molly & vic vacation scene

Vic and I were the only two left awake, sitting on the beach as the sky began to brighten.  We'd been telling funny stories the last few hours, until Toby left and then we just sat there in a peaceful quiet, focused more on the waking seagulls and ocean waves crashing.  Until Vic finally spoke.

"Do you wanna talk about Adam?"

"Nah.  Do you wanna talk about Arizona?"

"It was awful," he admitted, shaking his head.  "Seeing what they're doing to those kids.  Having proof of how corrupt the system is.  I don't know know how much longer I can do this.  It's too depressing."  Vic paused, gazing out at the horizon, probably remembering some of the horrors he'd witnessed.  Then he looked back at me.  "I'm sure you can relate."

"Yeah, social work school was the most depressing two years of my life."

"I remember."

"Is it possible to do lighter topics?  Wasn't there a reporter who did a series about bdsm and kink?"

Vic shrugged.  "Yeah, I know who you're talking about.  But my team doesn't do those kinds of assignments.  I would have to apply to switch departments which seems like a pain in the ass.  But I dunno.  Maybe it would be worth it."  He took a long drag off the joint, looking at me when he passed it back.  "Are you okay?"

I didn't really know how to answer.  "I think I'm starting to fall for Gabe..."

"Starting to?  Honey... you've been into him for a minute."

I rolled my eyes, thankful it was still dark enough he couldn't see me blush.  "Maybe.  But I think he could be into me, too."

snippets that were in my mind today

"What the fuck, you're still going to punish me with that bullshit even though I'm here admitting it to you?  Not fucking fair," I spat, reaching for the door.

"Hey," Gabe said in a voice 10,000 times calmer than mine, and I turned around to look at him.  "I'm proud of you for coming clean about relapsing.  But you know I have to do it."

"Why?"  My eyes were narrowed at him, waiting for a smartass response.

"You have little respect for people who break promises."

My mind flashed back to the day I met Gabe, when I was kicked out of my aunt's house, about to sleep in the streets if it weren't for him (and Molly, of course).  I'd been pissed at Vic for bailing out on a promise, and made it known that I blamed him for all my problems.  Nostalgia is so bittersweet.

I wanted to say "you're right," but the word "whatever" fell out instead.  Then I stormed out of Gabe's office and headed home.

x-x-x-x

"What else do you have to confess?" Gabe asked from behind me. 

I kept my head buried in my arms, body racked with sobs as I cried out all the guilty feelings I'd tried to avoid over the last month.  "V-Violet's... c-case...." I paused to catch my breath, then said quickly, "it's Chloe," and cried out another ton of tears.

I felt Gabe's pause, which sent a ball of ice to my stomach.  "What."  He said it simply, not a question, no confusion, as if he knew what my vague wording meant.  

"Don't tell her I told you," I cried, wiping my eyes and turning back towards Gabe.  

random izaak/violet travel scene

"Now's not the time to test my limits."

"Ooooo, what'll happen if I do?" I teased, nudging him.

"Esperanza!"  Izaak's tone was so powerful it made my heart flutter.  "I am not joking.  Neither of us want me to react to you in real anger."

"You sure about that?" I said with a wink.

Izaak grumbled something under his breath, then reached for my upper arm and dragged me to a deserted area, out of eyesight from anyone walking on the path we'd been on.  "We're going to take care of this now," he said, finding somewhere to sit, "because I don't want any trouble from you the next couple of days."

"Maybe you need someone to take your anger out on," I suggested as he yanked down my shorts and panties, then put me over his lap.

"I will decide that, not you."

"Maybe you should let your guard down and..." the spanking began, stingy and fast, clearly a response to me telling him what to do... but I didn't back down, "LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLE EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE."

"I'm listening to you, as a matter of fact much better than you are listening to me."  

molly+gabe convo

[a lot of this was written with chatgpt's assistance]

The warm jets propelled me forward, soothing the tension in my back as I floated in the hot tub, looking up at the dark sky.  I wondered where to start in the conversation with Gabe.  I didn't know how much he already knew and didn't want to bother him with my problems.  He seemed like too important of a person to want to waste his time on my childish issues.  Which is what made this time together even more special.

