It was bitterly cold as Andy wrapped the lengthy trench coat around her body trying to keep the wind from seeping to her skin. She climbed the small amount of step to Robert's new place and twisted the knob. She walked down the small hall before entering another small area. She continued until she heard voices chattering and she followed.

As she approached them, she turned in the other direction hearing her name be yelled.

"Andy!" Ella screamed as she ran over to her open arms.

"Hi, El." She said sounding equally excited as she picked her up.

Andy adjusted her on her hip and Ella began to speak.

"What are you doing here?" She asked her twirling Andy's hair around with her tiny finger.

"Well, Luke texted me and told me you were bored. So ,why don't you and I go to Gelatiamo and get some hot chocolate while your brother and Lucas finish up here?" "Or would you prefer we go to the mall and get a cookie pizza?"

"Hot Chocolate, please." She said hopping down from the her arms and grabbing her hand.

"Coat, Nova." Robert voiced and the little girl ran to grab the small trench coat from his hand.

"Thanks Andy." Lucas spoke up looking at her then back to Robert wondering why they weren't exchanging words.

Andy gave Lucas a nod and looked over to Robert before giving him a shy wave and he gave her a light smile. She left out of the building and Andy put her in the car, safely buckling her into the backseat.

The inner instigator in Lucas wanted to know what was with the tension between the two, but he chose not to intervene. He looked down at his shirt that held black paint stains all over.

"You couldn't have hired someone to finish this?" He asked and Robert chuckled.

They had been redecorating his loft for a few days now because the way that his parents had it done, didn't suit him.

"I didn't want to sound ungrateful..." He said. "We almost done."

"We are almost done." Lucas said correcting him. "Gosh, Sully. You sure I'm the one that was in Mississippi?"

"Fuck you." He replied laughing. "Where's the people with the furniture?" He asked looking at his watch. "It's 10:22, they were supposed to be here at 10:00"

Lucas looked out of the window and seen a moving truck parked out with three workers getting out of it.

"They're here." He said. "I'll go hang up this stuff, Where are those templates that we were following that Andy drew?"

They both looked around for it and Robert found the stack of papers that Andy had sketched of where every piece of furniture and decor should be placed in each area.

"Here." He said handing it to him and he walked off going up the stairs.

He heard a knock on the door and told the movers to come in.

"Sorry, we're late. We had run behind schedule at another location." The man said.

"Y'all good." He said. "You can start in here where the paint is dry."

"Okay, good deal. Where is everything going?" The other man asked.

"Um..." He said trying to think. "Luke, I need the papers!"

Lucas heard Robert from the living room and walked back downstairs bringing them to him.

"Take a picture, they need them." Robert said and Lucas took out his phone, snapping photos of the blueprints, then leaving going back to what he was doing. "Here, If you get confused, just let me know. I'll be up there." He said pointing up to the second floor.

"Okay." They said and walked back outside to get the furniture.

"...and what can I get for you, sweetie?" The cashier said looking down at Ella.

Ella looked up at Andy and Andy nodded telling her it was okay.

"Um.." She said shyly. "Can I get the peppermint hot chocolate... wait no I want salted caramel please."

"And..." Andy waited for her to speak up again.

"Oh.. sorry" She giggled. "I am lactose, I can't have milk that comes from cows, I need almond milk."

The lady's eyes slightly widened at the words that were coming out of her mouth and Andy grew confused at her expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The lady said noticing Andy looking at her. "Your sister is just so well spoken to be so young."

"She is." Andy replied smiling and looking down at her. Novella was almost six years old, but her vocabulary was expanded greater than the average child. She read at a fourth grade level and also she communicated very well. She attended Seattle Country Day School which was a school for children who needed more challenging education than what an average private school could offer. "Are you hungry too? Do you want a sandwich?"

"Yes, please." Ella said innocently holding onto Andy's hand.

