Serendipity ○ All 14

26. Addie

Addie kicked off her shoes when they made it in the house, her long green socks on display from having them pulled over her jeans. She was about to head into the living room to sit and read, knowing how the guys would sit down and talk about everything with each other in the dining room. They called them 'family meetings'.

She found it strange how their group worked, but she's kept her mouth shut about it, assuming they'd tell her when they were ready.

Look at how far that's gotten you, her mind whispered.

Goddamnit. Hearing something so important about Victor from the mouth of Sang was a real punch to the gut. Why weren't they opening up to her? She's told them everything about her own personal life.

Addie just assumed they were too skittish to tell her, but the longer their silence went on, the more her insecurities rose. Was she not good enough?

Shutting the thought down, she shuffled towards the living room, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. It was Axel. He was looking at her softly, like he could understand every bad thought running through her head.

The man was simply amazing. His rich, dark skin practically shined under the florescent lights, and his black, long hair was pulled into a man bun, allowing his sharp features to be on display. He was breathtakingly handsome and had a personality to match.

"Come on, Little One," he said as he led her into the dining room with everyone else. "You're with us now. That means you're family. We got some stuff we have to talk to you about."

Addie tried not to be too flattered, so she focused on her indignation instead. She had family, and they never kept her hanging by a string, struggling for even the tiniest scrap of strength to hold on. She was a patient woman, but today proved to her that she had to look out for herself too.

"Y'know," she started, chin lifted. "I'm not sure I want to be apart of your little breakfast club."

Axel smirked at her teasingly. "You're close, but not close enough."

"Oooh, more teasers. You guys gonna leave me breadcrumbs from here to South Carolina? I gotta warn you, I'm terrible at solving mysteries."

"I know you're angry," Axel soothed a hand over her back as he lead her to the seat that the guys left open for her, right next to him. "And you have every right to be. We shouldn't have expected you would stick around when we were holding you at arms length. Everything will be explained."

Hmph. Addie wouldn't hold too much hope.

The meeting kicked off, and Addie was kinda baffled how organized they were being.

They talked about the town meeting and all of the previous drama confrontations. They suggested ideas on how they could find her attacker. Each topic was thoroughly fleshed out, details golden, plans air tight. It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. Jesus, how had she not seen it before?

Luke's super sneaking like a ninja, Nathan's mastery in martial arts, Raven's obsession with weapons and strategies, Corey and Victor's obsession with computers and coding, Axel and Owen's leadership over the guys. Each of them had their own niche, but they were obviously trained in fighting (even if it wasn't at Nathan's level).

Gabriel spoke about disguises and costumes, and boasted about being able to make someone appear completely different than how they originally looked. North could hear her sneaking around to eat something sweet in the middle of the night, all the way from his bedroom upstairs.

Their abilities to speak different languages. Their way of responding to outside threats.

Holy Bejeezus. "Are you guys the CIA or something?" she blurted out without thinking too much about it. The room went quiet and Addie panicked. "Is-is this about all the survivors we got in New Haven? Sent to discover our secrets to strong ass gene's or-or how so many of us survived? I swear that no trespassing sign on the gate about us using trespassers as science experiments was a joke. Swear it!"