-Violet-

The credits rolled onto the screen of the TV that resided in James's room.

And it comes to no surprise that he was asleep next to me. He was lying on his stomach, facing away from me. His bare back was exposed to me and the blanket covered up to the back of his hips. Without much resistance on my end, I reached and touched the smooth skin of his back, slowly walking my fingers over and up the back of his shoulder blade.

I let my fingertips glide in circles, tracing patterns over his lower back. With lightness, I trickled my fingers up his spine, and I slowly slipped my fingers into his messy hair. I twirled a strand around my finger and loosened it before sliding my fingers softly down his back again.

A sigh fell from my lips and I brought my hands back into my lap.

It was quiet for a few seconds and then, "Why'd you stop?"

I smiled to myself. "So you're awake now?"

"I was awake the second you touched my back," He murmured.

I pressed my fingers against his back lightly again and he sighed. "I have to leave soon," I whispered. "I need to be up early."

James groaned and flipped onto his back. He looked up at me and folded an arm behind his head. "Will your mom ever let you spend the night? We've been here all day by ourselves. If we were going to do something—"

"Don't even."

He smiled and used his free hand to tug on my arm. "I'm just saying. Not saying that I want—because I don't—wait, no, that's not what I meant—"

"Shut up." I laughed. "You're so cute when you're flustered."

He narrowed his eyes and glared.

The look on his face made me giggle. I leaned down and started planting small kisses all over his face, one to his forehead, another to his cheeks, and one more to his chin. I hovered my face over his, kissing the tip of his scrunched up nose and one small kiss to his lips.

As I pulled away, I swiped my tongue over my bottom lip. "You still taste like Twizzlers."

He braced a hand on the nape of my neck and kissed me again. I felt his smile twist against my lips as mine opened under his.

We parted and I gently nudged my face into the crook of his neck. I slipped my arm over his waist and hugged myself to his side. I sighed and kissed the soft skin of his neck. "You really wouldn't care if I spent the night?" I asked.

"Of course not," He said quickly. "I'd love it if you did."

"You're not getting tired of me yet?" I joked.

He tilted my head back with the tip of his finger and looked down at me. "Tired of you?"

"It's possible," I replied.

"No it's not." He kissed my forehead and I melted into his touch. "I love being around you. I think about you a lot when I can't sleep and I can never wait to see you." He looked at me again, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "I'm here to stay, Vi. I'm not going anywhere."

His reassurance made my heart swell. "I know that and I—" I stopped before the words tumbled out of my mouth.

James looked at me curiously. "You okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine, just tired I guess. Let me call my mom really quick and I'll be back." I climbed out of James's bed and padded to the living room where my phone was left sitting on the couch.

I called my mom and let it ring three times before she answered, "Is James bringing you home, honey?"

"Um, I think I'm just going to spend the night since it's so late—"

"We didn't talk about this, Vi." She breathed.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and answered, "I know, Mom. But it's fine. James is already asleep and I'd hate to wake him," I lied. Well, it's a partial lie. Knowing James he's probably already sleeping again.

I almost thought she hung up until she spoke again, "Fine. But I want you home by seven and I swear, Violet, if you make me a grandma—"

"Oh, my God, Mom. No, that's not going to happen." My cheeks burned. "You're not going to be a grandma. At least not because of me."

She sighed with relief. "Get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Vi."

And I hung up.

I sat my phone back on the table and pressed my cool palms to my cheeks before walking back into James's room. He was sitting up in bed now, his head slightly cocked to the side, and his hair disheveled from sleeping. "Grandma?"

I groaned loudly. "Not you too!"

James chuckled and rubbed his jaw. "Your mom is funny."

"She's your everyday comedian," I said sarcastically, my face burning more by the second. "Do you have a shirt I could borrow?"

James smiled at me and got out of bed. He walked in his closet, emerging with a black t-shirt in hand. He handed it to me and I walked into his bathroom to change. The shirt came up mid-thigh and I settled with that. Not much I could do about it unless I wanted to sleep in jeans. Which isn't comfortable at all. But I'm comfortable around James enough.

He was standing in the middle of the room, his phone in one hand, and his other hand stuffed in the pocket of his sweatpants. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Almost midnight," He murmured back, still looking down at his phone.

I stepped closer to him and pushed up my glasses. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," He replied and locked his phone before setting it on the bedside table. He looked at me, scanned my body once, and his lips quirked into a grin. "Remind me to let you borrow my clothes more often."

I felt my cheeks flush and I wrapped my arms around myself. "It's the softest shirt I've ever worn. I want to bury myself in it."

James laughed lightly and placed his hands on my arms. "You can keep it." He pulled me closer against his chest, snaking an arm around my waist.

"Really?" I beamed and bit down on my lower lip.

