Chokeberry #11, Cotton Candy #21, Cookies n Cream #18, with Malt and Blueberries - What Lies Beneath
Title: What Lies Beneath
Summary: Chloe isn’t always happy.
Story: Second Genesis
Timeline: December 2032 - Chloe, Jax, and Faith are 16. Sarah is 43. Oz is 46. Andy is 48.
Challenge: Chokeberry #11 (Chloe in one of her worst down moods), Cotton Candy #21 (locked out), Cookies n Cream #18 (slip)
Toppings/Extras: Malt ("to get to the morning/first you have to get/through the night" --Charlotte Gainsbourg), Blueberries (We are thus enabled to call our ancestors barbarous.)
Word Count: 1,959
Rating: PG-13
It didn’t happen often. Once every few years wasn't something that warranted bringing her to a therapist and putting her on some sort of antidepressant. She had her bad moods, of course, and her ‘sad’ days when all she wanted to do was sit around the house and pout about something or other. But this was different from that, and Andy hated to say that it completely stumped him. Standing at the foot of the stairs, he made no move to walk up them. Instead, he stared up toward the second floor like it would answer all of his questions.
“It’s gone on longer than it did last time.” He murmured, sounding like he wasn’t even aware that he was talking.
“Last time was barely two days. Last time was also four years ago.” Oz pointed out. “Sarah’s on her way over. She decided to pick up Jax and Faith along the way, so it’ll be longer than usual.”
They lapsed into silence; Andy looking up the stairs, and Oz looking at Andy. Eventually, Andy spoke.
“What do you think causes it?”
“Do you want an amateur diagnosis, or do you want what I think?”
“She doesn’t need a diagnosis.” Andy’s tone was both annoyance and worry, and a hint of fear.
Immediately, Oz held his hands up in surrender. “I never said that. You know I never said that. I was just asking what you wanted me to tell you.”
Guilt flashed over Andy’s face, and he looked away. “Sorry. I’m just... worried. It’s been a week, already."
“It’s lasted this long before. Longer than this. She’s come out of if it before, and she will again.” Oz sounded confident enough that a little bit of Andy’s worry dissipated. The Irishman waited until his husband looked less concerned before speaking again. “And if you want to know what I think, I think that it must take a lot to be as happy and energetic as she is all the time. Eventually, whatever keeps all that going has to run out. I think that when she gets like this, it’s just a matter of recharging, and there’s no set time for it.”
Before Andy can give his opinion on that, both of the men hear the front door open, and the tense silence that has filled the house for the last week disappears with the pounding of feet and loud voices of Sarah, Faith, and Jax.
“H’lo, Mr. Oz. Hi, Andypanda!” Jax chirped as he walked by the both of them and up the stairs. Faith only giggled as she followed, and Oz himself was unable to stop a snicker at the exasperated expression on Andy’s face.
“Hi, Jax.” Andy blankly replied, casting one more worried look up the stairs as the two teenagers disappeared down the hall. “Are we sure that they just won’t drive her more into... whatever this is?”
“Please.” Sarah scoffed as she appeared next to Oz. “If they can’t bring her out of this, even a little, then nothing can. Has she eaten anything today?”
“She eats whatever Andy brings up to her.”
Andy nodded to confirm what Oz said. “She does, but I’m not sure she really tastes it. She had some scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, and a sandwich for lunch.”
“Right, then.” Tying her hair back, Sarah turns to head towards the kitchen. “Do you have potatoes? Carrots?”
“Pantry, third shelf. Refrigerator, vegetable drawer” Andy answered as he and Oz trailed after her.
“Get the potatoes for me, and peel me about seven or eight of them. Oz, can you get carrots, and do the same? I’m making soup.”
“We’re not your sous-chefs, Sarah.”
“Oh, come on. You know what they say, Andypanda. Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.”
~~~
“It’s nothing serious.” Faith assured Jax as they topped the stairs and turned toward Chloe’s room. “She just gets sad sometimes. Last time, we were twelve and it was only for a few days, but when we were ten, it lasted a lot longer than this. She always comes out of it.”
