THE CURE ▶ NATHAN SCOTT [1]

NINETEEN

the living years

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The aroma of pancakes wafted throughout the Andrews house the next morning. Carly stood clad in one of Nathan's many basketball t-shirts and some spandex, hair pulled into a messy bun. She hummed the tune of the Elvis Presley song 'Can't Help Falling In Love' while she awaited her brothers to wake up from their peaceful slumbers. She had begun to felt bad about the way she had been treating her brother, Sam, after she had yet another fight with him the night before about the time she had arrived home.

Nathan's family had inspired her to make amends with Sam and Liam because they truly were the only family she could rely on these days. The last pancake was onto the plate and placed on the nearby kitchen table. She heard the front door open and close quietly.

The sound of Sam's footsteps neared the kitchen as Carly grabbed the syrup from the pantry. Sam's eyebrows furrowed when he took in the scene in front of him. "Carly, what are you doing up?" He questioned, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and pulling out his earbuds.

Carly chuckled lightly, "I could ask you the same thing, Sammy. I suppose it is like you to be up early running your little heart out. Though I'll never understand why you would ever want to submit yourself to that torture." She placed the syrup on the table, motioning for him to take a seat.

"It's good for you, Carls. Maybe you can come running with me sometime, if you aren't too busy with your... other stuff." Sam piled several small pancakes onto his plate, dousing them in syrup. She sighed heavily and placed herself in the chair across from Sam.

"Look, Sam. I just wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting recently. I just feel like since you've been back, you think you can just run the show like you never left. Liam and I made rules in your absence so please try to follow and enforce them." Carly slid a paper with some scribbled rules down across the table towards Sam.

He took it into his hands, analyzing the writing. He chuckled lightly, "So, I have to be home at 9:30 pm on a school night and 1:30 on the weekends?" Carly nodded lightly, "That rules mostly for Liam. He gets grumpy when he doesn't get enough sleep on school nights. Oh! The one that you really need to follow is number 11."

Sam's eyes narrowed at the rule, his eyes shifting back and forth between Carly and the paper. He scoffed, "No sleepovers without household consent? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that if you want to have a girl over, you need to ask Liam and I first. Same goes for me, Nathan gets a pass because he's been sleeping over since freshman year." Carly stuffed a strawberry into her mouth, analyzing Sam's body language.