( Note ⏤ This chapter is longer than usual at 17k+ words, so get a snack, get comfy and prepare for a very long read.)

...

"This house no longer feels like home."

...

Change was hard.

That was something Sophia Conner had learnt through the twins, by watching the twos lives unfold, helping them through the constant changes they go through. She had seen how hard it was for them, and for her other friends too who also found themselves living lives of constant change, and after seeing what it does to them she had hoped she would never have to go through it herself.

But, apparently, that was too much to ask for.

"Moving?" Sophia repeats, staring blankly at her parents from across their dinner table.

"Yes." Her mother nods, placing her glass of wine down while sparing a glance at her husband, the man remaining unhelpful as he continues to chew on his meat. "We're moving."

"No."

Monica Connor furrows her brows, sending her daughter a confused look. "I'm sorry?"

"You're forgiven." Sophia smiles, her mother frowning at the use of sarcasm.

"Sophia." She warns, sighing as she drops her fork. "Look, i understand that this will be hard for you to process and accept, but-"

"There is no but about it." Sophia scoffs, following her mothers actions of dropping her utensils onto her untouched plate of food. "This is unbelievable! And there's no way in hell i will ever accept this!"

"Do not raise your voice at me, young lady." Monica demands, scolding her daughter. "I am your mother and you will show me respect!"

"Respect for what? For you selling my childhood home?!" Sophia exclaims, hands slamming down on the wood of the dining table. "For forcing me to move half way across the city? Or for forcing me into a private, preppy, nightmare school for rich assholes?!"

"Sophi-"

"Oh, or am i supposed to respect you for trying to tear me apart from my friends and my boyfriend?! Because that's what Wes is, you know? No matter how much you try to deny it."

"I never said anything about Weston." The woman points out, trying to maintain some balance between herself and her daughter, not wanting to make matters worse by bringing up her issues with Sophia's relationship again. "And this has nothing to do with him, or any of your other friends, for that matter."

"Wes isn't just a friend." Sophia rolls her eyes.

Monica nods, not able to hide her disdain for the boy her daughter was seeing. "Trust me, Sophia, I'm aware." She shakes her head. "The point is, moving is a necessity now that your father has gotten this new job, we must be closer to his place of work." She insists. "And it'll be more convenient for you and i as well."

"How so?" She asks tiredly, boredly picking at her nails. Her mother smiles obliviously at her question, mistaking it as genuine when she doesn't pick up on the blondes tone of disinterest.

"Well, I'll be much closer to my office and you won't be far from your new school. It just makes more sense for our family to take this next step, since we're entering a new chapter of our lives and all." Monica continues to try and persuade her daughters take on the matter. "I believe this will be good for us, a nice change."

"Well i don't." Sophia argues, not faltering in her opinion.

"You will," Monica continues to persist, unwilling to give up on her dream of having the perfect life. She had wished for this life since she was a child, praying for it every night, and now that she was finally here, now that she was this close, she would do whatever it took to finally achieve it. She would have it all, she would make sure of it. And so she keeps pushing, tightening her grasp on her chance so it couldn't slip through her fingers. "I know that right now you don't believe that and you think this is the end of the world, but it's not. This is for the better, it's in all of our best interests."

"Why?!" Sophia demands, forcing her tears of anger and sadness back. She didn't want to cry. Not in front of them. She wanted to remain strong ⏤ to hold her ground, not crumble and look weak, and if she cried it would be exactly like that and then they would win.

"It just doesn't make sense to stay here when we can have so much better." Monica tells her softly, trying to remain civil and not let her desperation get the best of her. Sophia can see how close her mother is to snapping, the way her jaw clenches tells her that a full blown argument is only minutes away, maybe even seconds by the way her right hand flexes into a fist every so often, almost as if holding herself back from a complete meltdown. Her nails of her free hand tapping away at the table, the sound similar to the ticking of a clock that's counting down the small amount of time left before her impatience takes over. "I'm sorry Sophia, but there's just no reason to not go through with this."

"I have a reason." Sophia tells her, her anger overpowering her sadness as she becomes more upset, desperate. Though she covers up that desperation with snark, faux confidence, another thing she had learnt from her friends, more so Willow and Sasha who both seem to have issues with feelings and handling emotions, the two girls always choosing to hide behind masks. Sophia never realized how useful that ability was until now, when she was struggling to act indifferent and form her own mask. "Several reasons actually, just about five."

"Oh, really?" Monica raises a brow at her daughter, not liking her new attitude.

"Yep." Sophia nods with a hum, arms crossing over her chest as she leans back in her chair, not wavering in the eye contact she holds with the older woman, showing her seriousness and refusing to give into her demands. "Maybe even a few more, just for extra points."

"Care to share these reasons?" She challenges.

"Wes, Willow, Skyla, Sasha, Cameron-"

"Real reasons, Sophia." Monica cuts in.

"Those are real reasons!" She argues, scoffing at her parents. Monica who glares at her, displeased with her resistance of her plans. And Johan, her father who remains unfazed, continuing to eat his dinner without so much as a glance at either of them. "They're my friends ⏤ my only friends, since sixth grade! And i don't get why you've been trying to tear me away from them."

"Don't be so dramatic. I'm not trying to tear you away from them."

"Yes you are! Ever since these new opportunities have been coming up for you and dad you've been trying to get me to distance myself from them. I don't get it." Sophia pauses, realization hitting her as for a brief moment she can see guilt flash in her moms eyes, disappearing just as fast as it came, like it was never there to begin with.

The pieces begin to click, the months events playing through her mind, showing how her parents behavior began changing as soon as they had started aiming for something higher in life. How now that they've gotten their promotions and new jobs they've become different. Her school wasn't good enough anymore, so they're moving her to a private school, a place located in an upscale part of the city, a sanctuary for rich kids with rich parents. The way they sold their home to do the same thing, move them all to somewhere more appropriate to go with their new fancy titles. How suddenly her long time friends who her parents assume to be poor, nobody more than the average struggling family, are no longer good enough.

"Is it the money?"

"What?"

"You think that just because you guys are working your way up the social scale you're suddenly better than them?"

Monica scoffs, "How dare you insinuate such a thing."

"Because that's not true. Just 'cause you're getting these new jobs and are trying to create some new, perfect image doesn't mean that they've changed. They're still the same people they were a month ago when you were thanking them for being there for me and praising them for being such good friends and being good people."

"I never said-"

"Was that all a lie?" Sophia continues, her anger getting the best of her. "Were you just acting? Or are you really just a liar?"

"Sophia!" Monica snaps, hands slamming down against the wood just like her daughters had minutes ago. "I don't know who you think you are or where you've gotten this new attitude, but you better get rid of it because it will get you nothing except a one way ticket to boarding school." She threatens.

Sophia shakes her head, biting down harshly on her tongue to keep from spitting insults at the woman she couldn't recognize anymore. How could one person change so much in only a few weeks time?

"This move is happening whether you like it or not. Understand?" Monica tells her, having enough of the conversation. "I said do you understand?"

Sophia sits silently, continuing to glare at the woman from across the table.

"Answer me!"

Jaw clenching, Sophia closes her eyes, letting out a breath of irritation, shoulders slumping with defeat. She nods, "Yes."

"Yes what?" Monica pushes, a mocking glint in her eyes as she raises her eyebrows at her daughter, holding back a satisified smirk of victory. "Say the words."

"I understand." Sophia mumbles eyes glued to her lap as she tries to fight off her tears.

"What?" Monica taunts, "Speak up, i can't hear you."

"I understand!" Sophia snaps, eyebrows pulling together as she glares up at her mother through teary eyes that swim with betrayal, and something a parent never wished to see when their child looks at them ⏤ hatred.

Monica, unfazed by the girls expression, smiles, picking up her glass of wine and taking a sip, releasing a pleased sigh, content with the way the argument had gone. She didn't care that her daughter was hurt, that she was upset, all she cared about was reaching that life style she so desperately craved. "I'm glad we've reached an understanding."

Sophia shakes her head, unable to stand looking at the blonde woman any longer and shifts her gaze to her lap once more, quickly wiping away the tear that had managed to escape her glassy eyes with a swipe of her hand, the action followed by a sniffle. She was going to break down, soon, in only a matter of minutes. She couldn't take it. No matter how tightly she closed her eyes or how much she willed her tears to disappear, they had won the fight, opening the floodgates before she was ready. She needed to go, she needed to leave and retreat to the safety of her friends, the apartment ⏤ their apartment, a place she knew she wouldn't be judged and instead would be looked after ⏤ cared for.

"I'm going out." Sophia announces, pushing her chair back to allow herself space to stand, though her mother's quick to stop her and put a foil in her plans.

"If you're thinking of going to see your friends, just know you're not allowed."

Sophia pauses, turning back to her mother with a questioning, yet fearful, look, dreading the meaning behind her words. "What? Why?"

"Because," she shrugs, swirling around the red liquid in her glass, her gaze turning from her drink to meet the blue eyes of her daughters. "You only have a week to pack up all of your things, I'd like you to start tonight. So, the only place you'll be going is to your bedroom."

"But-"

"No. No buts. Just do it."

With more anger and sadness bubbling in her stomach than ever, Sophia couldn't do anything. She couldn't argue her mothers words, she couldn't disagree and just leave, and she couldn't accept it either. How was she supposed to do as she was told ⏤ to just start packing up her life as if it was nothing? As if it was easy? She couldn't do that either. And so, she did the only thing she could. She walked away.

Monica watched her daughter go, watching quietly as Sophia rushed away, disappearing up the stairs while she did her best to stay composed, desperately wiping away her tears to act as though they weren't there. The woman sighs as the sound of a door being slammed rings throughout the cold and unusually quiet house, turning to her husband who remains eating his meal, still as unbothered by the situation as before. "Thanks for the help."

Upon getting no response, a new look of anger crosses the Conner woman's face and her foot comes in contact with the man's shin in a hard kick, the point of her heel digging painfully into his skin and causing him to jump with a shout, his attention finally being placed onto his wife. "Jesus Christ!" He cries, moving out of her reach by shoving his chair back. "What the hell is the matter with you?!"

"You couldn't have said one thing?" She exclaims, a scowl forming on her face that her husband gladly returns. "One goddamn thing?!"

