- Wednesday -

I FELT LIKE AN UTTER MESS when making my way down the stairs this morning.

"Scarlett!" My mother cooed. Angel Blaine raced around the small island sitting in the middle of the kitchen, nearly slipping over the vast amount of pancake mix that had rained down over the entirety of the kitchen floor. "It's so good to see you!"

A small grunt flew past my lips before I could think twice about making a sound; her sudden hug had knocked the wind out of me. Those warm arms my mother had always cradled me in wrapped around me like a blanket, her signature cranberry perfume wafting around me in a rather comforting matter. "It's good to see you too, mom."

With a quick sniffle, she took a step back. The casual way that she dusted off her hands on her seemingly new pink and white poka-dotted apron leading me to believe this wasn't the first time she'd cooked since being here.

For a woman that figured out how to burn water when I was growing up, I was pleasantly surprised.

"Elias and I decided to stay the night in Richmond," she started, turning her attention back to the vat of pancake batter sitting on the countertop. She whirled around, setting the bowl next to the stove just as I took a seat on one of the two metal barstools sitting in front of the island. "The case took so long to wrap up. I wanted so badly to be here to greet you yesterday, that goes for Wren as well, but Elias-"

"Was working," I finished for her. From what I had overheard from my two step brothers the night before, as well as a little extra research that I had delved into after Wren had gone home, I had come to the conclusion that Elias Pennington was in fact, all that. He was one of the most highly sought after lawyers on the east coast. "And doing a good job of it. You don't have to apologize mom. I basically slept the whole day, anyways."

Just before my mother could get another word in, "Hayden!" Whom I could only assume would be Elias, called from his study. "Hayden will you please come downstairs!"

My mother shook her head, turning her attention back to her questionable attempt at making breakfast for our new Brady-bunch like family. "Those two can't seem to get along."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I know Hayden's a little rough around the edges..." My words trailed off, as honestly, I could completely understand where my mother was coming from. Judging exclusively from my one interaction with Hayden the day before, I could tell he liked to make things harder than absolutely necessary. Elias had to be a saint to have invited him back into his home for the summer. I know I would have my doubts if I'd spawned something of his caliber.

"He got kicked out of school," her words were hushed. The way she leaned in towards me left me worrying that she would burn the fabric of her apron on the stovetop. "Elias thought having him intern for the summer would do him good. He thinks he got caught up with the wrong crowd back in Pennsylvania. Drugs and whatnot."

"Why did he get kicked out? And what-"

"Hayden!" Elias' calls cut into our all too scandalous conversation. "Please get ready and meet me downstairs!"

I rolled my eyes, for once hating the buffer between my mother and I. While growing up, things hadn't exactly been easy with the two of us, what with my father taking off and all, but now it seemed as though I couldn't get enough out of her. That had never been the problem before.

"Would you mind?" My mother nodded off in the direction of the stairs. I could feel my frown worsening, those little lines creasing on my forehead and around my mouth, as whatever silent request she was making got lost in the fog playing around in my head. To put it mildly, I was exhausted. I needed coffee now more than I ever had before.

"Would I mind, what?"

The small smile that sprouted at the left corner of her mouth gave me a strange reassurance, "would you mind waking Hayden? I believe Elias received some sort of correspondence from the university about Hayden's explosion. He was uncomfortable speaking about it in the car on our way home this morning."

I bit my lip, but only to hold back whatever retort I had about my so called stepbrother. I hadn't been looking forward to our next encounter, and now hearing that it would be moving up quite considerably in my morning schedule, I was less than pleased.

"You want me to wake him up," I repeated. The words tasted sour when they left my mouth, leaving a tangy aftertaste with the obvious disgust laced between them.

The look on my mother's face led me to believe she was losing her confidence in me. When I'd taken off for school, seemingly one of the top students in my class, the world was my oyster as my mother used to say. Now seeing what troubles I'd had during my last semester at UCLA, and now my narrow minded ways in wrapping my head around this one small task, I couldn't blame her for giving me that look.

I was kind of losing confidence in myself as well.

"If you wouldn't mind."

