Picture on the side is the beautiful book cover made by the amazing AyeshaShariq! I just love it!

This chapter introduces you to two new characters, probably one of whom you guys had been waiting for. I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter! ;)

Chapter edited by crystaltmlinson.

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The feeling of belonging was absent as I stared around the room from my place on the window seat in my bedroom. The room was indeed homey, just like the rest of the house, carrying a relaxed and cheerful feeling about it - something that its occupants were lacking.

Twenty-two days after the accident, I was finally discharged from the hospital this morning and brought straight back home. Home: a place that seemed to have lost its meaning for me.

So much had happened since I had woken up from the coma. There was so much for me to learn and keep up with: what I had known all my life in a matter of a mere nineteen days. After Daniel's slip up that day, I had been restless and desperate to know everything there was to know about the situation that life had put me in. My parents and I had gotten into a car accident. They had died and I had amnesia, and their funeral was held while I was still in a coma. Then, having Daniel mention something to me about my parents' will and my siblings' guardianship but not being aware of it myself just didn't sit well with me.

That day, I met with all the people that had come to see me in the hospital when I had first woken up and that seemingly held some importance in my life, except for my little sister, Leah; she had come to visit me two days later, for the first time ever since I was put in the hospital. She was still reluctant to come from what I had felt. She gave me a brief hug before stepping back as though it still wasn't brief enough, she didn't speak to me or even look at me after that, and she jumped at the first opportunity to go back home. Her actions, to me, were justified by saying that it was very difficult for her to deal with the trauma of our parents' death, especially at such a young age, and rightly so. She was, after all, only eleven-years-old.

Uncle David, my maternal aunt Ruby's husband, was my parents' lawyer and had explained to me about my parents' will and why the court wouldn't approve of me having the custody of my siblings. I, being an eighteen-year-old with a mental disability--amnesia--didn't appear to be the most promising guardian in the court's eyes. He had also been generous enough to sort out any other legal complications for us so we wouldn't have more worries piled on top of the already existing ones.

Robert Summers and his family were close to mine since he and my father were best friends. Robert was the one getting my siblings' guardianship. However, during my stay at the hospital, Ethan and I had come to a decision that we wanted to live together. He didn't want to part from me while I was still dealing with amnesia, and I wanted to get to know my siblings—the only family I had got left—once again and them living away from me wouldn't help my cause. So, we had managed to convince Robert to let my siblings live with me on the grounds that we would be in the same city as him, and his family. The condition wouldn't be as difficult to fulfill, Ethan had told me, since I was already going to a college in the same city and it would be for the best if I continued with my previous plans.

These past nineteen days had brought an overwhelming amount of information for me to take in about my family and friends, and even about myself. I had learned that Ethan was my adoptive brother and was my paternal aunt's son. My aunt had died in a fire accident when Ethan was two, and his father, who was a cop, had died before Ethan was even born, leaving us as his only family.

During my days in the hospital, Daniel had been my constant support. He would sit with me and listen to me as I told him about my days and my feelings as if he was my personal diary, but unlike a diary, he would provide me with sound advice and opinions. He had also swooped in to help me with making my living arrangements in the city when Robert's had become a little too extravagant for me.

A sigh escaped my lips as I closed my eyes shut and let my head hang low. My recollection of the past days didn't help my headache one bit. When I had arrived in the house early that morning, the furniture in the living room was covered with white sheets, most of my things had already been packed for me, and I was told to pack anything else that I wanted to take along before we were to leave for the city. It was a bit annoying to know that they had touched my things without my consent, but as I looked around the room, I realized that nothing here seemed to even belong to me to begin with. It was all becoming too fast paced for me, and my irritation had grown at the thought of me being a puppet following any orders thrown at me, yet, somehow, I had managed to comply without throwing a fit.

"You ready?" Hearing Shayla's voice, I looked up to find her standing in the doorway. I gave her a curt nod in response before getting up and glancing around the room for the last time.

