Song: tired playlist by Rainy Girl

Thanksgiving was a time to be grateful for all that one had. Yet Lilah found herself feeling anything but that on the eve of the dreaded holiday.

The townhouse was alive with chatter as she snuck in through the back door. Her mom and Mrs. Lodovico were bustling around in the kitchen, unaware of her presence. Lilah never did get around to asking her mother if it bothered her that her ex husband was spotted with Judge Pedi. Stupid Simon Darcy had left her reeling so hard she couldn't think straight for days.

With her mother, Mrs. Lodovico, Caius, Lonnie, and Adrian hanging around, the house felt unbearably small. When she couldn't take it any longer she ran away back to her apartment. Solitude and work were her friends. She threw herself into both, disregarding her promise to Lonnie to stay until she was better.

The worst part was that she couldn't even tell a disappointed Lonnie why she'd left so suddenly.

Lonnie had always been the strong one. The enduring one. The one that took pride in the color of her skin and her Hawaiian heritage. Lonnie never felt ashamed to be the only person of color in the room. She never once felt like she was less than anyone else. Because she didn't allow anyone to demean her based on her gender or race.

It was for that reason alone why Lilah could never tell her about the bet and what followed.

Lilah's shame and internal hatred was overwhelming. She couldn't tell her big sister about what had happened without feeling like a complete failure. All she could do was keep her woes and self deprecating thoughts to herself. Maybe even hope that one day, eventually, things would somehow get better for her in that department.

Lilah slipped into an empty closet, barely avoiding her mother as she yelled in Italian. Her phone buzzed and she swiped to read the message. A small smile lifted her cheeks as she stared at the picture of a sleeping Kiki and smiling Vincent.

There were alarmingly dark circles underneath his closed eyes. No doubt from the extensive hours he'd been putting in at work after one of his projects hit a budgeting snag. In light of recent events, Lilah had been his shoulder to lean on whenever he needed to vent.

Kiki felt horrible for only having time to see Vincent at night. When he was too exhausted to do anything more than cuddle his boyfriend to a less than satisfying sleep. He carried guilt that Vincent took it upon himself to feed him dinner every single night. He even forced Kiki to take a shower then tucked him into bed before he collapsed.

Not once did Vincent ever complain.

There were too many days where he'd given Ambrose a rain check for their gym time. Only to be met with short and gruff messages of dismissal and motivation.

Kiki was also adamant that Ambrose or Jill were responsible for the amazing meals. Her brother loved his boyfriend more than life itself. But he also knew what Vincent was and wasn't capable of.

Could he fry an egg? Yes. Although, it was gonna be a little crispy.

Could he make homemade macaroni with brie and crab? What about perfectly cooked Scandinavian steak and potatoes? Or, could he make seared scallops and baby spinach with a spiced pomegranate glaze?!

Well...

Vincent could fry a pretty decently crispy egg.

Kiki was beyond grateful for Ambrose and Jill. If he wasn't bitching about work or lamenting his feelings, he was praising them.

Lilah found she didn't feel so amiss hearing praise about Ambrose now that she'd delivered her apology.

"Where did you put the presents?"

Lilah froze then quickly dimmed the lighting on her phone. She held her breath, listening to the voices that were right outside her hiding spot.

"I put them in your room," Mrs. Lodovico replied, placing her hands on her doughy hips. "I still don't know why you wasted your money on those people. You think they'll bring you gifts? Pfft. As if."

Mrs. Carmichael sighed, waving her friends' worries away with a flick of the wrist. "Lonnie wants to give her and Adrian a shot." Lilah rolled her eyes, feeling petulant. "I'm going to support her. Making peace with Adrian's parents is a good start. Now that they're coming over for Thanksgiving, we can start mending our relationship."

Lilah placed a hand on the wall, needing to brace herself as she listened to the rest of the conversation. What she heard made her stomach plummet. She felt sick at first. But then the rage came and she had half a mind to march down to the Radcliffe townhouse just to punch someone in the face.

Preferably Jason.

Adrian's little, stupid, asshole, racist brother.

The same one that was the source of Lilah's greatest torment.

Lilah prayed her brother was home as she stalked towards his room.

In the midst of the chaos and drama, Caius remained unscathed. He enjoyed his break from New Haven by eating and sleeping. Occasionally, he remembered to drag himself to take a shower before going back to sleep.

