chapter 5

Emily. 

The familiarity hits me in waves and quickly 

causes reality to set in.

Memories from six years ago start to fill in my mind as I walk pass everything.

This is the place that I tried so hard to run away from, to forget and only to be placed back here six years later because I couldn't forget, I couldn't forget about the people that I left behind, my people that I left behind. I couldn't forget them in all of those six years that I've been away. 

Memories of all of us, together, as one happy family dance around in my head. The memories still so fresh and raw, it hurts.

I don't realize that we're about to get into the rich car until I'm forcefully pushed inside by my over excited friends. I roll my eyes at their sillyness, but open my arms for Archer to come to and he happily does.

I was never one to show off my family's money, which was a good amount but I never needed it and I never will.

So as the limo drives by and passes familiar roads and houses, the three children stare out of the window in amazement and wonder, the looks on their faces resembling that of a child on Christmas morning.

While they continue to stare at the familiar beautiful place, I look away from it. I keep my focus on the inside of the vehicle and mostly on Connor who seems nervous and anxious, and I understand why he would feel that way. 

I start to feel uneasy when I sense us nearing my old neighborhood, especially when we pass a certain house on the way. 

I snap my eyes back towards the blue eyed guy infront of me. He sends me a small smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes and I know exactly why the emotions that swirl through them are directed at me. 

I look away from his stare, breaking eye contact, because I don't like the emotions that fill inside his eyes, even when it's meant to make to feel safe and understand. 

I just don't like others feeling pity and sadness for me. 

When the car comes to a holt, nobody waits for the driver to open up the doors. Everyone quickly shuffles out of the vehicle, the excitement of the new and unknown place coursing through them.

"Woah, this place is huge." Jasmine breaths out.

I nod my head. "Yeah." I mutter. 

I take in a deep breath as I take in my surroundings and blink away the tears that start to make my vision blurry.

We all start to walk towards the house, or as most people like to call it, the mansion that stands before us, towering over us and making us look smaller than our normal size. It's just too big, it always was and it's unnecessary.

Once we're inside, everything happens so quickly. It's almost like a blur and I only start to focus once the crying starts. 

"I can't believe you actually came home." Eliza cries, running straight into me and pulling me into a tight, air knocking hug as she continues to cry onto me and mumble things that I don't and can't register. 

I can't believe I came back too. 

I cringe at the word home but I don't comment on it because Eliza's cries are like screwers continously piercing through my already broken and barely there heart. 

Her cries and words hit me straight in the gut, making me want to cry with her, but I force myself not to do that because it's wrong, I don't deserve her cries. 

What I do though is hug her back as tightly as I can because I need this. I need to feel some type of okay before the heavy storms start brewing in and crashing everything and everyone in its path until it reaches its target and unfortunately for me, I am that, the target. 

"It's okay." I smile, rubbing her back in a soothing manner. 

I look towards my three friends whose facial expression holds sadness at the sight infront of them and when they catch me staring, they send me smiles that I quickly return, but not a happy smile as theirs are. 

I feel Eliza let out a sigh before untangling herself from me and staring up at me with teary eyes. I look down at her and smile before kissing her cheek and gesturing to her other guests for the week. 

Her face widens and she quickly turns around. I look towards Archer as I watch for his reaction towards his grandmother and almost instantly his expression brightens from a confused one to a happy and excited one. 

"Grandma!" He screams, letting go of Jasmine's grip and running straight towards her open arms. 

"My baby, how are you?" She coos at him.

I smile at the two of them as they start to engage in conversation. Archer is very brilliant for his age, sometimes he surprises me by the words he tends to use and by the things he says. 

"I am perfect!" He beams, spinning around in her arms and giggling when he gets dizzy. "How about you, hot stuff?" 

I gasp at his words, shocked that he would say that. My eyes widen and my mouth agape as I stare at the five year old in nothing, but complete shock. 

It takes me a few seconds to compose my shock to turn my head and glare at the cause of this, Alex. I glare hard at him but he just smiles and shrugs his shoulders as if this is okay. 

I narrow my eyes at him and point at him and then I use the same finger to go across my throat, indicating that his dead meat after this, before mouthing 'I'm going to kill you.' at him. 

He gulps, and quickly looks way while the other two laugh at his expense and at what words come out of Eliza's mouth in response to his question. 

"Oh?" She looks back up at me with a raised eyebrow, silently questioning me, but I pull a Alex move and just shrug my shoulders for a answer. "Do we have a little flirt on our hands?" She teases, looking back down at him. 

He grins up at her and quickly nods his head. "Uncle Alex says that I'm going to be a ladies man." He tells her. "He also thought me a few words, like that one. Did you like it granny?" He shyly askes her. 

Once again my head snaps towards Alex, but thankfully Jasmine is already on his case and has her fingers wrapped around his ear, pulling it while he mutters an ow, continously until she let's go. 

"Archer, I said to use it on girls your age." Alex calls out. 

I roll my eyes at him, shaking my head. That is definitely not what I want my son saying to girls his age or any age for that matter. His still way too young be saying or even knowing about that stuff. 

"Ah, Alex my son and Jasmine, don't you two look lovely. When is the wedding?" Eliza asks the two. 

I try to hold myself back from bursting out laughing at her question. but when I turn my head to the side to watch my bestfriends reactions. I nearly pee myself. 

Jasmine's face has paled and she looks frozen on spot while Alex face is red and flushed as he fidgets around with his shirt sleeves, looking anywhere that doesn't involve eye contact with anyone in the room. 

"Ooh, yes. Mummy, will you plan it for them?" Archer jumps up and down, the excitement in his eyes is too adorable. 

I bend down to tap his nose, making him giggle and shake me off. "I would love to plan their wedding . . . together." I muse. 

"Connor?" Eliza questions when she notices him silent and awkwardly standing at the side, away from us. "Why are you here?" She asks. 

I frown, looking back at her only to notice her face is the one paled and she looks on edge. Confusion starts to fill me up. Why is she reacting that way towards him? He is one of two main reasons that I came here in the first place. 

"There's absolutely no need to be rude to him. I came down for Connor." I look over to him and he gives me a tight, thankful smile. 

I smile back, "Can you show us to our rooms?" I ask after a while of us standing in the center of the passageway, looking around. 

She quickly snaps out of what ever trance she had been in and nods her head. She moves towards the staircase with all of us following behind her. 

I begin walking slowly when I can't come up with a reason for her reaction towards Connor, she never looked at him like that before, well before I left this place. Maybe something happened when I left then? That's can't be it because Connor too was shocked at her words.

"Where's Richard?" I ask. 

"He has a business meeting, but he'll be back before dinner." She slightly turns her head to the side to send me a small smile. "His new boss has him running around all the time." She chuckes. 

I stop walking for a minute, "His new boss? Did you guys sell?" I ask. 

She stiffens for a minute before continuing through the halls, without looking back. "Yeah, we had to sell." She informs. 

"Why?" I run up to her side, to look at her. 

My mother side glance at me, giving me a look that says we'll talk about this later and not infront of an audience. I gulp, nodding my head.