Happy Valentines Day!

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Two months until graduation...

"Children of all ages, I am home," my mother's voice sounds throughout the house. When she doesn't hear a reply from any of us, she shouts again, "And I bought food!" Immediately we all drop our pens and papers, rushing into the kitchen. "I knew that would work on you all," she smirks, putting all the food down on the counter. "Where's the birthday boy?" She asks looking at all of us, noticing Nathan's not with us.

"He's still in the other room, Biology is kicking his ass," Carter says from the counter.

She nods her head in understanding and I walk over to the bags on the counter, snooping through them.

"Chick-Fil-A? I love you," I tell her seriously.

"Best mom ever," Sebastian moans, stuffing the waffle fries into his mouth.

"That's what I like to hear," she nods her head at the compliments everyone is throwing her way. "How is the studying coming?"

"Studying sucks," Olivia tells her, digging around the bags for nuggets. Sebastian rolls his eyes at her comment and I look at him confused. What is his problem? Carter nods his head in agreement with Olivia as he munches on a burger.

"Well it's just one more month then two weeks of finals and then it's prom and graduation, easy peasy," she grins, handing out drinks to everyone.

"Well, you'll still have Seb and me, mom," Sophie says with a grin, nudging her elbow into his ribs but Sebastian just scowls.

"Says the neurosurgeon," Courtney mumbles to what mom had said as she leans against the counter.

"Yeah, no offense Momma C, but you and Mr. H are nerds," Olivia replies, pulling the nuggets out victoriously. I grin and we stand next to each other taking turns to dip our nuggets in the sauce.

"Hey, I was not a nerd in high school, I can tell you that much. Your father was the nerd in school, never wanted to go out and have fun, it's a wonder how we ended up together," my mom sighs in exasperation.

"But you went to separate high schools," Sophie points out, sipping her lemonade.

"I still knew him from parties and sports games," she shrugs and her eyes light up, "In my senior year, I went to his school and stole their mascot, and your dad was the sporty sweetheart who wouldn't hurt a fly," she sighs dreamily, "But then he saw me leading the goat out the back of the gym and he lost it! He chased me through the school parking lot for ten minutes but I had Aunt Jenna waiting in my car, so we could make a quick getaway," she sighs, "It was awesome."

"You are my hero, Momma C," Olivia declares, leaning her head on mom.

She grins and claps her hands, "Okay, back to studying, or no birthday movie night." We all grab some food and return to the dining room table, where we've all set up our study notes. Tessa walks into the room to grab some food but she immediately goes back upstairs to her room because she claims that she needs absolute silence when she studies. More like she needs silence to watch her Netflix shows.

Nathan is still sitting in his seat at the head of the table, working on his Biology notes. He's got a concentrated frown on his face as I sit down in my seat next to him and push a plate of food towards him, "Here, babe. Mom got us Chick-Fil-A." He looks up and smiles, leaning over to kiss my cheek quickly before going back to his notes, eating a couple of waffle fries.

He is the only person I know that would rather spend his birthday weekend studying for finals than going out or having a party. His actual birthday is tomorrow and we're all supposed to be going to his house for a birthday dinner with his family tomorrow night so he wanted to spend today studying for our tests next week that is supposed to help us prepare for finals.

We're all sitting at the long table studying for another 30 minutes when Maddie walks into the room with a notebook in her hand. We all slowly look up at her as she sits at the other end of the table and sets out her notebook and colored pencils.

"Munchkin, what's up?" Sebastian asks since he's sitting closest to her with Cole on her other side.

"Everyone is busy doing homework and I feel left out, so I'm going to sit here and color," she says sternly, leaving no room for argument. I smile and nod my head, telling her it's okay and she grins at me, pulling out her colored pencils and opening her coloring book.

"She is the cutest thing ever," Cole says to all of us before turning to Maddie, "You are the cutest thing ever."

She grins up at him, "Thank you, Coley, but I already know that." Laughs erupt around the room as we all look at Maddie continuing to color in her picture without a care in the world.

"Iconic. When I grow up, I want the confidence this child has," Courtney says, grabbing a pencil from the center of the table where we put a bunch of school supplies. Silence fills the room again as we all get back to work.

"Babe, you've got something, just, there," Olivia tells Sebastian, motioning to his chin where I can see a spot of sauce. He sighs deeply and wipes the side of his face with his sleeve.

"Gone?" He asks, looking at her but she just shakes her head, a small smirk gracing her face. He rubs his chin roughly, "Now?" he asks annoyed.

She nods her head quickly, "Yup, all gone." I look over at him and see that he's spread the sauce over his chin, making it worse. Oh, Sebastian.

Olivia leans away from him, trying not to laugh and Cole sees it too, but he puts his head on the table, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. I just roll my eyes at them and get back to my English work.

