It's Hale, It's Complicated {5}

chapter six

Rory was laying on the landing on the second floor, listening to Melissa talk on the phone and it made her feel guilty; she had money stacked away in bank accounts that Melissa wouldn't let her touch until she was eighteen, and even though the girl helped with groceries and paid rent because there was no way that she wasn't doing that, apparently, they still struggled.

"I know that I'm a month late" Melissa said with a sigh,
"Three months? Oh. Are you sure it's three months? Okay, I understand. Um, but if you could just turn the power back on even for a few hours, that would be really great. I have a refrigerator full of food that's going to go bad. And, obviously, I don't have the money to run out and replace $300 worth of groceries. So... I am more than happy to beg"

Scott walked out and looked down at the girl and sat down, laying back so his head was next to hers,
"You listening too?"

"I wish she'd just let me help" Rory muttered to him.

Scott turned his head to look at Rory with a small smile,
"She doesn't want you using your money for bills, she wants you to use it for something you want"

"Well, I want to help pay the bills" Rory told him with a small eye roll.

Scott smiled softly at her before giving her a brotherly kiss on the cheek,
"Come on, Lydia's car is out the front, I assume she's waiting for you"

"Lydia?" Rory questioned with a small frown as Scott helped her to her feet,
"I didn't know she was going to be here"

The pair walked downstairs to where Melissa was sitting on the floor in front of a pile of scattered papers, the woman looked up to see the two teenagers.

"Shouldn't the two of you be at school?" Melissa asked them with a soft smile.

"Yeah, we're going now" Scott said with a soft smile.

"We'll see you later" Rory smiled, although neither teenager moved as they continued to stare at her.

"Kids, go" Melissa tells them sternly,
"Everything's okay. Now go to school"

A car tooted from outside loudly causing Rory to jump and move over to the door and open it to see Lydia sitting impatiently in the driver's seat of her car.

"Bye, Mel" Rory said distractedly as she walked out to Lydia's car,
"What're you doing here, Lyd?"

"I called you, told you I was coming to get you and that we were going to the Sheriff's station to talk to Parrish" Lydia told her friend bluntly.

"Lydia you didn't call me" Rory tells her with a shake of her head.

"Yes, I did, we talked for like twenty minutes this morning" Lydia told her with a slow nod,
"Now get in"

Rory moved to the passenger side of Lydia's car and sat down, pulling out her phone and seeing that she and Lydia had spent twenty-three minutes talking that morning.

"Rory" Lydia said gently,
"Are you okay?"

"I don't remember talking to you this morning" Rory told her before pulling out a sketch of a well with someone in the bottom,
"I don't remember drawing this"

"That can't be good" Lydia told her with a small sigh, reaching over and touching her friend's shoulder,
"It'll be okay"