Meet The Carters {Under Reconstruction}

Thank You

"I want to go to the mall!" Kelly yelled again, stomping her foot. Dustin rolled his eyes and looked over at me.

"Are you going to take her?" He asked.

"Why do you want to go?" I asked her. She gestured toward a worn pair of jeans and a pretty faded pink T-Shirt.

"Because all of my clothes are ugly and old. Please, Stella. Ronan won't take me." I sighed, nodding as I turned to face the twins. They, as well as Chris, were in a very heated game of COD.

"Do you guys want to go?" Chris was the only one who looked away and frowned at me.

"Where?"

"To the mall." The twins both turned to face me at the mention of the word.

"Yeah, sure. It's about time we grabbed some new clothes." Jared said before all three boys went back to the game. When I looked back at Dustin and Kelly, Kelly was gone.

"Stella! Kendra won't let me into our room!" Kelly shouted, earning a snicker out of Dustin and a sigh out of me.

"You have your own room, Kelly. Go use. . ." I trailed off when I saw the worried look on her face. She had one hand resting against the door and the other in the air as if she was about to bang on it.

"S. . . she's been acting weird all week. She won't let me into the bathroom, she's been crying when she's trying to sleep. I think something is wrong with her." I frowned at her words, then knocked on the door lightly.

"Kendra? Hey, sweetie. Can I come in?" She took a few minutes to reply.

"Are you alone?" She asked, her voice cracking. Kelly backed up down the hall and gave me a sad look.

"Make sure she's okay." She whispered before disappearing. I heard the door unlock on the other side and Kendra peeked her head out.

"Are you all right?" I asked. She shook her head and let me into the room, locking it behind me.

"Everyone is going to make fun of me and. . . and. . ." She fell on to her bed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Kendra, why would everyone make fun of you? You're great!" She sniffled and shook her head.

"Because I'm a freak. Th. . . and Dustin, he'll laugh." I frowned and sat on the bed beside her.

"Kendra, you can tell me what's wrong. I won't make fun of you." She stood up and walked across the room, pulling a pair of pants out of her hamper. My eyes immediately went to the red spot on the back of them.

"I got my period a few days ago. Kelly hasn't got hers and my mom said it wouldn't be for at least another year. I don't even have pads or anything like that. And. . . and . . ." She started crying again, burying her face in her hands. I walked across the room and tossed the pants back into the hamper.

"Hey, sweetie. It's okay. It's normal. I got mine when I was your age, it's not uncommon. This can stay between us, I'll go try and clean the pants and you can grab some pads from my bathroom. I promise everything will be okay." I assured her, squeezing her shoulder.

"Thank you." She whimpered, sniffling again. I smiled at her, giving her a playful shove toward the door.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie. Now Kelly wants to go to the mall. Go clean yourself up and we'll go." She wiped the tears off her cheek, pulling up the door with her other hand.

"Stella?" I looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." She repeated. I waved my hand and watched her walk out of the room, a sad smile slipping across my face as I picked up the hamper and carried it down the hall.

****

"This is going to sound really weird, especially coming from me. But have Kendra's breasts grown?" Ronan asked, his eyes following his younger sister as she pushed Angie around in a little car.

"What the hell, Ron! That's disgusting," Justin snapped, but his eyes darted to the twelve year old girl, "but I see what you mean. She. . . she looks like she's starting to get curves too." I looked down at my food, smiling to myself.

"Stella? Did my sister hit puberty?" Ronan asked, finally turning to eyes to me. Kendra heard him and she straightened, her eyes growing wide.

"I don't know." I lied, taking a bite of my pizza so I didn't have to talk anymore.

"I'm her brother, Stella. Don't you think I have the right to know?"

"Why do you even care? It's not like it matters if she did, not to you anyway." I snapped back.

"I care because she's my sister, Stella! When she starts to develop even more, who's going to have to be there to beat up all the little weasels that start to go after her? Who's going to be the one to comfort her when they break her heart? It sure as hell isn't going to be m dad or Lincoln now, is it?" I recoiled against my chair, staring into Ronan's dark eyes.

"I can take care of myself, Ronan! God, I'm not a baby!" Kendra snarled, stalking past us and running down the hall.

"Yep. She definitely hit puberty." Justin muttered, staring down the hall as the door slammed shut.

"Why don't you stop acting like her mother and tell me what the hell is going on?" Ronan said, his face starting to redden in anger.

"She hit it a few days ago, okay? I. . . at least that's what she told me. She doesn't want any of you guys to know, she thinks you'll make fun of her because she's so young." Anger immediately drained from Ronan's face at my words.

"I wouldn't do that. Why would she think that?" I shrugged, starting to get a little angry myself.

"Maybe because Dustin walks around here making her feel like crap. Maybe because she's scared to go back to school. She probably thinks she'll look different from all the other girls there. Or maybe she wishes that her mom was here to talk to her. To let her know what to do. I don't know why she's scared, Ronan. Why don't you go find out?" He stood up, rubbing his face.

"I'm sorry for snapping, Stel. I. . . I'm just worried about her. Things are going to be different around here without Lincoln." I nodded and smiled at him. He took a deep breath and walked down the hall, running his right hand through his hair nervously.

"So I heard you took the whole family to the mall. How well did that turn out for you?" Justin asked once we were alone in the kitchen. I shrugged, looking away from his questioning green eyes.

"It was okay, I guess. Both pairs of twins disappeared for like two hours and I was left with Dustin, Chris, Stevie, and Angela to handle by myself. It wasn't so bad, though. Dustin actually smiled." Justin chuckled at the comment, but I could still feel the tension in the room.

"Look, Stella. I'm sorry if I came on a little strong when we first met. And the other day when I was drinking, well I'm sorry for whatever I did then too. I just want you to know that I'm always here if you need help with anything. I know that it's going to be a little harder to control them since Link's gone. Just call or tell Ronan to give me a call if you need anything." He gave me a crooked smile before grabbing his keys and walking out of the house. I yawned and slowly stood up to go into the kitchen. I leaned back against the fridge, enjoying the peace and quiet.

"No! I called dibs!" I heard the thunderous sound of footsteps as everyone rushed into the living room. I let out a sigh once they all started fighting. I caught Ronan's eye and he gave me a reassuring smile, patting Kendra on the back. He mouth the next two words, I didn't even have to question what he was saying it for. I knew.

'Thank you.' He wasn't thanking me for just helping Kendra, or taking care of the kids. Or even being here for the kids when Lincoln disappeared. He was thanking me for simply just being here. What he didn't know is that those two words meant the world to me, and made staying here through everything that has and will happen worth it.

***AN***

*Unedited*

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~ChasingMadness24