You can't do this alone. ~Frank Hardy x Reader~

Chapter 9.3 - The Key

Juliet's POV

Trudy took my clothes from me and placed them on the couch.

"You better go see Frank and Joe, they're in Frank's room, waiting by the phone. They don't think I knew you were missing but I overheard them talking..." Trudy said.

"I'm really sorry... but I need to grab the pie from my car if that's alright?" I asked her and she nodded. 

"Yeah. But now that I know you're safe, I'm going to bed. I'll take these up to your room while you go see the boys. Goodnight." She squeezed my shoulder before walking to her bedroom, grabbing my stack of things, and walking upstairs.

I walked about outside and grabbed the pie from my car, locking it afterward. I walked to the front door only for it to be locked. Of course, it's locked. Great. I walked over to the other entrance and tried it too but it was locked too. I groaned in annoyance, forgetting that when the lock was turned, you could only open it from the inside. The house key Trudy had given me was in the stack of items she took upstairs.

I knocked on the door a few times but there was no response. Trudy said that she was heading to bed and the boys couldn't hear the knock from Frank's room. Just my luck. I balanced the pie into one hand and backed up to look at the house.

I needed to find a window or something. Frank's window was on the side of the house that was flat so I couldn't reach that one. But... I could reach Joe's. I looked at his window and saw it cracked. Bingo! I looked around and saw Trudy's trellis. I could use that to climb onto the roof, allowing me to get to Joe's window.

I looked at the pie in my hand and knew that I was going to have to do this one-handed. I started my way up the trellis, climbing it like a ladder to the second floor of the house. I placed the pie on the roof before pulling myself up and then grabbing it again. I carefully slide on the roof towards Joe's window. 

Eventually, I got there, allowing me to breathe. It was hard to maneuver on the roof since it was sloped. I pushed Joe's window up and couldn't help but wonder if this was the same way JB got into his room. When it was all the way up, I placed the pie on the dresser that was right next to the window. I wasn't that shocked to find Joe not in his room. I carefully climbed inside and was relieved when I placed my feet on the floor. I grabbed the pie before heading into the hallway, stopping when I hear voices coming from Frank's room.

"She'll call, she has to." I could hear Joe tell his brother from his room.

"Last time we couldn't find her, she was trapped in a storm shelter!" Frank sounded upset.

"We need to tell Aunt Trudy..." Joe said. It took a few moments but finally, the door opened up and Joe came out, closing it behind him. He turned around and saw me waiting there in the hall. His eyes widened before he ran over to me, wrapping his arms around me. 

He mumbled something into my stomach before looking up at me. I didn't know what he said but I knew what I needed to say.

"I'm sorry, Joe. I lost track of time at the bakery." I apologized.

"Is that where you've been?" He asked me. I raised the pie I was holding with one hand with a guilty half-smile.

"I was picked up early from school today. So when I found myself with extra time, I went over to my house to grab some more clothes and stuff. I then decided to make a pie and I lost track of time. I'm so sorry." I apologized again, explaining things. 

"Look, we can catch up later but right now I need to talk to you and your brother about what we talked about." I said. 

"'We'?" He asked.