Surprisingly, my sleep that night was dreamless. I was so exhausted that my mind was incapable of forcing me to think about Laurie. My eyes slowly peeled open, as the darkness in my room slowly began to fade as the sun took its place in the sky. I stretched my arms above my head, a strange noise escaping from behind my lips. I felt a slightly dizzy as I dropped them down next to my sides, I closed my eyes, aggressively yawning. I couldn't hear Laurie yet, so I figured that it was incredibly early in the morning – which was much too early for him, even though he was an early riser. I had no idea what he did before I woke up. I didn't know an awful lot about him, in all honesty. The only things that I had managed to deduce were that he was rich, English, and an eighties music fan. He was a strange man, and he looked a lot younger than my mother. But, I supposed that a messy divorce and a troublesome child hadn't aged her well.

It took me a moment to gather the energy to stand, and when I did, I felt dizzier. I held onto my head, grumbling away to myself as I stumbled around in the dim room. I pulled on the hoodie from yesterday, making sure that my small body was covered, before heading out into the corridor. The house was eerily silent, and I didn't like it. Scowling, I marched along the corridor, noticing that he and my mother's bedroom door was open. He must be downstairs somewhere, I said to myself, tucking strands of my hair under my hood.

I sauntered down the stairs, hand sliding along the bannister as I went, standing at the bottom of the stairs. He wasn't in the lounge, so I headed towards the kitchen in the hopes of finding him there. I frowned, hands on my hips, eyes scanning the room for any sign of him. I caught a glimpse of a torso, out of the corner of my eye, lying still in the back garden. I marched towards the window.

There he was, lying on a sun-lounger, arms above his head. His skin was already bronze, his blonde hair lighter from spending time in the sun, eyes tightly shut. I cocked my head to the side, eyes travelling the length of his body. The tattoo in the centre of his chest was fully visible to me now, the odd little tattoo scattered here and there. I felt a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, as though I had swallowed eleven rocks and my stomach couldn't handle it. I put a hand on my chest, watching him for a few moments longer. My stomach began to grumble at me, I reached down, pushing my hand into my stomach to stop it from yelling at me. My mind was completely fixated on Laurie; he had probably meant for me to find him that. I had confidently come to the conclusion that the man really did enjoy teasing me, making me feel the way that I was feeling.

I found the courage to reach up to the window and knock on the glass with a closed fist. He didn't flinch, one of his dark eyes slowly opened, staring at me as though I had offended him deeply. He got up, stretching his arms, his torso much more defined, walking towards the back doors. Opening them both, he stood in the doorway, hands holding onto each side of the frame. "What time do you call this?" He asked, looking down at me, I stared at my feet. "William, look at me when I'm speaking to you." He said in a low tone; I struggled to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry Laurie." I said quietly, the expression on his face changed into a smile, one I felt like I had never seen before. I mean, the smiles that he wore in front of my mother were convincing enough, even when he pecked her on the cheek and held her in his arms. But this one, I had never seen before. He genuinely looked happy to see me.

"What do you want to eat?" He asked, the smile still spread across his face. I went to shrug, before realising that I had words, and that Laurie would scold me for not using them properly.

"Anything." I said, which I thought was a better answer for I don't know. He let out a sigh, entering the room, my eyes once again fixed upon his bare torso – more so the tattoo on his chest. It was an anatomical heart, various branches and leaves shot out of the arteries – it was so beautiful. I wanted to know what it meant, but, I was too afraid to ask. The man was my stepfather, and although his mood had changed already today, then man still slightly terrified me. I didn't like it when he got mad at me, I didn't like the change in his eyes. They were so warm, so beautiful, until he was unhappy. Then, they filled themselves with hate and harmfulness. I shuddered, wiping my mouth, letting out a deep sigh.

He raised his eyebrow, moving his head in a way that suggested to me that I was to make my own food. I much preferred it when he made me breakfast or whatever meal of the day it was, I felt like there was much more care put into it. When I made my own food, I threw whatever I could bear to eat in the centre of the plate and picked at it until I lulled myself into boredom.

He poured himself a glass of water, tipping his head back as he drank, forcing me to look at that tattoo more and more. I peeled my head away from his direction, gathering the ingredients to make toast. I didn't want it, but Laurie's pleasant smile a few moments ago gave me the urge to put something into my body.

