Where Did The Time Go?

Alex

December 25th 2015

"Alex!" My bedroom door was thrown open.

"Fuck off." I muttered into my pillow.

"But it's Christmas! We need to wake everyone up!" It was Olivia's voice. I turned to face her to see that she was making puppy dog eyes at me.

"What time is it?" I yawned.

"Almost 10. Please please please!" She was shaking my arm now, almost dragging me onto the floor. 

"Fine!"

We walked side by side down the hall, waking everyone else up. We'd just got to Rian's room when I heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it, you get everyone into the lounge!" Olivia smiled. She was so excited, it was adorable.

I bashed a fist on Rian's door and got him to surface. By now, Zack and Jack were leaving their rooms. They looked a mess- tired and half dressed.

"Ri? Someone get down here now." Olivia shouted up the stairs.

We all ran down to see a tall, dark haired woman in her late 20's stood at the front door. Liv came and ran up to Rian, looking terrified.

"Dad, do you know her?" But Rian wasn't listening. He was staring at this woman.

He took a step towards her, "Charlotte? Charlotte Burns?"

"Dad, who is she?" Olivia grabbed her father's arm.

He gently shook her off, "What the fuck are you doing here, Char?"

The woman faked a hurt expression, "Is that anyway to talk to me in front of our child?"

I looked around at everyone. Jack looked like he'd seen a ghost, whereas Zack just looked pissed. He'd pulled Olivia towards him and she was almost shaking.

"Charlotte, what do you want?" Rian was trying to whisper but it was clear what he was saying.

"I want custody of my child." She smirked.

"You can't. She's 18, she makes her own choice about where she lives." Zack spat. His fists were clenched in anger, he clearly wasn't letting anyone take Liv away from him or any of us.

"I gave birth to that little bitch. I want her with me." Charlotte had an evil glint in her eye.

"What the fuck did you call her!?" Zack gently pushed Echo towards me and Jack.

We stood her in between us and placed our arms around her. She had tears streaming down and her face and was shaking with fear.

Both Rian and Zack looked so fucking angry as they walked further towards Charlotte.

"You heard me. Now give me my daughter."

"They're right." Olivia whispered.

"What?" Charlotte crossed her arms looking impatient.

"I'm 18. No one can force me to live anywhere." She was getting more confident now, "And after this, I'm definitely not going to come and live with you voluntarily. These past 4 months, my dad, boyfriend and these two amazing weirdos have made me happier than I've ever been. And I'm not about to give that up. Now please leave us alone so that I can enjoy my Christmas with my real family." She was still shaking but was more confident.

"You heard her. Leave." Zack scowled.

"Fine, but this isn't over." Charlotte stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Suddenly, Olivia fell to the floor. She was crying uncontrollably.

"W-why?" She murmured.

"Why what?" Rian knelt down beside her.

"Why can't I just be happy, just for a little while? Something always has to come and ruin it." Rian pulled her into a hug.

Jack, Zack and I stood looking on awkwardly. Zack stood with his fists still clenched, but there were now tears appearing in his eyes. I'd only seen Zack cry a handful of times, and it was quite a scary thing. He was always so strong emotionally.

"Fuck!" Suddenly, Zack smashed his fist into the wall by the door. A hole appeared and his knuckles started bleeding. I saw Olivia twitch at the sight.

"Zacky?" Olivia whispered.

She got to her feet and slowly walked over to Zack. She took his bloody hand in her own and stared up at him.

"No one is taking you away from us- from me." His bottom lip was trembling and he was fighting the tears.

"I know, Zacky. I'm staying right here with you. With all of you." She smiled at us, "Now let's go get this bandaged up and enjoy our Christmas, yeah?"

He nodded and they headed of upstairs to the bathroom.

"Shit." The first I had heard from Jack since we came downstairs, "You do know that she can't force Liv to leave, right? She's 18- completely independent."

"I know, man. But I just... I can't let her leave me again. I can't give her up again. Having her was my best mistake, and letting her go was by far my worst." He pointed towards the stairs, "That girl is the most pure, kind-hearted person I have ever met. I don't know where the fuck she gets it from. Certainly not her mom." He sighed.

"You, dude." I smiled.

"What?"

"You. She takes after you. I swear to god." A smile melted onto Rian's face.

"Now, let's go give Olivia the Christmas she deserves." Jack smiled.