"She locked away a secret, something deep inside herself, something she once knew to be true... But chose to forget." - Dominic Cobb, Inception

hi guys! I posted this last night and then deleted it to edit, but it's been reposted! sorry about that :-)

The car ride to Griffin's house was unbearably uncomfortable.

Griffin didn't say anything; he just played with the buttons of his white button-up shirt or occasionally changed the dial on the radio. He complimented my outfit (which was a bit surprising, because Griffin didn't seem like one to often give out compliments) and then lapsed into silence, keeping his eyes trained on the road. I did the same.

I recognized the neighborhood we were entering from the last time I came with Griffin to his dad's house, so I knew we didn't have much time left. I hadn't gotten a chance to ask him anything about our visit to Ruslan's house, or even ask what I should have been expecting for tonight.

"So," I said, running my fingers through my hair and pushing it back from my face, "Are you okay? I just mean - like, with everything that happened the past few days. With what Ruslan told you."

Griffin's jaw clenched slightly, fingers tightening their grip on the steering wheel, "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," he replied, flicking on his turn signal. I could see the house Griffin grew up in at the end of the street, "Actually, if you don't mind, please don't mention that tonight. Grant and my dad don't know."

I already knew that Griffin hadn't told Grant, so I just nodded and leaned back in my seat, not bothering to say anything else. Griffin wanted to keep all of that a secret for an obvious reason - what Ruslan had told us was gruesome and scary, and Griffin didn't want to tell his family. He didn't want to tell his family that the police thought Mrs. Cutkosky let the murder happen, and I understood that.

"Grant and I don't really talk to my dad that often," Griffin said, pulling up in front of the house and killing the ignition, "I'm apologizing in advance in case this becomes painfully awkward or something."

That did nothing to ease the anxiousness I was feeling, but I just swallowed and smiled tightly before getting out of the car. Griffin got out and met me on the other side, adjusting the collar of his shirt. We shared a quick look and started walking up the driveway, neither of us saying anything. Griffin was practically shaking - whether from nerves or something else entirely, I wasn't sure.

Griffin knocked roughly on the door and then stopped, shoving both of his hands into the pockets of his jeans. I took a deep breath and looked up at Griffin, hoping to catch his eye before we went in. Only Griffin was staring ahead, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowed, attention focused completely on the door in front of us.

The door swung open and I was met with a surprised looking Grant. Grant turned and saw me, lips tilting up into an easy grin, "Hey, Emmy," he said, opening the door wider to let Griffin and I in, "I didn't know you were coming."

I sent an annoyed look to Griffin, silently praying that he at least told his dad that I would be coming before turning back to Grant, "I hope that's okay."

Grant opened his mouth to say something, but Griffin stepped forward and cut him off, "It's fine," he told me, leading from the living room and into the kitchen, Grant trailing behind us, "Grant, where's dad?"

"Upstairs. He should be down in a couple of minutes."

Griffin nodded and dropped down into a chair, stretching out his legs and sighing. I awkwardly dropped down into the seat next to Griffin and looked out at the table, eyes widening in slight surprise. There were four plates set out (it was a relief to know that his dad knew I was there) and food set out all around the table. There was a small, white candle in the middle and I leaned forward, pulling it towards me.

Yahrzeit. I squinted down at the name and twisted the candle between my hands, looking down at the picture of a Star of David on the front of it.

Griffin gently took the candle out of my hands, "Yahrzeit," he mumbled, just loud enough for me to understand how it was said. An uncomfortable look passed over his face and Griffin scratched the back of his head, "It's a Jewish candle, you let one on the anniversary of someone's death."

Griffin put the candle back down on the table and I understood exactly what today was. I understood why Griffin was dressed up nicely and why he was going to a dinner at his father's house. I understood why Griffin had invited me and why both Grant and Griffin seemed slightly uncomfortable.

Today was the anniversary of their mother's death.

"Griffin," a deep voice called out and I leaned back in my chair, just in time to see Mr. Cutkosky make his way down the stairs, "It's nice to see that you actually came this time."

