⌜ chapter five ⌟

"Scarlett! Scarlett!" Shawn quickly runs over to where the teenage girl's sitting on the bench in the hallway drawing in her notebook, and she looks up at him.

"Are you speaking to me again?" The brunette asks with a furrowed brow, surprised that he's even standing in front of her right now.

"My mom's back." He tells her, and her dark eyes widen. It's unspoken between the two of them that any fight they were in is now completely forgotten.

"What?"

"I just saw her in the Trailer View Motel looking through her window at our trailer."

"And you're sure that it was her?" She asks, and he gives her a deflated look.

"Yes, Scarlett, I think I know what my mom looks like."

"You know that's not what I meant, smartass." The older girl says, and he sighs.

"I'm sure." He tells her, and she nods.

"Well, have you told your dad about this?" She asks, and he shakes her head. "Alright, uh, come on. Let's go tell him."

"You wanna ditch school? You're letting me ditch school?"

"Some things are more important. At least, for a day." She says as she stands up, and he nods.

The two of them then head down to the trailer park, and Shawn quickly fills his dad in on what he saw, which obviously takes him by surprise. "You're telling me for the last year I've traipsed across these United States searching for my long lost Virna, and you find her right across the highway?" Chet questions as he glances between the two teenagers.

"It's her, Dad. She's been watching us." Shawn tells him.

"Well, how long's she been there? How's she look? When's she comin' home?"

"I-I don't know. We haven't gone over there yet." He says as he glances back at Letty.

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid I'm gonna chase her away again." He tells him, and Letty reaches forward to rest her hand on his shoulder.

Chet shakes his head as he then stands up from his chair. "You didn't chase her away. You kids are the only reason she stayed here as long as she did." He tells them as Shawn reaches up and grabs his sister's hand.

"Thanks, Dad." The younger boy says, and he nods.

"Why's she over there spyin' on us?" He asks, and then starts walking away from them. "Hey, she's probably after my secret plans."

"He's going on about that again?" Letty whispers, and Shawn shrugs. "Are we gonna try talking to her?" She asks loud enough that Chet can hear her now.

"No, no." Chet shakes his head as he gets a soda from the fridge and sits down at the table. "It's like some beautiful butterfly sat down just for a moment on the branch next to ya, and you know if you so much as breathe wrong, it'll fly away and you'll never see it again."

"Yeah, no. I want answers." The brunette turns for the door then, and the Hunters watch her as she leaves the trailer to head to the motel across the highway.

Shawn pointed out which window he saw her in when they got to the trailer park, so she guesses which room the window belongs in and knocks on the door with the 19 on it. It opens and reveals the woman who left the three of them without any warning, now standing there looking exactly as she had then...maybe a little happier, or just a little less miserable. Letty looks at the woman with the light brown hair that's in tight curls, and she freezes — everything that she had wanted to say is just gone.

"Come on in, Scarlett." Mrs. Hunter steps to the side, and the teenager takes hesitant steps into the room before the door's shut behind her. "Let me look at you." She turns the brunette by her shoulders and then twists a dark lock of hair around her finger. "You're growin' up beautiful."

"Why did you leave us?" Letty asks, getting straight to the point as she fights back the tears that are welling up in her eyes.

"Sweetie, you were always more perceptive about us adults and our problems. You know that we were all unhappy." She tells her.

"But at least we were together." The teenager says, and Mrs. Hunter nods.

"Four unhappy people living under the same tin roof."

"So you decided to...take our tin roof, sell it, and leave us homeless?" She nods. "I want to know why? I think you owe us that much. Tell me why we weren't good enough to make you stay."

"Just bein' married doesn't make you a good husband and wife." She says as she sits down on the foot of the queen-sized bed. "And just having two little kids doesn't make you a good father and mother."

"And you thought that leaving— abandoning us made you better?" Letty questions. "Or you just didn't want to be a good mother to either of us."

"I know I have no right to hope for anything because I left my family, but in that time, I learned that all I wanna be is a good wife and a good mother, but I need to know that Chet wants to be a good father too."

"So, why don't you be an adult, a mother, and go talk to your husband and your son? Do you have any idea how hard this last year has been?" She's choking back tears. "Especially for Shawn while he's been bouncing around from place to place. How much he's missed you?"

