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Releasing her hold on him, she moved past him and exited the kitchen. Jackson made his way to the room he had passed initially, where a blonde girl of ten sat with the cat. There was definitely improvements to the cats physical health, especially with the coat. The girl glanced up at Jackson, frowning at up at him. Her off-white t-shirt was full of daisy embroideries, stitched in miniature clusters. It took him a moment to recognize her as Casey, rather than her sister Amanda. He was mildly surprised she wasn't named Kasey with a K.

"Did you name her Will?"

He crouched down, reaching out to pet the cat. "No, Kai did." He blinked, relaying her words in his mind. "I'm sorry, her?"

"The vet said she's a girl."

"Well then she's a girl named Will. About time someone had a good name in this house."

Casey glared at him. "You have a last name for a first name."

Jackson opened his mouth to counter the statement, but he couldn't think of a defence. "Touché."

She watched as the cat flopped onto the ground, bathing in the sunlight. "Is it true that you really, really like my brother and my sister?"

Panic made him instinctively glance behind him, to make sure no one else was listening to their conversation. He looked back at her, wide eyed. "Who told you that?"

"No one. I saw you out there," She moved so that her jean shorts clad legs were cross legged. "You looked like you really liked them. But I won't tell them, if you bring me something."

His lips twitched, trying not to smile. Jackson was well aware that the Parker twins already knew, but for the sake of allowing her to feel like a mastermind, he played along. "You little hustler. What would you like me to bring?"

"Chocolate. I wanna give it to someone at my school."

The Campbell raised an eyebrow. "A crush? On who?"

"None of your business," She answered, a little too quickly. "Make sure it's the chocolates with the pink bunny on the wrapper. That's the one they like."

Jackson nodded, stifling back the urge to chuckle. As he sat cross legged, she decided to ask: "What kind of gifts should I give them?"

"I suppose something heartfelt and handcrafted would be nice to give."

She frowned. "What does heartfelt mean?"

"It means something from the heart. A gift that you really want to give to someone," He paused to think. "You could give them a love letter or a love note. I gave your brother many of those. But I wrote half of them in different ciphers - pigpen, Caesar, Vigenère - so maybe stick to English."

Gears were turning in Casey's head. He thought back to when he first met Kai, which just happened to be by chance. Jackson was sitting on the far right side of the lecture theatre for his English class, trying to listen to his professor. Back then he wasn't entirely sure about his major, mostly because his professor made it boring and difficult to study. Jackson remembered glancing around, and narrowing his eyes at the boy a few seats above on the other end of the theatre. He could still remember the Metallica t-shirt, cargo pants, and high tops the boy wore while absent-mindedly spinning his pen around his desk. After a moment of staring, Kai looked up and at him, as if he could feel Jackson's gaze from the other side of the room. The Campbell turned his attention back to the professor.

Jackson didn't like Kai initially.

Especially when Kai hung around him and pestered him. Especially when he found out that the Parker didn't even take English as a course, he just went to that one class on a random day because he felt like it. Especially when he realised that, after a month, Jackson had grown to tolerate and even like Kai's presence. He couldn't remember when he started to like the Parker, but he could recall the exact point where he fell in love with him.

He got to his feet, making his way out of the living room and outside again. Kai sat on the steps with his back to the wooden railing, his right hand gently running along the chain of his necklace. The Parker was humming something, a soft tune, one Jackson couldn't put his finger on. He wasn't sure why Kai didn't just sit on the chairs on the porch - two armchairs to his right and one wooden chair to his left.

"Can't talk all of a sudden?" Kai spoke, amused by the frown on Jackson's face. "I get it. I'd be awe-struck to look at me too.

"Oh, here we go," Jackson rolled his eyes. "I was just trying to think of the song you were humming."

"Soma, by the Smashing Pumpkins," His hand fell from the chain. "I had a nightmare once that Billy Corgan lost all of his long hair. And then he cut it, and I was like: God, could this get any worse? I mean, at least he isn't bald."

