"Thank you, Bella, for everything," I mumble causing her to smile and continue massaging my back until the knots were out.
"All done," she announces happily. "You did a good job, a lot of people can be difficult when you try to work knots out." She laughs before she calms down and looks at me more seriously, which makes me anxious. "Matthew, I've been thinking about your situation and everything. You can stay here with us for as long as you like, I don't want you sleeping in your car anymore and definitely don't want you to go back to those monsters. You are welcome to stay in the extra room or if you want to bunk with the twins in their room."
I sit in shock because one, they're twins? I mean they obviously look alike but definitely different and two, she's letting me stay here? For real? That makes me tear up, do I seriously not have to go back to my car?
"Thank you thank you thank you," I whimper, quickly leaning in front of me to hug her. When I catch on to what I did, I quickly back away, "Sorry about that. But what about your mates? I mean, they don't seem to like me or the idea of me being near the house, let alone in it.
She just giggles and waves her hand at that, "they'll just have to deal with it. If they say anything rude, you come straight to me, that's counting the twins too, got it?" She says, faking a stern face as I laugh at that and nod to show I understand. "Besides, I have a gossip buddy in the house now, yeah?" She wink making me laugh a bit harder. I like her.
"Okay, thank you, Bella! This means a lot-" I start to say to her but I cut my words short when the doors suddenly swing open and the boys walk in, whining.
"Mommm, are you done wi-" Andrew cuts his sentence short which confuses me so I turn around and look at them confused. Both of their eyes are wide and staring at me, well more specifically my back.
'Fuck!' I panic as I quickly stand up and turn around to hide my back before realizing my chest and stomach are full of scars and bruises too. Their eyes start to water as they wander my body, my breath picks up as I quickly snatch the hoodie off the seat and slide it over my body. I then dart out the door, siding right in between the two, them both too far in a shocked state to try and stop me from running.
I go running for the front door but before I can even reach within a couple of feet from it, the man in the jeans that was sitting next to Isabella stands in front of me. If I didnt see him in time, I would've run right into his chest. The man is about 6'5, maybe 6'6 which immediately intimidates me.
I take a couple of steps back, looking up at him with wide eyes. There is no way I'm getting through this man. "Can we have a quick chat?" He asks making me gulp as I bite my lip, and nod. There's no way out of this so I mise well take the easy way out.
He pulls me aside in a separate room, just across the hall from where Isabella's "Doctors office" is, the other man following suit.
This is going to be just great huh?
I immediately look around the room, finding the easiest exit if needed, which is the window across the room, assuming I can get around these giants that is. Once I found the exit, I let my shoulders relax as I scan the room once more, actually looking at it this time.
It looks like we're in an office room, the hint giving it away is two big desks in the room, one on either side. Utensils and papers are on the desk along with filing cabinets and drawers around the room and a printer in the corner of the room.
When all three of us are in the room, the one behind us closes the door. My heartbeat begins beating faster, my defenses rising as they stand next to each other and look at me before starting to talk.
Ashtons POV
Our mom had wanted to check our Mate out and when she asked him about it, we both obviously picked up on it not really being a physical check-up but mental. We of course don't argue with that, that might be what he needs, a sit down with someone that can communicate well and know's how to help people. That's where my mom comes in, her past job being as a doctor, she's helped so many people both physically and mentally, I just hope she doesn't scare him away. Mom can be, as I would say, a bit much to take sometimes.
She dragged him to her 'doctor's room,' we tried to follow but she shooed us away with a warning glare. Though something good came out of that, it made our Kitten giggle, the best sound ever! His laugh is exactly what Andrew and I needed after witnessing what had happened to him not even 10 minutes ago.
While mom is in her doctor's room with him, Andrew and I are sitting in the living room, both of us anxious and thinking. I can just tell that my brother is thinking about the same things I am, there is no way he couldn't be.
'What happened?' is the main question running through my head. He obviously had a panic attack but were we the ones to cause it? I think we did but we didnt mean to, of course, we didnt mean to. We would never do anything to hurt him, our wolf wouldn't let us even if we wanted to, which we obviously don't.
