Chapter 3

+Lucy+

I rushed in the house, cursing at myself for being so stupid. How had I allowed him to see it? I intended to dart off to Sol's room and lock myself there, but of course he caught up to me in the middle of the stairs.

"I'm sorry Lucy. I shouldn't have yelled at you, but seriously, you know that you can trust us with anything!" he said reasonably. Man I hated when he sounded like that. He's supposed to be annoying not rational.

"Look, even you and your brothers get into fights. It's seriously no big whoop!"

"Of course it's a big whoop! He beat you up! That's different from siblings fighting."

"No, it's not!"

"Yeah it is."

"No, it's-"

"Let's not do that anymore shall we. Tell you what, I'll shut up about it, if I'm sure that it was just once. If I see another bruise on your body then I'm going to beat his sorry ass." he told me.

I chocked an eyebrow. "What are you going to do? Strip me?" I asked him, smirking. Surprisingly I saw faint red blush on his cheeks. It made him look so cute!

"Oh, come on! Just lift your shirt enough so that I can see your back. And please stop trying to make it harder for me to care."

"Since when do you care for me?" I asked him. I saw a hint of alarm on his face but it disappeared just as fast as it appeared.

"You're my sis's best friend. It would break her heart knowing that you're being beaten up." he said. Nice save, I mentally commented him.

"I'm still not stripping for you." I told him. He rolled his eyes and tried to Influence me. He knew that bull would not work on me. I remained stubborn. He smirked and started tickling me. He knew that was my secret weakness. I involuntary removed my hands from the sides and he lifted my shirt up till my chest. I heard him gasp. Since I was squinting and trying to give him my back, my sides were exposed to him. He quickly stopped tickling me and I looked over my shoulder. My skin was still a bluish black fading slowly to yellow. I hadn't noticed the pain there when I fell since the worst damage had been done to my head. I remember now that when I fell I had hit my hips on the corner of the kitchen counter. When he touched me I started feeling very self-conscious. He traced the edges of the bruises with his fingers. Wherever his skin touched mine I felt a hot flaming trail.

"I'm going to kill that fucking-"

"Oh no you're not." I said. He was still examining my back when we heard footsteps coming our way.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Logan, one of Sol's brothers said. I saw him smirk big time when he saw us. "Nick, we all know you've got it bad for Lucy but could you at least wait till you get a room?"

"Shut up, Logan." Nick gave him the death glare. Logan climbed up the stairs while I tried to pull down my shirt in vain.

"What the hell are you doin-" he said but then his eyes landed on my bruises. "Who did that to you?" he asked, his voice turning serious all of a sudden.

"Look, it's noting, alight? Now stop staring at me as if I was some freak show!" I said to them and finally managed to get my shirt down.

"Her brother did that." Nick spat at me. "And she didn't tell anyone."

"I thought he wasn't a problem anymore." Logan said in a worried tone.

"Yeah, well whatever. What's done is done." I said and continued my frustrated run to Sol's room. She came out of the bathroom in her cute pajamas. "What's all the yelling about? Did you and Nick get into another fight?" Sol said with a small mischievous smile on her face. Her smile faltered and disappeared completely as she took in my face's view. She had been quite suspicious since I had broken my rib. She wouldn't believe that I could be that clumsy, but after a few weeks of suspicious glances she let it go. She was one of the few girls who disliked Josh, and thought of him as the dumb ass he really was. Okay. No living girl disliked Josh, only Sol and I did.

"Okay I'm giving you a total of thirty words to explain to me what happened before I get all of my brothers to beat the crap out of your brother."

"I punched Josh's girlfriend in the nose. He had to drive her to the hospital because I broke her nose and when he came home he was angry at me." I said counting the words on my fingers.

"That idiotic piece of shit." she muttered under her breath. Sol never cussed, which showed how upset she was about this. "Why didn't you tell anybody Luce? We would have helped you!"

"That's nice of you to care and all but really it's not a big deal. Now can we finally get to bed please?" I said stubbornly while I got in bed.

"Okay, we'll talk later about this. I'm going to get a glass of water." she switched off the lights and left the door open so I'd have some light in the room. Suddenly a figure appeared in the doorway. The yellowish light surrounded it, making it look like a silhouette. But even if I couldn't see his face clearly I knew it was him…

"Nick, you're blocking my light." I said in a sleepy voice. "Aw, little Lucky is afraid of the dark? Be careful there might be vampires running around!" He was talking to me as if I was mentally impaired. I smiled a little, finally things were back to normal.

"Um, I wanted to talk to you, about the thing, that happened… outside…" Nick started uncomfortably. What happened tha- I swallowed. I had kissed him! Or was it the other way round? Anyway that didn't matter! What mattered was that we really kissed! And it wasn't just my imagination since he brought it up too. Oh God this would be so embarrassing! And not just because it was my first kiss…

"Um, yes… Nick?" I asked him, pleading silently in my mind that he'd spare me the embarrassment and talk in code or something. If his brothers found out I'd never hear the end of it.

