I trudged down the stairs lazily and rubbed my tired eyes as I yawned. I didn't know what time it was but it was still dark out. I had awoken not too long ago in a cold sweat. I had a terrible nightmare about some of the many bullies at my previous school and couldn't sleep. I was just going to stay in bed and wait until I got tired, but I craved some warm milk and cookies.

Whenever I couldn't sleep, grandmother would always bring me a warm cup of milk and her homemade cookies. I knew that I wouldn't be able to have any of grandmothers cookies so I'd just have to settle with some store bought ginger ones. They weren't as good but I liked them well enough. They're Quincy's favourite and there weren't too many left so I had to make sure that I didn't eat too many.

When I got into the kitchen, I took out the milk carton and searched around for the cookies and a glass cup. I was never allowed to use the gas stove at grandmothers so I wasn't sure if I was able to do it here. I was too lazy to ask dad if I could so I just opted for the microwave. I placed the bag of cookies onto the table and poured the milk into the cup. I gasped as I spilled some of it onto the counter and floor.

"Oops."

I placed the cup into the microwave and quickly closed it before pressing the two minute button. I then grabbed a cloth and began to clean the counter top and thereafter began to look for the mop. 

"Where is it?" I softly whispered to myself as I searched the entire kitchen.
When I wasn't able to locate it, I shrugged and took the cloth from the counter, got down onto my knees and began to clean up the mess.

Suddenly, the light to the kitchen was switched on. I squinted due to its brightness and quickly stood to my feet. Chris looked at me with his eyebrows scrunched and then let his eyes trail down to the wet cloth in my hand.

"What are you doing?" The tired expression on his face quickly turned into an agitated one as he impatiently waited for my response.

I quickly threw the cloth onto the counter and backed up some as he tried examining me. I began to nervously fiddle with the tip of my index finger as his piercing eyes began to make me extremely uncomfortable. Why did he have to be the one to come down here out of all people?

"I-I spilled the milk." I squeaked.

He remained silent as he eyed the wet spot on the counter. He then looked down at the wet spot at his feet and his eyes slowly trailed up my body to meet my eyes.

"Did you just fucking clean the dirty floor with the cloth we wash the dishes with?"

My eyes grew wide. "I-I'm - I couldn't find the mop."

Chris snarled at me as he grabbed the wet cloth from the counter and aggressively tossed it into the trash can.

"You're fucking disgusting." He gritted.

He walked over to the fridge and searched the inside of it as I bit into my bottom lip to stop myself from crying. I didn't mean to clean up the milk with the cloth. I just didn't want anyone getting mad at me for not cleaning it up. What if someone slipped in it? Someone could've gotten really hurt. Then everyone would be mad at me for not cleaning it up. I didn't want that. I was going to wash the cloth afterwards. I wouldn't have left it like that.

The microwave dinging scared me out of my thoughts and I jumped slightly. I can just forget the cookies. The quicker I get out of his hair the better. I walked over to the microwave and opened it. I grabbed onto the cup by its handle and picked it up. I closed the microwave and began to make my way out of the kitchen.

"Are you going to just leave these here?"

I carefully turned around so that the milk wouldn't spill and saw Chris leaning against the counter as he drank from a plastic water bottle he had gotten from the fridge. He motioned to the bag of cookies on the counter and my eyes widened. I had completely forgotten about those. The look he had on his face made me physically cringe. He truly hated me. That was very clear.

"I'm sorry." I lowly mumbled as I stood completely frozen. "I-forgot." I hiccuped.

He stared at me for what felt like ages before his eyes widened. He placed the bottle down on the counter behind him and raised his arms as a look of shock overtook his face.

"Oh my God. Are you going to put it away tomorrow or next fucking Christmas?" He more so shouted then asked.

Jumping slightly at how loud his voice was, I hurriedly made my way over to the counter but cried out in pain when I felt a burning sensation on my palm. I looked down at the cup in shock and screeched out in pain as my movement's caused more milk to spill out onto my hand.

"Ah." I screamed loudly as I dropped the cup onto the floor. It shattered at my feet and my face immediately scrunched up as I cupped my stinging hand into my chest.

"Are you fuck - shit Beyoncé."

Chris' eyes widened as he quickly made his way over to me. Salty tears fell from my eyes as I held onto my burning hand. Chris grabbed onto my wrist and hurriedly pulled me over to the sink. He opened the faucet and let the cool water run over my burn.

It felt as though as soon as the cold water hit my hand, the stinging slightly worsened. I shut my eyes tightly as I began to whimper and cry more. I heard a sigh leave Chris' mouth and I quickly opened my eyes to look up at him.

