Heart Key (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 9: Ex to See

Song: Ex to See

By: Sam Hunt

"Come on guys, tell me what happened!" Chloe demands as I stare out the passenger seat window, refusing to look at her or Emma. Emma lets out a sigh before replying, "I would tell you if I knew, but she never told me either. It has something to do with Nick is all I know." She says and I feel myself tense up at the mention of his name.

"What'd Nick do?" Chloe asks softly and I shake my head slowly as I watch the scenery  move outside. "Nothing." I reply softly just as we pull up outside my house where I notice my Aunt's car is still parked. 

I let out a sigh before turning to look at my friends with a forced smile. "I probably won't be at school tomorrow. I need to get my cousins settled." I tell them as I reach to open the door. The lock clicks and I look up at Chloe in surprise.

"Let me give you an update on your heart key." She says and I can't help but roll my eyes at her as she pulls up the tracking app on her phone. We all fall silent as we wait for it to load. When it loads I lean over to see the key moving on the screen. 

"It looks like whoever picked it up hasn't set it down." She murmurs and I shrug  before going to open my door again. "It's still in Italy, they could've given it to someone else by now." I tell her and she frowns at me as I hop out of the truck and pull my backpack out with me.

"You're so pessimistic." Chloe groans and I shrug before shooting them both a smile and slamming her truck door shut, knowing she'll shout at me for it. I glance back at her as she yells at me not to do that before waving bye and walking up to my front steps.

I pull out my key and unlock the door before stepping inside and shutting it behind me. I throw my key in the dish beside the door before tugging off my shoes and looking up only to be tackled in a hug by Chris. I let out a breath of surprise as I drop my backpack and hug him back.

"Y-you're early!" I stutter in surprise as I bury my head in his shoulder and tighten my hug on him. I've missed him that's for sure. We pull back after a few minutes and he shoots me his bright, white grin. "I had to surprise my favorite cousin. I mean, what type of cousin would I be if I didn't go against my other cousin's specific orders not to come until tomorrow and come today?" I laugh as he wraps his arm around my shoulders before leading me into the kitchen.

I smile as I see Aunt Grace with a stressed look and Taylor sitting at the table looking guilty. They both look up as we walk in and Taylor offers me a small smile while Aunt Grace just looks worried. I notice her position herself in front of something and I tilt my head at her.

"What are you hiding?" I ask curiously and she lets out a sigh before shooting Taylor a look. I glance over at Taylor before moving away from Chris's arm and walking over to look around Aunt Grace. I find a burnt ice pack sitting on top of a large scorch mark on the counter.

I stare at it for a moment before busting out in laughter. I lean against the counter as I laugh and they all look at me in confusion as I fall to the floor clutching my stomach in the process. I'm crying from laughter after a few minutes as I attempt to calm myself down.

I finish as I push myself back to my feet and wipe the tears from my eyes. "H-How did you manage to burn ice?" I ask with a small amused chuckle and Taylor laughs softly before shrugging. "I was trying to ice a burn I had from the school burning and I found a lighter." She stares at her hands as she says this and I stare at her in disbelief.

"You," I point at her and she looks at me in surprise. "are a pyromaniac. No. More. Fire." I tell her and she nods in agreement along with everyone else in the room. We all pause for a moment before laughing as I slip the ice pack into the trashcan. 

"Come on, I'll figure out a place for y'all to sleep." I tell them and Chris nods before following me with Taylor close behind. I lead them up the stares and point out the guest bedroom to Chris before leading Taylor to my room. 

I move some of my junk around before setting up a pallet on the floor and pointing towards the bed. "You can sleep there until I can get the extra bed from storage." I tell her and she nods before throwing her luggage onto the bed. 

"Let's go see if we can get Aunt Grace to cook us something for dinner." I suggest with a grin and she nods, smiling cheerfully as she follows me back out of my room and down the stairs. I walk into the kitchen to find my aunt already cooking up a storm.

I watch her in amazement as she moves around the kitchen with ease, flinging spices around skillfully. I glance over to see Taylor smiling at the sight and I quickly push her out of the kitchen. She looks at me in confusion and I say, "There's too much fire there for you." 

She lets out a sigh before nodding and walking over to watch TV in the living room. She's a lot quieter than she used to be. I think as I watch her flip it onto Disney channel. I smile at her childishness before nearly jumping a foot in the air when a hand clamps down on my shoulder. 

I whip around to see Chris grinning at me mischievously. "You jerk!" I shout as I smack his chest, only succeeding in making him laugh even more. "I couldn't help myself." He laughs and I frown at him before crossing my arms over my chest angrily.

He rolls his eyes before hugging me again. "I really did miss you." He tells me and I nod, knowing how he feels as I hug him back. We'd always been close, even before my brother died along with his parents. A lot has happened in the last few years and, even though, we haven't seen each other in forever, we're as close as ever.

I pull back, brushing some tears from my eyes before glancing over at Taylor. "What happened to her? She's so... quiet now." I ask softly as I motion to her. Chris frowns with a hint of sadness in his eyes at the mention of his twin. 

"Our parent's death hit her hard, and she was being bullied a lot because of..... well..... you know." He says with a sigh and I nod in understanding. Taylor's not the brightest in social situations and often comes off as childish to people. I've only ever seen her sad or serious around her parents. They were the only ones who could get her to act like her true self. They were the only ones she ever really trusted.

She's never really been able to trust people her own age for some reason, not even her own twin. I let out a sigh as I look at her. Yeah she's annoying, but I love her. I don't know what makes her act the way she does but I had hoped she would be over it by now.

"Did you do something about the bullies?" I ask softly and he nods with a small grin. "I got them expelled and then beat their heads in." I smile at that. Chris isn't as gentle as he looks.