{Arlo's POV}
{Chicky}
{Mr. Wingy}
{The Most Elegant of Wings}
(Pre-Epilogue)
It's been five months.
Five months since Caspian left.
Poofed, out of thin air.
I've wanted to tell Aspen I love her for as long as I can remember. But, she's been mourning her big brother for so long, it's never actually felt right.
I wanted to give her the time and space she needed to heal.
But lately she's slept only in her own bed.
She's given me genuine smiles.
We've laughed and joked.
She's even mentioned Caspian without tearing up.
I think it's finally okay for me to do this.
And we cannot forget the game that is still very much active. If she gets even the slightest hint I'm doing this, she'll try to say it first so I have to be spontaneous.
I do have an idea about how I want to do this, and I'm just setting the plan into motion now.
In front of the grand door of their mansion, I knock a few times and wait for someone to open the door.
You would think that I should be able to just walk in, but I tried that once and Jasper held a gun to my head.
Kohen then proceeded to tackle me.
I can't remember who kicked me but I think it may have been Sorin.
Not to mention-
"Glad to see you learned how to finally knock." Jasper says suddenly.
He's standing with the door open and a taunting smirk on his face.
"The broken rib sent the message across well." I tell him blankly.
"I'm glad." He nods, still smirking. "Was Aspen expecting you?"
"No, I was hoping to surprise her." I tell him, making him raise an eyebrow.
"Any special occasion?" He asks.
"No I was just bored and wanted to see her." I lie.
"What if I told you she was with another guy upstairs?" He asks, making a small smile appear on my face.
"I would say you're full of sh*t." I tell him truthfully. "She wouldn't do that. Besides, it took you months to let me even step foot in your house."
He narrows his eyes at me before reluctantly holding the door open. I nod and step inside, taking a quick look at the surroundings.
I start going up the grand staircase, now going through my plan. Or lack thereof.
I honestly don't have anything special planned.
But I love her and I need her to know it.
It takes me a minute to get in front of her door. It's closed and I'm just trying to hype myself up.
I place my hand on the knob and twist it, opening the door. My eyes land on her figure sitting in her rolley chair, hunched slightly over the desk. She seems to be doing some paperwork.
She looks at me at the sound of the door opening. Her face immediately lights up and she stands up quickly, nearly stumbling over.
"Chicky?" She says with a small smile that make my heart warm.
That damn nickname.
"How are you darling?" I ask, mimicking her smile.
I close the door behind me. It's risky, there are strict rules that Aspen's brothers set it place. One of them being door always open.
But I'm hoping it will take them long enough to notice so that I can get the words out.
"I'm doing good." She nods her head, sure of her self. Her smile still lingers on her face.
I walk towards her and wrap my arms around her. She melts in my arms and I take a moment to just hold her.
"What's going on?" She asks, almost concerned.
I don't let go.
I don't say anything.
"Arlo?"
She real named me.
She's serious now.
"Shhh" I tell her.
"Is something wrong?"
"Quite the opposite." I mumble into her hair.
I pull back from her reluctantly. Her face is slightly scrunched in confusion. Her big brown eyes look up at me with curiosity. I smile softly at her soft features and bring my thumb to her cheek.
"I love you Aspen."
Her face grows from shock, to joy, to anger.
"I cannot believe I just let you win! How blatantly obvious was it that this was coming and I didn't say it first. I cannot believe you chicky how could you-"
I cut her rambling off by pressing my lips to hers. Our foreheads touch from the soft kiss, and we stand there for a moment in eachothers arms.
A bang suddenly sounds, and I feel a pain sensation in my shoulder. I let out a cry of pain and pull back from Aspen. I use my hand to try to press onto the wound which I can feel growing more wet with what I assume to be blood.
Her face is concerned until she looks over my shoulder. Her face turns to anger as she looks at my shoulder in almost shock.
"Did you just shoot him?!" She yells.
"It was a reflex." Sorin states casually.
"Are you okay?" She asks panicked, putting her hand on my shoulder and looking over.
"Aspen, get those paws off the boy if you wish for him to leave with his life." Sorin warns.
"Sorin you just shot him! How do you expect me not to help?! Are you absolutely f*cking insane?!"
"It's easy, just don't help." He states casually.
"Are you okay? Are you feeling light headed?" She asks.
"I'm feeling fine." I lie, holding the wound.
I've never been shot before.
It's hurts so f*cking bad.
I want to cry, but damn. I could never in front of her brothers.
"What's going on?" I recognize Jasper behind me.
I turn around to face them.
"Sorin shot Arlo!" Aspen shouts angrily.
"Without me? Any bullets left in the clip?" Jasper asks, almost excitedly.
"I've got a couple more." Sorin replies, taking the clip out and looking at it's contents.
"No more shooting my boyfriend!" Aspen yells at them sternly.
They both look at her, then to me.
"How are you feeling, boy?" Sorin asks.
"Better than ever." I reply sarcastically.
"Try again." Sorin demands, cocking the gun.
