Oliver's POV

We heard a knock on the door barely a minute later.

Van didn't wait for Axel to invite him in. He strolled in, relaxed, his flip-flops slapping against the wood floors in an annoying, loud manner. 

"What's up," Van greeted. Earlier, he was in a neat pair of slim jeans and a white shirt with a casual cardigan. Now, his hair was tied in a messy, loose ponytail, decked out in over-sized shorts and a loose but somehow flattering t-shirt.

He joined us on the bed without prompting, stretching his legs atop Axel's as Axel explained what we weren't sure about. 

I looked between Axel and Van. 

They were a lot closer than I'd realized. 

Van was the one joining us, but I was the one out of place.

"Does that make sense?" Van asked, looking over at me. 

I nodded with a thankful grin, even though I hadn't been listening. 

"Man, you guys are really on top of this. Even I haven't started my project," he sighed, leaning back against the headboard.

He sure seemed at home. "Who's your partner?" I asked, to make conversation.

"I got permission to do it alone," he admitted. He turned to me before I could comment. "Poor you, though, stuck with this dumbass," he teased.

Axel rolled his eyes. I snickered. "Well, it's not like I'm the best at chemistry either," I admitted. I didn't want to talk about Axel, especially not with Van. "I'm only taking it because my mother wanted me to."

But I regretted bringing it up immediately. Van's eyes lit up, and though he tried to be subtle, he was clearly interested.

"Your mom is a doctor, right?" he confirmed. I hummed a confirmation, turning back to my laptop. He didn't take the hint. "Are you interested in working in a medical field as well?"

"No, I'm not sure about that," I smiled in a way that clearly ended the conversation. "How about you?"

Axel and Van exchanged a look. A silent understanding passed through them, clearly, because they changed the topic really quick.

"Not really sure either, haha. Do you want to watch a movie with us after dinner?" Van proposed. "We were thinking of horror," Van watched my face closely. "Or maybe a mystery?"

I didn't like the probing. Stay longer? In this den full of metaphorical wolves? 

"Ah, that sounds fun! I'll have to get back to you on that," I pretended to check my phone, as if I was texting my mother for permission. 

I wasn't. Van was quiet, and he and Axel shared another look.

The looks were starting to get on my nerves. Whatever they were planning was not something I wanted to be a part of, but it was so blatant I was a bit irritated. 

Axel had no subtlety, and seemed surprisingly not as bad when he was alone. Van, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was doing — he was trying to set him and Axel up as an 'in-group' that I was notably excluded from. 

If I cared, I would have jumped on the opportunity to join and try to get to be apart of the 'cool kids' crew or whatever, but I didn't care, so it was just irritating watching him try to shift the power dynamics of the room into his favour. 

Before Van could continue, a loud buzz rang out in the room. Axel got up, pressing a button on a thermostat-like object on the wall.

"Dinner is ready, kids!" Mrs. Reaper sounded so excited and preppy even through the intercom. I was already exhausted of her. "Come down now!"

"Are you joining us?" Axel asked Van. Van's eyes flickered to me. 

"I'll eat later," he said. I didn't know whether to be relieved or not. What was his reason for leaving?

"Alright, then, Oliver, let's go." Reluctantly, I followed him out.

"You guys have fun with the kids," Van waved us out of Axel's own room.

"The kids?" I asked, in the hallway with Axel.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I, uh, have siblings. Too many of them." He scratched his neck awkwardly. 

"They know you'll be there, but sorry if they're," he gestured vaguely. 

I nodded. I babysat for money, I could deal with a couple hyper kids.

We went downstairs, and I did a double-take at the size of the dinner table. 

Okay, how many siblings did he have? I was expecting perhaps two others. Not an entire football team.

But Axel walked right by that dinner table, instead passing through a corridor to another room.

The dining table in the next room was much smaller, but much more impressive. This must be the fancy dining room, I realized, eyeing the chandelier and detailed tablecloth. 

