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|| Chapter 13 ||

"Don't fuck this up," my mother hisses into Sebastian's ear as Harry's car pulls up our driveway on Saturday morning. My body shakes and I can feel my face heat up as I try to stop myself from laughing. We're standing by the front door looking out the small windows, watching Harry get out of the car first.

Sebastian scoffs, looking back at our mother, "Why me? I am the face of innocence mother."

I snort loudly which makes me laugh out loud. "Good one."

"Oh my god there she is!" Charlotte shouts from the other side of the front door, where she and Sophie are looking out the other window. Harry's girlfriend, Natalie, has just stepped out of the car.

"Everyone be calm, this is an important moment-where is your father?" My mother stares up at me and I shrug in reply. "Peter, get your butt down here, they're here!"

A door upstairs opens and clicks shut followed by my fathers footsteps coming down the stairs. "I'm right here, Honey. Munchkin, Harry is here!" He calls up the stairs to Maddie's room.

Mom nods her head and begins to open the door. Upstairs, a bedroom door slams and rushed feet race down. Maddie pushes passed all of us and rushes out the door towards Harry's car. We all follow her quickly. Maddie sees Harry and starts running to hug him but she freezes mid-sprint when she sees the girl he's got his arm around.

Oh no.

Maddie just stares at them quietly for a few moments until Harry notices her. "Hey Munchkin!" He grins, holding up his free hand for a high-five. Maddie stares at his hand for a few seconds before lifting her hand for a half-hearted high five.

Natalie smiles down brightly at Maddie, leaning her head on Harry's chest. "Harry, she's so cute!"

Maddie head leans back and she stares at Natalie as if she's grown another head.

"Oh shit, she called Maddie cute, abort, abort," Sebastian comments next to me as we slowly move forward to the trio. Charlotte coughs to hide her laugh.

"This is going to be fun," I grin, standing behind my mother and father.

My mother takes a breath before putting a welcoming smile on her face, "Natalie, it's so great to finally meet you." Natalie let's go of Harry to hug mom.

"Hi Mrs Hayes, I am so happy to finally meet you too, and of course you too Mr Hayes," Natalie's smile is contagious as she shakes our father's hand.

"She's smiling too much, its like the Joker," Sebastian mutters under his breath. Sophie pinches his side with a glare.

"More like The Grinch," I reply just as softly and Sebastian ducks his head down to hide his laugh.

"And you must be the rest of the Hayes Siblings, wow!" Natalie exclaims and I elbow Sebastian in his side. He jerks his head up and looks at her with a relaxed face as if he hadn't almost died of laughter.

"Was that a good 'wow' or a bad 'wow'? I can't tell," Sophie asks us right before Natalie comes to a stop in front of us.

"Hi I'm Charlotte," Charlotte introduces herself with a smile as she moves in to hug her. Natalie hugs her back tightly before moving onto Sophie.

When she comes closer to me I stick my hand out before she can move in for the hug, "I'm sorry, I don't do hugs," with strangers.

Natalie stares at my hand before giving a dainty laugh, "Nonsense, everyone loves hugs!" She completely bypasses my hand and hugs me tightly. I stand still for a few moments before awkwardly putting my hand on her back, patting it softly.

Sebastian glances back and forth between us and I just keep my eyes staring forward, praying for this hug to be over with. "See, that wasn't so bad."

I just give her a tight-lipped smile, "Mhm."

"Hi, I'm Sebastian," Sebastian smiles giving her a one-armed hug. "Great to meet you, we honestly didn't know if you were real or not. We were taking bets, Sophie won."

"Bass," Charlotte hisses. Sophie grins sheepishly but once Natalie turns her attention away she throws her fist in the air in victory.

"What? I'm just letting her know what she's getting into," Sebastian shrugs, putting his hands in his pocket.

Maddie walks over to us with her arms crossed. "I'm going inside."

Natalie turns to look at Maddie, "I haven't formally met you yet, you must be Maddie, Harry talks about you all the time," she bends down to Maddie's height.

"Funny, he's never mentioned you," Maddie snaps back with a sarcastic smile on her face.

Double oh no.

Natalie's smile never falters, "He probably only told the older kids because it's more of a grown up conversation but don't worry, we'll be great friends."

Maddie's eyes widen as she spins on her heel and stomps straight into the house. Natalie looks back at us with a questioning glance.

