I get up from the couch but Robert takes ahold of my wrist, not before I see Nicole getting done with her part.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm not playing these high school games." I shake my head at him. "Let go."

When he still doesn't let go, I scowl at him, trying to get rid of his tight grip around my wrist.

"She said let go, man!" Blake snaps at him, surprising almost all of us and I can feel the tension thickening by each second Robert continues to keep his touch on me.

"And what if I don't?"

"Robert." Sam glares at him as I try to use my free hand to get rid of his grip but it's so fucking tight. What a fucking piece of shit.

"Don't make it worse for yourself." Nick warns him.

"She said let go." Blake speaks up again, sounding pissed as hell which earns him a baffled look from his girlfriend.

"Robert." I mutter through gritted teeth. "I'll chop your hand off."

He laughs, loosening his grip a little so I snatch my hand away. "I was just getting a reaction, that's all."

"Fuck you." I smack at his head before moving away.

I sit down on the bar stool, picking up water to keep myself hydrated. It's a habit I picked up with Blake's constant nagging and I just can't seem to get rid of it, but it's a good thing nonetheless.

I would've kissed Robert if I hadn't realised that I don't do tit for tat. That's something Genesis would have done, and I never want to be her.

Despite the music, when there's a loud knock on the door, I move to open it. Shit, seriously? Just when I was thinking about her, she's standing on the other side.

"What the hell is this?" She points inside the living room.

"A party." I mock her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

My life is literally playing a joke on me right now. She's the last person I expected to see. There has to be a way to get rid of this constant nagging I get from her presence. I find it so hard to process that I ever felt something for her at all.

"We need to talk." She sounds serious, making me frown.

"I don't want to talk to you, about anything."

"It's about your job." She holds up a file and I look inside, noticing that I have grabbed a few people's attention with her presence, including Blake's who's glaring at me.

"Can't it wait till Monday?" I ask, wanting to get rid of her.

"I don't like coming to Brooklyn on a Saturday night, Emily."

God, she's so fucking annoying, and not even in a good way like Blake is. He makes me laugh, she makes me want to punch her.

"We'll go to my room, keep it brief."

She nods, before stepping in and we make our way down the hallway. Olivia grabs my arm before I can reach my room. "What the hell?"

"It's some office work." I assure her and she gives me a varied look but I wave it off before moving to unlock my door so Genesis can step in.

Once we're away from the loud music, I turn to her as she takes a seat on the chair. "It's smaller than I remember."

"Too bad." I snap. "What is it, Gen?"

I'm damn impatient when it comes to her because I want her out of here as quickly as possible.

"You're resigning." She states the facts. "Don't you think you're taking this entire thing too far?"

"Is this what you wanted to talk about?"

God, did I just let her manipulate me again? When will I start to learn that nothing with her is ever straight forward.

"Yes." She nods, stepping closer. "It's a mistake, you know it."

"It's really not. Are you fucking serious, you came all the way here to convince me to keep the job?" I scowl at her. "Since when do you care so much?"

"Since I started falling for you, dammit!"

I laugh, I genuinely laugh at her face. Those are the words I never, ever expected to hear from Genesis even when we were together, or I hoped for her to treat me better. I was never that deluded.

"Are you kidding me?" I chuckle at her words. "Falling for me, that's the best you got?"

How can someone just throw those words around without having care in the world? Genesis doesn't even know the meaning of love, and if this is her meaning, then I hope to God that no one ever loves me like this.

"Why is it so funny?" She looks mad.

"Because you're not falling for me. You're attracted, and you're finding it hard to let go. It doesn't mean you love me or anything, for fuck's sake." I shake my head at her in disappointment, yet again. "You don't destroy the people you love, you don't continuously fight with them, you fight for them."

She just stares at me like she has no idea what I'm talking about. Of course, she doesn't. She has no idea what it feels like to love someone, to want to be with them and be there for them.

"Whatever you just said, don't quit. It's a huge mistake."

"What's another mistake in this life, Gen?" I scoff. "You'll get my formal notice on Monday."

"Don't bother." She snaps.

"What?"

"I don't want you around. Eric will send your stuff, I'll process your resignation without your notice period being served."

"But my reference and salary."

"Eric will handle it." She think she's punishing me but she's actually doing me a huge favour right now. "Don't bother showing your face to me ever again. I've chased you enough, you're not even worth it."

I don't let her words get to me. She doesn't mean anything to me, so I know everything she's saying right now is to hurt me because I hurt her ego. That's how she operates.

She steps out of the room and I notice Blake staring at the two of us because he's leaning in the hallway.

"Seriously?" He scoffs at me and I scowl, not understanding what he means.

