THE SUN HAD barely risen over the tufts of early dawn's clouds, casting a faint glow through the windows of Wilson's. Reagan could feel the budding light across her face as she swept around her work area like a tornado on legs, meticulously training her eyes to the ground as she tidied up.

She'd always thought that those early mornings shifts weren't so bad when they came with such pretty sunrises. Usually, the sky was overcast. But on that particular morning, the sun's rays had managed to peek past Olympia's soggy gray skies.

If anything, the morning sunrise should have served as a sign. It could have been her beacon of hope, or a subtle push that she needed to take charge and stop being such a baby. She had one ultimate goal that day, and it was to ask Tommy if she'd be able to take time off of work so that she could go to Virginia with Dave.

Reagan felt silly for feeling so keyed up. It wasn't like she had to ask Mr. Wilson himself — no, she was settling for his son, who effectively acted as second-in-command of the shop anyways. It just so happened that the boss's son had also once been her fling and was still considerably infatuated with her.

But even then so, Reagan had never asked for an extended period of time off from work. There had been certain odd days, like Kate's graduation or the time she'd caught the flu, in which she'd had to excuse herself from working. But never once had she proposed the idea of going on an actual vacation.

It was easy for her to assume that she could sweet talk Tommy into giving her what she wanted. Most likely, he'd feel bad for her anyways and accept her plea willingly. He was the one after all who had always told her to get a life. He probably would have rejoiced over finally seeing her take a break from slaving away for her family's sake.

All she had to do was make sure not to mention Dave. Only then was she guaranteed the answer she hoped for.

As if on cue, Tommy walked through the front door, ringing the overhead bell that signaled the entry of customers. Reagan glanced up from her rapid sweeping.

"Morning," Tommy smiled kindly. She looked down at his hands and saw that he was holding two grease-stained, brown paper bags.

"Hey," she said, leaning the broom against the counter.

Tommy walked over to her and handed her one of the bags. It was from McDonalds and smelled distinctly like one of their sausage, egg and cheese biscuits. He'd gone above and beyond that day. Usually he picked up breakfast for them both from the gas station.

"I figured you would have skipped breakfast again," he said knowingly.

"You aren't wrong," she admitted. Even though she wasn't hungry, Reagan plopped the bag down on the counter and pulled out the food, unwrapping the sandwich in her hands.

"I know you so well," he laughed as she took a bite.

"Yeah," she half-heartedly agreed, chewing through a mouthful while wondering if right then and there was the best time to spring her question on him.

He situated himself next to her and began to unpack his own meal, entering a state of silence as he did so. Reagan coughed into her hand, deciding that she ought to get on with it before he clocked in for the day. The kid ate like a wolf and would have polished off his Egg McMuffin in no time.

"Uhm, Tommy?"

"Ya?" Tommy mumbled through a mouthful, wiping his face with the back of his hand and looking at Reagan.

She felt her jaw lock nervously, but she reminded herself that there was really nothing for her to worry about. Tommy had always had a hard time telling her no in the past, even after they'd severed their short-lived relationship.

"I've got to talk to you about something," Reagan continued, nudging her breakfast away.

"Well, that doesn't sound good," Tommy frowned.

"It's nothing bad," she quickly assured him. "It's about work."

"Oh. You're not quitting, are you?"

Reagan barked out a bitter laugh. "You think my parents would really let me do that? Hell no."

"Aw man," Tommy said, pretending to mope. "And here I was thinking that you stayed working here because of me."

"You wish," Reagan smiled. She inhaled before going onwards. "Anyways, I was going to ask you if I could maybe have some days off. You know, for like a vacation."

"Where are you going?" Tommy asked. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously and Reagan internally cringed. She knew what he was already thinking — this had something to do with Dave. There was no doubt that his jealousy was already kickstarting.

"Uh, it's a family thing. But I'll be leaving the state, so it would be more than just a weekend off. More like a week, actually."

"You didn't tell me where you are going, though."

This time, it was Reagan's turn to squint her eyes into a sharp glare. She refused to tolerate Tommy when he had the nerve to be so condescending to her, as if she were property to be owned rather than a human being with rights.

"Is that any of your business?"

Tommy flinched. "I guess not. I was just curious. Since we're friends and all."

"Friends, right," Reagan huffed, her eyes sliding to the side and away from Tommy's miffed expression.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to pry. Why are you asking me this, though?"

"Does it look like your dad is around for me to ask him instead? Can't you pass the message along or something?"

"I'm sure I could approve it myself. He gives me that kind of power since he's so busy," Tommy mused, rubbing his chin. "When do you need off?"

"Next week. If that's not too soon."

"Well, it is kind of unfortunate. There's only one other person who can do your job and . . ."

