Nola Scott

My baby brothers weren't so little anymore. They were growing up and they were moving out of our childhood home. That would leave Mom and Dad with two kids living at home. I stayed over at Miles' place last night because he was going to drive us to Oak Hill. Ever since we've been dating, I've become less of a driver and more of a passenger.

I don't mind driving but having him do it is so much better. Plus, he's a better driver than I am. Especially driving in Los Angeles. There are so many terrible drivers here. He's better at handling situations whereas I get mad and honk whenever someone does something remotely stupid.

Lucky for me, Miles was invited to join by my parents. Kayce and Brooks have quite a bit of stuff and they wanted to finish moving their things as soon as possible. When we arrived at the apartment, there was already some furniture. A couch, chairs, and a dining table. The boys would be sleeping on air mattresses- or the couch- until their beds arrived in a couple of days.

The men did most of the work while Mom, Kiersten, and I cheered them on from the couch. It was a pretty comfortable couch. I made sure to pay close attention to my mom though. It was evident in her dark eyes that she was upset. Kayce moving out was already going to be hard for her but Brooks moving out too was a hit to her gut.

He was really young. I'm still surprised he's moving out. My dad seemed to move past it more than my mom but maybe that's because he trusts Kayce with Brooks. They're also not far from home so they can bother my brothers whenever they feel like it.

Brooks has the biggest grin on his face as he brings in a box by himself. "Ohhhh I can't wait to set up my PS5 in my room tonight," he hoots, smiling over at my mom. Her lips upturn when she sees him smile but once he walks into his room, her face goes straight again. Kiersten doesn't notice the fluctuation in Mom's mood since she's busy on her phone. Foster also gave up helping after five minutes since most boxes were too heavy for him to carry. He's napping now.

I lay my head on Mom's shoulder. "Trust me, he's going to miss you after a week of living here," I tell Mom, trying to make her feel better. She lets out a breath through her nose. "I don't want him to know I'm upset," she whispers to me. "This is a special day for him."

That's true. Brooks has been counting down the days until he moved in with Kayce. Dad said he was the first one up this morning, loading both cars with boxes.

"Yeah, but don't worry. He'll be begging to come back home at one point," I say, not knowing if this is entirely true. Brooks has always been pretty independent. I feel like we all are. Mom forces a weak smile and nods like she's trying to convince herself that my statement is true.

"There's a difference."
"No there is not."
"Yes, there is, kid. You just don't understand and that's alright."
"Okay. Sure."

I turn my head as my dad and Miles bicker, carrying a large box together. They set it down on the kitchen island. "There's a difference in what?" I question. "Man stuff, don't worry about it, babe," Miles replies. My dad rolls his eyes before patting Miles on the back. They walk back out the door to fetch more boxes.

"It makes me happy to see Miles and your dad getting along," Mom tells me, smiling more fully now. "Same. I thought daddy was gonna chew him up and spit him out at one point," Kiersten giggles. "You like Miles, K?" I ask my little sister. She looks up from her phone, her blue eyes on mine. "Sure thing. He's a cool dude, I guess. He's also famous which is awesome."

I laugh a little bit and shake my head. Well, that's a better answer than no. "Is he ready? To meet Ryle's family in a couple of days?" Mom asks then. I nod even though I don't know the answer to her question. I've kind of been avoiding bringing up the topic with him. "Just some nerves," I tell her. She nods, rubbing my back. "The Graysons are going to love him. He doesn't have to worry," mom assures me.

Miles is pretty lovable I'd say. He's amazing. My heart flutters just thinking about how great he is. They're lucky to be able to call him family. "Are you excited to be reunited with them?" I ask Mom. It's been a while since she's talked to the Grayson's which is why I think she also agreed to tag along. "Oh, for sure. They're good people, Nola. You'll see once you meet them," Mom replies.

