Calm, United Front

The question hung in the air for a moment.

"Following you?" Noble rubbed her forehead. "We weren't following you." 

"Then how in two worlds did you end up sitting right behind me at a movie?" Rain insisted. "You don't even like those kind of movies, Mom!" 

"First off, we were there first. If anything, you were following us," Noble corrected her daughter's thinking, "And secondly, it was a bit of bad luck. Our original movie was oversold and that was the only place they could fit us in." 

"Oh..." Rain deflated. In all of her teen angst, she hadn't considered that her parents had better things to do on their day together than track her like bloodhounds. Her pale cheeks turned red. "I am glad we had this talk. Goodnight!" 

"Stop right there, young lady." Fort found his voice. "This conversation is far from over." 

Rain stopped her hasty retreat but did not turn around.

Fort cleared his throat and asked calmly, "Why didn't you tell us you were going out—?"

"I told you I was going to study and then maybe catch a movie!" Rain spoke over her father before he could begin what she felt would be an interrogation. She was so quick to give her explanation that she nearly missed the end of his question.

"—on a date?" Fort was proud of his mature treatment of the situation.

That was until Rain turned around and he saw the fire in her eyes.

"A date?! A DATE?! I was out with a few friends!" The pale teen looked like she might set the world aflame.

"Alright, I think we need to take a step back and sit down. Perhaps have some tea…" Noble offered.

"Friends? Ha!" Fort scoffed, "That boy with his arm around you didn't seem to think you were just friends." Fort's expression darkened.

"So much for a calm, united front," Noble mumbled under her breath.

"Cade's arm wasn't around me. He was tired from track practice, and he needed somewhere to rest his arm!" Rain challenged.

"That is literally what an armrest is for!" Fort's voice rose an octave as he spoke. "And Cade or whatever his name is was definitely taking advantage of the moment. I saw what he was about to do when I yelled. You don't know how a boy's mind works!"

Rain's expression changed from angry to outright defiance. "Oh? Then enlighten me! What dastardly thing was Cade planning by having his arm on the back of my chair?"

"That—that's beside the point!" The father stuttered. "You need to tell him that if he has any interest in dating you, he is going to be waiting a very long time!"

"Fort!" Noble called out. "That's enough. Both of you."

But the damage had been done. Rain shook her head as hot tears formed in her eyes.

"It isn't my love life you need to worry about in this family. With a father who screams any time a guy is within a meter of me, I will be single until I die!"

With a ragged breath, Rain turned and ran to her room. The door slammed.

Noble glared at her husband. "What happened to letting me take the lead on the conversation? We were going to listen more than we spoke, remember? You practically called her a liar when she said it wasn't a date. What happened to those nerves of steel?"

"But she—I…" Fort's stern look melted. "I didn't handle that well at all…did I?"

"About as well as a loving father who just realized his baby girl isn't a baby anymore would have handled it, which is to say—terribly." The corners of Noble's mouth turned up slightly.

"I want to protect her," Fort said lamely, dropping his face in his hands. "Is that wrong?"

"Not wrong, but in this case misguided." Noble rubbed her husband's back gently.

"I can fix this. I'll go apologize and then find out more about the Cade boy. And then…" Fort stopped when he saw his wife's shaking head.

"I think the last thing Rain wants to talk with you about is Cade. You can apologize in a bit when she's a little less mortified. For now, how about you go check on the boys? I'm sure they have heard this ruckus. I will go talk to our girl."

"Just make sure that she…really isn't dating him…please." Fort pleaded.

"Didn't you hear? With a father like you, she will be single forever," the professor rolled her eyes.

"Is it bad that I find that comforting?" The man grimaced.

Kissing her husband gently, Noble whispered, "Those are the kinds of thoughts you keep inside your head, dear. I'll be back later."

Fort nodded. "Good luck."

The couple parted ways in the hall.

When Fort touched the doorknob, a feverish amount of scurrying occurred in the boys' room. As Noble had suspected, they were straining to hear the drama occurring with their elder sister.

Noble turned away, unwilling to give anything away with her mood-ring eyes. Fort could handle it…probably.

'I need to focus on my own goal.'

Brewing some tea, Noble loaded the tray while she ran the whole conversation over in her mind. Something Rain had said bothered her.

The teen had mentioned that her life wasn't the one her parents should worry about. 

Did that mean there was someone else she should be worrying about instead?

Noble shook her head. That was tomorrow's problem.

Right now her goal was to clear up the confusion and comfort her little girl.

'Young lady,' Noble corrected her thinking. She clicked her tongue. 'I have to be mindful of how I phrase things.'

The fragrant tea filled her nostrils as Noble arranged it with some cookies. Little girl or young lady, everything looked a little brighter with a warm drink and a sweet treat.

The tray floated behind the Master as she met with the moment of truth.

Taking a deep breath, Noble knocked lightly on the door.

"Go away." A muffled voice answered.

"It's just me," Noble said pleasantly. "I promise I won't bite."

There was a long pause.

"I don't want to talk."

"That's fine. I just want to check on you. If it helps, I have tea and cookies."

There was no movement on the other side of the door.

Had Rain fallen asleep? It was unlikely.

Just as Noble was debating whether to barge in or walk away and try again later, the teen finally spoke.

"Fine, you can come in…"

Noble hid her relief behind a neutral smile. When she opened the door, Rain was seated on the bed. Her face was clean but splotchy from the silent torrent of tears she had recently been suffering.

"You can leave the cookies and tea right there," the teen pointed to the table beside her bed.

"Oh," Noble's heart sank slightly. "Alright."

Rain's emotions were erratic. Noble felt that the slightest prod would end very poorly, especially considering how the teen felt about her mother's unwelcome emotional manipulation. 

The mother nodded slowly.

"I'll be back to pick it up in a little bit if that works for you."

Rain's eyes darted away. "Thank you."

Noble turned to leave. Rain sighed.

"Mom?…I said I don't want to talk, and I meant it. But if you want to just sit here, I guess that would be ok."

Noble smiled warmly at her daughter. "I would be honored."