Lux's POV

"Where exactly are we going?" Stef asks as we both make it halfway up the stairs.

"The roof," I answer nonchalantly.

It was where we always met when it was one of our birthdays. We would decorate the roof with lights and make our food over the grill. It wasn't a huge celebration but that was beside the point. The point was to celebrate another year that we were all together. And it was always pretty special to all of us, which was why I was upset that I missed it yesterday.

"The roof?" Stef asked in a confused tone, and I can't help but smirk. Thankfully she doesn't see it.

"You said you wanted to come, remember?" I reminded her, wondering if she was going to change her mind about it now. Honestly, I kind of wanted her to. I hadn't checked with Bug, Tasha, and Gavin before inviting her and I wasn't so sure how they would feel about it. It wasn't like we never invited other people over to these things. I'm pretty sure some of Bug's friends were up there too, but we never had an actual adult, let alone a so-called "parent" at these things. But Stef really wasn't a parent anyway.

"Yeah-yes, I'm fine with it," she tried to assure me but the stuttering in her voice proved otherwise.

Stef's POV

The second Lux opened the door, to the roof, I couldn't help but be surprised by what I was seeing. When she mentioned that we were going up to the roof of Bug's apartment, I only agreed because I really didn't want her to be here alone without an adult present. I wasn't expecting much, but the fact that her friends made it into something nice for her, just showed me how much they must mean to her and vice versa.

Everyone else hadn't seem to notice that we had arrived, except for the girl that I had seen at Lux's school, Tasha, and some kid who had a huge tattoo of something I could barely make out on his neck. Please don't tell me that's bug, I pray to myself, while the two of them just stare at me. Tasha is giving me what I suppose is her death-stare, while the other kid just looks confused as to why I'm here. I'm suddenly glad that I changed out of my uniform before coming over, otherwise I'm sure that the stares would've been much worse.

I glance at Lux's face, and I could see the worry in her eyes. As much as I should be concerned about why that is, I'm feeling more relieved that I'm started to be able to read her a little bit more. When I first met her, up until the day we received the paternity results, she had on this poker face that wouldn't allow me to see how she was feeling unless she actually told me. But now, I'm actually able to notice these things, which makes me feel somewhat closer to her. I knew that I had a lot more work ahead of me, but I was getting somewhere which was better than nowhere.

Tasha and the boy slowly walk over. "What is she doing here?" Tasha asks Lux and I can tell by the look on her face, that she's suddenly regretting inviting me up here.

Lux turns to the boy, "Bug, this is Stef. Stef, Bug," she points to him. "Tasha and I will be right back," she says as she grabs Tasha's arm and walks to the farthest corner of the roof.

"So, you're Stef?" Bug asks casually. I can tell that he's trying to be nicer than Tasha, which I'm actually thankful for.

"And you're Bug?" I ask and I can't help but make a face once I realize that the huge tattoo on his neck is actually of a spider-web. What was the point of that? I want to ask, but I know that I have to at least try to make nice with him. Lux must really like him if she was planning on moving in with him. "So…Is that your real name?" I ask jokingly to try to lighten the mood.

"Yes," he answers flatly and suddenly the smile disappears from my face.

Something tells me I already managed to screw this up completely, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I just…I've never heard of that name before. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything."

"So, what are you doing here?" he asks in a harsher tone than he first had when he greeted me. I messed up bad.

"Lux invited me," I tell him and try to keep my composure. There was no way I was going to get talked down upon by some kid, least of all by some kid named Bug with a spider-web tattoo.

"I don't mean what you're doing on this roof. What are you doing here in her life? Our lives?"

"Excuse me?" I ask as a warning for him to take on another tone. It was something I've done with my kids, every time I wanted them to think about what or how they had just said something before repeating it back to me. But Bug wasn't my kid, and he had no fear in me.

"Lux has a family. WE are her family," he points to Tasha and then himself, "And from what I hear, you have your own family… Adopting random kids, while you left your own to survive on the streets and bounce back from home to home. And now you, what? Feel guilty about it and think you can just take her back?"

I'm taken aback by his words and even though I know that they don't hold much truth to them, I did actually feel guilty about the life that Lux had to endure because of all of this. But I wouldn't let Bug scare me away from being in my daughter's life now, "You don't know what you're talking about," I answer in a voice that's just as angry as his, if not more.

"No? I know plenty more than you. I know that for one, you can't force Lux to do anything. So, whatever it is you're trying to do to control her, isn't going to work... Another thing you don't know, she doesn't need you; you need her. She's plenty able to take care of herself. She's been doing it for years, so the fact that you're trying to turn her into something she's not, isn't going to fly well with any of us, least of all her. And you wanna know something else? …If you start a war with us, don't be surprised when Lux isn't on your side. All she needs to hear from us is that we don't want you, and you're gone. Just like that," he snaps his fingers just for emphasis in my face and it takes all of my will power to keep myself calm. "You and your ex-husband will never see her again, after my say-so. Why? Because WE are what's most important to her. So, if you're planning on only being in her life for a month or a year, than I suggest you go now, because she doesn't need anymore of that. I'll make sure that none of that happens."

"I'm not going anywhere," I assure him.

