In a rare moment, Holly was content with listening rather than speaking. Brooklyn decided that she would come with them and told her to put her shoes on, and Makayla said that she would come too, but just to walk with Holly and not get any food herself. She was strangely not in the mood to react, but was forced to when Cara traipsed over and flung Holly's sandals at her. Even Holly, who struggled to pick up on a lot of things, could tell that Cara was drunk, but even her rambling about how they needed to leave now before Brooklyn's good mood ended, and the slowpoke comment that normally would have been translated into a challenge to race upstairs didn't change Holly's mind. "I don't want to go. Just bring it back for me, okay?" she requested, dropping her sandals back onto the floor and then sitting back down on the edge of the mattress. "Are you going to go back to the doctor since your stomach hurts?" she said, now looking up at Makayla. Her attention shifted momentarily as she heard Cara stumble on the stairs and Nick appear, but she was still too tired and out of it to jump up or greet him.
"No, you have to come, fresh air will make you feel better. And no, I'm not going back to the doctor. I'm fine, I'm just not hungry right now." She should have guessed that Holly would still be hung up on her going to the doctor's the other day. She didn't need any more of a reminder about how bad that trip went, and regretted bringing up her own health now. Instinctively, her eyes flickered back towards Jackson's vacant section of the basement as she swore to herself that she would beat his ass if he didn't come back with the money tonight. She was broke enough to want to take Brooklyn up on her offer to buy Holly food badly enough that she was skipping out on the very rare occasion that Holly actually wanted to sleep. As long as she was pregnant, she felt weird working the street, but as long as she wasn't working, she was completely dependent on Jackson for money. And she knew better than anyone, that Jackson was not responsible. She hoped and prayed that her threats would warrant him to pull through with the money this time. After the abortion, if he never spoke to her again, she would move on. She wouldn't care, and maybe she'd be better off without the chance of a second pregnancy happening. For now, though, she needed his child out of her, with his money.
Holly didn't want to go, and Makayla telling her that fresh air would make her feel better didn't make her want to go anymore. By now, on top of not feeling well, she was also being moody and being problematic just because, but she wasn't going to stop. "No, I don't want to go. Get it for me and bring it back so I can eat it in my bed." That sounded like a nice idea. Eating takeout in a stuffy basement, on a shabby mattress wasn't exactly the picturesque breakfast in bed scenario, but it sounded like a treat to Holly, who just wanted to sleep and have her macaroni and cheese right now.
Makayla's temper with Holly was definitely shorter than normal lately. She tried to be calm and patient with Holly, especially when she was complaining about feeling sick, but Makayla had been feeling sick for two months and no one was there for her. She couldn't act like a defiant child and still survive. She did everything for Holly and while Makayla didn't ever ask for recognition for that, there were times when she wished it wasn't her job. She did as well as she could to be a mother to Holly, but sometimes she felt like the lack of the true, maternal love that a mother is supposed to have for their child made her even less capable of tolerating Holly and all of the issues that came with her. With Nick coming in and Cara making a fool out of herself on the stairs, she hoped that Savannah and Brooklyn's attention would be diverted from her and Holly for a few seconds. She bent down next to Holly and squeezed her arm tightly enough to signal that she wasn't playing around. "You're going to get up and come get food, or you're not getting anything to eat for the rest of the night."
"But I don't want--" Holly began to whine, only to be cut off by Makayla pinching her cheeks together.
"I don't care what you want. I don't have money for you to get your macaroni and cheese and Brooklyn said she'll get it for you. So you either get your ass up and go with her, or you don't eat anything until the morning. Take your pick." She spoke quietly, not wanting to make a scene, especially when Holly was in a state where it wouldn't have been crazy for her to burst out crying, but with everyone so close together, Makayla was aware that they weren't in complete privacy. She maintained steady eye contact with Holly but released her grip on both her arm and mouth and stood up as she awaited her response.
Holly was surprised by Makayla's shift in attitude as she went from acting normally, to going more hands-on than Holly would have liked in just a few seconds. Although Makayla was better with Holly than anyone, it wasn't the first time that she had seen this side of her sister and Holly knew better than to continue to test her, even though she wasn't feeling well. "You're so mean to me," she whimpered as she slipped her feet into her sandals and brushed past Makayla and Savannah towards Brooklyn. "Okay, I'm ready," she declared as she approached the blonde, taking a few steps past her towards Cara. "Makayla's being mean to me. Can you tell her to go to work so I can stay with you tonight?" she asked, still not feeling energetic enough to acknowledge Nick or even ask Cara why she liked alcohol so much.