"Look who's finally home." I hear the voice of my annoying brother. I lock the door behind me and turn to see him with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
He looks just like dad in this moment. He stands in the same position dad did when we got in trouble. It's like the older Nick gets, the more he looks like dad.
"Did you wait up for me," I ask him. I can hear someone running down the stairs.
Great. Now everyone knows I'm home.
"Spencer, I'm recording your walk of shame." I turn to see Jamie recording me from the stairs.
I can feel my cheeks burning up. Could this get any worse?
"Where were you, young lady," I hear a much less mature voice say from behind me. I turn around and see little Grant with his arms crossed like Nick's.
"I'd like to know the same thing," Nick says, unmoving. I roll my eyes and breathe out an exhausted sigh.
"Guys, I think I'm old enough to have some privacy," I whine in annoyance.
"Not when you come home in your boyfriend's clothes," Jamie says. I scold her for selling me out. All she does is smile in return.
"Boyfriend," Grant and Nick say in shock. "It better not be Chester," Nick barks at me.
"What does it matter if it's Chester or not? That's none of your business," I yell back at him.
"It is my business when he's hurt you before. I'm not letting that happen again, so you better not be dating him." I scuff at him in disbelief.
"What's going on in here?" We all turn to see Frank looking at us like we've gone insane.
"Tell Spencer she's not allowed to date Chester," Nick demands from Frank. Frank's eyes bulge and I chuckle under my breath.
"No disrespect to you Frank, but Nick, do you really think our step father has enough control over me to stop me from dating someone I love?" I blurt it out before I can think about what I'm saying.
Nick's eyes burn into me deeper when he hears the word love come out of my mouth referring to a person he dislikes.
"Love?! Don't be ridiculous, Spence. You don't exactly have the best judgement when it comes to guys. You're just making yourself blind to all the red flags that are right in your face," Nick yells. For a few seconds I'm speechless. It hurts hearing that come from my own brother.
I can feel tears pricking my eyes, but I keep them in.
"Guys, let's settle down," Frank says in a sharp voice. "All this yelling isn't solving anything." Nick and I are too heated to hear anything he's saying.
"You know what, Nick? If I am fucked up and don't know how to make good choices, I learned it from you. You're the most messed up person I know and you're the only one I had for a long time. It's no wonder you're bad habits rubbed off on me."
I know it's wrong what I said and I'll feel guilty later, but I want him to be hurt by my words like I was by his words.
And I know it worked because he has nothing to say. He stands there with a hurt expression on his face and his fists unclench.
"Spencer and Nick. My office. Now." At the entrance of the kitchen, our mother stands with a disappointed look on her face. She walks off to her office before we can reply to her. Grant and Jamie run off to their rooms before they can be scolded too.
Nick and I slowly walk to our mother's office and she waits for us from behind her desk.
"Close the door," she demands from Nick once we're inside. Nick and I avoid looking at each other.
"Look what you guys did. You went too far and now you can't even look at each other."
"Well, it wouldn't have gone far if Spencer just told me where she was all night or if she just listened to me for once," Nick mumbles under his breath.
"Oh, so now it's all my fault. So, you didn't say anything," I ask Nick sarcastically.
Mom slaps her hand down on her desk and it makes us both jump in surprise.
"Stop it! Have you guys forgotten how to talk to each other," she asks, rubbing her aching head.
"Obviously, Spencer has. I basically raised her for years and now she has the nerves to call me fucked up." I can almost laugh at how serious Nick is about blaming me about everything.
"Stop blaming each other. If there's any reason your fucked up, it's my fault," our mom says and neither of us say anything, silently agreeing with her.
She breathes out an exhausted sigh.
"This is all my fault. I'm the parent here and I haven't completely taken that position. Nick, you shouldn't have to be the one taking that roll and I'm sorry. It is your job to protect your sister, but you have to let her breathe. You don't have to watch her like a hawk and force her to stay locked in her room forever," my mom says in a soft voice.
Nick looks down at his feet and doesn't say anything. My mom changes her gaze onto me next.
"And Spencer, you can't go missing for hours and not let us know where you are. If it weren't for Jamie letting me know where you were and that you were safe, I'd be going crazy right now. You have to inform me when you're doing things. I know you haven't had to do that in a long time, but I'm here now and things need to change."
Neither of us say anything or respond to our mother. The guilt of what I said to Nick washes over me and I look over at him and see him looking back at me with guilt in his own eyes.
"I'm sorry," we both say at the same time and let out a laugh from being in sync.
"I didn't mean to make you feel stupid or that you don't have privacy. I just want to make sure you're safe and that you don't get hurt," Nick tells me and brings me into a hug.
"I know. I just feel really good about my relationship with Chester and I don't like when you doubt me. I know I've made mistakes in the past, but I've grown from them. I know I should've informed mom about my plans."
"Aww. Okay, now get out of my office. I have to go make dinner." My mom opens the door of her office and motions us to leave.
"Wait, you don't have to make dinner," I tell her with a smile on my face. Nick and my mom look at me confused.
"Well, what do you expect us to eat," Nick asks.
"Chester's dad invited us over their house for dinner," I say with a big smile.