Fanon:Sun sets in the Valley

Synopsis
Angela and Lilith Pleasant thought their life was perfect. Too bad, because they're not! First, Lilith gets dumped by her boyfriend, then Angela catches hers cheating on her. Eventually, they learn their parents are divorcing after their father is kicked out of the house. How could the situation possibly get worse?

Characters
More characters will be revealed through story progression.

Main characters

 * Angela Pleasant
 * Lilith Pleasant
 * Mary-Sue Pleasant
 * Daniel Pleasant
 * Ripp Grunt

Secondary characters

 * Kaylynn Langerak (mentioned only)
 * John Burb
 * Herb Oldie
 * Randall Oldie (mentioned only)

Chapter I: Moving out
'''Silence. A small breeze. It's summer. It's quite hot outside, yet not boiling. Sweet, actually. Lilith opens her eyes. She's laying in Pleasantview park. She gets up. Her friends are playing soft ball near the small lake. A hand appears, and tries to hold hers. She turns her head to the person that is trying to hold her hand. Dirk.'''

"You're back, she whispers.

-I never left sweetie."

His lips are getting closer. So close to Lilith's ones. So, so close.

The doors slams. Mary-Sue shouts some insults. Lilith opens her eyes. It was only just a dream. She had been dreaming for weeks that Dirk would eventually go back to her, tell her that he regretted so much breaking up with her. Tell her that he wanted her back. Unfortunately, he wouldn't. He had a new girlfriend now. He got sick of Lilith always complaining, always brooding, unhappy. Now he was gone. The teenage girl got out of her bed. Her room was already enlightened by the sunshine. She took a quick look at her clock. 10:30am. Way too early to get up. Lilith opened the door of her room. Now she could perfectly hear what her parents were saying. They were arguing. Again. Arguing seemed to be the only thing they were able to do the last three weeks. Sometimes, Lilith just wanted to step between her parents, and shout "Please stop!". But she couldn't. She descended the stairs and glanced in the living room. There they were. She tried to avoid them. Suddenly, she heard her mother shout:

"No Daniel, I'm done with you! I can't handle it anymore. You're leaving this house. -C'mon Mary you can't be serious!

-I am. I'm deadly serious. And stop calling me Mary, my name's Mary-Sue.

Lilith quickly turned to face her parents. Her mother was heading towards her room. Daniel followed her.

-What are you doing?

-I'm packing your stuff, don't you see? You are going to leave this house now! I don't want to see you ever again. Nor your "sweet" mistress.

-Her name's Kaylynn!

-No matter what her name is. You're leaving, that's all.

As she was listening to her parents' argument, Lilith heard some cries. She opened the door to the bathroom, and saw Angela. She was lying in the bathtub, her face bathed in tears. Lilith entered the bathtub and took her sister in her arms.

-Seems more violent today, doesn't it? she asked Angie.

Angela didn't answer, but she nodded.

-Here's your suitcase. Grab your coat. Goodbye Daniel.

-Mary, please...

-There's no 'please'! Not anymore! Get out of my house! she shouted as she pushed him outside.

Daniel wanted to go back in the house, open his suitcase and throw his stuff in the hallway. He wanted to tell his wife he wasn't going to leave. But then he realized he had to. He raised his head, taking a last look at his wife's face.

-Goodbye Mary.

Then he left. Mary-Sue violently slammed the door. She then froze in the middle of the hallway. So she did it. She eventually kicked him of the house. She eventually told him she knew everything about Kaylynn. And now? What would she do? She had no idea. Mary-Sue fell on the floor, and started crying. She didn't hear that in the bathroom, her daugthers were also in tears.

---

Later that day, Lilith logged in Messenger. She had stopped crying for hours now, but Angela was still in tears, laying on her bed. Mary-Sue couldn't comfort her. A few hours earlier, she left to visit her parents, Herb & Coral Oldie, who lived in SimCity. She would be back tonight. The girls were left alone a second time this day. By their dad, then by their mom. Lilith was lost in her thought when she heard the noise that meant someone sent her a message. Ripp Grunt: Hey! How are you today? She stared at this question several minutes. How was she? Awful, to be honest. She didn't want to tell him. She didn't want to bother him with her annoying problems. But then she had to.

Lilith Pleasant: Awful...

Lilith Pleasant: You remember that time you told me about your mother? How sad you were when she left? And the pain you feel everytime because you have to live with only one parent. The one you don't like, and who don't like you either.

Ripp Grunt: Unfortunately yes. Why?

Lilith Pleasant: Now I know how you feel...

Ripp Grunt: Wanna talk about it?

Lilith Pleasant: Let's meet at SimCity park. Tonight at 7:00pm.

