A/N: Sorry for the late update. It's been over a week, ahhhh! Thank you for all your reviews in the meantime, really happy more people are interested in Team Go's story!

I don't own the Carpenters. Chapter title is one of my favorite songs by them :)

Chapter 18- Yesterday Once More

June 1988

"Good morning."

Henry wasn't unfamiliar with that soft cooing voice coupled with a French accent anymore. For the past month - although the guilt was still going strong after Lindsay had taken off - he had been regularly meeting with Dominique at her house. However, most times they had gotten... together, it never resulted in Henry staying overnight. This was the first time, and upon realizing such a fact, his eyes grow wide in anticipation. "Oh god!" He exclaimed, rushing out of bed and trying to find his hoodie, scanning the floor until he laid his eyes on it. Dominique crossed her arms and frowned, now sitting upright as she watched him put on the hoodie in a frenzy. After quite some time, Henry's eyes meet hers. "What time is it? Oh jeez, where are my shoes?"

Shit.

Dominique sighed and ran a hand through her messy hair. "Do you always panic over every little thing?" She glanced at the clock in her room. "And it's eight in the morning on a Sunday, I do not understand why you are so-"

"Crap!" Henry interrupted loudly, panicking even more. Dominique groaned and rolled her eyes as to say, 'what now?' Henry slipped his shoes on and sighed dramatically. "We have church in an hour and it's a long walk back." He stopped moving for a second, glancing at the clock. "Crap!" He exclaimed once more.

Dominique resisted the urge to slap him to get him to snap out of it. "Your family goes to church?" she asked instead, surprised..

"It's so we seem slightly normal," Henry offered quickly as an explanation. The sad thing about this statement was that it wasn't completely far off from the truth. Dominique's frown only deepened, adding onto her already grim expression. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. He was supposed to stay. With her. What about those other times they were... intimate? She was planning on telling him today how she felt, but... was he even interested? At least he had gotten past that stage of whining about his ex-girlfriend; the blonde bitch, Dominique added mentally.

"I wish you would stay," Dominique pleaded quietly in a final effort to keep him here.

Henry bit his lip nervously. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. With every moment that he spent with Dominique, he thought of Lindsay, and it shouldn't have been that way, but he couldn't help it. He did take the hint that Dominique didn't like that he talked about her sometimes - by aggressively pushing him on the bed during their moments harder than usual - but really, it made him more and more guilty with every passing second. It used to feel good. He couldn't say the same about that anymore.

Despite this, he found himself giving in. "I'll stop by today later," Henry promised, and with that, he left in a rush.

Holy shit. This needed to stop.

The first thing that Henry noticed when he walked in was that everyone - minus his father - was in the room waiting for him, completely dressed up in clothes that other people would say they weren't worthy of having. Sheila and Melvin were on the couch, each holding a twin on their laps. Their mother had stood up from the chair and rushed forward to hug him tightly. "Oh Henry, thank goodness you're alright!" Henry lifted an eyebrow, but hugged her back willingly. After a few seconds she let go, cupping her hands around his face as she smiled. "Where were you?" she asked worriedly.

Henry eyes drifted from his mother to his siblings - mainly Sheila and Melvin - who looked less than impressed upon seeing their eldest brother, but still, he did detect a hint of worry in their eyes. His eyes go back to his mother's, answering: "I actually got home pretty late. I went out with Nate and a few other friends and got home later. Then I realized this morning that I was going to pay him back for the food we got yesterday, so I decided to meet with him early."

It was a quick lie, and he's positive that his mother would buy it, or at least pretend to.

She looked like she was going to let it go, up until Melvin just had to open his mouth. "You're wearing the same clothes as yesterday." Henry glared at him intensely, whilst Melvin didn't back down, glaring back. Sheila bit her tongue to pretend herself from bursting into laughter at Henry's expense. Now, his mother was looking back at him with a raised eyebrow, wanting an explanation.

"Thank you for pointing that out Melvin," Henry said through clenched teeth and a forced smile.

Melvin matched his smile, just as bitter. "No problem!"

Henry's eyes went back to his mother, still smiling. "You see, since I knew we were going to church today, you wouldn't want me to get dressed and go back out just to pay someone back, right? And what's the point of going into other clothes when I'd only use them for fifteen minutes?"

"Still seems kind of gross," Sheila cut in, smirking.

Melvin chuckled, smirking as well. "Really gross."

Henry pressed his lips together and rolled his eyes. "How old are you?" he snarked.