"What are you talking about?!"

Monica scoffs, pushing out of her seat. "My god, you're useless!" She shouts, walking off with her wine glass in hand, disappearing into the living room while she continues to spew insults at the clueless man who stays seated, rolling his eyes at his wifes upset behavior that he deems to just be a dramatic overreaction.

"I thought you had it covered." He tells her as he finishes the last bite of his meal, chugging down the rest of his beer before collecting his dishes to put in the sink, where he would undoubtedly grab a second drink to prepare for yet another long night of arguing with the lady he married.

With her bedroom door closed and locked to keep her problems out, Sophia finally gave into her tears and broke down, curling up into her blankets and crying into her pillows until she had become too exhausted to even stay awake, falling asleep with tear stained cheeks and a cracked heart.

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

"But i don't want to go to school!" Skyla complains, a pout sitting on her lips as Willow forces her into her sweater.

"That sucks, 'cause you're going." Willow tells her, slinging the little girls backpack over her shoulder as she stands, taking her sisters hand to pull her towards the apartment door while Skyla continues to try and resist, leading to her being picked up and carried.

"But i don't want to!" She shouts, watching Wes and Cameron lock the apartment door over her sisters shoulder.

"So I've heard." Willow mumbles, bored of the same argument she had been having with her sister since she had started pre school. Was she like this? Did she make it this hard on her parents? If she did she would have to apologize, because this was exhausting. "But guess what? You don't have a choice."

"I do." Skyla insists, wiggling in her sisters arms in attempts to make an escape, though is disappointed when Willow only passes her to Wes, the boy keeping a tighter grip on her than their sisters tired and uncaring one.

"You don't." Wes denies, brushing past the two other teenagers and hurrying ahead of them down the stairs. "You have to go."

"But why?" Skyla pouts, "Sissy doesn't go."

"Because I'm not allowed to go." Willow defends through a yawn. "Not for like another week. You on the other hand are allowed to go, so you have to."

Skyla grumbles, eyebrows pinched together as she glares at the girl who ignores her over her brothers shoulder, soon turning to Cameron as if he would help her. "Cammy?"

The boy hums in question, rubbing at his eyes distractedly. It was too early for him to be functioning properly, let alone pay attention to anything around him, including the little girls complaints that he had already heard a million times.

"Tell them i have choice."

He shakes his head. "No can do Sky."

"Why not?!" She whines, throwing her head back and making her body go limp, deciding that if she was going to be dragged to school she would make it as hard for them as she could.

"Skyla." Wes groans in annoyance, adjusting the girl in his arms so he wouldn't drop her. The girl ignores him, continuing to act like jello in his arms and making his job more difficult, until finally he just gives up and hands her to Cameron. "Your turn."

Cameron sighs but carries her anyways. "Great, thanks..." he rolls his eyes. "How about you sit on my shoulders, Sky?" He offers, knowing the child wouldn't be able to resist.

"Yes!" She cheers, school long forgotten as she gets placed onto the boys shoulders, her hands gently gripping his pink hair as she looks around, bragging to Wes that she was taller than him now.

"Have you heard from Sophia?" Willow asks suddenly, stopping as she holds the door open for them to exit the apartment building, starring down at her phone. "I haven't seen her since the other day at the park, when her mom showed up to get her." She rolls her eyes at the thought, not being a fan of Monica Conner.

Wes nods, "Yeah, i talked to her last night, said she was sick so she was staying home."

"Is she okay?" Cameron asks, wincing when Skyla pulls on his hair.

"I think so." He shrugs. "She said it was just a cold and not to worry about her."

"We should still check on her though." Cameron says.

"I'll go see her later." Willow volunteers. "After i drop Sky off at school."

"No!" The girl protests. "I wanna go see Sophie!"

"Too bad, come on." Willow says, taking the girl off of Cameron and scooping her up to cross the street, rushing to catch the bus and waving goodbye to the boys as they go. "See you guys later!"

"Let us know how Sophia is!" Wes calls, getting a thumbs up before the two get onto the bus, the boys watching as Skyla waves through the window at them until they couldn't be seen anymore, leaving them to walk to school.

"Sit down, Sky." Willow scolds.

"I am sitting."

"I mean sit down properly." Willow says, picking up her sister and placing her back down on her seat, repositioning her to sit correctly instead of on her knees like she was.

"But i can't see!" She complains.

"Fine, here." Willow sighs, placing Skyla in her lap and sliding over to the window seat, allowing the younger girl to be able to see through the glass, watching everything pass by.

"I still don't wanna-"

"You're going to school."

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

After dropping Skyla off at school, which took yet another argument, Willow finally found herself at Sophia's house.

She stood on the sidewalk across from her friends home, watching it and waiting to see if Monica would leave, not wanting to have to deal with the woman so early in the morning, but unfortunately it looked as though she wasn't going anywhere any time soon, leaving Willow with one option.

Sophia laid in her bed, buried under her large, weighted blanket as she continued to hide from the world as well as her problems, something she had always gotten at her friends about, always telling them how unhealthy and immature it was. But now here she was, in the same place they often found themselves in.

Though, she never expected Willow of all people to take her place of being the one to pull the covers off. Which is why, when a bang sounded at her window Sophia let out a scream, frightened as she threw the blankets off of herself and jumped out of bed, grabbing the closest thing she could use as a weapon and aiming it at the window.

Silence filled the room, Sophia slowly inching closer to her window with her weapon of choice, when suddenly a hand slaps against the glass, startling her again as she jumps back with a second scream, one that dies in her throat when her bestfriends face appears on the other side of the glass a moment later.

"Willow?!"

"Shut up!" The girl shushes, waving the blonde over to help her as she struggles to push open the window.

Sophia sighs, dropping her "weapon" onto her bed and rushing over to help her friend, sliding the glass up and opening it for Willow to climb through. "What the hell are you doing here?!" She demands once the brunette makes it inside, dropping her bag on the floor, kicking off her shoes and throwing herself onto the large bed. "Please tell me we're not vandalizing anything this time?" She begs, referring to when Sasha and Willow had practically kidnapped her weeks before to help them get revenge on the man who had hurt Cameron. "I refuse to spray paint another car with you guys! Just call the police or something."

"Why's there a lamp in your bed?" Willow ignores the girls ramblimg, picking up the object and sending her friend a look of confusion.

"I thought you were an intruder." Sophia shrugs, arms crossing over her chest defensively.

"So you were gonna what?" Willow raises a brow at her friend, switching her gaze between the small, pink lamp, the velvety cover lined with a lighter shade of pink fur and decorated with a hundred stickers ranging from hearts and stars to strawberries, cherries and even some unicorns. "Kill me? With a fuzzy lamp?"

Sophia rolls her eyes, reaching to take the lamp from Willow and gently placing it back onto her nightstand where it belonged. "What are you doing here?" She repeats, ignoring the look of amusement on Willow's face as she continues to make herself comfortable.

Willow grins. "Don't worry, I'm not here to kidnap you or force you to break the law with me."

"Thank god." Sophia let's out a breath of relief, her confusion returning a second later. "Then why are you here?"

"Wes said you're sick."

Only when Willow spoke those words Sophia froze, reminded of the lie she had told her boyfriend. Clearing her throat she nods, doing her best to look and sound sick. "Yeah, so?" She asks, her voice coming out scratchy and raw, even though it was clear a minute ago.

Willow smirks, taking notice of the changes Sophia made in herself as soon as she recalled what Wes had told her, seeing how Sophia avoids her eye and begins to shift awkwardly in her place, becoming uncomfortable. "You know," Willow starts, propping herself up against the girls pillows and serving her with a knowing look. "You're a terrible liar, Soph."

"I know." The girl only sighs, dropping the act and letting her arms fall to her sides. She knew she was caught, so she gave in, sitting on the edge of her bed and waiting for the interrogation she was bound to get from Willow to start.

"So then why are you trying to lie to us?" Willow asks, becoming more concerned with her friends strange behavior.

The blonde sighs, feeling herself begin to slip as the stinging tears behind her eyes try to escape once more, leading to her burying her face in her hands, not wanting to worry her friend by breaking down in front of her. But it was too late to put on a brave face, because as soon as Willow had sat down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder, asking the simple question of 'are you okay' she had fallen apart.

"Aw, Soph, what's wrong?" She asks, wrapping an arm around the girls shoulders and pulling her in for a hug, letting her cry into her shoulder as she rubbed her back.

"N- nothing. I'm just being dramatic. It's fine, I'm fine." Sophia tries to reassure her, quickly pulling back to wipe her tears.

"No, you're not." She shakes her head, pushing the blondes messy hair behind her shoulders and taking hold of her upper arms, forcing their gazes to meet. "What's wrong?"

"My moms a bitch." She blurts suddenly, her cries returning as she lets her head fall forward onto the girl she shocked into silence.

Willow chokes back a laugh, patting the girls back sympathetically. "So is mine." She relates. "What did yours do?"

Sophia takes a deep breath, trying to hold herself together as she forces the words out, once more pulling away, unable to decide if she wanted to try and hold it all in or let it out. "We're moving."

"What?"

"My dad got a new job and my mom's getting a promotion so now they think we need a whole life upgrade." Sophia explains through her tears that begin to fall once more.

"And this life upgrade means you have to move?"

"They want a better house, because this one apparently isn't good enough anymore." Sophia nods, sniffling as she continues her explanation. "They want a big house that stands tall behind a white picket fence, one that's in a rich neighborhood and outshines all the other houses on the street ⏤ one that will make everyone jealous." Sophia rolls her eyes. "It's shallow and gross."

Willow nods, showing she was listening as she hugs her friend again, trying her best to comfort her and push through her own sadness and fear over the situation. "And, uh," she hesitates, unsure if she wanted to ask her question, not knowing if she would like the answer. "What else does this life upgrade include?"

The blonde sighs, arms wrapping around Willow for another hug. She needed the comfort her friend was offering, she needed the feeling of safety and love that she always found within her best friend. "So far a new house, new jobs, new people and friends, and a new private, all girls school."

"So basically, a whole new life." Willow summarizes, her tone bitter before letting out a sigh, trying to change it to something with more care and concern, maybe even support. "Sorry. Uh, how do you... feel about all of this? Are you doin' okay?"