"Sebastian, you messed on your face," Maddie tells him, grabbing a napkin, and wiping his chin for him, showing him the sauce.

"Thank you, Maddie," he scowls at Olivia. Olivia grins at him, winking.

He mumbles something under his breath and her eyes widen, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Nothing," he snaps quietly. I lift my head from my notes and look at Sebastian.

"No, it was definitely something. Say it," she says, leaving no room for argument and leaning back in her chair, looking at him.

We all try to ignore what is going on around us but I find myself and everyone sneaking glances at the couple.

"You never take me seriously," he sighs, putting down his pen and looking at her.

"I barely take myself seriously, what's your point?" She asks with a laugh.

"You always do this, it's fu-freaking annoying," he says exasperated, quickly changing his words so that he doesn't swear in front of Maddie. Not like that's ever stopped him before.

"It was just a joke, chill babe," Olivia looks at him amused but her eyebrow is raised in confusion.

"Yeah, well, I didn't find it funny," he spits out and shoves his chair away from the table, making a horrible screech against the floor, causing all of us to look up at him with fright.

Olivia stands up and faces him, "What is your problem? You've been in a bad mood all week, it's annoying." He breathes deeply and looks at her.

"You are my problem, you're always making fun of me like I'm an idiot, and I'm sick of it," he glares at her and she takes a step back, shocked.

"Maddie," I say seriously. She looks up at me and nods her head without me having to say anything else, leaving the room.

"What? I was just playing with you. We treat each other like idiots all the time, that's our thing, it's literally how we got together. Why the fuck is it such a problem now?" She asks angrily, crossing her arms over her chest.

Everyone sits silently, not moving an inch, barely breathing. I make eye contact with Courtney and Quinn but they're just as confused as I am. Nathan's hand comes onto my lap and grabs my hand, squeezing lightly.

"I am done being treated like I don't matter in this relationship," he argues back. "Everything else comes before me and I am done with it."

"Don't matter? That's a fucking joke, right?" Olivia asks harshly but I can see that she's hurt. What is happening? "I spend literally, all my free time with you because I want to, how is that you not mattering?"

"You're always with the girls," he gestures at us, Courtney's face hardens as she glares at him, "You only see me when you feel guilty for not seeing me enough."

"That is not true!" She points, shouting at him, "Why are you doing this?" She asks quietly.

He stands silently with a scowl but once he takes a deep breath I can see the pain in his eyes.

"You're graduating in two months, and I'm staying here, I'm staying in California and you're not," he says his voice cracking, his words slowly losing the anger. Olivia's face softens as he slumps back into his chair and Olivia crouches in front of him, placing her hands on his knees.

"That's what this is about? Is that why you've been in such a pissy mood with me this last week because I'm going to Florida for college?" He barely nods his head and she lets out a relieved laugh. "What? You thought you could get us to break up so that we wouldn't have to do it later?" She asks looking at his face.

"I'll admit that it wasn't a great plan," he mumbles dejectedly.

"A stupid plan actually," she tells him, smiling up at him. She stands up and looks over at us. We all immediately turn back to our work. Cole starts whistling, trying to act casual and Nathan throws a wad of paper at him. She rolls her eyes at us and leans down, cupping Sebastian's face, "If you want to break up with me, then just do it already," she says seriously and I can hear someone suck in a breath. I was not expecting that.

Sebastian looks up at her, almost frightened, "Wh-what?"

She lets go of him but stays standing there, "You heard me, if you're planning to break up with me in the next two months, then save yourself some time and get it over with."

Sebastian just stares at her with wide eyes, fidgeting in his seat. Nobody makes a sound.

"Well?" She asks, raising her eyebrows in question.

"You guys are so dramatic, it's ridiculous," Tessa's voice comes out of nowhere. I jump in fright and whip my head around, looking behind me, and see her leaning against the window casually.

"Where the hell did you come from?" I ask her with a confused laugh.

"You guys would be dead if I was an assassin, I'm just saying," she raises her hands and takes a seat next to me. She looks over at Sebastian and Olivia, "And you two? Do you believe that you're going to break up? You're both the most annoying people ever, you're stuck with each other," Tessa tells them, leaning towards the middle of the table, and grabbing a piece of paper, turning it into an airplane.

"Tessa," Sophie hisses at her, telling her to stay out of it.

"What? You guys make relationships so complicated. You don't want to break up?" She looks over at Sebastian and Olivia, who shake their heads simultaneously. "Then don't. Stop letting obstacles get in the way of your relationship and just enjoy what you have together," she says drawing on another piece of paper and holding it up to Sebastian with a smile, 'You're stupid' is written in Sharpie and he looks at her offended.

"Damn you're good," Carter speaks up in the quiet room. She salutes him and stands up, walking towards the kitchen.

"First therapy session is free, next time I charge," she smirks looking over her shoulder at us.

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Until next time,

Sammipott xx