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|| Chapter 25 ||

The party started winding down around 11pm. Most of our guests had left long before them but a few stragglers decided to stay as long as they could. Mom's best method to get people to leave was to start cleaning up, getting them to claim exhaustion so that they can leave without helping.

"Text me a picture when it's done," Isaac says, kissing my cheek lightly, a cheeky smile on his face as he walks to his car where Mateo is waiting before I can punch him.

I wave goodbye until they're out of the driveway and walk back into the house. Mom and dad are in the kitchen, having a bottle of wine and my siblings are in the living room. Harry and Natalie are squished in the armchair together, Natalie is sitting on his lap, a tired smile on her face from the day. Charlotte and Nathan are sitting on the floor with Mia and Maddie, under a mountain of blankets. Sophie and Cole are sitting outside in one of the giant round chairs in the yard, stargazing.

Olivia and Sebastian are sitting on the couch, Addison on the other side of Olivia, a nervous smile on her face as Sebastian searches through the streaming options, looking for High School Musical. Sebastian took matters into his own hands after Addison was still on the fence about the movies, which surprisingly, she has seen and is now forced to act surprised throughout the whole thing to keep the act up.

I sit down next to Drew on the edge of the couch and lean my head back on the cushion. "So uh...what was that earlier?"

I arch an eyebrow, "What was what?"

He gestures a hand outward, "Your bedroom. Isaac. Shirtless, both of you I might add."

I breathe deeply through my nose and turn to face him, "He got PopTart on his shirt and slimed it on me, so we changed."

"In the same room?"

Oh my god.

"Drew, I am not a child, it was nothing," I tell him quietly.

He throws his hands in the air, "You were both shirtless in your room, that doesn't sound like nothing to me."

"Who was shirtless?" Harry's voice echoes from the armchair where he is staring at Drew and I. Sebastian pauses the movie and faces us from the other end of the couch.

"I don't need to explain myself to any of you," I say, my words holding a hard edge to them as I look directly at Drew as I speak.

Drew bites his lower lip, his eyes wide as he slowly starts to understand what he's just unleashed. I stare at him with a blank face, angry beyond belief. Drew just swallows in response.

"Come on Drew tell us," Harry eggs him on gently coaxing it out of him.

Sebastian nods his head, "Yeah, what's his name? We just wanna talk, nothing else," he shrugs casually as if he isn't planning a murder as he speaks.

"He-uh, Tess..." Drew looks like he's starting to sweat as he visibly gulps. Sebastian raises an eyebrow expectantly. "And Isaac."

"Isaac?" Olivia whirls her attention to me, her mouth agape.

I stare straight at the paused television, ignoring the stares from the whole room. "I didn't know you had a thing for Isaac." Charlotte's voice is the first to break the tension.

"I don't."

Sebastian leans forward, "Then why were you both shirtless, in your room?"

Silence is the only response they get from me as I look over my shoulder to look at Drew, "You are the worst best friend ever." He grimaces and gives me an apologetic look.

"Isaac is cute," Addison comments, not helping me at all as my brothers start getting even more antsy if possible.

"No he's not," I tell her in a bored tone.

Olivia chuckles, leaning over Addison to nudge me in the ribs, "You're right he is not cute, he is fine as anything!" Olivia watches her language in front of the little ones for once.

Sebastian practically falls off the couch with how far he's leaning away from Olivia. His expression is one of complete shock. "Excuse me, Grace?"

Olivia looks at him with a cheeky grin, "You're excused, don't do it again."

He just scoffs in response, "May I remind you that you are in a devoted and loving relationship? For almost two years, I might add."

One corner of her mouth quirks up. "Yes, I know, but there's nothing wrong with admiring a good looking person. Watch I'll do it again," Sebastian opens his mouth to complain but she carries on talking, "Addison, you have a really great butt."

Addison looks like a deer caught in the headlights as she stares at her lap. "Oh, um," she leans forward, looking over her shoulder, trying to glimpse her own behind but struggles. "I'll take your word for it."

Olivia holds an arm out to Addison, who ducks away very quickly and leans closer towards me. "See? She appreciates it, no harm done."

Sebastian frowns, "And what if I were to compliment someone?"

Olivia laughs and leans into his side, "Babe, go ahead."

