All hell broke loose when Jace saw the picture.

I never actually showed him the picture, I kind of just let him figure it out on his own, and when he found it, he was not happy.

It was a few days after I took the picture and I guess he somehow saw my lock screen when we were both sitting in the living room.

To say he was pissed would be an understatement.

He pounced on me and begged me to delete the photo. "Dakota, if you don't delete that photo, I will never buy you chocolate again."

I dramatically put a hand over my chest. "Little brother, you pain me."

His eyes narrowed into slits as he grabbed the nearest pillow and chucked it at me.

"Dak!" He yelled, running around to gather more pillows. I ducked my head just in time as another pillow he threw went above my head and hit the wall behind me.

"You're insane little brother!" I yelled, trying to sound like I was being serious.

It didn't take long before I was uncontrollably laughing as he chased me around the house with a few pillows in his hands, yelling profanities when he couldn't catch up to me. My lungs clenched, trying to get air in because I was laughing too hard.

We ran around for ten minutes and he still wasn't able to catch up to me.

"So much for being athletic," I mumbled.

"Shut the fuck up," he hissed. "I just need a time out."

He moved his hands to form the letter 'T' while bending over as he tried to catch his breath. He held out one finger, telling me to wait.

I rolled my eyes and placed both my hands on my hips, patiently waiting for Jace to catch his breath.

He huffed before looking back at me, "Okay, I'm ready."

I gave him a bored expression before sprinting up the stairs before he could catch me. I banged on Olivia's door, hoping she would let me in.

"What do you want?" The five year old questioned as she barely opened the door, only cracking the door open enough for me to hear her.

"Jace is attacking me, help me please. Save me from the monster," I exaggerated, motioning towards the boy who was trying to gather as many pillows as he could into his arms, but failing miserably as he kept dropping them.

I choke back a laugh before looking back at my baby sister.

She looked past me and saw Jace gathering the pillows. She raised her eyebrows and looked between him and I, her eyes going back and forth.

She brought a finger up to chin, continuously patting it as she looked to be in deep thought.

After what felt like forever the five year old finally made a decision. "No."

"No?"

"No, do it yourself. Maybe check back in a few minutes to see if I've changed my mind," she grunted, an evil smile pulling on the corner of her lips before slamming the door in my face.

My mouth was wide open, my jaw almost hitting the floor. I was shocked when those words left my sisters mouth. Since when did she get all sassy? I definitely did not see that coming.

What I also didn't see coming was the maniac who was running full speed in my direction.

"Fucking hell!" I yelled as I felt a pillow hit me repeatedly. I heard an evil chuckle coming from Jace as he kept hitting me with the pillow.

I crawled onto the ground and put my arms above my head, protecting me from pillows that were thrown at me.

"I'm out! I'm out! I give in!" I shouted as I tapped on the ground aggressively, like I had just accepted my loss during a wrestling match.

Jace dropped the pillows and raised his arm in the air. "I am victorious! You," he pointed at me. "Suck ass, and delete that photo!"

I rolled my eyes before taking my phone out. I groaned in protest, upset that I had to delete the picture of Jace dressed up as a princess.

I showed him my phone after, proving that I did indeed delete the photo.

He gave me a cocky smirk before rubbing his hands together, pretending to clean the dirt off of them.

"Well, my mission here is complete, so I'm leaving," he chuckled, giving me a sly smirk as he walked away, confidence radiating off his body.

I watched him walk away as he went to his room, but abruptly stopped before he went inside. He turned around and we locked eyes for a split second before he flipped me off, walked inside, and slammed his door shut.

I just sat on the ground, confused as to what the hell just happened. I don't even-

"Hello?"

No no no no no.

Hearing that voice made my face pale and blood run cold. My stomach twisted into knots as I heard my mother mumble a few profanities downstairs.

I quickly pushed myself off the floor and sprinted downstairs. No. No. No!

I was on the last step when I looked up to see my mother. I gasped when I realized her gaze was already focused on me. I glanced down and noticed the bottle gripped tightly in her hands, but she roughly set it down on the side table next to her. My fists were clenched at my sides as I discreetly looked upstairs, praying my siblings would stay quiet.

"Oh Dakota," my mother slurred before walking closer to me.

I subconsciously took a step back, not wanting her to get near me. I've never felt more vulnerable in my life, I didn't expect her to come home this early. I could feel my body shake as she got closer, I was terrified.

"Don't be afraid of your own mother," she scowled and reached out to grab a hold of my wrist. She had a tight grip as her nails purposely dug into my skin, making me hiss in pain.

I quickly pulled my arm out of her grasp. "Don't touch me."

"You know, I wish I could say that I missed you, but you know I'm not a big fan of lying."

We maintained eye contact, I wasn't going to show her any weakness. I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to control myself from saying something I'd regret.