I sat in front of him at the counter, looking down at the food, ripping it up into smaller, manageable pieces. That way, my brain didn't think that there was a lot to eat, and I would usually finish it in about ten minutes. I heard him set his glass down, he stood in front of me again, arms folded across his golden body. "Your mother says that she'll call you later today. She called this morning, but, you were asleep." He said with a huff, his voice lower, he was looking out of the window. I could tell by the tone of his voice, that he wasn't really bothered by my mother's business trip. If anything, there was a sort of liberation for him. He didn't have to go to those horrendous dinner parties that she forced him to attend, all in the name of 'making contacts.' The man was bored, I could see it in his eyes before they would leave.

"Are you not worried that she's being wooed by some big, Italian guy?" I found myself saying with a new attitude, a piece of toast hanging out of the corner of my mouth. He snorted, smiling, looking out of the window as if to avoid looking me in the eyes.

"Your mother can do what she likes. I, am not bothered. If she enjoys the charm and whit of every Italian man she sees, then, they can have her. I'm not going to dampen her moment out of spite." He said, his eyes widening for a moment, the smile still across.

"You wouldn't fight for her?" I asked, chewing the lukewarm bread with my mouth open.

"And, where would the point be in that, William? You can't convince somebody to stay if they don't want to." He asked, looking me in the eyes this time, picking up his glass, his Adams apple gently bobbing up and down. He sniffled, scratching his neck, as I chewed the insides of my mouth. Whenever he talked about my mother, there was a kind of coldness in him, like hearing her mentioned in a sentence chilled his very core. He wasn't one for lovingly embracing my mother, although, he was very convincing at their wedding. He even kissed her, as if he was into it.

I remained quiet, finishing my food for probably one of the first few times in a blue moon. He stared out of the window as I ate, not making any sound. His breathing was so quiet that he may as well have not bothered trying to be somewhat human. He acted like a lizard in a human-suit at the best of times, even when he was showing basic affection to anyone or anything.

"Do I have to have school today?" I asked with a sigh, placing my elbows on the counter, my chin resting in the palm of my hand. He was silent, as though he was choosing not to hear me. I cleared my throat, considering waving my hand in front of his face – his head snapped in my direction.

"Judging by the fact that you woke up ten years later than you should've done, I guess that we'll have to do it tomorrow," He said slowly, finally making eye contact with me, "I'll just make you do it for longer." He said with a smile, pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes. He rubbed his arms, goosebumps were beginning to appear on his golden skin.

Once again, I had found myself staring at him – there was no doubt in the fact that the man was unbelievably attractive. He was something so out of my reach, which made the feelings in the pit of my stomach get stronger and stronger. I had an inkling that he knew exactly what he was doing; that parading around with no shirt on was sending my little, hormonal body into some sort of frenzy. I bit my bottom lip, as he took my plate away from me, standing in front of the sink. The rushing water caused me to zone out for a moment, lost in my thoughts, like white noise drowning out the noises of the present. My eyes travelled the length of his body again, noticing more tiny tattoos on his back. Some had faded with age, others were dark black little etchings that made no sense. Of course, they made sense to him; again, I hadn't the courage to ask him about them.

"I just want you to know, William, that that fiend across the street is not somebody that you want to be associating with. He looks like he smells like cigarette ash and cheap beer." He said, his words cold, turning around to face me.

There was a cocktail of hurt and jealousy in his warm eyes. I didn't know why, but there was. I cocked my head to the side, frowning, pretending not to know the subject of his sudden burst of concentrated hatred.
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Day Four: A song that reminds you of someone you'd much rather forget about - Getting along by The Magic Gang, and also Blue For You by The Magic Gang.

A.N
Low-key, The Magic Gang make me so emotional I love my little men. Especially my Angus he's perfect yes (what a man.)
Magic Gang are also perfect for if you're feeling a bit down, and you need a good music video and soft indie beats to cheer you up- cures me most days trust me <3

Not appreciating that I'll be applying for universities in September this year, it's going to fast but I can't wait to go but my sweet cats and my mum- what will I do without them???

Anyway, enough with the existentialism it's 1.12 am and I have college tomorrow....

As you were xx