Ell felt all the hair on her neck stand up.

Why?

This was her father she was facing. She shouldn't be feeling this way. Yet the tone of his voice just does not match the way he had worded his question.

Like a father trying to hide the fact that he was mad at his child.

Taking a deep breath, Ell fixed her posture. There was no need in hiding what she heard, this was her father. Obviously, he's not trying to do anything bad.

"Um, I heard the part about uh...er...Dudulewicz and te Voorde...and then pass that point. I have no idea what you guys were talking about and I understood nothing so if you want to keep it confidential then sure! I have no use for that information anywa—"

"Whatever you do, sweetie, keep what you heard between us."

"I'll—"

Both freeze at the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"I'll go get it." Ell turns away from her adoptive father to go answer the door.

The brunette opens the door to see both you and your parents. She says her greetings and let you all in. You give Ell a tired smile, a small nod at Oliver and then swiftly made your way upstairs to your shared bedroom.

Quietly, Ell follows you upstairs, leaving the parents to their own devices.

"I smell something cooking. If you'll excuse me, I'll join Pauline in the kitchen." Margaret hangs her coat and bag on the rack then makes her way past Oliver.

"Oliver, you best keep your hands away from my daughter during your stay." Anthony abruptly cuts through the uncomfortable atmosphere with a seriousness laced in his voice.

Oliver sighs, "Anthony, not now. We can discuss it more tomorrow. Everyone is still mourning, you know. Be patient."

"That doesn't reassure me as much. If you do not keep your word, I'm taking (Y/N) back. Her presence here is causing massive disruption to your children anyway."

"How so?"

"I don't need to tell you. Just keep your hands off my daughter." With one stern glare, Anthony passes Oliver, making his way towards the living room.

Oliver takes a deep breath, "This will be a lot more work than I thought."

~

You take off your clothing with an exasperated exhale, putting your clothes on a neat pile of your laundry next to the mirror, where you see Ell fidget around in the background.

"Ell, you've been giving me nervous glances and playing with your blankets. What's wrong?" You ask.

She seemed stunned, taken aback by you suddenly calling her out of the blue. "It's nothing. A-and that's the thing...just nothing. The house, her room, my heart...it all feels like nothing y'know? I already miss her." Her voice started off loud but then faded off to muttering, despite that, you still heard her clear as day.

Ell had something else bothering her but, like she was planning to promise to, she had to keep it between her and her parents.

Buttoning up the blouse of your pajamas, you make your way over to her bed. You sat down next to her and took both of her hands in yours.

"We all feel the same, Ell. You're not alone in this, okay? We'll be allowed to take some time off of university to mourn and during that time, we'll all have to get used to it. We'll all have to adjust but we're not doing that alone, we have each other and we'll be there for each other." You rub her back gently.

Ell gave you a weak smile and a nod, before laying down on her bed and wrapped the blankets around herself, "Thanks," she mumbles.

"Anytime." You said, getting up and walking towards the door to go to a familiar Norwegian male in need of special comfort. You had nearly opened the door without knocking and instead almost kicked it open (probably due to a bad habit), but you had caught yourself just in time to just lay your knuckles gently on the wooden surface.

"Tord?" You called.

"Come in." You raised an eyebrow. That definitely was not the Norwegian accent you were accustomed to. Had Tord turned British overnight? Nonetheless, you turned the knob and pushed the door open only to see Edd curled up in a fetus position on Tord's bed as Tord hugged his knees on the floor right beside his bed. It looked as if they were in some sort of therapy session.

"Am I interrupting something?" You asked, taking small steps into the dim-lit room.

"K-Kinda." The male brunette's voice was shaky, you couldn't believe that that was the same voice that just said to come in 5 seconds ago. "I was just pouring my feelings to Tord...he...had some experience with losing someone and I'm still learning to cope."

You turn to Tord, he looked tired but at least looked alive. "Are you okay?" You asked.

"What does it look like?" The sarcasm wasn't present at all. It sounded like he was genuinely curious if he looked okay or not and you couldn't find an exact answer to it, only letting out a small hum in response.

"...I feel like I won't be taking time off." Tord says. You and Edd turn your heads to look at him.

"Why?" You ask.

"Time won't wait for no one. The last time I mourned over someone, it lasted 2 weeks. I wasted a lot of my time crying and laying in bed. My father wouldn't have wanted that. He would have wanted me to continue living my life. I'm sure that's what she would want too. I want to work harder...I want to stop causing trouble for people. I want to stop getting detention. I wont to graduate and find a good job. I'm..." Tord takes a deep, shaky breath.

"You know I'm...really pissed at myself that it had to take someone I love dying to make me realize that I wasn't working and studying to my full potential."

Edd nodded. "I want to work harder too. I want to make myself better with each step I make and th-that starts with..." Your eyes immediately take note of the way Edd had looked down. "Can I tell you guys something?" He asks.

"Sure." You and Tord both say in unison.

"Actually, it would be nice if...if everyone was here..." The brunette shyly scratches the back of his head.

And so in 5 minutes, everyone somehow had taken a seat in Tord's room, whether it was on the floor, on his desk, or in his chair.

"I was 3 blinks away from sleeping so this better be important." Tom slouches on the desk, a Smirnoff in hand with half-lidded eyes.

"Tom! C'mon, it's really rare that we have these night talks all together in one room for once. Anyways, Edd?" Matt looks over at his brother who was getting a bit fidgety.

Ell did her best to stay awake as she laid her head on your lap.

"Um...right. Sorry if I was interrupting you guys with anything. I'd like to share something that happened while Grandma was still in the hospital. She said something to me that day and it opened my eyes. But I'm gonna need your support on my decision." Edd takes a deep breath.

"I want to go see a therapist." The male finds himself clenching his fists tightly as he mentioned the word.

You look around the room and see all the surprised but happy faces of your friends.

"Of course! We'll support you all the way, Edd!" You said, a huge grin on your face.
The rest of his siblings had nothing but positive feedbacks at his decision and the positive energy was enough to make his tense shoulders relax.

"Thank you, guys."

You were all then called for dinner.
...Interesting things had happened and a lot of awkward topics were brought up by the parents that were really hard to dodge, nonetheless, it was all really fun and intriguing to see two worlds interact with one another, your parents, their parents, it was quite...entertaining.

But somehow, the sinking feeling that was in the pit of Ell's stomach couldn't stop growing. She knows she promised that she wouldn't tell anyone but—

Hold on,

She never did actually say it out loud...

=~~~=
Be prepared for an update (on this book exclusively) once a week! Could be any day of the week but just know that there will be a chapter next week ;0