The Snowy-haired Genius

Chapter twenty-seven

I felt something different when I went into the dining room and saw the family portrait. Knowing what had happened to them, knowing what they went through gave the picture a different feel. I could now notice the sadness in Harry's eyes, the madness in Izabella's eyes, and Winter's.... His eyes were full of both sadness and madness. I noticed that Harry was holding Izabella's hand almost desperately, like he would lose her if he let go. I noticed Winter had the little plait at the back of his head, but it had clearly just been done so it stuck out behind his ear. The other strands of hair hadn't grown over it yet. Before, the picture seemed happy. Now, it seemed sad that I knew their fates. Izabella, a crazy woman who jumped off a bridge. Harry, a man who was not mad, but mad in love, followed his lover to the end, and the end was much sooner than he thought. And lastly, Winter. He inherited his mother's mental health and his father's sadness. He was forced into kidnapping because he refused to believe his parents deaths.

Winter must have noticed me staring at the picture, because he took my hand in his, catching my attention. "You can meet them someday, you know. I'm sure my Mum will love you. She'll take your hand and run around the house with you. And my Dad will think you're a great boyfriend for me. He'll treat you like a son."

I smiled awkwardly. I didn't want to make Winter cry again, so I just agreed with him. "I hope they like me."

"Yes, I think they will. I know your parents will hate me." Winter laughed and moved closer towards me. I shrugged. "I dunno, my Mum won't mind you. My Dad won't car. Jacob and Justin will probably try to bully you because you're my boyfriend. My grandma for sure will hate your guts. She doesn't like gay people."

He smiled. "I never knew my relatives." He said. "My Mum's parents died before I was born, and she doesn't have any siblings. My Dad has a huge family, with I think six brothers and a sister, but he wasn't supposed to marry my Mum, so they don't talk to us."

I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt when he mentioned his parents. Don't get me wrong, I was glad he was talking about it, but I still felt so bad. He wouldn't understand that his parents were dead. He wouldn't accept it. The anger I had seen in his eyes when he tore back the newspaper and threw it was even worse than Aiden. And that took a lot.

"Sir?" Victor appeared at the door. "One of the... er... puppies got out. The one you've named Donut."

"Seriously?" Winter and I said at the same time, but in different tones. He sounded pleased and very amused. I was annoyed.

"Do you want us to catch him and return him to the enclosure?" Victor continued. Winter nodded. "Yes but bring him in here. It's been ages since Jacey has seen him. We shall bring him into the bedroom. He can sleep in our bed tonight."

That earned an annoyed groan from me and I pouted at my boyfriend. He just laughed and ruffled my hair. "He's like a hot water bottle, Jace. You won't mind."

"You're like a hot water bottle. We don't need to bring Donut inside. He'll get hair all over the bed." I complained, but Winter just rolled his eyes. "Blah, blah, blah. Live a little."

"Fuck you." I mumbled, turning away. Truth was, I didn't like having dogs inside. When I was fourteen, we used to have a poodle named Sadie. She, for some reason, was really attached to me. I would push her away, but she'd keep coming back to me. Everybody found it hilarious, but I hated it. I hated the prissy little puppy. I had always preferred cats, because they could fit into the bed perfectly and purr. Sadie was the size of a cat, but she had long claws and would bark at the cars down in the street. I hated when she tried to sleep in my bed. And Donut was much bigger than Sadie had been already, even though he was younger than her. He was a mixed breed, and pretty ugly too. I didn't exactly like the thought of having him in the bed I shared with Winter.

Somebody's hand touched my shoulder and I turned to look at the snowy-haired boy with a small smile on his face. "You seem very deep in thought."

"Just remembering someone." I said, thinking of the pathetic dog. He shot me a curious look. "What, a past boyfriend or girlfriend?"

I let out a short laugh and shook my head. "Neither. A dog. She was a little bitch."

"She probably wasn't that bad." Winter replied, turning his head to look back at the portrait of his parents. I admired him secretly, looking at the little plait that was barely noticeable underneath his bright white hair. A moment later, I tore my eyes away and looked up at Izabella.

For a second, I didn't see Winter's mother. I saw my own. I suddenly remembered padding into the room when I was young. She was putting in some golden earrings that matched with her sparkly gold dress. Dan was nowhere to be seen, as he was probably tying Jacob and Justin's ties. I was going to stay home, because I would hate nothing more than to go to a stupid show in a stupid suit while stupid people took photos of my stupid family. My Mum must have guessed what I was thinking, because she smiled and picked up a hairbrush. Her hair was dark back then, and it was before she cut it too. She told me she would be back soon, looking down at me with fond eyes. I huffed angrily and left the room.

The look I saw in Izabella's eyes was close to my Mother's. Like she loved big. I often heard the quote, "Give me a match, I'll light you a wildfire," and I believed that was how it went with Izabella and my own Mum. My Mother didn't know how to love small. It ran in the family. I didn't know how to love small either, as was proved with Winter.

I didn't know why her eyes reminded me of Mum's at that moment, but they did. She was so full of mischief back then, and I missed the old her. Now, her hair was up to her shoulders and it was blonde. It was like she had changed completely, and I hated it. I loved her, but I hated the change she had made. Jacob, Justin, and Dan loved it. They loved that I now stood out even more. They loved quietly making me feel like I was different. And recently, Mum didn't know it, but she had been doing that too.

"Hello, Donut!" I heard Winter say, putting on a baby voice as the big dog ran towards him and jumped onto his lap with a happy bark. He began to lick my boyfriend's face. I scoffed, looking away, but the next thing I knew there was a heavy weight on my lap. Donut had jumped up and he began to lick me too, joy in his eyes. Winter laughed as I made a disgusted sound and tried to push him away, swearing loudly. "Ew! Get the fucking little bitch off of me!"

He continued laughing, and Donut finally jumped off, running towards the bowl of food Victor had just set on the floor. I wiped my face with my sleeve, disgusted. "Gross. Fucking gross."

"Aw, come on. Don't swear." Winter said, smiling at me. I shot him a glare, but he only laughed once more and looked at Victor. "What's for dinner, Sammy?"

I still found it weird he called Victor Sammy, but I ignored it and listened to what the tall man had to say. "Roast chicken, sir."

"Sound's good. Donut, come here." Winter whistled and stood up. "Bring the food up to us when it's done. Jace, let's go upstairs."

"I'm not a freaking dog." I muttered, but I followed him anyway.

Author's Note:

What? Over 1300 words? Fucking hell. That's a lot.

Meh, whatever. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Bye!

-Paige