It Was Always You

Welcome to the family

"Hi! You must be Alyssa." I said, smiling down at the 11 year old girl in front of me. She was tall for her age with long brunette hair and green eyes, she looked exactly like Chase.

"Yeah, that's me." She said and smile back. She seemed lively but sweet and caring. I think she understands a lot more about the death of her parents than Chase thinks, and she's handling it very well.

"Welcome to your new home." I said and looked at Chase. He looked nervous and shy. For the first time in my life I have seen him vulnerable. He was always the brave one and now he looked like he really needed looking after.

"What's your name?" She asked me and I realised I hadn't actually introduced myself so to her I was a stranger.

"I'm Iona, Aiden's sister. Your brother calls me piggy though." I said and giggled.

"Why?" She questioned.

"I don't actually know, you'll have to ask him." I told her. I never actually knew why he called me that, it just sort of stuck one day. "Anyway, do you like pink?"

"I love pink!" She exclaimed and a huge grin swept across her face. I noticed Chase watching her and he smiled as soon as she did, it was clear he really cared about her.

"Good, because you're staying in the pink room. Do you want to have a look? We can take your stuff up." I said and she nodded and followed me up the stairs. I felt bad having to have dragged her all the way up the stairs to the third floor but the excited smile and happy clapping when she saw her room showed that she didn't care.

She immediately dropped her bag and ran towards the bed, jumping on it and landing on her tummy, spread out like a starfish.

"I take it that you like it?" I asked and she enthusiastically nodded before saying "I absolutely love it!" Then she did something I didn't expect an 11 year old girl to do to a stranger, she climbed down from the bed, ran towards me and hugged me. I hugged her back and couldn't help but smile myself. I loved her already and she wasn't even my sister.

"Do you have any preferences for dinner?" I asked her and she shook her head. "Okay, i'll leave you to pack, you can come down whenever and if you need anything, just ask me." I said and left the room, smiling as I went.

"Hey." I said, flinging myself on the sofa beside Aiden.

"Hey sis. Is Alyssa okay?"

"She's fine! She loves the room and she looks so carefree and happy."

"She's happy?" Chase asked.

"Yeah, she's just unpacking her stuff then she said she'll come down. What does she like for dinner?"

"Oh, good. Thankyou for this by the way guys. It means so much to me."

"No problem man, theres plenty of space and you're welcome to help yourself." Aiden reassured him.

"Honestly, anything Chase." I also reassured him. "Anyway, what food does she like, I don't know what to cook."

"Anything really, her favourite is probably chicken."

"Chicken it is then! I'll need to run to the shop and get some ingredients and stuff. I'll be back soon." I told them before picking up my purse and pulling on my shoes. Luckily, there was a small grocery store about a 15 minute walk away from the house.  Just before I left, I heard Alyssa call out to me. "Can I come with you, please?" She asked.

"Of course you can!" I replied. I let her follow me out the house and we began out short journey to the shop.

"So, do you like England?" I asked her. When she left to go to America, she probably didn't remember what it was like here.

"It's okay I guess, different to America but I like it."

"Good. What's it been like living with Chase? If you don't mind me asking..."

"Its been okay. He's a good guardian, he looks after me and always puts me first and buys me nice things when he can afford it."

"That's nice of him. He told me you didn't have a female figure in your life so I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need a female to go to then you can always ask me." I told her.

"Thankyou. I appreciate it." She said and after that small conversation, we arrived at the shop.

"Right then, Chicken, salad, salad dressing, Cajun spice, new potatoes." I mumbled to myself, ticking off the list. "You want pudding?" I asked Alyssa who was happily walking beside me.

"I don't mind."

"How about we get a big chocolate cake. Or even better, we could make one?" I offered and her face lit up at the mention of it.

"So I guess that's a yes to making one?" and she nodded. "What type? Victoria sponge, cupcakes, cookies, chocolate cake?"

"Mmm, I love chocolate, what about a chocolate Victoria sponge?"

"Sounds yummy." I said and turned down the baking isle, collecting ingredients off the shelf and placing them in the basket. "Is there anything you need? Toothbrush, deodorant, toiletries?"

"No, i'v got everything I need for the moment, thankyou."

"Okay, we're set to pay then." I said and we headed to the till to pay.

When we arrived back home, Connor, Lewis and Jake had arrived. There was music party music playing from the surround sound speakers placed all over the house. It was playing quietly which was unlike the boys and I gathered it was because of Alyssa being a lot younger than all of us.

"Hey boys! You all staying for dinner cos I don't think I bought enough food."

"No its cool, we're going to order pizza." Jake said and I turned to Aiden and Chase. "Dinner at 6?" I asked and they nodded. "Cool, me and Lissa are going to make a cake." I said and turned to leave the room but just as I did so, I noticed Chase smile at me.

It only took us 30 minutes to make the cake and it was full of chocolaty goodness. After it had cooled, I let Alyssa decorate it by herself and she looked relax and at home. I started cooking the dinner for Chase, Aiden, Alyssa and I while the other stuffed their faces with Pizza.

It was now 10pm and Chase had carried Alyssa up after she fell asleep on the sofa while the boys chatted loudly around us. I included her in the conversation every now and then and even took her into the games room to play Wii. but she had enjoyed a long day, in an unfamiliar household, in my eyes, she was a mature 12 year old.

"So, you think she's going to like it here?" I asked Chase when he joined us again.

"Yeah, I think so. She loves you already. I think she likes having another girl around."

"Awr, good. I'm trying my best to make her feel welcome."

"Thankyou so much, Iona. You're great" He told me and I smiled at him. I was now once again snuggled up with Connor.

"Are you two together?" Chase suddenly asked, pointing towards me and Connor. I couldn't help but burst out laughing along with Connor. "What's funny?" He asked.

"No, we're not together. He's my best friend, Chase."

"Best friend? What, a boy and girl."

"Well, isn't that obvious? Last time I checked I was a girl and i'm pretty sure Connor's a boy."

"100% baby!" Connor shouted out, making me laugh again.

"You're not those people who say they're best friends but one day find out that you're both head over heels in love with each other are you?"

"No way! He's like my brother."

"Right." He said, looking unsure. He could carry on giving me the warning looks but they didn't bother me. Connor and I had always got along with each other and then we just got closer and closer with each other. We don't love each other. I have to admit though, we did do something stupid on my 16th birthday, but I plan on taking that secret to the grave.