*Lilia's P.O.V*

It was December 21st and I was stood in my bedroom, trying to decide what to wear before we left for Wiltshire in an hour. I wanted to be excited about going back to Wiltshire. It's my home town, it's where I grew up, I'll always have a special place in my heart for the little town of Lacock, but all I could think about was the fact that Callum was going to be there and I was convinced he would find a way to ruin my childhood home for me. I tried to tell myself that there wasn't much he'd be able to do to me with all my family around, but I thought that when he came to stay for dinner last week with Zoe and Alfie, and he still found away to make the night miserable. Now he would find a way, or multiple ways, to make the next three days leading up to what's supposed to be the happiest day of the year, a nightmare for me.

I tried to shake the disastrous thoughts out of my head just long enough to achieve the simple task of getting dressed, but they were still lingering in the back of my mind. They probably always would be until the day I die.

Eventually, I found something comfortable but good enough to wear for the day; a white t-shirt with the lyrics from The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) written in emojis. I paired that with a pair of leggings with laces down the sides and a dusty pink cardigan. I didn't do much with my hair, I just decided to slip a dark green beanie with a pink pompom on my head and quickly applied my makeup, adding a dark pinkish colour to my lips. I also slipped my glasses on for the first time in what felt like a long time. I'd been wearing my contacts a lot lately, but I couldn't be bothered with them today so it was back to the old black rims. Last but not least, I added my Christmas polar bear case to my phone.

"Lilia, are you ready to go?" Zoe called up to me as I was pulling on my black lace-up boots.

"Yeah, coming!" I said as I stood up, grabbed the handle of my bright pink suitcase and managed to carry all my other bags in my other hand before making my way downstairs. I reached the bottom of the stairs, where Zoe and Alfie were waiting by the front door.

"Where's all your luggage? And the presents?" I wondered, noticing they were empty handed.

"We've already put them and Nala in the car." Zoe explained, "Right, now, come on. We're already running late."

We all went out to Zoe's car and Alfie helped me load my bags into the boot before he got in the passengers side next to Zoe and I got in the back next to Nala. I stuck my headphones in and pressed shuffle on my phone, getting lost in whatever songs came on. But no matter how much I tried to focus on the music, I couldn't stop thinking about the next three days. I've never spent this much time at once with Callum and it terrified me. What if I upset him but don't realise? What will he end up doing to me behind closed doors? I just have to make sure I'm on my best behaviour for him over the next few days. But what if my best behaviour isn't good enough? When Callum is in one of his moods, literally anything could set him off, and I was almost always the one that paid the price. Even if I'm not the one who made him angry, I'm the one that has to suffer and I don't know if I can deal with that for three days straight.

"Lilia?" I was snapped out of my thoughts when Alfie said my name. I looked up to see him staring at me through the rear view mirror while Zoe was focusing on the road.

"Uh, yeah?" I physically shook the thoughts out of my head.

"Are you alright? You looked pretty deep in thought." He questioned, forehead corrugated in concern.

"I was?" I shrugged, putting on the front I'd managed to perfect over the last month or so, "I was just lost in my music, I guess."

"Alright." Alfie bought my excuse, but something told me he wasn't fully convinced.

"Hey, look, Stonehenge!" We happened to drive passed the prehistoric monument at that very moment and I took it as a perfect opportunity to change the subject. Zoe and Alfie then fell into a conversation about how Stonehenge was made, whether it was aliens or cavemen or part of the ice age or whatever, but I zoned out again and I don't remember much of the journey after that. Forty five minutes or so later, we arrived at Dad's.

"Daddy!" I squealed, leaping into his arms as soon as Zoe, Alfie and I stepped through the door.

"Hey, sweetheart." Dad chuckled, hugging me back tightly.

"Don't I get a cuddle?" I familiar feminine voice asked and I pulled away from Dad to see Mum walking up to us all.

"Mum!" I ran to hug her as well, "What are you doing here?" I asked, seeing as Mum and Dad were divorced and didn't spend all that much time together anymore.

"My children are back after not being home for months, how could I not being here?" She replied with a laugh. I then pulled away so Zoe could hug Mum as well. We all went into the living room and about ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. Mum got up and peeked out the window to see who it was.

"Looks like your brother's here, do you want to let him in, Lils?" Mum asked me. I eagerly nodded and got up, running into the hallway and up to the front door. I tugged it open to see Joe.

"Joe!" I quite literally jumped into his arms, almost knocking him over.

"Jesus Christ, Lils." Joe laughed, only just managing to keep his balance as he hugged me back. I didn't speak, my face dug into his chest. For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt safe. Having my big brother's arms around me made me feel as if nothing could ever hurt me, as if I was protected from all the bad in the world, and as much as I wanted to believe that was true, over the last month I've learnt that it takes a lot more than my big brother to protect me from the bad in this world.

"Hey, are you alright?" Joe asked after a couple minutes, since I hadn't said a word and I was holding onto him rather tightly, as if there was more meaning in this one hug that Joe couldn't figure out.

"Uh, yeah... Yeah, yep, I'm fine, I'm just happy to see you, that's all." I quickly pulled away from the hug, my facade returning almost as quickly as I let it leave, "Come on, everyone else is in the living room." I changed the subject as soon as I could and practically dragged Joe into the house, only giving him a few seconds to grab his suitcase and pull it in behind him. Joe and I went into the living room and a lot more hugs were shared. We then all just sat on the sofa and armchair and talked, laughed and just caught up with each other. For a while, only for a little while, I managed to forget everything. It felt like I was eight years old again and all I had to worry about was which Jonas Brother was my favourite and whether I wanted Zoe or Joe to pick me up from pony club. I'd give anything to go back to those days.