I nodded, not wanting to strain myself, or my mother, any further on the topic. So I hoisted myself up from my surprisingly comfy seat and padded across the dark oak as quickly as I could. The largest obstacle I would need to overcome during my journey to the second floor would be sneaking past Elias unnoticed.

To this day, we'd never met, and besides that, I wasn't properly dressed.

The first look I'd had of my mother's fiancé was on my laptop the night prior. I could still see the silver fox facade he had painted over those previously innocent features. The dark look that illuminated his blue-grey eyes during that particular snap shot his law firm had canvased across their website left me wondering exactly what had happened that made him loose the sparkle that I had witnessed firsthand in both his boys. Even the way his smile sat; it seemed to be carved into his face with the hand of a craftsman who had intended to portray his sculptures' happiness. It was as if everything about the man spoke more to his lofty money and knowledge of the law rather than his enjoyment of his personal life.

I nearly felt as hallow as he had looked when I'd gazed at the picture last night.

Nevertheless, I snuck past the middle aged man. His sleek black dress shoes tapped against the wood floors as he continued pressing the latest iPhone to his right ear, all while honing his sight on the window. Though I couldn't see his face, if it had changed at all since that picture was posted, I didn't feel any need to worry with him around. The way my mother had gushed about the man over the phone and through her emails, I'd come to realize that maybe this was her story book happy ending.

The air seemed colder upstairs. I could only chalk it up to the fact that my mother was baking in the kitchen. It looked as though she's turned every appliance in the house to high heat despite the sunlight streaming in through each and every window. From the looks of it, the weather would keep it's niceties about it for the whole day. I wasn't one to complain about the summer air in Virginia.

My knuckles met the dark wood door gently before I'd even given a thought about what to say. I could hear the shower running down the hall and could safely assume it was Jay, Hayden's older brother whom Wren was wildly attracted to, taking a shower. Hayden, however, was shuffling his heavy feet across the floor at one of the slowest paces I'd ever heard of.

He clearly wasn't a morning person.

My words caught in my throat, not that I had the slightest clue of what to say anyways, upon the door sliding open without warning. Hayden stood, head tilted to the left, his body contorting against the door while his left hand stayed planted on the handle. In what I assumed was an attempt to put his bare body on display, he leaned back and rested his right hand against the doorframe, giving me long enough to memorize his abs and the all too short boxer shorts that left little to the imagination.

I couldn't help but gulp at the site. "Your dad wanted me to wake you." I could barely get the words out without mumbling. My fingers flew up to play with a strand of my long blonde hair that had slipped out of the bun is tossed it into half an hour prior, but despite my best efforts, I couldn't keep my eyes off his perfectly tanned body.

"He's a little impatient when it comes to me," Hayden's voice forced me to look him in the eye. "You know what they say, like father, not like son."

"How many phrases are you planning to coin before breakfast?"

"More than either of us are ready for at this hour." That stupid smirk played out on his lips as he copied my actions, the man that would soon call himself my stepbrother allowing his eyes to glide over every inch of me.

For the second time this morning I rolled my eyes at a Pennington man and their all too cocky attitudes, before taking a single step into Hayden's room. While placing a hand on the black painted wood dresser near the door, I came to find out that he wore a faint amount of aftershave, one that I recognized but couldn't quite remember. My fingers itched against the piece of furniture until my absentminded attempts at finding him an article of clothing rained victorious.

This time, the ball was in my court; so I shoved the thing into his chest.

"You might want to get dressed." I hissed, trying my hardest to keep my composure. "I don't think anyone would appreciate your appearance at the moment."

I could practically feel my hand catching fire at the small skin to skin contact that we had when he placed his hand over my own.

"You don't seem to mind too much, sis. Can't pretend like those pretty brown eyes haven't been raking me over since you walked in."

I couldn't hold back my scoff.

"I'm the one handing you the shirt, moron," I paused for only a moment. "Just meet Elias in his study. Preferably wearing pants."

-

Closing my eyes for a single second nearly felt like a mistake when in the presence of Hayden Pennington, but it wasn't for the reason I expected.

