That picture reminds me of Olivia in Chapter 12!!!!

For future information! Charlotte's dad has a nickname for each child, we've seen this early on with Charlotte and Sebastian but I just want to let you know what they are so people don't get confused! Also their ages at the beginning of this book! Some of them are probably stupid or corny but that's what makes them so special in a family.

Harry (Harold)- 20 (Junior in College)

Charlotte (Lottie)- 17 (Senior HS)

Sebastian & Sophie (Bass & Soapy)- 16 (Juniors HS)

Tessa (Tessy)- 14 (Freshman HS)

Madeline (Munchkin)- 7 (2nd Grade ES)

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The beach was cool and crowded, there was a nice breeze blowing by but not strong enough to blow sand everywhere. Mom and dad were more than happy to get rid of us all and even offered for us to take the SUV for the day. I think they just wanted a day to relax and chill with no kids. I get it, trust me, we're a handful.

Maddie plays at the shore with Sebastian as they try to find seashells for the collection she's decided to start; Tessa is digging a hole, claiming she's not going to stop until she finds water; and Sophie and I are tanning on our beach towels where we had all settled our stuff.

"Soapy, Lottie, look at this seashell I found, it's so pretty!" Maddie shouts running towards us.

I take off my sunglasses and look up as Sophie sits up moving her book to one side, "Wow Mads, that looks so pretty!" I tell her with wide eyes.

"You definitely have to keep that one," Sophie nods her head picking up the pink little bucket we've used to keep all her seashells in so far.

"I know!" She giggles placing the seashell into the bucket and saying a quick 'goodbye' and running back down to Sebastian. I lie back down on my towel.

"So, Chase Graham?" Sophie asks looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

"Chase," I nod my head in agreement.

"You know eventually you're going to have to tell mom and dad, how long have you two been dating again?" She asks lying on her back soaking up the sun.

"It's been roughly two months, Olivia told Sebastian we've hooked up 'a couple times' so that it wouldn't seem serious," I laugh.

"And? Is it serious?" She asks turning to face me.

"I would like to think so, we never confirmed a label but we're exclusive, and that's fine with me," I shrug picking up my book.

"What about Nathan? He seems to be trying his luck out with you after all the social interactions lately," Sophie remarks.

"He just feels guilty about his first impression with me, he flirted with me to prove a point and I lost my shit," I chuckle loudly, Sophie joining in too.

"Well if you're happy, then I'm happy for you. You know I'll have to meet him soon right?" Sophie winks, smiling at me. I smile back at her when I feel a bunch of sand hit me in the face.

"Tessa! What the hell?" I spit sand out of my mouth and start brushing my fingers through my hand trying to get the sand out, Sophie laughs next to me.

"Sorry Char didn't mean it, I swear!" Tessa yells sheepishly as she drops her toy shovel to the ground, raising her hands in surrender trying not to laugh.

I roll my eyes, chuckling softly as I get up and start making my way towards the shore to get rid of some of the sand. Sebastian is throwing Maddie in the air while she screams, laughing loudly. I slowly walk into the cold water. Maddie runs up next to me grabbing my hand and wading into the water with me. I walk in until my waist is in the water, with the water up to Maddie's neck. I scoop her up and walk her further in with me until I'm on tiptoes. The water is calm today so I don't have to worry about waves crashing against us. Maddie has her arms wrapped around my neck, holding on tightly.

"You ditched me," Sebastian pouts at Maddie feeling betrayed. She starts humming to the tune of Let It Go from Frozen and I don't even bother trying to contain my laughter. Sebastian huffs and crosses his arms. I hear someone calling Maddie's name from the shore and I look over and see Sophie standing ankle-deep.

"Maddie sunscreen time!" Sophie shouts. Maddie pouts but unhooks her arms from my neck and starts swimming back to shore. All three older siblings watch her carefully to make sure she gets back to shore okay; Sebastian takes a few steps forward when water splashes her face. Once she is out of the water with Sophie, I look over at Sebastian.

"So... Are we just going to ignore what happened last night and for the past month?" I cut to the chase.

"Well I've known you since birth so I know the answer to your question is no," he answers, "I don't expect Soph to forgive me right away but this morning was me showing her that I'm willing to move past it now."

"We've all been willing to move past it for the past few weeks," I argue back, "and do you even feel the slightest bit guilty for what happened between Cole and Soph? It all ended because of you, you know that right? Before they could even establish something, you ruined it," I ask just hoping he understands where I'm coming from.

"I get that, I do. But she said she likes Aidan, so it's all okay now," he says looking back at the shore to our younger siblings playing in the sand.

"So, that's why, Sophie started seeing someone else and now you're ready to forgive her, because she has no intentions with Cole anymore," I state rolling my eyes, "You know you're an idiot right?"

"That's not the only reason," I scoff loudly in reply, "I'm serious Char, I realized after the way everyone has been going on about me for the past month that holding a grudge was probably not the best way to handle that situation, and then you last night," he breaks off looking at me, "I have never seen you so angry at me, ever. That was a bitch slap back to reality for me, to have the most chill sibling I have lose their shit on me for acting like a douche, it just kind of clicked."

"Thank fuck you finally got it in that thick head of yours, I hate being the evil sibling, you know that," I walk up to him and smack him upside the head, "If you ever pull that stunt again I will shave your head in your sleep," I threaten, "And you do realize that you haven't apologized yet, right?"

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"But I don't wanna go home yet!" Maddie wails from her car seat, refusing to strap herself in. She's sitting with her arms folded as tears run down her pouting face.

"Mads we'll come back another time, it's just getting late and mom and dad are waiting for us," Sophie tries to console her.

"But I don't wanna!" She screams, her cries getting louder as she kicks the back of my chair.

"Madeline Maria Hayes if you do not stop with your nonsense I will never take you anywhere ever again, do you understand me?" I speak in a stern voice. She widens her eyes and stops crying immediately buckling up her seatbelt. Sometimes you gotta use the 'mom voice' to get shit done.

"Thank you, Jesus," Tessa mumbles quietly from the back row but we can all hear her.

The drive home is quick and quiet once Maddie passes out cold. After parking in the driveway, we start to unpack the beach supplies from the trunk while Sebastian carries a snoring Maddie into the house.

"So how was your day?" Dad asks as the rest of us walk inside.

"Great, until Maddie flipped her shit when we had to leave," Tessa tells dad as she leans on the kitchen island.

"Tessa language. Again? Well, mom is not going to be happy with Mads, it's happening too often now," dad sighs loudly, exhausted.

"She was really tired though, she passed out not even five minutes into the drive," I shrug understanding Maddie's outburst earlier.

"We'll talk to her about it tonight, also Char, Olivia came by earlier saying something about help on her chemistry homework, I told her you were out and that you would call her."

"Yeah, okay, I'll go call her now, I have no plans for tomorrow so that should be fine," I answer already taking my phone out of my beach tote and heading upstairs to my room to call her.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour!" Mom shouts to the rest of the house as she walks down the hallway kissing me on the cheek on her way past.

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So long story short my story completely disappeared for 2 days for no reason! I nearly lost my mind until I realized it was happening to a lot of writers. But it's back now so I've decided to post a new chapter in celebration (I'm literally just coming up with the stupidest excuses to post early!)

Enjoy,

Sammipott xx