I'm not going to lie, waking up trapped against Trenton's chest with his arms around my torso and nose in my hair kind of scared the shit out of me. I may or may not had forgotten that I was with Trenton. Taking a deep breath to relax the nerves I just induced on myself, I release the tension in my muscles and sink back into Trenton's chest.

I could get used to this. I think to myself as I breathe a breath of content, snuggling even closer into him.

The sound of familiar boots walking into the living area causes me to raise my head, taking in Trenton's relaxed, sleeping face while also catching a glimpse of Roni walking in quietly. Smiling up at her, I put my finger to my lips in a shhh motion to let her know Trenton is asleep.

Sliding out of his grip is a lot more difficult than I'd like to admit, and the quiet giggles coming from Roni at my fruitless attempts aren't making this any better.

"Are you just going to stand there laughing, or are you going to come over here and help me get out of your cousin's death grip?" I whisper shout, no longer able to contain my own soft chuckle at my predicament.

"Okay, okay. I'll help but I'm sure Trenton is going to be worried when he wakes up alone later." Roni whispers back.

Roni walks over and easily gets me out of Trenton's clutches, leading me out of the living room to—what I assume—verbalize her reasons for being here.

Finally making it out of the living area and into the hall, I'm the first one to speak up. "So, did you want to talk about something?"

Roni glances my way before briskly turning back to the door we have now stopped in front of. "Let's talk in here." Is Roni's curt response.

I watch as Roni hesitantly opens the door and holds it open for me. I look at her skeptically before turning back to the room and taking in my surroundings. It looks like an average teenage girl's room. Not the pink colored everything kind of room you'd see in those chick flicks, but a nice cool blue shade on the walls. The bed in the left corner of the room has cloud themed bedding and there are clouds painted on the ceiling of the bedroom.

"Is this your room? This is beautiful." I say, spinning around in the room to look at it in full, taking notice of the adorable cloud shaped lamp that sits on a spotless white desk on the right side of the room.

"Thanks, I decorated it myself." Roni starts, sounding proud of herself before her tone changes,

"Take a seat, Kai."

Swallowing nervously, I oblige, swiftly taking a seat in the chair sat in front of the aforementioned white desk.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, my voice filled with concern. I can't help but be worried, this topic seems extremely important to Roni and she hasn't even mentioned what the topic is.

"It's about Derek." Roni starts pitifully, "I don't know what to do, Kai. You've seen first hand how horrible he can be, but what if I can change that? Or, what if I get my hopes up? My heart already hurts thinking about never being able to be held by him and I don't even know anything about him other than his name. Do I approach him, or would that be risking my heart?"

Sighing, I sit back in my seat and look directly into Roni's eyes. Well, that's a lot to unpack . . .

"Roni, take a deep breath for starters. Have you tried just talking to Derek? Like, at all?"

Roni blinks, then blinks again.

"No . . ." She mutters under her breath.

"Maybe you should start by saying 'hi' before stressing out about anything else. Just relax for now. I'm here for you and I'm sure you and I together will be able to work something out. Maybe we can even figure out if there's a reason behind why Derek treats me the way he does. I know it's only me that Derek bullied, I don't know about the other goons, though." Not like it makes Derek any better of a person regardless. I think to myself, but I don't say that to Roni, of course.

Roni sighs, "You're right. Ugh! How did we live without you in our lives for so long?"

I giggle at that, but deep down, I realize how much I needed to hear it.

My giggle is cut off by Roni's bedroom door slowly creaking open.

"Kai! There you are, I was getting worried!" Comes Trenton's concerned voice as he enters the bedroom looking distraught.

Looking over toward Roni, she lifts her finger up to her mouth in an attempt to tell me not to say anything about Derek to Trenton without him knowing. I smile reassuringly at her, letting her know I understand discreetly before turning my gaze back on Trenton.

Looking down at the ground, I smile nervously while fidgeting with my fingers as I say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

Before I can even blink, Trenton's hand is under my chin and lifting my eyes back to his.

"It's alright, Kai. I just woke up a moment ago and didn't know where you went but, now I know you're safe so it's okay." He says, taking his hand away from my face and patting my red curls, sending shock waves through my scalp. I accidentally lean my head into his palm and hope he doesn't notice, but from the small smile playing his features, I have a feeling he did, in fact, notice.

"Ugh, stop being so lovey dovey. Is that all, Renny? You just wanted to check on Kai or was there something else?" Roni butts in, reminding both Trenton and I of her presence.

"Oh yes! My dad told me that everyone is sitting down for lunch in the kitchen now. Come on guys, you both are probably hungry."

They spend quality time with their family? Damn, I wonder what that's like. Well, I guess I'm about to find out . . .

"Kai? You coming?" Trenton's voice cuts off my train of thoughts and I look up to see that Roni already left the room.

"Yeah, sorry. I just kind of blanked out for a second there." I smile lightly and avoid eye contact. Trenton hums and tells me to follow him down to the kitchen. I, already being the lovesick puppy that I am, happily oblige.

Finally making it down to the kitchen—it didn't actually take long, I'm just dramatic—I take notice of how the whole pack is sitting around one huge table. The dining room is a very open space with large open windows that bring in a nice breeze while also brightening up the room in a beautiful. Looking around at the pack, I can't help but observe how they all seem so happy to be here, laughing and chatting away like their lives couldn't be any better in that moment and I can't help but think to myself . . .

Is this family?