TYLERS POINT OF VIEW

Family has always been the most important thing in my life. It's always had to be. From the time I was young, I was expected to be more than just the oldest child, more than just a big brother.

I used to be bitter about it. I used to hate my parents for putting their jobs on me, for leaving me to raise kids I didn't create.

And at times, I still am angry and bitter. But my family has always been my saving grace. The reason I do what I do even though it isn't my job. Taking care of my siblings has become my purpose in life. And I've become very good at it too.

Or so I used to think.

Never in my life have I had to second guess myself as many times as I've had in the three months. Never in my life have I laid awake at night and worried that I was doing everything wrong the way I had since Izzy came into our lives. The quiet, complex, sad little girl that I couldn't for the life of me understand, though not for lack of trying on my part.

I have always been good at solving problems. Always full of solutions and innovations. It's why I've been so successful in running my father's business. And yet, Izzy seems to be the one problem I can't solve no matter how hard I've tried.

"You think she's okay? Like, okay?" Jace asked as we stood together outside, watching our brother guide Izzy into the cabin before the poor kid froze to death. I was glad he had taken her in. The last thing she needed was to get sick right now. She was having a hard enough time already with everything else she has to deal with.

I sighed and swung one of the duffle bags Jace had dumped on the driveway onto my shoulder. "I have no clue." It was the truth. I had no idea if she was okay. She kept saying she was, but if there was one thing I'd learned about Izzy in the last three months, it would be that there was hardly a time when Izzy wouldn't say she was okay. Even when we could all see she was anything but. She was afraid to not be okay. That's what Daphne had told me during Izzy's session a few days ago, and there was no doubt in my mind that she was right. Daphne had been a godsend in dealing with my sister in the last few weeks. She was so insightful and smart. And she understood things in a way I didn't. In a way I wished desperately I could.

"Me neither," Jace muttered. Finn and Emma bickered behind us. Liam and Henry talked in hushed voices on our other side. Nolan leaned against the car, a small smile on his face as he typed something into his phone. The one earbud he had in told me he was probably fiddling with his music, as he had been doing almost constantly since he was a teenager. Nolan was an easy person. He always had been. All he needed to be happy was an iPod and to be left alone by the rest of us. He was simple. And most of the time, I was sure he was the only one in our screwed-up family.

"She doesn't seem like she is though." Jace sighed deeply, eyes glued to the front door even though it had long since shut behind our siblings. I could tell by the look on his face that Jace was worried. He had been since we left Harlan this morning. I wasn't sure what he was so worried about just yet, but I intended to find out soon.

I put a hand on my little brother's shoulder making him look back at me. "She'll be alright J. We'll all be alright. Don't worry." I said with a small smile. He shrugged, clearly unconvinced by my reassurance. Not that I blamed him. I could hardly even convince myself that everything would be alright these days. It just seemed too far off to be true. Too out of reach for us and our sister.

Jace sighed softly, his gaze returning to the front door. "You know, I think that-"

"Is Izzy okay? She seemed kinda freaked in the car." Emma interrupted, her voice laced with worry and uncertainty. She was standing in front of me and Jace, her overstuffed duffle bag at her feet and frown on her face. She was just as lost as to how to help Izzy as the rest of us were. And I knew it was taking a toll on her. Since the initial difficulty, my two sisters had a few months ago, things had been fairly positive between the two of them.

They had been peaceful even-though, the better I got to know Izzy the less that surprised me. I don't think that kid had a confrontational bone in her body. But as their relationship grew, and Izzys well-being declined, so had Emma's protectiveness towards her younger twin. It would have been sweet if I didn't know that it came from a place of constant worry that at times, consumed all of us.

"Did she?" I asked, cringing slightly.

Emma shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, kinda," She said, sounding nervous and unsure.

Finley nodded beside her. "She did, but to be honest, she always does so I'm not sure it's anything to worry about." He had a point. Izzy seemed freaked out by almost everything these days. Not that I blamed her. After all, she's gone through, I can't fault the poor kid for being so high-strung. Lord knows it isn't by choice.

"She's okay, not a fan of the cold, I think," Jace chuckled, sounding more on edge than he intended to. I sighed, putting a hand back on his shoulder in what I hoped was a comforting way. I was never good at the whole comfort thing. I tried my best, but I wasn't a warm and fuzzy sort of guy. Dad always told me I was too pragmatic for my good. And I never doubted that he was right.

"Well I wouldn't expect her to, the kid did grow up in Georgia for god's sake. I don't think she'd ever even seen snow before moving up here." Liam chimed in from behind the car, tossing the remaining few bags onto the driveway for us to grab.

Nolan sighed and nodded in agreement. "Poor thing was shaking before she even got out of the car."

"She's gonna hate this place if she doesn't like the snow," Finn smirked and shook his head, as if this whole vacation was a stupid mistake, even though I knew he was over the moon to be here. The cabin was his happy place and had been since he was a little kid, but to be fair, it was most of our happy places.

