rory and anna were currently sitting in the dining room area of their home. rowyn and taryn each sat in their bedrooms bored as ever on this lonely saturday night. rowyn sat by her window seat looking out at the stars. she pulled her phone out of her pocket calling scarlett.

the phone only rang once with her immediately picking up, "what's up hot tamale?!!" she heard scarlett say sounding like she was in a good mood.

"hey um what are you doing tonight?" rowyn asked licking her lips, she could hear music in the background. she also heard familiar laughter from someone

scarlett was laughing then responded, "luke and i are going to a party." rowyn didn't even question what she was about to say.

"can i come with you guys?" she asked clearly starting to tap her feet against her pink carpet.

scarlett answered excitedly, "yeah! of course, we're on our way to come get you right now. be there in ten minutes."

"okay, i'll be ready." rowyn claimed hanging up heading downstairs. she could hear her parents laughing, when she stood amongst them they grew quiet. rowyn didn't portray nervousness, she stood straight looking like she was determined

they looked at her waiting for her to speak, "i'm going to hang out with scarlett for a little bit." she announced

rory and anna stared at each other starting to laugh wholeheartedly, "no you're not." rory got out going from hysterical to serious in a matter of seconds. rowyn frowned, "why not?" she asked in a composed manner

rory kissed his teeth while rubbing his wife's hand in circular motions, "because you came down here and didn't ask. you demanded that you are going out. plus we have plans."

rowyn turned around looking around the house then turning back to face her parents chuckling, "what plans? you two are literally down here doing your own thing while taryn and i are upstairs in our rooms." she said

anna exhaled patting her husband on the hand getting up, "rowyn, you're not going out. that is the end of the discussion." she headed into the kitchen grabbing two bottles of sparkling water

"especially considering what occurred at the homecoming dance." rory brought up, he opened the bottle taking a sip

"excuse me?" rowyn asked confused as to what he was talking about. "principal sinclair called us this morning and told us what happened. why didn't you or your sister inform us on what happened?"

rowyn shrugged, "because you two could care less about anything pertaining to—-"

"shut up rowyn." anna blurted

"it's the truth." rowyn chuckled seem irritate. "you should have kept your head help up high instead of running out like a coward." her father suggested being very critical

there was something about his tone of voice that angered rowyn. he was so serious within what he was saying to her not even caring about how or taryn felt within that triggering moment at the dance.

"but i couldn't do that because it triggered me." rowyn stated with obviousness. both of her parents laugh yet again which was hurtful. "why would it trigger you?" anna asked shaking her head profusely

rowyn looked up at the ceiling letting a disappointing laugh escape her lips, she ran upstairs not feeling like arguing with her parents. it was like talking to people with balloons as brains, she could feel a headache forming.

she groaned laying on her bed staring at the ceiling waiting for scarlett to show up, she texted her eventually letting her know that she is outside. she lifted herself up jogging to her closet to grab a random pair of shoes to put on. taryn walked in her doorway, her arms crossed clearly being nosy

"where are you going?" she asked with a mud mask applied on her face. rowyn turned her lights off walking past her sister heading downstairs, "out with scarlett and luke. she answered

rory and anna watched rowyn head towards the front door, rory stood up walking over to his daughter. "where do you think you are going rowyn?" he asked deeply

"i'm going to hang out with scarlett and luke." she answered simply unlocking and opening the door, rory aggressively shut it. rowyn clenched her jaw trying to keep her composure

"you're not going anywhere, plus you need to stop hanging around that faggot." rory spat beginning to get angry. he hated when his kids didn't listen to him, it was the best way to make him blow his top

"a faggot is a gay man plus it is a very ugly and derogatory word. luke is bisexual." rowyn smart mouthed her father, chuckling at his ignorance

"rowyn!" her mother yelled not understanding what has gotten into her. taryn stood on the stairwell turning her neck back and forth refusing to believe that her little sister is being a smartass, she was seeing a side of rowyn she's never seen before. taryn was enjoying every moment of this

rowyn sighed, "look i'll be back soon. i just need to get out of this house for a few hours—-" she placed her hand on the cold door knob, rory harshly grabbed her tricep making rowyn look up at her father.

his heated gaze... did nothing. for once in her life, rowyn wasn't scared. she felt like this was a huge step for her, she looked down at her dad's hand. his gripped tighter causing her arm to start going numb, "you are staying here. do you understand me?" rory gritted his teeth, his blue eyes slowly becoming dark

rowyn didn't look away from her father, she wanted him to see that she meant business. their stare off felt scary amongst the other two women in the house, "or what? you're going to hit me? whip me? burn me with a cigarette butt?" rowyn asked in a mocking way

she caught her father off guard, he loosened his grip on her arm which made rowyn quickly snatch away from him. she opened the door widely, rory stood there looking stupid. anna called out her daughters name chasing in after her.

