Third person's POV:
Over the next two weeks, Eleanor spends her time studying, taking her exams, searching for any possible clues on her mother and calling her friends.
During these two weeks, she had more one-on-one encounters with the members of her family, excluding the eldest four as they had left for their own houses to give her space.
When she wasn't studying, she sometimes went to the at-home gym or library. She uses the gym to vent her anger and stress and the library to find peace of mind. She also used the library to see if there was anything else to find and know about her supposed family.
She would search the books that looked to have information about the Italian mafia. To no such luck for her, she didn't find anything she didn't already know.
Luckily for Eleanor, she finished her exams over these two weeks, her last exam being yesterday. Her friends were a little bummed that they couldn't celebrate the end of exams with her, but she assured them that when she flies to London for their graduation they'll have a proper celebration then which lifted their spirits.
All she has to do is talk to her father to fly her to London to graduate, she is determined to graduate there. She will not miss graduating with her friends like they imagined just because her 'family' says no. She'll find a way if they do.
As of right now, she's heading down to the kitchen. She passes by which she presumes is Braxton's room. The door is outlined with different breeds of horses and rugby balls, all painted by Braxton himself. Eleanor had a brief conversation with Braxton earlier this week and he talked about how he painted them himself to give his room his touch; starting from the outside.
The door was open just enough to peek inside and see the area where the TV was and the bean bags in front of it. She could see that inside with Braxton there was Brody and Leonardo, all playing a video game.
When Leonardo loses the other two start laughing at him and making fun of him. "I hate you both." Leonardo shoves them off their bean bags.
They just laugh more though Brody manages to get a few words out between his laughter. "Why? We're lovely." He wiggles his eyebrows.
"More like ugly," Leonardo smirks. At that the triplet brothers, Brody and Braxton, gasp, hands going over their hearts in mock offence and hurt.
"Excuse you, brother?" Braxton stands up and walks over to his elder brother. Towering over him since Leo is sitting down. "You do know your genes are inside me yeah? It means you're calling yourself ugly." He smiles smugly, thinking he's got his brother good.
Leo leans back into the bean bag with his hands behind his head shrugging to say 'It's okay'. "Oh trust me, brother, I'm very self-aware. The question is, are you?" Leo throws the insult back onto Brax.
All the while Brody has begun wheezing with all the laughing he's doing. El has a hand on her mouth as she watches through the peep in the door, the situation admittedly humorous.
The two brothers continue to go back and forth and El gets more and more invested in their banter. She leans in closer to the door trying to get more of their conversation and get a better view.
She doesn't notice when the door moves away from her and she stumbles inside Braxton's room. When the brothers notice her they all stop talking, pin drop silence falls on them like a cloak.
El looks at them, trying to hide her embarrassment of being caught. She crosses her arms, clearing her throat, "Hi- sorry for uh... snooping. Wasn't polite of me." She apologises, looking at them to gauge their reactions.
Brody is the first one to talk after a few seconds. "Don't worry about it," he waves it off. "Besides, we were just playing around, not like you were listening in on a secret." He tries to lighten the mood.
"Yeah. Don't worry about it Eleanor," Braxton pipes up.
El smiles. The brothers give her warm smiles in return and she feels warmth spreading through her body. The feeling of acceptance, and welcoming.
Leonardo looks between her and his brothers and gets an idea. "You wanna join us?" He asks her to which she is taken aback.
Braxton and Brody grin at Leonardo's idea and look at her with soft eyes, but she can tell there is an underlying hope.
She takes a minute to think. "Are you sure?" Her reply comes.
"Yeah of course, though no pressure if you don't want to." Brody pipes up.
She sighs, weighing her options. "Okay then, let's play." She finally agrees.
Braxton punches the air in excitement and jumps over his bean bag, skipping over to her. She suppresses a laugh at his childish reaction. "Come on sole, let's play." He holds out his hand in a gentlemanly way.
She looks at him confused and shocked, taken aback by his reaction. She awkwardly takes his hand, not expecting them to be so happy about this.
The brothers settled on their bean bags, Eleanor taking the fourth and final one. Leo hands her a controller. "You know how to play?" He asks.
She looks up at the game 'Call Of Duty', nodding. "Alright then," Braxton claps loudly. El flinches a little at the sound, body tensing up a little.
The brothers don't seem to notice and she quickly blinks out of her stupor. One of them starts the game and she quickly gets the hang of it. Looks like the times her friends made her play at Oliver's house paid off.
She moves the controllers and presses the buttons on the joystick as if it were second nature, never taking her eyes off the screen. The brothers gawk at how fast she is which causes Brody and Leonardo's characters to get killed.
Braxton just whoops in excitement at how his sister is playing him and his brothers, while also focusing on his character.
Eleanor and Braxton exchange short sentences in between tactics to win and soon they come out victorious. Braxton jumps up and punches the air. "Hell yeah!" He exclaims. "We did it. We did it. We did it." He starts doing the chicken dance, mocking Leo and Brody. "You guys got yourselves killed while I and El won, suck it suckers."
The brothers roll their eyes while Eleanor holds back her smile trying to keep her face neutral. However, she can't deny the nice feeling of seeing and being somewhat part of their playful interaction.
She's broken out of her thoughts when Braxton stands in front of her, hand in the air. "Up top sis!" He yells cheerfully. El smiles and high-fives him like a sane person. Braxton pouts playfully at her lack of enthusiasm but shrugs in the end.
She bites her tongue from saying she isn't their sister not wanting to ruin the moment. She tries to fight off the feeling of loneliness creeping up on her.
"I'm going to grab something to drink, thank you for inviting me to play along with you." Her tone of voice masks the squeeze she's feeling in her heart.
"Don't thank us El, you're more than welcome to join us anytime, we had fun," Brody says.
She smiles meekly and stands up from the bean bag. She walks out giving them a short wave. She looks around in the hallway before slumping against the wall and breathing out heavily.
She feels her eyes tear up and walks quickly towards her room. There she closes the door softly before sliding down on the floor. She pulls he knees up to her chest and buries her face in her hands.
With a shaky hand, she pulls out the necklace her mother gave her before they were separated and clutches it in her palm. "I wish you were here mum." She whispers to no one but herself.
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A/N
Words: 1356
Hey readers, sorry for the long wait, for this chapter I just couldn't get any ideas on what to write. I wanted to add some bonding time with Eleanor and her brothers but didn't know how to do it in a way that I wouldn't drastically change her view of them in just two weeks. I hope this chapter is worth the wait.
The chapterly question this time is, how do you deal with stress? I mostly dance my stress away or if I can't I listen to music.
Have a good day or night,
xoxo
Purple-writer