Song Of The Chapter: Need Me by Toni Rotimi. A friend sent this to me through a message chat and I loved how soft the song was, even if the lyrics were kind of heartbreaking.

Instead of helping to pick my phone up, Jamie only stared at me. He looked like he was trying to hide a smirk. Had he caught me taking the video? How long had he been standing behind that door?

I tried to think of any incriminating thing I'd said to Chloe and bent down slowly to pick up my phone.

I saw Jace's face flash on the screen, an incoming call from him.

Glancing up at Jamie when I'd picked up the phone, I hesitated to answer it. Even if I finally decided to let Jace know of my whereabouts, Jamie didn't have to be there. I eventually let the call go to voicemail as Jamie turned around, strolling back out to the room. If he noticed why I felt uncomfortable bumping into him on my way out, he didn't give anything away with his expression or his words.

"I was told that this was going to be my room during my stay here?" I tried to send him a message, posing it as a question. I actually meant, what are you doing here?

"What do you think?" He suddenly spun around to face me, making my forehead almost collide with his jaw at the abrupt movement and proximity because I'd been walking right behind him.

Clearing my throat, I took a step back and he just rolled his eyes at me.

"This was the only bag you packed for this trip and you managed to forget all about it." He gestured to my duffel back that was now sitting one of the sofas. That was why he was here. To drop the bag I'd stupidly forgotten amidst my awe and nervousness.

"You didn't have to. I'd have probably come down to get it myself." I scratched the back of my neck but he actually looked like he didn't believe me.

"I was told to come get you for dinner but it looks like you're not even close to ready." He pointed at my present outfit.

"Do you know how difficult it is to climb up and down the stairs?" Jamie sounded like he was whining and I couldn't help but smirk at him.

"Quit throwing tantrums. After all, I'm your guest here." At that, he threw me a murderous glare but didn't disagree. I noticed he now wore a blue and white striped button-down shirt over his dark jeans.

Deciding not to keep him any longer, I picked up the bag and turned my back on him, headed for the bathroom again as I heard him open the glass doors.

It didn't take me twenty minutes to have a quick shower, no matter how long I wanted to prolong my stay in the luxurious bathroom. Conscious that Jamie was still around the room, I quietly opened the door, with the fluffy white robe wrapped around me and tiptoed to the little room opposite the bathroom where I'd dropped my bag.

While in the shower, a horrible thought had come to me and I'd thought what if I was the one keeping everyone from having dinner on time? That made me speed things up.

I didn't know how I was expected to dress for dinner here, which was why I decided to go with a casual style.

As I hurriedly sorted out my outfit for the evening, a simple flowered knee-length yellow wrap dress, the contents in my bag spilled to the top of the table in the middle of the room but I didn't bother to re-arrange them since I was going to come back here and we were probably running late for dinner.

I patted the dress down against my body as it looked a bit rumpled from where I'd placed it in the bag. This would have to do. I thought as I pulled out a pair of low white sandals. I silently thanked God that I'd decided to add those to the pile even after Jamie had mocked me about packing the whole house along with me.

After cross-checking my whole appearance in the full length mirror in before me, I hurried out. The glass door to the balcony was open and I walked over, poking my head to check for Jamie.

"Now, look who's delaying us." I said as I caught sight of him leaning against the glass pane that seemed to circle the balcony probably all the way to the front of the building.

"How come you get the room with the best view up here?" He questioned as he pushed himself off the railing and strode towards where I stood. He was being so whiny this evening but I couldn't help but notice the once over he gave me.

"It's your grandparent's home. Would they have stopped you from choosing your favorite room? And you seem to be forgetting who the guest is here." I reminded him.

We continued our banter, this time, more humorous than annoying as we exited the room and went down the stairs, through the hall and into the dining room.

We were seated round a long table, with Kale at the head and his wife, to his right and Alexa followed. She had reserved the seat to her right for me and she beckoned me over on sighting mine and Jamie's entrance. To Kale's left was Nico, Kyle and Natasha and Jamie got seated right next to her, almost opposite to me.

Alexa was in the same clothes I saw her in, same with Nico and Mr. and Mrs. Willows. The rest of us had changed our outfits but Kyle's black sweatshirt looked like the blue one he wore earlier.

Natasha on the other hand looked like she was dressed for a mini dinner party in a black spaghetti strap dress and black stilettos. Her hair was let down in waves and her face made up. It was a big contrast to how I looked with my hair raised into a bun, my yellow knee-length wrap dress paired with white sneakers.

