"Oh! Nate! Wha- What are you doing here?" I was so shocked to see him here I didn't know what to say.

"I wanted to talk to Kiera, if that was okay?" He smelled really strongly of pine trees. I could see a few leaves and pine needles stuck to his hair and coat.

Kiera came up from behind me. "What do you want?" Kiera asked. She folded her arms.

"To talk to you," Nate said.

"And what?" She asked. "Run away again and leave our daughter?" I already knew I needed to leave.

"I'm going to go talk to Trinity," I said quickly. I slipped out the door and let Nate and Kiera talk. But I knew the conversation wouldn't do any good.

I heard the door close and Nate talking. I rushed down the stairs, the voices getting softer. I reached the bottom and found Trinity playing with Kato in the living room.

"Hey!" She called. "What's up?" Kato jumped up and tried to grab on the fake mouse Trinity was holding. She flew her hand up in the air and Kato fell on the ground. He quickly got back up and tried again.

I laughed. "Pretty good, I think." I mumbled the last part. "Kiera and I were wondering if you wanted to go to LA with us maybe tomorrow or Friday."

"Guess things didn't work out, did they?" Trinity put the mouse down and let Kato have at it. She sat up and walked over to me.

"No. It didn't." I really didn't want to talk about it and Trinity could see that.

"Well then, I'll start packing. My parents have this summer house out there that they never use anymore. They said I could use it whenever I wanted to visit."

"Great!" I said. "I'll start packing too. We can leave tomorrow morning."

"Sounds good to me!" Trinity smiled. The two of us began to head upstairs when Evelyn came around the corner, holding Paisley in her arms.

"Guess you girls are going on a Girl's Trip! Sounds fun!" She smiled.

"Yup!" I replied. "We're leaving tomorrow."

"Don't forget to say goodbye when you leave. And don't forget sunscreen! Last time I went, I had a sunburn from my shoulders down to the back."

I couldn't help but laugh. Trinity did too. "We won't," I said.

Evelyn walked over to the kitchen and sat Paisley in her high chair. Paisley banged her hands on the little tray. I could already tell Kiera was going to miss her.

Trinity and I ran up the stairs and disappeared in our rooms. I opened up my door and saw that Collin wasn't there. I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't want to argue anymore. I was exhausted from the long day.

I pulled out a red suitcase from under my bed and began to pack. I put swimsuits, shorts, t-shirts, summer dresses, and shoes in the case. I raced around the room, throwing anything that looked perfect for LA in the suitcase.

I pulled out a toiletries bag and placed my bathroom stuff in it. I left it on my sink counter since I still needed most of it for tomorrow morning and tonight. Once I was finished, I walked out of the room. I thought about going to tell Dad about our trip when he got home from work. I knew he would be home in about an hour.

As I walked out of the door, I heard someone shouting really loudly. I stopped in my tracks in confusion.

"I can't believe you're leaving!" Nate shouted. The door to Kiera's was open. The two of them were shouting at each other.

"I can't believe you're upset that I'm leaving when you left without no explanation! I'm only going to be gone for a few days!" Kiera threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"But I came back! And you're getting all mad at me!"

"And you won't tell me why you left! You just left with no explanation! I thought you had left me forever!"

"But I didn't! I came back!"

"And so will I!" Kiera looked so frustrated. I wanted to help, but that would make matters worse.

"You know what," Kiera said. "I'm done! I can't keep arguing! I'm going to LA wether you like it or not!" Kiera walked into her room. She placed her hand on the door, ready to push it closed.

"Kiera! Stop! You can't do this!" Nate placed his hand on the door. He was a lot stronger than her because he kept the door open.

"Yes I can!" She shouted. She pushed Nate out of the way and slammed the door. The slam made me jump. Nate has turned around and saw me watching.

He growled. I quickly ran down the stairs. I didn't want to face his rath. If he really had one.

I bolted down the stairs and into the kitchen. Evelyn was feeding Paisley. Trinity wasn't in the room yet. I figured she was still packing.

"Hey! Did you finish packing?" Evelyn asked. She put a spoonful of baby food in Paisley's mouth.

"Yeah," I replied. I walked over to the fridge and opened it up. I pulled out an apple. I wasn't really hungry but I hadn't eaten anything since this morning.

"I heard some fighting upstairs," Evelyn said. She sounded a bit upset. "I'm guessing Kiera and Nate had some disagreement."

"Yeah," I replied. I took a bite of my apple. "I think this vacation will help things cool down between them."

"And for you and Collin," Evelyn added.

"How di-"

"Word travels fast here, Baleigh. I would get used to it."

Evelyn continued to feed Paisley. I turned back around and headed to the living room. I turned on the television and scrolled through the channels. I sat there, waiting for Dad to come home. I ended up watching re-runs of Friends. I used to watch the show a lot as a kid. I never understood the jokes until I got older. I was hard to not contain my laughter as I sat there. I forgot how funny the show was.

Dad came walking in after I just finished an episode. He came walking through the front door. I turned the TV off and sat up from the couch.

"Hey sweetheart!" Dad said. He opened his arms out for a hug. I rolled my eyes but I hugged him anyway.

"How's your day been?" I asked him.

"Pretty good," he replied. "Had some issues with some employees about money. Like always."

Dad works as a manager at an insurance company. He always had issues with employees, but everything worked out eventually.

"I wanted to tell you something," I said.

"What is it?" Dad asked. "Is something wrong?"

I explained to Dad what happened with Collin and I and what happened just recently with Nate and Kiera. I told him out Trinity, Kiera, and I decided to go to LA for a few days to clear our heads.

"Sounds like things are a bit rough," he said after my long explanation.

"Yeah," I said with a sigh. "I thought things wouldn't be so hard, but they are."

"I know it's hard, sweetheart. But all relationships are hard. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't."

I sighed. I was worried it wasn't going to work out. What would happen with it ended? What would I do? I shook my head, not wanting to think about that. I turned to look at Dad.

"I should probably go check on Trinity to see if she finished packing."

"That sounds like a good idea," Dad said with a smile.

I turned on my heels and headed upstairs. Dad stopped me before I made it to the first step.

"What?" I asked.

"I know I'm not much help, but I want you to know that your life can't be decided by that whole 'mate' thing. It's your life, so you get to decide."

I smiled. "Thanks Dad."

"You're very much welcome." He walked towards the kitchen to go get a bite to eat. I heard him strike up a conversation with Evelyn. I ran up the stairs to Trinity's room. Before I got to the door, I ran into Collin.

"Oh!" He said. He sounded startled.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I felt uncomfortable standing there. I could feel that Collin felt the same way.

"Um, heard your going to LA," he said. He scratched his head.

"Yeah," I said quietly. This felt really awkward.

"Well, I hope you have a good trip," he said. He gave me a smile. I couldn't stop my heart from fluttering. I wanted to just jump in his arms tell him sorry and that I will never fight with him again.

But I was pulled back because of the thought of ruining everything. I was afriaid of making things worse.

"Thanks," I said. I looked down at the floor. Collin's smile dropped. He said goodbye and walked away. I slowly walked to away, feeling worse than I did already. I was making things worse, and I didn't know how to fix any of it.