Hell on the Heart

I'd love to say I can hold myself together
But I can't help but come unglued
Every time I see you
Every time I see you

- Luke Bryan

Part VIII

Cammie returned home, her mind constantly countering from Zach and Taylor, unable to stop herself from stressing out.

She tried to focus her thoughts on thinking about seeing her brothers again, and maybe seeing a not so detached father for once.

But when she began to think of that she wondered what it was her father was hiding from her and why he had decided to hide it form her. Zach had said he hadn't wanted Ashton to become like himself, which made no sense to her.

Ever since her mother died he was like a ghost. He would come and go not really having any purpose, he never spoke more than short commands. But his voice was the worse:

It was to detached and void of anything: happiness, joy, even anger or sadness. He simple didn't show emotion. And as a child Cammie had never been sure how to deal with that.

Her father was an undecipherable man but she simply hoped he had changed with the return of his two sons.

She hoped he reformed back into the man she knew as a child: the one who tucked her in at night and let her curl up on his lap as he watched the evening news.

She wanted her dad back.

And as much a Taylor, or even Zach meant to her, her family came first. If her father had in fact changed she wouldn't return to Huntington, she would stay and revel in it as long as she could.

"Sis!" a deep, barely familiar voice called as she hopped out of Macey's car— her transportation back to Roseville.

She said a quick goodbye to Macey as she revved out of the driveway before she turned to the house and saw two fully grown boys running head on towards her.

Before she could even realize which brother was which she was swept up into a double embrace between the two, hugging her tightly.

"Hey," she breathed, even though her oxygen was practically cut off with how tight they were holding her.

"Girly," she heard Calvin greet.

"Cams," Ashton said.

"Ahh!" she screamed again, wrapping them both in a hug again as she hadn't seen them in so long. "God, I missed you guys!"

Calvin smiled sheepishly. "Missed you too girly, hope you didn't get to high on yourself at the preppy boarding school."

"Yeah," Ashton agreed. "Bring a boyfriend back perhaps?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Not even one?" Calvin wondered. "For four years?"

She shrugged. "None of them important enough to bring home."

And like Taylor didn't know about Ashton and Calvin, Ashton and Calvin didn't need to know about Taylor.

She smiled. "I'm so happy to be home."

"That's not what dad said," Ashton cut in.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure if I'm excited to be spending time with him."

Calvin nodded his head in silent agreement.

Ashton gave them both a look of exasperated patience. "Stop being horrible, he's not that bad."

Cammie's eyes met his briefly and she suddenly remembered he had lied to her. He had gone off to the war, making her believe he was really on a back packing trip. Who did that sort of thing?

She decided she would confront him about it later, as she didn't want for it to ruin her stay at home.

Calvin and she then exchanged a look, "maybe he's changed," Calvin said smoothly, in a voice that you could tell he didn't mean it and was saying it for Ashton benefit.

Ashton seemed indifferent.

"Come on then," he said. "Let's go inside, I'm sure dad is eager to see you."

Cammie couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

"I guess it's like a little family reunion," she mumbled.

That sparked attention in Ashton's face.

"Actually," he started, and Cammie knew that the next words out of her mouth would not be something she wanted to hear. "A friend of mine is coming by for a couple days."

The bubble of dread in her stomach began to expand as she could only guess what friend it might be. She knew Ashton had more then one friend, excluding Zach Goode.

But for some reason she had this terrible feeling that the friend Ashton referred to was in fact Zach.

"A friend?" she asked. "From where?"

Ashton gave her a smile that seemed forced and tight. "Backpacking."

She gave him a look, a look hoping that it conveyed that she knew better than the lies he was telling her.

The tight smile he had faltered and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was disappointed with himself.

Calvin cleared his throat, unsure of the tension between his siblings.

"Anyway," he said. "Dad's waiting."

AN: Next Chapter- the family dinner