The heat of day had only increased since Abby and Lucas had left, causing the inside of Lucas’s car to heat up drastically, it was practically an inferno by the time they got back to their home. Abby’s arms pitifully wrapped around bounds of grocery’s, a deep scowl of concentration on her face as she struggled to keep her balance with the new weight.

“Are you struggling with groceries?” Lucas’s mocking voice filled Abby’s ears, making her scowl deepen, although there was a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

“No,” She responded coolly, turning around with struggle so she could face him. He gave a blunt scoff, before taking multiple bags of food out of the backseat of the car.

“No, say no to this-” Alex stepped outside, reciting lyrics from Hamilton, making Abby scowl and scrunch her nose up in disgust.  

“Not today,” Abby grunted, holding the groceries in her shaking arms.

“It’s everyday,” Alex grinned.

“Make yourself useful and take some groceries,” Lucas snickered. “Since it’s evident Abby can’t do it by herself,”

“Listen here-”

“Sure sure, that’s what I was going to do in the first place.” Alex grinned.

“I thought you were going to smack the bags out of my hands in all honesty,” Abby admitted, stumbling behind Lucas to reach the door.

“I’m offended.” Alex drawled, her sarcastic nature coming to hand. Her and Abby were alike in that way, one of the many traits they happened to bond over.

“Did you read the list I sent you?” Evan called from inside the home, sticking his head out from the empty doorway.

“We read it,” Abby yelled back. “But we didn’t exactly follow it,” She added more quietly, Lucas snickering from beside her.

“You got five tubs of ice cream?” Evan’s incredulous and horrified voice filled the home, Abby wincing from his loud tone.

“Bless your soul.” Alex said, her voice filling with sincerity

“There will be no soul blessing tonight.” Evan scowled at her, then looked mournfully back at the tubs.

“Yes there will be Evan, they got five tubs! Five! That’s amazing-”

“And nothing with real nutrition! They got microwavable take-out.”

“Are you serious!” Noah yelled from the living room, laughing loudly at the situation. “Nice going Abby,” He snickered, elbowing her slumped for on the couch.

“I mean, that’s fine, it’s still editable-”

“I always had them as a kid, plus, we got teriyaki sauce to go with it.” Abby grinned, poking her head up from the worn couch only to be met with Evan’s fiery gaze. She gave him a small, pitiful looking smile before lowering herself back onto the couch, her body sinking into the old materials.

“He’s cheerful,” She mumbled, Noah giving her a small, teasing smile and a weak laugh.

“He’s a mom, he likes it when things are done his way.” He snickered, making Abby give a small laugh.

“Where’s dinner!?” Amelia screamed from her room, stepping out from Madison’s door. The two’s rooms were connected, and Amelia had no human way to get out of hers unless it was through Madison’s bedroom door.

“Ask Abigail and Lucas.” Evan snarked back, Amelia and Madison stepping out of Madison’s room with confused expressions.

“Why? Did they fuck up again?” Madison groaned, looking at Abby with a deadpan look, to which she replied with her tongue sticking out as an insult.

“In a way, but they got five tubs of ice cream, so it’s all good~”

“Five- Really? You bitch-”

“I only got the bare necessities,” Abby added defensively, struggling for a moment before she stood from the sunken-in couch, the plush comfort of the worn material leaving her body. “And I got a tub of sorbet, because that shit is just too good.”

“You had one job Abby!” Amelia shouted, a teasing hint to her voice.

“And she delivered alright,” Noah snickered, earning a hard jab in the side from Alex, who had since hopped over the back of the couch and landed in Abby’s previous seat; which happened to be next to Noah.

“You need to be quiet.” Alex hissed, a mocking tone in her voice, although Noah still gave her an annoyed look.

“I can’t cook with this!” Evan yelled, waving his arms in the air.

“Sure you can,” Abby coughed, sarcastic optimism filling her tone.

“If you count cheap noodles with a melted ice-cream sauce.” He argued, Madison laughing at him.

“You could be on one of those cooking shows if you wanted to, y’know where they make great stuff out of like- pig’s feet-” Alex added optimistically.

“What if that’s not what I want to do though.” Evan crosses his arms, a frown growing on his face.

“Make do with what you have?” Abby suggested weakly.

“I wouldn’t have to make do with it if you would’ve gotten real food!” Evan exclaimed, Abby laughing meekly before quickly fleeing the kitchen, heading into her own room.

