WHO LIKED THE FIRST CHAPTER?
This chapter is dedicated to @abhinn_juneja follow him! You won't regret it :)
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"Wafhchgffcvhj?!" I closed my eyes even more tightly. He jerked his gun on my head, making me aware that he was indeed asking me something. Something that camouflaged with Maroon 5.
He shook me again with my arm, knocking me out of my panicked trance. I am 99% sure that I whimpered and it got blocked by my earphones. I opened my eyes frantically.
He froze. I felt him stiffen next to me. He looked at me in shock.
I took advantage of his state and long pressed the volume key of my phone. Aiden did this setting so that I can send SOS message with my location to them.
The stranger was still frozen as if I pulled a Medusa on him. I took a moment to look at him. Only his gray eyes that glistened in the dim light were visible as rest of his face was covered with a bandana.
Thief? Kidnapper? Gang member? Murderer?
If he is one of them, why is he fucking frozen? Not that I want him to do anything.
A discreet sound of footsteps was heard that broke the spell. In an instant, he yanked me behind him and pulled his gun in sound's direction.
My brothers.
I jumped with joy and ran to them. They both hugged me tightly and kissed my hair.
"You scared us Astrid-bear." Asher looked like he was about to cry and that made me feel guilty.
"A-Astrid?"
Aiden pulled away and shot daggers at the stranger. His fists clenched and jaw ticked as he grabbed the gray-eyed boy by his collar and slammed him into the wall. The gun made a clanking sound against the pavement.
Asher stiffened and hid me in his arms.
"How dare you even touch my sister?!" he yelled, and I flinched, burying my face in Asher's chest when the stranger looked between my brothers and me while Aiden raised his fist to punch him.
"You son of a-"
"Aiden!" all eyes snapped to me. "D-don't." I choked. I don't even know why I stopped him, but something flickered in stranger's eyes that snapped me to do so. Hell, that emotion held me back from showing off my black belt skills in the first place.
"What?!" Aiden and Asher yelled. I flinched, and Asher immediately tightened his arms around me.
"D-don't. It's not worth it. He isn't worth it. Let's go. P-please?"
Aiden looked into my eyes and nodded gingerly. With one last death glare in my attacker's direction, he banged him against the wall and turned on his heels.
The boy was still frozen, and I couldn't help but look at him for one last time as my brothers sandwiched me between them and kissed my head.
I could feel a lingering argument in the air, but I was glad that my brothers were letting everything settle down before lecturing me.
The drive home was silent; a thick tension was surrounding us. Aiden's jaw was clenched, and his knuckles were white because of his hold on wheel. On the other hand, Asher was still holding me in his arms, and I had a feeling that it was not for me. Aiden parked the car in our driveway, but none of us moved.
"We will talk about this tomorrow, Astrid."
Damn. He was pissed.
With this, he stomped out of the car and barged into the house. I was frozen in Asher's arms as he rubbed my back to comfort me.
"It's okay, Astrid-bear. You know he loves you, right? It's just that; he has a different way of showing it." I nodded and gave him a small smile. "I have always got your back, Astrid-bear."
He squeezed me one last time before he got out and helped me out too. Aiden was in the kitchen when we entered. I was about to run upstairs when Aiden stopped me.
"Hot chocolate."
Two words. Just two words and my heart melted.
I looked back at him. His face was emotionless but his eyes were shining with concern and love.
Asher smirked and winked at me as I suppressed the urge to tackle my brother in a bone crushing hug.
I settled for a small nod and took the mug. Aiden strolled upstairs to his room. Asher ruffled my hair and followed his twin. I sighed and gulped my hot chocolate in one go.
Who were you, Mr Stranger?
~~~
I cursed under my breath as bright light disturbed my sleep. A groan escaped my lips as I felt sandwiched between hard walls. Blinking back the black spots, I opened my eyes to find two identical people, cuddled on either side of me. I rolled my eyes but smiled nevertheless at the sight of my two adorable caring brothers.
Aiden shuffled and threw his arm to cover his eyes. I turned my head in Asher's direction and shrieked when I saw him laying there with his eyes crossed and tongue out in dead man pose. Aiden groaned beside me.
"Don't scare me like that!" I whisper yelled at Asher as he grinned cheekily.
Aiden rolled on his stomach and craned his body up with his left elbow while scratching his head with right one.
"Good morning!" I greeted cheerfully. I may or may not have done it to avoid the lingering discussion.
"Good morning!" One of the twins matched my enthusiasm, and the other one just mumbled back while frowning.