For Miles' sake, I hope that's true. He's the one who's going to be a part of their family. Though I don't question it much since my mom's never said a bad thing about them in her life. Grandma and grandpa also happen to be close to the Grayson's. They don't know about Miles yet either but Mom wants to share the news with them after we talk to the Graysons. Miles has agreed to that already too.

For the rest of the time the men come back in and out with boxes, I hold Mom's hand. She watches slowly as the apartment starts getting filled up with boxes. Sometimes, she'll stand up and walk into their rooms to check if they've missed anything. She even blew up both of their air mattresses. When Mom came back, she sat between Kiersten and Foster. They were both asleep now. "At least I still have them," she whispered.

I frowned at her words. "You still have us. We're all here, no matter how far we are," I remind her. She smiles weakly. "Ugh, finally we're done," Dad says, walking back in. He's removed his suit jacket, dressed in only slacks and a white button-up now. Kayce, Miles, and Brooks follow shortly behind Dad laughing about something. Kayce's lips are upturned slightly but not too much as Miles elbows my younger brother, jutting his head toward my dad.

Brooks smirks and pats my dad on the back. "Moving a couple of boxes getting too hard for you, old man?" Dad side-eyes him as he catches his breath. "Don't make me change my mind, Brooks," he replies. My brother laughs it off and everyone joins us on the couch. Miles sits next to me, wrapping his muscly arm around my shoulders.

Brooks picks up a sleepy Kiersten who groans to place her on his lap as he takes the seat next to Mom. K shuffles around but lays back on his chest when he sits down with her. "Mom will take you guys grocery shopping later. I have to get back to the office. Miles, can they use your car?" Dad asks, searching for his suit jacket in the clutter of boxes. "Yeah, of course," Miles replies.

"Ah, thanks. I'll see you later, babe. Kids, take care of your mom for me, I'll stop by later to pick mom up too." Once Dad finds his jacket, he walks over to kiss Mom and Kiersten on the forehead. "Gotta go." He takes his leave quickly. "Drive safe!" Mom shouts as he exits.

The rest of us order takeout, and later Mom takes the boys to get groceries for their new place. Miles and I stay behind with Kiersten and Foster who play some type of card game. He's trying to teach her how to play but she's gotten frustrated about fifty times already.

"Why can't I place this card here?"
"Because it doesn't go there."
"But this one does?"
"Yes."

Kiersten groaned then. "What the heck? This is too complicated, Fos." My little brother shook his head and then tried showing her again. "She doesn't like being bad at things. It triggers her," I tell Miles. He looks over at my younger siblings and smiles. "She'll get it," he assures me. When he turns back to me, his gray eyes hit mine. They're so beautiful I can barely stare into them for too long. I start getting shy, my cheeks flushing at the sight of him.

"Are you ready?" I ask him. His brows pinch in confusion as I'm about to bring up the conversation I was having with my mom earlier. "To meet the Graysons in a couple of days," I add to clear his thoughts. His brows raise a bit then and he nods quickly. "Yeah," he breathes, "I've been preparing myself for that. Your mom is still coming right?" he asks hopeful.

"Yes, she'll be there," I tell him, moving the strand of hair that falls over his forehead back. "Good. But as long as you're there then I'll be fine," he says. I smile and kiss his cheek. Not too much PDA since my younger siblings are sitting a couple of feet away. He pulls me back to his chest and holds me. My breath steadies as I feel his heartbeat on my back. It pumps fiercely and I want to say it's because of me but I think it's because I brought up meeting the Grayson's.

Only a couple of minutes later does my mom return with my brothers. They put away all the groceries and Mom tells me she's staying until Dad picks her up after work. He shouldn't be long now. Brooks and Miles play video games in his room and I stay with Mom on the couch. She seems to be feeling a little better now and I think that has to do with spending time with my brothers for a little bit.

We talk about figure skating and my plans for it. I tell her I'm taking it one step at a time. Training and getting better. Who knows what my future holds in figure skating? Olympics is the dream. It always has been. It's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication these next four years to get there. I'm willing to make it happen and Mom says she knows I can do it.

