Zara

chapter 23

It took too much strength she didn't possess.

"I am not asking you to pour your heart out right now. Or tomorrow. Or next week. I just want you to know that we are here. And we would be till the end. You should never hesitate to ever come to us. When you'll be ready to speak, we would be here to listen."

His words were like a sip of cold water on a hot summer day. They untied the knot that had started forming in her stomach. She turned to him and gave a soft smile,"I'll keep that in mind." She whispered.

He smiled back but then frowned,"Also, I am informing you in advance that I'll be telling the others, at least Dele. It was a serious matter. So don't go all crazy on me like you did with Ben." He joked.

She sighed,"There was no hoping." She mumbled under her breath and then turned to punch his arm,"And I didn't go crazy. He had that coming." She defended.

Sil barked out a laugh,"Totally. But it was funny seeing you chase him like a fucking godzilla and him screaming like a little four year old-" He cut off, guffawing while holding his sides at the absurd memory.

Zara wanted to be mad. She really did. He had called her godzilla. But a laugh escaped her lips as well and soon they fell into a round of giggles and chuckles.

Sil watched his sister with a smile. He knew she had been through a lot and the way she always brushed it aside or covered it was saddening. She also never fully laughed. It was always a twitch of her lips or a chuckle. But she was laughing and that sound was like music to his ears.

God, it had only been about two weeks of her being here but he already cared about her more than he had ever cared about anyone. It was the same with his brothers.

They fell into light chatter until a question popped up in his brain. He curiously narrowed his eyes,"Have you ever been in a relationship, Zara?"

She instantly froze. Why did he ask that? Did he somehow know? Where was he going with it?

"Why do you ask?" She answered back with a question.

He shrugged and gnawed over his lip, trying to form his sentence,"..that guy at your apartment. He-"

"Oh." Zara chuckled, relief flooding through her. He was talking about that,"He was just a jerk from my old school. We never exchanged a single civil word."

Sil sucked in his cheeks and slowly released them,"I mean, he was implying all that and even tried to enter your apartment-"

"Trust me, I was as surprised as you. He had never come to my house before." She sighed.

"You can tell the truth, tesoro." Sil encouraged. He knew she was withholding information here.

She hesitated. She could easily decline like before. But his previous words echoed in her mind and she decided that he deserved the truth.

"His name was Riley. His friend, Dustin... I just call him dumber but whatever, he um- he," She exhaled,"he tried to force himself upon me after class one day. Locked me in a room and stuff. I-"

"He what?" Sil yelled, alarming her. She raised her arms in a way to calm him down but he was seething,"How dare he? Give me his full name! I will reach that fucker and show him what fucking happens to little shits like him. I-"

"Calm down, Sil." Zara said, raising her voice. Her eyes glanced to the door in fear of someone hearing them but they were safe. The door was closed shut.

"Calm down? Calm down?! Don't tell me to calm down!"

"Silvio." She tried again and placed her hands on his shoulders, halting him,"I need you to calm down. This isn't why I shared this information."