Together Burning Bright

Odessa sighed heavily as she ran a hand through her blonde hair and looked down at her sketchpad-she was never going to get any work done with all of the screaming and shouting coming from up stairs. Arabella, now nineteen and home from her first year of college, was running around after fifteen year old Camellia and the two girls were screaming bloody murder at one another. Dess knew this was going to happen-over the past year Cammy had really come in to her own personality and it wasn’t one that really meshed with Aria’s. The two girls were like night and day-Aria was focused and determined on getting her degree and Cammy was more focused on having fun.

The fifteen year old had ‘found herself’-if finding yourself meant having various holes in your face and body and listening to music so loudly that the foundation shook. Dess knew though that Aria had gone through that period as well-without the piercings-and Cammy looked up to her older sister. After Christmas break Cam had come to Dess and asked if she could take Aria’s posters-Dess didn’t see the harm in it because all of the ones Aria had wanted she had taken to Tech with her. She’d had no idea though that Cammy had appropriated Aria’s posters, some of her boots, her leather jackets that were too small and some of her other things.

It was hard for Dess to be upset with her youngest because the same thing had happened to Dess that was going on with Aria-Moira had been a collector of things when Dess had left for her internship. All those years ago-Dess couldn’t help but smile as she closed her sketchpad and thought back to the past. What would Moira be like now? Would she be in a band herself? Would she be a mother? Would she and Dess be partners in Misfits clothing line? Dess missed her sister very badly and as she sat there she didn’t even realize that tears had begun to spill down her cheeks.

The shouting stopped-thankfully-and yet Dess still felt like crying. She missed her sister-missed her every day and she only wished she could have known when she was nineteen that it would be the last few years with Moira. She would have done things differently-she would have come home more, partied less and she would have been more forgiving of her younger sibling. Dess would get so mad at the over enthusiastic girl because Moira always wanted to be included in her life with Beth and Kit. If they went out Moira wanted to go-if they liked a band then Moira liked them too. Finally it seemed like Moira had found her own trio and her own favorite band, but by then it had been too late.

By then the sisters had be incapable of being close and Dess regretted that every day of her life.


“Mom!” Someone called out and Dess couldn’t really tell if it was Aria or Cammy-the two sounded almost identical at this point. She knew it wasn’t Oliver-he was still at his internship for the day and wouldn’t be home until five or so. Andy was also gone-out with Ashley looking at motorcycles…like he needed anything else to preoccupy his time.

“In the kitchen!” Dess called out, her moss green eyes tired as she closed them and then opened them to find her oldest standing before her. Aria was dressed in a pair of shorts and a floral print crop top-her toned stomach slightly tan from being at the beach with her friends. The blonde girl, her blue eyes angry, was standing there with her hands on her hips and brooding just like her father.

“Mom.” She said simply and Dess only smirked as she leaned back in her chair and looked at her daughter. So grown up-where had the time gone?

“Arabella.” Dess mocked her before standing up-if she was going to have to play peacekeeper, then she needed a cold drink and a snack. Iced tea brewed in the Keurig and Dess reached to the top of the fridge for her secret stash of cookies.

“This is serious mom…” Aria said as she snagged a cookie and sat down at the table. She had her feet up on the now ancient wood and Dess only hissed at her, shooing her feet towards the floor. College had turned her daughter in to a heathen.

“From the look on your face I can tell.” Dess said as she sipped at her tea and bit into a chocolate chip cookie. God it had been so long since she’d had sugar-being almost forty-five meant that she and Andy couldn’t eat like they used to.

“Did you tell Cam she could have my stuff?!” Here came the screeching and soon enough Dess could see the tears. One thing about Aria-she was a great pouter and an even better crier, even though she only meant it one fourth of the time.


Andy and Dess had quickly figured one thing out about Arabella-she knew how to get her way. When she was little it was adorable-seeing her tiny fists sitting on her hips as she scowled those gorgeous blue eyes. When she had been a teenager it had been miserable-she screamed and yelled about everything and finally Andy had taken charge and the two of them went away for a week to stay with his parents. Chris Biersack-used to dealing with Andy when he had been a teen-knew exactly what to do and Aria had come back completely changed. For a few years the girl had been wonderful, but after a year at college and thinking she knew everything in the world-Dess could see that the old Arabella was coming back.

