Tragically Beautiful

Bonus Chapter.....

Six Years Later.... (Alex is now 29 and Riley is 28, and so is the rest of the gang. Harper is now 17.)

Song above is.... Glad You Exist by Dan + Shay. Its perfect for this chapter!

"I want you home by 2:30 the latest. Everyone is going to be here at 3 so you better not be late." Alex said in a firm tone as he watched his little sister walk to the door.

"Yes dad." Harper said with an eye roll before slamming the door just behind her.

"Did you see that eye roll?" He turned to me with a disbelief look on his face. "Since when did the sass kick in."

"Babe she's seventeen of course she's a bit sassy." It never seemed to clue into Alex that his little sister wasn't so little anymore. Gone was the cute little six year old I met. In her place stood a beautiful seventeen year old. A seventeen year old who wasn't a fan of her older brother telling her what to do.

"She's lucky I'm letting her go hang out with her friends." Alex said with a shake of his head, hands on his hips. I held back a chuckle. "Especially when she could be out there doing god knows what." No doubt a million different scenarios running through his mind.

"Harp's a good kid babe. You know she wouldn't be out doing anything she shouldn't." His mind may be running wild with scenarios but we both knew Harper was a good kid. She was raised right by her brother.

"I know." He sighed, coming up behind me as I finished folding the last batch of laundry. "I just worry." His arms came around my middle as he rested his chin on my shoulder.

"I know." I placed my hand over his. I worried just as much over Harper as he did but I also knew she was a teenager, almost an adult now. She can make her own decisions without her brother breathing down her neck. If it were up to him she'd be locked inside her room until she was 50.

"Are you excited for everyone to come over?" Alex asked after a minute. I nodded a smiling appearing on my face.

"Its been so long." Which is has been. In the last three years we've only seen the gang twice. Everyone was now busy with their lives and doing their own thing. We all still talked and called but physically seeing each other has been a long time.

Everyone was coming to seeing our house for the first time since Alex and I decided to moved back to home to Astoria. Everyone wouldn't be coming until a bit later but I was already bubbling with excitement.

"You know with the house empty its just the two of us." Alex breathed, softly planting kisses along the column of my neck. Closing my eyes I leaned back against him with a sigh.

"The whole house to ourselves." I hummed. "How long do we have?"

"At least two hours." Alex gently sucked on the side of my neck. When it came to Alex I could never say no. Not that I wanted to either.

"Okay." All it took was one word before he swooped me up in his arms and took me upstairs, my laughter trailing behind us.

* ** * * * * * * *

"Do you think it's going to be a bit awkward?" I asked two hours later as I finished placing food on the table.

"With Liv and Derek?"

"Yeah. I mean they didn't end on horrible terms but its been a few years since they saw each other."

About four years ago Olivia and Derek broke up. He got a job in California with some huge IT company. It was just a good opportunity that he couldn't pass it up. And with Olivia still working on her residency in Seattle she couldn't go. From what Liv told me they didn't see a way it could work. So Derek moved to California while Liv stayed here.