Stronger Together

Chapter 24

Louise's POV

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked

"Watch your fucking mouth!" uncle Xander retorted

"Lead by example."

"Put this on." he tossed me a shirt and shorts

"Thanks. Whose clothes are these?" I got dressed

"Em's she said you could keep them."

I nodded and got dressed. It felt nice to not be half naked

"So are we gonna talk here or get food?" he asked

"Can we get cake from that bakery nearby?" I asked

"No, you know I can't reward you after you erupt."

"I know that but I'm hungry."

"Then I'll get you food not dessert." he told me

"We can talk here then eat later." I answered

"Okay, so why are you half naked at the park?" he sat down on the grass

"Some girls who are jealous of me dating Lucien stole both mine and Londyn's uniform plus my gym clothes."

"That explains it. What made you erupt?" he asked

"The cheerleaders were waiting outside and there was a huge crowd of people chanting that I was a slut. I was embarrassed and angry. I wanted to pound her face in but fucking Lucy stopped me."

"Ugh that's the worst. When I was a freshman Ace would always fucking interfere in my fights. He was trying to keep me from getting yelled at by dad. It didn't matter because after I'd sock him in the nose I'd still get in trouble."

"Yeah he interfered earlier too when this guy threatened me. I hate being the damsel in distress. I can fight my own battles." I yelled

"Yeah but you can also get expelled. I can't imagine the beating you'd get for getting kicked out of school again."

"I won't get expelled."

"Why did you attack Lucas and remind him that he can't understand things?" he asked

"He was blaming Londyn for the whole thing. I lost my cool and I know I shouldn't have. I'll apologize later."

"Good, because you know he can't help it and you probably hurt his feelings."

"I know. Do you always feel this shitty?" I asked hugging myself

"Not always, only when I'd lose my shit with my family." he explained

"I'm gonna get in trouble cause of my hands."

"And your side."

"What hap- holy shit I'm bleeding!"

"Yeah I though you noticed. It's probably from jumping the fence half naked."

"Everyone's gonna be annoying when I get home. Can't I stay at your place?"

"Nope you have to face the consequences of your actions first then you can come over. I know Roman won't mind." he told me

"They'll try to make me go back to therapy." I whined

"I thought you were going."

"They switched it to in school counseling since I stopped attending on my own."

"And you don't go?" he concluded

"What's the big deal? I've been going for years and nothing. You turned out fine."

"So you wanna be like me?" he growled

"You're not as bad as everyone thinks you are."

"Louise you've made a lot of progress way more than I ever could at your age. Just because therapy hasn't cured you doesn't mean it's not working. You have a boyfriend who cares about you. You gave him and yourself a chance to be happy. A year ago, even if you liked him you wouldn't have allowed yourself that. I was unhappy for so fucking long and such a shitty person. I've done too many things I regret. I don't want that for you. I'm not a good role model. Go to therapy and be better than me."

"I'm not fucking going and you can't force."

"If I have to drag your ass to therapy once or twice a week, I fucking will. Try me." he growled

"What do I get if I go?" I asked

"Nothing! I'm not gonna pay you."

"I don't wanna go." I pouted

"Don't care. I'm calling your therapist tomorrow."

"Why do you have access to my doctors?" I frowned

"Because I'm your Godfather."

"I don't get why we get separated. If our parents die shouldn't we stay together?" I asked

"You're each close to a different family member. Your parents want to make sure you guys are with someone you can grieve around." I shrugged

"Who do the others go with or do they get to stay together?" I asked with a frown

"All of you will be separated for a little bit then you'll go with Vinnie. It seems fucked up but they recognize that you'll be better off around my family and they'll be better off with various family members. Grief will fuck up any progress any of you have made. After my mother ran off with AJ I became a really angry kid. He chose to send me away to a facility for troubled kids."

"How old were you?" I asked

"I got sent away the day before my fifth birthday."

"You were five! How long were you there?"

"They let me come back when I was 10 to see if I made progress but I was angrier and worse so they shipped me off again. When I was 12 the facility was shut down for abusing and experimenting on children. I was there for 7 years. Trauma makes our condition worse but everyone had already given up on me, even my own twin."

"You guys seem so close though."

"It took a while for me to grow a bond with him. I only had one friend but he did more harm than good. He was a shitty person but I kept him around because I didn't wanna be alone. All of my friends were Xavier's. They only invited me places cause I'm bearable drunk or high. They'd ditch me half the time though. The only person who didn't was him. I should've taken one for the team cause his friendship wasn't worth all the shit he put Alessio and Adriana through."

"Then why would you let them separate us if it's so terrible?" I asked annoyed

"You'll need space to sort out your own feeling. No offense but you and your siblings are each other's worst enemies. I can't imagine you four supporting each other through such a difficult time. It's a shitty scenario but I kind of have to agree with them. If you want them to change the plan you and your siblings have to attend therapy and start getting along."

"I'm trying." I defended

"But you could be trying harder. All of you could." he shrugged

"Let's go home and face the music then I'll go to your place"

"Okay let's go"

"Wait I have one question"

"I'm not talking about what happened at that place." He shut me down

"Okay let's go then."

•_•

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Mwah 🆘