"Do you think Brooks will be okay?" Mom asks me after not talking about my brothers. I thought I had distracted her long enough but I guess not. From where we're sitting on the couch, we can see the boys playing inside of Brooks' room. He cheers, giving Miles a high five as they play some basketball game. I know why mom's worried about him. Not only is he young but my brothers always had a problem with staying out of trouble.

Not just with my parents but in school too. He's not a bad kid though. He just makes poor decisions sometimes. Kayce and I would get in trouble at school when we were younger but never to the extent that Brooks has. After seeing my little brother passed out drunk, him moving out worries me. It gives him more freedom than living as my parents did.

He and Kayce have talked about it though. Brooks said he wouldn't do what he did that night again but at the end of the day, he's a kid. He's going to want to have fun and maybe he's not always going to know his limits. I just hope he stays safe. With whatever he's doing. For his sake and Mom's too. She seems really worried.

"He'll be okay," I whisper, rubbing her upper back. "You can always come check up on him if you're worried. He's not too far like I am." Dad walks through the door a couple of seconds later. His eyes land on my mom first as she smiles at him. "Ready to go?" he asks her. She nods, kissing my temple before standing up. Mom walks over to Brooks's room where everyone is. "Boys, your dad's here so I'm gonna go now," Mom tells them.

Brooks stands up first and runs over to hug my mom. He's taller than her already so he wraps his arms around her neck. "Thanks for helping us move in Mom," he tells her, kissing her hair. He holds her for an extra long moment like he knows she's worried about leaving him. Mom and Brooks are really close. She loves Kayce a lot too but she's worried about leaving her 15-year-old more than her son who's on his way to college.

"Love you, B," she tells him. "Love you too, momma." He kisses her forehead before returning to his room. As much as he hates hugging, Kayce wraps his arm around my mom's shoulder and pulls her close. "Yes, thank you, mom. I'll see you soon," he tells her. The look on my mom's face makes me sad. Is this how she looked when I was moving out? I must have not paid enough attention.

They say their final goodbyes to Dad too and then more than half of my family is gone. "We're almost done with the game," Miles tells me, kissing my head before sitting back down on the floor next to Brooks. Kayce sets his controller down. He's not much of a gamer. "You're all moved out little brother," I say as we walk out of Brooks' room. He makes his way to the couch and nods. "Excited for classes this fall?"

"I suppose. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to study for yet. You'd think I would have by now," he says. "No, you're a freshman. You don't have to have it all figured out yet," I assure him, patting his knee. "Sophomore," he corrects. Right. He's got the credits of a college sophomore from all the classes he took in high school. "Still, you have time Kayc. Plus the Oak Hill campus is amazing, I think you'll have a lot of fun there," I guarantee.

He shrugs lightly. Kayce's never been the type to make up his mind. He's all over the place. From one second to another, he can change his mind. I don't think Oak Hill is his dream school but it was what he decided on momentarily. Who knows if he'll change his mind or stick with it for four years?

I'm also returning to school in the fall. Not going to school for a couple of months gave me time to grow but I'm ready to get back. Em's excited for me to go back too. We'll still be roomies for a couple of months into the fall semester so we're looking forward to spending as much time together as possible. I miss the atmosphere of UCLA. I'm ready to get back there.

"Also, Kayc, I wanted to tell you," I look back into Brooks' room. He sits on the floor with Miles playing some shooting game now. Turning my attention back to Kayce, his light blue eyes are still focused on me. "Please take care of Brooks. Don't let him get too out of control just because he doesn't live at home anymore. Watch out for him." Kayce takes a long sip from his water bottle looking unfazed by my words.

I know that night Brooks was blackout drunk worried Kayce. He showed it frequently throughout the night. My brother is so nonchalant that he tries not to show too much emotion. He'll keep those deep inside of him. He thinks it'll make him look weak if people know what he feels even though it won't. Kayce's always been like that.