Lilith waited a few seconds before she sent this last message. She didn't want to sneak out. She knew it would cause even more pain to her mother. But she had to talk to someone who would understand her, without judging her. She sent the message. She wanted to tell Angela she was leaving tonight. But she couldn't. Because Angie would tell Mary-Sue, and they would find her. Right now, Lilith didn't want to be with her family. Actually, she didn't what she wanted... As she raised her eyes to her computer screen, she saw Ripp had replied to her last message.

Ripp Grunt: Ok, see you tonight.

Chapter II: Run away
Sim Center North, also known as SimCity park, was deadly cold that one night. Lilith wish she had taken a jacket with her before she ran away. She din't want to cause much more pain to her mother. But she also wanted to flee the tension that was waiting for her at home. As she was walking through the park, it started raining. "Great", she thought. She had no jacket, only a short dress, and was already cold before rain came to lower the temperature even more. She walked till the meeting point she and Ripp had fixed the first time they met. On the park's bridge, above the small lake. The view from there was really nice. Lilith didn't take her phone. She didn't want her mother or any other person to disturb her, because after all, she ran away. In addition, police would be able to find her location using her phone, and she didn't want anyone to find her. Anyone but Ripp. She then remembered he was supposed to meet her in the park. Where was he? How long had she been waiting? 2 minutes? Maybe 5, or 10? Already half an hour? She had no idea. Rain got heavier, and Lilith was getting wet. She was freezing. Ripp was taking too much time to come. And what if he didn't actually come? What if he let her alone in the park? At this very moment, the only thing the teenage girl wanted to do was crying. Suddenly, an umbrella appeared and sheltered her. She faced to the person holding it. It was Ripp.

"Hey you!

-I was afraid you wouldn't come! exclaimed Lilith.

-Why would I do such a stupid thing? Whent I have a date with someone, I always go to that date.

-Ripp, it's not a date!

-Not yet, but don't worry, it'll become one soon.

She smiled at his joke. Then she layed her head on his shoulder. Her body against his. They were looking at the rain pouring on Sim Center North.

-Look! said Ripp, breaking the silence that had taken place. The sun is rising in the valley!

-Yep, that's really gorgeous.

-Not as much as you are.

When she heard that, Lilith knew she had only one thing to do. She kissed him. He didn't reject him, but still looked surprised.

-Didn't you like that? she asked, feeling anxious.

He kissed her back.

-Consider this as my answer. Now, what if we went to hang out somewhere? I parked my car there.

Lilith froze.

-Wait, you came with your car?!

-Of course, how would I've come if not with my car? Well, it's actually my father's car, but eh, same thing.

-Oh Watcher you're so stupid! Imagine your father reports that you ran way with his car to the police? They would find us locating the car!

-Oh, that's right. Didn't think about it.

-We have to go! Now!

-Wait, how?

-You have legs, don't you? shouted Lilith. Then walk!

---

When Mary-Sue came back home, it was already the night. She opened the door and saw that there was a light turned on in the dining room. Angela got out, in tears. She seemed terribly stressed, and was holding a small piece of paper in her right hand.

-Angie, why are you still awake? It's almost 2:00am! exclaimed Mary-Sue.

-Mom, I think Lilith ran away.

-What?! she screamed.

Angela gave the small piece of paper to her mother. It was simply written "Goodbye for now".

-I checked and she's not in her room. I've called some of her friends, and they said they hadn't seen her today. Then I tried to call her, but...

-But what?!

-She left her phone here.

-Oh no, please no!

Mary-Sue ran to the phone and called her brother-in-law, John Burb. He was a police officer in Pleasantview, he would look for Lilith.

-I see, whispered John when Mary-Sue called him. That's terrible. I'm on the case Mary. You should stay home and get some rest. Lilith might come home by herself later tonight.

-No, I can't stay here! I have to go outside and look for her too.

-Please Mary, stay at home. It's better for you. Let me handle this. I'll call you whenever I find her.

---

Lilith and Ripp had left Sim Center North for almost 20 minutes now. She had seen multiple police cars in the streets, and she carefully tried to avoid them. It was almost 5:30am. Did her mother prevent her uncle that she had rand away? Her uncle John was a cop, so she might have called him. Maybe he was one of the policemen in those cars she had avoided. Ripp was already tired. Lilith was walking way too fast for him. He also noticed she was angry, but he couldn't figure out why. She wanted to talk to him, but they hadn't talked yet. Also, Ripp was afraid. Why was she avoiding all those police cars? Had she done something wrong?

-I think we need to talk, he said after 10 more minutes walking.

-And I think you should walk faster, she replied aggressively.

-Lilith please.

She stopped right in the middle of the street and turned to him. He saw she was about to cry.

-I... Ok, maybe I said that I wanted to talk about it. Truth is, I don't. My father left this afternoon, Angela and I learnt he had an affair with Kaylynn, who has been our maid for almost 4 years now. I don't know what is actually going on. Mom is already talking about divorce and all that stuff. I don't want my parents to divorce Ripp, do you understand that?

