this is a very long chapter because I don't want to have a lot of chapters in this book so from now on there will be long chapters. I think you might like this chapter a lot.
(Romano & Artemis are 16)
LORENZO RUSSO:
I watch as Ares and Athena stumble into the house, with a bunch of bags filled with food, soaking wet from the rain, laughing and drunk.
"Ares that backflip you did was so cool!"
Ares giggles and then stops. "Wait. What backflip? I can do a backflip. Oh my God!"
"Oh. Sorry. You can't. It was that man on the street!"
Ares flicks her forehead, "I can totally do a backflip—"
Athena falls onto the ground, laughing, and then points up at the ceiling, "I think I see an angel."
Ares drops the shopping bags and sits down next to her, "I think I can too."
I can't tell if they are drunk or high.
I cross my arms, anger flowing through my veins. How have they still not noticed me? I literally opened the door for them. I look up at the ceiling and see nothing there. I shake my head in disappointment. They must be high.
Staring at Ares, I think of multiple ways I can kill him. I know over a hundred ways to kill someone. I just need to find the right one.
"Oh my God, a unicorn!" Ares shouts, snapping me out of my murderous thoughts.
"That's not a unicorn. That's um. I don't know what that is."
It's a fucking coat hanger.
That's it. I've had enough of this shit.
I walk over to them and grab Athena by her shoulders and lift her up. She yelps and then starts kicking me. "Get off of me, you intruder!"
Ares stands up and throws a punch at me. At the very last second I dodge it and let Athena go.
Ares glares at me, "I may be drunk but I can still fight."
I look deeply into his eyes. I sigh in relief. He's not high. Thank God.
"Ares I will kill you if try to fight me," I simply state, not looking at him when grab Athena's jaw to look into her eyes.
"Lorenzo?!"
I roll my eyes.
When I can tell she's not high, I let her go but then she slaps me. I stare at her in shock.
"I don't like how you have the same eyes as me," she explains, holding back a smile.
I look at her in disbelief.
"We are siblings, Athena. Of course we would have the same eyes," I say, shaking my head.
"But that isn't fair. I want to be special."
My eyes soften when I see her sad expression. God. I can never get mad at her. Especially when she's sad. "You are special," I tell her.
"What about me?"
I glare at Ares, "You're delusional if you think you're special."
Ares gasps, "You don't mean that."
I raise an eyebrow, "Oh but I do."
"Fine! You shall starve for a whole week. Goodbye!" Ares storms off to the kitchen, stomping his feet loudly.
An amused smile meets my face. He's so passionate about food, that at this point it's a talent.
I look back down at Athena, all of sudden I feel panic when I see her empty eyes.
"Athena?"
She snaps out of it and looks at me, "Yes?"
"Let's get you to bed. You must be tired."
She hums, opening her arms. I smile, picking her up. She rests her head on my shoulder and I walk to the stairs.
"I didn't mean to get drunk. I just wanted to know what it was like," she murmers. I stay silent as I walk up the stairs.
"It made all the bad thoughts go away," she whispers.
"What bad thoughts?"
"I can't tell you."
I walk to her bedroom and open the door. I turn the light on and walk into her bathroom. I place her on the counter and grab a towel. I wrap it around her, since she must be cold from her wet clothes.
"I'll be back. Don't go anywhere, okay?"
She nods.
I leave the bathroom and enter her closet. None of these clothes look like they would warm her up. I take my hoodie off and then grab one of her sweatpants.
I go back into bathroom, "Here. Wear this."
She looks down at my shirts and snorts. "Why does your shirt say 'I am the best brother in the world'?" I look down at my shirt and then look back at her. "Because I am?"
She frowns, "No you're not."
"I'm not? Why?"
She shrugs, not answering.
This is very unsettling. She's the type of person to bottle everything up but even when she's drunk she still doesn't open up. She won't even tell me why I'm not the best brother in the world.
"Go get changed. I'll be waiting outside."
I leave the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I sit down on her bed and pull my phone out. I quickly send a text to Elijah to get a bottle of water and bring it up to Athena's room.
After a few seconds, the bathroom door opens and Athena steps out of the bathroom and stares at me. I gesture for her to sit down and she does.
"I need you to understand, getting drunk with you're brother isn't safe. Especially when he's driving, drunk. You need to call one of us to pick you up. Okay?"
She huffs, "Fine. I will."
"Now what bad thoughts are you getting?"
She looks away from me, "Just bad thoughts."
I don't want to force her to open up but if she's thinking of hurting herself, I have to know. I have to.
