Melanie's POV

I drove home as quickly as possible, wanting to get the scolding over with quickly. I knew my parents were really pissed at this point. Once I pulled into the driveway, I hopped out of my car and walked to the front door. I stood there just breathing for a good 3 minutes before I got the guts to open the door.

"I'm home." I stated.

"Where have you been?! We've been worried sick!" My mother yelled at me.

I sighed. "I spent some time at Elise's house."

My father walked into the room with a look of relief on his face. "Oh thank goodness you're alright." He pulled me into a tight hug.

"Can't. . . breathe." I managed to choke out while he squeezed the life out of me.

"I'm sorry." He apologized and let go of me. "I'm just so glad you're home."

"Yeah, yeah." I replied unenergetically.

"What's with the attitude, Mel?" Mother asked.

I stared at the floor. "Well, it's hard to feel like you're family after the news."

"Oh, honey." Mother said in that British accent of hers while hugging me. "You don't need to have the same blood to be family, we just need the same heart."

"The same heart?" I asked.

"Yes. When we share the same heart, we all feel the connection and know that we love each other very much."

Something still didn't seem quite right but I decided to ignore it for the time being. My family was almost back to normal. Although I don't think it will ever go back to how it was. That doesn't seem possible.

I texted Ian and told him everything was alright and he was also relieved.

After a few minutes of chatting about what had been going on in our lives, Andrew walked in the front door, breathing heavily.

"What happened, Andrew?" Mother asked.

"It's nothing." He replied. "Melanie, come with me."

Before I said anything Andrew grabbed my wrist and took me back outside, shutting the door behind us. He told me to get in the car rather sternly so I complied and waited for him to get in.

Andrew started the car and backed out of the driveway. "Where are we going?" I asked him.

"You'll see." He said with a blank expression and kept driving.

About 45 minutes later he pulled over in the middle of nowhere and turned the car off.

"What's happeni-" I was cut off as Andrew pushed his lips onto mine and kissed me.

I shoved him off, fighting my inner desire. "What are you doing?!"

"Something I've been wanting to do for a long time." He sighed. "I knew you wouldn't feel the same way."

"Hold on a second." I had no idea where I was going with this. "I never said that." Oh crap, what am I doing?

Andrew's eyes filled with hope. "What are you saying then?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I know, that after all of these years, I-I felt something for you." I managed to say. After saying it out loud, I realized how true the words really were.

"Really? This is great! Ever since we were little I have always liked you, though I couldn't do anything about it since you were brought into our family and I had to act like you were my sister."

"Hold on a minute, Andrew." I stopped him. "I said there was something between us, but I'm with Ian right now."

His eyes lost their sparkle and his expression looked almost depressed. "Oh," was all he said.

"Andrew, look." I couldn't stand seeing him like this. "I like you but I also like Ian. I can't just forget about everything I have with him."

"I see you're point." He said and his face lifted a little. "Well," he started. "I guess I'm just going to have to make you forget." He smiled.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Ian may have won this round, but I'm coming back even stronger for round two!" I smiled, understanding what he had said.

"By the way, sorry about this." He apologized suddenly, confusing me yet again.

Andrew put one hand behind my neck and one on my cheek and kissed me more passionately than before. This time, I kissed back, not knowing if this would ever happen again.

It was different from when I kissed Ian. It felt more like we had known each other for our whole lives and then some, like some long-awaited event scheduled for just the two of us on this very day.

After who knows how long, he pulled away and looked me in the eyes. "I love you, Melanie."

"I-," I started to say until he put a finger up to my lips.

"You don't have to say anything." Andrew said. "I just want you to know that." He smiled and turned the car back on.

We rode home together in silence, each with a lot to think about. When I got home, around ten at night, I ran to my bedroom and collapsed onto the floor. A bit over dramatic, but it seemed to fit the situation. I stared up at my ceiling until my eyes eventually closed and I fell asleep.

*The Next Morning*

"Melanie!" I heard, slowly becoming conscious again. I felt my body being shook vigorously and cracked my eyes open. There was so much light.

"Melanie! Wake up, you little butthead!" At this I opened my eyes to see Andrew on too of me.

"Andrew? What the hell are you doing in my room?!" I shouted.

"You need to wake up!" He stood up from his position and yanked my arm upwards.

"Ow!" I yelped. "That hurts, you know?" I pulled myself upwards, using his arm as a rope.

"I'm sorry, but mom and dad are leaving and they want us to say our goodbyes." They had told us before that they were leaving today but I totally forgot about it.

"Oh crap! That's today!" I jumped out the door and ran into the living room to see my parents with packed suitcases.

"There you are, Melanie!" Mother exclaimed. "Andrew told us you were asleep so we didn't want to bother you."

"Oh, Mom, you can always bother me! Especially when you're leaving!" Despite the events in the past week or so, they were still my parents and I didn't want to see them go.

"We're going to miss you, honey." They both hugged me. "And you too, Andrew." After hugging me they moved to hug Andrew as well.

"We really ought to be going now; our flight is in half an hour." Mom stated.

"We'll be back soon for the holidays!" Dad informed us.

We watched as they walked out the door and waved goodbye.

"Oh yeah." Andrew said, looking at me. "Ian called and said he's on his way over."

"Seriously?!" Why didn't he tell me this sooner?

"Yeah, something about wanting to see you." Andrew walked toward the garage door. "I better get going then. Who knows what I might do with him around?" And with that he left.

I scrambled back into my room and threw on some decent clothes; I had still been wearing what I wore the previous day.

As soon as I had slipped on some shoes, I heard several knocks on the door. I sprinted across my living room and stopped down three steps before the door and slowed down my breathing.

I opened the door and saw a breathless Ian. It seems like he had rushed here as well.

"Melanie. I need to talk to you."

A.N.

Ooohh, what is Ian going to talk to her about? Sounds important :3 Lol

Okay you guys, I know it's been like forever since I last updated so I'm sorry. School's started again and I haven't had like any time to work on this. I wanted to get this chapter out to you so you wouldn't like die...idk... Anyway, I'm going to try to work on this story until I can get to the end of it so I don't make you all more mad. Thanks for reading! I love all of you ;) 3