quincy's height. "Hey, I know you wanna hang out but you have to listen to mommy. Mommy's words first, always, okay?" She pouted harder. "And when we see each other again, I'll made it a double scoop." I whispered and her eyes instantly brightened. "Deal?"
"Deal." She said happily with her pinky up. "Promise, Phin?"
"I promise, little Q." I wrapped my pinky around her and leaned forward, kissing my fist while she kissed hers. "Now go with mommy, be good."
"Okaaay." She walked back over to Vanessa, her face guilt ridden. "Sorry for not listening, mommy."
Vanessa nodded absentmindedly as she kept looking up at me, then back down, her eyes filled with shock. "We're going to have a talk about respect in the car. Let's go."
I watched after them with a frown before kicking the toe of my shoes into the ground. "Dammit."
"Step daddy's in trouble-"
"Can it, Vivian." I said sternly, huffing as I walked into my dorm with her close behind.
-
"Talk." Vanessa said as soon as I walked into the empty cafe.
I set my backpack on the table, then leaned against the counter with a pout. "No kiss first?" She tilted her head, eyes rolling. "Pleaseee-"
"Fine," she grabbed my jaw and pulled me forward for a quick kiss. "Now, explain why you're walking around with your teammates drug test, Y/n."
I sighed and sat up. "She tampered with my drug test and I would've been on the verge of being kicked out if we didn't have evidence she did. Can you make me a hot cocoa? I think I'm getting sick."
Her lips pursed as she walked over to the stack of cups, grabbing one. "So.. with this you decide to spread her results?" I nodded. "I'm sure your law studies have a lot to say about that."
"Not if I don't get caught." I said with a wink and she snorted, finishing up my hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles before bringing it over to me. "But, honestly I'm good."
"Y/n.." she said with a sigh, handing me the warm beverage. "You could just send whatever evidence you have to the admins and be done. This means you're in it too.. you could still get expelled."
"Like I said, babe." I took a sip of the drink with a hum. "Not if I don't get caught."
"Y/n." She said with a glare and I huffed, setting the cup down. "Come on its Stanford, not San Mateo. Sure, at my college they wouldn't give two shits but your university likes to uphold a reputation. They'll wanna find out who did it."
"I'm sure it hasn't even spread that far yet. I just did the dorms." I looked up as the bell ring to indicate someone walked in. Two boys walked to the counter and I zeroed in on the paper in their hands. Shit.
"You were saying?" Vanessa hissed out before faking a smile for the customers. "Hey, what can I get you?"
I moved to the side, pulling out my phone when I felt a series of vibrates. And.. I kinda wish I left it in the car.
Jas: you didn't.
Jas: Y/n... are you insane?
Jas: obviously you are but this is BAD. Coach knows, damn near the entire campus knows. You better have a good ass lawyer because Lisa will push back.
"Who's that?" Vanessa asked once she finished up the order.
"Oh just.. study group." She gave me those damn eyes again, her hand up so I huffed and handed my phone over to her. "It's not that bad."
"Jasmine literally put bad in all caps." She handed me the phone. "I think it's pretty bad, Y/nn."
I groaned and dropped my head on the counter. "I knew I shouldn't have listened to Viv."
"You think?" I raised my head slightly and pouted before dropping my head back down. A soft sigh left her lips as she rounded the corner and grabbed my hand, leading me to a table in the corner. "Look just.. don't say anything about it. Don't mention it to friends, brag about it to your 'boys-"
"I don't brag." I mumbled and pressed my forehead against the table. "I'm so fucked. A good lawyer? That bitch is rich, she probably has like..Annalise Keating as her lawyer or something."
"The lawyer from the show?" I nodded against the cold surface with a hum. She then snorted before resting her hand on the back of my neck, softly massaging the tensing muscles. "You'll be fine, babe. Maybe Lisa will be so embarrassed that she'll just up and leave the school.. well, she'll already be kicked out so hopefully she just crawls in a hole."
"You think?" I mumbled, looking back up. She gave me a hopeful smile before handing me the hot cocoa. "Hm.. you may be right." I took a sip, my lips upturning into a smile. "I probably have nothing to worry about."
-
"Oh you better be worried." I leaned against my dorm door, as did everyone in our hall, as Lisa walked out while carrying her backpack, her parents walked behind her with some Louis Vuitton suitcases. "I know it was you, Y/ln.. and I will rain down on you like acid."
She glared harshly before walking past, her mom, clad in a pantsuit, giving me the same look as she passed. Then her dad.. smiled and pointed at my shoes. "Love the vans-"
"Dad!"
"Christopher!"
He made an 'o' shape with his mouth before quickly walking forward. "Coming!"
I shook my head softly before walking back into my room where Ash was pulling her backpack on. "She gone?" I nodded. "Good, girl got on my damn nerves." I snorted and picked up my backpack. "First day back on the classroom.. you ready?"
