[ S C O T T ]

Someone had bashed my head in.

That was the only explanation to this ridiculous pounding in my head. Well that, or I was, without a trace of a doubt, hung over.

I groaned as I lifted my hand to rub my face. Every part of me was aching and my mouth was so dry that it felt like I'd swallowed sand.

Fuck, why the hell had I drunk so much?

I hesitantly peeled my eyes open and began to sit up. Slowly, the memories from yesterday started to reform. Of all of them, a particular one stood out like no other.

My dad telling me he was in love.

Oh. That explains the hangover.

My stomach clenched and it was all I could do not to hurl right here in the middle of my bed.

I needed some water and aspirin. Fast.

As I got out of bed, a glint of reflected sunlight made me turn my head towards my night table. Someone had already put water and aspirin there.

I released a short breath of relief and swallowed the pills, making a mental note to thank Bryce later. He had had my back last night.

After forcing myself to take a quick shower, I made my way downstairs and straight into the kitchen. The digital clock on the stove read 6:19 AM. No wonder the house seemed deserted. It was too early for even the roosters to be up. Not that Carson Falls had any roosters.

There was still a dull throbbing in my head, but for the most part, I was feeling better. Every time thoughts of my dad surfaced in my mind, I pushed it back. I'd have to face the situation sometime. Maybe even come to terms with it. But I would need more than a day.

I had just opened the fridge to see what I could whip up for breakfast when I heard soft footsteps on the stairs. I turned around just as Grace's feet hit the bottom of the staircase. She was dressed in grey sweatpants, a baggy hoodie and a pair of bright blue running shoes. Her long, brown hair was wound into two tight braids that draped at her front.

For a moment we just stood there staring at each other in silence, her mirroring the look of mild shock that was on my face. A weird sense of déjà vu hit me.

I cleared my throat in hopes of relieving some of the awkwardness in the air and averted my eyes. I had a distinct feeling that she had seen an unpleasant side of me last night.

I turned back to the open fridge. "Do you... want something to eat? I was just about to make breakfast," I said, trying to act casual.

After a few seconds, I heard her voice, firm and clear, ring out behind me. "No... thanks. I'm actually just going for a run."

Her answer was so unexpected that I couldn't help turn back around to meet her gaze. "Going for a run?" I questioned, not believing her. It was then that I took in her outfit. She was most definitely dressed for a run.

"Yes," she replied, now with an edge to her voice. "That's what I said."

"But you literally just got here yesterday. You don't know the neighbourhood well enough to go running at the ass crack of dawn by yourself. You'll get lost."

"That's what Google maps is for, nitwit."

I raised an eyebrow at the word "nitwit" and opened my mouth to reply with an equally snippy remark but thought better of it.

Why the hell was I even considering arguing with her? She was Griffin's sister. I should be trying to help her out instead of getting riled up.

I let out a slow sigh to give myself some time to decide how I was going to go about this. We didn't live in a particularly shady part of town, but it didn't seem like a good idea for me to just let her go out by herself, especially in the wee hours of the day.

"Fine. But I'm coming with you." I said, finally making up my mind.

Grace's eyes widened for a second then narrowed instantly. "Why is that necessary?" She looked to be a second from attacking a defenseless kitten.

"Because I respect Griffin too much to let his sister go wondering around alone in a place she's only been in for a little more that 24 hours. Now, we can keep arguing about this or..." I walked past her towards the main entrance and grabbed my house keys, which we all hung on pegs beside the door. "We can start our run."

Grace stayed rooted to her spot beside the staircase. "Do you even run?"

For some reason, that question made me smile. "I'm a first-string attacker of the Carson Falls lacrosse team. Trust me, I can keep up."

My cocky retort seemed to irritate Grace even more, if that was possible. I could tell she was still contemplating whether or not she'd let me join her by the way her lips were drawn into a thin line and her nostrils were flared.

Finally, she gave a reluctant nod and joined me out the door. I locked it behind us and, without words, started a slow jog down the street with Grace in step with me.

We continued this for a few minutes before Grace increased her speed the tiniest bit. I matched my pace to hers. After a few more minutes, she increased her speed a little bit more. Again, I sped up to match her pace.

This kept on and within half-an hour, I felt like I was competing in the olympics. I tried to take deep breaths and keep up with Grace, who apparently didn't seem to realize that she was running at super-human speed.

Fucking hell.

This was doing some serious damage to my ego. My heart was pounding, and with my hangover and empty stomach, I was beginning to feel nauseous.

When Grace, yet again, increased her speed, I involuntarily let out a loud, frustrated groan. That got Grace's attention. She slowed down the slightest bit and turned around, jogging backwards.

"What?" she asked, coolly. "Is the first-line attacker of the Carson Falls lacrosse team having trouble keeping up with a simple jog?"

Holy shitbags, was she doing this on purpose?

"Do you always run this fast? Or are you trying to show me up?" I wheezed. There was no point of trying to save face now.

"I'm not trying to do anything. It's not my fault you can't keep up." she turned back around and continued to pretty much sprint down the road.

