Title: Life In The Fast Lane

Author's Note: Co-written with xocrazililkelox! Watching the scene in TWT, TIN where Tim and Curly confront Bryon after he cuts of Angela's hair and he replies "Which sister is that?" made us think there might be more than one sister in the mix.

Summery: Being the youngest in any family is hard and being a half-sister makes it harder. How does 12 year old Tabitha Davis cope with having Shepard's for siblings, and make the change from a young girl to a young woman?

Disclaimer: SE Hinton owns all.

xXx

Tabitha sat off to the side of the living room, while she listened to the idle conversations around her.

Unlike her older siblings - who had just got home - she was already in her nighty, and fiddling with a teddy bear that had seen better days. The bear was a hand-me-down. Just like everything else she owned it had once belonged to her half sister, Angela.

Tabitha envied her sister. Angela was beautiful. She had the kind of beauty only Hollywood Starlets possessed. I hope I look like that one day ... She doubted she ever would. Her siblings got their pale skin and curly black hair from their father. Her own father had brown hair, just like her, and it wasn't curly like she desired. It was stick straight, and flat. The only thing that indicated the four shared the same blood was the dark blue eyes. The same eyes as their mother.

"I finally broke up with Bryon," Angela's voice cut through her thoughts immediately.

Tabitha's heart jumped for joy. She didn't think Douglas was an asshole (a name which Curly and Tim liked to call him), she thought he was wonderful. The boy was tall, dark and handsome. She couldn't see why Angela would want to call it quits with him. Not that she was complaining...

"It's about time," Curly said. "Douglas is an asshole."

"That's the pot calling the kettle black," Tabitha muttered, but not loud enough to be heard.

"I guess he wasn't exactly 'Prince Charming' to begin with," Angela agreed.

That was a rare occurrence. Usually Angela and Curly were at each other throats, and more then once, her eldest brother Tim would have to break them up. One time, Angela had accidentally scratched Tim, he hadn't been amused, but Tabitha had found it hilarious. She hadn't dared laugh though, laughing at Tim would just be asking for it.

The door opened and Tim walked in with a pretty blonde girl under his arm. Most of the girls he bought home were dumb as sticks, with pneumatic chests or long legs. This one had both. Her manicured nails were clutched to his arm and shirt, as she looked into the living room with a look of superiority.

Tabitha disliked her instantly, and felt a little – just a little – insecure. Quickly throwing her teddy bear aside, she sat up straight. She had been trying to look more grown-up and tough; which was kind of hard when you're standing among Shepard's.

"Go on up, Barbara. I'll be there in a minute," Tim said, not even looking at the girl hanging on to his arm.

"Sure," she smiled, swinging her hips more than necessary. Tim sighed, and turned to glare at Angela who was too busy examining her nails. Tabitha couldn't understand how cool Angela could act, with Tim of all people looking at her the way he was.

"What's this shit I'm hearing about you around Buck's?" He asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Angela said ignoring him. She yawned and stretched out on the couch like a well fed cat, and reached for a magazine. Tabitha could see a tic working on Tim's jaw. At times, she really felt sorry for him. Being the eldest must have sucked, but still he had easy, being the youngest was the worst.

"I got people coming up to me, telling me Douglas dumped you because you can't keep your skirt on."

Angela ripped the magazine and glared at him. "That shit ain't true; I never even made it to second base with Bryon."

"Well you ain't exactly a Virgin Mary, you know," Curly shot at her then stopped, when he received a cold look from Tim. "We should show that asshole not to go spreadin' rumours, Tim."

"Don't be upset because your younger sister gets more action then you do," Angela smirked.

"Action?" Tabitha asked, and tilted her head confused. Her siblings ignored her, so she flipped on the TV. Not that the black and white was more exciting than the conversation going on around her.

"Tim, are you coming?" A sultry voice asked from the stairway.

"Right and I'm the whore," Angela scoffed.

xXx

The neighbourhood looked different at night. By day it looked shabby and poor, but at night it looked dangerous and not necessarily in a bad way either. Tabitha looked through her bedroom window, watching Tim and the Barbara on the porch.

She wondered what kissing was like. It looked kind of gross, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Maybe she would experience it one day, and hopefully it would be with Bryon. Sure he was older, and he only dated pretty girls… But hey.

"I wonder where Mom and Frank are," Angela said, breaking Tabitha out of her thoughts. Closing their bedroom curtains she settled back on to her bed.

"They said they were going for a quick drink," Tabitha replied, but that had been hours ago, before any of her siblings had got home.

"Quick drink my ass," Angela rolled her eyes, as she flicked through an issue of a torn Seventeen. "They'll probably come home drunk out of their minds."

Tabitha opened her mouth to object, but as if on cue came the sound of the door crashing open, followed by screaming. Angela looked at Tabitha with the 'I told you so' look on her face. She wanted to punch her sister, but decided against it. She always lost anyway. She couldn't understand how someone so pretty could have such an ugly attitude.

"Sounds like Mom might end up with a bruise or two," Angela scowled.

"Daddy doesn't hit Ma, that much!"

"No, she just walks into doors every other day," Angela replied waspishly, and with that she tossed her magazine on the floor. She switched off the bedside lamp and rolled on to her side, with her back facing toward Tabitha. Conversation over.

Getting up, Tabitha walked across the room toward the landing. She glanced to the door across the hall. Curly was in his bedroom, his radio had gone from mildly loud to blaring in a matter of seconds. It was no secret what he was trying to drown out. Kneeling down on the floor, she crept toward the banister and looked down into the living room.

Her parents were screaming at each other. Which was nothing new, because everyone's parents fought, right? Her friends would always complain about their parents, but she never did. Everyone already had an image of her home life, and she would never help promote those views. So, some of them were right - mostly the stuff about her brothers being hoods - but a lot of it was over-exaggerated and way off track.