"Astrid-"
"Kids! Are you up?!" Dad hollered, unintentionally saving me.
I jumped out of bed and started running downstairs but Aiden yanked my- well his shirt and threw me back on the bed.
"Not so fast, squirt."
Hearing my nickname from him, reassured me that Asher indeed must have talked to his twin. But he still terrified me. I gulped and sat between the twins who were eyeing me creepily. I didn't miss the baseball bat on the Aiden's side of bed.
"What were you doing there?"
So with a deep breath, I narrated my whole story to them. They listened intently and nodded occasionally. Aiden took a sharp breath and conveyed a secret message to Asher with his eyes, making him sigh. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Aiden-bear, listen what we are saying carefu-"
"Kids?!" dad's voice boomed.
The three of us groaned in unison and scrambled downstairs.
"What?" we whined in sync. I guess their creepiness is rubbing on me. The thought made me shiver.
"Go get ready, we are having Parker family time. We are going to Bentley's Kitchen for breakfast."
My eyes brightened, and the twins choked back a groan. I immediately ran to my room and messed my closet up.
"Astrid!" Asher groaned as Aiden complained, "He is not a good guy!"
I gave them a blank look.
"I don't like him! I just... I-he is just cute!"
Yeah, I have an itsy-bitsy, tiny-mini crush on Ryder, a waiter at Bentley's Kitchen. He is a sweet guy with a cute cheeky grin. He is cool and never hits on me or judges me. We don't hang out often, as he is not in my school and the twins don't like him. But in my defense, they don't like anyone. The sad part is, he has a girlfriend- Lizette, and I admit that they look perfect together.
But I am almost over my crush, and now he is just a friend. My brothers, however, are always alarmed when I am near him. They don't want me hurt because of my unrequited feelings.
Cue mental cooking. My brothers.
"I am over that crush; I will be fine. Don't sweat it," I insisted. They eyed me carefully, and after getting reassuring vibes, they rolled their eyes, nodded, and left to get dressed.
I brushed my teeth, took a shower, and threw on Aiden's soccer jersey (even though I have my own), a pair of torn shorts, and my black converse before struggling with my hair. Most of the time, Asher braids them for me, but I have a feeling that he is sorting his personal businesses right now.
Dad walked into my room and saw me at war with my locks. He chuckled, shook his head, and took the brush from me. He sat me down in front of the mirror and started untangling my hair for me. I beamed at his reflection.
"You remind me so much of Caroline." My smile lost its shine. I don't even remember mum. She died in a car crash. I was six then, and I was in the car with her, which landed me in a coma for a month, and I had permanent memory loss.
I don't remember a thing about those six beautiful years with my mum, and it still hurts so much that I can't even keep her alive in my memories. Dad hid all the childhood photographs of us to save me from going back into coma due to stress. This means I am left without my mum, and I am also left without six whole years of my childhood both mentally and physically. I gave my dad and the twins a hard time for months as they were strangers to me too. Maybe that's why they are so paranoid about my safety.
"She would have been so proud of you." I gave him a small smile as he tied my now untangled hair into a ponytail.
"I miss her, Dad." An emotion flickered in his eyes, and he blinked it back as he leaned down to kiss my hair.
"I miss her too, princess."
We smiled at each other through the mirror.
"Are we going or what?!" Aiden hollered, impatient as always.
"Coming," I replied back, rolling my eyes as Dad snickered under his breath.
I love you, mum.
~~~
"Yo, Riddy!" my ears perked up at the nickname and I lifted my head to see the light brown eyed boy with a dazzling grin. I could practically feel heat of twin's identical glares at the nickname.
"Hey." I breathed out and he chuckled.
"Whatcha gonna order, mam?" I mock glared at him as he laughed again. Dad was looking amused, leaving the overprotective tasks for boys.
"Shut up, will ya? And get me my usual, peasant." I smirked as he rolled his eyes and nodded before turning his head towards the twins. He immediately flinched and I ducked my head to avoid his eyes.
"Pancakes with coffee." Aiden spoke through clenched teeth.
"Same." I could hear coldness in Asher's usually cheery voice.
Ryder squirmed but nodded nevertheless.
"I will take Astrid special." I beamed at dad. Yup, Ryder, and dad called my French toast and juice order- Astrid special.
He gave dad a nod with a smile and left. I turned my head towards my brothers and glared at them. They in return burned holes at Ryder's back.
I will surely die single. Or worse, I will become a cat lady or maybe dog lady because I like dogs more than cats. Now that I think about it, I don't know which one is cuter- pup or kitten. I guess cats- Okay, I should shut up now.