"God, why did I even-" my mother began before she was interrupted by another voice.

"Hey Dakota, I was wondering where you put my cleats because I can't find them anywhere," Jace questioned as he walked down the stairs. He was looking at his phone as he walked downstairs so he didn't realize our mother had come home.

When he finally looked up from his phone, trying to search for me, his eyes landed on our mother. His face paled and he immediately stopped moving. He visibly tensed as his gaze moved to mine, pity swimming in his crystal blue eyes.

"Jace! My son," my mother slurred, the alcohol affecting her speech. "Do you know where Olivia is? I need to have a talk with her. I feel like I haven't seen that little brat in a long time."

My head whipped towards my mothers direction. There is no way in hell I'm leaving my 5 year old sister with a drunk 35 year old woman.

"Olivia isn't really in the mood to talk to anyone right now and she's asleep."

My mother looked pissed when those words flew from my mouth and I quickly looked to Jace for help. A wash of fear passed over his face as he fumbled with his fingers.

She strode towards me and in the blink of an eye, her palm connected with my cheek, resulting in a loud noise from the sudden contact.

My head whipped to the side, the stinging sensation in my face gradually building. I grit my teeth, refraining from yelling at my mother.

She stumbled back, holding onto the rail for support so she didn't fall. Her breathing was heavy and she grabbed her beer from the table and took a swig of it, finishing the whole bottle before smashing it on the ground.

I flinched as the bottle made contact with the floor, sending glass everywhere. I looked at Jace who was staring at the pieces of glass with wide eyes. He numbly looked at my mom before his gaze caught mine.

I gave him a sad look, not really sure how to deal with our mother.

My mother stared at the glass on the floor before crouching down and picking up a piece. She studied it with her red-rimmed eyes before those dull eyes connected with mine.

She looked down at the piece one more time and gave a sick smile before pressing it against her wrist.

My eyes widened as I realized what she was about to do. "Stop! Mom, put it down!"

I ran over to her and ripped the sharp piece of glass out of her hand before she could hurt herself. My breath was shaky as I watched the piece of glass fall to the floor, shattering into even smaller pieces.

She glared at me. "Why the fuck would you do that?!"

"D-don't do that mom, please," I trembled. I paused before I continued, "Why would you try that?"

"God, you can't do anything right. Why would you stop me?" She fumed. "It was my one way out and of course you fucked it up. You fuck everything up! And you wonder why I was about to hurt myself." She mumbled the last sentence under her breath, but it was loud enough for Jace and I to hear.

Her words knocked the breath out of me. She wanted to hurt herself because of me. My hands began to shake and I felt bile start to rise in the back of my throat. This can't be happening, I could feel a panic attack ready to breakthrough.

My palms began to sweat and I couldn't breathe, only able to inhale short breaths. I felt dizzy and my head began to spin. She wanted to hurt herself because of me.

I looked to Jace and found he was staring at our mother with fury swimming in his eyes. We locked eyes and his features softened, he knew I was about to have a panic attack.

This sent him over the edge, so he strode towards our mother. "How dare you say that to your own daughter? Dakota is the only one who has taken care of us while you were black out drunk on the streets. When you never came home, she stood up and took matters into her own hands. She's done more for us in the past three years than you ever have."

My mother backhanded him, the sound of her hand hitting his cheek made me flinch. His head whipped to the side, unable to stop the contact. Our mother laughed, mumbling under breath, complaining about how we were mistakes. Jace clenched his jaw as his eyes became a shade darker.

"I don't know why I bothered having any children. The little blonde one was a mistake anyways," she mumbled under her breath before tripping over her feet, trying to grab her keys.

I sucked in a sharp breath when she mentioned Olivia. I hated the way she talked about her.

My mother looked at us one more time, shaking her head in disappointment before she walked out of the door. She slammed the door so hard that the decorations on the walls shook in place. I let out a breath, relieved she finally left. I don't know where she was going, but I couldn't care less.

Jace and I didn't move an inch until we heard her car speed out of the driveway.

When I knew she was gone, I stopped shaking and was finally able to breathe normally. Jace and I didn't say anything, we just shared a cautious look and started picking up the pieces of glass my mother had left us to clean. We stayed silent, carefully picking up the pieces.

As I was picking up a small piece of glass, I heard a sniffle come from the top of the stairs. My body stiffened when I saw Liv standing there, chewing on her stuffed animal as a tear slid down her cheek.

Fuck.

She was there this entire time. She heard every word our mother said. I dropped the piece of glass and slowly walked up the stairs, holding my arms out for her to hug me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and sobbed into my shoulder, my shirt soaking up her tears.

I held her tight and told her to never listen to anything our mother had to say. I comforted her as she let the tears fall, my heart breaking into smaller pieces every time I felt a tear slide down her rosy cheeks and onto my shirt.

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