After two weeks as said, we got our new job at a Chinese restaurant and a great boss, unlike Tyler's dad.

"I love this place," Jake sighed, playing with chopsticks, "I need to see your boyfriend's dad and thank him."

"Convey mine too," Marissa said, snatching those from him and placing it aside. "Behave. It's a new place."

"Why didn't we have these back in the cafe? It's so fun." He mumbled, searching for more and Marissa shook her head.

"Sometimes I'm afraid to be a mom. I mean, what if I give birth to something like this." She pointed at Jake, who scowled in return.

"You wish. Many are praying to get a son like me, so please."

I laughed at them both and grabbed my bag. "Now, will you please throw those into a dustbin and drop me home?"

"Yeah, sure. Coming. Bye Mar," he called out, following me and I heard her groan.

"I told you, stop calling me that!"

"God, that woman is so loud." Jake chuckled and turned to me. "Let's buy Chinese for dinner. I feel obligated to buy it since we're working here."

And we did. Since Jake was free and didn't have to leave early, he joined us for the dinner and the boys were very happy about it.

"Will you play with us?" Theo asked after dinner and Jake have him a nod.

"Of course, that's what I came for, not for the tasty dinner."

After hours of playing the video game, Jake left with a huge smile etched across his face.

"I needed this." He said before saying bye.

We got you, Jakey.

"Bye Jakey," they called out and he grinned again as he drove off.

"Had fun?" I asked, closing the door and Theo jumped onto the couch.

"Loads." Noel replied with a grin.

It was all good for the past two weeks, I could work without worrying about mom barging in, Theo almost forgot about mom's violent act.

Everything was fine.

I should've done this before, it'd have saved my boys from getting hurt. And somewhere between being happy and feeling regret, I felt my eyelids getting heavier and heavier.

.
.

"Ivy! Wake up!"

I woke up to Noel's voice and glanced at the phone to know that I slept in. And as usual, my lovely little brother made us breakfast.

"Oh, Noel. What would I do without you?" I said while having breakfast and he grinned proudly.

"I helped him." Theo's pout portrayed his jealousy and Noel laughed.

"He poured the milk, but onto the floor."

"No!" Theo gasped, looking at me.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"But it was a mistake!" He pouted again and I couldn't control my laugh. He needs some serious training to win an argument.

"Okay, but who cleaned it?" I asked, raising my eyebrows and both of them looked away. "Oh, so none of you cleaned it? That's pretty good."

We wrestled a bit before I went to the kitchen and cleaned up the mess they made.

"Bye, Ivy." They both chimed in and I waved at them, heading to tutor some serious chemistry stuff.

Kate had an exam. So, it only took us an hour to clear it out.

"Where are you?" Sasha asked the moment I answered her call.

"Coming, I'm near the library."

"You're always at the library. Just come fast, I'm bored."

"Okay, okay. I'm coming." I sighed, smiling but it stopped when I saw Tyler.

After the punch and slap session, we haven't really met. But I do know that he's extremely angry at me because I just made myself an everlasting stain on his ego.

Tyler was sort of invisible for a few days after my outburst. Sasha said he probably needed time to recover his bruised ego and I think that was true. Because later when he came, he was the old Tyler who found interest in bullying me. But this time, it was only words. He didn't try to splash drinks on me or throw food on me.

To be honest, since Zack came, Tyler couldn't physically bully me, or almost anyone. But that didn't stop him from being a jerk, though. Now, he was back to his old self, eyeing me with intense dislike and waiting for a chance to make me feel bad.

"Oh, look who's here." He mumbled when he saw me and his friend chuckled. "Scared little lamb didn't work for almost a week. What happened? You won a lottery or married a rich snob?"

"Why don't you answer before you go, little lamb?" The other one said, pulling my bag.

"Why don't you mind your own business?" I heard Zack's voice and turned back to see him slowly climbing the stairs.

Tyler cursed under his breath and glared at him, "You think you can act all superhero by saving her from me?"

"I don't think she needs to be saved. I think she made it pretty clear with that punch." He smiled innocently and I saw Tyler clenching his teeth.

Anything but his ego.

"Admit it Tyler, she can kick your ass. Everyone here who you think you're bullying can, they just choose not to. I think it's because they've better things to do."

"True." Will said, on the way to his class and I stifled a laugh.

"Shut up. No one asked for your opinion. Just fuck off." I heard Tyler snarling.

"Cool down. We're going." Zack took a step back and swiftly pulled my bag out of the guy's grip. "Now, we can." He said, sliding the bag onto my shoulder and I smiled at him.

"Oh, kiss already!" We both turned back to see Sasha with a bright smile.
"Come on."

"What the fuck?" Tyler frowned, glaring at her and she crossed her arms with a scowl.

"Oh now what? My brother needs your permission to kiss his girlfriend, who happens to be my, my best friend?" She asked raising her eyebrows.

Oh, drama queen. She's been dying to inform him for weeks and here she is.

"Girlfriend? You two are together now?" Tyler looked between us, glaring at me.

"Now? More like, for a long time. Come on, now. We're late." She tugged on my arm and started pulling me. I could hear Tyler's swearing as we walked away.

"Oh, I loved it! This is amazing. It's fun to see him like that. He looks like a loser now." Sasha squealed and Zack gaped at her.

"You're weird."

"No, I'm not. I didn't get to see his face when she said no to him or when she punched him. I needed to see this reaction." She sighed. "I've been asking you guys to act like a couple in front of him, but you won't. So I figured I'd tell him. I can't imagine how he'll react if you guys kissed."

