He knew he was in deep shit when he woke up in the middle of the woods. A groan left his throat as his head pounded and he struggled into a sitting position. He was covered in dirt and various leaves and twigs. Shit, his phone was ringing. Where was it? He found it in the pocket of his pants—which were practically shredded. He could wear them home, but he would never be able to wear them out ever again.

"Hello?" he greeted the caller in a gruff voice.

"Alexander Christian Swan." He winced when he heard his father's voice growling back at him. "Did you forget that we were supposed to pick up your sister this morning?"

"Oh, shit, that was today?"

"Yes, Alex, that was today. Where the hell are you? I don't think I even heard you come home last night!"

"I, uh…" He looked around at the woods again and grimaced. "I stayed over at Katie's."

"Boy, when I get back we are having a stern conversation, understand?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Now get your ass home now!"

"Yes, sir."

Alex shoved the phone back into his pocket and rose to his feet. He cursed when he saw his destroyed shoes thrown a few feet away and the shreds of what he could assume was his shirt strewn over a few branches. He must've had a wild night, that's for sure. He grabbed the remains of his clothing and started making his way back home. He couldn't even imagine his dad's reaction if he knew what his son was really doing out in the woods at night. Probably lock him up. Not exactly how he wanted to spend the rest of the days, so he had to get better at all of this.

"Knew I shouldn't have gone to that stupid party," he grumbled as he almost tripped over a log. "Had bad news written all over. All for some wasted opportunity to get into Stacey's pants. She was way too drunk for that shit to be okay." He ducked under a low-lying branch and kicked at a rock in his way. "I swear none of this would've happened if I wasn't some hormone-riddled teenager. What am I even saying? I sound like Coach now!"

Not wanting to stay on this track of thought, Alex darted out of the trees and dumped his wrecked wardrobe in the trash before heading inside to bathe. At the risk of being called a girl by his teammates, he was so looking for a nice warm bath. Last night's activities had him tense and filthy; maybe he'd throw in some bubble for some extra pampering. He thought he deserved that much at least. A long sigh escaped him as he sank deeper into the bubbly warmer and felt the temperature soothe his tense muscles. Being in his position was enough to stress a kid out. He took his sweet time scrubbing his skin and lathering his hair up until he was deliciously clean.

"Ah, that's where it's at," he sighed in contentment as he leaned his head back and stretched his legs over the side. When had the tub gotten so small? Guess his dad wasn't kidding when he said Alex had hit a serious growth spurt. "I deserve a fucking spa day after all I've been through."

He heard the cruiser approach and front door open as he dried off and shook out his wet hair like a dog. He wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the bathroom to grin at his sister as she froze and tried to cover her eyes like she was twelve and accidentally walked into the boys' locker room.

"Hey there, Bells," he greeted. "Nice tan you've got going on. Can really tell the Arizona sun was loving you."

"Could you just put on some clothes?"

"See, I am a firm believer that the world should be graced with my body as much as possib—OW!"

Alex rubbed his head and whined while Charlie shook out his hand and glared at his son. "Lay off your sister, will you?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Don't forget you're still in trouble for this morning, kid."

"Alright, alright, I'm just gonna go get dressed. Happy?"

"Not even close but it's a start. Come on, Bella, let's go check out your room while your idiot brother does his thing."

Managing to duck another smack to the head, Alex shut the door to his room and opened his dresser to assess the damage. He was down to like three shirts and one pair of shoes. He was dead. Deceased. No way was Charlie going to accept that Katie was going off! No one rips shoes like that! He was going to have to sit in on another "birds and bees" discussion. He'd already asked his dad for clothes money twice this month! He was a dead man walking is what he was.

"This is why kids shouldn't party," he sighed before tugging on some clothes. "Why do teenagers have to be so horny? Ah… never mind. I got it."

He was trotting down the stairs when he heard a sputtering engine pull onto their road. Only one family did he know that would drive around fixed up hunks of junk. He threw open the door and ran out before his dad and sister could join him. There in the driveway was the old Chevy truck Jake had told Alex he was fixing up, and in the driver's seat was the kid looking oh so proud of himself while Billy was probably just ready to roast the hell out of Charlie and embarrass him in front of his newly returned daughter.

"Hey there, kiddo!" Alex yelled as he walked up to inspect the vehicle. "Not too shabby, man."

"I spend months on this and that's all you got for me?"

"Heya, Billy," he greeted the man who was like his other father and ignored the boy who was like his brother. "How's it going?"

"Not much to complain about. Help me out would you?"

He carefully lifted Billy out of the truck and waited as Jake scrambled to get the wheelchair out of the bed. Alex looked down and grinned at Billy.

"Well this is romantic."

"Just put me down, you idiot."

"Man, what is it with people calling me an idiot today?"

"You are one!" Jake snickered.

"Like you should be talking."

"So, what do you think?" Charlie asked Bella as Alex wheeled Billy over to them.

"Of what?"

"The truck."

"Wait, it's mine?"

"Wait a second, how come she gets a car?" Alex whined as he wriggled his body like a little kid. "I'm older!"

"It's for you two to share, genius."

"Oh… well then, that's okay."

"Good luck raising two kids now, Charlie. You've definitely got your hands full."

"I had my hands full with just this one," Charlie replied with a fond smile as he pulled his son into a headlock. "Almost gives me a heart attack every damn day."

"Isn't that what kids are for?" Alex asked with a bright smile.

"He's a smartass for sure."

"Oh, hey, this means I don't have to borrow Sam's car to take Kate out!" He easily ducked out of his dad's hold and pulled out his phone. "I have to call her right now."

"Whoa, no! You just spent the night at her house!"

"Yeah, so? C'mon, Pops, I know you know the draw of the ladies."

"Alex!"