The ride to get back from the Creek was faster than the ride to go to the Creek.

After Blake's many kicks to Clark's seat, he had completely shut down the music, leaving Blake smirking arrogantly for the rest of the ride.

I wasn't paying attention to any of them. I was trying to think of a way to get out of going to the library with Blake to sleep instead. The guys could wait until tomorrow. And I knew for a fact that there were pretty decent books at our school library. Why couldn't he just do his project with those?

Annoying prick.

When we reached Alex's house, everyone got out, to dispatch the bags and such.

"I'm picking you up at two," Blake told me while I walked to my car.

"I thought I was the one driving," I frowned.

Blake broke into a laugh "Like I'm going to be driven around by you. Please. I don't trust you behind a wheel, you're way too unobservant. I'll do the driving. You can enjoy yourself by bossing me around to tell me where to go"

"If I'm not driving, I'm not coming," I told him, folding my arms over my chest.

"Repeat what you just said in your head, and then tell me how it's possible for you not to see why I keep making crass jokes?" Blake laughed like an idiot, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I scowled at him. "First, only your perverted mind would think so. Second, you're an ass. And finally, you know what, I think I'm just going to stay home!"

"Oh, but you can't Pumpkin. You have no say in this. I asked you to help me, and you have to. Do I need to show you that contract again, or you're just desperate to run in those halls naked?" Blake said with an evil smirk.

"I hate you."

"I'll pick you up at two," Blake simply answered with a big victory smirk and then walked to his car.

UGH!

"Here Kitty," Alex said handing me my bag.

"Thanks," I replied still ticked off.

"Why the mad face?" he asked me.

"Blake annoys me," I frowned.

"Like that's new," Alex laughed.

"Don't be mean or the consequences will be great, Mister Parker," I told him, pointing him and then I swung my bag over my shoulder and walked to my car, Alex laughing behind.

I threw my bag on the back seat and then started my car and drove off to my house.

I was still wearing my sweat pants and hoodie. My shoes were a little muddy and I was in need of a shower. This was one of my many hang up. I couldn't go on with my day if I knew I hadn't taken a shower and I knew I skipped it yesterday. Sure, I swam in the Creek, but it wasn't enough for my difficult brain, I needed my shower before going to sleep and I had skipped it and now I felt all dirty.

I got home quickly and was actually happy when I stepped threw the threshold.

"Stop touching yourself Tyler, I'm home," I screamed the minute I closed the door behind me.

"Ha ha ha," I heard Ty say from the living room.

I was about to go straight to him, but there was something odd about the hall. Something was off.

The cupboard in light wood with dim green and yellow flowers that was usually against the left wall, with all our hats and scarves and other small piece of clothing for winter had disappeared.

I frowned.

Had Tyler been playing hockey in the house again with his buddy while I was gone and crushed the damn thing?

"Care to explain to me why the cupboard in the entry disappeared?" I asked him when I walked in the living room.

Tyler was sprawled on the couch, watching the sport channel, as usual, but he turned the volume down.

"Oh that would be our lovely mother," Ty answered me bitterly.

"What?"

"Yeah, now she's leaving with the furniture. Isn't it just awesome?" Ty scowled, sitting properly.

"What?"

"Yeah, yesterday, maybe an hour after you left, Mom came and Dad was with her. They went to the restaurant to talk about things and she asked for the cupboard, among other stuff, and obviously our damn father agreed."

"Among other stuff?" I asked completely shocked, letting myself fall on the recliner.

"She wants half of everything. She started a good damn decorating business with Dad's money but now she wants more. She's already going to have grandpa's share of the freaking law firm. That's not enough? She wants her decorating business and half of Dad's business too. And half of the house."

"Oh god," I whispered, shaking my head in denial.

What the hell was wrong with her? I knew how things worked. And I knew fairness was important and my parents worked together to get the house and everything they had but...

She was the one who left. She was the one who cheated. And that decorating business she had started last year, when she had decided law wasn't her thing anymore, wasn't that enough? Dad had to take care of us now. She only had herself to take care of.

Why couldn't she just leave us alone?

"Don't you just love this?" Ty said, his gaze far far away, shaking his head too.

