Proof reading is for pussies. I do not fear thy ridicule of typos! Come hither to me, bro!

Cough, anyways, this is a republish for people who can't see it!

Thanks a lot, wattpad.
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"I'm not staying in a car with him!" Alex complained when he was told to sit in the car with Zac. Zac pulled his tongue out to antagonize him and Caleb just rolled his eyes as he pushed past them and sat in the back.

"I don't have time for this Alex. It's only for a little while, please be mature." Aaron complained and he huffed before sitting next to Caleb.

"Stuck in the back, again!" He whined and Nate slammed the chair back and pulled his tongue out at him as well.

Zac was sitting in the passenger seat with Nate and Hunter in the middle, which made me concerned. Aaron didn't look too pleased about it either, and I wouldn't be surprised if he purposely made the car crash just to free himself.

It probably would have been better for me to go in there instead but Chance insisted he wasn't going to let anyone bratty sit in his car again.

But him, Chester and Luca didn't seem like the best line up. The car is going to be completely silent...

And I don't even have a phone to go on.

Great.

Chester was already sat in the back of the car with Luca and Chance arguing in front of it, and I sighed.

"You okay Sunshine?" Aaron approached me and I smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Good? Not 'fine'?"

"No, I'm good." I chuckled and he smiled at me.

"Great. Well, I'll see you later then." He looked over to Chance and sighed slightly. "Things are about to get a bit busy. But if you need me don't hesitate to come talk to me okay?" He asked and I nodded.

"I'll manage, Aaron. You needn't worry."

"Needn't." He repeated to himself as he turned around and I rolled my eyes.

"Hey there gorgeous." Chester teased as I sat in the car next to him.

"How come you aren't in the passenger seat?" I wondered, and he pouted.

"What, don't want to sit next to me?" He said and I smirked.

"Trust me, you're probably my preferred choice when it comes to seating arrangements."

"Well, I'm back here because, out of us three, I'm the little brother." He chuckled and I frowned for a moment.

Huh, I guess that's true.

Luca and Chance finished making little remarks at eachother as they sat in their seats and I bit my lip before sitting back.

"Ready to go home?" Chance smiled back at me and I gave him a little one in return.

"I'm definitely ready to leave here, that's for sure." I said, and Luca frowned at me.

"You don't like calling it home?" He pointed out and I sighed at his annoying psychoanalysing.

"He's only been there a short while. Maybe one day." Chester deflected with a smile and I smiled back.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Fair enough. It's not like we've done much to make it feel homely for you." Chance grumbled as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"What do you mean by that?" Luca grumbled and they shared a look.

"Here we go." Chester sighed before pulling out his phone.

I huffed before leaning against the car window.

"I don't know why you're looking accusingly at me. I mean, you're the one that drove him off in the first place." Luca said and Chance frowned as he looked at the road signs.

"Well from what I've heard you aren't much better." He quipped as he concentrated on turning down a narrow street and I bit my lip.

"What? Not much better than calling him a slut and hitting him?"

"Well if what Aaron says is correct, I'm pretty sure you can check hitting him off the list."

The other thing was checked off even before my fight with Chance...

"Aaron had no right to tell you about that." Luca scowled as Chester looked up from his phone with a frown.

"Wait, what?"

I sighed while staring at the clouds.

I don't know which is worse. This, or Alex and Zac arguing with eachother.

"What happened?" Chester questioned, joining in on the tension and I grumbled.

"They were both fighting over something stupid and I accidentally got in the way. It's definitely not the same as what Chance did." I huffed and Chance rolled his eyes.

"Okay, enough. I'm sure all is forgiven with Luca anyway so can you try and forgive me already too."

'All is forgiven'...

I looked at Luca who was staring back at me with a frown, before averting my eyes.

"Sure. I don't hold grudges over accidents and mutual fights."

"You all need lessons on how to calm the fuck down." Chester commented. "Are you okay, Riley?"

"What? I'm fine."

"So he didn't hurt you?"

"Oh, that. It's just a bruise. In fact...it's pretty similar to the mark Chance gave me, actually."

Why does everyone go for my waist. Ow.

Well, I guess it wasn't on purpose.

Luca obviously seemed very put off by the comparison, and folded his arms as he sat back in his seat.

It was then tensely silent.

"Where's your phone?" Chester asked and I blinked.

"Umm. Right, about that." I chuckled awkwardly. "I, um, dropped it in water." I lied and Luca gave me a look through the front mirror.

"Riley. Don't lie. Aaron told me what happened, and it was a bit obvious, wasn't it."

Shit, he did? Damnit. Why can't Aaron just keep something a secret.

It's not really lying, you just, conveniently forget to mention it. Yep.

"Fine. I may have fell in water, and got it a bit soaked." I sighed but Luca still looked unimpressed.

"He got completely wasted and then picked a fight with someone and got pulled into pitch black and freezing water that he nearly drowned in, if it wasn't for Aaron arriving in time and luckily managing to find him. Destroying both their phones in the process."

