The house was unusually quiet for a Saturday morning.
I found mom and dad in the kitchen, the two of them huddled side by side at the kitchen islands, sipping coffees and whispering to each other like a couple of teenagers. Usually, it made me nauseous to see the two of them like this but now, it made me think of Rose.
I hoped we were like this in twenty years.
Mom spotted me first. "Hey sweetie."
I smiled and headed straight for the coffee. I needed the energy after last night. Even thinking about it made me smile. It was a massive step, especially for Rose, and I was so damn happy. She'd been more open with me than ever and the way she'd looked at me, like she trusted me entirely, it made me feel like a giddy teenage girl crushing on a member of a boy band.
I'm not sure when it hit me that I was completely and utterly in love with the woman, but it had been so difficult not to say those words to her last night. I'd wanted her to know that she was it for me. That I didn't take what she was doing lightly. She was trusting me, after everyone in her life had let her down. I knew how much that meant. And I desperately wanted to tell her she was right to trust me because I loved her and I'd never, ever let her get hurt.
But she deserved better than that. This would be the first time telling her I loved her. I didn't want it to be in bed. I didn't want her thinking for a single second that I was only saying it because I wanted to fuck her.
"You and Rose rushed off pretty early this morning," dad commented. I caught sight of his amused smirk from the corner of my eye and my mom elbowed him.
I twisted to face them and he raised a brow. "She needed to get home."
He nodded. "She didn't say goodbye."
"Did she need to?"
He shrugged a shoulder, obviously trying to bait me. He was a dick like that. "Just surprised, she usually hangs around long enough to say goodbye but this morning she ran out of here like the place was on fire."
The amusement shone in his eyes as I glared back at him. "Shut the fuck up," I grunted.
He laughed and mom rolled her eyes at the both of us. For a moment, we all silently drank our coffee's but once my dad's laughter died down, he levelled me with a gaze. "I don't need to have 'the talk' with you, do I?" he asked, making quotations with his fingers. "You're being careful?"
It was my turn to roll my eyes now. No matter how old you got, there was nothing more uncomfortable and humiliating that discussing sex with your family. "Jesus Christ," I grumbled, taking a long gulp of my coffee. "I'm good, thanks."
Dad laughed again, holding his hands in the air. "Just want to make sure," he said, "that poor girl doesn't need you knocking her up."
My glare intensified. "Can we talk about something else?" I requested. "Where is everyone?"
It was nearing ten o'clock and it was rare that anyone had a lie in around here because when one person was up, they woke everyone else. "The boys are in the garden playing football and the girls are both still in bed as far as we know."
It wasn't rare for Vi to hide away in her bedroom until she was hungry but Em would usually be outside with the guys playing football. She'd been withdrawing more and more recently and it was worrying me. "Em okay?" I asked, fixing my gaze on dad. He was closest to her.
He sighed, ran a hand down his face, and then shook his head. "I don't know what to do. Whenever I try and talk to her, she tells me she wants to be alone." He lifted a shoulder. "I can't force those girls to be nice to her... well, I could but your mom won't let me," he grumbled, nudging her in the side. "I don't know how to fix it."
I leant back against the counters. The defeat was written all across his face. Dad was a fixer. He sure as hell wasn't the type to sit back while someone was hurting his family. But he couldn't control how other kids treated Em and it was obviously killing him. "Can she move schools?" I asked. We'd all been to the same schools growing up as they were the closest but there were a few others outside of town.
"I suggested it to her but she told me she didn't want to," he said with a sigh. "I think she's worried it'll be no different."
I could understand that. I was similar to my dad in so many ways and not being able to do anything to help my sister was incredibly frustrating. If I could, I'd be right behind my dad, using physical force to help convince the girls in her class that they might want to treat her a little better. But hurting kids wasn't something I'd ever willingly do. Even if they deserved it.
"I might start picking her up from school sometimes," I said, more to my mom now. Usually, she picked Em and James up from middle school but she wasn't the least bit intimidating. I might not be prepared to actually hurt the girls in Em's class, but they sure as hell didn't need to know that.
"Matt, leave it alone," she warned.
I rolled my eyes at her. "I'm not going to do anything. But maybe if they see Em has an older brother looking out for her, they'll back off a bit. It's worth a try."
Dad nodded. "I agree. She doesn't deserve this. We might as well try and scare them off a bit."
Mom sighed and moved around the kitchen island until she was beside me. "Just remember you're dealing with ten-year-old girls, Matty." She dumped her empty mug in the dishwasher and placed her hands on her hips. "You can be pretty intimidating to grown men so just tone it down a bit alright? You want them to back off, not have nightmares for weeks."
I shrugged, sharing a look with my dad. "I'd be okay with that."
She smacked me in the stomach. "I mean it," she warned and then swivelled to make her way to the laundry room.
Dad laughed and raised from his own seat. "You'll have to let me know what it's like, if you do go and pick her up."
I nodded in agreement before leaving him and heading to the garden. Chris was standing down one end of the garden between two posts we used as a goal while Alex and Jay took turns trying to get the ball past him. It wasn't American football, but Chris loved European football just as much. And he was a damn good goalie.
I laughed as an argument broke out between the three of them. All too damn competitive for our own good. The bickering went on for a few minutes before cleared my throat and made my presence known. They twisted towards me and a grin formed on my brother's face. "Good night?"
For fuck's sake. Had we really been that obvious? I'll admit Rose did avoid eye contact with everyone this morning when she ran out to my car. And maybe I'd had the biggest, shit eating grin on my face. And she was blushing bright red. And we probably weren't quiet enough, but the walls in this place were pretty thick. I'd figured we were fine but now I was starting to think I was wrong.
I fixed him with a glare while Jay burst out laughing at his side. "Keep your mouth shut."
I turned away from both of their smug smirks to meet Chris' eye. "What?" he questioned, looking between me and the two idiots laughing behind me. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," I grumbled.
He ignored me. "What's his problem?" he asked the guys, jabbing a thumb in my direction.
"Probably performance related," Jay teased. Alex snorted. Chris's face scrunched.
"What?" he asked again, eyes darting between the three of us. "I don't get it."
"Don't worry about it," I told him. "These guys are just idiots."
He scoffed. "Well that I already knew," he muttered, shaking his head at them like he was the adult and they were the kids. I couldn't help but laugh. Growing up so fast and yet so innocent at the same time. I knew it wouldn't last long.
The other two were still chuckling, mumbling stupid little comments to each other that I ignored. I turned away just as my phone started to ring. Sierra's name flashed across the screen and just like that, the smile dropped off my face.
"Hello?" I answered, not a single trace of amusement left in my tone.
She wouldn't call me unless it was an emergency. I asked her to call me in an emergency. My heart thundered in my chest and the milliseconds before she spoke felt like hours. "Matt?"
"Is everything okay?"
"I uh... I don't think so." Her voice sounded uncertain and shaky. I felt sick. "You asked me to call you if I thought it was bad and uh... it's bad, Matt. You need to get here quick."
"How bad?"
I was already racing back inside, leaving the guys standing, staring after me. "I could hear her screaming," Sierra said through the phone. "I'd go and check it out for myself but I can't risk Kelsey, Matt, I-."
"I understand," I told her. "I'll be right there."
"You need to hurry," she said. I could tell she was crying. "Her mom is still screaming but-," she sobbed through the phone, "I can't hear Rose anymore, Matt."
My heart dropped right out of my body.