The table was already set, and the moment Axel and I entered, all eyes were on us.

"Oliver, dear!" Mrs. Reaper called out affectionately. There was a child sitting on her lap, and more kids around the table. "Oh, come sit over here, would you?" There were only two seats anyways, but I smiled and nodded.

"I would love to," I thanked her, taking the seat next to hers. Axel sat to my left.

"Please, dig in," Mrs. Reaper pushed some dishes closer to me. 

I stared. Was this a human amount of food? Did she think I could eat a whole turkey by myself?

I looked at the others. They had a ridiculous amount of food piled on their plates. It was almost comical.

Mr. Reaper must have noticed my surprise, because he laughed. "Eat up! All of us have big appetites. They're trying to hold back and not pig out in front of you," he told me.

"Your food bills must be higher than the roof, Mr. Reaper. All 12 of them."

He laughed again. Axel snickered beside me. I stared at the pile of food on his plate. Even Mrs. Reaper had an insanely large salad.

Mrs. Reaper was a beautiful woman, I had to admit. She looked like the picture perfect image of a dignified, elegant housewife, the hint of wrinkles only adding to her charm. Large diamonds hung from her ears and sat around her neck, and I wasn't surprised to see a matching one in gold on her ring finger.

Her husband only completed the picture of a classic, picture-perfect couple. Mr. Reaper's salt-and-pepper hair, stern face, and large, fit frame contrasted well against Mrs. Reaper, though he luckily seemed a lot more down to earth.

"This is Hannah, Cameron, Brett, Chase, and Annabella. Emilia is attending college right now, she won't be home for a while, unfortunately. Though she'd love to meet you too, I'm sure," Mrs. Reaper smiled. I smiled back. Why? "Children, please say hello to your brother's... friend."

There was a round of awkward, formal hellos. Mrs. Reaper looked pleased though, and I completely understood Axel's feelings when he sighed.

I wanted to sigh too. Did I have to get to know all of these people? What a pain in the ass. 

I caught the eye of Hannah, who waved at me. I recognized her from around school—we had probably met in passing before. Was she one year younger or two?

"That's Hannah," Axel murmured from beside me when Mrs. Reaper turned her attention to the child on her lap. I turned to him, listening. "She's a freshman. And she's really annoying." Hannah shot him a dirty look from across the table, obviously having heard that. Axel made a face back at her.

"That's Cameron," Axel pointed to the younger boy sitting next to Hannah. "In seventh grade, he's like... how old is he again?"

"I'm twelve," Cameron said dryly.

Axel waved a hand. "Yeah, whatever. He sucks at all sports, but that doesn't stop him from playing them anyways."

"Hey!" Cameron protested. "My basketball team won city finals! And we're going to provincials in soccer!"

"Yeah, but your volleyball sucks," Axel snorted. "Have you ever won a game?"

Cameron angrily spooned corn into his mouth. "Shut up," he scowled. "You're only good at football. You SUCK BALLS at—"

"Kids," Mr. Reaper scolded. "Settle down. And watch your language, Cameron."

Cameron pouted, stabbing his chicken leg with a fork. I held back a snicker. Cameron looked and acted like a younger Axel, but a lot more innocent.

"I'm sure you guys are working hard," I soothed. "Volleyball is fun, isn't it?"

Cameron's eyes lit up. "You play too?" he continued before I could answer. "You should come play with us!"

I smiled politely. "That would be fun!" I agreed vaguely. Cameron grinned, back in a good mood. Axel cleared his throat.

"Anyways," Axel continued. "That's Brett, he's like... seven years old?" Brett sulked, slouched over.

"He's nine," Hannah cut in, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever. Brett, what do you do?" Axel scratched his face. Brett huffed, looking away.

"Games."

"Right, games," Axel dismissed. Brett scowled.

"What games?" I asked. Brett looked up, unfriendly. "I've only really played the Final Fantasy series," I trailed off.