"Funny thing is… words don't mean shit to any of us." With that, he shakes his head disapprovingly and walks back towards the grill and starts talking to another kid. He looks toward me every few minutes just to see if I'm still standing here.

I knew that he wanted me to leave, but I wasn't going anywhere.

Lux's POV

"Did you really have to invite Goldie-locks over there?" Tasha insisted.

"Tash, I know that you don't really like her—"

"Correction: I hate her."

"You don't even know her," I try to tell her as I turn around and glance at Stef and Bug, who seemed to have been talking. I hoped that things would go well with them, and I was more afraid of Tasha's reaction toward her, for good reason. Which is exactly why I dragged her away. Natasha already called her a bitch and I figured that was enough name calling for one-day.

"I know enough. She can't just take you from us, Lux."

"She's not taking me from you. I'm here, remember?"

"But you had to bring her," Tasha pointed at Stef and I quickly pushed her finger down, in hopes that Stef hadn't seen it.

"No, I wanted to bring her. It was my choice not hers."

"What?" Tasha snaps as she folds her arms over her chest.

"It was my choice… Look, I know this isn't exactly an ideal situation for any of us, but I think we need to try to make this work. And I need you on my side here, Tash. I can't do this without you."

I watch as she shakes her head, "This is our thing, Lux. Why couldn't they celebrate your birthday on their own time or something? I don't like any one else being here," she finishes almost pouty.

"Because I just met them, and I wanted her to come and meet you guys. You guys are my family and if she wants to accept me, she needs to accept you too."

Tasha takes a deep breath, "…Fine. I'm only doing this because it's your birthday... But if she comes here during mine, I fully reserve the right to kick her the hell out," she smiles and I can't help but smile too. It was better than nothing.

"Sounds fair… I just needed this, especially after the weird dinner we had at her house today."

"Weirder than this? Get out!" she says sarcastically.

I laugh, "Yep, it was so strange. First they try to feed me meat... you know how that must've went…"

"Vultures," Tasha hisses.

"That wasn't even the worst part. Her foster-daughter was really rude to me for no reason."

"Damn…Want me to go kick her ass?" Tasha offers.

"No, Tash," I laugh again, but I know that she would do it too. "It was just… she said something weird like 'What'd you do to get kicked out of your last foster-home for?' or something like that…I know that it shouldn't have bothered me, but I feel like I knew her from someplace to make matters worse. Her face was really familiar and I couldn't pin-point from where…"

"Well, what'd she look like?"

"My age, maybe a little older, brown hair, your skin-color, brown eyes…she had a brother too, who also looked kinda familiar," I shrug my shoulders, "maybe she's just worried that I'm going to take her place or something. Which is totally stupid, considering I don't even want to, but—"

"Was her name Callie?" Tasha asks. "And her brother's name starts with a J?"

"How do you know that?" I ask worriedly. "Hold up…Do we know her?"

"Uh-huh. I was in almost all the same classes as her in the seventh grade… and you lived with both of them, remember?"

I think back to where I was, when Tasha was in the seventh grade. I was in the sixth, so that meant I was living with Trey and Valerie. But I couldn't remember any one else in that house at the time.

Tasha sees the confused look on my face and explains further, "You were in the hospital when they first moved in, remember? After you had that stroke? You barely saw them after that, and what she said made sense."

"Oh my God," I mumble. "I remember now… A few days after I came back, you and I destroyed the house to get me kicked out… How could I forget about that? Ugh!" I hit my forehead as I suddenly remember what we had to do.

"Yeah, and it also worked for her."

"What do you mean?" I ask in confusion.

"I never told you this because you were in the hospital and than you go out and were acting like a mess—"

"Thank you," I interrupt.

"Well you were… but whatever that's besides the point. The point is that Callie spoke to me once after that, at school. She recognized me from that day because she saw us, when we spray painted the house. And she told me what happened. Well, more liked yelled it at me… but I just ignored her and told her to get out of my face. But from what she said, when Trey and Valerie kicked you out, they also kicked out Callie and her brother."

"So, wait a minute… That's what she's mad for?" I ask in disbelief.

"I guess."

"What the hell is wrong with her? I did her a damn favor by getting her kicked out too. Trey and Valerie were the worst people I've ever lived with… They were the ones who made me want to get emancipated in the first place. I cannot even believe her."

"I guess she didn't see it the same way…Look, I know you never wanted to talk with me about what happened, and you don't have to. But… maybe you should tell Callie."

"For what? So she could call me a liar? That's what everyone else already thinks of me. As soon as Callie tells Stef what I did, the whole world will think it too."

"Well, then they'll be wrong… and stupid for thinking that," Tash says as she pushes my hair behind my ear. "Who cares what everyone else thinks anyway, right? You will still have us. You'll be our liar…Lux the liar," Tasha jokes and I can't help but laugh. It felt like a forced laugh though, because I didn't want Stef to think that of me. Or her family. Or even Mike.

But once again, I shouldn't have expected anything more.

It was my fault for letting my guard down, and I knew it was about time to pull it back up.

Okay, thank you guys so much for reviewing. I always like reading them and helloooo to the new followers!

On another note, how do you guys feel about Bug? And Tasha? Just curious. We got a little more info about them in this one.

Also, if there's something else you would want to see or more of another character, please let me know. I'd love the ideas :)