We were just excited that we found our mate and we thought we would introduce him to them now, our mom said she wanted to meet him immediately after he woke up. We went to pull him into the kitchen and I think pulling his arms caused him to panic.
He stiffened immediately, his breath picking up and his eyes looked so lost. It scared the shit out of both of us and to make it worse, he goes limp under in our arms and collapses. Thankfully Andrew was able to catch his head before he could bash it into the floor but I've never seen someone react like that. I've seen people having flashbacks and panic attacks but this was so much more different. I don't know if it's because he's our mate or it's a different reaction in general but I hated it. We both hated it.
All we could do was sit by him and touch him when he calmed down. When he was panicking we couldn't even touch him because of his thrashing around so immediately after he stopped, we grabbed him, hoping he was alright. We had to watch while he gasped for air, and screamed from whatever flashbacks were going through his head. Goddess, it was horrible.
We both want to be with our mate but of course, we let our mom take him and talk to him. Our hearts ache and the only thing we wanna do is hold him close and show him so much love but we push our selfishness aside so we know he's okay. He needs to be okay.
After a while longer, we are still sitting on the couch and talking to our dads when we got tired of waiting. Being the clingy fuckers we are, we walk to the door and open it up, whining. Though our eyes almost immediately find their way to his back, seeing so many scars scattering his back, "Mommm, are you done wi-" Andrew cuts his sentence short which causes our Mate to look over at us confused. Then he came to the realization of what we were looking at. He takes in a sharp inhale, turning around and staring at us with wide eyes and our eyes stay on his torso. He has a huge bruise on his chest plus cut scars and burn marks litter his skin, bringing tears to my eyes immediately. I even spot some cuts on his lower wrist that go from side to side and a couple of long scars on each arm going up and down.
He hurriedly grabs Andrew's hoodie, slips it over his head, and darts to the doorway we stand in. My heart tears, feeling like someone was scratching at it. I'm going to kill the people that's one that to him.
Matthews POV
"Listen, I know we don't know each other at all but we need you to stay here. We hope you'll stay here. For our sons. You are their mate and have grown so attached to you in the little amount of time they've known you. Those twins deserve the best, the truth, is they deserve a Mate. They have helped you, they want to help you, to protect you, to keep you safe and warm. All we ask of you is to give them a chance but to not lead them on. Please," the guy in the sweatpants says, his voice going soft.
The first guy is the one in the sweat pants has bright blue eyes, not as bright as Ashton's but close enough. A shaved but stubbly face and short chocolatey brown hair. The second one wearing the blue jeans has some grown-out facial hair and chocolatey brown hair that is only a little bit longer than the others. He also has cocoa-colored eyes, that now look a hazel color with the sunray hitting them.
My eyes bulge out of my skull or at least feel like they're going to, soon. I was 100% sure they don't like me, not missing those glares they kept sending me, even after I came out of my panic fit.
"I would like to stay but I don't know if they want me anymore. They saw my scars, there's no way they want me now."
"Something you should know about our children is they were raised to not judge by looks so I dare them to say something about something as silly as scars." The Hazel-eyed one cuts in, his voice sending terrified shivers down my spine. Then I'm taken back by being embraced into a hug, I just stay still, not knowing what to do. I should probably hug back but I feel weird. I'm not used to this if it's not Scarlett and her family. It makes me feel loved but awkward. Just then the blue-eyed guy joins the hug too. Oookay then!
They both eventually let go and back up away from me, giving me space which I really appreciate. "I'm sorry you have scars but it shows you're a fighter and it can be hard to be a fighter. It may not mean anything to you but we're proud, even not knowing what you've been through. With you in this house and those two boys, you won't have to worry about going through any of that again, you're protected." The hazel eyes man says, chuckling before continuing his talk, "I'm sorry if this is a lot on you at once, and if it's fast going, it's just kind of how things work with our species."
"I-it's okay," I stutter out, I made someone proud, that's not my best friend at that! To be honest, these two seem like two giant teddy bears, still a bit intimidating but teddy bears.
"I'm sorry, just not too big with physical contact," I admit but they only smile and wave it off.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Hunter," the hazel-eyed guy states. "And he's my brother Hayden."
