Scars

“Jake can you get that!” Tonya yelled from her bedroom at the sound of the doorbell ringing through the house.

“I got it!” he called back, jogging swiftly down the stairs. Tonya smiled to her self as she heard the door open, hearing Jake tell Sophia how beautiful she looked, hoping that Brian would tell her the same when they arrived at his parents house for the New Years Eve party they were holding.

Taking a deep breath, she looked herself over in the mirror that was situated on the door of her closet before turning and grabbing her purse and heading down the stairs. as she entered the kitchen, she cleared her throat, Jake and Sophia pulling quickly away from each other, their cheeks flushing crimson.

“Evening Sophia, you’re looking beautiful, as always.” She said with a smile.

Blushing some more, Sophia nodded, “Thanks, you look stunning too.”

“Really?” Tonya asked blushing herself now.

“Yeah, totally, all the boys in our class think you’re a MILF!” she elaborated.

“Me? A MILF?” Tonya laughed.

“Great, now I can never have Gavin and Simon over again.” Jake mumbled. “Can we go now?”

“Yeah, is the back door locked? Windows closed?” Tonya asked grabbing the car keys off the side.

“Yeah, but I’ll double check them anyway for your benefit.” He said turning and walking over to the patio door, wriggling the handle loudly to show his mother that it was definitely locked.

“Thank you, can you grab that create of beers from the fridge too?” she said as she walked off.

Placing the crate on the front seat, Jake then got in the back with Sophia and Tonya couldn’t help but smile as she saw him reach out and take her hand as she pulled out of the drive way.

“Now listen the two of you. I know I said this the other day, but you need to know that I mean it.” Tonya began as they neared Brian’s parent’s house. “Jake I know I’ve allowed you to have a beer or two in the past and that still stands tonight, but no more than three and Sophia, your parents have made it very clear to me that they don’t want you drinking at all, but, as long as you don’t say anything, I’ll allow you one beer, okay?”

“Thank you Tonya.” Sophia replied politely.

“Just the one? Come on mom!” Jake whined.

“No Jake, that’s all.” Tonya said firmly.

“But…”

“But nothing, or I’ll reduce you down to just the one too.” Jake huffed and flung himself back against the seat.

“Babe it’s okay, one beer is more than my dad would allow.” She said quietly, giving his hand a small squeeze.

He huffed again, Tonya having to stifle a laugh as she caught Sophia roll her eyes in the rear view mirror.

Five minutes later they were pulling up across the street from Brian’s parent’s houses. Judging by the cars that were already parked outside, they were among the last to arrive. Brian’s bike was parked on the driveway; Jimmy’s truck was parked on the left, which meant Johnny was here too and Zack’s BMW was parked two spaces down behind~ another that she recognised but wasn’t sure who it belonged to. The only car missing was either Matt’s or Stella’s, depending who was driving.

As Jake carried the beer up to the front door, one handed so that his other hand was intertwined with Sophia’s, Tonya was a few steps ahead of them and rang the doorbell. A smile spread quickly across her lips as the door opened, seeing Brian stood on the other side, beer in hand, wearing a deep purple pinstripe button-down with black jeans.

“Wow!” he said with a low whistle. “You look fucking beautiful.”

“Thanks.” She blushed stepping over the doorstep. “You look very handsome yourself”

“Although this does look like it’s hard to get into.” Brian said with a wicked grin.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to manage.” She replied mirroring his smirk before leading him out to the kitchen where Jake was placing the beers into the already full fridge.

“Remember what I said Jake, no more than three beers.” She warned.

“Yeah yeah.” He answered, passing two bottles to Brian and opening another two for himself and Sophia.

“He knows and he’ll listen.” Brian told her quietly passing her a beer.

“I know, but it’s not so much him I’m worried about, Sophia’s parents don’t seem as easy going as I am.” She replied watching as Jake took Sophia’s hand again and led her back into the living room, finding Brian’s step sister McKenna. “And I don’t want them thinking that Jake is trouble.”

“Babe, that’s the last thing he is. He’s a good kid anybody can see that.” Brian assured her, kissing her temple as he copied Jake’s actions, taking her hand and leading her towards their friends.

“Where’s Stella and Matt anyway, thought they would be here by now.” Gena commented checking her watch.