Most of his days were spent utilizing his knowledge of the best hiding places in the townhouse. He avoided Adrian and occasionally Lonnie when she looked particularly sour. Mrs. Lodovico had the uncanny ability of slipping up behind him and snatching his ear. Then dragging him to the kitchen to eat somewhere besides his own room.

He didn't fight her anymore. Hadn't put up much resistance since he was six and realized she would never stop trying to feed him.

His mother, on the other hand, was the only person in the house that he went out of his way to seek out.

Caius frowned when his phone buzzed for the fifth time. Pushing up his glasses, he placed his book on his lap. His annoyed gaze skimmed the message from Winifred Irvine with unconcealed contempt. Yet another booty call from the one person he didn't want to receive one from.

It floored him how a soon to be married woman could be in his dm's like she didn't have another man's ring on her finger.

He screenshotted the text before deleting it. She was crazy before she was doing donuts on his dick. Now she was even crazier after he cut her off once she got engaged.

Caius leaned back on his bed, sinking into the plush pillows as Lilah stomped downstairs and into his room. Her huffing and puffing reminded him of the Big Bad Wolf. His lips curled upwards into a half smile at the thought. It quickly fell when Lilah's deadly eyes landed on him.

He tilted his head to the side and she unloaded on him.

"We're merging dinners!" she hissed, slamming her fist into the foot of his bed. A foreboding, unpleasant aura oozed from her, temporarily stunning Caius. "The Radcliffe's are coming over to Granny's!"

Caius narrowed his honey hued eyes, shooting a baleful glare at the floor.

"I know!" Lilah whisper-shouted, feeling validated by her brother's extreme reaction. "We're even gonna take family pictures. Which they'll post. And then everyone will know our business!"

Caius snorted when she flopped onto his bed face first, finding some humor in his sister's tantrum.

"Y'know it's gonna follow you back to New Haven, right?" she asked, words muffled by the way her face was smashed into his black comforter.

He hummed, not at all worried. Caius was wonderful at avoiding people he wasn't keen on interacting with. He didn't think he'd have much of a problem dodging the nosy questions of his peers. It wasn't like he'd been doing just that his entire life.

Lilah's defeated face greeted him. The sight tugged on his heartstrings yet he made no move to console her.

Despite his more than active sex life, physical touch was not his love language.

"Jason will be there." Her tired eyes flitted towards the wall when she couldn't handle his searching stare any longer. "Simon too."

Caius' face mimicked that of a darkening sky. Clouds gathered across his kind eyes, tainting his saccharine stare into something sickly. He took a deep breath, ignoring the biting winter storm that swirled within him at the mention of those two assholes.

"Stay by my side."

Lilah chuckled, amused by her brother's gruff voice and sudden cold demeanor. "What, for the whole day?"

"Yes."

"Caius," Lilah smiled weakly, patting his ankle in an effort to ease his mood, "that isn't practical."

"Does it look like I care?"

"You never look like you care."

Caius smirked. "Exactly. I don't care what other people think. Stay by my side for the whole day. It'll be ok."

"Caius—"

"They're not gonna mess with you," Caius interrupted, voice firm and unyielding. "I won't allow it."

Lilah didn't have much of a fighting spirit within her these days. Between Lonnie's engagement, avoiding Simon's seering stare at the country club, Mattie coming home tonight, and work—

She was at her wits end.

Looking at her brother, Lilah nodded, too drained to fight him on the matter. "How did I get so lucky to have you for a brother?"

Caius shrugged, opening his book then muttering, "China's one child policy."

Lilah choked on her spit, pressing a hand to her mouth in an effort to stifle her laughter. "You're awful!"

"Nah," Caius smiled, poking her leg with his feet, "just realistic."

In his room, where silence prevailed, they whispered in between turned pages and crawling minutes. Above them the Carmichael townhouse grew in volume once Lonnie and Adrian joined their mother and Mrs. Lodovico.

Everyone seemed so happy. Lilah couldn't believe that only two months ago she was her usual bubbly self. And now she was just so... drained.

Her heart plummeted when her phone dinged and she read the text. The number was unknown but she knew it was him. Jason was the only one she had blocked now that Simon made sure she got his new number through the grapevine of their oh so helpful peers.

See you soon ;)

Dread settled in her bones. Lilah wondered just how long the calm could last before the storm finally broke.

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Vote and/or Comment if you enjoyed this part!

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QOTD: How do you think Thanksgiving might go given the tension between the two families? Do you think Lilah should have told Lonnie (and Kiki) about the bet no matter how "strong" she sees her older sibling(s) as?