For a long time, I debated myself about whether or not I should uninvite my family from the indie music showcase at Bogart's Music Hall. It was a big deal for my career and my sister was so excited about coming. Not only that, but she talked Joshua into bringing his new girlfriend as well.

They'd already gotten their hotel rooms to stay the night since it would be such a long drive for both of them, and I was excited to see my family after not having seen them since the Fourth of July. However, would they be in danger if Mrs. Lamb saw them interacting with me at all?

I wanted to see them, but didn't want to put them in harm's way.

I had convinced myself that I would call Abigail and Joshua to tell them not to come to the show after all. I wasn't sure what excuse I would use, maybe tell them I got sick or got booted off the schedule. Or I could just say that things had been weird ever since my mom had been avoiding me about the nudes situation. My parents had completely ignored any attempts to reach out, Abigail had been a bit distant. I wasn't sure if Joshua knew about what was going on since he lived so far away from home at the time, but he hadn't discussed it with me at all.

I almost wished that I could use my car troubles as an excuse somehow, but I didn't even need to get it towed when it broke down last week. I'd met Andrea and AAA back on the country road where it broke down the next day and the mechanic was able to fidget with a few things before it was working again. He confirmed that it had been tampered with and Andrea had taken some notes, but the car was in complete working condition now, so I wasn't even able to use that as an excuse.

However, when Abigail, Joshua, and a girl I didn't recognize showed up at my door a day earlier than expected, those plans went out the window.

"Surprise!" Abigail cheered in the hall when I greeted them.

"What's going on?" I asked, stepping aside to allow them all into the small apartment. Our parents raised us in a very neat home, so my dirty dishes and discarded laundry was a little bit embarrassing to showcase to my siblings and a stranger.

"We thought we'd come a day early and surprise you," she beamed, before wrapping me in a tight hug. Her straight auburn hair smelled like the expensive citrus shampoo she'd used for years. I remembered stealing some to use for myself sometimes, hoping to get my hair to look straight like hers instead of battling my curls every morning. It took me a while to realize that it wasn't the shampoo, but rather genetics, that gave her smooth hair.

"Well, I'm surprised," I commented, getting a hug from my little brother as well.

"This is my girlfriend, Claire," Joshua announced, motioning toward the short girl standing shyly beside him, twisting her black hair in her fingers.

"I've heard a lot about you," Claire said to me after politely shaking my hand. "Thank you for inviting me to your show."

"I'm glad to have you. Do you guys want to go to lunch?" I offered in an attempt to get them out of my apartment. Not only because it was messy and cramped, but because I had copies of police reports and documentation about Mrs. Lamb on my counters that I didn't want them to see.

It was becoming harder and harder to keep this big part of my life from my siblings, but every time it felt like it was on the tip of my tongue, I pictured Lina in the hospital. I imagined my sister in that position, stuck in the hospital with a broken leg or maybe worse. I imagined her four kids without their mother, imagined my parents without their son.

We ended up going to Skyline for chili and since Abigail hadn't met Claire yet either, we spent most of the lunch talking to her to get to know who my brother was dating. She was a lot more shy and reserved than my brother, who was usually boisterous and full of loud confidence. Maybe they evened each other out, as they both looked quite happy with each other.

The entire day spent with my family was a good distraction from the rest of the world. I felt safe with them, out in public, spending time together and catching up on everybody's lives. Abigail had hundreds of baby pictures, and pictures of her older kids as well, that she was dying to share. Other than dating Claire, Joshua didn't have much to share.

It seemed like most of his time was spent with her or studying, although I was sure he was spending some of that time partying with his friends. Since he was underage, he wouldn't share those parts of his college experience with us though.

The day that my family arrived, and the next day of the showcase were quiet from Mrs. Lamb. I hadn't gotten a package in a couple of days, but felt relieved that I was getting to spend some time with Abigail and Joshua without the stress of dealing with communication from the creep.

I wondered if they were planning something big, or if they somehow knew my family was in town and didn't want them to realize what was going on. Either way, I was going to enjoy it for as long as possible.

The night of the showcase, I went back to my house by myself to get ready while Abigail, Joshua, and Claire spent some time sight seeing on their own. I had to get to the show early for sound check and everything, so we agreed to meet up after my performance.

Since this was a big show that would expose my music to many people who had never heard me before, I put a lot of effort into my appearance. I painted my face in a full makeup routine with a liquid eyeliner, a bold lipstick, and contouring. The dress was blue and pink metallic and stopped about mid-thigh. It was not weather appropriate for the rapidly colder temperatures, but it was the flashiest dress I owned.