"She's PMSing," Sebastian answers with a smile. Charlotte slaps her head with the palm of her hand and Sophie rolls her eyes.

"Good God, you're an idiot," I tell him blatantly.

"I think it's charming how attentive you are, Sebastian," Natalie smiles politely and Sebastian beams at her.

He throws an arm around Natalie and starts bringing her into the house, "Harry, your girlfriends thinks I'm charming! So, do you want to see the place where Harry threw up after he got drunk for the first time? Great memories!"

Harry raises an eyebrow at the three of us still standing there and I shrug helplessly. "We tried," is all I can say. My mother lets out a loud sigh but she's not surprised.

|| ✨ ||

"What do you think of her?" Mom asks, setting a few dishes on the counter next to the sink.

I shrug, "I think she's okay, doesn't seem insane like the last one," I remind her.

Charlotte shivers at the thought, "Kelly was another kind of messed up, she actually had a tracker put in his phone so that she could keep tabs on him at all times."

"Well this one actually has a college degree, and a job so, so far she's winning," I tell them, rinsing the plates before putting them in the dishwasher.

"But I mean, he's happy right? Look at him, does he look happy?" Mom asks nervously and we all, actually just Charlotte and mom, go on their tiptoes to look out the kitchen window into the back yard. Harry and Natalie are sitting our bench swing, slowly swaying back and forth. She looks up at him with a smile on her face and says something that makes him lean down and kiss her.

"Okay gross, didn't need to see that," I grumble, getting back to my task at hand.

"I think he's happy mom," Charlotte says, squeezing our mothers shoulders as she moves passed her, "Let's hope this one doesn't run over his clothes with the lawn mower."

I laugh loudly, almost dropping a plate back into the sink, "That was awesome."

My mother glares at me, "Yeah, who do you think had to buy a new lawn mower after she jacked up the first one, and had to buy new clothes for her idiot son too." Mom pinches my stomach and I gasp, moving out of her reach when she pinches the spot where my tattoo is. "What? Are you hurt?" She asks, leaning closer to pick up my shirt to look at my hip and I can't do anything with wet hands in the sink.

"Uh, no! Someone hit me with a hockey stick at practice last week," I tell her convincingly.

"A hockey stick? Let me take a look," she mumbles reaching for my shirt.

Charlotte sees my panic and comes to my aide, "Mom, I already checked it, just a small bruise, nothing else."

She raises an eyebrow, "Well I would still like to see it-."

"No!" I yell, making her startle and tilt her head in confusion. "I just don't want people lifting my shirt all willy nilly, I have rights you know."

Mom lets go of the shirt and takes a step back, still confused. "You are so weird," she says, walking out of the kitchen to grab the rest of the plates from the patio.

"That was close," Charlotte comments, coming to stand next to me.

"You're telling me," I whisper, drying one hand on a hand towel and tucking my shirt into my shorts.

After finishing up the dishes with Charlotte, I'm sitting in my room, scrolling through my phone, bored out of my mind.

"I want her gone," a voice interrupts as they walk into my room.

"Who?" I ask, sitting up slowly.

"Seriously, Tessa? Natalie, I don't like her," Maddie hisses, pacing around my room.

"Maddie, you've known her for like four hours," I try to reason with her.

"Well those four hours have been torture. Did you hear her call me cute? And Harry has barely spoken five words to me since he's gotten home," she crosses her arms, glaring out my bedroom window.

"You're overreacting here."

"I am not overreacting!" she whines. She turns her head to look at me, "He didn't even hug me hello, when was the last time he didn't hug me hello?" She asks quietly, her eyes tearing up. She turns back to stare out the window.

Slowly I stand up, watching her silently. Since everyone had started leaving the house for college she's tried to act older than how she actually is. It's hard sometimes to remember that she's only ten years old and not fourteen. And as I move to stand next to her and stare out my bedroom window, looking out over the driveway I remember that she's probably the closest one to Harry and she just misses her big brother.

I pat her head awkwardly and she tilts her head to look up at me, "Are you trying to comfort me?"

"I don't do well with tears," I tell her, gritting my teeth.

She sighs, putting an arm around my waist, leaning her head on my stomach since she's still on the short side, "Thanks."

"Give her a chance Maddie, it's clear that she makes him happy," I loosely drape an arm around her shoulder.

