L I L Y
"You guys can go home tomorrow."
Dr Owens smiles at Jack and I as he announces the news. My body becoming overwhelmed with nerves at the thought.
Home
I've never had a home— I've had a house, but no where I could call home. A home is filled with warmth, comfort and love. Jack and I have never experienced such things. The nerves I'm feeling slowly fade to butterflies as excitement fills me, we're going home with our brothers— the boys that have shown us nothing but care in the short time we've been acquainted.
Maybe Jack and I will finally understand what it means to have a place you can call home, to have a family.
All I want is a place where I can feel safe, where I can feel loved— that's what a home should be.
The boys break me from my thoughts as they begin cheering, their faces filled with nothing but raw happiness as they gaze at Jack and I with their bright azure eyes.
"I can't wait to finally have you guys come home. We're decorating your rooms— they should be ready within a week or so. We could've had it done earlier but we wanted you both to pick the colour scheme. So Lily you'll have to share with Leo and Jack you can share with Alex, if that's okay with you both?" Grey asks, his azure eyes almost pleading.
I've never had a bedroom before.
"Yeah I don't mind sharing, you guys don't need to decorate anything for me— you've already done so much. I'm really grateful." Jack murmurs shyly as I nod along.
"You don't need to thank us Jack, we're all family." Killian responds, his pale blue eyes filled with honesty.
I see Alex grimace slightly at Killian's words, making me frown at him. Does he not want us to be family? His eyes widen as he meets my gaze, realising I witnessed his reaction. He gently shakes his head at me, causing me to tilt my head as I look at him— what is he trying to tell me? Alex let's put a quiet sigh, mouthing to me "We'll talk later" to which I nod in response.
"Yeah we want to help you both settle in. So, what colours would you want your rooms?" Kaden asks.
"Um yellow please." I whisper, as Jack responds "black" to which I raise an eyebrow at him.
"What's with the look Lil?" Jack murmurs.
"Black, really Jack? Black is so dull." Our other brothers nod at my words— minus Leo and Alex.
I imagine Alex likes black to, he tends to wear mostly dark colours and he even has his short nails painted black. They look so cool.
I wonder if he could paint mine to.
"I like black, it reminds me of my soul." Jack responds.
"Wow Jack, that's deep fratello." Ace laughs, causing us all to glare at him, until Jack begins to laugh.
"Jeez, I was just kidding guys... or was I?" Jack whispers the last part— loud enough for only me to hear him.
As I'm about to respond, the door to our hospital room is aggressively opened— hitting the wall in the process causing Jack and I to flinch, before large smiles break out on our faces as we gaze at the intruders.
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My small body is engulfed in warmth as five of the seven intruders pull me into a group hug. Jack receives the same treatment from the other two.
"We missed you." Luke and Atlas say in unison as they pull back from the comforting hug.
"Yeah Lil— we've been so worried, we wanted to call but Enzo and Elliot wouldn't give us Jack's number." Bella tells me, her brown doe eyes filled with sadness as she stares at my small figure.
"I can't believe no one told us you were in hospital! Leo I could kill you." Maya all but shouts as she glares daggers at Leo, the latter giving her a bored look.
She's always so dramatic.
"I did tell you." Leo responds.
"No you didn't, you told Em and he won't tell us what happened. So care to explain? We've spent this past week being so worried, Milo never told us where you and Jack were until yesterday." Maya states as she turns her beryl gaze to me.
"There's a lot you guys don't know Mi." I whisper softly. My eyes lock on Emilio's figure as he stands next to his older brother— his kind eyes filled with guilt.
"Can you tell us Lil? Only if you want to? Emilio said that him and Enzo have a rough idea, but that it's not their place to say?" Bella asks me softly.
Do Emilio and Enzo know the full story? I look at Leo with a questioning gaze, he meets my eye and walks over to my bed side leaning down so his lips are level with my ear.
"They obviously know you're our sister, but they don't know the full story as to why you guys are here Lil, just that you and Jack had issues at home and ended up in the hospital." He whispers to me.
I nod at Leo before I turn my gaze to Jack, silently asking him if he's okay with me sharing our story. He gives me a small smile before taking my small hand in his own.
"You guys might want to sit down." Jack tells our friends.
Our brothers stand by the window, giving our friends room to sit down. Mi and Bella sit on my left whilst Atlas and Luke sit by my feet, as Elliot, Enzo and Emilio squeeze onto Jack's bed.
"Where to begin." Jack laughs causing me to roll my eyes at him as I bite back a grin— he's such a goof.
"The beginning would be great." Maya states sarcastically as Jack flips her off.
"Jack don't flip off a twelve year old." Grey scolds.
Causing Maya to grin and Jack to roll his eyes. "You're kidding Grey, she deserved it!"
Grey raises an eyebrow at Jack, causing the latter to mumble a small sorry— before he whispers to Maya— silently enough for Grey not to hear. "You're a little shit."
"Whatever blondie, can you tell us now?" Mi states causing me to roll my eyes at her impatience.
"We got shot, Lily is Leo's twin, Zac is our new guardian. The end." I gape at Jack, that's one way to tell the story.
"YOU GUYS GOT SHOT!" Emilio and Enzo all but scream.
"TWINS WHAT!!!" Mi and Bella exclaim.
"SHOT, TWINS— WHAT!?" Luke shouts.
"I'm so confused." Elliot mumbles.
