Just as Scarlett opened the door, Caleb whistled, signalling his arrival and the next moment, Theo was running down the stairs.

Aaron was right behind him, asking him to be careful.

"You are very lucky, Miss." Liam followed, with Noel right beside him. "You must be an interesting person if they're this excited to greet you every time. I've got one sister. Instead of being enthusiastic, she's all ready to kill me. Every damn time."

I ruffled Theo's hair and waved at Noel. Wouldn't want to embarrass him with a hug.

"Where are others?" I asked after a few seconds of silence and Liam answered.

"Oh, they're upstairs. We are chaperones." He placed a hand on Noel's shoulder and pulled him close.

"Be down in an hour for dinner." Scarlett called out when we all started climbing the stairs.

I slid into Sasha's room for a shower and when I came back, everyone was sitting on the floor with beers and cokes in the middle. Theo and Noel had milkshakes with them and were nibbling on a piece of cake.

"Welcome, big sister. Have a seat." Aaron gestured to sit with him and I did.

"Pick a team." Seth said, gesturing me to join in his and I frowned.

"Team?"

"Yep, we're playing charades. Now pick a team." Seth mumbled again, pointing at himself.

"There's nothing to pick, idiot. Our team has only four members, she's definitely in ours. Evelyn, we're a team." Justin exclaimed, giving me a side hug.

Theo, Sasha, Dean, Seth and Zack were a team competing against the rest of us.

The game was awesome, all fun and laughs. But towards the end, Seth and Justin were fighting for the final point and that's when Scarlett's call came.

"Aren't we waiting for Alex?" Aaron asked when Scarlett started serving and she shrugged.

"You mean someone like me?" He came out of the kitchen carrying a casserole.

"Didn't know you were home."

"Would have if you guys decided to lower the volume a little. You missed my dance, by the way."

Oh, would've loved to see that.

"Hey, uncle Alex." Noel chirped and he laughed.

"God, my sweet pumpkins. Don't call me uncle. Call me dude or bro." He grinned sheepishly. "Or homie."

"Like you're seventeen. Come on, Alex. Admit you're old." Scarlett scoffed with a smile and he just shook his head.

"You've got two ages, Scar. One that's outside and one inside. Inside, I'm still 17." He winked with a charming smile and she shook her head.

"What's my other one?" Theo asked, totally confused and Sasha laughed.

"Good question, we need to discuss that, don't we? We'll do it after dinner. Now let's eat some food." Alex ruffled his hair.

And Alex kept his word. He entertained Theo with a speech about age, fun, school and a lot of stuff. Noel too listened to him while I helped Caleb in clearing the dishes.

When we were done, they both were asleep.

"He bored them to sleep." Liam blinked with a smile.

"Did not! They were tired." Alex shouted from his room and I smiled.

And when Justin was ready to take them to bed, I stepped forward.

"It's okay, I got him." I scooped Theo into my arms and sighed. Boy, he was getting heavier.

Zack followed me with Noel in his arms and I was relieved. Wouldn't have been able to do that without a groan.

I watched as he tucked them into the bed. His bed, to be specific.

Zack's room was clean and...nice. What caught my eye was the photos that were all over the walls.

A few ones of him and his friends, rocking all sorts of weird poses. Most of them were their family pictures. Some included both parties.

My eyes were stuck on one particular photo, in which Sasha was latched onto him. He was skinny and had more of a childish face.

Evidently, it was taken before puberty ravaged him.

"Don't laugh." I heard him groan and that pushed me from the edge of laughing.

"You look good, though."

"That was in my cupboard. Those assholes got it out." He groaned again, stashing that framed photo inside his closet.

"Lucky me." I mumbled looking at the next photo of the same skinny Zack, flaunting his braces and the groan turned to a scowl.

"Of course." He sighed, pointing to the door. "Shall we?"

"One last look at this award-winning shot and I'm out." I grinned, resulting in his groan again.

"You're no different from Sasha." He mumbled.

Okay. Ouch.

"Come on," he called again and I went along with him to their large, beautiful balcony, joining the others.

"Oh, here comes the big brother and the big sister." Justin cleared his throat and Seth turned to us with a smirk.

"What took you so long?"

