don’t know what’s gotten into that poor girl.”
“Let her be, Mom,” Sebastian said with a sigh. “You know that she’s dealing with some stuff.”
“I know, I just wish that there was a better way for me to help her.”
“Being there for her is the best we can do right now,” Mr. Allen said, giving Mrs. Allen a firm, sideways hug. “She’ll figure her stuff out in time.”
“I know,” she sighed. “Well, maybe we can help in some way. She did say her stomach was upset and I’ve just baked some gingerbread cookies.” She headed around to the kitchen and stacked some cookies from cooling rack onto a plate. “Grayson, would you mind taking this to her?”
“Of course not,” I said with a smile. Not a gentleman at all. “I would be happy to help.” I grabbed the plate from her and then headed back into the living room and up the stairs, my memory serving as a guide to Serenity’s room.
This old house hadn’t really changed much since my childhood. There were maybe a few new decorations and pictures of Sebastian and Serenity steadily growing older (maybe skipping over a couple of the awkward teenage years), and a few obvious modern touches like a flat screen TV and gaming console, but it still had the same feeling as the place I remembered. The furniture were all in the same places, and the rooms were near enough as I had left them.
I felt so comfortable in this place and caught up in my memories that I forgot to knock, and opened Serenity’s door with a smile—only to come upon a rather amusing sight.
She had her face buried in a pillow, and she was screaming into it with all her might while her legs flailed uselessly in the air.
“Are you alright?” I asked, causing her to jolt upright with a start.
She covered her humiliation with a stern, accusing glare. “You should have knocked.”
I shrugged. “It wasn’t like you were indecent. Besides, I brought you come cookies. That ought to sweeten the deal.” I held up the plate in my hands, and she looked at it curiously.
“Did Mom send you up with those?”
I nodded, coming over to sit next to her on the bed. “She did. She was concerned about your upset stomach.”
Serenity scoffed. “As if anyone really believed that.”
I laughed and set the cookies down on the nightstand. “Would you mind telling me what’s really going on, then?”
“No! I’m not telling you,” she said, rather defensively and that blush instantly reminded me of that feisty little girl.
I raised my eyebrows, covering up a smile. “That’s quite a bit of protest. It was only a simple question, and a rather harmless one in my opinion. Perhaps the lady doth protest too much?”
Her face got redder, if that was even possible. “It really is none of your business.”
“Or is it? For some reason, I have the strangest feeling that this relates to me.” I grabbed one of the cookies, and bit off the gingerbread man’s head, letting the heavenly taste of ginger and molasses dissolve in my mouth. Mmm, my favorite.
“Hey!” she protested. “Those were for me.”
“Oh? You want one?” I teased, taking another bite. “Maybe you should tell me what’s up then or I’ll just have to eat them all..”
Serenity pouted. “That’s not fair. Mom sent you up with those for me and you know it.”
“Because she thought you had an upset stomach.” I took another bite of the cookie in my hand and reached over for another. “Which you apparently do not. So I would say that your argument is null and void.”
“It is not.” She huffed, giving me an exasperated expression. “You’re just being greedy.”
“Am I? Or are you being difficult?” I tapped her on the nose, eliciting an even deeper blush than the one that she had been displaying before.
“I am no such thing.”
“Then tell me what’s wrong with you.”
She huffed. “I don’t know—I doubt that you’d want to hear about it anyway.”
“You’re embarrassed then?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then what is it like?”
She sighed and ran a hand through her thick hair. “I don’t know. I don’t know if you’d really understand it.”
“Try me.”
“I mean, you know that I don’t have a job, and probably won’t ever get one that I like or that I’m good at. But you’re so successful. I just sometimes feel like I’m a failure, especially compared to you and Sebastian. I just...don’t compare.”
“Is that why you ran away from dinner?” I asked. I placed one finger