All I Have

Chapter 4 ~ I'll Kill Him, You Bury the Body.

The next morning, the past night's events seem so horrifyingly unlikely that I hope it's a dream. I convince myself for the most part that there is no way this actually occurred and so the morning starts off quite pleasantly. I have a shower and wash off the remains of my nightmare.

It's only when I leave my bedroom fully dressed for school, that I hear the buzzer by our front door. I peer down the camera and sure enough, Asher is standing, hands in his pockets blowing warm air into the cold London street.

I fiddle with a few buttons and then skip away into the kitchen where Emilio is singing along loudly to the radio, one of the new One Direction songs that I can't say I entirely hate. He's wiggling around his hips and flipping his spatula that's supposed to be attending to the bacon in the frying pan.

'Morning goose.' He grins.

'Goose is a new one.' I chuckle, taking a piece of toast from the table and chewing on the corner.

'I'm trying it out.' He replies, placing some bacon on a plate that he lays out in front of me, 'Is Asher coming for you today?'

'No, I'm meeting him at school.' I lie, very aware of the silence of the buzzer. Hopefully he's just given up and gone to school without me.

Emilio takes a seat opposite me and the window illuminates his tired face. I can tell last night took its toll and it comforts me that at least he can have an early night tonight, since we haven't got anything booked. The bags under his eyes are almost purple and I'm surprised he's even functioning.

'How come you're awake so early?' I ask as I come close to finishing my breakfast.

'Well I - Jesus!' He screams, almost knocking himself backwards off his chair.

I whip around to see Asher climbing the fire escape up the side of our building onto our balcony. His face is wild when he sees me, glasses almost slipping from his nose and embarrassed as Emilio lets him in through the window and rubs his sore elbow that he had to bash to steady himself.

'Asher, you scared the shit out of me, you couldn't have rung the bell?' Leo says, leaning against the wall and holding his heart as if it was going to burst.

'I did! I've been calling for twenty minutes!' Asher says, holding his hands up to help Emilio without actually touching the overreacting twenty-four year old.

Emilio's eyes narrow and he turns his body to face me, pointing a finger menacingly, 'Did you mute the buzzer?'

'No?'

'That's not a question you answer with a question.' Leo snaps, 'Marzia, you promised me.'

There's a tense few seconds where Emilio and I stare each other down, until finally I resign, turning back to my breakfast in a huff. Emilio takes his seat at the table and slowly resumes his appetite. Asher catches his posture and bows to the both of us, earning a frustrated grunt from my lungs.

'Asher, take a seat. Grab some breakfast, you're in for a long couple of weeks.' Emilio says, passing him a plate and pushing some toast towards him, 'And I swear to God if you bow in this house again, I'll be the one who mutes the buzzer tomorrow.'

'Sorry.' Asher says, but I have a sneaky feeling it won't be the last time he does it.

He takes a seat beside me, a foul look on his face and the same bags under his eyes that Leo has. I guess I make it harder and more stressful to protect me than I thought. I might have to fix that. Asher settles himself on a stool and I look over to the window Emilio has left ajar.

'Hey Neighbour.' I say absentmindedly, turning back to my breakfast.

'Hello... Brethren?' Asher replies, dumbfounded, 'What's with the new nicknames? Is that an Alanian thing?'