He rubs his hands together, "Natalie-"

"Don't you dare," Harry stops him immediately. Natalie giggles, running a hand on Harry's arm. Olivia actually laughs to what Harry said and it even makes Sebastian crack a smile knowing his girlfriend and his brother are not trying to kill each other for once.

"You know we've gone off topic, Tess, what's going on with you an Isaac?" Charlotte asks, giving me her full unwanted attention.

I make eye contact with her and say with as much seriousness I can muster, "Nothing."

She keeps eye contact for a few more seconds before shrugging and turning to face the television, resting her head on Nathan's shoulder, "I tried."

"Tried? You did fuck all," Sebastian exclaims flicking her head.

Nathan sits up so quickly, holding his hands over Mia's ears and glares at Sebastian over a shoulder, "Are you kidding me right now?"

Maddie smiles at Sebastian, "That's a double swear jar word and you said it in front of two kids, that'll be twenty bucks in the swear jar, thank you."

"You are the most annoying child I know," Sebastian glares at her, sticking his tongue out childishly and Maddie does it back.

"You must not know a lot of kids then, I'm a delight compared to the rest of them," she brushes her hair over her shoulder and looks away from him, having the last word.

"Eat dirt," he retorts, pulling out a twenty dollar bill and standing up, accidentally-purposely shoving Maddie over from her spot on the floor.

"Bite me!" she yells at him as he walks into the kitchen.

She's learned so much over the years.

Drew leans closer to me, putting his head on my arm, "I'm sorry for being an idiot." A slow sigh leaves me and I look down at him, giving him a knowing look.

"It's fine, my siblings are just nosy." Dammit I can't stay mad at him.

A throat clears, catching our attention, "I would call it us just caring about your well-being."

I look at Charlotte, "Shut up." She just blows me a kiss in return.

Drew gives me a sheepish smile and I lift my shoulders, trying not to laugh at him. By this point he's half leaning across my lap, his legs are stretched out on the couch over the arm and he's staring up at me. My hand accidentally brushes a piece of his light brown hair and his body stills, glancing up at me for a few seconds. "Hey, are you coming to my next match?"

"When is it?" I ask, noting how my siblings have forgotten our entire conversation and again are enraptured by the pure brilliance that is High School Musical.

He tilts his head, racking his brain for the answer, "Thursday, I think. I'll check and let you know."

"Yeah of course I'll be there, I wouldn't miss it." He grins and turns his head, that is resting on my thigh towards the movie, shifting around a little to get comfortable.

My face pinches at the thoughts running through my head. If he really does like me, am I supposed to bring it up first? Is he waiting to some big gesture. God let the answer to that question be no. There's only a certain number of times a girl and put someone in the friendzone but I don't want to hurt his feelings.

Why the fuck is this so damn difficult?

A minute into the final performance, my leg has gone completely numb and Drew is starting to fall asleep, his head still on my thigh. One look around the room tells me that everyone else is pretty much in the same boat. I nudge him gently, "Why don't you sleep over?"

He rustles a bit and leans on his elbow slightly, looking up at me with tired brown eyes. "Can't, supposed to train morning early." His words are jumbled but I get the gist of what he's trying to say.

"I'll wake you up early, you're half asleep Drew, come on," I stand up off the couch and grab his hand, pulling it up, the rest of his body following at a snails pace. He ruffles his shaggy hair, letting out a wide yawn before turning towards the staircase.

Addison, Olivia and Sebastian are still glued to the movie and they're already talking about watching the next one after this. Charlotte and Nathan are cuddling under the blanket. Mia is asleep on the rug, her face smooshed into a pillow and her body is curled into a ball. Maddie had climbed into Harry's lap about half an hour ago but only after Natalie had decided to head upstairs to sleep. Harry has an arm resting on the edge of the arm chair, slowly nodding off and Maddie is strewn across his lap, her head hanging down and her mouth wide open.

I take a second to grab photo evidence knowing she'll be mortified for a ten year old. "Addison." Her name snaps her out of her trance and she looks up at me as if noticing me for the first time. "You can sleep in my room when you decide to sleep, Drew will be on the couch in the corner so if you want half the bed, it's yours."

She smiles gratefully, "Thank you so much Tess, today was a lot of fun, your family is awesome."

I nod my head and start pushing Drew in front of me, getting him to move faster. "Door open, Tess," Sebastian's warning voice comes from the couch.