My few moments of happiness, however, soon came crashing down when the doorbell rang for a second time and I jumped out of my skin as I realised who it probably was.

"Calm down, Lils, it's only the door." Zoe chuckled, noticing how I jumped since she was sat next to me.

"Yeah, um, it's probably Callum, I'll go get that." I tried to act normal despite my heart hammering in my throat and my palms sweating. I got up from my seat and left the living room. I walked up to the front door and with shaking hands, opened it to reveal Callum.

"Uh, hey." I said quietly.

Callum looked me up and down, a look of almost disgust on his face as he said in a harsh tone, "Hi."

"Um, my family's in the living room." I said before he could kick off for whatever reason.

"Help me with my luggage, then." He snapped and I didn't say anything as I grabbed pretty much all his bags except one, the lightest one, which he was carrying. After getting his luggage in, I took him into the living room to meet Mum and Dad. Callum roughly grabbed my hand as we walked in but I tried not to show how much his grip was hurting me.

"Erm, Mum, Dad... This is Callum." I awkwardly introduced him as both my parents stood up and walked over.

"It's nice to finally meet you both." Callum put on that fake smile, that fake smile that made me feel sick because I knew what was behind it.

"It's nice to meet you too, love." Mum said while Dad just stared.

"You better be treating my little girl right." He growled.

"I am, sir. I promise." Callum lied, making me feel even more nauseous. I wanted so badly for everyone to know how dishonest he was being right now, but I knew I couldn't speak up, so I just stood there in silence.

After the introductions, we all stayed in the living room while my parents got to know "Callum", or at least, the Callum that he wanted them to meet. After that, we all went into the kitchen for tea, which happened to be Dad's famous pre-Christmas roast dinner. After tea, there was more chatting before Callum and I went to put his luggage in the spare room, where he would be staying. When we got up there and Callum slammed the door shut, I knew I should be scared.

"W-what's the matter?" I asked cautiously.

"What's the matter?! What's the matter?! Are you really that thick you can't even figure it out?!" He spat.

"I-"

"Your stupid f***ing family talking for hours on end! Now it's too late for you to throw up all that food you ate this evening!" He staggered towards me and I wanted to run, but I was frozen with fear, "And these," He gestured my glasses, "What have I told you about wearing those? They make you look like a f***ing loser."

"I-I'm sorry, I-"

Suddenly, my bedroom door swung open and Callum leaped back, since he was only inches from me, as Zoe appeared.

"Um, Dad says he wants your door kept open when Callum's in here." She told me.

"Seriously?!" I groaned. I pretended to act annoyed, but to be honest, I was kind of glad.

"Sorry, Lils, not my rules." She said.

"Alright." I sighed and Zoe gave me a small smile before she left.

"Right, you're not eating anything for the rest of the day. All you can have is water. And tomorrow, if you do have anything to eat, you throw up straight after, understood?" Callum came towards me again and growled in my face.

"Y-yes."

*Zoe's P.O.V*

"Everything okay?" Alfie asked me as I walked back into my old room, my forehead corrugated after having just left Lilia's room.

"Yeah, I just... Something's not right with Lilia." I said as I sat down on the bed.

"How do you mean?" Alfie put his phone down and sat up straighter in bed.

"I don't know... I went in to tell her dad wanted the door left open and she acted like she was annoyed, but it didn't seem sincere."

"You think something's off... Because she didn't seem annoyed enough?" Alfie asked and I rolled my eyes.

"I know my little sister, Alfie. It was like she was putting on a front. But if she had to pretend to be annoyed, then would that mean she wanted the door to be left open?"

"I think you're reading to much into things, Zo." Alfie claimed.

"Well, I don't, Alf. It's not just today, I feel like... I feel like things haven't been right with her for a while." I admitted, as Joe appeared in the doorway.

"Are you talking about Lils?" He questioned.

"Yeah, why, do you know something?" I asked as he walked into the room and sat down next to me.

"Not really... It's just, earlier, when I got here, she hugged me and it was only a hug, but it felt like it meant something more? Like emotionally... Like she was trying to tell me how she felt through one hug... I know, it's sounds weird and I probably don't know what I'm taking about, but..." He trailed off before glancing at me, "What did you mean when you said you felt like things haven't been right for a while?"

"I don't know," I sighed, "I just feel like she's become more reserved and she's been acting kind of different, not as bubbly as usual. Plus, she hasn't put out a video in at least a month. She's told her viewers and everyone that she's just taking time off YouTube to focus more on school, but she hasn't even uploaded anything during the holiday."

"You know, now that you mention it, I get where you're coming from, about Lilia being more reserved and less bubbly... But maybe she's just going through a teenager thing? I mean, remember what she said after the parents evening?" Alfie offered.

"What happened at the parents evening?" Joe wondered.

"Her teachers said she hasn't been doing too well in class. That her grades have been slipping and she's not as motivated in school anymore." I explained.

"What? But she's always been a top student." Joe frowned.

"Yeah, that's what worried us." I said, "And when we asked her what was going on, she just said it was a hormone thing but... What if it wasn't? What if it isn't?"

"I mean, maybe we're just being typical protective older siblings and overanalysing everything." Joe suggested.

"Maybe, but no one can blame us for worrying." I replied.