All Roads Lead Home (Book #1)

Chapter 1

March 2018

"Krystah? Honey are you awake?" Dads usual question rings through the house.

Ugh! No! "Yeah, dad." I always say yes.

"'Kay. I'm heading to work, so you're on your own until long after supper." As always on a Saturday night.

"Actually dad, I'm not going to be alone all night," I say from under my warm covers, never going out to see him face to face.

"Well I know Halloween will be here, but I'd still consider that to be alone," dad says, a small chuckle escaping.

Ah, Halloween. My beautiful, orange kitten. I love him so much. "Well Halloween's here, but Jayden will be here in about an hour." I sink further under my covers as I hear dad's heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. I shouldn't have told him that. He hates Jayden coming over when he's not around.

"Krys, what have I told you about Jayden? I don't like him coming over when I'm not home because...".

I cut him off. "Because he's an 18-year-old kid with only one thing on his mind. I know dad. But all we do is watch TV and play with Halloween. And sometimes we go over to Josh and Jenn's house."

"Who's house? Do I know them?" dad asks totally lost.

"Ethan and Ava McCourt's house dad," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Oh, okay. Just no funny business okay? I'm too young to become a grandpa. Now I gotta go or I'll be late. I'll call you later. Love you!"

"'Kay, bye dad." I watch as he walks out and silently blow him a kiss and whisper 'I love you too'.

Absentmindedly I pick up Halloween as he walks up my covers. Not too long until Jay gets here, and we can hang out and kill the time until dad gets done work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I hear the doorbell ring. As I walk out of the kitchen, I lick the last of the ice cream off a spoon. I look out the window on the door and smile as I stand looking at Jayden.

He has the biggest grin on his face. "And you're smiling at what exactly?" I ask as I open the door, blocking his entrance.

"Oh, just that I must have read your mind," he says as he holds up a new tub of ice cream. "How in the world did I know that you were out of ice cream?"

"Could it be the fact that you pretty much emptied it yesterday?"

"Did not." I raise my eyebrow at him. "You helped me," he says with a hurt look on his face. "Am I allowed to come in or what?"

"I guess so. But surrender the ice cream first," I say as I put my hand out for the ice cream, a small smirk turning up the corners of my mouth.

With a sigh, he hands me the ice cream. I step aside and let him come through the door. "Hey baby," he says as he stretches his arms around me, engulfing me in a bear hug.

I wrap my free arm around his neck and give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey. Dad's working late again so you can stay late. I'm going to grab a sweater from my room. Be right back," I say as I hand the ice cream back to him. "Put that in the freezer, would ya?"

"Okay. And I guess I'll cuddle with Halloween while you're gone," he says as he picks him up off the floor. "Where are his treats again?"

"They're up above the sink. But don't give him to many. I don't want him to get sick." I start up the stairs then turn back around. "And don't eat all of the ice cream while I'm gone."

"Cross my heart!" he calls from the kitchen as I head upstairs.

Jayden walks to the freezer to put the ice cream away. "Jokes on her Halloween, I already ate some out of the container. Ha!" He grabs a couple of treats out of the cupboard and heads to the couch.

As he sits down, he begins to feed the treats to him. "Ow, you little bugger! You bit me! Krys, your cat just bit me for no reason!"

"Oh, I'm sure there was probably a reason," I say as I step off the bottom step, pulling my sweater down. "I'm sure you were probably doing something or have done something in the past that he didn't like."

"Well that's no reason to bite me," Jayden says, pouting.

"Well then put him down," I say from the kitchen. "Hey, I told you not to eat the ice cream while I was upstairs!"

"No, you told me not to eat it all. Besides, I already ate that before I got here. So technically I didn't break the rules," he says as he laughs, putting Halloween down on the floor.

I look at him, eyes narrowed, and lips pursed. "Fine. You win this time. Do you want some more for the movie?"

"Nah I'm good," he says as he reclines on the couch, flipping through the channels for a movie to watch.

"Anything good on?" I ask as I sit down beside him with my ice cream. Jay tries to grab my spoon and I smack his hand. "Hey, you want some, go get your own bowl."

"Fine. Find a movie then," he says as he tosses the remote in my lap.

"Fast and Furious?" I ask as I scroll through the PVRd movies.

"Which one?" Jay asks as he comes up behind me.

"The first one."

"Yeah cool. At least it's a good movie," Jay says as he comes around the couch holding a bag of chips, a package of cookies and two cans of pop. "Scoot over," he says as he drops his snacks on the table.

"I thought you were getting ice cream?" I ask as he hands me a can.

"Changed my mind," he says as he plops down beside me and pulls me closer to him. He tosses a blanket over our laps and fluffs the pillow he has under his left arm. "Start the movie slave! The king is settled," he says with a chuckle.

"Are you sure?" I ask as I look over at him with a small smile on my face.

"Ye- No, not yet." He wiggles back on the couch, then leans forward and pulls the coffee table closer. He shifts from side to side, moving me with him and then leans back again.

"Settled?"

"Yeah. I'm set."

I roll my eyes and press play on the PVR.