"Theo!"

I heard Noel shouting from the room, so I quickly dried my hair with a towel and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Look Ivy, I even ate my breakfast and Theo is still sleeping." Noel whined and I saw Theo peeking through his fingers.

"He's a bad boy, Noel, leave him be." I ruffled Noel's hair.

"No, I'm a good boy." The little devil chimed, aiming a glare at me.

"Got you. Now go and brush your teeth." I smiled as Noel pushed Theo into the washroom.

A minute later, Theo shouted my name.

"What?"

"Noel punched me."

Not again.

"Noel!" I yelled and they both came out of the room, glaring at each other.

"He's lying Ivy, I only tried to." He came up with an explanation which ended up more like a confession.

"So you did try."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Oh yeah? Your fist just automatically aimed at Theo?"

"I just...He- When he kicked me I..." He started stuttering and I sighed

"I know, but don't try to punch him. If he's that annoying, tell me."

"And you, Mr Romeo." I pointed my finger at Theo and shook my head. "You better behave and don't hurt your brother. Respect your elders, okay?" He nodded.

"Okay then, bye." I gave Noel a one-arm hug since he was a big boy and turned to give Theo a bear hug.

And suddenly instead of kissing my cheek, he rubbed his nose against mine.

"Eskimo kisses!" He exclaimed.

"Where did that come from?"

Don't say Mira taught you.

"Zack and I did it yesterday, I liked it." He smiled widely.

"Zack?" Eskimo kiss?

I'll make sure Sasha knows about that.

"Don't forget your lunch and don't fight." I reminded them again and took off.

Luckily, I got a ride from Will who dropped me right in front of Annie's shop.

Annie and I spent most of the time reading and I spent a quarter of the time napping. By evening, I was quite refreshed from the nap.

"I've to go to my friend's home. Our books got mixed up and she needs it for tomorrow's work." I told Annie as I hoisted my bag higher.

"You do that. I'm glad that finally, you have a friend of your age." She pushed me out with a smile and I sighed.

Right. Me and my old soul.

But that only made me smile. Everything was making me smile, recently. Maybe that's because it's all been sunshine and roses lately.

Since it's been almost a week since I had a proper conversation with Sophie, I called her on my way and we talked a lot. Well, she talked a lot.

"And...I'm here. I'll call you back." I told her as I rang the doorbell.

"You better." I heard her mumble before she hung up.

I was expecting a cheerful Sasha to open the door but what I got, was a shirtless Zack.

And he was built like an athlete. This was definitely not the guy I saw in sweatshirts and jackets. I mean, yeah but...slightly different. Maybe it was because he mostly wore comfortable clothes, not tight ones like Tyler who wanted to show off his muscles.

"Oh, hey." His eyes widened as he saw me and quickly went back.

"I...have Sasha's book with me." I said hoping he'd hear me."Just came to..." I placed the book on the doorstep and turned to leave.

"Leaving already?" He came back, fully clothed, in a navy blue t-shirt.

"Uh yeah, I just came by to give that back." I pointed to the notebook, which was now in his hands.

"Come on, get in." He smiled, tilting his head towards his home and I went in.

"Coffee?" He raised an eyebrow I shook my head.

"I'm guessing you came here right after your job and that you desperately need one." He nodded, ignoring my response and moved to the kitchen. I, on the other hand, settled myself on their couch.

"Where's Sasha?" I couldn't hear anything other than the continuous voicemails from his phone.

'Hey bud, how's it going?'

'When you coming next bro?'

I pulled my attention from his voicemails and tried to hear what he said. "Shopping with mom."

Well, that means I'm not going to see her even if I wait for hours. Didn't we go shopping just the other day?

I wanted to ask him something else and make some small talk but the voicemails were very hard to ignore. It kept going on and on.

He must've forgotten about this thing.

'Hey Zack, it's been a while since we met last time. I hope you'll be coming soon.' And a second later, 'Miss you.'

That wasn't a guy's sound.

Maybe it's his girlfriend. Probably a beautiful cheerleader. That'd be the most cliche thing ever- hot guy and the cheerleader.

Whatever.

