Song for the chapter:
Collar Full by Panic! At The Disco

"I told you to stop calling me!! We don't need you!!" I hear my mom scream into the phone at, most likely, the man who I have to regrettably call my father. "—no!—don't you dare tell me the girls deserve better after what you—oh really?!—screw you, Eli."

Yep. I was right. He probably was calling to ask my mother when he could see us. I think the brain damage he received from the accident really messed with his judgement...even more so than before. Rue and I literally despise the man, yet he still thinks we want to see him.

I glance up from my book, looking at my mother who's now storming out of her bedroom with a sizzling frown etched on her features. Upon seeing my face, the frown is replaced with a softer yet more hesitant smile.

"I'm sorry you heard that—" she begins saying to me, but I cut her off.

"—Mom, you have every right to yell, scream and be angry with him. What he did to you...to us was horrible. He's an idiot to think we want to even be near him." Her eyes are now glassy as she sits beside me on our larger, fraying couch. Her hands rest on my leg closest to her as tears slowly roll down her cheeks.

Placing my book down, I circle my arms around her small frame. She hugs me back as she lets out soft wails which causes me to silently cry with her.

After a few minutes, she pulls back from my arms, her tear-stained cheeks the only clue that she had been crying moments before.

"What time is Rhett coming over?" My mother asks, her voice a little croaky.

I invited Rhett over for dinner as my mother has been wanting to have him over, and this was one night she was able to get off early. I had insisted we go out to eat and I would pay, but she wanted to show off her cooking skills.

I know it's about money though as she would never let me use my small college fund I've saved up over the years working.

"In about an hour, I think."

She softly smiles and nods at this before standing up from the couch. "Okay... I'll clean myself up and get started on dinner."

"Need any help?" I offer.

"No. Just make sure the living room is picked up and the bathroom." She begins to walk to the kitchen area before turning back around towards me. "Are you sure he likes vegetable and beef stew? Because I can make something else—"

"He's never had it but isn't picky whatsoever. I'm sure he'll love it." Her smile perks up a bit more at this, moving further into the kitchen.

As she takes out the ingredients and pots and pans she needs, she looks over at me. Her face is soft as she says, "I'm really happy you two found each other. He seems like such a nice boy. You know, I don't think I've seen you this happy in a long time."

I feel tears pricking at my eyes at her sincere words, but I quickly wipe them away before getting up from the couch. "Thanks mom. I'm happy I have too."

After lots of cleaning, cooking and changing, we're finally all ready for Rhett's arrival. My mom even changed out of her work clothes and put on a nicer blouse with jeans.

"He's here!" Rue shouts from the window; she has been keeping watch for almost ten minutes.

"Oh! How do I look, Noa?" My mother asks, brushing off her frontside as she shifts her body to the side. "The blouse too much? I have another one I could put on instead if this makes me look too wide—"

"Mom, you look great!" I glance between her and my sister. "You both are acting like we're about to invite the Queen of England here... it's just Rhett."

Just after I say this, a knock resounds on the door.

I look down at my outfit, now hating that I put on my leggings instead of jeans or a skirt.

"Crap... now I look like a slob compared to you all!" I say in an intense whisper, my eyes darting between my mother and sister.

"Shut up and answer the door!" Rue pushes me towards the door as she says this.

As I make it to the door, I feel my heartbeat quicken more. My hands are shaky as I slowly turn the doorknob. I trail my eyes up from the ground and am met with the image of Rhett, blond hair cut and styled--a more edgier look--along with a bouquet of an assortment of pink-tinged flowers.

I can't help but to crack a small smile as I look into his eyes. "What the hell did you do to your hair?"

I take the flowers from his outstretched hands, smelling them before ushering him in.

"Thought a change was needed."

My mother appears from around the corner as Rhett walks into our small apartment. Her eyes light up at the flowers in my hands.

"Oh wow! These are absolutely gorgeous!"

