Peyton Griffin's POV

"Let's try this again. Try not to make me regret risking another decade of my lifespan listening to you," I said as I tied my hair into a knot on my head.

With a cheeky grin, Jacob began another span of pickup lines.

"Can I please put you in my tea? 'cause your sweet as honey."

"I can see you have a leash on you because you have my heart wrapped around your palm."

"They should put you in the sky during the rainy season, because lady, you are blowing me away."

"It's either you fell from heaven, or you crawled your way out of hell, trust me when I say that you are beautiful either way."

I tried. Honest to Pinocchio, I tried. I was clutching my stomach and the stove to keep myself from doubling over.

My vision was still blurry, but I saw Marci throw a piece of her bacon to Jacob.

"If you want my opinion, you need a whole new character if you want a girl that's not worth my old black nail polish to go with you."

I sent a glare in her direction; I made a mental note to corner her about that comment later.

I saw Jacob let out a small laugh, but even I know that laugh is anything but hearty.

That was the same laugh I saw Charlie make when she walked in on Danny inside a redhead when we were sixteen. Let's just say that that day ended with two tubes of chocolate ice cream, binge-watching Netflix and some bandages.

Funny how those bandages were not for her emotional wounds.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" I nudge my head towards the door while giving Jacob a pointed look.

He started going. I followed him after pinching Marci's neck and laying Gail's breakfast in front of her.

We sat at the dining table in front of the corridor that had the music room.

"You good?" I drop my walls for a bit; I sense a heart-to-heart coming.

Jacob sighs and refuses to look at me, "Are my lines that bad?"

"I wouldn't be laughing my ass out earlier if they weren't." I retort with a grin.

Jacob looks over my figure with feigned lust, "The ass is still there. You didn't laugh well enough."

I roll my eyes at his immature behaviour. I like to call it the Jacob persona.

"Instead of blowing her away with your pickup lines, try an easy joke," I suggest.

He taps his chin, "Has anyone ever called you beautiful? That person did no justice because your beauty is out of this world."

I stop myself from cringing, "Just because you make the pickup line longer doesn't mean it's a joke."

He face-palmed, "I'm hopeless."

"Not really," He looked at me from the space between his fingers as I continued sceptically. "I mean, you are good-looking and have a way with words. I think you should work on how to approach the issue. When is the birthday anyway?"

He removed his hand from his face, "It's in five months. When you mean approach.." He waves his hand around for me to elaborate.

"See it like this. I have a step-brother called Danny back home..."

"You have a brother? I always thought that you were raised by a pack of wolverines. " He cuts me off with an incredulous look.

As cliché as this sounds, this is not the first time I have heard this, and I can bet on my favourite blacktop that it won't be the last.

I roll my eyes at him but continue, "When he usually picks his type of girls, he..."

He interrupts me again, "By type of girls, you mean?"

It's like telling a baby about the difference between a pacifier and a thumb. At least that one can't talk.

"He likes girls with red hair, but that's beside the point. He has his ways with words, and I'm sure he would help."

If I have anything to say about it.

"So now he is whipped, right?"

"Whipped is an understatement." I grin as my brain suffers an unfortunate view of Charlie and Danny trying to be the stars of 'we've found love tonight' from Lion king.

"Now that we have found a practical solution to my problem. Let's focus on you." He had a sly smile on his face.

"Why do I feel that I'm not going to like where you're headed with this conversation." I chuckle stiffly.

"Lie to me. You do not have a thing for our musician employer?"

I have once again been met with another joke of a century.

Jacob and Serious do not belong in the same sentence. I am not to blame for laughing hysterically at the serious look that he was giving me.

I sobered and looked beyond his shoulder. There stood our Caleb, looking mighty pissed.

I avoided him since I walked out of Dinah's office a fortnight ago.

"Am I right, or am I right?" Jacob wiggled his brows with a satisfied grin on his face,

I shook my head sideways and got up from the table. I made my way into the kitchen.

As I said, hard but plausible.

If he wants to play the petty game, he is welcome to join the club.

"Hey, brother," I heard Gail say.

He must have followed me into the kitchen.

"Um... Girls, can you give Peyton and me a minute alone together?"I heard him say.

I'd rather shave my hair than be stuck with him again in a room; on the other hand, if I behead him for pissing me off again, we won't have any witnesses.