rowyn sprinted to the car quickly getting in the back, anna kept shouting out her name making her way up to the car but it was too late. scarlett sped away leaving anna to sit there where her daughter go to an unknown destination.

taryn whistled loudly heading back to her bedroom, "rowyn just became a woman." she said to herself quietly. when the three teens entered the house party, a drift of air hit these faces coming from a kid who blew out vape air. the smell of cotton candy nicotine entered their nostrils

there were teenagers all over the mansion, many from different counties that are nearby or far away from bardstown. they all moved away from the doorway getting to a space that was open, scarlett sighed seeing all the chaos that was happening upon them. her and luke looked at rowyn who seemed anxious, "what do you wanna do?" scarlett yelled over the loud music that was playing

rowyn knew what she needed to do, "i want to drink." she answered confidently throwing her two friends off guard. "wait what?!" they asked at the same time, leaning closer to her hoping they were just hearing things

"i want to drink!!" she confirmed again, getting antsy. both of them looked at each other struggling to find words to say. it was a sudden change for rowyn to want to drink, both of them were hesitant knowing it wasn't a good idea

rowyn rolled her eyes not wasting anymore walking off scurrying past other kids, luke and scarlett scoffed going to find her. some unfamiliar guy with pretty long brown hair was pouring a purple drink into random people's cups. the pitcher started to run out of the drink, rowyn grabbed a red solo cup. he poured half of it into her cup, she brought it to her lips with luke snatching it out of her hand

"dude!!" she yelled angrily, luke looked around handing the cup to some girl who happily took it beginning to drink it, she smacked her lips together clearly impressed. "it tastes like juice!" she praised downing the rest of the drink within seconds begging for another fill up

"you don't have to drink to fill the void rowyn..." scarlett tried saying but rowyn didn't want to hear that right now, "yeah! whatever scarlett! i don't care." rowyn randomly grabbed some shot glass sitting on the wooden countertop, she grabbed a bottle of vodka pouring herself a shot quickly swishing it down her throat

her first taste of alcohol completely burned her throat, earning for her to start heaving. luke and scarlett widened their eyes out of fear both holding her arms starting to rub her back, "are you okay?" luke asked

rowyn whistled, "i'm fine. now stop babying me, let's have some fun please!" she exclaimed snatching away from them both pouring herself another shot. chase entered the kitchen squinting thinking he laid eyes upon taryn

justin grew dumbfounded hitting chase in his stomach who didn't budge, "holy shit! that is rowyn!" he yelled jumping up and down excited to see her finally coming out of her shell

"little ms. prude is becoming a brand new woman!!" another one of his homeboys said, chase strolled over to her as she took her second shot, it going down easier than the first one. she whistled again, chase snatched the glass from out of her hand, "hey!" she yelled

when she looked to see it was chase towering over her, she calmed down. "what are you doing?" he asked throwing the shot glass into the trash can, rowyn ignored him grabbing another red solo cup. she saw the same guy with a refilled pitcher motioning for him to come pour her a drink, he did so with her taking a quick sip.

"having fun." she said bringing the cup back to her lips. the punch has a sweet aftertaste to it, barley tasting any alcohol rowyn treated it like it was grape kool aid guzzling it down her throat. chase didn't have enough time to react, just looking at her like a lost puppy

he gazed at scarlett and luke stammering, "w-what?" he asked, both of them shrugged their shoulders not having an answer that he needed

scarlett got yet another refill going absolutely ham not thinking of the consequences that were soon to creep upon her body and brain. she ended up getting sloppy drunk, her friends plus chase not able to have fun due to them being worried about her. the three hung their backs against a wall seeing rowyn who was now dancing on the countertop, everyone looking up at her surprisingly cheering her on

chase shrugged leaning over to luke, "has she ever drank?" he asked curiously, luke glanced at him then looked back at his cousin who was swaying her body crazily

"never." him and scarlett answered, chase shook his head. everyone began chanting her name hyping her up, but poor rowyn wasn't even really aware of what was going on. she didn't have a clear conscious, it all was basically like a trip on acid for her. her body stopped moving, she motioned for everyone to quiet down.

"give me a refill!!!!" she slurred which made many laugh for some odd reason, scarlett couldn't let her friend stand up on that counter any longer. she pushed through people with aggression extending her arm upwards, "rowyn c'mon, get down." she begged

when rowyn got her cup filled again, she slung it onto her bestfriend who gasped getting drowned by the sticky drink. everyone else gasped including luke, her hair covered her eyes. scarlett scoffed combing her hair being able to see clearly again. she looked up at rowyn who innocently bit her index finger, "did i do that????"

