sinner

11

Third PoV

"Wake up." He whispers into the darkness of her room while gently shaking her body.

All he gets from her is incoherent mumbling and a hand sneaks out of the blankets to swat away the hand on her shoulder.

"You need to wake up and get up, brat," he sighs, "and don't even think about hitting me."

"No," she whines, "leave."

"I can't. Caleb sent me up to get the little princess out of bed so we can have breakfast before he takes you to your favorite place." The twin is snickering by the end of it and only has a grin to offer in return to the glare he receives.

"I'm sick." She tells him, pulling her blanket further over her face.

"You always are."

"I don't want to go."

"You never want to." Spencer points out and takes a hold of the blanket, pulling it down until it resides beneath her chin and her face is visible.

"Let me stay home?"

"You also always ask that," he laughs, "come downstairs with me and I'll help you convince the others that you just have to stay at home today together with me."

"With you?" She whines, "where's Ian? Kam?"

"What is that supposed to mean, brat?" The twin huffs, fully pulling the blanket off of his sister's body and letting it dangle over the floor.

"Spencer!" She whines, kicking against his side.

"Get up before Caleb comes up here and starts yelling again."

"He never yells."

"He never yells at you, brat," Spencer corrects, "he yells at us and especially me all the time."

"Maybe you should be nicer to him then." She giggles, turning over to face him.

"Or maybe," he throws her blanket back on her bed and stands up, grabbing her ankles to pull her up with him, "you should start showing him the same love you show me."

"No! I like him!" She shrieks, hanging upside down over her older brother's shoulders.

He quickly walks down the stairs with her, being mindful of the sharp edges of the broken walls that are poorly covered in split paint and takes her into the living room.

"You don't like me, brat?" He grins, throwing her small body on the couch next to his twin brother.

"No!" She laughs, hastily scooting away from Spencer and right into Ian.

"I don't like him either." The other twin whispers into Ellie's ear with a grin on his face.

"Betrayal!" Spencer yells, leaning over the couch to once again pull his seven year old sister towards him.

"Help!" She shrieks in return and holds onto Ian with a steel like grip around his forearms.

"Stop hurting your sister!" Xavier yells from the kitchen, putting Ellie's breakfast down on the table.

"There's a mutiny happening against me!" Spencer yells back, defending himself and his actions against the compliant traitors that are his older brothers.

"Good. You need to be humbled." Caleb tells him, walking around the couch and picking his little sister up, letting her wrap her legs around his waist.

"The brat needs to be humbled!" The twin defends himself, glaring at the back of his brother's head.

"Stop calling your sister a brat." CJ rolls his eyes while putting Elisa down onto the chair and pulling the plate closer to her body.

Xavier sits down next to her and starts eating his own food over the complaints of his younger brothers.

After a pointed look, Ellie starts to eat the food on her own plate too and intently listens to her older brother complain about how everyone is turning against him in the house.

Spencer's voice is eventually drowned out by his brothers laughing at him and leaving him behind in the living room to join the others in the kitchen.

"Good morning." Kamran chuckles at Ellie, sitting down opposite of her and reaching out to take a piece of fruit from her plate.

"Kamran."

"Morning." She grins at him.

"What are we doing today?"

The twins also walk into the kitchen, settling down on the remaining chairs while pointedly glaring at one another. Xavier can barely stop himself from glaring at them too but he manages to avert his eyes before it.

"She's going to school and you three can look for a job." Caleb tells them, his word and smirk dripping with sarcasm and suppressed anger.

"Well that's boring, CJ," Kam rolls his eyes at him, "I'd much rather stay home all day long and enjoy the time with my favorite sister."

"I'm your only sister." She frowns at him, picking at the food on her plate.

"Nevertheless, you are going to school today and those three are going to look for a job."

"But I'm sick." Elisa tells him.

For further clarification, she slumps down in the chair and coughs.

"You don't look sick."

"Mom also always says that." She points out, moving the last few pieces of fruit around on her plate.

Her words stop Caleb mid bite. He turns to look at Xavier who is already nodding at him and sighs, "only for today. You're going tomorrow."

"Thank you!" She beams at them, throwing her arms around her brothers.

"Finish your breakfast and then you can go." Caleb says and puts his hand on her arm to keep her from running out of the kitchen.

"What are you doing today?" Ian asks the oldest two in the room.

"I'm going to this place called work, I don't know if you know what that is," CJ glares at the twin, "and then I have an appointment for a tattoo after work so I won't be home for dinner."

"Great!" Ian smiles, "I'll cook dinner for el."

"Spencer!" Caleb rolls his eyes, harshly pushing against his shoulder, "get up!"

"What?" He mumbles into the pillow, pressing his face into it and pulling the blanket over his head with one hand.

"No. Get the fuck up, Spencer. I don't have time for even more of your stupid games." CJ says and glares at his back.

"And I don't have time to talk to a rapist." The twin looks up at him as the memory of his dream slowly comes to the front of his mind.

"Fuck you, Spencer. You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know enough." He retaliates.

The older one stands up from his sister's bed and leaves, not once looking back at the his younger brother.

"You know nothing." He harshly says and lets the door fall shut behind him.