It's not everyday your parents walk into your room and tell you to move out. No, I didn't do anything wrong, unless if you count deciding to go to college 1,152 miles away from home as a wrong decision. I know, far right? But I couldn't help it, Nebraska University was always an option for me for no more than two reasons. A.) Because it's well know for it's good journalism classes, something I'm giving much thought into. And B.) Because I'm further away from my parents.

Growing up, my father always wanted me to be like him. A doctor as a matter of fact. Being an only child meant it wasn't an option. But my mother saw right through me. I don't have the mind or patience for medicine. I'm happy for my father, he's considered a hero everyday by the millions of people he helps. But really? Another doctor in the family? No. My Mom finally convinced him to give me a try with writing, something I became particularly attached to since my friends back home weren't really considered so friendly. He was furious at first, still is actually. So now moving in with my cousin was meant to be some kind of punishment, almost as a way to get me to give up and move back to Washington where I'll continue my father's desire of having me become the next doctor in the family. I can't let that happen.

My cousin wasn't always the school type of guy. He was more into doing whatever life throws at him and moving on. He got kicked out of school one day for vandalizing school property. That day, he grabbed a duffle bag, took some money, and left. I haven't seen him since. We've talked on the phone but rarely, we started drifting away and my parents played a huge role in that being because they didn't want me to grow up and turn into someone like him. Now, four years later, I find out I'm going to live with him in his house in Nebraska, exactly where I'm going to be attending college in. Of course, my parents didn't want me to get a dorm, what will that teach me?

I took the plane ride here, my parents stayed behind. I can do this on my own, I'm 18 now. They can consider this as a punishment as much as they want but I actually take this as a test. A test to see if I'm ready for life away from them. And I am. Even if it means staying with my bad influence of a cousin.

I stepped out the cab after paying my fair and grabbing my bags, shutting the door to have it drive away. In front of me was a decent size house. It's colors were a light, almost like a tint of grey and blue, and the roof was an even darker shade of grey. The house was surrounded by green plants, many of them. Parked in the driveway big enough for two cars stood only a big, white vehicle which I suspect is my cousin's.

My feet carried me up the garden stones to the front white door. I was about to knock when I was taken by surprise and it opened by the other side.

"There you are!" A big smile spread across his face. I was undertaken by the grasp he had held upon me, an embrace bigger than I ever suspected. Did he really miss me this much?

He pulled back shortly. Lord, he's changed so much since I last saw him in freshman year of high school. His hair was much darker now, I can see he's even taken the time to put it up in some type of messy blowout hairdo. His eyes remained dark and full of mystery. Puberty finished him off just fine. I can't believe that this is my cousin. I can only imagine the girls running after him. He was only wearing a pair of grey joggers and socks, I can tell the black t-shirt he had on was literally just put on by the way he finished bringing it down his long torso. A few, newly inked tattoos showed from his left shoulder; he didn't have those before. I just can't imagine the plenty more he has yet to be discovered.

"Come in." He licked his bottom lip, moving past me to grab my second bag and close the door. "Wow, I can't believe it's actually you." He smiled. "You look great by the way."

"Thanks, Ash. You too." I smiled, eyes wandering around his house. It was actually pretty clean for a guy. All the furniture matched the exterior colors of the house. I was now standing in the walkway of the living room and the kitchen a little bit further back on the left side. I have to admit, this is a pretty cozy place and I don't think I'll have a problem getting used to it.

"Well are you going to stand there like an idiot or are you going to follow me?" He chuckled.

I can't believe I was so interested in his house that I didn't even notice he was already walking down the long hallway with my bags in his hands. Quickly, I retrieved myself once more to gather my stuff and sprint up behind him. "Sorry." I giggled in embarrassment.

"You haven't changed, Zo." He smiled walking into a more tighter space in the hall. "Always behind everything."

'Zo' has always been my nickname, thanks to him, of course. He's always said that to me and I figured it'd be gone by now. Obviously, the name seems to be stuck.

"Hey, it's not my fault. I don't see you having to be in a plane for more than two hours with an annoying five year old kicking your seat the entire time." I defended.

"I could've picked you up in Washington." He smirked shaking his head.

"In what? Your car? No. I'll stick with the five year old behind me than next to me steering a car for three whole days." I joked.

Ashton laughed, "Oh well, your lost. This five year old is pretty fun if you ask me?"

