𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙋𝙊𝙑

I happily skip down the stairs, my yellow sundress and blonde curls bouncing as I jump down the last couple steps.

"Incoming!" I hear my brother hollering.

I spin around just in time to see him sliding down the railing towards me at a rapid speed and I squeal, jumping out of the way as he is sent sprawling onto the floor at my feet.

"How many times have I told you to stop sliding down the railing, Thomas?!" Our mother shouts in frustration from the kitchen "You are twenty years old!"

I let out a giggle as his eyes widen in panic, scrambling to his feet and brushing his clothes down.

"It was Allison!" Thomas lies.

"No, it wasn't!" Our dad retorts.

My giggles evolve into laughs and Thomas flicks me on the forehead as he passes me, walking into the kitchen.

"Hey!" I gasp, following him and he speeds up.

I run after him, passing my father who is reading the news on his laptop at the kitchen island and Thomas speedily rounds the island, hiding behind our mother who is cooking breakfast.

My brother sticks his tongue out at me smugly and I almost tackle him to the floor in irritation, but my mother beats me to the punch. The blonde woman smacks him upside the head and he dramatically looks at her in betrayal.

"Stop messing around with the railing before you fall and crack your head open" She scolds him and he pouts like a child.

I smile widely in amusement and skip over to our father, wrapping my arms around him.

"Good morning, Daddy" I chirp.

"Good morning, sweetheart" He smiles at me warmly, pecking my cheek.

"Do you have any big plans for today?" I ask him, plopping down in the seat next to him.

"Just working. There's not a lot going on with real estate at the moment" He informs me "What about you, any fun plans?"

"I'm going to the big beach clean up with Sarah and Topper. They should be here soon" I tell him excitedly and he grins in adoration.

"You seem pretty excited to be picking up trash all morning" Thomas scoffs, sitting down opposite us.

"Well, of course I am. I don't want that trash in the ocean, Tommy" I sass him "Think about the poor turtles and fishies"

"Fishies? Are you five?" Thomas laughs in amusement.

"Be nice to your sister" Dad warns him.

I blow a raspberry at my brother and he sticks his tongue out at me again.

The front door slams and my head snaps up to see the cheery faces of Sarah and Topper entering my kitchen.

"You're here!" I cheer happily, jumping out of my chair.

"Sarah. Topper" My mother smiles widely "It's lovely to see you both"

"You too, Mrs Blake" Topper smiles.

"I missed you!" Sarah wails dramatically, throwing her arms around the woman.

"Awe, I've missed you too, honey" Mom laughs, rubbing the dirty blonde haired girl's back.

"You seen each other, like, yesterday" Thomas deadpans.

"Will you let me love my second mother in peace please, Thomas?" Sarah declares, shooting him a playful glare.

"Strange child" Thomas mumbles with the shake of his head, looking down at his phone.

"Alli tells me that you kids are doing a beach clean up" Dad states.

"Oh, I bet she has been bouncing off the walls" Topper teases.

"That's an understatement" Thomas scoffs.

"What is so wrong about enjoying taking care of the environment?" I defend myself.

"You tell 'em, tink" Sarah quips, stealing a slice of toast from the counter.

"I don't expect either of you or your Ralph Lauren polo shirts to understand, but I'd prefer to not be responsible for killing off Kildare's sea life" I declare, crossing my arms over my chest.

Topper and Thomas both give me dramatic hurt looks and place their palms on the Ralph Lauren logos on their shirts.

"Look at my baby go" Mom claps proudly.

"Go save the environment, sweetheart" Dad encourages me.

"Will do" I chirp with a grin.

I press a kiss to my mother and father's cheeks before rounding the table and ruffling Thomas' perfectly gelled hair.

"Allison!" He gasps loudly.

"Run for the hills!" I shriek, grabbing Topper and yanking Sarah away from the bacon she's eating.

"I will murder you in your sleep, you little rugrat!" Thomas hollers as the three of us race out of the house, laughing loudly.

We all jump into Topper's boat and he starts up the engine, speeding off as Thomas comes running out of the house. I salute the angry boy with a wide smirk and he flips me his middle finger with an annoyed glare.

As Topper stands at the wheel with his arm around Sarah who watches the surroundings through her sunglasses, I sit on my knees and lean over the side of the boat, dipping my hand into the water with a gleeful smile.

"Top o' the mornin' to ya, princess!" A loud familiar voice hollers.

I lift my head to see the Pogues on their boat, JJ grinning in my direction widely. My lips tug up at the sides and I give him a shy wave.

"Lookin' beautiful, blondie!" John B smirks.

My cheeks heat up at the compliment and I have to look down at the water again to hide my smile. I glance up once more as the boat passes us and I make eye contact with Kiara who gives me a half smile, my heart skipping a beat at the sight.

A tap on my shoulder breaks me from my trance and I turn my head to see Sarah looking down at me with a teasing grin.

"Looks like the Pogues have taken a liking to you" She sings, playfully poking my arm.

"Everyone likes Alli" Topper counters, smiling at me "Isn't that right?"

"Mmhm" I nod with a soft smile.

»»-------------¤-------------««

"Yo! You look thirsty!" Kelce shouts, causing me to look up from where I'm stood next to him with Wheezie.

"Okay, what do we- what do we got here?" Topper asks, walking over to us with Sarah and taking the bottle from Kelce's hands.

"Have some of that, baby" Kelce says excitedly.

Topper unscrews the lid and sniffs the orange liquid, almost choking at the strong smell of the contents.

"Oh, my God" Topper laughs, taking a drink.

Sarah tucks Wheezie under her arm and I allow Kelce to throw his arm around me, the both of us laughing as Topper chokes trying to swallow the strong concoction.

"Yeah. That's how we do it, baby!" Kelce exclaims and I giggle in amusement.

"Oh, man. Come on, Sarah" Topper tells his girlfriend, handing her the bottle "Let's do it!"

She sniffs it just like Topper did a couple minutes ago and makes a disgusted face.

"What did you do to this?" She laughs.

"He's not playin' around" Topper replies as Sarah takes a drink.

Wheezie snatches the bottle from her older sister and takes a huge mouthful of it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Topper rushes out as I take it out of her hands with wide eyes, all of us staring at the younger girl in surprise.

"Since when did you start drinking?" Sarah asks her little sister as I take a mouthful of the strong beverage, grimacing at the taste.

"Since today" Wheezie replies nonchalantly.

"Jesus Christ" I breathe out.

"Wow. Great going, Kelce" Sarah scoffs playfully at the boy as I take another drink and hand Kelce his bottle back.

"You guys got it under control?" I hear one of the supervisors yell.

"Yes, sir! It's looking good, sir!" Topper calls back.

"Just clearing the stretch out!" Kelce adds.

"Just hydrating!" Sarah also adds "Almost finished!"

"Great job! Keep it up!" The supervisor tells us cheerily.

"Thank you!" I shout back with a smile.