Flames in the Family Tree

Part 8- Darien/Lucy POV

I can't believe Lily either. But I'm not mad at her at all. I had just never known her to be so... out there.
         "Stay with your sister if you so want to," said Richard, condescendingly. "I mean it."
         "Okay!" Lily exclaimed with an angry smile on her face. "Let me go walk home and pack my bags then." She took a few steps down the apartment building stairs then stopped herself...
         When Richard immediately jumped in: "hey now, not so quick, Lily! You still need to explain yourself!"
         Lily turned around to face Richard, about to break into tears. "What explaining do I have left to do!?"
         "I'd rather go back to sleeping on crowded gym floors and being overworked by bad management," I sighed to myself, but it was just enough for Louise and Richard to hear.
         "Be lucky that here you have a bed and a shower! We did all of this for you!" yelled Louise.
         "Not for us," Drew mentioned as a side note. "Liars."
         That's when Louise and Richard left the scene with no words. Just some grunts and childlike stomping. They drove away angry and quickly, paying no mind to me and Lily, who they had, oddly enough, abandoned. Classic.
         Drew and Lucy, however, welcomed us in. "Make yourselves at home, guys," said Drew. "You can crash here whenever you need.
         "And at my place too, whenever you get a chance to see it," said Lucy.
         "I'll crash here tonight, is that okay?" asked Lily.
         "Yeah!" Drew replied. "You can take the couch or take the second bedroom."
         "I'd like the bedroom, please," I jumped in.
         So, Drew then led me to the closet with blankets and pillows, then the extra bedroom. Lily followed us, just to know the place. "Glad you're here, bro," he said. "You too, sis."
         Lily smiled at us with a calm sigh. "I feel like I can finally breathe again."

Lucy ended up staying at Drew's place with us for the rest of the day. We talked, and talked, and talked. We talked about our Mr. and Mrs. Grumpus Uncle James and Aunt Pam, who had just completely abandoned all of us kids after Drew and Lucy finally found their own homes. I always knew there was something off about them every time we would visit them whilst Drew and Lucy were sent to friends' houses for pretty much the whole week. "The lengths they went," I said in disbelief.
         We also talked about each other, sharing a few of the good moments to end the night before Lucy had to head home. Meanwhile, I felt so comfortable and safe for the first time in a while. I could look back on those times where I defended "Mom" and "Dad" and cringe myself to sleep. Never could I truly process how horrible they were until I spent just one night away from them.

~~~~~~Lucy~~~~~~

The time flew by through work and spending all that time knowing Lily that it was finally time for her to go back to college. She had been telling me how much she dreamed of this day ever since the wild floods of her former college dorm made her live at "home" through February, March, April, and on. In the days leading up to it, however, Drew and I helped her with the move-in so she could have someone to genuinely hug goodbye. And just a week later, Drew and I helped Darien with his college move-in.
         All those months of her freedom at college, Lily and Darien were all I could think about. We texted almost every day, attended Darien's concerts and Lily's halftime shows, and had them, along with some friends their age, over for Thanksgiving and Christmas at my place. Whenever the day of Lily officially moving in with me would come, we talked all about our dreams for that every time we saw each other. And for Darien living with Drew, as they worked to strengthen their bonds.
         None of those times did we ever talk to Louise and Richard or Pam and James again. No contact? No problem.

END