Jax worried at his lip rings with his teeth as he processed that. “I dunno... It doesn’t seem like nothin’ serious when she don’t go to school for a week. I mean, she was sick last year, but she still tried to leave the house, and called us and stuff.”
“Well, that’s why we’re visiting her.” Faith answered, as if it was as simple as that. Jax didn’t look completely convinced.
~~~
Chloe barely noticed when her bedroom door opened, and didn’t react to the whispered voices that stayed at the door for a few moments, before the door closed and footsteps drew near. As the bed shifted with added weight, she only buried herself further into the covers, cocooned in a blanket of warmth, and wished for sleep.
~~~
Slicing the carrots into the simmering broth, Sarah’s hands moved with an ease that only came from years spent in the kitchen. “Sometimes...” She started, before she trailed off, wondering how well her sudden thought would be appreciated.
“Sometimes?” Andy asked, leaning against the kitchen counter and watching Sarah as she went through the process of cooking. Oz had left as soon as his assigned task was done, saying something about the car needing work, but Andy had stayed for lack of anything else to keep his mind off of this any longer.
Sarah sighed before she cautiously continued. “Sometimes I wonder just how like Angie Chloe really is.”
“Are you high?” Andy frowned. “You’re comparing Chloe to her?”
“You didn’t know Angie, Andy. She had her good moments, when she wasn’t drinking and on medication. They were just few and very far in between. But yes, they are very alike, no matter how much you want to look at me like that.”
Andy didn’t stop frowning. “You cannot seriously have anything to back that up.”
“I do.” Sarah calmly replied as she added this and that to the pot, before covering it and turning the heat up. “They’re both highly charismatic. Chloe doesn’t even realize it, because it’s always been there for her. She never had to learn how to be the way she is. It was the same way with Angie, though she did realize she had that power to lure people in, and she used it in all the wrong ways once that happened.”
“Which is how she ended up sleeping with my sister.” Andy darkly muttered.
Other than a brief pause, Sarah gave no hint that she heard him. “They can both sing, though that may be coincidence more than anything. They both have the ability to control the people around them, but again, I don’t think Chloe even realizes she has that ability. At least, not fully. Angie did. Angie was very good at controlling me when she got it in her head to.”
“I got it, Sarah.” Andy snapped, before she could continue. “You can stop there.”
Sarah again ignored him. “There’s also the chance that Chloe is bipolar, just like Angie was.”
The silence that fell was both deafening and suffocating.
~~~
Faith reached out to run a hand through what little of Chloe’s hair was visible. Immediately, she had to keep herself from wrinkling her nose at touching hair that hadn’t been washed or brushed in a week. “Cherry? You awake?”
Settled on the other side of the bed, Jax hesitated before lifting up the covers to peek under them. “We came to keep you company, miss. It doesn’t seem right that you should be alone if you’re sad and all.” He explained as Chloe blinked and blearily looked out at him.
It took Chloe a long moment to answer. “...What day is it?”
“Saturday.” Faith answered. “You missed the test in Algebra, but you’ve got Mrs. Harris wrapped around your finger, so she’ll probably let you make it up whenever you come back.”
“Oh.” It seemed to be all that Chloe was inclined to say, and after a moment of internal debate that showed on her face, she pushed the covers back just enough to pull herself up and lean against her headboard.
Faith took that as a good sign. “No offense, babe, but you kind of need a shower. And a change of clothes. And I’m not going to check for you, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you seriously need to shave your legs, too.”
“Faith!” Jax straightened to frown at her. “That ain’t nice at all, and you know it. We didn’t come here to make her feel bad ‘bout her personal hygiene.”
“I’m not trying to make her feel bad! I’m just informing of her of it, cause if she didn’t know what day it is, then maybe she didn’t know about all that stuff either! I mean, most people can’t smell themselves.”