Upon slipping off his shoes, he says, "They're for all of you...I wasn't sure what flowers each of you like, so I asked the florist for a favorite bouquet of hers."

I glance down at the bouquet. He managed to get a lot of my favorite flowers—white daisies. His eyes find mine before he sneakily winks at me.

My mother takes the flowers from my grasp. Taking a whiff, she says, "oh these are perfect! Thank you so much, Rhett. I'll put these in a vase."

Once he stands up from taking his shoes off, I tug at his arm, pulling him into our living space. We have a small dining table with three seats, but we stole mine and Rue's desk chair for Rue to sit on.

"Now, Noa said you have never had vegetable beef stew..." My mom is putting the flowers in our only vase—one passed down from my great-grandmother.

Rhett takes a seat on one of the dining table chairs—ironically it's the odd chair meant for Rue.

"Not yet, at least. It sounds delicious though." 'I take a seat next to him, with Rue sitting opposite of me. He grabs my hand in his, still looking over at my mom in the kitchen. "Thank you again for having me over. It really means a lot to me."

Now, he's rubbing his thumb on my hand in circular motions, and my damn insides are heating up.

"Of course. I would have had Noa bring you over sooner, but it's hard to find a night off from the hospital."

I get up, taking my hand, unfortunately, out of his grasp as my mom is beginning to ladle the soup into bowls for all of us. After she does this, I bring a bowl over to each spot, as well as accompanying silverware.

"Are you double-jointed?" My sister randomly asks him.

Rue is notorious for asking the most random questions; my mom and I both think she thinks she is speaking out everything going on in her head, but she doesn't, so it leads to her just randomly spewing out questions or remarks.

I glance over at Rhett, placing a napkin next to him as he raises his eyebrows, looking over at Rue. "Uh—no, I don't think so. My brother, Ripley, is. He can bend his thumb back without it hurting." I can see the slight hurt in his eyes as he speaks of his brother, but he's doing a good job by covering it up with a smile.

Rue's eyes go wide, nodding along. "And how old is your brother?"

That little rat. I know what she's doing.

Before Rhett can answer, I slam her napkin on her hand instead of beside her plate. "He's ten. Don't even think about it."

Her cheeks go red at my answer to which I smirk victoriously.

"Noa, I saw that." My mother gives me a disapproving look before sitting down and smiling at Rhett across from her. "Alright, let's say a quick prayer...Noa, it's your turn."

I give her a flat look...we usually say a prayer to ourselves before eating, having never said our prayers out loud since that was something we used to do with dad.

"Since when?"

If my mother had the ability to turn anyone to stone, her look towards me right now would do just that.

"Okay okay..." I clear my throat, closing my eyes slightly. I don't even know how to begin. "Um dear Lord—uh—thank you for this great meal that I would like to eat right now but I have to pray and thank you first—not sure how that makes sense, but whatever—" My mother clears her throat, meaning I need to cut the crap. Taking a breath, I continue with, "I'd like to say I'm thankful for everyone around this table here tonight. I'm very blessed to have them in my life. Uh—"

I open my eyes briefly and look over at Rhett. His hands are clasped together tightly, and a few tears are trailing down his cheeks. My heart feels like it's fluttering which is concerning, so I close my eyes again.

"—amen!"

After that, we all begin to eat. My mom asks questions about his lacrosse team, schools he's looking at after high school, and then she asks him a question I forgot to tell her not to ask.

One about his dad.

"Your father is the owner of the Rider's Tires, right?"

He drops his spoon in the bowl at the question before covering up his surprise with a quick nod of his head. "Y-yeah. He works a lot, thankfully—" my mother gives him a curious glance, "—er, I mean, I'm thankful for his large income—that sounded really shallow—I—um I guess he's—"

"Hey mom, did I tell you that Rhett and I both got the highest grades on our last Chemistry test? I scored a half a point higher than him—might I add—but only because he rounded up too much on his last question," I interject Rhett's rambling mess of an answer.