"Nothing." Zack said and Seth smirked again.

"Okay, if you say so. Now, sit down."

"Where's Caleb?" Zack asked and Justin took an imaginary phone, placing it near his head.

"Who?"

"Ask him." Dean gestured something behind Zack and saw Caleb heading towards us.

"Ask what?" He jumped in, sitting between Sasha and Liam.

"That, who were you calling?" Justin repeated and Caleb smiled.

"Oh right, that. Jenna called me." Caleb smiled and Zack narrowed his eyes.

"Jenna? Why would she call you?" Zack looked confused and I glanced at Sasha, who shrugged, as clueless as me.

"Why wouldn't she? We're still friends. Oh right, forgot to tell you. She came back last month." Caleb said and Justin nodded.

"Like moved in?" Zack asked and Justin nodded again.

"Excuse me, if you people are gonna talk about something that we don't give a fuck about, then Eve, Aaron and I, are gonna talk about something that you guys will never know." Sasha said.

"I'll tell you, sweetheart." Dean said and she smiled.

"You're the man." She flew him a kiss and I smiled at Zack's frown.

"Jenna is Jennifer." Seth nodded and Aaron chuckled.

"Great piece of information, buddy."

"Yeah, crucial."

"You don't know Jenna? Caleb's first ex-girlfriend." Dean said and Caleb sighed.

"Or you could say my first girlfriend." He mumbled. "We broke up when she moved to London."

"I was the cupid." Seth stood on one leg, trying the cupid pose.

"Yeah, he's the only lucky guy among us whose first breakup was mutual." Justin sighed. "Do you remember how Olivia just dumped me? She was so brutal."

"That's not your first breakup. But it was cool." Dean laughed and Zack gave him a high five.

"Oh yeah? I thought Ellora cheating on you was the coolest one." Justin shot back and Dean's laugh ended up as a grimace.

And just like that, the topic turned to exes. Since Dean made fun of Justin, he spilt out each one of their stories.

"Now Zack's...who was she again?" Justin frowned. "Don't tell me, it's on the tip of my tongue."

After a minute-long frown, he sighed. "Tell me."

"Isla." Seth smirked and Sasha did a slow creepy turn towards Zack.

"Who's that? You never brought her home."

Huh. So how many has he brought home?

"Isla was very sweet, I liked her and Aviana too. It's a shame that she didn't last." That came from Justin.

Okay.

"What happened with her?" Sasha, being her nosy self, asked and I saw Zack, discretely glaring at her.

"Oh, you gotta hear it, Sash. It's super fun. Her bestie liked our boy too and then they were all fighting and crying over this stupid piece of shit right here."

"What can I say, at the sweet age of fourteen, Zack was the sexiest man alive with those scrawny arms and braces.

That earned him a headlock.

"And at last, they realised they shouldn't lose their friendship over some white teenage guy." Justin smiled. "A real inspirational story there.

"Poor Zack. Two fell, got none."

"Not exactly, we dated for like months. And that's when Tatum ruined it." He sighed.

"Tatum? I thought I heard you say Aviana, now." Sasha raised her eyebrows.

"Oh no, Aviana was mine." Liam raised his hands. "I sorta cheated on her."

"What?" Sasha whisper-shouted as if she was betrayed.

The drama. I mean, yeah. He was the guy she idealised. So...

"Well?" Seth wiggled his eyebrows at me. "Go on, don't exclude yourself. Tell us about your first ex. Spill the tea."

"Well... It was a guy in my class. We were in the same group for an assignment. So as usual, we started hanging out for it and then, he asked me out."

Sasha watched me with narrow eyes and Zack was kinda...surprised?

Did they really think that I had never dated anyone?

Well, Sophie did say I give 'Been single since was born' vibes, so...

"Okay, who's your current boyfriend?" Justin asked, resting his head on Dean.

Well...

"No one."

"Why? Are you aiming for someone?" He nudged me with his elbow and smirked. "Or maybe fate played the game for you to meet me."

"Smooth, Justin. Try it on thirteen-year-olds." Dean pulled him back and I smiled.

"What about you?" I asked him and he winked.

"Aubrey. She's a cheerleader."