It was a comfy room, one I could imagine myself adoring. I loved the window seat the most in the room, an ideal place to read or just sit and think, or to stargaze. As my eyes fell on the window, I caught a glimpse of a shining gray car parked in our driveway. A Mazda 6, my birthday gift from my parents. I swallowed audibly before turning to look at Shayla, who was now standing beside me. She took my hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze before wrapping her arms around my neck and enveloping me in a tight hug.

"You will be okay. Everything will be okay," she whispered in my ear as I hesitantly encased my arms around her back. "I'll miss you. So much," she sniffled and held me a moment longer before pulling away from me and leading me downstairs.

Everyone was waiting for us outside the house, and our boxes were already loaded in the car. Aunt Ruby and Uncle David gave me a hug too and whispered reassurances in my ears. I could only manage a nod before helping myself into the back seat of the Mazda. Daniel was to drive my car because I wasn't allowed to yet. Natalie had occupied the passenger seat while Ethan and Leah were in the back with me. Robert and Amanda had already left with rest of our boxes in Robert's SUV about two hours back because they both had somewhere important to be.

The car came to a halt in front of Iridis Memorial Gardens after a short drive of eleven minutes. Leah and Ethan were the first ones to walk inside followed by the rest of us. As we walked towards my parents' graves, my eyes roamed around the well-kept cemetery, taking in the sight of aligned tombstones that were clearly taken care of, and a few visitors who stood near some of those tombstones, crying or just talking to their departed. I breathed in the smell of freshly-mown grass and white-purple irises that surrounded the tombstones beautifully. The sunlight reflected by the gray tombstones provided a warm glow around the place, making it a more comforting environment for the visitors.

My parents' graves were situated under a large leafy tree, casting a soothing shade over the tombstones. I felt an uneasiness as I stood in front of the two graves, a distant ache in my heart that I barely recognized. Daniel and Natalie left to wait for us in the car to give us some privacy after paying their respects to our parents' graves.

Leah kneeled on the ground between the two graves. Her shoulders were shaking and I could hear low sobs coming from her. "Mom, dad. I miss you. I miss you so much. I don't want to leave you here. I wish you would just come back," Leah cried with her face in her hands. Ethan bent down to pat her back and hug her close to his chest. I felt so out of place standing behind them, almost as if I was interrupting their private moment, and maybe I was.

A few minutes passed before Leah calmed down and they both stood up again. Ethan placed two small bouquets of dark purple irises—that he had told me were mom's favorite—on the graves and started to walk away. Leah glanced at me once, and before I could confirm the flash of anger I saw in her eyes, she turned around to whisper something to our parents' graves that I couldn't hear. Then, she too ran away to catch up with Ethan.

I gulped, looking down at the graves. My eyes read over the words on my parents' graves before settling on the date of their deaths. August 6, 2015. Also the date of my birthday.

I shook my head before inhaling and exhaling shakily. Taking a step closer to the graves, I bit my quivering lower lip. "Mom. Dad," I began, but the words felt so foreign in my mouth. Pushing past the uneasy feeling, I continued to speak. "I hope you will be able to forgive me. Forgive me for not remembering you, for not grieving you the way you deserve to be grieved by your daughter. I... I hope this won't last forever and I will be able to remember you, to mourn you. I promise to take care of Ethan and Leah in your absence the best way I can." I wiped a stray tear from my cheek and stood there for a few moments in complete silence, letting my guilt and helplessness sink in. I stepped forward and kissed the two tombstones before making my way back towards the car to head to Wishword City.

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Four hours and fifty minutes later, Daniel parked the car in the car park of Dalton Square Apartments—the place that was now to be called my new home. Natalie had persuaded her cousin to help me, her friend in need, and let me and my siblings be his new roommates. I had jumped at the chance the moment she told me that her cousin had agreed to meet us. This apartment fitted all of my needs. It was the most affordable apartment with three available rooms that I could find nearest to the schools that Robert had told me Ethan and Leah would be going to, and the college that I would be joining. It was safe to say, I couldn't let go of this apartment at any cost.

