A/N - It's officially March ew - yes you're getting a chapter just after midnight I'm bored...
And I'm not okay after Euphoria </3
Enjoy :)
~~~
August 21st. A whole week had passed and I'd officially been living with my brothers for 11 days, christ. Not a lot had changed, our cousins were still here - overstaying their welcome as Caleb had put it - and I was having a great time.
I'd barely seen Zane, he was usually always in meetings and didn't get home until after dinner, so he usually ate alone or with Scott if he was accompanied by him in the day; such workaholics. Caleb was out most of the time too, he was under a lot of pressure since his business had been taking off, although I'm pretty sure he was just spending his time at one of his gyms working out.
Chase had been a little more present these past few days, he'd been cooped up in his office for tons of time working on his architecture project which he claimed was nearly done- what Scott said about him being extremely academic was 100% true.
Xav was just being Xav, overly energetic and accompanying me with every movie I stuck on the tv; Xander was stressing, he still hadn't come out to the others and I'd told him there was no rush but I could tell he was reaching his breaking point.
"You ready to go?", I nodded at Caleb who tossed his car keys into the air and caught them, "assholes! We'll be back later!".
"Tell Theo we said happy birthday!", Chase shouted and Caleb smirked, cocking his head and opening the door - a party with my big brother...what could go wrong?
~
We pulled up at the big-ass house where tons of cars were parked; it was giving me high school parties that you see in movies vibes - how popular was this guy?
I looked at my brother's outfit, then down at mine - was I dressed too informally? I'd thrown on my usual attire - a white hoodie and black cycling shorts while Caleb was in a suit minus the tie, and most of his buttons were undone.
"Don't do that, you look fine", he muttered without looking up from the card he was scribbling out leaning on his steering wheel, talk about last minute.
"Thanks", I muttered back, "all these people are here for him?".
"They're all here for his parents, they got a lotta friends", he scoffed, licking the envelope and sealing it shut, "okay, vamos". We climbed out of his red Range Rover and he locked it three times before tucking his keys away and leading me to the front door where he tapped his fist repeatedly.
"Cub! Good to see you honey", a woman who looked young as hell hugged my brother and he shook with a chuckle; she grinned and rubbed his back, "and this must be Isabella - Ted hasn't shut up since you gave the news".
I smiled and gave a small wave, taken aback when she hugged me too, god she smelled nice; she was wearing a tight-fit white dress and her blonde hair flowed down her back in curls.
"Nice to meet you", I smiled, "you have a beautiful house".
"Listen to her manners Caleb! Where are yours?", she teased, "call me Delilah dear - and come on in, everyone's excited to meet you".
I glanced up at Caleb who offered me a small smile and nodded, following Delilah with me not too far behind - here goes nothing. Delilah led us through the house, through the kitchen where masses of food was laid out, and into the back garden - more like fucking field.
There were lights, speakers, more food, a barbecue, a bouncy castle with little kids on, and a shit ton of people.
"Bro!", a guy came running over to us out of nowhere and threw himself into Caleb who laughed and hugged him back, I quickly assumed the blonde boy wearing the exact same thing as my brother was Theo.
"Happy birthday you dick", they hugged for a little while longer and I smiled, they seemed really close, "okay, I know you've been dying to meet her". They pulled apart and he looked at me, I looked at him and fuck did I struggle to not find this guy attractive - he was giving airport crush vibes to be honest.
"I'm uh, I-I'm Theo", why the hesitation on his name? He stuck out a hand with a smile and I shook it, chuckling when he pulled me into a hug, "your brother h-ha-hasn't shut up about you in uh, in years". Ohhhh.
"I'm hearing that a lot", I laughed as we pulled apart, "nice to meet you- oh and happy birthday".
"Thanks", he scratched the back of his head before his eyes widened, "I wanted-wanted you to uh....uh...to meet a couple people". I noticed how he'd squeeze his hands down by his sides whenever he got stuck on a word; I'd never met anyone with a stutter before but I gathered keeping eye contact and patience was a standard.
"Twins!", Caleb yelled and Theo rolled his eyes, his playfully agitated expression turned into a smile when two people stopped next to him; a boy and a girl, both blonde and both resembled Theo greatly - Grayson and Amelia.
"Ew, it's Caleb", Amelia scrunched up her face at my brother and he shoved her head, "my hair you dick!". I liked her already.