"Not even a little bit." I mumbled, grabbing a pill bottle from my backpack and opening it up. "Especially since Mr. Hiben said we would be getting into more advanced shit." I tossed the little blue pill into my mouth before downing it with the water bottle.
"How come you didn't take your pills during first semester?" She asked as I put the bottle back up.
"Uh well.." I bit my bottle lip before shrugging. "I actually did but I kinda kept it a secret until we were closer. Stuff happened in the past when someone found out I took adderal." Her eyebrows in curiosity so I quickly added, "And then I ran out and I didn't feel like getting it refilled."
"Did you run out around the time you and Vanessa broke up?" I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering how she knew. "The partying, multitude of sex."
"Ah.. yeah." Chuckling, I grabbed my keys off the counter. "That was part of it."
We walked out of the dorm, her locking it, before we started down the hall. "So.. how are you and miss foreign?"
"Miss foreign." I chuckled, my head shaking. "We're good actually. We're gonna get some ice cream from the scoop with Quince and then head over to her place to have a movie marathon or whatever."
"Awe so.. you've taken a liking to the little sis?" I looked away, trying to hide the fact that it wasn't exactly her.. 'little sis' but in fact, her daughter. "Yeah actually." It's not that I didn't trust Ashlynn not to spill the beans but I didn't know how Vanessa felt about that. If I got the okay from her, then it'd be fine. Until then... not a word from me.
Once we reached the classroom, half the class looked excited to be back while the other half were like walking zombies. I was about right in the middle.
"Welcome back to second semester, class." Mr Hiben said with an overly happy smile. "I have things planned for you for your last stretch of freshman year. It will test you, it will nearly break you, but I have faith that you'll all prevail and take this as an experience rather than just a 'hard class' you had to take." We all watched as he slowly walked over to his desk and grabbed a slip of paper. "Y/n and Gregory." I looked over at the boy who sat just a few rows from me before turning back to our professor. "You were both at top of my class for the first semester and, as promised, I guaranteed that the top student would get a round trip to Washington DC to visit the White House with me."
I bounced my knee, seeing what he was getting at. And I knew I wouldn't like what he had in mind.
"So," he clapped and sat on top of his desk with a grin. "You'll both get a week to prepare a case. Then, at the end of the week, you'll present it to the class and I will grade you both harshly. Whoever pulls through with the best presentation.. will get the trip."
I gulped and dropped my head slightly. I sucked at pressured presentations. Taking in a slow breath, I raised my hand and he nodded at me. "Are we being assigned a case or do we get to choose?"
"I choose." He stood up and looked at Jeremy and I. "The case, a fifteen year old girl was raped by her boyfriend. I'll send you both more details but you get the gist. Oh, one more thing." He clasped his hands together with a smile. "One of you will be the defender and one of you will the the prosecutor but you won't know who is who until the day of the presentation. So, study both sides accordingly." I bit my bottom lip, leaning back in my seat as I looked over at Ash.
She simply winced with a shrug, mouthing 'that's all you'
This was going to be complete hell.
-
"You like caramel huh?" I heard Vanessa say to Quincy who giggled, saying a very enthusiastic 'yup!' Meanwhile, I typed and deleted repeatedly, trying to focus on this damn case presentation. "You know who else loves caramel? Y/nn does."
I felt her poke my side so I gave a quick smile before ducking my head down, eyes back on my laptop. "I don't think Phin likes caramel mommy."
I groaned to myself, not liking my opening statement so I held the backspace, angrily erasing the little black words.
"Okay.. baby, can you go get us some napkins?"
"Okaaay."
As I typed, I felt her hands grab mine. "Babe I-" I was shut up when a spoonful of ice cream was shoved into my mouth. "Mmph." I mumbled and she laughed softly, grabbing a napkin to wipe the excess treat that spilled into my chin. "What was that for?"
She bawled the napkin up and gave me a teasing smile. "You're here with us. So be here."
"But-" she quickly raised her hand and stuffed the napkin into my mouth. My annoyance levels raised as she laughed again. "Bro." I said with a huff after pulling the napkin out. "Stop."
"Oh you mad at me, bro?" She poked my cheek and I rolled my eyes, looking back down at my computer. "Talk to meee."
When she poked my cheek again, I grabbed her hand and turned in my seat. "Vanessa." I said sternly but her eyes were flooding with a playful aura the entire time.
"My full name too?" I let go of her wrist and she leaned against me, her hand holding the side of my neck. "Come on, daddy. Don't be maaad." She stared up at me, her eyes big and doe-y as she held a pout.
"Are you on your period?" I concluded and she rolled her eyes. "You are huh?"