We didn't say much during dinner as we were all occupied with the delicious meal before us. The air wasn't tense like it was at the McLanes and I was thankful for that. After the main meal, while we waited for desert to be served, everyone seemed to chat naturally and it was a relief no question was thrown my way. The conversation was mostly centered on Nico and stories of his escapades.

"But I have to say the mount of trouble he's caused is nothing compared to those which Jamie caused." Mrs. Willows concluded earning laughter from the rest of us, except Jamie who was sporting a scowl.

After desert, Kale was the first to get up, announcing that he was retiring to bed soon and his wife followed, holding her hand out to Nico. "We better get you ready for bed."

"Who else is up for some adventure tonight?" Kyle asked the five of us left at the table.

"I don't like your definition of adventure at night." Alexa spoke up and looked to me.

"Trust me, you don't want to hang out with him when he's in the mood to play a deadly prank. Even Mrs. Willows doesn't approve of them and that's saying a lot."

I threw Kyle an apologetic smile as I politely declined. No way was I having a repeat of what happened with Jamie on our way here. "Sorry, maybe next time?" Not anytime soon.

Natasha was already on her phone again and Jamie got up to pat his friend's back. "I don't know about you but I'm still exhausted from the drive today." He sent me a meaningful look and I glared at him in return, getting up after Alexa.

"Are you going to bed now? If not, come to my room, let's have a chat." She literally pulled at my arm.

"Alright, alright." I laughed as I let her pull me out of the room.

"After I drop these keys with Mr. McAfee." We walked through the living room again, down the hall and towards the main entrance where we finally ran into him on his way in.

I finally took time to study the paintings and pictures on the wall as she spoke quickly to the man.

A large wooden table with intricate carving stood against the wall and on the top was different framed pictures. I could recognize Jamie in about two of them, even though he looked younger there. There was one where he stood with Alexa, his arm slung around her shoulder protectively. He looked about fourteen or fifteen years old and I wondered if he ever went through that stage we all went through where we doubted our looks.

The biggest picture was a group photo of a man and a woman sat on a chair, two kids, male and female, and two couples. The only familiar face in the picture was Jamie's father and he looked so young in the picture. He had a big smile with his hand wrapped around a woman's shoulder. The woman's belly protruded and in front of her was a little boy that looked so much like a five or six year old Jamie.

I recognized the man and woman on the chair as Mr. and Mrs. Willows even though they looked younger there. The other couple that stood behind them, I didn't recognize but the little girl in the woman's hands had a striking resemblance with Alexa. I could describe the picture as a happy one based on the smiles on each person's faces, even Will, Jamie's father. Where was Nicole though? It was understandable that Nico wasn't born yet as at the time the picture was taken but it was all so confusing as I tried to make sense of the picture.

Alexa came to stand beside me as she read out their names, pointing at each person.

"Grandma and grandpa. Mr. McLane and Mrs. Willows." She pointed at the man and woman on the couch in the picture.

"Mom, dad and I. Laura and Peter and Alexa." She smiled fondly as she pointed at the couple and little girl to the left.

"Will, Amandla, Jamie." She pointed to the other couple and little boy on the left.

"Jamie's mom and dad." She emphasized.

The confusion was evident on my face as I tore my face away from the portrait to stare at her.

"That isn't Nicole." I said and it was only when she nodded at me that it all dawned on me.

Jamie wasn't Nicole's son.

A/N:

OMG. I finally had to write this part. It's like the most confusing part to me. I'm supposed to post this tonight but will probably do it tomorrow because I can't use my personal hotspot as my mobile phone's battery is dead. My charger exploded during a thunderstorm and I haven't been able to go out to get a new one because of the lockdown. Hopefully, I'll get it tomorrow since the lockdown is going to be eased for the weekend. I'll probably post this tomorrow evening as soon as I'm back from the hair salon because I already booked an appointment.

What did you guys think of the revelation at the end of this chapter?

I'm probably going to have to edit this chapter later because I'm not really satisfied with the content. I hope you understand.

We'll see more of the McLanes and Willows in the next chapter.

QOTC: Why do you think Jamie's grandma is called Mrs. Willows instead of Mrs. McLane?

Ps: What have you all been up to?

Pps: It makes my day when I get a notification that someone has voted or commented, so please hit that little star at the bottom of the screen!

Love,

Hanie, with a beautiful new hairstyle. XD