Sophia pulls away from her friend with furrowed brows, gesturing to her frantic state. Her face was flushed, cheeks rosy and sticky and stained with tears, her glassy eyes red and puffy. "Do i look like I'm doing okay?" She asks, pushing her tangled, unbrushed hair out of her face, having to pull off the strands that stick to her cheeks.

"Honestly?" Sophia nods. "Definitely not."

"Yeah, i thought so."

"To be real, you look like you were raised in the woods and haven't used a hairbrush in a year." She adds with a grin, Sophia laughing at the blunt analysis.

"Gee, thanks." Sophia chuckles, wiping the tears off her cheeks and taking a deep breath to compose herself, letting out a large sigh a moment latter.

"Soph?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you-"

"Sophia?!"

"Oh, crap!" The blonde curses, eyes going wide as Monica bangs on her door.

"Are you alright?" Monica asks, twisting her daughters door handle only to find it locked. "Whys your door locked?! What are you doing in there?"

"Nothing!" Sophia answers, dragging Willow off of her bed and shoving towards the still open window. "Get out."

Willow scoffs, sending her friend a look of offense. "Rude." She complains, but nonetheless she slips her shoes back on and climbs through the window, hiding on the small ledge outside of it.

"Sophia June Conner!" Monica shouts accusingly, her fist banging against the wood louder as she continues to try and get into her daughters bedroom. "Open this door, right now!"

"Hold on!" She yells, kicking Willow's bag under her bed and quietly closing her window, finally rushing to open her bedroom door, pulling it open to meet the angry face of her mother who tries to push the door open fully, though Sophia keeps it in place, only leaving enough room for herself to squeeze her head through. "What?" She asks, annoyed.

Monica peers over her daughters head, trying to see into her room. "Who's in there?"

"No one." Sophia answers immediately, too fast for her mothers liking.

"Really?" She raises an eyebrow in challenge, "So if i go in and look around i won't find anyone?"

Sophia shakes her head. "Nope."

"We'll see about that."

Using her weight to force the door open, Monica shoves her way into her daughters room, not wasting a second in beginning her search, starting with her closet.

"Yeah, come on in, why don't you." Sophia mumbles with a roll of her eyes, making her way back to her bed where she climbs back under her covers, watching Monica continue to search through the room ⏤ looking under her bed, under the blankets where Sophia lays, and even behind dressers, everywhere she could think of until she reaches her last two options ⏤ the large wooden chest that sits at the foot of her daughters bed, and outside the window.

"You're not going to find anyone." Sophia tells her, trying to make it seem casual as she attempts to convince a determined Monica, watching as she rolls her eyes and swipes all of her stuffed animals off of the chest and throws it open, a look of disbelief crossing her features when she finds it filled with blankets. "We're not children anymore, Mom, we're not stupid enough to try and hide in there again. Not anymore, at least. We're too big now."

"I highly doubt that." Monica argues, pulling the blankets out of the crate as if someone was buried underneath. "Because, as i recall, it was only a couple of months ago that i found one of your friends stuck in here after he tried to spend the night with you."

"Cam's harmless." Sophia insists with a shrug, hiding her fear as Monica puts the blankets back and turns her attention to the window. "He just didn't want to go home, he was fighting with his mom so i told him he could sleep here."

"Without our permission." Monica points out, "And that is unacceptable."

"Yeah, you said that several times, even as you kicked him out."

Monica shrugs, "He was trespassing."

"I invited him!"

"Without-"

"Your permission." She finishes for her, "I know."

"Next time, ask. Maybe I'll say yes."

"Or you'll laugh in my face again and say 'no way in hell'."

"I never-"

"Yes, you did. You always do. Every single time, even when we were kids." Sophia disagrees.

Sophia pauses after the words leave her mouth, remembering each time her mother had done just as she said and refused to allow her friends to spend nights at their home, never letting them stay for more than a couple of hours at a time, and instead would ship her off to their houses, in a different neighborhood where nobody knew their family. It made her realize something. It made her realize that her mother hadn't actually changed, she just dropped the act of decency and kindness.

Monica had always been this way, she had always looked down on her friends ⏤ on her, she was just better at covering it up before, now she wasn't thinking twice about hiding how ashamed she was anymore, how ashamed and embarrassed she was that her daughter not only befriended people 'below them', as Monica calls her friends, but Sophia had also begun a relationship with one. She was such a disappointed, and Monica couldn't even bother to keep it to herself anymore. How was she supposed to feel about that? That her mother wasn't the person she thought she was? That she wasn't as good of a person as she pretended to be? It made her feel like her entire life was a lie, that she was just too blind to see it before. And that hurt. It hurt a lot.

As the sudden realizations struck her, Sophia scoffs under her breath, shaking her head and standing up, walking to her door and holding it open for her mother, who was just opening the window. "Get out."

Monica scoffs, eyebrows knitting together in confusion as she turns to her daughter. "Excuse me?"

"Get out."

"How dare-"

"Leave!" Sophia cuts her off, her voice raising in anger. "I don't want you in here! Get out!"

"I'm not-"

"Mom, please! Please just get out!" She pleads, shutting her mother up who takes one more glance at the window before sighing, deciding to just comply with her daughters demand.

"Fine." She forces out through gritted teeth, on the verge of letting her anger out on the younger girl. "But i swear to god Sophia, this is the last time I'm putting up with this newfound attitude, okay?" She tells her, stopping in front of her for an answer.

"Whatever." Sophia says, Monica clenching her jaw at the disrespect she felt. Though she says nothing, and leaves the room as asked, holding open the door for an extra moment.

"I have to go into work for the day, I need to finish up some paper work before the move so i won't be back until late tonight." Monica informs.

"Not surprising." She rolls her eyes, arms crossing as she leans back against her door frame, patiently waiting for her mother to finish talking and leave so she could let Willow back in.

"You're not to go out today, instead you're going to spend the day packing."

"But-"

"And," She raises her voice, causing Sophia to go silent, biting down on her tongue to keep from snapping at her mother once again. "I expect you to have at least gotten halfway done with your room by the time i get back."

"How am i-"

"You have at least twelve hours, I'm sure you'll figure it out." She says, knowing her daughters complaints before she even made them. "We're moving in a week Sophia, there's no time for putting this off and being lazy, okay? And that means no arguing, or negotiating ⏤ no trying to get out of this, because you can't. This move is happening whether you like it or not."

"Not." She says.

"What?"

"You said whether i like it or not." She points out. "I choose not."

"Sophia-" Monica sighs.

"Can you go now, please?"

Monica nods, reluctantly turning and leaving, allowing Sophia to close the door behind her. Sophia leans her back against it, listening to her mothers fading footsteps, waiting to hear the front door close before making her way to the window to let her friend back in.

"Finally." Willow breathes, climbing back in through the window and watching as Sophia climbs back into her bed without a word. "Sophia?"

The blonde hums, snuggling into her pillows and pulling her blanket up to her chin.

"What happened?" She asks, getting a questioning look from the blonde that prompts her to continue. "I mean, you just... look a little worse than before."

"I'm fine." Sophia tells her, turning away to stare at the wall, trying to work up some motivation to start packing like Monica had asked her to. "I'm just going to lay here for a little bit longer."

Willow watches her friend with concern, arms crossing uncomfortably as she looks around the room for a minute before pulling out her phone to check the time. Seeing that it was barely nine in the morning, she quickly took off her shoes again and made her way to the empty side of Sophia's bed, climbing in beside her and grabbing the remote to turn on her TV. "What do we want to watch?"

"What?"

"What do we want to watch." Willow repeats. "I'd say Friends but we just binge watched that and i know you'll want to wait at least a month before doing that one again. So, Greys Anatomy, Teen Wolf, Pretty Little Liars... uh, The Vampire Diaries?" She continues, Sophia cutting her off as she names Jersey Shore.

"No, i mean what are you doing? Why are you still here?" Sophia clarifies, not bothering to turn around.

"I'm being here for you." Willow shrugs, "You do this for me when I'm sad, so now it's my turn to do it for you. And that means you get to pick the show, so choose one. What do you feel like? Outer Banks? Stranger Things? The 100? Oh, maybe Shameless. You like that one, right?"

Sophia turns slightly, looking at her best friend from over her shoulder. She contemplates her options for a second, finally giving in with a sigh and turning to watch the TV. "Modern Family." She decides, wanting something that's funny and easy to watch.

"Okay."

The two girls lay quietly, only making it to episode four before they fall asleep, Modern Family playing quietly in the background as they slept soundly.

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

After a three hour nap, the sound of Willow's phone ringing woke the two girls up.

"Make it stop." Willow complains, pulling Sophia's blanket over her head.

"It's your phone, you make it stop."

Willow groans, throwing the covers off of her and grabbing her phone off of the blondes nightstand. "Hello?"

"Hey Wills." Wes greets.

"What do you want?"

He rolls his eyes at her impatience. "Did you check on Sophia?"

"Yes. Bye." She hangs up, dropping the phone onto the bed beside her and snuggling back into the pillow, fully prepared to go back to sleep, and then her phone rang again. "Answer the phone and talk to your boyfriend." She tells the blonde who peeks an eye open at her.

"No. Answer the phone and talk to your brother."

"No. He's not calling for me, he's calling for you, so you talk to him. And besides, hes your boyfriend.

"He's your twin!" She argues.

Willow shrugs, turning her back to her friend as the ringing stops. "So? That doesn't mean he was calling for me, he was only calling to see if i checked on you."

"See? He was calling for you, to ask you a question."

"About you." Willow points out. "And he was only going to ask more questions about you ⏤ a question i shouldn't have to answer because it's not my news and it's not something he should hear from me, his sister. You, his girlfriend, should tell him."

"He wasn't just calling for me." Sophia continues, trying to find a way to put off telling Wes about everything that's going on in her life, what's about to happen. "He wasn't."

The phone rings again, but instead of Wes' name flashing on Willow's screen it flashes on Sophia's, proving the blonde wrong.

Willow smirks, grabbing her friends phone from the nightstand and handing it to her. "I told you so."

Sophia sighs, staring at her phone for a moment, at Wes' picture before swiping accept. "Hi."

"Hey babe, how're you feeling?"

"I'm okay, thanks for asking." Sophia assures, a smile coming onto her face at his concern.

