Vanilla And Cocoa

Chapter 10 "Secrets"

Walking into Justin's house became an usual every day thing. Some days it was all of us, some there were a few of us, and then it was just us three. Today was one of those days.

As soon as I stepped through the threshold, I heard the patter of Merissa's feet against the hardwood floor. She latched herself onto my leg and I chuckled. "Hello to you, too."

Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at me. "Are you going to play with me today?!"

"Of course," I picked her up and she clutched onto my shirt. We walked upstairs and the silence constricted my lungs in a few seconds. "Where's your brother?"

"He's sleeping." She answered simply.

We got into The Cave and I turned on the tv, sighing in relief at the background noise. "So, no one's watching you?"

She shook her head and disappeared down the hallway to grab her toys. I followed her down to her room and leaned against the wall. My mouth parted in awe as I saw her room was full of toys. However, every single time, she would chose the same dolls. I walked over to the gigantic dollhouse placed far away from everything else and trailed my fingers across it, picking up dust along the way. "Why haven't you played with this?"

She shrugged but I noticed she hugged her dolls close to her chest. "You really like those, huh?"

"Justin bought these for me!" She exclaimed with a bright smile.

"Oh, really?" I smiled with her, ruffling her hair. "Who brought those then?"

She stared at the doll house for a moment before she answered, turning back to me. "A lady."

I thought nothing of it then because it didn't occur to me that a child as young as her could disown their own mother.

"Well, come on. Let's go play." She trotted down the hallway and I gave one more fleeting glance to the dollhouse before shutting the door behind me.

We settled back down in the room and we both grabbed our dolls. The longer we played, the more I realized it started to resembled the movie, Tangled. A girl trapped in a tower with no knowledge of the outside world, a mother who only returns once in a while, she escapes with a new character, and ends up finding her true family. There was only one thing that was different, she didn't fall in love. She found the meaning of home instead.

I jumped as I heard a door close down the hallway. "Merissa!"

"Yes?" She yelled back.

I heard footsteps approach and I turned around as Justin walked into the room. "Oh, hey."

"Hey, sorry for popping up. I just thought that I would drop by today." I apologized and Justin shook his head.

"No, no. It's fine. Thank you for keeping her company." He said and I nodded. He stood there for a moment before he balled his hand up in a fist.

"I'm going to go get cleaned up." He quickly stated before vacating the room.

I gave Merissa a strange look but she wasn't looking at me. "Come on, let's clean up."

She wordlessly got up and grabbed her dolls, exiting the room. I sighed and picked the dollhouse up, preparing to put it back in the corner but a piece fell off and bounced underneath the couch. I groaned and put the dollhouse in its place before moving back over to the couch. I stuck my hand under and grabbed the piece but something else came with it.

An empty box of prescription pills.

I hesitantly looked around before sticking my hand under the couch again. Two, three, four, five, six. There were more. I shakily held them in my hands and read the descriptions. Citalopram. Antidepressants. This couldn't be Merissa's but Justin's name wasn't on the packaging. There were other names from people that I don't think anyone in this house knew. "What the fuck?"

I heard something drop behind me and I turned around to see Merissa. She had dropped her teddy bear and we stared at each other, frozen in fear. However, our types of fear were different.

"Meris-" We heard the bathroom door open and Merissa and I leaped into action. We shoved the prescriptions far back under the couch and then we separated, acting like we were doing something.

Justin came into the room and we looked up at him. "You want anything to eat?"

"Uh," I glanced at Merissa. "You got any fruit?"

He snorted before he left the room again. "Nerd."

Once he was far enough, I turned to Merissa with wide eyes. "What is going on?"

"Please don't say anything. He said he doesn't feel good when he doesn't take them." She whispered.

"Merissa, that's not-" I bit my tongue and sighed. "Does anyone else know?"

She nodded. "The others do. They don't like it."

"Of course," I breathed out, remembering how they acted around me the first time and what Zay told me. "I just- How many- Oh god..."

"It's okay," She said, voice full of innocence and hope. Her chubby fingers warmed my shaking hands and I relaxed. "They want to help him feel better."

"Is it working?" I asked softly.

She stared at me sadly. "I don't know."

In a bout of impulse, I leaned down and pulled her into a hug. "It's going to be alright, okay?"

She hesitantly wrapped her arms around me and burrowed her face in my neck. "Gracias."

"What's going on here? Who's pity party is it?" Justin joked, concealing his concern with a thin veil. My breath hitched and I turned around to face him, composing myself.

"Ah, we were just having a girl moment. Talking about puberty and stuff." I explained, lying thinly.

He suddenly looked uncomfortable with the topic. "Are you two still talking or...?"

"No, no. We're okay. Unless you want to talk about it with us?" I teased, relaxing.

"Oh, I'm good. I'd like to avoid that as much as I can." He said, laughing nervously.

"Aw, don't tell me you don't like talking about girls. You're going to have to do it one day." I said, wiggling my eyebrows.

"I'd like to postpone that as much as possible." He hissed, handing me my apple and a bowl of grapes to Merissa.

I rolled my eyes as Justin sat down and Merissa scrambled to climb up on the couch to sit by his side. Merissa and I locked out gazes, having a silent conversation. I sighed, settling down beside them.

The previous moments could be forgotten for now but they would rise again once the opportunity would have it.

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Wasn't this chapter just fucked up? I want to formally apologize for emotions you may be presented with after reading from here on.

This family is already to an unhealthy start. Don't get me started on the mom. She's even more fucked up than the last time we met her. Wait, less fucked up...? Nah, more.

Two major things are implied in this chapter. Can you figure out what they are?