Shaking her head, she watched her parents throw insults off one another. She never understood why married couples fought. People got married because they loved each other and wanted to live together and have kids, so what changed? Why did being married make people hate each other? It didn't make sense.

She could see her father getting madder and madder, his face turning beet red. Tabitha watched quietly on the stairs, where things were getting bad from to worse. It happened so fast, that she winced and cringed back slightly too, as she saw his back hand collide against her mother's cheek. Her mother's head bobbed back, as her cheek turned red. Tabitha took in a shuddered breath. She had never seen her father hit her mother before. Angela and Curly were constantly complaining that he always did, but she never believed them. She had never wanted to.

"You ungrateful bitch," she heard her father say, lifting his hand up again. But this time it didn't get to touch her mother. Tim had grabbed his hand. She realized that she had been too focused on the moment that she almost missed the look of shock on her father's face, and black expression that was all over Tim's.

"Tim run," she had wanted to shout it, but it had come out in a croaky whisper. Nobody had heard it. This time she had seen the hit coming and didn't cringe as much. Her eyes watered as she saw her father kicking Tim, as he lay on the floor without making a sound. Soon enough he seemed to tire out, letting out a few more curses, her father left.

Parents hit their kids all the time. Sure, it didn't feel so great but it was normal. It happened to everyone; even she had gotten a few slaps here and there. Yet, this time it didn't feel so normal. It felt like she was looking down on a bully picking on a smaller kid.

It took a few moments to realise she had been holding her breath. Sitting back, Tabitha let out a long drawn sigh. It was then Tim had noticed her. Her heart pounded as he silently stared from the distance. Scrambling to her feet she scampered back to her room and dove straight under her covers.

"Told you so," Angela said, but Tabitha ignored her as tears rolled down her cheeks. About an hour later she finally fell asleep.

xXx

When Tabitha came to half of her body was hanging of the bed. Her pillow was damp with tears and saliva, yet her mouth was as dry as could be. Letting herself drop on the floor, she then hauled herself up. It was pitch black, thanks to the smashed street lamp outside that had been broken by a blond tow-head.

Tabitha opened the bedroom door enough to peek into the hallway. Things had finally died down, and everyone had retreated into their rooms. Pushing the door open, she made her way downstairs, treading lightly to prevent the stairs from creaking. Her feet padded on the cool hardwood floor as she made her way across the living room and into the kitchen. Flipping on the light switch, she gasped.

"Ma, what are you doing?"

Her mother looked up from the Formica-topped table, and sloshed the brown liquid in her glass, in response. Tabitha sighed and made her way toward the sink; turning on the faucet she poured herself a glass of water before sitting down next to her mother.

"You know, I really thought I would go right the second time." Her mother said, but Tabitha wasn't really sure if she was talking to her or herself.

"What do you mean, Ma?"

"When your first husband spent more time at bars and leaves you, you tell yourself it's his loss. But when your second husband does the same, you really start to wonder what you're doing wrong."

"Did Daddy leave?" Tabitha asked, noticing fear in her own voice. Sure, her father wasn't the best, but at the end of the day he was her father. Not to mention, Tabitha had seen how resentful her half-siblings had got without their own father around.

"No... It's only a matter of time," her mother said, and downed the rest of her drink in one shot.

"Daddy is not going to leave," Tabitha said. Although, she was sure she was trying to convince herself more than her mother. "And Richard was stupid, Ma. You ain't doing anything wrong."

Her mother looked up and smiled, ever so slightly. Lifting up her hand, she stroked Tabitha's hair with her fingers. Her blonde hair was a mess and most of her make-up had run down her cheeks.

"You're such a good girl," she said. "You won't get involved with any boys from this neighbourhood, will you?"

"No Ma ..." Tabitha trailed off. It wasn't hard. No boys even looked at her that way, no matter what neighbourhood they were from. Angela was the sister that had all the boys and Tabitha was the - well, she had yet to figure that one out.

"You find someone special, sweetheart. Don't end up with nobody to love you or care for your kids, like I did." If her mother had been sober, she wouldn't be spewing the trash she was coming out with.

"Ma, I love you. And so does Tim, Curly, and Angela." Tabitha put an arm around her mother, and cuddled. "You don't need Daddy to look after you. Tim will look after all of us."

"Timothy is such a good boy," she spoke in a detached tone.

"Yeah."

"You get to bed, now. You have to get up for school, bright and early."

It's Sunday tomorrow. It was on the tip of her tongue, but decided against saying it. Her mother was already blue; there was no need to make her feel like an idiot too. Getting up, she picked up the glass tumbler and headed out of the kitchen and into the living room.

To her surprise, Tim was standing near the kitchen door, his face stoic. She wondered how long he had been listening to them, and why she hadn't heard him come down the stairs. Their stairs creaked like nobody's business. Bringing up his hand, he patted her head, before walking into the kitchen.

As Tabitha walked up the stairs, she could hear Tim's faint voice, as he talked to their mother.

"C'mon Ma, why don't you get some sleep?"

Tabitha sighed. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad, if her dad didn't come back.

xXx

We've tried hard not to make her a Sue! Reviews and constructive criticism appreciated!

This chapter is being posted as part of "Good Fic Day," an effort to raise the quality of writing here. We hope to encourage more writers to improve the quality of their own fan fiction - spell check, grammar check, keep the gang in character, outline, plot and don't use Mary Sues. Good fan fiction requires effort, and we would like to encourage other writers to rise to the challenge of producing better fan fiction, not only for our readers, but for S.E. Hinton, who created the wonderful book we are trying to honour.