𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 ✓

2

After completely unpacking, I decide to wander the house a bit and get to know my surroundings. After all, I'll be here for a while. I open my door and close it behind me, walking towards the direction that Chase and I came in through. Finding the stairs easily enough, I make my way down, wanting to explore the massive main level.

I wander around and find a tv room with many couches, a room with a pool table in it, another room that is clear of any furniture except a turntable, and finally the kitchen. My eyes light up at the sight of the pool through the glass doors. "And who might you be?" I hear a deep voice come from behind me. I turn around to see a tall, lean boy with tan skin, brown curly hair and kind eyes looking at me curiously.

"I'm Aurora Alexander, pleasure," I say with a smile, holding out my hand. The boy shakes it with a laugh, shaking his head.

"I should've guessed. You two look quite alike, although if I had heard you speak I would've guessed immediately." I furrow my eyebrows, confused.

"The accent." He clarifies. My face clears in realization.

"Right yes, that would be a giveaway." I giggle.

"I'm Reece by the way, I live here too. We're all on the soccer team." He smiles and leans against the countertop behind him. "If you need someone to show you around the house or the town, I'd be happy to. Chase is rarely ever home, always with Lexi." I nod in understanding.

"Brilliant! Would you happen to be busy right now? I wouldn't want to get lost in this large house." I ask. He seems really nice, and if he lives here, he must be friends with Chase.

"Absolutely, I can take you to explore town tomorrow too? We could even ask Chase and Lexi to join." He says, leading me out of the kitchen.

"I'd really love that, thank you for being so welcoming Reece, you're the first person I've met or even seen apart from Chase and Lexi and I'm glad for it," I say completely honest. I can tell that Reece and I will be good mates.

Reece shows me all around the house, going over the main areas a couple of times before going upstairs and naming each person's name and which room is his. He tells me that all the guys in the house are pretty nice, but they are still guys, so he tells me that I should be careful. Why does everyone talk about boys like they are wild animals?

He walks me back to my room. "I'll see you at dinner!" He yells as he walks away, leaving me to myself. I decide to shower before dinner, wrapping myself in a towel and grabbing my toiletries before walking across the hall to the bathroom. It seems that there is one bathroom for every two bedrooms, making me slightly uncomfortable at the thought of sharing a bathroom with a male, but shaking my head when I realize that we won't use it simultaneously of course.

As soon as I walk in I'm hit with an amazing musky scent of earth and mint, and I see a few products on the sink, and in the shower when I go to put some of mine down, they definitely belong to a guy.

I turn on the shower and submerge myself in it, pinning my hair up so as to not get it wet and wash my body. I turn off the water and step out, turning on the fan to remove the condensation from the mirror.

I towel dry myself off before wrapping it around my body. I walk back into my room and go to my closet to pick out an outfit for dinner. Leaning more towards comfort, I decide to wear a thin grey sweatshirt, a  white and grey pleated skirt that reaches just above my knees, and tall white socks with no shoes seeing as Chase told me that in the wintertime it gets colder at night.

I leave my hair down and go to knock on Reece's door so that we can go downstairs together, as I don't know anyone else yet. "Hey," He says immediately after swinging his door open, he looks me up and down and smiles, before we turn to go downstairs. "You nervous?" He asks me as we near the bottom.

"A little bit, I hope I don't make an arse out of myself," I say shyly, wondering how everyone will feel about a girl living with them. Especially a younger girl. I play with my fingers and look down at my toes before Reece stops me.

"Don't worry about it, they'll love you and you already have Chase and me on your side. Wait until you meet Luke." He smiles reassuringly, I nod and we make our way to the dining room. I see a couple of guys already sitting at the table as Reece and I go to sit down, Reece pulling my chair out for me. I continue to look down, avoiding eye contact when someone speaks up.

"Hi, you must be Aurora, we've heard a lot about you. Chase never shuts up about his baby sister. I'm Eric and this is Theo." The boy sitting across from me introduces himself and the guy next to him.

I give a little wave, looking up. "Hello, so nice to meet you both." I smile sheepishly.

"Wow, your accent is much stronger than Chase's," Theo remarks.

Eric nods in agreement and I smile again, blushing at the attention. I perk up when I notice Chase waltz into the room, standing behind my chair with his hands on my shoulders. "Hey Reece bro, thanks for showing Ror around, look after her yeah?" He says, directed to the left of me where Reece is sitting.

Chase squeezes my shoulders before going back to the kitchen and returning with two big platters, a couple of guys following after him with their hands full of food as well. I smile at them all now, excited to eat what looks like typical American food. Chicken, corn on the cob, burgers, hot dogs, and chips. Boys must really like meat.

Plates are all passed out as we serve ourselves. I'm introduced to everyone at the table, desperately trying to remember everyone's names but apologize when I find myself forgetting. Everyone seems so nice and welcoming, but I can't help but glance over at an empty seat.

"Where's Mads tonight?" Theo asks the table, looking over at the empty chair.

Everyone shrugs except Chase. "Over at Lexi's with her and Faye, probably braiding each other's hair and painting their nails," Chase says laughing. My eyebrows furrow, Mads? Is Mads someone's girlfriend?

Everyone goes back to eating so I don't bother to ask about the missing chair or the person it belongs to. I think about the great food, great company, and the great place I find myself in.

After dinner is done, I go to the kitchen to help the boys with dishes. Surprisingly, this house full of boys is very clean, and I can tell that they take good care of it. Chase and I catch up as if we were never separated, him having much more to say than me, I never really did much when in secondary school besides study. Chase walks me back to my bedroom.

I get changed into a white tank top and white sleep shorts, keeping my socks on because my feet get cold when I sleep, before washing my face and brushing my teeth. I climb into my comfy bed and stare at the ceiling, still too excited to fall asleep.

I can't wait to see what's in store for me next.