Paint splattered teardrops on my shirt

"Hey, Mama," I said walking into the house that evening after spending my day at the shop.

"Hey, chickadee," she said, peeking around the hall from the kitchen, her light brown hair was styled, as usual, into big Texan curls and her makeup was pristine. What could you expect from a former beauty queen?

"Where's dad?" I asked, sliding my feet out of my shoes and kicking them onto the mat next to the door.

Her head disappeared but she continued to talk to me in her strong Texan drawl, "He's picking up Sawyer from football practice."

I nodded and sat down on the couch, dropping my purse on the ground next to me, "Right. I forgot."

"How's the shop doing?" she hollered.

"Good," I said back, watching a movie that must have been left on from my dad.

Just then my dad walked through the door with my little brother Sawyer. And by little, I mean he was 6'3 and over 250 pounds of muscle.

"Sup dweeb," he said collapsing next to me.

"Who are you calling a dweeb, little one?" I said back to him, "Oh sweet Jesus you smell disgusting."

"I'm not little, also I showered when I finished," he said, lifting his arm and wrapping it around me.

I tried to push away from him, "God, well you need to soak for three fucking hours, man! I will literally vomit everywhere, I swear!"

"Raeanne Dixie Townson! Watch your mouth!" my dad told me, coming into the living room.

"Tell him to get his smelly armpit off of me then!" I cried as Sawyer pulled me into his chest all he did was laugh.

"Sawyer, let go of her. I don't think she wants to smell like sweat and dirt," dad said and a second later Sawyer was letting me go as he continued to laugh.

I pushed his shoulder which barely made him move, "I hate you," I said with a small smile.

"Yeah, yeah," he said dismissively, waving his hand, "that's what you always say."

"And I mean it every time!"I told him standing up.

He just laughed and shook his head, causing his brown shaggy hair to sway and his deep green eyes were sparking from laughter. He knew full well I was kidding about everything.

"Where do you think you're going?" my dad asked me as I was about to walk out of the living room.

I turned back around to face him, "I was gonna change into some PJs. Why?" I asked.

"I need you to take a seat, young lady, we're gonna have a family discussion," he said, pointing back to the couch where I had just been sitting. My brother looked just as confused as I felt.

I went over and took a seat as my mom came out of the kitchen and sat on the loveseat. M dad turned off the TV and looked over and me and my brother.

I knew better than to argue about my dad wanting to talk. He was a big guy. Bigger than Sawyer. When his dark brown hair started to grey about four months earlier he buzzed it all off. His green eyes held my brown ones as he looked at me very seriously.

"Is this about you wanting me to move out now?" I asked him quietly.

He shook his head quickly, "No, of course not. Your Mama, Sawyer and I are happy to have you here for as long as you need. Nothing like that. We wanna talk to you about Markus."

I instantly felt myself get agitated; "Come on, Dad, not now. I don't wanna hear it."

"When was the last time you talked to him?" he asked, not even listing to me.

"I don't know," I said, pulling the elastic from my hair, making my ponytail fall, "A few days, I guess."

"How is that okay?" Mom asked me, leaning forward, "It's not okay to treat you the way he's been treating you."

"He doesn't treat me badly!" I defended.

Sawyer snorted from next to me, "Well he doesn't treat you well either."

I looked down at the floor and felt the tear begin to well up.

"I know," I told them quietly, "But I...I do love him. It's been so long...I don't really know who I am without him."

I looked back up at them and they were all looking at me sympathetically, "We know who you are without him. And since you've moved back with us, where you belong, you've been the old Raeanne. You two were 17 when you got together; you're 23 now...it's time to move away from this man child that has treated you and this family like garbage. You're young, beautiful, successful, hilarious and smart! You could find someone so much better in a heartbeat!" my mom told me.

"I've put too much into this," I told them; going into my robotic response that I gave whenever anyone gave me the reasons why Markus and I should break up. I had heard it all before. All of it was true.

"You have, but he hasn't," Sawyer told me.

I looked over at my almost 17 year old brother. I knew he didn't like Markus at all. Not even a little bit. I think Sawyer was the only person that Markus was afraid of because of his size. Sawyer had threatened to beat him up on numerous occasions. Daddy may have been bigger, but Sawyer was more aggressive.

"How do you feel about him and all of this, honestly?" my dad asked me.

I shrugged and looked down once again, "I don't know," I told him honestly, "I know...I know that he doesn't treat the way that he should. I know that. What it comes down to is...I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Do you think he is your soul mate?" he asked me.

I looked back up at him and smiled sadly, "I don't know if I believe in soul mates. Is it possible to find someone that your heart literally aches for? Someone that you can be totally open and honest with? It seems, huh, pretty farfetched to me to be honest."

My parents looked at each other briefly, and I knew that they believe in soul mates because to them, they were each other's soul mate. Married 29 years. Three kids. One grandkid. They lived the perfect life with each other. Deep down in my heart I knew that Markus and I wouldn’t last that long. But I wasn't sure if I could find it in myself to be the one to pull the plug, now or ever for that matter.

"Look," I said, sitting up, "for right now, we're okay. I'm okay with my life right now. Is Markus, you know, the perfect guy? Obviously not. But I'm not perfect either, and neither is anyone in this room. Does this relationship absolutely suck sometimes? Yes, of course it does. But for right now...I'm happy," I told them.

