Love Between Us

Chapter 19

"You two do remember that your father and I are leaving next weekend, right?" My mother asks as she passes my father a plate of food.

"Oh yeah. For your anniversary, right?" Austin asks.

"Yes," I watch as my mother walks over to my step-father and they kiss each other. "We will be on our way to Paris!"

"Are you sure you can't sneak me in a suitcase?" Austin asks, causing my parents to laugh.

"Very funny."

"I was hoping that would be a yes because I would do it." Austin laughs.

"Oh, I'm sure you would, Aus." Gregg grins as he stands up to go and refill his cup with coffee.

"Totally."

"Zuri?"

I advert my gaze to look at my mother who was now sitting in the chair that Gregg was once in. "Yeah?"

"You heard me, right?"

"Yeah, I heard you." I mumble and look down at my fruit salad.

"You sound so sad," Dad chuckles. "Maybe we can plan another family trip this summer somewhere fun. How does that sound?"

"Oh, I'm in!" Austin holds up his fork and smiles.

"Okay."

"Cheer up, Z. We'll bring you back some souvenirs." My mom assures. She reaches over to caress my cheek. I give her a weak smile. "Why do you look so sad this morning?"

"I'm not sad." I pull away from her embrace to stand up from my chair.

"Could've fooled me." Dad smiles at me.

"Is everything alright?"

Everyone's eyes are on me and I walk away from the table to put my plate in the sink. "I'm fine."

"Austin, what did you do to your sister?" Dad asks in an accusing tone.

Austin's eyes widen and flash between my parents and me. "Why are you assuming that I did something?"

"Oh, I'm just kidding with you." Gregg chuckles.

"There's nothing wrong," I tell them. "I'm just tired. I was up late studying."

"See, I told you it wasn't my fault." Austin holds his hands out towards me. "You know Zuri tends to be moody, anyways."

I drop my plate into the sink and turn to face him. "Yeah, well at least I don't go back on my word."

My parents both hold a more than confused look as they are unable to understand what I mean by my words. But Austin knows very well what I am saying and I give him an angry look before exiting the kitchen. As I climb the stairs I can hear my parents asking Austin what that was about but he just tells them that he doesn't know and that I probably got into an argument with Zane. I roll my eyes at that.

I head into my room so that I can finish getting ready for school. I straighten my hair to my liking and try to do a little makeup. When I hear a knock on my door I yell for them to come in. Through my mirror I can see that it is Austin. I roll my eyes and continue to do my makeup.

I wasn't exactly angry about him being with Raven. Based off all of the signs, it was bound to happen. I should have seen it earlier. And truth be told, I didn't exactly hate the idea of them being together. It just took some time to process. I was angry because what Austin did isn't very fair and I was annoyed because Raven was lashing out as if I had personally attacked her.