Of course, this state of optimism could only last for so long. I ended up receiving a ton of math homework that I didn't even know how to start. I had to do it though, the wisdom of Abbie wasn't going to allow me to avoid it, nor was Riley. In fact, I was almost certain that although Riley was only eight, he would attempt to help me out anyway. That was simply the supportive kind of boy that he was and I adored him for it.

He wandered into my room, when I got home that day, to ask me how my homework was going. It was as though he just knew. Maybe he had a sixth sense. The dude had always wanted to do his best in school but he wanted to ensure that I did well, too.

My parents motivated me when they could but the both of them had been fairly busy with their business recently. I appreciated the work that they did for the family though. Additionally, it was always great to have parents who were seemingly so creative. It inspired me.

"Hey, you need to do some cooking," Riley said.

"I just started doing my math homework. Why do I need to do cooking all of a sudden?" I asked him.

"Mom has a migraine and dad went for a drive," Riley said.

I felt my eyebrow raise at that.

"Why did dad go for a drive?" I asked him.

Riley simply shrugged in response to that.

"How am I supposed to know? All I know is that he did," he said matter-of-factly.

I sighed. Sounded about right. I liked to think that my parents got along most of the time but recently mom and dad had been distant and I didn't have the faintest clue why. They tended to keep so much to themselves that Riley and I were left to simply speculate.

"Okay," I said, "What do you want?" I asked him.

Riley didn't seem to know what he wanted. He was hungry, though. That much was evident from the sounds of his stomach growling loudly.

I tired my hair up into a loose ponytail so that I didn't cause myself to get a traction-induced headache.

I wandered downstairs and grabbed some pasta and macaroni cheese sauce because could you really go wrong with that? I didn't think so, unless you happened to be inviting a load of lactose intolerant people around for dinner. In this case, I wasn't and so I decided to cook up a classic. I knew that there would be no complaints from Riley, at least. This was one of his favourite foods. If mom and dad weren't around then the two of us were simply going to have to adapt to our situation. It did concern me slightly that the two of them weren't talking but I wanted to stay optimistic for Riley and that was what I intended to do.

I boiled the pasta in the saucepan, until it was time for it to be mixed in with the cheese sauce. After that, I served up the meal and bon appetit, it was done.

Once that was done, I called down the hall to get Riley's attention and he walked towards the kitchen to join me.

Riley took a bite of it and shook his head slightly.

"What's wrong? Is it bad?" I asked him.

"It's not the same," he told me.

"It's the same pasta sauce that mom uses. What do you mean?" I asked him.

"It's not the same without mom and dad around. I think they've been fighting," Riley said.

I felt my heart hurt a little simply from his statement. I loved my parents so much and I didn't want either one of them fighting. The two of them deserved to be happy with each other and when one of both of them were upset, it caused me to grow worried about what had happened and whether it could even be fixed. I knew that some people weren't meant to stay together forever, though. As much as that thought upset me, I didn't mention it to Riley. He deserved to have the fun and carefree life of a kid. I wasn't about to impose upon that.

"They're probably okay, Riles. You know what mom and dad are like. Sometimes, they just get stressed out by work. They need a break from each other. I think that's why dad went out," I stated.

Riley gave a little nod of his head but I wasn't sure how convinced he truly was. Either way, he decided to change the subject.

"Thank you for making dinner, Zoe. It makes me really appreciate having you around, even if you can be annoying sometimes," he told me.

"Oh, you shouldn't have said that," I said, as I got out of my chair.

Riley out of his own seat and down the hall but I was quicker and managed to tickle-attack him until he apologized through his giggles.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm glad that I have a sister like you," he told me.

At his words, I simply grabbed Riley into a hug.

"We're going to be okay, Riles. I just know it," I told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked me.

"Well, no. I'd like to believe that we are though because we have something that nobody else does," I told him.

The corner of Riley's lips twitched up slightly at that.

"We have each other, right?" he asked me.

"We have each other, exactly," I replied.

Riley stepped forward to wrap his arms around me again and then yawned.

I believed that it was about time someone got to bed. Well, as I thought on it, I actually realised that I was getting fairly sleepy, too.

I said goodnight to Riley and he walked to his room.

Soon enough, I made my way to my room, too, to find that I had a new message from Drew.

I felt my heart race as I saw the notification but it just ended up being a reminder about the dance that was going to take place the next day. Great. I needed to find a dress to wear.