Griffin's whole body tensed up - his jaw locked, fingers clenched into fists, but he didn't say anything. Grant sat down on the opposite side of the table and looked down, fingers running through his blond hair. Griffin was glaring at his dad who was making his way to the head of the table, but Grant's eyes were locked on a spot below him.

"This is Emmy," Griffin said, sending me a tight, reassuring smile. Griffin un-clenched his hand and reached forward, gently interlocking his fingers through mine, shocking me.

"I know," Mr. Cutkosky replied, expression caught between angry and amused, "I remember her from when you decided to break into the house and sneak out boxes of your mother's things, yeah?"

My face flushed bright red at that, the memory hitting me full-force. I remembered when I drove Griffin down to his dad's house when no one was home so he could sneak out a box of his mother's things. I had almost completely forgotten about that, but, judging by the expression on Mr. Cutkosky's face, he hadn't.

"I'm glad you're here," Grant told me, so quietly I almost didn't hear him. I smiled but Grant just looked up, "Let's just light the candle."

And so they did. We all pulled out seats in closer to the table (Griffin kept our fingers locked together) and Grant lit the candle before putting it back down in the middle of the table. They all said a quiet prayer, something in Hebrew that I couldn't even begin to decipher. I just kept my head down and eyes closed, trying to ignore how tense and awkward it was. I felt like a complete intruder.

We all filled our plates quickly and then lapsed into silence. Griffin just moved his food around with his fork, scraping it against the plate every now and then. Grant took small, slow bites and then looked up, checking to see what everyone else was doing before going back to his food again. I slowly ate my food after dropping Griffin's grip, the two of us just letting our hands fall to our sides.

"Did you know that Emmy's studying psychology?" Grant asked half-way through the dinner, turning to his dad with wide eyes. No one said anything, so Grant turned back to me, a half-smile on his face, "My mom was a psychologist."

I quirked an eyebrow at that and gently placed my fork back down on the table, "Really?" I asked and Grant nodded, "That's actually pretty cool."

We fell back into silence then. Mr. Cutkosky didn't address me at all. I had been expecting the typical questions - asking how I met Griffin and Grant, what I was studying, etc. - but he didn't say one word to me. I wondered if thought the same as me - that I was an intruder on a very private and personal day.

"How's work?" Mr. Cutkosky asked, staring at Griffin from across the table. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, blue eyes narrowed as he stared at his son.

Griffin looked up, thin lips curling into an annoyed grimace, "Fine."

"I know you've been kind enough to grace us with your presence tonight, Griffin," Mr. Cutkosky eyes flaring in anger as he looked at his son, "but I think you're capable of more than one word answers, aren't you?"

Griffin snorted and pushed his chair back a bit, "Oh, you're right. I'm sorry," he apologized, voice laced with sarcasm. Clearing his throat, Griffin blinked and innocently said, "Work is super fine, thanks for asking."

Grant looked between the two of them, "Griff, dad - "

"On today, too," Mr. Cutkosky continued on, ignoring Grant's quiet calls for them to stop, "You can't stop, even on today, can you? You just have to keep going and being a smart-ass. If you don't want to be here, Griffin, no one is forcing you to."

Griffin stood up, then, pushed his chair back, and picked up his plate, "Those," he said, grabbing his fork and cup, "might be the best words I've heard today."

I watched in surprise as Griffin walked out of the kitchen and went into the living room. I didn't want to be disrespectful, but I also couldn't sit there in the kitchen while Griffin wasn't there. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my plate and cup and walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch next to Griffin and putting my plate on the table.

"Thanks for coming tonight, boys," Mr. Cutkosky called, not bothering to turn his head to look at Griffin and I, "You all know where the door is."

Griffin turned to look at me in surprise, just as Grant followed us into the living room, a hesitant look on his face. Grant sat down on the recliner and put his food on his lap, a small smile taking place on his face when he caught me looking at him. Mr. Cutkosky stood up from the dinner table and walked into the kitchen, pulling open the door to get into the backyard before slamming it closed behind him.

"If it's any consolation," Grant said slowly, cracking his knuckles, "this is usually how this always goes."

Griffin sent his brother a dry look, "That's not a consolation, Grant."