A knock on the window made me jump, and I looked up instinctively, only to find Daniel beckoning me to get out of the car. I realized I was the only one left sitting inside the car. I let out a long calming sigh before following them outside.

Natalie and Daniel were by my side in an instant, encouraging me that everything was going to be alright. "And if he refuses, I can still threaten him to let you guys stay here. Being his cousin, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve," Natalie joked, winking at me and trying to reassure me. She didn't know her words did anything but that. A feeling in my gut told me that Natalie would have to force her cousin into letting us stay here, and I didn't feel comfortable with the idea at all. A roommate who didn't want me there would only increase my troubles. Or worse; what if the guy was a total pervert I couldn't and wouldn't live with, especially with my little sister around.

The thought made me glance up at Natalie. She was gorgeous, with light blonde hair and green eyes that made it difficult for you to look away, just like Amanda's. Natalie had an aura of sophistication around her and everything about her screamed elegant and upscale. Associating her with any kind of antagonists seemed too far-fetched.

Discarding my foolish thought, I smiled as I saw Daniel place a cherished kiss on Natalie's head as we all waited for the elevator. They complemented each other in every sense of the word. They looked perfect together.

Within minutes of getting in the elevator, we reached the eighth floor and were now standing outside apartment 813. I took a deep breath to compose myself before I had to meet this guy and try to make a good impression on him. I watched from the side as Natalie hugged someone before walking inside the apartment. The other person's face was hidden from me, or you could say I was hiding from them, still trying to gather my nerves.

"Come on, now." Daniel came to my side when I didn't make a move to follow them inside, and put his arm around my shoulders to guide me towards the door. At the door stood a stunning brown-haired boy with the most adorable dimples I had ever seen gracing both his cheeks. He had light freckles and beauty marks on his face, and his hazel eyes shone with great zeal as he greeted Daniel.

"Gale! Good to see you again," Daniel said, extending his hand for the guy to shake while his other arm was still winded around my shoulders so I wouldn't step back again.

Gale shook Daniel's hand with his disarming smile still in place. "Good to see you too, man," he replied, his eyes travelling from Daniel to me as both of them pulled their hands back.

I plastered a winning smile on my face, ready to introduce myself, but the harshness that overcame Gale's eyes made my breath hitch and my smile drop. He clenched his jaw as he stared from my face to Daniel's hand resting on my shoulder, then back at my face. Without a word, he turned around and stormed inside the apartment, calling for Natalie and leaving me stunned and offended as I gazed at his retreating back.

"I wonder what's wrong with him. Come on, let's go inside and find out," Daniel said, guiding me inside the apartment and closing the door behind us, not giving me a chance to protest.

We walked down the narrow hallway at the entrance of the house and reached the kitchen first. It was an open kitchen and a few steps ahead from the kitchen was the living room, where my sister and brother were sitting with one other guy. The apartment was well furnished to hide its compactness and give it a snug feeling. I walked towards the living room as Daniel helped himself to a glass of water.

"Reece Kendrick, pleasure to meet you," the guy sitting with my siblings got to his feet and introduced himself with a kittenish smile on his lips. He took a hold of my right hand and raised it to his lips to place a soft kiss on my knuckles, making me raise an eyebrow at him in response, regardless of the blush that was adorning my cheeks.

If I had thought of Gale to be stunning, Reece matched him, if not surpassed him. He was at least a head taller than Gale, and had a chiseled, squared jawline and a mop of dark brown curls on his head. His blue eyes were warm and playful, making me feel welcome in this place for the first time.

"Raelyn White," I told him with a friendly smile, pulling my hand back from his hold in a polite manner. I stuffed my hands in the back pockets of my jeans as Reece regarded me with amusement in his eyes.

"Ah, Reece! Ever the flirty one," Daniel said, coming towards us and patting Reece's shoulder once. "What's gotten into Gale today? One moment he was fine and the other, he looked like he could punch someone."