"Old enough to not wear the same clothes twice," Melvin retorted with that same witty smirk that Henry longed to wipe off. The second eldest brother wasn't even phased by the glare Henry gave him. "What? Princess Diana taught me that. You never see her wearing the same outfit twice."

"Oh my gosh, did you see the picture of her with the white dress and black and white hat?" Sheila asked with a smile.

"Yes!" Melvin said eagerly, almost entirely forgetting about Henry's dilemma. "And she had this... jacket tied around her shoulders in the front that matched the hat? It's so pretty."

Henry couldn't believe his ears. Then he remembered that there was one person - though he deemed to be unimportant - that wasn't here. "Where's dad?"

His mother's face darkened considerably; along with Melvin and Sheila's. "Out," was all she said. The rest of the family was silent for a good second after that. It was not uncommon nowadays for their father to go out without telling anyone, usually getting himself into some sort of trouble. Two weeks ago, they had received a call from the local bar that their father had been kicked out of. Apparently they took the effort to drag him to their house since he had passed out. Needless to say, as much as everyone wanted to leave him outside - like Sheila had suggested multiple times - Melvin, Henry, Sheila, and their mother dragged him back into the house. This was not done without eye rolling from Sheila and snarky remarks from Melvin. It was better to have him outside than inside. That way, they weren't hit.

Henry cleared his throat. "Anyway," he began awkwardly, "I'm going to get dressed." He stormed off before his mother could say anything. Nonetheless, she did call out to him to hurry up and that they had only twenty minutes. Sheila and Melvin put the twins down to run after Henry, cutting right in front of him before he could enter his room. He scowled at them. "Mind your own businesses-"

"Did you have to bring up dad? She was actually in a good mood today," Melvin interrupted.

"Well sorry... I couldn't help but notice that he was missing," Henry said sharply.

"Since when do you care?" Sheila asked, lifting an eyebrow. "Oh come on, Henry. Years ago you yelled at me for asking the same question! Hypocrite."

Henry's face flushed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I didn't do it out of spite like you did," he retorted. Sheila didn't have a reply to this, therefore Melvin decided to bring up an interesting point; a shift in topic.

"So..." mused Melvin with a cheeky grin. "You waste no time, huh?" Sheila couldn't hide a snicker.

The implication behind Melvin's words - though he was absolutely correct - annoyed Henry immensely, because he shouldn't know that. Henry pressed his hand on the wall, leaning his entire body on it with irritation dripping in his voice: "Can you maybe, I don't know, mind your own business?"

"You worried us," Sheila tried to explain calmly. At this, Henry scoffed. Sheila glared at him, not appreciating his response. "You were just out with some girl, weren't you?" Henry didn't answer. This only made Sheila madder. "Do you know the twins were worried about you too? They could barely fall asleep."

"And I had to deal with all the crying."

"Oh you poor thing," Henry said sardonically, matching Melvin's whine. Now Henry faced Sheila speaking in a normal voice, however it was laced with frustration and an edge of annoyance. No, he told them what to do, not the other way around. He was eighteen, an adult. "Last time I checked, you're not my mother." He brushed past them with ease and slammed the door in their faces. The two of them stared at the door for a few seconds.

Sheila gave a tight lipped smile with her arms crossed. "So it looks like he's over Lindsay." She turned her head to face Melvin. "Was it really worth the bad attitude from Henry?" Because he normally didn't have a bad attitude when it came to them, even when she and Melvin had pushed the boundaries - oh, and they absolutely did, especially her. Only in those rare cases that did have to do with defending Lindsay or if Sheila did anything illegal were the times when Henry would be really, really upset. Although Sheila didn't like Lindsay, she did have to admit that Henry was in a better mood when she was around.

It was much better than this.

However, Melvin didn't see it that way. "She's a crackhead, Shelly. She would've brought Henry down with her. Do we really need that?" He sneered, throwing her words in her face.

Sheila very much didn't appreciate the attitude. Two can play at that game. "What is your damage?" Melvin snorted and inspected his nail in disinterest. God, it was like both of her brothers wanted to intentionally piss her off, because damn it, it was working. "Seriously Melvin. You've had such a bad attitude. Ever since mom and I started getting along..."

"Oh, you think I'm jealous?" Melvin cut in harshly, sounding rather defensive. Sheila blinked and said nothing. Melvin scoffed and rolled his eyes, acting like he really didn't believe it. "Please."

"...I never said that you were jealous," Sheila remarked, with a twinkle of realization in her eyes. She smirked venomously: "But thank you for confirming."