"That's no way to speak to your brother in law", he scoffed and Grayson snorted, "Izzy, that's Amelia and he's Grayson - you guys go do whatever teenagers do".
"Have sex?", Amelia asked and Theo glared at her, "I'm joking, come with me Izzy - I've had enough of boys, no offence Gray". She linked her arm into mine and started guiding me inside, her twin following behind with his phone in hand and head down.
"None taken", he muttered, "where are we going? Party's that way".
"The party is wherever I am dear brother", she grinned, knocking into a small table near the bottom of the stairs, "I saw that". I chuckled and let her guide me upstairs, she had the kind of energy I could work with.
"Who's older?", I asked and Grayson snorted from behind me.
"Me", he said and Amelia spun around, "by 6 minutes".
"And those six minutes alone in the stomach were heavenly", she sighed wishfully, "what's it like having six brothers?".
"That's an...interesting question", I sat down on her bed in the completely grey room, kinda like mine, "I've only known them for eleven days".
"Of course, shit", she muttered, "well if you ever need stories on the guys, I got you - now, tell me what the UK's like". I had a feeling we'd be here a while.
~
It was a while alright - one in the fucking morning to be precise. All of the 'irrelevant' guests as Amelia had called them had left and those who were left were close family and friends. And my brother who was completely smashed; no way was he driving us home.
"God they're a state", Amelia shook her head at our two brothers who were somehow shirtless and doing push ups on the floor, "Mum!".
"Yes darling?", Delilah stepped into the room and glanced down at the two boys, "Ted, what the hell are you doing?".
"Push-ups Mama", Theo slurred and I snorted, "yeah, I'm uh, I'm b-b-b uh, beating Cay".
"Caleb!", I shouted my brother's name and he flinched, hitting the floor with his face.
"What princesa?", he let out a sleepy sounding chuckle and I rolled my eyes, "are you drunk?".
"You're the drunk one Caleb", I sighed, "I'm gonna have to call one of the others to pick us up".
"Bullshit, I can drive", he protested, rising to his feet and stumbling back into a cabinet, "I didn't do that".
"You're not driving shit honey", Delilah approached my brother and fished in his pockets for his car keys, "I'd call Xav or Scott dear, they'll go the easiest". I nodded at her advice and settled on Scott, I don't think I trusted our seventeen year old brother to take the drunk twenty year old home.
"Bebita? You okay? It's kinda late", he answered on the second ring and I smiled as soon as I heard his voice, "coming back soon?".
"About that", I began, "Caleb can't drive us back - he can barely even stand". Silence met my right ear for a moment until my brother's agitated sigh came from down the line.
"I'll be ten minutes", he announced before hanging up, I couldn't tell if he was angry or not. I turned back to Amelia who had changed from her red dress into fluffy pyjamas, she had a glass of wine in her hand and was cross legged on the sofa; I'd already finished my glass and was on the second, shame I wasn't drinking to get drunk.
"Okay, so when we start school in about two weeks you're hanging with us", she told me and I grinned, "you can meet the others - I say that like there's tons of us, you'll meet Cooper and Ezra, they're cool - attractive too".
"God 'Lia, you talk too much", Gray grumbled from the only armchair in the room, "you're gonna scare her off".
"And your silence is gonna do the same Gray", she flipped him off and he rolled his eyes, "ignore him, he got dumped a week ago".
"Really?", he glared at her and she surrendered, "we came to a mutual agreement to end things". He said that last bit to me directly and I nodded with a small smile.
"He dumped you Gray", Amelia shook her head and her twin blushed.
"No, we just- he was- I'm-", he rambled and I bit back a smile.
"Cat got your tongue?", she teased and Theo chimed in.
"Hey!", he frowned, "nothin' wrong with-with that".
"I know Teddy", she chuckled as the door knocked - oh crap, "there's Scott".
~
"You need to take a chill pill bro, we were letting loose right Izzy?", Caleb shook Scott's shoulders as we pulled up at the house; our second eldest brother shot him a glare which made even his drunk ass move back.
"I think you let loose just a little bit more Cay", I didn't even realise I'd called him a nickname until both of them turned to me with small smiles on their shocked faces.
"Cay? I like it", he hummed, "better than Cub or Cubby".
