Flower in the Flame (The Scattered Series - Book #1)

Chapter Sixteen

𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦 - 𝘏𝘪 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐'𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵! 𝘌𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰, 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 ;)

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨

16 | Billie Joe Armstrong

It's only a week until Madeline moves out, and I cannot wait. Getting her the hell away from me means I'll have space to figure out how I'm going to fix things with Nadia. She hasn't answered any of my calls, nor has she come back for any of her stuff. I haven't seen her since the awards ceremony, and it's been 2 weeks. It's as if she's vanished.

But she hasn't vanished. She's just avoiding me like she would the plague.

My sister, Fallon, dips her fingers into the cake batter and pops them into her mouth while Mike's back is turned. Fallon has always been the happiest girl I know, with a stupid amount of optimism. She's suffered in the past with boyfriends, but still believed love is the most beautiful thing. As do I. I think it's something we get from our mother. We don't share the same dad, but her dad fucked off after 2 years anyway. We share mom, and she's always been more than enough.

"So," I ease into a chair at the table and lean down to grab my lower leg, pulling it up to rest my ankle against the knee of my other leg. "When are you two going to have a kid?" My question is proposed as Fallon swipes more of the batter. Mike catches her this time and pierces her with a stern look before he directs his attention to me.

"I dunno, Bills, bit of a forward question, don't you think?"

Fallon plants her hands on her hips, "Well, my fertile window is closing."

"You're 35, Fallon. Your fertile window is wide open." Mike's retort is sharp, and Fallon grabs the spoon from the batter, wielding it in his direction. "Don't you give me attitude, Pritchard." She warns, testing him with a raised brow.

A hoarse chuckle catches at my throat and burns as I lift my phone. Still nothing from Nadia. Too often do I wonder what she's doing, does she think of me like I think of her? Do I live in every corner of her mind like she does mine?

Me:
Is your phone broken?

I type the message, my thumb hovering over the send button. I think the message sounds a little bit too passive aggressive. I'm not mad at her, not one bit, I could never be mad at her because she's... well she's Nadia motherfucking Spencer. The fake brunette with gorgeous, plump lips, thick dark lashes, and long legs which I long to have wrapped around my hips.

Quickly, I send the message, turn off my phone, place it face down and look up at the pair before me. I feel like a stupid teenager who has just sent a risky picture of my erect cock. Mike is shrugging at my sister. "No attitude, Sunshine, just saying we have ages yet."

In a swift motion, Fallon leans forward to lightly jab the batter covered end to Mike's cheek. My best friend scowls, stepping away and swiping his cheek clean, "what the hell was that for?"