The Campbell didn't know how to respond. He didn't want to open his mouth and smile, or laugh or give Kai any notion that he could still win Jackson over. Kai didn't seem to notice his silence despite him studying Jackson's face. Or maybe he did, and he didn't bother to point it out.

Kai gestured at Jackson's hair with his index finger. "I know you're into shaving and all that, but promise me you won't shave your hair off."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Good. I like your greasy hair."

"My hair is not—" Jackson stopped abruptly to scoff. "Maybe I should shave my hair off. And what's wrong with the way I shave?"

He shrugged. "There would be a problem, if there was anything to shave."

"As if you've ever seen a razor in your life," Jackson muttered in annoyance. "I bet if I showed you a razor, you'd run for your bloody life."

"Nope, I just know how to dress," Kai flashed him a playful smirk. "I don't have to show any skin to look good. On the other hand, your clothes are always half buttoned. Super sexy, but you look like a washed up librarian on his way to cirrhosis-town, population: you." His smirk faded. "Does that mean I get turned on by librarians? Weird."

Gross. Jackson sent a glower in the Parker's direction. Tart tongued bastard. Kai didn't seem to mind the Campbell's visible vexation, shooting him a wink in response.

"Sit with me," When Jackson visibly hesitated, Kai added: "What? Scared you'll get boy cooties? Or sociopath cooties? Wouldn't want you to get that, now would we?" He tilted his head slightly, giving him a pointed look. "We kissed, we fucked, et cetera. Trust me, you would've had it already if it was even a thing."

Jackson reluctantly sat on the step above where Kai sat, with his back against the opposite railing. "There. Happy?"

"Very happy," The Parker's smile was soft, void of any snarky edge. "It's hard to get germs from me when you're a good person, Jack. Good people can't get my germs."

"I don't feel like a good person," Jackson glanced down at his hands. "When people drink and get into a bad situation, they feel guilty. They apologise, and they show their remorse. At the police station, when you and Nick knew I had been drinking, I didn't feel bad. I didn't feel bad at the possibility that I might've been conjuring things in my head and that I'd be accusing an innocent man. Because I knew what I saw when I was running by the reception. I saw her..."

His hand drew near his arm again, squeezing the flesh to stop himself from drawing blood. Kai noticed this and flicked his fingers on Jackson's leg. "Don't do that. You already hurt yourself too much."

Jackson drew an unsteady breath, moving his hand away from his arm. "I'm sorry, Kai. I'm sorry I am the way I am, and I'm sorry I thought you would go as far as to hurt the people around you."

Kai didn't say anything for a moment. His finger traced circles on the Campbell's sweatpants when he finally spoke. "Don't think about it."

Easy for Kai to say, less easy for Jackson to do. He moved his legs away from Kai's hand, getting to his feet and making his way down the rest of his steps to move several feet away from the stairs. Footsteps neared the door, and Jo made her way down the steps as well. Jackson saw the irritated look on Kai's face from Jo's presence, though decided not to point it out. The squabbling between the two siblings gave him a migraine.

"Do you wanna learn something first or have another practice round?" She asked.

"Might as well learn something new. I'm not entirely enthusiastic on being sore just yet."

Josette smiled. "That's fine. I'll demonstrate how to push someone away using your leg. It's important that you use your dominant leg so that you can use all of your strength to shove them back. Let's try it in motion."

She took several steps back, before marching towards him. As she raised her foot to kick him to the ground, he grabbed her ankle and used his weight to toss her into the grass. With a yelp of surprise, she hit the ground, eyes wide. He stood awkwardly, wondering if he should've let her beat him up again, but she grinned up at him.

"You're learning!" She looked so pleased with herself, her pale eyes gleaming with delight. "Oh my God, I feel like a proud teacher. This is so cool! Keep that energy up, yeah?"

Jackson nodded, failing to hide the smile on his face as he extended a hand for her to take. She placed a hand in his and he pulled her up, brushing off the grass from her top. Jo seemed bouncier with glee with his improvement, taking a step back to point at her own leg, explaining where to kick from and opportunities to kick back.

