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"WHERE'S THE FIRE?"
Brooke paused from where she was rushing about the kitchen early that morning, turning to look at her father who was grinning at her from where he and the rest of her family were seated at the barstool counter, watching her with bemused expressions, Liz making a face into her juice, letting her gaze wander to her father, the two sharing a look.
Brooke huffed, crossing her arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Adrian laughed, glancing over to Liz who continued to drink her juice, eyes widening as she watched Brooke shift around. "It's ten in the morning on a Saturday, honey, why're we rushing?"
"My friend is coming over," she said lightly, shrugging as she continued to gather together an assortment of snacks and drinks, "Mom always gets like this when friends come over."
"What friend is this?" Adrian asked carefully, and Liz giggled madly, covering her mouth as Brooke tried to keep her expression neutral, shrugging half-heartedly.
"His name's Ned," Brooke sighed, gritting her teeth as she fidgeted, "Will you just drop it? Liz has friends over all the time, Flash came over weeks ago, just drop it."
"Who's Flash?" Adrian inquired, now turning to his eldest who made a face, shaking her head.
"He's a sophomore," she simply said, and he nodded, turning back to Brooke who immediately went back to work, rushing around the room to gather all the chips, rushing upstairs to get blankets and pillows.
"Leave her alone, dad," she heard Liz say softly as she was upstairs, "This is the first friend she's actually wanted around."
"It's just exciting, gumdrop, look at her, she's so worried about it, who's this Ned kid?" her father inquired, and Brooke sighed, walking loudly back downstairs with her arms filled with all her pillows and blankets.
"Where are you going?" Brooke asked, finally noticing Liz's clothes, dressed like she was going out, rather than the pajamas that both Brooke and their father were sporting.
"Wyatt's playing at a gig today, so I'm hanging out with her and her friends for the day," she explained, finishing off her juice, "I'm gonna leave in about an hour, I want to say hi to Ned before I go."
"Wait," their father said, now frowning, "I'm leaving soon, Brooke you can't just be home with this guy."
"Dad," Liz scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Brooke can take care of herself, and by perpetuating the toxic mindset that boys with be boys is not only regressive, but by supporting the mindset you're thereby making sure all women expect it, and while it is unfortunate that, in reality, we have to, you can't make it seem as though we have to accommodate for a problem in society that needs to be corrected. Find a balance between trust and expectation."
Adrian blinked for a few moments, before doing a mix between a head shake and a nod. "Uh, you're-you're right, sweetheart. Yeah. Just...Brooke, stay downstairs and watch your phone, I'll text you periodically."
