Edited 9th May 2020

Hunter's P.O.V

"Mom, just talk to me" I practically beg into the phone. "What's going on?"

"You're father was right when he said it doesn't concern you, or your sister." She replies eventually and I sigh. Just because she's my mom that doesn't mean she has the right to keep things from me, if anything it should mean the opposite.

This involves all of us now, not just them.

"We're working on it" She adds and I have a million different interpretations of that one sentence going through my head.

"What does that even mean?" I question "Dec said dad had decided to visit him in New York for a few days. If you're working on it shouldn't you at least be in the same state?"

"Hunter" My mother sighs and I can tell she's getting tired of the inquisition.

"Just tell me, mom. I'm not a little boy, I can handle it. Whatever it is." I say. All I want to know is if they're going to be separating or not. I don't think I could ever forgive someone for cheating, especially after years and years of marriage.

I can't imagine them apart but I won't blame her if she never wants to set eyes on my dad again.

I hear a knock on the door so I stand to open it, when the door swings back, Devon is standing on the other side, a lopsided half-smile on his face.

"We're taking a break," She tells me after a while. "Indefinitely"

I leave the door open after beckoning him inside and I hear it click shut, Devon's footsteps echo on the stone floor as he follows me.

I nod though I know she can't see me. That doesn't sound promising. "Okay"

"I love you, Hunter. All of you, no matter what happens between your father and me"

"I know" I reply as I sink back into the sofa. "You're okay though, right?"

"I will be," She says and I can hear the forced smile in her tone. She's trying to remain strong for us but I can see straight through it.

"I love you, mom. Talk to you later?"

"Goodbye sweetheart"

I click the end call button and put the phone on the coffee table in front of me. Devin sits on the large single chair and props his feet up on the table.

"How's your mom?"

"Not great" I admit "How's Tara?"

"Pregnant"

My head snaps up to him, at first I think he's joking, but when I think about it for a second longer, I realise he has no reason to lie.

He looks almost worried about my reaction, it's quite humorous, though the situation is anything but.

I feel my anger bubbling inside of me, this is Tara, my baby sister. She can't be pregnant.

"What did you say?" I ask hoping I heard him wrong.

She's too young and she still has a shit tonne of stuff to do before thinking of kids and settling down.

"Tara is pregnant," He says again, slightly more confident this time. He sits up, looking me straight in the eye and my hands instinctively curl into fists. He's got some balls, I'll give him that. "We wanted you to be the first one to find out-"

"You knocked up my little sister?"

"Well I wouldn't exactly say it like that" he frowns at me which just makes me more pissed off.

"She's twenty-two" I state.

"Did we forget about how you got Emily pregnant when she was eighteen?"

Before even I realise what I'm doing, I'm on top of him, the chair he was sitting on now toppled over and my fist connects with his mouth.

He struggles and grabs my wrists and Knees me in the balls in the process.

I roll off of him struggling to breathe, feeling like I'm going to die.

"You're a fucking idiot!" Devon shouts at me as he scampers to his feet. I just lay there, holding my family jewels.

"What you said was fucked up man!" I shout back as I struggle to crawl to the sofa.

I realise I may have slightly overreacted, but the prick shouldn't have brought up that.

"I apologise for saying what I said but you're a fucking hypocrite. You can't be mad at me for getting your sister pregnant when you did exactly the same thing with Em a couple of years back!" He shouts before wiping at his mouth with his black t-shirt. "You're always going on about how Tara's too young for this and too young for that, she's older than Emily for fuck's sake! She's not a little kid anymore, Hunter. I think you need to realise that."

His foot comes swinging straight into my stomach and pain shoots through my abdomen and I fall to the floor again.

"What the fu-"

"Now, we're even," Devon says pointing at me angrily before storming out the door.

I lay for a few seconds and his words start to sink in. I hate the fact he's right, I am a hypocrite, but I've always been Taras protector.

Dad was away, and Declyn moved to New York, growing up, it was always just us two. I never thought of it from his perspective until now, Emily acts older and she definitely isn't as spoiled or as self-centred as my bratty sister, but that doesn't change the fact, they are the same age.

I roll my eyes and pull myself from the floor.

I grab my keys and phone and hobble to the door, following after the guy I've come to know as my best friend.

XxxxxxX

I take the elevator up to my sister's apartment, my balls are still fucking killing and I feel like I'm going to throw up.

"You're boyfriend is a fucking psycho, Emily" I hear Devon as the doors open on the right floor and roll my eyes.

We're nowhere near even. He one-upped me when he decided to kick me in the stomach, probably causing internal bleeding or some shit.

I roll my eyes at myself this time, at least I know where my sister gets her theatrics from.

"What did he do?" I hear Tara and I imagine her rushing to his aid.

I make my way to the apartment, stopping in front of the open door. "What the hell did you do?" Emily yells when she spots me.

"It wasn't just me!" I yell back like a little child. "He fucking started it."

Technically true, Devon brought up painful memories, which he had no right to do before I even touched him.

Sure, I threw the first punch but I was justified.

"Because he told you about the baby?"

"Well, that definitely pissed me off but it wasn't that, that made me punch him," I say.

Emily looks so disappointed but I stand my ground. I was definitely well within my right to hit him.

"Hunter!" My sister shouts at me, and now there's two of them to argue with, just fucking great.

"What?" I question, "he got his own back, it wasn't even that hard of a punch."

"I think we should go," Emily says grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the apartment. I can tell she's angry but she only knows what Devon's face showed her.

Once she knows the truth she'll understand why I did what I did.

"I'll call you later" She shouts to Tara who shouts back an "okay"

Emily practically drags me to my car and shoves me in the drivers' side. "I'll see you at home" she slams the door without letting me respond.

"Fanfuckingtastic" I mutter to myself as I start the car.

XxxxxxX

When I pull up at home, Emily's car is already parked outside the building. I climb the stairs in an attempt to give her more time to calm down.

I don't want to argue, it's my last night before I go back to New York and I want to spend it, preferably, without her hating me.

I enter the apartment and the door closes with a small thud behind me, I kick off my shoes and pull my jacket off.

Emily is sitting at the kitchen Island, glaring at me, if looks could kill, I'd be ten foot under by now. Her short nails tap lightly on the surface, and her eyebrows raise as if she's expecting me to say something.

"I hit him because he said something which he shouldn't have" I admit with a shrug. He did deserve it. It wasn't because he got Tara pregnant, it was because he reminded me that Emily and I lost something that we never even had a choice in, to begin with.

"He kneed me in the balls and kicked me in the stomach and called me out on all of my bullshit, don't worry"

She looks slightly amused by that, I move to walk toward her, but a knock at the door stops me. I debate leaving it but it could possibly be Tara or even Devon.

I take a deep breath and pull on the handle to open the door. My jaw visibly drops to the floor as I take in the person on the other side.

She still looks exactly as I remember. Primped and preened to perfection, her makeup and hair styled immaculately.

But something is off about her, her eyes aren't shining like they used to, they're empty and tired. She looks exhausted.

"Who is it?" Emily asks from her place at the island. I shut the door on her, not wanting to upset Em. "What's wrong? Hunter, who is it?" She repeats again getting up and making her way toward me and the door.

I clear my throat and attempt to talk, I don't know how she's going to react to this.

I talk but it's barely a whisper. "It's your mom"