"Sierra, is there a reason why you didn't tell us about this?" Ashley asked. "We're family, you shouldn't be afraid to tell us something. Besides, I thought you agreed that you wouldn't lie to us. It's a shame, really."
"Technically speaking, you never asked me anything about my past, so I never gave any false answers. I just chose not to tell you. It's not lying, it's called knowing when to shut my mouth. It seems like you struggle with that."
"Sierra, how you could say something like that? Look, you seem like you're going through a difficult time, and I'm just trying to help. Wouldn't you feel more comfortable if there was another girl here to vent to?"
"You're the last girl I'd pick to ever step foot in this house. You're an abomination to humanity."
"Yeah, no one likes you, Ashley. Go fuck yourself."
"Gavin, why are you treating me like this? I've done nothing but try to be kind towards you. If I was your mother, I'd be furious with how you're acting. You're a disappointment, Gavin."
"If he's a disappointment, then you're a failure and lost cause. I've had it with your bullshit, Ashley," Adrian yelled. "I tried being the peacemaker in this feud, but it's not working. You always play the victim even when you're the one pulling these types of stunts. It's a fucking disgrace, and it's about time that we stood up to your toxicity."
"Yeah, and you never apologize for shit," Cole added. "You really think that I didn't notice how terrible you are? Anyone with a brain can tell that you're a manipulative person, and I knew something was off about you the moment you told Sierra to find another seat back at that restaurant. I tried to be neutral and stay out of this conflict, but I'm not doing this anymore. Sierra's my sister, and regardless if she shares the same mother as us or not, she's still part of this family. If you can't even treat her with a sense of decency, then get the hell out."
At this rate, even Cole was coming to my defense which shocked me. We didn't talk much besides that one time where he let me play basketball with his friends, but even so, I still appreciated the gesture.
"Cole, how could you say that? You're much better than that."
"Does it look like I give a shit what you think?"
"Fucking piece of scum," Ashley snapped. "I can see why you're the least favorite child now."
"The fuck did you just say?"
"Your mother would be ashamed of you if she could see you right now. The only things you do are date girls and ride motorcycles. It's pretty pathetic."
"At least I don't go around playing the victim and act like a bitch for crying out loud."
"At least I'm not a manwhore who probably has an STD from the amount of people I fucked," Ashley responded. "You really take after your father, don't you?"
"Shut the fuck up," Jett growled. "Don't ever mention our father again, or you'll regret it. You've been nothing but a nuisance this entire time, and I'm still wondering why Stefano stayed with you."
"Oh, do you really want to know why he stayed with me? It's quite hilarious, actually." Ashley giggled.
"Ashley, don't you dare," Stefano warned. "You're going to regret this."
"What? You're afraid to tell your family that you only dated me for personal gain?
"Shut your trap."
"Well, no need to be so pessimistic. I'm sorry your plan to use me for information from a rival business failed."
"Stefano, what the hell is she talking about?" Jett asked. "I thought you said that you weren't going to go down that route. You told me that you had genuine feelings for her."
"Like you would know anything," Ashley scoffed. "All your life, you were just jealous of Stefano. You constantly lived in his shadow and tried to be better than him through doing whatever he said, no questions asked. I'm not surprised you failed. After all, at the end of the day, you're nothing more than Stefano's younger brother, and that's how it's going to be for the rest of your life."
"Leave Jett alone," I demanded. "Stop dividing this family."
"Like you're the one to talk. Little Ms. Perfect here thinks that she's some sort of savior. Tell me, Sierra, if you're so worried about dividing this family, then why don't you come clean about your past? I think your brothers, especially Stefano, should know for their safety. Who knows how stable you really are?"
"She's more stable than you, that's for sure," Cole remarked. Ashley ignored his response and rolled her eyes.
"Well Sierra, are you going to come clean, or should I?"
"I—
"No answer? Fine then. How about you first come clean about telling your brothers that you were abused? I'm sure they all must be wondering how you got those bruises. After all, they've all heard that bullshit stair excuse far too many times to count. At this rate, I'm not even surprised if they figured out that your mom and a handful of her boyfriends had their share of hitting you. I don't blame them though, you deserve it for being a mistake."
"Stop."
"Anyways, what should we reveal next? Oh, that your mother never fed you? That you were literally a walking corpse at school? Honey, you should see your face. You look like you aren't even alive at this point which is pretty pathetic. If you were a few pounds less than what you're currently at, then you'd be in a graveyard already. Oh well, it would benefit us more, but it is what it is."
"I told you to stop already."
"Ashley, shut up," Jett sneered.
"It's not my fault that you're stuck with a worthless sister. But I don't blame all of you for disliking her. I mean, if I was in your place, I wouldn't want to be associated with the daughter of a rapist, now would I? She's caused enough harm, I honestly don't even get why she's still around. She's better off dead."
"You fucking son of bitch," Gavin seethed.
"Excuse me, but what the fuck did you just say about me?" I shouted. "You don't know shit about my life, so what gives you the right to just give away such personal information?"