Melvin's fists were balled up; a rare occurrence. "Next time when a stupid boy breaks your heart, don't come crying to me," he spat.

Admittedly, that stung more than it should have. "Next time when you want to read my Princess Diana magazines, don't come whining to me," she fired back.

"Next time you need help playing chess, don't come running to me." Melvin lived for arguing, he knew he could very well do this all day.

But so could Sheila. "Next time you need someone to defend you from the bullies, don't-"

"I never asked you to do that!" Melvin roared angrily, his cheeks red.

Sheila scoffed at him. "Oh really-"

The door from the brothers' room flew open, revealing Henry fully dressed with an agitated expression. "Can both of you shut the hell up?" he snapped bitterly. "We have to go to church." Henry brushed past them and left the scene. Sheila glared at Melvin, who glared right back. He followed after Henry; not without anger in every footstep; fuming. Sheila watched him go, feeling more furious and annoyed than before. Henry was angry, Melvin was angry, and now their mother had become the voice of reason? Not that she minded; she had a better relationship with her mother now than back then. But when did both of her brothers become so snappy? Didn't they know that she was the ill-tempered one?

Right after mass ended, Henry had luckily run into Nate. He learned that his parents bought a new car; a cheap and rough looking one, but nonetheless, a car. And of course Henry just had to join them on their ride. He knew that's what most people did; they often cruised if they had that luxury. Sometimes, people would look for trouble - Henry doesn't doubt that his friends would be those people - and ninety nine percent of the time, you could get away with it.

It was just the five of them - their mother, the twins, Sheila, and Melvin, that were walking home. Their mother was holding Wes' hand while Melvin held Wen's. Meanwhile, Sheila was in deep thought, pondering over many events that had occurred within these past few weeks. The first so happened to be the lovely graceful presence of their father passed out in front of the house. Did they have to drag him back inside? They couldn't just leave him to rot? The second thing happened to be the change in her mother. When did she start caring so much? When did she get so involved? To be honest, she would be lying if she said she didn't like this change, but... it was just weird. To see her mother this mentally healthy overall was strange, to say the least.

Sheila came to a startling realization. Was this why Henry was stepping down? Because their mother was actually going to try and be a parent? She didn't know how to feel about that; Henry is all she's ever known as a parent, even though he's her brother.

"Will Henry come home late like last time?" Wen asked worriedly while tilting his head back slightly to meet Melvin's eyes. Melvin couldn't suppress the snort that had escaped, earning glares from Sheila and their mother. He shrugged and didn't say anything, for the sake of not snapping at anyone. Wen frowned at this, he was used to Melvin answering whatever questions he had. "Mel-"

"Hopefully not," their mother replied. She turned to her second eldest. "You're being awfully quiet, Melo. Is everything okay?"

"I was busy trying not to burst into flames," Melvin answered with a bitter chuckle. The silence was deafening. This got everyone's attention, including the twins, who were understandably confused by that statement that had so many layers to it. Hurt was spread across their mother's face, while Sheila, for the second time today, grew incredibly furious. They stared at him, appalled by the dark joke that neither of them believed that Melvin just made, because it probably wasn't a joke to Melvin, that he actually thought that. Part of him was being entirely serious. Melvin looked at all of them, incredibly bewildered on why they looked at him as if he were Satan himself, or worse, the mayor. "What?"

"The fuck is wrong with you?"

"Sheila, don't swear in front of the twins," their mother chastised lightly, but she understood her frustration. She turned to Melvin. "You're not going to hell because of who you are."

"Well that's what they all say, that I'm going to hell, so I might as well accept it now."

"Damn it Melvin!" Sheila suddenly exclaimed in disbelief. Where was this coming from? How did... why... what the heck is going on in this family?! She breathed deeply. Why was she getting so upset by this? She was supposed to be angry with him, not near the brink of tears because part of Melvin actually thought he was going to hell. "What did Chloe tell you, huh? By that logic, is Sarah going to hell?"

"No!" Melvin said quickly. He liked Sarah. Out of all the Harris sisters besides Chloe, Sarah was the one he found the easiest to talk to. Probably because of the fact that she was a lesbian who had experience with dealing with bullies and gossipers. They made small talk whenever Melvin went over to Chloe's along with Sheila, which wasn't as common as it used to be. Not only that, but Sarah happened to be great friends with Dennis. So no, he'd like to think Sarah wasn't going to burst into flames when her time comes.

