Miserably Delightful

chapter 17

After my conversation with Mr. Blackbourne there was nothing left for me to worry about except for how they would react to the concept of a poly relationship and what I was going to do for my birthday. I already knew that I was going to have to return home for my birthday or else my the press would find out and wonder what kind of damage was going on between me and my family. It was shocking that they hadn't already gotten word about the fact that I was no longer staying with a family member.

I had been left home alone while the boys got together to discuss the issue of what our relationship was and what it could be. I hadn't realized that when Owen had said soon he had really meant soon, as in a few hours after our conversation. I didn't mind being left alone, in fact it was even nice sometimes, but whenever I was left alone, I found that my mind wandered into dark places that were better left untouched and unvisited.

It had begun to rain in the boy's absence and with lack of anything else better to do, I took up residence in Nathan's kitchen, looking out the window. I toyed with the edges of my phone, contemplating texting the old friends that I wanted to. It had been so long since I had last visited them that it made me sick to my stomach, but then I had to remind myself that they had never really been my friends, but my brothers friends.

As I called them my brothers friends, something struck me funny about those words. I frowned, and it struck me that they had never treated me like I was just their friend's little sister, they had treated me as an equal. It was that thought that decided it for me: while the boys were gone, I was going to make a small visit to the Sergeant Jasper and see how the boys were doing.

The drive was a short one, as well as one full of excitement. I hadn't really noticed how badly I had missed them until recently. My life had been so full of craziness and chaos that I hadn't had the time to miss anyone besides Zain, that was. It was easy to miss Zain when there was the constant reminder that he was no longer who he once was, but it was harder to make room and find time to miss anyone else.

I should have felt bad about showing up out of the blue, but I didn't. My excitement made it virtually impossible to make me feel bad about anything at the moment. I knocked on the apartment door, practically bouncing on my toes.

When Axel opened his door, he seemed shocked for all of a moment before he gripped my arm and pulled me into a hug. Neither of us were all that fond of affection, but when it came to each other the same rules didn't apply. Axel gently pulled me into the apartment, and I flashed him a smile.

"I didn't know you were stopping by," Axel said, leading me into the living room. I was surprised by the fact that none of the boys were present at the moment, but if I knew them well enough then Marc was probably out and would be home soon, and Raven was either cleaning guns or napping.

"I didn't tell anyone," I explained, curling up on the couch, smiling at Axel as he took a seat next to me. "It was a whim of the moment sort of thing and I wanted to surprise you guys. Are the others here?"

Axel nodded. "Hang on a moment."

I leaned back on the couch, directing my attention to the television that had the news on it. I zoned out, vaguely listening to noise deep in the apartment. I was drawn out of my thoughts by a shout that sounded like it came from Marc's room. I shot to my feet, wondering if it was something I should be steering clear of or breaking up. Luckily, before I could make a decision, the boys were stumbling into the living room in a line.

Axel, looking smug; Marc, looking rather irritated but also sleepy; Raven and Corey... looking embarrassed. I grinned, crossing my arms, waiting for the boys who were just now walking in to notice me. Marc was grumbling about something under his breath and I rolled my eyes, wondering if he had been woken from a nap. He looked tired and with the way that he was rubbing his eyes, he resembled a sleepy child woken from their sleep without their consent.