Die In California

27

Devyn's POV:

"Devyn! Come down, there's someone I want you to meet!" Kells yelled at me from downstairs, disturbing my peaceful rest. It was the day after they'd all gotten back from tour and I was laid in bed with my eyes lightly shut, listening to some random playlist I had playing quietly in the background - to mask the noise of the guys. There had been no progress made with JP yet; they all went to bed early to catch up on lost sleep whilst I stayed up practicing my sketches for a while.

I groaned as I climbed out of bed and pulled an oversized dark grey sweatshirt on, running a hand through my hair to try and contain it a little bit since I was going to be meeting someone that's yet to see me looking like a mess. Even if I acted like I was carefree and couldn't give a fuck, I still didn't want our first meeting to be when I was looking like shit and giving out the worst first impression. You can't exactly blame a girl for wanting to look nice to make a good first impression.

I grabbed my phone and slowly made my way downstairs whilst scrolling through social media, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes as I tried to wake myself up more. I'd been in such a peaceful, easy going state, and I definitely wasn't ready to face living in this household yet. Especially with JP under the same roof. 

I still wasn't over JP's sudden change in character, and I just knew it would be a grudge I'd hold for a while. You can't blame me; he suddenly changed with no explanation whatsoever, and failed to provide one when confronted about it. He then failed to try and repair what had happened, and instead sulked to himself, sucked up to his father, and acted like nothing had happened and like how I was feeling wasn't worth his time. So I kind of figured where I stood in his mind. But at least his father still loves him.

"Devyn, this is my daughter, Casie. Cas, this is Devyn, our friend." Kells introduced me to the little girl sitting beside him. She was truly beautiful, with dark brown tight curls that bounced dwn to her shoulders, and the most genuine smile that I knew would light up any room, no matter how dull and depressing it was. She was much like her father in that sense. She at first smiled at me, showing her sweet side, then suddenly narrowed her deep brown eyes as she eyed me up critically - almost as if she wanted to start shit with me.

"I haven't heard about you before." She spoke so confidently, a slightly accusing tone to her voice as she continued to stare at me, watching my every movement. But that girl's stare had me frozen to the spot. Damn, she seemed feisty. "Likewise." I cautiously spoke, waiting for her next move. It was as though we were predator and prey, I just wasn't sure who was which of the two. 

I had no idea Kells had a family (not to sound rude, he just never spoke of them), let alone a daughter that's a full blown child! Why hadn't he mentioned her at all in the months that I'd known him? Hell, the months that I'd been living with him. I couldn't jump to conclusions - it was wrong, and it wasn't my place to do so - but I couldn't help but to wonder in the back of my mind, if he was slowly heading down the road my own father took, and a sense of sympathy built within me for the poor girl. Someone like her shouldn't ever be hidden away. I could only hope Kells was nothing like my father.

"Why haven't you told her about me?" Casie then turned her accusations to her dad, making me fight back a smug grin at Kells' genuinely shocked face. It seemed to have taken him by surprise, having believed her whole 'I-don't-like-you' (meaning me) act like I had, then he broke out into a wide grin and threw his head back in laughter at the realisation. "It's just never come up. You know I love you, Cas. I don't need to be walking round with you on my T-shirt for you to know that." He assured her with a laugh, pulling her tightly into his chest as they both fell back onto the couch, the two of them wearing almost identical smiles.