GUILTY | CONRAD FISHER

i remembered the prom.

It seemed like Francis and Judith knew about the children's finding, so, they began avoiding them, covering by work. Theo and Sara had no options besides waiting, so, they started to get used to living in Chesterbrook from scratch.

They were back to work as neither of teens found better things to do there. Edwards and Hadens' chain of dental clinics, after all these years of hard time, turned out to be the most successful one in the whole state. Most of the time, Theo and Sara were spending time in the parents' office, not in the clinics themselves. But sometimes, they worked at the reception or babysat kids in the play room. And in August, which, obviously was a time for vacations, they were better in clinics, not in the office.

After work days, they usually were exhausted, but they friends still managed to make them go to parties. They had no time for running a talk with parents, they had no time to discuss the information they learnt from the letter, even with each other, and they had no time at all to contact everyone who left in Cousins. They almost stopped using their phones, using them only for work or texting Conrad and Cameron that they missed them but couldn't facetime them because they were too busy or too tired. Teens which kept dragging them to events knocked at their door every single night, knowing better than anyone that it was their sing;e chance to keep in touch with the two.

Of course, it was their another coping mechanism, work and parties. Both Theo and Sara thought that these excuses were good enough to forget about their issues, to keep people they loved in ignorance, to make them think that they were okay.

On the fourteenth of August, the whole family finally ended up in the same car after really tough night. One day before, they met the family who lastly bought the Hadens' house. The moment deal was made and customers left, the four of them broke down. It wasn't a simple house for them, it was a major part of their lifes. And it wasn't with them anymore. So, the atmosphere in the car was really intense.

Francis, as always, was the first who tried to cheer the group up. He, probably, play the playlist called "birthday", referring to his ex-wife's upcoming day.

"They're singing 'Happy Birthday!', you just want to lay down and cry!" he sang. Honestly, Francis Edwards was the best singer that family'd ever met, his duet with Erik, accompanying him with his guitar, had always sounded amazing. But that day, he annoyed everybody in car.

Sara groaned, turning the music off. "You're not Andrew Garfield, dad!"

Theo nodded. "And not Jonathan Larson, either."

"And I don't wanna lay down and cry, Fran, I'm looking forward to my birthday!" Judith protested.

The man scoffed, shrugging. He returned the music, making it much quieter. "Just trying to defuse the tension, buzzkill," he looked directly at Judith. "You won't mind if I don't give you any presents?" he immediately recieved a hit by the woman.

"Then, I'll kick you out."

"It isn't a house of yours, Judy."

Theo and Sara exchanged a look, realizing that it was the best moment for a conversation they wanted to start days ago. "Speaking of the beach house..."

"Were you gonna tell us it was my father's?"

The car went silent. Awkwardly silent. Then, Judith shot a quick look at the man and cleared her throat. "You're not gonna enjoy the answer."

"Really?!" they yelled in unison. The two of adults nodded. "Why?"

Francis gripped the steering wheel tighter, pretending that he wasn't a part of conversation, knowing damn well that it'd never worked that way in their family. If they had a 'talk', they had it together.