Puzzle Pieces

Ring

I wake up and instantly feel cold. Why am I cold?

I roll over on my side to see Andre sitting up and shirtless. He notices me staring and speaks up.

"I went to check on El already." He says with an aggravated tone.

I place a hand delicately on his chest and look up. "What's wrong babe?" I say with a worried tone. Maybe my brothers got to him.

"This." He says his voice breaking, as he hands me a ring.

An engagement ring to be precise. My engagement ring. The one Emmanuel gave me a year ago.

"Andre. You know this thing means nothing to me." I say breathlessly.

He moves my hand away from him and frowns. "But you said yes." He says his tone growing louder.

I sit up in bed and face him. "Andre! What is wrong with you?! I was forced to say yes! You really think I was in love with him?" I yell.

"Well! What am I supposed to expect?! How would he get your address in the first place?! Ashley you need to honest with yourself! Why else did you not kick him out?!" He yells back at me.

Oh, that's it. I stand up and get out of bed. "I don't need this! You need to calm down and think about all of this!" I bite back before storming out of the room.

I find Marcus, James, and Alex all standing in the kitchen. They look up at me with sorrow in their eyes.

"Who gave Andre the ring?" I ask as politely as I can.

They don't answer me and I grow angrier by the second. "Do you think I'm joking?! Who gave him that stupid ring?!" I yell at my brother's.

"Me." It's barely audible. But there. It wasn't any of my brothers. But it was a man.

Emmanuel pushes past my brothers and steps close to me. Too close. I shove him back, tired of him coming around and ruining everything.

"You're the reason," I start. If you can't tell, I'm absolutely furious. "That I can't have a normal life! Your the reason that my whole world was almost ended. You are the reason that Andre is in my bedroom, angry at me. You had no right to give him this ring! I was 16 and stupid! If I had the choice I would've never said yes." I yell at him.

I throw the ring at him and he opens his mouth to speak.

"No. You don't get to talk to me. Get out of my house. Now. Don't you dare come back. Ever." I shout at him.

He picks up the ring and leaves, slamming the door behind him. Still in the kitchen I collapse.

I don't cry. I can't cry. It wouldn't be fair to Andre.

I feel a familiar warmth fill my insides as a pair of arms wrap around me.

"I'm sorry baby. I hate fighting with you." Andre whispers into my hair.

I smile and turn to face him. "Goodnight." I say pecking his cheek. I stand up and run into my room.

I throw myself onto my bed and almost immediately fall asleep.

The next morning I wake up with Andre's arms holding me close to him. I glance over to the door and see all three of my brothers staring at us.

I wiggle out of Andre's arms and he frowns. His eyes are still closed but I can tell he's awake.

"Where are you going?" He asks rolling over to face away from me. He opens his eyes and spots my brothers.

"Oh... good morning guys..." he says awkwardly.

James eyes him suspiciously before talking. "You two share a bed?" He asks not taking his eyes away from Andre.

"We... we have to get to school!" I say realizing the time. I only have an hour to get to school.

I jump out of bed and change as quickly as I can. I then put on light makeup and brush my hair.

I rush into the guest room and wake up El. I get her dressed and feed her. Let me rephrase that. I fed all of the children staying in my house. James, Marcus, Alex, Andre, and El. That's a lot of scrambled eggs.

I jump in the car with El in my arms. I strap her into the back seat and start to drive. Oh yeah, and Andre's in here with me. I drive to El's daycare and drop her off. I then drive to school and pull into the parking lot. Andre and I walk hand I'm hand through the main doors.

It isn't too long before I see the new talk of the school. There standing in front of me is Marcus kissing Stephanie. Andre grips my hand as I continue walking. Then I see Alex standing by a locker taking books out.

Dont tell me my brothers go here now! At least James isn't here. Hes a freshman in college.

I walk into homeroom only to see Alex sitting in the front row.

"Class welcome our new student! Mr. Alexander Timore." The teacher says a few moments after I find my seat. I hit my head on my desk and hide my face.

"I believe he is your brother Ashley. Is that right?" My teacher says raising an eyebrow.

"Y-yes..." I mumble.

This is going to be a lonnnnnng day.

A/N
So sorry it's been forever! I've been on vacation but today is the last day! Another important notice... my school year starts August 15 so... I won't be updating as often as you may like but... yeah.

Much love,
-Kayla❤