Reagan cut him off. "Don't even go there. It'd be easy to get someone to fill in for me and you know it."

Being that Wilson's was a family owned business, it was no surprise that Mr. Wilson was keen to pluck members of his kin to help run the shop. Whenever Reagan had missed work in the past, he'd always coerced one of his nieces, Tommy's cousin, to take her place. Reagan thought it was a rightful sort of decision. All of the Wilsons knew how the shop was meant to be run.

"Yeah, I guess that means I'll have to call Rachel," Tommy sighed, as if it were a hard thing to ring up his own flesh and blood relative.

"She'll be able to do it, right?" Reagan asked, hoping the answer would be a sure yes.

"Probably. It's summer time and she's out of school with nothing better to do. And it's a little extra money for her."

"Thanks Tommy," Reagan said, sighing with relief and reaching her hand out to brush Tommy's shoulder thankfully.

"You're welcome," he replied, his tone formal.

Reagan turned back to her breakfast, not wanting to let it go cold with Tommy standing right in front of her, but he caught her off guard when he pushed their conversation further.

"Can you tell me where you're going though? As a friend?"

"Why the hell are you so bent out of shape about it?" Reagan said tersely. She picked apart her biscuit with her fingers, making her hand busy so that she wouldn't be tempted to sock Tommy in the jaw after he'd done her a favor.

"Because I think you're lying to me," he accused.

"So what if I am? Like I said, it's none of your business anyways, Tommy! Butt out!"

"Are you going on a tour with him?" Tommy said, twisting the word 'him' and making it sound as if he'd said something like 'murderer' instead.

Reagan laughed at his insinuation, scoffing at Tommy's inaccurate guess as to where she was going. It wasn't a far off speculation, but in comparison to what she was actually going to be doing with her days off, it was like comparing day and night.

"No, I'm not. If you really must know, I'm going to Virginia to meet his family."

"Even better," Tommy said tightly, clenching his fist atop the counter.

"Don't even think about going back on your word," Reagan said. "You said I could have the days off so I better get them. Or else I'll report you to human resources."

"Good luck with that. Pretty sure we don't have any human resources around here."

"Every job has a human resources."

Tommy ignored her and balled up what was left of his breakfast, lobbing it in the trash and starting towards the garage. Reagan followed him with her eyes and turned around as stalked off behind her.

"I knew you'd be mad at me," she called out. "That's why I didn't want to tell you. I knew you'd just want to fight over it."

Tommy paused at the garage's door, looking back at Reagan and sighing.

"I'm not mad," he said. "I know our ship has sailed, okay? I get it. You prefer dudes in bands over dudes who work in car repair shops."

"Oh please." Reagan rolled her eyes. "Thats a bit dramatic."

"I'm serious, I'm not pissed at you," Tommy said, attempting to sound unbothered. "But if you come back from this trip engaged, I might be a little angry."

"Once again Tommy," Reagan groaned. "It's none of your business what I do!"

"You're welcome!" he shouted back, forcing a friendly smile on his face before entering the garage and allowing the door to slam shut behind him.

________

Reagan could hardly believe the amount of energy she had put into worrying about telling Tommy of her trip to Virginia when in reality, her parents were the ones she was really dreading to face.

It wasn't Richard who necessarily had her frightened. Mostly, the thought of Kimberly's reaction was what had her set on edge. She resented her mother and wasn't afraid to stand up for herself, but she couldn't decide just how badly her next move was going to go.

Upon arriving home from work, she'd opted to play the role of doting daughter. She had started dinner and set the table in time for Kimberly to come home with the twins. Even though Kimberly had not acted neither surprised nor pleased with Reagan's gesture, Reagan didn't let it get to her.

She had to be good that night. And being good meant not expressing to her mother just how much she found her to be a pain in the ass.

When all of the Abners were finally home together, they'd gathered at the dinner table and eaten Reagan's meal of spaghetti and meatballs. As a small good luck charm for herself, she'd asked Dave for his mother's recipe in advance and used it that night. Naturally, her family loved it.

Once everyone had cleared their plates, Reagan had numbed her trembling anxiety and taken the hundred deep breaths that she'd counted in her head. All throughout her miniature panic attack, she reminded herself of what Dave had told her. She was twenty-two. She had the right to leave the state with her boyfriend. It's not like Kimberly could actually stop her.

"Reagan, take the twins for their bath, will you?" Kimberly ordered, standing from her chair and collecting her dirty dish.

"Can I talk to you first?" Reagan asked slowly.

"We'll talk once the twins are in bed," Kimberly said, dismissing her daughter's need without second thought.

Reagan swallowed back the sour taste that welled in her mouth as Kimberly shot her down. She should have known in the first place that the hardest step of it all would have been getting out of her nightly babysitting duties.

