I Fall Apart

Lin

A/N: pretty please vote and comment! It helps my writing mojo!

Somehow I wasn't completely surprised that Nora had tried pot. With her mother's history, she'd already been exposed to a heck of a lot. I'm sure she'd been around people smoking pot before. She'd been on such an upswing, though, that I wasn't expecting it.

I thanked Shannon for coming over. Truthfully, I was a little annoyed that they just had pot laying around their house. Nora shouldn't have gone through their stuff, but I wish they'd been more careful. I poked around the kitchen a little bit, putting away clean dishes from dishwasher. I needed time to cool off before talking to Nora. It really worried me that she was already into pot at 15. With her mother's history, it was more concerning to me. She could easily go on to other things.

Finally, I stopped, leaning on the counter with both hands. Vanessa came up beside me and rubbed my back. I knew I was tense.

"Do you want me to talk to her?" she offered.

I shook my head. "No. I'm her father. I need to handle it. It really scares me that she's into drugs at 15."

"I know," she agreed. "Pot can be a gateway."

"I would have thought witnessing what her mother went through that she'd stay away," I said, standing up and crossing my arms.

"Well hopefully this will be the end of it," Vanessa said, leaning back against the counter so she could look me in the eye. "Maybe she's got it out of her system."

"She better have it out of her system," I said, sighing. She patted me on the back as I headed back to Nora's room. I knocked and she reluctantly told me to come in. We hadn't had to have a talk like this in a while.

"Dad, I'm sorry," she immediately apologized as I perched myself on the edge of her desk, crossing my arms. "I promise I won't do it again."

"I truly hope not," I told her as she studied her nail beds. "Nora, you were around your mother while she was addicted to drugs. Do you remember what that was like?"

"Don't bring my mother into this," she told me, her face tightening.

"Drugs can make a mess of your life," I said. "You witnessed that first hand."

"Are you trying to say I'm already a drug addict?" she accused. "I smoked two joints."

"But that's how it starts," I told her. "First just a little pot, then you might move on to something else, then it's taking over your life."

"I wouldn't let that happen," she said. She was a stubborn kid. If anyone could combat addiction with sheer will, it would be her.

"It's not that easy," I told her. "Addiction is powerful."

She sighed. "Got it."

"I'm also concerned that you would steal from your aunt and uncle," I went on, not finished. "You took their property."

"I was just curious," she said.

"That's no excuse," I said. "I'm really disappointed in you."

She wouldn't look at me. For a long time, she was a tough nut to crack, but I knew she cared about my approval or disapproval. "You need to apologize to your aunt and uncle," I told her, standing up.

"Apologize for stealing their pot?" she asked. "That's like a murderer demanding an apology for getting robbed."

"Now's not the time for jokes," I said, walking to the door. "You're grounded for two weeks and that includes going to your Aunt Shannon's."