Sister Vs. Sister: The Sequel

"Shoot, shoot, shit!" Rachel said to herself, leaving the kitchen. Not wanting to cause a scene, she merely speed-walked rather than sprint to the master suite. Still, her distressed manner caught at least the attention of her best friend.

"Something wrong, Rach?"

"No, Gabs. I just need to check on a little thing," she responded, quickly passing the couches in the great room. Now out of sight in the hallway, the worried mother picked up the pace even more.

Not even bothering to knock, she barraged into the room. Her worse fears were confirmed when she saw Lana and Lacey standing in the middle of the room, tears covering their cheeks.

"What did you two do?"

Fifteen Minutes Earlier

"This all your fault."

"My fault? You're the one that started it."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did! Acting like a whiny, little bitch."

"Oh, I'm the bitch? You're the big, bossy bitch."

"You're not too old for a spanking, brat!"

"Ha! I bet you have a lot of practice with spanking these days."

"At least my boyfriend's not a dope."

"Take that back!"

"No, I'm not. I'm done with you."

"Whatever. I'm done with you too."

Both sisters folded their arms, turning their backs toward each other. Silence filled the room. The low ticking of the clock on top of the dresser echoed louder and louder. Angry breathing began to sound monstrous. Patience evaporated as the need to win the argument consumed the sisters.

"Why do you always need to ruin our games?" Lacey demanded to know, no longer able to stand the silence. "Making up stupid rules."

"Me? I don't do that," Lana denied. "You walked away. Are we supposed to wait all day for you?"

"I went to find out about Whitney and Sean," the younger sister pointed out. "You always pick on me!"

"I'm your big sister. It's what I'm supposed to do."

"No, you take it too far by getting mean," sobbed Lacey. "Like with my Hungry Hungry Hippo."

"Not that again." Lana rolled her eyes at the sore subject for the last eleven years. "You're supposed to hit the lever hard. That's how the game is played."

"No, you slammed down way too hard. You broke it on purpose," Lacey accused her sister. "And you scared Hutz. He wouldn't leave my side for days."

"Hutz did that all the time. You were the dog's favorite," she argued with some jealousy. "I don't know who's worse: you or Peyton. She still won't forgive me for losing a couple of bones from her Operation game. She had to beg her parents for a second one."

"See! You don't care about other people's property."

"Now, you sound like Honor," Lana remarked, causing her sister to recoil at the mention of their cousin.

"You take that back! I'm nothing like Miss Proper. Nothing!"

"Fine, you're nothing like Honor. You happy now?"

"That was mean," Lacey pouted.

"Gawd, remember how awful Christmases were when it was their turn to host?"

"Honor and Justin would never let us touch their toys; said we were irresponsible," Lacey recalled.

"No, you were the irresponsible one; I was the thief. She accused me of stealing her toys. As if I wanted that crap. I had my Barbie collection, and that's all I ever needed."

"Remember how mad Justin got whenever we played Scrabble?"

"You mean when I refused to form any words unless they were dirty? That was great. I don't think sixteen-year-olds could have a stroke, but Justin looked ready to burst. And Honor got in such a tizzy she ran off to tattle," laughed Lana.

"Uncle Clarence's kids are the worst, so uptight," Lacey stated.

"All our cousins on Dad's side suck."

"Not Cormac. He's cool," protested the petite redhead.

"Ooh, still have that crush on our cousin?"

"I don't have a crush on him. He's just nice...and good-looking."

"No duh! If I wanted to be a cousinfucker, I would totally choose Cormac," Lana admitted, leaving Lacey in shock. "What? He's not our brother or anything, so it's not that bad. And there's no way it never crossed your mind."

Lacey's slight shrug led both sisters to start laughing.

"I apologized to Finn," Lana revealed once he laughed herself out.

"You did?"

"Yeah, I...you were right, Lace. I screwed up with him. And I feel like crap over it."

"Um, what part was I right about?"

"All of it," Lana admitted. "Everyone else seemed to have that high school sweetheart they could someday look back on. I didn't; I jumped from boy to boy. So, I wanted a special relationship for the last half of my senior year. And rather than find a boyfriend, I used Finn. I knew I didn't have to work to be with him."

Lacey watched as Lana paused to wipe her eyes, causing her own to glisten.

"It wasn't right. I knew he had a little crush on me, and I exploited that. I love Finny, and if any other girl did what I did, I would stab that bitch in the heart."

"What did Finn say when you apologized?"

"What do you think? It's Finn. He downplayed it for the most part, except to admit I hurt him," Lana informed her sister. "But I know him. He won't reveal how much to protect me."

"Yep, that sounds like him."

"Part of me always expected us to get married someday."

"What?! You never told me that before."

"Well, I blew it. I should've waited until after college to date him."

"You can still make it right, Lan," Lacey protested, excited at the idea of them marrying.

"Not that way. I told Finn he needed to move on. Find another girl for real. No more comparing them to me, and I guess Peyton too."

"Why?! Why would you do that?"

"Lace, if I didn't, then he might still hold out hope for us," Lana explained, tears streaming down her face. "He needs to move on, live his life. I'm no good for him. I'm selfish, impulsive, bitchy, and a meddler."

"Lan, you're not a bad person," Lacey said, shooting forward to hug her sister. "I love you, no matter what. And I'll find Finn the perfect girl when he's ready. Trust me."

"I know you will, cupcake," she told her little sister, nearly squeezing the life out of her. "You're an awesome matchmaker. I'm horrible at it. That's why I get jealous of you sometimes."