Not worth it. I still have a family and maybe what's left of the Empire to save.

With a heavy eye roll, I went to the door like a woman on a mission.

Marci got up from her seat on the counter and successfully blocked my path. She leaned closer to whisper into my ear.

"You guys should talk it out; the sexual tension here is more suffocating than when Taryn and Jack are in the off phase of their relationship." She smirks at me with an evil yet satisfied glint in her eye.

"And why would I go with your absurd idea?" I do a double-take at her.

"You can hide it all you want, but I know you both like each other. Quit pretending about it before someone gets hurt."

I scrunch my brows in confusion while hiding my surprise. It seems like Shawn is not the only observant person around here.

"And why the hell will I go with this again?"

"I am assuming you are smart; figure it out yourself. Jacob will get Abigail and me to school. Have a nice morning." She smiled.

Yup, definitely a Spawn of Dinah's.

Now that I have been left alone to fend for myself (which is nothing new). I glare coldly at Blondie.

"I'll assume you have something other than squirrel nuts in your head, so start talking before I lose my senses to Father Time." I snarl.

"No matter how I word this, you will still not look at me differently." Did he look sympathetic?

Since I got here, I have been finding it hard to read this boy.

No shit Sherlock. I know that I was looking for trouble when I asked him that question, but I was curious, sue me!

I cross my hands on my chest and stare him down.

"Have lunch with me today." He states simply.

It's official, the baboons in Tarzan have more brains than my employer.

"I don't think you are as charming as people paint you as; because even the prince from Snow White had more lines than you." I roll my eyes.

"How about a deal?"

I never knew I would hear those words from someone outside of the Empire.

"That's rich," I say and begin to walk away.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The people of the British Empire are very manipulating and know how to get their way without losing much when they make deals. So you can already imagine my answer to his request. He's not even from the Empire; all the more reason that I should be wary. He blocked my path, and my clogged brain held my eyes on his lips.

"You can request anything of your choice, and I will give you, given that you go to lunch with me."

An opening to get Danny here without raising suspicions. Perfect.

I could say yes, but I'd have to think it over. Also, I want Caleb to sweat it out.

"And what makes you think a poor girl wants something for you? I am not one of your desperate fangirls looking for a quick lay.." I narrowed my eyes at him when I remembered why I was even angry at him in the first place.

This dimwit wants to buy me over. Even Moana would have made a better proposal, and she is a fucking princess on an island.

Only if he knew.

"Last time I checked, the only thing needed is my paycheck for when I leave here." I raise my brow at him, daring him to question it.

Not giving him a chance to answer me, I walked out of the kitchen and into my room.

I didn't bother to glance at Jack and Shawn, who gave me matching and knowing looks.

I changed out of my sweats into whitewashed jeans, a blue button-up and some loafers.

When I got out of the penthouse, the elevator opened. I was swarmed by the press. My anger was already at its breaking point, and the last thing I needed was to blow up in this country. No, thank you.

I was pushed and shoved around, not making it to the door. What finally tipped the scale was when someone almost ripped some of my hair from my scalp.

I turned to the news reporter with a glare that could freeze hell over and turn Mount Everest into a volcano.

I was about to explode. Before my voice could come out, a hand clamped itself on my mouth.

Another hand wrapped itself around my waist.

"Princess, if you told me not to spill your secret, why don't you keep to your rules." Jacob's teasing tone was not one I could miss, even if I were in a room with nosy news reporters.

I forced myself to clamp my mouth shut and allowed him to lead me out of the lobby and into a waiting uber.

I felt Pascal as we rode from the penthouse to the orphanage.

The kids were having their afternoon nap while the Nurses were clocking in and out of their shifts.

I walked into Taryn's office and slammed the door shut. Jacob opened it and walked in while I rounded the table and sat on the chair.

He closed the door, looked at me and cracked a grin.

"Now, princess, use your big girl words. Why are you so angry? And before you yell the building over, there are a lot of kids here. I'd suggest you choose your words carefully." He reprimanded me like a parent scolding their child.

"Where do I even start?" I ran my hand into my hair. It was growing longer and returning to its original colour.

"Let's start with the Empire; why did you run away?" He asks, "'Cause it looks like they need you ASAP."

"I took off to protect the ones that I love." I laid my head on the table and focused my eyes on the crack on the wall.

