Falling

T H I R T Y - F O U R

The delectable scent of breakfast food flooding up the stairs and into my bedroom was enough to drag Will and I both out of my bed.

We headed downstairs early, before Tristen, Kaiden and Graysen had finished making the food. We just couldn't wait anymore.

"You know, you didn't need to come home just for me. I broke my ankle, I didn't die." I tell Tristen.

He scrunches up his face in blatant disagreement over my words. "And leave my baby sister to fend for herself? Fat chance." He says sarcastically.

A drop of sizzling bacon grease pops out of the pan and onto his arm and he momentarily drops the tongs onto the stove, the sound of metal clanking against metal echoing through the kitchen. He picks the tongs back up, swearing under his breath.

I snort at his clumsiness. "I would hardly be fending for myself. I have mom, dad, Kai, Graysen, and Will. Plus all of my friends." I pause. "This was really unnecessary." I add.

Dad called Tristen last night while I was knocked out in the hospital and told him about what had happened. Tris packed a bag as soon as his shift ended and drove the 2.5 hours it takes to get here before the crack of dawn. He even called into work for the weekend saying he had a 'family emergency'.

"Are you saying you're not happy to see me?" He turns to face me, his lips jutting out into a pout.

"Aww, Trissy," I hop up from the stool I'm sat on beside Will and hobble my way over to my oldest brother. "You know I'm always happy to see you." I wrap my arm around his waist and he groans before looping his arms over my shoulders, acting like it's such a chore for him to hug me back. "Thanks for coming to visit me."

"Anything for The Princess." He smirks. At his words, Kai and Gray obnoxiously begin to 'bow down' to me, moving their arms in sync.

At some point in time, the three of them decided to make a mocking joke out of my dads nickname for me. Whenever he would call me Princess, the three of my brothers would pretend to worship me just to get on my nerves. To this day, they still do it and they even jokingly call me Princess on their own from time to time, but only when they're all together. It's like they have this unspoken rule to annoy me when they all get together. I think they're just jealous of the fact that I'm the favorite child.

I roll my eyes at them and Will bursts into laughter, clearly amused by my brothers inside joke. "I am mad that you didn't bring Emma along, though." I tell Tristen.

My brothers straighten up and get back to cooking at the change in subject.

"She's coming later today, she just has to meet with her study group for an important project this morning."

"Yay!" I squeal and clap my hands.

Emma, Tristen's fiancée, and I are pretty close. I've pretty much known since they first started dating that she would one day be my sister in law. Even though Tristen already graduated from university, he's still living near the school to be close to Emma while she finishes up there. Once she graduates university next year, they're going to be moving closer to us again.

"What time will she be here?"

"Sometime after lunch but before dinner."

With a grin on my face I hobble back over to Will and he helps me back onto the chair so I don't lose my balance.

Will hasn't met Emma yet. I'm suddenly even more excited about the thought of introducing Will to another member of my family. Well, Emma's technically not a member of our family yet but she's close enough. It feels like she's always been apart of our family.