"How bad are they?"
"Bad. Really bad. They don't go away," she mumbles.
A knock on the door interrupts us. I stand up and walk to the door and open it. Elijah looks at me worried, "Is she okay?"
I take the water bottle from his hand and firmly nod, "Yeah. She decided to get drunk with Ares."
Elijah shakes his head, "I'll talk to Ares."
I nod and shut the door when he walks away. I turn around and see Athena staring at the wall.
I stand in front of her and pass her the water bottle, she takes it and drinks from it. That should sober her up a bit. She closes it and places it on her nightstand.
"Come on. You need to sleep."
She nods, I help her lay down, and put the covers over her.
"We will talk in the morning, okay?"
She closes her eyes.
I sigh and I walk to the door but then I hear her quiet voice.
"I watched Bianca die."
I freeze.
I turn around and look at her. No. That's not possible. I stride toward her, "What do you mean?" She doesn't answer. Cazzo. She's asleep already.
I run a hand through my hair, she watched her die? Did she kill her? When did this happen? Does she know?
I'll have to ask her when she's sober. And awake.
I stare down at my little sister. She's an enigma that needs to be solved. She holds secrets in a bottle that's been in the ocean for years and it needs to be found.
Will she ever open up to us? Does she even feel safe around us? No— Does she feel safe around me?
I lean down and gently wipe the hair away that's covering her face. "I will protect you till the day I die," I quietly promise her. I kiss her on the forehead.
She can't hear me. I know. But I mean it.
I will make her monsters go away. I will make her bad thoughts go away. I will make sure everyone who even looks at her in the wrong way goes away.
She is my little sister.
No one in this world will ever touch her on my watch.
Not even Yavok Orlav.
ATHENA RUSSO:
No. No. No. This can't be happening to me right now. No. No. No. I look down at the blood and I feel tears form in my eyes.
I'm on my period.
My first period ever.
Thankfully, I know what a period is. I've just never had one. And because of that I don't have any of those types of products.
I look around my bathroom for help but obviously, no one is there to help me. None of my brothers would know what to do. And this pounding headache is killing me. Who would know what to do?
Greta.
I grab a towel and wrap it around me and quickly leave my bathroom and open my bedroom door.
I look around and no one is randomly walking around so that's great. I'm going to have to shout, aren't I?
I don't want to shout.
I shut my door and repeatedly bang my head against it.
"I. Hate. My. Life."
Then I start crying.
That's it.
I let out an angry scream.
"I HATE BEING A WOMAN."
I storm into my bathroom and lock the door and I scream again. I'm screaming and crying.
"What the fuck is going on?!"
I stop screaming and I sniffle.
Elijah?
"Athena?!"
I wrap the towel tighter around me and unlock the door and peek my head out, "Can you tell Greta to come up?"
Elijah looks at me confused, "Wait? What's going on? Why were you screaming?!"
Lorenzo storms in and he looks around the room for me, "Where is she?!"
I open my mouth but then Ares comes out of nowhere.
"WHAT'S HAPPENED?!"
I try to speak but then Dom and Dante also come out of nowhere. "What's going on?" they both say, simultaneously.
Tears roll down my cheeks when they all just start arguing. "Guys?" I say, trying to get their attention but none of them notice me and they just continue to argue even louder.
"Where is she?"
"Lorenzo—"
"Shut up! What have you done with her?"
"Ares we haven't done anything—"
"Oh really? We all heard her scream."
"Dom—"
"Elijah, shut up!"
Marcello walks in and looks at our brothers then at me and then leaves, not wanting to be a part of this.
"Guys?" I say a little louder, sniffling.
They still continue to argue and that's when I lose it.
"SHUT UP!"
They all stop what they are doing and turn to look at me with wide eyes.
"Someone get Greta to come up here. Please." I grit out. Then I slam the door shut and lock it.
"Athena, what's wrong?"
"Move—Let me talk to her."
"You move, fat ass—"
I sit down on the floor and rest my head on my knees. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I continue crying because I don't know what else to do.
"What are you boys doing? Move! Move! Move!" I hear Grega say. I sigh in relief.
Finally, a woman.
She knocks on the door, "Athena, sweetheart, it's me. Can you let me in?"
I shakily stand up and unlock the door and slowly open it. She quickly walks in and locks the door. She faces me and frowns when she sees my face, "My poor child. What is the matter?"
I shamefully look at the floor, "I'm bleeding and um. I need some... Girl stuff."
"Is this your first time?"
I nod.
"You're finally a woman!"