"Are we... are we going to be alright? Financially, I mean?"

"Dad said not to worry, MG motors is going well. He said not to worry about anything."

"Of course, he did," I whispered.

My dad, never complaining about anything, never seeing the bad in anything, always seeing the good in everything. Of course, he would give her everything and of course he would tell us that everything would work out fine.

My sweet heartbroken father.

"I just wish this was all a freaking bad dream. Honestly, I'd even be ready to endure Annabelle again if that meant we could go five year back in time when everything was alright," Ty whispered.

"Wow. Annabelle, seriously?" I snorted.

Tyler hated Annabelle. He had actually thrown her a goodbye party, without inviting her of course. The party was to celebrate his joy of her leaving.

"I'm that desperate."

"Don't worry. We'll work it out. We always do," I told him.

"But what if we don't this time?" Ty whispered.

"We will."

Ty sighed and then looked at the television, his eyes not in the game though.

"So, give me good news," I suddenly said, trying to cheer up the mood. "Did you call Vanessa?"

"Yeah, I did," Ty snorted, giving a little kick of eyebrows, throwing his head back just a little.

"And did you work things out?"

"Of course, we did. We declared our love for each other and agreed that all this resentment was just sexual tension. So, we're getting married in Aruba by the end of the month and we'll call our kids Batman and Catwoman."

"Oh god, what did you do," I whispered, my head falling in my hands.

"What do you think we did? She told me I was a man-whore and I told her she couldn't hit B properly."

"Ty! Come on, not that again. She sang that song for you," I said sernly, getting on my feet.

"Oh yeah? For me? You mean the part when she sang I will replace you. That's the part that was for me?"

"God dammit, you idiot! She sang that song, because she knew how you like that James Bond movie. She knew you'd complain if she sang some cute love song."

The last school show Vanessa had participated in, she had sang You Know My Name by Chris Cornell, the theme song to Casino Royal, because Ty had been obsess with that movie and she knew he liked it. But she hadn't hit the B at the end and she hated herself for that, because she always sang it properly when she had repeated, and she kept saying she had no idea why she had screwed it up.

I knew why. It was because Ty was there, and he was listening to her and he made her feel nervous.

"Yeah, right," Tyler snorted again, lying back on the couch.

"God you're so stubborn. Why can't you just admit you both have feelings for each other?" I said, exasperated.

Those two were almost giving me a headache.

"Because things don't just magically work out. We're not in a freaking movie. Even if I told her that I don't want her to go out with some random Facebook guy, that I don't want her to go out with anyone for that matter, that thinking about her with anyone makes me mad as hell, that I don't even want to imagine anyone touching her, that I think about her all the fucking time even thought she probably doesn't think about me, and I know I'm younger and not experience and all that crap but..." Ty trailed, his fist clenching, his eyes saddening and darkening.

"Ty," I whispered, getting up to comfort him.

My poor baby brother.

"You know what, just forget it," he said, getting up hastily and ran to his room.

Why did things have to be so screwed up when they could be so simple?

Shaking my head, I climbed up the stairs, trying to figure out how everything had managed to be so complicated.

I looked into Ty's room and wasn't surprise to see him playing PS3. He was playing GTA actually. Well more precisely he was standing in the street, killing every pedestrian that walked passed him. With his fists.

Totally healthy.

It wasn't the time to try to reason with him right now, I had to let him cool off the steam a little.

So, I walked to my room, and was actually happy for a second, smelling the familiar scent of it, and then headed for my bathroom to take that much anticipate shower.

When I was done and in loose shorts and tank top, I looked at the time, eleven thirty, and decided I could lie in my bed just for a little while, before eating.

But for a little while turned much longer, because the second my head hit my pillow and my body snuggled under my sheets, I fell asleep.

___________

Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing good. I'm neck deep in editing and c-dramas at the moment. I've given up on sleep entirely. Pray for me. XD

As usual, the live reading will happen on Sunday March 28th, at 11AM EST on my instagram at instagram.com/kaygiard

If you have any questions you'd like me to answer, you can leave them here! :D

Otherwise, see you on Sunday!