ROSE

I walked into the house empty-handed because Dylan refused to let me help. Everything about the place still looked the same. The entrance had a storage closet on one side and a coat rack on the other. The passage in front had family pictures hanging on the wall, leading into a beautiful and modern kitchen. A family area was situated to the left of me, color scheme of browns and beige, and a dining room to the right; the same color scheme as the family room. If it were up to Dylan and Lacy, their entire home would have been black and silver but, luckily, other people had a hand in designing the place.

There was a staircase only a few feet away from me which led to the bedrooms upstairs. There were three bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs. The one downstairs was the designated guest bedroom since it had an ensuite. Upstairs had the master bedroom with an ensuite, one bathroom for us kids to use, and two other bedrooms - the boys shared one, and now Lydia and I would shared the other.

The aroma of roast lingered in the air and I already knew that we would be having a rack of lamb with roast potatoes and a side of vegetables for dinner. It was something Dylan loved making, especially since he did all the cooking in the house. If it weren't for him, we would have all starved. Eventually, I took over the duty when he became too busy. We did everything and anything to keep Lacy out of the kitchen because she simply could not cook. There was a higher chance of pigs farting rainbows than Lacy actually cooking without almost burning the house down.

"Rose..." I heard a squeal before a tiny body tackled my legs. Lydia stared up at me with round gleaming eyes the color of a lush forest. Her jet black hair was tied into a bun that had tufts of hair sticking out in every direction. When she smiled, her perfect teeth greeted me. I wondered when those would fall off. It was strange for a kid to have such amazing teeth.

I put my hands under her arms and picked her up, placing her on my hip, "Lydia, what the hell is your daddy feeding you. I feel like your way a ton since I last saw you," I complained, playfully biting her chubby rosy cheeks.

"I'm a growing child. Pretty soon I'll be taller than you," she beamed and I shuddered. I was pretty tall for my age. Most girls were way shorter than me and, to be honest, most boys as well. I counted myself lucky when Dean had that growth spurt and was now comfortably taller than me.

"Let's hope you don't get so tall, Lia, we don't want you turning into a giant like me," I mused, brushing my nose against hers to which she giggled, "A little birdy told me that we are roommates."

She wriggled out of my hold until I put her down, then ran up the stairs yelling, "I call dibs on bottom bunk!"

"What?" I said with utter terror, "No Lia, you know I can't sleep on the t-"

"Come now, Rose, the top bunk isn't that high up," Lacy grinned, wiping her hands on the apron she wore before bringing me into her warm embrace, "You look good."

My eyes gave her short figure a quick sweep. She wore a grey bodycon dress that hugged her every curve - and she was a pretty curvy woman after giving birth to the triplets. The dress had a low front, showing off her cleavage. Her raven black hair was cropped short into a bob that framed her pretty face.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I complimented just as the door opened behind me, Sean and Dylan entering with our bags.

"Uncle Sean!" Damien and Lance yelled excitedly and for the first time, I heard Sean laugh as he dropped his bags, got onto his knees, and held his arms out for the boys to run into. His laugh was rich but it sounded peculiar to my ears. It vibrated in his chest, echoing off the walls as it left his lips.

"Miss me?" Sean simply asked, pulling away from the short hug to fist bump the two boys who looked at him with awestruck eyes. That emotionless mask Sean had put up for me broke into a million pieces as soon as he saw Damien and Lance. His smile, so large that I could even see the imperfections of his teeth. Unlike Dean, Sean never had braces so he had these cute teeth that overlapped slightly.

"Sean is going to be staying the night boys so don't kill him within the first five minutes of his visit," Dylan groaned, shooting them a warning glare, "and don't be troubling your sister. Did you greet Rose or are you two waiting for an invitation?"

"Sorry dad," the boys chorused before turning to me with innocent eyes, "hello Rose."

