Shelter in the Jungle (COMPLETED)

Chapter 14: Sisters

"The dawn is breaking,
A light shining through
You're barely waking,
And I'm tangled up in you."
-from "Collide" sung by Howie Day

Amy woke up to a purple dawn. Mist was floating on the lake.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Jeff whispered, his cheek against her hair.
"OH CRAP!!!" Amy said jumping up.
"You have to get me home! Laura's probably wondering where I am and is worried sick! Take me home now!
"OK, calm down. I'll take you home. Why are you so concerned about Laura all of a sudden?" Jeff asked.
"Because I know she needs me now."

Amy walked into the house trying to look as normal as possible. Laura was sitting on the couch, Mike's sweater at her side and a mug of tea in her hand.
"Where were you? You didn't come home last night." if it wasn't for her tear-swollen eyes and her raspy voice she probably would have sounded annoyed.
"I needed to be by myself, so I spent the night at the lake house."
"So you called up your boyfriend because you wanted to be alone?"
"I just needed someone to talk to; he made me feel better."
"In how many ways?" Laura implied.
"We DID NOT have sex! He's a nice guy. We're still more or less at the 'just friends' stage."
"Oh. The hickie on your neck is screaming 'just friends'!" Laura retorted, not knowing it was a bug bite.

Any attempt of trying to comfort Laura was lost then on Amy. She bolted upstairs to her room and locked the door. They didn't see each other for the rest of the day.

It was about one o'clock in the morning when Laura woke up to go to the bathroom. She woke the baby up, too and patted the side of her stomach to calm it. She was headed back to bed when she noticed that the kitchen light was on.
Amy was sitting at the table, sipping a mug of sleepy time tea.
"What are you doing up?" Laura asked.
"I had a nightmare."
Amy? Having a nightmare?
"What happened?" Laura asked, sitting down next to Amy.
"I dreamt that we had learned that Mike was dead, and that you went crazy. I was all alone." Amy started crying then.
"I want him home, Laura!" she wailed, sounding more like a little kid than the young woman she was; just a little girl that wanted her big brother back.
Laura put her arms around Amy and rocked her.
"Ssshhh. It's ok. No matter what happens, we'll always be a family."
And in that moment, all the differences, the disagreements, and the arguments fell away. Amy was trying so hard to be the adult, when she was still just an upset kid of fifteen.
Laura walked Amy to her room, and she stayed with her until the girl was asleep.