"If no one in the entire world cared about you, did you really exist at all?"

-Theresa Gray

It was the most tired Tessa had ever been, she felt, as she stepped out of the cab on a busy downtown London street. She reflexively reached to pull her hood over her head before seeing the street was practically empty, a traffic light blinking in time in the distance her only company. Was it that late? She dropped her hand from her hood, stepping onto the curb. It wasn't like she cared anyway if someone saw her, she was too damn tired.

She stifled a yawn as she looked up and down the block. A never ending row of what she assumed were very stylish townhouses, though she certainly wasn't seeing them in the best light by the fluorescent street lamps. She kicked at the neatly rowed bricks beneath her feet. At least there weren't any bums about begging her for change (however, though she would never admit it, the lack of access to beggars and cheerful loons made her miss home rather violently), or any litter. Someone had told her it was apparently a fashionable part of town, though she wouldn't have expected anything less from Nate at the rate things had been going.

The way things were going- Well, the way things were going Nate was going to throw a fit when she told him. But it was truly too much. Enough was enough. And she was done being the breadwinner for the family by being miserable; besides, even with only what she had earned in the last four years as an international icon (for 12 year olds at least) they would be set for life. She would explain this to him clearly and he would understand. He would. Wouldn't he? Though Nate had become a bit addicted to their new status; he had picked this place out after all, not even blinking an eye when she had requested to buy a house in a country they didn't even belong to.

"If you want to settle, why not do it somewhere new?" Aunt Harriet had said after thoughtful analysis of Tessa's request. She, at least, had understood. "We were all originally from Britain, you know, your mother and father and I. Why not somewhere in London?"

Tessa didn't know much about the proper place to settle, or even where she wanted to be, all she knew was that she wanted to be home, but certainly not as it was now. She would be coerced into living not in somewhere like their old three room apartment, but somewhere spacious, somewhere grand. Somewhere she'd likely hate. She looked up at the townhome Nate had chosen for them. This street was probably inhabited solely by celebrities, the rich, and government higher ups, she thought glumly as she sank to a sitting position on the curb. Possibly some that were all three at once.

She should go inside, she thought as a raindrop splattered on her nose. But it had been such a long night, and after everything that happened, she really couldn't bear climbing into a strange bed again. They wouldn't be awake, she knew. But the next morning they'd want to hear all about the concert, not really listening, at least until she told the there had been an arrest involved- Yes, an arrest! But she didn't want to think about it. She couldn't bear to think about it. Not when, for a single second, she'd thought- Well. It didn't matter now. She couldn't help but remember his face, and wish, really genuinely wish, that she had known. . .

A siren whirred in the distance, calling her back to her senses. She stood, brushing off the back of her jeans, lightly damp from the rain that had already fallen. She sighed, walking to the door, plugging in the familiar code into the unfamiliar keypad and taking the plunge. She walked into the strange house. The smell of a place drowned in lemon scented cleaner burned her nose and, tired as she was, she simply ignored exploring, as she had found it immensely fun to do in the early days of her travel, stumbled up the stairs and attempted to find her room.

It wasn't hard. the only room with anything on the door, and a giant letter T to be exact; Nate must have known she would be home late. Nate or, more likely, Aunt Harriet. She opened the door, ignored every detail of the room except for it's large, pre-made bed, and climbed in. She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

"Theresa Gray, rise and shine! You've slept late, come down for your breakfast or it'll be ice cold!"

Tessa rolled over in bed with a groan. She was vaguely aware of every piece of her being so cozy and well rested that she had absolutely no intention to move and therefore nestled deeper into the blankets. She heard a loud clang somewhere in the house and blinked open an eye. For a moment she thought it was only the bright sunlight streaming in but after a second she saw the room well: it was painted bright yellow. She sat up in bed, rubbing her head, feeling the remnants of much too much hairspray she had been too lazy to take out. She groaned inwardly, rubbing at her face, probably still coated in an obscene amount of makeup too, before her eyes caught on it, the defining feature of the room. Aunt Harriet must've had a say. Every wall, except the one her bed's headboard was pushed up against, was covered in beautifully molded, white, built in bookshelves and there, on the floor, were the familiar boxes of her books.

She nearly cried.

That had gotten her awake as she threw off her covers and dashed across the bright, sunny room to the boxes. She tore open one, grabbing the first book off the top, The Age of Innocence, flipping it open, and taking a deep whiff. She sighed. She felt at home already.

