My head felt like it was spinning. What had I gotten myself into?

I shook my head. No. This was not my fault. It wasn't like I had invited Rex over, and I had told Quinn not to show up. I was an innocent bystander.

"Aren't you gonna offer your guests a drink or a snack?" Rex questioned as he plopped down on the couch.

My jaw slacked open. Did he really just ask me that?

As if seeing the murderous intent in my eye, Luke spoke up. "We did kind of just show up uninvited," he began, dreamy English accent and all. "We shouldn't expect her to wait on us."

Barking out a laugh, Rex jumped to his feet. He winked at Luke. "Good job, sticking up for your girlfriend."

The sound that escaped my throat was basically a squawk, which only made my face turn even redder than it did from Rex's comment.

"I could've stuck up for her, too," Quinn called out after Rex as the older man made his way into my kitchen.

I scoffed. "Yeah, right. You would've went along with it and expected me to wait on you hand and foot."

Quinn shrugged. "I would like to see you in a maid outfit."

I moved to hit him, but then stopped when I remembered that Luke was there. He was used to our bickering, but that didn't mean I liked arguing in front of him so much. I was trying to make myself look like a potential girlfriend, not some kid sister.

Rex lasted about five minutes in the kitchen before coming back out into the living room and claiming that he gave up trying to make food, as there was nothing there. At this point, I didn't know if he was exaggerating or not, since we hadn't gone grocery shopping this week yet. That was going to make housing guests interesting.

When I heard the front door suddenly open, my blood went cold. If Leo was home, it meant the fun was over. Even if he went into another room, just knowing he was home completely ruined my mood.

I didn't know if it was better or worse when Lacey made her way through the door, Lindsey trailing in behind her. It was never fun having your enemy be your stepsister's best friend.
"Why are you back?" I demanded, unable to hold back my bitter tone.

Lacey forced a smile at me, only acting civil because of our guests. "I just wanted to come home," was her lame answer. We all knew the reason she'd really came back, and he was six foot three with messy blonde hair and an liking to get smacked with every word that came out of his mouth.

That didn't explain why she had brought Lindsey with her, though I chose not to question it. There was probably no good reason anyway.

Lindsey didn't care about anyone else in the room except the pale boy with the long black hair that sat across from me on the couch. She had a look in her eye that I couldn't read.

"Quinn," she started, quietly. "When I asked to hang out today, you told me you had a family thing you couldn't get out of today."

"I did," the Lost Boys' leader shrugged, leaning back into the couch. "But I got out of it."

I could tell how hurt Lindsey was by this, since he clearly hadn't tried hard enough to get out of whatever family event he had to hang out with her, but instead to come over to my house. I'd be angry if I was her, too.

Instead of directing her anger at him, however, she decided to turn toward me. Though I wasn't very surprised, it still initially caught me off guard. "Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a second?" she asked me, but her tone made it sound like I didn't have much of a choice.

Letting out a sigh, I pushed myself up out of my seat and followed her into my kitchen. She had been to my house plenty of times, as my friend and then as Lacey's, to know where everything was.

"Lacey, entertain our guests," I instructed my stepsister, who seemed overjoyed at the thought. Rex, however, looked like he was going to cry. Good.

Lindsey was leaning against the kitchen counter, glaring as I made my way to her. I already knew this was going to be an unpleasant conversation, like it always was with Lindsey now. Sometimes I forgot what it was like to have positive or even regular conversations with her.

"Stay away from Quinn," I said at the same exact time as Lacey did, already knowing her whole spiel. I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, Lindsey, come up with some better material."
This wasn't making her any less angry, but I didn't even care anymore. After I had stopped trying to be friends with her again, I started feeling so much happier. I didn't need to try to please someone who just didn't like me.

"Just stay away from him," she warned, her voice low, is if she was afraid that someone in the living room would overhear her.

"How many times do I have to tell you this, Lindsey?" Unable to help it, I rolled my eyes. "I don't like Quinn."

Like always, this didn't make her feel any better. "Your feelings aren't the ones I'm worried about," she snapped.