"Uh, yeah. That."

"Oh, okay, so just casual innocent fun then?" Chester commented while Chance glared at the road.

"Why were you out drinking?"

"Because it is legal here."

"Aaron just let you go out drinking??"

"Um, no I wouldn't say that. We didn't really give him a choice. They're not kids anymore, they can go out on their own if they want." I defended and he sighed.

"Yes, it seems it's not so easy to keep them safe like it used to be any more."

"Says the one who never took responsibility for them even when they were younger." Chester commented.

"Says someone else who also never took responsibility??"

"Right okay we get it none of you were very parental, big surprise." I grumbled and Luca sighed.

"We were older siblings, we sometimes took that responsibility. But no, we didn't go as far as to take parental responsibility of them."

"Yes, that's fair enough. In a normal family at least. But your family had different needs didn't it. With no effective genuine parent you kinda need to step up and be the replacement."

"Says the practically abandoned only child?" Luca spat defensively.

"Um, okay, fuck you." I smirked in semi offense.

"Aaron filled the replacement role perfectly fine." Chance commented, ignoring the last few exchanged words.

"Aaron was two when they were born?? You are seven years older than them? You could have at least helped."

"So you expect a seven year old to look after a baby?"

"Obviously I'm not talking about when you were little???" I shook my head in exasperation. "I was just trying to get the age difference across."

"Okaaayyy. This is weird. Since when were you Aaron's lawyer or something." Chester chuckled awkwardly and I sighed.

"I'm just saying. From an outside, but informed, perspective. It seems like you all just let him sacrifice his future to look after them when if you older ones shared out the burden it wouldn't have hurt anyone."

"You're a child, Riley. You seriously don't know how hard it was for us to get our academic achievements. We had no time for raising infants." Chance sighed.

"Did you seriously just call me a child? Because if that's really what you see me as then that's kinda fucked up." I snapped heatedly and Chester made a face.

Chance immediately went red. "Obviously I didn't mean in that way. Can we not bring that up?" He huffed and Luca sighed.

"This family is so fucked up." He commented to himself quietly and Chester sniggered.

"You're not one to talk." Chance quipped and I dragged a hand down my face in frustration.

"Uuuuggghhhhh."

Chester laughed in amusement at the whole situation but the other two's moods had obviously gone sour. Well, even more sour.

"Well, anyway." Chester eventually broke the tense silence. "How are you doing, like really?" He asked me and I smiled.

"I'm great. You don't need to worry about me."

"... Really? You're not just saying that?"

"Well, I guess I'm just in a good mood today. But the worst seems to be over." I said honestly.

Luca's sigh caught my attention, and I watched him grumpily staring out of the window through the mirror.

"Hmm, well, okay then." He looked back at his phone, and it was silent for a few minutes until Chance turned the radio on.

Just got to survive today...

-

Once we arrived in Bristol it was safe to say I was feeling a bit tired. Despite my originally okay mood, the tense atmosphere was draining.

There was the constant unacknowledged fact that I was the cause of all the tension, and it made me feel out of place in the conversations.

Chester seemed happy despite the occasional arguments. He didn't seem to have the same issues with me and the situation, so he just kept on bringing up normal and friendly conversation with me.

I sighed as I stepped out of the car in the hotel parking lot.

The others had managed to drop a little behind us. I blame Aaron's over cautious driving.

"No more small cottages." Chester remarked with a smile.

"Indeed. I might miss some parts of it."

"We have 9 rooms hired. So there'll be no arguments. I think I'll make one of the younger ones have the shared suite." Chance said as we approached the building.

"I don't advise making Hunter and Nate share." I warned.

"And I advise against having Nate and Riley share." Luca said while giving me a look.

"Um, no. Riley is not included in that. He's not sharing, that'll just cause tension." Chance sighed and I frowned.

Great. Lonely dark hotel room.

"Caleb and Alex wouldn't mind sharing." I suggested after pouting to myself.

"Great. Now that's sorted, let's check us all in."

"Where the fuck is Aaron?" Chester asked.

"If he hasn't crashed or gone to bury them all in the woods somewhere he's probably just running late." I commented and he smirked.

"I'll wait out here for them." Chester offered.

"Ok, we're going in." Chance said absentmindedly as he typed on his phone. Luca gave me a stern look as I turned around to join Chester.

"What?"

"Come on, inside." He persisted and I sighed before following after them.

They both approached the reception desk and I crossed my arms and waited behind them.

It wasn't that late, just overcast, but the yellow lights were already on, making the place feel warm.

It had traditional English décor, with wooden beams and carvings and hideous red patterned carpet.

I stared up at a fancy glass chandelier nervously while they talked.

"Great. There are only 12 rooms on the third floor so we practically have it to ourselves." Chance smiled as he turned back around.

"Yay." I exclaimed really, super enthusiastically before turning towards some commotion.

Zac had Alex in a headlock as they practically burst through the front door, with Hunter following them in irritation.

He smiled before walking up to me, and Zac let Alex go before skipping over.

