Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except for Karen, Lily, and Belle.
Author's Notes: I don't know who Ethan and Fox's sisters are, so I made them up. I wrote this chapter because I was reminded of when Ivy was hugging Ethan while Fox was watching in the sidelines. I thought that was a really sad moment, showing how much favourtism Ivy has for Ethan because he is the son of her true love. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Theresa is not married to Julian in this fic, and most definitely did not have his child. Just pretend that Pilar and her family live in the Crane mansion.
Dedication: To angel, Cry Me A River, and Tara. Thank you so much for your reviews!
'...' means thoughts
~*~*~*~ means flashbacks
/.../ means very short flashbacks
***~~~*** means scene changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I got home unnoticed, which isn't much of a surprise. They never noticed me when I was still living here.
I guess they are having some party, again not that much of a surprise. It's pretty ironic. Whenever I went home for the summer from boarding school, there was a welcome home party, and now that I am home, there is also a party, although, as usual, the party is not for me. My parents had never said that to my face, but everyone knew it. The parties were never for me, Karen, Lily, or Belle, it was all for Ethan. We used to be so close, until we found out that he was...is... the favourite. I remember when we first realized it, when we all came home, for that one, particular summer...
~*~*~*~
I boarded the airplane that would take me home. I couldn't wait to see Ethan again! I really missed him. Sure I missed Karen, Lily, and little Belle, but they're girls, and we just aren't as close as Ethan and I are.
I could never figure out why my sisters and I had to go to boarding school in Europe, but Ethan had to go in the U.S. Although, I knew why my sisters and I don't go to the same boarding school. We all got to pick which country we were going to be attending school in. Karen had always loved France when we went on our vacations, so she wanted to go there. Lily and Karen were having a little sister's quarrel at the time for her to choose, something about dolls, so Lily wanted to go to Ireland. I, of course, wanted to go to the same school as Ethan, but for some reason, Mother wanted me to go to Europe as well. So, to make her happy, I decided to go to England, just so that I wouldn't be closer to one of my sisters, and farther from the other.
When I got to the airport, Pilar was there to pick me up, along with...
"Ethan!" I yelled happily as we ran to each other to give bear hugs.
"I missed you, little bro," he said, letting me go. "Have you gotten taller?" He asked jokingly as he measured me against his own body.
We were interrupted as another body came crashing against us. Lily was trying to wrap her tiny little arms around the both of us as she broke down and wept openly.
"I missed you so much!" she exclaimed through her tears. It had been her first year away from home. Karen soon came into our little group hug, and with her and Lily bawling, they almost got Ethan and me to join them. I guess it's what you could call a touching moment.
We then went to the car, all sharing stories about the past year. Then we went through yearbooks and photo albums. We talked about teachers, friends, and everything important and not so important.
Before any of us knew it, we were home. Lily dashed out of the car quicker than we could blink. We soon caught up and headed into the house together. When we were inside, there was the usual welcome home party with cake, balloons, ice cream, everything that a party should have.
"Mommy!" Lily exclaimed with a joyous smile as she ran towards Mother, her arms outstretched. Mother and Lily were headed right towards each other, and then...Mother brushed right past Lily and scooped Ethan into her arms.
Mother was in tears as she said, "Oh Ethan. My precious little boy, you're finally home!"
Lily walked back dejectedly to Karen and me when little Belle came wobbling into the room. We stood together, the four youngest of the Crane children, watching from the sidelines in confusion as our mother embraced Ethan and Ethan alone. 'Why would Mother do that?' I wondered. 'This was Lily's first year away from her family. Why would she comfort Ethan? Lily obviously needs more attention right now than any of us.'
Then the cold, hard truth hit me like a ton of bricks. Mother didn't love us; she only loved Ethan. The party, it wasn't for us, it was all for Ethan. The same reason why Karen, Lily, me, and most probably little Belle didn't go to school in the Untied States but Ethan did, it was because Mother wanted to keep her precious Ethan close to her while trying to get rid of the rest of us!
Now that I think about it, it's all the same. Nothing had changed from when only Karen and I came home. Mother always hugged Ethan the longest and only held us for a short while. Then, it had seemed enough. I looked over at Karen and saw her bitter glare at Mother, then I turned to Lily, who was sobbing a bit, and I know that they had both come to the same conclusion.
Why hadn't I noticed this before? Then the answer came to me: Father. He was always here before. He was the one who hugged us first when we came home.
"Where's Father?" I asked Mother.
"Hmm?" she turned to me, but not letting go of Ethan just yet. "Oh, he went on a trip to see some of his old friends this morning. He should be back in about two months," she then went back to hugging Ethan.
'So, now Father isn't willing to spend time with his children either,' I thought bitterly, the jealousy for my once best friend consuming me rapidly.
Then, all of a sudden realizing that we were also her children, Mother turned back to us and said, "Come give me a hug, darlings." She didn't fool me for one minute, and it seemed, she didn't manage with Karen or Lily, either.
"No thank you," I said coldly, dragging Karen, Lily, and little Belle with me upstairs to our rooms. Our abrupt departure didn't seem to bother Mother that much, since when I turned back, she was raptly asking Ethan questions about his year.