“Well, it still isn’t something you should do.” Jax scolded, his frown staying where it was. Climbing off the bed, he turned on a few lamps around the room, before he rummaged around in the stuff on top of the dresser. He returned to the bed with a comb and manicure set. The manicure set was tossed over to Faith, who fumblingly caught it. “You can do that. It’s got that pretty blue color that Chloe likes so much, and I can do her hair.”
Chloe looked between the both of them, seeming to come back to herself a bit more. Slowly, she adjusted her position to where Jax could start to comb the tangles out of her hair, while Faith picked up one hand to start wiping off what was left of her last manicure.
“Just because we’re doing this for you, it does not mean I am helping you take a bath or shave your legs, though. I mean, I trust myself to do your nails right, but I soooo don’t trust myself to not cut open some important blood vessel or something, you know?” Faith cheerfully jabbered.
“Don’t listen to her, miss.” Jax softly spoke up. “I don’t think you’re that bad at all. It’s not like you’ve been working out for a few days and haven’t showered or nothing. You just been sleeping a lot, it looks like, so it ain’t near as bad as Faith is trying to make it out to be.”
“Suck up.” Faith teasingly shot at him.
Jax only replied by sticking out his tongue, the piercing there glinting in the low light, and after a moment, Chloe let out a raspy chuckle.
~~~
“What did you just say?” Andy incredulously asked, when he found his voice.
“I’m just suggesting it. If she is bipolar, she certainly isn’t near as severe as Angie was, and probably not even the same type. But depressive episodes like this aren’t normal, Andy. You have to know that.”
“You just said my daughter was insane like your fucked up sister.”
Slowly, Sarah set her knife down and turned away from the half chopped potatoes to look at him. “My sister was not insane.” She quietly answered, her voice forcefully calm. “And I did not say that Chloe was insane. I suggested that she might have a very treatable mental disorder, and that you might want to look into it.”
That said, she turned back to the potatoes and chopped the rest of them with an almost frightening speed before they were dumped into the soup pot. “This will be done soon. The potatoes have to cook, and then it just has to thicken before the cheese is added. I’ll go ask Faith and Jax if they want to stay for dinner.”
With that, she left Andy in a less than friendly silence, where he fell into his thoughts.
Summary: Chloe isn’t always happy.
Story: Second Genesis
Timeline: December 2032 - Chloe, Jax, and Faith are 16. Sarah is 43. Oz is 46. Andy is 48.
Challenge: Chokeberry #11 (Chloe in one of her worst down moods), Cotton Candy #21 (locked out), Cookies n Cream #18 (slip)
Toppings/Extras: Malt ("to get to the morning/first you have to get/through the night" --Charlotte Gainsbourg), Blueberries (We are thus enabled to call our ancestors barbarous.)
Word Count: 1,959
Rating: PG-13
It didn’t happen often. Once every few years wasn't something that warranted bringing her to a therapist and putting her on some sort of antidepressant. She had her bad moods, of course, and her ‘sad’ days when all she wanted to do was sit around the house and pout about something or other. But this was different from that, and Andy hated to say that it completely stumped him. Standing at the foot of the stairs, he made no move to walk up them. Instead, he stared up toward the second floor like it would answer all of his questions.
“It’s gone on longer than it did last time.” He murmured, sounding like he wasn’t even aware that he was talking.
“Last time was barely two days. Last time was also four years ago.” Oz pointed out. “Sarah’s on her way over. She decided to pick up Jax and Faith along the way, so it’ll be longer than usual.”
They lapsed into silence; Andy looking up the stairs, and Oz looking at Andy. Eventually, Andy spoke.
“What do you think causes it?”
“Do you want an amateur diagnosis, or do you want what I think?”
“She doesn’t need a diagnosis.” Andy’s tone was both annoyance and worry, and a hint of fear.
Immediately, Oz held his hands up in surrender. “I never said that. You know I never said that. I was just asking what you wanted me to tell you.”
Guilt flashed over Andy’s face, and he looked away. “Sorry. I’m just... worried. It’s been a week, already."