I paired it with thick black ankle boots and an oversize men's blazer to give it an edgy vibe, which wasn't my usual style but felt like this was a good time to experiment with weird fashion to make an impression on the large audience.

As I stood behind stage before my performance, looking out at that large audience, I was suddenly much more self-conscious of my fashion choices. What if my bolder outfit would fail and people would think I looked ridiculous on stage?

I didn't have very much time to wonder about it because my name was quickly being called on stage. The second my boots hit the smooth black surface of the stage and I heard the encouraging applause from the audience, I didn't feel nervous at all.

The set was going really well and I felt like I was really getting into the music. The sound of the cheering crowd helped fuel my energy as I sang my heart out to a crowd of strangers. On my fourth song, I began looking out into the crowd as I sang a song that was lightly inspired by Sev. I hadn't performed it very often, because I didn't want to sing it in front of him at the Jackroller, but it seemed to do well with the crowd.

I'll get your number,
just to know that I can.
And I'll take you home,
just to feel like the man.

I want you to,
tell me that you think I'm good.
And I want you to,
love me like I never could.

I've got empty promises,
And you've got an open heart.
You'll ask me for my love,
I wouldn't know where to start.

Give me your whole self,
I'll give you some false hope.
I've played this song before,
I know how the story goes.

Date me
Validate me

Hear me
and endear me.

Get nothing in return,
Because I give up when it's easy.

It's more about the man Sev is afraid to be perceived as rather than who he actually is. I wondered if this was a bad idea, to sing a song even slightly related to Sev. If he really was Mrs. Lamb, would this be considered engaging with him?

As I'm gauging the audience reaction, a man standing to the left of the stage caught my eye. It was hard to see passed the blinding lights, but I noticed him standing rather stoic, holding a camera up toward the stage. He stood out because everybody around him was dancing, enjoying the show and letting loose. He stood unmoved, hiding his face behind a blue baseball cap and large sunglasses.

I glanced over at him a few times as he recorded the show and I felt that negative gut reaction starting to peak in my body. I probably wouldn't have second guessed it before the Mrs. Lamb situation, but I was becoming paranoid of anybody that stuck out to me just a little bit.

I told myself to leave it alone, focus on the show, and don't let it ruin my night.

Despite feeling freaked out by the myserious man, I finished my set successfully and felt confident about every song I played. The loud applause I received as I exited the stage made me feel completely satisfied with the performance and I was already excited to cruise through social media the next day to see if anybody had Tweeted about it.

Leaving my guitar back stage, I met up with my siblings and Claire near the bar, where it seemed Abigail was being very liberal with her beer drinking.

"You were so great!" she shouted over the loud music. Her cheeks were read and her eyes were wide and crazed, the two tell tale signs that she'd been drinking.

"That was awesome," Claire added. "You write all your music?"

"Thank you. I do get some help here and there, but yeah, I write most of it by myself," I answered her with a polite smile. "I'm really glad you guys came."

"Wouldn't miss it," Joshua assured me. "Just remember us when you're crazy famous with a mansion in Malibu."

"Malibu doesn't seem like my kind of place," I said with a laugh. Of course, I did imagine my life if my dreams came true, but I never saw myself living in Malibu. "I always see myself in a penthouse in Manhattan."

"At least get us a beach house," he said jokingly as Abigail started to dance around to the band that was playing on stage, almost bumping into the person beside her.

"You're going to be a doctor, are you kidding me? Get it yourself," I teased him. A few times while we were talking near the bar, I found myself glancing around, looking for that mysterious blue baseball cap. He was nowhere to be seen.

When Abigail started to accidentally bump into anybody within a foot of her in a crowded room of dancing people, we decided to get her back to the hotel. They took an Uber to the music hall, so I drove all of us in my car to their hotel just about ten minutes away.

"I'm so, so, so proud of you, Maren," Abigail said in a high pitched voice. "You did so good tonight, and you look so, so pretty."

"Thanks, Abby," I said with a laugh. I hadn't seen her drunk in a long time, as the busy life of a stay at home mom doesn't really allow for very much time to get drunk and let loose. Which was probably why she had gotten so drunk that night.

"Mom and Dad will be proud," she added. "I know they're mad now, but they'll come around and they'll be so proud."

"Why are they mad?" Joshua asked me

"She accidentally sent her nudes to Mom," Abigail responded with a drunken giggle.

"No, I didn't," I reminded her with an irritated eye roll. "Somebody tried pulling a prank on me while I was at work, and they sent her fake pictures or something."

"That's fucked," he said slowly. "But also kind of funny, why is Mom so upset? Doesn't seem like that big of a deal."