"You really want to talk about open doors, brother?" I ask innocently, and the sharp gasp is reassurance enough that he's on the same page as me. Black mail sure is fun. "Sleep tight."

|| ✨ ||

In the early morning I wake Drew up and send him on his way like some one night stand. The sun hasn't even risen yet by the time he pulls out of the driveway with a silent goodbye. Addison hasn't moved from her spot on the one side of my bed.

She had stolen most of the covers during the night and it was extremely difficult and nasty trying to get her sleeping figure to share some of it.

The house is the quietest it's ever been at the moment. I slip back under the covers and curl on my side, looking out my window to the slow morning hues streaming through the window. I fall back asleep before the sun has peaked over the trees in the front of the house.

"OOOOH!" The loud jeers startle me awake a few hours later and I sit up quickly, my feet on the floor ready for anything. "Oh my god get him!" I rub my eyes and stumble out of my room racing down the stairs not noticing that the other side of my bed was empty or the fact that the sun is high in the sky already.

I jump off the last step and rush into the living room coming to a short stop at everyone staring at my disheveled state.

Olivia is lying on the floor in her pajamas, her head propped up by a pillow as she chews on a piece of bacon, "Welcome to the land of the living Sleeping Beauty."

Sebastian is lying on the floor next to her in his pajama pants and no shirt but he's got a plate filled with bacon resting on his stomach. "It's like two o'clock, just by the way."

I rub my eyes again, willing the crusty pieces to go away. One gaze around the room tells me that Addison isn't here, which probably means she had to leave earlier. Nathan and Mia aren't here either and the commotion from the front door is Harry and Natalie packing up the car to drive back to San Francisco today.

"Why were you yelling?" I yawn loudly, pulling my hair-tie out of my hair and re-tying it in a messy bun.

"We're watching Avatar: The Last Airbender," Sebastian says as if that's answer enough. I mean in this household it is pretty much the one show that all siblings can agree on to watch together.

"Where's everyone?" I ask, swiping a piece of bacon and sitting on the couch, pulling my legs against my chest and throwing a blanket over my bare legs.

Sebastian musters his best shrug from the floor, "No idea, Char and Soph had some pair of boots they needed to buy and Maddie is sulking in her room about Harry leaving. Mom and dad are at work."

Olivia leans her head back looking up at me, "Drew leave early?"

"Yeah he had training so he had to leave around 5am."

She grimaces and shudders, thinking about how she can only manage to pull herself from her bed at 10am on a good day. "What are your plans for the day?"

Olivia gestures to Sebastian and herself and then the television, "You're looking at it."

"Aren't you going to shower today?" I ask casually, not tipping off my in-motion plans. Olivia gives me a second side glance before focusing on the television, shoving a piece of bacon in her mouth.

"Nah, maybe later tonight, right now I'm too comfortable," he twists, placing the plate of bacon in Olivia's lap before cuddling up to her thigh.

"I'm jealous." I slap my legs and swipe another piece of bacon as I get up.

"You got plans?" Sebastian asks.

I nod my head even though he's not looking at me, "Yeah, had plans to hang with Alyssa and Kendall at Alyssa's house."

"Have fun," he waves a hand over his shoulder. He takes that hand and wraps it around Olivia's waist, making himself comfortable. I turn my head so as not to witness anything above a standard cuddle.

I make my way to the kitchen to rake up some breakfast seeing as the two geniuses in the living room used up all the bacon for their selfish selves. The granola is left untouched on the top shelf of the pantry. I have no problem grabbing it and opening it, mixing it with some strawberry yogurt from the fridge. I'm about to sit down to eat when a knock comes from the front door.

Harry and Natalie had ventured off upstairs to ensure all their things had been packed so I'm not sure who is standing on the other side of the door. My bowl of granola yogurt in one hand and my spoon with a mouthful of granola heading into my mouth as I open the door with that hand.

The spoon nearly falls out of my slackened mouth as I stare at Brianna on my welcome mat.

"We need to talk."

|| ✨ ||

Hi Everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

Who here watched Avatar: The Last Airbender and if so, who is your favorite character?? Let me know!

I've seen a lot of people posting on my wall or private messaging me saying how they doubt I will reply as they tell me something and please know that I try to reply to each and every private message I receive so please don't feel discouraged thinking that I won't reply, because chances are I definitely will!

Until next time,

Sammipott xx