Book 2: Back to You and I

Chapter 5: Clubbing and Just Friends

I knock on the door for the third time when the door is swung open to reveal a stressed out Vivian with a crying baby Rose in her arms. After opening the door she moves to the side to allow me through and I don't waste anymore time outside.

"Can I?" I say as I put my suitcase off to the side and take Rose out of Vivian's hands.

"Thank you so much" she says in a sigh of relief. She closes the front door and stares at me as I cradle Rose back and forth. "What's that?" she asks as she points at my suitcase.

"Clothes" I say casually hoping she'll drop it, but I should know better.

"Yeah I figured that much-" she begins to say but she pauses for a second. "Lark what happened?!" She asks more frantically this time.

It only takes one look her way for Vivian to figure it out without me saying a word. She pulls me in for a side hug since I'm carrying Rose.

"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need. But in return you can be Rose's babysitter. Dean and I need some time off from being parents"

I laugh at Vivian's quick adaptation to it all. She knows I don't want to talk about it yet, and I say yet because I have to talk to her about it at some point. Just maybe not while the wound is fresh.

I carry Rose until she falls fast asleep and then it's just Vivian and me in the living room watching Lilo & Stitch. It's honestly my favorite movie and I'm not afraid to admit it. I think the movie does a good job of teaching you how important family really is and how it's not always made up of blood relatives. Vivian has become my sister and I don't know where I'd be without her.

"Ohana means family-"

"Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten" we say together. When we were little we basically grew up repeating this line. My mom actually made us watch the movie when we were younger and would often get us to repeat the line, until we began to do it on our own.

The front door swings open to reveal a somewhat tipsy Dean leaning on a fully aware Nathan.

"What happened?" Vivian asks as Nathan places Dean on the couch next to her.

"Well Dean here insisted on going to have a few drinks and he got a little carried away"

I get up to go get a glass of water as Vivian tries to take care of Dean. Nathan follows closely behind me.

"Is everything okay?" He asks sheepishly. After the way I stopped him from saying what I think he was going to say earlier today, things aren't the smoothest between us.

"I should be asking you that question. Tell me why my brother is lying drunk in the living room?" I ask as I narrow my eyes on him intensely. I raise an eyebrow at his lack of an answer.

"Well as you can imagine we were both pissed at the news of earlier so we decided to go have a few drinks to...cope."

"Why is it that he's the only one who's drunk?" I ask skeptically.

"Lark I don't think I should be the one telling you this" Nathan says as he scratches the back of his neck nervously.

"I want to hear it right now. From you."

Nathan seems to be in thought as if deciding what he should do, but he finally gives in.

"Well he kind of blames himself for what happened"

"What? Why?" I ask curiously. Nathan breaks eye contact and looks around the room, basically anywhere but at me. "Nathan" I plead.

"He blames himself for our breakup.." Nathan says finally giving in. I stare at him in disbelief but he just laughs nervously. "Don't worry I told him it was a mutual agreement between us two."