"Jack, stop it!" Grace glared at her younger brother who just gave her a cute little frown in response.

Gripping the big red bowl, she pulled it towards her, away from Jack's reach. "Gracie!"

"No, shut up!" She gave him another glare. Grace was aware of a small snicker from right in front of her. "I'm trying to bake a cake, Jack! Can you not continuously poke your finger in the batter?"

Lucius gave another snicker at that, scrolling down on his phone.

"But I wanna taste it!" Jack frowned some more at her.

Jack was being a serious pain in the ass. Thinking how better it was to just ignore him, Grace picked up the bowl of the chocolaty brown batter and moved towards the kitchen counter.

Once again, Grace found herself thinking how easier this would've been if her mother had taken Jack along with her. He was being really annoying.

Grace pushed a blonde strand of her hair behind her ear and picked up the spatula, mixing the batter as she added a little more flour.

Making chocolate fudge was not easy at all.

But it was worth it in the end.

"Is it raining already?" Grace asked in a murmur as she picked up another bowl and measured the creamy white whipped cream.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lucius looking over at the big glass windows in her lounge overlooking the backyard. "Yeah. Pretty heavily."

Before Grace could've moved back towards the batter, Jack stood on his toes and flicked his finger in the bowl. Again.

"Jack, for God's sake!" Grace's shout came next. Soon after followed another one of Lucius's chuckles.

"Luca, I swear to God, if you don't stop laughing and get him away from here, I'm kicking you both out of this house!" Grace glared at both of them.

Jack's eyes widened at the threat while Lucius leaned forward against the counter, grinning. "Seriously, Rose, don't be so harsh."

"Harsh?" Grace spoke out loud before once again getting busy with preparing the frosting. "I'll tell you what harsh really is if he touches that cake batter again."

There was clear warning in Grace's tone. Unfortunately, pissed off Grace never worked with Lucius.

"You are mean, Gracie." Jack spoke up, his dark blond hair ruffled up like he had just woken up.

Grace rolled her eyes and continued back with preparing the frosting. She really wanted this cake to turn out perfect. Especially since she was baking this for her dad, who was coming tomorrow. Finally, after six whole months.

Being a biologist was mean. But Grace's dad loved it.

"She's mean, isn't she, Luc?" Jack pulled out a stool beside Grace and sat down on it, dangling his legs in the air.

"Yeah. She's mean." Lucius nodded. "Especially when she's baking."

Grace looked up at him with a glare. He just gave her a smile which clearly said otherwise.

"No. She's mean all the time." Jack corrected him.

Lucius shrugged. "All right. She's mean all the time."

Grace rolled her eyes. Both of them were being a pain in the ass now.

"She thinks she's not mean. But let me tell you, she is very mean." Jack added, puffing out his cheeks. Lucius just nodded in response, stuffing his phone in his pocket. "She even picked up a fight with Mrs Kennedy's dog."

Lucius let out a sound between a choke and a laugh. "Wait, really? Grace, why would you do that?"

"Can you both just shut up?" Grace asked as politely as she could have—which wasn't very polite.

This time it was both of them both who ignored her. "She even punched a guy in my class." Jack told Lucius, barking out a laugh. Lucius laughed at that too.

Grace frowned at that while mixing up the frosting with a spoon. It looked amazing. Fluffy and sweet.

"Why did she punch him?" Lucius asked, his brown eyes filling up with curiosity.

Grace picked up the cocoa powder and added some in the frosting, mixing it up as the color changed to a lighter shade of brown.

Jack let out another laugh. "He had a crush on her."

Grace glared at Jack. "That's not what he said to me." She looked over at Lucius whose eyes had widened an inch in surprise, his lips tugging upwards at the corners. "That kid had the nerve to tell me that he wanted to kiss me!"

This time, Lucius burst out laughing. Grace felt her face heating up in frustration and anger.

"What kind of a ten year old does that?" She whispered with a frown before going over towards the oven, making sure it was open and ready.

When she turned back around to pick up the cake batter, she found herself looking at Jack who had once again managed to lean over towards it.

"Jack, what the fuck!" She shouted before shoving him away.

The stool rattled as Jack fell down sideways with a small thud. Horrified, Grace ran over towards him just as quick.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Grace spoke up, gripping his arms and pulling him up. Meanwhile, Lucius just couldn't stop laughing.

"You pushed me!" Jack whined, pulling away from Grace as she helped him up. "I'm gonna tell Mom that you pushed me and said a bad word. She'll be so angry."

Grace looked over at Lucius, her eyes pleading with him to somehow help her. She knew how pissed off her mum would be if Jack told her about this little incident.

"Hey, Jack, let's not do that. Grace's mean, remember?" Lucius looked over at the little boy with a soft grin. "She might just not give you the chocolate fudge if you do that."

Grace hadn't thought about that. But now that Lucius mentioned it, she found herself nodding in response.

Jack's eyes widened in horror. Grace knew how much he loved that chocolate goodness. And it seemed to work when he jumped towards her and wrapped his tiny arms around her waist.

"No, don't do that. I won't tell Mum!" His voice got muffled.

Grace looked up at Lucius and grinned evilly. She hated being this evil.

Sometimes you really gotta be mean.

•••••

Harry Potter movie marathon, that's what they stuck for as the night came by.

Since Grace's mother still hadn't returned and the rain hadn't stopped yet, Grace had persuaded Lucius to sleep over her house tonight. She really didn't want to stay alone with Jack.

