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CHAPTER TEN sunny side up.
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
IF CAMILLE WAS THE SUN, then it was her rays that roused Nadine Vidal out of her slumber the next morning. Nadine opened her eyes and blinked around the unfamiliar room, drool plastered to her cheek and her eyelids gummed together with sleep. She didn't remember falling asleep last night, although she knew it must've been past one am when she did so, which definitely explained the wave of exhaustion that settled over her like a blanket as she threw her covers back. She was thinking about putting on her clothes from yesterday when she noticed the pink suitcase tucked into the corner. She breathed out a sigh of exasperation. Five. That boy had no concept of privacy.
She crossed to her suitcase and picked out a clean outfit. Yesterday she'd gone for style; today she went for comfort, extracting a pair of grey sweatpants and pairing it with a black and white striped top. Pulling the garments on, she had to admit she appreciated Five's gesture. This was nice of him, even if he was a little shit. And even though he'd popped into her room while she was sleeping. Even though, for everyone else, it would've just been the bare minimum.
After finding one of the many bathrooms in this house and brushing her teeth, applying minimal makeup, and tucking her hair into a bun reminiscent of Vanya's from two days ago, Nadine headed downstairs, her stomach growling. She thought she might be able to make herself a piece of toast or something while hopefully not coming across any of the other Hargreeves siblings. How was she supposed to explain to them that she had been instructed to stay here, in their own house, while she was still practically a stranger to them? It wasn't like she could tell them about the assassins, or the Commission. It was too complicated, as Five had said. And she didn't want to drag anyone else into her own mess.
Unfortunately, Nadine had never been one for luck. At the arcade, she would always be drawn to the claw machine, wasting her money only to come home with the crook of her arm bare of any prize. Her name was never called for raffles. In board games, it was pretty much expected that she'd lose. So when she entered the kitchen only to find Allison and Luther Hargreeves at the table, watching Grace hum as she began to prepare them sunny side up eggs, she wasn't even surprised.
She sucked in a breath and attempted to turn around, but by then Allison and Luther had heard her enter and whirl around to face her. Their brows knitted in equal confusion, evidently wondering why she was still in their house, and Nadine found herself cringing back, heat blooming across her cheeks like roses.
"Nadine?" Allison asked eventually. "What are you—"
"I'm sorry." The words tumbled out of Nadine's mouth out of their own accord. She'd meant to say something else, something to divert their attention, but what came out instead was an apology.