She didn't spend much time exploring at that moment (she'd have time for that later) but she was impressed by the room. Bookshelves and a window seat as well! She couldn't very well have designed a nicer room for herself.

Tessa took her time getting down to breakfast, knowing Aunt Harriet would go easy on her after a long concert night. She'd seen her face in the mirror and been rather disgusted; her eyes were coated in cold and eyeliner, her lips dark with purplish lipstick, her cheeks contoured into a jawline she certainly did not have. So she showered, scrubbed the hairspray from her hair, and spent quite a bit of time removing every bit of makeup from her face. Finally, when she met her eyes in the mirror, she was satisfied. Plain and normal. Just like always.

She walked into breakfast firm in her resolve. Today was the day she'd tell Nate her decision, though she knew he would certainly hate it. Throughout Tessa's career as a small singer and then rising sensation it had not been her or even Aunt Harriet, no matter how the concept of being rich beyond belief and traveling the world excited her, to make the push for her to hit the big times, it had always been Nate. She knew this was the lifestyle he'd always dreamed of having, not bothering to hide it either, gambling like a millionaire instead of the foster child of a poor Aunt with a waitressing job. She knew deep down, he did it because he thought it made her happy too, though, of course, so she hoped, oh she really really hoped, that he would not put up too much of a fuss when she made her real intentions known.

He and Aunt Harriet were sat around a small kitchen table, bright with sunlight from a large window showing out to the yard. Aunt Harriet raised a brow as she walked in.

"There's our girl. Doesn't quite know what 'get down here now' means though does she?" She smiled brightly at Tessa, gesturing to the rather grand buffet of food before them. Enough to feed a village.

Tessa flashed her a smile as she pulled out a chair and began piling her plate with the various food items topping the table. "You did not want to see how I looked waking up this morning. I was a disaster area."

Aunt Harriet chuckled. "Like the house?"

"Oh, it's great! I think it might be my favorite since. . Well, since home." Aunt Harriet nodded, apparently pleased. Tessa took this time to take a glance at Nate, whose head was hidden behind a newspaper.

She glanced at him, bemused. Nate didn't usually care about what was going on in the times. She couldn't even remember a time when they'd gotten an actual paper. She shoved a bite of eggs into her mouth, groaning at how good it tasted.

"These are delicious, Aunt Harriet, did you do something-"

"Tessie," Nate spoke up loudly as if he had not interrupted her in the middle of a sentence, pushing his paper down with a flourish. She looked at him first in surprise but then wryly, suspecting he had been holding it just for this reason. "I was going to ask you: I checked the docket this morning and I don't see any new tours scheduled. Aunt Harriet told me I'd have to ask you as she had no clue what was going on with it. So I will. Where are we heading next?"

He said this all very business like, not seeing Tessa's wide eyed stare as she hid her face in a cup of coffee. She was hoping this would not come up until she had at least eaten some breakfast. She met Aunt Harriet's eyes, searching for help, and immediately saw the answer on her Aunt's guilty face. She would have to handle this herself.

She sighed and set down her fork. "I actually wanted to say something about that," she said, her voice sounding much less commanding than she'd hoped it would. She took a deep breath. "There. . . isn't anywhere next. I decided that I want to take. . " Nate's eyes flashed to hers. "To take. . ." she said more shakily, turning her eyes quickly to Aunt Harriet who gave her a slight nod. "A hiatus. A break. I want to stop."

All eyes were on her and she wished they weren't. Nate's face went through what she expected: shock, bewilderment, anger, pleading, and finally settling on anger again.

"'A break'? A break?" he burst out. "You must be kidding! Do you know what happens to pop-stars who take breaks? They're done! Over with! Old news!" Suddenly his face changed, a lightbulb seeming to flick on behind his eyes. "Or is this a publicity stunt? Oh! Oh, yes! Yes, I can see it now, that's grand! Theresa Gray, disappears completely off the scene for months, making the press dying to get ahold of her and then makes her dramatic reentrance at- At. . . Buckingham Palace! Tokyo! Times Squ-"

"No," she cut him off quickly, knowing that while it would be easier to encourage this train of thought and placate Nate, she couldn't if she hoped to get what she wanted. "It's not like that, Nate," she said, looking at him, mentally begging him to understand. "I can't do it anymore. I want my old life back-"

He brushed this off with a hand, the other fiddling nervously with his shirt buttons as he always did in conflicting moments. "You don't know what you're saying, Tessie. You're still only young and you can't really know-"

"You are only three years older than me!" Tessa cut off angrily, glaring him down. "Don't pretend to know what's best for me!" She put her hand over his, turning her gaze pleading to him. "I hate it, Nate," she struck up, putting up a hand for silence when he began to interrupt. "I always have." She swallowed. "I hate not having a home. I hate not being allowed to go out without the whole world wanting to know what I'm doing. I hate coming home so late you and Aunt Harriet are already asleep and don't even care to see if I'm home-" she broke off, voice becoming shaky. "I- I hate seeing people who know me, or think they know me, and wishing somewhere deep down that I could know them too, but I-" She saw a flash of the boy from the night before in her mind.