"Okay. I will," is all he says. I look at my brother deeply hoping he'll keep his promise. If anything happened to Brooks, I would go crazy. I'm protective of him because I know how he can be. "If he gets out of hand, I'll just tell Mom and Dad," Kayce adds shrugging. My brows raise. "That easily?" He looks at me like he's surprised that I'm surprised. "He's 15, Nola. Yes, that easily."

That's true. He's young.

"Okay. Good. Thanks."

Kayce takes another water from the fridge. "I'm going to sleep now. Tell Miles I said goodbye. See you later, sister. Answer the phone if I ever need help with him, will you?" My little brother doesn't give me a chance to respond, closing his bedroom door in my face. "Yes! I got you!" Brooks shouts, laughing. He and Miles exit his room a couple of seconds later talking about the video game.

A smile curves up on my lips. Seeing Miles with my family makes me happy. He's slowly growing on all of them and I couldn't be any more happier.

"You guys leaving now?" Brooks asks. "Yeah, we have an early morning tomorrow, man. We'll stop by whenever we have a chance," Miles replies, bro hugging my little brother. "Cool, cool. Come over whenever!" Brooks says. "Bye, sissy." He hugs me quickly. "Bye, B. Behave yourself!" I tell him as me and Miles walk out the door hand in hand.

He sighs and wraps his arm around my shoulder as we walk back to his car. "Long day, babe." Yeah, it was. We've been in Oak Hill since the early morning. Driving back to Los Angeles wasn't ideal but we promised Kait and Tate that we'd come over tomorrow morning for a little brunch and pool day.

I slept over at Miles' that night. Waking up to him again the next day. It had become something I loved doing. Seeing his face first thing in the morning. I never wanted it to stop and I hoped it never would.

***

Miles Dempsey

After helping Nola's brothers move into their new apartment, we came back to LA. It was kind of late but we woke up early the next morning to come to my best friend's house. Kait and Tate invited us over. Those two had been traveling a lot since the season ended so they were rarely in Los Angeles. It had been about two weeks since I last saw Tate.

We ate a good brunch and got in the pool for a little bit. Nola and Kaitlyn chat in the pool while I and Tate catch up on the beach chairs outside the pool. The hot sun hits my skin and I feel myself getting a slight burn despite the sunscreen Nola loaded on my skin. It's the beginning of August here in Los Angeles meaning it's hot as fuck.

I just finished telling Tate how I'm going to be meeting my birth father's family in a couple of days. "That's still crazy to me. How you and Nola's pasts collided like that. Some might call it fate," he tells me.

Tate found out about all my birth family details one night on a phone call. He was traveling with Kait and she had passed out early so he called me and I told him. I knew he would have something to say about it and I wanted to hear it. I've always sought out Tate's advice. Ever since I was in college.

I let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, maybe. That girl is it for me man." It's not hard to admit and I'm not afraid to be a sap around my best friend since he feels the same way about his girlfriend.

"Speaking of fate," he says, looking towards the girls in the pool. They're on the other side of the pool, pretty far from where we sit. "I'm going to ask Kait to marry me next week on our trip to Maui," Tate whispers. I immediately sit up from my lying position. "Shhh, calm down," he adds. I lift my sunglasses up to my head and look at him. "Fucking seriously? I thought you were going to wait a little longer because of her parents," I tell him.

He sighs, "Man, screw that. If I feel like it's the right time why not just go for it? Plus, I know Kait wants to take that step. We've talked about it for a long time now. You don't know how long and how bad I've wanted to put a ring on that girl's finger." His blue eyes pierce through mine and I can see the raw emotion in them. Yeah, I know. We've talked about it multiple times.

Kait's parents think it's too soon but they've known each other for so long now that it doesn't feel too soon. If I had bet on two people to stay together forever, it would be them. When you know you know. They seem to know already so why not? As long as Kait and Tate are happy that's all that should really matter. "That's sick, dude. I'm excited for you," I admit honestly.

