1| Ophelia

05

-CHAPTER FIVE-
OPHELIA

•

Elijah Archer was a weird guy.

The next day at school when my brothers, Harry and I made our way to the lockers, he had been standing there patiently waiting for us.

Or should I say waiting for my brothers and Harry.

When he saw me his eyes went as wide as a pit and his jaw dropped. The looks my brothers and Harry had exchanged hadn't gone unnoticed by me. But Elijah's behavior had confused me even more.

"You're back," he breathed out, not moving his eyes from me. I frowned and looked at Mike for help who was biting his lip with anxiousness. Harry recovered first and put his arm around my shoulder in a brotherly manner, “Ophelia, this is Elijah. You remember him right, we were talking about him yesterday.”

I nodded and turned to Elijah, giving him a small smile I said, “Hi.” His face visibly dropped and his eyes saddened, “What-” Mike interrupted, “Why’d you miss the first day?” As Elijah was about to answer, Dan grumbled, his eyes on the far end of the hallway, “I’ll be right back.”

As Dan left, Elijah answered, “Dad needed some help with Ethan. Ever since Mom left he has been a mess. He could barely get his own shit together, topping it off was Ethan who wouldn’t stop crying. He needs constant care you know, he’s barely two months old.”

“Hey man it’s going to be fine. We’re here to help you in any way possible so don’t take on too much stress,” Harry consoled and Elijah gave him a half hearted smile.

"You should hire a nanny,” I suggested. Elijah looked at me with a confused look on his face, “Why? Dad said he can handle it. Although I don't think he's handling it very well.”

“It’s because new born babies need constant care from a 24/7 available primary, and if not than secondary, caregiver,” I explained.

"You really think getting a nanny would work," Elijah asked and I nodded, "It'll be easier for your father as well. He'll have more help and might learn something new and important about babies." “So we need to get a full time nanny,” he sighed. I nodded again and he looked at me gratefully.

“Who needs a nanny,” Daniel asked from behind Elijah and we all looked at him. He looked a little breathless and his hair were messy. I narrowed my eyes when I realized the reason of his state. “Ethan. He’s having a difficult time settling in since Mom left.” My eyes drifted to Harry who was frowning at Dan’s state.

“Lia can I talk to you?”

I turned to her voice so fast I was surprised my neck hadn’t snapped. Diana looked troubled and I was reminded of the last time I saw her, at the football field yesterday. “Diana, yes, oh my God. I wanted to call you but then I realized I didn’t have your phone number,” I rambled on as she tucked her arm into mine and dragged me away from the group.

I didn’t dare look back. I could feel a pair of eyes on me and I instinctively knew it was Elijah. Resisting the urge to look back at him, I asked Diana, “Are you okay?” She took a deep breath and slumped against her locker, “Look it’s kind of, oh how do I explain this.” Her brows frowned in frustration and I shook my head, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel like it.”

She tilted her head in confusion and I shrugged, “He’s my brother but that doesn’t I can poke around his life just yet.” She gave me an amused smile, “Just yet?” I scrunched my nose, “Well, I didn’t even know I had brothers until last week. I don’t really know any of them so it’s not right for me to poke around unless we have a good relationship.”

She nodded understandingly, “Right. I can just tell right now that, we, Lucas and I have a history and it doesn’t end… good.” I frowned, “Did he hurt you? Because if he did I’m ready to throw some hands, I don’t care if he’s my brother.” Diana chuckled, “No, he didn’t hurt me. Nobody got hurt. It was just… not the right time and we both weren’t in a good place.”

I nodded, “Well as long as my brother didn’t hurt you, he’s on my good side.” Diana snorted as the bell rang and she scurried off when she realized her first class was on the other end of the school. I chuckled at her misery and finally turned around to get to my own class, only to be find Elijah’s brown eyes staring right back at me.

He didn’t seem to mind that he had been caught staring at me, so instead of looking away, he boldly kept staring and I felt my neck heat up. Looking away, I quickly walked off to my own class, cursing myself and sighing when I realized just how difficult school was going to be from now on.

•

At the end of the day, when the twins and I drove back home, my mind went back and forth between Elijah’s warm brown eyes to what must’ve happened between Lucas and Diana. I had literally met Diana yesterday and I knew there was no way she was going to tell me what went down just yet.

I knew no matter what, I was going to break down the walls all my brothers had built up so high. I had to do it to understand them. Even the twins, with whom I had felt the most relatable to, were surrounded by huge walls I knew no one had broken down just yet.

The easiest to open up was going to be Michael. It was just so obvious how trusting he was of me. Dan would be easy too since he was just another version of Michael. The real challenge was Sebastian. I have no idea what goes on inside his mind.

I have tried countless times to read his eyes but they rarely ever make contact with mine, but whenever they do, they always remain the same cold silver ones. It was difficult to believe that we shared the same eyes when his held zero comfort, unlike mine.

“Hey, can I ask something,” I asked the twins and nodded in sync as Dan drove us home. “Why does Sebastian have so many rules? I didn’t have any back in Rosedale,” I pointed out. They shared a look, talking about something with their twin telepathy before Mike turned to me.

“You know what Seb does right,” he said and I nodded. He was the CEO of the Morgenstern & Corp. “Well we, and by ‘we’ I mean you as well now, live in a business world and it’s not really as what it is shown in movies and books. Being involved in any kind of business might create some issues, there will always be people who don’t agree with us or who simply just don’t like us because of how successful our family is. They may even see us as an obstacle. And sometimes, in order to achieve something, people often turn to… harmful ways to remove these obstacles from their path. You know where I’m getting at,” he asked.

I nodded, “Yes, Sebastian explained that part.” Dan questioned, “What exactly did he explain?” I shrugged, “Just that he has enemies and that they wouldn’t mind if I got hurt in order for them to get to him.” Mike smiled, “There you go! He keeps these rules for all for us because he doesn’t want us in trouble or hurt Lia. And I would really follow them if I were you.”

I hummed, “Do you both follow them?” They nodded in sync, “Religiously. It’s not something to be taken lightly.” I wished I could understand the obvious double meaning behind their words, but I knew I hadn’t gotten there, at least not right now.

-
should i do a double update today?

what do you guys think of elijah? 👀