Brett's eyes lit up. "I like the 7th!" He sat up in his seat. "The 6th was good too, but the 7th was super cool and more fun and—"

I nodded along, letting him gush. Axel looked surprised, but Brett's chatter was lively and earnest. This was why I liked talking to kids more than adults. They were so much more simple and honest.

"You'll have to give me your usernames for the games you play, I'll add you," I told him when he was done. He nodded eagerly.

"Chase, please finish your broccoli," Mrs. Reaper nagged at the kid on her lap. "No ice cream until you finish your vegetables."

Chase started crying and throwing a tantrum, and Mrs. Reaper sighed. She got up, carrying him out of the room.

The last person at the table was now in my sight. Sitting to the right of Mrs. Reaper was a small girl in a high chair. She was making art out of her mashed peas, a mess all over her face, bib, and hands.

I snickered. Kids. So messy.

"Ew," Cameron noticed it as well. "Mom, Annabella's playing pea-casso again!" he yelled.

Mr. Reaper sighed. "Don't yell at the table, Cameron."

"Yeah, whatever," Cameron shoveled food in his face.

"That's the last one," Axel informed me, gesturing at the messy girl. "She's Annabella. Like two year old or something."

Nobody was doing anything about her mess, so I moved over into Mrs. Reaper's seat to wipe her face. I could feel Axel watching me, but Annabella's eyes were more pertinent. She watched me curiously, and luckily didn't kick up a fuss at a stranger cleaning her up.

"Sorry about her," Mr. Reaper apologized, making to stand up. "Here, I'll take care of that—"

"It's alright," I waved him off with a smile. "I used to babysit, so I'm used to it."

"You're good with kids," Mr. Reaper complimented, sitting back down when he saw I had it covered. "Do you have any siblings?"

"I don't," I said. Axel was annoying, but his family was so normal and nice I was almost jealous. Even the way he bickered with his younger siblings made me... How nice would it be to have the comfortable, casual bond that siblings did? There was nobody you could trust like family, and I had so little of it. I only had mother. "I'm an only child."

"Just you and your parents, I see." Mr. Reaper nodded.

I kept my face neutral. "Just me and my mother, yes."

Before they could ask about my non-existent father, Mrs. Reaper came back with Chase on her hip, sucking on a popsicle. "Oh goodness gracious. I'm so sorry about her," Mrs. Reaper sighed, taking in me attempting to clean up Annabella. "Annabella, how many times have I told you not to play with your food?" she snapped.

I hid a snicker, returning to my chair. Kids were annoying, but they were hilarious. I continued eating as Mrs. Reaper scolded Annabella, who looked sad her art was destroyed. Poor girl.

"So, Oliver," Mr. Reaper continued. I kept my body from tensing, not wanting the turn mood heavy. "What does your mom do for a living?"

"She's a doctor, a family physician." I was glad he didn't press further about my father.

"Oh?" Mrs. Reaper looked pleased to hear that. "Quite a wonderful job. May I ask where she works?"

"Her clinic is not too far from the highway entrance near the industrial district." It wasn't weird that they were asking where she worked, but the attention they all seemed to pay to that location made me frown internally.

"That's where Laken works," Mrs. Reaper smiled at Mr. Reaper. I cocked my head. "We have a close friend of ours who works there as well. He doesn't live here with us, but he often visits."

"Dr. Laken?" I confirmed. They nodded. "I think I've met him before. He's a very nice man." He must have been, if he got along with my prickly mother as well as she made it seem. Mother made it sound like they were friends, but knowing her, she was just being a pain in his ass and he somehow put up with it.

The conversation shifted to a discussion of what naughty thing Cameron had done in school earlier, and I was surprised to find it quite normal. It was easy to play nice with kids, and Axel was quiet, which was probably why I didn't mind being there too much.

Until I felt something brush by my foot. I recoiled into myself. A dog?!

I peered under the table. A pair of way too intelligent eyes stared back up at me, and it took every ounce of self-control in my body to not yell in surprise.