I was so not in the mood to be having this conversation. "What are you even talking about?"

"I'm talking about Quinn's feelings for you!"

I didn't even know how I was supposed to react to that. I had heard this multiple times before from multiple different people. And every time, it ticked me off more and more.

"Maybe if you're so worried about his lingering feelings, you should lock him down into an actual relationship with you," I advised, fighting the urge to speak through clenched teeth.

It seemed like the smartest option to me. They were always hanging all over each other, doing who knew what behind closed doors. Basically already a couple, they just didn't officially call each other boyfriend and girlfriend.

When Lindsey's eyes suddenly filled with tears, I was taken aback. The last thing I ever expected was for her to start crying.

"You think I haven't tried that?" she demanded, her shoulders shaking and her hands clenched into fist at her sides. "You think I haven't tried to get him to commit to me?"

I felt too awkward to say anything back. I couldn't even tell if she was asking me rhetorically or not. Lindsey had not allowed herself to be so vulnerable in front me since before we had stop being friends.

"I want him to be my boyfriend," she continued. I stayed dead silent. "But he doesn't want to be. He doesn't want to be in a relationship with me. I'm nothing more to him then just... then just... some fill-in!"

"Ew," I voiced, unable to help it.

Lindsey looked like she wanted to hit me. "Not like that!" She then seemed to really think about what she had said, and now her tears threatened to fall. "But maybe it is like that! Maybe that is all I am to him! Just a replacement, just a fill-in, for you!"

This was escalating into an argument I did not want to have. She was spouting nonsense, nonsense that was only brewing from her own insecurities. I did not want to argue with her when I had guests and my cousin I rarely ever saw in the living room, who were currently being entertained by my boy-crazy stepsister.

But still, even with how rude and annoying Lindsey could be after she had started hooking up with Quinn, I couldn't help but feel bad seeing her almost crying in front of me all because Quinn was being inconsiderate toward her.

I could still remember when she first told me she thought he was cute. We were in seventh grade, and Quinn would find his way to us every day during school just to annoy me. When I voiced my disdain for him after she had told me she thought he was cute, she didn't mention her liking for him again. Through eighth grade, she stayed silent. She never said a word about how she felt about Quinn. She knew I would've just shot her down and disagreed with how she felt.

High school was when everything changed. With the Lost Boys in power with Quinn as their leader, Lindsey seemed to grow impatient of keeping her feelings silent. On a random day about halfway through the school year, she snapped at me for talking badly about Quinn, storming off without even explaining anything. The next day, she walked into school, hand-in-hand with Quinn. Everyone assumed they were dating, until Quinn made sure to clarify that they were not official. And it had been like that ever since. I still had no idea what went down between them from when she snapped her to them coming to school together. All I knew was that she didn't want to be friends with me anymore after that, only ever glaring or saying rude things to me.

I didn't know how I was supposed to comfort her. I didn't know if she wanted me to. We weren't friends. Not anymore.

The conversation was cut short when Quinn himself came into the kitchen, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw me, clearly uncomfortable, and Lindsey, her eyes shining with tears.

"Uh..." Quinn blinked, looking back and forth from me to Lindsey. "What's up?"

This seemed to be too much for Lindsey, and even I was perturbed by his choice of approaching the situation. My ex best friend finally began to cry, running by Quinn and out of the room. We both stayed silent for a moment, listening to her footsteps as she climbed up the stairs.

"What's her problem?" Quinn asked me, seemingly not caring enough to go after her.

I sighed, making my way around the counter to find snacks for my guests. "Same as mine."

Quinn seemed to understand what I meant. "Are you saying she's crying because of me?"

Making my way by him, I patted him on the shoulder, opening the fridge with my free hand as I congratulated him, "Good job, Quinn. You figured it out."

Still, the boy seemed lost. "What did I do?"

It was amazing to me that he had absolutely no idea why Lindsey would be upset with him. This seemed like something that had been building up over some time. It was hard to believe he didn't notice anything.

