"Ok ok just tell me one thing"

My sister narrows her eyes, almost as if she knows I've got a crazy question. "What's the sex like?"

"I'm not talking about this with you" Lola says amused

"I mean do you guys ever-

"Carmen your disgusting" Santi says as he looks through netflix

"It was a question" I defend

"Yeah just don't ask it again, especially if dads in the room"

"He's on the phone"

Santiago waves me off as our older brother sits down, "Danny"

"Stop with that nickname" He replies as I lie on his shoulder

"I like it"

"It's weird"

"No it's not-.... Hey I've got a question"

"No" He says in unison with Lola and Santi

I scoff, "You don't even know what I was gonna ask"

"I know that it's dirty"

"No it's not"

It is

"What's you and Kaylees favourite sex position-

"I'm gonna gag" Lola says with disgust

"Your disgusting, but to answer your question it's missionary" My brother replies

I don't remember the last time I sat down with just my siblings, I've been with friends for the past two weeks so it's nice to be at home for once.

Enzo walks into the house with Matty, "How was soccer?" Adri asks as she comes down the stairs

"Fun" Our little brother replies before joining dad in the kitchen

"Ok time to vote" Santi says as Enzo sits down

"For?"

"Movie"

"Batman" Matty says from the kitchen

He then looks at Enzo expectantly, "It"

"Clueless" Lola votes

"The notebook"

"Ew" Santi replies

"Chucky" Daniel answers

Me and scary movies=nightmares... everyone knows this

"Karate kid"

"Three hundred and sixty-

Lorenzo covers my mouth before I can even finish my sentence, "What the heck is wrong with you?" Adriana frowns

"It's a good film" I say innocently

"It's not a family film and besides.... Matty's little"

"I watched it with Lola"

"Yeah and probably Carter too" Enzo snorts

"Have not-

"Carter and Carmen sitting in the tree" Matty starts

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G" My siblings call out in unison

"Seriously?"

"First comes love"

"Then comes marriage-

"Then comes a baby in the carriage" They all finish

"Real mature guys"

Dad chuckles as he sits besides Lola, "What are we watching?"

"It's my turn, karate kid" Daniel decides

Not bad

~*~

I finish tying up my shoe laces as Santiago opens the front door, aunt Camila walks in. "Got any food?"

"For you, no" She replies

I smile a little

"You ready?"

"Almost" I look around for my phone

"How long will you be?" Matty asks

"No idea" I reply

Today I'm taking a trip back to my recovery programme to visit everyone. I figured since it's been a few weeks I should go see how they're doing, "I know Meghan is gonna be really excited to see you" Camila says amused

"Do they know I'm coming?"

She shakes her head, "Surprise"

I smile before taking my phone, dad kisses me on the head. "See you later mi hija"

"Bye daddy"

I would say bye to the rest of my siblings but they're probably all asleep, especially since we were up till 1am playing monopoly

You know how that goes

"What's the time" Camila asks as she starts the car

"Twelve thirty, why?"

"We gotta be done by three, it's Christie's birthday today"

Christie is her best friend that she met in college, "Clubbing?" I say knowingly

"You know it"

We conversed with one another as we drove to the facility, there was a lot of traffic so that just slowed us down even more. We stopped by McDonald's and ate our food in the car park hoping that by the time we hit the road again the road rage would've died down, thankfully it did.

Before I knew it.... we were here. "It's only been two months but it still feels weird coming back"

Camila undoes her seatbelt, "No time to waste"

We both got out of the car before making our way up the steps, I remember how relieved I felt when I was finally able to leave here for good.... I felt so proud of myself, it was a nice day.

It's pretty quiet downstairs, I think everyone's in their rooms, although judging by the locked bathrooms I can see that they just had lunch.

Serenity's clearing up the table, "Need any help with that?" I ask

She looks up, "Well if it isn't miss Rodriguez"

I hug her with a smile, "Or is it Miss Miller, I can never tell these days"

One day

Camila snorts, "Over my dead body"

They both then hug and I roll my eyes playfully, "I see we've got our confidence back" Serenity says impressed

I've started wearing a lot more revealing clothes recently, for once I've actually started to feel beautiful again. Today I decided on a cropped tank top and a pair of ripped jeans, the weather was decent. "We have" I agree

"Carmen!"

