Chapter 28Song for this chapter:Jasey Rae (acoustic) - All Time Low “I’ve never lit a match wi

Chapter 28Song for this chapter:Jasey Rae (acoustic) - All Time Low “I’ve never lit a match with intent to start a fire,but recently the flames are getting out of control.” ★☆★ Vivian’s POVAs I follow my GPS router to Annie’s house, my mind won’t stop running. Question after question floats through my mind, but one sticks:Did I do the right thing, turning down Luke? When he first asked me to be his girlfriend, all I wanted to say was yes and kiss him. Being Luke’s girlfriend would be amazing. Honestly, I don’t think it would be much different from how we are now, we’d just be able to hold hands or kiss, without questioning it afterward. If we were to be together, what if things did change? I don’t think he’d expect me to do anything I’m uncomfortable with, but would he expect more from me? Would we argue, or fight over small things? What if something so drastic happened, and we’d end up hating each other? I don’t think I could live without him in my life, even if it is as just a friend. Luke has helped me through so much already, but there is plenty more to come. My mom left me a message asking me to come by aunt Melody’s later today so she could talk to me and Julian. I think it’s about the divorce, and custody, and I’m not ready for it. Thinking of having to live with my father until I’m eighteen, makes me sick to my stomach. I push the thought of my father to the back of my head as I pull into the driveway of a small red-brick house, having my GPS tell me that I’ve arrived. I grab my backpack and walk up to the front door, then take a deep breath before knocking. The sound of footsteps and voices sound before the door swings open, to reveal Annie looking disheveled. A chubby baby sits on her hip, with her arm around him so he won’t fall. Two girls with long black hair like Annie’s peek out from behind her.“Vivian! Did you find the house fairly easily?” She asks, ushering me inside with a smile. I nod, “Yeah with the help of my GPS.” She gives me a knowing smile and closes the front door. “I should introduce you to my siblings, this one is Sammy, personally I like to think he’s named from Sam off of Supernatural, but my parents say he’s named after my grandpa,” she winks at me causing me to grin, I’ve heard of Supernatural but haven’t actually watched it before. “These two are Alice and Alex, they’re twins if you didn’t notice.” She nods to the two shy girls that look identical. “My cousin’s name is Alex,” I comment, smiling. “That’s cool!” Annie beams, then says that we should move into the kitchen. We sit down at her dining table. “Go play with your dolls will you, I’ll make you a snack in a little while,” Annie says to her sisters, and they oblige, and scamper down the hall. “I think he’s asleep, let me go put him in his crib then we can get to work.”  She leaves the kitchen, so I look around. There’s tons of pictures of a huge family, with who I can tell are Annie’s parents, and who I assume are her two older brothers. I don’t come from a big family so I’m always amazed when I see one. There are toys scattered around, and dishes all over too. Suddenly I feel extremely spoiled to have lived in an enormous house with a maid for all my life, when we were only a family of four. I pull out my English notebook to distract myself. I’ve only got a few things written down about Annie, and they’re all lame facts like her favorite color and birthday. I quickly scribble down that she is one of six kids in her family. “We should be alone for a while now, without distractions,” Annie sighs, sitting down with a monitor in her hand. She turns it on and sets it down on the table, then pulls out her own notebook. “Okay, so I see that you have down how many siblings I have, so how about you?” She questions, her pencil ready in her hand.“It’s just me and Julian.” Her eyes widen, “Really? What’s it like, to only have one sibling?” “It’s mostly lonely. Either he’s busy with sports or a girl, or I’m busy with friends,” I say honestly. “Wow, I’m never alone here, both of my parents work, and all of my brothers are out of the house so I have to look after the hooligans.” She sighs, and I laugh quietly. I scribble down that both of her parents work and she watches after her younger siblings. “What do your parents do?” I question, not knowing what else to ask. “My mom works with the local newspaper, and my dad’s a police officer.” My eyes widen as I write down her parent’s jobs, impressed. “How about your parents?” She asks. I bite my lip, really not wanting to talk about them. “My father’s a CEO for his dad’s company, and my mom doesn’t work.” Annie nods, and scribbles that down in her notes, looking slightly curious. “My parent’s have been together for twenty-five years, how about yours?” I write that down and swallow. “Eighteen, but they’re um…” I say, and am surprised when I admit it, “They’re getting divorced.” Annie’s eyes widen with shock, but