Pretty Little Liars

Chapter 23: Honesty is the Best Policy

On Thursday, Bree saunters down to her kitchen, where her father stands at the coffee maker, filling his thermos. Bree offers him a weak smile, finding her bag on the island and stuffing her books inside of it from doing her homework the night before.

"Hey, dad," she greets him when he doesn't greet her first. She opens the fridge for her nitro-infused coffee that she's bound to get dependent on. She's been losing more and more sleep the more days go by with her not knowing who A is.

"Hey, honey," he responds distantly, shutting the coffee maker off.

She studies him, rounding the island again. "You okay?"

He heavily sighs, as though he was waiting for her to ask. "Your mother has been requesting money from me."

"Money?" Bree's brow furrows.

She's been keeping her mom's surprise visit the other day to herself, scared that her dad and Cameron might throw a fit at the fact she was here in their home when she isn't supposed to be anywhere near this house. Plus, the two of them don't even know how often Bree sees her mom-- not that her mom actually knows that. She feels shameful keeping in contact with her.

"What for?" Bree asks next.

"Who knows." He sighs again, glancing up from a stack of envelopes in front of him on the counter. "Bree, your mother isn't well, and I know that isn't some big secret. Judging from what we've seen of her in the past, she is probably doing whatever she can to get her hands on drugs."

Bree's eyebrows shoot up. She was not expecting such a straight forward accusation. Part of her wants to defend her mother and claim that she isn't drinking as much anymore, but she knows she must remain quiet to keep up her charade.

"Usually when people are so far down the rabbit hole like her, she might try asking you for money, too," he goes on. "Let me know if she does this, please?"

Bree runs her tongue over her teeth. Is that why her mom stopped by here the other day? Was she going to ask Bree for money? Did she really not care about checking in on her about the Alison thing? Or did she somehow break in to get money some other way?

Bree scratches her nose. "Have you actually seen proof that she's been doing drugs?"

"I didn't need proof last time, social services found it all on their own," he reminds her, setting his thermos into his work bag. "Just keep an eye out. Who knows what she's capable of, anymore."

Bree listens to her father pad out of the kitchen and out the front door. Could it be true that her mom isn't as innocent as she paints her? Yes, she's had her troubles with alcohol in the past and she knows that her mom was into drugs back in the seventies or whatever but does that really mean she's some addict today? Bree would rather not think of her in that light but her father seems convinced.