Twisted Love

Chapter 13 - I Can't Say I Didn't See It Coming.

Author's note: Reminder: This is a PG-13 book.
Audio: Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus.

Third Person Point of View

Rae woke from her slumber. Dragging her blanket up to her chin, she yawned before squeezing her eyes shut again. She had a monstrous headache that it even hurt to blink. She placed her hand to her forehead as she groaned; she inwardly cursed herself for crying herself to sleep last night.

Knock, Knock

"Good morning Rae, are you up? It's time for breakfast," Rob said from the other side of the door.

"Stop yelling," she said as she rubbed her temples due to the volume of his voice, which wasn't loud, but to her it was as if he was speaking through a megaphone.

"I'm not. Can I come in?" he asked.

"Come in," she said as she pulled the blankets up to her nose to shield her eyes from his view as much as possible. She knew that she looked beyond awful and the last thing she needed was for her Uncle Rob to be asking any questions.

Opening her room door, he walked in and stopped in his tracks.

"You're not even out of bed yet," he said in surprise.

"What time is it?" she asked, her voice hoarse from all the crying last night.

"God, you sound terrible. I hope you're not coming down with something due to a change in the weather," he said, concern coating his words.

"I feel terrible too." She squinted. "Can I stay back here today?"

"Are you sure you won't feel better after taking a shower and eating breakfast? I really don't want you to miss out on the fun."

"Uncle Rob," she shook her head, "I feel like death, plus there's still tomorrow to have fun," she countered.

"Okay," he said in defeat as he looked worriedly at her, "just make sure you get showered and get something to eat. I'll just be at the beach if you need me.

She nodded before throwing her head back on her pillow and relaxing into bed.

"Make sure you eat something," he said sternly, "and don't stay in bed for too long, it will make your headache worse."

"Uncle Rob, I got it," she mumbled, her eyes still closed.

Nodding, he closed the door and went downstairs to join the rest of the family and the Underwood's.

Alexis and Lily were both glued to their phones as Claire and Hayley made pancakes.

"Rae won't be joining us at all today," Rob said as he walked into the kitchen.

Justin, who was pouring milk into a cereal bowl, froze with his hand in mid-air and the milk still pouring.

"Hey, your milk is going to spill over the bowl!" Alexis yelled urgently.

He shook his head, quickly putting the carton of milk down and returning the lid back on it.

"I think she's coming down with something, she sounds and looks terrible," Rob continued as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I'm sure she'll be fine honey, she probably just needs some rest. All the time changes can really mess the body up," Claire said, flipping a pancake over and placing it on a plate.

"Well, I hope she feels better," Alexis said sincerely.

"Me too," Lily added.

Justin shrugged as he ate his cereal, not wanting to think about the real reason that Rae wasn't joining them today.