As he eased into the water next to me, I noticed music in the background — a playlist I'd made for him.  There wasn't much crossover in our tastes, but after knowing each other 11 years, we'd found enough songs for an entire playlist.

"So... I'm going to torture you first..." Asking emotional questions to Gabe always made me so nervous — sometimes he could be more guarded and defensive than even Izaak (but at the end of the day, they both always answered my questions anyway).  "How do you not get attached in relationships?  Like, how do you stay detached?  From people in general?  Why aren't you in a relationship now?  Why didn't you want to marry your ex?"  I finally made eye contact, able to relax a little when I could tell he wasn't annoyed with my questions.

But he had thrown his guard up.  "Are you still having problems with your newspaper guy?"

I poked my lower lip out.  "It's my turn to torture you.  I still have like 45 minutes or something."

another snippet

Izaak put his hands on my shoulders and gave me a light shake.  "What are you doing!?  Are you trying to get yourself killed?"  His nostrils flared like he was about to blow fire out of them.  

I cowered a little, half-heartedly trying to break free from his grip.  

"Molly, enough," Izaak barked, causing me to freeze for a minute.  He must've realized how scary he sounded because he took a deep breath and then just pulled me in for a tight hug.  Still shaken up from my near-death experience, it took me a moment to fully melt into his embrace.  I focused on the thumping of Izaak's heart, reminding myself I was safe.

He finally released me from the hug, though kept me close, leading me to his truck.  I settled into the passenger's seat, buckling up and shivering as I waited for him to come around.  When he finally entered, I said, "I'm sorry."

Closing the door behind him, Izaak looked at me.  "I know you are."  Before I could blurt out my excuses, he cut me off.  "And I know you were trying to help out a client.  But it is beyond your duties to make home visits alone to a dangerous situation.  You should have called the police."

"I called you," I said, poking out my lower lip.

Izaak shot me a glare.  "After the fact.  You got really lucky today, Molly.  Look at me."  I peered into his stern eyes.  "If you ever put yourself in danger like that again, I'll make you regret it.  Understood?"

I gulped.  "Yes (Sir?)"

random snippet scenes

"Chloe, we're here for you, you don't have to do it all on your own."

My eyes were squeezed shut, I was curled up, trying to hide myself.  Having support felt weird.  I didn't feel strong enough to show my face.

"Life is too hard to have to go through alone.  That's why we have families.  That's why you have us."

Molly was speaking to me as if I were an abandoned or lost puppy, but I hated being treated as fragile.  Yet I was so fragile in that moment.  The vulnerability was humiliating.  Everyone knew my secret.  

Izaak sighed, probably getting frustrated with my lack of response.  "You can't just not eat," he said, not as angry as I'd expected.  There was a hint of worry behind his need to control.

"This isn't working," Violet finally said, then I felt a PLUNK! on the floor next to me.  Seconds later I felt her bony arms wrapped around me in a hug.  She squeezed me tight and awkwardly, and suddenly I realized she was crying too.  But classic Violet, she spoke with no shame.  "You need to stop wearing the mask of a badass bitch all the time and just be you, for better and for worse.  We're tired of you hiding.  We're not going to let go, no matter how much you fight it, you should know better by now.  Let us be there for you like you were there for me."

Her words shocked me so much — I was there for her?  When??  — I couldn't help but pull away from her embrace and glance up at Violet.  

intro to ch27

"Twelve cents?  Are you fucking kidding me?"  

I looked over my shoulder with a smirk, Gabe standing there with the credit card and receipts we'd returned to him yesterday.  "You just now saw that?  No big deal, it's only a few pennies," I said nonchalantly,  turning back to my laptop where I was stalking online yearbooks for Pattie Cake.

"I'm sure you didn't forget what I warned you before I left."

"Yeah, 'one cane stroke for each cent.'  You made it clear you wanted a nice even number like 12."  I clicked to the next page, prompting Gabe to check out what I was doing.