Nate's face had gone red. "Tessa, I won't listen to another word of this- this ridiculousness!" He stood, shoving back his chair with a loud squeak. "You don't know what you're doing and you have no right-"

"Actually, she does, Nate," interposed Aunt Harriet cordially, hands folded calmly in front of herself. "It's her career. If she wishes to end it, it is completely up to her to decide what is right to do. And as her guardian-" she said this word with a slight furrowing of her brow, and the deep breath she took when she hated to disagree with Nate. "I have to say I agree. It's time."

Nate looked as if he were about ready to explode but simply tugged his phone from his pocket, gave them both a betrayed looking glare and turned on his heel, marching from the room, clearly making a large attempt to act as if he had somewhere important to be.

Tessa let out a long breath. "Thank you, Aunt Harriet," she said quietly. "I don't know how I would've won that without you."

Aunt Harriet looked shaken (she hated disagreeing with Nate) but waved it away with a weary smile. "Oh, whatever, honey. It doesn't really matter. As if we're not as rich as we need to be." She smiled wider at Tessa, who smiled back, shoving some more eggs into her mouth. A gleam appeared in her Aunt's eye suddenly as she put a finger to her lips. "However, I do have a condition that goes along with my approval."

Tessa stared at her, startled. "What is it?" she asked, eating another forkful.

Aunt Harriet tapped her finger lightly against her lips. "As long as we're living here. . . I'd like you. . . To go to school."

Tessa choked on her eggs. It took her a minute to be able to breathe again. "School? You have to be kidding. I haven't been in school since I was 12!"

"Tessa, I want you to get out in the world," Aunt Harriet said passionately. "You haven't had a single friend since that age! Five years! Haven't you been lonely?"

Tessa spluttered, bewildered. "I mean, yes, sometimes, but-"

"I want you to go to highschool," her Aunt said firmly. "Here in London. Go to prom, make friends, find a boyfriend for heaven's sake!"

Tessa blushed, thinking to the story she'd just been planning to write and who it would center around. "I don't need a boyfriend! And I can just teach myself. . . like. . . I've always done," she said in a small voice.

Aunt Harriet brushed this off with a huff. "You need to get out of the books and into a real romance, sweetie. We love you but I wouldn't be surprised if you're as awkward as a duck out of water with other people!" She snorted then looked thoughtful. "And if you're worried about safety, we'll find a school that will keep it hush hush. Bodyguards, even a disguise if you want it. The works."

"No, no, it's not that. . ."

Aunt Harriet shrugged, her lips curving into an amused smile. "Well, anyway. It's my deal. Take it or leave it."

Tessa stared at her, eyes mournful. "I take it," she finally said after a moment, voice defeated.

Aunt Harriet patted her cheek lightly. "Good."

As Tessa walked up to her room, the wariness slightly began to ebb. Maybe school wouldn't be that bad, she thought halfheartedly as she brought her laptop to her new desk. Maybe she would actually get to make some friends. Besides, she had been feeling rather. . . out of sorts lately. Maybe friends would fix it.

She typed in the familiar url and clicked on her favorite page. It was time for the next chapter of her fic, and she knew exactly the new character she would introduce. As her Aunt cleared breakfast on the floor down below, Theresa Gray was already in the midst of stepping into her alternate persona online, describing in detail a beautiful blue eyed hero who came to save the damsel from a dark and painful fate. . .

Okay, yes, I made Tessa a fanfic writer (maybe I'm biased but I totally think Tessa would fic if she could). So this chapter was a bit slow but I'm introducing Tessa to highschool! The poor muffin needs some transition time. Anyway, this will be the last "day in family life" chapter for a while. If you like this fic pleaseeee follow or share it! I really enjoy writing it and I'd love to know some of you like reading it! (To the people who have already commented and followed- you guys are the best thank you so much :) Keep tuned in cause things are about to get heated. .