“Nice going Evan!” Alex swore under her breath before heading off the Abby’s room. “Abby! Hey-”

“No-no, it’s fine-I’m all good-” Abby called through the door, her voice cracking slightly. She hated it when her emotions took over her like that, when her heart grew bigger than her mind and body itself. Hot tears sprung to her eyes and trailed down her cheeks, burning her skin. She sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, frantically trying to wipe the tears.

“No it isn’t. Let me come in, please…” Alex said in a quiet tone, knowing how Abby hated when other heard it when she talked to Abby when upset. Abby slowly opened the door, and Alex slipped in, slamming it behind her.

“Get in the van.” Evan’s strict tone filled the quiet air of Mid-Nowhere. Abby shook her head, and struggled to stay standing outside the sliding metal door as Alex attempted to pull her into the insides.

“Where are we going ‘Soccer Mom’?” Alex teased, using the soccer mom-like van and the fact that he’s been called that to tease him slightly.

“Somewhere where we can get real food,” Evan snapped, glaring slightly at her. It was evident that he was in a pissy mood, but it was just too fun to mess with him. “Get in the damn van Abigail, I swear to god-”

“Sorry for being curious…” She pouted, frowning.

“nO,” Abby yelled, digging her heels into the soft dirt below. Lucas’s groans could be heard from inside the vehicle, along with some sort of movement. Abby heard another person’s breathing close to her ear, and assumed it was Lucas, her cheeks turning a light pink colour as she continued to glare at Evan.

“God damn,” Lucas groaned, rolling his eyes. “Just get in.” He mumbled in her ear. “Or I swear to God, I will throw you in this car myself.” He got out of the passenger side of the car as Abby opened her mouth to speak.

“No you won’t,”

“Watch me.” He grunted, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her forcefully into the van. Abby let out a yelp, her body colliding with the floor of the van. She glared up at Lucas, a taunting smirk on his face as he sat back down in his seat.

“Jesus-” Alex said, her voice drained, airless. She scrunched her nose up when Abby landed. “Dear sweet Jesus-”

“I think I’ll just launch myself out of a window now, thanks.” Abby said dryly after Evan closed the door.

“Good plan-” Alex frowned. The seating went Evan in the driver's seat, Lucas in the passenger seat. Noah by the window, Alex in the middle, Abby next to the window. Then Madison and Amelia in the back with window seats.

“Oh no you won’t, the windows and doors are child-locked.” Evan snickered maliciously from the front seat, looking back at Abby’s slivered eyes through the rear-view mirror.

“But… windows-” Alex complained, seeing she wasn’t seated by one, and the car was warm.

“Sucks to be you.” Lucas laughed from the front seat turning around to glare at Alex teasingly.

“Not as much as it does to be you.” Abby snarked from the right side of Alex, directly across from Lucas.

“That was a horrible comeback.” Lucas snickered, a small smile ghosting on his lips. Abby’s cheeks turned pink as she turned defensively to look out the window.

“In all honesty, lowkey princess, I bet it does because of that hair- I hardly take time on my hair.” Alex jumped in.

“That’s obvious,” He snarked in response. Abby turned slightly, feeling the defensiveness radiating off of both of them. She could tell a full-blown argument was in the process of brewing, just by the looks the two were sending to each other.

“Does anybody have any gum?” She asked suddenly, Lucas and Alex’s attention turning to her. Alex rolled her eyes at the girl, while Lucas dug around in his pockets for a moment, before pulling out a pack of spearmint gum.

“You don’t need any gum- only if it’s sugar free,” Evan said from the front seat, taking off down the highway, veering in and out of cars.

“Oh well, too bad I only have highly sugar filled gum,” Lucas taunted, Abby turning and glaring into the rear-view mirror. Lucas stuck a piece in his mouth, and started to chew tauntingly.

“I swear to god, I will rip that gum from your mouth and shove it up your nostril.” Abby threatened, only earning a laugh from Alex.

“Seriously, don’t give her sugar.” Alex shook her head, recalling memories of their middle and high school days when a simple piece of licorice would set Abby off into a sugar-crazed series of events, all of which she ended up majorly crashing after.

“I’ve gotten better, I swear!” Abby shouted, glaring at Alex who shrugged.