But he couldn't help tune it out when he glanced over at the house, frowning at the man at the door. Joshua Parker surveyed Josette with his dark eyes, his face unsmiling. It was a stark juxtaposition with Jo's mood. Joshua barely gave Jackson the same scrutiny, practically passing over him to focus instead on his rose bushes and freshly planted plants. Kai noticed Jackson's attention shift and turned his head with furrowed brows, straightening when he realised who the Campbell was looking at.

He watched as Joshua sat on the stairs as well, on the same step as Kai, eyes transfixed on Josette. There was some kind of emotion that was more akin to a childish diffidence than anything else Jackson could think of. It was strange to him that he wasn't able to use his own feelings towards his parents to articulate the look on Kai's face. Feelings for people he almost entirely forgot were murky, made into a puddle over the years by his own weak-willed mind.

Kai leaned closer in Joshua's direction, resting his head against his father's right shoulder. Joshua barely paid attention to it, but he must've known the weight on his shoulder was from his eldest son. He made no attempt to push Kai away or draw him closer. That was as good as it was going to get for Kai, having to make do with the cutting, unforgiving comfort of his father's leniency. Like resting his cheek on a blade. At least the pale eyed Parker had gained something from the blade: the cold, calculating cunning of his father.

Then again, he couldn't help but pity the person who took after someone like Joshua, visually or otherwise. Sitting so right next to Joshua did no favours for Kai, because Jackson could easily compare the two.  Similar sharp jawlines, though Joshua had a slight pudge to his cheeks that would not appear on Kai's face for another twenty or thirty years. The same habitual look of disapproval, with a gaze that found a list of faults in someone within seconds. There were faint acne scars above Kai's left brow that Joshua clearly did not have. It was a defining characteristic that differentiated them; Joshua's aristocratic air and Kai's boyish charm. 

Tearing his focus away from Jo, Joshua shifted his gaze onto Kai and said something that Jackson was too far away to hear. But the look of reluctance on Kai's face was far too loud for him to understand. Jo looked up, her face shifting into confusion when she saw that Jackson hadn't been listening. She followed his gaze to the steps, her confusion falling away when she saw her father sitting there. He seemed to have given her a look that she knew all too well, judging by the growing uneasiness of her expression. What was going on?

Kai got up and walked towards them, making Jo flinch. She turned to Jackson, a clammy hand on his arm. "It'd be better if you went inside."

"I don't think so," The old impertinent manner returned to Kai, smiling with a dark edge that made Jackson narrow his eyes at him warily. "C'mon, Jo. I could use an audience."

"You want him to witness your ass getting handed to you?" Josette let out a scoff. "I'm having a hard time gauging whether you like doing this or not. Wouldn't be the first Parker trying to compete with me."

Jackson's eyes flickered between the twins. "Can I ask what's going on?"

"No," Josette and Kai responded almost immediately. The only thing Jo and Kai mutually agreed on.

The Campbell resigned to his bemusement, making his way to the stairs and sitting on the step below Joshua. Being near the man made him think about their conversation in his office, but until Stevie dug up something that could help, he couldn't think of a logical reason for Joshua's strangeness. Jackson's index finger brushed against his lips, focusing on the twins. It was certainly strange that Jo and Kai knew how to fight, and Jackson initially assumed it was for safety reasons. But Joshua was not a father that concerned himself over their safety.

Josette circled Kai, as she did to keep her opponent wary. It didn't seem to make her brother remotely wary. "Thinking of your little if I can't have Jackson, you can't either speech? I doubt this is gonna make him fall madly in love with you like you think it will."

He didn't seem bothered by her words. "Are you trying to piss me off? Gotta say, I'm not impressed."

She shrugged. "The average man gets pretty stupid when he's angry."

A short burst of laughter came from Kai, with a smirk flickering across his face. "I'm not the average man."

"No, you're even stupider. More reckless. Are you hungry, Kai?"

