A One For All Holiday - Attachment to All For One (Complete)

Part One

I stretched my body with sleepy contentment; the last few weeks had been amazingly normal with no more incidents at school and the fact the boys and I had settled into a steady routine which meant that I was able to split my time equally with them. Except the two oldest of course, Mr Blackbourne was his normal restrained self and Dr Green had been flat out between teaching and working at the hospital.

I was still hesitant to express my concern over him but I was sure he caught it whenever I saw him. He would send me a smile that just shouted “I’m ok, Pookie.”

After the stressful, hurtful, wonderful, exciting weekend with the Andersons, my eyes had been opened to the way my relationships with the boys appeared from the inside. I was even more aware; even more nervous about the affection that sprang from each of them. Were we heading in that direction? Was it possible?

Even if I had only been mesmerised with one of them, I still wouldn’t be prepared for any sort of physical relationship but I wanted them. In ways that I didn’t understand. I didn’t want them to leave me; didn’t want them to fight over me and missed them each and every one of them all the time no matter where I was or who I was with.

I stretched again and quickly looked to either side of me; the pillows were still indented and I could clearly smell the distinctive smells of my Meanie and Luke. Where had they gotten to? It was still only early and they told me that today would be especially relaxing for us all.

It would be the first time that I’d been able to spend time with all them together since the night that I had come back from my weekend at the Andersons and I couldn’t help but be excited. They had told me that they had caught up on their Academy work and wanted nothing more than to spend their spare day with me.

I slipped from between the warm sheets and opened the bedroom door quietly to locate the bathroom and take care of my morning needs before I set off on my search for the boys.

Were they all around yet? It was only 7 o’clock but that wouldn’t stop them. I smiled and hurried.

As I wiped my hands and walked down the hallway, I began to hear the familiar buzzing of multiple male voices coming from the direction of the kitchen and I stopped quietly in the doorway to admire them all before they noticed me.

“What are we going to tell her?” Silas murmured quietly and I was instantly caught by the apparent subterfuge. I prayed that they weren’t back to their old ways of keeping things from me that I needed to know.

Since Victor had allowed me access to the audio implants on their phones, I hadn’t once broken their confidence in trying to listen in on them but if they were going to start outright lying to me, I would do what I needed to make sure that there were no more horrific incidents like the one that had gone down during the recent weekend away.

Dr Green lent against a kitchen bench and sipped at a coffee mug while the others all sat around the table and tipped forward so that they could keep their voices lowered.

None of them had even looked up which told me a lot about what they were discussing. It was completely obvious that they didn’t want me stumbling upon their conversation but I guess they were either completely engrossed or had forgotten that I could tiptoe when I needed too.

I looked them over and frowned at their choice of outfits; they were all dressed nice but they were extremely casual and I did a shocked double take when I ran my eyes down Mr Blackbourne’s back and found that he was wearing a grey t-shirt and…and shorts.

My eyes nearly crossed. Mr Blackbourne never wore anything but his full formal dress uniform around me.

Was he a pod person or had they just returned from an assignment and were conspiring to keep it from me? I never really bothered to ask about their missions since I fully understood that they couldn’t tell me anything but why do this now?

“Shh, it’s meant to be a fucking surprise, you idiot,” Gabe hissed back at Silas and I frowned even more. Not a family meeting exactly then but something that definitely concerned me.

“Mr Coleman, the details may be a surprise but we aren’t simply going to kidnap her with no explanation,” Mr Blackbourne’s voice held its normal firmness and I relaxed that he seemed normal at least.

“When do we leave?” North grumbled and pulled at the collar of his fitted black shirt as though he was uncomfortable.

I saw the heads turn in Victor’s direction and he tapped his fingers against the table, “We’ll need to leave within the hour.”

“Shit,” Nathan growled, “I hope everything’s ready to go then.” He pointed at the others, “Why the fuck haven’t we already woken her up?”

“Relax, Nate,” Luke said with a cheery smile, “Gabe and I have packed and loaded the suitcases. All we need now is for Sang to get dressed and we’ll be set to leave.”

Dr Green cleared his throat and they all looked up at him. He nodded in my direction causing me to wince at not realising I was caught and them to look onto me, “Well,” he said with a smile and set down his mug, “I’d say we’re all set then.”

“Miss Sorenson,” Mr Blackbourne said with surprise, “When did you walk in?”

I smiled shyly and raised my finger to my lip, nervous that they would be angry with me for not letting them know I was nearby after I’d worked out that what they were saying wasn’t anything bad “Not long.” I looked at each of them and felt my face soften when they all smiled back, “What’s going on?” I thought that pretending to be oblivious would be the best route to go with.

Kota jumped from his chair and approached me with a gentle smile and his arms wide, ready for a hug. I stepped into them gratefully, only just realising that my body shook with its usual morning tremours.

“Hi,” he whispered, with his face pressed into my hair.

“Morning,” I said softly. “What’s happening?”

I felt the uplift of his lips, “We’re keeping up the rest of our deal.”

I frowned with bewilderment and pulled back from his tight embrace. I peeked over his shoulder and found eight sets of eyes on us. I looked back at Kota, “What are you talking about?”

He laughed, “You wanted a replacement weekend holiday, remember? We planned it so that we could do it today. We’re sorry that we didn’t give you any notice.”

I giggled in happiness and pulled him back to the table so that I could join them. I could almost sense that most of them wanted to pull me down onto their laps but I perched on the seat that Kota had vacated and lent forward with my elbows propped on the tabletop, “So,” I said looking around at their happy expression, “Where are we going?”