After my conversation with Mr. Blackbourne there was nothing left for me to worry about except for how they would react to the concept of a poly relationship and what I was going to do for my birthday. I already knew that I was going to have to return home for my birthday or else my the press would find out and wonder what kind of damage was going on between me and my family. It was shocking that they hadn't already gotten word about the fact that I was no longer staying with a family member.

I had been left home alone while the boys got together to discuss the issue of what our relationship was and what it could be. I hadn't realized that when Owen had said soon he had really meant soon, as in a few hours after our conversation. I didn't mind being left alone, in fact it was even nice sometimes, but whenever I was left alone, I found that my mind wandered into dark places that were better left untouched and unvisited.

It had begun to rain in the boy's absence and with lack of anything else better to do, I took up residence in Nathan's kitchen, looking out the window. I toyed with the edges of my phone, contemplating texting the old friends that I wanted to. It had been so long since I had last visited them that it made me sick to my stomach, but then I had to remind myself that they had never really been my friends, but my brothers friends.

As I called them my brothers friends, something struck me funny about those words. I frowned, and it struck me that they had never treated me like I was just their friend's little sister, they had treated me as an equal. It was that thought that decided it for me: while the boys were gone, I was going to make a small visit to the Sergeant Jasper and see how the boys were doing.

The drive was a short one, as well as one full of excitement. I hadn't really noticed how badly I had missed them until recently. My life had been so full of craziness and chaos that I hadn't had the time to miss anyone besides Zain, that was. It was easy to miss Zain when there was the constant reminder that he was no longer who he once was, but it was harder to make room and find time to miss anyone else.

I should have felt bad about showing up out of the blue, but I didn't. My excitement made it virtually impossible to make me feel bad about anything at the moment. I knocked on the apartment door, practically bouncing on my toes.

When Axel opened his door, he seemed shocked for all of a moment before he gripped my arm and pulled me into a hug. Neither of us were all that fond of affection, but when it came to each other the same rules didn't apply. Axel gently pulled me into the apartment, and I flashed him a smile.

"I didn't know you were stopping by," Axel said, leading me into the living room. I was surprised by the fact that none of the boys were present at the moment, but if I knew them well enough then Marc was probably out and would be home soon, and Raven was either cleaning guns or napping.

"I didn't tell anyone," I explained, curling up on the couch, smiling at Axel as he took a seat next to me. "It was a whim of the moment sort of thing and I wanted to surprise you guys. Are the others here?"

Axel nodded. "Hang on a moment."

I leaned back on the couch, directing my attention to the television that had the news on it. I zoned out, vaguely listening to noise deep in the apartment. I was drawn out of my thoughts by a shout that sounded like it came from Marc's room. I shot to my feet, wondering if it was something I should be steering clear of or breaking up. Luckily, before I could make a decision, the boys were stumbling into the living room in a line.

Axel, looking smug; Marc, looking rather irritated but also sleepy; Raven and Corey... looking embarrassed. I grinned, crossing my arms, waiting for the boys who were just now walking in to notice me. Marc was grumbling about something under his breath and I rolled my eyes, wondering if he had been woken from a nap. He looked tired and with the way that he was rubbing his eyes, he resembled a sleepy child woken from their sleep without their consent.

"Marc Weiland, that is no way to greet one of your oldest friends," I spoke loud enough that I could draw everyone's attention in the room. Marc's head snapped up and his eyes widened, a grin forming on his face. Corey's face brightened considerably, but Raven's reaction was probably the best. The words had barely left my mouth before I was swept into the big Russian's arms.

"Beautiful! I know that you missed me but you did not say you would be coming to visit me!" He exclaimed, spinning me around. I wrapped my arms around his neck, laughing. He had come so far from the 15 year old boy that I had known that I couldn't help but grin.

"Hi, Raven," I muttered, quickly kissing his cheek. He set me down and I turned to face the others, resting my hands on my hips. "Hello, boys."

"I'm going to get Brandon." Corey announced. He began walking towards the door but then paused next to me. He pulled me into a side hug, his lips brushing against my head in a kiss. "It's good to see you again, shortcake," he whispered. "It's even better to see you smiling."

My smile turned into a full out beam. Leave it to Corey to lift my spirits even higher when I didn't think I could get any happier. It felt so good to be in their presence again that I felt like I was floating off the ground. As much as I loved the boys that I had grown close to in the past two months, these boys were my childhood friends and they would always have a special place in my heart.