As I turn around a brunette -also known as Meghan- runs towards me right away, "Well it looks like the surprise is ruined"

I hug her tightly, "You actually came back"

"Of course I did"

She leads me to the living room, "Guys!"

Jada widens her eyes as I walk in, "Carmen"

I wave at her, Kayla and Mia. "How are you my little patients?"

"We're ok"

"You guys doing better?"

Meghan nods, "Serenity says if I keep up my good work then I can go home next week"

I'm so proud of all of them, dealing with eating disorders is so draining and whilst the people at the programmes are nice.... Home is where everyone wants to be. "Jada?" I then say expectantly

She used to hide a paper bag underneath her bed and would always throw up into it, "Serenity found the bag"

I sigh, "So I may be here a little longer" She says with a sad smile

"It's ok, you'll get there"

We all look back as Serenity and Camila stand by the front door, they look really deep in conversation. There's a worried mother standing with a boy in a hoodie and a pair of trousers.... His style is familiar.

Jack

I frown at the girls, "What's going on?"

"Jack left three weeks ago"

"He's being readmitted" Kayla realises

We all watch as he trudges up the stairs, his mother looks at him softly before continuing to converse with Serenity. "Maybe you should talk to him" Mia says

I get up, "Yeah maybe"

Do I even know what I'm gonna say? No...Am I still going? Yes.

I've been readmitted two times so I do know how he feels. It's just so easy to relapse because when you go back to the real world eating is your responsibility and nobody can watch to see if you've been doing good or bad.

I open Jacks door gently, he's sat on his bed with his head against the wall.... I'm pretty sure he's thinking. Coming back is always the worst thing, especially when you thought that you would be gone for good, everyone I've seen or heard of has been readmitted at least one time

"Hey" I sit at the edge of the bed and he looks up with surprise

"Carmen"

"So your back huh?"

He sighs, "Yeah"

"What was it?"

"Laxatives and exercise"

Dang

"Did your mom catch you?" I ask

"I passed out so yeah...."

I don't even know what there is that I can say, I don't wanna lie and say that he'll be fine because only he can decide to keep trying. "How have you been?" Jack asks

"I've been ok, life is finally starting to get better" I answer truthfully

"As I told you it would"

I smile, "I-

My phone buzzes and the screen lights up, two messages are revealed

Oh fuck..... Jack doesn't know about Carter, he narrows his eyes.

"Who's... Carter?"

I switch my phone off, "He's my boyfriend"

Jack doesn't reply for a moment, I can tell he's processing what I just said. "You have a boyfriend"

I nod slowly, "Did you meet him when you got home?"

"No I actually-.... We've been going to the same school for years and we sort of had something before I left town"

"I see"

The air was thick with unwanted tension, I'm pretty anyone who walks in would be able to just sense it, "So-

"It's two" He cuts me off

I frown as he gets up, "Group therapy"

He walks out as I nod slowly

That conversation did not go how I intended it too at all, but what exactly did he expect? I can understand why it's surprising though, the only person I told about Carter was Meghan and Serenity.

He replies back almost instantly

I snort

"So do I even wanna know what you said to make Jack so sad?"

I look up, "He's sad?" I panic a little

Serenity snorts before waving me off,

"I'm kidding.... But seriously what did you say to the poor boy?"

I sigh, "Carter kind of texted me whilst we were talking and he saw"

"And you feel guilty why?"

"I don't know I just feel like I could've told him-

"Sweetie you didn't need to do anything, Jacks old enough he'll get over it" Serenity says amused

"I guess"

"Why don't you join us downstairs?"

"Sure" I get up before following her out of the room, hopefully I didn't actually upset him

The deja vu hit really hard as we reached the front room, I don't think I could ever forget all the group therapy sessions we used to have in here. We'd all sit in a circle and basically just talk to one other, call it a catch up if you will

Phoebe -the counsellor- is sat in the centre and everyone else has their chairs circled around her. She looks at me surprised as I sit between Meghan and Kayla, "Well what a pleasant surprise"

"Hi" I say amused

"I bet this gives you a sense of familiarity"

I smile a little, "It does"

She looks around at everyone, "It's good to see you guys. I know we didn't get to catch up last week, hopefully you all had a good seven days. Does anyone wanna share something positive that might've happened to them?"