Odessa loved her daughter-she loved all of her children, but in Aria she saw Andy the most. Not the good side of her husband-although Aria was a giving person. No, in Arabella Dess could see the Andy that she had known when they were young- impulsive, stubborn, determined to a fault and unwilling to understand the view point of others. She and Andy had spent many spring nights, sitting out on the deck with a bottle of wine and talking about their golden years to come, but they had also talked about Arabella. She was nineteen and could do as she pleased, but Andy knew his daughter was in for a rough time if she kept going at life with the same attitude.


“I didn’t tell her she could have your things Arabella-I did, however, tell Cammy that she could take your posters down and put them on her walls.” Dess said in between bites of her cookie and Aria just huffed and took a sip from her mother’s drink.

“Why?! Why would you tell her that?!” Aria was shouting and with one look from her mother the young girl quickly shut her mouth.

“Because you weren’t here and if you wanted them badly enough you would have taken them with you. I don’t see what the problem is Aria.” Dess said, her tone stern and final. She was not going to indulge her daughter just because she was home from school for the summer.

“It’s a big deal! She’s taken everything of mine…my clothes, my shoes…everything!” The girl was near tears and Dess only sighed as she leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands.

“Calm down…” Dess said with a soothing tone, but Aria was having none of it.

“I hate her! I really fucking hate her!” Dess sighed-she knew this was a serious issue once f-bombs and the ‘h’ word were being thrown around.


She and Andy had always said they would let their kids express themselves how they wanted to and if that meant cursing and screaming then fine-but only at home. When the kids went to school or were out in public it was yes ma’am, no ma’am and yes sir, no sir. It had worked well and Dess felt really proud of how they had raised their kids. Aria was going in to her second year at Virginia Tech, which was a rough school to get in to, but well worth it for the science programs. Oliver was going to be a senior in the fall with dreams of becoming a comic artist just like his mother. Cammy, Pierce, Molly, Elizabeth and Potter-who was living with Kit and Ashley right now-had their band formed and were recording small demos to send out. All in all her kids were well balanced and were doing what they loved-Andy and Dess had done a pretty good job.


“You don’t hate her…” Dess said and she could hear the faint sounds of Andy singing and then Cammy singing over her father’s voice. She studied old videos of Andy and the rest of the guys religiously-determined to be just as good as or better than her old man.

“I do! I really do mom!” Aria said as she got up and got herself a glass of tea. Soon enough the young adult was back at the table and Dess was trying to come up with a game plan. Maybe it was time Aria learned about the relationship between her mother and her aunt.

“You know I felt the same way about your Aunt Moira when I was your age…” Dess said quietly and Aria just looked at her mother with shock. She never talked about Aunt Moira-neither of her parents did.

“Y-you did?” She asked, sipping her tea and Dess just smiled as she got up and moved over to the book shelf that hid the door to the studio. Aria watched in silence as her mother picked up an old faded book and then sat back down. Dust flew into the air as the pages were turned and Aria found herself looking down at her mother and someone who looked spookily like Cam.

“I did. God she used to drive me crazy! She was always in my room-always needing to be around me…always taking my things…” Dess smiled as she looked down at the pages. Some of the pictures were old-from their childhood when they were both blonde and small-while others were newer and Dess smirked as she saw Moira with her black hair and she with her bright green locks.

“So you know how I feel!” Aria said and she smirked as she looked up at her mother. Those moss green eyes-Oliver had those eyes-they were so lost and sad looking that Aria just got very still and quiet.

“I do, but I also know how much I regret feeling that way…even now.” Dess said and she sniffed loudly, trying to keep her tears at bay.

“You do? Why?” Her daughter asked and Dess only smiled as she turned to the very back of the book and the two women looked down at the last picture that sat on the last page.


