When Everything Changes

Chapter 4

A few days have passed since the whole ordeal with my family and things have, for the most part, calmed down. My mom finally stopped crying. (At least in front us.) And she is also almost smiling at all the inane jokes brothers  crack, which seems normal enough. Also my dad came back about two days after and my brothers and I thought that maybe he was here to apologize and they would  reconcile their differences or whatever. But about thirty minutes later he had come down stairs with his bags packed. And it's funny because I had been so mad at him up until that point. Truthfully I was still mad, but I had seen the hope in his eyes when he walked through the door, and as he carried the last of his things to his car it was clear to see he didn't have any hope left. And that hurt me more than it should have.

I'm not a kid and I know things like this don't just magically work themselves out, especially not this soon. But if we're being honest, I had kinda hoped they would.

That was also the day that Ethan had finally gone home and spoke to his mom. I had asked him if he wanted me to come along but he felt like he had to do it alone, which is completely understandable. It was about an hour later when my bedroom door flew open and Ethan walked in. His face was expressionless and he didn't say anything. He just lied down next to me and we stared at the ceiling until we fell asleep.

I wake up this morning hoping for sunshine, but when I crawl out of bed and pull back the curtains, I'm only met with cloudy skies and wet pavement. It's chilly in the room and I'm guessing my mom has the AC on full blast. I get back in bed and curl up into Ethan's side, trying to get more sleep, but the door soon swings open and Matt and Dylan come in looking frantic and shaking the both of us awake. I'm very confused as to what's going on but before I can get a word out Dylan is already speaking.

"Mom is downstairs with dads parents."

~~~

I'm not sure what I expect to see once I get downstairs. Maybe my mom and grandparents going at it or maybe someone at least close to tears. Something along those lines. But I surely wasn't expecting to see my mom and grandma sitting across from each other smiling and sipping tea. It's a well known fact in my family that my mom and grandma don't like and barely tolerated each other, so to see the two like this is just. . . weird

My brothers and Ethan and I slowly make our way into the living room, the whole time giving each other questioning glances. They're clearly just as confused as I am. We stand in the doorway for a while trying to make our what they're saying, but we can't hear a thing.

"Go in there." Dylan whispers to trying to push me through the doorway.

"No way, you go"

"I'm not going in there"

They look up just as Dylan pushes me into the dining room.

"Hi" I awkwardly waved at the two women. My grandmother smiles and raises from her seat to hug me.

"Lennon." She says, dryly. "You look so different since the last I saw you." I'm not sure what to say to that so I just nod and wait for my brothers to enter the dining room.

"Where are you're brothers?" My mom asks, holding her cup up to her face. I shoot her a quick glance, Her face is clear and her dark curls pulled back into a tight bun, she is dressed in a white blouse and dark blue jeans. I'm honestly surprised she looks so put together.

"They were right behind me." I tell her and soon the three boys walk in as if they weren't eavesdropping. My eyes linger on Ethan as he walked in, the thin white shirt hanging onto him perfectly. I quickly advert my gaze as I feel Matty's eyes on me. The boys all greet my grandmother as I stand to the side, trying to figure out what exactly is going on. Don't get me wrong, I've been waiting for the day my mom and grandma would get along, but this is just too weird.