[A/N]: Before I start this chapter, I just want to give a HUGE thank you to the readers of this book. Family Matters has hit 100k views and I am just surprised at how far this book has come. I want to thank each and every one of you for reading and hopefully, enjoying my book! I also want you all to know that I love you very, very much and that you guys' voted and comments is what keeps me going! Now, I won't keep you much longer so here's the next chapter!

THIRD P.O.V

It was almost three in the morning when Ares had woken up thirsty. He headed downstairs as quietly as possible and once he got down there he headed straight to the kitchen to get some water.

After he finished, he washed his glass out and put it in the drying rack and walked out of the kitchen. Upon walking out, he nearly screamed when seeing the the front door open. Everyone was in the house to his knowledge so who in the world was that?

His question was soon answered when an upset looking Roman came through the door and both of their eyes widened at the sight of each other.

"Roman...?" Ares muttered as he looked at Roman confused.

"Uh...hi and bye" Roman muttered before trying to quickly walk up the stairs but Ares wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily.

"Woah, slow down there bro. Where have you been?" Ares asked as he followed Roman up the stairs.

"None of your business" Roman said sharply as he continued to walk quickly to the safety of his room. Once he was there, he'd be safe from Ares' annoying questions.

"I'm sensing some hostility here, I'm just asking a simple question" Ares said and once the two got to Roman's room, Ares looked at him expectantly.

"Just go back to bed. It isn't something you need to worry about" Roman whispered and Ares rose an eyebrow.

"You know I'm going to find out anyways so you should just spill. Either that or I'm going to wake everyone up and you'll have no choice but to tell" Ares said with a small grin and Roman couldn't help the glare he gave Ares.

He had such a pain in the ass little brother.

"Get in" Roman gritted and Ares happily walked into the room. Roman shut the door softly between them and let out a sigh upon seeing Ares making himself comfortable on his bed.

"So, where were you?" Ares asked.

"Out" Roman said dismissively as he took a seat at his desk and looking at Ares. Ares rose an eyebrow.

"Out where?" Ares asked.

"It doesn't matter" Roman grumbled as he crossed his arms.

Ares frowned at Roman's answer and decided to look for clues himself in Roman's appearance since the aforementioned didn't want to tell. His hair was sticking up at different angles as if he had been constantly messing with it and his lips were frowning as he stared at the ground. Ares had already previously suspected that something was bothering Roman, but this was just giving Ares the confirmation he needed.

Roman was hardly one to get upset over things. He always tried to stay positive so seeing Roman look so frustrated made Ares wonder who had gotten under his skin?

"It wasn't supposed to happen..." Ares looked up at Roman who was staring at his hands. His eyes held this look of guilt in them and Ares could sense that Roman truly was frustrated about whatever he did.

"...do you want to talk about it?" Ares asked slowly and he expected Roman to be on the defensive side again and refuse but to Ares' surprise, he didn't.

"We got into an argument...and I said some things that I didn't actually mean..." Roman said and Ares raised his brow.

"Like?" Ares asked and Roman's cheeks reddened when thinking back on the childish insults he had thrown out of anger.

"I called them a child..." he muttered and Ares frowned.

"That's not that bad" He said and Roman shook his head.

"And then I told them that I didn't feel the same way as they did..." Ares watched silently as Roman clenched his fists. He stayed silent for a moment, processing Roman's words.

Whoever this person was, it was clear they had a strong hold over Roman. Roman hardly ever talks about the people he works with or any friends that he may or may not have. For whatever reason that is, Ares could never understand it. How one could throw their lives into their work was just strange to him.

Ares had a pretty solid idea on who this person could be and since his curiosity was eating him up, he just decided to ask.

"Is Alain the one you were fighting with?" Ares questioned and he could tell he hit the nail on the head as he saw Roman's body tense up.

"The way you're able to always be in the know without even trying should be illegal" Roman said and Ares let out a short chuckle.

"It wasn't that hard. He's the first coworker you've ever brought to the house after all" Ares said and Roman slouched in his seat a little, suddenly feeling a little more lighter in a way.

"You're not bothered by it?" Roman asked as he looked up at his ceiling.

"Bothered by what? The fact that you like a guy?" Ares asked and Roman nodded. Ares shrugged.

"I'm not some asshole that's gonna tell you who you can and can't like. If this guy makes a shut in like you open up, then I have no problems with him" Ares said and Roman gave a nod.

"Why did you tell him those things?" Ares said and Roman's expression suddenly became difficult to read for Ares.

"He asked me why I couldn't accept the idea of the two of us being together...I didn't want to tell him the real reason so I lied and that's when we started arguing" Roman finished and Ares nodded.

"Well, I won't ask you what your reasons are since they're yours but I'll just say that being honest with someone can go a long way" Ares said as he stood up and stretched.

He had started to begin feeling sleep creep up on him since it was still very early in the morning and his intentions was just a glass of water and then going back to sleep. He had no idea he would be seeing Roman come in at the wee hours of dawn and listening to his guy troubles.

Roman watched as Ares just left the room silently. He thought Ares would push him to give him all the answers he wanted to hear but surprisingly he didn't which Roman was grateful for. Roman let out a short sigh before standing up. He didn't even care that he was still in his outside clothes as once he turned his light off, he crawled into bed and closed his eyes.

He tried to sleep, but in his head, the argument between the two of them kept replaying and he only felt more guilty about lying to Alain.

"You're a child that's barely out of high school"

"I'm not barely out of high school, I never even went"

"That's even worse!"