"...What's hell?" The small voice that muttered that belonged to Wes looked at everyone individually, blinking his wide innocent brown eyes, waiting for his question to be answered. Dread filled their mother's body; they forgot that the twins were here. In passing, the twins often heard the phrase, 'What the hell?' from their siblings, but they never heard it in terms of it being a place, more likely because they didn't really listen in church. They either fell asleep or fidgeted quietly - it was difficult for them to do so, but they tried, they really did.

"Um..." Sheila was at a loss for words. She turned to Melvin, expecting him to take over. But his eyes were downcast, removing himself from the situation entirely. She resisted the urge to groan. Henry just had to leave. Just when she was about to answer in the vaguest way she could, another voice stepped in.

"My job at the dry cleaner's." Sheila and Melvin turned around slowly to face the person who gave that witty answer, that just so happened to be their mother. Wes and Wen blinked confusedly. Meanwhile, Sheila couldn't help but hide a smirk that spread across her face, Melvin looked indifferent and rolled his eyes. He watched as both his mother and his sister exchanged a smile at the joke. This only made Melvin angrier upon watching them get along. He let go of Wen's hand and walked ahead of them. They all watched him go.

"Where are you going?" Their mother called after him, frowning. Although she knew she wasn't all that right in the head, she knew that this wasn't the son that she knew. He would've laughed along with them.

"Out," he spat carelessly. "Don't wait up." Their mother opened her mouth to protest against the idea, but closed it upon seeing that Melvin was already too far ahead to call him back, and even if he was close by, it's likely he'd pretend he didn't hear her.

She turned to Sheila. "What is up with your brother lately?"

Sheila couldn't help but snort with a tight lipped grin. "Which one? They're both irritable ass – um, jerks," she corrected at the end, her grin turned into a sheepish smile at her mother's warning glare. "Oops." Her mother's glare softened considerably, smiling at her. Sheila sighed in frustration. "I don't know, mom... things are changing. Henry's been hanging out with his friends more because his crackhead of a girlfriend went to live on the streets and Melvin's been snippy and secretive lately, which is weird, because we'd tell each other everything."

"Oh..." Their mother felt a small tug at the bottom of her dress. She cast her eyes down to see Wen with a pleading look in his eyes. Sheila recognized that look right away, while their mother looked confused. "He wants to be picked up," Sheila told her mother. According to Henry, this was known as the 'carry me' phase. He told her and Melvin that it usually happened when they were around three or four. Sheila, for the most part, skipped that phase, though she did appreciate that Henry did hug her a lot. Melvin, however, did not skip that phase and was probably the most clingy. Sheila watched as her mother easily scooped up Wen with one arm, who rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. They walked the rest of the way home. So this is what having a stable parent was like, Sheila thought to herself.

"I been up, I been down...
Take my word, my way 'round...
I ain't asking for much..."

The ZZ Top song blasted in the car that Nate was driving while Henry was riding shotgun, along with Jason and another friend named Axel in the back. Throughout the entire ride, Henry had a cigarette in hand while venting over a number of things. The first being about Lindsay (naturally). The next happened to be about his family (of course). And eventually, he made his way down the line, talking about Dominique, which of course, went all the way back to Lindsay. He spilled this all in a long rant, that none of his friends particularly cared to listen to, but were going to anyway whether they liked it or not.

"When I'm with her, all she wants to do is cuddle after! I just... I can't do that with Dominique. She isn't Lindsay." Nate gripped the steering wheel tighter, his lips pressed together in irritation of hearing Henry talk. Jason and Axel had tuned him out a long time ago and were too busy passing a flask around. Henry took a drag, oblivious to their disinterest, and continued, "Do you know how bad I feel immediately leaving after we do it? Terrible."

Nate snorted with amusement. "I do that all the time. All girls are like that."

"Well it's bad." Henry coughed excessively from the cigarette. "This really hates me today," he remarked, referring to the cigarette. He threw it out the window carelessly. He rested his arm on the car on the edge of the window sill. "I need to break it off with her." Now everyone was paying attention, their eyes wide with shock and horror.

"With Dominique?!" Axel barked at him, as if he were insane. "But she's crazy hot!"

"Yes," Henry insisted. "She's hot and she's crazy! That's the problem. She's so..." A shudder. "Aggressive."

Nate couldn't help but snicker at his friend's misfortune. "She's one of those, huh? Yeah, those girls are always crazy. But they're amazing in-"

"Please stop," Henry interrupted with a groan, making a face of disgust. "Don't even finish that sentence."