"You get jealous of me?" Lacey asked in disbelief, breaking the hug and stepping back.

"Yes, I do. And because I'm such a shitty matchmaker, I'm calling off my plan to get you with Sean."

"You had a plan?"

"Oh, yeah. I've been working on it in my head for years. I thought it was pretty good too," Lana revealed with a smirk. "I still think you can do way better than Austin, but I won't drag Sean into it. I don't want to hurt him too."

At that moment, the door swung open, startling the sisters.

"What did you two do?" their mother yelled.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Gabby asked in concern. Seeing that friend had recently been crying, she shot up off the couch.

"Hun?"

Rachel waved at Gabby is sit back down as she moved to sit next to Clive. "Nothing's wrong. It's actually great. The girls made up."

Clive blew out a loud, exaggerated breath of air. "Maybe we can get twenty-four hours from this cease-fire agreement."

"Clive!" his wife shrieked, playfully slapping his chest. "Give the girls a chance. I think they might have made a breakthrough."

"I don't know, Rachel. Those two might be as bad as Jared and Jules, and they scare the shit out of me at times," Gabby remarked.

"They're not that bad," Jeff defended his offspring.

"Oh, really? Then you can clean up after their next round of temper tantrums."

"Can we please talk about something other than your crazy kids?" Kimberly pleaded from her corner of the room.

"Gabs, I think I'm in the mood for some wine now," Rachel remarked, motioning for her friend to pour her a glass.

"It's a prison escape!"

"Hilarious, Pey. I'm sorry we're not perfect little angels like the Tarver kids," Lana countered, placing her hands on her hips.

The Stratton sisters stood in the open French doors surveying the sunroom. Finn kneeled in front of the woodstove, adding another log. Nearby, Peyton sat at the end of the couch against the north wall. Closest to her in the corner of the room sat JoJo in a plush armchair. Against the east wall, Jared and Austin said at opposite ends of the couch. A pillow had been placed in the middle as a wall to prevent fighting. Finally, Ramsey sulked in a chair in the southeast corner of the room.

"Where's Skye and Chastity?" Lacey asked.

"Helping Chastity get settled in her new room," Finn supplied. "Skye felt bad that she took the den as her new room. So she offered to find a new one, but Chastity was cool with using spare room downstairs."

"We have a spare room? Then why the hell have I been sleeping on a sofa bed!" Lana nearly freaked out.

"Geez, calm down!" Peyton ordered her BFF. "Finn meant the room that his aunt and Polly used."

"Oh, okay," Lana nodded. "Wait, why can't we get that for our room?"

"There are three beds down there," Finn pointed out.

"I guess we could, or we could wait until tomorrow," Peyton responded, shrugging her shoulders. "Chastity's going back tomorrow for sure."

"Are you done using our room for detention?" Ramsey asked the younger Stratton sister, whose role as her best friend was under reconsideration.

"Yes," Lacey curtly answered.

"I have an article for the paper to work on before bedtime," Rammy announced, getting up. "So, please don't interrupt me with any gossip or whining."

"Better watch that mouth of yours."

"Whoa, let's calm down, Lace," Austin said, jumping up to get in-between the two redheads. As Ramsey left the room, he knocked the pillow into Jared's lap, allowing Lacey to sit in the middle seat of the couch.

"Here, you can take my spot," Jared offered, standing up. "Uh, Lana, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," she replied, curious over what he wanted.

"In the kitchen," he nodded, moving through the French doors.

"Can't you and Rammy make up soon?" Austin asked his girlfriend. "What she did isn't all that bad. I probably know only the last names of a bunch of guys on the team. Good luck if you want their first names from me."

"You would take her side! You never liked Sean." Lacey's good mood vanished as she stared daggers at her boyfriend.

"Alright, alright, calm down," Austin said, holding his hands out. "I just don't want to see you so upset."

"I'm not upset. I'm pissed," his girlfriend declared, folding her arms.

"What do you think Jared wants to talk to Lana about?" Peyton asked JoJo.

The brunette shrugged her shoulders. "If Sean's still in the hospital tomorrow, can we stop and see him?"

"Sure, but I don't expect him to be there that long. He probably should be here already if Mr. Diamond hadn't raised a stink," Peyton reassured her. "But, after we're done in the morning, we'll stop and see him if he's still there."

"I think Newt would like that."

"I think so too." Peyton then noticed Jared returning, wearing his winter jacket. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I need to run back to the bunkhouse for a minute and grab a thing," the stocky teen answered, already turning the doorknob.

"Can you check on Newt while you're there? He said he wanted to play on his tablet, but..."

"Sure, I'll check on him," Jared replied, walking out into the winter air.

"Damn, it's cold out there," Austin remarked, shivering from the blast of air.

"You guys mind if I join you?" Skye asked from the doorway.

"Sure, come on in!" Lacey excitedly gestured to the seat Rammy vacated. "Where's Chastity?"

"Your mom stopped her for a chat."

"You didn't want to join them?" Lacey asked.

"Kinda. Your parents are all super nice, but I think I have more in common with all of you," Skye admitted.

Lana returned, plopping down onto the couch, in the middle of Finn and Peyton.

"What did he want?" her best friend inquired.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Lana teased mischievously. "Oh, don't worry, I'll tell you later. I think you might even like it. Trust me."

"Ah, the two scariest words to hear from the mouth of Lana Stratton," Finn cracked, getting a knowing and worrying nod from Peyton.