"Blake—" I start to explain why she's here but he just goes to the living room as I chase after him. After everything, I can't let him assume this of all the things.

But he doesn't even give me a chance to explain. I just stare from the corner as he goes to Nicole, turns her around before kissing her. He really kisses her, in front of me just because he thought Genesis and I have something going on.

He just did tit for tat, based on an assumption.

For the second time in my life, since I've found out the truth about my father, I feel my heart breaking into a million pieces. It takes me a moment to realise that my hand is on my mouth as I try to live down this unfamiliar, shocking feeling.

"Well, that didn't last long." I hear Genesis laugh behind me. "Guess Karma's a bitch."

What for? I've never broken anyone's heart but my own. I can't believe he's actually capable to breaking my heart. At lest he can't know that. Just when I was starting to recover from my low self-esteem diabolical, I have another reason staring at me in the face. I trusted him too easily, let him in without any barriers because I thought Blake could never hurt me.

"Goodbye, Emily."

I don't even pay attention to her as she leaves, rather I just stare at Blake as he parts away from his girlfriend before turning to see me. I don't even know what I look like right now, but with the tears streaming down, it can't be a pretty sight. He looks shocked to say the least.

"Em?" I hear Myra's voice. "Hey, what's wrong?"

I just shake my head before walking towards the front door. I can't be here right now, not in their presence. I try so hard to push the image of them kissing out of my head but it just keeps coming back to me.

As soon as I'm in the lobby, I let out a sob, my hand going to my chest as I try to make sense of this alien feeling, and out of all the people in my life, how is Blake the only person who has been able to make me feel so beaten down.

I hear the front door opening behind me, and I immediately know it's him. "Emma."

I rush away from him as I reach the staircase area of the building that mostly remains secluded by the shut doors. I push it open to get away from him but I can feel him following me.

"Emily, wait!"

I turn around to face him, glaring at him. "What?"

"Why the hell are you crying? You just hooked up with your girlfriend. Don't make me the bad guy here." He snaps at me.

I scoff, "Did I, Blake? And girlfriend, really? Have I not told you how she has made me feel?"

He opens his mouth to speak but shuts up as confusion clouds his expressions. "I don't understand."

"You never fucking do." I yell at him, not caring if someone hears me.

"Emma!"

"Don't! Don't fucking call me that, you lost the right to call me by that name the moment you kissed her to get back at me. That's an asshole move, and my Blake is a lot of things, but he's not a dickhead."

"Your Blake?" He scoffs. "Are you hearing yourself? You've pushed me away so many times!"

"Because I have issues, Blake! I fucking need to know people aren't just going to up and leave when there's a bump in the road, and you did just that. I might've pushed you away, but you never tried." I cry out, not caring for once how pathetic I sound.

"Your father gave you abandonment issues?" He whispers, realisation dawning upon him.

"Don't." I glare at him through my tears. "Just fuck off, please."

"Emma! I thought you didn't care. I acted on impulse, oh my god, I'm so sorry." He starts to sound helpless as my shoulders shake from crying so much.

"She's your girlfriend, you can kiss her whenever and however you want, I don't care."

"Then why the hell are you crying?"

Because you just broke my heart.

"I don't know. I felt we had something. I went against every rule of mine to actually be with you, to give it a try despite every thought in my head telling me not to," I tell him honestly, "I thought it's just sex, but that's not me. I feel too much, I felt too much for you and I screwed it up."

I hate how words are just tumbling out of my mouth one after another but I've kept it in too long. I don't know how to keep my heart hidden from him now that he has had a peek of it.

He looks like he's on the verge of crying. "Don't say that, please. We can fix this."

"There's no we."

"Yes, there is." He steps closer to me but I shake my head.

"Blake, stop!" I sob out the painful words. "Please, just stop."

"Let's do this. Let's not stop. No boundaries, right?" I look into his blue-green eyes.

He nods eagerly, "You just have to say stop."

"You know I don't like to lose?" I can't help but smile at him.

"Neither do I."

A look of horror and disbelief crosses his face as he shakes his head, "No, no, no. Baby, please no."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't want to mess this up so bad." I wipe my tears. "I lose, Blake."

"Me too." His voice cracks and I just shake my head at him before turning around to leave.

He doesn't follow me, and for once, I'm glad because unlike the last times, this time I didn't want him to. I'm glad that I have my phone in the jacket so I pull it out when I reach downstairs.

I book myself a cab to the only safe space I know. I pay for the ride through my phone's e-wallet. I can't seem to stop crying, throughout the forty five minutes ride, I sobbed my heart out.