“Fucking knowing them two.” Johnny answered. “They’re in that “fucking like rabbits” part of their new relationship.”

“Exactly, they’ll turn up with huge shit eating grins on their faces and sex hair.” Brian added.

“Just like you two did for my party.” Zack said, Tonya’s cheeks flushing slightly.

~*~

Jake had managed to make his three beers last for almost three and a half hours. Sophia had drunk the only beer she had been allowed and then moved on to the non alcoholic fruit punch that Suzy had made for the minors and non drinkers who were at the party.

Discarding the last warm bit of beer at the bottom of the bottle he looked around the kitchen, finding a plastic cup for his next drink, not really relishing the thought of drinking the punch.

“Aw, Sophia has you under the thumb already hey?” Jake looked up at Johnny’s words as he poured a cup of punch.

“Huh?”

“Got you fetching her drinks.” Johnny replied.

“Nah this is mine.” He muttered.

“Yours?” Jimmy asked staggering slightly into the kitchen. “What happened to the beers?”

“Mom said I could only have three.” He replied quietly.

“Only three? Dude it’s New Years! And you’re a teenager! You should be adding vodka to that.” Jimmy replied grabbing a bottle of vodka off the side.

“Are you kidding me Jim, T will kill him.” Johnny yelled. “And you.”

“Yeah dude, you know what she’s like. she specifically said no more than three beers.” Jake stated.

“But you’re not having any more beers. This is vodka.” Jimmy said unscrewing the cap. “I used this loop hole all the time when I was your age.”

A smile spread across Jake’s lips as he nodded, holding out his cup for Jimmy to pour in some Vodka. “I’m having nothing to do with this! I like my balls exactly where they are!” Johnny announced, holding up his hands in protest as he turned to leave.

“One for Sophia as well?” Jimmy asked grabbing another plastic cup off the counter and pouring in some vodka.

“Yeah why not, thanks Jimmy.” he said adding the punch before making his way back into the back yard and finding Sophia, passing her her drink.

Thanking him with a smile, she took a sip, wincing at the taste. “This tastes different than before.” she stated.

“That’s because this one comes with a hint of vodka.” He replied with a smirk.

“Vodka?” she repeated, her eyes widening.

Jake nodded, “Yeah.”

“But your mom said…”

“My mom said I could only have three beers, she didn’t say I couldn’t have vodka.” He interrupted, his smirk widening.

“Seriously Jake? Well I’m not drinking this.” she said passing him her cup, some of the punch sloshing up over the rim and spilling over Jake as she got up and walked briskly back inside.

“Fine then, I will.” He called after her, quickly downing the two cups of punch before following Sophia back into the house. There was no sign of her in the kitchen, only Jimmy.

“She didn’t appreciate the vodka then?” he asked, the bottle of vodka in his hand once more as he poured two shots out into glasses.

“I just hope she’s not gone straight to mom.” He muttered.

“I don’t think she has, she would have been in here yelling by now if she had.” Jimmy replied passing him one of the glasses.

After storming into the house there was a part of Sophia that wanted to find Tonya and tell her what Jake was doing. But she decided against it, knowing that if she did not only would she get him grounded for the foreseeable future but she would likely ruin people’s night. So instead she made her way upstairs, wanting to hide away for a while. She found McKenna’s room and took a seat on the bed, letting her head fall into her hands. She sat there for a long while, listening quietly to the party that was still going on down stairs, until she realised that it was getting close to midnight and she wanted to find Jake and make up with him so they could see in the New Year happily together.

Brian couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Tonya squirm uncomfortably as she stood talking to Stella and Gena. The first hour or so of the party she’d been fine. It was after her first trip to the bathroom that she realised she had a problem, her jumpsuit proving to be a pain in the ass when it came to peeing. And despite her bladder being able to hold on for the first two hours of drinking, once she’d been once she then needed to go every twenty minutes or so.

He walked over to her, slipping one of his tattooed arms around her waist, “You okay there baby?” he asked quietly.

“Designers really need to think about the practicality of these bloody outfits.” She growled quietly. “I’ve been trying to hold on for the past ten minutes, but I can’t wait any longer.”

“Need any help?” Brian asked earning a raised eyebrow from Tonya.

