As we arrive at our run down shack of a house, I start to get really nervous.

I am going to KILL Wyatt!!! What the heck was he thinking inviting Nathan here? If Dorian comes home we are all screwed.

I look over at Nate as he pulls his truck next to my car in the driveway. I look for any sign that he is embarrassed to be with us after seeing our living arrangements, but I see nothing as he gets out and comes around to the passenger side. I quickly shoot a 'we are talking about this later' look to Wyatt, before my door is opened, warm hands go around me, and I am picked up bridal style.

"I can walk you know."

Well mostly.

"You don't have to carry me." I say to the giant carrying me like I weigh nothing.

Honestly, I'm impressed, we all know I weigh a hell of a lot more than nothing.

"I know you can walk, Angel. But there's no reason to. I'm here, so let me take care of you and you just worry about getting better." He replies, looking down at me in his arms.

Wow, that sounded nice.

Surprisingly, I actually like being in his arms. I feel safe.

Don't get ahead of yourself, Lainey. You need to keep your guard up.

Maybe, but for right now, I just snuggle in closer to his body, letting him carry me home. Wyatt unlocks the front door and we walk into the small living room.

Our house isn't much. There's a small TV sitting in front of a ragged couch and recliner. After walking through the living room, you get to the kitchen that is a moderate size and the four-chair dining table in the nook right next to it. The back door is in the kitchen, which has a small porch with steps leading to our non-existent backyard. That's usually where my uncle and his sick friends like to hang out, so the grass is all brown and covered in cigarette butts and beer cans.

Upstairs there are two bedrooms with a smaller room in between them. The master is of course my Uncle's room. He has his own bathroom and luckily, it's on the opposite side of the house as ours. I put the kids in the larger of the two rooms because it was the farthest from my Uncle. My room, if you can call it a room, is really just a closet with a mattress and some drawers. There's no window or separate closet for me, but that's ok. The kids have a decent sized closet and two windows in their room, so I don't really care what I have or don't have.

Nathan sets me down on the couch and I immediately feel cold without his touch.

Oh no you don't. Don't go catching feelings for this boy.

Too late. He positions some pillows under my leg and props it up, putting the ice Wyatt grabbed on it.

"That should help a bit with the swelling and pain. Dyl, why don't you, Katie, and Lainey start picking the movie and Wyatt and I will whip up some dinner really fast. It will only take a few minutes." Nate says to the twins. They both nod their heads, Dylan sitting by my feet and Katie squishing in between me and the back of the couch. She's small, so it's ok. Not the most comfortable position, but I would never tell her that. With that, the two older boys go into the kitchen to start dinner.

15 minutes later, we had picked our movie and were sitting in the living room eating our dinner. Normally, whenever Dorian is out, I make the kids all sit at the dining room table like a normal family. But seeing as how I can barely move, we all decided it was just best to eat in the living room. Katie ended up sitting in Nathan's lap on the floor, after she got her bowl of food. Wyatt was in the recliner, with Dylan and I in our same spots.

I could barely focus on Moana's life crisis because I couldn't take my eyes off Katie and Nathan. They were so cute together. Katie was curled up in his lap with her head on his chest, watching the movie. Nathan had his eyes on the screen too but was absently playing with her hair. They looked so natural together and I loved it.

Maybe he is a good guy after all.

I saw Wyatt look over at me and assumed he had caught me staring. In that moment, I finally understood where he was coming from, in the car today. I mouthed 'I love you' to him and he did the same, knowing he was forgiven. And, we both went back to watching the movie, finally feeling safe and like this place was an actual home.

_________________

*A few hours later*

"Ok kiddos, time to go to bed, it's getting late. Say thank you to Nathan for dinner, and go get ready for bed. I'll be up in a little bit to say goodnight." I say to my siblings after the second movie had ended.

They all say 'thank you' and 'goodnight' to Nate and walk up to bed. I sit up and start to stand from the couch but feel warm hands around my waist before I can accomplish my goal.

"Easy there, Angel. Wouldn't want you to get hurt again. Let me help." Nate says and helps me stand, supporting most of my weight until I'm steady.

"Thank you. I'm good. The Advil kicked in so it doesn't hurt anymore." I say, he nods and lets go of my waist.

"Good, I'm glad. Keep resting and I'll be by to pick y'all up in the morning."

Wait what?

"Pick us up? Nathan, no way. I can't ask you to do that. We will be fine, it's not a big deal." I reply to him.

He can't come get us, Dorian might be home tomorrow morning. I mean he usually isn't, but he might be.

"Not happening, gorgeous. Your car is still broken and you're hurt, I'm not letting you walk to school. I'll be here tomorrow at 8:00 a.m., thank you for letting me stay tonight. Call me if you need anything before tomorrow." He says, placing a kiss on my forehead, and walking out before I could get a chance to argue with him.

What just happened?