I sat on the couch again, and Raven and Marc immediately sat on either side of me. It amused me greatly to see that they had apparently missed me as much as I had missed them, as well as made me feel good. I leaned against Marc slightly, unable to hide the exhaustion I was feeling, but just glad to see some of my favorite boys. His arm wound around me and held me tightly to him. 

"You look tired, Sang," Axel said softly. My eyes drifted to him and I frowned slightly. His dark eyes were clouded with concern, his lips pulled down into a small frown. "How have you been sleeping lately? Nightmares, still?"

I flinched at the mention of the nightmares that plagued my sleep most nights. I hated that he knew about them, that they all did, but my brothers overshared sometimes when it came to this particular group of boys. Even though I trusted them, it was still hard for me to have people know those sort of details about my life.

"It's been kind of busy lately," I announced, my voice quiet. I wasn't exactly being untruthful but nor was I telling them everything. I didn't need them to play the heroes, to come sweeping into my life and try to fix things. As much as I wanted to open up to them, it was better to keep those sort of details to myself. "I've had a lot going on."

"We know," Marc said, his lips beginning to turn down into a frown too, his fingers rubbing circles into my shoulder. "Knox and Owen have been keeping us updated. We've been worried about you, if we're being honest."

I wanted to argue with them, tell them that there was no real reason to be so worried, but it would be a fool's fight. They were all so stubborn that I was aware of the fact that there was no chance of me winning at all. Rescuing me from such a dreaded conversation, the twins reappeared and I popped out of my seat, grinning at Brandon.

His cerulean blue eyes that were dark with pain, lit up slightly, and I was pulled into his strong arms. I stood on my tip toes, wrapping my arms around him as tightly as I could, burying my face in his chest. I breathed in deeply, attempting to keep myself from crying. There had always been something about Brandon that had me feeling like I was at home and safe as soon as I was in presence, and I hadn't realized it, but it was something I had been craving lately.

"I missed you," I whispered, pulling away and smiling shakily up at him.

His eyes scanned over my face, his expression serious. "I bet I missed you more," he replied after a full moment of silence.

"Debatable," I grinned, poking him in the stomach then quickly darting behind Corey, giggling.

"Damn it," Brandon laughed, running his fingers through his hair. "I hate the fact that Corey and Raven always take your side."

"She's cute," Corey defended me, and even though I couldn't see his face I could hear the smile in his tone of voice. I patted his back then returned to my seat in between Marc and Raven, not at all surprised when Raven pulled me tightly against his side. I curled up against him happily. 

I hesitated before asking, "I'm guessing that Knox has been keeping you updated on Zain?"

I knew that I had made a mistake by mentioning my older brother as the room exploded with shouts and testosterone. I winced slightly, burying my face in Raven's shoulder, even as his shout resounded the loudest in the room.

"Zain is lucky he's still living," Raven growled out, his hand fisting in my shirt. As much as I wanted to be afraid of Raven, I couldn't. While he was rough around the edges and had a temper that was impressive, he had never hurt me, and I knew that he never would. I could always count on him to protect me and be there for me.

"Raven, share Sang," Marc suddenly whined, tugging on the edge of my sleeve. I giggled and patted Raven on the chest, silently communicating that it was time to release me. He grunted, reluctantly letting go of me. I sent him a soft smile and leaned into Marc whose face lit up.

"I wasn't whoring her," Raven grumbled, resembling that of a petulant child. I had the sudden urge to squeeze his cheek and ruffle his hair, still finding his mistakes so endearing.

"Hogging, not whoring," Corey and I both gently reminded him, sharing an amused look with each other. Marc had buried his face in my shoulder, his body pressed against my own as he laughed at Raven's mistake. I slapped his arm, though I was smiling as well. As funny as it was, it was also endearing and adorable.

Raven huffed, sulking even more. "Same."

"No," Axel said, looking as if he was trying to hide a smile of his own. "Not really, Raven." In an attempt to probably get the conversation off of Raven, Axel steered the conversation back to me. "Your birthday is coming up soon."

I grimaced, sort of hoping that they would forget about the fact that my birthday was nearing. Knowing my family, they were going to want to exploit my escaping the womb day and use it to gain as much attention as possible. They had done it every year for each of their children, and when there was five children in the family, it grew to become slightly exhausting. Because of their relentless need to show off their children, I had grown to dislike my birthday. All I truly wanted this year was to spend the day with my boys.