she doesn’t write that fact down. “Why? They’re like the perfect couple of the town, why are they divorcing? I-If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”I purse my lips then nod, “My father’s been cheating on my mom for years now.” Now that the words leave my mouth, I feel a small weight lift off my shoulders. I’ve finally told someone besides Luke and the boys about my parents, and it’s oddly nice to get it off my chest. “Oh my god Vivian, I’m so sorry!” Her hands go to her mouth, and the shock on her face is thick. I should have expected this, knowing that everyone think’s my family is perfect, but it’s strange to watch. I shrug, “It’s for the best. So, what’s the happiest childhood memory you have?” I change the subject, and we talk about random things for the next hour and a half, until we’ve got enough information about each other.for the presentation. We decide to figure out what type of presentation to do the next time we meet up. As I drive to my aunts, I can’t help but smile as I think of me finally telling someone about my parents. She reacted how I expected her to, but she didn’t treat me any different after that. Maybe when the news does get out, because I know it will eventually, it won’t be as bad as I thought it will be. My happiness subsides when I come into view of my aunt’s house, and see my mother’s car still there. I’m still angry with her for only caring about getting as much money out of the divorce as she can, but I’m so relieved and happy that she finally decided to divorce my horrible father. I take a deep breath and get out of my car, then walk in the front door. The smell of chocolate chip cookies hits me and makes my mood better. Aunt Melody’s cookies are always the best. “Oh you’re finally here, good!” She exclaims when I walk into the kitchen where Alex and Julian are sitting doing homework, and my mother is helping her sister place the cookies on a plate. “Vivian, come here, I haven’t seen you in forever!” Julian stands up holding his arms open wide. I laugh, “We saw each other at school today.” He rolls his eyes and puts his arms around me, “We don’t talk very much at school, and you’re never here so I’ve missed my little strawberry shortcake!” I elbow Julian in the stomach at my childhood nickname. We hug for a few seconds then pull apart and turn our attention to our mother. She visibly looks better, no signs of being even slightly intoxicated, the bags under her eyes are hardly visible, and the smile on her face isn’t false. I think being out of that house, and with her sister has been really good for her.Melody passes around the cookies, then we focus on my mother. She clasps her hands together and has a serious look on her face. “The court sessions will be starting next week. Your father got the news of me wanting to divorce him while he was on a business trip, and wasn’t happy about it. He still won’t sign the papers, but I’ve spoken to him a few times and I know he’s getting there.” She pauses for a moment, and looks at me, with sadness in her eyes, “Many times he has claimed that he’ll do whatever he can to get custody of you, Vivian. I didn’t want to tell you this because you already have enough to worry about, but my sister has convinced me that you can handle it, and I know you can, because you are such a strong girl.” Tears fall down my mother’s cheeks, and I feel them prickle behind my own eyes. I feel Julian grab my hand and smile down at me softly. I smile up at him, then nod at my mother. “Thank you for telling us this.” She nods, then walks out of the kitchen quickly. I try not to start thinking about everything, but it all starts flowing before I can stop it. He won’t sign the divorce papers yet, but will when he knows he’ll get custody of me. He has all the money in the world to pay a lawyer to make sure I live with him. I have no chance of staying here, or living with my mother when she gets an apartment. I’ll be stuck with him for two more years, in that horrible house. “Vivian? Vivian!” I feel my shoulders shaking. I look up and see a blurry Julian looking worried. I feel the tears start to stream down my face. Julian wraps his arms around me, trying to comfort me. “There’s no chance. No way mom will win. He’ll cheat and lie to get me. He’s going to win, and I’ll have to live with him,” I sob, my voice muffled through his chest. “No he won’t, I promise you Viv, he won’t win. If I have to go testify against him, I will. I won’t let him take you.” He rubs my back as he makes this promise to me. I calm down slightly, but still feel the sick wrench in my gut when I think of living with my father. Taking deep breaths I move away from Julian giving him a thankful smile. I look over to see Alex and Melody looking at me with sadness in their eyes. I walk over to my aunt and wrap my arms around her. “Thank you so much for helping us out,” I whisper, closing my eyes tightly.She hugs me back, “Oh, sweetheart, I’ll always be here to help you. If you need anything just ask, okay?” She holds me at arm length while asking that, looking serious.