a. evans
I looked at Lachlan sheepishly and waved, internally smacking myself on the head for being so awkward.
"I can explain.." I started, hoping I wasn't going to be in trouble for being here.
I explained everything to Lachlan and didn't miss any details, because when he felt I wasn't telling the whole truth, he would give me a stern look that would intimidate me into telling him. Not scary per se, but it definitely effectively got me to blurt out my whole life story like I was given a shot of truth serum.
The whole time I spoke he stayed quiet, not making any faces that would convey how he was feeling and barely even blinking.
"-and that is why I'm here." I finish, smiling brightly at him.
He stares at me with a calculated look and then his eyes soften.
"I'm so sorry." He says simply, extending his arms as an offering. I gladly accept the offer and step into his arms, revelling in the warmth of a hug that I've yearned for for years.
"Of course you can stay the night. Have you contacted your parents to let them know?" He says, releasing me from the hug and leaving me feeling cold.
"Uh, no." I say, struggling to answer the question without revealing the truth. This is going to be a problem.
"Here, I'll let you borrow my phone and you can call to let them know." He says, trying to be helpful but only making things harder for me. I plaster a fake smile on my face and reluctantly grab the phone from him.
"Alright I'll just go up and get the guest room ready for you to stay in." He says, heading out of the kitchen and leaving my field of vision.
I sighed in contempt and then decided I would just have to pretend to call my 'parents' and hope Lachlan doesn't go through his call log and see that I didn't call anyone.
A couple minutes later Lachlan walked back into the room and I quickly lifted the phone to my ear and said, "Thanks! Bye mom."
Lachlan smiled at me and took his phone back.
"Your room is ready, follow me." He says, motioning with his hand towards the stairs.
I silently followed him up the stairs in awe. As we travelled further into this house it seemed to increase in size and I was sure if I didn't have a guide I'd be lost.
"Here we are. I asked the twins to lend you some of their clothes to sleep in for the night. They're the smallest but..." his voice trails off as he holds up a shirt the size of Bigfoot and sweatpants taller than Mount Everest.
"I'll leave you to change and come back for your dirty clothes so I can put them through the washer." He says, closing the bedroom door behind me.
I take a second to observe the room I'm in. Had I not been told it was a guest bedroom, I probably would have assumed it was the master bedroom.
There was a bathroom attached to the room with a closet right next to it. The bed was huge and I figured I'd have to launch myself up to get on top of it. There was a huge bay window with a gorgeous view of their backyard which had a pool and a garden.
The room was stunning, and I felt awkward occupying it.
I brushed off my awkwardness and walked to the bathroom, stripping from my old of clothes and putting the new ones on.
The t-shirt went a little past my knees and the sweatpants were almost a lost cause had it not been for the drawstring and me folding the legs and waistband to fit me better.
Overall, I was drowning in these clothes.
I heard a knock at the door and I opened the bedroom door to Lachlan, who took in my appearance for a second before bursting out laughing.
The sound of his laughter boomed throughout the house and it shocked me so much that I flinched at the volume and then a frown grew on my face.
"What are you laughing at?" I asked, hands on my hips.
He had finally calmed down but there was still a huge smile on his face and his eyes glinted in amusement.
"Sorry. You look great." He says, lying through his teeth.
I scowled which only seemed to amuse him more.
"I said I was sorry. Give me your clothes and I'll go wash them for tomorrow." He states, waiting for me to hand them to him.
I placed my clothes in his arms and he turned toe ash them. Just as I was about to close the door he turns back around.
"Goodnight, Ainsley."
𒊹︎ꕥ꧁꧂ꕥ𒊹︎
x. rivera
I walked into the house and slammed the door, a habit I didn't care to get rid of.
My mind had been such a mess of overwhelming emotion today and I wanted nothing more than to lay in the comfort of my bed and sleep away the day.
Hearing Ainsley tell the full story about what happened before I got to her made me mad, and I couldn't understand why.
I had practically just met the girl.
All she does is mess with my head and I wanted nothing more than to forget about her and leave her alone but there was a part of me that couldn't do that.
I hate her sunshine attitude and how she can be so innocent. I hate how when I'm rude to her she brushes it off and still actively tries to befriend me. I hate that the little twerp has grown on me more than I care to admit.
I walk up the stairs and I'm drawn to the guest bedroom. After a fight with my brain I slowly open the door, revealing the small girl in the huge bed that basically swallows her.
I only planned on seeing that she was okay but then I noticed she was shivering and the blankets were at her feet.
