"I'm gonna pick up the pieces, and build a Lego house."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

After enduring endless teasing from Louis and the others, Harry had finally came out of the room fifteen minutes later. I sighed with relief when I saw his tall figure, and he grinned from ear to ear when he looked at me. He seemed lighter, and happier then he had before he had called whoever he was on the phone with. I smile at him confusedly and he saunters towards me, moving to sit down when Louis begins teasing Harry. His eyes are tearing from laughing so hard when Harry freezes a few feet away, his eyes wide while he looks at a laughing Louis. The others snicker and Harry throws them a glare, kicking Louis in the leg when he walks by him but there's a small amused smile on his lips.

"Very mature." He mutters, shaking his head as she sinks down on the couch next to me. He throws his arm back on the couch behind me, looking down at me.

"Is this what they were doing this whole time?" He asks, and I nod.

"Yeah, you got it easy though." I nudge him in his rib and he chuckles quietly. His smile is wider then usual and I tilt my head curiously at him.

"Who were you on the phone with?" I ask carefully and his eyes lower but the smile on his face stays where it is.

"I...called my parents." He says quietly and my eyebrows raise in surprise. He actually called them?

"Really?"

"Yeah." He nods and sighs. "I told them I forgave them, and missed them." He bit his lip in thought and I placed my hand on his thigh, lightly squeezing it in reassurance.

"That's great, Harry." I grin at him. I'm glad he listened to me and decided to reach out to them, he was always close to his family and the thought of him not speaking to them had saddened me.

"Yeah, I mean it's going to take some time for me to trust them again...and I told them that. They understand and I'm going to go visit them soon, spend some time with them." He gave me a thoughtful smile and I rested my head on his shoulder, happy that he was letting go of his anger and doing this.

"I'm proud of you." I said quietly and he squeezed my shoulder that was near his hand. I closed my eyes briefly, wishing it were that easy for me to reconcile with Emma. I wanted to talk to her, maybe get to know her but she didn't make it easy. She was a bitch, and hadn't given me the time of day the last twenty four hours. She had a wall up to keep me away and even though it pissed me off to no end, in a way she reminded me of me. It was ridiculous how I couldn't seem to understand her when she was a lot like me, and I kept having to remind myself that to refrain from blowing up. I want to get to know her, even if I don't like her I'd like to give her a chance. Even if she doesn't want to get to know me, she owes it to me to let me get to know my siblings.

We spent the next half hour sleepily watching TV. The mood in the room had shifted and everyone was lying down, quiet, with their eyes half closed as they watched the screen. I blankly stared at it with my thoughts rolling around in my head while Harry let his hand trace light circles on my shoulder. He moved it from there, to the back of my head and began playing with my hair. I automatically felt myself relax when he did and sunk more into his side, feeling more sleepy than I had before. I sighed in content and let my eyes close, resting my head further into Harry while he shifted to bring me closer. I sat there in a half sleep and half awake state while he rubbed my head, letting my thoughts drift away momentarily as I enjoyed Harry's comfort.

Minutes later, Charlotte came knocking on the door to let us know that dinner was ready, and we all forced ourselves up to go across to the house. My stomach twisted at the tension I knew that was going to come between Emma and I the moment I walked in the house and I mentally prepared myself for it. Harry rubbed my shoulder with his thumb as we walked across the grass to the house, knowing I was already growing tense. I sent him a thankful smile and we all filed in one by one when we reached the sliding door.

I lead the way across the kitchen and into the room we had ate in in before, stopping at the doorway when I see Emma look up from me at her spot from the table. Her eyes are guarded and she quickly darts her gaze to the table, looking at the food in front of her instead of me. I bite my lip from snapping at her and walk to the seat I had sat at the night before, and my stomach growls when I see the fancy looking chicken lying on a mount of rice and had greens lying across the top of it.

"Someone's hungry." Harry teases next to me and I stick my tongue out at him.

"We haven't eaten lunch, aren't you hungry?"

He smirks at me, leaning in so his lips are near my ear. "Nope. I already ate, baby." He drawls out and my eyes widen and my cheeks inflame. I smack his thigh with the back of my hand and he chuckles quietly, leaning back and turning his dimpled grin down to his food.

Emma clears her throat and I look away from Harry to her, seeing she's doing everything possible to avoid eye contact with me. "Charlotte, would you like to say grace?"

"Sure." She says and reaches for Logan's and Emma's hand. Harry intertwines his fingers through mine and Emma limply holds her hand out for me to take, but has her eyes focused on Charlotte. I grit my teeth and grab her hand, not bothering to hold it much and instead leave both our hands limply lying in each other's. I bend my head when we say grace and the moment Charlotte finishes, Emma snatches her hand out of mine. I'm surprised the others hadn't noticed the action and I'm even more surprised when I feel a struck of pain in my chest when she does it. I blink a few times and grab my fork, slowly stabbing my chicken as I take in the feeling of rejection. I don't like it very much and it bothers me that I'm even feeling this way. She doesn't want to touch me, my own birth mother. So what, Kaydence?