"That's good. Is, uh, did Willow check on you?"

"Yeah, she's here now, actually."

"Why'd she hang up on me?"

"'Cause you're annoying." Willow tells him, voice raising so he could hear her over the line.

Sophia shakes her head, an amused smile coming across her face as she shoves her friends shoulder lightly. "Shush, he called for me, remember."

Willow laughs, hearing Wes whine on the other side of the phone over her words. "Right," She agrees, rolling out of the bed and towards the bedroom door. "I'm going pee, so you guys can talk and i won't have to listen."

Sophia nods, "Thanks, that'd be great, now i can have my bed back." She says, watching Willow playfully flip her off as she disappears through the door and into the bathroom across the hall.

"Soph?"

"Yes, Weston?"

The boy rolls his eyes, "You know i hate when you call me that."

She nods, knowing he can't see her but doing it anyway. "I know, but i don't care."

"Well that's rude."

"You know what's rude? Waking me up when i could be sleeping peacefully."

"It's lunchtime, how was i supposed to know you were still sleeping? You never sleep this late."

"I was tired." She lies, clearing her throat and quickly moving on before he could question it. "Why'd you call anyways? Is everything okay?"

"That's what i was going to ask."

Sophia sighs, swallowing the lump in her throat. She couldn't put this off ⏤ she couldn't just lie to him and sweep this under the rug, as if he wouldn't find out in a week anyways. "Not really."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"There's just a lot happening right now, or... a lot that's going to happen." She answers, in a frustratingly vague way in Wes' opinion.

"What's that mean?" His question is met with silence. "Soph, what does that mean?"

"Just." She takes a deep breath. "Nothing, it doesn't matter. We'll talk about it tomorrow, okay?"

"Sophia-"

"Please, Wes. I can't- I'll tell you everything tomorrow, i promise, but not right now."

Wes stays quiet, anxiety building up inside him. But he doesn't push her, he doesn't want to force her to tell him when she obviously couldn't handle it. She would tell him when she was ready. "Okay. Tomorrow." He hesitantly agrees, already coming up with a hundred worse case scenarios.

"Thank you." Sophia says, voice soft and quiet.

"Of course." Wes tells her, sighing at the sound of the bell ringing. "Okay, i gotta go. Love you."

"I love you too."

Hanging up Sophia feels her smile disappear once more, making her sink back under her blanket while she wishes the world could just disappear and take her problems with it.

"Why is there locks on your bathroom mirror and cabinets?" Willow wonders as she comes back into the room. "What're you guys hiding? Is there, like, a bunch of drugs or something in there?" She pauses, watching Sophia curl into her pillows again. "What happened now?"

"Nothing." Sophia lies.

"Don't lie to me." Willow scrunches up her nose.

"I'm not." She lies again.

"You are."

"No, I'm not."

"Then why are you wallowing again?"

"I am not wallowing!"

"You totally are wallowing and i want to know why." Willow pushes. "I can see the self pity in your eyes."

Sophia gapes in offense, letting out a dramatic gasp. "I'm not wallowing in self pitt. Who do you think i am? You?"

Willow's jaw drops at her friends question, scoffing out a laugh she grabs the pillow she was using previously, hitting the blonde with it, gaining a laugh. "That was so rude!"

"I'm sorry! Stop!" Sophia pleads through her laughter as Willow continues to attack her with the pillow, until she was able to clutch onto it and refused to let go, trying to force Willow into giving up.

"Tell me why you're wallowing and I'll stop." Willow negotiates.

"There is no why. Can't one wallow without reason?"

"No, one must always have a reason to wallow."

"You always wallow without reason."

"Shut up, this isn't about me."

"But it kind of is." Sophia disagrees. "You just-"

Willow shushes her, trying to take the pillow again but Sophia only holds on tighter. "I know what i said and i know I'm wrong, but I'm also right."

Sophia raises a brow at the girl, the contradicting of her own words confusing her for a moment. "Huh?"

"People can be sad without reason, i know, I'm usually sad without reason." Willow explains quickly, still tugging on the pillow but losing. "Jesus, are you secretly a koala or something?"

Sophia ignores her last statement, still hugging the pillow to her chest. "But, you have depression, so that's a pretty big reason-"

"Whatever, my mental health isn't important right now."

"Mental health is always important."

"I know that, but mine isn't."

"Yes, it is."

"I know, just not right now, okay?"

Sophia nods, letting it go. "Okay, fine."

"You know what is important though?"

"What." Sophia asks, thinking for a moment that she had successfully distracted her friend.

She hadn't.

"Your mental health."

"My mental health is just fine." Sophia insists, tightening her grip on the pillow until Willow finally let's go.

"No its not, because if it was you wouldn't be wallowing."

"Can we stop saying wallowing?"

Willow nods, agreeing that the word was getting annoying. "Yeah, it's kinda ruined now, huh?" She asks, sitting back, eyeing the pillow still as she waits for Sophia to put her guard down.

"It was always ruined."

"True." She says, moving back to the original topic. "Okay, back to the point, what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Sophia continues to lie, trying to convince Willow of her words though only gets a pointed look in return. "I'm fine, Wills, really."

"I don't believe you." Willow remains unconvinced, jumping forward to take the pillow when Sophia throws her head back with a groan.

"No!" Sophia squeals, pulling the pillow she was using out from under head and holding it in front of her like a shield when Willow had snatched the other one from her arms.

Willow laughs at her friend, placing the pillow under her head and laying back down, over the pillow fight. "Relax, I'm done bullying you."

"Good." Sophia says, hesitantly placing her pillow back underneath her.

"As long as you tell me why you're sulking."

"Willow!" Sophia groans again. "Please, can we just move on? I'm fine. I'm not wallowing, or sulking, or any other word you're gonna come up with to make it seem like I'm laying here drowning in self pity. Okay? I'm alright."

Willow watches her friend for a minute, trying to see through her lies and attempting to find a way to get her to open up. But all  she gets is another pleading look from her bestfriend, one that asks her to just leave it alone, so with a sigh she nods, accepting her answer and deciding to take move on like Sophia had asked. "Fine, if you say so."

"I do." She says, relieved to let the topic of herself and her problems go. "Say so, i mean."

"Alright." Willow mumbles as she stands and begins to look for her shoes, finding them under the bed and putting them on. "Get dressed." She orders Sophia, swinging her bag over her shoulder and heading towards the door before the blonde had a chance to refuse. "I'll be waiting downstairs."

"Wha- Wait! Why?" Sophia shouts after her, quick to jump out of bed and nearly face planting onto the ground as she chases after her friend.

"Why do you think?" Willow chuckles, sparing a glance at Sophia as she makes her way down the stairs. "We're going out."

"No, i can't. I have to start packing." Sophia tells her. "My mom said i had to have at least half of my room done by the time she gets home."

"Which probably won't be until midnight, at the very least, maybe even later." Willow assumes, something that wasn't far off. "There'll be enough time to do that when we get back."

"Get back from where?"

"Get dressed and you'll find out."

Sophia stops, watching as Willow plops down on her couch and raises an expectant brow at her, making a shooing motion as she tells her to hurry. "Fine." She gives in after a moment of hesitation, deciding that whatever Willow had planned couldn't be worse than laying in bed sad all day or crying over the boxes she would be forced to pack her entire childhood into.

Willow smiles as Sophia makes her way back up the stairs, pleased she had gotten her way. "Good choice."

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

"You made me get out of bed just to help you grocery shop?"

At the look of disbelief on the face of the blonde, Willow rolls her eyes. "Well i wasn't gonna leave you alone so you could lay in bed and cry all day."

Sophia scoffs in offense. "I wasn't going to-"

"You totally were."

"Okay, fine, maybe i was." She shrugs. "But i have a right to be upset about this!"

Willow nods along, allowing Sophia to vent.

"I mean, i do, don't i?"

"You do." She assures.

"My mom doesn't seem to think so." Sophia rolls her eyes. "She just thinks I'm overreacting and that I'm just trying to be difficult and make things harder for her."

"Yeah, well, your mom sucks." Willow says simply, hooking her arm around the blondes as they approach the store. "Now come on, let's forget about her and shop, I'll even buy you some snacks."

Sophia smiles, eyebrows raising as she looks over to the brunette. "Really? You're gonna buy me food?"

"Snacks, but we can stop and get lunch if you want actual food too." She offers.

"Maybe," Sophia shrugs. "We'll see, let's just get your groceries first. Do you have a list?"

"Yeah, they made one." Willow says as if she had forgotten, beginning to dig through her bag and pulling out a list written in a multitude of different colored crayons.

"Wow." Sophia laughs, taking the piece of paper that looked as though a rainbow had thrown up on it. "Colorful."

"Skyla wanted to help, so she tried to write whatever Wes and Cam listed off." Willow explains, pulling out another list. "This is what i could make out from the scribbles, we'll just have to figure out the rest as we go."

With a tilt of her head, Sophia attempts to make out a word, failing miserably she turns to Willow with a look of dread. "Do we have to?"

"Unfortunately." Willow says, also dreading the mere idea of struggling with what was supposed to be a quick grocery run.

"Great..."

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

"Tuna?" Sophia scrunches her nose in disgust, hating seafood and anything related. "Why are we getting tuna?"

Willow shrugs, tossing a box of corn pops and fruit loops into the cart. "Cam likes it."

"Ew. Why?"

"'Cause he's weird." Willow answers simply, "What aisle is the peanut butter in?" She wonders, walking to the end of the row and reading the signs above the aisles, trying to find it until she becomes distracted by the pasta section. "Oh, we need more noodles."

"Wait up!" Sophia complains, chasing after the girl who ran as if they would disappear before she got there. "No ones gonna try to steal them from you, you don't have to rush."

"You never know, there's a lot of karens here." Willow says, picking out a box of both chicken and beef flavored noodles, knowing Wes only ate beef while she and Skyla only ate the chicken. "They might decide they want the one i take and try to wrestle me for it. Do you know how many times I've heard stories like that? I swear, it happens everyday."

"Right." Sophia mumbles, unconvinced. "Look, Kraft Dinner, you need some of that." She moves on, piling a couple of boxes into the cart and looking back to the list. "Uhm..." she trails, trying to make out the next word. "Beef?"