With a sign I quietly walk over to the bed so as to not wake her up, and I grab ahold of the blankets, pulling them up to cover her.
She shuffles in her sleep and I tense, praying she doesn't wake up. This would be hard to explain and she would never let me live it down.
Once she was settled again I darted out of the room and closed the door behind me. That was close.
When I reached my bedroom I let my head hit the pillow and groaned.
Today was rough.
𒊹︎ꕥ꧁꧂ꕥ𒊹︎
a. evans
My eyes opened to the bright sun shining through the window of the room. It stung my eyes and I held my hand up to my mouth to conceal a yawn.
Spotting my clothes folded neatly and on the tub chair in the corner of the room, I begrudgingly threw my feet over the side of the ever so comfortable cloud of a bed, and marched over to grab them.
I noticed they had been washed, dried, and ironed, and that they smelt of fresh linen. I made sure nobody was going to barge into the room before grabbing the clothes and holding them to my nose, inhaling the scent. I definitely looked like a freak.
My current living situation is, in my opinion, less than ideal. I haven't had someone do something so thoughtful and caring for me in a long time and I really appreciated the gesture.
I changed into my clothes with a smile on my face that was so wide it would have been off putting to witness, and then I decided to head downstairs. My hand reached for the doorknob and twisted, pushing the door open, only to stumble back and shriek in shock.
Standing right in front of me outside the door, were Sutton and Saffron.
My hand reached for my heart in attempts to calm its erratic pounding in my chest.
"Woah, sorry. We didn't mean to scare you." Saffron says, holding his hands out as if to steady me. I shook my head slightly.
"It's okay. I just wasn't expecting you." I said, offering the two a smile.
They looked at each other and Saffron shook his head while Sutton looked like he was holding back a weeks worth of constipation.
He finally burst.
"She's so cute!" He exclaimed, reaching to pull me into a hug. My body collided with his and he wound his arms around me tightly while I suffocated in his hold and he shook me like a dog with a toy.
"Sutton, release!" Saffron commanded. I giggled as this whole thing played out. I was being thrown around like a rag doll and Sutton was being reprimanded like a bad dog.
Finally, after a lot of back and forth bickering between the twins, I was put back on my own two feet.
"Anyways," Saffron started, glaring at his twin. "We wanted to apologize for how we spoke to you last night. It was rude and we didn't think before we spoke. We were hoping you could forgive us?" He asked, a hopeful look on his face.
With a smile that seemed to be permanently etched on my face when I was in the presence of the Rivera brothers, I nodded my head.
"Of course I forgive you. You didn't offend me anyways." I said, being truthful. If I spent my time being offended by everything that people said about me I would be eternally miserable.
The boys looked relieved at my words and then invited me to follow them to the kitchen where they said, and I quote, "All hell is breaking loose."
With that very comforting notion in mind, I followed the boys into what I now was thinking would be my demise.
We open the swinging door to the kitchen and are met with pure chaos.
On one side of the room is Lachlan, sitting at the table and sipping coffee while he reads the newspaper in typical old man fashion. Next to him is Emerald who is laughing hysterically at what is happening on the other side of the room.
The side of the room in question contains 3 men who I have yet to meet. One of them stands in front of the stove with an apron on, a hand on his hip and a spatula in the other hand, pointed at another boy.
The boy with the spatula currently pointed at him seemed to not have a care in the world as he argued back and forth with spatula man.
Finally, there was the last boy, who stood off to the side, his body covered in egg and flour.
Everyone's gaze drifted to the twins and I gulped at the sudden spotlight.
"Hi." I said, waving my hand about at the three boys I had yet to meet. I got nothing in response and was instead met with pure silence.
"Good morning, Ainsley." Said Emerald, speaking through his teeth. I could tell he was trying to get his brothers to greet me, but all I could think about was how many brothers Xanthe had.
His poor mother.
"Hi, Ainsley. I'm Maddox." Said spatula man. He smiled at me and I smiled back, relieved that someone was breaking the awkward silence.
"I'm Finnian." Said the man that was yelling at Maddox. They looked freakishly similar.
"Twins." Said Maddox simply, noticing my analysis of their features.
The boy in the corner who was covered in food said nothing and just glared at his feet. I'd be upset if I was covered in food too.
He stayed silent until Finnian shoved his arm a bit and he sighed.
"Sorry. I'm Ivory." He said sheepishly.