"What? He was just fine before you guys got here," Reece shrugged his shoulders before looking back at me, "maybe, he is pissed about the apartment situation." His careful eyes soon gained their playfulness back as his lips curved into a smirk, "I wouldn't know why he would be, though. With a roommate as pretty as her, I wouldn't mind living with a hundred kids never mind two."

"I am not a child!" Ethan felt the need to interject as if Reece's words had insulted him. We only glanced at him with hilarity in our expressions, but no one seemed to care enough to regard him with a response.

Despite the heat that was rising from my neck at Reece's compliment, I couldn't help the humorous smile that appeared on my face. "Thank you, Reece," I began with amusement lining my voice, "now, if you could point me to the little girl's room, please?"

Reece grinned back, "Of course. There are two bathrooms in this place, one towards your left and the other towards the right. You can go to the left one since I don't think Gale has put supplies in the other one, yet."

"Thanks," I muttered, before making my way towards the washroom. As I sat myself down on the toilet seat and looked around the bathroom in an awkward manner, the murmuring of voices coming from the room to the left captured my attention. I tried to ignore them as I finished my business and washed my hands, but I couldn't help myself from eavesdropping when I heard my name. I scurried towards the bathroom wall and pressed my ear against it, trying to hear the voices better.

"What's the problem in letting them stay here, Gale?" I could hear Natalie ask, her voice pleading.

"You know what my problem is. I don't want her living here, and that's the end of this discussion," Gale replied, sounding pissed, and I wondered whom he was talking about. Was it about Leah because she was a child, as Reece had suggested?

"Gale, are you even listening to yourself talk right now? You're just being difficult! I don't get why you're making assumptions about Raelyn. Would you at least give me a chance to explain her situation, give her a chance?" Natalie reasoned, making me hold my breath. Was she really going to tell him about my parents and my condition?

"No! I won't, simply because I am not interested in finding out about her situation. I don't care, okay? I just want her out of my apartment this instant." As relieved as I was to know that my secret wasn't revealed to him just yet, I also felt hurt by his uncaring and bitter attitude. It frustrated me how he was so uncivil with a person he had just met and knew nothing about. Why did he dislike me so much, anyway?

"But why?" Natalie asked the same question that I had been pondering over in my head.

"Because she is a bitch. Goddamn it, if nothing else, didn't you at least see how comfortable she was getting with your boyfriend? I know her type of girls, desperate and conniving." Gale's voice raised a notch. I could imagine him flaring his nostrils in anger, and I could feel the similar emotion course through my own body.

Infuriated by his false accusations, I flushed the toilet and walked out of the bathroom, ready to tell Natalie that I wasn't going to live with him now more than ever and to give him a piece of my mind. How he could pass such judgments about my character just by looking at me was beyond me.

Just as I exited the bathroom with fury coloring my face, an equally enraged Gale stepped out of the room to my left. The moment our eyes connected, I knew all hell was going to break loose.

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A/N: Hey, you lovely people! How are ya?

Dedication of the Chapter: This chapter's dedication goes to AyeshaShariq for making the lovely book cover on the side. It's nothing that I had imagined but everything that I had wanted for this book. In short, it's perfect! Thanks a lot, love, for this beautiful cover. Go, check out her equally mesmerizing works, guys!

My Highlight of the Chapter: The highlight for me was the part where Raelyn says that Daniel was like her personal diary; he would listen to her, give her his advice and opinions and just be there for her. God knows, how we all need at least one such person in our lives. And we all know, how lucky those people are who have such a person in their life.

What was your highlight of the chapter, if any?

Questions of the Chapter: So... Gale? And, Reece? What did you think about the two newest members of MeTo family? And what about Gale's offensive allegations about Raelyn? Come on, come on, I am waiting to hear your theories about these two! :D

And, of course, what are your thoughts on the entire chapter, the characters, the scenes, anything and everything?

Don't forget to show your support through comments and votes, so that I'd know whether you're enjoying the story or not and can also thank you for reading it! Follow me to get updates on this book and on any other works that I write in the future! :⦆

Hugs & Kisses,

Shagun