"We know that Leo is Lily's doppelgänger, what's that got to do with anything?" Atlas mumbles causing everyone to stare at him in disbelief.
Leo's right, he is an idiot.
"Fucking hell, she's not my doppelgänger Atlas! She's my sister!" Leo rolls his eyes.
"Leo language." Jack states, sarcasm lacing his tone causing Leo and Grey to send him a glare as Grey repeats Jack's words.
"Hold up, how the heck are you and Leo twins and how did you two get shot!?" Mi asks.
"Well kid, they're twins because that's just what happened when they were born. When a male and a female—" Maya glares at Jack as she cuts him off. "I'm not stupid, I mean how are we just finding out that their twins!"
"Mi ignore him." Jack turns to me, his hand over his heart.
"You've broke my heart Lil— seriously, I think you may cause my heart to stop beating... again."
"That's not funny Jack!" I glare at him, as do our brothers.
"Again?!" Elliot and Enzo exclaim.
I sigh turning to our friends, my heart pounding in my chest, as my hands begin to tremble.
Breathe Lily breathe.
I can do this, I can share our story— not everything, but I'll tell them the important details.
Deep breath Lil—
"I'll tell you guys everything from the beginning, please don't interrupt me— it's not the easiest thing to talk about, I might have to take a break at some parts. Jack will fill in his own parts too, if that's okay with him."
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"Oh my god, guys I don't even know what to say. I'm so sorry you both had to go through all of that, I'm glad you have your brothers now." Bella whispers as she wipes the tears from her now flushed cheeks, before pulling me into a hug.
"Lil, I'm so sorry I didn't notice anything. I would've kicked that guys ass!" Luke murmurs as he wipes his now reddened eyes.
"Dude, you guys— wow." Callan wasn't kidding when he said Elliot couldn't deal with these types of conversations.
"I don't even know what to say." Atlas mumbles, taking my hand in his own as the tears continue to roll down his flushed cheeks.
"You're so strong Lil, even you blondie." Maya exclaims as she pulls me into a hug. "But, how can you be Leo's twin, you're so sweet and he's so well..."
"Maya, Leo's sweet to." Em responds as our brothers nod their heads in agreement— apart from Leo, who once again rolls his eyes.
"Maybe to you Em, not to anyone else. So when are you guys allowed to go home?" Maya asks.
"Tomorrow." I reply, a small smile playing at my pink chapped lips.
"I'm guessing you'll be on bed rest?" I nod as she continues. "Think we could come over one day this week? We can have that movie night we discussed, but instead of the seven of us— your brothers, Elliot and Enzo can join to? I imagine they want to spend time with you as well and Leo did say we could have it in his house and, well— now it's your house too."
I turn to my brothers— unsure if I'm allowed to invite guests over. I've not even moved in yet.
"That's fine, you can all come over Saturday if that suits. Give Lily and Jack a few days to settle in." Zac states.
A large grin breaks out on my face as I thank Zac repeatedly.
"You don't have to thank me tesoro, it's your house to. You can both invite friends over whenever you want, just run it past Grey and I first."
I nod at Zac as I signal him over with my hand, before pulling him into a hug.
How did I get so lucky?
"Um would you guys mind if I spoke to Lily alone? Well apart from Jack of course, you'll be here to." Emilio asks nervously.
Our friends look confused whilst my brothers and Enzo understand what's going on, they nod at Em before leaving the room, offering to go and grab some snacks.
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I pat my mattress indicating for Emilio to sit next to me. His guilt filled eyes causing my stomach to turn— I hate confrontation.
Breathe Lily breathe.
"Lil— I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you or to break your trust, it wasn't my story to tell. I want you to know that I never befriended you because I thought you were Leo's sister. The first day I met you, Mi and Atlas had been going on about you in our group chat— I was truly excited to meet you."
Excited to meet me, why?
"When I seen you, I knew you looked familiar, I knew your face was similar to Leo's but I never realised how much until I seen you both side by side. I had spoke to Leo about it that night, I wanted to make sure he was okay— he'd told me about his twin when we were younger. When he asked me not to say anything, I didn't complain. I'd just met you and he's been my best friend for years, it felt like I'd be betraying him if I had."
But you betrayed me in the process.
"As time went on, I hated that you never knew, Leo hated it to. It wasn't his choice to keep it a secret Zac and Grey needed proof and if I'd have told you, I could've jeopardised everything. I know I betrayed you, I broke your trust but I didn't intent to lie Lil. I hope I can prove to you that I'm worth your trust, I'll make it up to you if you'll let me. I truly see you as one of my best friends Lil, I love you."
I can feel tears pool in my pale blue eyes— He loves me?
I understand why he did what he did. Leo is his best friend, he has been for most of their lives. I don't feel anger towards Em, I'm more hurt.
Jack gently nudges me, breaking me from my thoughts. I turn my gaze to Em, tears fall from his stormy grey eyes causing me to pull him into a hug.
I don't want anymore drama— technically I never outrightly asked Emilio anything, so he didn't fully lie, yes he withheld the truth but life's to short to hold a grudge, he explained his reasons, he voiced his wrongs and he's willing to prove to me that I can trust him. He didn't want to break his loyalty towards Leo, I can respect that.
"Em it's okay, I forgive you."
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End of chapter thirty nine :)
What's up with Alex?
Should Lily have forgave Em so quickly?
What would you like to see next? Any brothers that I've not given enough attention too? ✨
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I don't know if I'm happy with this chapter :(