I saw him coming back, concentrating on not spilling out the coffees in his hands.

He placed one on the table and handed over the other to me.

His fingers were trembling beneath the hot coffee and I slowly took it in mine. I could feel the heat in his fingers when they touched mine. Probably because mine was too cold from being outside.

'Man, Liam said it was them and I'm sure those fucking assholes will be coming after y-'

Before it could spill out any more holy words, Zack jumped onto the couch and took his phone.

"Friends," He smiled sheepishly, shaking his head, "They don't ever have control over their tongue, do they?"

I nodded at him with a smile.

Ahem, I knew Sophie so.....

'Dude it's me, Seth, see we never got to finish about the chick-'

His eyes widened as he switched off his phone and threw it away.

I chuckled. "I think I should leave you with your messages."

"Oh, that's nothing. That's the normal voicemails I get every day. The guys make sure my phone is filled up with those, they know I hate it." He rolled his eyes and gestured for me to finish the coffee. "Anything new from Tyler?"

"I think he's been busy. No pranks lately, but he makes sure to leave snarky annoying comments." I sighed.

"You should give him a punch." He said, nodding.

Well...

"Yeah, you should. I know he's your boss's son but, you could try punching him when the light's off." He smiled to himself thinking about it. "Oh, that'd be fun. The look on his stupid smug face will be awesome."

I smiled. Sasha was right.

"How're your brothers?" He asked when he realised I wasn't going to punch him in near future.

"They're good." I smiled at the thought of him giving an eskimo kiss.

To Theo, of course. Not his girlfriend.

"I'll get you something to eat." He mumbled, heading to the kitchen and I followed him.

"That bloody little devil ate my sub." He muttered to himself with a groan. "If you don't bring me something, Sash, you're dead."

"What're you doing?" I asked him after eavesdropping on his conversation with himself.

"I'm just- What are you doing here? Go on, sit there and I'll bring you something."

When I waved it off and walked over to him, he raked his fingers through his hair with a sheepish smile.

"We have some chocolate chip cookies, some frozen waffles...or I can make you a sandwich but I think we're out of ham and salami. I think that's why mom planned to go out but Sasha manipulated her into going shopping."

"Cookies are fine." That's the easiest option.

"Okay, let me-" He turned to get some and stopped abruptly. "Nah, you might be hungry. You haven't eaten anything after lunch, have you?"

I guess it was a rhetorical question because he didn't wait for me to answer.

"And it's almost six. You definitely need something that's not cookies." He mumbled, getting bread slices, cheese and butter.

And as he started slicing the vegetables he shook his head. "I'm sorry you have to settle for a plain sandwich. The one I thought I was going to give you was an Italian BMT, which your friend stole before her shopping spree."

"That's okay. You didn't have to do this, though."

"You're right." He stopped chopping and turned. "I don't know why I didn't think about ordering one."

"No, no. I didn't mean it that way. I meant you don't have to do any of this." I assured and he smiled.

"Oh, that." He turned to continue his work.

And by the time he finished chopping vegetables, I had to ask him if he knew how to make a sandwich because his actions screamed inexperience.

"Of course. What's so hard? Two bread slices and stuff this inside."

True enough.

"How many sandwiches have you made before?" I asked purely out of curiosity. Or maybe I liked that he didn't like me implying he didn't know.

Does that make sense? Probably doesn't.

Him staying silent was enough reply for me.

"I know you're thinking I'm a spoiled brat and I agree. But the reason for this is..." He trailed off closing his eyes. "Well, that is the reason. I'm a spoiled rich brat, aren't I?"

I wanted to say he wasn't but that wouldn't be the truth. Spoiled maybe, rich yes, but not a brat. That I can say.

"Why don't I help you?" I asked with a smile and then realised that not everyone's comfortable with someone else using their kitchen.

"If you don't mind." I added quickly.

"I shouldn't let you make something yourself. That's not the point of me offering you something to eat."

"Well, I'm just helping you. I would've done it anyway."

"Alright. You instruct and I'll follow. That way you don't have to work and you can eat something good."

