|Closeted Reunions|

The space was small, dark, and would make most people feel claustrophobic but I didn't mind. I took a deep breath and backed as far into the closet as possible before I slid down against the wall and drew my knees up to my chin, relishing in the dark and trying to drown out the muffled party noises. After two hours in a house with sweat inducing, alcohol driven teenagers celebrating the last day of winter break before school starts up again, it was nice to finally have a moment to relax by myself…even if it was in a closet.

"Hello." I jumped and swore at as I banged my head on the bar that coats were hanging from. "Relax," the male voice continued and I stuffed my hand into my pocket and drew out my cell phone. I touched the screen, bringing the device to life, and I shone the light in the direction that the voice came from. "Hey, what the hell are you doing? It's dark in here for a reason!"

"James?" I asked moments after his dark green eyes squeezed shut. His rough hands pushed at my phone but not before I noticed just how tan he'd gotten over winter break. A thought in the back of my head realized he probably went on the school trip to Greece. Only the senior boys made the trip while we senior girls would be going somewhere else during spring break.

"Audrey? What are you doing in here?" he asked as I put my phone away. I couldn't see him any longer but his deep voice portrayed whatever emotions his face may have held.

I glanced at the door as my eldest brother's stern face came to mind. Should I bolt and look like a total idiot in front of James or should I stay and hope that no one in my family hears about this closeted reunion?

"…I'm hiding from my boyfriend," I finally mumbled as I relaxed into a sitting position.

"Why?" he didn't sound particularly interested but I thought I heard a hint of concern in his voice.

"Because I'm not in the mood to sleep with him tonight," I told bluntly and James snorted. "Why are you in here?"

"Because I'm drunk and if my date finds out then I won't be getting any tonight," he replied before he gave a drunken laugh. "You know what's funny? You're in here because you don't want to get laid and I'm in here because I do." I smiled at James's words and heard his head roll back and hit the wall.

There was a small moment of silence before I spoke up.

"I lied," I told him in a strong voice. It's funny because I was feeling anything but strong at the moment. "I'm in here because Alec and I broke up and I don't want anyone to find out yet."

"Anyone meaning Jason and Zach," James clarified. James has always been an odd drunk…when drunk, he wouldn’t swear excessively or lose his sense of reality, he just had a tendency to go on rants and speak nothing but the truth. He'd be blunt, brutally honest, and wouldn't be coherent enough to care about whether what he'd be saying would or would not hurt your feelings. It could be a good thing and it could be a bad thing at times…a very bad thing.

"Yes."

"I'd hate to have six brothers," he informed me.

"I'd rather take six brothers then two sisters," I replied and he shrugged.

"You know, when we were dating...your brothers scared the shit out of me." I gave a humorless laugh. Yeah, they had a tendency to do that.

"Was that why you were so detached from our relationship?" I asked, not really sure if I wanted to know the answer but figuring that I had nothing to lose.

James and I dated during our junior year, last year. We broke up in early September this year but it wasn't a nasty break up. Neither of us cheated, there weren't any conniving bitches, and we didn't really want to date other people. When people ask why we broke up, I always say that we simply grew apart but the thing is, how can you grow apart from a guy who was never really there in the first place?

I broke up with him because during our relationship, I always felt like a stand in. I felt like James was just holding onto me until someone better came along…he never said or really did anything to warrant such suspicions but I could just tell by the way he never seemed to fully be as into the relationship as I was. After a little less than a year of dating, I couldn't take it anymore and broke things off.

"I don’t know why I was so detached. Things just weren't supposed to work between us back then."

Another silence overtook us and I sighed, realizing that I didn't feel like being in the house anymore. I didn't want to be near Alec or James or anyone else. I just wanted to go home. I glanced over at James and thought back on how I ended up dating Alec.

I started going out with Alec in late October and I knew of him through Jason -they played on the same soccer team. If I had been dating James at the time, I know I wouldn't have given Alec a second glance though…and that thought brought another question to mind.

"I'm going to ask you a question, James. I want an honest answer." The last part was unnecessary because he was always honest when he was drunk, but I said it because I wanted his word anyways.

"Alright. But then I'm going to ask a question and I want an honest answer, no matter what."

"Fine. Deal. Okay…so…do you…do you ever wish that we hadn't broken things off?"

There was a brief moment of silence that passed before James spoke up.