We'd been coming up to Vermont every year since I was a baby. The cabin itself had been our grandparents, and was left to my father when they died, and then to me when he did. As a Christmas present to our family a few years ago, our aunt-who was only a few years older than me by the way-had the cabin fixed up and renovated for us so we could spend the week in the lap of luxury we usually couldn't afford. I made good money at my father's company, but with so many people in one house with so many needs and wants, we've never had too much money to spare.

"She'll love it, you'll see. The cold isn't so bad once you're bundled up on the mountain." Jace said firmly.

Henry laughed, reminding us of his presence. I was just as surprised as everyone else that my little brother had shown up this morning. Henry hadn't joined us on this vacation since he was 15 years old, insisting he had better things to do at home. I'd tried to convince him to come every year since, but nothing I said mattered to that kid, especially once he was a legal adult and could do as he pleased. For the most part, I don't see Henry at all anymore, even though we technically lived in the same house. Which made it all the more confusing and suspicious that he suddenly showed up for our family vacation.

"No way, she'll hate it even more by the time we get the kid up there." He smirked at his twin, leaning against his motorcycle with his arms crossed over his chest.

Emma frowned at him. "She'll be fine, Henry. You'll see. I and Logan are gonna teach her how to ski and she'll love it just like the rest of us do." She decided with a pout. Henry opened his mouth to say something else, but I shook my head, telling him not to bother. The last thing we needed right now was for him to start picking a fight with our little sister. This trip would be stressful enough without the usual bickering between my siblings, of which there was normally way too much of as it is.

Henry sighed and rolled his eyes at me, but thankfully, before he even had the chance to ignore my warning, a car pulled into the driveway behind us. A big red truck with California license plates and a sticker on the windshield that read Caution! This vehicle makes frequent stops at your mom's house. Kasey. Seconds later, a tiny blonde-haired woman wearing high-heeled boots and a fire truck red puffer jacket jumped out of the car and landed on the icy pavement with ease.

"Jesus Christ Kase, you know how to make an entrance." Henry laughed, shaking his head at our aunt. The 31-year-old smiled at all of us, clearly proud of herself for said entrance.

"What can I say, I wanted to show off my new baby." She said, patting the hood of the monstrous car.

"How do you even get into that thing?" Nolan eyed her skeptically, clearly referring to Kasey's height or lack thereof.

"Talent, babe, now can you all stop gawking at me and give me a hug?"

Nolan shook his head with a small grin and walked over to Kasey, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. "Oh my babies," She sighed contently, letting go of Nolan and grabbing Henry before moving on to the rest of us one by one, finally ending with Emma in a hug so tight, I half worried one would break the other. Emma and Kasey had always been close.

Kase had been like a substitute mother for my younger siblings, up until she moved to San Diego last year for a job offer she'd gotten. I knew she missed Emma just as much as Emma had missed her, and I would admit, she was a sight for sore eyes for me too. Someone to take on some of the burdens for a little while. Someone to care about me as much as I cared about them. Someone who would make everything okay, just so I didn't have to.

"I missed you so much," Kasey whispered into Emma's hair. My sister hummed, closing her eyes as she squeezed our aunt even tighter around the waist. When they finally did pull away, the two girls held each other at arm's length grinning widely.

"I missed you too, Kase," Emma said softly, joy seeming to flow off her in waves.

"We all missed you, Kase," I added in, shooting Kasey a small smile of my own that I hoped didn't convey just how relieved I was to have her here. I didn't want her to have to worry just yet if I could help it. She deserved a moment's peace with our family before the storm of chaos we brought closed in on her.

"I'm so glad to be here, even if it is freezing," She shivered, chuckling lightly. I could guess she hadn't missed the East Coast winters while being in California. I sure wouldn't. Sunshine in December sounds lovely. But if that was really what I wanted, I guess Maryland wouldn't be the best place to live. "Where's Logan?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows as she glanced around the circle. "And more importantly, where is Isabel? I came here to meet her, you know." Kasey was the first person I called when I found out that Izzy was coming to stay with us three months ago. She'd been complaining ever since that she hasn't gotten a chance to meet her niece yet, even though it was kind of her fault for having to work all the time. I'd invited her down for Thanksgiving, but Kasey has refused, saying that she didn't want to make a half-assed appearance the first time she met the newest member of our family.

"They're inside. Izzy was getting too cold." Jace said.

Kasey frowned sympathetically. "Poor kid. Georgia winters gotta be so different from this." As if to prove her point, Kasey opened her mouth and caught a snowflake on the tip of her tongue. "Yeah, I don't think she's a fan of the cold," Nolan chuckled softly.

I nodded in agreement, feeling another pang of empathy for my little sister and all the changes she underwent in the last three months. I could only imagine how that affected her, especially with all that I found out while we were in Brinley a few months ago. It seemed like the poor kid couldn't catch a break. And I couldn't seem to change that. Not yet at least.

"Speaking of weather, how's California? And where's your boyfriend?"

I saw Emma cringe out of the corner of my eye at the mention of Kasey's boyfriend, who we've only met once before but Emma has decidedly doesn't like for a reason we haven't figured out yet. As far as we know, the two of them have never even spoken to one another, and from what I saw, the guy was pretty nice when he came here with Kasey last year.

