Temporary ✔️

Chapter 16: Bonding and threats

AN: here's chapter 16. Enjoy, people.

Lexi's POV:

Dappled sunlight shone through the window. I smiled sleepily and yawned, lifting my head up and giving a startled scream when I saw my brothers in front of me.

They'd formed a loose circle around my bed, all of them glaring angrily at Ace. I noticed the twins and triplets were holding baseball bats and various other weapons of destruction. I gulped, fearing for the safety of my friend.

Ace woke up and grinned lazily, but it was replaced with a look of utter terror when he saw my brothers.

"Hey guys," he chuckled awkwardly, "what's up?"

Flynn's nostrils flared in anger and his left eye twitched subtly, "you have five seconds to say who you are before we beat you up."

The twins and triplets tapped their tools of torture for special effect.

"Wait what?" Ace blinked, his brain probably still trying to comprehend the situation.

"Five four three two one," Flynn said quickly.

"Wait!" I yelped, detangling myself from the sheets and kneeling protectively in front of Ace, "guys, this is Ace. Ace, meet my half-brothers."

"Ace?" Hayden cocked his head, his anger dissipating slightly, "like, the Ace?"

"The Ace?" My best friend smirked, "she's mentioned me before?" Urgh, this will definitely inflate his ego now.

"Yes, the Ace," I responded, getting out of bed, "he came here last night through the window."

Simon scowled, "how did he get past the guards."

"Practice," I replied simply, grabbing a fresh pair of clothes, a towel and going to the bathroom, "please don't kill him," I added before going inside.

Ace's POV:

Don't leave me! I screamed internally as Lexi went inside the bathroom, don't leave me with your scary, angry brothers!

Once the bathroom door clicked shut, the DeLesco and DeLaCruz brothers glared at me. I could literally see my life flash before my eyes.

"Lex said we couldn't kill him," one of them holding a baseball bat said, "but we could break his nose?"

I paled and gulped audibly. I could definitely see why they were reacting like this; if I saw my little sister with some random (but handsome) guy, I'd be angry too.

"Unfortunately not," one of the older ones sighed, "she'd still be mad at us," he narrowed his eyes at me, "you know, the guest bedroom is just as comfortable as Lexi's." It was a not-so-subtle threat.

An awkward, pregnant pause ensued. I was seriously considering making a break for it, but I was saved by the bathroom door unlocking.

"Good, you didn't kill him," Lexi said, coming out of the bathroom while towel drying her hair. She looked at me, "wanna go on a hike?" 

I shook my head, "sorry Xandra, the Witch is keeping close tabs on me- I don't want to put you in danger."

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand, "semantics. I haven't seen you in a year. Come on, you can spare one day! Please!"

"Fine," I rolled my eyes.

"Who's the witch?" One of them with black hair and green eyes asked.

"Ace's birth giver. She's evil," Lexi answered and shuddered.

Lexi's POV:

"How so?" Will asked.

"She would hit me sometimes," I shrugged, "threaten me, tell me to stay away from Ace. Once, she gave me food poisoning."

Tony whistled lowly, "and you say this crazy lady is keeping tabs on you?" He directed the question to Ace who nodded.

"We're coming with you then," Thomas said decisively.

"Fine," I grinned, grabbing Ace's hand and pulling him to his feet. As casually as possible, I switched languages, "No saben si Liam e Isla me persiguen." (Spanish: They don't know about Liam and Isla being after me)

Still smiling, Ace asked, "¿Por qué?" (Why?)

I shrugged and we went downstairs, "Luego te cuento. Now come on!" (Tell you later.)

We went downstairs, my brothers following behind. I chopped up some fruits and ate them quickly.

"Wait, Lex, don't you have school today?" Ace laughed at my dismayed expression.

I turned to Tony and Flynn, "please can I skip school today? Please!"

"Only if you promise to catch up on any missing work," Flynn said sternly.

"Deal," I responded immediately, "can we go now?"

We went outside and discussed which cars we should go in.

"We'll take Ace," Will said immediately, "we want to chat with him anyways..."

Poor Ace looked mortified. He looked at me with pleading eyes, but I just shrugged my helplessness.

"So the twins, triplets, Flynn and Ace shall go on one car. Everyone else in the other," Tony smiled.

X

When we reached, Ace came out of the car, white-faced, but smiling slightly. The twins and triplets were smirking in satisfaction.

"What did you tell him?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing much," Noah shrugged and waved his hand, "don't worry about it." I was still suspicious, but decided to drop the subject.

The sun beamed merrily against the azure sky and fluffy clouds danced across the heavens. The river looked like molten silver, rapidly sweeping around the hills. Birds chirped cheerfully from the trees and we seemed to be the only ones there.

The fourteen of us walked through the woods, laughing and joking around. We set up a picnic a little way into the woods, next to the brook.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a something glinting in the sunlight. Intrigued, I stood at the edge of the bank and- to my disgust- I saw it was a piece of glass. People have no respect for nature these days.

"Hey Lex," Jack called out, "come away from the edge- you'll fall in."

I waved off his concern, looking around for any more rubbish. Suddenly, I slipped and stumbled back.

A startled scream escaped my lips and I desperately tried to grab on to something. I hit the freezing water and the air was knocked out of my lungs. I couldn't see anything. The current swept me away and I hopelessly tried to come to the surface. I felt something heavy hit my head. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and everything went black.

End of chapter 16.

Not so good but I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)