doppelgänger --> there's never just one {sequel}

scout & sadie

That night, it was late when they got home from shopping and dinner out, around ten o'clock or so. It was dark outside, not much lighting for them to see, causing Andy to struggle as he attempted to stick the key in the latch to unlock the door. When he was able to slide it in, though, Andy paused, turning his head slightly to look at Scout out of the corner of his eye. "Do you hear that, babe?"

"Hear what?" she asked as she listened closely for any specific, distinctive noise that stuck out to her.

"That --"

"Music? Like, with a lot of bass?" she finished when she too, heard the noise.

"Yeah. And it sounds like it's coming from inside," Andy observed, leaning his head closer to the door and pressing his ear up against it. "Yeah," he nodded, "it's definitely coming from inside."

"Calm down, Andy, it's probably just Dennis playing music on the speakers," she said, Andy's look of concern making her feel wary too. "There's probably nothing special going on."

Andy checked the time on his phone, reminding his wife, "But it's 10:15. Ollie should be asleep now, and Dennis knows he's not supposed to use the speakers after he goes to bed."

"Yeah," Scout agreed, "well, let's check it out," she said, still with hesitation in her voice.

"Darling, it'll be fine. What are you so worried about?" Andy assured her as he turned the knob on the door and stepped inside.

"No, it's not, though," Scout mumbled back slowly as she stared, almost dumbfounded at the scene they walked in on. Teenagers filled the room, dancing and laughing and screaming half of them intoxicated and dazed as they crossed the room to their friends or swayed their hips to the beat of the pounding music. Andy quickly scanned the room, Scout aware that all he cared about was which of their children were involved in this chaos and if they were okay. Once Scout came again to her senses after shock, she did the same thing, and in less than two seconds she was able to pick out Dani, dancing and giggling with her friends in the corner, and then Dennis, who stood leaning against the back of the couch with a bottle of whiskey in his hand and a cigarette in the other.

She was no less than shocked.

Then that's when she heard the baby wailing from upstairs, and she didn't stick around downstairs long enough to directly witness Andy's reaction except for the part where he stormed over to the stereo system and ripped the plug out of the wall.

When she went upstairs, she found Sadie in she and Andy's room, sitting in the back of the room, sitting in the back corner which was the farthest away from the door, holding Oliver firmly against her chest.

"Mom," Sadie said as soon as they saw each other, breathing a shaky sigh of relief. "Mommy, I'm scared," she admitted, her face twisting, starting to cry.

Scout rushed over to cradle her daughter and sobbing baby in her arms comfortingly. "And why is that, honey?" she asked sympathetically, pressing Sadie's head against her chest, kissing the top of it.

"All these people are here that I don't know, and even Dennis doesn't know some of them and they're creepy; they brought some kind of drugs, I saw!" she rambled on, wiping her eyes. "And Dennis is drunk and Dani secretly stole some of his cigarettes earlier. Ethan's not even here but she's wearing a really tight outfit that's like, barely there, and all the guys are staring at her boobs, and one even touched her butt, I saw --"

"I know it's scary, baby. Shh...," Scout comforted, being strong for her kids but in her head outraged and also terribly upset about what was happening. Scout would tell Andy about the guy who touched her daughter, Sadie could pick him out from the crowd since she had witnessed it, and then Andy would punch him for it. There, problem solved.