Come Back With Me

Dumb Boys Who Love You

Steve pulls into the driveway and stops the car.

"James, you can let go of me now," Lizzie says cold and detached.

He lets her go and she slides out of the car and walks into the house.

She runs up to her and Steve's bedroom and locks the door.

The boys are very unlucky that this night also happens to be Sarah Rogers' night off.

Sarah is reading on the couch when she hears the door slam and sees Lizzie run up stairs. The door opens again and Bucky and Steve walk through.

"Did Lizzie ask for you to pick her up from her date?" Sarah asks.

She wasn't aware that Lizzie had told them she was dating Riley. Something must of happened with Riley and the boys rescued her.

Bucky and Steve shared a loaded glance.

"Not exactly," Steve says.

"Well, then can you explain to me why she's crying right now at least?" Sarah asks.

Steve looks at Bucky and tries to get him to explain. Bucky shakes his head.

"Well... we may have been a bit curious about who she was dating. We just wanted to make sure she was safe and being looked after," Steve says cautiously.

That's when Sarah starts to realize what her idiot sons have done.

"Please, please tell me that you didn't follow her," Sarah says.

"We may have," Bucky says sheepishly.

"We weren't going to interfere. We just wanted to make sure that she wasn't getting into any trouble," Steve quickly adds.

"You said you weren't going to interfere so does that mean you did end up interfering?" Sarah asks.

"It was all Bucky's fault," Steve says.

"You agreed to it punk," Bucky replies.

Sarah pinches the bridge of her nose as the boys continue to argue.

"I really don't care who started what or who agreed with who. All I know is I have a daughter who is crying upstairs and that's because you two were sticking your noses in places they didn't belong. Steve, I don't think Elizabeth will be letting you in your room tonight so you'll have to sleep on the couch. James, you should head home because it's getting late but I will be having a long chat with your mother in the morning," Sarah says.

The boys move to follow her request.

Once the boys are scored away, Sarah heads up to Lizzie's room.

"Lizzie?" Sarah asks as she knocks.

"I don't want to talk about it," Lizzie yells.

"Please, baby? Can you open the door?" Sarah asks quietly.

She hears footsteps and the door unlocking. As soon as the door opens, she has her daughter in her arms.

"Why did they have to go and ruin everything?" Lizzie asks.

"Because they are dumb boys but they are dumb boys who love you. Did you and Riley break up?" Sarah asks.

"No," Lizzie responds.

"Then how did they ruin everything?" Sarah asks.

"Everything was perfect. They didn't know about Riley so I could just date him without them getting all crazy on him. Now they know and everything has to change," Lizzie says.

"Lizzie, be honest. How long did you really think you could hide this from them?" Sarah asks.

"I almost caved on telling Stevie but I knew he'd tell Bucky," Lizzie admits.

"Why is it okay for Steve to know but not Bucky?" Sarah asks.

"Because I trust Steve to trust my judgement. I knew exactly what Bucky would think if he found out I was dating Riley and I was right," Lizzie says.

"Bucky has always been protective of you since the incident," Sarah says.

"I know, but he doesn't realize that I've grown up," Lizzie says.

"Honey, I think Bucky's problem is he sees that you have grown up," Sarah says.

Sarah sees how Bucky looks at her daughter. She'd have to be blind to not see how in love he was with her. However, she knew Bucky had to be the one to tell her.

"He had to know that one day soon I'd be dating. He's such a hypocrite. He's practically dated every girl at our school but me," Lizzie says.

"Bucky and Steve just want to protect you," Sarah says.

"And I get that, I do, but Bucky crossed a line tonight that I don't think we will ever recover from. He showed me tonight that he doesn't trust or respect me. I don't know if I can move past that," Lizzie says.

Sarah knows that nothing she says will change her daughters mind right now. Unfortunately the only thing that will mend her and Bucky's relationship is time.

"What about Steve?" Sarah asks.

Sarah knows that the twins have never been able to stay mad at each other for long.

"I'm furious with him, but I'll talk to him in a couple days to see where his head was at. Steve usually has good reasons for doing what he does," Lizzie says.

"And Bucky doesn't?" Sarah prods.

"Steve sees me as a complete equal. I'm his mirror in everything but gender. You know we have our weird connection. He doesn't only want to protect me, he helps me be the best version of me. Its so hard to explain but we understand each other in such a deep way," Lizzie says.

Sarah can't help but smile at her daughter. She always worried that she was failing the twins. She had been raising them alone for so long and she's hardly ever home. She's so glad they have each other.

She has a hard time comprehending their bond sometimes. She's read that twins usually have strong connections that regular siblings don't but what her twins have is almost supernatural. She sometimes wonders if they were supposed to be one soul but there was too much heart for one person so God split them in two.

"I am so incredibly privileged to be the mother of two such compassionate and empathetic children," Sarah says.

"We're lucky to have you as a mom," Lizzie responds.

"Now, I really hope you use that compassion and empathy to try to forgive Bucky," Sarah says.

"Maybe one day. I think I'll forgive him eventually and not any time soon but even if I do, we can never be what we were," Lizzie says.

"Maybe what comes out will be stronger," Sarah suggests.

"Maybe," Lizzie says.

She doubts it though.