(Clover told Mike what I was doing, so he decided to write in my pdf too.)

9th June 2019

MIKE

"Mom, this is delicious," I said as I dug into the steak and roast potatoes in front of me. Mom beamed at me, while Renee rolls her eyes.

Dad was at his therapist's today, which made it a perfect chance for me to come home. I hated visiting this way, but this was the best option I had.

I was expecting Clover to be here, but she had her Tarot classes every Sunday, and she promised me that she would visit later.

"I wish you would've brought your friends, Mike," Mom complained for the hundredth time.

"Violet, Simon and Daisy have their own families to visit, Mom," I repeated patiently and mom simply shook her head.

Renee sat quietly, merely nodding whenever I glanced towards her. However, my sister's always silent, she's hardly the chatty type like mom and I was.

"We're planning to start a business, since we can't make YouTube videos for the rest of our lives," I told them, trying to poke my fork through a rather hard piece of potato.

"How exactly are you doing that?" Renee finally opened her mouth, looking curious.

"I don't think we'll be starting from scratch, since none of us is particularly skilled in anything other than pranks. We might buy an already existing business," I explained, thinking about my lack of a college degree.

I don't regret not going to college. If I had gone, there would've been no LOLtube or anything of the sort.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Mom asked, taking a sip of water.

"MBTN Group. Has a nice ring to it," I said before I see Renee gawking at me, wide-eyed.

"Why MBTN?" She sputtered out. "And what does it stand for?"

"I don't know, Daisy came up with it. It stands for Michael, Bianca, Timothy and Nicole." I said proudly, but Renee looked confused.

"Where did the other three names come from?" Renee raised an eyebrow.

"It's our real names, of course." I laughed. "Mike for me, Daisy is Bianca, Simon is Timothy, and Violet is Nicole. You didn't think we'd use our real names on LOLtube."

Renee still stared at me in shock, like I'd just told her that the world was ending.

"Renee, what's wrong?" I asked her softly.

"I don't like the name," She said quickly, avoiding my gaze, "There are better names out there."

"Okay then, I'll change it," I replied immediately, and she leaned back into her chair, still throwing me a wary look.

"What type of business are you planning to buy?" Mom asked, choosing to skip the exchange between Renee and me.

"I thought a publishing company would be good, but the others wanted something bigger," I explained, to see Renee choking in on a potato.

"Ren!" I exclaimed as mom handed her a glass of water.

"Why publishing?!" She cried out, as soon as the potato was dislodged from her throat.

"I don't know. I just felt like it," I shrugged.

I wondered why she was so shocked by all this.

"Mom, I'm full... I just can't...," Renee pushed her plate away and used her crutches to limp to her room. Mom and I exchanged looks, unable to understand what was going through her mind.

"What's up with her?" I asked mom, who shrugged.

"One day, she's muttering names in her sleep, on other days, she's hiding some device from me in her room, I really don't know," Mom sighed. "I'm hoping it's just a phase."

The bell rang, and I got up immediately, knowing that Clover had arrived. Maybe she'd be happy about our new business idea.

However, when I open the door, Dad came face to face, turning red with anger as he saw me. He was back home earlier than we had anticipated.

"You?!" He gave an anguished cry. "You're here!"

"Dad, I was just passing by, I'm not staying -"

Dad looked into my eyes, probably to see if I was telling the truth. Then he nodded, knocking me out of the way as he entered the house.

I really didn't know what was up with him.

"Honey, I'm sorry," Mom got up, all panicky, nervously eyeing him.

"It's alright," Dad waved her away casually as he hung his coat up on the hook.

Mom looked as confused as me, but she stayed silent as dad walked up to the table, and grinned at the steak with potatoes.

I settled down quietly at the table, afraid of what he would say.

"So, Mike. How's the channel?" Dad asked amicably as if he hadn't kicked me out of the house last time.

"Good, dad," I replied nervously.

"I saw that video of yours. The one with the gorilla costume," Dad said. "That's the one I bought years ago for you, right?"

"Yeah, Dad," I smiled mildly, pleased that he was in a good mood. God knew how long it would last.

"Nice, nice," He nodded, his mouth full of steak.

"How was it at the therapist's today?" Mom asked him carefully, as though she expected him to burst any time.

"I don't need therapy with that madwoman," Dad said shortly. "I'm not insane."

Of course, that was what all insane people said.

"Yes dear, you aren't," Mom laughed awkwardly.

"It's not a joke." Dad snapped, "I really don't want to be throwing my dollars away to a woman who is misdiagnosing me. She still thinks I have a mild behavioural disorder."

