Fighting Ourselves.

Ellie ran and went to the kitchen, hiding behind Matt as I stood there, speechless, my mouth slightly open.

“How? Why? When?” I managed to ask after a few seconds of silence.

“In two days…” said Matt slowly.

“Fine…” I mumbled, walking up the stairs, slamming the door shut behind me. I’m pretty sure I heard a frame crash in the hall. I hope so.

Ellie’s POV

I winced as one of the frame in Matt’s hallway crashed on the floor.

“S’alright… That was to be expected…” he said with a shrug, picking up the destroyed frame.

“Why is Mommy mad?” asked Hailie, munching on her sandwich.

“Because auntie Ellie said something that took your mother by surprise. And you know she doesn’t like that kind of surprise…” said Brian, making another sandwich.

“I had to tell her! Who else would have?” I asked.

“I would.” Said Brian, handing the sandwich to Damien.

“Like you would have told her! It would have make it worst.” Said Matt.

“No, you’re mistaken. We were actually getting along just a few minutes ago!” retorted Brian.

“That’s only because she thought we were leaving today!” I mumbled.

“Excuse me?” he asked, turning to face me.

“You heard me! I’m not going to repeat…” I mumbled.

Brian glared at me. I glared back.

“Fine, I’m gonna talk to her!” muttered Matt, squeezing my shoulder on his way and then walking upstairs.

I could hear Matt opening the door and then heard a real loud:

“GO AWAY!”

And then the door closed.

I half expected Matt to come downstairs, but after a while I realized that he was in fact talking to Adeline. I finally looked away from the stairs and rubbed my neck nervously as Brian was glaring at me.

“I have no idea how to feel towards you right now, either adore you or hate you…” he mumbled, while helping the kids down. They sensed the tension between me and their father and disappeared in the living room with their sandwiches.

“What? What was I supposed to do huh? You knew damn well I would choose Matt!” I muttered.

“Yeah, but your sister was convinced of the opposite. To her, it was clear that you were going to choose Nate!”

“I was going to! But then, I changed my mind. You were right, it still applies even years later. I chose Matt over Nate, so what now?”

“That’s not the problem!” he yelled. “She’s going to leave now, and take the kids with her!”

“She would have left sooner or later!” I snapped. “She doesn’t want to be here!”

“I could have made her change her mind, alright!” he snapped.

“Like hell you would! And just to remind you, we’re going on tour with you okay, so stop being a drama queen, she’ll stay here!” I yelled, fed up with his attitude. “We’ll be stuck in a bus with you for God knows how long, so just shut up!”

That was followed by a door opening violently. Adeline ran down the stairs, past us, glaring at Brian and then slammed the front door before any of us could react or even try to stop her.

Matt walked in the kitchen, and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

“Tell me Ellie, how do you put up with her usually? Do you lock her up in her room or what? Please, do tell me if you have any tips because I’m running out of ideas…” he muttered, taking a swig of his beer.

I opened my mouth to reply, but was cut off by the front door swinging open.

“Hey guys! Look who I found walking bare feet on the dirty sidewalk looking ready to kill someone with her hands?” asked no other than Jimmy, walking in the kitchen, Adeline carelessly thrown over his shoulder. He sat her down on the counter and then hugged me.

“So, what’s new today?” he asked, heading towards the fridge and taking a beer before throwing one to me and Brian. He was about to throw one to Adeline too but I guess he was afraid she’d smash it on his head.

“The girls are joining us for the tour…” said Matt, looking at me with a small smile. I smiled back and that’s when Adeline jumped off the counter and went to the living room without glancing at us.

“Oh… that’s why she looked upset…” said Jimmy, biting his lip.

“Guess so, and it’s kinda my fault. I just told her that when I came back from the airport and didn’t even let her decide or whatever.” I mumbled.

Adeline’s POV

“Alright kids, I gotta talk to you.” I said, sitting down on the floor, in front of them, my back turned to the door and the others who were still talking in the kitchen.

I grabbed a pillow and hugged it to my chest.

“Okay, so here’s the thing. We are going on tour with the boys in two days. You might not have a very precise idea of what it is, so I’m going to explain it to you, and then you’ll tell me whether you want to go, alright?” I asked. The kids both nodded.

“So, basically, we are going to be stuck in a bus that was made for 5, except that we will be 9 persons in there. We will sleep together in a very small bed, the three of us in one bed. No place for you to play, you won’t be able to bring all your toys, no place to run. The guys will be really tired so they won’t be able to play with you and you will have to be really quiet all the time. There will be a really small room with a sink, toilets and a shower, no bath. It won’t be fun, we will be stuck in a bus for a couple of months, maybe more.” I concluded, watching their faces fell. They looked at each others, clearly not too thrill about it anymore.

I tried to hide my joy and got ready to get up when I felt a pang of guilt as Hailie looked over my shoulder, in direction of the kitchen, where her father was.

That wasn’t nice of me… They probably wanted to go in the first place but I ruined their plan. I sighed, and face them.

“But, that was years ago. Now, the buses are bigger… Sure, we won’t have much place but I’m pretty sure we will find you some place to put your toys. We will stop regularly, you will be able to run around, and I’m sure we will stay in hotels some times. And having you around will be a good excuse for the guys to make a fool out of themselves…” I added, running a hand through my hair. It looked like I was talking to myself in a way…

“So, what do say kids?” I asked, “Do you wanna go on tour?” I added, about to cross my fingers behind my back, hoping they’d say ‘no’.