"Okay, was it possible for you to have stayed and still be able to protect them?"

"The answer to that question is the literal meaning of action speaks louder than words."

"Moving on, what is the empire like?"

If I am being honest, I thought this would have been his first question, but it's Jacob. He never ceases to surprise me at times.

I keep it vague; I still don't trust these people that much. "It's like an arm of the government. A gang, if you may. We get a say in the country's issues as much as the government. It's run by British people; I'm guessing you've already figured that part out."

"If you guys are of British origin, why are you settling in an American state?"

His emphasis on those words doesn't surprise me; even though I have asked myself that question, I've only come up with a blank.

"I am as clueless as you are." I raise my head from the table to look at him, "Can we drop this now?" I don't really like talking about this to people who are not from there.

They would never fully understand how deadly yet peaceful, calm yet tense that place was if you weren't inborn and bred there.

Besides, it's not like he would ever get to meet the people there anytime soon.

"Hold on, one more question. If Caleb stepped foot there, would you allow him to get shot?"

He had me there, unfortunately. I sighed.

"No, I would put the bullet in his head by myself," I state without missing a beat.

I may not be the world's most convincing liar, but I can make people believe what I say with some easy tricks I picked up over the years.

"Why are you guys mad at each other anyway?"

Someone needed to tell Jacob not to poke a bear when he meets one.

His phone rang and saved me from participating in his bizarre version of 'who wants to be a millionaire?'

After he was done with his phone call, He looked at me as if he had a trick question that would make me fall from my losing streak.

"What would you say if I said that I got you to have a lunch date with America's most loved musician?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"I would say that they dropped you one too many times as a kid," I say as if it's a fact in the world.

Am I wrong?

He rolls his eyes, but his grin doesn't fade, "You will thank me later after you go to lunch with him."

"And why would I do that?" I cocked a questioning brow at him.

"Cause I will stop hitting on you until your brother gets here." He offers.

"I take it that you are more excited for him to be here than me." Can't say that I'm surprised, Danny can charm the pants out of everyone, and he's not even here yet.

Jacob nodded like an excited Dolphin doing shows at an amusement park.

I'll regret this later, "Deal."

-

A few minutes later, I stood in front of a pizza shop. Caleb looked nervous as he sat down at an inconspicuous booth.

"Is it too late to back out?" I ask my three new fairy Godmothers.

Their amused expressions were replaced by a glare, scrunched brows and an annoyed one.

I held my hands out in mock surrender, "Sorry, momma bears, I'm going, I'm going."

"They grow up so fast." I flipped Jacob off and made my way into the homey restaurant towards the nervous-looking musician.

"If I have to sit through this and lose another decade of my life, I want one of my friends back home to join us for thanksgiving," I state when I am within his hearing range.

I have to get that off my chest and focus on this date.

"Deal." He answers.

That was easier than I thought; I am inclined to believe the last thing he wants is for me to make a scene here.

"I know if I apologize one more time, you will literally leave an imprint with your foot on my face,"

Looks like he has a brain up there.

"Do you know that we are very similar?"

I decided to educate him on an obvious fact that I noticed.

"What makes you say that?" He looked at me expectantly.

"Tell me, what's that one thing you are willing to protect at all costs?" His hazel orbs still house confusion but went along with where I was taking this conversation.

"Family, where are you going with this, Peyton?" Now he looked weary.

"Caleb, our individual demons will always haunt us. And deep within us, we want to share it with the people we love, but we are scared that we might scare them away. So we carry our demons everywhere we go to prevent the reparations from affecting our loved ones."

I stopped incoming tears and pushed back some memories that won't die off. I felt something warm on my hand that was on the table.

He must be braver than I gave him credit for because I felt unstable as I sat there, but he still placed his hand on top of mine. It felt so right and wrong at the same time.

"You're right about that, Peyton, but maybe we need the right people to be by our sides when confronting our demons. The people we hold dear will be swallowed up if they even were to get a glimpse of it." He countered as we looked at each, enveloped in a small space of silence.

"So are we going to eat? Because talking about depressing issues works up an appetite, right?" I joke around to lighten the tense mood that I made earlier.

Turns out that we are both non-vegetarians.

"You look as if you are being pleasured." I hear a silent moan come from him.

