Friday came and as usual Lucas and I had our routine in check. We would get up, pack all the things we would need for the next week and shove in the back of his car. His car was one that I idolized. It was a 65' vintage Camaro. It had the original paint and interior with a little bonus feature that Luke had installed himself...a cd player. It was in mint condition and according to my dad worth a "crap load" of money as he had called it. Luke had received it for his 17th birthday from my dad and Deb. My dad had to of course get my mom's permission before buying Lucas such an extravagant gift.

My parents didn't really believe in the whole buying a car for the 16th birthday. My mom says we have to prove we can show enough resposibility behind the wheel first and when we can do that, a car could be considered. If this was the kind of present Luke got, I could only hope mine would be something so nice. I really wanted a Mustang, and I knew my dad sold them at his dealership. Whether my mom would allow a car like that is another story. Oh well I still had quite a while to go before my 17th birthday.

It was 4:00 p.m. and school had been out for approximately half an hour. We arrived at my moms house and through all our things into our rooms. My room at my mom's house in my favorite place in the world. The walls are dark blue with a white trim around the edges. There's a huge window overlooking the backyard with a window seat that Keith had built for me, attached to it. The wall just behind my bed was covered in posters of my favorite bands mostly Fall Out Boy, Nada Surf, Jack's Mannequin and Boys Like Girls. One wall was covered with pictures of me and my brothers, my parents (all 4 of them) and my friends. On the wall opposite my bed hung my most prized possession. It was my huge autographed Jimmy Eat World poster. I had gotten it at a concert that I went to for my 16th birthday, with my best friend Breanna. The wall nearest the door contained a small painting that my brother Lucas' ex-girlfriend Peyton had drawn for me. It was of a large flaming heart with an arrow going through the centre. Inside the heart was the name Pete Wentz. He's the lead singer of my favorite band, Fall Out Boy, and the guy me and Peyton both secretly had a huge crush on.

I laughed as I looked at the painting, remembering my mom's expression when she had first seen it. She had thought that I had went behind her and my dad's back and started dating a guy named Pete. It took me forever to get her to calm down long enough to tell her that he was the lead singer of a band. I was just lucky my dad had never seen the painting, I would have never heard the end of it.

Lucas entered my room carrying a note. He handed it to me. It was from Keith.

"Meet us at the cafe." It said.

I looked at Lucas strangely. "Wonder what thats all about. Mom's usually off by now and so is Keith."

Lucas shrugged. "Lets go find out."

We walked over to the cafe being that it was only a 10 minute walk from mom's house.

"Hey guys." Lucas and I both greeted at the same time. We were shocked to see all the people who were there, especially one person in particular.

My mom and Haley, my brother Lucas' best friend Nathan's girlfriend, stood behind the counter and Keith sat on one of the bar stools. That wasn't what surprised us. It was the people who sat next to him.

I stared in surprise at Deb, Nathan and Dan sitting there as well. I was pretty sure I couldn't remember a time when our entire family had been in the same room together, especially since my dad and Keith did not get along.

"What's going on here?" Lucas asked as he shot a look at me. I was grateful to him for saying something because I was too shocked to think of something to say.

My mom can around the counter and gave both Lucas and I a huge hug. We returned the greeting and she pulled away.

"I know you must be surprised to see all of us in the same room." She said.

"Um Mom, no offense or anything, but surprised is a bit of an understatement." Lucas cut her off.

"Yeah were more like shocked, astonished, slightly confused." I said listing off any adjectives that came to mind. "Did something happen?"

My mom looked to Keith who slowly got up and walked over to us. He had a solemn look in his eye and I instantly knew my thinking had been correct.

"What happened?" I asked again.

My mom guided Lucas over to a table and Keith put his arm around me and did the same to me. Dad, Nate and Deb turned to face us and I could see tears in Deb's eyes. Nate looked upset and I was shocked to see a lone tear running down his cheek. My dad just sat there his eyes almost cold, they showed little emotion. I had a feeling that whatever we were about to be told would explain the look in all their faces.

"Kaylee, Lucas." My mom started but then choked mid-sentence.

Keith ran a hand over her arm and then took her hand. "Your grandmother had a heart attack."

Lucas' eyes widened and I felt tears come to mine. "How bad?" Lucas asked already knowing the answer it seemed.

"Bad, sh...she didn't make it." My mom said quietly.

A hand flew to my mom and tears fell, I didn't even bother to stop them. "Oh my god." I said.

Lucas put an arm around my shoulder and gave me a hug. We stayed like that for a few minutes as he let me cry into his shoulder. When I pulled away I wiped at my eyes and saw all the black mascara that stained my hands. I didn't care though.

"I'm so sorry, you guys." My mom said as she pulled us into a motherly embrace.