"So how was horse back riding?" Emma says in between bites, looking around the table at everyone (minus me of course).

"It was good! They all caught on pretty quick." James grins and Emma gives him a forced smile.

"Yeah, they did. But Kaydence here is a natural, Lightning loved her." Charlotte smiles at me and I send her a thankful smile back, while Emma presses her lips together and nods.

"That's nice." She says shortly and Charlotte's eyes narrow at her before she shakes her head.

"Yeah, I know. Seriously it must be in the family genes or something." Charlotte laughs and Emma's back goes rigid while her fork clatters to her plate.

"What did you say?" She asks Charlotte slowly, her eyes wide but hard.

Charlotte's smile falters and she gives her mother a questioning look. "I said it must be in the family genes?"

Emma places her hands on the table, leaning forward and staring at Charlotte wildly. I lean away from her, feeling a little scared with the way she's acting and I notice Charlotte lean away too. "Why would you say that?" She hisses out and I notice how she's gripping the table and her hands are slightly shaking.

Charlotte's eyes are wide and she blinks at her mom confusedly, her mouth gaping open in uncertainty. "What do you mean? She's family." She says quietly and Emma sits up, slamming her hand on the table and making me jump. Harry reaches for my hand under the table and Charlotte's eyes dart over to James in question but he looks just as confused.

"No she's not! Don't say that!" Emma yells and Charlotte looks dumbfounded.

"What is wrong with you? You said she's grandma's sisters daughter, she's family." Charlotte says as a matter of fact and Emma's face falls, her anger slipping away. She blinks at Charlotte and then glances around the table in embarrassment, and this time her eyes land on me. Her eyes fill with hurt when she sees me and she reaches up to push her hair away from her face, her chair dragging across the floor when she moves to stand.

She clears her throat before finally speaking. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I just...forgot," she mutters and shakes her head to herself. "I'm not feeling well. Excuse me." She doesn't wait for anyone to respond and rushes out through the kitchen. I stare after her, confused with the way she just acted and it seems everyone has frozen in their chairs. I glance over at James to see he's staring in the spot she had just been standing and Charlotte is too, while the two boys are staring at their plates. Harry's mouth is gaping open and he forces his eyes to me, studying my face as if to see if I'm okay. I squeeze his hand in reassurance and find myself moving to stand. I need to talk to her.

James snaps out of the state he was in and looks up at me. "Don't. It might be best to leave her alone."

I send him a small smile and shake my head. "I think I know how to help. I just need to talk to her." I say carefully and he hesitates for a moment before nodding slowly. I give Harry's hand one last squeeze and then turn out of the kitchen. I walk to the living room, not finding her there and wondering if she went upstairs. I really hope she hadn't because I haven't been up there and I'd feel like it's not my place to be.

Just as I'm thinking I'm going to have to walk up there I see movement at the side of my eye, and look out the widow. She's sitting at one of the tables by the pool, her chin resting in her hand as she gazed at the water. I stay there for a moment, just staring at her, taking in how she has never reminded me of myself more then she does now. Her sullen look and the way she's excluding herself from everyone else, it's something I always did and sometimes still do.

I turn on my heel and head towards the sliding door, opening it and then closing it when I step out. Emma turns to look over her shoulder at who stepped out, and shockingly instead of looking angry when she sees me she just looks...sad.

I make my way down the steps and walk towards her, stopping when I've reached her and hesitating before sinking down in one of the chairs next to her. Neither one of us says anything for awhile, and Emma turns her eyes back to the water, gazing at the small waterfall. I'm trying to figure out what to say to her, struggling to find the right words without making her snap again. I want to know why the hell she blew up back there but I need to tread carefully because I will admit, she scared the shit out of me.

"I'm sorry." She finally says and my eyes widen when I look at her. She's still staring at the water.

"For what?" I ask quietly, and she sighs before finally turning her gaze to mine.

"Everything. For not keeping you, for being selfish and giving you up, for not being the mother you needed," She shrugs and her eyes flicker down to her fiddling hands. Another thing I got from her, I see. "And for blowing up just now." She nods her head towards the house and shakes her head. "I thought you had told Charlotte the truth from what she said, and I snapped." She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair.

"I guess that makes sense." I mutter more to myself then her. "I didn't tell her though, I wouldn't do that."

She nods and bites her lip before speaking again. "I know. Deep down I knew you wouldn't but I've been walking on egg shells with you because I've been afraid you were going to say something to her, James or the boys. Logan is already questioning things, he's so observant." She laughs to herself and I give her a small grin. I noticed he was too.

"Well I'm not going too...I didn't come here to ruin your relationship with your family. I came here to get answers, and maybe get to know you." I said quietly and her eyes softened. "But if you don't want me to, then that's okay. I didn't know when I came here I'd have siblings and now that I know...I want to get to know them." I said hesitantly and she gave me a small smile.

"That's okay with me. Both..are." She swallows and cautiously pushes a strand of hair away from my face and I freeze at the action. "I would like to get to know you too, Kaydence. You are my daughter by blood, and if I can't be your mom I'd like to still be a friend."  She says and my heart pounds against my chest. I nod slowly, unsure if this is actually happening until she smiles.