"Beef?" Willow repeats, slightly confused on why they needed that. "Why? Were they planning on trying to make burgers again? That'll be such a waste." She complains, remembering how the boys had burnt the meat so bad last time that it practically turned to stone.

Sophia shrugs. "We're either looking for beef or feet."

"Beef it is."

"Yeah, that's what i thought."

The girls stroll around the store for another forty minutes, slowly making it through the list until they had more than half of the items they needed. And then they reached the fruit and vegetable section, and all they seen on the list was 'gross, ick, yuck, barf, bad, ew' and many more words of disgust written by Skyla who seemed to have an even bigger hate for healthy food than Willow originally thought.

"Do you remember what you needed?" Sophia asked hopefully, having too much faith in Willow's memory.

"Do you want me to lie?"

Sophia nods. "Mhm. Please."

"Okay, then totally."

"Oh god." Sophia sighs, face palming. This was going to be hard.

"Bananas?" Sophia asks.

"Ba- Ba- Ba- Ba- Ba nana." Willow sings, head bobbing side to side as she hears the minions sing in the back of her head.

Sophia gives her friend an unimpressed look.

"What? Skyla likes Despicable Me, okay?" She defends.

"Wills, Bananas, yes or no?"

The girl shakes her head, reminding herself to stay focused so they could get out of the store quicker. "Sorry. Uhm, sure, put them in the cart."

"Watermelon? Sky loves watermelon, doesn't she?" Sophia asks, getting a nod.

"Sure, put it in." Willow says, tossing in a bag of oranges and moving onto apples. "What else should we get?"

"Peas? Carrots? Pears? Tomatoes? Celery? Grapes?" Sophia lists her suggestions.

Willow bites her lip, looking around to see what they would need. "Sure, let's get all of that." She decides. They had enough for it, she was sure. "Then let's leave, I'm done with this. If we need anything else I'll ask the boys to come get it."

"Sounds good to me." Sophia agrees, more than ready to end this grocery shop. But then she remembers the snack aisle. "After we get some snacks though," she says. "Oh, and i have some money so i want to get something to bake."

Willow sighs, slumping against the cart as she continues to slowly make her way down the rows of fruit, tossing in whatever caught her eye. "Fine."

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

"Let's never do that again." Sophia huffs, stopping the cart in front of the twins apartment building and leaning against the brick wall. "And next time, you're pushing me in the cart."

Willow grins from her place buried under the bags, pleased that she managed to convince Sophia to push her home in a cart. "I thought we were never doing this again?"

"Right." Sophia nods, biting her cheek to hold in her laughter as she watches Willow struggle to climb out, the cart sliding all around as she attempts to get her leg over the side, unable to find her balance and almost falling over several times. "Here, I'll hold it still for you." She finally offers, grabbing the side of the cart and offering Willow a hand that she gladly accepts.

"Thank you." She breathes, leaning against the wall beside Sophia and lighting up a cigarette, stepping away from the girl because she knows Sophia hates the smoke. "So, you still wanna go to lunch? I'll pay." She offers after a moment of silence.

"No, it's okay. It's already two, i should start packing before i get in trouble." Sophia says, her mood dampening at just the thought of packing up and moving away, even if it was only to a different part of the city. She hated it.

"I'll help you." Willow decides, noticing the drop in her friends mood.

"You will?" Sophia asks as if it was unexpected.

"Sure. I just got to put all this food away first." She says, dropping her smoke to the ground and stepping on it. "Wait here."

"No, I'll help."

"You don't have to, it's fine." Willow insists, hanging as many bags on her arms as she could, hoping she wouldn't have to make too many trips. "Just make sure no one steals the cart."

Sophia nods, opening the apartment door for Willow to make it a little easier for her. "Okay."

It took three trips to get all the bags into the apartment but Willow finally did it, now she just had to put it all away, which shouldn't have taken long since Sophia refused to not help her that time, already beginning to go through the bags.

They were just finishing when there was a knock at the door, confusing the two who knew no one should have been coming by that day.

"Who is it?!" Willow calls as she finishes stuffing the empty bags into the small space between the fridge and the wall.

"It's Noel!"

Willow groans, hitting her head against the fridge at the answer. "Go away!"

"I need to talk to you!"

"Talk to the door!" Willow shouts.

"Willow." Sophia scolds softly, squeezing her friends arm. "Don't be rude, just hear him out."

"Why?" She whines, hitting her forehead against the fridge again, far too hard for Sophia's liking.

"Stop, you're going to get a concussion!" Sophia warns, shoving her hand between her friends face and the hard surface of the freezer, leaving Willow's forehead to rest in her palm.

"Do you think that'll make them more tolerable?" Willow wonders.

"You're not giving yourself a concussion." Sophia instantly says, giving her friend a glare that says 'don't test me'.

"Please? It's just me." Noel asks from the hall. "And please don't give yourself a concussion."

"I won't," Willow says. "If you go away."

"You won't give yourself one at all." Sophia rolls her eyes, taking her by the hand and dragging her toward the door, opening it to face Noel, who really was alone. "Hi."

"Hi," he smiles, glancing from the blonde girl to his sister and back again. "Thanks for answering the door."

"Sure, just don't do anything stupid." She shrugs, losing her usual kindness when dealing with one of the men who hurt her boyfriend and bestfriend so deeply. "I'll go wait in your room," Sophia tells her friend, giving her hand a supportive squeeze before beginning to walk away. "Don't give yourself a concussion!" She calls before closing the door.

"No promises." Willow rolls her eyes, walking away from her brother and throwing herself into her chair, watching him and impatiently waiting for him to reveal why he was there.

"Okay, uh, i know i should have called first," Noel admits, closing the door behind him and taking a seat on the couch. "But i knew you would just hang up on me again."

"Correct." Willow agrees with a look that says 'fair enough'. "But that doesn't explain why you're here."

"I uh..." Noel hesitates, leg anxiously bouncing up and down as his eyes look anywhere but at Willow who narrows her eyes at him.

"What'd you do?" She demands, able to tell he had done something he knew was wrong by his body language.

"How did you-" He starts.

"You suck at hiding things." She tells him. "Now what'd you do?"

"I may have... called your school."

Silence.

At Willow's intense, and slightly frightening stare, Noel shifts nervously under her gaze. "They, uhm," he clears his throat, pushing past his nerves. "I was concerned when you and Wes brushed off our questions about school, so i called the office and they told me you were suspended for assaulting another student."

Willow purses her lips and leans back in her chair, trying her best to remain calm. She was having a good day with her friend and she didn't want to ruin it now. "Not that it's any of your business, but that never happened, they lied."

"I believe you." He says, taking her by surprise.

"You do?" She asks, eyebrows furrowing when he nods. "You believe me?"

He nods again. "Yes, that's what i said."

"Why?" She asks, "What're you tryna do?"

Noel frowns. "What do you mean?"

"Well no one at the school believed me, Mom didn't believe me, and i doubt my friends even fully believed me." Willow rambles, looking at him with suspicion. "So you have to be up to something. I mean, why else would you believe me?"

"Because you're my sister." He shrugs. "I know you don't see me as your brother anymore, but i am, and i just want to help."

Willow pauses for a minute, unsure what to say. Was she supposed to deny his words? Lie and say that she did still see him as her brother? Or was she supposed to thank him? For what, though? His concern? His help that she never asked for? The fact that he believed her unlike everyone else?

Oh my fuck, why is socializing so hard? She mentally complains to herself.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Noel repeats with a raised brow.

"Yeah." She nods. "Oh."

"Oh what?"

"Oh god? Oh canada? I don't know, just oh." She says, rolling her eyes and pushing out of her chair, deciding she needed something if she was going to get through this awkward conversation, especially if she wanted to keep her spirits high for the rest of the day.

Willow decided she wasn't going to let their presence bother her anymore. She couldn't stop her brothers from staying, but she could stop letting them get under her skin. After the good day they shared in the park just that weekend, the day she found herself not minding their company, maybe even finding it enjoyable, she figured it couldn't be that hard, right? She was wrong. Because now she found herself getting upset so quickly over his words. Not an angry kind of upset, though, just... strange and weirdly happy, and she didn't like it. She didn't want to feel like that because then she would want to open up, to let her guard down ⏤ to really give them a second chance and start trusting them again. She wasn't ready to take that risk yet. So she convinced herself that it was anything but gratitude, or happiness, or love, and quickly tried to find a way to busy herself before she could dwell on it anymore. The last thing she needed was to overthink her emotions, that was a job for her nonexistent therapist.

"Is there anything else you wanted or can you leave now?"

"I want to help." Noel insists, watching her look through the cupboards and fridge. "What are you looking for?"

"No idea." she huffs, letting the cupboard slam close, her gaze settling on the pack of cigarettes she had left laying on the dining table. "I'm going outside." She decides, swiping the pack off the table and heading down the hallway, hearing Noel following but not caring to wait or even tell him to go away. "I'm smoking, and if you try to take it from me your phone is gonna be smacking on the concrete all the way down there." She warns, pointing to the street below them.

He nods, reluctantly letting her light up a smoke and fighting the urge to take the harmful thing from her.

"Why are you really here, Noel?" She asks, breaking the silence they had nursed for the first couple of minutes they spent outside.

"I want-"

"To help me, i know." She cuts him off. "I appreciate that," She admits. "I really do, but there's no point."

"Of course there is. It was wrong what they did to you."

"No, there really is no point." Willow repeats. "I go back to school next week anyways, I've already finished three weeks of my suspension."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh." She shakes her head, unable to help the smile that forms on her lips at the way he scratches the back of his neck nervously, a trait he got from their dad. She could see him struggling to figure out what to do now, what to say, so she does it for him, moving on. "I meant what are you doing here, by the way. As in with us." She clarifies. "Don't you have a big, million dollar company to look after?"

"I do," he confirms. "But this is more important."

"Awkward conversations with your estranged siblings?"

"I meant family, but yeah, that too." He agrees, the two quietly laughing.

"Why now?" Willow continues with her questions, trying to remain light hearted but her emotions get the best of her. She needed answers.

"Why now, what?"

"Why'd you come back now?" She asks. "After all this time, after almost eight years, why now?"

Noel looks down, staying quiet for a minute before sighing, pulling his phone out of his back pocket, typing in his password he hands the device to her.