He gripped my chin between his pointer and thumb. "You drive me crazy when you do that," He whispered.

"What?"

"Bite your lip." His eyes searched mine.

My heart picked up, hammering too hard against my chest. "Want to know what drives me crazy?" I asked in a low tone.

He nodded slowly.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I lifted a hand to his neck, pressing my fingers against the hallow part just below his jaw. "Being kissed there, or here—" I slid my fingers down his neck, stopping at the curve between his neck and shoulder.

James was watching me with attentive eyes and steady breathing.

"Want to know my ultimate weak spot?"

"Do you not trust me to find it?"

"I'm s-sure you could." My heart would not calm down as I was speaking. I'm surprised it didn't jump out of my chest. The confidence I had was wearing thin and the more taunting his gaze got, the more I had to resist. "We should probably s-sleep," I stuttered and I mentally cursed myself.

James leaned down and kissed my forehead before bringing me to the bed. I climbed in and scooted to the other side and James got in behind me.

While James was turning off the bedside table lamp, I curled up behind him so I could wrap my arm around him. He settled back onto his pillow, his back facing me as I snaked an arm under his. He brought his hand over mine, slipping his fingers through mine and squeezing gently.

I still haven't calmed enough after that scene. My cheeks were burning and my chest ached slightly.

My lips touched the back of his shoulder and I heard him let out a long breath. "We'll finish this conversation when you get back," He muttered.

"I guess we'll see about that."

James only laughed and then it fell quiet.

It wasn't long before I fell asleep with James in my arms.

* * *

I stood in front of my dad's house, the red door burning in my memory and giving me a slight headache.

His wife wasn't here. She didn't want to be she said. My mom didn't seem fazed, but I knew she was. Gray and Nic both called her some lovely names. And by lovely I mean awful. But she deserved it. There was no reason for her to be rude to us. It's not like he left her to start a new family.

Gray walked past me and nudged my arm. "Come on. There's a lot of stuff."

I shrugged my shoulders and hugged myself. "Give me a minute and I'll be there," I replied softly.

He nodded and followed Nic inside.

The house was your classic suburban home at the end of the cul-de-sac. But the only house on the block with a red door. And for some reason I feel like that was my dad's doing.

I let my arms fall to my sides and started walking to the front door. The door was only cracked, so I pushed it the rest of the way until it swung open. I stepped inside and took a deep, shaky breath and exhaled slowly.

It definitely felt lived in. There were pictures on the wall in the foyer of him and his new family, opened and unopened mail scattered on the small table by the front door, and shoes lined up close beside it.

It didn't feel like there was anyone missing. But there was.

"Vi! Come help me with this box!" I heard Nic call.

I sighed and climbed the stairs. Nic's voice was my guide, so I followed it down the hall and into the master bedroom. "What are we supposed to do with his stuff?" I asked as Nic transferred the box into my arms.

Nic shrugged. "Monica is kind of a shitty person if you haven't noticed."

"Believe me, I've noticed. I'm glad she's not here."

I took the box downstairs and Nic followed behind with another box. We piled them by the front door and made our way back upstairs. "How's Mom doing?"

Nic sighed. "She's okay, I think. Just don't get mad at her—"

"I won't, Nic. I was stupid and I was just upset. I took it out on the wrong person. But I'm okay now. I'm going to be here if Mom needs me to be."

"She's going to need it, Vi."

All of a sudden, a loud crash came from inside the large walk in closet. We all rushed inside and found Mom bending over a fallen box on the floor. "Are you okay?" Gray rushed, bending down to help.

"Yeah," She replied and breathed. "Just couldn't reach it..."

"We would've helped, Mom," Nic said and kneeled down to help as well.

I walked around to the other side and sat down to help.

"I know, honey." She started picking things up and putting them back in the box. "I'm fine."

We were all putting things back into the box when my mom stilled. As I dropped a folder in the box, I stopped and stared. I glanced at Nic and Gray and they were too. She was holding a piece of blue fabric in her hands and her lips tugged into a harsh frown.

Her eyes welled up, but no tears fell.

"Mom," Gray said and touched her shoulder.

All she could do was stare at the piece of worn materiel in her hands.

"He kept it," She said so softly, I barely heard her. "I can't believe he kept it."

Gray, Nic, and I exchanged looks and looked back to Mom. "What is it?" I asked.

She stroked the fabric with her thumb. "I gave it to him...I gave it to him when I told him the sex of the baby when I was pregnant with Blue. It was a week before he left..." She trailed off, still moving her thumb in circles over the material. "He couldn't be there for the appointment so I found a giant box and put this at the bottom. Stuffed the box with a bunch of newspapers and he dug through it." A tear fell on her cheek and she used the back of her hand to wipe it away.

I moved around the box to get to her side and I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "It's okay," I whispered.