I rolled my eyes, him and his jokes. I guess it's nice to know that hasn't changed. He finished off our trip down the hall by stopping near the end, turning to his right to open a white door. He stepped in and dropped my bags. I came in after and stood looking at him with complete wide eyes, my mouth nearly falling agape.

"Welcome to your room, little cousin." He smiled looking around.

"This is it?" I asked, standing with one eyebrow raised in front of the small box room with the roof coming down a little towards the back in a triangle shape on either side of the bed which held windows deeper in them. Ashton smirked and nodded.

"What? Is this not good enough for you?" He retorted. I frowned and gestured myself deeper inside the bedroom.

"You're kidding, right?" I questioned again, still not believing in what he was offering me.

There was a queen sized bed against the white wall in front of the door with a small white desk besides me and two other white doors besides each other on the wall to the left of me which I'm suspecting is a closet and a bathroom. The laminated space between all the furniture here was minimal but the room was better than living out in a youth hostel.

"I told you it was small on the phone." Ashton said with a shrug. I shook my head, dropping my bag onto the carpeted floor below me.

"No, you said it was an ideal size." I answered. He slumped down onto the white sheets of the bed, clearly making himself comfortable. I swear, I'm defiantly adding a splash of color to this place. It makes me feel like I'm in an asylum or something.

"You can't be more than five feet tall, how much room do you need?" He asked.

The room was somewhat tidy, the flat as a whole was cleaner than I had expected but the mess was unusual to me. Back home, Mom had a housekeeper that would come in weekly to make sure that every surface was polished and every curtain was steamed. If anything, the untidy flat was relatively relaxing.

"Look, you're not in Washington anymore, Princess. You're gonna have to get used to it. I've been living like this for four years and I'm not about to stop now."

I really wasn't happy with this arrangement. I may be small but I still need my space and I think every girl can agree about that with me. Ashton was obviously not getting up, at least for the moment.

"I'm hungry." I tilted my head crossing my arms over my stomach.

Ashton shrugged his shoulders, pointing the TV remote toward the door behind me. "Get yourself something to eat. But try not to eat too much.. I was planning on taking you out for dinner with a couple of friends to a place nearby."

Wow. My first day here and he's expecting me to know where everything in his house is. Whatever, I'm hungry and I need food. Airplane food isn't really considered the best food ever, you know? I took the opportunity when he turned on the TV to go and have a look around.

The kitchen was compact but complete with a coffee machine, so I had no complaints. When I reached inside, I started frowning as my eyes laid still to a door more in the inside and excluded from the rest of the house.

"Ashton!" I called out but received no reply. "Ashton, get over here!" I called seconds later.

"What?" He hissed. I rolled my eyes and pointed back towards the door.

"What's with that door?" I asked.

"It's a door?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"I know." I replied sarcastically. "What's behind it?"

"Stairs?" He answered like it was a stupid question what I asked. It wasn't, I'm curious. "That's the basement down there."

"Oh." I looked back a bit disappointed. I was really hoping it was some type of other room so I can get that one instead if it was bigger than the one he gave me.

"Yeah, don't go down there. Me and the guys like our privacy." He answered.

"Guys?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "What guys?"

"I'm in a band an we do practices down there." He looked at me to try an see if I was joking or not. "I didn't tell you?"

I shook my head frantically. "No, you didn't?"

Great. Now I have to deal with my cousin and his band playing down in the basement while I clearly have to start doing collage work soon enough. How will I concentrate? Hopefully the walls are soundproof because I'm really not up for kids banging on instruments and calling it music. Since when is Ashton interested in making music?

"If it's too much of a problem, you can always go elsewhere. I hear the women's shelter is really nice." He taunted.

"I'm not going to a women's shelter." I scoffed.

"Great. Can't wait till you meet the rest of the guys." He smirked in a devilish way.

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to stop myself from saying anything stupid and getting myself kicked out of the inly place I have. So instead, I nodded and smiled, bringing my arms back down and continuing to walk swiftly past his side. "I'll be unpacking now."

"Have fun." I felt him smile in a way of saying he won. For once, he's winning in getting what he wants.

Unsurprisingly, not many clothes were packed in my bags so this made my time unpacking fairly easy and non-time-consuming. I was done by dusk and this room couldn't look better with my little, simple touches here and there. Nebraska wasn't exactly what I'd call exciting. I can only imagine the only exciting thing happening here is my cousin and I arguing over some little thing. Instead of bothering food and my cousin again, I just decided to go straight to bed. I think jet lag was getting to me.

