A new beginning- not finished and no longer writing

c h a p t e r 7- facing my brothers

Slowly, I got out the car. I knew I was being a complete pussy right now and really just delaying the inevitable but if I was going to be interrogated, I was going to do on my own schedule thank you very much. Going into the living room, practically dragging my feet at this point, I saw them. It was at this moment I knew I was fucked.

All of them wore the same blank expression and held the same position- arms crossed and tense. Wyatt motioned my forward with a head tilt. Knees physically shaking at this point, I sat on the small chair that was pulled up in front of them. If I had ever felt like a child, it wasn't more than I did right now.

After a moment of pure silence, Wyatt finally spoke, his tone cold.

'So, Alyssa, would you like to tell us what happened today at the mall?'

What I really wanted to do was shout a fat NOPE in his face before sprinting out the door to my room but instead I sucked in a deep breath, gathered all the confidence I had and began.

'I was walking behind the guys because I was tired but then I got lost- I tried to find the boys I swear but then I got really overwhelmed because I don't like big crowds and that was when I went to the side by the railing. I was there for a second and I was just about to go find the rest of the boys but then um. Well, I felt a hand urrrm,' I went quiet for a second, glancing up at my brothers. Everyone apart from Wyatt and Jared looked ready to murder someone. Wyatt nodded at me telling me to go on, 'And then a man, he, well, he put his hand on my butt before backing me against the railing,' I muttered the last part, feeling a bit shameful.

Again, silence took up the room until someone, I'm presuming Dylan growled out 'What. The. Fuck.'

I looked up before shrinking back in my seat slightly. Dylan was pacing the room, hands clenched and jaw tight with anger. Jordan and Aaron too stood there, every part of their body looking ready to attack. Wyatt was in the same position as before, as well as Jared, but I could see the anger held in his eyes. I held my breath, waiting for their anger to turn onto me. Sure enough, Dylan soon turned to me but what he said next surprised me.

'He didn't hurt you, did he?'

I blinked, shocked. He was concerned? I shook my head quickly. Dylan just huffed angrily before lifting me onto his lap. Huh? Whatever, I wasn't going to move when he was this worked up. Wyatt, who had been watching me intently this whole time, narrowed his eyes slightly before saying in a sharp tone, 'Why do you keep flinching?'.

To this I was speechless. Did his eyes miss nothing? Truthfully, the state all the boys were in now scared me. It reminded me too much of my mum's anger and how she would get into these horribly tense moods before hitting me- so when Dylan had reached for me, I guess I flinched automatically. Ugh, stupid reactions. I didn't want to tell Wyatt that though. I just shrugged before saying, in the most casual tone I could manage, 'I don't know, I didn't even realise I flinched,'

Wyatt just continued to stare at me. I stared back as innocently as I could even though I could feel sweat starting to form on my forehead. Wyatt gave me one last lingering look that held a promise of yeah, I don't believe you but we'll have this conversation later before addressing Jared.

'I presume you took care of him?'

'Yes, sir.' All the boys relaxed slightly at this.

Wyatt then addressed me. 'Listen Alyssa, I know you didn't mean to but you have to stick with your brothers all the time. If you were tired, you need to tell them or at least tell them to wait. As for a situation like this happening again,' Dylan's arm tightened around me at the mention of this. Wyatt gave me another pointed look before continuing, 'which it won't IF you stick with your brothers, but if it does you come straight to us okay?'.

I replied with a simple, 'Yes.'

With the interrogation finally over, I leaned back into Dylan's chest- what can I say it was surprisingly comfy- and let my brothers return to their usual conversation. Before long, I was asleep.

I woke up to my head on Dylan's legs, with the rest of my body stretched out over Jordan and Jared. Per usual, Dylan smirked when he saw I was awake before grabbing my head so I was in a sitting position against his chest. Rolling my eyes slightly because, I was 15 for god's sake not 5, I made it about 5 minutes before my stomach rumbled. Loudly. All the boys looked at me and Aaron knelt in front of me, concern evident in his deep blue eyes.

'I forgot, you didn't have lunch, did you?'

'Nah,' I replied, 'But I mean you don't have to get me anything if you guys aren't hungry,'

'Oh, shut up, we'll order pizza now,' Dylan snapped back. What I delight he was, I absolutely loved his mood swings. Not. He then proceeded to shove me off his chest and stalked out the room, I guess to order the pizza. Jordan laughed beside me before rolling his eyes at me and yelling, 'Someone's on their man-period!' A snarl echoed down the hallway in response. A smile slipped onto my face and I rested my head on Jordan's shoulder as they re- started the film they had been watching. Jordan beamed down at me, back to his usual cheerful self.

And that was how the rest of the night went, stuffing ourselves with pizza (Dominoes was now my elite food, sorry not sorry), watching movies- every time a kissing scene came on Jared insisted on covering my eyes saying I was too 'innocent' to be seeing that- sorry Jared, didn't realize kissing was the same as sex now, and just generally having a good time. For the first time in 10 years, I went to bed smiling and I knew that, maybe, just maybe, I had found my home.