I groan, "Greta—"
"Right. Sorry. I'll go get you some pads."
She leaves the bathroom and I hear her tell my brothers what's happened and then hell breaks loose.
"SHE'S DYING?"
"ELIJAH DO SOMETHING! SAVE HER!"
"Fucking move. Athena let me in!"
"Language!"
"Lorenzo she isn't going to—"
"You better shut your mouth. If she's dying—"
"THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS—"
I look in the mirror and sigh. I wipe my tears away. Am I going to die? No. Idon't go to die. They're only saying that because they are men and they don't understand anything.
"Athena, I'm back."
I open the door for Greta and she comes in and locks the door again.
She passes me some pads and some new clothes, "Here. Do you know how to put it on?"
"Yeah. I think."
She hums, "Okay. Well if you need me, I'll be outside. I need to calm your brothers down."
I nod and she leaves. I lock the door and sigh. I can't believe this is happening to me out of all people.
✩ ✩ ✩
A few days have passed by and my brothers are scared to talk to me because apparently, I shout at them too much.
I don't shout at them. I scream at them. That's a big difference.
I go down the stairs, angrily. Diego is back and even he is scared of me. I stare at him, waiting for him to greet me but he doesn't, he just looks at the wall.
Fine.
I storm into the kitchen and Ares is in there, eating a bunch of snacks. He sees me and immediately passes his food to me.
"Here! Here! Don't scream at me! Please."
I take his food and look at it. I hate these. I take a deep breath but he's gone before I can even shout at him for giving me food that I clearly don't like.
Don't throw it, Athena. Don't—
I throw it, not caring where I throw it just as long it's not near me.
"What the hell?"
I see Dante staring at me in shock.
I cross my arms, "Do we have a problem?"
He immediately shakes his head, "Nope. We do not."
I nod and open the fridge. Why is there healthy food here? I want chocolate cake. I shut the fridge and search the cabinets for Oreos but I can't seem to find any.
"Hey, Dante? Where are the Oreos?" I say turning to look at him.
His eyes widen, "Oh um. Ares finished them."
I frown, "So there aren't any Oreos?"
He shakes his head.
Oh. I walk away and I feel tears form in my eyes. I enter the living room and sit down on the couch and wrap a blanket over me and my head.
I quietly cry.
All I want is Oreos. It's simple. Just one Oreo.
"Athena?"
"Go away!"
"Why are you crying again?"
I lift the blanket and glare at Dom, "Are you implying that I cry too much? Are you implying that I'm too emotional? How dare you—"
His eyes widen, "No! No! I swear, I'll do anything you want. What's wrong?"
I grab a pillow and cuddle it. "I just want some Oreos."
"But there isn't any—"
"Well get some!"
"Yes. Yes. I will. No need to shout."
I lift my head, "Are you implying that I shout too much—"
He's gone before I can even finish. I sigh and cuddle the pillow again. My stomach hurts, my head hurts, I'm cold, I'm angry and emotional.
I just want a hug.
I start crying again.
I watch as Marcello quietly enters the room and sits beside me. He's the only one I can't get mad at. Not because of what he's been through, it's because he's never done anything to me.
"If you don't mind me asking," I don't, "but why are you crying?"
"I want a hug. Can you hug me?"
"I'm afraid comforting is not what I'm good at."
I sigh and look at him, "I just want a hug. That's all. You don't need to say anything."
He reluctantly nods and shifts closer to me. He wraps his arms around and I just burst out into tears again. He pats my head, "There, there. No need to cry."
With a sniffle, I nod, wiping my tears away with the sleeves of Lorenzo's hoodie.
A packet of Oreos is thrown at me, and Marcello catches it. I look up and see Dom standing in front of us, his eyes soften when he sees me.
"Marcello move, I will hug her."
I don't think Marcello knows but his arms tighten around me. "I think you should leave this to me," Marcello says.
Dom crosses his arms, "I said move."
Marcello clears his throat, "Apologies. I don't think. I know. I am more capable of comforting my sister than you are. You, Domenico, are a demonic teenager who doesn't understand how to merely comfort anyone. You just make them cry even more."
I stare at Marcello, I think that's the first time I've ever heard him speak that much for so long. Normally he just says short sentences and stuff.
Dom huffs, "Fine. You robot."
"Don't call him that," I snap.
He rolls his eyes, "Oh please Athena, you act like it isn't true but it is."
I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. "Domenico. You are starting to get on my nerves. I suggest you walk away before I cause havoc," I calmly say.
