Hard work pays off (Vance x OC)

⚡️13 updated⚡️

Twenty days.

Twenty days and Maeve would see her big brother.

Since he was put away, a big misunderstanding involving a piss drunk Wilson, two red-head, teen boys, and a caved in hood of a cop car.

He punched the cop, yes. But everyone failed to mention the cop kicking him when he was on the ground.

It wasn't till near the end of his trial that photos of the bruises on Wilson's ribs were brought up. Even that wasn't enough to get him off.

Three years.

Maeve still remembered her heart sinking into her stomach. She couldn't get anybody to watch all the kids so she had Brooklyn on her lap and everybody else sat on the bench holding onto each other.

Her grip had tightened around Marcus's hand. She was sure he had winced, but her ears were ringing so loud; she couldn't hear a thing.

For awhile, the house was quiet. No one could think of anything that wouldn't circle back to Wilson.

During the first year, they went up every weekend for visits. But everytime they came back, Debby, Eloise... everybody would be antsy.

Eventually, it would just be Maeve going up whenever she had the chance, which aswasn't very often anymore. 

Maeve had been buying herself some quiet in her mind, if only for a couple of hours. After a quick delay, she had been able to drop off Brooklyn, Vickie and Matt off for some beer-paid babysitting.  

At the bar, she actually didn't have to do a lot. There was a birthday party for an older woman. Her sixty-seventh. She poured some cheap wine every now and again. 

Maeve climbed the stairs back up to the function room that was now humming with gentle conversation. A woman, her hair was white and smile lines cracking around her eyes, appeared in front of her.

"Sorry but, do you have a knife we can borrow?" she asked as she leaned over the bar. 

"Yes Ma'am, I'll run down to the kitchen and grab for you," Maeve turned away. She had reached the staff only exit downstairs. She turned the doorknob.

"Your the Bennet girl aren't you?" the woman said quietly. 

Maeve turned back slowly. "That's me, I'm a Bennet girl," she leaned against the drinks fridge. 

"Well." she started folding her hands together as if in prayer, "my daughter works at the school here, said she saw you with this boy...oh lord his name escapes me, and just with all your responsibli-".

"Ma'am, I know where this is going, I'm going to go grab that knife now," she interrupted. energy was draining from her body at an alarming rate and couldn't wait to race down to the kitchen to talk shit with the kitchen staff. 

The woman's kind demeanor fell. 

"You crack heads love to get around huh?" she jeered, "Your poor father, got stuck with you all, lucky for him he's gone now. You lot have only gotten worse!".

Maeve's jaw set. She felt her chest burning. Before she could do something she could not afford  to do, she turned and rushed to the staff door. Maeve could hear the woman yelling at her to come back "I'm TaLkInG tO yOu YoUnG lAdY!".

Some people are just miserable.

The burning in her chest was still there. People loved to talk shit about her, her mother, her father, her family. 

She had decided Vance had dissapeared off the face of the earth and she was fine with that. She felt a little sink in her stomach. 

Maeve shook her head hard and pushed her way through the rest of the night.

***

Maeve hissed as the cold air his her skin and pulled her dark, patchwork jacket close to her body. the Oldies hadn't talked to her again all night. When one of them would break away from the hear to make small talk the would be yanked back in, followed by a snide remark. 

They had reported her to the manager who at the end of the night told her she wouldn't be able to work functions for a while 

And on top of all that, they hadn't even tipped her.

She stomped down the side walk. At eleven o'clock the suburbs were so quiet. If she held her breath for long enough, she could hear the slap of the back of her broken shoes. The hum of a black van that rolled past her.

She saw her house. Infront of it. A head of curly blonde hair was all could see. 

She felt her heart pick up, though she couldn't tell if it was fear, or excitement. She walked a little faster, head ticked to the right. He was wearing red shorts, Maeve noted as she got closer. 

An odd decision for our resident grunge lord.

She stopped a couple houses down. She noticed the purse, pink slippers and the fact that Vance had shrunk about a foot and a half. 

Fucking. Norma.

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816 words.