Raura's Daughter

thirty seven.

Ross' POV

14 hours earlier.

"Home sweet home." I murmured as the taxi driver dropped the five of us off on our street. We each had our suitcases in our hands along with our instruments; luckily for me, my acoustic guitar could sit safe and sound on my back. "You see guys, that wasn't such a bad journey."

Rydel shot a look of fury at me. Her platinum blonde hair could now almost be considered brunette and her clothes reeked of cigarettes and vodka. "His car broke down on a freaking freeway, Ross! And he made us, his passengers, go and fix it!"

Rocky, Riker, Ratliff and I all exchanged a worried glance as Rydel continued to vent to herself. She held her bright pink pocket mirror up and shook her head in disapproval. "I mean just look at my hair, Ross! That's all from his stupid engine."

"You still look cute babe." Ratliff offered, giving her a weary smile.

"Don't cute me right now, Ellington." She snapped before throwing her mirror back into the back pocket of her ripped jeans. "I also know for a fact that the five of us are dead meat the second we walk into that house. I don't know what the hell you guys are expecting but dad isn't going to go easy on any of us."

"Oh come on Delly. I'm sure once he hears us out he'll be totally chill about the situation-"

"No Ross." Rydel abruptly said, cutting me off. "Like I said, dead meat."

Rocky sniggered and patted Ratliff heavily on the back. "That's not what the ladies have said about me."

"You are so disgusting, ew!" Rydel grimaced as the rest of us chuckled hysterically amongst ourselves.

We eventually made it to our front porch and awkwardly the five of us began to scope out the area. "Do you think the old man is home?" Rocky asked, placing his guitar down on the porch.

Riker shrugged his shoulders and peered through one of the first floor windows. "Beats me. It looks empty in there."

With a deep breath, I found the courage to gently turn the key in the lock. The door opened slowly but steadily and the five of us cautiously stepped inside, quietly pulling our instruments along with us. "Hello?" I called out nervously. "Dad?"

There was no reply. The house was filled with complete silence. Rocky shrugged his shoulders and dropped his luggage loudly on the wooden floorboards beneath us before running towards the kitchen with his hands in the air. "Who wants some food? Because I sure as hell do!"

Before any of us could answer, Rocky was pushed out of the kitchen, holding a piece of baguette in his hand as our father emerged from the shadows. My older brother never felt afraid of anyone or anything, but in that moment, it was like a serial killer had jumped out on him due to his facial expressions. "Well, well, well... it's so lovely to see the five of you home so soon."

I could see the five of us had tensed up and I had the feeling that nobody else was going to find the courage to answer him. With a quick bite of my lip I stepped towards him and sighed. "Dad, it's all my fault. I missed Laura and Isabella so I decided to call it quits and come home early. Please don't blame the rest of them, I dragged them into this mess."

He chuckled and sharply shook his head in a disapproving manner. "I know exactly what happened. The manager that I hired for you informed me about every single thing way before the five of you jumped off the tour bus."