"Just Shawn?" Mrs. Hunter knows that she's not only talking about him, and Letty hesitates before she finally continues.

"I trusted you. You promised me that you'd always be there like a mother would..." She scoffs. "I guess you were there for me like my mother was. I was so stupid to believe that you would be better than her."

"I want to be there for all of you, Scarlett, but I need to see real change happen in my family in its own time." She stands up and takes a step forward, but Letty backs away from her.

"You are the one that needs to change." The teenager tells her. "Shawn and I are just kids, we're not supposed to be something disposable that you have to decide whether or not you want. You should act like a damn adult and talk to your husband, tell him what needs to be done so that you can be happy together. And even if you can't save your marriage, you're not supposed to just up and abandon your kids."

"I know that this is hard to understand—"

"Hard to understand?" She questions. "I loved you, and you left me! You left just like everyone else always does. Shawn wants you in his life, but I don't need you." Letty pushes past her and quickly leaves the motel.

She can't go back to the Hunters' trailer, not with how she feels right now, so she tries to get back to her own house. She's too overwhelmed by what just happened, and she collapses on the path that leads up to the front porch just as Alec's walking outside.

"Scarlett?" He sees the way she seems to be freaking out, so he quickly runs down the steps to get to where she's sitting on the concrete. "Scar? Hey. Hey, what's the matter?"

"I-I c— I can't—" She's hyperventilating, and her hands are shaking.

"Hey, okay." His voice becomes much softer as he clasps his hands around hers. "Look at me, look at my eyes." He tells her, and she looks at him as he sits down directly in front of her. "It's okay, everything's gonna be okay."

"I can't—"

"I know." He nods. "Breathe with me, just like me. Deep breaths, through your nose." He takes a long breath, inhaling slowly. "Just like that, breathe out just as slow. Keep going. Keep that same rhythm, and keep your eyes on mine."

Minutes feel like hours as her dark eyes stare into his identical ones, and he keeps a firm grip on her hands as he helps her control her breathing. Her heart starts to beat at a regular pace again as the shakiness in her body slowly starts to fade. It doesn't leave her completely, and her grip on Alec's hands tighten.

Letty feels a slight sense of calm settle over her as control finally feels within reach again. She closes her eyes and lets her head bow, still taking deep breaths like Alec showed her. He lets go of one of her hands so that he can use his own to move to her right side instead of sitting in front of her, and he wraps his arm around her shoulders.

The brunette starts crying, and he brings his right knee up as she leans against him. Alec supports both of them as he holds her, letting her cry like she needs to. Her back is against his chest as he gets both arms around her, still holding one of her hands in his own. With his free hand, he rubs her arm, trying to help her calm down and bring her as much comfort as he can.

It takes the teenager some time before she feels okay enough to get up, and he keeps moving at her pace. Once he gets her on her feet, he holds her hands as he stands in front of her, knowing that she still feels shaky and drained. Once they're inside the house, he has her sit at the counter in the kitchen, and he starts pulling things out of cabinets.

The brunette watches her brother mill around wordlessly, getting a pan, spatula, cup, knife, fork; then he moves to the fridge. Alec pulls out the eggs and milk, leaving them on the counter by the stove before going back for the margarine, last he gets the pepper from the spice drawer. He doesn't bother asking how much she wants, he's just gonna make enough for the both of them, and he doesn't care if he makes too much.

He doesn't know if this is a common occurrence for her, so he's giving her time to process everything that happened. He's not exactly good at being the support system on this, so he's trying to play catch up as well as he moves throughout the kitchen. He cracks as many eggs as he can into the cup that he got, then adds a bit of milk before using the fork to quickly mix everything. He's taking the milk back to the fridge when Letty finally speaks up.

"What was that?" The teenager asks, her voice much softer than he's ever heard it before. It reminds him of when they were kids.

"That was—" Alec stops, realizing that he needs to put aside his own difficulties here to help her through what caused it. He closes the refrigerator and turns to face her before he speaks, looking into her dark eyes as he stands across from her. "It was a panic attack." He tells her, and she hesitates for a moment before nodding.

"Panic attack..." She mutters.

