"It was also the day of my 18th birthday," Parker added. "Meaning that I was granted custody of Lee, who was staying up at the hotel with me when the wreck happened." "So you have custody of your little brother?" "Not little," Parker corrected. "He's 15. Not sure what age you don't get to be considered little anymore, but I'm pretty sure 15 crosses the line." Okay, I didn't see any of this coming, but definitely not that. "So when my parents died, I had to assume responsibility of Lee, who isn't your normal, everyday, 15 year old." He chuckled to himself at that, although I wasn't in on the inside joke, so I'm not sure why that was funny. "Lee has bipolar disorder," Parker explained. "And panic disorder, which is brought on by claustrophobia and then sometimes just at random, and then he's ADHD." Holy shit. "My mom was always so good with him," Parker said, with a wistful voice. "She was so good at keeping him on a schedule and, I don't know, just being a mom I guess. But when it was just us I couldn't do it Emily." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Now that she's gone, I have more appreciation for my mom than I ever did before, because he's a lot to handle." But how did he end up in Miami? "So after about a month and a half, I sat down with Lee and explained to him that it wasn't working, that I wasn't fit to take care of him. I'd done some research of boarding schools in the area, and there was only one in Florida willing to accept him, down in Miami. So we went down there together and toured the place, and he said he liked it and all, so I enrolled him." "So your brother is in boarding school?" Parker nodded. "We had a deal, that he had to give it 8 weeks. And then if he didn't like it I'd pull him. I do feel bad for the kid, having to live at school and all. And the 8 weeks passed, and I offered to pull him out. But he likes it there. And then I visit him on the weekends and he comes home for the holidays, so it isn't all too bad I guess." I stared at Parker, absorbing all the information he'd just shared with him. His parents are dead and he has custody of his mentally ill 15-year old brother. "How do you pay for your brother's boarding school?" I asked. "Oh yeah." I couldn't help but laugh at his response. "Well when my parents died, I was reimbursed by their life insurance, and then I inherited their bank accounts." Parker did seem like a privileged kid. It wouldn't surprise me if his parents were rich. "And then I had to move Lee and me out of the house and into an apartment and sell the house." Okay, so maybe there wasn't that much to spare. "And then I started working at the Auto Body shop that your brother works at." Wow, so apparently money doesn't go far these days. "Money goes fast," Parker said, answering my unspoken thoughts. "Between Lee's medical bills, mortgage, Lee's medical bills, apartment bills, Lee's medical bills, boarding school, and Lee's medical bills, I was the guardian that had to make ends meet." Now I had some sympathy for this jackass. "And then we sort of got lucky." "How so?" "Well the first thing that happened was that I moved in with Emmett, which cut the apartment expenses." So that explains that. Parker smirked at me. "How does it feel to know that Lee lived in your bedroom for about 3 weeks?" "I don't know Lee so I don't know the answer to that question." "You should be nervous," Parker filled in for me. "Anyways, one day when I was picking up Lee's prescriptions, I got home and realized that they'd given him the wrong one for his bipolar. So I had to call the insurance and the doctor and all this bullshit, and he had to go days without it." Parker winced. "That was bad. Anyways, I contacted a lawyer and we managed to get a lawsuit out of it, which we won." "You won a medical lawsuit?" "Yep," Parker informed me, popping the 'p'. "The money flowed in, and I got to quit my job at the Auto Body shop." I stared at him for a couple of moments, fully absorbing everything he'd just told me. "And that's why I currently live with your brother," Parker finished. "Not to be rude, but why do you still live with my brother?" Parker stared at me for a couple of moments. "Considering everything I just told you, that's what you want to know?" I nodded. "Okay, well I might have won a medical lawsuit, but the money still doesn't go far when you have to buy a car, pay for boarding school, and continue to pay for medical bills, including insurance." He sighed. "Being an adult honestly sucks." "Oh yeah, the car. Why a Ford Edge?" "Again, that's the question you want to ask?" I nodded again. "Okay, well I needed a car to get from Point A to Point B, and I vowed to never drive SUV's like both of my parents. But then, when I was being bombarded with Lee's medical information, I realized that he was claustrophobic, meaning that he can't stand the feeling of being trapped. And that meant that my parents drove SUV's not because they wanted to, but because they had to more or less." Okay, that made sense. "So I chose the SUV that I thought I could handle driving. Definitely not a minivan, hell no. But a Ford Edge isn't so bad." I nodded in agreement. This is was a lot to take in all at once. "And there you have it," Parker said, with a half-smile. "Besides Emmett, you're the only other person that knows the story." I raised my eyebrows at him. "What?" He nodded. I'm not sure how I feel about this. ~*~ "Our first family dinner," Emmett said to me, with a smile. "Minus Parker." I accepted my plate of spaghetti. "Where is he?" "Driving back from Miami I'd think." He did say he visits Lee on the weekends. But I see him home some weekends too. This is so confusing. I stabbed my spaghetti with my fork, twirling it around as Emmett took his seat across from me. "So I have something to talk to you about," Emmett said, as I shoved the glob of spaghetti into my mouth. Perfect timing Emmett. I rolled my eyes, and waited until I finished chewing. "What's up?" I asked, taking a sip of my water. "When did you start liking Parker?" I had to cover my mouth to keep from spitting my water out. "What are you talking about?" I demanded. "I saw you kissing him on the boat yesterday," Emmett casually informed me. "It wasn't even like that!" He raised his eyebrows at me with a smirk, clearly amused. "Then what was it like?" "I was trying to win a stupid bet, game thing he'd initiated." "A bet, game thing?" I sighed. "Parker wouldn't let me play my music, and then said I'd have to get around him first. So I kissed him." "Because that makes all the sense?" "Well I caught him off-guard, pulled away, and then got around him, in return getting my music. So I'd say it does." Emmett stared at me like I was deranged. "What?" I asked, defensively. "You're a mental case." "Shut up." He rolled his eyes. "Did he kiss you back?" "What?" I demanded. "Did Parker kiss you back?" "I fail to see how that's any of your business?" "That's entirely my business. Because if he did, I'll kick his ass. Older brother policy." "I'm not talking about this with you." "So then he did." "I did not say that." "But by you not saying anything, in turn you're saying it." "By you insinuating that I'm saying anything at all, in turn you should keep your bedroom door locked tonight." "Okay," Emmett surrendered, with a laugh. "I'll just ask Parker." "You say one word about this to Parker and I will shove my foot so far up your ass it'll require surgery." He clamped his hand over his mouth so as not to spit out his spaghetti. "Family dinner," I mused, taking another bite of my spaghetti. "This will be interesting."