New Step Brother, New Family, New Life? Thanks for Nothing, Dad

The last day of our little weekend vacation. We will be leaving tomorrow morning. I can honestly say that I am not very happy about it either. I would love to just stay here forever. But I have to get back home to the farm and finish out the summer.

Daddy would be so proud.

"So, what are we doing today?" Smokey asked as we sat around in a circle near the lake. Ethan fidgeted a bit and looked at us. He shrugged and raised his hands in the universal apologetic gesture.

"I kinda sorta maybe invited a bunch of people down for a lake house party," Ethan muttered, looking away and scratching the back of his head. Smokey's face lit up with excitement.

"A party? How come you didn't tell me? I love parties!" she exclaimed, nearly jumping with happiness. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, just don't let her drink too much," I said with a sigh. "Does the girl that owns this house know about your party?"

"Of course she does! She's the one who suggested it," Ethan stated matter-of-factly. I sighed and glanced to Tyler and Trent, who hadn't spoke up in this discussion yet.

"I think it's a great idea, I've been craving an awesome party for a while now," Trent said, slinging his arm around my shoulders. I giggled lightly and Trent grinned, leaning in to kiss my cheek lightly.

Smokey made gagging noises at our PDA, causing the other two guys to burst out into laughter. I glared at them which sadly didn't stop them.

Finally Ethan calmed down enough to say, "Ok, since you and Trent obviously want to have some alone time, Smokey, Tyler and I will go get refreshments and food. You two can clean and decorate this place and make it party-ready. The rich chick said party decorations are in the plastic tubs in the garage. Ok? Ready team? Break!" He jumped up and sprinted away to the car.

"Um...okay..." Smokey said, standing up. "Mickey Mouse, keys please." I nodded and took the car keys from my pocket. She caught my easy toss and followed after Ethan. Tyler stood and shrugged, glancing at Trent and me.

"See you guys later," Tyler said, his voice almost monotone. With that and nothing else, Tyler turned and trailed Smokey and Ethan to the Range Rover. Trent leaned over, pulling me from my thoughts of Tyler, and kissed me lightly. After a while, he pulled back and smiled.

"Let's get started."

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Smokey's P.O.V

"C'mon guys! Hurry up!" I half whined, half shouted at the moping guys behind me. I was walking backwards about 20 feet ahead of Ethan and Tyler who just kind of moped slowly towards the entrance to the grocery store.

"We're coming! Keep your socks on!" Ethan grumbled, jogging to catch up to me with Tyler right behind him. We walked inside, grabbed a cart and started pushing through the aisles. After an hour and a half and once our cart was full of junk food and soda (I assumed Ethan had found someone else to bring the alcohol), we checked out and headed outside to the car.

"Last one to the car is a rotten egg!" I shouted, sprinted forward. I knew Tyler probably rolled his eyes since he was pushing the cart and couldn't move fast.

That's when it happened.

I heard Ethan shout my name, and as I turned to him, the brakes of a car screeched and something ran into me. Hard. I was knocked to the hot asphalt of the parking lot, scraping the skin from my palms for catching my fall. I fell on to my side and rolled on to my back from the momentum of the hit.

But, surprisingly, I was ok.

Now, you might be thinking that I was hit by the car. And truthfully, I was thinking that too. But when I flipped over, I saw Ethan leaning over me, his hands on either side of my head. He had knocked me out of the way of the big ass truck about to make me part of its bumper.

"Holy hell!" Tyler shouted, rushing over to us with the cart. I sat up, causing Ethan to move off to one side of me. I shivered, fear and adrenaline flooding my body. The driver jumped from his car, mumbling something about how I came out of nowhere. Truthfully, everything was a blur as memories of the scenes of my parents' crash and deaths echoed through my mind.

The only reason I came back to the present from my daydreaming was the incredible stinging in my palms. I shook my head and looked to my right, where Ethan was sitting, wiping the blood and dirt from my palms.

Apparently, I had fainted. And Ethan had carried me to the car. Now, we were headed back to the house with Tyler driving and Ethan in the back seat with me. He had dug out the first aid kit McCartney always kept in her cars for safety measure and was dressing my wounds.

"Ethan?" I whispered, my voice hoarse. He looked up at me, and smiled sadly. I tried to return it, then added. "Thank you." Ethan just shrugged and reverted his gaze to my wounds. As the rush died down, I lay my head back against the headrest, closed my eyes.

And I fell asleep.