Pay the Price

Chapter 7- Reuniting

The entirety of the Aetos family waited at a restaurant whilst Christopher was taken to get shoes so he could enter the restaurant at all by his brother.

Delilah was pacing, wanting to see her younger brother already. She didn't want to keep waiting. She had to see her little brother to just make sure that he was okay. Some things had to be seen to be believed.

No one else was in the restaurant, just them, so Christopher's identity would remain concealed to the rest of the town, which was better for his safety. He didn't want his face in the media so people would know that he was back.

Eventually, Connor entered the restaurant, making sure Christopher was following him. Delilah looked over, instantly walked over, nudged Connor out of the way, and looked at the boy following behind him. She looked at his face, looked at his hair, looked at his eyes, and pulled him into a tight hug.

"You're back..." she whispered to him, rubbing his back, "my baby brother is back." She held the back of his head, tears in her eyes. "Come sit down. Sit with us." She told him, kissed his cheek, and pulled him to the rest of the family.

They all looked at the boy they lost all those years ago, shocked by how he had grown. How he had turned out. He looked extremely young, about twelve, but he looked eighteen at the same time.

He didn't talk to any of them, in fact, he didn't even breathe too loudly, he just looked at everyone worriedly. Especially at Malena. He even moved further away from her, even when she got up to talk to him. Myrah pulled out a seat, getting her brother to sit beside her, rubbing his wrist lightly.

"Say something." Myrah whispered. "You can say literally anything."

Connor sat on Christopher's other side, rubbing his shoulder. The triplets sat in silence, the older two of the three trying to encourage their brother to speak. But he kept silent. He didn't even look in anyone's general direction, just stared at the table, where food was being set down.

Garlic bread, onion rings, and calamari. No one touched the food yet, just stared at Christopher, waiting for him to say something. Anything. They just wanted to hear him talk to everyone. Just to hear his voice.

"Don't pressure him." Ophelia said, picked up a piece of garlic bread, and handed it to Christopher. He looked at her quickly, confused. "You can eat that, sweetheart."

"Thank you." He whispered, but just held the bread, not knowing whether he should actually eat it or not. He didn't know of others personalities, and he didn't know if he'd be beaten for eating something that wasn't a scrap. In his mind, it wasn't right to eat something only two days after the last time.

"You can eat it." Myrah said, and he looked at her nervously. "You know you need food." She commented, feeling her brother's ribs. "What are you scared of?"

Instead of speaking, Christopher signed his thoughts to his sister, thankful when she understood what he was communicating. He really didn't want to talk. He was too anxious to talk out loud with fifteen other people watching him.

"What is he saying?" Malena asked. "Why isn't he talking?"

"He's not talking because of an irritated voice box, and he's saying that he doesn't want to be beaten for eating. And that he ate only two days ago when he's usually given something in two-to-three week increments." Myrah spoke, then took the garlic bread from her brother's hand, breaking a piece off for him to just try it. "Just try a little bit."

Christopher finally tried the garlic bread, and it was when he tried more that Myrah felt she had accomplished something. He still didn't make eye contact, but he appeared slightly more relaxed.