"Maybe." As she turned her head into me, I dropped my annoyed facade and draped my arm over her shoulder. "Thank you, Quince." She said once Quincy came back with damn near all the napkins in the shop.
"You're welcome." Once she looked at me, the same eyes as Vanessa, I saved up my work and closed the computer. "Are you done working?"
"No, but I can work on it later." She smiled happily and bounced in her seat before pushing her ice cream cup over to me. "For me?"
"Mhm, it's caramel and strawberry." I hummed and scooped up the ice cream before taking a "Good?" She asked and I nodded.
"Yes, I love it." I bopped her nose and she giggled, grabbing her cup back. Vanessa then leaned more into me and I pecked her forehead, tapping my computer subconsciously.
"So, what's the presentation about?" She asked softly.
"Fifteen year old raped by her boyfriend. I'm either prosecuting him or defending him so.. it's tough." I felt her body tense up in my hold so I looked down and saw her eyes straight ahead. Following her gaze, I saw Will standing at the counter, talking to a girl with a smirk. Not knowing what to say at the moment, I simply pulled her closer and rubbed her arm reassuringly.
"Can we watch the new Wreck it Ralph movie today?" Quincy asked as she bounced in her seat. "Ooh or we can go to the park instead, we don't have to wait for Thursday. Mmm no, wreck it Ralph- both?"
Vanessa didn't speak up and I knew she was in her head so I smiled at the toddler. "I think that's enough ice cream for you kiddo." She pouted when I scooted the cup away from her. "We'll freezer it."
"Okay. Ooh you play your softball on Saturday right?" I nodded and she leaned up with wide eyes. "I can come?!"
"Of course you can. It'd do terrible if you didn't." She smiled and leaned back in her seat. "Plus, I'm gonna need someone to cheer me on."
"I'm the best cheerer, mommy say she'll put me in cheer when I'm bigger." I cocked an eyebrow. "I like cheer."
"Do you now?" She threw her hands up, doing jazz fingers and I laughed before it died down, Will coming into view.
I watched as he smiled at Quincy who simply looked up at him in confusion. "Hey V." He said, adding a nod in my direction. "Thought I'd come over and say hi to-"
"Don't." Vanessa hissed out. "William.. leave."
"Nah, I think I'll stay." I slowly slid my arm off of Vanessa when he crouched down next to Quincy. "Hey, you know who I am?"
"I said leave." Vanessa said sternly again.
He looked up at her, then at me as I was standing up. "I'm your father."
"Huh?" Quincy mumbled. I saw him reach for her shoulder so I quickly grabbed his forearm and lifted him up. "What does he mean mommy."
"I think it's best you leave, Will." I hissed as I backed him up to the door. He shoved me off of him, his eyes turning to a glare.
"Shut the fuck up. I gave you the benefit of the doubt before but I read up on you. Fucking in a frat and you're nineteen. You ain't good for a child."
"And you are, bitch? Look at you." I saw him step forward so I pulled my sweats up with a nod. "What? You gonna do something?"
"Why are you acting like you're hard bro? You go to Stanford." He said with a bitter chuckle. "Gonna hit me over the head with your calculator huh?"
"You're contradicting yourself now, Will." I said with a smirk. "I go to Stanford.. what do you do?" I stepped back as I read his body language. He was too predictable. He tried to shove me back but I quickly shifted to the left and grabbed his right arm, pulling him forward instead and shoring my knee up into his stomach. He groaned and crouched over as he took a few step backs.
I started up to him again but a hand grabbed me and I heard Vanessa whisper. "Please don't."
"But he's being a disrespectful little bitch." I hissed.
"I know but.. not in front of Quincy please." I looked over my shoulder and saw the toddler tucked in the corner of the booth with a scared face.
"Shit.." I rubbed down my face and nodded before turning back to William who was trying to sit up but his painful face gave it away. "Leave, I'm not about to fight you in front of a four year old. Have more dignity, man." He simply winced and looked at Quincy before turning around and walking out. With that, I went back to the booth and slowly slid in. "Hey little Q.. sorry you had to see that."
I watched in anticipation as she looked at me, then out the window, then back at me. "Sorry?" I raised my eyebrows when she suddenly giggled. "Can you teach me that?"
I let out a shocked laugh and Vanessa huffed out. "Of course. Leave it up to my kid to think fighting is cool."
"Fight is not cool." Quincy spoke up. "But Y/nn makes it look cool." I ruffled her curls before leaning back, turning to see Vanessa smiling softly at her daughter. "Don't worry mommy.. I won't fight but is he really my dad?"
I watched as Vanessa shifted uncomfortably before settling on a small nod. "Yeah..he is."
"Oh." She dropped her little head and poked her ice cream with the spoon. "I don't like him." I raised my eyebrows when she shook her head. "He sound mean."
