You're Not In This Alone

I wake up hearing a random noise before I hear pa scream and I groan out, pulling a pillow over my head and cringing inside. I get that they're in love and they do that but fuck I don't need to hear it. I toss and turn trying to get back to sleep but I'm suddenly wide awake, my mind racing. I drag myself out of bed, stumbling into the kitchen and opening the fridge in search of a drink. I decide to have tea and I turn around to put the kettle on but I jump and almost have a heart attack when I see dad standing in the doorway. "What the fuck?" I snap. "Are you trying to kill me?" He smiles and shakes his head, walking towards me and holding out his arms. "Sorry Rubes" he says quietly and I eye him warily. "Did you wash your hands first?" I ask and he drops his arms, looking embarrassed. "Rubes" he starts and I sigh before saying "You do that, it's fine I get it. I just don't need to hear it." I turn around and fill the kettle, putting it on to boil and dad comes over, pressing against my back and wrapping his arms around me. "I'm sorry baby girl" he says softly and I lean back into him. "It's ok" I tell him and we both know we mean more than just the noises. He presses a kiss in my hair before pulling away and I turn my head to smile at him, asking "Do you want some tea?" "Yeah thanks Rubes" he smiles back at me. I grab two cups and make the tea, carrying both cups over to the table and sitting them down, taking a seat next to dad. We sip our tea in silence for a few minutes before dad says "I love you Rubes and I accept you unconditionally. You know that right?" "I know dad." "How about you take the rest of the week off school huh?" I look over at him surprised. "Really?" I ask and he nods, smiling. "Yeah, you deserve a break." I smile back, leaning over and cuddling into his side and he wraps his arms around me. "Thanks dad." "Anything for you baby girl." After we finish our tea we sit our cups in the sink and go back to bed and I find myself falling asleep almost instantly, feeling a lot better than I have in a long time.

The next morning when I get up dad is at work but pa is still home. "Morning Rubes, you want some pancakes?" He asks when I enter the kitchen. I nod my head, continuing my path to the coffee. Once I have a cup in my hand I gulp down almost half of it before pulling the cup away from my lips. "You're just like your father" pa playfully scolds me and I poke my tongue out at him before taking another mouthful. I refill my cup and grab pa one too before walking over and sitting at the table, waiting for breakfast. "No work today?" I ask and he smiles at me and shakes his head. "Nah, felt like a day off. What do you wanna do?" I think about it for a few minutes before saying "You wanna go ice skating?" His face pales as he says "I was thinking more shopping or the movies..." "But I wanna go ice skating" I interrupt, a smirk on my face. "You're trying to kill me?" He asks and I burst out laughing, remembering last time the three of us went, pa almost broke his ass. "We don't have to" I tell him and he sighs before saying "No, we can go." I smile wide as he brings the pancakes to the table and we eat and make small talk. Once we're done we get dressed and head out, going to the rink and lacing on our skates. I glide out onto the ice, doing a little twirl and pa stands at the side glaring at me. "Come on grumpy" I call out, holding my hands out to him and he sighs dramatically and takes a shaky step onto the ice. He slowly makes his way over to me, almost falling once and I laugh as he death grips my hand and almost takes me down with him. "How are you so good at this?" He asks like a sulking two year old and I giggle before saying "Aww are you jealous?" We skate around for a while, every time pa let's go of me he falls and by the time he's ready to go I am in hysterics at his flailing and I almost fall myself. As we walk out of the building pa is rubbing his lower back and complaining how he's almost a cripple and it just makes me
laugh even more. We walk around for a while before going into Starbucks and getting four coffees, heading around the corner and going into dad's store. When we walk in only dad and Matt are there and pa calls out dramatically "Your devil child is trying to kill me Frankie." He chuckles and comes around the counter to us, taking his coffee from pa's hand and saying to me "What did you do?" "I took him ice skating" I manage to get out before bursting into hysterical laughter again at the mental images from earlier. Dad shakes his head at me before resting his hand on pa's lower back. "Aww baby are you ok?" "No, I seriously think I broke my ass this time." "I'll kiss it better later" dad says and I make gagging noises and say "Please, fucking don't." Dad starts laughing and I make my way over to Matt and hand him his coffee. "Please rescue me from those two" I beg and he laughs, sitting his coffee down and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Aww it's alright Rubes." "No, it's not. I'm mentally scared for life after last night and that" I say dramatically and Matt raises his eyebrow at me. "They don't understand the meaning of the word KEEP IT THE FUCK DOWN WHILE YOU'RE FUCKING" I call out so they can hear me. Dad chuckles and pa's face goes white and I turn back to Matt. "Please adopt me and rescue me" I beg, jokingly. "My spare room is always available Ruby" he tells me and I turn back to Dad and Pa. "I'm staying at Matts. I'm not listening to any ass kissing that may take place later."

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