"Do you think we'll get the shaft since it's Dad taking us down, or do you think we'll be set free?" Makayla asks, not too worried that we're sitting in a police car.

"I think that my dad is going to murder me," I shiver. "I've never been physically violent," I shudder.

"About damned time you were. Show the people that WALK ALL OVER YOU," she shouts as she leans forward and addresses Niall, "that they can't treat you like their bitch."

"Makayla Renee," Scott interrupts. "Shut your mouth. You're in a heap of trouble. I'm so disappointed in you."

"Spend a few hours with the ass sitting up with you in the passenger seat, and you'll see that we did the world justice," she retorts.

"You know what," Niall begins, before turning around to address us. "If I were your dad, I'd beat your ass and ground you for a month."

However, Scott doesn't take very kindly to Niall commenting on beating his daughter.

"You know what?!" Scott shouts before pulling alongside the road and getting out. He walks over to the passenger side and opens the door before grabbing Niall by the collar and giving him a good shaking. "Make one more smart ass comment, and you'll be sitting in a cell all night. I can see why my daughter and her friend broke your damned nose. If it were me, I would've broken your damned jaw to get you to shut up! Now," Scott says calmly as he lets go of Niall's collar and lets him sit back down in his seat. "Any other smart comment you want to make about my daughter?"

Niall, however, silently shakes his head. With that, Scott returns a satisfied nod and gets back into the car.

"Whew," Makayla whistles under her breath as she smiles wildly. "Did I ever tell you how much I loved my dad?" She whispers to me.

"I think you've mentioned it a few times," I laugh as I catch Scott's eye in the rearview mirror before he winks at the both of us.

**********

"What are you going to do with us?" Makayla asks after an hour of sitting in Scott's office as he remains on hold.

"Going to make sure charges aren't pressed for one," he replies to her. "And I'm trying to get ahold of Crystal's dad."

"God help me," I whine as I cover my hands. "I'm so dead."

"Shh," Scott soothes me. "He'll be pissed, but once he meets this asshole," he nods toward Niall, "he'll understand."

This is why I loved Scott so much.

"Still. You know how he is."

"I'm worried more about his mother," Scott sighs. "I can't imagine she's going to be really happy that her son has a broken nose."

"She'll get over it," Makayla waves off. "She's so nice."

"She's not just going to forget that you broke her son's nose," Niall huffs as he holds a paper towel to his nose, the bleeding having returned after we arrived at the station. "I hope she sues."

"The only suing that's to be done here is sewing your mouth shut," Scott retorts. "Oh! Hello, Charlie," he changes his tone as my dad finally answers the phone. "Yeah, I'm good. How are you? That's good. Good. Fishing? I can do that this weekend, yeah! No, the reason I called was because of Crystal. What's that? No, she's a great girl," he pauses to smile widely at me, warming my heart. "It's just that we're down here at the station because of an incident. Yeah, she was involved. No, it's not super bad. Well, she may have broken a kid's nose." With this, I shudder, and my dad hangs up on the other end. "Well, I think he's coming down."

"He's going to murder me," I cringe as I slump down in the chair. "I'm never going to make it to Columbia."

"You'll make it to your college," Makayla encourages. "I won't let anyone kill you. Irish Satan isn't worth the death, your father is going to spare you."

"It's okay, Crystal," Scott assures me as he dials another number. "If anyone's going to die, it's going to be Makayla."

"Dad!" Makayla protests, but she shuts up once he gives her the look. 

"Hello? Mrs. Gallagher?" Scott begins, before falling down the rabbit trail of explaining what happened. As he explains, I look over at Niall and notice him smirking under his bloodied towel. I can't help but itch my nose with my middle finger, letting him know how I feel. I went over to apologize to him earlier, ended up punching him, and now I'm sitting in a police station waiting for my dad to come and ream me out. I'm past the kind and forgiving chit-chat. This Irish douche has pissed me off long enough.

"Thank you, see you in a bit." Hanging up, Scott lets out a deep sigh. "I feel like it's going to be a long day. Would you girls like any donuts? Coffee? Peanuts?" He asks as he pulls out a jar of honey roasted peanuts from his desk.

"What about me?" Niall asks.

"What about you?" Scott remarks with an attitude.

"Aren't you being discriminating? Not treating me the same way you are them? I am the victim after all," he whines as if he's two.

"Do you want to be grounded for two months?" Scott snaps. "Because that's what I'm going to be doing with her." He points a finger at Makayla which wipes her smile clean off of her face.

"Dad! That's not fair! I was only standing up for my best friend! That's exactly what you would've done at your age for your friends! Why is it any different? Because I'm a girl and only guys can fight? You would've done the exact same thing, and you don't dare bullshit me." I can hear the trembling in her voice, letting me know she's on the edge of cracking. "I couldn't let him push her around like that, Dad, she's my sister."

There's something about Makayla and Scott. Besides me, he's her best friend. He's more of a brother than a father, for they do absolutely everything together. Well, when he's not busy that is. He's been busier this year ever since he became head sheriff, and I know that bothers her. However, they're two peas in a pod, and he absolutely hates it when she cries. The trembling in her voice and the tears brimming in her eyes cause his angry face to break.