“Just find Sophia and Jake, I want us all to be together when the clock strike midnight.” She said slipping off her heals so that she could run up the stairs.

Scanning the living room Brian couldn’t see Jake anywhere so he made his way into the kitchen and then out to the back yard where he spotted both Jake and Sophia who were sat on one of the benches beside the pool, Jake hunched over, his head between his legs.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he approached, Sophia looking up at him, worry clouding her features as a small groan escaped Jake’s lips. “Jake, are you okay?”

“He’s…um…” Sophia stuttered nervously.

“He’s drunk isn’t he?” Brian asked and she nodded quietly as he cursed in reply. “Off three bottles of beer?”

Sophia shook her head. “He’s had vodka too.”

“Vodka? Shit! Jake what were you thinking, you know what your mom said.” Brian yelled in disbelief.

“She said no more than 3 beers.” Jake mumbled in reply “She didn’t say anything about vodka.”

Brian shook his head, “You know your mom isn’t going to appreciate that kind of sarcastic, smart ass reply.”

“Fuck you!” Jake yelled standing up from the bench, Sophia edging back in shock. “What do you know about my mom?”

“I know that she’ll be pissed at you right now, and disappointed that you’ve let her down.” Brian replied.

“Really? Well I think that she wouldn’t appreciate you sticking your nose into our family business.” He accused stepping closer to him.

“I’m not trying to…”

“You keep on trying to act like my dad, but you never get it do you? You don’t get that you’ll never be like him. never.”

“Jake, I keep telling you, I don’t want to take your father’s place, I just want to make your mom, and you, happy.” Brian told him, trying to remain calm.

“You know what will make me happy, if you just fucked off out of our lives!” Jake yelled, his eyes rolling as he felt his stomach lurching, the remains of what was in his stomach making an appearance over the patio.

“Sophia, can you get him some water, I need to go and find his mom.” Brian said quietly, Sophia nodding at Brian’s request and following him back into the kitchen while Jake stumbled across to the bench.

“Where’s Jake? Did you find him?” Tonya asked as soon as she saw Brian walk into the living room.

“Yeah I found him, he’s out back. He’s drunk.” Brian began to explain.

“Drunk? Off three beers?” Tonya asked in shock.

“Apparently he’s been drinking vodka as well.” He explained quietly.

“I’m going to kill him!” Tonya yelled making her way to push past Brian, but he stopped her, gently taking hold of her arm.

“Listen babe, he’s said some things…can we talk somewhere first?” he asked quietly. Tonya nodded and allowed Brian to lead her back through the kitchen into the utility room.

“What’s he said?” she asked once the door was shut.

“He’s told me to keep my nose out of your business, to stop trying to be his dad. He wants me out of your lives.” Brian explained briefly, Tonya shaking her head as tears welled in her eyes.

“Bri, he’ll be fine, he’s just drunk.” She protested quietly.

“I’m not so sure; T, this is the third time he’s lashed out at me, the second within a week. He’s not happy with the situation, not deep down.” he said quietly, tears of his own threatening to fall.

“So what are you saying?”

“What I’m saying is probably the last thing I want to pass my lips, but we can’t go on like this, with him yelling at me everytime I say or do something he doesn’t like. and you’ve got to put your son first.” He explained.

“Brian I don’t want this.” Tonya replied as tears spilled quietly down her cheeks.

“I know babe, neither do I, trust me. but right now I think it’s for the best.” He replied taking a step closer to her, gently placing his hands on her cheeks, wiping the tears away before kissing her, his lips lingering longingly against hers, knowing that this could be the last kiss they’d share. As he pulled away, he closed his eyes, and wiped away his own tears.

Silently Tonya left the room, wiping tears that continued to fall. She made her way through to the back yard her sorrow turning to anger as she saw Jake hunched over on a bench, Sophia trying to get him to drink more water.

“Get your ass up and into that car, now!” she yelled gaining both of their attentions. “Are you drunk too?”

Sophia slowly shook her head, “No, I wouldn’t do that, I stuck to your limit.”

“Good, well at least one of you has proved to be responsible.” Tonya growled. “I’m assuming that’s his mess?” she added pointing to the pool of vomit on the patio. Again Sophia nodded. “In that case then, he can come back in the morning to clean it.”