And Then There Was You (FreenxBecky)

Every Ounce of Me

"when i saw you first, it took every ounce of me not to kiss you. when i saw you laugh, it took every ounce of me not to love you. and when i saw your soul, it took everyounce of me." - atticus

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Despite Nita's distaste for Freen and Becky's relationship, she was starting to find it more tolerable as Becky began inserting herself in their lives more.

Both Freen and Becky were present at each of her hockey practices on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and Becky started to take her and Emily home after school to allow Freen some extra time in the studio.

While it was weird at first to have her English teacher leave school with her, Nita soon realized that she didn’t give a crap about what the other students thought and that having another adult around that treated Emily well was something she shouldn’t complain about.

On the last Friday before Christmas break, Nita lingered in the English room so then Becky could pack up and Emily could meet them there.

“You’re going to have to come by my parents place sometime soon,” Becky mentioned as she slid the assignments she had to mark over the weekend into her bag. “My dad has been talking nonstop about how much Bon and Gracie liked you.”

“They were nice,” Nita said, from her desk in the back corner where she currently had her chin rested on her two hands on the table.

“Did you ever go through homes with pets?” Becky asked.

“One lady had five cats. We didn’t stay there very long because Emily's allergic.”

“That must’ve sucked.”

“A three-year-old that doesn’t stop sneezing is never fun,” Nita huffed, only further reminding Becky just how much of Nita's childhood was stopped by the foster system. “I also remember this creepy foster brother that had a bird. I think it was from our first placement. It’s too far back to remember though.”

“I had a bird lady once. She had like 8 different birds living in her garage and this one bird made these horrifying laughing noises. Charlotte cried every time it made that sound,” Becky said, making Nita snicker.

“I might use that as blackmail the next time she makes us do 20-minute speed skating drills.”

Becky laughed at that, finding herself slightly baffled by the amount of willing conversation she was getting from the girl today. It was like they turned a new leaf.

Before more traumatic pet experiences could be recounted, Emily was skipping into the room with a piece of paper waving in her hand.

“Hey, Emi Bear. What’ve you got there?” Becky asked, crouching down to accept the artwork.

“I made this in class today,” Emily explained.

Becky felt her heart swell at the finger painting of what looked to be like Emily and Nita with the nice cursive of Mrs.Mint on top labeling it as: My favourite person.

“Why don’t you go show your sister this amazing art,” Becky encouraged, standing up and taking in the moment between the sisters.

Nita seemed genuinely touched by the picture and hugged Emily tightly before the two sorted themselves out and approached Becky at her desk.

“Ready to go?” Becky asked, smiling at the two girls.

“Yup,” Nita agreed, returning a small smile before turning to leave the room with Emily skipping beside her.