She started to cry. Ripp didn't know what to say. He saw she was deeply hurt. He thought it maybe was too soon to say something. Instead, he took Lilith in his arms, kissing her on the forehead.

-I'm sorry, he whispered.

They stayed this way a good moment. 5 minutes, or something like that. Lilith forgot that time was passing around her. She realized how good it felt to be in someone's else arms. Someone that loved you. Ripp was happy, for he had found a person that loved him and needed him. Needed his love, his support. Even though they had lost something, they also found what they were actually looking for. It felt so good being in each other's arm, that they weren't aware of what was happening around them. They didn't notice that a car was heading in their direction. Ripp suddenly saw the car headlights, and pushed Lilith on the sidewalk. The car stopped right in front him. The driver got out.

-I'm so, so sorry! I wasn't paying attention, I was...

He then looked at Lilith, laying on the floor, and shouted.

-Oh Watcher, Lilith!

He ran to take her in her arms, trying to wake her up.

-Excuse me, who are you? asked Ripp.

-I'm his father, Daniel.

Chapter III: Recover
Lilith opened her eyes. Her room was illuminated by sunshine. She got up and looked at her lock. 11:21am. She wondered why she was there. She only had a few memories of what happened last night. She remembered she ran away from her house, she met Ripp at Sim Center North. Then, what happened? She couldn't remember. Her head was aching. She got out of her room. Downstairs, she could hear her parents talking to each other. They didn't seem to be arguing. Then she wondered, what if everything was just a dream? What if Daniel didn't left the house? What if he hadn't had an affair with Kaylynn Langerak? What if she didn't run away last night? What if she had dreamt all of this. She descendend the stairs, in order to be sure whether it was a dream or not.

-Lilith! said both her parents. We were so afraid you wouldn't wake up.

They both ran to her to hug her.

-I'm sorry I almost crashed with my car. Truth is, your mother had just called me to tell me you had run away. I wasn't looking at the road, apologized her father.

-Does that mean you're coming back to live with us? asked Lilith.

-Unfortunately I can't, your mom kicked me out, said Daniel as he stared at his wife.

So none of this was a dream. Lilith suddenly felt so sad. As if she was realizing that everything that had happened yesterday was real, and she couldn't go back in time. She almost cried, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

-Lilith?

She turned back and saw Ripp. He was standing there, in the hallway, looking at her with both anxiety and love in his eyes. She rushed to him and jumped in his arms.

-I was afraid something really bad had happened, said Ripp. You were unconscious when your father brought you here.

Ripp got interrupted by the phone ringing.

-I'm taking it, said Mary-Sue.

Shewalked to the phone and hooked it.

-Mary? It's Herb. How are you doing today?

-Fine I guess. Dad, may I call you later, I...

-No please, I have something important to tell you.

-Oh, what is it?

-It's about Randall... whispered Herb.

-Oh please! Why are you even talking about him? You know I don't want to hear about him! she grumbled.

-He's your brother!

-Biologically speaking, no he's not.

-Mary-Sue, please! I wouldn't call if it was not really important, for I know you're not on speaking terms with your brother.

Mary-Sue didn't respond immediately. Years ago, she had had a violent argument with brother, where he said that he was more Herb and Coral's child than her, as he was born naturally and not adopted. Mary-Sue never forgave him. She hadn't talking to him since this happened, and at this very moment, she still didn't wanted to. But her father was right, he wouldn't call her if this wasn't important.

-Ok, tell me.

-Well, he's in rehab...

-Oh dad, I wanted a surprise, she said cynically, interrupting him.

-Mary, don't start with this.

-He's in rehab, fine, what has it to do with me?

-It's about Estella.

-What?

-As I said, Randall is in rehab, and Daniela has to go to a business trip to her home country, in Italy. Unfortunately, she might remain there for a long time, maybe a whole year. Problem is, she can't bring Estella with her, as she would live too far from her father.

-What are you expecting from me? You want me to tell my brother's ex-wife she shouldn't leave SimNation?

-No, not at all. I thought you could look after Estella, and maybe shelter her.

Mary-Sue froze a short moment.

-Shelter her? I barely saw her once in my life. Plus, she was just born.

-That's great opportunity to catch up! She's 16 now, the same as Angela and Lilith, they could socialize. Are they ok by the way?

Mary-Sue was about to tell her father the truth. Then she remembered she didn't want to tell her father that everything happened because she kicked Daniel out of the house. She had sworn to Herb that she would never divorce.

-Yes, they're really great. Nothing interesting to tell you.

-So Mary, please, could you look after Estella for the next school year? Maybe it won't last that long, maybe Randall with get out of rehab sooner.

-Okay, fine, I'll shelter her!

-Great. I'm glad to hear it! Your mom and I will bring Estella tomorrow morning.

She hung up.

-Mom, what's wrong? asked Lilith.

-Please call your sister and join me in the living room. I have something important to tell you girls...

To be continued