"Why don't you just make her your girlfriend already?" I asked, answering his question with my own. Quinn seemed to understand what the problem was now. "She's pretty, she's nice when she likes the person she's talking to, and she wants to be with you. So why don't you just be her boyfriend?"

Quinn shook his head. "I told her in the beginning that I wasn't looking for anything serious."

"But why not?" I snapped. "Do you really just want to be able to hook up with anyone you want that badly?"

Quinn's eyes were dark as he stared right at me. "Not anyone."

"What are you saying?" I blinked, freezing in my tracks. "Are you saying that there's someone else you like?"

Quinn said nothing, but his silence was enough of an answer for me.

"You like someone?" I nearly shouted, bounding around the counter and straight toward him.

Quinn seemed very surprised by my sudden proximity, taking a step back away from me. It was odd, since Quinn was usually the one trying to get closer. His body language gave everything away.

I then remembered what Lindsey had said earlier. How she always acted like I was some sort of threat, literally afraid of whatever feelings Quinn may have had for me. Did she know something I didn't?

"It's not me, is it?" I blurted, the fear evident on my face at just the thought. I didn't even care if asking made me seem self-centered or full of myself. I needed to make sure Lindsey was wrong.

Seeing the horrified look on my face, Quinn's eyes suddenly softened. "No," he answered quietly, then clearing his throat and shaking his head. Only a second passed before his usual grin adorned his face. But it didn't meet his eyes. "Why would I ever like you?"

I let out a long sigh of relief. I'd been right. Lindsey was full of it.

"You're pretty full of yourself for thinking it was you, Ebby," he smirked, following after me as I made my way back behind the counter.

I scowled at him. "I was just asking because Lindsey likes to give me crap whenever I'm around you. Which is a lot, by the way."

Quinn rolled his eyes. "She gives every girl I'm around crap," he excused. "You're just the girl I'm around the most."

I made a face at him. He was right that he was always near me, but not so right about Lindsey giving every girl he came into contact with crap. Though she was still rude to Skyler for choosing to be my friend over hers, she never gave her a hard time about Quinn, and Skyler was around him quite a lot because of me.

"If you like someone else, you should stop stringing Lindsey along," I advised now, though I wasn't in much of a position to give advice since I'd never had a boyfriend or even an almost-boyfriend. "It's not fair to her."

Quinn didn't seem to care about this lecture very much. "What do you even care? You guys aren't friends anymore."

Deciding my best bet was to just make sandwiches, I pulled our bread out from under the counter. "She might not be my friend anymore, but that doesn't mean I like to see you treating girls like dirt," I excused, returning to the fridge in search of meats and condiments.

I'd never been able to bring myself to completely hate Lindsey. She had been my best friend for so long that I didn't think it was possible, even with how rude she was to me now. So seeing her so upset did bother me, even though I'd never admit that out loud. It wasn't like Lindsey would have cared anyway.

Clearly she was hoping Quinn's feelings would change, but it was obvious that wasn't the case. He was dead set on staying a bachelor, clearly holding out for the other girl, whoever she was. Lindsey was stupid to stay with him, but I had no say in the matter.

I then thought about what it would be like to be in her shoes. She cared about Quinn just as much as I cared about Luke. If Luke and I had the same type of relationship that they had, but he wouldn't commit to me, I'd be heartbroken. I didn't think I'd even be able to handle it. So I had to give Lindsey props for dealing with it for as long as she had. Maybe she wasn't so stupid after all.

"I would be devastated if Luke was booking up with me when he really had feelings for someone else," I whispered, just the thought hurting my heart. "Why else do you think I haven't told him how I feel yet?"

"Because you're a wuss."

I nearly crushed the tomato in my hand. "That's rich coming from a guy who apparently can't tell the girl he really likes how he feels."

Quinn seemed to think for a moment. "Touché."

"What'd you even come in here for anyway, Quinn?" I sighed, pulling out different ingredients to make different types of sandwiches. "Beside to be the obnoxious asshole that you always are."