"You can't lie to yourself forever, Rae," my dad told me sternly.

I threw my hands up, "I'm not lying, dad!" I cried, "Why is it so hard to accept that he does make me happy, and that I love him?"

"Because he's an idiot that doesn't treat you well, Raeanne," Sawyer scoffed.

I looked over at him, "But when the times are good with is, they're really good!" I defended.

"When was the last time the times were good? You shouldn't have to hope for a good day when you're with someone; you should just have a good relationship in general! Never mind picking and choosing between a good and bad day between you guys!" Sawyer said loudly.

I rolled my eyes, "Sawyer, you're just a kid, you don't get it!"

"Oh give me a break!" he said, "I'm sixteen, yeah, but if I ever treated any of the girls I've gone out with the way Markus treats you mom and dad would kill me! That's not the way a man treats a woman!"

"But I'm okay!" I cried, looking over towards my parents, "I'm okay right now! I don't wanna give up on this relationship just because you guys say I should!"

"We're trying to help, Raeanne," my mom said calmly, "we want you to be happy, and you know that there’s a part of you that isn't happy right now."

"I'm happy," I said, "I'm happy."

"Why does it sound like you're trying to convince yourself rather than us?" my dad asked, sitting back in his chair.

I looked over at him, unable to think of a response for that. Because I knew it was true. There was a part of me...a pretty big part that wasn't happy with Markus. But I didn't want to give up on him so easily. I didn't want to quit on this just because said I should, even if their points were very valid.

"I abide by the rules of this house," I told him, "Markus doesn't come in here. He doesn't call either of you by your first names anymore," I said, looking to my parents, "I don't know what else you want me to do," I told them, "I'm not...I refuse to break up with him because you guys are putting pressure on me to do it."

"We're not pressuring you to do anything," mom told me, "we're all just very concerned over your happiness."

"Then let me do what I want to do. If being here with him makes me happy, then let me do it. Let me come to my own decisions on my own. If I decided it's time to break up with him, then that's my choice. But for right now, I'm with Markus. And you guys don’t have to like that; you don't have to accept it. But you have to respect my decision," I said passionately, "I don't know where things are going to go with him, but I'm letting things play out."

Mom looked at dad, who looked back at her and I saw him relenting, "Fine," he said, getting up off of the chair, "but, I refuse to sit by and watch you get hurt, Raeanne. I will step in if I think there's a reason to."

"Fine," I said, putting my hands up, "I appreciate the concern, y'all, don't think that I take it lightly. It does mean a lot to me knowing that y'all care."

"Of course we care, and we only want the best for you, that's why we're trying to get this through your head," my dad explained.

"Y'all aren't telling me things I don't really already know," I said with a small laugh, "As shitty as that sounds...I'll come to one of you guys the second things aren't okay with me, I promise that."

My dad clenched his jaw, but he relented and shrugged slightly, "That's all we can ask then, isn't it?"

I shrugged as well and leaned back in the couch, "That's about it, yeah."

My dad and I kept eye contact. I was a lot like him. Stubborn as hell and I'd fight for what I thought was right. He was fighting for what he thought was right, and so was I. We both never backed down from things, and we both would always take opinions, and we never took them lightly. But we always needed to come to our own decisions on our own without other people interfering.

"Well then," mom said, standing up and straightening out her blouse, "on that note, it's time for dinner!"

I sighed and stood up, following them to the dining room and sitting down in my usual chair across from Sawyer with my parents on either end of the table.

My mom brought the food and set it on the table and we served ourselves and began eating silently. I could still feel the little bit of tension in the air, but I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to say something.

"You know that wasn't the end of that conversation, right?" dad asked me before taking another bite of the chicken.

I slumped forward in my chair and rolled my eyes at him, "Is it ever the end of the Markus conversation? No, apparently not."

"All we're saying-"

"Dad," I said, "can we give it up for the night? Like...y'all don't get how stressful it is with all y'all breathing down my neck like this...I'm tired, guys. Just let me breath about it. I'll come to my own decisions about what I want. And right now, I wanna be with Markus, so take it or leave it."

My dad put his hands up in surrender, "Just know where we stand," he said simply.

"I know," I said, "Trust me. I've known since I was seventeen," I huffed.

"Well," my mom said, causing me to look over at her, she was smiling at me, "lets just talk about somethin else now, darlings."

I could always count on my Mama to try and make everything better. Thankfully.

I finished up dinner and asked to be excused before dessert, which I was allowed to do. I grabbed my purse from the living room where I left it and carried it up to my room. I changed quickly into PJs and grabbed my phone from my bag before flopping onto my bed.

I checked my phone and saw a message from Tyler. I grinned and opened it.

From T
soooooo what happens if I leave the mask on for longer than the 15mins?

I laughed to myself and began typing my reply to him.

Nothing, really. It's just more uncomfy is all. If you follow the instructions you wouldn't have these questions!

He texted back a couple minutes later.

From T
lol haven't put it on yet, just wonderin in case I put it on then went and napped

LOL, don't sleep in it and you'll be fine!

From T
Promise?

Promise!

Notes

Thank-you all for reading!!! Please let me know what you think!!