My mother stared out in amazement as we pulled through the metal gates leading to the familiar compound. With her eyes widened at the surge of nostalgia, she unblinkingly observed each house that was built to form a semi-circle. The middle space was wide open and at the very far back was the path leading up to the huge field and way back to the farm.

"It feels so long," she muttered under her breath as I turned the engine off.

My reckless idea was to bring her here to my father's side of the family for the birthday party Hallie planned. I know this was a way to clear her head – something we both need to do – and although she didn't agree first, after she had traded her beer for a few glasses of wine, she finally said yes.

Now that I was completely sober, I'm now doubting the brilliancy of this plan. But hey, let me have a bit of fun for a while and who knows, this might actually work if we look past the fact that my father's relatives aren't too fond of her.

Oh boy, I should really lay off those lightbulb moments while under the influence.

Will and mom's relationship was already strained as it was so he only gave a grunt as a reply when we told him that we were going away for the weekend – lying about some woman's only spa in another town.

Not repeating the same mistake, I avoiding honking the horn as I opened my door after unbuckling my seatbelt. Stepping out, I thanked the lucky stars that the soil was perfectly dry, sparing me the horror of washing off another pair of expensive shoes.

Opening the back, I easily pulled out my duffel bag before I eyed the suitcase my mother brought. From the size of it, you would think that she was going to the Maldives, instead of this haystack. Groaning at the thing, I rolled my eyes before I took a step back.

Her problem, not mine.

I left the back open so could she work on those arm muscles and take out her suitcase herself as I walked up the creaky porch of my father's house. Ringing the old doorbell, it produced a worn out sound to warn him that his daughter has arrived.

Hearing the few locks behind rattle, the wooden door swung open and came my smiling dad. He took a step to the side so I could walk in as he spoke, "I thought Hallie was bluffing when she told me that you agreed to come here."

He took my bag from me as I shrugged, "Well, she was very convincing."

"She mentioned that you were bring someone," he said, peering behind me, "So is Evan-"

His question came to a halt when I heard my bag fall, creating a soft thud as it made contact with the ground. Looking over my shoulder, I realized what had elicited such a reaction from him – he finally noticed his former wife standing right outside his house.

Surprise!

Stepping back, he grabbed me by the shoulder to drag me along with him inside before he slowly closed the door, "You brought your mother?!"

"Okay, I should have called ahead," I said sheepishly.

He groaned, breaking the usual calm character he had on, as he buried his face in his hands, "I haven't seen your mother in years, we may talk on the phone but never in person," he whispered as if mom would be able to hear us from outside, "And do you know what could happen?"

"The worst thing that I could think of is your family shunning her," I replied truthfully, "But I don't think they will do that."

Something in his expression told me that I completely missed the mark. It took me a good look on his face before I realized what he was trying to imply, "You're afraid of falling in love with her again."

He released me and I took it as a confirmation to my assumption. Blinking up at him, I shook my head, "I'm sorry."

There was a knock behind him and we both stilled as we heard her voice, "Hello?"

I saw the way my father's expression turned a complete one-eighty at just the mere sound of his ex-lover's voice. This made my clutch my head in surprise, I have never considered this when I asked her. Just from that look, I knew that he wasn't completely over her and one look could be the end of his crumbling progress of moving on.

"She's getting a divorce with Will and if I leave her with him while I'm here, it might turn into a disaster," I told him with a hushed voice, "Please dad, it's only one night."

He sighed before he went to open the door, picking up my bag that he dropped on the way. Mom smiled awkwardly at him as she tried to muster up a greeting, "Hey."

Spinning on my heel, I went to the kitchen so I could give them their space. Let me hand you a little help in trying to picture out the layout of my father's house. Near the door is the living room, on the side of it was the staircase leading up to the second floor. On the far back was the kitchen and since the home had this open concept, the only thing separating the kitchen from the dining was the kitchen island. The back of the couch was your only indicator that it was the end of the dining room and the start of the living area.

So while I'm pretending to be so interested on this glass of water, I'm enjoying my view of this moment where these two adults reunite for the first time in so long.

Also to interject when something wrong happens.

The opened door then revealed another figure, this time a lot more enthusiastic than my mother. Hallie bounced up inside, grinning as she came towards me with Michael right behind her, "I knew it was your car."

As she passed my parents, she said a quick, "Hey uncle, hey auntie."

She and Michael stopped once the words left her mouth. Whipping towards their direction, her eyes widened at the sight of my mother and her jaw slowly slacked open. Turning back to me, she silently demanded an explanation and I merely shrugged in response.

Dragging her husband with her, they joined my stalking position from the kitchen, all three of us leaning against the kitchen island as we watched the rest unfold.

"We can see you, you know," mom said, snapping her head towards our direction, "Clara, go to your room."

Yeah right, like that ever worked on me. Should I remind her that the last time that she did that, I ended up dyeing all of their clothes to look like shit, spray painted their wardrobe and bed, and also snipping of her second husband's stack of condoms?

