Healing Takes Time

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

There is nothing worse than being crammed into a car with your family for over ten hours, I thought as I folded a shirt and crammed it into my suitcase. Honestly, I'd been telling my parents that I needed a bigger one for about two years now, but they never listened.

I told them that I didn't want to go on vacation, that I'd be really bored without my friends--which was a blatant lie seeing as how I didn't even have any friends--but it wasn't like they actually cared what I thought. Needless to say, we don't always see eye to eye. I didn't always used to be that way though. It started about when I got into high school. Most of my peers started getting all this independence and I still had to ask my parents if it was okay to cook myself some eggs. I may be the oldest child of four, but to my parents, I'm still their "baby." The opposing views caused some... friction to form. Now at my "rebellious"--or so they say--age of 17, we still have problems getting along most of the time.

My younger sister Mikasa burst through my door. "Mom wanted me to tell you that it's time--"

"Hey!" Eren, my other brother and her twin, yelled when he ran in behind her.

"--for dinner!" she finished.

Eren stomped his foot. "She told me to tell him."

She raised her chin. "Be faster next time."

"That's not fair!"

"Okay," I interjected. "Can you go finish your little skirmish downstairs?"

Eren narrowed his green eyes at me before he stuck his tongue out. For being a ten-year-old he sure was childish.

As if sensing my thoughts, Mikasa grabbed Eren's wrist and pulled him out of my room while saying, "Don't be such a baby."

I rolled my eyes and finished zipping up my suitcase before heading downstairs. Eren had always had a major temper, and I had a bit of one too, actually, so we were at each other's throats a lot of the time. There were times when we did get along really well like when we shaved all of hair off of our golden retriever Erwin or when we convinced our youngest brother Connie that he was the next Avatar (what can I say? That kid looks like Aang).

Speaking of which, Connie almost ran me over right when I got to the bottom floor. I could hear the thumping of feet right behind me, so I pressed against the wall as fast as I could to avoid getting run over. He must've just heard about dinner being done. I've never met a six-year-old that likes to eat as much as him. A few moments later, Erwin went running after him.

There was a lot of commotion in the kitchen and dining room like usual. Mikasa and Eren were still bickering, Connie was trying to ride Erwin like a pony, my mother Hanji was setting the table, and my father Levi was putting the finishing touches on dinner.

I'm just going to say this now: my dad is really, really short for a guy. He's about 5 foot 3. I passed him up in height in about eighth grade. Eren is up to his shoulders already, and so is Mikasa. I personally like to make height jokes--are you sure you can change that lightbulb by yourself?--and run like hell.

Another thing, he is a clean freak. Which I guess is really unfortunate since he has four fucking kids and a dog. He taught us all everything when we were younger--right now he's training Connie how to do some basic things, and he's teaching the twins how to actually use chemicals to clean--so when I live alone one of these days, I'll know how to clean the toilet. Because God forbid I can't do that. Insert eye roll here.

"Go sit down," Mom said to the twins. They did and finally stopped fighting. She swooped down and picked Connie up from Erwin's back and tickled his stomach. He giggled and ran to sit at the table when she put him down. "Jean boy, can you get the cups?" she asked, looking at me from behind her glasses.

I went to the cabinet that we keep the glasses in and pulled out six before I placed them in their proper places. I also grabbed the silverware before she could and put it down on the table where they were supposed to go.

"Oh, thank you," she said before she kissed my cheek. I made a face, and rubbed my face where she kissed it. She just started laughing.

Dad walked into the dining room with a plate filled with chicken and a pot with vegetables in it. Mom ruffled his hair when she went by him and leaned down--way down because she's pretty tall--and kissed the top of his head. He glared at her back, upset that she had messed up his perfectly neat hair.

"Come on, pack mule--help Dad," Eren said to me.

I gritted my teeth. For years Eren had called me some name that had to do with horses because he thought I had a long face. He knew just how much it annoyed me too. "You little--"

Eren's face almost hit the table when Dad smacked the back of his head. "Knock it off," he said.

"Hey, hey, hey--no need for violence," Mom chimed in when she entered the dining room again with a gallon of milk.

"Eren started it," Mikasa told her.

Eren glared at her. "You're supposed to be on my side."

She shrugged. "Not when you act like Connie."

Connie raised his head. "What?"

"Nothing," Mom interjected. "Everybody just sit down."

I sat down and reached for the milk. Mom and Dad worked on getting food onto all of the kids' plates. Mikasa asked about the resort we were headed to tomorrow. Dad explained it to her while I listened, pretending not to be interested. I didn't really want to go, after all.

Apparently it was a place called Evergreen Resort in Minnesota on Lake Bear. The closest town was Little Grove (don't even ask about the names). We were going to be staying in the resort for a while--I couldn't remember how long. Apparently this was a very family-oriented place.

He reached over and wiped off Connie's face with a sigh after he finished. "What a mess," he muttered.

"Oh, Levi," Mom said, smacking his arm pretty hard. "Don't be such a grouch."

He just looked at her, and she laughed.

It was kind of weird how obviously in love my parents were. I was pretty sure that Mom was the one that really wanted to have kids, and I was also sure that he consented, even though he knew we'd be messy, because he can never tell her no. Actually, he can never tell our dog no either, which was pretty strange.

I was done with dinner quicker than normal, so I rinsed my plate off and started to head upstairs.

"Jean? Don't you want to stay down here with us?" I heard Mom call from the other room.

I hesitated on the stairs, torn between wanting to actually talk to my parents and wanting to tell them to leave me alone. In the end, the latter part won, and I went upstairs without a sound.

* * *

Okay, yeah. I know that this chapter probably sucks, but whatever. I just wanted to get this posted so people wouldn't be quite so freaked out by the prologue--yes, I know it was creepyish.

Anyway, I hope you keep reading. Marco will be introduced sometime soon. I think. Bye!!!

Oh, also, I don't own any of the pictures that I use for the media. I just found them on Pintrest, Tumblr, Google, etc.

--Shelby