“It’s lasted this long before. Longer than this. She’s come out of if it before, and she will again.” Oz sounded confident enough that a little bit of Andy’s worry dissipated. The Irishman waited until his husband looked less concerned before speaking again. “And if you want to know what I think, I think that it must take a lot to be as happy and energetic as she is all the time. Eventually, whatever keeps all that going has to run out. I think that when she gets like this, it’s just a matter of recharging, and there’s no set time for it.”
Before Andy can give his opinion on that, both of the men hear the front door open, and the tense silence that has filled the house for the last week disappears with the pounding of feet and loud voices of Sarah, Faith, and Jax.
“H’lo, Mr. Oz. Hi, Andypanda!” Jax chirped as he walked by the both of them and up the stairs. Faith only giggled as she followed, and Oz himself was unable to stop a snicker at the exasperated expression on Andy’s face.
“Hi, Jax.” Andy blankly replied, casting one more worried look up the stairs as the two teenagers disappeared down the hall. “Are we sure that they just won’t drive her more into... whatever this is?”
“Please.” Sarah scoffed as she appeared next to Oz. “If they can’t bring her out of this, even a little, then nothing can. Has she eaten anything today?”
“She eats whatever Andy brings up to her.”
Andy nodded to confirm what Oz said. “She does, but I’m not sure she really tastes it. She had some scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, and a sandwich for lunch.”
“Right, then.” Tying her hair back, Sarah turns to head towards the kitchen. “Do you have potatoes? Carrots?”
“Pantry, third shelf. Refrigerator, vegetable drawer” Andy answered as he and Oz trailed after her.
“Get the potatoes for me, and peel me about seven or eight of them. Oz, can you get carrots, and do the same? I’m making soup.”
“We’re not your sous-chefs, Sarah.”
“Oh, come on. You know what they say, Andypanda. Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.”
~~~
“It’s nothing serious.” Faith assured Jax as they topped the stairs and turned toward Chloe’s room. “She just gets sad sometimes. Last time, we were twelve and it was only for a few days, but when we were ten, it lasted a lot longer than this. She always comes out of it.”
Jax worried at his lip rings with his teeth as he processed that. “I dunno... It doesn’t seem like nothin’ serious when she don’t go to school for a week. I mean, she was sick last year, but she still tried to leave the house, and called us and stuff.”
“Well, that’s why we’re visiting her.” Faith answered, as if it was as simple as that. Jax didn’t look completely convinced.
~~~
Chloe barely noticed when her bedroom door opened, and didn’t react to the whispered voices that stayed at the door for a few moments, before the door closed and footsteps drew near. As the bed shifted with added weight, she only buried herself further into the covers, cocooned in a blanket of warmth, and wished for sleep.
~~~
Slicing the carrots into the simmering broth, Sarah’s hands moved with an ease that only came from years spent in the kitchen. “Sometimes...” She started, before she trailed off, wondering how well her sudden thought would be appreciated.
“Sometimes?” Andy asked, leaning against the kitchen counter and watching Sarah as she went through the process of cooking. Oz had left as soon as his assigned task was done, saying something about the car needing work, but Andy had stayed for lack of anything else to keep his mind off of this any longer.
Sarah sighed before she cautiously continued. “Sometimes I wonder just how like Angie Chloe really is.”
“Are you high?” Andy frowned. “You’re comparing Chloe to her?”
“You didn’t know Angie, Andy. She had her good moments, when she wasn’t drinking and on medication. They were just few and very far in between. But yes, they are very alike, no matter how much you want to look at me like that.”
Andy didn’t stop frowning. “You cannot seriously have anything to back that up.”
“I do.” Sarah calmly replied as she added this and that to the pot, before covering it and turning the heat up. “They’re both highly charismatic. Chloe doesn’t even realize it, because it’s always been there for her. She never had to learn how to be the way she is. It was the same way with Angie, though she did realize she had that power to lure people in, and she used it in all the wrong ways once that happened.”
“Which is how she ended up sleeping with my sister.” Andy darkly muttered.
