𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 | 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞

sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ

Jack nodded understandably, but kept quiet. He knew how much he missed her, but at the same time, he couldn't help it. Annie needed space and she clearly wasn't ready enough to speak to him again, which broke him even more.

"To get back on your question from earlier, I'm here to stay. I don't want to say who, but someone send me here to keep an eye on you. I'll stay until Annie comes back, no matter if you want me to or not."

"Annie send you." It gave him some type of feeling, knowing that she still cares about his wellbeing. He imagined her smile when she heard Jack agreed. The sight of it brought butterflies to his stomach, causing a slight smile to appear on his lips.

"I don't know what you just thought of, but you need to think of it more often. Maybe it will help you feel better, at least until Annie gets back. I have the perfect idea.." Asher didn't like the smirk Jack had on his face. "You're going on a date. Don't worry, I'll take care of this." And with that, Jack left to go inside.

***

Annie was glad Jack wanted to help her and stay at his house. Not that it was a punishment for Jack, he got to see his best friend again that he hasn't seen in a while. Annie was happy to have such good friends around her, speaking of which.

"I think I should go, Paige can arrive any minute now." Jayden got up, picking up her stuff from Annie's side table, but stopped when she heard Annie call her back.

"No, no, stay. Paige would love to see you too, it's been a while. Don't you want to see anthem all grown up? I know you love her." Annie said, nudging Jayden in her shoulder.

She sure did love anthem. It was like playing with a mixture of Annie and Hayley, but better. Anthem was little for her age, just like Annie and Hayley, but the amount of knowledge she held it her tiny head was insane. "Okay fine."

Just as the two were done laughing after Jayden agreed, a doorbell rang through the house. Annie and Jayden raced who would get to the door the fastest, but were both beaten by Hayley. They arrived just in time, Hayley opened the door, revealing Anthem and Paige in the doorway.

Anthem smiled by the sight of her cousins, looking up at her mother for approval before running in for a hug. Paige nodded, it was enough confirmation for Anthem to run inside and give Annie a hug first. Annie lifted her up, resting her on her hip as she nuzzled her face in her neck.

Hayley took the opportunity to hug Paige. The last time she saw Paige, she reached up to her waist, but now she could lay her head down on her stomach. Jayden stood awkwardly behind Annie, fifth wheeling for a lifetime. It didn't last long before Anthem laid her eyes on her, reaching her arms out for her to grab her.

"Jayden!" Anthem gave it her all in order to get to Jayden. Annie turned around and tried to get anthem to look at her, but she wasn't having it. She wiggled her legs and made whiny noises, desperately trying to get to Jayden.

"Picking sides already, huh?" Annie said, as she gently placed anthem on the ground. She barely touched the ground before running to Jayden, standing still in front of her and reaching her arms out for Jayden to grab.

Jayden lifted her up until they met, face to face. Anthem crinkled her nose, making giggling noises as Jayden bopped it. All five of them heard the all so familiar sound of a camera. "Let's get inside." Annie said, blocking out her face as she closed the door.

All their fans knew she was at her mother's house, but she didn't quite feel comfortable with her family being all over the internet. Sure, they have been on camera, but paparazzi pictures always hit the news differently. Being on camera is intended, paparazzi is everything but intended.

She had thought that since Asher was the celebrity, the paparazzi wouldn't be interested in her at all, but since rumors of them dating, they couldn't care to leave her alone. She was surprised they hadn't found out about her and Elijah yet, he has been to her house multiple times now.

They even went to Panera Bread twice. She almost felt disappointed in the press that they hadn't caught on yet, but at the same time she felt lucky. She couldn't bare to imagine how Asher would feel if he saw her on the news, acting happy with another guy. Let's hope it stays this way.

She was going to tell him about her and Elijah eventually, but not now. He is in a too weak situation to be able to handle seeing Annie with someone else, he would break. After all, the week away from him wasn't over yet. It was day four, and that's was dangerously close to a full week.

She contemplated on staying longer than a week, but still didn't have a full confirmation on whether or not she will stay longer. She loved it here, but she missed her own home too. It didn't make sense to her, but she missed the way her own house smelled.

Even though her house was bombarded with boys on a day to day basis, it still managed to smell peaceful, in a way her her mother's house could never. Her mother's house smelled a whole lot like childhood, which is fun to grow up in, but not to go back to after you moved out.

The only thing that withhold her from going home was Asher. What if he was going to ignore her and is going to act as if it is her fault? She doesn't want to cause an already bigger fight. After considering the situation, she decided she was going to see how he would do with Jack. If he started to bloom again, she will go back home again.

☾

if you haven't seen it yet, i published a new book called 'your eyes only' and i'm kinda proud of it so i would really love it if you checked it out :)