Chapter 8: 07: Stay

CHAPTER SEVEN: STAY

May 25th, 2022

For the next two days, Gemma refused to leave her childhood bedroom.

Despite Olivia's pleas to go shopping, and Marcie's pleas to explore Michigan, Gemma wanted nothing more than to lock herself away in her bedroom after her sudden run in with Rowan. Instead of going out for coffee in the remaining day she had left before going home, Gemma made her sister be the one to take the coffee run. Ironically enough, in the time she went to get coffee, Liv never ran into anyone from Gemma's past. For her dad's birthday dinner last night, Gayle and Olivia wanted to go out to dinner. Though after begging for her family to just stay in, because Gemma was terrified to leave the house, her family reluctantly agreed.

Gemma packed up the rest of her belongings in a hurry, despite her flight not leaving for another few hours. She just wanted to be ready to leave when the time came. The storms from the day before cleared, thankfully. Gemma hoped and prayed that the storms wouldn't cause her flight to be delayed or worse -- cancelled. To her relief, the afternoon of her departure from Michigan contained cloudy, but clear of rain skies.

"Come downstairs," Olivia appeared in the doorway of Gemma's bedroom. "We finally have coffee here!"

Laughing, Gemma told her sister she would be down in a second. She wanted to pack up her stuff now, despite not needing to leave for the airport for awhile. Having her things ready to go made her feel relieved, given she would be back home in New York by the end of the day.

"I wish you didn't have to go back so soon," Gemma's father stopped her as she reached the end of the stairs. "I barely got to see you in the time you've been here."

"Take a vacation from work," Gemma stated, as if it was that easy. "Come visit me in New York."

Her dad just chuckled and kissed her forehead, before walking away to sit next to Jax on the couch. Sitting at the table was Marcie and Olivia, who had full plates of pancakes and mugs full of coffee in front of them. Gemma stacked a few blueberry pancakes on a plate, and grabbed some coffee before joining them at the dining room table.

"I wish you two weren't leaving today," Liv frowned.

"Well," Gemma said in between bites of pancake. "You know we can't stay, not after everything that's happened in the past few days. I need a break from Michigan."

"That was all just bad luck," Liv rolled her eyes. "You can still stay here for a bit and be able to avoid Avery and Rowan."

"I don't think that's gonna be very easy," Marcie laughed. "Considering your mom is the wedding planner."

"So, just figure out when mom's gonna be around her, and stay away from the house for a few hours."

"Sorry, Liv." Gemma rolled her eyes, wishing her sister would just drop it and move on to talking about something else. "Not gonna happen."

"Figures," Olivia rolled her eyes, her voice full of attitude before passive aggressively getting up from her chair and storming out of the room.

"Wonder what her issue is," Jax shrugged, not taking his eyes off his phone screen.

"She's on her period. Leave her alone," Gayle laughed from the living room. "She also doesn't want Gemma and Marcie to go home."

"Well, we have to go home." Gemma rolled her eyes.

"I mean, we don't have to - " Marcie began, though quickly shut her mouth as Gemma sent her daggers.

"Yes, we do."

"Gems, you should go talk to your sister. She told me after dinner last night that she's liked having you home for the past few days, and she's really sad that you're leaving."

Gemma sighed. Olivia never showed any emotion before, when her sister would leave after her small stays in Michigan. Gemma didn't understand why Olivia was now starting to have an issue with it.

"Come on," Marcie said as she finished her breakfast. "Lets go talk to her."

With one last bite of blueberry pancakes, Gemma nodded. She didn't want to leave while Liv was upset, so the only thing to do was talk to her and try to cheer her up. Gemma had no idea what she was even going to say to her sister, given she never seemed sad whenever Gemma would leave before.

"Liv," Marcie knocked on Olivia's bedroom door, which was cracked open. Marcie and Gemma didn't wait for a response, before walking into the sixteen-year-old's bedroom.

"What?" she rolled her eyes, attitude still present in her voice as it was only minutes before.

"What's your issue?" Gemma asked, genuinely confused as she sat at the edge of Liv's bed. Olivia refused to look Gemma in the eye -- she was too frustrated.

"You don't see it?"

"See what?" Marcie asked, her voice small. She wasn't sure if she should chime in on whatever family drama was going on, because the last time she did that -- it didn't end all that well.

"You always do this," Olivia sighed.

"Do what?" Gemma asked, growing more confused by the second. Olivia had been fine all week, so she didn't understand what was bothering her now.

"Come home, barely stay, then go back to New York and we don't see you for months. I'm sick of it, Gemma. I miss you. I miss my sister."

"Liv..."

"You are the only one who understands what it's like to be sixteen. I can't talk to Jax, because he's a stupid guy, and I can talk to Marissa if I really wanted to but whenever Jax hangs out with her, they never hangout here."

"Liv - " Gemma sighed, though was cut off by her ranting sister once more.

"Mom doesn't get it. She doesn't even care, half the time. And dad is never here because he works twenty-four seven. I have no one, Gemma. I hardly ever talk to you when you're in New York because you're too busy. You're too busy for me."

Olivia was sobbing by the time she finished. Gemma's mouth was slightly agape -- she had no idea her sister felt this way. It was true, Gemma didn't stay in Michigan for longer than a few days. She didn't talk to her family much while she was home, because she was always occupied. As her sister wept in front of her, Gemma felt guilty. These were Olivia's formative years, and she was right. Their mother wasn't always understanding. She, often times, brushed her children off and didn't believe they had real problems. Gayle loved her children; she truly did. Her way of showing her love just wasn't the best, though. The only other female figure Olivia had was Jax's girlfriend, Marissa, though she wasn't around often, either.

