Happier

➸ FIFTY SEVEN | 1M

"Neither did I." I said in a low voice. What scared me was that this felt familiar, and I didn't regret it one bit. "Nonna." I looked up and raced to one of their cars where they forcefully pushed her in the backseat.

I opened the car door and saw her sitting there with wide eyes and trembling lips. "Nonna? Nonna you're safe now." I whisper softly but she doesn't look at me. "Nonna?" I repeat but louder.

"That was exactly what I tried keeping you away from." She said after taking a moment to pause and collect her thoughts.

"I know you want to keep me away from danger but Nonna, that isn't your choice anymore. It isn't my choice either." I say softly. "I love you, and I know you want the best for me but what's best for me right now is letting me find myself again." I try to reason without even knowing her take on this situation.

"Thalia," she grabbed my hand and rubbed her thumb across the back. "I love you and you're absolutely right. I've hid so much from you and I could never apologize enough for that. You deserve to know everything and you deserve to get your life back." She agrees with me and gets out of the car. "I just, I've been through this so many times." I could see her words get stuck in her throat, causing her to swallow harshly before continuing. "I could never forget the amount of times Aiden would come home all bloody, and barely conscious. You hated it as much as I did, until you dragged yourself into it because you wanted to be with your brother at all times. I never knew if you two would walk back in through that door every time you left. Call me selfish, but I thought that if I could keep that part of you away for even a little bit so you could finally live your life without looking over your shoulder constantly, I'd be doing my job as your guardian." She explained and we stayed in silence as she got out of the car and looked at me with her everlasting soft eyes.

"Nonna?" I whisper but I can't seem to find my voice.

"I'll be at home and I understand you have some things to sort out before I see you again." She collects herself, kisses my forehead and then sends me a small smile before walking off down the street. "I accept who you are, no matter what path you choose to take. Sei sempre lo stesso, Thalia. [You're still the same, Thalia.]"

I watch her figure disappear from my view whilst I stand in the exact same place she left me in. "Thalia? You okay?" Lincoln's voice entered my thought process making me snap out of my daze.

"Yeah," I mumble although I knew full well I wasn't, and he knew that too.

A speeding car caught our attention before anything else could happen. It harshly stopped in front of us, which immediately caused Lincoln to stand in front of me, like it was his first instinct to protect me.

We both loosened up once we saw Darren and Nathan step out of the car but then realized it was Darren and Nathan and we both tensed up again.

"We're fucked." Lincoln mumbles and cringes slightly when he meets Darren deathly glare.

"I don't know if I want to kill them or you two more." Darren speaks harshly, his words sending slight terror through Lincoln and I.

"... it's not what it looks like." Lincoln spoke up first, sounding like a teenage boy who just got caught cheating.

I didn't even bother looking at Nathan even though I could feel his unwavering stare. "Don't get mad at Lincoln, it was my idea. He caught me leaving the house in the morning and came with me instead of me going alone since he couldn't talk me into staying." I somewhat bullshitted the story. "I went back home to open Aiden's box. Then I was on the phone with Nonna and they were after her." I told the truth now. "I found them trying to take her here, and well." I looked down at the weirdly positioned bodies.