A smile crawls onto his lips. "I'm fucking nervous though. I'm ninety-eight percent sure she'll say yes but I know I'm going to be stumbling all over my words that day," he chuckles. "You'll do just fine. It'll all fall into place in that moment, man. Do you have a ring?" He nods quickly. "I'll send you a picture later. It's sick as fuck."

I can't deny that I'm excited for him. He's been wanting this for a while now. I know Kaitlyn's going to be ecstatic about it as well. "Ahh, I remember the Tate and Kaitlyn from college. Trying to figure out their feelings for each other and others..." Tate glares at me then. Oops. I love Kaitlyn and Tate a lot. They're my two best friends but that doesn't mean I've supported every single decision they've ever made.

When we were in college, Kait and Tate were in a relationship. With other people. Kaitlyn was dating an old friend of mine, William. Tate was dating a sorority girl named Daniela. Kait and Tate had history and that history affected their relationships. Both of them cheated on their partners with each other one night. They didn't say anything about it until Kait accidentally spilled one night when we were together and she was drunk.

I had no idea, finding out with Daniela and William. Both of their relationships ended that night and as time went by, Kait and Tate had distanced themselves from one another. The whole friend group pulled apart and years later, Tate saw Kaitlyn at a restaurant. They caught up and the rest is history.

Like I said, I love both of them but they didn't always make the smartest choices. They were meant to be together but it just happened in a bad way. All those years of space were needed for them to mature themselves. They're a better version of themselves than they were before.

"You know I love you guys. I'm just joking," I say before he blows a fuse. "Whatever," Tate mumbles. "You're not innocent either." No, I am not. I've done stupid shit in my past but I've never cheated on a girl. That's simply because I chose to be single most of my life. He holds a scowl on his face so I pull him close by his arm and wrap my arms around his neck. "You know I love you," I kiss his head.

He pushes me away and I laugh. "Whatever bro," he tries to say angrily but I see the smile on his lips. "Last one to the pool smells like shit," Tate says, quickly picking himself up from the beach chair and running to the pool. I lift my body as fast as I can to go after him. "You're a child!" I shout as I jump into the pool right behind him. Nola and Kait both shout at us as we come to the surface for making a huge splash.

"Sorry, pretty," Tate says, swimming over to his future fiancé. Nola swims over to me. Her blonde hair is pushed back because of the water, just how I like it. "You got me all wet," she tells me. I smirk, "Not the first time, Scott." Her lips part in an 'o' shape and she smacks water in my face as I laugh. "Clean your brain," she retorts. I pull her towards me and she wraps her legs around my waist. My hands find her ass, keeping her up.

"How can I? Have you seen how good you look in a bikini?" I whisper so Tate and Kait won't hear. A flush comes to her cheeks. There it is. She wraps her arms around my neck, hugging me and torturing me from not being able to see her pretty face. "I missed you," she says. "I was ten feet away babe," I reply. She sighs, "Even then. We need to be this close all the time for me not to miss you."

She's fucking adorable.

"Hmmm. I still miss you even like this," I quip. "Me too," she adds quickly making me chuckle. Little copy-cat. "I'm going to do unspeakable things to you tonight. We're going to be closer than ever, I promise," I whisper in her ear. She doesn't say anything but I feel her chest rise and fall faster. My dick starts to harden. Ah, shit. We've been here for long enough, haven't we? It wouldn't be rude to just leave now.

I look behind me to see Tate and Kait in a full-blown make-out session. Suddenly my hard on is gone but they just gave me the perfect excuse to leave. "Yo, Tate! Nola and I are gonna take off now so you can have your... alone time," I cringe at my own words. "Cool. See you guys soon." Tate winks at me silently, words passing between us with that gesture.

I take Nola's hand and pull her out of the pool as quickly as possible. My hard-on may be gone physically but once I'm alone with her it'll come back.

We need to get the hell outta here now.