𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈

-𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐗-

The first to take up the offer was Elias, he came into the room where Adriana was laying and sat in the bed next to her.

"How are you feeling?"

"... I'm okay."

Adriana whispered, her eyes still closed.

"Can I... lie down?"

"Mh."

Taking that as a yes, Elias slowly crawled behind Adriana and placed his hand over her waist, pulling the girl a little closer to him. Oh how he missed this warm feeling of her in his arms, the soft breathing, the sweet smell coming from her hair. He missed her. Adriana turned around, snuggling into Elias chest, her hood over her hair.

Elias more than happy to comply, the two of them laid like that until Eli heard small snores coming from the girl in his arms. It had been a while since Adriana fell asleep so peacefully and easily. Not wanting to disturb her slumber, he decided to stay, stay until she needs him, or until the end of time.

Elias didn't notice himself getting sleepy, also falling into the world of dreams. It was pure bliss with warmth and peacefulness all around. Finally, Adriana didn't wake up even more tired, she felt... Alive. Elias has been taking care of Adrianas meals, making sure she eats and gets the nutrients, and now he helps her sleep, feeling like she had a knight by her side to protect her from everything. Even though Adriana was capable of almost everything, sometimes you need another shoulder to help carry your burdens.

It's not showing weakness, it's showing courage to be able to seek out warmth and help when you need it.

Eventually evening came, the two woke up, with Eli getting out of his teddy bear job and going to make dinner. Lunch was exchanged for some quality time cuddles. Pretty good deal in their eyes. Finally Adriana decided to abandon her blanket and put on some leggings with an oversized hoodie.

She went down a few minutes after Elias, and Isaac with Nicolas were right by her side. They were jealous Elias got to be with Adriana first.

"How are you feeling, darling?"

"Better."

The hostility in her voice was as a needle in a haystack, nowhere to be found. The two breathed a sigh of relief and dragged her to the sofa, before locking her in place with their arms.

"We missed you, Adriana."

Nicolas nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, breathing hot air on her delicate skin.

I missed you too.

Adriana wanted to scream how much she missed them, but that would give them a full green light. She didn't want them to know that she forgave them just yet.

"Can we please explain why we dissappeared?"

Isaac was playing with Arias hands, fitting and matching his rings on her fingers.

"... Go for it."

Another wave of relief washed over them. They both sat in front of her with serious looks, Elias handed Adriana a warm cup of tea and also sat down next to Nicolas. Isaac started.

"As you know we have a pretty big business on our hands. And when you're famous, there are people who adore you-"

"And those who want to hurt you and the ones you love." Nicolas continued on. "And we got some... Threatening messages that said they will hurt you."

"They wanted to see us suffer."

Elias what slightly shaking, so Adriana placed her hand on his, hoping to calm him down.

"So we had to leave and deal with those people. Thinking they could track our messages and calls, we had to change phones and discard the old ones."

"We kept them until we were coming back if something would have happened to you, and after your last message..."

A memory of the breaking up message popped in Arias head. She felt embarrassed that while they only wanted to protect her, she thought they abandoned her. Smartass.

"We came back as fast as we could. But leaving like that and not explaining why... We hurt you, badly."

"Please, Adriana, don't be mad at us. We messed up and thought this way would be the easiest to protect you."

The three stopped talking, looking at Adriana, hoping she understood, hoping she will forgive their stupid mistake. She gently placed the now empty cup on the table and took a deep breath.

"Guys... I love you, I really do... And I was scared you didn't."

Adriana took a moment to figure her words while the three boyfriends started rambling about how they do love her, what a goddess she is, and praising every single thing about her. A tear rolled down her cheek and that finally made them stop talking.

"Thank you. Thank you Elias, Isaac, Nicolas. You guys really are the best..."

She hugged them, and the men hugged back, they stayed like that until Adriana stopped crying, Elias kept rubbing her back, Nicolas let her use his chest as a pillow, and Isac kept the hair out of Adrianas face.

"Does this mean you forgive us?"

They said almost in union, which made Adriana laugh.

"Ofcourse you idiots, I forgave you some time ago."

"Wait. So you're saying you've been pretending to be mad?"

Nicolas was the first to catch on. Adriana threw him a smirk and started running, knowing that revealing the truth will surely end with back pain and some sleepless nights.