He nods, slowly backing out of the room. Once he is gone, I grab my Oreos and start happily eating them.
"You shouldn't be eating chocolate on your—"
I give him a look that makes him shut up.
He looks away and mutters, "I don't like this version of you."
"Well, I do. I get what I want. Whenever I want. I think I should stay like this forever."
"In the future, statistically you would be a very dangerous person to be around if you continue down this path."
"And whose statistics are those?"
"Mine."
"Well shit."
"LANGUAGE!"
I sigh in annoyance, even if I were across the world and said one swear word, Elijah's "foul language" senses would be tingling and he would come out of nowhere and scold me.
✩ ✩ ✩
"So why am I here?" I ask Lorenzo as I sit down in his office.
By the look on his face, it's serious. Now let's just see what this conversation could be about.
This could be about how I snuck into his office and room. This could be about me getting drunk. Although I don't even recall getting drunk. This could be about school. This could be about Romano.
This could be about... Bianca? Shit. What if it is? No. He doesn't know. Artemis promised me she wouldn't tell anyone. She promised.
Did she tell him? Fuck. Why would she—
"Bianca. Remember when you were drunk?That day you said you watched Bianca die. Wanna tell me what that means?"
Oh. It was me.
Poker face. On.
"Watch Bianca die? I'm sorry but why would that come out of my mouth?" I say, feigning confusion.
He sighs, "I'm not stupid. I heard you say it. So explain."
I shrug, "Well I was very drunk. I probably didn't mean it."
"Then why would you say it?"
"I don't know. I was drunk."
"Athena," he warns.
"Look Lorenzo, I honestly haven't watched that girl die. I haven't seen that girl since that day. And let me remind you it's been a few months now," I tell him, leaning back in my chair.
He leans forward in his chair, "And you expect me to believe that?"
"Well it is the truth so, yes I do."
"You're a shitty liar. Tell me what really happened."
Well, fuck me. I look down at the floor. Well, isn't the floor so pretty? I patiently wait for someone to interrupt us so I can get out of this situation.
"I'm waiting."
I roll my eyes, "I know."
Think. Make up a fake story. I quickly try to make up a scenario in my head but it wouldn't make sense why I would even be near Bianca.
"Athena—"
The door barges open, "ATHENA!"
I stand up, "Artemis?"
She pulls me into a hug, a very suffocating one.
Thank you, God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
"Artemis—"
"Not right now, Lorenzo. I haven't seen my best friend in a whole week. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to steal her from you. Goodbye!"
She drags me out of Lorenzo's office and down the corridor. She drags me into a random room and shuts the door and locks it.
We both look at each other, breathing heavily.
I kiss her.
"You are a fucking life savior," I whisper against her lips.
She giggles and kisses me back. This is my, thank you to her for having such perfect timing. She pushes me against the wall and I kiss her harder.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but when did this happen?"
Me and Artemis immediately back away from each other and I see Romano casually sitting down on a couch, watching us.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Artemis asks, shocked.
Romano glares at her, lifting up a controller. "I'm playing a game. Well, I was before you two came in here, eating each other's faces off," he grits out.
I look around the room and it looks like a video game room. Since when did we have this—Wait. Athena. You can't get distracted right now.
My cheeks flush in embarrassment. "I um. We aren't a thing. She just saved me from a sticky situation with Lorenzo, and I... Was thanking her," I explain to him.
He raises his eyebrows, "So you thank her by... Kissing her?"
"Yeah, she does. And what about it?" Artemis snaps, glaring at him.
He slowly stands up and walks to us. "I won't tell anyone," he says to me.
"And what do you want in return?" I ask him, warily.
"I want a thank you too."
"Thank you?" I mumble.
"I shall be leaving to give you guys some privacy," Artemis blurts out, leaving the room.
No. She can't do that. She can't leave me—
I move to leave as well but Romano locks the door and stares down at me.
"I said thank you. What else do you want?"
He frowns, "It wasn't the same thank you Artemis got."
"You . . . Want me to kiss you?"
He nods.
I look over his shoulder for any cameras and there aren't any.
Then I take a second to look at him. I don't know how he tastes, how his hands will press against my skin. I don't think I will see him like this again.
Fuck it.
I grab him by the throat and kiss him.
He immediately places his hands on my hips, pulling me closer. I nearly moan at the feeling of his hands.
He deepens the kiss, and I grab onto his shoulder for support because I feel like I'm about to faint.
He then stops kissing my lips and starts trailing soft kisses down my neck.
"Romano," I whisper, closing my eyes.
"Yes?"
"Don't stop."