"Olivia," Gemma sighed, feeling her eyes water. She moved closer to her sister on the bed, and despite Liv dodging Gemma's arms, she still managed to wrap her arms tightly around her crying sister. "I'm sorry. I had no idea you felt this way."

"You never asked. You never check in on me, anymore."

"Life is busy - "

"Stop making excuses." Olivia angrily muttered, before pushing Gemma off of her and storming out of the room. Gemma sat on her sister's bed, essentially in shock from everything that just went down over the last few minutes. Marcie still stood in the doorway, frowning as Liv pushed past her.

"Holy shit," Marcie mumbled, once Olivia was out of earshot.

Gemma fell backwards on her sister's bed, letting her body hit the mattress. She stared at the ceiling, not knowing what the hell to do.

"I had no idea she felt that way," Gemma whispered, her voice so low, Marcie almost couldn't hear her.

"I mean.. She's kind of right. You barely talk to your family when we're at home."

"I know," Gemma sighed. "We're always just so busy. I thought she understood that. I had no idea it was hurting her this much."

"She needs you, Gemma. She misses her sister."

Gemma shut her eyes, tight. In the span of a few seconds, her mind changed from excitement, to guilt. She was excited to go home, and wish Michigan a goodbye and a good riddance. But, now, after hearing how Olivia really feels -- Gemma wasn't sure if she should go home. The last thing she wanted to do was stay in Michigan for the summer, before adulthood officially began. Though now, she wasn't so sure that was what she wanted anymore.

"Fuck," Gemma groaned, opening her eyes and punching the nearest pillow. "Should we stay? Should we actually stay?"

"It seems like that's a good idea," Marcie admitted. She did want to go home, after all the weird family drama she was sucked into, though after hearing Olivia's breakdown, Marcie wondered if staying in Michigan for the summer was actually worth it.

"I feel so guilty, now. I mean, think about it. If we do stay, we'll constantly be around wedding stuff. I don't think I can handle that, seeing Avery, and occasionally Rowan, all the time."

"Well," Marcie walked further into the room. She sat next to Gemma on the bed, whose eyes were still glued to the ceiling. "Olivia can't seem to handle being alone. Forget Avery and Rowan, for a second. Think about your sister."

"Fuuuuck," Gemma groaned some more. She knew Marcie was right, and that she was being selfish. But Gemma didn't know how not to be selfish, especially in this situation. Being around the wedding planning was not going to be good for Gemma, but at the same time, being without Gemma was not good for Olivia.

"Hear me out," Marcie grabbed Gemma's hands, pulling her up from the mattress so their eyes locked. "We stay, because clearly Liv misses you, and this is the last summer before you'll be permanently living in New York. Sure, the wedding stuff is unfortunate. But we can easily avoid it. We'll just pay attention to what days and times Avery is typically over here, and when that's the case, we leave. It doesn't sound as hard as you think, Gemma."

Gems sighed. "You think we can actually do it?"

"Well," Marcie laughed. "Probably. The only major thing we'll have to do is get jobs out here. Because we're still paying rent for the apartment in New York. But I think that's doable."

Gemma stayed silent for a few seconds, before nervously looking Marcie in the eyes. "Okay." she nodded. "Let's cancel our flight."

♥♥♥

Gemma's heart was racing as she approached Jax, Olivia, and her mom -- who were all sitting in the living room watching a marathon of Friends. Liv was scrolling through her phone, not paying attention to the television before her. Thankfully, Gemma noticed, she stopped crying. Jax had his air pods in, per usual, and Gayle was the only one actually watching and laughing along with the show.

"Hey," Gemma got the attention of her mom and Olivia, waiting patiently for Jax to look up from his phone. "Jax," she said, loudly, after a few seconds of waiting. Once his air pods were laying beside him, out of his ears, everyone looked at Gemma with confusion.

"What?" Olivia rolled her eyes. She wouldn't be rolling her eyes after hearing the news -- Gemma thought.

"So Marcie and I were talking..."

"And we really want a vacation after busting our ass in college for the last four years," Marcie chimed in.

"So we both came to the conclusion, that maybe we should stay here, in Michigan for the summer. Before going back to our adult lives and before beginning our full time jobs in the fall."

As soon as the words left Gemma's mouth, Olivia's jaw dropped. "Wait," she said as if she didn't believe it. "You're serious?"

"Yeah," Marcie nodded.

"What you said Liv, really got me thinking. And I'm sorry. For being a shitty older sister."

"What did Liv say?" Gayle asked, looking back and forth between her two daughters.

"Just that she misses me, and that it sucks not having me around much. Even though I don't really show it, I do miss you guys when I'm home in New York."

"This - " Jax mumbled. "This is great." He almost sounded, nervous, as he looked back and forth between Gemma and Marcie. Gemma didn't think too much of it though, as she was too busy hugging Olivia who in the last few seconds, jumped up from the couch and ran to hug her sister.

"I can't believe it," Olivia gushed. "Holy shit. We are about to have the best summer ever."

Gemma doubted this summer was going to be anything but stressful. But if it made Liv happy, then she was going to do it.

♥♥♥

a/n: omg. I am so excited to be writing this... be ready for a rollercoaster