Willow furrows a brow at him, slowly taking the cellphone from him and looking down, finding the wallpaper set as a photo of Noel with a beautiful blonde woman kissing his cheek. "Whos she?"

"Her names Emily." Noel tells her. "She's my fiancé."

Willow nods, staring down at the photo as she continues to smoke, the cigarette acting as an anchor, keeping her calm and put together. "She's pretty." She compliments, handing him his phone back. "What's she like?"

"Kind." He answers immediately, he too looking down at the photo of his soon to be bride. "Too kind, sometimes. Funny. And smart, smarter than me."

"Is that really that hard though?" Willow teases. "You've always lacked a few too many brain cells."

Noel shakes his head with a laugh, nudging her arm. "You're one to talk, you used to get stuck in the bathroom because you could never figure out how to work the lock."

"Okay, that lock was broken." Willow defends. "And Xander and Jayden would always hold the door shut so i couldn't get out."

"Just like you would do to Wes and Cameron whenever they went into the basement." Noel reminds.

"Xander rubbed off on me." She shrugs. "Besides, i was just trying to help them get over their fear of the dark."

"Oh, is that why you would tell them stories about the demons that lived in the basement?"

"That was Xander's idea." She tells, "Besides, it was better them than me."

"Wow, I forgot how selfless you were." His sarcasm comes out before he could stop it, leaving him scared for a moment that he had just ruined the first real, calm, and meaningful conversation they've had since he came home. But when Willow starts nodding along, he relaxes.

"I can tell. Maybe I'll have to remind you, maybe I'll tell you that your shirts inside out."

"What? It is." Noel frowns, standing and looking down at his shirt that was in fact not on inside out.

"Nope," Willow chuckles, putting her smoke out on the railing before dropping it over the edge, turning her body towards him. "but if it ever is i might be nice enough to tell you."

"That was just mean." Noel shakes his head, hiding his smile and the joy he felt over the fact that Willow was now comfortable enough in his presence to joke around with him. Progress.

"I can be a mean person sometimes." She shrugs with a smile, a slightly sarcastic smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Especially to my asshat brothers." She says, poking his chest before she turns and climbs back into the apartment before Noel could point out that she called him her brother again. Sure it was with an insult, but it was in a playful way, and for the first time since they arrived she had said it without hate.

Noel could feel himself get emotional, his smile so big that he could be mistaken for the Cheshire cat. He shook it off though, forcing it to dim as he followed his sister inside, knowing that if he made it into a big deal he would be kicked out faster.

"Tell me more about Emily."

Noel obeys, spending the next ten minutes gushing over his fiance, telling Willow everything he could think of and answering every question she had.

"You and Ian are the only ones who know." Noel answers her last question, "Phoenix might know, we've been friends on Facebook for a while now, but he never mentioned it so I'm not sure."

"Phoenix used to be really good at hiding things, so you won't be able to find out unless you ask. But if he doesn't know and you ask him then your surprise will be ruined." Willow tells him, Noel wondering how she could remember such little details about them all, even when she claims to not care about them in the slightest bit. He doesn't say anything though, just nods. "Jamie trained us well, huh? We were all a bunch of little liars and secret keepers. I mean, we still are. And, well, you kinda sucked at all that, but the rest of us were good."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Noel decides.

"What? That you suck?" Willow furrows a brow, placing a glass of something green in front of Noel.

"No, that I'm not a good liar. Honesty is the best policy, or whatever it was Dad used to say." He says, picking up the glass and examining it. "What is this?" He asks, sniffing it.

"A smoothie." Willow says, face scrunching up as she watches him sniff it, "Stop." She shakes her head, pulling out a straw for him and shoving it into the cup. "Just drink it."

Noel, though reluctant, sucks on the straw to get a small taste, the drink way better than he thought it would be. "Thanks." He says, beginning to drink it properly.

"What? Did you think i was gonna poison you?" Willow raises a brow at him, pouring another two glasses and calling for Sophia.

"What?" Sophia asks, rubbing her eyes as she enters the kitchen, surprised to find that Noel was still around.

"I made smoothies." Willow tells her, handing her a glass.

"Since when do you like smoothies?" Sophia questions, sipping the drink and nodding in approval.

"Since last week when Jane made me stay and drink one when i went to pick up Sky."

"Jane?" Noel repeats, getting a nod. "Like, Shelley's  little sister?"

"You know Shelley?" Sophia asks, not being clear on the DeLaCruz family history and how they were intertwined with the Hansley's.

He nods. "She was our Mom's best friend when we were growing up, and according to them, since they were kids."

"She's like our Aunt, which is why we're so close to Cam and why Victoria let's him stay here whenever he needs to." Willow explains to her friend, cutting into Noel's explanation, not noticing the look on Noel's face when she refers to their Mother by her name instead of Mom like he had. "She's not around much now, because as you know she's a bigger mess than any of us ⏤ including Victoria, which says a lot. But she's getting better now, so, maybe she'll be around some more."

"Why is she a mess?" Noel asks. "What happened to her?"

"Same thing as before." Willow shrugs, finishing placing smoothies into the fridge for the rest of her siblings to drink when they get home, making a note to place on each glass to name which one was for who. "Drugs, alcohol, men."

"I thought she was clean?"

"She was, but people relapse." She says simply.

"Well is she okay? Is Cam okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine." Willow lies, knowing her other brother figure was starting his cycle of burnout.

That was something that was shared in their little group ⏤ they all had their fair share of mental health problems, they all had their highs and lows, some worse than others, but they all had them. Whether it was depression, anxiety, unhealthy habits, and anything and everything in between, big or small. They were messed up, each of them. They were just glad that they had each other to help pick them back up when they fell. It was nice knowing there were people there for you, no matter what.

"He's living here, we're looking out for him." Willow assures, boosting herself up to sit on the counter, holding a container of strawberries and offering some to the two as she snacks on the fruit who accept. "Shelley's trying to get better again too, I don't think it was as bad as before so she'll probably be good in a few months."

He nods, glad to hear good news. "That's great."

The three talk, Noel and Willow catching up a bit and getting to know each other again after eight years apart, both enjoying a time without drama, without the tension that usual hung heavy between them. Willow couldn't deny that is was nice. The talking, the reminiscing, laughing together. She never realized how much she actually missed it. Missed them.

It wasn't until an hour later that Sophia decided she needed to get home, telling Willow that she could go alone and that she should stay with her brother. But the DeLaCruz girl refused, telling her that it was fine, she had promised to help her pack and that was what she was going to do. But Sophia only accepted when Noel had stepped in and insisted he had to go anyways, he, Phoenix, and Jayden were supposed to go for an early dinner and he still had some work calls to make before they could leave.

"This was nice." Noel says when they reach outside. "I'm sorry if i overstepped by contacting your school, but i only wanted to make sure you and Wes were okay."

Willow shrugs. "It's fine, I'll let it go this time. But, no more snooping, okay? And no more surprises."

"I promise." Noel nods, "I know i already said this, but i really do just want to help."

"Thank you." Willow says, voice sincere.

It really did mean a lot to her. Victoria, her own mother, didn't even want to help her. Yet the brother who abandoned her for eight years, the one she barely even knew now, wanted to help her, so much so that he went behind her back to try and give her that help ⏤ to make sure she was okay, even though he knew it would most likely upset her and ruin the progress they made in the past three weeks. But he took that chance and he came to her to confess and offer his help instead of trying to force her into taking it, which is better than forcing himself into her life. She could see now that they really were making progress, and that maybe her brothers weren't as bad as she was making them out to be.

"Pinky swear on it." Willow demands, holding out her pinky to the man who shakes his head. "Yeah, pinky swear."

"Why?" Noel complains.

"Because."

Sophia chuckles, "Great answer Wills, really." She teases, giving her a thumbs up, almost dropping the bags full of her baking ingredients in the process.

"Because, if you want me to even start trying to trust you again after all the bullshit you put us through, then you gotta prove yourself." she explains, waving her pinky around as if to say 'that starts here'.

"And to start proving myself i have to do a pinky promise?" He raises his brows, still not giving in.

"Yup." She nods. "Come on, you don't want to throw away the past hour, do you? Look how far we came in sixty minutes. Don't ruin it."

Noel tilts his head, eyes flickering between Willow and her outstretched pinky. "Fine." He caves, locking his pinky with hers.

"Say it." Willow pushes.

"I pinky swear." He rolls his eyes.

"Pinky swear to..?"

"I pinky swear that I'll mind my own business and stop springing surprises on you guys." He says after further pestering. "Happy?"

"Very." Willow nods with a pleased grin.

"Don't tell any of our brother about that, I'll never hear the end of it." Noel says. They had always teased him as kids for doing pinky promises and he was sure that wouldn't change now. "I'll deny it if you do."

"Well now i have to tell them just 'cause you said that." Willow says with faux sympathy, turning to Sophia who Noel only now notices is holding her phone up, in a way that told him she had taken a photo of the moment. "You get it?"

Sophia nods, turning to show them the photo. "Cute, right?"

Willow nods, turning to Noel with a smirk, one that only grows when she sees the dread and panic she had caused him. "Very. Don't you think so, Noel?"

"No."

"Aw, don't worry, i won't show anyone but Wes." She assures, knowing her twin would tell their other siblings for her, and Noel knew it too.

"How about i give you twenty bucks and you delete the picture?" Noel bribes, pulling out his wallet.

"Fifty dollars each." Willow bargains, knowing he wouldn't be able to resist when his pride was on the line. He would do anything to avoid the constant teasing remarks their brothers would make.

Noel narrows his eyes at the girl, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek as he contemplates. But at the end of the day Willow was right, he caved. "Fine." He grumbles, handing them each a fifty dollar bill, insisting on watching Sophia delete it.

"Thanks for the money," Sophia says, slipping her phone into her pocket and picking her bags back up. "You might want to offer some to Wes too, i might've already sent it to him."

Willow grins, patting the blondes head. "I'm so proud of you." She laughs, referring to the little scam she had pulled on the man who stares at them with wide eyes. "I've taught you well."

"You have." She agrees with a matching grin, waving at Noel and turning to leave. "Sorry, bye!"

"Bye Noel! Thanks for the fifty bucks!" She shouts, waving as her and Sophia run off.