I stood up, desperate to not be in the middle of the two brothers who were glaring at each other. Instead, I made my way over to the wall, where a bunch of pictures hung. There were pictures of Grant and Griffin when they were little, and then ones of the family all together. There was a picture of Grant and Griffin sitting on their mom's lap, but after that picture, it all changed.

There were only three pictures after that one. There was one of Griffin in a cap and gown, no doubt at his high school graduation. He looked the same as he did now - the same intense blue eyes, a frown on his lips, expression as serious as ever. After that, there was a picture of Grant at his graduation, a diploma in his hand, a grin on his face.

And after that was the Cutkosky's wedding picture. It was ironic that it was the last picture on the wall, considering all the other pictures before the graduation ones were of Mrs. Cutkosky alive.

"There used to be more," Griffin told me. In a matter of seconds, Griffin was standing next to me, fingers gently outlining the frame of a picture of his mother and him, "I'm not really sure where most of them went, actually."

Griffin smiled tightly and pointed to a picture of Grant and he sitting at the top of a slide, "I remember this one," the smile on Griffin's face changed to a more genuine one, "Right after this was taken, Grant pushed me off the edge. I think that was the first time I broke my elbow."

"That's not true," Grant said, getting up from the recliner and walking over to us. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the picture, "That was the last time mom ever got me in a slide, though. I was too claustrophobic for the closed-in ones."

Griffin cocked his head to the side, "I thought your claustrophobia got bad after I accidentally locked you in the closet?"

Griffin and Grant went on a little bit longer, arguing about the pictures and old childhood memories. The more they argued, though, the more I realized something.

All of their pictures and memories they talked about were from before their mom's death. All of the pictures on the wall were from before their mom was murdered, according to Griffin. After their mom died, it seemed like the entire family pulled away from each other. They didn't talk about anything from the after. Only the before.

It made me wonder just how badly grief had torn this family apart.

"I can't be in this house," Griffin said suddenly, tugging his fingers through his hair, hand trembling lightly as he did so, "Emmy, are you ready to go? I just hate being here knowing that this was where my mom was - " Griffin cut himself off and closed his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath.

I reached forward and grabbed Griffin's hand, squeezing it gently, "I'm ready whenever you are."

Grant put a hand on Griffin's shoulder and then promptly dropped it, "Griff, could you give me a ride home?" he asked, "I took the bus here but I don't have the money for a ride home. I just didn't want dad to see my car all dented from the accident."

Griffin's eyes opened and he glared at Grant, the same behavior he usually had towards his brother coming back. While Grant seemed like he always, desperately, wanted his brother's attention, Griffin seemed to want the complete opposite. Griffin seemed to want to distance himself far from his family, including his own brother.

"Damn it, Grant," he said, even though I didn't understand the big deal. Grant's house wasn't even out of the way. Griffin just sighed and pulled out his keys before tossing them to Grant, "We'll meet you out there."

Grant nodded, grabbed his jacket, and was out of the house in seconds. Griffin turned to me, then, a pained expression on his face. He looked caught between anger, sadness, and just plain confusion. Griffin looked like he was trying to understand everything that had happened since we got here, but I hadn't even began to try and understand.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you it was my mom's anniversary," he said, voice softening, "I'm sorry my family can't even have a normal dinner. And I'm sorry that I dragged you along and made you suffer through this."

I gently squeezed Griffin's hand again, a gesture he returned, "Stop apologizing. I'm just glad I could be here for you," I paused, "all of you."

Griffin wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me out the door. And even as Griffin smiled at me and thanked me again for coming, I couldn't help but think that I had less of an understanding of the Cutkosky men than before.

</ usually it takes me a lot longer to post, but I was so excited for this chapter! mr. cutkosky is going to become a lot more important in the story and show up a lot more, so I was pumped to get a bit of his character in there! and to show the family dynamic lol, because they are definitely an unusually family

make sure to let me know your thoughts, thank you! :)

(also, I was messing around with the idea of a cast for this story and I would totally cast tom hardy to play griffin... if he wasn't too old and actually looked the part xD)