"And next week?" Seth asked. "Justin's relationships only last for a couple of weeks."

"Haha. Very funny. " He deadpanned in return. "Why don't we say that about Liam? Just because he's sexy doesn't mean he's a commitment phobic too."

"Hey, thanks, man. Didn't know you found me sexy." Liam grinned.

"Okay, now what about Zack?" Seth asked, eyes twinkling with amusement and Zack just shrugged.

"Oh, I wanna hear the answer." Sasha sat straight, smirking. "Spill the tea, brother. Do you have someone I should know about?"

"No."

"T. You forgot a t and a yet. It's 'not yet.'" Seth pointed out with a smirk.

"No. What I meant is a solid no." He narrowed his eyes but Seth only smirked wider.

"No, it's a not yet."

And nothing from Zack couldn't change Seth's answer. They both entertained us until sleep paid a visit.

But right as I was about to get into bed, Sasha's computer made a sound.

"Hey, it's Mark!" She grinned like a fool, suddenly wide awake.

"Heya, Sash! How you doin'?"

"Lot of fun here. You should've been here. I'm thinking about planning one night with these people and you." She beamed and he nodded.

Who said long-distance doesn't work? These guys were the perfect example that it does.

"Meet Evelyn." She pulled me into the frame and I gave him a wobbly smile.

"Hey. How... are you?" What else am I supposed to say to a person whom I've never met before?

"All good except that I couldn't join your little party." He replied. "You're one very talented human, Evelyn."

"Me? Why?"

"It's tricky to get a place in this witch's heart and you're right there." He smiled, "You should give me some tips."

"Yeah, and now by calling me a witch, you're kicked out of this heart."

"Ouch." He sighed. "But glad that I was there."

With a smile, I poked Sasha on her shoulder. "You guys carry on,"

And when she nodded, I slid out of the room and went back to the balcony.

I was enjoying the cool breeze when Seth made an appearance.

"Hey, whatcha doing here?"

"Nothing." I shrugged, turning to him and he narrowed his eyes.

"Why aren't you in the room?" He leaned to look down and I frowned.

"What are you looking at?"

"I'm searching for a hidden boyfriend here." He replied, leaning further.

"A hidden- No, Sasha's on a call with Mark. So..."

"Oh. Then I suggest you go back right now because they are not going to stop soon." He grimaced. "It goes on for hours."

"It's okay, I'm not sleepy anyway."

"Okay." He stood with me for a few minutes and then smiled.

"Let me..." He trailed off pointing to his room and I nodded.

"Yeah, of course. Good night, Seth."

"Good time, Evelyn." He smiled, heading back.

He and Justin were human versions of golden retrievers. Spreading happiness wherever they went.

I let myself drown in the coldness of the breeze and enjoyed the time. In not more than five minutes, I heard a noise and spun around to find Zack, who was standing still like a statue.

"Hey," I smiled and took in his rigid position. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I just..." He trailed off pointing to his room. "What are you doing here?"

He asked and I told him the reason

"Oh, okay. You caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting anyone to be here." He smiled, looking away.

Oh, was he so stiff and horrified because he was scared?

"Were you scared Zack?" I asked with a tiny smile and his head snapped up at that question.

"No. Not at all."

Seems like he was.

"Why are you here?" I asked him and he shrugged.

"Dean and Caleb are arguing over something. So it's practically impossible to sleep there."

"Oh okay, others?"

"Liam, Seth and Aaron are in the basement, playing video games I guess. And Justin's sleeping with Noel and Theo. Hope you won't mind?"

"Not at all." It was no secret that my brothers liked all of them.

"And... I hope you won't mind me staying here?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

I didn't, but the thought of him and the cool night breeze flashed me the memory of me sleeping on his shoulder that day.

"Of course not."

And deep down, I knew I was probably inviting another awkward time.

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How was it? 🙈 Hope it's tolerable.

Hello, my few precious readers, thank you so much for reading this.❤️

This chapter was a sudden decision. I was like waiting for my assignments to finish so that I can start the chapter. And an hour ago, I was like, lemme write something.😌

So, sorry! It was written in one go. So my fingers are 🥴🥴 now.

Thank you again! ❤️
Stay safe, stay happy! 💕💕💕