"Fancy place." He commented as Nate, Caleb, Aaron and Chester appeared through the doorway.

"Come on, were on the third floor. I'm taking the elevator." Chance didn't waste time greeting them all.

"Stairs sounds more fun." I excused, not wanting to be in a confined space.

"Rillleeeeyy." Alex wailed after me and I gave him a look as he followed behind.

"That was hell, you have no idea what I've been through." He complained as I started climbing the stairs.

"I mean, stuck sitting still in the same car as that obnoxious prick it was horrible!"

"I'm so sorry, you poor child." I said and he sighed.

"I can't believe it's taken this long to leave England." He muttered and I smirked.

"Yeah, I didn't think it would last a day."

"Well, things came up, I guess."

"You got that right. Um, you did tell Erin my phone's dead right?"

"Oh. Yeah, he asked, eventually." He smiled sheepishly and I rolled my eyes.

Alex was puffing a little by the time we got to the other end of the third floor where the lifts were.

I smiled at Luca politely as he walked through the door and he gave me a confused look.

"Ok." He said before Chance demanded that he got out of the way and distracted him.

"All of the room's are the same size, just go in one." Chance said in exasperation as I glanced around the mini foyer.

Cute space. I like it.

"Oh, Caleb and Alex you're sharing, other than that, go wild." He sighed before sitting down on one of the sofas.

"Don't you want to claim one?" I asked him over the chaotic chatter.

"Alex, just let him have it!" Aaron looked like he wanted to talk to me, but started shouting at the others as they fought over a room and disappeared after them.

"I don't really care." Chance replied after glaring at their boisterous behaviour.

"Isn't that a little too passive for a control freak?" I teased and he sighed at me.

"It's been a long day."

"Understood..."

"Shouldn't you be claiming one?" He quirked a brow.

"Whatevers left over is fine." I smiled.

They all started spreading out down the hallway, so I just walked into the room by the lift that had obviously been forgotten.

I placed my bag down on the bed before sighing and walking back out.

Chance was still sat there looking stressed, and eventually Chester came out of the room opposite and joined us.

"Cute place." He smiled as he lazed on one of the chairs. "I notice we're neighbors, can I open the conjoined door?" Chester teased while smiling at me.

"Not a chance in hell I'm letting you have that key." Chance growled at him and he chuckled.

"Just joking..."

"Does it feel strange to say your name in a sentence?" I wondered and Chester smirked while Chance rolled his eyes.

"Not really, I've always done it, so I'm used to it."

"The last room on the right is still free for whoever hasn't claimed one yet." Aaron said quietly as he walked up to us.

"Thanks." Chance grumbled, not moving.

They all seem a bit tired...I bet they can't wait to just go home and get a routine again.

"You doing okay?" Aaron asked me, bringing me out of my thoughts and I smiled at him.

"Yeah..."

"Where are you staying?"

"Next to mee." Chester smiled, winking teasingly and Aaron gave him a look.

"If you get lonely, I'm in room 87, okay Sunshine?" He smiled at me and I tilted my head slightly.

Interesting, for him to say that so openly infront of them. Isn't he afraid of them misunderstanding his meaning...

"What do you mean lonely?" Chester questioned.

Like that for example.

Aaron just smiled at me before leaving, and I couldn't work out whether he was just too tired or not correcting the misunderstanding was his way of teasing them.

"He means if I start to feel uncomfortable, I don't like sleeping by myself nowadays." I chose to correct the situation myself when they both shared a look.

"Oh. Right." Chester chuckled while Chance rolled his eyes.

"You're welcome to give me a visit too in the middle of the night if you feel like it." Chester teased and Chance gave a fed up sigh before standing.

"I'm going to my room." He grumbled before leaving. Quickly being replaced by Nate, Caleb and Alex.

"We're going to go look around, you coming?" Alex asked, and I bit my lip.

"I'm feeling a bit tired now to be honest..."

"Oh, come on! You've been doing nothing but sitting down for a few hours." He persisted and I sighed.

"Fine."

"Can I come too?" Chester questioned, and I couldn't work out whether he was serious or not.

"Um, that'd be a bit awkward..."

"Why?"

"Because you're like...old."

"Well, I say. I'm wounded." He snorted and I chuckled.

Speaking of being serious, Chester has been acting very unusually relaxed recently, I can't make myself believe him and the man taking me to his CEO office are the same person.

Maybe this break has been good for him. It's sad to think this is his true personality, and the stress of his job changes his behaviour so much...

"Riley, are you listening?" Nate's voice snapped and I blinked.

"What?"

"Come on, let's go already!" He tugged on my arm slightly as he turned around.

"Oh, right, sure."

---

I'm visiting my family over the Xmas break so hopefully I'll be able to update more.

I can't believe it's been a year already.... I think last time I was talking about Xmas in the authors notes was like chapter 80 or something. Time traveled so fast

Chapter 111, the return to America! Dun dun dun, damn, long journey. And the drama isn't even over yet! 😂