Careless

The first two years after Ella moved to New York, she wondered what it would be like to see her family again. She would often imagine her grandparents and father coming to New York and whisking her away from her mom and bring her back to Cole Harbour.

It wasn't that Renee was a bad mother. In her own way, Renee did her best to provide and care for Ella. Renee was just dealing with her own problems and couldn't really help Ella through her problems. Often, Renee had to work late so Ella was left alone in the house with no one to talk to or hang out with.

Things changed, though, when Renee met and married Todd. He was a well to do businessman who had taken an interest in Renee when she was working in his office. She was one of the secretaries and he was the CEO.

Ella knew Todd to be a good man who loved her mother dearly, he after all put up with her when even her own daughter couldn't. Upon marrying Todd, came his daughter and son from two different marriages. They weren't much older than Ella, and they got along fairly well, but they ran in different circles.

Ethan Michaels, her eldest step-sibling, is three years older than her and his own mother was very much involved in his life, so he was often with his mother. By the time they were both old enough to understand their relationship as siblings, Ella was already into drugs and he was a straight A student with the intention of getting into Princeton.

January Michaels, her older step-sibling, is one year older than her and even though she was the one that lived with Todd, her mother died a few years before Todd married Renee. January was more about saving the world through hugs and kisses. On many occasions, January had tried to 'save' Ella from all the drugs and her friends, but Ella would just brush her off.

Ella sat awkwardly on the leather sofa beside her grandmother as she watched Sidney and Megan converse with each other. Her Aunt Melissa fuss about how grown up and beautiful Ella looked. She bit her bottom lip, feeling the cold metal of her lip ring, Ella felt completely out of place.

"I missed you so much," Melissa said for the fifth time she'd seen her niece.

Ever since Melissa found out that Renee had disowned Ella and refused to say why, Melissa had been worried sick for Ella the whole time. When she found out from her mother that Ella had been staying with them in their old home, she almost jumped on to the plane to Nova Scotia.

Renee had always been impulsive and ready to jump the bullet. Like her parents, Melissa took Elliot's side when Renee just up and left him taking Ella with her. Melissa worried about Ella when the mother and daughter went to New York because Renee was unstable and was never close to Ella. Elliot was mostly the one to give attention and care for Ella.

"You look so much like your mother," said her aunt, who was unable to keep her eyes away from her niece. It was scary how much Melissa looked liked Ella's mother. It was like seeing a younger, happier Renee.

Ella shifted around her seat, things were starting to get weird. She found it weird that a person she hardly knew could be so friendly to her. Melissa seemed like a sweet person, a huge contrast to her mother's distant demeanour. "Thank you," replied Ella unsurely.

"Mel, why don't you and I leave the kids to get to know each other? I want to know what your father's doing," Norma said and left the living room with Melissa.

Jessica studied her older and only cousin in her mother's side. She heard a lot about Ella and how her mom had tried to get contact with the two. She knew that the past few months had been hell for her mom when she heard that Ella had been disowned. She knew that her mom had been trying her hardest to try and get in contact with Ella.

Ella seemed like an outspoken person. Jessica was surprised to see all the tattoos and piercing that adorned her body. From the pictures she had seen of Ella from when they were younger, she was surprised to see the adorable gap toothed girl turn into a very pretty tattoo covered woman.

Making her way over to Ella, she smiled at her and sat down beside her. "How old are you?" she asked.

Ella smiled, thankful that she wasn't sitting there looking at Megan and Sidney like an idiot. "I'm twenty. I'll be twenty-one in November," she replied. "You?"

"I'm sixteen. So, you're only a few months younger than Megan," Jessica informed her and noticed the amount of times Ella sneaked glances at Sidney and Megan. She recognized that jealous look Ella had in her eyes. "So, you like him huh?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting up and her mouth turning into a smirk.

Ella's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. "W-what? I don't like him; he's just a good friend, that's all," Ella shoot her head furiously and looked down on her lap.

Jessica just looked at her sceptically and nodded. "Sure," she replied in such an unconvinced tone.

"I really don't!" Ella exclaimed a little too loudly and soon Megan and Sidney were looking at her. "Sorry."

Megan rolled her eyes and continued to speak to Sidney. "So, what's the deal with her?" she asked snidely. Megan made it known that she wasn't fond of her cousin Ella. She didn't like how close she was to her Sidney.

Groaning internally, Sidney knew where the conversation was going. He knew what Megan was like, because they grew up together and dated at one point, Megan had it stuck in her mind that they were going to end up together. The thought made him shudder; she wasn't a very nice girl and constantly snarled at every girl that got within a few feet of him. He only tolerated her because she was a family friend.

"She's a nice girl and I really like her. I consider her one of my good friends," he defended Ella.

Rolling her eyes again, Megan laughed sarcastically. "Are you serious? Why? I heard from mom that she was disowned. She probably got knocked up or something. Always knew Ella was a slut," Megan flipped back her blonde hair and smiled at him flirtatiously.

Clenching his fist, it took everything in him not to snap at Megan. She had no idea what Ella was going through. Ella was one of the most amazing people he had ever met and considered himself lucky to be able to call her friend. It made him mad to think that family would turn on another family member over a boy.

It wasn't fair that Megan was already judging Ella before even giving her a chance. He knew that if Megan took the time to get to know Ella, she wouldn't be able to say anything bad about her.

Silently getting up, Sidney walked over to Ella, who just watched him, and took grabbed her tiny wrist and dragging her away from the living room. Ella looked at him confused and then looked back at Jessica who just smirked at the two of them.

"Hey Sid, what's wrong?" she asked as he dragged her out of the house and into the backyard. "Can you please tell me what's wrong?" she asked again in a worried tone. She wondered what got him acting the way he did.

Exhaling, Sid tried to calm himself down. "Megan is just too much. She's just too much," he tried to find the words that would fit Megan without insulting her.

Ella's eyebrows raised and she looked at him sceptically. "Really? You guys seemed pretty comfortable. I mean the moment you saw her, you completely ignored me."

Ella knew that letting her jealousy get in the way of her reasoning, but for some reason she couldn't get past the fact that Megan and Sidney looked so comfortable. It also didn't help that Jessica told her that they used to date and warned her that Megan wasn't a very nice person when it came to matters of Sid.

She didn't mean to snap at him, but she was completely exhausted with reliving everything that went on in her life and then meeting family that she never knew she had or couldn't really remember in the span of twenty-four hours.

"I'm really tired. I think I'm going to go to my room and sleep," she lied and walked back into the house, leaving Sidney in the backyard gaping like a fish.

Looking back at him, she offered him a small smile and continued into the house. Ella began to become afraid that Megan was going to put a strain on hers and Sidney's relationship. In a short amount of time, Sidney quickly became one of the most important people in her life. He was her rock. Her best friend and confidant. She just couldn't loose him.