"You stupid, son of a-"

"Shh!" Corin insisted, putting his hand over Isabelle's mouth and pointing at Bailey, "We don't want Bailey cussing as a toddler."

Isabelle glared at her his and pushed his hand aside, "Is that so? Well, maybe she'll forget that too!"

Corin sighed, "Belle, please. I'm sorry-"

"'You're sorry?' Really?" Tears brimmed her eyes and threatened to spill, "She forgot me! Her mother! Nothing can fix making my daughter forget who I am!"

"It lasted a few minutes -"

"Yeah, and you know what? Those were the worst few minutes of my life." She turned her back on him and picked up Bailey, "If you thought this would help our family, you're more than wrong. And don't come to me talking about 'family' and 'priorities.' You clearly don't care."

Isabelle put Bailey's coat on as well as her own. "Where are you going?" Corin asked, desperation cracking his voice .

She glanced over her shoulder at him, "My father's place. I'm going to explain this all to him."

Corin's face paled, "Belle- you can't do that!"

Isabelle's eyes narrowed as she opened the door, "Just watch me." She walked out and slammed the door shut, shaking the house as she left it behind.

____________________

Harper smiled as she glanced at her family. Thomas and Hayden were crashed out on the couch, and Bailey had taken the chair near it. Logan had a booked hotel room before he came, so he was staying there, and Harper had her usual air mattress blown up on the floor. They didn't have quite enough room in their house for everyone to have their own room, and they'd sold their one bed to pay Mr Farinson for letting them stay above his shop, though he insisted it wasn't necessary. Instead, they kept all their clothing and belongings in the ex-bedroom. They didn't mind sleeping in the living room together, especially after the... interesting events that had happened 5 years ago...

"You gonna sleep, Harper?" Bailey asked, stifling a yawn.

"Soon," Harper assured her, "Get some sleep."

Bailey smiled and laid back in the chair. Halloween was always a long night for their family, which was part of the reason Bailey had agreed to come the day after, so she wasn't exhausted when she went back to school. Harper, however, never fell asleep right away. Quietly, she slipped out of the room, heading to the once-bedroom-now-closet.

Closing the door behind her, Harper pulled out her phone. She'd had it powered off all day, but now she turned it on, the light from the screen momentarily blinding her in the darkness. The lock screen was full of notifications, mostly texts or messages from Instagram and Facebook, both of which she almost never used. She opened her phone and opened her texts. There were at least 20 different messages, and she smiled as she scrolled through the contacts list, not opening the individuals just yet.

Harper clicked on the top person; Gloria. One of her first friends back when she lived with her father.

Heyo, Harp! Happy birthday! Hope you come to visit soon!
Sent at 9:49

The next person was Merindy and Cindy, who both shared a phone.

Happy birthday, Harper! We haven't seen you in a while, but if you ever find yourself in Liberty we'd love to see you again!
Sent at 8:57

Jacob.

Happy birthday, Harp! Hope you're day wasn't too terrible and that we'll see you soon!
Sent at 6:25

Of course Jacob would be the most blunt.

The rest of the messages followed a very similar message, wishing her Happy birthday, a good day, and other stuff like that. Most of her messages we're from the few friends she'd had back at Oshkosh or from when she lived with her dad. Any friends she had here - which was a surprising amount - mostly just talked to her in person.

Harper's finger paused on an unknown number. Instead of being afraid, her grin just grew. She knew who this was. Well, not who, per say, but the number wasn't unfamiliar. Opening the contact, she almost laughed at the message.

Hello, person. Still not quite sure who you are. Um... I'm 95% sure you said today was your birthday so... yeah. Happy birthday. Uh, if it isn't... Go ahead, lecture me all ya want on Monday. I'll be on the lookout and get back to you. Hopefully. Unless I forget my lead again... yeah. Bye!
Sent at 12:01

Man. This message made them seem so oblivious. But there was a long story behind their friendship that involved a black desk, pencils, and a bad trip to Argentina. Harper smiled at the memory before leaving the contact.

Just below the unknown number was a person who read "Christmas." That was Holiday. The two of them hadn't spoken in a while, so Harper was surprised to see a message from the girl she wasn't quite sure if she should trust.

Hey, Cat. Happy birthday. Um... I should probably explain a bit... I haven't talked to you for a while cause I was... in therapy. Uh, so, apparently I have a, uh "Split Personality Disorder" that my parents didn't do much about when I was little... Eventually it grew worse and... uh, well, I'm guessing you saw the result.

Really, I'm sorry. My parents had finally decided something was wrong just before... all that. They told me they thought something was wrong with me. I didn't believe them until... well, that craziness 5 years ago. They took me to therapy and... uh... that's where I go after school now. But, I have a sneaking suspicion that it's their fault. I think..... I think we're more similar than we thought.

Anyways, last time I talked to you, you asked for some info about your dad's job. I could've given this to you long ago, but I wanted to make sure it was 100% accurate. It was easy to get, since my dad worked with yours, but I felt like he wanted me to find it. But, it's all accurate to the rest of the data so... I guess we should trust it?

It may explain your phobia of needles...

So, yeah. Happy birthday Cat. I hope you come back to visit so we can catch up a bit more! Later!
Sent at 11:46

Holiday had hidden a link within her message, but Harper didn't really want to open it now. She wanted to focus a bit more on the good stuff. Opening that file would probably make sleep impossible.

The person below Holiday shocked Harper. She hasn't gotten a message from this person since... Ever? Had she ever gotten a message from her? Curious, Harper opened her mom's number.

Hey, honey. Look, I'm sorry. I know you probably hate me, but that's why I didn't stop you from leaving. Yeah, I knew. I got a hold of Bailey's phone instead of mine and accidentally read one of your messages. I had been hoping you wouldn't actually leave, but... you did. And I owe you and your siblings an explanation. You can tell them as much of as little as you want; Bailey won't be getting any of this, and I'm assuming the boys don't have phones yet.

Listen... I get why you were mad at me. But your father wasn't supposed to come home. He wasn't supposed to be there at all. Before I had you, we got into a... disagreement. I realized he wouldn't be a good father for Bailey, or you. So I walked out on him. I went to live with my father. I had hoped I could stay there and raise the two of you.

Somehow, your father convinced me to give him a second chance. In hindsight, I shouldn't have listened to him, but, I did. And it turned out horribly. I told him to stay out of our lives. He listened for a little while, but then came back when the boys were about 2. You were maybe 6, Bailey was 8. Something like that. He stayed for a few years, trying to convince me that he could put us over his job. After 4 years, though, he asked if we could move back to where we once lived. I refused. I told him that, if he wanted to prove himself, he needed to stay with us. But he left anyway.

When he came back... I didn't want you getting attached. I wanted him out of the house asap so we could go back to our old lives. I know, I was really hard on you, but... I had a reason for being paranoid. A reason that may take me a while to put into words. As soon as I'm completely ready, I will tell you. I promise. Just, know... if you ever want to come home... My doors always open.

Happy birthday, Baby.
Sent at 6:48.

Wow. I finally write something! And I'll try to update again later, sense i missed yesterday (i actually wrote this all yesterday, but when I tried to publish it wouldn't work, so...). For once, I'm not the busiest person in the world!

Anyways, I just want to ask a question cause, 1. It helps with my writing and 2. I like asking questions. Do the little flashbacks make you feel differently about Isabelle and Corin than in Open the Rift, and Does the text from Isabelle make her seem different than both? I just want to know your opinions on those two. (I'm actually having a lot of fun with Isabelle and Corin, ngl)

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see y'all later! Bye!