Kasey rolled her eyes at Finn's blatant teasing but smiled widely nonetheless. "California is Amazing. And Jules couldn't make it," I didn't miss the way her face lit up a little brighter when she mentioned her boyfriend. The thought made me smile. "He and his brothers decided at the last minute to go to LA to see their little sister. Felicity, I think is her name, and she's right around Ems age too," Kasey nudged my little sister but Emma shrugged passively, clearly not impressed with the topic of conversation.

I and Kasey both knew that Emma's dislike of her boyfriend had more to do with Emma's jealousy than with Jules himself, but neither one of us wanted to get into that with her right now. That was an issue for another day. There always did seem to be one of those.

"Can we go inside, please? I want to pick out a room for me and Izzy." Emma said, walking towards the house with her bag in hand without waiting for a response.

Finn laughed. "You know she's gonna want to stay with Logan, right? And he'll want to stay with her?" He had a point, but by the way, Emma glared at him while walking backward momentarily, she was less than amused by him. I sighed as I watched Finn follow her into the house, Henry, Jace, and Nolan following closely behind.

"You okay, hun?" Kasey asked softly, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged, not peeling my eyes off the red-painted door shutting behind my siblings. "No," I answered truthfully. "Not really." It was hard to be okay when you knew the people you loved weren't. Especially when you felt responsible for that.

"Ty, honey, you're doing fine, okay? I know things have been tough, but you're doing your best and that's all anyone can ask of you." She stood in front of me and swept some unkempt hair away from my face in a loving gesture.

"Kase, you haven't even met Izzy yet. And when you do, you'll see what I've been telling you about. And you'll see that with what she's going through, my best can't possibly be good enough." I muttered, sounding pathetic even to myself. What kind of a brother can't help his little sister in a time of need? What kind of a brother couldn't make things better for the people that he loves the most? I had always thought I was so good at this, but now, I wasn't sure I was good at anything.

"Tyler, there isn't a thing in this world that could convince me that you're best isn't good enough. You're a good brother. A good guardian. You have to remember that," Kasey's voice was firm, leaving no room for protest or disagreement. "And you have to remember that sometimes, people make decisions not to let those around them help. Especially children. And there isn't anything you can do about it, but be here and wait for her to be as ready to accept the help as you are to give it." She cupped my cheeks, even though I was a good foot and a half taller than her, and pulled face down closer to hers to drive her point home.

"You're not perfect, Ty, but you are a good brother. And I can't sit here and let you doubt that." She smiled at me, and I sighed once more, closing my eyes and allowing myself a moment of relishing in the unusual comfort I was receiving. Sometimes, it was so hard being on my own. So lonely. It was nice to know someone cared once in and while. "Now come on, if I go one more second without meeting this niece of mine, I'm gonna go crazy." Kasey released my face, throwing her arms up in impatience.

I shook my head smiling. "Lead the way," She nodded in approval and linked her arm with mine, pulling me towards the house where I could already hear the chaos of my siblings from outside. Kasey shook her head and laughed.

"I missed this." She sighed.

I chuckled back at her. "By the end of the week, you'll be begging to leave."

"Probably," She shrugged. "But not yet. Now if you excuse me, I have a niece to meet and family time to spend." Kasey grinned as she pulled open the door, the source of the noise immediately becoming evident when she did so.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion when I saw the rest of my family, minus Izzy, standing in a circle speaking in fast, panicked voices to one another. "What's going on here?" I asked, my brotherly instincts immediately kicking in.

They all looked up at me with wide eyes. No one spoke for a minute. Kasey came to stand beside me, arms crossed over her chest, and a similarly concerned expression on her face as I was sure I wore.

Eventually, Logan sighed, wringing his hands nervously in front of him. "Um, well," He started, gulping air halfway through. "Well, Emma and Izzy went upstairs, to pick rooms, and everything was fine, but then-well, I don't know what happened, but Izzy started to get upset, and she-she had a panic attack." He said softly.

My face twisted into a deep frown as I began to search around for my missing sister. "Where is she?" I asked almost frantically.

"In her room. She won't talk to any of us." Jace muttered.

"Shit," I turned to Kasey who seemed minorly confused and highly concerned. She looked at me for an explanation, but I shook my head and headed for the stairs. "I'm going to try and talk to her. See if I can figure out what happened." I announced, ignoring Logan's protests about how bad an idea that was.

She was my sister, I was her guardian, and it was my job to fix things that hurt her.

Even when I didn't have any idea what those things may be.

A/N-Omg it's literally been two months since I've updated. I'm actually the worst author ever and I completely understand if you hate me by now. Anyway, hi everyone, I'm back with a brand new chapter :)

What did you think about Tylers POV? And Kasey? I assume you all are surprised by my little addition of Kaseys boyfriend. And before you ask, I will not confirm no deny the possibility of a crossover between the two stories sometime in the future.

Any thoughts? Predictions? Complaints?

Make sure to eat something today , drink some water and get all your homework done for tomorrow, I love you all and have a lovely rest of your Sunday :)