~*~*~*~
That moment had changed our "happy family" forever. Little Belle had discovered Mother's favourtism and Father's neglect soon enough. Ethan and I became distant. I would lash out at him whenever he came near me, Karen and Belle would give him the cold shoulder, and Lily...Lily was just not there. She would just leave the room if Ethan came in.
Pushing the memory from my mind, I went to my old room. 'I wonder if they changed it. If they have, it's probably been turned into a shrine for Ethan.'
When I got to my room, it was dark, so I didn't even bother to look around. Instead, I opted to just climb into bed and deal with my problems in the morning. I stripped down to my boxer shorts and headed to my bed. Then I saw it: a lump...a moving silk clad lump.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" it screamed, startling the hell out of me. 'What the bloody hell?!'
It climbed out of my bed and flipped on the light. Now, I can tell that it is a she, and a very beautiful she, at that. 'She looks very familiar...oh, that's where I recognize her! I had seen her picture in the paper. I think her name is Theresa...something or other, I can't quite remember her name. The last time I checked, she and Ethan were broken up.'
"Who the hell are you?!" She demanded.
Before I could answer, a second figure burst into the room. "Gwen," I had almost gasped out, my breath leaving me for a moment as I gazed upon her once again. My Gwen. Dear God, she is even prettier than I remembered. Her eyes still resembled a garden full of violets, with its peculiar shades of sky blue, leaf green, and violet. Her hair is still the golden blonde locks that I spent all class periode playing with. I frowned a bit there. Her hair was up in a French twist; I always hated it when she put her hair up. Yes, that's my Gwen, although, she seemed a bit more gaunt and pale.
Then, Mother, Father, Ethan, Pilar, and Rebecca piled in, pushing My Gwen to the side.
"Fox, when did you get back to Harmony?" Ethan asked, not even trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.
"Fox?" Theresa asked, obviously confused.
"Hello Theresa. I saw your picture in the paper. It didn't do you justice," I said, flirting with her a little. I looked over at Gwen to see her glaring at me. 'Good, now she knows how I feel. Well, not quite...yet.'
"But I guess you don't know who I am. In which case, allow me to introduce myself. Nicholas Foxworth Crane......Fox for short. I'm the second son of Ivy and Julian Crane." I then directed my attention to my parents, who, apparently, weren't having a very...close relationship right now, judging on how Father and Rebecca were dressed. "Hello Mummsy. How's it going Pops? I'm Back!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, what do you think? I don't know if I should make this just one story and have a bunch of flashbacks to when Fox and Gwen were at school, or if I should write a prequel.
Author's Notes: I don't know who Ethan and Fox's sisters are, so I made them up. I wrote this chapter because I was reminded of when Ivy was hugging Ethan while Fox was watching in the sidelines. I thought that was a really sad moment, showing how much favourtism Ivy has for Ethan because he is the son of her true love. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Theresa is not married to Julian in this fic, and most definitely did not have his child. Just pretend that Pilar and her family live in the Crane mansion.
Dedication: To angel, Cry Me A River, and Tara. Thank you so much for your reviews!
'...' means thoughts
~*~*~*~ means flashbacks
/.../ means very short flashbacks
***~~~*** means scene changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I got home unnoticed, which isn't much of a surprise. They never noticed me when I was still living here.
I guess they are having some party, again not that much of a surprise. It's pretty ironic. Whenever I went home for the summer from boarding school, there was a welcome home party, and now that I am home, there is also a party, although, as usual, the party is not for me. My parents had never said that to my face, but everyone knew it. The parties were never for me, Karen, Lily, or Belle, it was all for Ethan. We used to be so close, until we found out that he was...is... the favourite. I remember when we first realized it, when we all came home, for that one, particular summer...
~*~*~*~
I boarded the airplane that would take me home. I couldn't wait to see Ethan again! I really missed him. Sure I missed Karen, Lily, and little Belle, but they're girls, and we just aren't as close as Ethan and I are.
I could never figure out why my sisters and I had to go to boarding school in Europe, but Ethan had to go in the U.S. Although, I knew why my sisters and I don't go to the same boarding school. We all got to pick which country we were going to be attending school in. Karen had always loved France when we went on our vacations, so she wanted to go there. Lily and Karen were having a little sister's quarrel at the time for her to choose, something about dolls, so Lily wanted to go to Ireland. I, of course, wanted to go to the same school as Ethan, but for some reason, Mother wanted me to go to Europe as well. So, to make her happy, I decided to go to England, just so that I wouldn't be closer to one of my sisters, and farther from the other.
When I got to the airport, Pilar was there to pick me up, along with...
"Ethan!" I yelled happily as we ran to each other to give bear hugs.
"I missed you, little bro," he said, letting me go. "Have you gotten taller?" He asked jokingly as he measured me against his own body.
We were interrupted as another body came crashing against us. Lily was trying to wrap her tiny little arms around the both of us as she broke down and wept openly.
"I missed you so much!" she exclaimed through her tears. It had been her first year away from home. Karen soon came into our little group hug, and with her and Lily bawling, they almost got Ethan and me to join them. I guess it's what you could call a touching moment.