"Really?" Zack asked with a smile and she frowned.

"Ew, no, you idiot. Just because I said that to annoy Tyler, doesn't mean I wanna see you kissing here, in the hallway. I'll kick your ass."

"You sure will." He chuckled, draping an arm over her shoulder.

"Fine, now don't stay here for too long. I'm gonna go inside and give you lovebirds some privacy so that I don't have to witness it." She sighed, smiling and turned to Zack, "Alright then, see you at lunch."

"At lunch, it is." He nodded as she walked into the class.

"I love lying to Sasha." He smiled when she left and I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Next hour, meet me at the..." He trailed off, thinking and then snapped his fingers, "Library. So, next hour, library."

"What? Next hour isn't a free one."

"I know, meet me at the library. We're ditching." He said, walking away and I shook my head.

"What about Sasha?"

"Told you, I love lying to her." He said and I chuckled. She's gonna kill him for sure.

And while I was sitting in the class, I got a text from him.

The Rom-com guy : Don't tell her.
.
.
.
.

"Most probably you'll be dating a corpse tomorrow." Zack said while we waited for the movie to start.

"You think?" I chuckled and he sighed, shaking his head.

Like last time, the room was almost covered with couples. I remember the weird feeling I had then.

But it wasn't weird anymore. It was familiar and comfortable. The feeling as well as his warmth. And like every other people around us, we ended up kissing there, in the dark room.

"It was a good movie, not too dramatic." I said while we were driving back and he frowned.

"I don't know, but that kiss was pretty hot." He said and I smiled, shaking my head.

"Let's buy some Italian food so that you won't be dating a corpse." He said stopping at the restaurant.

And it worked. The moment we reached their home, Sasha threw anything and everything at him and argued, until he said he had Italian food. And just like that, her scowling face turned into a smile and snatched it from him.

"Evelyn, honey. Why don't you stay for dinner?" Scarlett asked me and I shook my head no.

"Oh, no. I've to-"

"I'll bring boys here." Sasha cut me off and smiled.

"Perfect. I'll be back right now." She smiled, heading to her room and Sasha nudged Zack.

"You better say it today." She said, smirking.

"What? No." He shook his head and she nodded.

"Yes, you should. It's been weeks, over a month!"

"You told about Mark after months." He argued and I realised she was asking him to tell Alex and Scarlett about us.

"I was bored the entire day!"

"Okay!" He caved in with a sigh.

That made me worried. What if they liked me as their friend but not as his girlfriend?

And that thought made me a bit nervous when the dinner started. I realised I was fiddling with my dress when Zack placed his hand on mine.

"You're suspiciously silent." He murmured leaning close and I quickly shook my head.

"No."

He didn't say anything, just smiled, squeezing my hand. As if it was planned, Theo and Noel finished the dinner first and asked if they could play.

"Of course, you can. Don't forget about desserts, though." Scarlett smiled and they went running.

And right then, Sasha nudged Zack and gestured him to say it. When he started speaking, I was more than a bit nervous.

Because that's me! Nervous and sorry for anything and everything.

"Hey, I've got something to say." He said and I saw them both frown in confusion.

"Okay, Go on," Alex said.

"I kind of like Evelyn and she sort of likes me too," he said and I crossed my fingers for a good response.

And out of nowhere, Alex started laughing, making me confused.

"That's what you wanted to say?" Scarlett asked, smiling.

"Like we didn't know." Alex murmured, chuckling

"You guys knew?" Zack asked raising his eyebrows and he smirked.

"Oh please, I'm your father."

And I sighed in relief. They were happy and it made me beyond happy.

"Wasn't it pretty evident, Scar?" He asked and she replied with a chuckle.

"Oh, your son was pretty much flirting with his eyes."

"My son is charming, just like me. We can make girls fall in love with us easily, right?" Alex raised his eyebrows at Zack and they did a fist bump.

"Oh please, not girls like us. Am I right or not, girls?" Scarlett smirked and Sasha yelled a yes.

"Game on, Scar. But you should see that we're the majority here." He smirked pointing to my brothers and I laughed.

And we started playing Jenga, only for the 'boys team' to lose.

"Time for a victory cheesecake!" Sasha said as she brought us some delicious cheesecake. She smirked at the boys and made them drool a bit before giving a piece.

"So, Evelyn," Alex said, sitting next to me. "About your mom,"

I sighed and swallowed the lump in my throat.

She didn't listen to him, did she? Why can't she listen to someone and help herself from this addiction thing?

"You don't have to worry about your mother anymore. She's totally fine, staying at the rehabilitation centre."

The moment he said those words, I was more surprised than ever.

"She... She's at rehab?"

"Yes, she's staying there for treatment." He said, smiling.

"But how? She said yes?"

"I'm afraid she didn't. I had a client back in New York, who had a rehab. So, I had a little talk with him and let's just say he helped me in persuading your mom." He said making me smile.

She's in rehab? She's in a rehab!

"More like tricked her into it. Thank god our state allows forced rehab admission."

I didn't quite understand what he said, but none of it mattered. He somehow got my mom into a rehab and that's something I never thought would happen.

"Well, we can hope you'll get a better mom, if not the old one." He said and I hugged him tightly, with tear filled eyes.

"Thank you so much," I managed to say. But not a word after it and he seemed to understand it.

"Don't thank me, I'm happy I could do something."

"Can I join?" Sasha came running to hug us and in a minute, it was a group hug.

******
A special thanks to those people behind 27reads for the last chapter. A huge thanks for sticking up with this story till the end.

Two more parts,😇❤️