SUMMARY Basically Samcedes, speaking on behalf of Seblaine, and St. Berry are trying to figure out a way to best resolve the feud between Layla and Fiona without going to the authorities with their criminal behaviors. Mostly Rachel is flaberghasted, Mercedes feels terrible, Sam’s just trying to keep it together and Jesse is having none of it. Will these four ever find a common ground to stand on? Read and find out.
TRIGGERS mentions of revenge porn, child pornography, fraud and sabatoge
Sam lead them inside to his study, he'd taken a few precautions he never thought he'd have to, by getting a signal scrambler so if there were any recording devices they wouldn't work. Already he wasn't happy with how everything was shaking out, it was stressful, but he had Mercedes there and he'd spoken to Sebastian, so while he hoped they could be kind and compassionate he was prepared for worst case scenario. "Alright, feel free to take a seat anywhere and we can start talking about this very serious situation we have between Fiona and Layla."
Jesse sat down next to his wife his leg bouncing slightly. He knew that Fiona wasn't innocent but he refused to let Layla destroy her future either. "So what do you want to tell us."
Rachel cringed at Jesse's tone and the formalities in the room, they were all friends and had been for a long time. She smiled softly at Mercedes, knowing things had been awkward enough between them, before taking a seat next to Jesse and taking his hand in hers. "Jesse and I are both devastated by what's happened. As I'm sure you would be if your child's dream had seemingly gone up in smoke because of a rivalry between two girls. We want to know /why/ this happened, and how we can fix this."
Mercy sat next to Sam and by the look on Jesse face and his tone, she knew nothing they said would convince his daughter deserved what happened. And while she understood how he felt, she also knew that neither one of the girls were innocent and at the end of the day, just like he and Rachel were there to protect Fiona, she and Sam were there to protect Layla. She smiled towards Rachel and nodded at her words. "That is what we want to know and clarify as well. I understand that emotions are high right now, but I only ask that handle this situation as best we all see fit and we listen to each other. We need to fix this not make it worse." She took Sam's hand and looked to him. "Since you know more than anyone maybe you should talk first baby."
Sam took a breath and took comfort in the Mercedes' hand in his and started. "Alright so we all know Fiona and Layla are in some kind of feud. After talking to both of the twins last night I got a complete look at the whole situation. Before I say anything, I don't want you to think that I view any of these kids as bad or deserving of anything that's happened to them, because I don't and it's for them that I want to keep this as far away from lawyers or law enforcement as possible." Squeezing his wife's hand a little, Sam absolutely hated giving grim news. "To keep it to the facts, I guess, Fiona photographed and possibly, most likely filmed her night with Wyatt. Over a period of at least two months she sent Wyatt a few photos of them and used it to blackmail and manipulate Wyatt. In retaliation Layla posed as Fiona and sent e-mail's, texts, and letters to the Dean of Harvard in an effort to disqualify Fiona from getting in." A breath. "Those are the facts."
Jesse listened intently to what Sam as saying and was shocked by Fiona's actions. After being silent for a long get moments. "Why not come forward with it instead of going after Fiona like she did?" He asked as calmly as possible. "What she did was awful and I know Rachel and I have a lot to talk about with how to handle it. However" he paused. "Her actions do not compare to fraud. What she did was bad and cruel but what Layla did was illegal and did so much worse." Jesse stated. "Now with that said I won't go to the police over this, but that is only and I mean only if Layla goes directly to the dean and confessed what she's done." Looking at Rachel he took her hand. "This is not something Fiona would ever do and I think we need to be more proactive than just talking to her."
Rachel stared at Sam in horror, she had never imagined that it would come to this. In some ways, she wasn't sure which was worse to be honest, both girls had committed crimes in the form of revenge. "Her actions__Jesse, what Fiona did is illegal too I__" She shook her head, unsure of what to say. She'd suspected Fiona had slept with Wyatt purely to upset Layla, but she hadn't known about the blackmail or the pictures. "Are the two of them living in a world where they think this level of revenge is acceptable? Layla does need to come forward and fix what she did, not just for Fiona, but also for herself. I don't even think we can quantify these actions, or say which is worse and honestly at this point...does that even serve a purpose?"
Mercy sighed. "Layla grew up handing things herself and no matter how many times you tell her that you will help, she feels she can do a better job at fixing a problem herself. Now that being said I do agree with Rachel. Both actions were both illegal and just down right wrong. And while I do not condone how Layla reacted to the situation and I wish one of them would have come forth and talked to one of us, this is the situation we have found ourselves in. Both girls were wrong and the worse part is Wyatt is the one who was used to make it happen." She sighed trying to find the words to get everyone on the same page. "We need to find a cause of action to where both girls know this is not acceptable. Yes I agree Layla should come clean about what she did, but Fiona as well. Something had to be done because as wrong as Layla was and I agree she was wrong for her actions hear me on that. What Fiona did was just..." She paused taking a breath. "It may not be something you would think she would do but she did and if they were to ever get out..." Her voice trailed she just couldn't even speak at the moment.
