The Thompsons.

18 Disastrous dinner party

"OH MY GOD ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MY WINNING SHOT!" Leo shouted at me as he threw me onto the floor and straddled me. I grinned up at him after recovering from the hit to the ground.

"Oops." I shrugged. He glared back down at me and I heard Zara laughing from the doorway. I looked over at her to see her holding back Danny who looked concerned and angry. I grinned up at them both and flipped Leo and I over when he was about to shove his socks in my face. I grabbed his socks and shoved them in his mouth as I pinned both of his arms down with my knees. I laughed at his face as his eyes began to water with the stench of his socks and got up off of him.

"You're gonna pay for that." Leo growled once he had spat his socks out and wiped his face clean. I smirked and ran out of the room, pulling the door shut and holding it with a foot on the wall to keep it shut as he tried prying the door open. Zara pulled Danny into my room as I let go of the door and sprinted in that direction too. I slammed my door shut and placed my chest of drawers in front of it again. I turned around to see Danny looking very confused and Zara on the floor trying to regain her breath from laughing so hard.

"Welcome to my family."

---

"BOYS! DINNER!" Chris yelled up the stairs. I pulled myself up from my bed and pushed my drawers out of the way so we could go downstairs.

"So they don't call your name then?" Danny asked as we walked down the hallway. I shook my head and continued down the stairs.

I stepped into the kitchen to see everyone sitting at the table having a grand old time, laughing conversing freely. I knew that as soon as I sat down the atmosphere would change drastically. I sighed then stepped into the room, grabbing my seat next to Josh. Zara sat on the other side of me and Danny sat opposite Liam, next to Charlie. Chris caught me sitting down and stopped eating.

"Oh, you're still here then, Mia." He stated with a look of distaste. I glared at him.

"It's Lia you fuckwit, and yes, I am still here. This is where I live you know." The room silenced, just as I expected. Mel gasped.

"You will not use such foul language in my house." She declared in a loud voice. I rolled my eyes and pointed to Danny.

"That's Danny, he is Charlie's brother and a friend of ours." I motioned to each person as I said their names. It seemed like my parents only just noticed that Zara was sitting quietly next to me.

"Oh, Zara. So nice to see you. It's been so long." Mel exclaimed with a smile. "I don't know why you're still friends with that but I guess we can't change your mind now." She sighed and shook her head, almost in disappointment. "And Danny, nice to meet you. Shame you're also friends with it but hey ho, can't change your friends that easily." She shrugged and continued eating. I gripped the knife tighter in my hand until Josh placed his hand over mine and made me drop it. I looked over at Danny to see him giving me a pitiful glance but I shook my head slightly and smiled gently as I began eating. The meal itself wasn't bad, it was just the people who made it and the company we had that made me dislike the meal in general.

** could be triggering now... I'm really not sure what would constitute as triggering in this chapter but you've been warned anyway - lasts till the end of the chapter **

"So, uh, I have some news." James piped up after a while of awkward silence. Everyone looked up at him expectantly as he cleared his throat. "Uh, well this has been bothering me for a while now, and I knew I needed to tell everyone what was going on."

"Don't beat around the bush, son. What's bothering you?" Chris asked with a sigh. James took a deep breath, looked everyone in the eye and began speaking again.