"Shouldn't you be working instead of reminiscing about high school?  Where are we on Winters?  I hope you did more in Seattle than smoke weed and visit tourist attractions."

Shooting him a glare I said, "Fuck off, you know I did or you wouldn't have trusted me with this case?"  He folded his arms, half-smiling, half-annoyed at my attitude.  "I have most of the pieces and am narrowing down my list of suspects.  I'll have a name for you soon."

"You need to get solid enough evidence against her to even the playing field with what she has on Winters."

"Bro, I know that," I snapped.  "You need to get off my fucking back and trust me to do the job you're paying me for."

therapy session with Molly

"Okay, finished," Molly said, sitting back in her chair to glance over the sandtray she'd made.  

"What was it like to create this image?"

"I have no idea what any of this means, but it was fun."  When I didn't comment, she continued.  "I guess the tinkerbell in the middle is kinda like me, and I like turtles and cats, I guess that's crackers next to me.  Turtles just seem so chill so I also wanna have a turtle with me.  And cats are good companions, they don't need too much from me.  The soldier guy reminds me of Izaak — he's kinda the whole reason I'm here today, which is a little surprising since normally it would've been Toby.  Izaak didn't really give me a choice.  It's like he saved me.  And I put the ambulance on there I think because it feels like Izaak saw me as dramatically worse than anyone else did.  He's kinda like that."

She paused, lost in her thoughts for a minute before going on.

"The top left corner is all the turmoil I feel like I've been in lately, and the pills is what usually saves me.  Because paradise is blocked off by a wall and that germ-y gross guy.  The only thing that can get me through is drugs."  Molly looked down, ashamed at her statement.

3rd family meeting expanded

We all took turns discussing our week and enjoying each other's company.  I tried to stall the talk of spanking as long as possible, sharing fun little details from the week, until Gabe finally put an end to it and confronted the group about me going over budget.

I batted my eyelashes, trying to sway him.  "C'mon, it's just 12 cents, bro.  It's not that serious."

"We agreed to you having a strict budget to help curb your impulsive spending."

"I wasn't spending impulsively though!"

"No, I'm sure you carefully planned it out.  Twelve is the perfect number of cane strokes, isn't it?"

My cheeks blushed as I let out an uncomfortable giggle.  Gabe knew me too well.

"I'd hoped your tendency to protect your friends would prevent you from stepping out of line on this, but it didn't.  And the two of you agreed to 1 stroke for every penny over budget.  So the first order of business is 12 lashes each."

My mouth opened to argue, but Izaak cut me off with his booming voice.  "And I have another matter to bring to attention."

Instantly curious, I turned to my friend.  "Ooooo, what did you do, Clo?"

"Against you," Izaak responded plainly, so serious it made my tummy twist into knots.

I chuckled uncomfortably, trying to ignore how tingly he made me.  "Me?  What did I do?  I think you're trippin', bro.  You're already gonna torture me all weekend and now you wanna add onto it?"

"When I took you and Chloe to the airport and found the vape pen, you assured me it was yours."

My heart thumped against my chest.  "Yeah, and?  It was.  You know I'm a big pothead and all."  Gabe shook his head at me, already figuring out where this was headed, but I continued to play dumb.  "And you already spanked me for it.  Why bring it up now?  Didn't get enough?  Damn you're more of a sadist than Gabe."

"The weed was Molly's, and she gave it to Chloe," Izaak said, tone a little more forceful now, which made me flinch before I glared playfully at my best friend.

"What the fuck, did you rat me out??"

"She did not.  But if we're all part of this family and helping each other out, I expect honesty from you.  How am I supposed to fulfill my role as mentor if you jump in to sacrifice yourself and let everyone else off the hook?"

My eyes gave an exaggerated roll at his seriousness.  "Yo, it ain't that big of a deal.  Why are you trippin' so much?"

"Is it true, Violet?  You interfered with Izaak's mentorship over Chloe?"  Gabe shook his head, but was smirking under the fake disappointment, because he loved the idea of me getting spanked extra.

"Don't act like this was a rule I supposedly broke."

"Sounds like adding your bullshit where it doesn't belong.  You need to be taken down a notch from always jumping into everyone else's business.  I vote in agreement of Izaak spanking you."