"As long as the others don't find out, you're welcome to stay."

"Why are you so afraid of them knowing?" I ask and I notice my tone is a little harsh but I don't mean for it to be like that, I just really want to know.

"I never told James I had a child before Charlotte, and I'm very sure he'd be angry with me for not telling him. If I was going to tell him I should have done it ages ago, but I'm too late now. It would only be worse if I told him now then not telling him at all." She sighs and looks down at the floor. "Charlotte will hate me. The boys are too young to be dealing with this stuff."

I nod in understanding, seeing where she is coming from. Although I still think she should tell them, it isn't my decision. James seems like an honest kind of guy, no doubt if he found out she lied all these years he'd lose it. Maybe things are better left unsaid? "Yeah, I suppose." I remember how she said she was twenty when she had Charlotte, my age, and turn to her to ask the question I had been wondering. "Why did you keep Charlotte?" She looks at me with confusion and I continue. "You were still young when you got pregnant with her, why did you decide to keep her?"

She doesn't answer for a moment, staring at the trees in the distance and subconsciously playing with the hem of her shirt. "It was very hard to give you up. I couldn't do it again, even though I still wasn't ready to be a mom I couldn't give up another child." She pauses and looks back at the house before staring back at the trees. "Plus, James and I were together. He was stable, I knew he'd be there for me."

I nod. "Right, my dad was a loser." I mumble and she winces before looking at me.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more about him." She says quietly and I shrug. I don't say anything for awhile until she stands up and I gaze at her in confusion when she motions for me to stay here, and jogs up the steps to go in the house. I turn back to stare at the water fall falling into the pool, absentmindedly twisting the ring on my finger as I think about what she had said. I felt like I understood Emma more, she had secrets just like I had. I wouldn't let anyone in, too afraid for people to know them and it wasn't until Harry that I began to open up. He changed me, he made me not be so closed off from the world, he helped me learn how to live my life and proved to me that not every man was a monster. I needed him to show me I could trust people again, and maybe that's what Emma needs. She's holding on to her past and she needs someone to tell her secrets to, to show her there are people out in the world she can trust. It should be James showing her that, but in some way I feel like it might be me. I'm the only one who knows her secret, the only one she can actually talk to about it if she needs to and strangely it made me feel somewhat important to her.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the back door open and I looked over to see Emma walking back out. Her hand was clutched around something, and when she neared she sat back down on the chair next to me and opened her hand. Inside was an old silver chain necklace, that had a gold bullet pendant hanging from it. I stared at it in wonder and confusion when Emma held her hand out to me, placing the necklace in my palm.

"That was his. Your father's. He wore it the few times I had seen him around town and was wearing it that one night I spent with him."

"He gave this to you?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Yeah, I asked him 'why a bullet?' and he told me he loved going to shooting ranges. I told him I liked it and he just gave it to me." She shrugs and stares at the necklace in my hand. "I want you to keep it, so you'll at least have a piece of him."

I looked down at the necklace, letting my finger trace around the gold bullet before lifting it and putting the chain over my head. I sweep my hair up to get it over the chain, and then look down at the necklace now around my neck.

"It looks good on you. Completes your tough look." Emma teases me and I smile at her in surprise, this is the first time she is being playful with me.

"Thanks." I laugh lightly, and move to tuck the pendant inside my shirt. "Thank you for the necklace too."

"No problem."

We stayed quiet for the next few minutes until Emma asked me the typical "get to know you" questions like what my favorite color was, and what was my favorite thing to eat. Turns out we both love the color red and yes I told her Oreos, were my favorite thing in the world. She laughed at that one.

We heard the back door open and her grin faltered when she saw James standing at the door, she moved to stand up and motioned me to do so as well. He called for us to come back inside and finish eating and she told James we'd be there in a second. I went to go in when Emma's hand reached out to stop me and I looked at her in question.

"I'm also sorry for leaving you with him." She said quietly and my mouth parted at the mention of my adoptive father. My shoulders hunched like they always did when I thought of him and suddenly, Emma reached out and wrapped her arms around me tightly, her face digging into my shoulder. "I would have never left you there if I had known what was going to happen." Her voice cracks and I feel her body shake against me. My arms hang loosely at my sides but when I hear her whimper, and it brings a sharp pain to my chest, I reach up and wrap my arms around her. An overwhelming wave of emotions settles over my shoulders and I blink several times to rid myself of the tears that are stinging my eyes, as Emma repeatedly apologizes to me. I don't tell her it's okay because honestly? What happened to me was most definitely not okay, so I just hug her tighter. I don't say anything but let my emotions seep into that hug, and for the first time I think maybe, just maybe I can have a family like Harry has, someday.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ahh I liked writing this chapter (:

I'm still waiting for people to catch on to the hints I've been throwing out there but no one has caught them haha I can't wait for everything to blow up!! It's happening soon so don't get too comfortable (;

Vote/comment let me know what you guys think! Hope you liked it <3