I smiled at him and nodded my head.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Ainsley and I spent the night here last night because people like to use me as a punching bag." I said, cheerful as could be.
The horrified looks on all their faces was the highlight of my life.
Lachlan clears his throat and looks up from his paper.
"Alright you three come sit, breakfast is ready. Ivory, go change your clothes, and Maddox, for the love of god stop throwing food at people and clean that mess up." He said, sounding like this wasn't a first time occurrence.
I was ushered to a spot at the table and given a plate to fill with the assorted breakfast foods had been prepared. I waited for everyone to grab their food before taking mine, not wanting to step on any toes. I then took one pancake and some fruit. I don't eat breakfast. I haven't really had the option.
"Thank you." I said when I had finished taking my serving.
I ate in silence as I watched the brothers all bicker around the table, stealing food from one another and yelling across the table for them to pass the maple syrup.
"May I please be excused." I said shyly, now being finished with my plate. Lachlan looks over at me, a slightly amused look on his face and says, "yes you may."
I grab my plate and head over to the sink to clean my dish. As I reach the sink my arm is grabbed causing me to flinch on instinct and the person who grabbed me to quickly drop my arm.
"Sorry." We both said at the same time.
He then spoke again.
"I didn't mean to grab you. I was just going to take care of your dirty plate for you." He spoke, sounding apologetic. I smiled.
"It's okay. I can wash it. I do it all the time at the or- at home." I say, cursing myself when I almost told him about the orphanage. I had so far gotten away with hiding my familial status and housing situation, I would hate to have them find out because I accidentally slipped up.
"You're such an Angel." He said, making me blush profusely and him chuckle at the red that now painted my cheeks.
"I'll get it though." He says, taking the plate out of my hands. I nod and mumble a thank you, no longer wanting to be around him because of how hard I just embarrassed myself by blushing like an idiot. I can't handle compliments.
"School starts in 30 minutes you guys should head to the car now." Finnian says, saving me from further embarrassment.
I nod without a word and head to the front door where I left my blood splattered yellow converse. When I saw them I frowned and then shook it off.
Pick your battles.
"Where's Xanthe?" Ivory asked.
I had also been wondering where he was. Considering he was one of the only one of these boys that I knew. I mean he was the one who had taken me here to begin with and then dropped off the face of the earth in the middle of his brother fixing me up.
This whole situation was just weird, but hey, it's not like I can afford to be picky.
Suddenly a gruff voice spoke up.
"Here."
I looked up at the stairs and saw Xanthe, pulling a sweatshirt over his head and making his way down the stairs.
I smiled up and waved at the person I'd been looking for and suddenly my body fell backwards as one of the many large, tree-like teenage boys in this room knocked into me while putting his shoe on.
I fell down on my butt and and winced as my flat glutes collided with the ground.
Within 5 seconds of me falling I was quickly grabbed under the armpits by Xanthe who had rolled his eyes at my accident. I squealed in surprise and was then placed back down on my feet.
I blushed in embarrassment for the 80th time this morning, and thanked him. He curtly nodded his head and takes his car keys out of his pocket.
All the school boys and I make our way to the car and it is then that I am informed that because I am the smallest, I will be sitting in the back, between Sutton and Saffron. Ivory sits in the passenger seat and Xanthe is the driver.
The two smiled at me and Ivory laughed.
"Good luck." He said, patting me on the back.
The car starts and we start our journey to school. All is calm to begin but at around 10 minutes into our drive, I feel a poke on my cheek. I turned to look at the culprit and saw a smirking Sutton.
I stuck my tongue out at him and then a poke was placed on my other cheek.
My head whipped around to face Saffron and I repeated my tongue shenanigans to him.
While Sutton looked away I then poked his cheek and when he turned to face me I pointed at Saffron and shrugged.
That caused the two of them to get into a fist fight.
On top of me.
Like I wasn't there.
Xanthe looked in this mirror and saw what was happening and started reprimanding the boys that were slowly, unintentionally, crushing the life out of me, and Ivory had reached behind him to start trying to pull them apart.
As this happened I somehow managed to zone out. All I could think about as we pulled up to the school was how despite me being squished between two teenage brutes and nearly dying in a car crash due to the chaos unravelling inside of the car, I had never felt so at peace.
This was the happiest I have felt in a long time.
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Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
I'm so glad I was able to finish it before the months started to surpass me lol.
I don't know how to feel about this chapter because I had so many ideas written down. I feel like I kind of rushed it.
Anyways, let me know your thoughts!
Thanks for reading!