Twenty minutes later you were in the passenger seat of Sage's black convertible. Robbie was sulking in the back, having been denied the privilege of riding shotgun. The sky was crystal clear and brilliantly blue as Sage cruised off campus and towards the lake. Ash had called shortly after you'd all piled into the car to let Sage know he'd meet up with everyone at the family's lake house. As far as anyone could tell, Rowan had not been made privy to the trip, and hopefully would be too hungover to make an appearance.

Cruising down the mostly empty side roads along the university with the sun shining and the wind in your hair, it was hard to really care what Rowan was up to. Especially when Robbie started singing "Life is a Highway" at the top of his lungs and Sage turned the radio on full volume in a vain attempt to drown him out. You tried to keep from laughing, but the combating sounds of Rob's spur of the moment solo and the radio blasting "Party in the USA" was just too much and you were almost in tears from laughing by the time Sage cruised up to the iron wrought gates that surrounded the lakeside housing community.

Rob had the broadest grin on his face as Sage flicked off the radio and turned to pin him with a steely look over the rims of his sunglasses.

"If you ever," the elder Tally said in a low voice, "Do that again, you'll be on the side of the road panhandling before you have time to blink."

"Aww, come on, man, that was a classic!" Rob said. "I was setting the mood for the road trip!"

"I hope you're prepared to walk back to campus, because that's where we currently stand on your method of transportation from here on out," Sage said, leaning over to a pinpad sitting just outside the gate and punching in a number. The lock on the gates snapped back, and the gate slid smoothly to one side to allow the car to glide through.

"You wouldn't abandon your brother's best friend on the side of a road, would you?" Rob asked with a simper in his voice, leaning forward between the seats to give Sage his best "have mercy" expression.

"Rowan has no friends."

"Well no shit. I meant Ashton."

Sage snorted inelegantly through his nose as he angled into the driveway of a four story mansion of a house backed right up to the edge of the lake and parked. You had to tilt your head back just to be able to glimpse the top floor, and even that started to hurt after a few seconds. A noticeable difference to the house, however, was its color. All the other homes around the lake were either a soothing light blue or unremarkable beige. A couple were a deep red that somehow still managed to compliment the other homes around it. The Tally family lake house was a striking, completely off-putting black. Or maybe it was brown, and having the sun behind it made it look black from this angle. You also noticed all the curtains inside were drawn-and black-and the front door was a solid slab of dark colored wood with no glass insets. Even the walkway up to the entrance was filled with dark gravel, whereas everyone else's walkways were either laiden with marble stepping stones, or filled with rounded white pebbles.

"Cheerful, isn't it?" Rob asked as he hopped out of the car and opened the passenger side door for you. "Very Addams family-esque, I'd say. Just minus the helpful disembodied hand and catchy theme song."

You caught Sage rolling his eyes as he tucked his sunglasses into the visor of his car and got out as well. The front door opened as you all started up the walkway, and Ash looked out at you, looking both tired but also relieved.

"You made it," he said, smiling as you came up the steps towards him.

"I mean, your brother almost drove off the road a couple times rubbernecking, but we're good," Rob joked.

Ash ignored him as he looked you over, and you had to resist the urge to raise an eyebrow until he'd finished his inspection.

"I'm fine," you say pointedly as he breathes a noticeable sigh of relief. "No bruises or contusions or lesions or anything. I don't even think I need therapy."

He gives you a slight smile, but you can still see an edge in his gray eyes as he moves to let you all step inside.

The inside of the house is surprisingly lighter than the outside, and the layout refreshingly open. The walls are a pristine white, and the carpets and upholstery on the furniture are a light ivory. Your mouth is hanging open by the time you reach the end of the front hallway and look around to see the enormous living area and open kitchen and dining areas. The countertops were all sparkling white marble, and a crystal chandelier hung at the top of the arched ceiling in the center of the living area. A winding staircase that led to both the upper and lower floors was tucked in the far corner. Two enormous full length windows on the opposite side of the living area looked right out over the lake, and the French doors just beside it led out onto the back deck where you could just glimpse an immense hot tub.

Ash stood beside you with a slightly resigned look on his face as he took in your awestruck expression, and it occurred to you as you turned to him that he probably got this reaction a lot. And, on reflection, this was nothing new to him. This was just how he lived.

"Wow," you said, looking at him.

His smile is slightly tighter than seems normal, and he shrugs, looking uncomfortable. "It's a lot of space," he says, and you can tell he doesn't mean it as a good thing.

Now that he's said it, you realize how empty the place feels, even with the four of you standing in the same room. It would be much more suited for a party of at least a dozen people or more, which is probably just his mother does with it. This wasn't the kind of place you bought if you were looking to spend time with a small family. The thought made you sadder than you expected it to.

"It's pretty," you say sincerely, because you have no idea what else to say and you hate the look he has on his face.

His smile warms a little at that, and he gestures for you to follow him into the kitchen. Sage has perched himself on a barstool by one of the counters and is perusing on his phone. Rob has already helped himself to a large fruit platter that he clearly snagged out of the fridge. In between bites of apple and handfuls of grapes, he sucks down a bottle of apple juice. Go figure.

"Hungry?" Ash asks, gesturing to the fruit platter.

You shake your head, honestly too excited to even think of eating.

"I promise, I've had my rabies vaccine," Rob jokes, pushing the platter towards you, but you shake your head again.

"I want to go swimming," you say, unable to help the excitement in your voice.

Rob grins and Ash's smile deepens. Sage doesn't look up from his phone, but you think you see the corner of his mouth lift slightly.

"We can go on the boat in a bit," Ash promises, "But I think we're missing something."

You frown. "What?"

Ash smile morphs into a subtle smirk. "You bring a bathing suit?"

That brings you to a full stop as you realize you're back in your shirt and jeans from yesterday, and you do not, in fact, have anything like a bathing suit.

Ash's amused look makes you blush.

"I forgot," you mumble. Not like you owned a bathing suit anyway. You'd been packed and prepared for college but somehow swimming never factored in to your extracurriculars.

"Cool, looks like we're skinny dipping," Rob says with a mischievous grin. Ash throws him a dirty look that he snickers at.

"I'm having one picked up for you," Sage says from his barstool, still fixated on his phone screen.

You turn to him, startled. "You don't know my size," you say, and then-as a more frightening thought occurs to you-you add quickly, "And I am not wearing a bikini."