"Damnit."

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

After the girls had finally made it back to Sophia's it was already nearing four o'clock and they had no choice but to start packing, making it through half of her room like they planned before giving up.

"That was hard work." Sophia breaths out, falling back on her bed while Willow lays on the floor in the middle of her room.

"You're telling me." Willow mumbles, crawling over to the bed and climbing in to lay next to Sophia. "How're you feeling now? Still doing okay?"

A beat of silence passes before the blonde admits, "No."

Willow's brows knit together, looking to her friend as concern washes over her face for what felt like the hundredth time that day, pushing Sophia to open up.

"I don't know, I guess going through all my things and shoving them into boxes just made it more real." She explains, letting out a silent sigh as she sits up, standing and looking around her room for something that'll distract her. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Willow watches the girl pace, reluctantly letting it go and changing the topic, "How about we finish packing then? Or take the finished boxes downstairs?"

Sophia turns to look at the boxes piled at the back of her room, nodding after a minutes. "Sure." She agrees, taking hold of a box and leading Willow out of her room.

"Hey, Soph?" Willow calls up to the blonde after bringing her last box down the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna go out for a smoke, Okay? I'll be right back."

"Okay!"

Sitting on Sophia's front steps, Willow pulls out her phone, an idea coming to mind when she sees texts from her twin. Dialing his number Wes is quick to answer.

"Hey Wills."

"Hey, what're you doing right now?"

"Just getting home, why?" He asks, pausing as a shouting Skyla demands the phone. "Hang on. Here Sky."

"Hi sissy!" The little girl greets, her excited voice coming out louder than expected and making Willow wince at the volume, forcing her to pull the phone away from her ear for a second to recover.

"Hi, Sky. How was school?"

"Good! I'm happy i went now. I got to make a pretty picture."

"Oh, cool." Willow says, smiling at the information. "Do i get to see it later?"

"Yes!" Skyla tells her with the usual dose of sass, making it sound as though she thought Willow was dumb to even ask. "But only if you come home now."

"I'm with Sophie right now, Sky. But i want to see it tonight for sure though, okay?"

Skyla pouts. "I want you to come see it now, though"

"How about you get Wes to send me a picture of it then?" Willow suggests, Skyla immediately disagreeing, saying she wanted to show Willow herself. "Well then you have to wait until i get home."

"Fine." Skyla grumbles, passing the phone back to Wes and stomping away to Cameron, her complaints to the boy being heard loud and clear through the line, getting nothing but a laugh of amusement from Willow.

"Hey," Wes greets again through a laugh of his own.

"Hey, okay so, do you think you can come over in a few hours to see Soph?"

"Of course." Wes instantly agrees, his tone turning to one of worry. "Is she okay?"

"She will be." Willow answer confidently, not wanting to worry her brother anymore.

"Willow?" The girl in question shouts down to the girl, her head hanging out of her parents window. "Are you coming back inside?"

"Yeah, coming!" Willow answers, making a motion for the girl to get out of the window, and with a roll of her eyes Sophia listens, taking her head back into the house and closing the window. "Okay, i gotta go, just message when you're on your way." She tells, quickly hanging up before Wes could ask any further questions, heading back inside to keep Sophia company while she waited for her twin.

"I'm gonna do some baking now, and then do you want to watch a movie?" Sophia asks after noticing Willow standing behind her, already beginning to move around the kitchen to look for ingredients.

"Sure."

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

"Hey, Soph, can you do me a favor?" Willow asks suddenly, pausing their movie.

The blonde nods, unable to answer properly as she had shoved two brownies into her mouth seconds before and refused to talk with a mouthful of food ⏤ something Wes never understood.

"Can you go get my bag from my room?"

Sophia nods once more, pushing the fuzzy blue blanket they were sharing onto Willow and rushing towards the stairs.

"Thank you!" She shouts after the girl, getting a thumbs up in return.

Once the blonde was nowhere in sight Willow jumps off the couch, opening the front door just in time to stop Wes from knocking and ruining her surprise. "Get in here." She orders, pulling her brother inside by his arm and shushing him before he could speak. "She's having a hard day, be here for her and spend some time with her."

"What about her parents?" He asks quietly, watching Willow scramble to get her things, pulling out the bag she had sent Sophia upstairs for out from behind the couch cushion.

"Uh, it's like seven, Monica isn't supposed to be back till around midnight, so you should be good until then."

"What about her dad?"

Willow shrugs, throwing her bag over her shoulder. "He's never home, so i doubt you have to worry about him."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

She nods, giving him a look of offense over the way he had doubted her. "'Course." She says, pausing just as she reached the door. "Just... be patient, and make her feel better, okay? Don't try to push her for answers, she'll tell you everything when she's ready."

"Okay." Wes agrees, moving to give his sister a hug. "Thanks for this, by the way."

"Yeah, just make her feel better. She's going through a lot and she needs you right now, more than she needs me." Willow tells him, opening the door to step outside. "Have fun! Tell her i said bye, love her and to message me."

"I will." He assures, waving her off, promising he would check in with her later.

"Willow, I can't find your- Wes?" Sophia pauses in confusion, slowly taking the last couple of steps down the stairs to greet her boyfriend. "Hey, what are you doing here? Where's Willow?"

"She left." He answers, smiling at his girlfriend as he leans down to place a soft kiss against her lips. "She wanted to surprise you."

"Why?" Sophia asks, still confused, though her eyes widen at her tone and she shakes her head. "I'm sorry, that sounded so rude. I just-"

"Relax, Soph, it's okay." Wes soothes, arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her into him for a hug. "She said you were having a hard day and wanted to make you feel better, so she asked me to come over and took off to let us spend some time together."

Sophia smiles at the kind gesture, "That was thoughtful of her." She says, voice soft and quiet as she gazes up at the boy she loves, her eyes holding more light with his presence than they had all day. "Thank you for coming."

"I'll always come when you need me." He promises, gently stroking her hair back and out of her face, kissing her forehead once it's out of the way, her smile only widening at the action. "Now come on, let's watch a movie."

The two end up cuddling on the couch, Sophia laying on Wes' chest as they watch Annie, one of Sophia's favorite movies, and though he wouldn't admit it, one of Wes' favorites too.

"I love you." Sophia tells him, on the verge of falling asleep.

Wes, just as sleepy as the girl repeats it through a mumble against the top of her head before they fall asleep, at peace in each others arms.

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

It was nearing midnight when Monica Conner walked into her home after a long day at work, pausing at the sight before her. Her daughter asleep in the arms of the boy she forbade from entering her home weeks before. It angered her, and without thinking she had stormed over to the young couple and ripped the blanket off of them, beginning her shouting that startled the two awake.

"What the hell is this?!" She demands, dropping the blanket onto the floor and taking her daughter by the arm, forcing her to her feet and dragging her away from the boy that she tells to get out. "What did i tell you this morning, huh?! Nobody was allowed in the house!"

"Let go!" Sophia ignores her mother as she peels the womans hand off her arm, rubbing the place Monica had held her in with such a tight grip that she doubted she wouldn't get a bruise from it. "Ouch."

Monica rolls her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, you're fine."

"Ouch!" She repeats louder this time, still holding her arm as she glares at her mom.

The woman shakes her head. "Fine, i apologize for holding you too tightly." She says quickly, moving on before Sophia could even respond. "Now tell me, why is your boyfriend here? I told you several times that Weston is not wasn't allowed in this house anymore, not after the last time you snuck him in."

"The last time he was here was to bring me stuff when i was sick." Sophia reminds with a scoff. "And Dad let him in."

"Still, i told you he wasn't allowed inside. Why is he here?"

Sophia shrugs, arms crossing over her chest as she looks over Monica's shoulder at Wes who watches the two in concern, giving her a questioning look that she answers with a silent plea for him to wait and not leave, not that he was planning to. "I was upset today and Willow came to check on me-"

"She was here too?" Monica laughs, one that holds no amusement, just pure disbelief and frustration. "Why am i not surprised? Who else did you have over while i was gone? That Hansley boy? Or how about that little girl that your friends are always dragging around?"

"Okay, leave Skyla out of this." Sophia immediately defends, refusing to let her mother drag Skyla into this mess nor would she let her talk down on the innocent child. "She has nothing to do with this. Actually, none of them do. This is your problem, not mine, or theirs."

"My only problem is with you and your newfound love for disrespecting me." Monica says, mirroring her daughters stance with her arms crossing over her chest, eyes narrowing at the young girl. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but my patience is running dangerously thin, so i hope you figure it out soon and fix it. I would hate to have to go through with that boarding school threat from last night,  but don't think i will hesitate to do it if i have to."

"Trust me, i know." Sophia mumbles, sighing. "Why don't you like them?" She asks a second later, catching her mother off guard.

"What?"

"Why don't you like them? Anymore, i mean. 'Cause you were fine with them a few months ago. I know you were never their biggest fan, but you would tolerate them at least. So what's changed? Why are you suddenly convinced their demons, or something?"

"I'm not." Monica denies.

"Then prove it." She challenges.

"And how do you suppose i do that, Sophia." Monica sighs.

"I don't know, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. I'll even give you twelve hours to come up with something." The girls shrugs, a small smirk on her lips as she sees anger flare up in her mothers eyes when she realizes she had thrown her words from that morning right back in her face.

Monica, now desperate to prove her daughter wrong and show her just how kind and open minded she could be ⏤ fake or not ⏤ shakes her head, moving around her daughter to grab a pen and pad off of the counter to make a note. "Oh, there's no need for that. I know just the perfect way to give your friends another chance." She says, pulling out her phone and copying something down onto the paper.

"Another chance?" Sophia repeats, eyebrows knitting together in offense, more so for her friends. "Why do they need another chance? When did they blow the first one?"

Monica ignores her as she finishes scribbling down her note and tears it off of the pad, folding it in half as she walks past her daughter and towards the boy waiting in the livingroom, who stands as soon as he sees her approaching him. "Weston." Monica greets with an obviously fake smile.

"Hi, Mrs Conner." He says politely, sending a confused glance to Sophia, who only shrugs, unsure what her mother was going to do. "Uh, how're you?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She nods, offering him the folded piece of paper, which he accepts though finds himself even more confused than before as he looks down at a date, time and address.

