Friday Barnes Spam

a rewrite of Halley's monologue (or turning it into one)

hellooooo my first contribution to the newest book! First some random thoughts:

- I've noticed as the books progress the colours of the covers get darker and more mature colours like this is a forest green the last one was a deep red, unlike the pastel colours of the first books. It could signify Friday getting older and also the series losing its innocence. 

- I was one year off with my estimate of the Barne's siblings ages</3 Halley is 22 when I thought she was 21 </3

- two lines that specifically make me wanna die are Friday saying "I don't think I can pull it off twice" when asked to make Ian fall in love with her again and  "to reassure her it was still Ian. Her Ian". My Roman empire if you will. 

- Ian is canonically on the rugby/footy team at highcrest! (I say rugby/footy because some people think they're the same thing or rugby is footy and footy is rugby) 

This obv takes place in my AU. I'll have a reevaluation of the barnes siblings in my au soon so lowkey forget what you know abt them from my AU for now.!

okay this takes place from page 268 <3

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   "Oh, grow up Friday!" Halley spat, looking deranged at this point struggling against the binds and clenching her fists. Both Ian and Melanie stepped closer to Friday, Bernie displayed an arm in front of her.

"Fucking grow up already!" her older sister continued. "Are you seriously crying right now? Why? Huh?! You never cried before. Not when I'd take your books, not when your parents would forget you even existed, so why now, huh? Is it because you finally have some friends now? A blonde, muscly boyfriend? Did they adopt you or something?" Here, Halley laughed and shook her head. "They had to, you're too insufferable for anyone to willingly like you."

Friday could feel the tears coming again, strong and hot. She really didn't want them. Halley had always made it clear she didn't like her, but what hurt the most is that Friday believed what she was saying was right. Would Melanie still be her friend if she forgot about her? What if they Wai-Yi and Susan had never initiated the friendship, would they even care? Does she even have the ability to make Ian fall in love with her again? If he hadn't of gotten his memories back, would he still think of her as a stranger?

Halley, still struggling against her binds, continued. "Do you really think of her as your mother? Get real, Friday," Halley then burst out laughing. "Even your name is a testimony to the fact that she doesn't fucking care. Your name is Friday. A fucking day of the week and the wrong one at that! I will never consider her a mother, she's barely fit to be a functional human being. All that woman is, and will ever be, is Dr. Barnes. You say she's more than Dr. Barnes to us but she'll never be more than Dr. Barne to anyone. Fuck, even your father probably hardly thinks of her as anything more than Dr. Barnes!"

"That's not true," Friday said quietly, she pushed forward. "That's not true at all. You just think that because you're trying to justify your actions."

"Oh, please. I miss when you were a little rat who knew to not bother anyone," the woman sneered.

"You should watch the way you speak to her," Ian said, walking forward before Bernie pulled him back.

"What are you going to do, pretty boy? Huh? You gonna punch me?" Halley snickered, rolling her eyes before turning serious. "She's my sister, stay out of it idiot! I'm just giving my sister some advice." The woman turned back to Friday, glaring at her as if she had never despised someone more. "Dr. Barnes would have done the same thing to us in a heartbeat, including you. But she doesn't fucking need to because she has a Nobel Prize she she's showered in grant money and staff!" Halley exclaimed, finally stopping her resistance against the binds. "So grow up Friday. She doesn't care about you. No one in this family does and that goes any way. I don't care about you, Quantum doesn't care about you, Orion doesn't care about you, Quasar doesn't care about you and your 'Mum' and 'Dad' certainly don't either. They don't care about me, and I don't care about them."

Friday felt like an absolute idiot standing there with tears streaming down her face. She didn't want to cry, but everything Halley said felt so heartbreakingly true she had no other option. And it wasn't because they couldn't care, that was impossible because Halley still had Brad, and in her own way cared for him. So why not Friday? Why not her sister? Her youngest sister. The one she was supposed to support and care for.

"Why don't you," Friday finally said, her voice cracking as she cried.

"Why don't I care about you?" Halley asked, her voice quiet and slow. Behind them, Ian, Melanie, and Bernie stayed still, frozen watching the scene before them. Halley stayed quiet, even looking like she was mulling over the question, as though there was some answer she needed to find. Friday would have maybe thought she even looked sad until a loud laugh escaped the woman. A laugh so harsh and loud it made Friday step back. Halley laughed, even her boyfriend laughed. She laughed for what seemed an age before shaking her head, laughing so hard no sound came out and she even looked close to tears.

"Get this through your thick head," she finally said, smiling at Friday for the first time ever. "You've gone soft. I don't like you. I never have. In fact! I hate you! You're pathetic, and small, and you've always played that stupid detective game thinking you can actually be one. Wipe your tears, you look pathetic."

Friday would have finally broken down. After years and years of torment from her family and negligence, this would've been her last straw. That final sentence alone killed something inside of her. But she has grown. She's consolidated her feelings. She knows that deep inside, Halley is just like her. Maybe, in another universe, it would've been her bound in that chair with Ian besides her as she spits the foulest things from her mouth after trying to abduct her own mother. Like any little sister, she does what her older sister tells her and wipes her tears.

"I forgive you," Friday says quietly. "But what you have done is beyond illegal. It's amoral. Family is the basic unit of civilisation and we have clearly failed that."

"Pfft," Halley snickered, but her bite seemed to quiet down as she stayed glaring at Friday. "Everything comes down to physics. Weak force is weaker than strong force. Gravity is weaker than weak force. And the force that binds our family together is weaker than any of them. You'll see that I'm right when you're older. The only thing we all share is a last name and heritage."

"The force that binds you to sanity is weaker than any of them," Ian begins, taking Friday's hand. "You're sick in the head and clearly need help. Friday is a better person than all of you and you don't deserve her forgiveness." He looked as though he wanted to say more, and honestly punch the older woman, but he grit his teeth and stepped back, leading Friday away.

"Come on, kids, we should leave," Bernie said, looking back at Halley before nudging the kids away. Friday figured it must have been hard too. Even though not blood related, Bernie still found family with the Barnes being her fathers best friend. He grew up watching and taking care of these kids, so to see them grow up so disconnected from eachother was gut wrenching enough without knowing them when they were so innocent and a child.

Ian held Friday tightly, his hand on her waist gripping her tightly. Friday looked back once more at her older sister. Halley looked back, a fire in her eyes that seemed only slightly dimmed. For a moment, a brief moment, it seemed like something clicked. Some faint idea of love flickered, but it was gone in the smoke as soon as it arrived.

Friday still loved her sister. She didn't want to, but one of them had to.

___

okay the end bye bye