"...bed," he finished anyway, making Axel and Jason chuckle in the back along with him while Henry rolled his eyes. "Oh lighten up, Henry. You're lucky to have a girl like Dominique."

Henry couldn't help but laugh out loud at that ridiculous statement his friend made. "See Nate, you say that, but then when gives you bruises-"

"Bruises? You?" chuckled Nate with a scoff. "Come on, man, now you're bullshitting out of your ass. You act like you're built like a damn pool cue. I don't mean this in a gay way, but you're built."

Henry frowned at the last phrase. "I wished you wouldn't say that knowing that my brother is actually gay." The car ride goes awkwardly silent after that comment from him, even though they all knew that Melvin was gay. Henry cleared his throat. "Yeah... thanks." A police siren blasted at full volume behind him, making all four teenagers groan in agony. Henry turned around to face Axel and Jason, who were putting eyedrops in their eyes. "Please tell me..."

"Yes, we smoked it all already and sprayed the car," Jason interrupted reassuringly.

"Then why are we getting pulled over?" Nate asked.

"Because you went over the speed limit, dumbass!" Axel exclaimed. Henry exhaled sharply in apprehension, leaning back in his chair while muttering a fair share of swears under his breath while Nate pulled over to the side of the road. The last thing he needed was a record. The only thing he could do was wait for the officer to show up and hope that his friends wouldn't say anything stupid to the police, no matter how much they deserved it.

An officer leaned forward from Nate's window. "Afternoon, gentlemen." They all responded politely and quietly. The officer eyed Nate skeptically. "Do you know how fast you were going?"

Nate laughed sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, sorry about that. I've never really gone that fast before... Um..." he treaded off awkwardly, falling silent due to being unable to make up an excuse on the spot. He inwardly groaned when the officer then asked him for his ID, before writing out a ticket for him. "Dude, this is so uncool!"

"Nate, shut up," Henry said lowly through gritted teeth.

"I'd listen to your friend," the officer advised Nate, who scowled in irritation. The officer handed the ticket to Nate, who snatched it. Then, the officer stared at their vehicle for a minute, inspecting it briefly. This made Henry's heart beat out of his chest. But then, the officer stopped, and smirked. "Have a good evening, boys." Then he walked away back to his cop car. Once he was out of earshot, Nate immediately let a stream of curses out.

"Have a good evening, boys," Nate sneered in a mocking tone, making Axel and Jason laugh from behind him while Henry couldn't help but smirk a little. Nate rolled his eyes and returned to his normal speaking voice. "Fucking prick."

"Can you drop me off at Dominique's?" Henry asked suddenly. "I'm ending it now with her."

The shift change of topic did not go unnoticed by his friends. Nonetheless, Nate nodded and said, "Tell me what the address is." Henry did so, which made Nate's eyebrows arch up in surprise as he smirked. "So it's in that shithole, huh?"

Henry playfully punched him. "Oh shut up. You also live in the Southside, so you shouldn't even talk."

"Okay but I don't live in that part of the Southside."

"It's still the Southside, dumbass," reminded Henry with a chuckle. "We all still live in the slums, don't act all high and mighty."

"Aren't you planning on dumping her anyway? Why are you defending her?"

"Just drop me off!" snapped Henry in irritation. The faster he did this, the faster this would all be over and he would never have to see her again. God... Why couldn't any of his stupid friends understand that this was hard for him?

He wanted to know why.

Melvin stood there, in front of the small house with flaking grey paint that he had been to before, frowning in deep contemplation of whether or not this was a good idea. He had been standing there for about five minutes, hesitant to knock on the door. But then he remembered Dennis' words, that Keith actually gave a damn about him, but it left so many questions unanswered. He inspected his nails, trying to stall and kill time. Melvin exhaled sharply. Damn it, maybe he didn't hate Keith as much as he thought. Or maybe he did. He hated the fact that he didn't hate Keith as much as he did. That just confused him to no end, because how can you hate someone because you don't hate them, when you really should? Melvin came to the miraculous conclusion that men were awful.

"Hi Melvin."

He smiled before he could turn around, recognizing the voice of one of his friends; Lauren. Though she did seem intimidating at first, the junior actually proved to be incredibly sweet. In many ways, Melvin was reminded of Sheila, except Lauren didn't try to take away his relationship with his mother and try to wean her way in order to replace him as the favorite. Melvin inwardly scowled upon thinking of Sheila. The bitch. "Hi Lauren. What are you doing here?"

