ＨＡＰＰＹ ＴＯＧＥＴＨＥＲ

𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔰

♟

"Then I forbid you from socializing with any of them."

Her words are gut-wrenching. It takes time for them to sink in, but I don't express any emotion. 

My face is carved out of stone as I reply. "Mama, surely we can work something out where I don't have to completely go out of my way to avoid the neighbors."

She smiles sickeningly. "If you'd like, Kukla, we can move you away altogether."

"Nyet," I snap, before regaining my composure. She's pushing my buttons, she knows it, and she loves it. "It's too much of a hassle. Plus, I'll be away from Nikolai."

"We could always move you closer to him."

"I already said no, mother."

"Why not?"

"I told you. It's too much-"

"Have you actually begun to love people, Anastasia?"

"I don't-"

She rises, towering over me. "This is pitiful. You were raised to be independent, and now you are crying over a change of residence because you've gone soft."

I look to my father for help, as he tends to be the more sympathetic of the two, but he is as cold and angry as my mom.

"You are weak. Maybe you were not ready to leave our care. We will not take you back. We will leave you here, and you will learn the hard way that you cannot afford to feel."

I stand, but my short figure is nothing compared to her tall, slender form.

"We will stay in Point Place and watch you until we deem you fit enough to continue on your own. Is that clear?"

I search her for any hint of compassion, any understanding in the wrinkles that crease her face, but there is none.

I want to rebel and tell her "no" once more, but I know that I can't. I have never been able to stand up to my mother and I'm not strong enough now to do that. Waiting here under her gaze, I recognize the fact that I am truly weak, even if it's not to the extent she believes. I feel as if I have no choice but to comply.

"Yes, Morana," I whisper harshly.

"What was that?"

"Da, Mamochka."

"Good. I'm going to arrange a room for us somewhere. The hotels in this town are probably of better quality than whatever this dump you've created is." I sink back down into the couch as she stalks off.

My father sits next to me and I scoot away immediately. He places a gentle hand on my knee. "Kukla, we're only trying to protect you," he coaxes.

I don't look at him. "Okay."

"This is for your own good."

"Okay."

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch a smile grow on his face. "See, you're already getting better."

He's happy about this. He's pleased. He thinks that I'm doing the right thing. "Getting better?" Am I some poor sick animal that would perish without their "help"? Ridiculous.

I silently get away from him and put my jacket and shoes on. "I'm going to the store. Help yourselves to the cupcakes."

Not even waiting for his reply, I start strutting down the sidewalk, deciding to go on foot so I can have more time alone. I approach the Formans' house and my first instinct is to greet the boys playing on the basketball court, but my mom's face cuts through that thought and presents itself clearly in my mind.

I'm a few seconds too late, though. Eric passes the ball to Kelso and tells them to keep going before jogging to me.

"Hey, Anastasia. Want to hang out? We were thinking of going for a drive."

I ignore him, forcing myself to pretend as if he isn't there.

Unfortunately, he follows me, matching my pace. "Is everything okay? Did I do something? Oh god, is Donna mad at me?"

I bite my lip. I have to explain to them in some way, but I do not desire to pull them into my messy family rules. "I just... can't talk to you anymore."

"But why? What did I do?"

I grit my teeth. Too many damn questions. "Not just you. Everyone."

"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow."

I roll my eyes, not saying anything.

"Right?"

He stops in his tracks as I trudge on.

"Right?"

♟

The next week or so is extremely repetitive. Every day is excruciatingly long and similar to the last. I wake up, go to school or get groceries, maybe go on a jog. I make breakfast for my parents, who come over before I'm even conscious. We eat together and not a word comes out of our mouths except for the occasional quip that turns into a lecture about how a strand of my hair is out of place.

I go out or clubbing when I can. Mama and Papa don't care about that since they say it's "important to have a presence everywhere".

I spend much of my time in my room, though I don't know what my parents hope to accomplish while isolating me. How do I practice being emotionless when there isn't anything to not react to?

I experience the occasional run-in with someone from the friend group, but I respond in the same way I did with Eric. 

There is no doubt that they talk about me. I have literally just stopped talking to them without telling anyone my reasoning. But I believe, as my parents put it, that I'm protecting them.

One evening, I come home from a party to find suitcases littered throughout my house. My mother stands in the mirror, fixing herself up, while my dad hauls the bags into the trunk of a car.

"What's going on?" I ask, my voice loud and clear.

"We're going home," Papa announces.

I keep my mouth from forming into a grin. "Really?"

"Yes, Kukla. Don't be so excited."

"Sorry. I'm just... ecstatic that you trust me enough to let me go my own way so I can start training for my inheritance of Volkov Enterprises," I lie.

"Alright." He shoves the last bag in. "Goodbye. We love you."

"Goodbye."

My mother just glares down at me as she floats by into the limo.

