Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Seven

Songs for this chapter:
• Only Want You - Rita Ora

Chapter One Hundred and Seven:

Lexi's POV

"Can we FaceTime later tonight? I'm lonely," I pout, my arms still wrapped firmly around Jordan's waist.

"Of course, princess," he responds. "Let me know once you're finished with family dinner. I'm sure you'll be stuffing food into your face as fast as possible to get away from . . . them."

Even the suggestion of their presence makes me shudder. I know my dad wants to see his twin, but sometimes I wish Uncle Michael could come visit us without Adriana and Addison tagging along.

Jordan smoothes another hand down my back and I squeeze him tighter one last time before releasing him. He taps me on the nose and I laugh as he slips out the door and onto my front porch.

The hot, humid summer air instantly wafts into the house and I can practically feel a bead of sweat slide down my neck already. I close and lock the front door behind him, and I'm smiling like an idiot when I stick my hands into the pockets of my sweatshirt and skip into the living room, interested to see what the rest of my family is up to since Jordan and I have been hiding out in my bedroom all day and watching TV from my bed.

I continue to skip all the way down the hallway until I reach the living room and freeze at the sight in front of me.

My mom and dad are sitting on the loveseat, Charlie and Uncle Michael are sitting on the larger sofa, and the twins are sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, sipping from their glasses of lemonade and giggling at something on Adriana's phone.

My dad clears his throat, and six pairs of eyes immediately shoot to me.

Uncle Michael points in my direction, but his eyes are on his daughters. "Out. Adults only."

Adriana opens her mouth to protest, but one stern look from my uncle and she shuts her mouth. Her and her twin glumly grab their glasses and shuffle out of the living room and past me through the doorway, grumbling as they go.

As soon as they stomp upstairs, Charlie pats the seat on the couch between him and Uncle Michael. "Come sit, Lex."

Slowly, I enter the living room and claim the seat between him and our uncle. My hands are still buried in my pockets and I find myself anxiously fisting the material.

"What's going on? Why is everyone looking at me?" I ask nervously.

When no one responds, I force myself to awkwardly laugh, which just manages to make me more uncomfortable.

I purse my lips together and slump backwards, wishing that I could just disappear into the couch cushions.

"We just want to have a little chat with you. That's all," my mom says sweetly.

I can't help but to grimace. I can already tell that I don't like how this conversation is going to go.

"Is this some sort of intervention?" I joke.

The sudden tension in the room could be cut with a knife.

Oh.

Charlie pats my shoulder sympathetically. "We're only doing this because we all love you, Lex, and we want you to be happy. We hate seeing you like this."

I bat his hand away, worried. "What do you mean? Seeing me like what?"

Charlie and my parents exchange a glance, and Uncle Michael decides to cut in.