The Calm Before the Storm (1)

Chapter 24

 Melina's pov-

It's been about two weeks since River's accident, we were all back in school, even River. Nothing has really happened, Max and I have gone out on a few jobs, and we've been spending a lot of time without brothers and River. Unfortunately River hasn't warmed up to my brothers yet, he still keeps his distance and only talks to me.

" Melina?" Ares called out as he stood in my doorway.

" Yeah?" I ask looking up from my laptop.

" Can we talk?" he asks as he nervously fidgets with his hands.

" Sure." he walks in and sits down next to me on the bed.

" I'm sorry I've been avoiding you and I know you've noticed. You didn't do anything wrong, I just didn't know how to process everything you told me. It's my fault, you guys got hurt because we weren't there to protect you and I am so fucking sorry that we failed you as brothers, that I failed you." he emphasized the last part.

" It.is.not.your.fault." I said sternly, " There was no way you could've known. I know it's hard for you to think about, I know you feel guilty, but you shouldn't. You saved us, all of you did. If it weren't for you, we would've been separated and put into the system. If it wasn't for you Kevin probably would've raped me. If it wasn't for you Max and I probably would've ended up in another abusive home." I said in a raw tone, letting him see I was being genuine, he pulled me into a tight hug.

" I love you so much and I promise I'm going to be the brother you deserve." he promised as he gave me a tight squeeze.

" You already are." I said as I wrapped my arms around him tightly returning the hug, we stayed like this for a few minutes before my bathroom door gently opened and a River stepped out. He froze when he saw Ares and slowly took a retreating step.

" It's okay kiddo, you can come over." I said in a warm and gentle tone as I pulled away from Ares, he looked at me and then Ares and shook his head no.

Ares slowly got up and walked over to River, River looked like he was getting ready to make a run for it. Ares knelt down on one knee in front of River, he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled something out, he held his hand out to River. River slowly and hesitantly took the item out of his hand before running around Ares and over to me.

I looked down at River's hand and saw Ares had given him a lollipop, River clutched it tightly before snuggling into my side on the bed.

" Thank you." he whispered as he unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. I looked down at him in shock, this was the first time he had talked to someone besides me.

" You're welcome." Ares said as he smiled brightly, " Hey River, would you wanna watch a movie with me and Melina?" he asked hopefully.

He shook his head no, " Come on, it could be fun." I said with a smile on my face as I playfully bumped his shoulder.

" If you start to feel uncomfortable he'll leave okay?" I said, he took a moment to think it over before nodding his head yes.

" How about we watch it in the living room?"Ares suggested, I agreed and we made our way downstairs.

Ares put on 101 Dalmatians, we curled up on the couch, I was sitting between Ares and River, about twenty minutes into the movie all of my brothers came to join the movie night, all of them except for Elias. We were halfway through the movie and River had fallen asleep, I slowly pushed him off of me, careful not to wake him. I let him lean into Max's side for support, Max jumped slightly when he felt someone snuggle into him but looked down and saw it was River. A smile crept onto his face as he turned his attention back to the movie.