Other than a brief pause, Sarah gave no hint that she heard him. “They can both sing, though that may be coincidence more than anything. They both have the ability to control the people around them, but again, I don’t think Chloe even realizes she has that ability. At least, not fully. Angie did. Angie was very good at controlling me when she got it in her head to.”
“I got it, Sarah.” Andy snapped, before she could continue. “You can stop there.”
Sarah again ignored him. “There’s also the chance that Chloe is bipolar, just like Angie was.”
The silence that fell was both deafening and suffocating.
~~~
Faith reached out to run a hand through what little of Chloe’s hair was visible. Immediately, she had to keep herself from wrinkling her nose at touching hair that hadn’t been washed or brushed in a week. “Cherry? You awake?”
Settled on the other side of the bed, Jax hesitated before lifting up the covers to peek under them. “We came to keep you company, miss. It doesn’t seem right that you should be alone if you’re sad and all.” He explained as Chloe blinked and blearily looked out at him.
It took Chloe a long moment to answer. “...What day is it?”
“Saturday.” Faith answered. “You missed the test in Algebra, but you’ve got Mrs. Harris wrapped around your finger, so she’ll probably let you make it up whenever you come back.”
“Oh.” It seemed to be all that Chloe was inclined to say, and after a moment of internal debate that showed on her face, she pushed the covers back just enough to pull herself up and lean against her headboard.
Faith took that as a good sign. “No offense, babe, but you kind of need a shower. And a change of clothes. And I’m not going to check for you, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you seriously need to shave your legs, too.”
“Faith!” Jax straightened to frown at her. “That ain’t nice at all, and you know it. We didn’t come here to make her feel bad ‘bout her personal hygiene.”
“I’m not trying to make her feel bad! I’m just informing of her of it, cause if she didn’t know what day it is, then maybe she didn’t know about all that stuff either! I mean, most people can’t smell themselves.”
“Well, it still isn’t something you should do.” Jax scolded, his frown staying where it was. Climbing off the bed, he turned on a few lamps around the room, before he rummaged around in the stuff on top of the dresser. He returned to the bed with a comb and manicure set. The manicure set was tossed over to Faith, who fumblingly caught it. “You can do that. It’s got that pretty blue color that Chloe likes so much, and I can do her hair.”
Chloe looked between the both of them, seeming to come back to herself a bit more. Slowly, she adjusted her position to where Jax could start to comb the tangles out of her hair, while Faith picked up one hand to start wiping off what was left of her last manicure.
“Just because we’re doing this for you, it does not mean I am helping you take a bath or shave your legs, though. I mean, I trust myself to do your nails right, but I soooo don’t trust myself to not cut open some important blood vessel or something, you know?” Faith cheerfully jabbered.
“Don’t listen to her, miss.” Jax softly spoke up. “I don’t think you’re that bad at all. It’s not like you’ve been working out for a few days and haven’t showered or nothing. You just been sleeping a lot, it looks like, so it ain’t near as bad as Faith is trying to make it out to be.”
“Suck up.” Faith teasingly shot at him.
Jax only replied by sticking out his tongue, the piercing there glinting in the low light, and after a moment, Chloe let out a raspy chuckle.
~~~
“What did you just say?” Andy incredulously asked, when he found his voice.
“I’m just suggesting it. If she is bipolar, she certainly isn’t near as severe as Angie was, and probably not even the same type. But depressive episodes like this aren’t normal, Andy. You have to know that.”
“You just said my daughter was insane like your fucked up sister.”
Slowly, Sarah set her knife down and turned away from the half chopped potatoes to look at him. “My sister was not insane.” She quietly answered, her voice forcefully calm. “And I did not say that Chloe was insane. I suggested that she might have a very treatable mental disorder, and that you might want to look into it.”
That said, she turned back to the potatoes and chopped the rest of them with an almost frightening speed before they were dumped into the soup pot. “This will be done soon. The potatoes have to cook, and then it just has to thicken before the cheese is added. I’ll go ask Faith and Jax if they want to stay for dinner.”
With that, she left Andy in a less than friendly silence, where he fell into his thoughts.