Nicotine | Ashton Irwin ✔

0.5

word count; 1200

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Ara punched the wall when she made it out of the cafeteria. She retracted her hand in pain. "Ah, FUCK!" she hissed. She shook her hair, trying to ease the pain. She heard a low chuckle and spun around. Teddy laughed at her. "It's not funny!" She cried, trying to hide her smile. Teddy shook his head and pulled his older sister in for a hug.

"Aw. Poor you. You do know that the wall's gonna win every time right."

"Shut the fuck up Theodora."

"It's Sir Theodora if you don't mind."

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"Sadly."

"Do you think the school's gonna phone home about what you did today?"

"I hope not."

Ara waverly walked up the front porch of the house after school. Teddy waited behind her. "Go on Ara. You're braver than this."

"You're right." Ara opened the door of the house only to hear,

"ARABELLA ANN MARIE LEE YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO YOUNG LADY!" Ara slammed the door shut, and breathed out.

"It's like I'm still living in a nightmare." she gasped. Teddy rushed to her side.

"Come on Ara, we have to do this. Just go in there and get it over with." Teddy opened the door again, and pulled Ara inside. Standing in the front part of the house was Liam, Cat, and Aaron who was sipping a beer. Ara breathed out shakily.

FLASHBACK

"ARABELLA!" Ara hid behind the safety of her door. "ARABELLA YOU GET YOUR FUCKING ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" ten year old Teddy looked at his older sister with pleading eyes.

"Ara." he whispered. "Please make it stop." he cried.

"OKay, okay. Don't cry Teddy. I'll make it go away." she said, crawling over to her baby brother. She ran her fingers through his hair soothingly. Ara stumbled to her feet, and lumbered downstairs to feet whatever fate was in store for her.

END OF FLASHBACK

Ara gulped as she stared at Liam who looked pissed off. "Do you mind telling me why I got a phone call home saying you were bad mouthing your teacher?" he asked, angrily.

"All I did was correct her on-"

"On what?"

"I was getting to that part before you interupted me." Liam coughed.

"Excuse me?"

"I corrected her on my name, and she got mad at me!" Ara defended.

"Oh really."

"It's the truth!"

"And why should I believe you?" Ara was taken back. She went from defensive, to agressive in one swift motion.

"I DID NOT LEAVE ONE NIGHTMARE TO ENTER ANOTHER LIAM!" She screamed. "For sixteen years of my life I've been abused! Yelled at! Been told 'I'm not worth it!' how do you think it makes me feel to come into a house like this, and have you yell at me!" Liam sighed.

"No one said being a parent was easy Ara." he scolded. Ara scoffed.

"Oh I'm sorry, but when did you become my father?" she snapped. Aaron stopped drinking his beer, and Cat put her head down. Teddy stood still. "You never knew I existed until now. My mother, she raised me on her own. She raised Teddy on her own after his father started to treat him badly. You had nothing to do withour upbringing, so I'm sorry If my behavior affects you!" Ara stomped off upstairs to her room. They could here her scream, and slam the door. Before Liam could say anything, Teddy was in his face, a finger pointed at his chest.

"She's been through enough already!" he screamed. "So quit patronizing her. She's had a hard enough life, and you're just making it worse." Teddy pushed past him towards the stairs, and made his way up to his room.

"You've really done it this time mate." Aaron said. "Poor girl's been through a lot."

"I know, I know. Jesus. I don't know how Dana did it." Liam excused himself from the room.

Upstairs, Ara collapsed against her door, sliding down, tears flowing uncontrollably. She covered her face with her hands as she cried. She was a mess. A horrible one at that. A mistake. There was a soft knock at her door. "GO AWAY!" she screamed.

"Ara?"

"GO AWAY TEDDY!"

"ARA PLEASE! Don't shut me out!" Ara cried even harder. "Ara I know you're upset, but please. Just let me in!" She slowly moved away from the door.

"It's open." she cried. In an instant, Teddy flung open his siter's door, and embraced her in a hug. He rang his hands up and down her back soothingly.

"You're okay. You're okay." he whispered, tears forming in his own eyes.

"I'm not okay!' she cried. "I'm a screw up! I'm a worthless mistake and-" Teddy shook his sister's shoulders, getting a firm grip. "Teddy you're hurting me!" He let go of her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." he apologized. "Listen Ara. You're not a mistake, okay? You're my sister. You're strong, and independant, and brave. I love you. I don't want to see you get hurt." he said. Ara clung to her brother while he rocked her back and forth.

"Stay?" she mumbled.

"Yeah." he nodded.

"This is why I hate cops." she mumbled.

Liam paced back and forth in the kitchen muttering. He yelled at her. His own daughter. A girl who had just lost her mother and had been shot, and he yelled at her! God he was and Idiot. Aaron and Cat came into the kitchen and shook their heads. "Apologize." Cat said softly. "She'll understand."

"Will she?!" Liam snapped. "Why should she forgive me? She's right. I was never there for her. Dana was. She's been through enough already and I probably just made it worse." he sighed. "And to make matters worse, I'm a cop! A fucking cop Cat! I've probably ruined my only chance to have her trust me. And Teddy. I just, don't know what to do."

"Start with an apology. Tell her you didn't mean it, because we know you didn't." Aaron said.

"Ok. In the morning. It'll give her time to calm down." Liam sighed, and walked out of the kitchen.

"He's a mess." Cat sighed.

"Yeah, but hey. All of this is so sudden." Aaron added.

"I just hope they don't kill each other."

Ara awoke in the middle of the night, tired, and exhausted. She looked to her side to find Teddy sleeping soundly. She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. She'd put him through a lot. Teddy always suffered when Ara messed up. He didn't deserve it.

Ara carefully climbed out of her bed, and headed over to her closet where she kept a pack of smokes, and a bottle of vodka. She pulled them out, and then headed over to her window. Her window led out to a landing on the roof where she could sit. She climbed out into the chilly air, and sat down. She lit a cigarette and then took a swig of alcohol. She breathed out the smoke. "You got to get yourself in check." Ara mumbled to herself. "For Teddy's sake." Ara looked up at the night sky and watched the stars twinkle in the darkness.