"This can't be happening." I heard Lucas say even though his voice was muffled. "She was one of the good ones."

I nodded in agreement. No matter what we thought of my grandfather, we couldn't deny that my Grandma was the one who made him bearable and to have her gone, was a huge loss.

I looked at my dad, seeing the look in his eyes. He didn't even have a tear glistening in them. His eyes..no his face, was hard as stone. His eyes showed almost no sign of emotion. I knew he wasn't really close to either of his parents, especially his father, but the loss of his mother had to be hard for him.

"Dad?" I asked as I walked over to him. He just glanced at me and for a second I swore I saw a look of true sadness in his eyes, then he got up and walked out of the cafe.

I felt two pairs of arms wrap around me from behind as I stared out the door. I turned to face Nathan and Lucas who were both holding me in a tight hug. The three of us just stood there with customers staring at us, thinking we were probably crazy. My mom was being comforted by Keith and Nathan let go of me and went to provide some sort of comfort to his mom. I just stayed in Lukes arms and cried.

Ten minutes later my mom had closed the cafe and managed to get all the customers out as well. We sat around the counter as Haley poured drinks. I could tell she must have felt really awkward and out of place but she didn't say anything. She walked over to Nathan and hugged him.

"So where do we go from here?" I head Lucas say from his seat next to me. Leave it to Lucas to always be thinking ahead.

Keith shrugged. "I guess we continue with our trip to Raleigh, your Grandpa could use all of us."

"Hows Grandpa Royal taking it?" Nathan asked.

"Not that well." Keith replied. "I talked to him a couple hours ago and he said he was going to start planning the funeral."

"Already?" I asked. "Grandma just died today and he's already planning her funeral? He really does have no heart." I say angrily.

My mom looked at me through tear filled eyes. "Kaylee, honey that's not true."

"Mom, how can you defend him after all he's said and done to you?" I ask.

"I'm with Kay." Luke agreed.

"You guys, this is just your Grandfather's way of dealing with things, he has to keep his mind off of things. I'm sure he is in an immense amount of pain." Mom said as she reached for both mine and Lucas' hands.

"Well I guess Nate and I will accompany you all on the trip." Deb said.

Keith nodded. "Your more then welcome too."

"What about Dad?" I asked. "Did you see the way he looked before? It was almost as if he didn't realize what happened."

"I've never even see that look in his eye before and I spend all of my time with him." Nathan said.

Keith sighed. "Unfortunately, I know that look in Dan's eye better then anyone. I've seen it on more then one occasion and it never leads to anything good."

"What do you mean Keith?" My mom asked.

"Well the first time I saw that look was when we were kids and our dog died. Dan shut himself off from everyone and started getting into some trouble, nothing major at first just little bousts of trouble here and there. The next time was when our Uncle died and Dan did the same thing except he was a teenager and this time the trouble he got into was a little more serious. I'm just afraid that now he could be more destructive then ever." Keith explained.

"Do you think he'll do something rash? Keith, I know how you feel about him, but you also know him better then almost anyone. Is there a chance he could put any of the kids in danger?" Mom asked as she glanced at me and Lucas in concern.

"I don't know Kare, I honestly don't. I don't think he would intentionally harm any of the kids, but he's in a dark place right now. Who knows what he's thinking. Up until a couple of years ago, he was close to our mom, she kept him from tearing into dad." Keith said as he rubbed my mom's hand.

"I've seen him like this too." Deb said. "It was after the last trip we took to Raleigh, Dan and Royal got into a big fight and things ended badly. Dan went into a sort of depression and well let's just say I didn't let him near Nathan for weeks. He couldn't manage to keep his temper in check."

My mom nodded knowingly. "He does have a temper. I guess I just never realized the brutality of it."

"I can't believe this." Lucas said. "You guys really think our father would harm us just because he lost his mother? He and Grandma hardly talked over the last couple of years."

"Luke, all we are saying is that when bad things happen, Dan doesn't know how to deal with them so he lashes out." Keith said.

"I think it would maybe be a good idea if we kept him away from the kids for awhile. I didn't like the look he gave Kaylee just before he left here." Mom said.

I looked at her. "Mom, you can't keep up from him. Dad obviously needs us."

"Honey, I just think we should give him sometime for the realization to sink in. Once we see how he reacts, we will go from there." Mom said.

"I agree with Karen." Deb said. "He may not do anything, but just to be safe, I want you kids to stay away from him. Kaylee, Lucas you two stay with your mom and Keith for the time being, and Nate will stay with me, but we will be away from Dan."

Keith nodded. "I think thats best. We will all go to Raleigh and see my father and stay for the funeral. If Dan wants to go, he can."

Nathan, Lucas and I all glanced at one another, more then likely thinking the same thing. This was going to be a hard couple of weeks.