RETURNING HOME

The next day Amy woke up earlier than she usually did. She showered up and got ready. She was wearing denim jeans and a bright yellow crop top. She pulled up her hair in a ponytail. She packed up all her belongings and sparing one glance across the room left, to find her brother. Her phone buzzed so she stopped in her tracks, took out her phone saw a message from Archie. It said,' Have a safe journey home. Don't forget to miss me. I love you. See you soon❤.' She smiled and typed a quick reply. It was 7 in the morning so she assumed Lewis would be in his room. She knocked twice but nobody answered. She heard faint shouts coming from somewhere downstairs. So, she made her way down.

The shouts were coming from her father's office. She heard Lewis' voice. He said,"No dad. It's enough. Stop being the dictator of our lives. For Once think like a dad, feel like a father, care like one. You have to stop this." Antonio replied in a very angry tone,"Dictator? This is what you think of me. I thought I taught you better Lewis." Lewis made a frustrated sound then said,"God!! When will you understand dad. What you did with Amy yesterday was not done. She is your daughter. How can you be so heartless." Antonio said,"Enough!! if this is about her then I don't want to discuss . You may go about your work. I don't want to hear her name again. She was always a nuisance." Lewis said in a small voice,"I.. you still have time dad. Please try once to make things right with her." Antonio shouted,"Enough!" Lewis countered frustrated,"Fine but she's my baby sis and I will always be by her side. Don't even try to stop me ever." With that he came out ignoring her father's  words. Amy stood outside, rooted to the spot, stunned.

When Lewis saw her, his eyes widened with surprise. He rubbed the back of his neck and nervously began,"I.. that... I thought you would still be sleeping. You are up early today lil' Raven." Amy lept towards Lewis and tackled him in a tight hug. She sobbed on his chest and said,"Thank you brother. I love you soo much." Lewis pulled her back by her shoulders and gave her a big smile. He said,"Let's get going. I'll drive you back." Amy asked,"But don't you have work to do?" Lewis replied,"Some.. but its Sunday so the work can wait. You are more important." She smiled up at him and said,"Alright then. I can't wait to go home." Lewis gave her a sweet and genuine smile which Amy returned and then they went on their way.

  It was nearly 4:30 when Amy arrived at  her place. After saying goodbye and promising to meet again soon with her brother, she went to her Apartment. After a quick shower and change she laid down on the bed to catch up on her sleep. She was woken up by loud banging on her bedroom door. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. She checked the time and it was 7:30, that meant Archie was arriving soon. She opened up the door and said,"Alright guys. I'm up, I'm up." They all bombarded her with questions so she had to cover her ears.  Amy said loudly, "STOP!! one by one please. No wait! Let Archie also arrive then we can listen to your questionnaire. Em said,"OK! We'll wait for Archie." Amy said when they  sat in the living room," I'm really hungry. Let's get some dinner." Dray said,"I'll order it online. Just tell me what you guys want." After ordering their dinner they all sat and talked about what they did during the weekend.

Around 8:20 the doorbell rang. Amy said,"Must be the delivery. I'll get that." She opened the door and paid for the food. As she was about to close the door she saw Archie approaching her apartment with the bag still with him. She kept the food down and ran towards him. He opened his arms and spun her around while hugging her.

Amy sad,"I missed you." Archie replied, chuckling,"You sure did. After all I am someone who you shall miss." Amy smacked his arms and laughed. Archie said,"You don't even have the slightest idea how much I missed you and how worried I was." She smiled at him and standing on tiptoes placed a small kiss on his lips. Archie hummed in appreciation.

From her doorway came Steph's voice,"They are upto it again Em." Em replied,"Cut them some slack guys." Everybody except for Amy, who was laughing her ass off, looked at Em in complete shock and said,"Who are you? Where is our Em?" Amy laughed more at that so Archie looked at her, confusion evident in his eyes. Amy said,"Let's get inside. I have news." Em said,"No. You don't."

As they all settled down Archie asked Amy,"So what was that about? What's up with Em?" Amy began,"Actually-" but was cut off by Em,"Archie, you do know it is rude right? I am sitting here, in front of you, but you are saying like I am not present here. If you want to ask something about me then you should ask me." Amy laughed harder this time as Archie said," I know you won't tell the truth." After Amy calmed down from the burst of laughter, she said,"Our Em is finally in a relationship and so she understands now how being away from your 'boyfriend'" she quoted "feels."

Everybody's mouth hung open and Em rolled her eyes. She said,"Seriously boys. I'm just in a relationship and you guys are reacting like I'm married and have kept it a secret from you all. I was going to tell you. I've just recently entered the relationship. I'll tell you all about it later but right now our main concern is Amy. So yeah, start with it now Amy. We all are here." They all agreed with Em who was thankful that they didn't start asking her about her relationship. Now the spot light again was on Amy.

Amy hesitantly looked sideways at Archie who smiled down reassuringly at her and tightened his grip around Amy's back. She took a deep breath in and narrated every incident. Stephen was a little taken aback after knowing about his family. When she finished with the narration she said,"So that sums it all up. I think I'm feeling much lighter and happy. And steph, your brother misses you a lot. I don't know how but I suspect he knew about mine and Archie's relationship." Steph said,"I'll talk to him. At least I'll try to contact him." Amy said,"yeah, you do that. Let's finish our foods and head to bed. I'm still tired." Archie hummed in agreement and said,"I'm staying here tonight. I still have to tell you all about the shoot."