"Kate can take the twins. We've got to talk," Reagan said, staring hard at her mother while trying to keep
her face placid. "Now," she added.

Kimberly held still, staring right back at Reagan with the slightest glint of surprise in her eyes. It was always unexpected when Reagan stepped one toe out of line, rarely ever daring to go against whatever order Kimberly had given. She set her plate down and took a seat.

"Alright," she said rigidly. "Let's talk. Kate, take the twins. Robbie, go with your sister."

Both Kate and Robbie looked as if the last thing they wanted to do was miss out on the chance to see Kimberly and Reagan have a go at each other, but nonetheless, they obeyed. Kate already knew what Reagan was up to and shot her sister an encouraging glance before scooping up the twins.

Richard, Kimberly and Reagan were left alone in the kitchen as Robbie and Kate filed out. Reagan waited until she heard their footsteps beat up to the top of the staircase before she began.

"I'm leaving," she said, diving in straightaway to her cause.

It might have been the wrong thing to say first, for Kimberly and Richard's faces fell with a sudden intake of shock.

"Leaving where?" Kimberly sputtered.

"Just for the week," Reagan inserted hurriedly. "On a vacation. Dave is taking me to Virginia to meet his mother and sister."

There was a moment of silence as Reagan's words were left hanging in the air. She never took her eyes off of her parents' faces, wanting to calculate their reactions as they processed her news. Richard was hard to read, with his thoughtful eyes and raised eyebrows, but Kimberly's complexion began to glow red.

"No," Kimberly uttered. "Absolutely not."

Reagan folded her hands in her lap. She had anticipated this reaction from the get go. All there was left to do was stand her ground. She again remembered what Dave had said to her.

"Yes," she countered. "I'm going. Dave already has my ticket booked on the flight."

"I said no and that's final," Kimberly snapped, rising to her feet angrily.

"It's not final," Reagan said calmly. "I'm going and that's it. I just wanted to let you both know."

"You can't take the time away from work!" Kimberly cried, raising the pitch of her voice. "It's just not that simple!"

"I already did. Tommy approved my time off today."

Kimberly glowered, seeming to shake ever so slightly with building rage. Reagan saw her hands ball up at her sides.

"You are being incredibly irresponsible," she accused. "This is not how being an adult works, Reagan. You can't just 'take time off of work.' Do you know how much money you'll be missing out on from this?"

"Don't you mean how much money you'll be missing out on?" Reagan said back with disgust.

"Enough," Richard interjected. He looked at his wife, holding out his hands. "Kim, you can't tell her no. She's an adult. We can't control whether or not she goes somewhere with her boyfriend."

Reagan was about to open her mouth and thank her father for making the first valid point of the discussion, but Kimberly cut her off.

"It doesn't matter! She lives under my roof! I still have a say in what she does!"

"Would you rather me just move out then?" Reagan demanded.

It was the ultimate final offer, the very one Reagan already knew the answer to. While she would have been more than happy to pack her things and leave despite not having a steady place to move into, there was no way her parents would let her go. They quite literally could not afford to lose her.

Kimberly fumed, glaring at Reagan with obvious defeat that she was too proud to admit. Instead, she picked up her dish and threw it in the sink, causing a loud clatter of noise.

"I want those dishes done within the hour," she ordered harshly before flying out of the kitchen in a flurry of enmity.

Reagan breathed out a heavy exhale, feeling all of her worries raise up instantly from their weighted place on her shoulders. Finally, she would be able to give Dave a set answer.

Yes. Yes, she would go to Virginia with him to meet his family.

Richard exhaled too, though he sounded less relieved than Reagan and more concerned about having to deal with Kimberly later.

"I'll help you with the dishes, honey," he said quietly, picking up plates off the table.

Reagan looked at him and felt a surge of thankfulness that she had at least one parent who cared about her life and what she did with it. She might have missed out on having a loving mother, but she'd always have Richard, who looked out for her even when going against the odds of Kimberly.

"Thanks Dad," Reagan said.

She hoped her understood the double meaning in her gratitude.

[ hello, just popping in. i wanted to let everyone know that within the next upcoming chapters, there may be some factual errors on my behalf when writing about dave and his family life. unfortunately, i am not the resident dave historian and i've only been able to find so much information. ask me anything about kurt and i can provide an answer, but the same can't be said when addressing dave. therefore, bear with me as i write my way through this and attempt to stay as truthful to reality as possible. factuality is important to me, so i apologize if you read something that is not truthful to dave's real life. also, my carpal tunnel has flared up BADLY. i'm wearing KT tape, but even that has not stopped the pain in my right hand that has stemmed from writing like a maniac. i may be on a short hiatus, but let's pray this damn magic tape works. thanks guys ]