I scrunched my nose, "Is dad being a little terror again?" I taunted and when they nodded I asked, "Did you guys try to do something insanely stupid again?" They nodded again which led to my final words, "Okay spill, what did you guys do? Maybe I can put in a word and get you back in his good books."

"Lance had a loose tooth," Damien began.

"And Damien pulled it out with this tool thingy," Lance continued, "And dad walked in just as Damien pulled the tooth out. He got really mad." I remembered this situation from a week ago when he had phoned me.

"You've been angry at these poor babies for a week. Cut them some slack would you," I playfully swatted Dylan on the chest, "how about we all have ice cream after dinner?" The boys nodded happily, "Go and tell your sister, and don't mess with her because dessert will be off the table completely then!" I warned, ushering them up the steps.

During the exchange, Sean had risen to his feet and I could feel his heated gaze on me, confusion riddling his features. Whatever thoughts were floating in that head of his, he chose to keep to himself and for some reason, I found myself wanting to know what those thoughts were.

Dylan made his way up the steps, going to leave my bags in my room and Lacy made her way back to the kitchen to complete whatever she had been doing before she had come to greet me. I could only hope she wasn't anywhere near a stove or oven because - although I did have the fire department on speed dial - my phone battery was way too dead to contact them in time.

With everyone gone, that just left Sean and I left and for some reason, I was still staring at him with curious eyes. Hearing him laugh stunned me. My brain felt as if it were buffering, trying to figure out if my ears were hearing things or if what had happened really did happen.

Of course, the king of jerks would never pass up the opportunity to live up to his title. He took the two short steps over to me, closing the gap between us. His fists were plunged deep into his pockets, probably clenching them hard considering how the veins on his tattooed arms made themselves known, throbbing excessively. My breath caught when he lowered his head, soft lips grazing my left ear, "You're staring again, Rose. Might want to consider taking that picture after all."

Those words were all it took for a scowl to magically appear on my face. I placed my palms flat onto his hard chest - trying my best not to dwell on how good it felt - and then shoved him away with all my might. He didn't even stumble back which pissed me off further, "Get away from me jerk off. I don't want whatever cooties you have."

He rose a brow, standing to full height once again, "Cooties? If I'm not mistaken, you just touched me to shove me which means, you probably got them anyway. Consider it a gift from me to you, princess."

"God, you're incorrigible."

"Don't use God's name in vain."

I growled in frustration, stomping my foot onto the ground which made him cackle. Scraping up whatever dignity I had left from the floor, I marched into the kitchen, finding Lacy taking out plates and glasses for the dinner table. When I was younger, Lacy and I would set the table while Dylan cooked. I figured, once I moved out, Lydia would take over.

"Let me help," I said, grabbing the plates and making my way into the dining room. A small area with a mahogany dining table and brown chairs. A crystal chandelier lit up the room in a soft yellow glow.

"I miss having you around to help," Lacy sighed following me with the rest of the stuff, "Lydia helps now and then but she's at that age where she gets distracted way too easily by everything. As for the boys, they give me stress."

I couldn't help the smile that split my lips, "But you love them."

"How can I not? Every morning I wake up and one of them will do something so idiotic that it makes me laugh. It's so difficult to be mad at them. Do you know how guilty I feel to even scold them? It's so unfair," she huffed as we began laying out the table, "anyway, enough about me," she lowered her voice, peeping around to make sure no one could hear us, "Tell me how things with you and my brother are!" The way she wiggled her eyebrows at me had heat immediately rushing to my cheeks.

"The usual. I haven't spoken to him much since he left for England," I shrugged, trying to play it off. Except, trying to pretend that my feelings for Dean were non-existent was hard when Lacy kept giving me that knowing glare.

"You mean to tell me that my dweeb of a brother hasn't made his move yet? What's he waiting for, an invitation to Hogwarts?" Lacy exasperated, propping her hands on her hips, "You'd think he would have put the moves on you the moment you guys moved in together. It's clear he likes you and you like him. I'll never get any nieces and nephews at this rate."