When I realise that it's nearly midnight, I press dial on my phone, "Open the door."

He doesn't question me, he just hangs up and a minute later the door clicks open.

"Oh, honey. What's wrong?" He asks and I don't respond to him, I just wrap my arms around the only father I have ever known and continue to cry.

He doesn't even ask me to move, he just hugs me for as long as I break down. When I pull away a little, I wipe my tears and look at him.

"Is it okay if I stay the night?"

"Do you really have to ask?" He smiles at me a little before stepping aside. I move inside the living room and he speaks up. "Have you eaten anything?"

I nod. "Pizza slice."

"That can't be enough. Mac and cheese?" He offers and I want to protest against it but I haven't eaten anything properly this entire week.

I had a few drinks tonight, so I need to eat if I don't want to fall sick tomorrow. So, reluctantly, I nod at him.

When he heats up a bowl and brings it to me on the couch, he speaks up. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." I shake my head. How can I possibly talk about how pathetic I feel right now? "Is Granpa still here?"

"Yup. He leaves tomorrow night."

I nod at him. "I resigned from my job."

"Why?" He asks patiently, not sounding surprised or disappointed.

"I wasn't happy anymore." I sigh, eating the food. "Can I watch Frozen?"

He chuckles under his breath, nodding. "I'll set it up."

I smile at him, pushing back the tears because I'm tired of crying over Blake, over how fucked up I have turned my entire life. I've only got myself to blame, no one else is responsible for this. I let him in too close, I let my walls down constantly around him because I thought he wasn't capable of hurting me, he didn't have the power — or even if he did, he would not hurt me, he wouldn't make that choice.

Right now, I am not hurting because he kissed her in front of me. Hell, I basically removed myself from his path so he could be with her. But he has to know that I care for him, or how I feel. He always throws in my face how much he knows me, so why couldn't he see this?

The worst thing he could've done was pulled a move Genesis would've made. That's why I'm heartbroken, because he thought I hurt him, so he hurt him back. If only he knew the truth, that all this while, the only thing I've really wanted is to protect him from the hurt I might cause.

When Dad sets up the movie, he doesn't go back to sleep, he sits down on the couch by my side. He doesn't ask me to talk, he just stays there in case I might need him.

After I'm almost done eating, Mom steps inside the living room, looking sleepy as she calls out for him. "Aaron?"

"Right here." He looks back at her. "Go back to sleep, Dee."

"Em?" Mom frowns, noticing my presence. "Is everything okay?"

I shake my head and she doesn't ask, she just comes to sit on the other side, wrapping her arms around me and I try not to break down again.

"Wanna talk?" She asks.

"Tomorrow, maybe?" I suggest and she nods. "You can sleep, both of you."

"Not a chance. We're watching the movie." Dad mumbles, making himself comfortable.

"You could've woken me up," Mom tells him and he just rolls his eyes in return. "Stubborn man."

"He learnt it from you." I whisper at her and she just shakes her head at me.

Halfway through the movie, I start falling asleep and when I look at my right, Dad has dozed off as well while my mother is struggling to keep her eyes open. Stubborn people.

"Mom." I whisper a little and she looks at me with wide eyes, full attention. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll be upstairs."

"Sure?" She asks me and I nod.

I get up quietly, making sure not to wake up my father as I switch off the television. By the time I turn around to go upstairs, I notice that Mom has somehow found herself space to sleep in Dad's arms.

The sight normally would have made me roll my eyes, but today it just makes me question if I am ever going to have that with someone, or will I ever even want it? Because the only person who crosses my mind is Blake.

I push back the thoughts as I quietly make my way to my old bedroom. It's the same as always, so I pull out some clothes to change into before snuggling in the bed.

With helpless blue-green eyes in my mind, I doze off to sleep.

Blake. That's my first thought when I wake up in the morning.

As soon as I got here last night, I switched off my phone. I dropped a text to Olivia not to worry, but that's it. It's not hard to guess where I can be, but I don't want to meet anyone.

I wake up to a lot of sunshine peeking in the bedroom because I forgot to draw the curtains last night. But when my eyes move to the table clock, I realise that it's nearly noon. I step into the washroom to brush my teeth but my own face makes me take a step back.

Terrible. I look terrible. My eyes are puffed up from all the crying, my skin is so pale and my hair are so frizzy.

I pull up my hair in a bun before going through morning routines. I'm glad my parents haven't woken me up, or haven't told the kids I'm here so they haven't woken me up either.

When I finally am able to look a tiny bit presentable, I make my way downstairs but instantly hear a lot of panicked screaming which makes me rush faster.