Moral lesson? Never ever tell me to go to my room.

"Or we could go to my house," Hallie perked up although underlying that preppy façade, it was obvious that she wanted me to leave my parents alone.

Not happening, girl. For the sake of peace and unity of this weekend – because God knows I need it – I will not leave them alone.

"I'll be showing myself to the guestroom then," mom spoke softly, bowing her head lowly as she lugged her suitcase towards the staircase.

Dad cleared his throat, jamming his hands into his pockets as he opened his mouth to say something. When he realized that the three of us were still there, he clamped it shut before going out of the house through the still-opened door.

We then switched our gaze to mom as she struggled to bring up that gigantic luggage of hers up the stairs. Michael, nodded at us before he walked over towards her, offering her his help.

Once we were alone, Hallie started to rapidly fire me question after question, flailing her arms around in the process, "First, why is your mother here? I thought you were bringing Evan? Did you even see how uncle looked at her? Do you have any idea what's about to go down here?!"

Girl, calm down. I've gotten rid of the initial shock and now I'm all chilled out about this.

I raised a hand to stop her from shooting me another inquiry, "I brought her here thinking that this might help her relax or something. The only hole in that plan was that dad admitted that he might still be in love with her," I explained before placing my hands on my hips as my eyebrows slanted to display my new kind of annoyance, "And when in the freaking hell did I say that I was bringing Evan?!"

She overdramatically gasped in the usual Hallie fashion, "When I called you, you even said that you two were together."

"He's not my boyfriend," I groaned, "He's just a friend, Gray's the one I'm going out with!"

Wracking her brain up for the name, she snapped her fingers, "The one who you were supposed to go with to my wedding?"

Well, I was about to put that behind me but alright, "That's the one."

"So he ditched you again?" she raised a brow and I was ready to interject when I let her words sink in.

He wasn't uninformed about this birthday, he even agreed to go. He should know how important this is to me because compared to mom, I favored my father by a mile. Not saying that if dad doesn't like him, I would break up with him, but I would be extremely glad if he approves of the relationship.

Can this be considered as being ditched?

"That asshole!" I growled, tugging on my hair as I stomped up to my room.

Michael swiftly avoided me by sitting on the railings when he saw the fury in my eyes as I made my way up the stairs. While I kept on walking, I could hear him ask his wife, "What happened this time?"

"Get ready by six!" Hallie yelled, making sure her words reached my ears.

Grabbing my phone, I tried once again to contact him. The amount of missed calls that I left him is too damn high and it's so frustrating that he still haven't answered at least one of them. I mean, I guess he did explain that he was in a pinch with the phone issues but come on, he can't expect me to stay put while he removes all form of communication.

As it rung into my ear, I pulled my curtains open and peeked over the center of the compound where a bunch of tables were being set up along with the large sound system by the side. Not really as glamorous as I thought, but I guess it's alright, it's for the family anyways.

The thing was, this time the line was actually ringing instead of saying that the number couldn't be reached – meaning his phone was running this time.

And that was enough to give me a glimmer of hope.

But then again, it might be a hint that he was actively avoiding me.

Gray Martyn where the fuck are you?!

Kicking the wooden chair by the desk, I pulled off the dust sheets as I plopped down on the mattress, letting out a loud scream.

Thankfully I made the decision not to remove the coverings and the pillow from here or else I would have to drag myself around to make my bed once again. Standing up, I looked for my bag before I realized that dad left it downstairs because of my mother's surprise appearance.

He was so amazed as if he watched Houdini himself pull off a trick.

When my phone started ringing, I lunged towards it, praying that it was Gray. I was a bit disappointed though to see Vivian's named on the screen but I answered it nonetheless, "This better be good."

"Oh it is," she said, "Do you remember that friend my dad has that owned a lounge?"

Not really, but I told her yes anyways.

"Well, he agreed to rent it out for your birthday," she informed excitedly, "We could all go there after the competition to celebrate, and bonus if we win."

Correction, it's not if, it's when we win.

"Thanks," I muttered, "You arrange that and I'll handle everything else."

"One more thing," she stopped me from hanging up from her prematurely, "Aren't you at the haystack right now?"

"Yeah," I snorted, laying on my back, "They're setting up the party in the middle of the compound, a complete contrast to the thing we're planning."

"That's a mess," she snorted before saying a quick goodbye, hanging up on me right after.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

I knew that I had to get my bag at some point so I stepped out of my room and paused for a moment to peek into the guest room to watch as my mother helplessly tried to put the sheets on her bed. Grunting every time one of the corners sprung free just as when she was tucking in another corner.

Well damn, the housecleaner who comes in every week has her job cut out for her or else mom and Will would have been suffering on nasty unwashed sheets forever.

When I got down, I held back a yelp when I saw dad there. He was seated by the couch, sipping a beverage from his mug as he stared blankly at thin air.

"She's up there struggling, you know," I told him as I went for my abandoned bag on the floor, "And it's obvious that you want to talk to her."

