This Was Not the Plan (gxg)

Chapter 39

She stared at me for a while. Her mouth had been hanging open for so long I was beginning to think she was paralyzed. I had shocked her so badly she lost all feeling in her face. The silence was excruciating. Autopilot kicked on and I started word vomiting.

"I'm sorry Mom, I didn't want you to find out this way. I didn't mean for the whole school to find out, I just had to tell you because I wanted you to hear it from me and not Tori. If you want me out of the house I will leave. I just –"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," she said as she wrapped her arms around me, "Veronica, take a breath."

I nodded into her embrace, taking a long shaky breath.

"There is nothing you could do that would make me want you to leave. I will always love you regardless of anything." She pulled back, looking me in the eyes, "I am so, so sorry if I ever made you feel like I wouldn't love you because of who you are."

My vision was blurry from the water filling my eyes. I pulled her back into a hug, not realizing how badly I needed this from her.

"I love you so much, Veronica. I know I don't always show it, but I do."

"I love you too, mom." I whispered.

She was crying too now. We stayed hugging for a few more moments before she pulled back, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. She gave me a sympathetic smile before looking at Vaughn.

"Okay, you two. Lets go sit down and talk about what happened." She sniffed.

Vaughn and I sat at the kitchen table as mom boiled some water to make us all a cup of tea. She handed each of us a mug with steaming green tea with a splash of milk and honey. I took a cautious sip, letting it soothe the burning in my throat.

"Alright, so what happened?" She asked as she sat down.

Vaughn cleared his throat, "I was on my way to lunch when I heard a bunch of shouting coming from the commons. When I got there I saw Zach yelling profanities at Ronnie, Nick, and Kendall. He called her a slut and a homewrecker and a..." He glanced toward me, not wanting to say a slur.

"A Dyke." I said for him.

Mom's eyebrows furrowed and she shifted uncomfortably.

"Which pissed me off."

"Language," Mom warned in a much gentler tone than normal.

"It made me angry." Vaughn corrected himself, "But then when Ronnie stood her ground, Zach said he was going to kill her. When he said that and then started to charge her, I just... I ran up and punched him as hard as I could. I was scared that if I didn't knock him out then he was going to seriously hurt her."

Mom was crying again. She nodded slowly as she processed everything.

"Alright. Vaughn, I am proud of you."

"Really?" He asked in shock.

"As far as I'm concerned, what you did was in defense of your sister. I'll talk to you're father when he gets home, but I don't see a reason to punish you for this."

"Al-alright." He stuttered, still confused.

"However, I don't want you to think violence is okay. Today was a fluke and while I do think you acted in the only way you thought would keep your sister from harm, I don't want you thinking you can punch your way out of every situation."

"I know,"

"Good. Now, go to your room for now, okay? I would like to talk to, Veronica for a bit." She smiled at him.