My eyes widened and suddenly I wished my hair was open so I could hide the furious blush attacking my cheeks, "You have a niece and a nephew already." I pointed out, straightening the dessert fork on the table.

"Yeah but I'd like my little brother and my little girl to be happy," she came up to me, standing on the tips of her toes to place a kiss on my forehead. Bless her heart, she was so short, "that reminds me, Alexis and Mason have a play date tomorrow with the triplets. Since it's summer and school is closed, we thought it would be good for them. You're welcome to join."

Alexis - a seven-year-old that was only a few months older than the triplets - was the daughter of Lacy's cousin, Macy. When it came to names in their family, everything was way too complicated. Luckily, that tradition of rhyming names died off when Lacy and Macy had children of their own.

Mason was the newest member of the family, turning one in about a month, he was the son of Macy and her husband Axel. Macy, Axel, and their two kids didn't stay very far from here, however, most of their free time was usually spent in England with Axel's family. Unlike the triplets, Alexis actually went to school and would be in third grade this fall.

"You know, I would love to listen to you moms complain the whole day but its summer vacation and I think I'd rather hit the beach instead, catch some waves, read a book, work on my music," I politely declined just as Sean, Dylan, and the triplets entered.

"Are you sure? Dylan will be at work for most of the day. He's trying to push out as much as he can so he can have the entire weekend next week free," Lacy mused.

"What?" My eyes snapped to Dylan, "It's a Sunday and you're going to work?"

"Tell me about it," he grumbled, scratching the stubble coating his jaw, "There's this hotel we recently took over and it's not doing so well. They gave me a year to recover it or else it's going to be shutting down. That means so many people would be left with no jobs, no source of income, no food on the table," he ran a hand down his face, "It's a lot of pressure."

I grimaced, knowing how much stress he carried on his shoulders. Whenever he did a project, he put in everything of himself and he rarely ever failed in anything he put his mind to, "You've got this big brother," I gave him a reassuring smile, "If anyone can do this, it's you."

We all sat around the table, Dylan at the head, Lacy to the left of him. Next to Lacy, sat the triplets on top of cushions so they could reach the table. To Dylan's right was where I sat and considering my good fortune, Sean sat next to me. I made a point of ignoring him the entire evening and he made a point of kicking my legs underneath the table or 'accidentally' nudging his elbow into me while eating.

Everyone easily fell into conversation, mostly discussing plans for the summer since I would be spending most if not all of my time here. Once we were done, I decided to call it an early night. One: I had to wake up way too early for a Saturday to catch that flight and Two: I didn't find the need to spend any more unnecessary time with Sean. Him just breathing the same air as me pissed me off.

I walked into my room and nearly let out a cry of relief knowing that the only thing that changed was the bed. Everything else was exactly how I had left it. Throwing on a set of purple silk shorts and a white tank top, I prepared myself to climb the ladder to the top bunk. It wasn't that high but I could already feel my anxiety spiking.

The bedroom door creaked open and Lydia walked in, carrying my Baby Bop stuffed toy in hand. I had given it to her to protect her from all her bad dreams. It was something Dylan had gotten me and, although it hurt to part with it, I knew I did the right thing. She took very good care of the little green and purple dinosaur.

"I will sleep on top," Lydia beamed, "You can sleep on the bottom."

"No Lia, you might get hurt if you fall off," She was much smaller than me, if she fell she could easily break an arm but the worst I would suffer would be a sprain at best.

She shook her head, climbing up the ladder to the top bunk as if it were nothing. Then she settled herself into the bed and picked up the side that had metal bars, preventing her from falling, "See, I won't get hit," she held her tiny hand out for me to take and I did so, placing a gentle kiss at the back of her hand.

"Good night Lia."

"Good night Rose."