"I might be going home next week" Meghan says excitedly

Phoebe looks at her impressed, "You ready to go back into the real world?"

She nods, "I miss my friends but I've also got to go back to school which sucks"

"And how does that make you feel?"

"Kind of nervous, I don't like to be asked questions"

"It was like that for me, but after awhile everyone stops caring" I tell her, she smiles appreciatively

"Thanks for sharing" Phoebe says to her

She then looks at Jack, "I know how hard it must be coming back here-

"You don't"

Attitude

I put one leg over the other as I sit back and Phoebe sits up, "Your angry"

He doesn't reply, "Would you like to express how you feel?"

"What's the point-

"Why are you being rude?" Meghan says confused

"I'm not being rude, I'm being realistic"

"We get it your upset about being readmitted, let's move on" Mia says annoyed

"Was I speaking to you?-

"As I recall, nobody told you to go back to laxatives"

"Mia" Phoebe warns

She rolls her eyes before sitting back and I raise my eyebrows a little, Jack clenches his jaw but doesn't respond.

Phoebe then sighs before looking at me, "Carmen?" She tries

"Anything?"

She nods, "Anything"

"Well-

"Ooh can we see your tattoo?" Meghan asks suddenly

I knew Serenity told her about it

Jack also looks at me curiously along with everyone else, "I mean I can't exactly show you but I've got pictures"

"What is it of?"

I show Phoebe the photo first, "Carter?" She questions with intrigue

Jack goes visibly still, I ignore it. "Uh yeah he's my boyfriend"

"The one who has the little sister you were babysitting?" Jada asks

I nod with a smile, "What made you want to get the tattoo?" Phoebe asks

"Well I never actually thought of it until I saw his"

"He has one too?" Meghan sits up

"Yeah he actually got my name tattooed onto his waistline when he was drunk" I say amused

"That is the cutest fucking thing ever"

"Do you love him?" Kayla asks, I nod and Jack snorts

I shrug as I look at him, "Sorry you seem to look like you wanna say something"

"Nope"

"Cool then shut up and sit there in silence"

Look, I'm always a nice and patient person but I've had it with Jack today. I don't understand why I was feeling guilty and like I did something wrong because I have a boyfriend, he either needs to get over it or go away because I'm not dealing with his pettiness

He narrows his eyes but doesn't reply, "How about we play a game?" Phoebe suggests

"Uno!" Jada suggests almost immediately

"Of course" We all say in unison

I had fun with the girls, we spoke, gossiped and played games. Then I had to go because aunt Camila obviously has somewhere to be, Meghan made me promise that the next time I visit I must bring Carter and June.... How could I say no to her. I didn't say goodbye to Jack, he's got his own things to deal with and I'd rather not involve myself with this version of him

"Clearly I put down a plus two" I hear as I take my jacket off

Camila dropped me home before leaving, "I'm not picking that shit up"

"You have to Santi" An amused female voice says

The sight in front of me is dangerous, I'm seeing uno cards..... and money. We rarely bet on uno because it always ends in arguments but I guess they're feeling brave today. Stacey, Carter, Santiago, Enzo and Lola are all at the table with a set of cards each. "What have I just walked into?" I question

Lola waves me off, "Shhh we finally got him to pick up"

Santiago picks up four cards before staring right at our brother, "I'm coming after you"

"Bet"

I sit on Carters lap as he drinks from his beer, "So we're betting on uno now?" I say amused

"Baby I love you but your a distraction"

I scoff as he lays down two yellow sixes onto the pile, "And we need full attention" Lola agrees

Stacey puts down a wild card, "Uno, changing this mother fucker to green"

"Hell no" My little brother scoffs

I look back at Carters cards, he has four remaining, all of which are twos. He could win easily since they're each different colours, let's just hope he doesn't get plused.