Lauren stuffed her hands in her hoodie and leaned against the left of the threshold of Keith's house. "Just finished doing some business." Melvin nodded silently. He was aware of their business with drugs, and was glad that he wasn't sucked into it like the rest of their friend group was. Lauren lifted an eyebrow in curiosity upon realizing that Melvin was in front of Keith's house. "What are you doing here? I already thought that Keith had someone in there." It took a lot for Melvin to try and hide his disappointment in learning this new information. He needed to learn that he wasn't very good at hiding his emotions on his face, because Lauren could instantly tell. "Aw, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I knew that you and Keith had something go on, but-"

"It's fine," Melvin interrupted, waving it off. Lauren still shot him a concerned look. "I'm fine," he insisted. "I learned that Keith doesn't do relationships. I'm just here to talk to him."

Lauren shrugged. "I getcha. It's weird though..." she paused, a thoughtful frown taking over. "I was pretty sure that he liked you." And just like that, Melvin became a little hopeful again, but unfortunately, that was shattered within seconds. "It's too bad that he doesn't do long term relationships and all that romance-y crap that you're probably into."

Melvin heaved a great sigh. "I can dream, can't I?" He even flashed her a smile, though it was rather weak. Nonetheless, Lauren smiled back. It was like having a big sister. "God, why do I have to like men?" He dramatically gagged, much to Lauren's amusement.

She chuckled in agreement. "Yeah, they're really gross." Beat. "No offense."

"None taken," Melvin remarked with a careless shrug. "Oh well."

Keith's door suddenly opened, but not revealing Keith. Instead it was another guy, who looked to be about a year older than Melvin. The guy didn't seem to be phased by Melvin and Lauren's presence, he just brushed past them and left. Shortly after, Keith stuck his head out and called after him: "I'll call you later." Again, this really, really hurt Melvin. It's like the sophomore had no standards at all whatsoever. Ugh, he hated him. But then he remembered that he didn't hate him, and that he was supposed to hate him, but he didn't. Ugh. Guys were annoyingly confusing. Keith had begun to notice Melvin and Lauren's presence. "What do you two want?"

Lauren stopped leaning against the house. "Oh, I was just stopping by to talk to Melvin. He's the one you want." Keith's eyes shifted from Lauren to Melvin, who looked especially nervous, he always had that look in his eyes. Lauren smiled at Melvin and ruffled his hair; to which he scowled at. This only made her laugh, amused by his sour expression. "Bye Melvin." Lauren left, leaving Keith and Melvin alone. Melvin fixed his hair; trying to undo Lauren's mess.

There was a little twinkle in Keith's eyes as Melvin did so. "So Bambi," Keith began, leaning against the threshold with his arms crossed with a cocky smirk. Melvin felt his body tingle upon hearing the name, and thus he remembered Dennis' words about him getting so happy over the nickname. Damn him, Melvin thought, because his friend was right. "What brings you here?"

"...Can you stop calling me Bambi?"

"No."

Melvin felt a little relieved. Damn him. "You know," he started off, irritation oozing in his voice, "I don't get you. One minute you look forward to seeing me, the next you act like a total..." He was going to say prick, but he stopped himself. "Idiot." He still surprised that he said that, and he was convinced that Keith would hit him over the head with an unusual object, whether it would be a phone book or something like a hockey stick.

But Keith wasn't going to do that. Instead, he quirked a brow, like there was an unexpected change in the weather that he didn't foresee. "Tell me something I don't know," Keith said with a chuckle, running his hands through his hair, which Melvin loathed because it made his heart flutter. "But why do you say that?"

"How the hell could you say that we should stay as friends?!" Melvin suddenly yelled, his expression that of a kicked puppy. Keith's eyes softened momentarily, before reverting back to his hardened stare. Melvin exhaled sharply and continued, "You walk me home because you said it's too dark outside for someone like me to be walking home, you call me that stupid pet name and shit, and don't deny it, I won't forget the way you held me that night-" As Melvin rambled, Keith stared at him like he was being a drama queen, though to be fair, he kind of was. Well... the arms flailing around while he rambled did not help his case. "...I mean, seriously?! It's like you have no logic whatsoever!"

"I'm sure Dennis told you about me, that I don't do relationships," Keith said, rather coldly as he rubbed the nape of his neck. "Unless you want to fuck around, then I'm not your guy. I'm not your prince charming or whatever the hell it is you want."

