To be King...

Chpt 5: Home Sweet Home

AN: Sorry it's so late, I didn't realize we were only on chapter 5. I posted the wrong chapter!

  The house had been her father's brother's. She'd never met Uncle Martian, he'd run off with his coven to Canada and left her dad the house, but she'd heard about him. The stories of them when they were little. He was an Elemental as well as her father, it seemed Elementals were common in their family, so when Adira and her sister started showing signs of powers her father began to teach them himself instead of sending them to a coven. They had never been to the house really, her parents thought about moving them there when her and Willow got older... they didn't get to that point.

So instead, after the incident, her mom moved them there. Soon after Becka and her mother joined them. It'd been 6 years now, and it was finally feeling like home.

They walked up the porch, their black cat Bear stretched out on his back on the swing. He mewled pathetically when they passed by him, and followed them inside. Bear took off into the living room, Becka kicked her shoes off at the door, and Adira made a b-line for the fridge. Dropping her bag on the floor near the kitchen island she makes her way around it and pops the fridge, rooting around until she finds the leftover spaghetti her mom had made the night before.

"Hey Judy!" Becka says as she finally gets to the kitchen, and the noise startles Adira who had been stirring a frying pan full of spaghetti.

"Hey Becks. How was school you guys?" Her mom asks, brown glasses perched on the edge of her nose, blonde hair and brown roots pulled back into a clip, peaks of grey poking out here and there. Adira looks into the dining room on her right, trying to see if Maggie is home too, and sees her mom is half focused on a bunch of English papers she's grading.

"It was pretty good, have an English project due in two weeks on 'Murder on the Orient Express'." Adira calls back, plating two servings of the leftovers and sliding one in front of Becka who already sits at the table.

Her mom replies with a hum, and Becka starts motioning wildly.

"Tell her!" She mouths and Adira gives her a confused look. Becka just shakes her head in annoyance.

"We saw Nate Cabot today." Becka says, with breathless excitement.

Her mom reacts almost instantly, snapping her laptop closed and yanking off her glasses. She gives Becka a once over, and then Adira before clearing her throat.

"They're back from Europe? Already?" she asks, sounding a little annoyed.

"Yeah ma, it's been six years." Adira says, picking through her noodles to find the mushrooms.

"I know how long it's been." Her mom nearly snaps, "I just don't know why they've come back."

"Well Nathan pulled our little Diry aside today and had a private chat with her. It's all anyone is going to be talking about for days." Becka says with almost glee. Her phone had been pinging off the hook since she got home and Adira suspected it was her other 'friends' trying to see what they could get out of her.

"Did he now? After all that happened when you were younger I can only hope he apologized." Judith manages, crossing her arms in a fury.

"Yes, he apologized. A lot actually. Nate was my best friend, why didn't you ever like him?" She asks her mom, not at all pleased with her attitude. Yeah, Nate had hurt her, but it hadn't been his fault. She just kept seeing him as a vampire rather than as her friend, kept seeing the worst he could ever be instead of the boy he was. It was mostly her fault that they had split so harshly, but her mother wouldn't hear of it.

"It's not that I didn't like him, he made you happy, got you out of the house. He was good for you." Her mother says, nodding her head slowly. "It's just, I wasn't sure what would happen once you got older. Once he started... well, getting stronger instincts. Vampires can be very dangerous in their adolescence you know. All those hormones and the blood lust." It's probably the first time her mother had ever told her the truth of why she didn't like Nate and his family, and she really couldn't blame her for it. Instead she nods and goes back to eating.

"We're, actually, planning to go to the Party at the Castle tonight. If that's alright of course." Becka says, eyeing Judy out of the corner of her eye, trying to catch her reaction.

"I suppose it's alright. As long as you girls are responsible and are home before midnight." her mother says sternly, starting to reopen her laptop.

"We promise!" Becka chirps immediately, sitting a little taller and a little lighter in her chair.

"Promise." Adira mopes. She hates getting in fights with her mother. There's no way to make her understand and not tell her all that has been kept from her. Keeping secrets from her mother was hard at first, she never deserved to be lied to, but sometimes the truth hurts worse than a lie. Lies had come to be routine for her. Her odd kept hours, some bruises that would pop up from seemingly nowhere, why she was so emotional or so down. The lies soon flowed like truth and she became so caught up in a life that relied on them to keep her loved ones safe. She hated lying, and she felt like such a hypocrite.

Her mom starts getting back into her class work so Becka and Adira head up to their rooms. Becka is on her phone as soon as her bedroom door closes and Adira flops onto her bed as if its a siren calling her name. Just a little nap before doing her work won't hurt. It's just what she needs. Setting an alarm, she tucks her arms behind her head, toes off her shoes, and closes her eyes. Just a short rest, and then she'll do some homework.