Rhett shoots me a thankful glance before looking over towards my mom with a smile.

Gaining her attention, she smiles with a small shake of her head. "No...you didn't. That's amazing! The studying you two do together must help." She winks before getting up from the table.

I nudge Rue's foot under the table since clean-up is her job tonight, and not mom's.

"Ow!! What the heck?!"

Giving her a stern look, I gesture towards our mother, now, cleaning up.

With a roll of her eyes, she pushes her chair out and begins collecting the rest of the dishes, bringing them into the kitchen space. I take this opportunity to talk to Rhett on our own.

Whispering, I say, "I'm sorry about that. I forgot to tell her 'dad questions' are off limits."

He places a hand on my leg under the table. My skin inflames immediately at the contact, and as if he knows how it's affecting me, he squeezes my thigh a bit more. Though, I think it's not in the way I think it is based upon the grateful look in his eyes.

"It's okay. It just threw me off. Your mom probably thinks I'm some spoilt rich kid who hates his parents..." His face drops as he says this.

"Not at all. Don't worry."

After talking a bit more with my mom and sister, Rhett says his 'goodbyes.' I walk him down the stairs and to his car, feeling a bit happier with how the evening has turned out. It was refreshing to have an actual meal at the dinner table like a family again; Rhett fitting in with my little family just perfectly.

Upon reaching his car, Rhett pulls me into his warm arms; arms in which have gotten a bit bulkier due to his extended gym time for lacrosse. Arms in which I'm liking to be in more and more... as much as I hate to admit that.

I find myself wrapping my arms around his neck, my lips nearing his in an attempt to kiss him. He pulls back with an irritating smirk—one that I keep seeing more from him.

As he bends down, his hot breath hits my ear, causing a jolt of want to course through me. It's also freezing outside, so any immediate heat on my skin feels so good.

"Are you free tomorrow at six?"

I nod, biting my lip as he lightly kisses the spot under my ear.

"Good. I have something for you to wear—"

He pulls away and opens up the passenger side of his car.

"If it's lingerie...I have some already—"

He turns towards me, cheeks reddening as he hands me a white and blue jersey—one of his Lacrosse jerseys. I take it from his grasp, brushing my fingers lightly over the numbers as well as his name stitched on the back.

It will be a tad big on me but not too bad.

"Our biggest game of the year is tomorrow ... and I guess I'd really like you to be there."

I look up from his jersey in my hands and into his eyes. A small smile has replaced that smirk of his, and his eyes are pleading, much like a puppy would for food.

"You guess or you know?" I step closer to him, smirking as I do so. I let my free hand graze up his arm, batting my eyelashes up at him.

He takes ahold of my wrist and tugs me flush against him. The action causes warmth to spread throughout my body; I want him now.

"I know." He lowers his mouth to my ear, grazing it slightly before continuing with, "and I know I want you right now."

My lips part, a small gasp leaving my lips as he gently kisses down my neck. The fact we are out in public on the side of the street is making it all the more hot.

The way his hands grab at my arms, locking me in place while his lips hungrily find mine causes desire to pool within me.

A small groan escapes his mouth as I gently bite down on his intruding tongue in my mouth. His dominance is hot—don't get me wrong—but I like a little control once in a while.

Just to tease him and show how much control I have over him, I tear away from his mouth, leaning away as I break out of his grasp. His mouth drops into a frown at the action while I smirk.

"So, six at the playing field, right?"

He's giving me a look as if saying, 'you're such a tease.'

"Yes." Tugging on my arm, he brings me closer to him again before saying, "and after, we're finishing this."

I nod submissively, his words igniting something primal inside me. Something that he could use to destroy me...and strangely, I want to give him that control over me.

I just hope he doesn't use it to break me. I've been broken before, and I don't want to pick the pieces of myself up again.

Honestly, I don't think I could do it anymore.

——————
*unedited*