“I FEEL LIKE I MISSED A party.”

The door was pushed open and Jo stood there, arms crossed over her chest, long blond hair braided in a crown atop her head.

They both sat up.

“Hey,” Daniel began, walking towards her with arms wide open.

Jo took a step back, eyebrow arched suspiciously.

“Don't you dare, Daniel,” she squealed just as he lunged towards her.

“Aw why not? I'm just trying to hug you.”

“No, you're not. Am,” she whined, darting to her left to avoid Daniel. “Tell him to behave or else I'll punch him.”

Amelia laughed, squeezing herself in one corner to avoid being trampled by the two of them.

“Daniel, leave her alone,” Amelia chided as Jo jumped on the bed, turning left and right.

“Jo, get down from the bed,” she sighed, cringing from the way Daniel's bed sheet wrinkled under her feet.

“Tell him to leave me alone.”

“Daniel, will you stop?” She said but it was too late. He'd already gotten to her.

He held her head against his side, his upper arm holding her in place as he rubbed his knuckles over her perfectly styled hair, ruining it up.

Jo yelled, slapping and punching him wherever her hands would reach but to no avail.

“What is happening here?” Mom said, appearing in the door frame, eyebrows furrowed.

Her expressions relaxed on seeing the two of them fighting it off.

“Daniel, I'm serious. Cut it off,” Amelia yelled and he finally let her go.

She fell back, glaring at him.

“I hate you.”

Daniel laughed, sitting next to her. She threw a pillow at his face and he groaned at the sudden attack.

“Daniel, when will you grow up,” mom commented with an easy laugh, not noticing the way his smile vanished.

“Turning twenty three this year yet he acts like a two year old,” Jo laughed, eyes darting from Daniel to Lily nervously.

“Mom, when will dinner be ready?” Amelia asked, gently trying to usher her out of the room.

But she held her ground.

“Oh, about that. There's something I want to talk to you all about.”

Amelia's heart dropped all the way to her stomach. She knew where this was going. This was what happened every single time.

“Here we go again,” Daniel said dryly.

“What is it?” Amelia asked dejectedly.

“I have someone you three should meet,” Lily said, ignoring the way her children winced, having already seen this coming.

“Wonderful. Who is it this time, a drug addict? Alcoholic? A sadist who's going to hit you until you land in the hospital? Or have you landed a different sort of jackpot this time?”

Daniel spat and Lily flinched at the poison in his words.

“It's not… he's not like that. He's good. It's nothing bad this time, I promise.”

Amelia cringed.

How many promises had it been? I promise I'll get you your favorite book on your birthday. I promise this won't happen again. I promise I'll get better. I promise once I get back you can leave your jobs and be a normal teenager. I promise you won't have to look after me ever again.

“Don't make promises you can't keep, mom,” she said.

“Am, just meet him, okay? Just once. You'll like him.”

“I'm sure we won't. And I'm not staying here any longer.”

“Daniel, no,” Lily pleaded, blocking his way out.

“Lily, do not pull that crap with me,” he warned, voice dangerously low.

“Okay, okay. I won't ask you to meet him. I won't even bring him up ever again. This was a big mistake. Just stay. At least until dinner.”

“You keep making the same mistake over and over again. When will you learn? We don’t care about you or what’s going on in your life.”

Amelia’s gaze landed on Jo, sitting stiffly right where she’d fallen after Daniel had left her. Her eyes were wide, shimmering with unshed tears.

Jo was probably the most sheltered among the three of them. She had seen a little better version of Lily than them. And both Amelia and Daniel had given their everything to protect her and made sure she never saw the horrors that they did.

Her eyes met Amelia’s and she ran towards her. Amelia wrapped her arms around her, holding her close.

“Am, make him stop,” she whispered and Amelia sighed.

She didn’t wanted to. It might have been Daniel’s words but the hate they carried was hers also.

“Dani, let it go,” she said anyway, not wanting Jo to witness anymore of the nastiness.

He looked up, glaring at Amelia but then his gaze softened when it landed on Jo. He sighed, the sound carrying all his unsaid words to her.