It was of three people-Andy with his once long and thick black hair and Dess with her light blonde hair and her bangs hanging in her eyes and there was one other person. Aria noticed that the girl looked like Cammy, except she wore a beanie on her bald head and she looked so skinny she probably could have been snapped in two. The girl-ghostly and sick looking-was wearing a Black Veil Brides shirt and the widest smile Aria had ever seen. It made her heart hurt seeing this picture and suddenly she knew-this had been the last picture they had taken with her Aunt Moira.


“Because I never got to know my sister-your aunt-the way I would have liked. She died Aria…died when she was sixteen and there was nothing your father or I could do about it. I still regret how I treated her when we were just kids.” Dess felt the sadness creep in to her bones and she knew that there was no stopping her tears.

“What happened to her? You and dad told us she died when she was young, but you don’t talk about her much…dad doesn’t talk about her at all.” Aria said and Dess only smiled softly through her tears. Andy missed Moira a lot and he didn’t like thinking about the one girl in the world that he couldn’t save.

“Your father and I went through a dark period after your aunt passed. Wretched and Divine is pretty much a complete chronicle of our lives back then.” Dess said as she picked at the sticker on an apple in front of her.

“Will…will you tell me what happened to Aunt Moira? Please?” Aria asked and Dess looked up from the table in front of her and locked eyes with her oldest daughter. It was time…Aria needed to know why she should cherish every second with her little sister…because there was no telling what could happen.


Dess took in a breath, closing her eyes as she thought back to that terrible time. She and Andy had just gotten together-literally the night before-and she had been so happy that morning. Then finding out what she did and dealing with the aftermath-Dess was shocked even now that she had survived. It was because of Andy, who held her through those rough nights after Moira died that she did survive and Dess knew she owed her husband a lot.


“Your father and I had been friends for months-the poor guy tried so hard-but finally on New Year’s Eve I gave him my answer…we would date and I loved him more than I could ever think possible. We went home that night, happy and in love and completely oblivious to what was going on.” Dess stopped as she closed her eyes and noticed that Aria had reached for her hand.

“That next morning I got up and your aunt and grandmother were sitting at this very table. I knew something was wrong-I could tell by how still the room was. Your aunt used to be so full of life-she was always happy and laughing…like Cammy. But that morning…I could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong…very wrong.” Aria squeezed her mother’s hand and Dess sobbed a little bit…she didn’t think this was going to be so hard.

“She had cancer-the same kind that took your grandfather when I was your age and I couldn’t breathe. Moira though-she was strong until the end. God she loved your father and she was so mad at me for taking him away from her. She died in this house-Cammy has her room which is appropriate I suppose and your father and I were here with her when she went…smiling and joking about listening to music in Heaven.” Dess smiled at the memory-Moira always loved music and she probably always would.

“I fell apart then and your father dove head first in to their third record-we even split up for a little bit. But at the end of it all we came together and I forgave myself for moving on from Moira, but I still wish I had been closer to her…nicer and more willing to let her in. She was my kid sister and I didn’t know then, but I know it now…she would be the only kid sister I would ever have.” Dess said and she smiled, her tears gone but a sadness still lingered over the table.

“Cammy’s just like her…isn’t she.” Aria said and Dess nodded. Her youngest daughter-so full of life and dreams of being a rockstar, was just like Moira and it was almost like having the vibrant girl back in her life once again.

“She is…she really is. That’s why you need to treasure her because you never know when you may not have one another anymore. Don’t make the same mistake I did Arabella…be sisters and be the best sisters you can be to one another.” Dess said and she smiled as Aria got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck.

“I will mom…I promise…” She whispered in her ear and Dess only smiled as she turned her head and kissed her oldest daughter on the cheek.


It had been a rough morning and the rest of the summer would only get more hectic as the guys embarked on another tour and Dess would have to deal with her family squabbles once again.

But she wouldn’t have it any other way…never.

Notes

Only a few more chapters left. Some of these chapters are fun, funny and cute-pretty soon they are going to get very sad. People don't live forever...

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