"What's this?" He asks, brows furrowing, Sophia matching his expression when she joins him to see what Monica had given him.

"Well, it was meant to be a surprise for Sophia, but things have seemed to change and I've decided I'd share early and invite you as well as the rest of your friends to join us."

"A surprise for me?" Sophia asks, looking up to her mom who nods. "What kind of surprise?"

"Your father and i wanted to celebrate this new chapter in our lives so we bought tickets to see a play, it's one i know you used to love so we wanted to surprise you with them. They were quite expensive but with our new budget it shouldn't be a problem to get a couple of extra, if you'd like to join us, that is."

"I'm sorry, celebrating what, exactly?" Wes asks, looking between his girlfriend and her mother.

"The move, of course." Monica reveals, noticing the way her daughters eyes widen but not thinking much of it. "And Johan and I's new work and promotions." Seeing the boys surprise the woman raises a brow. "Did Sophia not tell you?"

Wes looks at said girl, the blonde closing her eyes and hanging her head down. "No, she didn't."

"Oh." Monica says, hiding the slight joy she felt at the arising tension between the young couple. "Well, I'm sure she just forgot."

"I doubt it." Wes mumbles, not being able to help but to feel a bit upset that Sophia hadn't told him, and instead he had to find out from Monica of all people.

"This must just be some sort of misunderstanding, and I'll leave you two to work it out." Monica decides, turning to leave but pauses and looks back to Wes. "I hope you all will join us, it would be lovely to get to know the people my daughter speaks so highly about better, see if you bunch really are as wonderful as Sophia believes you are. Just..." She stops, looking his outfit up and down with a look of distaste. "Make sure to dress nice. This is far from a casual event." She says, leaving the two alone before he had a chance to respond.

"Wes..."

"You're moving?" He asks.

She sighs, sitting down on the couch and nodding weakly, still hating the idea of uprooting her life. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to," she insists. "Just not today."

"When, then? Huh?" He questions, his anger rising. "When you were already packed up and gone?"

"No." Sophia instantly denies, shaking her head. "Tomorrow. I was going to tell you tomorrow, just like i said i would earlier."

"That's what you wanted to talk about?" He continues, eyebrows raising as he pushes her, even after promising Willow he wouldn't.

"Yes!" She says, voice raising as she looks at him with hurt once she sees his disbelief. "What? You don't believe me?"

He shrugs, arms crossed as he looks down at her. "It's just seems convenient."

"Convenient?" She scoffs. "So, what? You think I'm lying to you? That i was just going to hide this all from you?"

"Maybe."

"God!" She groans, burying her head in her hands. "Why would i do that? Why do you think i would do that? I have no reason to lie about this."

"Then why wouldn't you just tell me?"

"Because i just found out!" She tells him. "My parents only told me last night and I'm still trying to process it, okay? I wasn't intentionally hiding it from you and it's not like i was lying to you." She says, motioning to the stack of boxes piled ten feet away from them. "Obviously i wasn't hiding it."

"No, you just didn't think to mention this, even though it effects me too."

"No it doesn't."

"It doesn't?!" He repeats, taken aback at her statement.

"N- no-" she stutters, becoming flustered. "That's not what i meant." She says, overwhelmed and trying to explain what she meant when she realizes her words came out wrong. "I just mean it'll effect me more. That's all. I know it'll effect you too."

"Of course it will." Wes stresses. "This is going to change everything! For you, for me, for our relationship!"

"You don't think i know that?!" She asks, standing up as her patience begins to wear thin, her anxiety rising each passing second. "Why do you think i was so upset today? So much so that Willow decided she couldn't leave me alone for more than ten minutes?" She points out, Wes getting stuck on the mention of his twin.

"You told Willow before you told me?!" He yells, "I'm supposed to be your boyfriend! You're supposed to tell me these things, not my sister!"

"She's my bestfriend Wes, you know that! And i didn't mean to tell her, she was just here and i needed to get it off my chest." She argues.

"She was only here because i asked her to check on you because i was worried when you said you were sick, which obviously was a lie!" He says, motioning to her healthy self.

"I'm sorry, okay?! I didn't want to lie but i couldn't tell you yet, and i knew if i seen you that you would've been able to tell that something was wrong and I'd have a breakdown."

"So you lied?"

"I had to!" She snaps, not noticing the warms tears that begin to fall down her flushed cheeks after being pushed over the edge. "I couldn't handle it!"

Wes' silence prompts her to continue.

"I can't handle any of this! And i shouldn't have to explain that to you, Wes. You have no right to be mad at me about this when i have no choice in the matter!"

"I didn't mean-" Wes tries, calming down once he's realized what he had done.

"I don't care." She says simply, her lip being pulled between her teeth as she begins to chew nervously on the flesh, trying to get a grip on herself. "I'm sorry that i lied, okay."

"Soph..."

"And I'm sorry that i didn't tell you about everything right away, even though i should have, because you shouldn't have had to find out that way." She speaks, her voice calmer than before, but more cold, not soft and full of kindness like it usually was. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry, Soph. Willow told me you were having a hard day and that i shouldn't push you, but i didn't listen. I'm sorry." He apologizes, moving forward to wrap her up in his arms, letting her bury her face into his chest.

Sophia allows him to embrace her, sniffling softly she closes her eyes, squeezing them shut tightly as if willing her tears to disappear and to take her emotions with them. She hated this. The arguing, the change, the pain. She just wanted it to end. She didn't care that it just started, or that it was far from over, she just wanted it to stop.

With a sniffle Sophia pulls away, wiping her tears and avoiding her boyfriends eye. "I think you should go."

"Soph, i said i was sorry."

"I know," She nods, already feeling new tears build as she sees the hurt in his expression. "And i forgive you, but i think i just need to be alone right now."

Wes sighs. "Soph-"

"Please, Wes. I promise it's okay, and I'll call you tomorrow, but i want to be alone."

Silence passes between the two and lasts only a moment until Wes nods, deciding to listen to her pleas by placing one last kiss on the top of the blondes head and making his way to the door, leaving with a final 'i love you' before it closes behind him, leaving Sophia alone, just as she had asked to be.

Sophia sits back down on the couch, eyes closing as she begins to break down, like she knew she would, the salty tears streaming once more. "God, you're such a crybaby." She scolds herself, frustrated that she couldn't be stronger and hold herself together, or hide her emotions like she always seen her friends do.

Monica stands at the bottom of the staircase, leaning against the wall as she quietly observes her daughter crack, coming undone on their couch.

"I told you he was no good for you."

"Jesus!" Sophia hisses, jumping to face her mother. "What's with everyone scaring me today?!"

Monica shakes her head, walking over to the girl as she continues to try and prove her point of the kids Sophia hangs around with being no good. "Look what he's doing to you. You're a mess." She tuts, taking her daughters chin between her fingers as if to get a better look at her. "So fragile and sensitive, weak... Almost like a doll." She observes, releasing Sophia and letting her hand drop to her side. "His doll."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're not the same girl that i raised. They've changed you." Monica says, a look of pity in her eyes as she tries to twist her way into Sophia's delicate mind. "I don't like it."

"So, you don't like me?" Sophia asks incredulously, unable to hide the hurt in her voice.

"No." Monica disagrees. "I never said that."

"What are you saying then?"

"That i don't recognize you. Not anymore." She says, pursing her lips as she looks her up and down. "You're not the same girl that i called my daughter. They've stolen you from me."

"They saved me from turning into you." Sophia says, tone sharp enough to cut through someone, even stone cold Monica whos eyes widen in shock. "I could say the same thing about you, Mom. You're not the woman who raised me. Who taught me to show everyone respect and kindness ⏤ to not judge a book by it's cover, or in this case, people. You used to love my friends, you've known them for years and have never had a problem with them until now. Sure, you've never been their biggest fan, but you at least had to decency to hide it. I mean, god, what happened to you?" She asks, scoffing in disgust as she pushes past her mother who found herself stunned into silence, having no choice but to watch her go.

Sophia soon found herself in the same position as the night before ⏤ crying into her pillows and hiding away from the world, trying her best to ignore her problems, ones she never thought she would have, not until she was older, at least.

She understood now. Why Willow would always end up locked away in her room, hiding under piles of blankets and pillows. Besides it being comfortable, it was easier. Easier than facing the world, or the issues at hand.

Or maybe she was just a coward.

Maybe Monica was right and she was just weak, fragile. Sophia knew she could be overly emotional, too sensitive, but she never thought herself to be weak. Until now. Now she felt pathetic, worthless. She had fallen down so fast, so hard, that she couldn't even tell when it had happened. Last night? This morning? Just now? Maybe even days ago when Monica had ended their day in the park early, by showing up and basically shoving her into the car, disappearing so fast that someone could have thought she was being kidnapped.

One thing was for sure though, after the last twenty four hours she had Sophia finally reached the conclusion her friends had come to years ago.

Change was hard, and she hoped she never had to deal with it again.

But, as Victoria DeLaCruz always told her kids and their friends; hope is a dirty word.

❁ ════ ❃• - •❃ ════ ❁

Hi, been a long minute, I know, I'm sorry. My internet was cut off for about a month and I've spent these last couple of weeks since it was turned back on writing this extra long chapter for you guys to try and make up for the wait that was way longer than usual (sorry).

But anyways, I'm back and chapters should be coming out more frequently since i used that time that i was internetless to plan out the next batch of chapters (be prepared for some more drama).

Questions of the chapter...

⏤ Thoughts on Sophia's parents?

⏤ What do we think about Wes and Sophia's argument? Do you think he was overreacting? Or was his reaction understandable, even just a little bit?

⏤  Do you want more of Willow and Sophia's friendship? And is there any other relationships you want to see more of?

Any questions you guys have?

Moving on. Eventually I'm going to be going back and fixing this book up (fixing plot holes, editing, making new aesthetics, changing the description & introduction, etc). I don't know when, but I'm just giving everyone a heads up in case you reread and notice some things are different.

Lastly, thank you for reading, sorry for any mistakes made in this chapter and again I'm sorry for the wait being longer than usual, i appreciate your patience<3

Okay, now I'm going to bed because it's already after 8am for me and I've been up all night finishing this chapter for you guys. Goodnight/good morning, i hope you all have a good day or night!