"You've never had one before." That much is obvious even before she shakes her head. "You'll be alright, I promise."

"I felt like—"

"I know." He reaches across the counter and places his hand over hers. "I know."

"You have those?" She asks, and he nods.

"I was thirteen the first time I had one." He tells her as he straightens up. "I still have them every now and then, but I've gotten better at managing them."

"Alone?"

"No. My girlfriend's been able to help me the same as I just helped you, but it's usually Reggie that keeps me grounded when it happens."

"Reggie?" She questions. "The same Reggie with the different rhymes for safe sex?"

Alec laughs as he turns back to his task. "He can be serious when it's warranted." He tells her. "I guess his mom used to have them. I got lucky that he knew how to handle it."

"You were thirteen the first time?" She asks, and he nods. "After Mom left."

He nods as he glances at her over his shoulder. "She bolted, left us with Dad, left me in charge of a five-year-old that I had no idea how to take care of. It was...overwhelming. I was talking to Reggie at school, telling him what happened, and... Well, you know." He says, and she nods. "You wanna tell me what happened today?"

"I was talking to Mrs. Hunter — she came back after leaving without a word a year ago. I wanted answers, and... I didn't like the answers that I got." She tells him. "Oh my God, Shawn. I have to talk to Shawn. I have to tell him what she—" Letty quickly gets up from her seat and starts for the front door.

"Hey, Scar—" He barely manages to shut off the fire on the stove before running after her.

"No. Move." She tries to shove past him when he blocks her path.

"No, look at me. You need to eat, and take care of yourself. I'll go down to the trailer park. I will tell Shawn whatever you want him to know." He says, and she shakes her head.

"No. He's my responsibility. I have to—"

"Scarlett." He rests his hands on her shoulders to make her look at him. "You need to take care of yourself right now before you can take care of anyone else. After everything that you've been through, you owe it to yourself to make you your priority right now. At least for today. If you don't, you'll just have another attack. Do you want Shawn to see that? Do you want him to see what just happened to you outside?"

She stops suddenly and just looks at him for a moment. "No."

"Scarlett, give me half an hour. Let me help you like Reggie helps me, and then I'll take on your responsibilities with Shawn. I will go to the trailer park, and I will tell him whatever you want him to know. I promise." Alec says. "But you have to take care of yourself."

The brunette finally nods. "Okay."

"Okay. Come on." He walks with her back to the counter so that he can finish making her food.

Reggie walks in later that night, and Alec looks up from where he's sitting on the couch. The men both look at Letty and Shawn, who are sitting together watching tv. Shawn's still watching the television anyway; Letty fell asleep with her head on his shoulder a little over an hour ago.

Shawn glances over at Alec as the older boy stands up and walks over to Reggie, then both men head out onto the porch.

"What the hell, man?" Reggie turns and looks at him. "You never came to work, and Tyler called because the kid was AWOL too. You're watching tv?" He questions.

"I'm sorry, I should've called." He shakes his head as he runs his hand down his face.

"Did something happen?"

"Yeah, uh..." Alec takes a deep as he crosses his arms over his chest. "I was about to leave for work when she came stumbling up the path. She was having a panic attack, but I got her to calm down... I guess she talked to Shawn's mom, who bolted on 'em a year ago. After she was calm enough to think, she wanted to talk to Shawn. I had to talk her into staying home, and I went down to talk to Shawn. He wanted to see her, and I actually thought that was a good idea. Even after he was with her, and she seemed alright... I just couldn't leave her."

"No. No, you did the right thing." Reggie tells him, shaking his head. "How's she doing, is she okay?" He asks as he glances back toward the house.

"I-I think so. Now." He nods.

"Are you okay?" He asks, and Alec sighs.

"Is it usually so draining for you when you help me?" He asks, and Reggie shakes his head.

"No. But, then, I don't know what it feels like. I can't relate like you just did." He tells him. "I've got your shift covered, and I'll call Tyler to let him know why she never showed. Go take care of your sister. And I can't stress this enough — take care of yourself too." He says, and Alec nods.

"Yeah."

"I'm serious. Don't lose your progress while you're helping her." Reggie tells him.

"I won't." He shakes his head. "I can't now."