"I'm not a child either. I'm 19! That's over the legal age so why does it matter?"

"You could be with literally anyone else, it doesn't have to be me"

"You're avoiding my question. Besides, I don't want just anyone, I want you!"

"Well, I'm sorry. The feeling isn't mutual"

"Then I'll make you fall for me, you hear me? I'll make you fall for me so hard that you'll never be able to be with anyone but me!"

Roman groaned before tossing his pillow over his face as if doing so would block the voices out of his head.

He could tell that it was going to be a long night.

~ Next Week, Ceres P.O.V ~

"Ugh, this is taking forever. Come on you stupid computer, load!" Ross said as he shook the school laptop.

"Don't do that, you might break it" Hayden scolded as he looked up from his own computer.

We had been given in class time to work on our projects but it seems the school's internet connection was just a little too slow for Ross' liking. Or it was just the fact that Ross was impatient.

"This is so annoying" Ross muttered and I just shook my head. I had been typing up the tidbits of information that Hayden had put together. We were just waiting for the research from Ross but it was proving difficult at the moment.

"Let's chat while waiting for this stupid thing to load. But what should we talk about?Hmm...oh! What are you guys having for lunch? My brother made this weird looking thing that is supposed to be my lunch but I think I'll die if I eat it" Ross said as he looked at his bag.

I found it not so hard to talk to Ross, he was a lot like Diana in a way. The two could talk all day long and not even care if no one was listening to them.

"My brother usually makes me lunch when he has the time but he had to go into work early today so I have to eat the school lunch" I said with a grimace at the end and Ross gave me an apologetic look.

"I'm so sorry" he said with a shake of his head and from the side, I heard Hayden snort.

"I'm also stuck eating the school lunch. I would make my own lunch but it's a hassle" He said. Hayden had eventually warmed up to the both of us and was now more open to talking so it wasn't always so quiet between the three of us.

"What about your parents?" Ross said and Hayden shrugged.

"They're both busy a lot and I don't want to bother them with things like that. I'm also not lucky enough to have kind siblings like you two" Hayden said as he looked between me and Ross.

"Kind? I'm like a lab rat to him! My brother doesn't know how to cook and he's well aware of that yet he still sends me off with his nasty creations" Ross said with a huff and I let out a chuckle.

"And you don't tell him anything?" Hayden asked and Ross sighed.

"Of course I do but anything I say goes right through one ear and out the other" He said and just then his eyes landed on the computer.

"Oh, finally!" He said as he saw the page loaded and now we could all get back to work.

After the bell rang, it was time for lunch and it was no longer just me and Diana anymore. Ross and Hayden had also joined our little circle. Diana and Ross hit it off easily and while Hayden was still warming up to Diana, she didn't mind and tried to coax him out of his shell like she did to me.

"Natasha fell asleep during class and Avery kept going on different websites. I was so tempted to slap the both of them with my textbook" Diana said as she opened up her juice bottle.

"Haha! As if you'd actually do that!" Ross said and Diana rose an eyebrow.

"You wanna test that theory out?" Diana asked as she grabbed her bag that was on the seat next to her. Ross put his hands up in surrender.

"I'm just kidding, jeez" Ross said and Hayden rolled his eyes.

"You two are so childish" he said and Ross flicked a gooey piece of whatever his brother made at Hayden who let out a girly shriek and we all laughed.

"Gross..." Hayden said as he tried to wipe it off his shirt but the more he wiped, the deeper of a stain it left.

"What is that anyways?" Diana asked as she looked into Ross' lunch but immediately moved away once smelling the horrible smell.

"That's...that's a health department violation right there" Diana muttered as she put a napkin over her mouth and nose.

"And now it's stuck on my shirt" Hayden grumbled.

I continued to listen to the three of them chat as I silently ate. I didn't really feel right just interjecting into the conversation but I also didn't feel left out. I was content just listening to their friendly banter.

"We should hang out after school. There isn't really much we can do here" Ross said and Diana nodded enthusiastically.

"You could join a club if you're so bored" Hayden said and Ross gave a disgusted look.

"Nah, I'm good. So, you guys in?" Ross said looking at me and Hayden.

"Yeah, my parents don't care" Hayden said.

"I just have to ask first" I said and Ross nodded. I sent a quick text to the group chat with my brothers and instantly there were replies.

~ Kade's Posse ~

(named by Kade and no one cared enough to change it)

Ceres: is it alright if I hang out with some friends after school?

Kade: Friend with an S?!

Ares: can you not read now?

Kade: I can!! I'm just surprised

Max: I don't think he understands that your words were an insult...

Roman: I'd say yes but I'm not sure if Lance would approve...

Kade: As long as they aren't boys, everything is A okay ;)

Max: Someone cancel this guy's phone bill please

Kade: I pay my own phone bill thank you very much

It was silent in the group chat for a few minutes before I got another ping.

Lance: It's fine. I'm in a meeting right now but just be home before dinner, okay?

Ceres: Thank you, I will

Kade: Whaaaat?? Don't I get a say in this decision?!

Max kicked Kade from Kade's Posse

Ares' changed the chat name to "Ares' Posse"

Lucas: Now you know we're going to have to hear him complain later...

Ares: Yeah well, I'd rather later than right now lol

Max: What he said.

I looked back up at my friends who were waiting for my response and when I nodded they all cheered.

"Alright, now we just have to get through the rest of this boring day" Ross said and I agreed. I couldn't wait for the day to be finished either.