"Of course you do."

Izaak launched into a never-ending lecture about respect, and Gabe chimed in periodically.  With the two of them banding together against me, there was no use even listening, no way I'd get a word in to argue.  So instead I glanced over at Toby, who looked on curiously, and Molly, who seemed rattled with guilt.

Now the two men were having a talk about how they planned to deal with us.  It was decided that Gabe would administer the 12 lashes with the cane, and Izaak would follow up with the wooden spoon.

"Violeta, Chloe, do you have a rebuttal?" Toby asked.

"First of all, this is bullshit.  Clo didn't even do anything wrong, they're just using her to manipulate me.  Second of all, ain't I supposed to be a loyal friend?  There was never any dumb rule about lying.  And another thing, maybe Clo agreed to the budget stuff with Gabe, but how was she supposed to know I spent more?"  I probably had a thousand more brilliant arguments to make, so kept going a little longer, until Toby finally stopped me.

"If you decide to go to law school, please work on focusing on the key points that really matter."

"Fuck off," I responded with an eyeroll.

"She's right though," Molly said.

"Thank you!"

"Chloe didn't have anything to do with Violet taking the blame for the oil, so I don't think she should be punished for that.  And we don't know if she knew about the money being spent."

Everyone looked at Clo and I wanted to answer in her place cuz she can plead the 5th, right?  But Gabe reached his hand up to pop me if I didn't let her answer for herself.

"I knew about the budget and..."

"Bro, don't answer more than what they ask!"  And then a hard swat to my bare thigh.  "Ow, fuck!" I yelped, rubbing out the sting.

Molly spoke again.  "Yeah, I still don't think she should get punished for it."  Then she looked at Toby.  "What do you think?"

Toby pondered it for a moment, making us sit in this awkward silence for much longer than my ADHD brain can stand, but Gabe's fierce glare kept me in line.  "I agree that Chloe shouldn't pay the consequences for Violeta's loyalty.  However, she did make a contract with Gabe to accept punishment if the budget was over.  If it was a prior agreement, I don't believe our vote even matters."

"I disagree.  She shouldn't get in trouble for it."  Molly didn't really have an argument, she just felt guilty and thought that saving Clo would ease her conscience.

"Easy solution, we've already picked a tie-breaker," and within seconds, my brother's voice sounded over Toby's speaker phone.  Without giving specific details, he explained the situation to Vic, asking his opinion.  I was too pumped up with arguing that I kept it up, claiming that Toby had told the story unfairly, swaying Vic's decision.  I tried everything.

"Face it, you lost," Gabe said, amusement in his eyes.  He stood, grabbing the cane and wooshing it through the air.  "I should give you double for all your backtalk.  Skirt and panties off," he ordered.

3rd fam meeting

"I have a second complaint," Izaak said, voice booming.

"Ooooo, what else did you do, Clo?" I teased.

"Against you," Izaak responded plainly, so serious it made my tummy twist into knots.

I chuckled uncomfortably, trying to ignore how tingly he made me.  "Me?  What did I do?  I think you're trippin', bro.  You're already gonna torture me all weekend and now you wanna add onto it?"

"When I took you and Chloe to the airport and found the vape pen, you assured me it was yours."

My heart thumped against my chest.  "Yeah, and?  It was.  You know I'm a big pothead and all."  Gabe shook his head at me, already figuring out where this was headed, but I continued to play dumb.  "And you already spanked me for it.  Why bring it up now?  Didn't get enough?  Damn you're more of a sadist than Gabe."

"The weed was Molly's, and she gave it to Chloe," Izaak said, tone a little more forceful now, which made me flinch a little before I glared playfully at my best friend.

"What the fuck, did you rat me out??"

"She did not.  But if we're all part of this family and helping each other out, I expect honesty from you.  How am I supposed to fulfill my role as mentor if you jump in to sacrifice yourself and let everyone else off the hook?"

My eyes gave an exaggerated roll at his seriousness.  "Yo, it ain't that big of a deal.  Why are you trippin' so much?"