Alyssa's POV

"Uhh, thank you."  I said as I took the mug and sipped the hot coffee. Amazingly, it tasted just as I wanted it and I leant against the counter, enjoying it as the room fell into a more comfortable silence.

"You know, I made those pancakes." Calum said smugly as he stuffed a forkful in his mouth, waiting for praise from everyone. Michael laughed as he shook his head.

"You can't even make toast properly, Cal. Nice try." Michael stuffed some pancakes into his mouth as Ashton munched on some toast.

"Well, if you did make these they are great." Ashton added, trying to keep the mood light. Michael seemed to roll his eyes and huff, falling into silence as he continued eating.

"I did!" Calum protested. "Lys taught me how to make them." At the mention of my new nickname, Luke's gaze shot up and over to Calum, the forkful of pancakes he had close to his mouth were suddenly back down on the plate with a clunk. It was as if he didn't want them now he knew I hadn't made them - that or he didn't want them because he knew they were made whilst Calum and I had been bonding.

"Well, I'm glad you're all having a good day." Luke snapped, sipping his coffee with irritation lacing his voice. His eyes moved to each person in the room, as if mentally reminding them of what day it is and how sad they should be. As his gaze set on me, he seemed to hesitate, his eyes lingering on me for a second before he looked down at his lap and let out a small sigh.

"Daddy, be nice. Lys is being nice teaching Uncle Cal how to cook." Kira suddenly piped up from the table and we were all reminded that there were two children at the table. Luke offered Kira a smile and a nod but Cody decided to continue the conversation.

"You're lucky, my mummy never puts this much food on the table when its breakfast time normally. She doesn't like to waste money." He said confidently, looking over at me with a smile as he thought he was saying the right thing. I couldn't tell him it wasn't, not right now, but I just smiled back similarly to how Luke had with Kira. It was as if the guys around the table suddenly realised this, and looked between each other. I knew what they were thinking - how do we ask her if she wants money for this without insulting her?

"It's fine, as long as everyone is full and happy then I don't mind." I said, hoping to put the awkward thoughts about money aside. It had been tight since Harry had decided it was more fun for him to leave us and live as if he hadn't had a child with me. We'd managed to find this place, but most of my wages went to the bills and the rent. With Daria's odd payments too, to thank her, I didn't often have much left for luxuries as much as I would want. I wouldn't even use the extra money on myself - if I ever got extra money at work for working a bank holiday or overtime, this would go on Cody.

Conversation was minimal as everyone finished eating, the kids deciding to run off first to play together with Cody's toys in his room. The others slowly filed out of the room, leaving just Luke, Calum and I.

"I'll help wash up." Calum offered, standing up with a pile of plates and walking over to the sink.

"I think you've done enough." Luke barked, causing both Calum and I to look back at him in shock. He picked up the last few bits of cutlery and walked towards the sink, nudging him away from it. "I'll help. You can work out where Ash and Mike got to with Ivy. We can't live here forever." Calum and I exchanged glances before he looked back at Luke and nodded. 

"Sure, man." He said quickly before he left the room too, shutting the kitchen door behind him and leaving Luke and I alone in the room together. The turned the tap on and began to wash up the plates in silence. I began putting the other things from the table away in the fridge or cupboards, glancing at him every now and again without saying anything. After a few minutes, Luke sighed.

"Thank you for taking Kira and I in last night. I don't remember all of what happened last night but I know it involved a lot of drink and sadness." He hung his head in shame. I put the last of the jars back in the fridge and shut it, leaning against it as I prepared myself for a tough conversation.

"It was... difficult. But I couldn't just sit and watch you ruin yourself, even if it meant you said hurtful things to me. Kira was scared. I was scared. Hell, even Ashton and Calum were scared." I wanted to be nice to him, to say everything was okay and comfort him but the truth was, I couldn't do it. What I witnessed last night was not healthy, for him or Kira. He needed an awakening and, seeing as I was already in his bad books, it may as well be me that does it. His friends seemed too scared to upset him, not wanting to let him know of his behaviour. I knew today was a bad day, the anniversary of the death of his wife, but that wasn't an excuse to act like this. I'd had to learn that the hard way and now, it was his turn.

"Of course, you'd start talking about Calum."  He rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What? No, I was just saying we were all worried." I hit back, trying to make him realise this wasn't about me. His face remained unbothered.

"Yeah." He laughed flatly. "Worried enough to have cooking lessons." He put the plate he'd cleaned in the drying rack heavy-handedly. 

"Luke... This is not about Calum, or me. This is about you. You're the one upsetting everyone." This time it was a cup that he slammed down on the side as he raged, although this one shattered and the shards fell to the floor. Luke gasped as he froze, his hands hovering in midair as he watched me spring into action and pick the glass up, throwing it away as I picked up the larger pieces.