"And can I get two turkey sandwiches with nothing but mayo and spinach on wheat bread." She said getting out her wallet to pay for their things. "And a cup of water and a lemonade please." She took out her card and waited for her to gesture for her to swipe it.

After she paid for their things, they went over to an empty booth and waited for their food to be delivered to them.

"You wanna take off your coat?" Andy asked as she took her own off.

Ella nodded her head and slid off her jacket then she looked around the place kicking her feeting waiting patiently for her sweet hot cocoa. She shifted her attention back to Andy who was putting her hair back into a ponytail.

"You're pretty, Andy." She said and Andy's heart quite literally melted.

"Oh my God, you're too sweet." She said touching her heart. "But I really don't think ANYONE is prettier than you." Ella smiled, showing her one missing tooth that was on the bottom row. "How's school going?"

"Good. My spanish teacher, she was pregnant." She said then halted mid-sentence as the server placed their food on the table along with their drinks. Andy brought hand sanitizer out of her purse and squeezed some into Ella's small hands then into her own. She helped her with preparing her food to be eaten and slid the cup of water towards her a little.

"This is your water also, just in case." Andy told her. "Okay, you can continue with your story."

"Oh yea." She said grabbing her sandwich taking a small bite out of it. She waited until she finished chewing to talk again. "She was having a baby, so we have a new teacher."

"Do you like her?"

"Not really." She said and Andy giggled. "How's your spanish?"

"I don't know. It's kind of hard." She said.

"Okay, let's see." Andy said sitting back a bit. "How about I ask you a question in spanish and you try and respond back in spanish?" Ella nervously nodded and Andy thought of something easy to say.

"Te pareces a tu hermano." Andy said and waited for her response. She watched as Ella looked up to the ceiling to think.
translation: You look like your brother.

"No... lo preo." She said confidently and Andy pouted her lips.

"No lo creo" She corrected. "That was really close though." translation: I don't think so.

"See, it's hard." She said taking another bite of her sandwich and so did Andy.

"You'll get it." Andy said. "One more, okay?"

Ella nodded and chewed her food.

"Cómo te llamas?" She said. "Or Cuál es tu nombre"

"Okay I think I know this one." Ella started and paused for a second. "Mi nombre es Novella Kai Ilse Sullivan."

Andy quietly clapped for her and smiled.

"Yay. That's it." She said and Ella cheered.

She tried to lift her mug to take a sip of her Hot Cocoa and Andy helped her not to spill it. She placed it back on the table, and they both finished eating. After being there for an hour or so and holding many conversations with the five year old, they decided to get up.

Ella gave Andy her coat and Andy put it on her. Andy then put hers on.

"You want anything else before we leave?"

"Can we get Robert and Luke, hot chocolate?" She asked looking up at Andy.

"Of course, come on." She said and they walked to the counter.

"This is the last piece of furniture, Sir." The man said as he and the other man carried it. Robert went over to the counter to grab the template and looked at it.

"Okay, that." He said looking around the room. "Goes over there."

They took the last of 3 couches where it should be and he went upstairs to his new bedroom where Lucas was. He was putting up last minute things.

"Robby!" They heard and both went downstairs to the sound of Ella's voice. He turned a corner and she and Andy stood there with two hot chocolate to go cups. "We got you hot chocolate." She said smiling up at him and Andy handed the two the cups.

Robert bent down and kiss her Ella's cheek and her smile grew more.

"Thank you." He said and she nodded. She turned her face and tapped her other cheek waiting for Lucas to do the same.

"Oh, I am very sorry." He said laughing and kissed her other cheek.

Andy looked around at the finished product of the loft and was impressed mostly flattered that they actually followed her sketch almost perfectly.

Ella turned to her and Andy kneeled down to her level.

"I gotta go, okay? I'll see you later?" She asked and Ella nodded.

"You're not staying?" Lucas asked.

"No, we moved to our new house yesterday and they just brought the rest of the things to go in my room not long ago." She said and told them bye and walked out.

