Lets take a moment and pretend the Paul is 24, and Sophie is 22. Okay, now we're done pretending and lets just say that thats their actual ages and that I didn't screw up the math like a stupid. So she's been gone for 13 years. Not 14. Opsies.

.Paul.

"He's out of the picture, ya know." Jared chirped from his spot on the couch, his beer in his hand and his face filled with a knowing smile. As if he knew what I was thinking. As if he understood. Well, there were times he actually did know, but now was definitely not it.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I hissed back, my grip tightening on my can. Okay, maybe he hit a little to closed to the nail.

"Sophie's guy. He's , I guess that makes him her 'not guy'."

Much to Jared's beliefs, that made it a million times worse. Dead meant that he hadn't left by choice. Dead meant that she could still be in love with him. Dead meant that he had been young when it had happened, and that it was probably tragic. Dead meant alot.

Not that it mattered. I had decided that the only thing I could do was ignore my primal urges and well, ignore her. I didn't ask for this, and I knew 110% that she didn't either. Especially if she knew me.

"Don't you have a kid to be watching, Nanny McPhee?" I snapped back.
The man next to me snorted, chugging the rest of his drink before tossing it into the trash, clear acrossed the room. Of course, the can made it perfectly, like it did every time, but he still fisted the air, as if he had scored the winning goal. "It's not going to work man," He started, voice gruff as he pushed himself off the couch, "it didn't with me. Or Sam. You can't help who you imprint on. Now let's go. We have a shift."

My insides were twitching at the idea, but I couldn't quite place if it was from annoyance, or a hidden excitement.

Sophie.

Pulling the car up to the stop light, I felt as if I had just stepped out of a Scarface movie. White powder coated my...well, my everything. From my feet to my cheeks. Except, my white powder was flour, and his was cocaine.

Sure I had baked before, but for some reason, it was almost like I'd never touched a kitchen surface before.

It had been a long, hectic day.

But god, did it feel nice to be away from that house.

But the feeling of being away from Lacey, while at least relaxing, was nerve-wracking at the same time. Bea was watching her, but then again, Bea couldn't really take care of herself now, could she? Though, she had had the smart idea to put pool noodles on the door to keep Lace from slamming her chubby little fingers in them, after the first incident yesterday, but that was hardly redeeming. I was more curious on how the hell she found the noodles than anything.

With a sigh from the soft wind, causing the rain to patter gently against the side of my car, the light flashed green. Pressing on my gas, the car sputtered, let out a load moan of dismay, and then died.

Of course.

It's not actually big, but it's a step in the right direction, right? I'm working on a larger chapter, but I wanted to make a little step to it first. I should update within a few days, but sometime next week. I'm aiming for about 5,000 words, so it'll be huge!