This morning, I was awoken by the unexpected sound of one of my brother's screaming.
It was like a fire alarm the way they continued to scream and while I thought it was Kade at first, the voice was just a little too deep to belong to him.
I got out of bed and walked out into the hallway to see Roman standing in front of Ares' door and Kade was peeking his own head out of his room.
"Ares, we've talked about this before. Use your big boy words" Roman said and Kade had moved from his room to peek into Ares' room to see what he was freaking out over. I too wanted to see but my brothers were currently blocking me.
"Hell no!" Ares yelled and I could see from the gap in between Roman and Kade, Ares throwing his pillow at something.
"Oh fuck, why did I do that?! Where did it go?!" Ares yelled as he looked around frantically.
"You barbarian what are you yelling at?" Kade asked as he finally moved over so that I could see clearly.
"There's a fucking spider in here and I don't know where the fuck it went!" Ares yelled.
This picture in front of me was actually a little funny to me and I don't think it should have been. Ares was still dressed in his sweats and white tank, his covers were half on the bed half off and he only had one pillow left in his hand for protection as the rest of them were scattered around the room. His lamp was also knocked down which made his room look even messier.
"Oh jeez, you're so dramatic" Kade said with a shake of his head.
"I'm fucking dramatic? How would you fucking react if you wake up to a spider crawling on your arm, huh? Am I still dramatic now?!" Ares exclaimed but he didn't wait for an answer as he was already sidetracked by the supposed spider in the room.
"Fuck! It's probably gone to go get it's friends and eat us!" Ares said and with that Roman and Kade just left back to their rooms as they deemed the situation not serious enough for their attention.
"Don't worry. It's gotta be in here somewhere. I'll stay with you until it comes out" I said as I walked into the room and began to pick up the pillows Ares' had thrown.
"Kiddo, don't do that! It might be hiding under one of those! Don't worry about me, just save yourself!" Ares said and I just let out a small chuckle at his dramatic behavior.
I wasn't necessarily afraid of bugs or anything. They were pretty common to see where I used to live since we lived in a pretty woodsy area. If anything, I found some of them pretty cute.
Maybe I was the weird one?
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something crawling and Ares' loud gasp just confirmed that we were looking at the same thing.
I walked over to the spider and before it could scurry out of my sight, I picked it up and quickly put it out the window that was open. This window being open is probably how the little guy got in here in the first place.
After the spider was out, I closed Ares' window and turned back to Ares who was just watching me with his mouth dropped.
"Kiddo...you're not normal" he said and I frowned.
"What are you talking about...?" I asked and Ares jumped from off his bed.
"You weren't afraid that it was gonna bite you? We don't know if that thing was poisonous or not" He said and I shrugged.
"It seemed to be scaring you more than anything so I just wanted to get rid of it" I said and Ares sighed.
"You worrying about me makes me undeniably happy but please be more aware of the dangers to yourself. What you did was very brave but reckless at the same time" Ares said and I tilted my head.
"Were you gonna do it?" I asked.
"Hell no" was his immediate response and then he let out a sigh as he realized why I had asked that.
"Don't worry. It was too small to do any actual harm. It may have been a baby" I said in an attempt to soothe Ares' nerves but for some reason he tensed up instead.
"B-Baby..." he muttered with a horror filled look on his face.
Little did I know that my words of encouragement just seemed to instill even more fear into Ares' heart then there originally was.
After a shower and brushing my teeth, I headed downstairs for some breakfast. Everyone was eating except for Lucas who still had yet to come down even though Roman had went up to go and get him.
I had finished before everyone else so I decided to go bring Lucas his food since it was clear that he didn't have any intentions on coming down. It was strange since Lucas never missed a meal.
"Lucas?" I called as I balanced his plate one hand and knocked with my free one. A low groan was all I got in response so I opened up the door.
"Lucas, I brought your food..." I said and upon walking closer, I grew concerned when I heard the shallow breaths coming from Lucas. His body was covered underneath his covers so I couldn't see his face as I drew closer.
I put his food down on the stand before pulling back the covers a bit and the wave of heat that hit me alarmed me greatly.
Lucas' face was flushed red and a thick layer of sweat coated his entire body. I could see that he also seemed to be shivering even though he was under his covers which were pretty thick.
I quickly ran downstairs to alert one of my brothers and since Kade was the first person I saw, I ran up to him and tugged on his shirt.
"Honey? What's wrong?" Kade asked looking down at me who was slightly planting from the run.
"Lucas is sick!" I exclaimed as I pointed in the direction of his room. I didn't bother to explain anymore before grabbing Kade's arm and dragging him up the stairs to Lucas' room.
When we got there Kade had reseted his hand on Lucas' forehead and frowned at the surely hot feeling he was getting.