"It never happened." he said grimly. Okay, not at ALL the thing I wanted to hear. There were many possible scenarios and he had to jump to the one I simply couldn't deal with. How could you ask a girl to forget her first kiss? I know that it would sound girly and maybe even a little sappy but it felt special. Perhaps I liked Nick in that way a little bit. What the hell was I thinking? This was the guy who insulted me on a daily basis. The only reason why we stand each other is Solange.

"Seconded. Now please go. I need to sleep. It's been a rough day." I said instantly regretting my last sentence. The last thing I needed was to bring up Josh again. "Mr. Tanner gave us a test on the Civil War and it was pretty tough." I said quickly, lying through my teeth.

"Lucky. Don't ever pursue a career of acting. You stink at it." He left leaving me alone to my thoughts.

Ah, Saturday morning with the Drakes. Everybody got up late; Sol and I would make a hell of a breakfast for us, involving waffles, syrup or chocolate sauce. This was the life.

And then my Saturday morning was ruined like tears on a letter (poetic, huh?) when I heard my phone start playing Decode by Paramore, signaling that I had a text.

"Who's it from?" Sol asked me. I opened the text and found out it was from mum. What the hell was she doing awake at ten? She usually woke up at noon or later.

"Mum." I answered bleakly. The text read: Hon, I need you to come home NOW! I've got very important news to tell you!

Solange reads the text from behind my back. "That's odd, she usually lets you spend the weekend."

"I know. Must be opposite weekend." I said and shoved a forkful of waffle in my mouth and it slowly dissolved leaving a wonderful buttery taste in my mouth. I was unsure what my mum wanted. She was the kind of eccentric woman, unpredictable and crazy in her own way. I ate all the waffles and put the plate in the sink.

"I'd better get going. She could need someone to cook her breakfast or she could have seen a spider." I said randomly. Then I remembered my very carless state.

"Darn. I left my car at the coffee shop. Not that it would be any use. Stupid piece of-" I started. NO. I would not ruin my Saturday by thinking about my car problems. I'll take the bus or something.

"You can take my car. It's not like I'm going to use it, anyways. I'm under house arrest." she said nonchalantly and took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Thanks, you're a life saver. I promise I'll bring it back with a full tank of gas." I said and drowned my coffee.

"Don't mention it." Sol waved her hand off. "But we need to talk. You're not off the hook yet." She said giving me a look that just said "Don't you dare try to get out of this one." I sighed. "I'm going to change." I informed her and darted up to her room.

I pulled Sol's car in our shabby driveway that has seen many better days. Just the sight of Sol's cute convertible mini in it looked surreal, as if it was edited in the picture.

I parked the car next to Josh's and knocked on the door since I had left my keys in my car. Josh opened the door, with an unreadable expression on his face. Sure it changed to disgust when he found out it was me. Yep, love you too, bro."Do you know what this is about?" I asked him.

"Don't know. She wouldn't tell before you arrive." he said to me with a shrug. I started walking towards the kitchen and the minute I took in the view in front of me I threw up a little in my mouth. There goes the wonderful taste or waffles and fresh coffee in my mouth. I found mum licking the saliva out of Phil's mouth.

"Get a room, will you? I'd like to keep my innocence a little longer." I said to them covering my eyes. I've seen mum and her guys even naked on the couch so I guess it was a little too late for that.

"Pathetic virgin" my brother fake coughed from beside me.

"Man whore." I retorted.

"Enough! Kids today you shouldn't be fighting because it's a very happy day!"

"Please don't say you're pregnant." I whispered with crossed fingers. All I needed was a toddler crying in my head all day while I clean and cook!

"We're getting married! Tomorrow!" she exclaimed, her smile splitting her face from ear to ear.

And there goes my Saturday.

"Mum, what do you mean you're getting married TOMORROW?" I asked her, seriously considering the fact that she was insane. I realised I was gripping Josh and he was gripping me back tightly. We had both jumped in shock. When we both realised the position we were in we let go and stepped away from each other, our looks saying "Talk about it and you're dead."

"Just that hon, and you're going to be my bridesmaid and her usher, she said looking at us.

"I'd rather shave my head." My brother shouted the moment I yelled, "Over my dead body." And this just wasn't about being stuck with Josh as my usher but also about being a bridesmaid to my mother's second wedding. Even though I had no clue about what happened to my father, he had been a very special person to me, the only one I connected with in my family. To be a bridesmaid would not only appear as if I approved of this wedding, which I didn't but also that I believed in their love and forgotten all about my dad. I know it's selfish of me, after all, my mother's only forty so I shouldn't expect her to spend her life on her own, which I didn't. I just didn't want her to get married. Is that so wrong? I snuck a glance over to my brother. His eyes were broken; there was no light in them. It felt as if we were eleven again and dad disappeared. I think Josh wouldn't be such a dick if he hadn't lost dad. Physically he's tough but emotionally he's wrecked. I pity him and I want to help him but I don't know how.

