𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕒 ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕖 𝕊𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕙 |ℝ𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕝𝕖|

💫 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 5⃣💫

A/N: Just a heads up that this chapter will focus on the Andrews family a bit more than the other characters in the story, particularly Skylar, Fred's daughter and Archie's younger sister in this story. She was also the best friend of Amelia prior to her disappearance when she was five.

Skylar Addison Andrews or Sky as she was known to most who knew her had just put the finishing touches on her light makeup for school when she heard the booming voice of her annoying older brother Archie from downstairs.

She didn't know for sure what he was yelling about this time but she was pretty sure that it most likely had to do with the fact that their dad's girlfriend Hermione had crashed at their house sometime very early that morning after she'd finished a late shift down at Pop's.

The older woman had been working as one of the waitresses there ever since she and her daughter Veronica had first moved to town almost three years before.

On a few occasions when she'd worked a late shift, the older Latina would crash at the Andrews house for a few hours so that she didn't have to worry about making it back to her own home without possibly falling asleep at the wheel.

Grabbing her school bag and heading downstairs with the family golden retriever Vegas right on her heels, Skylar saw that her earlier suspicions were definitely right.

Archie was currently arguing with their dad, Fred, in the kitchen about the fact that the latter had let Hermione crash at their house after her shift had ended in the early hours of that morning.

She also couldn't help but notice that Hermione was basically hiding away in the living room as she struggled to not completely burst into tears at some of the hateful things that Archie was saying about her at that moment.

Seeing Hermione upset like she was caused Skylar to see red. The Latina didn't deserve the treatment that her brother has been dishing out to her.

"Archie, shut up! Okay?! For once in your life, just please shut up!!"

Archie and Fred were both shocked at Skylar's sudden outburst. The almost 15-year-old was normally soft-spoken and tried her best not to take sides during a confrontation if she could help it. Seeing her brother act the way he had been especially towards Hermione had pushed her over the edge though.

"Sis, I-"

Skylar was quick to hold up a hand, cutting off Archie's response.

"No, Arch. I don't wanna hear it, okay? I get it. You're mad that Dad is trying to date again. That's not a reason to take that out on him or Hermione though. Dad isn't trying to replace Mom in our lives and Hermione's not trying to be our mother either. Just leave them both alone or there will be a repeat of a certain incident from when you were six years old and I was four. I'm not even remotely close to kidding about that either, Archibald."

Archie gulped as he recalled the incident that his sister was referring to. He knew that she was dead serious.

He looked over at Fred who was watching him. The redhead could see the hurt in his dad's hazel eyes that were so much like his own.

It truly hit hin then just how badly he had messed up.

"Dad, I'm-"

Fred quickly cut him off, saying that they could talk more about it later after he got home from school before reminding him that he and Skylar both needed to leave in a few minutes if they didn't want to be late for their respective first classes.

Archie simply nodded his head at his dad before turning and making his way back upstairs to grab his backpack and varsity jacket from his bedroom.

Once he was out of sight, Fred and Skylar both made their way into the living room together to check on Hermione who had been pretty much silent this whole time.

Neither father nor daughter were surprised to find the raven-haired woman fighting back tears as she sat curled up in Fred's favorite recliner.

"Hey, Mione? You alright?"

The Latina lifted her head slightly at the soft sound of Fred's voice but quickly lowered it again when she noticed Skylar standing behind him, a look of concern that mirrored her father's own on her young face.

"I'm-I'm okay, Fred."

Fred winced a bit internally at the raspiness that laced Hermione's beautiful voice at that moment.

He suddenly felt a tug on his sleeve and turned to see Skylar holding a bottle of water out to him.

Taking it from her, he turned back to Hermione, telling her to drink a bit of it.

Hermione ended up consuming nearly half of the cold water before handing the bottle back to Fred.

"Thank you for that, Fred. You too, Skylar."

Skylar sent a small smile and nod in Hermione's direction.

She then informed her dad that she was going to go ahead and start walking to school and that she would see him and Hermione both later.

"Sounds good, peanut. Oh, before I forget, I need to talk to you about something pretty important when you get home later."

Skylar nodded and exchanged a brief hug with both Fred and a somewhat surprised Hermione before making her way out onto the front porch of the house where Archie stood waiting for her.

As the siblings began making their way along the sidewalk in the direction of the high school where they were a freshman and junior respectively, Skylar couldn't help but wonder what exactly it was that her father wanted to talk to her about once the school day was over and she got back home.

She didn't realize at that moment though that what Fred would tell her later would be something that she along with both her father and brother had been hoping and praying would happen for the past 9 and a half years.

A/N: Next, Skylar and Archie finally learn that Amelia is officially back home with Alice and her sisters again.

How do they each respond to that bit of news especially Skylar seeing as stated in the authors note above, she was Amelia's best friend at the time she'd disappeared? Will Archie's issues with Fred and Hermione dating actually get resolved?

Also, what happens when Alice and Amelia bump into someone completely unexpected while out doing a bit of shopping for some new clothes and stuff for Amelia?

All this and more in the next chapter!!

Please feel free to leave a vote and/or comment below and let me know what you think of this chapter and this story as a whole so far.

Hope that you all have an amazing day/afternoon/night wherever you may be and please stay safe!!
🥰🥰🥰