𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐄𝐒 • Luke Dunphy

xxiv . search history

Tiana had been staying at her parents house a lot more often recently. The past few nights had been quiet, leading Tiana to believe that they were progressing, until tonight.

The thing she dreaded had came back louder than ever: a screaming match. Incoherente tells sounded through the house. Both of her parents were mad, and drunk, and the yelling seemed to be getting closer and closer to the stairs, closer to her room.

She texted Luke, asking him to come pick her up, and park a few blocks down. She knew it was wrong, he didn't have a license yet, but he could drive, surely he wouldn't get pulled over.

He said he'd come, and she waited quite a while, trying to decipher what it was that her parents were so angry about, but he never showed up. Pretty soon, her dad was banging at her bedroom door, and all she could do what lock it and sit against it as the loud bangs and yelling drowned out her sobs, until he finally gave up at around eleven at night.

Then, not long after the screaming bad died down, she heard a single vibration from her phone, opening it to see a text from Haley. Luke was arrested for driving without a license. He was on his way to get her, and he was speeding. Was it bad that she found that hot? She did have a habit of hooking up with delinquents, now that she thought about it.

Tiana agreed to help clean out Phil's duck village with Luke, considering she was technically part of the reason he was arrested. After hours of cleaning and one lost duck, which Manny found, they were almost done. Manny went back into his house when Tiana and Luke assured him that they were fine doing the rest alone.

"You know, you didn't have to help me," Luke said.

"I know," Tiana said, "But the only reason you got arrested is because you were driving to my house. This is partly my punishment, too."

"Are you okay after that?"

"Well, nothing physical happened, the screaming just went on for a little while. It's okay, though. It's their first one in a long time, I think they're getting better."

"Or maybe they're just getting tired."

"Come to think of it, they're sleeping way more often, even without drinking. They're on their computers, like, all the time. I've been wanting to ask what they're looking at, but I'm scared they'll yell at me for being nosy or something."

"Just check their computers when they're asleep."

"Maybe I will. Hey, thanks for coming last night, even if you didn't make it."

"Anything for you."

That night, Tiana waited for her parents to fall asleep before opening their laptops. The passwords were both just 'Password', because the morons didn't know how to change them.

She found things she didn't want to see in her fathers search history, and clothing's catalogues in her mothers, but it was the most recent searches that caught her eye. 'New York City Apartment Listing'.

No way could this be happening. Moving to New York? Right after she'd just made up with Luke? She closed the two laptops, making sure to log out beforehand, and headed back to bed.

Maybe they were looking for a place for Amy. After all, she'd just finished college. She was living in a small apartment not far from them, with a less than tolerable flat mate. Then again, she knew her parents wouldn't help Amy like that.

It's not that they didn't like Amy, she was obviously the favourite child, which is exactly why Tiana knew they wouldn't help her, they wouldn't want her moving so far away. That could only mean one thing. It was them. They were moving, probably dragging Tiana along with them.

That night, she got no sleep despite the silence of the house. She couldn't tell Luke. It would upset him too much. If a few months without from him, but living ten minutes away, made her so upset, imagine what never seeing him again would do.

She knew that her parents wouldn't let her go to visit Luke. Could she handle long distance, or what she have to completely end the friendship? She didn't think she could lose him.

short but effective chapter i think