Perdita

24 | wither and rot

The ones I felt most comfortable with were Elijah, even with the slight hitch in the beginning, and Apollo. They were the ones who I felt the most relaxed around, which probably has something to do with Elijah's kindness and motherly nature and Apollo's cheerful and easygoing personality.

The ones I distrust the most were Ace and Ares. The latter for the obvious reasons - he was simply mean. Ace had lied straight to my face and what made it worst was that he is the leader. He is what makes all of them the Romano brothers and if he lies it means they're all liars.

But Alex is different. His aura is menacing and cold - one of a ruthless killer - but unlike the others, he never bothered to cloak it. While Ace tries to be less intimidating when I was in his presence, Alex radiates and boosts it even around me. He didn't hesitate to murder a man in front of me, while I don't think the other brothers would ever do.

Deception is in human nature without us even realizing it. Most of us have many masks that we chose to demonstrate depending on the person standing in front of us. When we are comfortable and give our whole trust in the liar's hands, we discover the other mask they hid from us. In the end, when it's too late to go back, they're not the person we thought them to be. It was unfathomable that it would end up either in betrayal or heartbreak.

I think that is because I trust and feel comfortable around Alex the most. I don't have to fear any other masks he may pull off. He is true to himself and the others surrounding him. I know what to expect from him.

This is why I grabbed his hand that day when I was held at gunpoint.

"Alex." I declared.

At this information, most of their shoulders hunched in defeat while Alex stood straighter and his chest puffed in pride, all while receiving many glares shooting daggers at him.

"Don't be so smug, Alex!" Apollo grumbled. "Soon as Ariana tries out my trampoline, I'll be her favorite."

"Oh, god." Elijah rubbed his forehead with his palm. "What's up with your obsession with this trampoline of yours?"

"It's not mine," Apollo muttered. "It's Ariana."

"Sure," Noah said sarcastically.

"But he doesn't even talk!" Ares scowled, looking at me like I was an idiot. My fingers curled around my cup and clenched it.

Ares was starting to get on my nerves, spoiling each laugh and fun all we had all day. He kept throwing insults at everybody, occasionally also insulting me - both unknowingly and knowingly. I was still trying to figure out if it was merely his rotten personality or something was bothering him. I didn't know him well enough to decide which one.

"Exactly," I said with obvious irritation in my tone and took a sip of my drink. 

By my tone, it was also obvious that I was indicating Ares was talking too much.

Their eyes widened in shock at my bluntness - even Ace. Alex looked at me with a glimmer of pride in his eyes as he winked at me discreetly. The corners of my lips upped despite my efforts to resist it.

"Damn, you just got burned by our Lil sis here, Ares." Noah chuckled as he threw his arm around Ares. The latter glared at him and shoved them away from his shoulders.

"Did you get offended there, little bro?" Salvo cooed, trapping Ares' chin between his two fingers. Ares also shoved them away.

He stomped but not before flipping at all of us and received a 'language!' shout from Elijah.

Elijah turned to me and his face softened visibly. "Alright, it's getting late. You should get to bed now." He clapped his hands twice, and I quickly learned that it was his habit to do so when it was time to do something. A strange habit but honestly it just made Elijah, Elijah.