I sat at the kitchen table in annoyance as Madison was applying makeup to my face. Hayley was sitting across from me, obviously bored and paying more attention to her phone. Madison had said this would be a wonderful bonding experience for us girls and requested the boys stay in the game room. Luke fought her, saying he hasn't seen me for twelve years and he wasn't going to let Madison keep me away from him for even a few minutes. Madison wasn't very happy, but allowed Luke to stay in the dining room with us.

"I knew this color would look good on you! Cody won't be able to keep his eyes off of you." Madison said in excitement as she applied another layer of setting spray to my face.

"He already can't." I mumbled loud enough for Hayley to hear me. Cody was actually very attractive. He's not as attractive as Kellin, but I still don't want to let myself fall for Kellin. I don't want to let myself fall for Cody since he is Kellin's best friend. I don't need to notice what they look like, anyways. I heard Luke give an annoyed sigh, "I already told him to not hit on you, but he won't listen to me."

Madison giggled a high pitched giggle as she started to apply blush to my cheeks, "Let them be teenagers, Luke. What would it hurt if Avery and Cody dated?"

I looked over at Luke to see him rolling his eyes, "I don't know, maybe Avery would want to spend all of her time with Cody?"

I faked a disgusted look, "But you're old and my godfather. I don't want to spend Friday nights with you."

Luke chuckled, "You're going to have to for a while to catch up on all the time we lost."

Luke texted something on his phone before locking the screen, sliding it in his pocket, and giving me a small smile. Madison placed her hand under my chin to force me to look at her before running a mascara brush through my eyelashes. I stayed as still as possible so she wouldn't stab me in the eye until she set the tube of mascara in the makeup box she forced Luke to buy me. She gave a smile as she looked at me before pulling out a tube of coral colored lip gloss and applying it to my lips, "Finished."

I've never worn this much makeup before. Madison did something she called contouring and highlighting as well as something with my eyebrows. I think she said she was sculpting them? Madison grabbed a hand held mirror before holding it up to me. My breath was taken away as I saw my reflection. That was me?! I was actually sort of pretty. The different shades of purple and violet made my light greenish-blue eyes stand out. I gave Madison a smile, "I love what you've done. Thank you."

I looked over at Luke to see his reaction. A smile was on his face, "Avery, you look amazing with and without makeup."

Before I could reply, Cody came into the kitchen. He paused when we made eye contact. He seemed frozen as he stared at me in awe. Madison gave another high pitched giggle, "I told you Cody wouldn't be able to keep his eyes off of you."

Cody rolled his eyes as he spared Madison a quick glance, "I see you still don't know how to keep my name out of your mouth."

Madison gave Cody an innocent smile, "You and Avery would make an adorable couple."

"No dating talk yet. I'm not ready for that. She's still a baby." Luke said in annoyance from behind me. I rolled my eyes. No rules? I think I have a no dating rule.

Cody walked over towards me and sat in the kitchen chair beside me, "You do look really pretty."

I hoped what he was saying was true, especially after his reaction when he saw me. But deep down I knew he was only saying it to please Hayley. I gave a smile - a genuine smile, "Thank you. Are you going with us to dinner?"

Cody nodded, "Of course. My best friend's best childhood friend is back, and I wouldn't miss spending time with her."

"You wouldn't, huh?"

"Nah. She's cute."

I knew he was probably saying that so Hayley wouldn't think I was trying to take Kellin from her, but I couldn't help myself from blushing. I heard Luke clear his throat from behind us, "Cody."

Cody ignored Luke before standing up and holding his hand out to me. I grabbed it and he pulled me to my feet. Hayley, seemingly annoyed with us, got up and left the room. I turned my head to Luke. He gave Cody and me a thumbs up.

"I'll go see where my sweetiekins is." Madison said before she gave a smile and skipped out of the dining room.

Luke rolled his eyes, "Could she be any more annoying?"

Cody grabbed my hand again and pulled me into his chest. I felt my heart skip a beat. I had never been this close to a guy as attractive as him. The only guy I remember dating wasn't even as attractive as Cody. I looked up into his green eyes, not being able to form any kind of words or sounds, "Not bad work. Try to toss a little bit of shyness in, like you don't want Luke to know you want to be with me."