"Do me a favor," I said with a small sigh, pushing hair away from my face. "Don't mention my birthday to me ever again, and don't remind the boys. As soon as I told Gabriel he almost began to hyperventilate about getting me a birthday present. I was afraid I was going to have to do mouth to mouth."

Brandon smirked, raising his eyebrows. "Speaking of the boys... What's going on with that? Are you dating one of them yet?"

I hesitated, pushing my finger against my lip. Axel reached out and caught my hand, sending me a look. I sighed, ducking my head down. Axel truly hated when I got anxious around them, and did his best to alleviate any anxiety I felt. He rubbed his thumb against the back of my hand, his dark eyes boring into me from behind his glasses.

"Sang," his voice was soft and soothing, the voice I had grown up with, the voice that had read me bedtime stories at one point in my life. "What's wrong? What aren't you telling us?"

I sighed, knowing that there was no way of getting out of explaining this, especially not with this group of boys. They had grown up with me and knew exactly how to get me to talk, as well as knew when I was lying. Reluctantly, I explained to them my feelings and the conversation that I'd had with Owen, keeping my head ducked down the entire time. I didn't want to see their faces, to see the sheer disappointment; I didn't want to see the moment that they realized I was a whore.

"Munchkin," Brandon sighed out, tilting my head up by gently raising my chin with his finger. Him and his brother were looking at me, their near identical eyes full of unconditional love and understanding. My shoulders fell forward, and I could have burst into tears. They didn't think poorly of me for my conflicted feelings. "I agree with Owen. If everyone agrees, this could work out. If it'll make you happy and the others happy, you should go for it. It doesn't matter what others think. If this has been the only thing that's been holding you back then you're ridiculous."

I laughed, shaking my head at him. Him and Corey had a weird knack for always knowing what to say to make me feel better in a tough moment. I had a brief flashback to the time I had fallen down the stairs and cut my lip and scraped my knee. I had been crying so hard, but Brandon held my hand and talked me down while Corey held my other hand and held a tissue to my lip. Zain had been the one to put the band aide on my knee. It was one of the few fond memories I had from my childhood, and whenever someone asked me to described what true love felt and looked like, it was one of the first things that came to mind.

"You guys are the best," I said, wiping at my eyes and smiling wistfully at the memory that had just popped into my mind. "I should come visit you more often."

Axel scoffed, leaning back in his seat. "Damn right you should. I'm sick of hearing these guys talk about missing you."

I laughed, leaning forwards slightly, only to laugh harder when Corey tapped the tip of my nose. I reached out and pulled the twins into a hug, a foolish grin on my face. I hadn't known that I had been feeling so poorly about the entire situation until I had come to them, and somehow, they had made me feel better. If I didn't know better, I would think that they were magical. I made a mental note to have a sleepover with them soon.

As I was pulling away, my phone rang and I sent them an apologetic glance before standing up and wandering into the kitchen to answer. "Hello?"

"Hey, Pookie," Sean's cheery voice chimed in my ear. My heart strings tugged and a smile formed on my face. I couldn't help the fact that the mere sound of their voices even brought me joy. I was also hoping that if he was sounding that happy then the conversation hadn't gone so bad. "We're on our way back to the house, all of us. We were wondering if you wanted any food, we're stopping for some."

"No," I replied, unable to help the anxiety that was pressing down on my chest. I needed to know how the conversation went, and I needed to know immediately. "I'm fine. I'm actually at the Sergeant Jasper. I'll probably leave after this phone call. But what I would like, is to know how it went."

The line went silent for a moment and my stomach dropped. Tears formed and my head dropped, aware that I should have expected this. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up to start with; it was irrational for me to think that they would want a relationship like that.

But then:

"We've come to the decision, that we'd like to be given the chance to call your ours and to make this work. You're too special to let go."

The smile that formed on my face could have lit up the entire goddamn galaxy.

a/n: alright, this chapter being released tonight is partially because I'm impatient and I wanted to see all of you melt over the Toma boys (YOU'D BETTER MELT OVER THE TOMA BOYS BC LOOK HOW CUTE TEHY AER) and the other reason is because the last chapter was so short. I'm too damn tired to find a song for this chapter.

Also, for those wondering... I'm finally going to confirm... This book/series is leading up to a 14RH. You're just gonna have to be patient with me and this story.

xoxo,

ry.