"He is mean baby, that's why I didn't want you to meet him. At least.. not like that." I looked at Vanessa again as she took in a sharp breath. "I'll explain everything when you're a bit older." Her gaze moved to me and I knew she could see the curiosity in my eyes because she nodded softly and grabbed my hand. "Later."
"Okay." I whispered and softly pecked her forehead.
After that, we settled back into a more quiet rhythm but, because it was Quincy, she had already moved on from it and was talking about Wreck it Ralph. God bless that child.
-
"Friday, okay donut?" I stood, leaned against my truck as Vanessa said her goodbyes to Quincy who was half asleep on her shoulder. "Then you can spend the entire weekend with me."
"Dolphin too?" She asked sleepily, her head raising in my direction, giving me a weak smile.
"Yeah, her game is Saturday, remember?" She cheered softly and I chuckled to myself as Vanessa handed the toddler off to her mom. "She had a lot of ice cream so you're lucky shes crashing now."
"I'm lucky? Girl, I could send her right back with you, don't try me. Get home safe, okay? Love you." I smiled at Vanessa and her moms relationship before pulling the passenger door open when my girl started back over to me. "Take care of my baby girl, Y/n."
"Always ma'am." I responded with a charming smile as I closed the door once Vanessa got it. "Take care." I gave a wave before climbing into the drivers side and pulling off, after making sure Nicki went in safely. "I know we ate already but I'm kinda hungry babe, you?" I looked over and saw her staring out of the window silently. This Will shit was really getting to her. Reaching over, I slipped my hand into hers and softly squeezed her hand in reassurance. "Hey.. wanna talk?"
She eventually looked over and stared at me before nodding softly, her gaze going back out of the window. "When I was fourteen, I met William. He was sixteen at the time but I didn't care... I liked him. We dated for two years and everything was good until he turned eighteen. He started to drink and, I won't say he got violent yet, but he got more.. pressuring. He would tell me how all his boys were having sex with their girls and how I wasn't putting out made me a bad girlfriend.."
I kept my eyes on the road but I could already feel my burning dislike for Will grow. And to think, I felt a little bad about him not getting the see his daughter.
"So," she continued. "I kept saying no because I was only sixteen and I wasn't ready. Deep down, I knew he started to cheat on me but I was so infatuated with him that I let it go. He'd have a smell of perfume and I saw hickies and it really fucked me up but I never left. I couldn't. Anyways.. one night uh.. He went to a New Years party and I decided to stay home with my brother. He was in his room playing the game and Will snuck up to my room.. he was really drunk and.." I slowed down when I heard her starting to get choked up. "He just- he wouldn't stop and he told me not to scream because it would scare Dion and.." I quickly pulled over altogether and took off my seatbelt, turning to face her when she started to full on sob. "And the next day he just- he acted like nothing happened and.."
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into me as she continued to cry, the tears soaking through my shirt but I didn't care.
After a few moments, me letting her get everything out, I spoke up, "I'm sorry that happened.. now why in the hell did you stop me from kicking his ass?"
She chuckled through her tears before pulling back to wipe her face. "Yeah, so, I kept my mouth shut because he kept saying that it's what boyfriends and girlfriends do. That was until mama noticed I was throwing up constantly and would sleep more than usual. We went to the doctor and.. that's when I found out I was three months pregnant.. at sixteen."
I nodded softly, watching her carefully as she looked down at her lap. "Dion mentioned that uh that he walked out of you guys. Was that true?"
She nodded. "Yep. My dad confronted him about it and William denied it but I knew.. I was with no one else in my entire life. So, when I went to bring it up to him, I found out he had moved out of his parents house and took off to God knows where."
"Did he come back recently? Or-"
"He came back the night I met you at that party." I hummed and she grabbed my hand. "And.. I was feeling terrible in that moment but when I saw you I just.. I instantly smiled." A grin spread across my lips when she leaned into me. "And you were so cute with your little glasses and sweatshirt."
"You think my glasses are cute?" I teased and she looked up with squinted eyes. "You always call me a dork when I wear them."
"Yeah but you're my dork." She pressed the middle of my glasses to make them go up the bridge of my nose, from their fallen position, before leaning back in her seat.
I smiled to myself before lifting my hand and resting it in the side of her neck, my thumb caressing her jawline. "Hey," I mumbled and she slowly turned to look at me. "I'm sorry that happened to you. Though Quincy is an adorable little angel, you shouldn't have had to go through that and I promise I'll never up and leave you. Even if things get a bit pressuring, I'm staying."
She stared at me silently, leaning into my hand. "You promise?"
"I promise." I whispered before leaning forward and softly connecting our lips. The same fire lit up inside of me as she kissed back, her hand holding mine and though I said it, I knew I'd have to back it up as well.
And I was willing to go through it.
___