Seeing Stars

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

***

The wind picks up outside as a howling roar, causing the window in front of me to shudder from the force. I lightly place my hand on the pane, as if to steady it and feel the sharp sting of the cold glass against my skin. Where are you?

A rolling dust cloud in the distance catches my attention and I feel my breath hitch in my throat. The cloud turns a corner and a silver car appears round the bend. A silver Honda, my brother's car. I can't help but smile as the car nears the house. With a sigh of relief, I pull myself away from the window and downstairs.

I shove on the first shoes I can find before pulling open the front door just as the silver car glides to a halt. The driver's door opens and Lochlan steps out, a huge grin on his face, "Hey little sis." I launch myself off the porch steps and into his outstretched arms as he envelops me in a hug.

"Hey," I reply back not letting go.

"What about the rest of us?" a voice asks.

I pull away from Lochlan and turn to face both Louis and Joel who had both also stepped out the car. "I missed you guys too." I reply with a grin as I hug them both. As I pull away they both chuckle, "Come on, let's go inside, it's cold out here."

I lead the way back up the steps and into the house before making my way into the living room. I throw myself lightly onto the couching and watch quietly as my brothers shut the front door and take up their usual spots in the room.

"Where's mum?" Joel asks, his eyes flicking back towards the hall

"Away," I reply with a flick of my hand, dismissing the matter.

Lochlan frowns at me a moment before asking, "Is she away often?"

With a sigh, I stand up and make my way to the window, "More than she used to be. It's all business now. She always has some meeting or another. I'm used to it though." I glance out of the window, watching the trees wave in the wind. "But enough about mum, what about you guys? How have you been?" I ask, turning around with a smile.

No one seems eager to answer as the all stare solemnly at me. I guess the news about mum always being away has really affected them. In an attempt to cheer up the mood I roll my eyes at them and make my way back over to the couch, throwing myself back down again, "Come on Joel." I say as I elbow him, "I want to know how you are."

He raises an eyebrow at me with a small smile playing at his lips. "It's good Lex," He replies, "Just finished Christmas exams which hopefully went alright."

I roll my eyes once more and push him gently, "Is that all I'm getting. Ugh you're so boring!"

He chuckles at me as he leans back on the couch, "Sorry Lex, that's all you're getting."

"Unless you want to know about all the parties and the sex with Taliah." Louis snickers under his breath earning him a disgusted look from me and a murderous one from Joel.

I shake my head to clear the images of my brother and Taliah together, "Ugh, thanks Louis I really did not need to hear that."

All my brothers let out a laugh and I can't help but feel content that they are back home again. The only one who is missing is Adrian but he has flown out to New York to spend Christmas up there with Tamsin. It is a very sweet thing to do but I do wish that they had come home. I miss them both.

The sound of a car pulling up signals that my mother has returned home. My brothers stand up and wait patiently for her to enter the house. I use this time to fully look at my brothers and see how they've changed. Louis's dark hair is longer than before and his skin has darkened by at least 2 shades. He's been travelling these past 3 months to places such as Thailand, Australia and New Zealand. Whilst there he's clearly been out in the sun a lot. I've seen his pictures on facebook. He looked like he had a lot of fun.

Joel on the other hand looks like nothing has changed, still the same old haircut and the same old clothes; white v-neck and black jeans. Lochlan's once shaggy blond hair has been trimmed styled. It makes him look older, more like the business man I know he is.

The door opens with a jolt, breaking me away from my thoughts as my mother enters, arms wide, "Oh my handsome boys," She coos pulling each one in turn into a hug. I use this as an excuse to slip away into the kitchen to start making dinner. With my mother being away so often I have become more comfortable in the kitchen and my repertoire of recipes has greatly expanded. Tonight's dinner will be nachos, loaded with guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheese, and bacon. It's an old favourite of ours and it was my father who in fact taught me the recipe.

I start prepping for dinner, taking all the ingredients out of the fridge. I quickly start to fry off the bacon, completely engrossed in what I am doing until someone enters the room. I look up to see Lochlan resting against a countertop, "What's up?" I ask.

"Are you okay? You didn't seem to great earlier, the nightmares aren't still happening, are they?" He asks, moving from the counter to stand by me.

I give him a small smile as I continue to cook the bacon, "The nightmares haven't come back. I'm fine Lochlan, honestly. I'm just a little lonely sometimes. Most of the time I am the only one here."

I hear him sigh before pulling me away from the stove and into his arms, "I should have stayed Lexi, you wouldn't have been alone then."

I pull away from him, "Don't be ridiculous Lochlan, you had a job waiting for you that you are perfect for. I'm fine, I'm a big girl. I can handle being alone." I say and look at him seriously. He seems to get the message as he nods his head and pushes me out of the way to get to the stove, "Head back through to the others, I'm cooking dinner tonight Lexi." He says with a smile as he grabs the spatula from my hand.

I almost protest but decide against it when he raises an eyebrow at me, telling me that I don't have a choice, that he is going to be cooking dinner tonight whether I like it or not. "Fine," I sigh and make my way back through to the living room where Louis and Joel are playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii and my mother is just quietly reading a book in the armchair.

Upon my arrival, my mother looks up from her book at lifts her hand up, offering to me the phone that was on it. My phone. "Thanks." I say as I take it from her and sit down on the couch.

"You got a message," She starts, "Mr Ward is asking if you are free to call you or facetime."

My eyes widen slightly at her words and Joel quickly hits the pause button on the game, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Ashton wants to call you? What are you dating or something now?"

I scoff as I roll my eyes at him, "Please, me, dating him? No thank you! Are you out of your mind Joel? We're just friends okay."

He looks unsure but Louis just smacks his arm, "Yeah Joel, what are you thinking? Jeez." He says childishly.

Joel pushes him back, "Shut up Louis, you were thinking the same thing."

I shake my head at their behaviour, before casting a glance over at my mother, "Sometimes I find it hard to believe that they are older than me."

My mother chuckles as she puts down her book, "I know, sometimes I find it hard to believe too. Now you two stop fighting."

My brothers look at her a second before grumbling an apology and going back to the game. I take this time to unlock my phone, noticing the missed messages from both Ashton and Tamsin. Like my mother said, his message is asking whether I am free. I quickly type back a response: Sorry Ash, I'm not right now. My brothers have just arrived home and I'm spending time with them right now. I'll call you later though?

Almost immediately I get a reply back, as if he had been waiting for me to text him. No bother, enjoy your time with them. Chat to you later.

I smile at his response before switching to Tamsin's messages. She had sent me a long stream of them, updating me on what she has been spending her day doing along with 2 pictures. The first of herself and Adrian being adorable in central park and a second one of a screenshot of Ash's Instagram. I open the image and see that it's a picture of Ash working out in a gym. I close the image and look at the message Tamsin sent underneath: OMG LEXI!!! DO YOU SEE HIS ABS?? Like how is it possible to look that attractive? He's so good looking omg!

I roll my eyes again at Tamsin being Tamsin but I have to admit that she's right. Ash does look good.