"𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬."
✰*ੈ✩➶༻᯽༺✶☾༄✰

AFTER SCHOOL, THEA WAS WAITING FOR Tony to pick her up, doing nothing but staring at the cars straight ahead of her, watching kids get their rides home. Her Walkman that was securely strapped around her denim jeans, blasting Queen through her headphones and she was silently nodding to the beat of her song.

Her internal music concert that was circulating in Thea's head was going well, up until she felt the sudden tap of fingers on her shoulder. Turning around, Thea was prepared to flash the person a smile, but then she saw that it was the blonde boy and she groaned in annoyance.

"And I thought I finally got away from you for the day," Thea muttered quietly to herself. Johnny snickered and stood close to Thea, his tall figure towering over her small body.

The height difference was impeccable and Thea didn't even try to look up at him, not wanting to hurt her neck. She thought looking up at him was a waste of energy and she had enough of looking at his pesky face all day.

"I mean, if you don't want to know where I got this beautiful charm bracelet from, then I guess it's your loss," Johnny said in a fake exaggerated tone that he surely knew would gain the attention of the girl next to him. At the mention of a charm bracelet, Thea's head snapped towards the boy, knowing that tone of voice anywhere.

When she looked down at his wrist, she saw her charm bracelet, the familiar charms that her father specifically gave her, jingling on his wrist. Thea's dad gave this bracelet to her when he vowed to stay in her life from now on and despite him being miles away for work, her dad still continues to call her and Tony every night.

But this bracelet was everything to her. Not only did it represent the love from her father, but those specific personal jeweled ornaments that were currently taunting right in front of Thea's eyes were also the only thing that kept her life stable. Without this bracelet, her life felt naked, almost broken and it opened a crack in her existence that she instantly needed to glue back together.

"Where the hell did you get that from!? That's mine!" Thea attempted to snatch the bracelet off of Johnny's wrist, but when he held his arm above his head, the short girl huffed in annoyance, knowing that his tall figure increased when his wrist was in the air.

"Finders keepers, princess."

"God, you're so annoying. Can you just give me that back? Please, Johnny, that bracelet is from my dad, you have no idea how important this is to me." Thea's voice was filled with plead, something she never did with anyone unless it was in a dire situation. And this was definitely a dire situation for the girl.

"Last time I remember, your daddy wasn't around." Johnny scoffed, knowing that Thea's dad wasn't in the picture, but what he didn't know, was that was the past. This is the present and things have changed.

"Same with you, asshole, but at least my dad is in my life now unlike yours." Thea instantly regretted her words, knowing how the subject of Johnny's dad was extremely fragile to him. Even though she despised his twisted guts, Thea felt bad for mentioning his absent father.

"What the hell did you just say to me?"

Johnny's chest was rising and falling with anger, his blue eyes being filled with pure rage. He slowly stepped closer to Thea, the girl stepping back in fear from the boy. Even when they were kids, this was the first time in Thea's life that she was actually frightened by Johnny. The hostile glare and his clenched jaw was making Thea's heart palpitate out of her chest.

Since both Johnny and Thea were so engulfed in their stares, they didn't notice how Tony was waiting for his baby sister in his car. They didn't notice how he was watching Johnny's every move, making sure he didn't make any intrusive moves on Thea.

When he saw that Thea was backing away from Johnny, instantly noticing his sister's petrified demeanor, Tony's hostile and tempered personality was slowly emerging from his body. He stepped out of his newly waxed Rolls Royce car and slammed the door shut with fury, immediately making his way to his sister.

"Back off from my sister, Johnny." The blonde boy turned his head to his ex-best friend's brother and a disdained smirk was plastered onto his face. Johnny walked closer to Tony, both of their tall figures reaching the same height, and Thea felt overwhelmed by the tallboys.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it, Tony?" Thea noticed the way her brother's fists were clenched in anger and she pulled his arm away before anything could escalate.

"Before you guys start to make out, let's go, Tony," Thea said nervously with a stifled laugh hidden in her voice. She tugged on the cotton sleeve of her brother's shirt and pulled him away. "Don't waste your breath on this dick."

Tony gave one last piercing glare to Johnny and both of their icy blue eyes met one another. Tony wrapped a protective arm around his sister's shoulder, the two of them walking back to the car.

