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Yeah, I want to know too, so I cross my arms to show that we aren’t moving until he spills.

“I thought I saw someone,” Elijah says, shaking his head. “I think I was wrong. I just need to get some caffeine in me and get to our house. I feel twitchy.”

“We don’t have secrets,” I remind him. It’s important, because Ignacio fucked us over so badly. “If you decide you did see something, tell us, okay?”

“Yeah,” he says, nodding. Elijah looks like he’s shaking, and now more than ever, I wish we had another driver. “I promise.”

“Alright, let’s get the fuck out of here then,” I decide.

Jared gets his stuff from Elijah, and then we’re all getting in our cars to continue driving. I share a long glance with Jared first, who jerks his head in agreement. He’ll watch Elijah to make sure he’s good.

Fuck, I really just want to get there. I’m going to start whining soon, just like Elijah usually would. The thought makes me chuckle under my breath as I pull back onto the highway, with Elijah behind me, and Jared at the end.

Three hours left, we can do this.

Cracking my eyes open as the sun peeks through the blinds, I groan. I’m definitely going to need to get the blackout curtains up as soon as possible.

“Seven in the morning is diabolical on no sleep,” Elijah groans next to me. We all kind of picked a room to crash in together and passed the fuck out.

“It’s so early,” I sigh. “We may as well get up and start unpacking. We want the house set up before school starts.”

“Why are you the voice of reason?” Jared grunts, yawning.

“Because the coffee maker is in the truck,” I remind him.

“Good point,” he says, pushing himself up.

I grabbed bedding from where I tucked it in a box next to me in the truck in the early hours of the morning when we came in, and that’s how I made a makeshift bed. We’ll need to buy a ton of things that we didn’t bother to bring from our homes.

If Elijah complains about it, I’ll tell him about my business plan.

I used the last leg of the drive to begin planning things out.

I won’t really be able to dig into it until I find the right place in town for the new business, but it’s the first time I’ve been excited about anything in a long time.

Grumbling, we all get up and shove our feet into shoes. We were so dead on our feet, we decided to pass out with our clothes on. Yawning, we stumble out of the house and I shove my hand into my jeans. I even fell asleep with the damn keys.

Ugh, this drive was rough.

The truck is in the driveway beside the other two cars, as we made sure to buy a house with a huge driveway. If we ever want to have people over, the cars need to fit. I doubt that we will because we’ve become hermits over the summer, but it’s a possibility.

Opening the back of the moving truck, I nod at everything perfectly organized in the back. We packed it all ourselves to make sure nothing got broken, and fuck if it didn’t leave the three of us sore as well.

Nothing worth doing is easy, after all. God, how I know that.

“Start from the front and work your way back,” I state. “This is the box with the coffee maker.”

Lifting it from the back of the truck, I smirk at their hungry stares.

Each of them blindly grab a box and follow me back in.

I have a cart to be able to bring more in at a time, but I’m well aware of how much we need caffeine.

My pocket knife is also in my pocket, and I have no idea how I managed to sleep with all this shit.

Opening the box, I set it up on the counter in the kitchen, while Elijah washes the pot.

We have two different kinds of coffee makers, but we’re definitely going to need the easy way instead of fancy espresso.

Just give me a direct IV into my vein please.

Once the machine begins to drip, we trudge back out to unload.

The entire day is spent chugging coffee and pulling out boxes. While I’m not in a hurry to bring the truck back, I do want to get the house ready. It’s already been cleaned because I asked the real estate agent about a cleaning crew, and she set it up for me.

It’s all coming together nicely.

“Watch the door,” I tell Elijah as I walk him backward slowly through the front doors. The house reminds me of a miniature castle in many ways out in the hills of California, and the nearest neighbor is at least an acre away.

The terracotta roof and the spiral tower in the north wing are only a few of the many parts of the architecture that I fell in love with in this house.

It may seem overwhelming for a seven bedroom home, but we need space.

I don’t want to have to leave the house to work out, and I wanted a pool for Jared.

His anger still needs to be managed in the only way he’s ever been able to.

Cool, quiet, and calm darkness underneath the water.

He thinks we don’t understand or know that it quiets the demons he has, but we do.

I know about the pool inside his parents’ home for both his obsession and their need for him to succeed, and that his butler wanted to come with us.

Calvin may still find his way here, but not yet.

I want us to stand on our own two feet first. If it proves difficult for us to keep everything going, then I’ll text Jared’s parents to send him to us.

I don’t think it’s an admission that we can’t handle life on our own, but that our schedules may not be compatible to care for a home this size.

At least, that’s what I’ll tell them. I can hire cleaners, but as my gaze looks over places that they missed, my skin crawls in disgust. Sometimes, it’s better to have someone in your home who understands what cleanliness actually means.

“This place is huge,” Jared says, looking out the huge back window at the property. The pool overlooks the cliffs over the ocean, one of the reasons we paid such an exorbitant price.

Jared and I aren’t telling Elijah how much it was because we both agreed that it was too perfect to pass up.

“I was just thinking about that, as well as cleaning and maintaining it all,” I admit.

“You didn’t think about that before?” Elijah teases me, gazing outside as well.

“I know, I have mused over it, but there were a lot of other things to worry about,” I say.

“Calvin texted me this morning to see how we were,” Jared says. “My parents are never home, so I think he’s bored.”

Or maybe he loves you and he’s checking in, you dolt.

Rolling my lips inward to keep my words from spilling out, I shrug.

“What do you think he’d think about this place?” I ask.

“He’d tell you that the cleaners did a shit job,” he says with a laugh. “He would also be checking the temperature of the pool and making adjustments to ensure that it was cool enough.”

“I was going to see how we did and then decide if we should bring him down, but if he’s up to it, we can do it sooner,” I say.

“Being an adult may be overrated,” Elijah says with a snort. “It’s after two and we haven’t eaten yet.”

“Fuck, I also forgot to plug in the fridge,” I groan.

“Did you see if it’s clean enough to turn on?” Jared asks, smirking.

“Call him,” I sigh. “Try to pretend that we didn’t epically fail at being independent.”

“My stomach still says that you’re protesting too much,” Elijah says with a smirk. “I’m going to order food and we can keep unpacking. Otherwise, I’m going to start stabbing things to deal with my hunger.”

“You’ll still be hungry though,” I snort as he flicks me off to search for somewhere that will deliver.

Jared is already pulling out his phone with a happy smile. Just because we’ve graduated high school, doesn’t mean that it isn’t odd to be on our own. I know people do this all of the time, but they usually have parents or someone who cares about them to help navigate the waters.

We don’t have that.

Calvin is the closest person for Jared, which means that’s where we’re going to lean for help.

“Hey, Calvin,” he says when the phone call connects. “We’re unpacking the truck now.”

He hits the speaker button on the phone, and I listen in as Calvin responds.

“— movers clean well enough?” he asks.

I missed part of what he said due to the speaker turning on, but I can get the gist.

“Yes, they cleaned, but I can see where they missed spots,” Jared admits. “We’re probably going to need to clean ourselves.”

“Absolutely not. Give me the number and I’ll ensure that you get your money back. That’s unacceptable. I want to clean the house,” Calvin practically growls. “Stop unloading the truck right now.”

Holding back a smile, I decide that righteous indignation will work just fine.

“Yes, sir,” Jared says. “I’ll book your flight now. How long would you like to stay?”

“Permanently,” Calvin says firmly. “You boys need someone to make sure you’re eating and taking care of yourselves.”

Well, I guess that’s that!