I try to stay calm and emotionless. The key word here being 'try'.
"I just got shot. That's how I'm feeling." I rush out.
"Have you ever been shot before?" Jasper asks.
I shake my head, earning a smirk from both of them.
"A first timer." Sorin remarks.
"I'm so sorry." Aspen says suddenly, grabing my non injured arm.
She drags me past the two snickering brothers and towards the west wing of the house. I notice Hudson walking our way and his face grows confused.
"Hudson, you can handle bullet wounds, yeah?" Aspen asks.
"Who shot you?" Hudson notices my bloody shoulder.
"Sorin." Aspen replies for me.
"Ah." Hudson nods his head in understanding. "Bring him to the medic room, I'll be there in a minute."
Aspen nods and continues dragging my hand, although I could easily walk myself.
Her concern is adorable.
Her furrowed eyebrows and small frown. Her concentration in getting to the medic room quickly, but glancing back at me every few seconds to make sure I'm okay.
The thought burning my mind is surrounding the fact that she hasn't told me she loves me back.
I know the whole situation broke loose with getting shot and all.
But still.
I want her to say it.
I can see the medic room up ahead. I stop letting her drag me and tug her back so she practically bumps into me.
We're not going to talk about the excruciating pain that spikes in my shoulder.
"What are you doing?" She asks, confused.
I pull her close, our faces are a few inches apart and she's breathing heavily. I'm sure stressed by the whole situation. I look into her eyes and can't help but smile softly at her.
"Tell me you love me." I demand softly.
Her face softens and she looks up at me through her eyelashes. I can see her smile slightly.
"I love you, Arlo Dolores."
Her hand comes up to cup my cheek.
Before the moment can progress though, I hear the click of a gun against my head.
"I suggest you find your way to the medic room, otherwise you'll find your way to your grave." I recognize Kohen.
Aspen frowns and backs away. She turns and we walk side by side to the medic room with Kohen, and now Hudson following behind.
When we enter, I sit on the bed and wait for Hudson.
We sit in silence as Hudson walks in. I see him snicker to himself, I'm sure laughing at the whole situation.
"You really have a death wish huh?" Hudson asks, approaching me with the medical equipment.
He starts examining the wound.
"I guess you can't be spontaneous in a house of mafia owners." I remark.
"No, you can't." Kohen says sternly, leaning against one of the walls. "And Huds, you know if he died, things would be a lot easier."
"Hey!" Aspen snaps at him.
I hiss in pain as Hudson presses down suddenly. He continues his work.
"Relax, no one is dying. Not today at least. The bullet is by the surface, it didn't hit anything important. You'll just need a sling and some rest from the blood loss." Hudson explains.
"Thank you, Hudson."
"Don't thank me, I would have listened to Kohen if I knew Ambrose wouldn't beat me to death." He says, making me give Aspen a look.
It was a 'save me' look, to be clear.
"-who shot the kid?"
My nerves grow at the sound of Aspen's second oldest brother.
"Apparently Sorin." There's Balor.
The two appear in the doorway and look around the room.
"He actually shot you?" Balor let's out a small laugh.
"It's not decoration." I retort.
"Tell your floor mat to watch his mouth." Balor tells Aspen.
She simply hums in reply, keeping her gaze trained on what Hudson is doing to my arm.
"I apologize on behalf of Sorin." Ambrose begins, "he will apologize himself but I figured I would give you an actually sincere one. Please don't have hard feelings towards him, this is still all fairly new. We're establishing boundaries."
"You would think 'don't shoot the boyfriend' would be obvious." Aspen says distastefully from the side.
"You would think." Ambrose reiterates. "But apparently it's not."
"I'm alive, so no big deal I guess." I tell them blankly.
"It is a big deal, I will speak with everyone. Honestly though, I cant promise it won't ever happen again."
"Ambrose." Aspen says warningly.
"It's true, we can set boundaries, but if the boy does something he needs to get shot for, we won't hesitate to do so." Balor chimes in.
"I wonder what it's like to have a normal family. Have you ever thought about dropping this whole mafia thing and moving to the suburbs?" Aspen asks.
"In your dreams." Kohen replies.
"Can I speak for a minute?" Someone suddenly asks, making everyone turn their head to the door. "I would just like to defend what I did."
"Sorin, have you not done enough already?" Aspen asks.
"I have not." He says with a shake of his head. "Alright, I am simply minding my business, walking down the hallway and I see Aspen's door closed. As the best brother, I decide to enter and see what she is up to. Imagine my surprise when I see this child tell our little sister he loves her without permission."
My stomach drops at Sorins explanation.
Hudson stops cleaning the wound.
Suddenly all eyes are on me.
"Oh, he kissed her too." Sorin adds with a smirk.
"The f*ck?!"
-------------------------
HEYYYYYYYYYY
Been quite inspired for a bit and I had this in my drafts.
How yall been? I miss you ;)
I can already tell you there will be more bonuses. I cant leave this story, I'm too attached lmao. It's like my first child.
Okay, hope you enjoyed :)
Until next time <3