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The dark streets of Seattle unfolded before them like a dark, endless river, dimly lit by the yellow eyes of street lamps.
Addison, behind the wheel, felt like a captain on a stormy sea, while Derek, her broken navigator, sat beside her.
"I can't believe you're just going to take this, Derek! She hit you, damn it!" Addison finally broke the silence and returned her attention to the traffic.
Derek leaned back and rubbed the sore bridge of his nose as if he could massage away the remnants of tension. The swelling and discoloration on his face gave him a grim look.
"I know," he replied with a mixture of remorse and defensiveness, "but don't you think we might be partly to blame? We've put her through a lot lately."
Addison flicked on the turn signal, the movement abrupt, almost angry. "We can't let everything slide just because we feel guilty," she retorted sharply, steering the car around a corner a little too fast.
Derek glanced out the window, as if he could find answers in the fleeting darkness.
"I'm not saying we should let it go. But Missy feels abandoned, Addison. She feels betrayed, not just by me, but by both of us," Derek tried to get to the heart of the matter, his words as careful as if he were navigating a minefield.
"She thinks we lured her here to force her to make a decision she knew nothing about."
The car rounded another corner and the rain began to beat harder against the windshield.
Addison stepped on the gas a little more decisively, as if to underscore her resolve.
"We're her parents, Derek, not friends on the playground. It's our goddamn responsibility to raise her."
"And you think, just punishing her without trying to understand, will help?" he interjected, clearly struggling to control his frustration. "She's like a injured animal lashing out because she feels threatened."
"And that gives her the right to hit you?" Addison laughed bitterly. "Derek, let's be realistic. She is testing her boundaries and if we don't intervene now, who knows what will come next?"
"Then what do you suggest?" Derek finally asked, his voice tired.
Addison took a deep breath, her eyes focused on a point in the distance.
"We have to be on the same side, Derek. We can't let them play us against each other."
The conversation fell silent as they drove through the quiet night streets, each lost in thought as they slowly approached their potential new home.
It was an uneasy peace that spread between them, a truce in a series of battles that neither side was sure they could win.
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