Robert gave Ella his phone and she went upstairs with it.

Lucas pierced a whole into Robert's skull, but he didn't seem to notice. He walked towards Robert who was looking at his computer, starting to study for an upcoming exam.

"What's up with you two?" He asked and Robert looked up at him. He looked towards the door Andy just walked out of and back at Lucas.

"Nothing." He simply said going back to his work.

Lucas sucked his teeth and closed Robert's computer.

"I always gotta be the family therapist." He said taking a deep sigh making Robert chuckle. "What happened?"

It was no need for Robert to try and get off the subject because he knew that his bestfriend wouldn't leave it alone.

"We had a little fight." He said laying out on the fresh sofa.

"When was it? Is this the same one the morning after the party" Robert shook his head, no. "Damn, You two fight like a married couple." He said and Robert chuckle again and Lucas sat down on the next sofa. "When was this one."

"Tuesday night, I think."

"You fight, you make up, you fight, you make up. Y'all will be fine.." He said.

"Nah, this one was..." Robert said running his hands down his face.

"What happened?"

...

"I'll talk to you later." Andy said as she and Vic left Robert's house Monday evening.

"You going home?" Robert asked before they went out into the misty rain.

"Uh... yea." She said not looking at him. "I have to go though. We're moving tomorrow and I have to finish packing, okay?"

Robert nodded as she and Victoria left his house. They both got into her car and drove away.

"You're eyes are still a little puffy, ice will help." Vic said glancing between the road and Andy. "Your parents will be worried."

"I'm going straight to my car, I have to go somewhere for a second." She said looking down at her hands.

"But, you told Ro-" Andy stopped her.

"I know what I told him." She snapped and Victoria stayed quiet. "I'm sorry."

"You're good." She said as they pulled up to Andy's home.

"Thank you." She said getting out and running to her car and starting it up. She quickly turned the heat on and watched Vic drive away. After she was warm enough to drive, she headed in the direction of south Seattle. She drove for about twenty minutes and pulled up.

She looked down at her phone and seen a message from Robert.

from: Sully

Let me know when you made it home safe

sent: 10:35am

to: Sully

I made it home.

sent 10:37am

She locked her phone before getting out of her warm vehicle and heading towards a front door. She knocked on it and waited a few seconds before it was opened.

"You came." He said and she looked at his bruised face.

"Yeah." She said and he stepped aside letting her in.

"You want something to Drink?" He asked her and she shook her head. "You want to talk upstairs or.."

"We can stay down here, I can't stay for long." She said toying with the bracelet on her wrist. "How do you feel?"

"Not considering my face being smashed in, I'm cool." He said and she nodded. "My mom hasn't been home, so I don't have to answer her million questions she would have."

Andy nervously chuckled and nodded.

"You wanted to talk?" She asked.

"Um... yea." He started and cleared his throat. "I apologize for last night.I had no intention to actually show up." He said.

"It's fine, It's over with now..." She said .

"... And I'm sorry for telling you and not telling you about Maya." He said and she nodded understanding what he was trying to say.

"Once again, it's fine, it's done now."

"I know, but I've been feeling... bad for it all."

"It's fine, no hard feelings." She said.

"My mom and I are moving to Nevada... I'll have to get a job out there, I've never worked." He said and she looked at him.

"Really? Why?" She asked with a little too much concern in her voice.

"We have to move in with my grandfather, someone has a malpractice suit against my Dad at Seattle Pres. It's not looking to play out in his favor, we're kind of about to go broke."

Andy's face held a genuine sympathetic expression.

"I'm sorry... is there anything I can do to help?" She asked and he giggled.

"No, it's probably good for a new start somewhere else. The money part sucks though." He said moving his hair out of his face. "I don't have to worry about getting pummeled everytime I look at you."

