A Different Cinderella Story

1. Family issues

Lana's P.O.V.

I hate goodbyes.

I stood by a distance watching as my mother took Lily in her embrace as my six year-old sister refused to let her go, I could see the pain and worry in my mom's eyes as she whispered soothing words to her and rubbing her back. She made eye-contact with me and I quickly replaced the sad smile with a reassuring one for her own sake and got closer.

"...besides, Lana won't leave you. She'll take good care of you until I come back pretty soon, right Lana?" I heard mom say as I got near to them. Both mother and daughter looked up at me and I quickly nodded.

"Of course I will." I said and then leant down to pick up my little sister in between my arms, "you and I are gonna have so much fun together." I said tickling her stomach a bit as she giggled then looked at mom who stood up as well,

"Alright, but be back soon, mommy."

"I will be before you even miss me." She said and pinched her cheeks making her giggle again.

"I'll miss that giggle of yours." Sam said as he came to join us by the front door.

It's only a matter of seconds before they leave now.

Sam took Lily from between my arms to say goodbye to her as I hugged my mom, "Take care of yourself and Lily." She muttered to me and I nodded.

I pulled away and drew a smile, "Of course, mom. Just have fun. Enjoy yourself and don't worry about us."

"Right. You're a grown young lady."

"Goodbye, Lana." Sam said as he gave me a quick hug and opened the door, and before the leave he gave one last look right behind me and spoke,

"Maria, the kids are your responsibility."

"Don't worry, Sam."

"And, JB," Sam paused smirking knowing he hates being called that and sure enough Jason gave an eye roll, "You're the man now, take care of the house and the girls."

"Sure, dad." He said and took a step forward putting a hand on my shoulder. I involuntary pulled Lily closer to me and shifted uncomfortably but mirrored the smiled he had on his face.

And just like that they left. As soon as the front door closed behind them, Jason pulled his hand away given me a slight push in the process, I turned around with a glare but he was already gone, and so was Maria. I sighed in frustration and guided Lily upstairs to the safety of my room... well, as safe as it could get.

It was already nighttime and Lily should have gone to sleep earlier, but she stayed up to say goodbye, so, I threw the covers on both of us on my bed as Lily snuggled up to me, I have already promised her a bedtime story as an exception because we both know how much I hate telling bedtime stories. But that night I held her close as I told her our favorite fairytale until she fell asleep.

I planted a kiss on her forehead and pushed a strand of her hair from her forehead, "I wish I could go to sleep as quickly as you."

And just like every night -if not even worse- I stay up in bed for a longtime just thinking about my current situation and count how much is left until I leave this house.

I don't know when exactly it started, maybe when mom told us she's travelling, or maybe when I found out about her and Sam, or maybe when they announced they are getting married. It doesn't matter when anyway... what matters is I'm living in hell and I wanna get out as soon as possible.

My father left us seven years ago, before Lily was even born. We never heard of him again. It's not like we saw him a lot anyway, he constantly disappeared randomly and just comes back as randomly, mostly wasted.