He pushed away from me and walked over to the fridge to get a beer. Great, he'll drown his sorrows in alcohol, typical Josh.

"Young man, you are not supposed to drink that." Phil said as Josh drowned the beer in fewer than five gulps.

"Shut the fuck up. Hope you're happy mum. Don't even think this creepy shrink will ever replace dad. No one can. I'm going back to bed. Don't bug me." He said and with one last glare at Phil he made his way upstairs.

I don't know how to feel. I'm happy for mum but I hate the idea. I despise Phil and the though of him living in the same house as I do makes me shudder.

Mum and Phil were frozen. The silence was unbearable in the room. Finally mum broke the silence when she sighed against Phil's chest.

"Lucy, honey, so what do you say? Your brother obviously won't be your usher but will you be my bridesmaid? If you want you can ask your friend, what's her name… Solaris to be a bridesmaid too." she asked me. I stared at her, my mouth gapping open.

"Her name is SOLANGE mum. And she's not my friend she's my BEST friend and the most important person in my life. I'll be your bridesmaid when hell freezes over!" I shouted at her with a little uncomfortable throb in the left side of my chest. Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes. She had time to remember Phil's children's names but she wouldn't even remember my best friend's name? I cared so much for her, I did all the work in the house, I protected her from freaky perverts and she doesn't even take the time to remember Sol's name?"

"That's no way to talk to your mother." Phil started at me. I felt the need to kick or stab something.

"Why would you bother marrying her? You already fuck her, what else do you need?" I asked him and with that made my exit. I wanted to go to Sol's badly but I needed to pack some stuff first. I ran upstairs to my bedroom and started shoving stuff in a big gym bag. But everything caught up to me, my dad's disappearance, my mum and Phil, Josh… I just broke in a fit of sobs and curled my self on the bed.

Someone knocked on my door. I took a deep breath to make sure my voice didn't crack. "Go to hell." I said to whoever was behind my door.

"It's me. I need to talk to you… it' important." Josh's voice said. I was about to insult him again but for the first time in years his voice wasn't cocky, insulting, disgusted or angry. He sounded… tired. I wiped my eyes and looked over to the mirror. They were bloodshot and puffy. My face looked like a mask now. My jaw was purple, going yellow and my eyes were red and the side of my face which hadn't suffered anything was chalky white, almost as pale as the Drake's.

"Come in, it's open." I muttered. I heard the door click and Rosewood High School's bad boy and star quarterback came into my room. His eyes were like mine showing that he had been crying too.

"I don't want to live with mum and Phil." he said to me. I stared at him.

"So? Why are you telling me?"

"I don't want you to live with mum either."

"What do you want Josh? Since when do you give a damn fuck about me?" I asked him, cutting straight to the chase. I knew I was being the difficult one but if you'd spend five years being your brother's favourite punching bag you wouldn't act loving and caring either.

"I don't. But mum just doesn't deserve you. You're her personal maid." he stated. I didn't know exactly how to respond to that.

"Get to your point 'cause I'm lost." I said to him.

"Would you like to come live with me in an apartment of our own? You'd cook and clean and do all the chores and we'll split the rent twenty-five, seventy five." He said pointing first at me than at him. I stared at him. There's something seriously wrong with my ears today.

"Josh it's a really bad time for jokes." I said to him.

"I'm not joking."

"Okay, let me get this straight. You want me to be your personal maid and punching bag and deprive myself of sleep to listen to you hump the brains out of your bitches?" I just couldn't put my finger on which one I was mad about the most.

"You make it sound really bad if you say it like that." he said. "Is there any good way to say it?" I asked him. "For Pete's sake Josh, you beat me up, your bitchy girlfriends make my life hell and for some reason I'm our school's number one psycho nerd! Why don't you find one of your guy friends to bunk with?" I asked him.

"Look I'm sorry. I promise I'll never put my hands on you again and I'll tell Stella and the others to stop bugging you and I'll limit my um… company to once a week or anytime when you stay at the Drake's." he pleaded.

"I'm sorry, I just can't trust you." I said coolly.

"Please! I can't do this by myself, and you know it takes a lot of me to say that to you. I haven't been myself ever since dad disappeared. And I guess I took it out on you. I'm really sorry. So what do you say?" he asked me, giving me the puppy dog eyes.

"I don't know, give me some time to think about it, 'kay?" he nodded.

I just wish dad was still here." he confessed.

"Yeah, me too."

XXX

Thanks for reading, hope you liked it! I'm sooo sorry I didn't post for so long. I've been completing a very sensitive part in my other book so I kind of put everything to the sides, so thanks for bearing with me. I promise I'll update at least once ever 10 days or so… again sorry, if you read my story Outcast you'd know I update fast.

Please review and tell me what you think. I love to see your reactions! :D

xxx VampGirl330 xxx