"I don't know, but she won't even talk to me," I said in a quiet voice.

"Sounds like something Van would do, honestly," Joshua mentioned, talking about one of my high school boyfriends who really was a huge asshole. The kind of guy that was rude to everybody except for me, and it made me feel special for the couple of months we were together until it ended in him cheating on me. An ugly relationship, and honestly if Mrs. Lamb wasn't part of the equation, I wouldn't be surprised if Van would want to pull something like that. Even so many years after we dated.

"Yeah. Maybe," I sighed, knowing that it probably wasn't Van but unwilling to say that out loud.

"You know how Mom is though. She gets really mad really quickly, but she'll forget all about it soon enough," he assures me. "Maybe if she knew that you needed a magazine article to tell you how to flirt, she'd realize how unlikely it is you'd be able to find somebody to send nudes to."

"Shut up," I said with a light laugh, knowing that he was teasing me. Although I didn't tell Joshua directly about the magazine article thing that happened when I introduced myself to David, I did tell Abigail and it was no surprise that she told him.

Despite the fact that all four of us lived so far apart, we were all rather close and I knew that by telling Abigail something like that, I was basically telling Joshua and Lily at the same time.

At the hotel, Joshua and I helped Abigail into her room as Claire carried their things and pushed the elevator button.

"I'll stay with her," I assured my brother as Abigail falls onto one of the two queen sized beds in the neatly decorated room that smelled like pine and cleaning supplies. "You guys can go enjoy the rest of your night."

"Are you sure?" Joshua wondered, looking skeptically at my drunk sister who was now dialing something on her phone. I felt like that was probably a bad idea. "You'll have your hands full."

"Yeah, she'll be fine," I promised him optimistically. "We'll meet up for breakfast before you have to head out."

"Okay. Goodnight," he said, starting to walk back toward the door of the room to go next door where he was staying with Claire.

"Goodnight, Josh," I responded, shutting the door and locking both the deadbolt and the manual lock.

As I returned to the bed where Abigail was now sitting on the edge, I heard her talking into the phone.

"I miss you so, so much," she was saying. "Jamesyyyyy, when I get home, I'm gonna rip your clothes off."

I cringed and laughed at the same time listening to my sister talk to her husband, James, on the phone. It was cute, I thought, that when she was drunk and she'd lost all her inhibitions, it was still James that she thought about.

It was almost amusing to think about how Abigail and I were the least alike in our family, yet probably had the closest relationship. She was a more reserved, conservative woman who always dreamed of having a family and a home to take care of. She was very nurturing and motherly; she always had been. She was such a romantic; I remembered playing wedding with her when we were little where she'd "marry" Lily and I'd be the flower girl or maid of honor.

Even before she met James, she had a Pinterest board planning out her dream wedding. She loved the traditional lifestyle of getting married early, popping out kids and raising them at home while her husband worked. I loved that it made her happy, but it was funny how completely opposite I turned out.

Although I'm not opposed to marriage, I'd never seriously thought about what my wedding might look like. Never imagined myself as a mom or a taking care of a home. I was much louder, more of an attention seeker than my sister.

Despite all of our differences on the inside, our physical appearance was quite similar. We shared an auburn hair color, high cheek bones, thousands of freckles, bright eyes, and pale skin. Abigail's skin was slightly more weathered, as she was eight years older than me and the four kids she'd carried in her body gave her some more curves than me.

"I didn't have that much to drink," she assured her husband, which was an obvious lie and I was sure he could tell even by the short conversation they had. "I'm just thinking about how much I love you and I wanted to hear your cute voice."

I started preparing to help her to bed by filling a glass with some water and pulling her pajamas out of the small weekend bag she brought along with her. When I was done preparing her things, I took my own pajamas out of my bag to get dressed. I didn't have to stay here, but thought it would be easier since we'd be going to breakfast in the morning.

Not to mention the fact that I felt monumentally safer in this hotel than I did in my own apartment. I wasn't able to drive by myself in the dark since the car incident a few days ago without feeling like I was on the verge of a panic attack. I also felt like it was extremely unlikely that Mrs. Lamb knew that I'd be there. Although, there were a lot of things about me that I had no idea where they'd get the information from, so I wasn't putting too much faith in that idea.

Maybe it was the thicker walls and more peaceful silence that made it easier for me to fall asleep, but I felt like the extra sense of safety was nice too. It'd been so long since I felt completely safe in my bed, I almost forgot what the feeling was. My entire body relaxed into the bed as I wrapped myself in the warm comforter for the best sleep I had in months.