CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

School was dismissed and Ivy strode towards the bus. All of a sudden, an arm was thrown around her shoulder and Finn steered her away from the bus. Ivy sighed and shrugged off his arm, glaring at him.
"What are you doing?" She waved a hand at the bus. "We need to get home, remember?"
"No, we're walking." Finn nodded slowly. "Yeah, remember?"

Ivy stared at him. "I thought that was just a cover-up?"
"Nope." Finn shook his head. "We're walking. Deal with it."
They began headed away from the bus and along the road, in the direction of their homes. As they walked, they discussed the drama happening all around them.
"It's like it used to be." Ivy complained. "Dana hates me."

Finn sighed. "Sisters, huh? Isla is basically ignoring me because apparently you're my sister and might as well move in, and replace her."
"Woah." Ivy blinked rapidly. "That might be why Isla hardly speaks to me. Makes sense."
He scratched his chin. "And Ben wants to ask out- crap."
"What?" Ivy narrowed her eyes. "Dana? Does he realise how oblivious she is?"

Finn groaned and pushed a hand through his messy hair. "Forget I said that, yeah?"
"Okay." Ivy shrugged. "Why did you crash my science class so that you could make sure I was okay?"
"Brent." Finn sighed. "I don't trust him. And besides, you're my adopted sister so I have to make sure no one is killing you."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "Finn, that's unrealistic. I'll be the one doing the killing."
"True, that." Finn grinned. "And I'll help you hide the body."

Laughing, Ivy slapped his arm. "That's what siblings are for."
"And why we have to find replacements for our biological siblings-" Finn continued. "'Cause our real siblings would tell on us."

Lionel arrived home. His father was still at work and his mother was cleaning up. Jace was home as well, moving easily around the house, having memorized it. It always amazed Lionel how confident his blind brother was. And he was ever so proud of Jace, even if he was a typically annoying brother.
"Hey, Lionel, superstar brother of mine." Jace also had a sarcastic tongue, as it just so happened. "Mom is-"
And a vase fell from the table, shattering on the floor. Jace's face fell as he realised what had happened. Lionel winced.
"Dammit." Jace swore colourfully and then crouched, searching for the shards.

He could hurt himself. Lionel recognised the danger and hurried forward, dragging his brother away from the shards.
"What was that for?" Jace snapped.
Lionel kneeled down to pick up the pieces of shattered vase. "I don't want you hurting yourself."
"Not this again." His brother groaned. "I'm not as fragile as that awful vase."
"I'm not saying that," Lionel stared at his brother.

Jace crossed his arms. "Sounds like it to me. I could have picked those bits up-"
"You were close to cutting yourself on these sharp bits." Lionel growled. "I don't need you bleeding everywhere. Unlike you, I'm not good at first aid. You'd be dead."
"Would that be so bad?" Jace raised his voice.
Lionel slipped in shock, and a shattered piece of vase caused a gash in his hand. "Ow!"

Jace glanced around quickly. "What was that? What happened?"
Lionel swore and stared at his hand. But there was nothing there. The gash he had thought was there had vanished.
"Nothing." Lionel mumbled. "Just a scratch."
That, in itself, was a lie. It wasn't a scratch because there was nothing there.

"What happened at school today?" Millie Stellar asked, as she ate her food politely at the dinner table.
Blossom and Ben exchanged a glance. Briar decided to speak up. "I helped a kid with a sprained wrist. He was being an idiot in basketball."
"Sounds like Ben." Blossom scoffed, and her brother glowered at her.
"Hey!" Ben snapped. "I'm not an idiot. I'm actually quite good at basketball."

They finished up dinner and began to take the plates back to the kitchen. Briar reversed her wheelchair and attempted to turn, but a wheel caught the table and she growled in annoyance. Millie looked up sharply and hurried towards her daughter, trying to help Briar reverse and get the wheel out from the table.
Blossom was busy trying to clean the plates, when her hands got slippery from the soap, and the plate crashed to the floor. Ben winced and they worked together to try and pick up the pieces.

Millie narrowed her eyes. "Stop making a mess in there! Get out here and help your sister."
"You're helping her!" Blossom shouted back. "I'm trying to clean this up."
"Don't shout at me, you disrespectful girl!" Millie snapped. "It's okay, Briar, I'll sort this out."
Briar sighed. "Mom, it's okay. I can do this-"
"No, you need some help," Millie said. "The wheel is stuck and- Ben, can you please help me?"

Ben peered out from the kitchen. "Mom, I'm sort of busy."
"You're not busy enough to make your sister second priority!" Millie growled. "Briar should be top priority."
"Mom, please-" Briar winced as the tension grew.
Blossom pressed her lips together. "Poor little Briar, stuck in a table! Well, sorry, Mom - I'm trying to clean up the mess I made. Maybe you should do the same and clean me up, because I'm obviously a mess, a mistake!"

Gulping, Ben raised his voice. "Everybody, shut up!"
Millie went silent and managed to get Briar out of the table. Her daughter inhaled sharply and glanced between her mother and siblings, before moving away as fast as possible. Blossom had cleaned away the mess and Ben was hurriedly trying to sort out their family.
"Okay. Let's all just chill." Ben smiled. "All good?"
Millie disappeared and Blossom nodded. "Yeah. I'm just going to stay in my room tonight."
"Alright, Blossom." Ben pulled her into a friendly hug. "I'm going out. See you soon."

Ahhh. I feel so horrible after this chapter. So much drama. I really wanted this chapter to have a bit more sibling relationships. How did I do? Also, I'm going to keep Ivy and Finn as super-close friends (aka. "adopted" siblings) because that just suits me more. I don't know why, I love the ship but them being friends seems ten times better to me. You'll see... Also, Jace and Blossom. Just ahhhh. *sweats*
Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed, please review :)

COOKIES! (:;) (:;) (:;)