Every good emotion that I have suppressed in the past week floods out, and I beam as I watch them drive off into the sunset.

My mood drops when the youngest Forman appears in front of me at my doorstep. What if they see him? "Eric-"

"I know you have some messed-up condition that prevents you from talking to us, but I don't care. This is important."

I relax as they turn a corner and I look up at him. Upon seeing his urgent demeanor, I furrow my eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"Hyde is moving to New York and none of us can stop him."

My jaw unhinges slightly. "What?"

"Come on. Please, just try to convince him to stay."

"Where is he?"

"At his place."

"Address?"

He hands me a slip of paper and wishes me luck and I drive off as quickly as possible.

I pull up to the boy's battered house and sit on his steps for a few minutes before the door swings open. "It is too my suitcase!" his voice yells, presumably at Edna.

My suspicions are confirmed when she shrilly answers with a "Nothing in this house is yours!"

He tosses his bag onto the porch and scoffs when he notices me. "What are you doing here?"

"Sit," I command.

He plops down next to me. 

"Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean? You're always talking about how great the Big Apple is. I wanted to see it for myself."

"Just on a whim?"

"Nah, I met this girl called Chrissy. And she's the best, man, she's obnoxious and paranoid and gets high."

"That's great, but it's no reason for you to randomly leave."

"What do you care?" he glowers.

I scowl at him in disbelief. "You're my friend, dumbass!"

"Oh, yes, our friendship must be very good if you're ignoring me for no reason less than two days after we fucked," he spits sarcastically.

I falter. Although I'm ashamed to say it, I haven't thought about how the situation could make him feel, specifically. It makes sense that he's angry with me. We hook up and make out twice and all of a sudden I keep to myself.

"Steven-"

"I mean, was I really that bad? Tell me honestly, did you have such a terrible time that you thought it would be a good idea to never talk to me again?"

"No! You're good!" I blubber. I curse softly under my breath and put my face in my hands. "My parents came over."

"So what?" he snarls. "Mommy and Daddy didn't want you hanging around with the lowlives?"

"They didn't want me around you because Jackie's fucking dad was an enemy of us!"

He turns to me. "Of your parents, maybe, but you? You've never even had a conversation with the guy!"

I jolt up. "When my parents say I have to do something, that means I have to do it!"

He stands and stares down at me. "Newsflash, Anastasia! You are your own person. You chose to be a bitch!"

At this point, I'm pressed up against the fence, trapped. "I'm sorry!" I snap. "Is that what you want to hear? I'm sorry!"

He shakes his head, chuckling bitterly. "Whatever." He pushes himself off of the railing and picks up his bag.

"Hyde."

I gulp as he rolls his eyes and raises his eyebrows at me.

"Stay. I'm not going to say 'for me' or any of that sappy shit because we both know the only thing we want from each other is sex and we only care about each other a little bit. But your friends, our friends need you. To get them into trouble every once in a while. To stir the pot. To just be there. If you leave, they'll never be the same again."

For a moment, I think my words sink in, but my hopes are crushed when an irksome smile saunters onto his face. "You done with your monologue?"

He doesn't seem as angry, though, and I assume that I've kindled his fiery little ego. Nonetheless, he appears to be joking with me, and I intend to use that to my advantage.

"I'm serious!" I laugh.

"Fine."

"What?"

"Fine. I'll stay."

My eyes widen and, on instinct, I jump into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. He almost drops me, but his arms support me steadily once he gets over his surprise. Oh, if Mama could see me now.

He gently lowers me to the wood floor so I can stand but still hug him. I take the time spent in the embrace to really think about what he said. He's right, of course. I need to stop with the whole "parents control me" thing and stop following their orders, however difficult it may be. Hyde is usually right. I'm a bitch. He's also a bitch, to be honest. We'll be bitches together. Bitch squad.

"Uh, Princess?" he mumbles.

"Oh!" I cough, wriggling out of his grasp and dusting myself off.

"I'm going to go tell Chrissy."

"Hey, maybe you can get an extra night in with her," I wink.

He shakes his head with a grin. "I don't think I'll be doing that. See you."

"Bye."

♜

Do I like how I ended this? It's not the best but it's not terrible.

Is this a short chapter? Yes.

Do I care? Yes.

But I didn't want to drag this out because even though it's ~*+*~dRaMa~*+*~, it's not worth it to make it longer than it has to be.

As always, feedback, comments, and votes are always appreciated!

Love you guys,

Lissy

P.S.: It bothers me a bit that I don't write the Russian phrases with Russian letters, but if I did that, I feel like I'd have to write Ana's name in Russian or something since it's supposed to be that way. Idk, let me know what you guys think :)

P.P.S.: I discovered Happy Together by The Turtles through the musical episode and fell in love with the chorus so that's why that's the song for this chapter. Gerard Way's cover of it also slaps.