"Ceres, go get some cool water and a cloth" Kade said and I nodded before running downstairs and getting the things he asked. When I finished getting them I walked carefully back to the room and when I went in, I saw Kade was trying to take Lucas' temperature with a thermometer.
"Thank you" Kade said as I put the bowl of water and cloth next to him. I nodded and watched patiently as Kade tended to Lucas.
I couldn't help but worry whenever I saw a sick person. I had seen it a couple of times in those doctor shows that Lucas likes to watch where a person got sick and seemed fine but would end up dying from the sickness. It was so scary and that's why I panicked earlier when seeing him like that.
"Is he alright...?" I asked and Kade nodded.
"I'm no doctor but his temperature is only 101°F. He should be fine with some medicine and bed rest" Kade said as he stood up and I stayed sitting while observing Lucas.
His breathing was still shallow and even though Kade had applied the cool cloth, Lucas seemed to be sweating right through it.
"Come on, Honey. We have to let him rest" Kade said and I shook my head.
"I'll be quiet...I just want to make sure he's really alright" I muttered.
"I know you want him to get better, but if you got sick in the process that wouldn't be good. You can change his cloth later, that way you'll be able to check on him" Kade said and I sighed before nodding and reluctantly following Kade out of the room.
When we walked back to the kitchen, Kade had told the others of Lucas' condition.
"Sick? That's unusual" Ares said and Max nodded.
"Must have been from when he got caught in the rain the other day. He was soaked and it's still really cold out. It's no wonder he got sick" Max said.
"Guess I'm going to have to go the store to get some ingredients for the soup" Lance said as he peered his head inside the fridge.
"No way. You're finally taking a break for once we can't ask you to do that. You stay here and I'll go" Roman said and Ares frowned.
"You say that like you yourself haven't been cooped up in your room with your own problems" Ares said and Roman returned Ares frown with a glare.
I didn't know what it was but lately it seems like those two are hiding something. I often noticed the looks they would give each other during certain conversations and just now, I could hear the underlying meaning in Ares' words.
What they were hiding though was a mystery to me.
"Alright, alright. Since you people clearly can't come to a decision, I will go and Ceres will come with me" Kade said and no one talked back to his final decision.
Even though Kade had said it would only be me tagging along, Ares still managed to hop into the car before Kade could pull off but got stuck in the back since I was in the passenger seat.
"So, what are we getting?" Ares asked as he leaned forward so that his face peeked between our two seats.
"Carrots, celery, maybe some herbs" Kade answered and Ares pulled a disgusted face.
"Where's the meat?" He asked. I could see Kade's eye twitch slightly.
"This isn't a hot pot, it's soup that's meant to help someone get better. Clearly you tagged along for the wrong reasons" Kade said and Ares rolled his eyes.
"I bet you he'd feel better if there was some meat in it" Ares said and Kade stopped suddenly making Ares fly back into his seat and he groaned at the impact.
"Oops" Kade muttered before continuing to drive and I could hear Ares also muttering some incoherent words under his breath.
These two are so childish...
Once we had arrived at the grocery store, Ares was quick to venture off on his own and Kade just shook his head.
"Like a kid in a candy shop" he said. We walked through the aisles and while picking stuff up, I would stop and make sure that it was of the best quality. I wasn't really sure how to tell if the quality of certain vegetables are better than others so Kade had to help me a little.
Ares had come over to the cart with a handful of stuff and Kade had looked at him in deadpan.
"Pick one and put the rest back" Kade said and Ares' jaw dropped.
"What do you mean pick one? If I was only gonna pick one, I wouldn't have grabbed all this stuff" Ares said as he threw his things into the shopping cart.
"Are you paying for what you got? Cause I'm not. I was being nice by offering to pay for one" Kade said.
I frowned at the two of them. Here they are arguing about such a trivial matter and Lucas is home sick and in need of this soup.
"I'll pay you back later, Kade. Can we just go?" I said and Kade's eyes widened.
"W-What? You don't have to do that" Kade said and I just shook my head.
"It doesn't matter. Lucas is sick and we need to hurry home" I said and Kade just sighed before nodding.
"Ares, you better give Ceres her money back" Kade said with a sharp glare and Ares just nodded with a grin.
"Of course, of course" he said but I didn't care about the money. It was really just me trying to make these two stop arguing so that we could get home faster.
I was relieved when we were finally home and I went up to check on Lucas. When I came in, Max was changing the cloth on his forehead.
"How is he?" I asked and Max shrugged.
"Won't know til the medicine kicks in but he seems to be cooling off. I gotta change his water though, it's starting to get warm" Max said as he picked up the bowl.
We left Lucas to his rest and went back to the kitchen where Roman was currently getting ready to start making the soup. I went up to him and Roman looked at me with a questioning look.
"I want to help" I said and Roman smiled.