When the brother-sister duo walked back to the car, the pair stayed in silence for a while as Tony drove them back home. But after some time, Tony's booming voice filled the car, making Thea jump in her seat slightly from the sudden noise.

"Baby sister, I am officially going to restrain you from dating any boys until the day I die because your last boyfriend was an absolute dick. The only thing that came out good when you dated him was how he taught you karate to protect yourself."

Thea scoffed dramatically at her brother in disbelief, a small smile starting to form at his humor. She studied the look on her brother's face and she saw a hint of seriousness in it, making her eyes widen.

"First of all, I'm only one year younger than you, and two, don't worry, Tony, he won't come here. That son of a bitch is all the way across the country. There's no way he could find me now."

"But you don't know that, Thea! You have no idea how worried I get whenever you're out alone. The fear of him hurting you again is always in the back of my head," Tony shouted a little louder than intended and he instant apologized in a soft tone, seeing how Thea was slumping in her seat.

"I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean to use that tone with you," Tony said sweetly to Thea. The girl smiled genuinely, knowing he was simply just worried for her and the sibling duo went back home in silence, humming to REO Speedwagon on the radio.

-༄✯༄-

Thea spent the next few hours working on her math homework, something she typically struggled in, but she always made time for her brother to tutor her at times. Her study session was calm, the subtle sounds of birds chirping outside her window, the sun that shone the perpetual orange, crimson red, and vibrant yellow hues right through her main window.

"Thea, you have a phone call for you!" Eleanor yelled to get her daughter's attention.

"Okay, Mama!" Thea stood up from her bed and grabbed the pastel blue phone that was hanging on the wall. She grabbed the phone off the wall mount, wrapping the spiraling telephone cord around her fingers.

"Hello, this is Heather?"

"Meet me at my home in thirty minutes, if you give me what I want, I might give you back your bracelet. You know the address."

Thea instantly recognized the voice of the person on the other end of the line. It was Johnny. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not sure what he meant. But she figured that Johnny was talking about her bracelet and if he was, then she was going to do anything to get it back.

Thea was about to put on her shoes to leave out her window, so her mom wouldn't worry. But then she heard the annoying voice of her brother and when she turned around, she saw Tony, folding his arms across his chest, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Sit your ass down, missy, you're not going anywhere," Tony said in a scolding tone.

"I-I was just getting some fresh air," Thea lied right in front of Tony, but he knew exactly what was happening.

"Yeah, you're getting fresh air by sneaking out your window. Totally. You're not going to see Johnny, Thea, I won't allow you to." Tony said, in a stern, authoritative tone.

"How did you—wait, were you listening to my phone call on the other line?!" Tony shrugged his shoulders with a mischievous smile on his face, making Thea roll her eyes at her annoying older brother.

"Maybe..."

"God, I can't believe you. You're so annoying." Thea threw her purple fringe pillow at her brother harshly, but he caught it swiftly with his free hand with no struggle.

"I"m going whether you like it or not, Tony. He has my bracelet and I need to get it back. You know how important that bracelet is to me because it's from Dad." Tony's eyes softened when his sister said this to him. He knew that charm bracelet was Thea's prized possession and if she had to go to Johnny's house, then that's what it took.

"Fine, but I'm going with you—"

"Um, no you're not. You gotta cover for me. Tell Mom I went to hang out with Benny, okay?" As much as Tony wanted to object, he nodded his head in agreement.

"Just so you know, I know where Johnny lives, so if you need anything, I won't hesitate to drive there myself."

"Yeah, yeah, goodbye now," Thea said in a sarcastically annoyed tone. She shooed off her brother and stepped out her window, getting to her car and driving off to Johnny's house. She didn't know what to expect, but whatever happened, she knew she had to get her charm bracelet and run out.

Thea has been to Johnny's house more times than she can count, but this time, her heart was filled with anxiety, her hands gripping her steering wheel tightly, she could see her nail polish chipping off onto the leather seat in the car.

She didn't know what she was about to run into and that's what scared her the most.

theories of who thea's ex is?

also my soda pop obsession is coming back ahh. im obsessed with too many people oops.