“I will,” I nod, and smile at her. I walk over to Alex, and smile down on her, “Come downstairs for a few minutes?” “Yeah!” She exclaims and clumsily gets out of her chair to follow me downstairs. When we get to where all of my things are, I sit down, and motion for her to sit too. I take a deep breathe and then tell her. “Luke asked me to be his girlfriend,” I say, and she squeals. “I knew you two would end up together you’re so perfect fo-” “But I said no.” I interrupt, and her eyes go wide. “What?! Why?!” I sigh, “Because of everything that’s going on in my life. It’s all too chaotic to have a boyfriend! Plus, if something were to happen and we broke up, and stopped talking, it would kill me. He means so much to me that I’d rather have him as a friend than a boyfriend if that means he’s still around.” Alex looks up at me with a look of admiration. “You’re truly amazing Viv.” “How come?” I ask, so confused why people keep calling me that. “Because you’ve gone through all of this shit and you won’t run into the arms of a boy who likes you like most girls would do. You’re so strong that you’ll do it on your own.” She explains, and I shake my head.“But I’m not alone, at all. I have Julian, you, your mom, even my mom. Plus Luke and his friends, I used to be alone through all of this, but I’m not anymore.” I say and realize that as I say it. I’m not alone anymore. Alex just smiles at me, nodding. Her cheeks heat up when I mention Luke and his friends, and I know that her crush on Ashton is way more than just a crush. I get an idea and grin at her. “Do you want to go somewhere with me?”“Sure! Where?” “Luke and the guys are having band practice over at Ashton’s house, and I need to go talk to them, especially Luke.” I say, and Alex’s eyes go wide, along with her cheeks turning pink. “I-I don’t know…” She replies, looking extremely anxious. I touch her arm, trying to comfort her, “They’re really nice and funny once you get to know them. Plus if anything happens I’ll put them in their place, and you know Ashton will be there playing his drums, getting all sweaty.” I wink at her, and she smiles slightly, but turns as red as a tomato. “Fine, fine! If you shut up about Ashton I’ll come with you,” she exclaims. I grin at her, “I thought so.” She smacks my arm, but we both get up anyway. We tell Melody that we’ll be back in time for dinner, then get into my car. As we drive I can tell that Alex is getting more and more nervous by the second. After I park the car, I look over at her, “Hey, it’s fine. They’re just boys, loud, obnoxious boys who are also really big sweet hearts. Just breathe and it’ll be alright.” She takes a deep breathe, then nods at me. We get out of my car and walk up to Ashton’s front door. I can see his moms car in the driveway so I ring the doorbell instead of just walking in like the other boys do. The door swings open after a few seconds, showing Anne Marie, who I’ve only met once before. “Vivian! It’s nice to see you. The boys are downstairs, if you can’t already tell.” She smiles, and I hear them playing an unfamiliar song from the basement. “Okay! Oh and this is my cousin, Alex,” I gesture to Alex who waves timidly at Anne Marie.“It’s nice to meet you Alex,” Ashton’s mom beams, and Alex replies with a quiet “hello” before we head downstairs. I motion for Alex to be quiet so I can hear what song they’re playing. “I’ve never told a liebut that makes me a liar.I’ve never made a bet,but we gamble with desire.I’ve never lit a match,with intent to start a fire.But recently the flamesare getting out of control. “Call me a name, kill me with words, forget about me, it’s what I deserve. I was the chanceto get out of this life, but I ditched the car and left you to drown.”They continue to play, and Luke continues to sing. His voice gradually gets louder, then softer as the song ends. I pop out from behind the stairs and start to clap wildly. They all jump around looking extremely surprised. “That was amazing!” I exclaim, and I can hear Alex agreeing with me. “We’re just practicing for our show,” Michael grins, setting his guitar down. My eyes go wide, “You guys have a show? When?!” Ashton chuckles, “It’s in three weeks, and both of you are invited. I’m sure we can get you some backstage passes or something.” He then winks at Alex, and I have to bite my lip from laughing. Ashton clearly knows that she has a crush on him, and I know that he won’t mess around with her and tease her, so I don’t say anything about the wink. “That’s amazing, this will be so good for the band,” I grin, and look over to Luke. He’s still standing in front of the drums, staring at me, looking embarrassed. I knit my eyebrows together at him, trying to figure out why he looks embarrassed. He nods to Alex, and I jump. “Oh, yeah, guys, this is Alex, my cousin. Alex, that’s Ashton, Calum, Michael, and you’ve already met Luke.” I point to each guy as I say their names. They nod, saying that they’ve seen her around school. I can tell that she’s avoiding looking at Ashton, who is staring right at her. “So why are you guys here?” Michael asks, and Calum whacks him behind the head, “I didn’t mean it like that! I’m glad we have someone to tell us how bad we suck, I was just wondering what brought them here.” I laugh to myself, and Alex pipes up, “You guys don’t suck, you’re r-really good.” “Thank you, it’s nice to hear that from someone other that Vivian,” Ashton grins. I roll my eyes, “I came here to talk to Luke, alone.” I say before I can think about how they’ll react. “Yeah, you’re gonna talk,” Calum sniggers.