Bombshells ~ Complete

Chapter Forty-Nine: Heaps of Memories

I'm so sorry for not updating this weekend. I had food poisoning and lemme tell you, that crap is not fun. Okay, enjoy the story!

Three Weeks Ago:

I was screaming, giggling as I was chased around the house. Lucas, Zander, and Nathaniel were hot on my tail, yelling about how they would find me in the end. I chuckled to myself and shook my head.

"How are you so small but so fast?" Zander huffed, panting from chasing me all around the huge house. I didn't respond, knowing that would give away my hiding spot.

We were playing an intense game of combined tag and hide-and-seek. Everyone was playing, but Zander was it. He had bribed the other three into helping him with cookies. I was hiding in a kitchen cabinet when I heard the deal go down, so I knew to keep very far away from Lucas and Nathaniel.

Too bad the other boys didn't know.

Liam, Carter, Jake, and Peggy had all joined in with the game. Of course, Peggy didn't see the need for me to play since it was a 'Family Game' and I wasn't family. Her words, not mine. I pushed the door to Zander's room open and silently tip-toed in.

It was the last place he would think to check. His own bedroom.

I slid under the bed and rolled my lips into my mouth to keep from smiling. I was tiny, flexible, and I knew all the best hiding places. I was so winning that game. That is, until Peggy came sprinting into the room. She dashed into the closet and closed the door with a loud bang.

It was like she wanted him to find her, I thought while rolling my eyes. I wanted to shush her, but she would only tell Zander that I was in here too. There was the thumping of footsteps on the stairs and then the creak of the door, signaling it had been opened. I thought Zander might have left us alone. But Peggy had to giggle. Which led to Zander to discovering her, doing a more thorough search of the room, and discovering me.

"Alrighty, kitchen is where the losers go. You two are the only two found." Zander ruffled my hair with a half smile and kissed my forehead. I smiled softly up at him. It was nice to have a big brother who could just casually give you love, like it was nothing but spare change from their pocket.

Peggy and I awkwardly made our way downstairs, not speaking to each other. I instantly started to clean up the lunch mess that we had made just before the start of the game. While washing dishes, Peggy sat on the counter and started munching on some miniature powdered donuts.

"Do you think you're better than everyone or is cleaning like that just a maid thing?" Peggy asked randomly. I looked down at the soapy water in the sink, let it drain, and then started washing another plate. There were thirteen people eating lunch. There was a lot to clean up.

"I'm not a maid, and I'm certainly not better than anyone. Where'd you get that idea?" I asked quietly. I wasn't sure that I wanted to hear the answer to that question. She scoffed and hopped off the counter, only to walk over to me with a sneer.

"I dunno, maybe because you forced your way into my life? Maybe how you act like you've been through a whole lot of crap and you haven't been through anything?" She asked, but it was more like a statement. I was shocked. When did I ever force my way into her life? How hadn't I been through anything? Even with them not knowing exactly how my mother died, or that I was being abused, both my mother and best friend had died in the past year. How was that not going through anything?

"I never forced my way into your life. You made that assumption yourself. And I have been through plenty. Just because you can't see my scars doesn't mean I don't have them." I informed her gently. She snorted.

Why couldn't she just leave well enough alone?

"All I wanted was to have my family left alone, and you barged in. How is that not forcing your way into my life?" Peggy asked, getting even closer to my face. I stepped back, not wanting her in my bubble.

"I didn't barge in. My father married Lila, and not that it's any of your business, but I didn't know it was happening until months before it did. I didn't have a say in any of this." I told her, going back to washing dishes. She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Sure you didn't." She snapped, smacking the plate I was drying out of my hands. The ceramic plate shattered when it hit the ground, making me thankful I was wearing flip-flops. I really didn't need that stuff jammed into the soft soles of my feet.

"Oh, I get it now!" I said with fake enthusiasm. Peggy looked at me like I had lost my mind.

"Get what?" She asked, looking down her nose to stare coldly at me. I arched one eyebrow as the left side of my lips curled up in a mischievous smirk. She started to look a bit more hesitant when she saw my confident smirk.

"Get how you like to be the princess! How did I not see that earlier? You like to be the center of everyone's world, including the boys. So when I stepped in and stole your spotlight, that bitterness inside you came out and you started taking it out on me. Didn't you? I pushed my way into your life and stole every bit of that spotlight you love so freaking much, and that made you angry. Made you really, really mad." I said gleefully.

I was happy about two things. One, I finally figured out why Peggy had been ice cold to me since I had arrived. She had only ever really been kind when there were people around to watch her. Two, I finally stood up for myself.

I never knew standing up for yourself could feel so good.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She growled, stalking closer to me. I heard footsteps coming closer, so I bent down to pick up the shattered pieces of the plate. The kitchen was suddenly filled with panting boys who looked like they had been chased across the house eighty-three different times.

That was an oddly specific number.

Anyways, I just laughed and laughed at their sulking expressions. Peggy tried the whole sympathy route, but my brothers brushed her off and jogged over to me. I screeched when their fingers jabbed into my sides and they started tickling me.

I collapsed in a writhing heap, the boys all laughing manically at my red cheeks, tear filled eyes, and wheezing. They were also quite satisfied with my begging them to stop. It was only when they made me mutter the words "I love my brothers. They're the best people in the whole wide world." they let me go.

I would have said it anyways.

I loved my brothers. They were amazing. The best people I knew. Even if they did make some mistakes every now and again, they were still great at being great.

Present Time:

My eyes snapped open.

Only it wasn't a tickling heap of boys that I was looking at. It was the devil himself, the reincarnation of pure evil. The one who made the hearts of men pound furiously in their chests with fear.

It was my father.

A crowbar in one hand, a gun in the other.