I nodded a yes but helped him anyway. When I offered to saute the vegetables he refused. So, I ended up working with bread as he sauteed. And just as he finished, his phone rang and he muttered something under his breath before running to get it.

I took the chance and added ketchup, and cream cheese and shredded some mozzarella. But Mayo was nowhere to be found.

"There it is!" I mumbled to myself in joy as I found it on the top shelf.

I stood on my toes, trying to reach it.
I wasn't a short person. I was 5'4, which wasn't that short but unfortunately, not enough to reach the top shelf.

I tried again and again, and at last my fingertips somehow reached the bottle. But my struggle to grip on it went futile and the next second, it was falling.

"Woah," I heard Zack's voice and opened my eyes to see the bottle halfway down, in his hands."Would've been fun to have mayo on your hair."

I didn't have to turn to see that he was standing close. So close that I could feel his body heat seep through the clothes.

"Sorry, it was a bit high for me." I cringed imagining the mess I would've made if that glass bottle fell.

"Not a problem at all." He lowered his arms down and placed the bottle onto the counter, which meant his arms were now snaked around me.  I think he realised it too because for a moment silence stretched out between us.

Is this weird tension a part of awkwardness?

He casually pulled his arms back and I came to my senses. How can catching a bottle be awkward? Lack of sleep is getting the blame for sure.

I added the mayonnaise to the mix and put the vegetables in it. And I realised Zack didn't object or stopped me from doing it. Not even when I spread it in the bread slices.

Thinking he went back to continue the call, I put the sandwiches on a plate, took a few steps backwards and turned.

More like, crashed into his chest.

Cringe mode? On
Embarrassing mode? On

"Shit. Sorry, I should've..." He mumbled saving the sandwiches.

"It's okay." I cut him off. I the idiot who should've turned first instead of dancing back. "You saved the sandwiches."

"Thank goodness. I'd have killed myself if I didn't." He took a bite and smiled at me with wide eyes.

"It's really good. I didn't know veg sandwiches can be this tasty." 

"False flattery, but I'll take it." I smiled and he shook his head.

"Well, maybe a little but this is a mean sandwich. You underestimate yourself."

A cute smile was plastered on his face till the last bite and that made me weirdly happy too.

"Thanks for your sandwich, Ms Evelyn Ridge."

"Well, it was all you, Mr Zachary Smith. I merely helped."

"Alright." He chuckled."Wanna watch a movie? I was about to." He pointed at the open laptop screen that we left for the sandwich.

"Uh thanks, but I need to go home. They're probably fighting by now."

"I don't think so. They're such sweethearts." He beckoned me, grabbing his keys. "Come on."

"No, it's okay. Watch the movie, I'm fine by going myself." I waved it off, but he too, was stubborn. Just like his mother and sister.

"Oh come on, I can watch it later." He held the door open and I sighed.

He had given me so many rides that I knew tapping his fingertips on the steering wheel was his thing.

"How's your mom?" He asked, glancing at me.

"She's good, I guess. She's never home nowadays." Before, at least she used to sleep in our house. Now? Not much.

"Do you know where she's going?" He asked tapping the steering wheel.

"Her friend's house. I've been there. The friend? She smells like cigarettes."

"I thought a lot about what you said that day." He didn't have to explain the day. I knew he was referring to the conversation we had under the oak tree. "You gotta stop giving her money, Evelyn. That's not going to help."

Of all the things I expected him to say, this wasn't it. I thought he was going to say something related to drug consumption.

"I'm not-" I didn't know how to say it. "It's not like I give her allowance."

"I know. And I don't want you to feel like I'm blaming you or your mom but  as long as she has money, she'll never stop this."

"I know, I get what you're saying. I did try it a while ago, you know? Stopped giving her money. But then, she started taking it from my bag and when I stopped keeping money in my bag and shelves...you should've seen her." I blew out a breath. "I didn't want that. I didn't want Noel and Theo to see her scream and shout. I just didn't want them to be terrified of their mother."

For a second he said nothing. "You know providing financial help to an alcoholic is a form of enabling?"

That made me shut up.

No. I didn't give her money to drink. At first, I have her money so that she can buy personal things and medicines...but as soon as I knew she was spending it on something else, I stopped it.