Next thing I know, I’m tackled to the floor, with Hailie and Damien hugging me mumbling “Yes” over and over again, before they jumped off me and ran to the kitchen, squealing.

I sighed, ran a hand through my hair and got up.

Matt was there, leaning against the door frame.

“That’s nice of you…” he said, trailing off. “What you did for them… Now they’re so excited they are harassing both Brian and Jimmy…” he added with a small smile.

I shrugged.

“You might want to start packing…” he said.

“Already done.” I replied.

“Yes, but try not to bring too much… I mean, with won’t have much space in the bus with 7 adults and 2 kids you know….” He explained.

“Alright.” I said with a short nod before heading upstairs. Matt patted my shoulder as I walked past him and then walked back in the kitchen.

“Adeline, wait!”

I rolled my eyes, already half way up the stairs and turned to look at Brian who was standing in the hallway, looking at me.

“Yes?” I asked, not hiding my annoyance.

“Thank you.” He said, still looking at me.

I nod shortly and turned my back to him, walking to the guest room.

What was I supposed to say?
“Fuck off” yeah right, Ellie would have killed me.

I grabbed my suitcase, unzipped it and looked at its content. If Ellie saw this, she’ll flip…

“What’s the hell!”

Too late…

“Is that how you packed my suitcase too?” she asked, standing next to me, her eyes wide as she starred at the disaster that was my suitcase.

“Nah, yours in normally packed you know… I was running out of time, so I just shoved everything in my suitcase, and when it wouldn’t fit, I had to jump in to cram everything so the rest would fit…” I explained, rubbing my neck.

“You’re a walking disaster my dear…” she said, just before grabbing my suitcase and pouring its content on the bed. “Start again, and try to fold your clothes and put them in net pile, it will fit better, trust me. And make a pile of the things you will not bring with you, we’ll put them in a bag and put the bag in the closet or whatever…” she said, before grabbing her own bags.

“I’m gonna see what I will and will not bring, and check the way you packed my clothes. Be ready to have your ass kicked if it’s not the way I usually do…” she said, winking.

I wasn’t afraid, she wouldn’t kick my ass for stuffing her clothes in her bags. Simply because she knew she had no chance against me. I smiled, shaking my head and sat in the middle of the bed, surrounded by my crumpled clothes.

So, I was going to be stuck in a bus, no need to dress up for that… I’ll just bring comfortable clothes…

I grabbed my jeans, my bands T-shirts, my GD hoodie, the A7X one and the plain black one, some random cotton pants I usually used as pajamas, and a couple of long sleeved T-shirts. My underwears and socks.

I folded everything neatly and put everything in the suitcase, realizing that it was only half full. Ellie was right, it was easier to just fold clothes. I had only left a skirt and a couple of tank top. I sighed and put them in the suitcase too.

“Done…” I mumbled, clapping my hands.

“Yo Ellie?” I shouted, jumping off the bed.

“In there!” she replied. I frowned, heading in direction of Matt’s room. She was there, her suitcase opened on his bed. She had emptied her suitcase on his bed and was now putting her clothes back in the suitcase. It was almost full, and she had a pile of clothes abandoned on the floor.

She had brought more clothes than I did.

“Done already?” she asked, looking at me from over her shoulder.

“Yeap, and I still have plenty of space. You were right, I should have folded my clothes when I left France, I’d have brought more clothes then…” I said.

“If you really do have so much space, why don’t you try and fit the twins clothes in the suitcase too?” asked Ellie, turning to look at me with a small smile.

“Good idea!” I said, pointing at her. “You’re smart! I wouldn’t have guessed…” I added and then ran out of the room before she could hit me with a pillow.

I went back in the guest room and emptied the kids’ suitcase, realizing with no surprise that Jay had packed it pretty much like I did. Or maybe it was neatly packed at first and I was the one who cram everything in the suitcase? I guess so…

I sighed and started folding everything before putting the clothes in my suitcase.

It took me less than 20 minutes. I zipped up the suitcase and put it by the door. I put the kids’ suitcase in a corner. Then I just put their bag next to suitcase. That bag was almost as big as the suitcase, but it was full of toys, DVDs and such.

I lay down on the bed, crossing my hands behind my head, looking up at the ceiling. I closed my eyes, and felt myself slowly drifting off to sleep, only to be interrupted by the growling sound coming from my stomach, reminding me that I had skipped lunch…

“Just shut up…” I grumbled to my stomach, rolled to my side, curled up in a ball and closed my eyes again.
“Hey Adeline, are you don_ Whoa!” *Pomp* and then silence.

I sat up straight, scared by the crashing sound I heard. I blinked and looked at the floor, only to see Brian, face first on the carpet.

“What did you do?” I mumbled.

“I tripped on your fucking bag…” he muttered, sitting up and rubbing his neck.

“You should have watched where you were going but anyway, what do you want?” I asked, lying back down.

“I wanted to ask you if you were done packing, but I guess you are… And also that we are leaving tomorrow, not in two days like your sister told you… I’ll let you sleep now, I might take the kids to the park later on, if that’s okay with you…” he asked, back on his feet and standing next to the door.

“Sure, have fun…” I whispered, turning my back to him and fell asleep almost as soon as he closed the door, not after he had muttered a few cursed words about my suitcase being in the way…