Unedited
Six weeks later
A young adult strolled down the uneven street, her onyx curls swaying against her shoulders. A midnight blue scarf was snuggly wrapped around her neck and hands shoved deeply into the pockets of a newly bought coat. The trainers she wore scuffed against the concrete every few steps.
Pickle-coloured eyes glanced around herself. The tall buildings of whatever city she was in blocked out the cloudy winter skies, the noisy cars giving her a headache and the people around her keeping to themselves. She was hidden in the crowd, an unfamiliar face that was just going about her daily business, ignored by everyone.
She crossed the road, ignoring all the honks she was given. She had places to be, and she was already late.
Breathing in deeply, the cold air made her shiver, and she adjusted the scarf closer to her neck.
Her destination came quickly, a lone building surrounded by a car park, dwarfed by the giant buildings stood around it. A canary coloured sign stood on top of the one story building, it's colour contrasting greatly against the pale pink of it's walls.
'Scooped Delight'
A high pitched bell jingled as she entered, the hum of freezers and quiet talking a large switch from the sound of cars and people. Her eyes wandered around the quiet ice cream parlor, questioning why she was even there in the first place. It was cold enough outside without eating ice cream.
"Cami! Over here!"
Right, that's why.
Cameron smiled at Arlo, who was kneeling on the table waving his arms at her, in a booth with three of their brothers. His shaggy ebony hair was out of control, like usual, and his lean physique was hidden behind his thick blood red hoodie. Black gloves covered his hands, but Cameron ignored how they were now inside and he didn't need to wear them.
Diego sat beside him, arms crossed and staring out the window. He wore his thin leather jacket, apparently not feeling the cold, when he had thicker jackets to wear. Cameron had found his jacket collection, well, Lloyd had showed her, and they spent a whole morning pretending to be Diego. Let's just say he wasn't impressed.
Jokes on him, she still had one hung on the post of her bed in the warehouse.
"Hey!" Arlo squawked as Reid tugged him off the table in a single pull, sending him tumbling back onto Diego.
"Watch it," Diego growled, pushing Arlo back into Reid.
Reid responded with a silent glare to the pair of them. His emotionless, cold green eyes were partly covered by pieces of his hair that had fallen out of his bun, but that didn't make his glare any less scary. He wore thicker clothes than his usual thin, form fitting dark pants and shirt.
"Save me," Arlo whispered, shrinking back into Diego.
Cameron chuckled as she walked closer.
Lloyd sat opposite Diego, leaning against the window with his feet up on the seat. His lime green hat hid his messy dark hair, his thin rimmed glasses perched low on his nose as he watched his brothers with mischievous curiosity. A white waterproof coat with lime green lines running down the sleeves had been placed on the back of where he sat.
"If I didn't know any better, I would think you didn't know how to sit properly," Cameron sarcastically stated, shuffling into the space beside Lloyd after he moved his feet.
"They don't," Lloyd muttered, leaning his elbow on the table.
Arlo crossed his arms dramatically. "Of course we do."
"Do what?" A smooth voice questioned from beside her.
She glanced up, smiling as her second eldest brother slid into the seat beside her. A neatly trimmed beard covered Myles' chin, joining up to his midnight shortly cropped hair. A wool winter coat covered his tattoo sleeve and a pair of thick black gloves were on his hands. He smiled back, his warm green orbs reminding her of her own.
"We can sit properly," Arlo replied.
Myles raised an eyebrow, glancing at each of them dubiously, wondering how they had got onto the subject of sitting. "Right," he said cautiously.
Cameron pulled the scarf from around her neck, folding it neatly and sitting on it. A trick she had found to keep it warm for when she would leave back out into the chilling breeze outside.
The high pitch bell rang, alerting to those inside the parlor of the door being opened. Cameron looked towards the door and found her eldest brother closing the door behind him, keeping the cold weather of winter outside.
She watched as he undid the buttons on his coat, sliding it off to reveal he was back in his usual white shirt and his smart, dark pants. Poking out from the collar of his shirt was the top of his rose tattoo. He ran his hand over his hair, combing over the few stray bits of hair that had been blown out of place.
"Did you get it!?" Arlo burst, bouncing in his seat as Kalmin strolled over, his boots padding on the floor.
Kalmin nodded. "She wanted more for it, but I told her who it was for and she put the price down."
Cameron watched them, frowning in confusion as to what they were talking about.
Kalmin lifted a seat from a separate table and placed it at the end of theirs. Reaching into the pocket of his coat, he drew out a thin, black box, about the size of a small reporter's notebook. Placing it on the table, he slid it so it stopped in front of Cameron.
She stared at it for a moment, then stared back up at her stoic brother. "What is it?"
Kalmin nodded to it. "Open it."
"What if there is a note inside? Or some cryptic message I don't want?" Cameron asked, poking the box with a single finger. She found it awkward receiving something, even if she didn't know what it was. If she could put off opening it, she would try her best.
"I assure you, there is no note." Kalmin reassured her.
She sighed, picking it up off the table, staring at it suspiciously. "I have a thing about opening random boxes I'm given."
"Don't we all," Diego grumbled, watching her as she held the box.
"Please, just open it!" Arlo exclaimed, bouncing in his seat excitedly.
Cameron bit her lip and lifted the lid of the top gently. Once the lid had been removed, it revealed a red cushion with a necklace sat on top. A dog tag necklace, like the ones each of her brothers wore. Running a finger over the tag, she flipped it over in the box to show the words that had been engraved.
Cameron
An Adair in heart and mind
"Adair?" She queried.
"It was Dad's last name." Lloyd explained from beside her.
"Yeah. When he knew about each of us being born, he made us a tag." Arlo continued the explanation, pulling his own tag out from beneath his hoodie and showing it Cameron. The same thing had been engraved into his, except it was his name instead of hers.
"And since he's not here anymore, Kalmin got one for you, since he's the oldest." Myles added.
Cameron ran her finger over the tag again, feeling choked up, and then gazed up at Kalmin. "Thank you." She said it as gratefully as she could, without crying.
Myles placed on arm over her shoulders and tugged her into a side hug. Kalmin nodded, sending a soft smile her way.
"Awh! This is so cute!" Arlo shouted, jumping up and swinging his arms out. Two sharp smacks rang out as his hands hit two faces sat either side of him. "Oh sh-."
"I am going to kill you!"
"Arlo!"
Cameron moved out the way as Arlo leaped over the table, two brothers not even a second behind him as he sprinted away. Multiple jingles of the high pitch bell were heard as the door was nearly pulled of its hinges.
"I'm sorry!" Arlo cried as he ran past the window.
Cameron laughed, sliding out from the booth as Lloyd followed.
"I am so not missing this!" Lloyd grinned cheekily, tugging his coat on and rushing out the door after his brothers.
Cameron couldn't stop smiling even if she tried. This was truly her family and she wouldn't give them up for anything.
Wrapping her scarf around her neck, she gently placed the lid back on the box and slid it into her coat pocket.
"Should we follow?" Cameron waited by the door, already knowing she was going to follow.
Kalmin nodded, while Myles stared out the window, the lime green hat of Lloyd's just barely visible. He turned back to her and smiled.
"Just to make sure they don't kill each other." Myles answered.
A jingle of the bell was heard as they left the parlor, the man behind counter watching with sparkling eyes as they left. "What a curious bunch."