"Yea, I'm sorry about that." She said looking at all of the marks on his face. "He's just really overprotective sometimes." She saw the blood oozing from his forehead and went over to grab a towel and damped it. She went over and dapped his forehead with it. Eli looked at her while she held the towel and she noticed.

She cleared her voice and grabbed his hand and placed it on the towel.

"Here hold this on here." Andy said and let go. They stayed in silence for minutes and Andy just noticed to packed boxes everywhere. "You're leaving soon?"

"In about an hour or two, actually." He said and she nodded.

"I should probably get going." She said and stood to her feet.

"Um... wait." He said and she turned around. "Can I at least get a hug before you leave?" He said standing as well. She hesitated saying anything before he spoke again. "This will probably be the last one being that you hate me now."

She cracked a small smile and shook her head. "I don't hate you, Elijah."

"Well... bring it in."' He said and she slowly walked into his embrace. She tightly wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled away only for him to ask for something else.

"Probably the last time I'll see you." He said. "This is probably pushing my limits, but I do love you, and I'll miss you. C-can I get a kiss goodbye"

This is where Andy drew the line.

"I don't kno-"

"Please, Andy." He asked and she thought about it. A kiss goodbye couldn't hurt, right?

She looked to the ground, the back up to him. She nervously grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his lips. One of his hands grabbed her waist and she felt him shift. She pulled away and nervously bit her lip, walking away.

"I'm going now, take care of yourself, Eli." She told him and he nodded looking at her leave through the door.

Andy had just gotten home and she sat on her bed in her half packed up room. She turned on her television on and suddenly her phone buzzed with an incoming call and she look at the displayed name.

Sully:

She slid it over and answered it, while watching her T'V.

"Hey, Sully." She said and waited for him to say something back into the phone but it was silent. "Sully." She repeated.

She took the phone from her ear to make sure that he was still on the line.

"Robert." She said but no response, she figured it was a butt dial and was about to hang up.

"I'm just trynna figure out if this is you in this picture or not." He said calmly. Andy smashed her eyebrows together, confused.

"What picture?" She asked.

"Nah, It can't be." He said denying the person in the picture was Andy. "But then again, that is my shirt you have on."

"Can you at least tell me what you're talking about?" She said growing impatient and anxious.

"A picture was just sent to me by..." He said trying to remember who sent it. "Kevin, you know Kevin, right?"

"Yea, Eli's friend...so what's weird about that?" She asked.

He chuckled deeply and shook his head on the other side of the phone.

"Nothing it's just weird because, a girl who looks alot like Andrea is letting her lips touch somebody's lips who looks alot like her the dude who cheated on her." He said still not believing that it could be her, but he knew.

Right then, Andy's heart dropped. She sat up quickly and didn't say anything. She was trying to put together in her head how this could happen.

"Guess that's my answer." He said and hung up.

Andy quickly went to the SAAS app to make sure it wasn't posted on there and she was relieved when she didn't see it. Her mind then swiftly shifted back to Robert who had just hung up in her face. She tapped this call icon for his name and let it ring.

He didn't answer. She did this repeatedly five times. She could feel her hand shaking a bit and decided to go get her meds and take them now.

Once she finished, she decided to call him back one more time.

He answered. He was silent on the other side, but at least he answered.

"It's not what it looks like, Sully." She said quietly. "I swear."

"You been saying that a lot lately." He said with a rasp in his voice.

"But it isn't." She said. "I felt bad about what happened to him last night and he wanted to talk."

Robert lightly laughed over the phone and nodded his head as if he could see his face.

She looked at the door that was opened by her father.

"Mueve tu auto, está en el camino." He said and Andy threw him her keys and he left out of the door.
translation: Move your car, it is in the way.

"So you felt bad for him..." He started. "Because he came to my parents house..." He paused. "Made you cry, unbuttoned your shirt in a closet. You can stop me at any point where you started to feel bad."

"Robert." She said.

"I'm not done, he told you he fucked Maya..." He said and Andy cringed. "He took her to a fair..."