She tried sucking in a breath, but it she lost it on the way up. "He never got to meet him," she sobbed. "He never—"

I hurried to pull her into my arms, hugging her tightly as she sobbed on my shoulder. "Dad would've loved Blue," I told her softly. "Blue would've loved him too."

This wasn't a good idea. Her coming here after a closed wound was open was not smart. Monica should've dealt with this. Knowing her she did it out of spite to hurt my mom. And seeing my mom like this is breaking my heart. "You can wait outside, Mom. We'll finish up in here."

She choked on another sob and pulled back. She stood without a word, the blue material clutched to her chest as she left the room. My eyes burned as I watched her leave and I wanted to go after her. But I stayed where I sat and looked at the empty doorway she left through.

"We should get two more boxes and get out of here. Monica can deal with the rest," Gray said angrily and stood up.

Nic stood too, the expression on his face ready to crack.

I just watched my brothers as they moved around the closet, collecting his things and placing them in boxes. Gray looked like him the most. The blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Nic looked like Gray except the coloring of the hair and eyes, but feature wise, they could almost pass for twins.

I still didn't know what to do. It felt like my throat was closing in on me and I wanted to cry. My eyes were burning and I clenched my jaw. "This isn't fair," I whispered and started putting things back in the box again.

"I know, Vi," Gray replied.

"Mom doesn't deserve this." I folded the box lids up and rose from the floor. "I think we should go home tonight."

Nic nodded in agreement, but Gray spoke, "What about the will?"

I shrugged. "Then the lawyer can come to us. I don't give a shit what Monica says. This is not good for Mom and we need to get her out of this place."

"Okay," Gray said. "We'll load these last boxes up and head back to the hotel."

"Thank you." I sighed. "I'm going to take this one down." I carefully lifted the box and took it downstairs. Mom was sitting in the passenger seat of the car with her face in her hands.

As much as I wanted to stop and talk to her, I didn't. Sometimes you just need to be left alone to cry it out. And I'll be here when she's ready.

* * *

On the way back home, Gray stopped to buy dinner at a fast food place.

Mom seemed to be doing a little better by then. Her eyes were puffy and red, but she stopped crying an hour after we left. She still hasn't said much, but Nic did get her to laugh when he stuck French fries up his nose like a two year old. It was a small snort, but at least it was something.

For the rest of the way home, she sat in the back with me and let Nic sit up front with Gray while they fought over the radio. While that was happening, I reached over to my mom and grabbed her hand. I didn't even say anything, just gently squeezed her palm and she tightened her grip in response.

By the time we got home, night had fallen.

Kayla was surprised to see us back early and Blue ran to Mom first off. She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek like she hasn't seen him in forever.

After Kayla left, Mom announced she was going to bed. She hugged and kissed us all and Blue trailed behind her.

I fell back on the couch with a loud sigh and Gray and Nic sat down on each of my sides. "What should we do with all of Dad's stuff?" Nic asked.

"I'm going to go out before Mom gets up to find a small storage unit. I don't want her to have to deal with it. Not after today. And maybe sometime in the future she'll feel like going through it." Gray shrugged. "But I'm not worried about that. She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to."

"I'll go with you if you want," I spoke. "It's like she lost him all over again."

"I know," Gray said. "We just have to be here as much as we can."

"Yeah." I stood up again. "I'm going to shower and probably head to bed. Love you guys," I murmured.

They said it back as I walked down the hall to my room.

* * *

After my shower, I cuddled in bed and grabbed my phone.

I'm surprised James hasn't messaged me at all today. Well, sort of. He knew what I had to do today and didn't want to bother me. So instead I found his number and called him.

It rang four times before he answered, "Hey."

"It's so good to hear your voice," I said lightly, picking at my bottom lip.

"I'm guessing it didn't go well," he stated, his voice rough like he had been sleeping. And knowing James he probably was.

"It didn't. I'm not sure why I expected it to."

"I'm sorry, Vi." He paused. "Do you need me to come over?"

"I always need you to come over," I joked.

James laughed a little. "I'll be there if you need me to be."

"I wouldn't stop you." I let out a small laugh. "But it's getting late and I'm exhausted. What about lunch tomorrow?"

"Your choice."

"Perfect."

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Sorry if this chapter sucked lol. I've had a bad block lately. But the block is sorta gone for now and I've been writing to this story and I have a Christmas story coming out soon. :)

Also the gif is who I picture as James, who is also the model in all my covers and he's beautiful. His name is Arthur Gosse and I want to touch his face. I meant to post it with the last chapter, but totally forgot I made it lol. So enjoy it now. :)))))) (Arthur is French and I basically died when I heard him talk)

Pleeeaase vote and comment? Let me know your thoughts on this chapter pleeeaase? :)