We then went to the car, all sharing stories about the past year. Then we went through yearbooks and photo albums. We talked about teachers, friends, and everything important and not so important.
Before any of us knew it, we were home. Lily dashed out of the car quicker than we could blink. We soon caught up and headed into the house together. When we were inside, there was the usual welcome home party with cake, balloons, ice cream, everything that a party should have.
"Mommy!" Lily exclaimed with a joyous smile as she ran towards Mother, her arms outstretched. Mother and Lily were headed right towards each other, and then...Mother brushed right past Lily and scooped Ethan into her arms.
Mother was in tears as she said, "Oh Ethan. My precious little boy, you're finally home!"
Lily walked back dejectedly to Karen and me when little Belle came wobbling into the room. We stood together, the four youngest of the Crane children, watching from the sidelines in confusion as our mother embraced Ethan and Ethan alone. 'Why would Mother do that?' I wondered. 'This was Lily's first year away from her family. Why would she comfort Ethan? Lily obviously needs more attention right now than any of us.'
Then the cold, hard truth hit me like a ton of bricks. Mother didn't love us; she only loved Ethan. The party, it wasn't for us, it was all for Ethan. The same reason why Karen, Lily, me, and most probably little Belle didn't go to school in the Untied States but Ethan did, it was because Mother wanted to keep her precious Ethan close to her while trying to get rid of the rest of us!
Now that I think about it, it's all the same. Nothing had changed from when only Karen and I came home. Mother always hugged Ethan the longest and only held us for a short while. Then, it had seemed enough. I looked over at Karen and saw her bitter glare at Mother, then I turned to Lily, who was sobbing a bit, and I know that they had both come to the same conclusion.
Why hadn't I noticed this before? Then the answer came to me: Father. He was always here before. He was the one who hugged us first when we came home.
"Where's Father?" I asked Mother.
"Hmm?" she turned to me, but not letting go of Ethan just yet. "Oh, he went on a trip to see some of his old friends this morning. He should be back in about two months," she then went back to hugging Ethan.
'So, now Father isn't willing to spend time with his children either,' I thought bitterly, the jealousy for my once best friend consuming me rapidly.
Then, all of a sudden realizing that we were also her children, Mother turned back to us and said, "Come give me a hug, darlings." She didn't fool me for one minute, and it seemed, she didn't manage with Karen or Lily, either.
"No thank you," I said coldly, dragging Karen, Lily, and little Belle with me upstairs to our rooms. Our abrupt departure didn't seem to bother Mother that much, since when I turned back, she was raptly asking Ethan questions about his year.
~*~*~*~
That moment had changed our "happy family" forever. Little Belle had discovered Mother's favourtism and Father's neglect soon enough. Ethan and I became distant. I would lash out at him whenever he came near me, Karen and Belle would give him the cold shoulder, and Lily...Lily was just not there. She would just leave the room if Ethan came in.
Pushing the memory from my mind, I went to my old room. 'I wonder if they changed it. If they have, it's probably been turned into a shrine for Ethan.'
When I got to my room, it was dark, so I didn't even bother to look around. Instead, I opted to just climb into bed and deal with my problems in the morning. I stripped down to my boxer shorts and headed to my bed. Then I saw it: a lump...a moving silk clad lump.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" it screamed, startling the hell out of me. 'What the bloody hell?!'
It climbed out of my bed and flipped on the light. Now, I can tell that it is a she, and a very beautiful she, at that. 'She looks very familiar...oh, that's where I recognize her! I had seen her picture in the paper. I think her name is Theresa...something or other, I can't quite remember her name. The last time I checked, she and Ethan were broken up.'
"Who the hell are you?!" She demanded.
Before I could answer, a second figure burst into the room. "Gwen," I had almost gasped out, my breath leaving me for a moment as I gazed upon her once again. My Gwen. Dear God, she is even prettier than I remembered. Her eyes still resembled a garden full of violets, with its peculiar shades of sky blue, leaf green, and violet. Her hair is still the golden blonde locks that I spent all class periode playing with. I frowned a bit there. Her hair was up in a French twist; I always hated it when she put her hair up. Yes, that's my Gwen, although, she seemed a bit more gaunt and pale.
Then, Mother, Father, Ethan, Pilar, and Rebecca piled in, pushing My Gwen to the side.
"Fox, when did you get back to Harmony?" Ethan asked, not even trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.
"Fox?" Theresa asked, obviously confused.
"Hello Theresa. I saw your picture in the paper. It didn't do you justice," I said, flirting with her a little. I looked over at Gwen to see her glaring at me. 'Good, now she knows how I feel. Well, not quite...yet.'
"But I guess you don't know who I am. In which case, allow me to introduce myself. Nicholas Foxworth Crane......Fox for short. I'm the second son of Ivy and Julian Crane." I then directed my attention to my parents, who, apparently, weren't having a very...close relationship right now, judging on how Father and Rebecca were dressed. "Hello Mummsy. How's it going Pops? I'm Back!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, what do you think? I don't know if I should make this just one story and have a bunch of flashbacks to when Fox and Gwen were at school, or if I should write a prequel.