(A/N: I have probably said this in roughly every chapter, but I mean it when I say "Thanks for all the feedback!" Anyways, chapter seven awaits!)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Once I am seated on the porch steps my mother goes and gets my dad. "I am in so much trouble." I say to myself quietly. My dad is probably a nervous wreck and undoubtedly this will earn me some intentional time away from the woods. Not that I am in any condition to go, I think.

When the door opens I mentally prepare for the worst, but, instead of an angry dad, all I see is my tiny brother. "Hey." I say blandly.

"Hi."

"Why did you come out here?" I ask, curious about his sudden appearance.

"Daddy was being scary again." Asher whines. Unfortunately, I know exactly what he means by this; my dad is having one of his episodes. I notice shiny tear streaks running down his face. He takes a seat next to me before asking, "What happened to your foot?'

"I fell out of a tree." I reply nonchalantly. The door opens again and now out comes the angry parents.

"Willow why did you lie to me?" asks my dad sternly.

"Technically, I didn't lie." I whisper. This just earns myself a glare and a lecture about how I was "lying by omission" from my mother. I finally decide to answer truthfully. "I don't know."

"There must be a reason?" pushes my dad. I once again come up speechless. Only then does he seem to notice my ankle. "How did you hurt yourself?" His voice sounds concerned.

"I fell... out of a tree." For some reason this was easier to tell my six-year-old brother.

My dad turns to my mother. "How bad is it?" he asks.

"I don't know. I just wrapped it up as soon as I saw her limping." she replies. My dad walks over and squats down next to me. He slowly removes the bandage. When I lay eyes on it, I wince. My ankle is swollen and a light shade of purple.

"Should we take her to the-"

"No. I can handle it." my mother says. I honestly don't know whether to be scared or not. She walks inside the house leaving my dad, Asher, and I on the porch. My dad picks me up bridal-style and carries me to the kitchen, with Asher shortly following behind. He sets me on the counter right as my mother enters the room with thicker and stiffer bandages in hand. When she asks me where it hurts, I say "Everywhere" a little too dramatically. My dad chuckles.

I watch my mother wrap up my ankle what seems like fifteen times tighter than before. "There." she says after examining her work. She then turns towards my father. "If it grows worse over the next few days then, yes, you can take her."

He raises his eyebrows in question. "Me?"

My mother scowls. "Yes, you. I am pretty sure Thyme doesn't ever want to see me again."

An amused grin breaks out across my dad's face. "Your probably right."

"But," she continues, "it should be fine." Take me where? I ignore the thought and start to get off the counter. When on my feet, I find that it doesn't hurt as much to walk as it did earlier. My mother notices my sudden action and then says, "As long as you don't do that." My dad quickly runs over and helps me to the kitchen table, where I take a seat.

"How long will I be like this?" I ask pleadingly.

"A few weeks." replies my dad sympathetically. I groan. A few weeks is going to seem like an eternity. I can barely stay in here all day and now I have to for weeks on end!

"It won't be that bad." reassures my mother.

"Yes it will!" I retort in a rapid fashion. "I can't go hunting or do anything fun, and this means I will be in here on my birthday." I put my head in my hands miserably.

"Hey you can still have fun." she says. "Besides Everest and Annie are coming soon, and I am sure they will help keep you occupied."

I scoff. "Mother, Everest is like thirty he probably wants nothing to do with a kid like me." I use the word kid like the man in the woods did earlier. "Why are they even coming?" I ask.

"Willow he's twenty-seven," Same difference, I think. "And he is also engaged." Whoa, did not see that one coming. I glance up at her to confirm her words.

"Really?"

She nods. "That's why they are coming, Willow," she continues. "So we can see him before he is married off." I am stunned. This can't be the same Everest that told little six-year-old me that he was never, ever going to make such a commitment as big as marriage in his lifetime.

"To who?" I ask, because this girl must be pretty spectacular in order to win over Everest Odair.

My mother shrugs. "I don't know; Annie didn't say."

My dad suddenly walks over with a plate of mixed fruit and pastries. "You two still haven't eaten breakfast." He gestures to me and my mother, while handing over the plate.

"Thanks." I say before sinking my teeth into the crisp, flaky crust of one of the pastries. Its fruity inside excites my taste buds and I literally inhale it in a matter of seconds. I hadn't realized how famished I was until now.

Finally my plate is empty and so is the room. I look around. Even Asher has left. Where did they go?, I wonder. Then I realize, who cares? I can now move around without being constantly reminded of my injury.

I walk over and gently set my plate on the counter. Out of the corner of my eye I notice an unfamiliar book lying open on the hard surface. My curiosity gets the best of me, and I avert my eyes in that direction. On the page is a hand drawn picture of a young girl and a goat. The soft pink ribbon around the goat's neck matches the girls rosy cheeks. I wordlessly read the description below the drawing.

Lady licking Prim's cheek, the night of her 10thbirthday.

Prim, where have I heard that name before? Oh yeah; my mother's sister, my aunt, and my namesake. Willow Primrose Mellark. Also, how could I forget, that one day that seems like eternity ago when I had found my mother crying in her room. She had explained to me that she had lost her younger sister on that day. I of course being the naïve four year old I was, thought she had literally lost her. Eventually my mother explained to me how Prim was not lost, but dead; lost from this world I suppose. (A/N: If you want to read a more in depth explanation of this moment, see my one-shot Time)

What is she doing in this book though? I flip through the pages looking for answers, but come up short. It's many contents consists of, a photo of a baby with sea green eyes and bronze colored hair, a dried up flower, and much more. The book is almost like a reminder. It displays things that one may not want to forget, that one most likely being my mother.

I am reading a paragraph about a girl named Maysilee Donner when I hear a voice behind me. "Willow what are you reading?" inquires my mother. There is a hint of authority in her voice; like she knows I am doing something I'm not suppose to.

"Uh, nothing." I rapidly close the book and shove it further away from me on the counter.

My mother pushes past me to retrieve the book from its current location. After recognizing the cover, she suddenly turns hostile. "Where did you find this?"

I stare at her before answering, "The counter." She glares at me before hugging the book close to her chest while leaving the room.