I did everything I could do to help her but she just doesn't want to escape from this. I took her to the doctor the first year and got her medicines. She wouldn't take it. I spent months of savings to get her into a de-addiction centre and she wouldn't just go.

But I should've done more, shouldn't I?

"I didn't mean to-" Zack started saying when I didn't respond for a long time and I cut him off with a tiny smile.

"I get it. I just didn't think of it before. So, yeah...it's okay, I don't blame you."

"As much as I'm relieved to hear that, I don't want you blaming yourself either."

I gave him my best fake smile. That wasn't going to happen.

"Just so you know, even after I refused to give her money, she didn't stop. She started borrowing from other...drunk people." I explained. "And I didn't have any option. They looked like they were ready to drag me out and take the cash themselves."

"What? How did you-" He sighed. "It's in the past though? People don't come to your home asking for money anymore?"

Asking for money? No. Asking for Shirley Ridge? Yes.

"Yes, they stopped. I gave them their money back and stopped refusing to give her money." I mumbled quietly, ashamed of myself.

"Jesus," I heard him mutter. "What did you do? Sell something?"

"Thankfully, she didn't take a huge sum from anyone. I just had to work overtime a few months." And avoid unnecessary expenses.

He nodded. And for the second time in the same day, silence enveloped us.

"And Zack?" I turned to him and he hummed, eyes on the road. "She started  borrowing money again."

I saw him stiffen. "You mean, they come to your home and threaten you?"

"No, not that." I assured him. "Last week she asked me for more money and when I said I didn't have anymore, she said she had to pay back the borrowed money. I brought it up because I think she's spending on...drugs, maybe?"

"That's a possibility." He nodded, leaning back on the seat. "Did you find anything that might confirm it?

"No," I sighed. "I did check her purse, her bag and her room. Nothing."

All I could find in her room were dirty clothes, lots of unused medicines and a very few empty tablet slips.

At least she was trying to have the medicine.

I watched him as he nodded to himself, guilt clear on his face. I know he regrets saying that to me. For a minute, I regretted the moment I opened up to him. But then, I realised he's just pointing out facts. I was the one who hid in dark, away from the truth.

"That's good. Maybe we're wrong." He said finally and after a long silent minute, when a tiny smile started to appear on his face, I knew he was going to say something to lighten up the mood.

"People always assume the wrong things first." He mumbled. "I have a confession."

"Okay, let's hear it."

"When Sasha said you had a three-year-old brother-"

"Three?"

"She thought he was three then." He shrugged. "And when she later said you took a year off after high school, I assumed..."

He trailed off as if I'd know what he had assumed. I had no idea. Then it clicked.

"You thought Theo was my-" I couldn't even finish saying it loud before I laughed. "I assure you he is my brother."

"I know that. I didn't know you then and also I was stupid and drunk. So I assumed that." He grinned sheepishly. "Don't tell Sasha, though."

Oh, how quickly this guy can go from being serious to goofy.

Now that he broke the ice of 'mom stuff', it was my turn to make small talk and I asked him about his friends.

And boy, his face lit up.

"Everyone was scattered about a month ago. So, I had no reason to be jealous. But now they're all back in New York and I'm the only one who isn't there."

I wish Sophie and I had enough time to catch up every day.

"So..." He turned to me with a slightly amused smirk. "Are you planning to go home...or to sit here and talk with me?"

That got me looking out of the window. And sure enough, we were outside my home. From the teasing glint in his eyes and the way he's fully turned to my side, I guess it's been a fair few minutes since we've reached.

Where was I lost? Ugh.

"I'll leave." I smiled weakly at him, slightly embarrassed and got out.

"And please don't say thanks." He mumbled when I turned to him and drove off, mumbling a goodnight.

That night I didn't sleep for hours. The only word my mind could focus on was enabling.

*****

Every single person who's still reading this, a big Thank you 💖

Finally, it's 1k reads and I thank each one of you for that.

So there it is, another chapter without Tyler 😂
Miss him? 😂😂

Stay safe and happy ❤️
*Virtual hugs*