Chapter Seven.

                                    

                                          

PENNSYLVANIA, MAY 2007
When Adelaide Laurence woke up, her arm rested across Maria Hill's torso. The woman's eyes grew wide as she slowly retracted her arm back to her side of the tiny bed. 
A slight orange glow had cast itself across the floor, showing Adelaide that she had slept in until at least six...which was a near miracle for the woman. Maria didn't stir when Adelaide stood up from the bed and crept out of the room.
Reaching the kitchen, she noticed that the coffee had already been brewed and that her little sister stood near the counter, exercise clothing on. 
"Morning Lils," she greeted, startling the girl a bit.
"Oh," a small smile pulled at Lilian's lips, "Morning, Addy."
Wordlessly, Adelaide poured herself a cup of coffee, then leaned against the counter facing her sister.
After a few quiet seconds, Lilian cleared her throat, "Do you wanna go for a run with me?"
Adelaide smiled, "Sure...just let me get changed."
It seemed that she and Lilian were a lot alike, the older Lilian got, the more she looked like Adelaide. The two even had very similar mannerisms and habits.
When Adelaide was in high school, she had also taken up running, it was one of the few things that would clear her mind during a stressful time.
After she was ready to go, Adelaide met her little sister on the front porch. Lilian smiled at her in greeting, stretching out her legs while standing on the gravel driveway.
"How's school going?" the older girl asked as they began to jog up the driveway. 
Lilian shrugged, "It's okay, nothing special."
"No boyfriends?" Adelaide arched an eyebrow at her.
The younger girl rolled her eyes, "No, no boyfriends. I don't even really have any friends, I just want out of here."
"What kind of classes are you taking nowadays?"
The girl shrugged, "Whichever ones look best to colleges."
Adelaide frowned, looking at Lilian was like looking into a mirror of where she was years ago. The younger girl sped up a bit, trying to subtly tell her sister that she was done with this conversation.
With a sigh, Adelaide matched her sister's pace and the two slipped into a comfortable silence. The green trees swayed a bit in the spring breeze, a part of Adelaide missed the feeling of running through her hometown.
It didn't take long for that feeling to dissipate entirely.
Adelaide's heart dropped as her eyes settled on the dark blue shutters of the all-too-familiar house. Her eyes watered in response to the overwhelmed feeling that overtook her.
She was unable to tear her gaze away from the house, time around her seemed to move far more slowly than it had been only mere minutes ago. 
"Addy?" her sister's voice sounded far away, or as though Adelaide was below the surface of the water.
"Ad? Are you okay..." the younger girl's eyes followed Adelaide's and a quiet sigh fell from her lips. Gently, she wrapped an arm around her older sister and guided her away from the house, from the blur of a figure that lurked in the window.
Once they were away from the house, Adelaide felt a bit better but Lilian couldn't help but notice the far-away look that lingered in her eyes. When the two reached the top of the driveway, Lilian paused mid-step.
"Addy?"
The girl hummed, slowing down just in front of her sister.
Lilian crossed her arms, "You know you can always talk to me right?"
Briefly, a look of confusion crossed over Adelaide's features, "Of course, I know that Lils."
The younger girl sucked in a breath, "Then why didn't you? It's been two years, Addy, two."
"Oh, Lili," Adelaide frowned, "I couldn't talk to you...I had to make a clean break. I...I had to do what was best for me at the moment. I'm sorry that I hurt you, but...I needed to step back."
Lilian frowned, the girl didn't even reply before begging to walk once again, "We better get back...it's rehearsal day."
Adelaide hummed, "Fun times, fun times."
Upon walking in the front door, Adelaide and Lilian were greeted by the sight of Florence, their mom, and Maria all drinking coffee and flipping through old photo albums.
"Oh god," Adelaide sighed, "What are you guys looking at?"
Maria laughed, a wide smile spreading across her lips as her eyes met Adelaide's. 
"Just some old family photos, darlin," her mom replied.
"I hope you're not embarrassing me," she muttered under her breath, stealing Maria's coffee cup without even thinking.
Maria didn't comment, a simple smile falling into place as she watched Adelaide settle into the seat beside Florence.
The blonde woman pointed at one of the photos, "That was a good day," she smiled fondly.
The photo depicted her and Florence sledding and her mom holding a baby that Maria assumed was Lilian. 
"It was, wasn't it," Florence smiled.
Sometimes Adelaide had an outlook on her childhood as being inherently negative...but it wasn't all bad.
There were some really good days that were entirely overshadowed by the bad.
"Aw look at that," Barbra pointed to one of the photos, "Addy's first spelling bee win, she always was my smartest baby."
Lilian frowned a bit, everything she did seemed to be overshadowed by her sisters. All she would ever be to her mom was the little kid whose existence drove her father to madness. 
"Hey Lils," Adelaide smiled, "Look at this one," she turned the photo book outward and pointed at the one of her and Lilian playing dress up.
"You two always got along better together than you did with me," Florence said lightly. 
The two shrugged, knowing very well that it was true. Despite the age difference they had far more common ground than Florence had with either of them.
"Alright," Florence stood up, "We should all be getting ready by now."
"Yeah," their mother agreed, "Florence is right."
Adelaide carried the now empty mug to the kitchen sink before joining Maria in the walk back to her room.
Author's note:
Hiiii!
Welcome back to Maria and Addy's story!! We have some very slight new developments and you've gotten to see a bit of Addy's relationship with her family.
Hope you enjoyed! Also! not edited!
— Via <3