"What's going on?" I ask, my heartbeat rising when Caiden yells from behind the kitchen counter.

"Get out of the way!" He yells and that's when I realise what's in his hand.

He's holding a paintball gun, wearing all the equipments and I turn to see my mother hiding behind the sofa.

"Seriously? How old are you?" I shake my head at them.

"We would be dead if you don't get out of the way." Ohana screams from behind me.

"Okay, hold on. We're calling a pause." Dad turns up from around the corner with Odion as he enters the living room.

"You too?" I shake my head. "Wow, Caiden has corrupted everyone. Where's Granpa?"

"Right here." He steps out from behind the sofa. So, he was hiding with my mother. "They weren't letting me play."

"You've got the perfect shot with years of training!" Caiden argues. "If you want to play, be on my team."

"Not happening." Ohana shakes her head.

"I'm so confused right now." I stare at all of them. "Dad?"

"You've got five minutes to get ready. You're on our team, and you better not make us lose." He instructs and I let out a loud groan before nodding.

Caiden and Odion help with the equipment before handing me the paintball gun and I immediately go for Caiden's leg.

"What the hell? We're on the same team." He yells at me as I run down the hallway, laughing.

"I'm going rogue, bitches!" I announce.

"Emily! Language." Both Mom and Dad shout at the same time but I just roll my eyes before shooting at my mother's shoulder.

"Ow, ow, ow!" She screams out in pain. "You're so dead."

"Mother of the year." I laugh, realising that I haven't felt this exhilarated in so long now, and no one else would've brought this out apart from my own damn family.

"Happy Halloween, kid!" Granpa smirks before aiming at my elbow.

Fuck, that hurt like a bitch. We're all going to be covered up with bruises.

An hour later, we've so many paint stains on our clothes, Mom doesn't let us sit on the couch. But I don't remember the last time I had this much fun. I guess, life decided to provide me a great distraction and cut me some slack.

"We've carving pumpkins in the afternoon." Dad announces when all of us are done changing.

"Yes!" Ohana and Odion excitedly high-five.

"Remember when we were that excited about Halloween?" I ask Caiden who's sitting by my side.

"Yes, I accidentally sat on your pumpkin so you threw away mine." He laughs, recalling from years ago.

"I didn't know it was an accident!" I defend myself. "And I was stupid back then."

"Sure." He rolls his eyes. "This is a nice surprise, to have you home."

I just shrug in response, without explaining. He wouldn't understand anyway, no matter how much mature he wants to be at times for me. Mom is helping Granpa pack for his flight upstairs because Dad would be driving him out after early dinner.

"Odion." I start, catching my brother's attention. "How are things at school?"

"Good." He nods with a smile.

"Did that Brent kid trouble you again?"

He shoots a glance at Ohana who immediately averts her eyes away before he answers me with a shake of his head. I turn to Caiden, wondering if he found this entire exchange weird too and he's scowling at our siblings.

"What's going on?" He asks, leaning a little forward on the couch.

I look up to see that Dad's out of the earshot as I focus back on my siblings. "It's just us. We wouldn't take it to the folks if that's what you're worried about."

"Yeah. Millie can take care of it if he's troubling you again." Caiden assures them.

"It's nothing." Ohana grumbles but her face turns red. That girl can't lie to save her life.

"Odion." I turn to him and he sighs.

"He l-likes her."

"Wait, what?" Caiden scowls and it's good to know we're on the same page because that was my first thought too.

"Odion!" Ohana shrieks at him. "He has no idea what he's talking about."

"Hold on. That's who you're crushing on?" I gape at her and she blushes. "O, it's okay. No one's judging."

I should be the last person to judge anyone, let alone my own sister.

"You like that douche?" Caiden scowls at her.

"Cay, you aren't helping right now." I sneer at him.

"She's ten! She's not supposed to like anyone."

He's being all big-brother protective right now without realising that this isn't what she needs. She glares at all of us before storming off and I swat at Caiden's shoulder.

"That was helpful."

"I'll punch that kid myself if he even goes near her. She's my baby sister." He continues to scowl and I smile a little at him.

"Aww, Cay. I know you care, but don't make this about yourself. Just understand that she's growing up, and if we don't understand her, who will?" I pat his head and nod at Odion before leaving the two of them alone.

I have my own mid-life crisis going on but at least I can fix my sister's early-life crisis at the moment. I knock on her bedroom door before I hear her yell.

"Go away."

I smile a little before stepping in and she calms down a little when she notices that it's me. "Can we talk?"

"If you're going to be like Caiden, then no."

"Nothing like him." I assure her before taking a seat by her side on the bed. "So, that's what you've been wanting to talk about?"