Kai narrowed his eyes, confused by her words. Jo took that as an opportunity to strike, trying to use her elbow to hit his shoulder. He caught her arm, though didn't react in time when she brought her foot down on his and pulled her arm away when he let out a pained grunt, before backhanding him with enough force to make him stumble. Jackson's eyes widened, making a quick glance at Joshua, who only seemed to be observing their movements.

"I said: are you hungry?" Jo repeated, remaining relatively calm considering that she was inflicting harm on her brother.

Kai spat out blood, most likely from accidentally biting down on his tongue, before glaring at her. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Jo delivered a kick to his sternum, shoving him to the ground. "You're obviously starving, or else you wouldn't be acting like a lovesick dog."

She kicked him again, her face scrunched up as he let out a pained groan. "When is it enough? When are you gonna stop sulking? Like a vacuum, sucking up everything you can until someone has to make you stop."

Another kick. Jackson's right hand clamped down on his left arm, digging into the skin until the grooves were tinged red with blood. But he didn't make a sound. Jo had turned into someone else entirely, someone unrecognisable. He should've listened to her and went back inside.

"Unless..." Jo crouched down, grabbing him by the hair. "You must really like being another one of Jackson's rescue animals."

Kai reached out and grabbed her plait, pulling her down while she let out a yelp. He got to his feet, slightly unsteady, before pulling her up by her arm. Josette thrashed, trying to pull away from him, but he simply twisted her closer to him, a hand tight on her throat. Jackson soon realised with horror that Kai was choking her, unmoving to his sister's panicked face and unsuccessful attempts and fighting back. Kai's gaze on Joshua looked like a threat. This is what I can do; no guilt, no remorse. It was sickening to watch siblings fight with a lack of concern for the other.

"Why do you make them do this?" Jackson hissed, openly giving Joshua a look of disgust.

Joshua didn't seem bothered by Jackson's contempt. "Physical strength is connected to mental strength. I'm sure if you had either, you would know."

"I don't care about your half witted riddles, make them stop!"

After a moment of silence, Joshua glanced over at Kai, then stood. "Nine to one."

Almost immediately, Kai released Jo from his grasp. She fell to her knees, coughing and gasping for air, her shaking hand gently touching her throat. Joshua's gaze dropped to Jo, and when she glanced up at him, he gave her a disappointed look. Was he expecting her to free herself from someone stronger than her? It gave Jackson a headache trying to internalise his anger. She was fighting for her life to live and apparently that wasn't enough for him. He pressed a closed fist to his lips, fighting the urge to gag in his disgust. Despite his lack of memory regarding his own parents, Jackson knew that a father who made his children fight for whatever nonsensical reason he had was no father at all.

As Joshua walked back into the house, Jackson shot Kai an accusatory look while he was cradling his ribs. Whatever the hell that was, Kai and Jo were fully capable of refusing to partake in it. Jackson stood, making his way over and kneeling down beside Jo. He placed a hand on Jo's back while she caught her breath. 

"You're alright, love," Jackson then glared up at Kai. "Is there something wrong with you?"

Kai seemed defensive. "Don't presume to know what's going on, okay? In case you couldn't tell, we had no choice."

"What I could tell was you nearly killing Jo!"

"Don't be a moron. I was never gonna kill Jo," He rolled his eyes. Rolled his eyes? If Jackson had the fighting range to overpower Kai, he'd have the Parker on the ground. 

"He's right," Jo's voice was weak, but both of them could hear her just fine. "He can't kill me."

Jackson winced at the sound of her voice. "It's best to have a glass of water and rest—"

"Listen..." She held a hand up. "Our dad has made us fight for a long time, this is normal. Please, just... don't be mad at us."

Hesitation. His gaze shifted from one Parker to another, before reluctantly agreeing with her. "I won't, but at least let me help you."

Josette nodded. He helped her get to her feet, before scooping her up bridal style and carrying her back into the house. Her hands were slung loosely around his neck, with unsteady breaths rattling her lungs. He figured it would be best to carry her to her room and fetch her a pitcher of cold water. It was the least he could do considering this family of hers was ghastly, and very much alarming. What the hell was going on in Joshua Parker's head?