And whenever a sleepover happened, there was always a Harry Potter marathon.

"No, you don't have the British accent, Jack." Grace glared at Jack who was sitting on the other side of Lucius, all three of them on the family couch as The Philosopher's Stone played on the TV.

"I do." Jack said stubbornly.

Grace frowned and rolled her eyes. "No, you don't. Luca has that accent."

Lucius on the other hand, leaned back against the couch. He was used to their bickering.

"I have it too." Jack replied.

"I actually don't." Lucius spoke up. He really didn't. At least, that's what he thought.

This time, it was both Jack and Grace who spoke up at the same time, "Yes, you do!"

Before Lucius could've said anything, Jack jumped up from the couch. "Can I have another piece of the chocolate fudge?"

Grace rolled her eyes again and leaned her head sideways against Luca's arm. "Go ahead, Jack. Might as well finish it all."

Jack happily went over towards the kitchen counter, not getting a hint on Grace's sarcasm, and picked up a slice of the chocolate cake.

After that, they pretty much watched the movie in silence while the rain pattered against the windows lightly. At one point, Grace pulled up her knees against her chest and completely leaned into Luca, her eyelids drooping tiredly.

Lucius wrapped his arm around her shoulders, not surprised since she always slept between such movie sessions. Jack, on the other hand, was wide awake with his gaze fixated on the movie.

It was when the movie was nearing its end that the front door opened. Lucius looked up from the TV and saw Jordyn walking in.

She came inside and her eyes traveled across the lounge. Stopping at Lucius, she gave him a warm smile then raised her brows, looking on either side of him.

Lucius followed her gaze and and saw that Jack had passed out completely on his right, hugging Lucius's arm like a teddy bear. On his left, Grace was passed out as well, her long blonde hair framing her face.

Looks like he was the only one awake here. Besides Jordyn.

Jordyn laughed and went over towards the other couch, taking off her coat and closing the rain drenched umbrella in her hand. "Harry Potter again? You all don't seem to ever get tired of it."

Lucius gently angled Grace's head on his shoulder just so she wouldn't fall down.

"Who made this cake?" Jordyn asked, walking over towards the kitchen counter. She turned around and looked at Lucius as sudden realization crossed over her features. "Did she make that for Marcus?"

Lucius nodded lightly since he didn't want to wake Grace up. "It's his favorite, isn't it? She thought she could surprise him when he comes tomorrow."

Jordyn walked over towards them before slowly sitting down beside Grace, facing her. "He isn't coming tomorrow."

Lucius's eyes widened a little at that. "He isn't?"

He knew how much Grace hated when her dad postponed his plans like such. She really hated that.

Jordyn ran her hand softly across Grace's cheek, pushing back her blonde strands. Lucius couldn't help but notice how sad she looked, or maybe she was just exhausted.

"No. He isn't coming tomorrow."

He rarely came here, Lucius thought.

"Why?" He asked her. He really hated when Grace got sad over such stuff.

She looked up at him. "He's busy. They need him there. He can't come back yet."

Lucius looked over at Jack who stirred a little in his sleep.

"Mistakes that he just can't...change." Jordyn whispered so lightly that Lucius might not have heard it, but he did. He looked at her in slight surprise.

Jordyn looked at him and gave him a small, gentle smile. "I'm glad that you're here for her, Luc." She said before standing up and walking over towards Jack. "Someone who she can really rely on."

Lucius did want to ask her what was wrong. He knew something was wrong. But at that moment, not asking such kind of thing seemed like the best option.

Jordyn picked up Jack in her arms, the little boy murmuring something in his sleep. "I'll take him in his room." She whispered, glancing at Lucius. "Goodnight."

Just when Jordyn disappeared upstairs, Lucius switched off the TV and gently shook Grace by her shoulders. Thankfully, she wasn't a heavy sleeper.

Grace blinked slowly and looked at him with her drooping eyelids. "What?"

Lucius stood up and pulled her up as well. She groaned lightly, closing her eyes. "Your room, Rose. You need to sleep there."

She groaned again and rubbed her eyes with her palms. Somehow, Lucius managed to get her upstairs in her room without making her stumble on her own steps.

"Where's Jack?" She asked before flopping down on her bed, her eyes closing up almost immediately.

"In his room." Lucius replied, closing her opened window.

"You're staying, right?" She mumbled in her pillow, almost about to doze off.

"Yeah."

"Mom came back?" Grace's voice was dripping with sleep now.

"Yes, Grace." Lucius murmured, pulling the covers over her.

"Did the movie end?" She asked.

Lucius rolled his eyes at her endless questions before going over towards the other side of her bed and crawling in the empty space beside Grace.

"Almost." He replied, running a hand through his curls.

"Has the rain stopped?" She asked in a low murmur. Lucius looked over at her beside him. The moonlight shone directly over her blonde hair, making her look beautiful—hauntingly beautiful.

You paint something when you want to freeze it in time.

"Almost, Rose." Lucius whispered, knowing that she had slept already, clutching her pillow against her.

He laid down and looked up at the ceiling. He thought back to the sad smile on Jordyn's face, how sad she had looked at that moment. As if she had lost something, or was about to lose something.

You paint something when you know you'd lose it. To preserve it in memory.

Lucius closed his eyes, hearing Grace's gentle breathing beside him. A small, unfamiliar ache grew in his chest. Irritation. Dread.

If he ever lost her, He thought, he'd paint her that day.

_______________________________________________________________________

Crystal 🌿