"I-I'm so sorry Chris." I cried out as I began to shake. "I didn't m-mean to break the glass."

Chris sighed once again and shook his head. He rubbed over my stinging palm under the water carefully and slightly brought my body into his.

"Don't be. It's my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

His eyes left mine as he continued to soothingly rub my hand with his thumb under the water. I knew it was his fault. If he hadn't yelled at me the way he did, I wouldn't have gotten frightened and would not have dropped the cup. I just got scared. I was too scared to do anything other than apologise because I expected him to be angry. I didn't expect this kind of reaction from Chris. For as long as I've been living here, this is the kindest his ever been to me. It shocked me quite a bit.

A large amount of minutes had passed and he still steadily kept my hand under the water. The burning began to subside and I sniffed slightly. It began to feel so much better.

"Chris?" I called out softly. His eyes left my hand and met mine. He never stopped the soothing movement of his thumb. "Why do you hate me?"

Chris didn't seem too surprised by my question. In fact, if I didn't know any better I'd assume that he seemed a bit disappointed. He quickly diverted his eyes from mine and bit into his lip.

"Keep your hand under the water, I'll be right back."

Chris disappeared and I huffed sadly. I really wanted to know what his response would be. I liked it so much here. All I wanted to do was be happy with dad and my brothers. How was I able to do this if one of my brothers hated me so much? And for a reason that was unknown to me. I was always so on edge when I was around him. I didn't want to feel that way anymore.

Soon enough, Chris entered with a clear tub that seemed to be filled with green jelly. He placed it on the counter and then walked over to me and turned off the faucet. I gasped as he placed his hands onto my waist and swiftly lifted me up to place me on the counter. He cleaned my palm with a dry white cloth and then began to place some of the jelly onto my hand.

"What is it?" I asked as my eyes followed the motion of his thin middle and index fingers rubbing the jelly into my palm. It felt cold. This along with the cool water made it feel so much better.

"Aloe Vera gel." He chuckled.

I smiled shyly up at him and soon began to laugh with him after. My question must of just amused him for some unknown reason. I liked this. Laughing with him. It felt so much better than him just yelling at me all the time.

"You're all set." He once again grabbed me by my waist and put me on the ground. "You should go to bed. Don't worry about the mess. I'll clean this up." He picked up the tub and placed them in my hands. "Put this on every now and then. It'll help."

I looked down at the large tub in my hands and then up to him. A small smile slowly making its way onto my face. This was really nice of him. I never knew that nice and Chris would ever coincide. It was so strange. He didn't have his usual scowl. His face wasn't so hard. He bore a small smile and actually seemed so relaxed.

"Thank you and goodnight."

I turned to leave, but was stopped by his large hand wrapping around my wrist. I turned around to look up at him and he quickly let go of my wrist. He backed up some and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"I don't hate you." He spoke out all in one breath. "There's some things that have happened in the past and I just blame a lot of people." A beat. "I blamed you but none of it was your fault and I apologise. You're a sweet person and you're innocent." He looked down at the ground in what I could only describe as complete shame. "You didn't deserve that and I'm sorry. I can be a real dick sometimes."

I stared up at him wide eyed. To say that I was shocked was a complete understatement. This was something I was not expecting at all. Did Chris just apologise to me? What is going on? And what the hell does dick mean?

I continued to stare up into his eyes without a single word. What was I supposed to say? I wanted to know more about what happened in the past that made him treat me the way he did. Who were the people that he blamed? What did all of that have to do with me? Him not hating me may be the truth, but clearly whatever happened in the past had a little something to do with me and maybe my mother.

I was conflicted. Should I risk asking about it and possibly upsetting him? Should I just leave it for another day? I could just ask Quincy. There may be things that he knows. Or I could just ask dad. Or maybe even Jay. What do I do?

"W-what happened?" I actually shocked myself. I didn't think that I was brave enough to actually ask him. "In the past? What happened that made you hurt me?"

For a small while we stood and stared at one another in complete silence. All that could be heard in the entire kitchen was our breathing. His more intense than mine. He opened his mouth and then slowly shook his head with a sigh. He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. I could tell by this reaction that I would be going to bed with my questions unanswered.

"Go to bed Beyoncé." His voice was soft and gentle.

He turned around and began to clean up the mess I had made with the broom. I stared at him for a moment before leaving the kitchen and heading for the stairs. I had hoped that I would have at least found out a little bit about the countless of secrets that were hidden within this family, but I guess not tonight. I wouldn't stop trying though. There's a lot that I was still curious about. My mother and dad's relationship. Why he was never in my life and why Chris seemed to hate my mother as much as he did. I wouldn't be able to be happy here without knowing these things.