"Honey, you can't just go around punching people. If I did that when I was younger, it still wouldn't make it right," he sighs, struggling between the friend and father line.

"But two months?" She protests, a tear finally falling down her face. If there was one thing Makayla hated, it was being grounded.

"We'll talk about this later, okay?" He promises her before we all hear an angry voice coming from the hall.

"Where's Crystal Anderson?!" Someone shouts. "Where's my daughter?"

"Charlie!" Scott calls. "We're in here."

After a moment of shuffling around, my dad finally walks into the office. He looks extremely red and extremely angry.

"I want to hear the whole story," he demands. "Beginning to end." He looks around at the four of us, before pointing a finger at Niall. "You," he growls. "Tell me everything."

The anger in my father's eyes wipes off any bravery from Niall's face. I feel like he might be more scared than I am.

"Um, okay," Niall clears his throat before lowering the bloodied towel and explaining everything. Fortunately for us, he didn't bullshit any details. He even told my dad about how he was an asshole to me at Vernon's.

"Oh," my dad sighs after the story's over. "Is this true, girls?" He addresses us.

"Yes," we both nod.

"That's all true?" Scott snaps, clearly understanding why we had punched him in the first place. "Over a damned bag of pasta, you were that pissed?" Scott wonders, and I have to keep from laughing. "I would've beaten your ass too."

"Yeah," Dad laughs. "I was real pissed off on the phone when you had called, Scott," he shakes his head. "I was ready to come in here and tell Crystal the death penalty she was about to receive, but now I'm not so sure what to do. Obviously, she's going to be in big trouble for being violent, but sounds like this kid has a mouth on him," he gestures toward Niall. "A mouth that we would've beat in our time too."

"That's what I was thinking," Scott laughs, and Makayla and I realize that neither one of us are really going to get the shaft. However, Maura still isn't here. She's the one I'm worried about the most.

"Do you think they'll press charges?" Dad asks. "I really hope not. That's the last thing we need right now."

"I'm not sure," Scott sighs. "I've never met the mother."

"If she doesn't," Niall threatens. "I sure as hell will." 

After this, both dads glare at him. However, they don't get a chance to say anything, for Maura walks in just in time to save Niall from his reaming.

"Good afternoon," she nods to our dads, before seeing her son bleeding in the chair next to me. "So, what happened?" She asks him, her voice dripping in anger. "I want to know the whole story. I want to know why my son is bleeding."

I've never been afraid of Maura. I haven't known her very long, but she doesn't strike me as the mamma bear. However, I can tell that she really is, and right now is proof of that.

"Maura," Makayla speaks up after nobody else does, "you see --"

"No," Scott interrupts her. "Let Niall explain. He's her son, and he explained it perfectly well to us. I don't want you running your mouth about him and making this even worse than it possibly could be."

"Fine," Makayla huffs.

And once again, Niall explains the whole story.

"Well," Maura begins once Niall finishes. "Is that true, girls?" She asks us, just as Dad had asked us.

"Yes," we nod in agreement.

"Oh, Niall," Maura sighs, another version of anger in her eyes. An anger that is directed toward her son and not us. "I'm ashamed. However, I think that the girls did a good job in taking care of this situation."

"What?!" Niall shouts, before standing up quickly, only to grab his nose as the bleeding returns from his movements. "You're taking their side over your son's? How is that fair?"

"Life isn't fair!" Maura shouts back. "You were being ignorant to these girls, and they defended themselves. It's not a matter of taking sides, it's a matter of being right. You were in the wrong," she points a finger. "I'm ashamed in you, son, and I would've given you a bloodied nose too if I were them."

"But you're not them! You're my mother!" He shouts.

"And as your mother!" She shouts back. "I tell you it's taken care of!"

Turning toward our dads once more, she gives them an apologetic smile. "I cannot tell you how sorry I am for my son's behavior toward your girls, but I assure you it will not happen again. I'm not very happy about Niall's broken nose, but I think they handled themselves well considering his smart mouth. You have lovely girls, and I can't see them doing this daily. I think the situation is taken care of, and I won't be pressing charges." This receives another shout from Niall, but her look silences him. "With that, I request to take your girls over to my house for some tea."

"Tea?" Dad and Scott wonder aloud.

"Yes, I can imagine they're thirsty after this ordeal," she sighs. "If that's all right with you?" She asks them.

"Technically, Makayla is grounded for two months," Scott admits.

"Poor dear!" Maura sighs disapprovingly. "Well, tea is nothing but a meal, and you can't ground her from eating. Am I not right?" She smiles.

"Okay," Scott replies rather quickly, letting us know Makayla was going to be allowed to tea the entire time. "If she wants, she can go."

"Thank you!" Makayla beams.

"All right. Let's go, girls. Oh, and if you want to keep him locked up all night," Maura begins as she points at Niall. "Just to teach him a lesson on how to treat girls, I wouldn't mind." With that, she drags us out of the station after leaving Niall with one final glare and leaving him to find his own way home.

****
merry Christmas Eve! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!