"If Hayley isn't around then don't be that close." Luke said from behind me as he set his hand on my shoulder and pulled me away from Cody.

I felt myself nod even thought I was trying to calm my heartbeat down, "Wait, what just happened?"

"I just hit on you in front of everyone." Cody said as he gave a shrug. Luke sighed, "If Hayley wasn't so pissed about the whole situation you would have been sent home."

"Calm down, Mr. Luke. I know my boundaries. The rules have been made clear. Avery, I won't lie to you and I'm banned from hitting on you because of the best friend code, so I'm sorry for hitting on you. Mr. Luke, don't kill me. Avery, don't be upset." Cody said as he held his hands up.

Luke sighed loudly before giving me a forced half smile, "Do you want to go get dressed into something fancy? Madison chose the restaurant, so of course it's something expensive."

"Is that why you made me buy a few dresses?" I asked him.

He chuckled as he nodded, "Life with Madison in it means you have to be ready to go to fancy places at any second."

I gave a little shrug, "You don't seem to like her very much."

Luke gave a little smile and shrugged in return, "If she tried to change everything about your life and who you are, you wouldn't like her much, either. Not to mention, I think she's only dating Alex for his money."

Madison didn't seem all that bad to me. Then again, I just met her and I don't like to judge people when I just meet them. Madison seemed very nice from what I've heard from her. Luke hasn't really said anything too nice about her. But if she did try to change him and everything about his life, why would he like her? I turned and headed to the main set of stairs at the front door before heading to my room. I opened one of the many bags to search for one of the dresses. I found a navy colored skater dress with dark purple and yellow colored flowers on it and quickly changed into it, not wanting them to have to wait for me. After I was dressed, I grabbed a pair of black flats and turned around to leave the room. I opened the door to see Hayley standing on the other side, her arms folded across her chest.

"I'm only going to say this once: stay away from Kellin." Hayley said as she stared at me.

I held back an eye roll, "Look, Hayley, you don't have anything to worry about."

Hayley narrowed her eyes at me, "If you're living in the same house, I have something to worry about. I'm giving you one warning. After that it's going to get physical."

"He's not my type. Plus, he's like my god brother or something. He's completely off limits even if I did find him attractive." I said as I closed my bedroom door, making up stuff to sound convincing even though it wasn't true. If I knew what my type was, Kellin would probably be the definition. I turned around from her and headed toward the stairs. As long as I keep telling myself he's off limits, I probably won't get attracted to him. I turned the corner towards the stairs only to bump into none other than Kellin. He had an angry look on his face and I didn't want to bother him.

"Sorry. I didn't see you." I said softly, becoming shy at his look of fury. He didn't seem to be the type of person with a lot of rage, but for some reason I was always worried when people had anger issues.

Kellin looked down at me and his face softened, as if he knew he looked outraged. He gave me a little smile, "It's alright, Avery. I shouldn't be standing in the worst spot. I'm sorry. Are you ready to go? Madison is annoying Alex."

I gave a little shrug, "Yeah, I guess. I'll head down there now."

I walked around Kellin and walked down the main stairwell. It was still strange to me that there were two sets of stairs in this house, one in the front and another in the back. But then again isn't it common for old houses like this to have more than one set of stairs? As I made my way to the bottom, I realized I didn't know where anyone else was. I held my breath as I started to walk around the house in search of either Luke or Alex. I heard voices and thought they came from the room next to me. When I opened the door, the room was empty. I must be getting closer to them. Alex appeared in front of me, a look of concern on his face, "Are you alright?"

I gave a nod. Why wouldn't I be alright? Was he worried I would be uncomfortable after Madison gave me a makeover? I honestly didn't mind it. "Yeah. Is something wrong?"

"I just heard Kellin and Hayley yelling and was trying to find you to make sure you weren't in the middle of it." Alex said as he ran a hand through his brown hair. They're yelling? I wonder if Kellin heard what Hayley said to me and that's why he looked so angry when I bumped into him. I shook my head and looked up at Alex, about to tell him I wasn't anywhere near them.

