Child of a King

Chapter twenty - Safety

"There she is".

Grinning, I ran to my brothers, bursting into a fit of giggles as Ray caught me in his arms, tossing me in the air a few times before placing me back down on the ground.

"You were so good, sweetheart", Embry said, giving me a tight hug.

Endless compliments resonated around me, their praise warming my chest as all of them squeezed me tightly.

"Did you like it?" I questioned shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"It was amazing". Nate wrapped an arm around me as he smiled warmly down at me. His assurance caused a small blush to coat my cheeks, all of the attention getting a little too much.

Slade pulled a hand forward from behind his back, a large bouquet of flowers appearing. "For the superstar".

"For me?" I gushed, accepting the colorful arrangement into my hands. The yellow color from the sunflower was beautiful, only getting intensified by the red features of the roses. I carefully sniffed them, enjoying the fresh smell. "Thank you so much!"

Gazing up at them, a powerful feeling of love erupted through me. Such a small gesture had a way of making me feel so appreciated and loved, I could barely keep it inside.

"Let's go out to celebrate", Nate suggested, placing a hand on my back as we started walking towards the exit.

"Wait", I murmured, my brows furrowing together. Glancing around the crowd, I craned my neck in all directions searching the best I could. "Didn't Sebastian and Marc come?" I finally asked, even though I already knew the answer.

My eldest brother stroked my cheek tenderly. "Sorry baby. They couldn't make it".

"Oh". My face dropped. "Maybe next time", I mumbled, mustering the best smile I could on my lips.

"Hopefully", he agreed as we started walking again. "They won't know what a show they have missed out on".

I giggled, skipping joyfully beside him. "Where're we going now?"

"Wherever you want".

Pursing my lips, I thought carefully about it, not being used to deciding where we should go. "Somewhere that got milkshakes!"

"As you wish princess". Embry winked as he held out his hand for me to climb inside the backseat.

The delicious scent of salty fries made my stomach rumble and my mouth water in anticipation. My brothers had taken me to a small café outside of town that reminded me of something from the movie Grease. It was decorated with bright colors and there were black and white pictures hanging on the wall.

It didn't take long for us to receive our order as we sat down at a corner table that barely fit the size of our group. Immediately, I gulped down a big mouthful of strawberry milkshake, almost getting brain freeze in the process.

"It's really cozy here", I said to no one in particular, enjoying the old music that played in the background. We were the only customers present tonight, which was really cool. Then we had it all to ourselves.

"We used to come here all the time back in the days", Slade mumbled, sipping on his diet coke, the only thing he ordered. He claimed that he had to eat clean for a big match coming up. Whatever that meant.

"You did?"

"Yeah, we loved coming here. We never wanted to go back home", Ray added, unwrapping his burger.

Embry snorted. "Remember the time where we all hid from mom and dad, and they ended up leaving us here for the entire night?"

"Yeah. They got tired of chasing us around and ended up coming back the next morning to get us home". They all laughed in remembrance, me smiling fondly at the memory.