"You're worth nothing to them so it wouldn't make a difference who told them about your past. Stop complaining."
"Stop complaining? Are you fucking kidding me? Half of my problems wouldn't even exist if you would just shut your mouth."
"Oh no, did the little princess get her feelings hurt? How awful."
"You don't know anything about me, so what gives you the right to do something like that? I tried being kind to you, I tried acting like the perfect sister like you told me to, and yet, you still treat me like shit. I'm tired of it, and you don't know anything about my past."
"I doubt your past was that bad if you're acting this bratty," she smirked. "Dang, don't tell me you're going to cry. Are you really that sensitive? How sad."
"Do you know what it's like to have a mother who hates you and told you she should've gotten an abortion? Do you know what it's like to not grow up with a father while everyone around you is lucky enough to have one? Do you know what it's like to have to work long hours to make a living because your mother couldn't be bothered to take care of you? That shit fucking hurts, and I don't give a rat's ass if you think I'm sensitive. I'm done with trying to pretend to be someone I'm not, I'm done with trying to be the perfect sister, and I'm done respecting you when you clearly don't do the same for me." I was too infuriated to even think about crying. I was just done with her, and I didn't care if she got offended by what I was saying. It served as payback for every stunt she pulled against me.
"Yeah go off, Sierra!" Gavin shouted. "Fuck you, Ashley!"
"Ashley, get the hell out of this house," Stefano demanded. "Adding on, not that it's a surprise or anything, but I'm getting rid of all of your belongings here, and if I see you within twenty feet of anyone from this family, I'm filing a restraining order. We're done. I should've broken up with you way sooner if I knew this was going to happen."
"It's not like I needed you anyways," she mocked. "Oh well, I guess it ends here. Screw you, Stefano."
"Get the fuck out of this house, or I'll kill you right now," Jett snarled. Surprisingly, Ashley looked genuinely petrified at that moment and rushed out. Gavin chuckled, and even Stefano had a small smile.
"You get what you fucking deserve!" Cole cackled.
"Get wrecked, bitch!" Adrian cheered. "Finally, I don't have to put up with that pathetic excuse of a—
"Adrian, language," Stefano sighed. Adrian rolled his eyes while Gavin snickered.
"It's nothing you haven't heard before," he argued while Stefano facepalmed.
"I hate to be a party pooper especially at a time like this, but Sierra, we're going to need to talk about your health and what to do moving forward," Jett stated. "The report from the doctor stated that you have multiple injuries and you're severely underweight."
"Oh," I mumbled.
"Don't worry, we're here to help you. Until you gain enough weight, you're going to have to be put on a meal plan. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah," I responded, knowing that it was the only thing I could do to reach a healthy weight. As terrible as my health was, I wanted to get better even if that meant having to be monitored while eating. "Wait, hold on, is there a reason why you aren't asking about my past or something like that?"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, but I thought you'd ask."
"I think we have a pretty good idea of what it was like already, and we're not going to ask you what happened unless you're comfortable with telling us. We don't want to pressure you, Sierra."
"Oh wow, thanks."
"No problem. Anyways, at lunchtime, do you sit with Gavin or Cole?"
"No."
"Can we trust you to eat your meals during that time then? You do sit with someone, right?"
"Yeah, I sit with Skyler, Layla, and Diana."
"Alright, that's good. Have you ever got lunch from the cafeteria before?"
"No."
"Gavin, can you show Sierra how to get lunch at school tomorrow?"
"Yeah, of course, Jett."
"Great, now Sierra, on a scale of one to ten, how much do your ribs hurt right now?"
"Uh, one? The doctor let me take a painkiller and gave me a prescription. Am I still going to be able to do cheerleading?"
"I'm afraid not, or at least, not until your ribs had at least two weeks to heal."
"Cheerleading will be over by then though," I muttered.
"I know, but your health comes first. Besides, just because cheerleading's going to be over for school when the winter arrives, doesn't mean you can't practice it at home or with your friends. You still have another year of high school left, you know."
"Yeah, I understand."
"Following that, is there anything you'd like to talk about? Is anything bothering you that you want to tell us?"
"Uh yeah..." I mumbled, unsure that it was a good idea to bring up the situation with Stella. But it was better to get this off my chest now than wait for the next family reunion where she could strike again. "It's about your cousin, Stella."
"What did she do now?" Cole groaned. "I swear to God, she's such a spoiled brat. Can I please just throw a basketball at her face? That bitch made fun of me for watching anime."
"Cole, no. Anyways, Sierra, please continue," Jett said.
"Well, where do I start? Let's just say that back at that reunion here, she teamed up with Ashley and targeted me. She destroyed a necklace I had, and that's about it. That was kind of a bitch move, but it wasn't like I could expect her to do something less violent."
"Jett, now can I please throw a basketball at her face? It's obvious that she deserves it."
"If you do well on the SAT, I'll consider it. But if she gets mad afterwards, then I had nothing to do with it."