"He is not bad, you know. And he is my friend, nothing more."
Both of them pouted, crossing their arms and sulked. I bit back a chuckle.
Rest of breakfast was amazing, like usual. We talked everything and anything but tiptoed around the events of yesterday as we planned to leave dad in the dark.
We started leaving, when we were done, but Ryder stopped me.
"Riddy?!" I turned back and raised my eyebrow.
"Yup, Ry-Ry." he glared at me for using that nickname as he found it hideous.
"I am throwing a party next Friday, you have to come," he asked... No commanded sternly.
"I-"
"She won't." my brothers glared at him and I sighed.
"I will text you later, Ryder." he looked at me sympathetically and nodded.
"You've his number?!" Aiden yelled in disbelief. I rolled my eyes and stomped back to the car.
Yes, I was pissed. How come they can go anywhere but I can't? They are a year older than me for crying out loud! They can't always take decisions of my life! I slammed the passenger door and crossed my arms. Dad took driver seat gingerly, scared of my flaring temper. Twins were grumbling under their breath when they entered. I ignored them for rest of the ride and just kept looking out of the window.
I ran out of car like my ass was on fire, as soon as dad parked into driveway. I barged into my room, grabbed my skateboard and sneaked out of the window as I didn't want to face the duo just yet. I needed some alone time to sort my thoughts.
After skateboarding for a considerable distance from home, I texted dad that I was going out because no matter how pissed I was, I still didn't want my brothers to worry.
I had skateboarded for an hour or so before I sat down on a park bench. A small girl was playing tag with her mum and brother. I couldn't help but wonder if I used to do that too.
Aiden and Asher tell me random stories of our childhood sometimes but no matter how hard I try, I can never picture it. Too much strain even landed me in the hospital for a week.
I felt jealous of the little girl who giggled in her mother's arms.
What did I do to deserve this? Why did fate erased mum and her memories from my life in an instant?
My cheeks felt wet but I didn't care as I tried to focus all my energy on drawing a mental image of my childhood. I felt a sharp pain in my head, and the last thing I heard before everything turned black was-"C-!"
~~~
Beep.
I groaned.
Beep.
Someone squeezed my hand tightly.
"Astrid!"
Beep.
"Doctor! Doctor!"
My eyes fluttered open just in time to see my neurologist, Dr Richards entering the door.
"Astrid?"
I grunted in response. 3 shadows loomed over me as I felt Asher's hold tighten.
"Are you with me, Astrid?" I nodded weakly.
"Do you have a headache?" I groaned and nodded.
"More like e-elephants dancing in my head."
"Do you remember what happened?"
Memories from earlier flooded back. I weakly narrated the incidence and heard three sighs in response.
"I advised you to not stress your brain, didn't I, Ms. Parker?"
"Formal, are we?" I tried to lighten the situation but got blank looks in return.
I can't step out of the house without stirring trouble. Can I?
"It's all our fault." I heard Aiden whisper. I immediately opened my eyes and reached my free hand for him. He took it gently and kissed my knuckles.
"It isn't your fault, Aid. I was being childish."
"Aiden told me about the party thing. Astrid, it was me who told your brothers to keep you away from loud noises and alcohol."
I was taken aback. I looked from frozen twins to disappointed Dr. Richards.
"W-Why?" I whispered.
"Your brain took a fierce impact at such a young age of 6, it obviously affected your brain in a way. Your frequent headaches are example of the after effects. So obviously if you get hangovers or go to loud places, you will intensify your migraine attacks for yourself."
"W-why would you not tell me? Y-you basically fed m-me shitty reasons for-" I looked at my brothers.
"We didn't want you to feel any less than us, Astrid." Asher sighed.
"So you kept making me feel more than what I am?"
"Astrid, those reasons are true too. We agree that we are a bit too much protective of you. But that's because we love you and we don't want to lose you too, in any way."
"We have already experienced almost losing you once, and I swear, we never want to relive that. Ever."
My eyes welled up, and my brothers saw it immediately. They both lunged to catch my tears and hugged me awkwardly.
"I love you both; you know that right?"
"We love you too, squirt," Aiden replied. At the same time, Asher retorted "But I know that you love me more."
I chuckled and rolled my eyes. Dad entered the room.
"Nah, I love dad the most." I turned my head to see dad's wet eyes. He sighed in relief and hugged me tightly.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, princess!"
I chuckled and weakly hugged him back.
"How did you find me?"
Cue twin telepathy.