Brotherly Love

07. Investigating

Placing the plate down she turned around to face him, " That one wasn't the best but your mum made it seem like the most amazing place on earth," she started.

"I was," she took a deep breath to steady her breathing, "I was a sad kid, I had a lot of baggage, I still do, but I wasn't a nice person then."

To Iris Lorenzo felt safe, like a real older brother, he had a trusting glow around him, she wasn't going to make him tea and tell him her life story but telling him a few things could maybe help him understand her better.

Maybe it could help her understand herself better.

"You put up with Valerius and Dante's bullshit, you seem too nice to me,"

"It was different then, I just wanted my mum back I didn't want strangers, I wanted her," she explained, "so I pushed anyone who wanted to foster me away, I secretly wished they fought for me but I understood why they didn't I was hard work,"

"How old were you?"

"Eight,"

"You weren't hard work you were just a kid,"

She just shrugged her shoulders, " when I got sent back to Lakeview, the foster centre, I tried making friends but it never worked, one girl threw sand in my hair while another spat at me, I cried in my room for days but then I just stopped caring, I became cold and called people names, stole their toys, I just, I - "

"Hurt them before they could hurt you,"

She nodded, "Until I met your mum, I was eleven when I first met her and I wasn't easy to deal with but she wasn't weak," she explained, "she fought for me to let her in and when she won she stayed, she didn't just leave me,"

And that was all Iris needed, for someone to fight the way Amalea fought and then stay, but she knew that was wishful thinking she just didn't think she was that important.

When Lorenzo noticed the tears gathering in her eyes he pulled her into a hug.

"You're different now,"

And she just prayed that she was different now, that she was doing it right this time.

* * *

"And they all lived happily ever after,"

"One day I'm going to save a princess and we're going to live happily ever after," Nario said as his eyes fluttered closed.

Iris brought his covers up and tucked him.

"Goodnight little man," she kissed his forehead and left the room.

Iris had been feeling in a weird mood and decided to change that, she had a nice long shower, washed her hair, applied a face mask, gave herself the full spa treatment.

She changed into her duck pyjamas and left her bathroom with a towel on her hair. Just as she walked in she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," she called out.

"I have the uniform for your new school,"

"Emilio do I have to go to private school,"

"Yes you'll be with your brothers and get a really good education, you might like it,"

"Fine," she sighed.

She trudged over to her bed and lay down, Emiliano tucked her in and wished her a goodnight and left the room.

Sighing, Iris turned around and was greeted by the glow of the numbers on her alarm clock 2:45 am, another sleepless night, just what she needed.

Throwing the covers off her she put on her duck slippers and started heading towards the kitchen to get some hot chocolate.

Before she could walk I'm she saw the bright light pouring out of the room, along with some voices. As she inched closer she recognised who was talking.

She was about to head upstairs not wanting to be in a kitchen alone with Dante or Valerius but when she heard what they were saying she started to listen.

"I don't understand why's she's here anyway, just a fucking waste of space," Valerius complained.

"She doesn't even belong here," Valerius started.

"She doesn't belong anywhere, her old foster families didn't want her anyways, she just a useless little brat with mummy and daddy issues," Dante mocked.

Valerius laughed, " Honestly, she probably just got kicked out for being annoying and was dramatic about it ever since,"

They continued to joke and started to make their way out of the kitchen, Iris ran back up to her room before they knew she was there.

Throwing the toy duck from her dresser across the room she let out a silent scream in frustration.

"They're not even funny," she said as her voice cracked.

Going towards a corner of the room she tucked her knees into her chest and cried.

Her head was hurting it was way too loud, her thoughts were way too loud.

This just made her cry more, she was just tired, she wanted it all to be over all the pain to go. She just wanted to be done. Done with everything, every fucking thing.

That night Iris cried until she fell asleep in her little huddle in the smallest corner of the room, hoping that it would get better because it couldn't get any worse than this.

Could it?

- x -

Author's Note: Thank you for reading, make sure to stay healthy physically and mentally. Also, make sure you eat something your body needs it. ♥️

Random Question: What is trust to you?