"Did I do something wrong?" Jade asked, nervously.

"No, of course not," I said, taking hold of her hands.

"So why do you look so disappointed?"

I could see that she was upset, and I wasn't sure I would be able to come back from this, but I didn't want to tell her the truth either.

"I'm not disappointed, Jade, honestly. It was great... you're great," I told her.

"But...?" She said, waiting for me to finish her sentence.

"But nothing," I lied. "I've just... I've got a lot going on right now, and my head's all over the place."

"Right..." she said, clearly not believing me. "You know, maybe you should go."

I thought about disagreeing for a second, but decided against it. I didn't want to lead Jade on, it wouldn't have been fair to her.

We both quickly got dressed, and I picked up my car keys from the coffee table. I gave Jade one last apologetic look, before heading for the door. She followed me.

"She's gonna break your heart, you know," Jade said, as we reached the door. I turned around, confused.

"What- who?" I stuttered.

"Larissa. She's playing you... the same way you've been playing me."

I felt uneasy at her words. Jade knew all along that I liked Larissa, and she was right, I had been playing her, and I felt horrible.

"Jade, I'm so sorr-"

"Good night, Ivy," she interrupted, and opened the door for me.

I nodded, and avoided her eyes, then left her house and got into my car.

Tears threatened my eyes as I drove through the dark, empty streets, but I fought them back. I was sick of crying. Before I met Larissa, I barely felt any emotions at all. She had opened me up, then shut me down hard, all in the space of a few weeks. I wished that I could forget about her, and go back to meaningless sex with random women, who I never needed to see again.

I was home within a few minutes, and went straight up to the apartment, and put on some pyjamas. I looked at my phone, hoping to see a message from Larissa, but there was nothing. The date on my phone screen caught my eye, tomorrow was the day that the foster home would inspect the apartment. My bad mood got slightly better, as I thought about seeing my little brother again.

Maybe it would be best to forget about Larissa for a bit, and focus on Liam. I had waited years for this, and I was sure Liam had too.

I went to bed, and fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.

~~~~

I was woken by my phone ringing, and quickly sat up to answer it. It was sunny outside, so I panicked that I had over slept.

"Hello?" I answered nervously.

"Hi, Ivy. It's Tracy. I was just calling to make sure we're still okay for the inspection at twelve o'clock today."

"Yeah, we are," I replied. "Honestly, I can't wait."

"I bet," Tracy replied. "Liam's very excited too, he hasn't stopped talking about it. So we'll see you at twelve."

"Thanks for calling, Tracy. See you later."

I hung up the phone, and looked at the time. I still had three hours to make sure everything was perfect. I quickly showered, and got dressed, then went around the apartment, cleaning.

I hadn't realised how quickly the time was passing, until there was a knock at the door. I looked at my phone, and saw that they were thirty minutes early. My heart rate sped up as I walked to the door, I was so nervous, and I needed everything to go right.

I was surprised when I opened the door to find that Liam and Tracy weren't on the other side. Instead, there was a blonde haired woman, who's roots were grey. There were a lot of wrinkles around her dark blue eyes. She was a little shorter than me, and she had put on a lot of weight since the last time I saw her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked my mother.

"We need to talk," she replied.

"No. You need to leave. I can't do this now."

"I know, Liam's coming at twelve. I only need five minutes," she said.

My jaw dropped. I had no idea how she knew about the inspection, she wasn't allowed to have any contact with Liam, or the foster home.

"How did you know about-"

"It's not important, Ivy," she interrupted. "I'm not here to get involved with your personal affairs. I know I have no right to do that. I came to tell you that your dad died."

My eyes widened at her words. I wasn't upset, just surprised. I wasn't sure why she was telling me, really.

"Thanks. Now, you need to leave."

"Is that all you have to say?" She almost growled at me. "I know he wasn't perfect, but he was still your father."

"What do you want me to say?" I replied calmly. "You want me to say I'm sorry? Do you want me to cry? Because neither of those are going to happen. He doesn't deserve any tears, and I'm glad he's no longer a threat to me or Liam."

"That man raised you," my mother said, giving me an angry look.

"That man beat me. He locked me in my room, starved me for days, and beat me. For being gay! I've got scars all over my body, because the man you call my father beat the shit out of me for something I couldn't even change! And when I wasn't around, he beat my little brother!"

She look shocked by my outburst, and suddenly went quiet.

"If you want sympathy, you came to the wrong place. Now get the fuck out of my house, so I can care for my brother the way that you and your husband should have done," I said, calmly and walked over to the door to open it for her.

I quickly looked outside to check if Tracy and Liam were here yet, but the coast was clear. Without another word, my mother walked out of my apartment.

"There's more I need to explain," she said, handing me a piece of paper with her phone number on. "Call me when you have time. It's important."

I shut the door behind her and quickly went to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. I was filled with anger and needed to relax before Tracy got here. I sat on the sofa and took deep breaths for a few minutes, and felt slightly better.

There was a knock at the door, and I grew nervous again. I was pleased to see my brother and Tracy standing there, this time. There was a man, who looked like he was in his late fifties. He had short grey hair, and a kind smile. He was carrying a clipboard and a pen in his hand, ready to take notes.

Liam hugged me as I opened the door and I saw Tracy smile as I hugged him back tightly.

"Come in," I smiled. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"I'd love a cup of tea," Tracy replied politely.

I went to the kitchen and put the kettle on. Liam asked for a glass of juice, and the man with the clipboard didn't want a drink. He got straight on with the inspection, while Liam, Tracy and I sat in the living room, discussing the next steps.

"All good to go, Trace," said the man, after joining us on the sofa.

"Perfect, Bill, thank you," Tracy replied. "Okay then, Ivy, how about a trial run?"

I smiled happily at her words, as did Liam.

"How about this weekend?" She asked. "You could pick Liam up after school on friday, and then he can come back to the home on sunday evening."

"That would be perfect," I grinned.

"Great. After that, we would need to speak with you and Liam separately, and evaluate the weekend, and then possibly start to arrange for a permanent arrangement based on the evaluation."

"Seriously?" Liam asked. "I can live here? With Ivy?"

He looked so excited, and I had to stop myself from crying with happiness.

"That's the plan, Liam," Tracy smiled. "We'll see how this weekend goes, but hopefully it won't be too long before you two are a family again. I can see how much you both want it."

"Thank you," Liam said and hugged Tracy, then came to hug me again.

"You're coming home, baby brother," I said quietly, while I hugged him, and he squeezed me tighter.