With that, I settled into the bottom bunk and let sleep cloud my vision.

~~~

I woke up to the bright sunlight streaming into the room from the drawn curtains. My very purple room had glittery butterflies on every wall. They shimmered as the light of the sun bounced off them. I yawned, stretching my arms out before jolting up. That was something I soon regretted when my head met the underneath of the top bunk with a loud 'konk' sound. I hissed, instantly rubbing the spot to soothe the pain.

Talk about getting the sleep knocked right out of you!

Once the pain was nothing more than strange tingles dancing on my skin, I tried that again, slower this time. I successfully managed to roll out of bed without killing any more brain cells and then took in the sight of my room which I missed so much. My walls, besides being purple with butterflies, had a shelf of books on one side. Beneath held different CDs from different artists that I enjoyed listening to. I had a study area next to the window, overlooking the neighbor's yard - which wasn't much to look at. They needed someone to desperately cut their grass. Lilac curtains hung over the window which were never closed because I liked having natural light in the room. I even had purple cupboards for my clothes and a purple and white vanity.

My eyes fell onto the empty top bunk, realizing that everyone must have already left and probably allowed me to sleep in. Grabbing my phone, I connected to the sound system in the house and began sifting through my playlists. Since I knew Dylan would be at work and Lacy was out the whole day with the kids, I thought I'd have a little fun and play my Cardi B playlist. The song WAP blared through the speakers around the house. I sang along with the lyrics - well raped along technically - as I gathered my things to head to the bathroom.

I had my towel, toothbrush, a set of clean undies and a bra, and a little jumpsuit in hand when I exited singing, "Bring a bucket and a mop for this wet ass pus-" I was cut short when I ran into something. Or rather someone.

Sean stood in front of me in all his shirtless glory, arms on my shoulders to keep me in place so I wouldn't stumble back from the force of running into him. He looked down at me in confusion, eyes not on my face but on my breasts smashed against his chest. The tank top I wore was thin and low cut but that wasn't what bothered me. I knew he could feel them, I just hoped he would ask about them. During one of my extreme manic episodes, I got myself a set of nipple piercings which I kept and never told anyone about.

Coming back to my senses, I stepped out of Sean's hold and folded my arms over my chest. My towel and clothes that were draped over my arms hid my body well but my cheeks were still blood-red from the embarrassment. I had completely forgotten that Sean had spent the night. Even so, he should have been gone by now.

The song finished and Bodack Yellow began playing. Another one of my favorites and I had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from belching the lyrics at the top of my lungs. I wanted to say something, anything to him but my brain decided it would have a brain fart moment as payback for me killing a few of its cells.

"Turn this crap off!" Sean growled and I noticed him fisting his hands at his sides. I may have also noticed that all he wore was a pair of boxer briefs that hugged him very tightly and left nothing to my imagination but I immediately pulled my eyes away from that.

Lord, give me strength!

"It's not crap," I squeaked, my voice clearly betraying me.

"It is. It's utter bullshit now turn it off or play something worth listening to," he demanded, taking a threatening step toward me, "I won't ask you again, Rose."

I ground my molars, feeling annoyed at how elated my heart felt when I heard my name roll off his tongue, "Go jerk off somewhere asshole," I quipped in a clipped tone before attempting to walk past him.

He grabbed me by the elbow and threw me back, glaring daggers at me, "How the fuck does my brother deal with you. You're so fucking infuriating I-" running a hand through his jet black hair, he released a growl, "Fuck, you know what, I'm leaving. Keep playing this crap for all I care." Once again, with lightning speed, he was gone, the sound of a door slamming downstairs echoing throughout the house.

Hella sorry for the late update y'all but I hope you guys enjoyed it!!! Remember to vote and comment and do follow me on IG. Link in bio!!! Like I said before, if you're reading my other book P.S. You're my mate! That books draft has already been done so chapters will come out after there whereas I've just begun with this book! But i will update! I will complete this book because I have so much for this two!