Actually, dad's condition was much worse, but I'm pretty sure the doctor didn't tell him that. I presume that the treatment is working because dad isn't as violent today.

"I'm sorry about last time," Dad looked genuine as he met my eyes. "I didn't mean to send you out like that, but I panicked, Mike."

"No big deal, dad," I shrugged, even though it was a big deal for me.

"You must understand that I want to protect my family, and I do not have the patience to see you harm each one of them," Dad said in a low voice, but now his eyes were red and unfocused, a change that happened in a matter of seconds.

Mom threw me a frightened glance, gesturing me to leave. I got up reluctantly, noticing that I hadn't even gotten to dessert yet.

Which was ice cream by the way.

"Mike, you may have charmed everyone else in this household, but I know what you've done boy," Dad spoke again, his whole face swelling with anger.

"Endangering your life is one thing, but endangering the lives of others is entirely another."

*****

Later that afternoon, Clover and I were planning to go on a date. Renee's been holed up in her room, telling me that she had some important thing to do, but I guess she's still worried about my business plan.

"Are we going on a movie date?" Clover asked excitedly as I started my car. Yeah, I bought my own car a week ago, since it was too irritating to be driven around everywhere like a child.

"Nope," I smiled, forcing myself to look at the road and not a breathtakingly beautiful Clover. She was wearing a cream-yellow off-shoulder dress, patterned with tiny flowers, and paired with white sneakers, somehow apt for the place we were going to.

"Ooh, are we going to get pizza?" Clover asked animatedly. "I'm hungry anyway."

"We just ate, Clovie," I laughed, as she touched my forehead only by the fingertips. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to read your mind," Clover scrunched up her face in concentration. "I know! We're going to get ice cream!!"

"No," I replied. "Although that is a good idea."

"Hmm," Clover fell back on her seat, trying to think. "Maybe some sort of secluded place? Free from the public?"

"Woah, are you planning to get all handsy on me?" I teased, and she hid her face in embarrassment.

"Mike, I only said that because you wanted privacy-"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I want," I said, giving her a suggestive wink.

"Argh! You can be so annoying," She crossed her arms, and looked out of the window, not realising how it made my heart sink.

"Clovie, I'm sorry," I said, my hand reaching out to hold hers. Clover reluctantly held mine, but she soon got distracted as she read my palm.

"Woah, Mike, you will be extremely successful," She pointed at the nearly vertical crease on my hand. "And your love life is amazing too."

"That's because of you," I said, immediately cringing at how cheesy I sounded. However, Clover didn't mind me being cheesy, since she was a huge cheeseball herself.

"Aww, you cutie," Clover peered into my palm. "Why is your life line broken?"

"What?" I asked her.

"It shows your life expectancy, and..." Clover stopped, tracing the crease with her finger. "I'm probably reading it wrong."

"What does it say?" I asked her, slightly worried.

Was she seeing what I thought she was?

But Clover ignored me, muttering to herself as she analysed my palm. She tended to do that a lot when she wanted to avoid answering.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the place, a peaceful meadow that our parents used to take us to as kids. Renee probably didn't remember it, since she was an infant, but I knew it quite well.

"A meadow?! So this is where Renee drew her inspiration from," Clover grinned excitedly.

"Really? She remembers this place?" I asked, now pulling out the picnic basket that I'd packed.

"It's a picnic, that is so cute!" Clover laughed excitedly, deliberately ignoring my question. "Mikey, this place is so beautiful." She twirled around the meadow like a little girl, and my heart skipped a beat.

Don't say it. Don't say-

"But not as beautiful as you," I said deeply, sounding as cheesy as ever, but Clover looked pleased.

I moved closer towards her, inhaling her sweet berry scent that came from her blonde wavy hair. She was pulling me towards her, like a giant attractive magnet that I couldn't resist, her green eyes ever so alluring.

"Mike," Clover said softly, her hand moving up to my shoulder. My hands moved around her waist, and I wondered why we were taking all the time in the world.

And that was when I leaned in, kissing her full pink lips. I could feel her smiling against my mouth, letting out a cute giggle, before she kissed me deeply, and then I kissed her, and we continued to, glad that we were finally alone.

I'd waited two weeks for this, a day where there was no digital screen or a whopping hundred miles between us. A day where she was mine, and I was hers, just the two of us, with no human as far as we could see, surrounded by nature.

And just when I thought that everything was okay, that night flashed dangerously before my eyes, reminding me of the agreement.

The agreement that had changed my life forever.

*****