"Can we wrap this up?" I ask

The order was Santiago, Carter, Stacey, Lorenzo and then Lola. Enzo reverses the order back to Stacey and everyone frowns, "Do you want her to fucking win!" Santi shrieks

He narrows his eyes at the redhead as she stares at her card deep in thought. It's almost as if he knows what she'll do, "I swear to god Lorenzo, you had one job!-

Stacey picks up a card and our big brother sits back with satisfaction. "Like I said, I know how to play uno"

"Uno where?" Lola says amused

"Fuck you" Her girlfriend replies

"My turn?" Carter asks

Everyone nods as he sits up, "It was nice knowing you guys"

He lays down a red two, then a yellow two, then a blue two, then he calls out, "Uno" Before laying down his green two

"Pay up pussies" He grins

Enzo gapes, I smile, Stacey widens her eyes, Santi frowns and Lola scoffs. "But-

I take the money for him, thirty dollars from each player. "I guess being rich does have its perks" I snort

Enzo tosses his cards onto the table before getting up, "I won in my mind"

Carter chuckles as everyone eventually gets up and walks away with looks of disbelief and disappointment. I turn before wrapping my arms around him, "Well done"

He grins cutely and I kiss him on the cheek, "How was it?"

"It was fun actually, my daughter was asking about you"

He frowns, "I'm kidding, Meghan just wants you to come next time" I say amused

"I can do that"

"Good" I murmur against his lips

"Can I get my prize money?"

I stuff it into my bra, "You wish"

That doesn't seem to bother him, he deepens our kiss instead of debating further and I smile against his lips.

I'm looking forward to bed time

**

"Ummm thirty grams of potatoes and some stake on the side"

I lie my phone against the pillow as I tie my hair up into a messy bun, "Did you eat it all?"

Meghan nods proudly and I smile softly, "Well done Megs"

"Thanks"

I look back for a second as my bathroom door opens, "Hey I'll call you in the morning"

"Dang your tired of me already"

I roll my eyes playfully

"Yes, I hate you"

"I hate you too"

"Go to bed little one-..... and stop stealing Serenity's phone to call me, she'll tell me off for it"

"Night Carmen!" I hear Jada shout in the background

"Night" I reply

Meghan pushes her face up close to the screen, "I'm calling you at 9am exact tomorrow"

"And I'll answer"

"Night mom"

I blow a kiss, "Night"

As I end the call I look back at Carter, he's standing by the door with a pile of clothes in hand. "What"

"Had I known that you stole basically half of my wardrobe I wouldn't have bought any clothes"

"Ok firstly it's not stealing, they're mine" I reply

He scoffs as he lifts up a pair of sweats, "You can't wear these without a string"

I crawl to the edge of the bed, "Ok so maybe some of them are yours"

I watch as he drops another pile of clothes on top of them, "When did you even have time to steal all of this?"

I shrug, "Your mom can be quite helpful"

"I want them back" Carter replies

I reach over quickly as he picks up a grey hoodie, "No not that one"

Afterwards he lifts up a white shirt, I grab that one too. "No"

"C" He says seriously

"No"

This went on for about five minutes, he'd try to take something and I'd say no.

There's a reason that Carters clothes are in my room..... I wear them, and he's just gonna have to get used to the fact that he isn't getting them back.

Eventually I convinced him to forget about the clothes and get into bed with me, he's on his phone and I'm just playing with his hair whilst watching what he's doing. "How come Meghan calls you mom"

"Huh?"

He turns so that he's facing me, "She said goodnight mom"

"Oh yeah, I'm always a little bossy when it comes to her.... But only cause I care"

He snorts, "Your bossy, period"

"Shut up-....Eventually she nicknamed me mom and I kind of liked it"

"So we have a kid"

I poke my tongue at his nose, "We do. She's twelve"

He kisses me as I lift the comforter over us, "Night dick heads-..... wait what's with all the clothes?" Santi says confused

Carter lifts his head up, "Your sisters a hoarder-

"And no shame in it at all" I shrug

Adri pokes her head through the door curiously, "Dang"

"Both of you go away"

Santi takes a photo of the clothes before calling me crazy and leaving, Adri just snorts before doing the same. I lay back down, "You hate me don't you"

"I just really want my clothes back" Carter replies

"You can have one shirt"

He rolls his eyes before turning off the light and I smile before lying close to him