"Alright. Just wash your hands first" he said and I nodded before going to wash my hands. When I finished, Roman handed me an apron that was clearly a few sizes too big but I didn't care as I tied it and dealt with it.
"You can peel these potatoes but be careful okay?" he said and I nodded. Though I probably should have told Roman that I had never peeled a potato before.
When I showed him my finished product, I could tell that I didn't do it well from Roman's expression. A lot of the potato was still left on the skins I had peeled and there was only the small skinless portion left in my hand.
"How about you chop the carrots and celery? You can do that right?" Roman asked and without even thinking about it, I nodded.
I didn't think much of it until I remembered that I needed a knife in order to cut. I remembered how I had acted back then when Lucas had a knife in his hand. I had frozen up completely because a flash of Mama death had went through my mind when he was holding it and it was as if I was back there with her.
But I couldn't and didn't want that to happen again. I had to forget the past in order to move forward and that's exactly what I tried to do when I grabbed the knife from Roman.
I could feel my hand shake a little as I held it but I willed myself to not think about Mama. Instead, I thought about how much this would help Lucas get better and with those thoughts in mind, I was able to cut the vegetables with no problem.
"Good job" Roman said as he examined my vegetables and I smiled at his words, glad that I could finally be of actual help.
With my vegetables being finished, Roman had put them into the pot and now it was just a matter of waiting for the soup to be done.
I could still feel the feeling of restlessness in me as I waited to do something. It was unbearable in a way but I endured as there was nothing else that I could do.
I just wanted Lucas to get better soon.
Deciding that I wanted to check on him again, I headed upstairs and when I got to his room, I was surprised to see him awake.
"You're finally up" I said and Lucas looked up when he heard me.
"Yeah..." his voice was scratchy and I told him to wait for a moment while I went to get him some water. Once giving Lucas his water, I took a second to look over his appearance.
He wasn't sweating so much anymore and his face wasn't red either which could hopefully mean he was getting better.
"How are you feeling?" I asked after Lucas finished off the glass of water.
"Much better compared to this morning but I still feel a little light headed" He said and I nodded.
"That's good...do you need anything? More medicine? A new cloth? More covers? Some more water?" I asked and Lucas gave me a small smile after.
"No, I'm alright. You've done a lot already, haven't you? I can see in your face that you've been worrying too much about me" he said and I shook my head.
I feel like I haven't done enough in my opinion but then again, what more could I do if I've done all that I can?
"I just want you to feel better" I said and Lucas nodded.
"I know. Thanks" He said.
"I see someone is up" Lance said as he came into the room.
"Yeah, I could finally open my eyes for a little" Lucas said as he sat up and Lance nodded.
"I'm glad to see that you've regained some strength. Roman is making some soup for you and after you eat, it'll be time to give you some more medicine" Lance said and Lucas nodded before thanking him.
Leaving Lucas to his rest, Lance and I exited the room and headed back downstairs where my brothers were now crowding the island.
"It stinks..." Ares said. The aroma of vegetables was prominent in the air and I didn't mind the smell but for Ares, he seemed to be suffering.
"Little baby can't eat his veggies?" Max said in a baby voice and Ares glared.
"Says the one who threw up his veggies after eating them because you couldn't handle the taste" Ares said and now it was Max's turn to glare.
"If you two keep fighting this soup will end up as your dinner" Lance said and just like that Max and Ares' mouths were sewn shut.
While the others continued to talk, I went into the living room to lay down. Today was such a hectic day and I was still a little tired since Ares' fear of spiders had woken me up earlier than expected.
I was relieved to see that Lucas was getting better and I felt that it was alright to take a small nap after this stressful day.
So that's exactly what I did.
LUCAS P.O.V
I wasn't really asleep, just slowly drifting, but once there was a knock on my door I was up.
"I brought you some soup. Be sure to eat it while it's hot, even if you burn your tongue" Kade said as he brought the tray closer to me.
I gave a dry chuckle at his instructions.
"Even if I burn my tongue? It isn't that serious" I said and Kade crossed his arms.
"Well it's very serious to a certain little sister of ours who is now passed out on the couch from exhaustion. The poor girl was worried about you all day, so you better eat all of that and finish the pot while you're at it" Kade said.
I had figured that Ceres was worrying herself sick but I had no idea she'd been that worried.
"I see..." I said.
I did feel bad that I had made her worry so much but Kade was right. The best thing I could do to ease her worries was to get well and fast.
[A/N]: As always thank you for reading, commenting, and voting! Today, I am here to ask how you guys would feel about a Q & A with the characters? Maybe there are some questions you would like to ask the characters and I will have them answer as best as they can without giving away future plot. If you think this is something you guys want, I'll be taking about fifteen to twenty questions with only one per person so first come first serve! Please leave them here on this note!