"my bad... i want to make a toast!!!" she yelled raising her empty cup into the air, the crowd followed her lead. having people listen to her felt good, even if they were strangers. chase and luke scurried through everyone trying to get rowyn to come down but she ignored them

"i want to make a toast.... to my brother... ronan!!!!" crickets hit the house, everyone slowly lowered their cups and glasses not saying a peep. "okay rowyn, c'mon." luke said tapping her leg

"i miss you big brother !!!!" she yelled out bending down on her knees, chase and luke got her off the counter taking her out of the house. "goodnight everybody!!!" she yelled being escorted out the front door

they all got in with scarlett turning around to see chase shutting his door, she gave him a dirty look before rolling her eyes turning her car engine on. she finally got on her phone seeing that it was blown up with messages and phone calls from amelia, anna and nova. the messages all pertaining to rowyn, them asking if she was okay and wondering where they were

scarlett grew nervous, "fuck!" she yelled putting the car in drive heading to the walsh estate. she scoffed feeling how sticky her hair and upper body was. all scarlett wanted to do was make sure rowyn gets home safely and take a shower

rowyn suddenly laid her head onto chase's lap, her hair covering her whole entire face. her words were currently muffled, chase not knowing what to do. his cologne began to become unbearable due to her being buried into his shirt. rowyn was able to move away in time to sneeze into her arm, "bless you." chase said

rowyn ignored him, "we're going to your house right?" she asked leaning forward resting her arms on the console, "we're going to your house rowyn." scarlett announced with sadness

there was nothing more that she wanted to do in this moment than bring her friend back to her house and properly take care of her. but she knew if she did that, it would cause issues. knowing how anna and rory are, she wouldn't be surprised if they have called a search party out on rowyn at this rate.

"i don't want to deal with them tonight!!" rowyn whined hitting her head against the headrest.

chase spoke up seeing rowyn shut her eyes, "just take her to my house scarlett, we need to respect her wishes." he suggested

"chase you don't understand. rowyn will get in even more trouble if we don't take her home right now." luke clarified, he also wanted to just take his cousin to his place but he sadly couldn't

"you guys suckkkkkk!!" rowyn yelled out in rage. when they pulled up to her house, it felt eerie. they all got out assisting her to the front door. anna immediately opened it not expecting to see her kid drunk

scarlett sigh feeling anna's eyes burn into her soul, "i'm so sorry..." anna grabbed ahold of her kid who was laughing manically, she made sure she didn't hit the ground

"it's alright. you guys aren't the one who got her drunk." anna stated sounding disappointed with rowyn. the three looked down in shame feeling bad for rowyn. "do you want us to help you bring her upstairs?" chase asked knowing anna wasn't going to be able to carry that deadweight up the awaited flight of stairs 

rowyn almost dropped to the ground but chase caught her, "yeah, please." she breathed seeming to be hopeless. chase easily picked her up bridal style, a loud yelp came out. scarlett and luke were about to follow them upstairs but anna suddenly turned around, "you two can let yourselves out." she ordered catching them by surprise

they both stood there watching her disappear upstairs, not even surprised by her behavior. they shrugged heading to the car. chase gently sat rowyn onto her bed, her face sinking deep into her pillow. chase gave her one final look, standing up walking out of the room. anna patted him on the shoulder, "thank you honey. have a goodnight."

"you too, please take care of her." chase said going downstairs. when anna heard the door shut she sighed aloud going to rowyn's room.

"get up!" she yelled, rowyn was laughing into her pillow like a madwoman. her mom yanked her arm forcing her to sit up. she yanked her shoes off her feet pointing fiercely at her kid, "how dare you be disobedient?!" she hissed

throwing her shoes onto the floor angrily, she then yanked her socks off. rowyn shook her head, "we don't ever talk about him...." rowyn said beginning to sober up, anna scoffed standing up from the floor yanking the hoodie off rowyn

"what are you babbling about rowyn?" anna asked annoyed. rowyn started feeling bad, her heart began to feel heavy. "we just act like he never even existed...." rowyn breathed heavily feeling her eyes staring to water

"rowyn be quiet." anna warned tossing her hoodie onto her carpet. rowyn suddenly yanked away, "we don't ever talk about him mom...." she cried out, her bottom lip starting to quiver

anna grabbed both of her hands but rowyn snatched away aggressively, all different kinds of emotions were running through her body. "i hate you guys for acting like he was never born!!!" she yelled out

anna hugged her kid who kept resisting, "rowyn, calm down!!" her daughter shut her eyes with tears streaming down her face, "get off me!!" she heaved painfully. anna placed her daughters head onto her chest only making her more upset

"don't touch me!!! you disgust me!! it's all your fault!!" anna started to caress her hair quickly stroking it with her fingers, "okay! i'm sorry. okay? i'm sorry." anna whispered rocking her daughter back and forth how she used too when she was a baby

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry...." rowyn started to calm down silently crying in her mothers arms. it was something that needed to happen, rowyn was like a ticking time bomb

she finally exploded letting it all out after almost two painful years. she missed ronan... so much

almost at 9k reads... i love you guys thank you!!