She huffs, glaring at his car in the driveway, "Fine."

A breath of relief leaves my lips and I smile at her, "Look at you being the bigger person, I call that progress Munchkin."

"When are you ever the bigger person?" She asks, heading over to my bedroom door.

"I don't have to be the bigger person, I'm already the taller person," I grin cheekily at her. "Come on, I know where Sebastian hides all his favorite candy."

Her face brightens up as she follows me out of my bedroom and down the stairs. Mom, dad, Harry and Natalie are still sitting on the porch sharing a bottle of wine as they chat and Sebastian and Sophie are sitting in the living room watching a movie. Natalie, who is sitting next to Harry with her hand resting on his knee while his arm is splayed on the back of the couch behind her, says something and the rest of them outside laugh loudly. Well, she doesn't seem so bad, she actually asked us questions at dinner and seemed to retain the information, which for a family with six kids, is quite impressive.

I lean down to Maddie's ear and whisper softly, "Okay, you make sure Bass doesn't leave the couch and I'll get the candy, deal?" She nods her head with a wide smile before running into the living room and jumping onto Sebastian who lets out a startled 'oof!'.

"Hey Munch, what's up?" He smiles letting her cuddle up next to him as they continue to watch the movie. Perfect. Cuteness factor for the win!

I walk quietly to the kitchen but a sob stops me from walking straight in. "Why can't you just listen to me for once?" Charlotte's voice quietly sobs out and I can't help but peak my head around the corner to see that she's on the phone. "You don't even care! You left me to do everything, Nate, it's not fair," her voice is a whisper but the hurt behind her tone makes me uncomfortable.

My eyes narrow as I walk into the kitchen with determined steps. Charlotte's head jerks up and I see that she's staring a bunch of papers around her which, with closer inspection, I realize that they're the plans for a funeral.

"I have to go, I'll call you later," she mutters quickly, hanging up the phone. She swallows and looks up at me, "Hey Tess."

"What did he do?" I ask, leaving no room for further questions.

She sighs, "It's nothing, I'm just a little stressed at the moment."

I scowl, coming to a stop in front of her, "Like hell it was nothing, you're crying. What did he do?"

Her eyes fill with tears again and I clench my fists in anger, "He just dumped the entire funeral on me. Katherine, his mother, can't plan it because she's in a really bad place right now so he volunteered to do it but he literally just gave me a list of things to organize and hasn't helped since. He keeps saying he has to focus on baseball but this is his father's funeral, and it's so much pressure because everyone wants it to be perfect and I can't handle perfection right now," she folds her arms on the table and leans her head on them. "I'm twenty years old planning my boyfriends fathers funeral because he doesn't feel like it, how the hell does that make sense?"

She looks up at me and I take that time to notice the dark circles she has under her eyes from lack of sleep. Charlotte has always had an anxiety issue but too much stress sucks the life right out of her.

"He's back from college right? Have you seen him?" I ask, walking over to the cupboard next to the garage door, and open it digging through the protein shake powder and the protein bars until I hit the back. Bingo.

"He's been home for a week but I haven't seen him, every time I try to, he's out with his old friends."

I pull out a few of Sebastian's candy bars and toss one to Charlotte, "It's okay, I'm sure he'll come around."

"He won't listen to me Tess, I've tried," she sighs again as she opens the candy bar wrapper.

"It's okay, it'll get sorted out, I'm sure," I tell her comfortingly, patting her back awkwardly before leaving the room. That's the second time today I've had to deal with crying, it's killing me.

As soon as I'm out of the room I throw a candy bar to Maddie, Sophie and even Sebastian. "Yes, my favorite thanks T, when did you buy these?" Sebastian asks ripping open the wrapper and taking a bite out of his chocolate.

"I didn't," is all I say in reply as I pull out my phone, dialling a number.

"Hey Tess, what's up?" There's a lot of noise in the background so it's hard to hear their voice.

"I need your help."

"I'm here, what do you need?" Drew's voice is hard but I can still hear the hint of concern.

"We're making a visit to the Ward residence, I need to smack some sense into an idiot."

|| ✨ ||

Well Tessa does love drama! Sorry it was a quick chapter but I'm writing as much as I can in my free time and I don't want to disappoint you all!

Until next time,

Sammipott xx