"N-nice to meet you," I say before they move aside to let me out of the room. I exit it with a sigh of relief, head down. Once I've set food in the living room, I see someone scattering and crouching in front of me, a finger under my chin to lift it and revealing Ashton. I try to avoid his eye contact as he spoke.
"Baby?" He asks quietly.
"Yes?" I hesitate, feeling embarrassed that he saw my scars, they both did.
"Look at me, please," he uses his dominant tone but in such a soft voice as I slowly move my eyes to look at his bright blue ones. "You don't have to tell us where those scars are from or who did it or anything you don't want to tell us but I want you to remember something. We are never letting that happen to you again and we will never judge you for anything you've been through.
I nod my head and tears start to fall down my face making him coo. He gently wipes my eyes before pulling me into a hug. I see over his shoulder that Andrew is standing almost right behind us.
"C-can I go lay down? Please," I ask nervously and bite at my lip. Andrew comes closer and swipes his thumb over my lip to pull it out of my mouth. I whimper as he just smiles down at me and in one swift move, he picks me up, making me squeal in surprise.
I gently lay my head on Andrew's shoulder as both he and Ashton make their way to the stairs, starting their way up. Andrew lightly rubs my back as we get to the top and enter their room. He walks over to his bed and lays me down on the bed, or at least tries to but I wouldn't let go.
"Nooo, stayyy." I pout and cling to him, "please." He only smiles at me and is quick to lay next to me, his hand switching between playing with the little bit of hair hanging out of my hat and scratching my head through the hat. I only cuddle my face closer to Andrew's chest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I wake up, I feel two sets of arms wrapped around me which has me immediately freaking out because who the fuck is touching me. Then I remember where I am as I open my eyes and look up to see a sleeping Andrew. Turning my head, I also spot Ashton, his face pushed against my back, he must have slipped in behind me after I fell asleep because I don't remember him behind me when I was awake.
I slowly slip out of their arms, trying to make sure I don't wake them up and once I'm successfully out, I walk to the door and slowly open it. Once I'm out of the room, I quietly close it behind me and take soft steps down the hall before making my way down the stairs, nervously biting my bottom lip. As I get close to the end of the stairs, I spot Isabella sitting at the kitchen bar once more, Hunter to her left and Hayden to her right.
When I'm at the bottom of the stairs, Isabella turns around and smiles at me. "Hey love, you sleep alright?"
"O-oh yeah, thank you again," I awkwardly say, Hunter and Hayden, turn around after I answer. Both lightly smiling as I spot a little girl, maybe around 4 years old, sitting on Hunter's lap. The girl looks around confused before her eyes land on me and a big smile appears on her face.
"It's no problem son, you're family now so don't worry about it! We have your back, whether our boys fu-fudge," Hunter cuts himself off, looking down at the girl before continuing. "I was going to say fudge," he smiles innocently at the little girl before looking up at me, chuckling. "Whether our boys fudge up at something, you can come to one of us, we got ya!"
"Thank you," I lightly laugh, shaking my head. I sure hope they don't mess up, I'm trusting them.
"You wanna come to sit here with us?" Isabella asks, her motherly sweet smile on her face.
"Oh no no, I'm okay, thank you. Um, have you guys eaten? Maybe, if you guys don't mind, I could make food for you as a thank you? I make good chocolate chip pancakes." I nervously smile, messing with my fingers in front of me.
The little girl's face brightens and looks up at me, "Pancakes! Can you please make pancakes?" She asks before turning and tapping on her mom's shoulder, "can he momma? Please!"
Isabella lets a laugh fall out her mouth and lifts the girl off Hunter's lap, which makes the man pout.
Bella looks at me with a smile before putting on a playful stern face, "You may, only if you want to, not repay us or thank us, got it?"
"Yes Ma'am," I smile, walking around the bar they're sitting at. As the three turns back around so they're facing us again, Bella groans.
"No no no, do not call me ma'am!" She laughs, "that makes me sound old." That makes both me and her daughter laugh.
The little girl cuts her laugh short as she perks up on her moms' lap, "Can I help you? I wanna help, please!"