"Well…no." I felt a bit of my pride take a hit. "But I never wished that we had broken up either."

I nodded, understanding what he meant. He doesn't often think about how our relationship ended. My cellphone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out. It was a text message from Jason informing me that he left the party and would wait up for me at home. I sighed and stood up, carefully avoiding the metal bar. I had to get out of here because being so close to James was making me paranoid and nervous…what if someone walks in and reports us to Zach? Or Jason? Or worse, Drew?

"So what's your question?" I asked. "I have to go now so…" James didn't respond. "James? James?" I flashed my cellphone light on him and grinned when I saw him fast asleep. His black hair looked especially sweaty and gross, just like everyone else in the house, and his eyes were snapped shut as he slept peacefully with his head rolled to the side. I shook my head and opened the closet door, immediately taken aback by the blasting music. I left the closet door open so that someone would find him -if there's one thing I remembered from when we dated, it’s the fact that he could sleep through anything, including the ruckus that the party people were making.

I glanced at my cellphone once more before I made my way through the party, out of the house, and up the street to where my own house sat. The door was unlocked and I pushed it open to the living room only to find three boys sitting and waiting for me.

I felt a little nervous but calmed the butterflies in my stomach. If they were waiting in the room in order to yell at me for what I did at the party then they would have more menacing looks on their faces…right?

"Seriously, guys?" I asked, faking a calm façade as I shut and locked the door before throwing off my shoes.

"What? Another five minutes and you would have been past your curfew," Drew informed me. Drew was my twenty-six year old brother and has been the legal guardian of me and my other five brothers for the past three years. "Why didn't you come home with Jason?"

"Jason left like, five minutes before I did," I complained. "It's not that big a difference." I looked over at Jason who shrugged helplessly. I sighed, having a twin is not all its cracked up to be, especially if he's a boy. You can't switch places with your twin if he's a boy and you can't steal each others clothes or trick people or do any of that cool twin stuff…it kind of sucks. "Plus, Zach isn't even back yet! Shouldn't you be worried about him?"

Drew's eyes widened and he looked around the room as if noticing for the first time that what I said was indeed true -Zach wasn't home yet on a school night.

"Au contraire, little sister." Everyone's head turned to the staircase where I saw my lovely older brother walking down the steps. "I actually got home a little while ago -I had some homework I needed to catch up on." My eyes narrowed at him because he was being a dirty, rotten, liar. The last time Zach chose to do homework over attending some social event was…well, never.

His greenish hazel eyes mirrored those that all we Baker children had but his were currently sparkling with mischief. His dark brown hair was matted to his forehead and I looked at Drew in disbelief, was my older brother really going to fall for this? Zach, although a year older than both me and Jason, Zach being eighteen years old, was a senior at Callaway Academy with me and Jason. This is due to the fact that in order to start preschool at Callaway, a child must be five years of age by the time September first rolls around. Zach's birthday was October 22nd and so he missed the deadline and ended up enrolling with me and Jason who were born in early August.

"Zach, I'm not an idiot," Drew growled as he crossed his arms. I smiled smugly at Zach who glared at me before he rolled his eyes and plopped down on the couch.

"So what are you going to do to me, oh mighty ruler of the Baker clan?" Zach drawled. Matt, my nineteen year old brother, snorted. Matt was a freshman at Yale this year but made the decision to live at home instead of boarding there in order to help Drew care for the rest of us. Matt doesn't have a curfew and is allowed to come and go as he pleases as long as it doesn't disrupt everyone else's lives.

"I'm taking away your driving rights for a week. Audrey? The keys are all yours." I grinned and Zach made a displeased noise. Drew and Matt each have a car but Zach, Jason, and I all have to share one and it was sometimes a struggle to choose who got to drive it.

"But…that's not fair! I need the car…it's uhh…it's my week to pick the squirts up from school!"

"The twins will take your week," Drew informed Zach, referring to me and Jason. Jason and I were referred to as The Twins because we were the first twin set born. We were actually supposed to be the last kids born too, but somehow our mother became pregnant with Benny and Connor, the six year old twins. Everyone refers to them as The Squirts because…well, they're the squirts.