"What did Hayley say to you?" Alex asked, a bit of annoyance in his voice. Did I say that out loud? I don't think I did. Alex's face went blank and he stared at me, his eyes narrowed, "What did she say, Avery?"

"She told me to stay away from Kellin." I replied. Alex grabbed my wrist gently before pulling me to the main living room, where everyone else was, and he quickly left the room. Luke looked up at me and gave me a smile as if to comfort me, "You look adorable."

I tucked my hair behind my ear before sitting beside him on the couch. Madison was taking selfies of herself on her phone on the love seat beside us. I have never been told I looked adorable. My foster family only said I looked nice if they said anything. They would tell me to change if they didn't like something, but that was rare. It happened a couple of times when I was wearing casual clothes and we were supposed to go to something fancy. I was starting to miss Seth a bit more. I pulled my phone out and unlocked it, hovering over the Send Message link on his contact number. He probably wouldn't want me to text him. I locked my phone and set it in my lap. Luke picked my phone up and put it on the camera, leaning into me.

"Smile, Avery." He said.

I gave a smile as he smiled and quickly took the picture. He closed one eye and stuck his tongue out before taking another picture. After the second picture he locked my phone back and set it back in my lap. I felt a warmth spread through my chest. The Kennedy's would never initiate selfies with me. Seth and I were normally forced to have our pictures taken together but that was about it.

"Luke?" I asked, my voice breaking slightly.

"Yes?" He replied as he looked over at me.

I bit my lip, unsure of how to word the things in my head, "Am I messing up Kellin's relationship?"

Luke shook his head, "No. Hayley has always been like this. Don't let it get to you, alright?"

I nodded. That couldn't be healthy for Kellin. Why does he deal with it? He must really love her. I looked up as Cody came into the room, his hands in the front pockets of his black jeans, "We're about to go."

Luke stood up and held his hand out to me. I took it, like I did at the agency, and he pulled me to my feet. I gave him a smile, "Thank you, kind sir."

Madison gave a giggle from beside us, "You two are adorable! I hope Alex is like that with our daughter."

I took in a deep breath. Madison didn't look pregnant. Maybe she had a baby before? If they did have a kid, why wasn't it around?

"Babies don't come out as what you want, Madison. Alex has said he doesn't want kids any time soon, so stop bringing it up." Luke said in annoyance.

Madison huffed, "A girl can dream. It's our future, anyways."

I followed Luke outside. Cody linked his arm with mine before pulling me to a silver Mustang. I felt the uncomfortable chest tightness as I stared at the car. Jack drove a Mustang like this. I died in a car like this. I hadn't been in another one since. What if another wreck happened? I felt my throat close up as my heartbeat started to pound inside my tightened chest. I couldn't breathe. I put both of my hands to my throat as I turned around, keeping my eyes on anything but cars. I saw a rose bush beside the steps and focused on it.

"Avery, take slow, deep breaths." I heard Luke say.

I nodded and tried my best to take in air slowly. When the chest tightness went away and I could breathe again, I turned to Luke, "How do you know when I have the weird chest tightness?"

He gave a shrug, "I know anxiety. Vince used to have it. Are you better?"

I nodded. Anxiety. This chest tightness and not being able to breathe is anxiety? I remember hearing the doctors say something about it when I was in the hospital, but I don't remember anything they said about it. I don't like it and I don't like that my dad had to deal with it. "Yes, thank you."

Kellin, Alex, and an angry looking Hayley came out of the house. Alex headed to a black truck while Kellin and Hayley headed towards us. Luke gave me a smile, "You can ride with the teenagers and I'll see you there."

Without another word he headed towards the black truck. I honestly wanted to ride with him. Being in a vehicle with Hayley and Kellin together made me uncomfortable. Cody came up beside me, "Sit in the back with me."

I turned and headed towards the Mustang. Cody was getting in on the passenger side. I walked around to the drivers side. Kellin opened the door and lifted the seat for me. I gave him a soft thank you before climbing into the back seat beside Cody. After Hayley and Kellin got in the car, we were off.