“Am, make him stay. He’ll listen to you,” Lily turned to her. “Just until dinner.”

“Don’t you dare put this on her as well,” Daniel whispered furiously, glaring at lily.

Why had she decided to come here in the first place?

“Okay,” she whispered. Time to be the responsible one, just like she’d always been.

“Dani, stay until dinner. For Jo. Then we’ll leave, okay?”

“No. Jo can leave with us.”

“I…” Jo began, breaking away from her. “I want to stay. I’ll stay.”

“Joanna,” Daniel said warningly and she held his gaze.

“I know you both hate this and I know you only do this because of me. So…. please. Just until dinner. And then you’ll be free until next year,” she pleaded.

He glared at her and she held his gaze defiantly. He gave up after a while, running a hand through his dark hair.

“There will be no next year,” he said, walking out the door.

How many times had they said this same sentence? But they’d turned up in front of this damned place every Christmas.

Amelia had skipped last year. She’d promised to do so again but here she was, on the verge of a mental breakdown just because she hadn’t been able to say no to Joanna. She needed to stop doing that.

“I’ll get dinner ready,” Lily said, wiping the tears off her face as she rushed outside.

“I’ll go check up on Daniel,” she said.

“I’ll come with you,” Jo added, following behind her.

She knew where he would be. She grabbed her coat from the back of the sofa before she stepped outside in the cold winter air.

It nipped at her nose and the two of them huddled together, walking along the dark, silent road, patches of it illuminated by the golden lights from the few lamp posts.

They'd only walked three blocks when they spotted him, his silhouette daunting against the stark darkness in the area.

They approached him and Amelia spotted the cigarette in his hand, gray smoke swirling and then vanishing in the air.

He offered it to her and she eyed it darkly.

Drugs and her were something that never went well together.

She'd seen her mother surviving off these things, neglecting everything else, dumping all her responsibilities on Amelia even before she was old enough to understand the word ‘responsibility.’

“Do I need to lecture you about this?” She asked, pushing Daniel’s hand back.

He rolled his eyes.

“No. I don't do this often. I'm not Lily.”

“Okay, good.”

“I want a go,” Joanna said, holding out her hand.

“No.” Both Daniel and Amelia said at the same time.

“Oh, come on, I'm not a kid anymore.”

Daniel glared at her.

“Really, Jo? Then why don't you act like it?” He asked and she blew a breath, her shoulders slumping dejectedly.

“I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, no, this is the last time we're coming here. No more Christmas dinners. I hate this goddamn place.”

“Why does this matter so much to you, Jo? We three meet every month anyway. Why this dinner specifically?” Amelia asked, frowning at her sister.

A pause followed where they both stared at Joanna.

“I feel bad for her. I feel bad for mom.”

Amelia blinked. She had not expected that.

“Are you serious? Do you even know Lily?” Daniel scoffed.

“I know she was a bad mom to you both but look at her now. She's so alone and she's trying to improve herself.”

“She wasn't just a bad mother to us. She was a bad mother to you as well. You just don't remember it because we were always there to protect you.”

Amelia nodded in response.

“Jo, you know why we come here every time even though we both hate it? Because we don't trust Lily. We know what she's capable of when she's out of it. We've seen her do it all. We come here only to make sure you're alright,” she said.

“You don't have to look after me or protect me anymore. I never asked…”

A shiver ran down her spine. From the cold or from her sister's words, she wasn't sure.

“Joanna, that's enough,” Daniel ordered, stopping her before she could complete her sentence.

Amelia was done. She wanted today to be over. She was frustrated, a scream building in her throat.

“Let's go get dinner and then we can leave,” Daniel said, throwing the cigarette butt on the ground, stomping it out.

The walk back was quick, all of them wanting to get inside as soon as possible, the wind getting harsher the darker it got.

Lily opened the door, beaming at them as if the last few hours hadn't even happened.

“Amelia, your boyfriend is here,” she announced.

“What?” Amelia blinked. Both Jo and Daniel turned to look at her with raised brows.

“Your boyfriend?” Daniel questioned, amusement dancing in his voice.

She smacked his arm before walking past Lily.

It was Ethan.