After taking a nice hot shower in my bedroom's bathroom and brushing my teeth, I started sorting myself out. I don't think I'm stable enough to go out to dinner with my cousin an his friends tonight after I hit the bed. I'm sure he'll understand and I can always meet his friends some other day. Whenever it is, I don't really care. As of right now, I only want to go to sleep. I need it.

I folded myself into the still white covers and I was out like a light within a few minutes and let me tell you, it was by far the best sleep I've ever gotten in ages.

-

I have been in bed now for what seemed to be days. I felt like baby. But the feeling didn't last long when I was abruptly woken up by the sound of the front door opening and multiple footsteps approaching all around the house. I was a little bit spooked.

Quietly leaning over, I checked the time on my phone to find out it was 4 a.m., freaking me out a little bit more. The first thought that came up across my mind was Ashton but then again, I don't remember hearing him leave in the first place. More sounds came from the living room, sounds of laughter and deep voices which only made my heart bet faster. I wonder if Ashton is hearing this right now? Back home, if I ever heard something, I'd merely walk four feet into my parent's room and get my Dad up. Then he'd go downstairs to his doom while I wait safely in their bedroom with my Mom right by my side, trying to get me to go back to sleep. It's not like that anymore now.

I took in a deep breath and leaned over to grab the only thing I had in my room that I figured would be helpful in a burglary situation. My hairspray. I've gotten this stuff in my eyes numerous amounts of times and I know how much it hurts. Before getting out of bed, there was another thump and I considered calling the police which I did.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" The operator spoke from the other line.

"There's a bugler in he house. Please, I need help." I replied desperately.

"Ma'em, are you sure it's not another member in the house?" She asked.

"No, no." I whispered. Ashton is a deep sleeper, and I mean deep. He slept through a whole hurricane when we were kids, a big one too. There's no way he's up.

"Alright, what's your address?" She asked.

"4300 Newtown St." I hastily answered.

"Okay, we're sending help right now."

"Thank you." I hung up the call and dropped my phone back on my nightstand. I can't believe this is happening.

Attempting to calm my erratic breathing, I took a few steps towards my door, biting down on my lip with nerves. I managed to silently crack it open, just in time to hear someone ruffle through a kitchen drawer. I was armed but petrified as I padded down into the passage and peered into the kitchen.

There it was, a tall figure wearing a leather jacket want jeans was reaching an arm out to grab a box from the top cabinet above the stove. I did good in calling the cops because this person was defiantly not Ashton. I frowned and breathed deeply, flicking the hallway lights on. The stranger seemed startled but my adrenaline was on an all time high. I darted forwards and pressed down on the bottle, aiming straight towards his face.

By the time I got closer to his body, I realized how much taller he was but it didn't stop me.

"What the?" I heard him shout before I felt his large hand grab my wrist and throw the bottle of hairspray across the kitchen. Now I was really panicking.

I tried to make a run for it away from him but he had already caught me. Instead, he just brought me down to the floor, his strength overpowering mine. This was the end, I cried internally as my chin hit the floor and I was flipped onto my back with a bang. The long t-shirt I was wearing rose up to my thighs as I felt a weight land on my waist, holding me down with even more insane strength.

"Don't hurt me!" I yelped, struggling to break away from his hold. I wish I could tell him I called the cops but that might just make him run away an maybe kill me too. It's better to wait until they do come so I can feel safe to yell all these stuff at him for breaking in.

"Who are you? What are you doing here!" He growled. Before I could answer, the kitchen lights were turned on and Ashton appeared at the other end, staring at the stranger and I in disbelief.

"Ashton!" I exclaimed, attempting a kick on my attacker, only to realize he had said the same thing. I looked up into his angry face with confusion and his expression mirrored mine.

"Dude? What are you doing!" Ashton exclaimed looking down at us. "Get off her!"

The guy didn't move from his position, making my stomach ache more.

"You know this psycho?" I hissed and Ashton rolled his eyes.

We were suddenly joined by another figure stepping behind Ashton.

"What's going on he--" The guy stopped himself and fell to look at both of us on the floor. This one didn't look so dangerous but he was sure getting excited with my appearance. "Oh." He smirked, hello there."

I rolled my eyes towards his comment as Ashton ignored him behind him and drew his attention back to us. "Zoey, meet Jack, my band mate. Jack meet Zoey, my crazy ass cousin."

A/N: Vote and comment to let me know what you think! I'm really excited to write this book and it includes more surprises. Yay! Thanks