"Shut up, Sully!" She snapped at him. "Just be quiet."

"I'm just having trouble understanding. What compelled you to go over there and kiss him?"

"His family is going through things, Robert." She said.

"...so you kissed him?"

"No, he's moving to Nevada today."

"...so that made you kiss him?"

"No... well yes... but." She said trying not to sound ridiculous. "His family is being sued for malpractice at Seattle Pres."

"Still not understanding why you kissed him."

"It was a goodbye kiss." She said.

"A goodbye kiss?" He asked.

"Yes, I felt bad for him and his family, so he asked and I thought it would make him feel better." She said shaking her head at her comical excuse. "Why do you care who I kissed?"

"What I care about is you going over there like you owe him something." She stayed quiet. "I continuously defend you because the stuff that was done to you by him, but you seem to not care about it. You go over there to lick his wounds and baby him after all he's done to you Andy. You owe him nothing. Absolutely nothing. His family being sued didn't make him cheat on you... that was just him not caring about hurting you."

"Robert everyone doesn't have it like you, or not everyone bottles their feelings up and not do anything about things. His parents can not buy him a luxury loft when he turned 18. He's moving with his grandfather because of their financial situation, h-he has to get a job. You've never worked a day in your life for the things you have." She argued and instantly regretted what she said.

"Hm." He said not being phased at all. He took no offense to what she just said.

"I'm sor-"

"No you good, but let me ask you something." He said in his room taking off his shirt. "Have you ever worked?"

She rolled her eyes. "No."

"That nice ass car you got in the garage of that nice ass house, did you pay for that?"

"No." She said again.

"Okay then." He said making his point.

"I'm sorry." She said. "But you don't know what he's going through."

Robert scoffed at her and laid down in his bed.

"I really don't care."

"... And I don't ask you to fight him for me. That's your decision. I can't just make the feelings that I have for him go away." She said raising her voice. "There is nothing that I say that make you pull up to his house and beat him or at the party. I tried to tell you didn't do anything to me. I can handle myself."

Robert thought for a minute at the words she said and took them in.

"That's cool." He said. "I'll leave you and him alone."

Andy heard the phone click indicating that he had ended the call. She closed her eyes and laid back against her bed. She heard her text tone sound and looked at it Robert had sent her the picture that was sent to him. The photo displayed an angle of the kiss from up close. Her face was barely in the frame, but you could so clearly tell it was her. It was from slightly behind and only one of the two people who could have captured the moment so closely. He took it, Eli did.

He played her once again. She was so naive to think the things that he said to her was true. She knew the things that she said to Robert was a bit harsh and she thought to herself that she sounded ungrateful of him. She never wanted him to feel like he was unappreciated for the things that he does for her, but she was speaking in immediate defense.

She put the phone down taking a deep breath and tried not to lash out.
...

"That's the last time I talked to her. Today was the first time I seen her in a few days." Robert said to Lucas.

"You two need marriage counseling." He said to him and Robert waved him off. "So how did you end up getting the sketches that she drew?"

"My mom said she came by the house and asked for her to take her to the loft." Robert said thinking back to what his mother said. "They went there and she drew out where the stuff needed to go."

"The furniture? I know you didn't pick it out yourself." He said laughing.

"She sent links to my ma." He said lightly cracking a smile. "My mom helped a little too with it."

"Yea. You gotta love her." Lucas said and looked at his phone. "I'm about to go get Vic for lunch. You coming?"

"Nova's here." He said. "Imma take a nap."

Lucas nodded and left. Robert locked the door behind him. Robert went upstairs to see Ella asleep on his bed with her trench coat still on and the the phone still in her hand. He gently lifted her, careful not to wake her while taking off the coat and her shoes. He went to take a shower and came back and got into bed next to his baby sister and dozed off to sleep thinking of the argument that took place a few days ago.

the loft:

Hello, guys.

Lol, Literally I would love any comment of feedback...