Inevitable

lxi: let go

She looks just as surprised to see me which is awkward and unsettling because I live here. I look behind my back only to realise that those three idiots are too invested in their game to actually realise that someone's at the door.

"Hey." She smiles at me, a smile that's awkward and confused.

"Hey, come on in." I step aside, opening the door wider to let her in even though that's the last thing I want to be doing. Reluctantly, I turn towards the living room, "Blake, you have a visitor."

"Who is it?" He asks, his eyes still fixed on the screen.

"Nicole's here." I notice how he practically freezes from my words, slowly turning towards us to look at the new presence in our small apartment.

I close the door behind myself, glaring at my boyfriend because Nicole obviously can't see me. But Nick can, and so can Caiden. They have paused the game and are staring between the three of us.

"Hey." Blake stands up, putting his controller down on the coffee table and I roll my eyes before moving over there.

"Get up." I hiss at my brother, earning a scowl from him but he gets up nonetheless. I pass him the beer bottles and point towards the kitchen.

"Is this a bad time?" Nicole asks, looking at everyone.

"No, it's fine. What are you doing here?" Blake sounds confused but not in a rude way, in more of a taken aback way.

"I heard about Nana, thought I'll visit," she tells him and I take in a deep breath.

Of course, she did. I try to keep my emotions in check as I snatch the controller away from Nick as well and keep everything back in its place. There's an empty bowl of popcorn lying on the coffee table too and all this trash is just adding onto my annoyance.

"Thanks." Blake smiles at her, nodding. "Come, let's sit."

"Here, I got you some comfort food." She offers him a small basket she's carrying in her arms.

"You didn't have to." Blake rubs the back of his neck before taking it from her hands. "Thank you. Take a seat, Nick's here. I'll be right back."

I move away from the living room back to the kitchen where my brother is observing the entire ordeal with an amused look on his face.

"What?" I frown at him.

"This is entertaining." He chuckles under his breath, picking up the apple to eat. "That's his ex, right?"

"Yup. One and only." I sigh, going back to making food everyone.

Caiden's gaze meets mine and he looks at me, "Are you okay? I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was gonna be here. I just wanted to come visit him."

"It's okay. You're welcome here anytime, I'm just annoyed at him," I tell him truthfully.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like he's handling it well." He mutters, "Incoming."

Blake enters the kitchen, putting the small basket she brought on the counter. He stares at me, as if to gauge my reaction but I keep my face straight, not giving him anything. He's upset me enough for today, there's a limit to how much I can let him walk all over me.

"I didn't know she was coming," He tells me and I nod at him in acknowledgment. "Emma, I'm serious. I didn't know."

"Did you give her this address?" I ask, making sure our voices don't travel down. He looks caught off guard by my question which only makes me scoff as I go back to chopping the vegetables. "Did she know we live together?"