I coo at her adorableness, so cuteee! She has her slightly curly brown hair in two pigtails on top of her head, bright sparkling brown eyes, and adorably round chubby cheeks.
"Well I don't mind but you've got to ask your parents, honey," I gently smile, leaning forward on the kitchen bar, and tilting my head to the side.
She immediately pulls the pouty lip and puppy dog eyes out of her pocket, turning to look at her parents, "pleeease Mommy! Daddy, Papa, pwease pwease pwease!" They all agree, making her giggle and squeal, climbing off of her mother's lap and running over to me, grabbing onto my hand.
"I promise I watch over her, I'll make sure she won't get hurt." I earn a smile from Bella as the little girl pulls on my hand, dragging me around the kitchen. She guides me around, pointing to where I can find the pancake mix, chocolate chips, the heating plate along with the dishes, the measuring cup, and mixing bowls. When all of those are out and on the counter, she drags me to the fridge and pulls it open, pointing to the eggs and milk.
Once I have everything within reaching distance I look down at her, "You're one smart girl aren't you?" I smile, causing her to giggle at me, "maybeee!"
"You wanna sit up on the counter so you can reach the things?" I ask and she immediately nods her head and lifts her arms up with grabby hands. I silently coo at the action, grabbing under her armpits and lifting her to sit on the counter.
"Thank you very much!" She loudly squeals before giggling, fixing her shirt that had exposed her little stomach when she lifted her hands up.
"You're very welcome girly!" I say as I start to scoop the pancake mix into a measuring cup, handing it over to her to pour into the mixing bowl. "So what's your name? I'm Matthew!" I try to conversate so it's not quiet, and also to get to know her.
"M-Matt-hew," she stumbles, making me gently laugh at that. I can't tell if she's trying to test out pronouncing it or saying it to remember the name. Either way, that was the most adorable way anyone's ever said my name.
"You can call me Matt if you wanna!" I pause and look around, pretending like I'mma tell her a secret before leaning in and whispering. "Don't tell anyone this but I will personally let you call me 'M'." I say, giving her a playful wink, "no one but you will be able to call me that but you. Shhh," I put a finger up to my mouth causing her to giggle once more.
"Otay, I like that, thank you M." She whispers back to me before letting her voice go back to her louder and more excited voice. "I'm Estella!"
I let my jaw drop as I dramatically gasp, "that's a beautiful name, Estella!"
"Thank you!" She giggles, "I wike it too!"
"Of course, Princess!"
"You know, I never let anyone call me Princess, but I'll let you because I can call you M and no one else can. I also don't let anyone call me El, you can!" She happily rambles.
I gasp at that, "I have two secret names for you. No one can call you El or princess?" She giggles at my words, nodding at me. "And why can't anyone call you Princess? You fit the description perfectly! You are as pretty and loving as a princess that I even think you secretly are!"
"I'm not a princess silly, Merida and Moana are princesses!"
"Are Merida and Moana your favorite princesses?" I ask her, smiling as I give her an egg and help her crack it, doing it with two more eggs.
"Yes, I love Merida and Moana so much! They're so pwetty and know how to fight, so strong!" Her words genuinely catch me off guard, for a four-year-old, for good reasons!
"Oh really? Well this princess in front of me is very strong too! No one is going to be able to stand a chance against you, I'm scared to see the bed knights after they get to you!" I say, shivering to show my fear.
"You will play with me?" She asks with large eyes, excitement glowing in them. "My brothers don't play with me anymore!" She then admits with a pout on her lips making me gasp and put a hand over my heart.
"That's definitely going to be a change! We'll just have to make them the bad guys then won't we? And I'll be the princess' hero, not that you need one!" I smirk, just thinking about the look on their faces makes me laugh.
"Yes please!" She says excitedly before lunging herself onto me, "Never leave here, Please!"
I chuckle and look back at her parents who are talking to each other before I look back at her talking. "Well, I don't think I'm planning on leaving any time soon Lovebug," I smile, hugging her back as she lets out a loud squeal.
As Estella pulls back, I feel a pair of muscular arms wrap their way around my waist, making me freeze in place. My face starts to feel hot knowing they heard what I just said.