Melvin swallowed an angry lump in his throat, glaring at Keith. "Then why the fuck would you do all of that? You held me for an hour with your arms draped over my shoulders as we laid down on the bed after we made out and listened to David Bowie." Keith bit his lip as a blush slowly crept on his face, avoiding the freshman's eyes as he continued in his furious litany, "You were so gentle and kind and understanding-"

Enough was enough, Keith had to cut him off: "That's because you had no idea what the fuck you were doing," he said sharply, however he blinked his eyes rapidly as his cheeks became more red and flushed. "Look, just because you have your issues - because you do - that doesn't mean that I'm your knight in shining armor." It would be a lie to say that it didn't hurt Keith for him to say this, but he insisted it was the right thing to do. However, he wasn't as hurt as Melvin was. Melvin took a step back as his heart shattered into a million pieces. His lip quivered slightly, but he quickly shut his jaw tightly shut, clenching it to stop the shaking, because he would not cry in front of this... monster.

Taking in a sharp breath, he glared at Keith intensely before turning around and stomping away while he gave him the finger. "Go fuck yourself, dickhead." If it were any other person, Keith would've gone after them and bashed them over the head. Keith's now softened eyes lingered over Melvin storming off, guilt and pride consuming his frame.

He was going to end it.

Henry stood in front of Dominique's house, staring at the door as if it were going to open all by itself. He considered himself to be a calm and collected person by all means, and anyone who came in contact with him would probably say the same thing. But this was a new scenario for him, though he wasn't a stranger to rejecting a few girls - something he was incredibly guilty about - this was different in a sense where the person on the other side of that door was known for having a brash attitude, ill-tempered, and most likely batshit insane. Throughout his senior year, the rumors about Dominique's infamous and quick temper spread around the school. Her aggressive nature was quite frightening - especially around audiences that happened to be male.

Before he could have the chance to knock on it, Dominique threw the door open. "Jesus, what took you so long?" she snapped, grabbing his arm and dragging him into her house and into the bedroom. Henry felt dread well up in him for what he was about to do. Dominique gave him a once-over, a cat-like grin spreading across her face as her hands explored his body. "Take your shirt off," she ordered promptly. "There's been something I've been meaning to tell you."

"I can't do this with you anymore," Henry instantly spit out, a bit too quickly. He hoped that Dominique caught all of that, because he really didn't want to repeat that god-awful sentence. It looked like she did as she moved her figure away from his, her eyes widening in confusion, like she was hoping that he was joking. His stoic and stiff expression told her otherwise. Her once neutral expression from just a few moments ago contorted into a rage. Dominique let out an angry scream as she aggressively pushed him against the wall. "Ow! Dominique what the fuck?"

"You liar!" Dominique hollered at him, her nostrils and eyes flaring dangerously. "You just used me because you can't get over that... that whore girlfriend of yours! I should have known!" Henry stood there with a dumbfounded expression, because she shouldn't have been so right, nonetheless, it still angered him. She wasn't finished yet, her fists clenched at her sides. "How could I have been so blind to not see that?! All you would after talk about is that blonde slut!"

Henry felt his veins pop out of his neck. "Don't call my girlfriend a slut," he snapped. Ex girlfriend, Henry noted sadly. Dominique grabbed the closest object near her - a book about electrical engineering - and threw it with such force, landing it with a powerful smack to Henry's face. He gawked at her as he held the bridge of his nose. "Ow!" he complained. "What the hell was that... what the fuck?!" Henry was cut off with a pillow thrown at him, followed by another, and then another. "You crazy bi-" He did not dare complete that sentence, no matter how desperately he wanted to call her that. "You're fucking crazy!"

"You manipulator! You... you asshole!" Henry just barely dodged the next item Dominique threw at him in a rage, which just so happened to be a half filled water bottle that had laid on the table beside her. Henry blinked at her slowly. He knew that she would react like this, yet he acted so surprised. "You think you can take advantage of my feelings, you foolish boy! You really thought-" She couldn't even finish her next sentence, blinded by her fury. She pointed at her door, her finger shaking. "Just get the fuck out!"

Henry didn't need to be told twice. He ran out the door, almost knocking into the wall out of fright as he fled the house. Dominique let out a furious, demented scream, her eyes flashing angrily, locked on Henry's figure that ran until he was out of her sight. As she had watched him go, a dark, uneasy thought came to mind. One day. Dominique didn't know when or how or where, but one day, Henry would pay a price that she hoped was so bad that it would destroy him, like he had destroyed her feelings. Yes, that would show him who was boss.