"It's just... a ..very good pizza." He chokes out as red creeps onto his ears.

"Don't worry; I know firsthand how hard it is to keep a groan from spilling out." I snicker.

Trust me, I have found myself in many cringe-worthy moments.

"You can release your grip; the tablecloth is not your opening act." I roll my eyes when I see him having a one-sided fistfight with the table cloth.

"Do you have a best friend?" He asks out of the blue

"Surprisingly, yes, her name is Charlie," I say.

"What is she like?" He probed further.

"She is like a sister to me, but she has more similarities with my twin." Not false. Were it not for their outward appearances, you would think that Lola's twin was Charlie.

"You're a twin?" He looked surprised, not that I blame him.

"Yea, her name is Lola."

"Do you have any other siblings?" He continues prying.

"I have a step-brother, Danny."

"Are you guys close?" I think he's referring to all four of us.

"Very, you can even say they are the reason I hated you in the first place," I replied and took a sip of my drink.

"How so?" He leaned forward like a gossip girl.

"Well, Charlie and Lola are among your fan group. You could say I spent more than half of my college years forced to listen to your songs and see your posters, my version of hell." I could already picture our fights.

"Gosh, I never knew you loved me that much before you even met me." He mocks me by touching his chest.

"Don't feel so special, Babe Ruth. I even preferred listening to Donald duck sing than you." Back then yes, but now I'm not so sure.

"Point is I got tired of hearing them hype you. One day almost deleted all the songs they had of you, but I rethought my strategy."

After, they threaten to burn all my black clothing.

"Why is that?" He smiled at me.

"Because I knew those two idiots would shave my head in my sleep," I said with a smirk which was also true, so much for the girl code.

"Speaking of hair, are you a brunette or a blonde?" He glanced at my hair to decipher it.

"I dyed my hair brown, and I'm not caught out to be a blonde." I sigh.

I wanted to stop the inevitable.

He reached for my hand again.

"This might sound cheesy, but as Bruno Mars would say, 'you are amazing just the way you are'." He rolls his eyes ignorantly.

I gave him a warm smile because he was oblivious. He took my mind off the demons chasing me.

"Marcel requested that you come for his Halloween party tonight."

Now that's not something you hear every day.

"Sounds fun, but I'm already going to Marci and Gail's school Halloween party." I decline.

"Too bad. I was looking forward to singing my new song."

"As I said before; I like my ears very much without blood coming out of them." I retort with a playful eye roll.

The rest of the conversation was filled with digs.

-

The conversation with Caleb kept replaying inside my head, and I found myself smiling. The crappy school party was blocked out as I leaned against the wall according to Marci's request. Ironically, Marci, Gail and I were matching.

I have no idea what they would call themselves, but I went like a shadow.

Earlier in the night, I made a deal with Marci would stay clear out of her sight if and only if; she didn't get pregnant, drink or do anything stupid before the night was over.

Shawn was also here, but he was in the kid's section, where Gail was.

I felt someone rest on the wall beside me, but I would not look their way, in case it was some geezer that had no respect for adults.

"I knew you had horrible taste in everything, but I expected more from you, Griffin." I grinned as I recognized the voice.

"You're one to talk, Wellington. You had to knock a girl up because she didn't want to spend the rest of her life waking up to that." I gestured my hand to his face.

He smirked, "Cute, walk with me, would you?" He gestured to the double doors that were beside us.

"Just so you know, I have Dinah on speed dial." I threaten.

"Ooo shiver me timbers. Get your Empire ass out of here."

I narrowed my eyes at him as my blood ran cold, but he remained unfazed.

"I can already see the pulleys in your head trying to figure me out. I would say, but I need us to get away from wandering ears." He said.

With a huff, we walked out of the hall. We went out of the school building as a whole and sat down on a bench in the parking lot.

"Care to share the rubbish you just said earlier?" I seethe.

How did I go from being hidden in plain sight to almost blowing my cover; four times now?

"It wasn't hard to figure out. I mean, you have a thick British accent and let's not forget I know a spawn of Faith Marie when I see one."

I felt my heart seize, but he went on.

"She never really liked her middle name and planned to change it when the day came."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

My throat closed up, and my breathing became heavier.

There was no way; it wasn't possible. That family died one night due to food poisoning. The only survivor was the son who was... never found.

"Yes, Peyton, I am your real father."