I took several more deep breaths and pushed my legs even harder in an attempt to catch up. A strange sense of competitiveness surged through me.

Can't keep up, my ass.

I kept plowing through, my nausea forgotten. When I was in step with Grace again, she gave me a startled side glance and tried to run faster. But at this point even she seemed to have reached her limit. Sweat beaded down her face, tracing her hairline, and her breathing was becoming irregular.

Although she remained stubborn for another ten minutes or so, seeing that I wasn't going to fall behind again, she finally slowed her pace.

"You know, you should really try out for the Carson Falls cross country team." I said when I felt like I would be able to get words out without choking.

"I'm already on the team." Grace said, matter-of-factly.

"How can you already be on the team?"

"Do you always ask this many questions?" I could almost hear her teeth grinding over the pounding of our feet against gravel.

"Geez. Just trying make conversation."

"Well, I prefer if you didn't."

"It's crazy how different you and your brother are." I said after a little while. Grace was looking straight ahead, her golden eyes glinting in the sunlight.

"Yes, he got all the manners in the family." She replied, with a roll of her eyes.

"That's not what I meant."

Grace gave me another sideways look, her eyebrows pulling together. "What did you mean?" Although she was trying to be as cold as she could, I could detect a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"I just meant that he lets people in easily. You clearly don't."

"Yeah, well. Griffin's eagerness to trust will undoubtedly stab him in the back one day."

"Ah. What a ball of sunshine you are." I said sarcastically.

"Piss off."

"By the way, are you going to take that job at Crystal X?"

Grace's steps faltered. "How do you know about that?"

"We were literally seated right beside the bar last night. I heard Nate offer you the job."

"What... what else do you remember?"

"Um," I considered her question carefully. "Bits and pieces from the bar. Nothing about how I got home though. I'm guessing Bryce had to haul my ass back."

When Grace didn't respond, I asked "Why? Fuck, did I do something stupid?"

"I guess not."

"I don't usually drink like that." I said defensively, needing to make an excuse for myself.

"Yeah," was Grace's response.

"Yesterday was just..." I continued. Why I felt like I had to explain my actions, to Grace of all people, I didn't know. "Well, just not a very good day. And I'm sorry if I did or said anything to offend you." I finished, lamely.

"You didn't."

"Right." I was getting tired of her half-assed replies. I knew we were far from being best mates, but still, how fucking rude. She could at least make an effort.

We finished the rest of our run in silence. When we got back to the house, I was relieved. The sunlight thrown in with Grace's unapologetically blunt attitude was starting to give me a headache.

I threw myself on the living room couch, too tired to even think about making breakfast.

I'd assumed Grace had beelined upstairs, so it was a surprise when her voice floated out of the kitchen. "Do you still want breakfast?"

I lifted my head to see her with a carton of eggs in her hands, standing near the stove.

"Are you making breakfast?" I scrutinized.

"No, I'm just standing here with a carton of eggs because it's a hobby of mine."

I jumped out of the couch and walked into the kitchen, where I took a seat at the breakfast island. I didn't get this girl at all. One minute she was snapping at me, and the other she was offering to make me breakfast?

Not one to turn down food though, I told her "Yeah, I wouldn't mind something to eat."

Grace started pulling out random things from different cupboards and drawers and mixing eggs and flour in a bowl. I had no idea how she even knew we had all this stuff.

"How do you know where everything is?" I asked, when I couldn't contain my curiosity any longer.

Grace lifted her face to look me in the eyes. She was standing just a little bit to the left of me. "I did some inventory of the kitchen yesterday when everyone was out."

Oh shit. I didn't think of that. She was alone for quite a bit of time yesterday when I had gone to visit my dad and the others were at practice. She had to have gotten hungry at some point. I felt a pang of guilt stab at me.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear Griffin coming down the stairs until his hand slapped me on the back of my shoulder.

"You certainly had a wild night yesterday, Scotty boy," he said to me as he took a seat beside me.

"I guess," I murmured, but Griffin had already turned to his sister. "Are you making breakfast? Hell yeah. It's been forever since we've had anything other than cereal around here."

Grace seemed to light up at the sight of her brother. When she spoke, the usual coldness in her voice was missing. "Are you going to politely ask me to make you breakfast? Or are you going to be a total ass and assume I'm just going to make it for you?"

Griffin put on his best sarcastic smile. "Oh, please Gracie, would you be so kind as to feed your starving brother and his pals?"

"His pals?"

As if on cue, Bryce came running down the stairs. "Did someone say breakfast?"

Griffin laughed. "When you feed one of the wolves, the rest of the pack comes running."

Grace shook her head incredulously, like she couldn't believe what had just happened. "Alright, fine. But you're helping." 

With that, she threw a spatula at Griffin, which he barely caught before it clocked him in the head.  

*****

Hello, you wonderful people!

Surprise! Guess who's back after disappearing suddenly for 8 months... ME!

I really have no excuse, except life just got in the way and I seriously cannot believe we're in August of 2016! 

If you're still following this story, you are the realest MVP there is. I'm starting to get back into Black Hearts and I have a lot of ideas going forward.

Hope you liked this chapter!! <3