n/a: Thanks everyone for 1k views! I'm so glad people are liking this!

Erika went up to the bedroom. It was not her room. It was a room. She was squatting in it. 

She stood by the window and looked out. She was bored but she didn't want to take anything else from them. She just wanted to get away.

Why did they have to try so hard? She preferred it when people just acted like she didn't exist. When they didn't pretend like everything would turn out alright. 

They were kind. But she needed to get out.

Idina was stubborn, but one day she'd find out this was a mistake. Erika wanted that to be sooner rather than later.

"I found these in the basement," Idina said, coming in with a box full of books. "Mostly classics," she continued, "but there's adventure, fantasy, children's, all the good stuff."

Erika looked up as she dropped the box on the bed, then started moving them to the shelves in large armfuls.

Idina swore as her second armful fell all over her and hardback landed on her foot.

Was she doing this on purpose or was she a clutz all the time? 

She sighed inwardly and went over to help the woman pick up the books. She looked over the titles as she did so. They were all things she'd heard of. Shakespear, Alexandra Dumas, Tolstoy, the likes. Stuff she'd read for school. Some stuff she'd never heard of.

When they were all on the shelf the two women stood there in silence, Idina staring at Erika and Erika looking at everything else. The girl hated eye contact. The last thing she wanted to see was the earnest face the actress put on when she tried to convince her that she was different. 

"If you're hungry, I've made some salad, but Aaron's putting a pizza in the oven," Idina said after a moment.

"Alright," Erika replied. 

"Are you hungry?" she asked. She was always so soft-spoken. It had been the thing that stuck out the Erika the most when they'd first met. Now she hated that quality. It made not getting attached harder as it made the celebrity sound more genuine.

"A bit," the girl confessed.

"What do you want for supper?" Idina asked. "I'm no cook, but Aaron's pretty good. And we can always get something." When Walker was with her, they normally tired to cook something, but when he was with his dad they often ordered in or hired a chef. Idina didn't want to order-in all the time with Erika around. Cooking together could give them some time to bond.

"I don't mind," Erika said.

"Are you sure?"

Erika nodded.

"Really? Come on, what do you like? It's just food."

"I'll eat anything," the teen replied. It was the truth.

"But you have to have something you like more."

"I never bothered to think about it," Erika said, wishing Idina would leave her alone. She already knew her life sucked, she didn't need reminding of it. She barely tasted her food as she ate it. Habit. She learnt long ago if she didn't eat her food someone else would. It didn't stop her from going to bed hungry though.

She hated being the poor orphan.  Poor Erika, her life's so sad. That's all she was to Idina. The poor orphan. When the novelty runs off, she'll be sent away. Poor orphan, sent away again, such a shame we couldn't do anything for the poor orphan. She'll be better off with someone else.

There was no way Idina would ever choose her over Walker. She knew that for a fact. And that's how she knew Idina had no idea what she was doing. This could very easily tie into her divorcee, her custody of Walker. If- no, when something got messy, her husband could use it against her if it escalated. The choice would be her of Walker and she'd choose Walker through the tears and the 'I'm sorrys' and Erika would be left alone and no better off than she was before.

She would not get attached. 

"Well," Idina said, pulling her out of her spiral, "there's some stuff in the kitchen when you want it. If you think of something you want for supper, let Aaron or I know."

"Okay," replied the girl.

"I wish you would trust me when I say I want this to work," the star said again in her sickenly soft manner. She really was a broken record.

"And I wish you would believe me when I tell you it won't," Erika replied. Two can play at this game.

"Why won't this work?"

"Because one day something will go wrong. It might not be for over a year, but something will. And then you'll have to choose between Walker and I, and we both know who you will choose. That's the best case. The nuclear option is you lose both of us. I've been through this, I know how it ends. I've seen parents weaponize these things against their former spouses. I stand by my statement that you don't know what you're getting yourself into." She tried to explain as factually as she could. She did not want to say how much it would hurt if she cared or played nice. She did not even want to imagine a possibility where there was anything but mutual tolerance between the two of them.

"What will go wrong, Erika?" She took a few steps closer. She was practically whispering. Anyone else would have been yelling. Yelling was easier to deal with.

"Anything," Erika said. "That's the beauty of a minefield. Every step could be the last one you take, or it could blow your legs off." Hadn't she already explained this? It does not matter when she does, she always gets sent back. Her best option was to get out of the dangerous situations quickly and stay in the safest ones the longest. Here, with Idina, this place had red flags everywhere screeched for her to get out as soon as she could. Physically she was safe, but emotionally? She was weakest there and this pace would hit her in the just the right spots until she shattered. She had to get out. She should run away, but she did not want too.

That scared her most of all.

"Alright," Idina said with a sigh. She left the room after reminding Erika for a third time that lunch was downstairs.

~~~~~

Idina stopped in the hallway and let the tears slip down her cheeks. She had a feeling she knew exact;y what Erika was afraid of and there was nothing she could do about it.

Everyone said they couldn't choose between their children. It was true. Idina had no idea what she would od if she were faced with that. She had no idea how plausible it was that she might have too.

Deep in her gut, she knew she'd do anything for Walker. He was her whole world. 

Erika was right. Idina would feel awful, but she could rationalize it, convince herself it was for the best of she tried hard enough. Nothing would let her do that with Walker.

She hated herself for even thinking like that.

Her phone buzzed.

The unknown number.

Not now, she thought. She opened the text.

It was an image of her and Erika leaving the school, followed by the start and end times of the different grades.

I'm watching you, it read.

What do you want? she texted back.

I'll let you know when I'm ready, the reply said. 

Idina was quick to delete the messages. She wiped her face and went downstairs, got a bowl, filled it with salad, and sat down at the table, her laptop open, replying to emails.

Erika came down not long after. She took some leftover pizza and some salad and sat across from Idina without saying a word. Idina looked up att he girl, then looked behind her to where her husband was sitting on the lounge, then back to the girl again.

Erika did not want to get emotions involved. Every time Idina tried, she retaliated with just as much force. And Erika might run away if she thought she would get hurt. It was time for a new battle strategy. 

She could let Erika exist. Then give her college money when she turned eighteen then pray the teen will keep in contact. No emotions, no bonding, just the two of them existing in the same household. It wasn't what Idina wanted, but maybe it was what Erika needed.

And Erika's needs now came before her own.