I slept successfully without any night terrors or any other interruptions. I was extremely grateful because when I wasn't having a nightmare, Quincy would sneak into my room and wake me up so that we could watch a movie. I'm glad he slept throughout the entire night because I was extremely tired. When I woke up the next morning, I instantly felt my stomach rumble. I could smell breakfast being made and smiled instantly.

Without doing anything, I made it out of my room, galloped down the staircase and ran into the living room. Chris, Jay, Quincy and dad were sat at the table. Dad had just sat down and Quincy smiled at me.

"Beyoncé dear, I was just about to send Quincy up to get you. Good morning sleepy head." Dad smiled at me.

"Good morning." I greeted at him and smiled at everyone as I sat down.

"Good morning Beyoncé." Quincy excitedly greeted and I giggled.

Before I was able to response, a couple firm knocks were heard by the door. We all looked around at one another in confusion as dad stood to his feet and walked over to the door.

"Do you know of dad expecting anyone?" I whispered over to Quincy.

Quincy shrugged carelessly and tried to take a piece of bacon from the large plate in the centre of the table. Jay softly slapped his hand away and both Quincy and I laughed. Our laughing soon down when dad once again entered the dining room, but not alone. An unknown man followed in behind him and our laughter slowly died down.

"Look who's back in town." Dad gleefully announced as the strange man stood beside him.

I looked away from the man and around at the table. I looked straight at Chris and wasn't the least bit surprised to see him give the stranger a cold stare. I was however surprised to see Jay look at him with just as much hate. Quincy paid the man no mind and slightly poked me in my side.

"You must be Beyoncé." The man spoke. He walked over to my side and I stared up at him wide eyed. There was something about him. I couldn't put my finger on it. All I knew was that I didn't like it.

I was never too good at ready people. As much as it hurt me to say, I always saw the good in everyone. It's why I was so easily bullied at my old school. I'd be kind and welcoming to any student who approached me. Mother called it a curse. A curse I probably would never rid myself of. However, I felt it in my heart. I felt it in the very pit of my stomach. I felt it in my skin as he took ahold of my hand. I felt the hair at the back of my neck rise when he placed his lips on the back of my hand. I felt evil. Pure evil.

"My my. Aren't you just beautiful."

"T-thank you."

"You can let her fucking hand go now." Chris snapped.

All heads turned into Chris' direction as he burned a hole into the mans head. He let go of my hand with a sarcastic chuckle and I stared at Chris in complete confusion. What was that outburst?

"Chris." Dad gritted.

"Oh that's alright Brother." The man chuckled further as he took a seat at the opposite end of dad.

Dad shook his head at Chris momentarily before looking over at me with a big bright smile.

"Beyoncé, this is your uncle. Michael. He'll be staying over for a while."

Michael's icy blue eyes pierced my soul. I wasn't able to look away from his. That's how intense they were.

"Nice to meet you sir." I greeted politely.

Michael chuckled. "No need for the formalities dear. Uncle Michael is fine."

I nodded slowly and peered over at Chris and Jay. This was so strange. Jay hadn't said a word since Michael's arrival. Chris still had the same pained look on his face.

"Can we eat now." Quincy whined. "The foods cold."

Chris eyes met mine and he kept his stare for a moment before looking over at Michael and angrily kissing his teeth.

"I ain't hungry." Chris stood up from his seat and made his way out of the room. Soon after we heard his room door loudly slam.

Dad sighed to this and thereafter said grace. Everyone began eating and I frowned. Was no one worried about Chris' entire demeanour? Why was everyone at the table just going about everything as if he hadn't just angrily stormed out. Dad seemed annoyed and unsuccessfully tried to hide so by putting on a forced smile. Quincy looked normal and Jay looked... uncomfortable? I couldn't tell.

Then Michael. Michael looked happy. Amused even. Every now and then our eyes would meet and I'd quickly advert mine from his. I had this weird feeling. I didn't know him at all and felt bad for judging him for no reason. He had done nothing to me. He seemed cheerful enough and had greeted me so nicely. I felt a bit guilty.

I've never had any other family besides mother and grandmother. It felt good to know that I had an uncle as well. Who knows. There might even be more family members that I know nothing of. Aunts maybe. Cousins and uncles. If so, I couldn't wait to meet them. Maybe there'd be girl cousins around my age I could make friends with.

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Thoughts?

Thank you for the support on this book so far. It means the absolute world to me. Not much happened in this chapter I know. I just wanted to introduce another main character. Michael!Things are about to get real crazy. Stay tuned. 🩷