“Don’t come crying to me when you have a bad crash,” She mumbled, handing her blonde friend a stick of gum from her pocket.

~~~~~

“Abby come out of that pastel pink room of yours and join us for dinner-”  Alex banged on the door again, trying to get Abby out of her room.

Abby looked around her room once more, taking in the new decorations. She lined up only a fraction of her candles on a small bookshelf that Alex helped her mount to the wall. Her bed was pushed into the far right hand corner, underneath both of the windows. She had tucked white sheets under the mattress, it was just a matter of trying to get her comforter placed correctly.

“Abby- I will ruin your room next, Evan was crying and died a little inside because of how badly I ruined his room.”

“Fine, fine.” Abby sighed, standing from a small patch on the floor.

“Thank you-” She sighed exasperatedly, pulling the blonde out and bringing her to the table. Evan was in the kitchen cooking who knows what.

“It smells like wet dog out here-” Abby commented when she walked out, trying to retreat back into her room to her nice smelling candles. Alex grabbed her by the arm tightly, refusing to allow the smaller blonde to go back in.

“Excuse you, you don’t understand how good this will taste-” Evan said offendedly.

“I’m sure.” Abby droned, her eyes rolling slightly. There was a makeshift table set up in the middle of the open floor plan, mismatched chairs from each room lining up unevenly on both sides. A small flower pot was in the middle, a dying plant wilting pathetically. Abby visibly cringed at the sight.

“We’re not going to eat on this-” She stated, Evan turning and giving her a sharp glare.

“Excuse you, missy, but yes we are.” He snapped, making Abby furrow her eyebrows.

“Missy-?”

“Just go with it, before he throws his pan at you-” Alex muttered under her breath.

After another good ten minutes, Evan had lined dishes of god-knows-what on the table. Abby skeptically glanced at each one, but sat down anyways. Madison sat across from her with Amelia one one side and Lucas on the other. Noah and Evan sat on either ends of the table, while Alex sat on the right side of her.

“Can we eat yet-” Alex muttered under her breath, making Evan sigh loudly.

“You all are so ungrateful-”

“Save the speech for Independence day-” Abby interrupted loudly, making him glare at her in an offended way.

“You mean Fourth of July-” Noah asked.

“Does it look like I give a damn about the correct name?”

“Yes-”

“It’s called being hungry-” Alex muttered trying to change the topic before Abby started to throw things.

“ABBY I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE A NICE MEAL-” Alex huffed, grabbing Abby's arms “I will tie you up gosh darn it-” She said, making Noah laugh loudly.

“Fine, eat. Be ungrateful-” Everybody tucked into the food before he could finish his sentence.

“Thank you, oh great Evan-” Alex said mockingly. Abby grabbed a small amount of food, and eating it slowly. She was a slow eater, a bad habit she picked up a while ago. She would take the smallest damn amounts and eat it slowly, then go back for another small portion. It drove Alex and the rest of the gang mad.

“Why wouldn’t you just get a larger portion?!” Amelia roared, looking at her incredulously.

“Or a smaller plate-” Evan added sourly, looking over all the dishes he would be stuck washing bitterly.

“Can’t we have a nice family meal-” Alex asked.

“No, not when people food shame me.” Abby remarked, staring down at her plate.

“Abby, you’re fine, just maybe listen to their advice, I mean, you wouldn’t want to be Evan, he has to wash dishes…”

“I guess.” Abby mumbled, taking a bite.

“Stop saying ‘I guess’ and do something, like you did with writing-” She said, trying to put it metaphorically

“Stop telling me what to do in life.” Abby bit back, her throat tighten and her eyes sting. She knew something like this would happen, something that she would be the cause of. Anything good she would feel like she would corrupt it somehow, and she felt herself starting to do that to whatever this was.

“I’m trying to say it metaphorically, but if you insist-” Alex bit her lower lip. She just wanted a nice evening, but Abby was making that extremely difficult at the moment.

“Thanks for the food Evan, but I’m just going to go to my room.” Abby mumbled, standing from her seat and turning from the table.

“You're welcome, go ahead-” He said, happy someone said thank you. As soon as Abby was through her doorway and her door was shut and locked, she collapsed on her small patch of floor, hugging the light pink comforter to her chest. It was dark outside, and the only light she had in her room at the moment was her flickering candle lights, but that was plenty. Their yellow glow filled the room dimly, making Abby calmer just by looking at them. She got up and cracked the window by her bed open, looking out and allowing the soft breeze to tickle her nose.