She nods feebly. "Yeah. I was worried."

"Of what I will think?" I ask, surprised and she nods. "Why?"

"I thought I was a bad sister for liking a guy who made fun of my brother." She pouts a little. "But he said sorry to him. They are also kind of friends now."

"You know you're too young to date, right?" I ask and she groans. "I'm just saying. There's no harm in being friends with the guy but I really think you should stay away from the boy drama for some more years."

"Dad will disown me if he hears about this." She face-palms.

"Yes, he will." I laugh. "But he won't if you're thirteen, because then you can use your very smart intellect sister as an excuse."

"That's true." She smiles at me. "He's just so sweet."

"You punched him, O." I can't hold back my laugh.

"And I would do it again if he ever makes fun of Odion."

"There's my girl." I kiss her forehead. "You should never feel embarrassed about how you feel, alright?"

She nods at me, "Caiden won't tell anyone, right?"

"You know he won't. He'll tease you, definitely." I warn her.

"I'll punch him too." She jokes and I ruffle her hair. "Let's go downstairs, yeah?"

She nods, slipping out of the bed before rushing down and I knock on the guest room's door before turning the doorknob. Granpa's sitting on the chair while my mother is zipping up his bag.

"Hey." I smile at them.

"Started with the pumpkins yet?" Granpa asks and I shake my head. "Good, I'll start."

He gets up and moves out of the room, patting my head as I move inside the room, taking a seat on the chair where he was sitting as my mother sits down on the edge of the bed.

"Ready to talk yet?" She asks. "Your Dad told me you left the job."

I nod, tugging my hair behind my ear nervously. "It wasn't working out. Are you mad?"

"Not at all." She frowns. "Is this about your boss, the one you were dating?"

I shake my head before nodding. "It is, but there are a lot of other factors. I think I can do better."

"So do I." She smiles at me. "Not just in the job aspect."

"I'm not with her, Mom." I sigh. "At least not since a few months. I don't care about her."

Not anymore. She's not worth even a single thought of mine.

"Then, what is it? Did Nate contact you again?" She asks, sounding worried.

"He did, is he ever going to stop?" I ask, the thoughts of him sending me over to the edge again.

"Do you want him to stop, sweets?" She asks me, her green eyes reflecting nothing but empathy. "Our battles aren't yours, Em. If you ever decide to forgive him, we're not going to hold it against you."

Her words make a lump form in my throat as I blink back the tears. "How can I forgive him after what he did to you, to Dad?"

"Oh, baby. You don't have to hate him for us." Her voice cracks. "He's still your father, and if you ever want to visit him, I will make my peace with it."

"Thank you." I smile at her, a few tears escaping. "You're the best Mom, you know that, right?"

"And you're the best kid I could've asked for, including those three dorks." She smiles, her eyes watering. "You aren't okay, Em. Talk to me. Please."

I bite on my lip to hold back a sob, shaking my head as I think about Blake. How has he managed to break me down so much?

"I don't know what to say," I tell her honestly. "It's about a stupid guy."

"It always is." She gives me an encouraging smile to go on. "Who is it?"

"Not important." I shake my head. "We started off as friends, and it turned more but we didn't label it, you know?"

She nods in understanding. "And?"

"And, we were moving forward. At least, I thought we were but then his ex showed up." I shake my head at how stupid I sound. "God, this sounds so high-school."

"It doesn't. I promise." She takes my hand in hers. "What did he do?"

"He didn't do anything. I pushed him to her." I cry a little more, "And then something happened last night. Mom, honestly, I feel like I'm overreacting, but at the same time, it's not a reaction, it's just how I feel and I'm not doing it to get his attention or anything. I'm just trying not to push back my emotions because if I don't allow myself to feel hurt, I'll go numb and I hate that more than anything."

"I know, sweets." She rubs her palm on my arm with concern clear in her eyes. "What did he do, Em?"

"He kissed his girlfriend in front of me, like deliberately just to prove a point. He thought I did something to hurt him, so he thought of hurting me back." I sob out the last words as the image of Blake kissing Nicole flashes in front of my eyes.

"That's a dick move." She breathes, not even trying to sugarcoat her language for me. "You aren't overreacting."

She's my mother. Of course, she would validate my feelings. But it still feels good to hear her say that.

"I feel like he broke my heart, and I don't understand how. The only person who has ever made me feel this miserable is..."

"Nate. You know why?" She reaches out to wipe my tears and I shake my head. "The only people capable of breaking your heart are the people you love."

"No." I shake my head. "I don't lo—"

I'm not even able to finish that sentence because it hits me like a fucking truck.

I am in love with Blake.