Sheila would usually long for the sound of silence. Now that she actually has it, she doesn't know how to feel about it. She was laying down on the couch reading a magazine with Lizzie at her feet purring in content. Occasionally Sheila would get up briefly to scratch under the cat's chin, but that usually resulted in Lizzie wanting more attention and would butt her head against the magazine, as if to break through. Sheila smirked and put the magazine down while she put her hand up high so the orange tabby would put her head against it.

As she did this, Sheila looked toward the direction of her brothers' room. She should probably check on the twins, even though her mother was in there watching them. The motherly instinct that Sheila had grown so used to over the past four - almost five - years was too strong for her to ignore. But before she could go in, she was interrupted by a sudden door slam that made her flinch. Thankfully, it wasn't their father, it was her two older brothers who were bickering quite loudly. Suddenly this makes Sheila take back her initial thoughts about not being sure how she felt about the silence. She missed it already.

Henry stormed in the living room. "Still not minding your own business, Melvin?"

Melvin followed shortly behind him in the same manner. "You're the one that's been getting up all in mine!"

"I saw you with that Lauren girl with beer in your hand, she's bad news!"

"Shut up, Henry! Like you weren't drinking at fifteen and passing out as soon as you got home."

"It's bad when you reek of it!"

"You reek of depression."

Sheila seethed and glared intensely at her two brothers. "Can you both shut up? You're giving me a migraine."

Melvin immediately turned on her, his eyes flaring dangerously. "Still being spiteful, huh?"

"Still being jealous, huh?" Sheila retorted, without missing a beat.

The game was on. "Still being bitchy, huh?"

"Still running from the bullies, huh?"

"Still-"

"Jesus Christ this could go on all day, shut up!" Henry shouted.

"Oh now you're going to tell us what to do?" snapped Melvin. "It looks like mom has been doing way more than you have ever done!" For many reasons, understandably, this greatly hurt Henry, however he opted not to show it. Too much has happened today. Just as he was about to explode on his little brother, he took a breath, and buried the urge to kill him. Sheila's jaw was clenched, along with her fists at her side, that she wanted to hurl at two of her brothers. How could she have not wanted silence? Now she welcomed it with open arms.

But now, they heard something else that made all of their hearts stop simultaneously. A sound that neither of them had heard in nearly ten years. One of the best sounds that they have ever heard in their lives that still tugged at their heartstrings. The three eldest exchanged knowing looks with each other, their eyes wide filled with reminiscence and recognition. They moved closer to the sound, which was in the brothers' room. The door was only slightly opened, and each of the siblings tried to peer through it hoping to see what they have heard.

"Those were such happy times and not so long ago...
How I wondered where they'd gone..."

Behind the door, Sheila, Melvin, and Henry caught a glimpse of their mother's soft yet deep melodious voice singing to the twins in their bed, the two pairs of eyes staring back at their mother, though slightly drooped. She still had that wonderful voice after all those years of resting it.

"But they're back again... just like a long lost friend...
Just like a long lost friend... All the songs I loved so well..."

The three of them stopped peering through the opening. Instead, Sheila sat beside the threshold on the left with Melvin on the right. Henry sat down as well and leaned against the wall, his eyes averted to the floor. The three of them quietly listened in, the tension that they once had washing away due to the sound of their mother's voice. Melvin felt a tear go down his eye that he quickly swatted away. He longed to go in there with the twins to listen to his mother sing. All Sheila could wonder was where was this mother a mere seven years ago?

"Every sha-la-la-la, every wo-o-wo-o, still shines..."

It was perfect. The sound of the early seventies was especially sentimental for Henry. He closed his eyes briefly and his mind played the events of his five-year-old self listening to his mother singing the classic Carpenters' song to him while Melvin and Sheila were napping in the other room. It was probably one of the fondest memories he had of her, resting his head on her shoulder as he stared into space with the only thing he focused on being his mother's enchanting tone. Now his heart went fuzzy as he found himself mouthing along the lyrics.

"Every shing-a-ling-a-ling... That they're starting to sing so fine."

When Henry opened his eyes, he saw Sheila and Melvin looking at him with puppy dog eyes. He smiled fondly, knowing those looks from them all too well from their early years. Like he did so many years ago, he stretched his arms out for the two of them to occupy. Sheila and Melvin didn't waste a second. They made their way over to Henry and leaned their heads on each of his shoulders, with him enveloping them in one big hug. As the three of them continued to listen to their mother, one thought was on their minds: It was quite possible she was getting better.