"Well Cubby, get your ass out the car and let's see if we can sneak you past Zane", Scott sighed, clearly having better things to do with his night.
"No point", Caleb opened his door and stumbled a little, "Zane knows everything, he's like a little spy with cameras in his eyes". I snorted at that and shook my head; I'd had fun tonight.
~
"So you consumed this much alcohol knowing you had our sister under your care and you had to bring the two of you home?", yeah Caleb was right, there was no stopping Zane finding out; I don't know if it was Caleb's hysterical laughter when he walked into the living room door or the fact he'd actually walked into the living room door that gave it away but yeah, he was caught in seconds.
"I didn't bring the two of us home", Caleb frowned and Xander, who was perched on the arm of a sofa, snorted.
"No shit, look at you", Chase looked at our brother in disgust, "I don't know what you find fun about alcohol".
"It gets you drunk, that's enough of an answer", I shrugged and they all fell silent, ten pairs of eyes settling on me, "what? You act like I'm innocent".
"I wanna see you drunk", Xav said at the same time Xander asked if I'd had a drink tonight.
"I had two glasses of wine", I told them, "nothing compared to him". We all glanced at Caleb who was staring into space and humming.
"Such an idiot", Emiliano muttered, "let's get you to bed big guy".
"I'm not tired", he frowned.
"You will be", he began to guide him out of the room, "come on".
"Fucking state", Xander shook his head in disapproval and I snorted, I'm sure the guy got drunk every now and then too.
~~
Although he scared the complete and utter shit out of me, I was eager to spend time with my eldest brother, even if it was after two in the morning.
"Are you sure you're not tired Isabella?", he placed the mug of hot chocolate I'd asked for in front of me and I smiled, he lowered himself into the seat beside me with a can of coke and a small packet of gummy bears.
"I'm sure", I nodded, "London time's still messing with my head".
"Understandable", he cracked open the can and took a sip with shaky hands, "did you enjoy Theodore's party?". I coughed out a laugh and turned to my brother with an amused expression on my face, he was funny without even trying.
"Do you call everyone by their whole names?", I found myself asking and a small smirk tugged at his lips, "not a dig or anything, just- nicknames are cool right?".
"They are", now he was the one who looked amused, "however I will call those by their given names nonetheless". God he was so formal.
"Fair enough", I shrugged, "and the party was great, I made friends with Theo's siblings, Gray and Amelia".
"The twins", he hummed, "very...spontaneous I'll give them that". I was about to reply when a beeping filled the room, at first I thought it was some kind of alarm until Zane pulled out some kind of device attached to his trousers.
I thought it was a stopwatch until I saw a more square screen and a bunch of numbers on it; I watched as my brother tapped a button on the side a few times and clipped it back by his waist before ripping open the gummy bears.
"Everything okay?", I asked apprehensively and he nodded, his jaw flexing as he chewed harshly, "is that an insulin pump?". He froze and raised an eyebrow at me, I didn't miss the look of pride on his face.
"You're smart", he commented and I took that as my answer.
"I try", I shrugged, "so you're diabetic?".
"Type 1", he nodded, "since I was seven". 19 years?
"What's the difference?", I asked as he shook a few more sweets into his palm, he offered me one and I took it, ew it was orange.
"Type 1 is genetic, Type 2 is mainly diet related and commonly associated with obesity", he explained and I hummed, "you can go into a hypoglycemia- a low blood sugar state, or a hyperglycemia- high blood sugar level, both of which can be life threatening".
"Great", I muttered, "do you have it, like, under control?".
"Of course I do, I've been dealing with this for practically twenty years Isabella", he smirked, "I know my limits, I know when something's wrong, everything's fine".
"Good", I smiled, "so the sweets and coke?".
"I've got low blood sugar levels right now, I'm fine before you ask", he replied, "just needed to consume something sweet".
"Okay", I sighed in relief, "can I ask a completely random question?".
"You may", he nodded.
"When am I starting school?", he gazed at the counter, then right back at me, once again his eye contact had me in a daze.
"September 3rd", he replied, "if you're not ready, we can-".
"No, it's fine", I interrupted, "I'll be starting with the twins right?".
"You will".
"Then I'll be fine".
"Good".
~~~
A/N - Okay...packed chapter I know.
Someone scream about Euphoria with me :/