I'm a Ruin - a.i

II

"I'm very tired Thaddeus, can't we go to the hotel and get room service?" I asked my fiancé, nervously. I was afraid to admit that the idea of meeting Thaddeus's family scared me but it did. What if they didn't like me?

"Don't be ridiculous, Elouise. My mum is expecting us for dinner and we are already here!." He laughed, paying the taxi driver who drove us to this very modern looking home and then retrieved our luggage from the trunk.

Before Thaddeus went to knock on the front door he looked me straight in the eyes and said. "Don't worry, Lou. They will love you." and then proceeded to kiss my cheek. If only that had convinced me. Thaddeus then proceeded to knock on the door in a quite peculiar way that must have been a family thing of sorts and you could just see on his face how excited he was to be reunited with his family after a long awhile.

A lady only a little shorter than me with short blonde hair that I quickly identified as Thaddeus's mother opened up the door. "Tad!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. "How is my baby boy?" She practically pulled him inside the house, with me trailing behind awkwardly. I shut the door,politely and stared at my feet.

"Just fine, mother." Thaddeus chuckled.

"And who is this beauty? You're personal assistant?" A voice asked. I looked up and met eyes with a boy with considerably long dirty blonde hair coming down the stairs. My heart dropped, that was how we were looked as? I realized the age difference was a lot but..... do we really come off that way?

"Do not be ridiculous, Ashton. This is our newest member of the family, Elouise. Your brother's girlfriend." She gave him a disapproving look. So this was one of Thaddeus's younger brothers."I'm Tad's mother, you can call me, Anne. Now, don't mind me, I'm just going to check on the roast in the oven."

Once Tad's mother left, Ashton moved from the bottom of the staircase, closer to Thaddeus, to take a closer look at his older brother, with a devious smirk on his face. "Wow, my big bro really knows how to score em. Where did you meet her? In one of you class rooms?" He giggled.

"Actually, no." Thaddeus glared at his brother. "Glad to know that you still are a complete idiot. I'm surprised you haven't matured at least the slightest bit"

"Tad--"I warned. Ashton's comment was quite disrespectful but it was not worth starting a fight over. We had just got here for pity's sake. This was humiliating.

"Ha! Funny because I'm not even the least bit surprised you're still a pompous ass. Sorry Elouise, is it? but you're 'boyfriend'', well he's already taken. By himself. Ashton shot back, putting emphasis on the word ''boyfriend''.

Before Thaddeus could even come up with an insult to shoot back at his younger brother, a little boy came running down the staircase."Taddy!" He shouted, hugging Thaddeus's hips. Harry, who I assumed this was, was still very little compared to his older brother.

"Harry, how's it going?" Thaddeus picked his little brother up like he was a feather and chuckled. Meanwhile I still stood in the doorway holding my suitcase, awkwardly. I wanted to make myself comfortable but I wasn't comfortable at all.

"Here, I'll take this up to your Tad's old room." Ashton offered, this was the first act of kindness he had shown yet.

I shook my head almost immediately. "We are staying at a hotel. I don't want to be in the way here." I informed him, timidly, avoiding eye contact and pushed a couple strands of my hair behind my ear.

Ashton put his hand on my shoulder and smiled."Oh babe, you could never be in the way."He winked and sent shivers down my spine. Was he hitting on me? If anything, he was surely making me uncomfortable. Before I could even reply to Ashton, Thaddeus' voice interrupted.

"Where is little Laurie?" He turned to Ashton and asked, curiously with Harry still in his arms.

"Lauren isn't little anymore, bro. She's like....16..wait maybe 15. I don't know actually. She has a boyfriend now, ya know-- who, now that I think of it, she's with right now." Ashton giggled.

"Really? Mom is allowing that?"Tad's eyebrows raised and mouth opened with shock as he put Harry down and watched as he ran off into the kitchen to bug his mom.

"Allowing it is an understatement. We all love Luke! I introduced them actually."Ashton smirked.

"Oh, that makes me feel better."Tad mumbled sarcastically and only I caught it."She is too young to start dating, don't you think, Ash?"

"Tad, I was only 15 when I had my first serious boyfriend." I interjected. I wasn't defending Ashton by any means but Tad was ridiculous if he thought 16 year old girls shouldn't endeavor in relationships.

The first boy I ever dated was my dad's friend's son, Calum Hood. He was a year younger than me but skipped a grade so he was in my class. Calum was raised in a really musical family. He, himself was very musically inclined. We were together for a good 2 years but inevitably broke up when he moved away. I wouldn't say I miss our relationship but I do miss Calum. He was my first for a lot of things and above all, an unbelievably nice person. He was always there for me when I needed him. I think my dad cried more than I did when we broke up. Calum was the kind of boy every father wanted their daughter to end up with. You'd understand if you met him.

"Lou, I really do not want to hear about Calum right now." Tad shut me up and I rolled my eyes. Tad didn't like to think about me with other guys. He didn't even like how close I was with my step brother. To say it didn't annoy me would be an understatement. It's bothersome as hell. I shut up.

"Dinner is ready! Dinner is ready!" Harry came running over to us shouting and we made our ways to the dining room.

I ended up sitting between Ashton and Tad. And the table was completely silent as we all piled our plates with roast, mashed potatoes, and a lot more side dishes that Ms.Irwin must had spent hours preparing. Like a very delicious fruit salad.

"So, Ashton was telling me Lauren has got a boyfriend. Is that true, mum?" Tad finally was the one to break the silence.

"Yes, Luke is just the nicest boy, Tad. He works with Ashton at the record store." Anne proclaimed, giddily. Then she took one glance at her youngest son beside her, playing and making a mess with his mashed potatoes and reprimanded him. "Harry, it's food! Not play dough!" She took a napkin and dabbed all over his face, all covered in food, with it. Harry started throwing a tantrum and crying.

I couldn't help but giggle. This reminded me of a photo Michael had emailed me of Quincey on his third birthday all covered in his chocolate cake. I missed Quincey. And I missed Michael for that matter. "Harry, my little brother plays with his food like that and he's much younger than you."I stated and Harry immediately stopped crying and glared at me. I had a good point and the kid knew it.
"I like her."Ashton exclaimed and I smiled.
"Me too." Ms.Irwin agreed. "She's definitely a keeper."
"That reminds me, Mother. I do have some news." Tad stood up from the table to announce and I instantly froze. Really? Right now? I just met these people and they barely know me. "Elouise and I are getting married."

I think Liz was about to cry. "This is wonderful news!" She cheered. "Don't you think so, Ashton?" We all looked at Ashton for a response who sat there silently, eating his roast. Before Ashton could even reply to Liz's question though, she ran out of the dining room to fetch a bottle of champagne to celebrate with.

"As long as I'm NOT the best man." Ashton finally answered impolitely with a mouth full of food.

"Wouldn't dream of it. You aren't particularly the best at anything." Tad shot back, venomously, sitting back down at the table at his place beside me.

"Can I be the best man?" Harry finally spoke up eagerly. Covered in food once again. We all broke out into fits laughter.