“We can hear everything down here,” Michael does a crude gesture, and I have to look away. “Don’t be too long,” Ashton winks. I roll my eyes again while Luke flips them off, leading me out the door to the backyard. “Be nice to Alex, I mean it!” I exclaim, looking at Ashton seriously who nods, and I can tell he’ll make sure that Michael and Calum are nice to her. Luke takes me around the house, to the side where the boys can’t see us. I get butterflies when I think of that, but focus on what I wanted to ask him. “Why did you look so embarrassed that Alex and I were here?” He bites his lip and looks away, “I don’t know, I’m just not used to anyone else but you watching me sing.” “Hey,” I say softly, moving his face so he’s looking at me, “You’re an amazing singer, and guitar player. You’re going to do amazing at the show, I promise you.” He sighs, and looks into my eyes, with pure insecurity in his. “But what if I don’t? What if I freak out and forget the words or the chords, or my voice cracks? I don’t want to make a fool out of myself or the guys.” “What calms you down while you’re playing?” I question. Luke’s cheeks turn slightly pink, “Thinking about you.”  The butterflies in my stomach double, “Well, I’ll be in the front row, screaming at you, so just focus on that.” He nods, and leans down to kiss me softly, then pulls away. “Okay, I’ll think of these.” He reaches a hand up and traces my lips with his thumb. My eyes flutter closed while he does that. Eventually his lips replace his thumb. I melt into his touch, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. We kiss for a few more seconds, until we pull apart to refill our lungs with oxygen. “So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” He asks, looking curious. I sigh, and lean my head against his shoulder as I tell him everything that my mother told Julian and I. I see his jaw clench as I tell him about my father and his certainty that he’ll gain custody of me. As I finish telling him about what Julian promised me, Luke wraps his arms around me. “Your brother’s right, none of us will let him take you. I was there when he hit you, I’ll testify against him, if it means you being happy.” He says, causing me to pull away from him. “No Luke,” I shake my head, “I don’t want you getting into the court things. I’ve already dragged you and the guys into my problems enough.” He looks at me seriously, “You haven’t dragged anyone into your problems, Vivian. You needed a friend to help you through all of this, and you found four of them. We’ll help you no matter what. I’ll always be here for you, no matter what.” He says the last three words slowly, and I can tell that he means it about more than just my family problems. I smile up at him, “Thank you, so much. For everything.” “Of course, Vivian.” He shakes his head, as if it’s absurd for me to thank him. I sigh, “There’s one more thing,” Luke looks at me like he knows what’s about to come, and nods for me to continue,”Now that the divorce is in place, and they’ll be having the custody battle, I think that it’ll help my mother’s chances of gaining custody of me if I live with her at my aunts.” A look of sadness crosses Luke’s face, but he nods nonetheless. “I knew you’d have to leave at some time, but I didn’t want it to be true.” “I don’t want it to be true either. Staying at your house has honestly been the best thing I’ve ever done. Your mom is so kind and welcoming, and I am so grateful for everything she’s done for me. I just can’t run away from problems for the rest of my life.” I explain. Luke nods, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, “I’m gonna miss having you only a few steps away, or having you crawl into my bed when you can’t sleep.” I smack him, “That was one time!” He laughs, and kisses my forehead. I sigh, and look up at him. “You know who I’m going to miss the most?” He smirks, but plays along, “Who?” “Molly.”  ★☆★ Authors note: Super long update for a super long wait! I was too busy and lazy to update sooner, so I’ve written a lot more than I usually do! I’m sorry that it took forever, but here it is. I’m super excited for the next chapter, and I can’t wait to start writing it. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, so if you did:Vote and comment!Hugs & Kisses-Hannahxx -- source link

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