Sam leaned into Mercedes and gave her temple a lingering kiss. It was such a difficult and upsetting situation and he knew she was feeling so protective and just trying to hold herself together, so he'd be there as her glue for as long as she needed it. "Yeah, I'm with Mercedes and Rachel, I think it's important the we all recognize that both girls used in illegal activities and that there should be apologies from both of them. I'm not going to pick at who was worse, because like Rachel said that's pointless and honestly they were both cruel and criminal and at the end of the day why they did it and why they thought it was an okay way to treat each other or respond to something is a very serious problem that needs to be addressed. I have spoken to Sebastian and Blaine and obviously Layla will right this wrong with an apology and confession to the Dean. Unfortunately, I don't think an apology is going to be enough to fix the relationship between Layla and Fiona and then there's Wyatt who, like Mercedes said, ended up being collateral damage in all of this." A breath. "So while they did commit crimes, the emotional ramifications of their actions are significantly worse than anything else that came of this."
Jesse shrugged. "What do you want to do? Lock them in a room until they work things out?" He asked. "I say we go with my plan, we threaten them /both/ with legal actions in order for them to apology and then if they don't do it.. We go through with it." He paused to make his point clear. "To both of them." He continued so that none of them thought that he was going to give Fiona special treatment. "then we them both in counseling because obviously there is something wrong if they each think they can do what they both did."
Rachel Rachel looked at Jesse proudly, lacing her fingers with his as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I love you." She murmured quietly, before addressing them all as a whole. "I think, both Fiona and Layla would benefit from severe consequences for their actions. We are going to make it clear to Fiona that we are not going to fix this problem until she steps up and does the right thing, as she should have done in the first place. I think both of them would benefit from truly understanding the other, and I want nothing less than genuine apologies from the both of them. They need to understand that we're not always going to be able to fix their mistakes, they get into legal trouble in the future an there will be nothing we can do." She paused. "You can rest assured, as can Layla that Fiona is going to be punished, so we want no more retaliation. And I hope we can have the same assurance from you?"
Mercy nodded feeling more calm with Sam by her side then she had a few moments ago. Listening to Jesse and Rachel she agreed that this needed to end. "I agree they need to talk, and they both need to apologize but I don't want to just sit here and think that its just the girls who were affected. This all started because of what happened to Wyatt and I can't ignore that.I am not sure how that can ever be rectified but if needs to be. I know you guys will do what needs to be done I just don't want Wyatt to be forgotten in all of this. He may act like it doesn't bother him but it does."
Sam nodded in agreement with everyone and gave an extra nod to Mercedes. "Yeah, I'm not sure what to do about Wyatt. Unfortunately I think this is going to have to be something that he copes with and works through, but I think he'll be able to do it, he has a pretty solid support system, but I do think he's owed an apology from Fiona." Which he did believe but honestly, it was hard to tell with Wyatt how receptive he would be, he really was acting like everything was okay, but that was kind of his default setting. "And on behalf of Sebastian and Blaine, you can rest assured knowing that Layla will be punished for her actions."
Jesse nodded. "We're going to make sure Fiona does what's right. I promise. Right now we are both concerned about Harvard but we trust that Layla will do the right thing sooner rather than later. It's still only the beginning of the school year but we don't want to stress over it too much." Jesse said softly as he rubbed his face, he'd love to go home after this but knew Rachel would have none of that. "So we're in agreement that we're going to make sure the girls know how severe everything is and that this is the one and only time we're making sure they aren't in trouble legally?"
Mercy sat back, hand still in Sam's hand letting him and Jesse handle the details, she didn't want to say anything else on the matter, since things ere going smoothly.
Sam "That's something you're going to have to discuss with Sebastian and Blaine. I'm definitely telling them everything we said here and I imagine they'll get in touch with you from there." Squeezing his wife's hand, he took in a big breath and slapped a smile on his face. "I know this isn't easy and I know it's upsetting for a lot of reasons, but now everyone knows all of the facts and we can work on everything else, but for now I think it's time for everyone to have a few drinks and enjoy this cookout."
Jesse stood up. "Sounds good." Jesse said needing some much needed air. "Thanks for letting us know about Fiona." He murmured before heading out and going straight to the road to go for a long walk and not deal with anyone else.
Sam: Hey man, I heard about what happened with Harvard and I was only told because Layla is currently in my care. I wanted you to know that I've spoken with her and I'd like to talk to you about everything, but I wanted to give you and Rachel a chance to speak to Fiona first if you wanted to. Either way, we'll see each other tomorrow, right?
Rachel: It could be them Jesse. If it is, we need to fix the relationship between Fiona and the Twins, or this is never going to stop. We need them to take it back and we need Fiona not to retaliate and take it further.