"Deal," Cole grinned. Before he ran to his room he yelled, "I'm going to study for the SAT now!"
"Well, it looks like that's settled. Sierra, Gavin, and Adrian, do any of you have homework to do?"
"No," we all said in unison.
"Do you want to go out to dinner or something? Since Sierra's cheerleading practice finished at three-thirty and she was only at the hospital for an hour and half, it's about five-twenty now. Most restaurants are still open."
"Wait, what about Cole?" Gavin asked. "Did you just forget about him or something?"
"Oh shit, you're right. Gavin, can you ask Cole if he wants to go out? If he still has homework to do, make sure he finishes it."
"Yeah sure," he responded as he went upstairs.
"Jett, I have the weekly sales report from the business. Do you want me to show them to you?" Adrian asked.
"Yeah sure. I'll go with you," Jett responded, leaving Stefano and me alone.
The silence in the living room was awkward as I mentally cursed myself for not trying to leave earlier. I didn't know where my relationship with Stefano stood, especially given the circumstances. I had no idea how he felt during the whole confrontation with Ashley earlier or his opinion of me. We sat in silence until he spoke.
"I'm sorry, Sierra, for everything that happened. I should've spent more time with you and the family, instead of spending all of my time with Ashley. I was just so caught up in gaining her trust to get information from a rival business, that I neglected to take care of you, Cole, and Gavin. It wasn't the right thing to do." Well, that was a first. I didn't know how to react to this since I felt biased on the issue. I hated Ashley, but I didn't know what to do about Stefano apologizing to me. It wasn't like the situation with Gavin where he was sincere and changed for the better. I didn't know Stefano well, so there was no telling if he was sincere or not. However, I felt that simply apologizing wouldn't make up for what Ashley did.
"Well no offense, but yeah, you should've chosen your family over your girlfriend. Honestly, I thought that she was manipulating you into choosing her over us, or perhaps, even blackmailing you, but I was disappointed when she said you were with her in an endeavor to gain information from another business. Did you even know what she did to people like Gavin when you weren't around? She fucking threatened him for crying out loud. She's the reason why my ribs were broken again."
"No, I didn't," he admitted. "And I'm completely at fault for it. It was a terrible thing for me to stay with her, and I should've never chosen Ashley over my own family."
"I'm glad you at least acknowledged that. You can't really change the past, but if I was you, I'd apologize to Gavin and everyone else in this family. It's the least you can do for everything that happened."
"Do you'd think that they'd forgive me?" I shrugged, unsure of how apologizing worked in this family.
"If you showed them that you're sincere, maybe they would. I don't know, I'm not a professional with this."
"How would you apologize to them?"
"I guess I'd just say that I was sorry and demonstrate that somehow. It depends on what the apology's for. If you're trying to apologize for dating Ashley and neglecting the family, I think the best way to show that is to spend more time with us and ask for our opinions the next time you date someone."
"Thank you, Sierra," Stefano replied. "I appreciate it." Well... thanks?
After a few minutes passed, the rest of my brothers came downstairs.
"I finally finished that stupid science assignment!" Cole cheered. "Now, I'm free!"
"Imagine having homework," Gavin yawned. "Sierra, Adrian, and I didn't have any."
"Do you have to be such a fucking snob?" Cole hissed.
"I'm just saying that the three of us didn't have any homework. I don't see what's wrong with sharing that."
"Since you seem so interested in sharing stuff, would you like me to share that back in second grade, you asked a random girl in our class to be your girlfriend?"
"For fuck's sake, that was second grade. At least I'm not the one who wrote orgasm instead of organism on a science test back in fifth grade, and then got sent to the Principal's office. Mom's reaction to that was priceless."
"Both of you shut up," Jett groaned. "We're going out to dinner now. Go get changed into something nice and stop yapping."
* * *
Currently, we were at an extremely upscale restaurant. It was crowded, and I didn't even know how Stefano managed to get seats here without a reservation. I was sitting on Gavin's right while Stefano was right across from me, Adrian and Gavin were seated in the middle, and Jett and Cole were on the left side.
When the waiter gave us our menus, I was shocked at how expensive some of the dishes were. One hundred eighty dollars for a steak? Holy shit, how was it possible for a meal to cost that much?
"Don't worry about the price, order whatever you'd like," Stefano said. "Feel free to get drinks as well."
I nodded, and when the waiter arrived again, he took our orders and got us drinks. For once, dinner didn't seem to be that much of a disaster, and I found myself making progress with my brothers for once. However, when the table next to us was filled, I gulped at who was sitting there.
"Well if it isn't Santiago Rodríguez," Stefano scowled.
"Well if it isn't Stefano Rossi," Santiago grimaced.
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Shit, this wasn't good. I never met Santiago before, but he seemed intimidating enough. Damon was seated next to him, and Diego and Isabella were seated across from them.
"I'm just having dinner with my family, and you?"
"Same, I guess," Santiago responded, then looked at me. "Mind explaining to me who that is?"