"Big bro." I exclaimed as I hugged him. Ashton walked out of the living room, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"What about me?" He asked opening his arms. I jumped towards him and he engulfed me in a bear hug.
"Let's go play something." Ashton suggested.
"No. She needs to eat first." Big bro said. "Its lunchtime."
"No, Dami. I don't want to eat right now. I'm not hungry." I pouted. He raised an eyebrow.
"That wasn't a question, Amelia." He said, with finality in his tone.
"But I already ate." I said, using the puppy dog eyes.
"When?" He asked.
"Just before coming here." I said. He glared at me dangerously and stalked towards me.
"Lie to me again. I dare you." He gritted as I shrunk a little. He's so scary when he's mad.
"Fine. I didn't. I just ate breakfast." I mumbled.
"I brought brownies today." Ashton said as Damon stepped back and walked into the kitchen.
"Really?" I asked, jumping a little.
"Yeah." He chuckled before leading me to the kitchen.
"Can I just eat brownies?" I asked looking at Big bro with my puppy dog eyes and a pout. He avoided looking at my face and shook his head.
"You're not having them unless you eat your food." He said as I huffed and crossed my arms. He ignored it and just shook his head.
I huffed again and sighed loudly.
"Don't try to throw a tantrum, baby." He said with amusement lacing his voice.
"I'm not." I said sharply.
"Yes you are. Now, Don't huff again unless you want me to put you in timeout." He said. It took everything in me not to roll my eyes.
"Seven bites?" He said before putting a plate before me.
I picked up the spoon and started eating.
"Who told you I like brownies?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"Grayson." Ashton answered.
We sat in silence for sometime.
"How close are you to Daniel?" Ashton asked after a while.
"Pretty close. Although it took me too long to know that. I've always pushed him away." I said as I stared at the food sadly.
"That's good. You need a friend." Big bro smiled.
"He needs one too. He doesn't have anyone to look after him and comfort him if he's sad. I tried to be there for him." I said as I remembered last night.
"He's always welcome here. I don't think he'll pose as a danger to you." Damon said.
"Lorenzo said he'll make sure Daniel, joins the same school as me." I said.
"Lorenzo can't see someone being sad about not having a family." Damon said. "Trust me, he'll make sure he helps him in any way he can."
"Yeah, he was angry when he found Daniel in my room last night. But then softened immediately when I told him he was sad." I said as I smiled a little. Lorenzo is not how he looks like. He may look cold outside, but he's kind and soft on the inside.
"WHAT?" Ashton yelled. "What was he doing in your room?" He gritted, glaring at me furiously.
"We had a sleepover last night. He was sad, because he didn't have a family." I lied but it wasn't really a lie. "I couldn't just let him be alone with his thoughts."
"That's inappropriate." Ashton said. "You can't just have a boy in your room."
"Calm down ashton. I don't see why its even a big deal. He just needed company. Besides, I've known him for years." I said as I started growing angrier.
"So you mean to say he was in your bed last night?" Ashton yelled.
"Yes he was. In fact, we cuddled last night. Because he's my friend. He's done so much for me and I can't just leave him when he's at his worst." I yelled as he clenched his jaw.
"Don't you remember how YOU used to cuddle me when Damon was out for business and I was sad?" I asked.
"We were kids back then." He gritted. "You are grown up now. You're fifteen and he's seventeen. You both are teenagers. You are a girl and he's a guy."
"May I add he's my guy best friend?" I said, glaring at him.
I honestly don't see anything wrong with it. He was so vulnerable last night, he needed it and I don't regret comforting him.
Ashton opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.
"ENOUGH. ASHTON, GO CALM DOWN." Big bro's heavy voice rang through the house. Ashton got up and left.
I just kept clenching and unclenching my fists to calm myself down.
"Calm down, baby. He'll cool down quickly. He's never acted like that." Big bro said gently.
"I know." I said as my eyes pooled with tears.
"To him, Daniel is a stranger and you're his childhood bestfriend. He's just worried about you. He'll be fine once he starts getting along with him." He said.
"I know. But I couldn't leave him alone. I can't tell you what happened. But he was so vulnerable and sad. He lives alone, Dami. I know how it's like to be alone with your own thoughts. I couldn't even bear to think about what thoughts he will have when he's alone. So I did what I would want in that situation. I would want someone to hold me and say they are there for me." I said as tears spilled from my eyes.
"He's going through so much, big bro. I can't even compare my pain with his. He's just looking for love and care." I managed to get it all out, despite the lump in my throat.
"I understand it, baby. Ashton doesn't know why you did it. He'll come around apologizing to you. You know how soft he is." Damon soothed as he picked me up and hugged me tight.
"I'm sorry." I heard as I calmed down a bit. I turned to see Ashton sitting on his seat with his head bowed low.
I looked at the clock. Took him about nineteen minutes. That's the longest he's ever taken to cool down.
"It's okay, Ashton. I know something else is going around in your head. You almost never lose your cool." I said as his head snapped up.
"There's nothing going on. I just didn't listen to you first." He mumbled.
"And you don't do that often." I said. "Not listening, I mean."
He just stayed silent as I climbed off of Damon's lap and sat on my seat.
"Let's have brownies." Damon cheered.
"Yum." I said as I looked at the chocolaty goodness before me.
I ate half a brownie, then just sat down, playing on my phone.
"What did you mean by 'I'll do something you won't understand and probably won't like.' ?" I asked. Damon looked confused for a second before it occured to him.
"Oh. I joined the mafia after I left. I thought you wouldn't like it because most of the things are illegal." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I joined hands with Lorenzo and merged our businesses. There are three of us handling both the legal and illegal businesses." He said. I nodded. I can't be mad because I joined the gang too.
I just nodded in response.
"When did you join the gang?" Ash asked.
"Two and a half years ago." I said. "Daniel was so terrifying back then." I shuddered.
The first time I was introduced to this gang stuff was because someone saw me beating a guy who tried to mess with me while I was returning home at night. They said, I should be the fighter of the gang. Within six months, I knew how to use a computer and handle things, so they made me plan attacks and conduct meetings. They said I was the politest one out of all members. There were many girls there, I looked up to. They were those badass girls who ruled every place they went.
I have even seen toddlers who were already trained to be assassins. They were the kids whose parents were in the gang.
The first day, I went there, Daniel had been so aggressive. I was sent to train to fight and Daniel was teaching us.
He almost punched me in the nose that day and he was wearing knuckles. I don't know what came over me, I flipped him and held him there for like forty seconds. And that's saying something seeing that he was the most trained one and was really good.
He said he just wanted to provoke me. He wasn't going to punch me for real.
"You know, Lorenzo is doing everything to give you freedom. He's doing everything so you don't feel restricted." Damon said as I nodded.
"I know." I mumbled. "And I'm really thankful for that."
"Just don't misuse it. I know you won't, but still you don't want to break his trust." Damon said, gently as I just nodded.