No. It wasn't because of his obvious good looks, or the intrigue that I felt upon meeting him; it was for fear that I would miss something.

Something like him going through my shopping bags.

Hayden bit his lip to try and hide the smirk that took instant form on those plump lips of his. I found myself frowning, as I had been all day, until he began parading the single article of clothing that I had done my best to hide from him.

He'd found my new set of undergarments.

"Hayden!" I pressed my lips into a thin line, reaching out and feeling the lace brush atop my fingertips for a quicker time than it had taken him to pull back. His chuckle could be heard around the strangely empty corridor my mother had insisted we take refuge in during our coffee break.

"You expecting a booty call or something?" He mocked, leaning back in his chair. In his tight black t-shirt that clung around the tops of his biceps, I could see the faint tattoos that had been permanently drawn onto his tan skin. I couldn't pinpoint the exact phrasing written in lettering that could only be described as cursive, but I could make out the date written on his left arm. '8.10.04.' It was as if the intricate artwork had slipped my mind during our conversation this morning.

I huffed, resting my elbows on the table that stood between me, and me getting my bra back from the devil spawn himself. "No, actually."

"Oh please," he paused, only to place the bra over his chest in the most childish way, "explain."

"I don't owe you anything," I said. "I barely know you."

My fingers griped the fabric tight and quick, my body flying backwards before Hayden could steal it back. He caught my forearm, thankfully, before I hit the chair hard enough to plummet into the hard time below. His gentle laugh was a welcome change to the teasing and ridiculing he had been prompting me with over the last three hours.

Why on earth my mother and Elias had arranged not only a summer internship for the two of us, but a shopping trip to boot, was beyond me.

"You're right, you don't owe me anything," he agreed. "But I'd like to know if you're going to be parading guy after guy into the house after mommy and daddy go to bed."

The twisted look of disgust that contorted my featured must have been amusing to him, because once more, he laughed right at me.

As Hayden fell back into his chair I pushed the bra into my purse, hoping it wouldn't ruin the underwire in even the slightest of ways, while he was distracted. "I'm not going to parade around the house by myself, let alone with some guy. Maybe Wren, but that's only when she's drunk."

"She get drunk a lot?" I shrugged in response, deciding this time to keep all things Wren to myself.

My best friend would be off limits to my new brothers, namely Hayden, simply because of how complicated things would get. I barely knew who or what I was to this new family, and to adding her into the mix before I'd gotten a good feel for them would only make matters worse.

If either of them got my stamp of approval, I would gladly step aside and let her have her fun. But for the moment, I would keep the two Pennington brothers far, far away from Wren Manny.

"I'm sorry it took so long!" The click of my mother's red pumps rang through my ears before she spoke. "I thought ordering online was meant to be faster than purchasing in store."

Hayden plastered a smile on his face when accepting the small gift bag from my mother, "thank you, Angel."

"Elias ordered these for you both." Plopping down, she handed me the second and final bag she'd picked up during her trek across the mall. "So you'll be prompt during your internships. College can be a little more flexible with schedules than actual jobs; these watches will do you both some good."

My hand began scrummaging through the pale blue gift bag, my fingers unable to find anything with the large amount of purple tinted tissue paper it had been adorned with. When I finally grasped a soft box, I clamped my fingers around the edges and plucked it from the bottom of the bag. Glancing up, I watched as Hayden popped his own present box open, the item forcing his mouth to fall open in shock.

"Angel," he stopped himself.

My mother reached out, placing a hand over his knowingly. "He knows how much your grandfather meant to you. We've been working on the band design for months, but the original clock is still intact."

I couldn't help but to feel bad for him in this moment, as again, during my research I had found a tribute to Elias' father. Mort Pennington had died nearly fifteen years prior. Though his wife had been placed in assisted living after his passing, Angela too had died less than a year after her husband.

It was one of the more tragic things I had learned about the Pennington family.

"Thank you," Hayden spoke softly.

My mother nodded, taking my hand as well. "Thank you both for joining us for the summer. I know you'll do great things at your internship."

..........

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