"I'm doing my best to avoid her though," he mumbled.

"No offence dad, but you're sometimes a coward."

He looked over his shoulder before chuckling at my stance, "And I see you have inherited her love for blunt statements."

"From the way you tell me of how she was like, I'm starting to believe I'm a complete carbon copy."

He shook his head, a smile still on his lips as he told me, "Go up to your room, Clara."

"Sure dad," I grinned, hauling up my bag as I started to trudged upstairs.

Since it was a small casual gathering with the rowdy bunch known as my relatives, I knew that this called for a casual outfit. I'm not creating the same mistake that I did back in Hallie's engagement party. That dress was expensive and so were the shoes.

Unzipping the bag, I scanned through things that my sleep-deprived self had managed to pluck out of the closet last night. Grabbing out a plaid button up, I assessed it for a moment before cringing, flinging onto the bed.

I'll look like a freaking cowgirl from Texas if I wore that.

But I will wear the ripped jeans because if I even dared to walk out there with a sundress on, I know I'll freeze to death. One, we're in an open field so there was absolutely nothing to block off the wind and two, it was a damn cold at night.

Snatching out the cream colored sweater, I nodded at it before I stood up, positioning myself in front of the mirror as I tried to imagine myself wearing it.

Better than the other one.

Six came fast approaching and I changed out of my clothes, switching my black leggings for the jeans, my dress for the sweater, and my wedges for a pair of black ankle boots.

Peeking through my window, I saw my relatives gather up, all waiting in anticipation for me to go down. Down there, I saw my father chatting among his brothers, all of them having a good time as they already rounded out the beers.

I hope they let me take a shot – even though in their head, I shouldn't be drinking until I'm twenty-one – but if they want me to go through this without being Pouty McPoutPout then they need something to calm me down.

Going back downstairs, my mother was standing right by the front door, taking deep breaths before reaching out for the doorknob. Her hand wasn't able to do it as she dropped it to her side with a sigh.

"Just go, mom," I said, startling her, "If dad didn't turn his back on you when you walked through that door then you have no reason to be afraid."

Let's ignore the fact that he closed the door on her.

Taking a deep breath, she swung it open and I saw the people outside stop their movements as they went to stare at her. Some showed shock, some showed that all-knowing look, but most had this face of disgust.

Then again, how else did you expect them to act? That's the woman who cheated on someone part of their family.

She took a cautious step out, bowing her head lowly as she tried to make her way through the crowd. Fluffing up my hair, I forced a smile.

Now it's my turn to create a grand entrance.

Emerging from the inside, everyone turned their attention again to the door and it took a few seconds to sink before they started hooting, clapping, and screaming, "Happy birthday!"

I have to admit, Hallie did a decent job. All the speakers were on one side as the rest of the floor was open for socializing. A long table was placed near one of the houses which served to be the buffet, and the gate wide open, allowing a huge amount of fairy lights to be hung right at the center.

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad.

As I kept on walking, people were giving me cheek-kisses, handshakes, and little pats on back. The elders were saying that I was growing up so fast and my cousins kept teasing me about my city attitude and how they all placed bets that I would be disgusted about this party.

I was in the middle of scolding one of them who dared to laugh at my face when a pair of headlights shone at all of us. Flinching at the sudden burst of brightness, I squinted my eyes as I allowed them to adjust.

Then I realized something when I viewed that familiar vehicle.

Sleek and black, announcing it to the world that the owner of it was someone well off. The more I stared at it, the more I felt my heart beating in my chest while I pushed people away so I could get near it.

I know that car, I've had too many memories from that thing.

The lights slowly turned off as we all heard the engine stop, three of its doors opening before we heard a couple of voices arguing.

"We could have arrived earlier if you took the left!"

"It was right from my memory!"

"The fucking GPS was making no sense!"

Gray was standing there – my Gray. The Gray that I haven't seen for a whole week was finally standing on the same ground as I was. His hair messy and a scruffy beard forming – something he used to always shave off.

I was about to run into his arms when I realized the other two people he arrived with. The three of them failed to see me as they were still busy from their childish argument about some left turn I did't even want to know about.

Vivian, Evan, and Gray – now those are three people I have never expected to see together.

What the hell was happening?!

-------------------

Last chapter had the least comments I had for this book and yet, it was the one to place the biggest smile on my face and actually made me cry actual tears. Honestly, you guys are the reason why I keep writing here on Wattpad. 

Question: What do you think is the reason for Gray's disappearance and where did he go?

Dedicated to Kriti_kt for the cover.

For my Filipino readers, I'll be attending MIBF (Manila International Book Fair) on the 18th at MOA SMX Convention Center where I may or may not be signing copies of my book and may or may not pass by the Wattpad meet-up *insert a creepy winky face here*. If you're going to be there, don't be shy to say hello! For updates, just look out for my tweets or my instagram posts. 

That's all for now, don't forget to vote, comment, and follow. I love you all and I shall see you next chapter!