At the thought of my mother, I glanced at a picture that was hanging over the mantel. It was taken four years ago, a year before everything got screwy and we were sent to live with Drew. It was a family photo with my mother, Drew, Matt, Zach, Jason, me, Benny, and Connor. Sometimes when I look at this picture, it makes me wonder what on Earth possessed our parents to have so many kids, I mean we all look exactly the same. We have the same eyes, the same olive complexion, the same dark brown hair -only mine was a little curlier then everyone else's- and the same small noses (which I must admit, look better on me than they do on my brothers). Why would they keep having kids if they just keep getting the same thing over and over again?

"Drew, you're being so unfair," Zach complained.

"I don't care, Zach. There are only three serious rules that I enforce and you know them like the back of your hand."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Zach grumbled as he crossed his arms and sunk back into the couch. "No breaking curfew," he started off with the rule that was specifically put into place for him.

"No drugs," Jason continued with the rule that was instated when Drew found out that Jason's best friend was experimenting with weed. Of course, Jason wouldn't touch the stuff because if he was caught then he'd have to kiss his Callaway Academy scholarship goodbye.

Everyone turned to face me and raised their eyebrows expectantly. I huffed and rolled my eyes.

"And no James Stanwood," I eventually muttered. Drew, Matt, and Jason all nodded but Zach stared at me.

"You know, I saw James at the party tonight," Zach spoke as his hazel eyes darkened a bit.

"Yeah, along with like everyone else in our grade," I snapped as the nervous butterflies started up again.

"I know…I'm just wondering if you saw him," he continued. I started to chew on the inside of my bottom lip.

"Yeah…yeah, I saw him," I admitted with a forcibly calm shrug.

"Audrey," both Matt and Drew started at the same time. Matt closed his mouth and let Drew take over. "You know how we feel about him. He's just a train wreck waiting to happen and after the last time you two broke up, I'd prefer it if you would just leave well enough alone."

"Drew, I saw him and I spoke to him. That’s all," I explained quietly but Drew shook his head.

"Audrey, it starts out like this and-"

"Drew its not liked she screwed him after confessing her undying love," Jason cut in with a serious look on his face. "Leave her alone. We have school tomorrow and I'm sure she wants to get to bed." I nodded feverishly and Drew gave Jason a hard look before he nodded stiffly. Jason nodded back and grabbed my arm. "Good night!" he called as he dragged me up the stairs and to my bedroom. He pushed open the door and pushed me into a decent size room with light lilac colored walls and slightly darker lilac carpeted floors. My bed sheets were pure white as were the curtains. Being the only girl meant that I was the only one, other than Drew and Matt, who got my own room. Zach was forced to share a room with Jason and Benny and Connor have always shared a room. Before he went off to college, Matt shared with Zach and Jason but after he got into Yale, he moved into the guest room.

"Thanks Jason," I told him and he sighed before he nodded.

"You're welcome, but Audrey…I just want to remind you that Drew's right. The less you have to do with James, the better," he informed me.

"Oh, come on, Jase. You don't mind the guy -I thought the two of you were friends? And plus, its not like we had a bad break up…"

"Yeah but the whole relationship was bad," he countered. "Before you started dating him we had good reason not to like him and we overlooked it go because you really wanted to be with him…but Aud, you told us that you felt like you were being used throughout the whole relationship. That’s not something we wanted to hear and now you've got to deal with the consequences." I stayed quiet and instead just nodded. Jason gave me a small smile before he pulled me into a quick hug. "Night, Aud."

"Night, Jase." I watched as he quickly made his way out of my bedroom. I groaned and glanced at the clock on my bedside table before I made my way to the closet and grabbed my pajamas. I changed and after brushing my teeth and washing my face I turned off the light and jumped into bed. I stared at the ceiling and let my brain wander.

Tonight was the first time I'd spoken to James since we broke up back in September. It may seem childish but…I found it a little awkward to speak to him and its not like he went out of his way to seek me out either.

I groaned and rolled over onto my side. I had just broken up with my boyfriend of three months no less than three hours ago and yet I was lying here thinking about James? Something must be wrong with me and it was unnerving that whatever was wrong with me involved Mr. James Stanwood. As I felt a familiar weariness overtake my body, I made a quick promise to myself.

I would follow my brothers rule and make it so that today would be the last time I would come in contact with James. It shouldn't be too hard, I mean it's January and I only had to last until June -that’s a mere five months! If I could avoid him for four months then I could no doubt keep him out of my life for another five.

As I drifted off the sleep I didn't realize just how pathetically false that statement was.