"I was wondering where to put this," he answered, holding up his hand to reveal the hand towel I hadn't even noticed he was holding. "I was able to get that soda out of the carpet with just some soap and water with this."

All I could do was stare at him, my eyes softening. He'd cleaned up the mess that I would have had to clean myself, if I didn't want Leo to go completely ballistic. Why had he done that? He didn't even clean at his own place; he had a staff for that.

Before I could even think to thank him or answer his question, Rex came bounding into the kitchen, rather panicked. I was frightened for only a moment until I remembered who it was acting so boisterously.

"You know I hate interrupting you two," Rex began, turning to Quinn and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know I do. But Lacey says she's going to sing."

All color drained from my face. "Oh, no."

Quinn looked from me to Rex, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What's so bad about Lacey singing? Other than the awkwardness of that situation."

Rex shook his head, his hand still on Quinn's shoulder. "Two of my best friends are basically professional singers," Rex started, a look of complete seriousness on his face, which was no usual for him. "I know good singers, and I know bad singers. And Lacey's not even in that category."

I then realized that if Rex, Quinn, and I were int he kitchen, and Lindsey was in Lacey's room, that meant...

"Luke's alone in there with her!" I hissed, practically running for the door, the sandwiches long forgotten. As I passed Rex and Quinn, I knocked into the latter, causing him to drop the hand towel onto the floor. But I didn't even look back.

When I entered the living room, I could see a very awkward Luke sitting as far away from Lacey as he could, both on opposite ends of the couch as she tried to hum to find the right tune for whatever song she was deciding on singing. Even that sounded like a dying cat.

"Lacey," I interrupted before she could start, Rex and Quinn following me back into the living room. "Um... I don't know if you noticed, but your friend went upstairs and she could probably use some consoling."

"My friend?" my stepsister blinked, clearly having no idea who I was talking about. I raised my eyebrows at her, and suddenly she seemed to remember. "Oh!"

She hopped up off the couch and out of the room, leaving the boys and I to each let out sighs of relief.

"You're a life saver," Rex sighed, collapsing onto the couch, absolutely defeated. "I can only take so much of that girl."

"I'd say you're overreacting, but you did ask a friend of yours once to pretend to be your girlfriend just so Lacey would leave you alone," I reminisced, remembering the family dinner that I didn't have the pleasure of going to, but had the pleasure to hear all about from Lacey after the fact. "She spent the rest of the week ripping that girl to shreds for every little thing, from her appearance to her voice."

"It's actually that girl's wedding that I'm going to," Rex pointed out, and I was a little surprised that they were still friends even after college. "And speaking of weddings, even though I'm married, Lacey still won't leave me alone."

I patted my cousin on the shoulder. "You're cursed for life."

I heard the front door open then, and I hoped more than anything that it would be my mother walking through the door or Lindsey and Lacey walking out of it, though I knew that was too good to be true.

"Didn't I tell you to clean this place up?" I heard Leo demand from the other room, and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He made his way into the room, ready to berate me even more, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the three boys that were with me. Rex raised an eyebrow at him. "L... Lacey?"

I made a face. To save his ass, he was going to act like he was talking to his own daughter. Though he didn't care about being an asshole in front of my friends, any family member of mine made him suddenly shut his mouth and keep his snide comments to himself. So even though Rex was aware of how Leo treated me because I talked to him about it, he'd never actually seen it in person.

Both Quinn and Luke, who were well aware of Leo's true self, stared right at him, both clearly at the ready to say or do something if they needed to. My heart swelled. Even though Quinn could be a real jerk, and Luke was completely oblivious to my feelings, I had great friends in them. And I knew that no matter what, that would never change.

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I always want to type Jack instead of Luke. Every. Single. Time.

Even though they're supposed to be completely different (with the obvious similarities), their names are just too similar and it makes everything so much more difficult. It'd be really weird if just all of a sudden you're reading about Ebony and Luke and suddenly Jack's just there and it's just like... Jack what are you doing here you're twenty now stop it

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3