Let them go

Chapter 3

Noah POV

I knocked on Lucy’s bedroom door and waited for her to tell me to come inside.

I needed to talk to her about what happened at the cafeteria earlier. I needed to know if everything was okay. She seemed a little bit worried, and I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to know that she was okay. I needed to know what worried her so that I could help her.

“Come in.” I heard her voice, and I opened the door.

She was sitting on her bed, putting her boots on.

“Hey, Sunshine.” I said softly as I approached her.

“Hey.” she said softly as she glanced up at me and smiled before looking back down at her feet.

I sat down next to her and ran my fingers through her hair.

I decided to wait until she was done putting her boots on before I started talking. I needed to look at her while we talked. It was the only way that I could know for sure if she was hiding something from me. I could read her like an open book.

A few moments later, she finished putting her boots on, and she looked up at me with a small smile.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the cafeteria.” I said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Is everything okay?”

She bit her lip and stayed silent for a moment. I tensed up immediately. If something was wrong…

“Riley is worried about Aiden.” she said. “I’m a little bit worried about Aiden.”

I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Why?” I asked, confused.

Lucy raised her eyebrows at me.

“You haven’t noticed how protective he became over Riley?” she asked.

I furrowed my eyebrows again. What was she talking about? Aiden was always protective.

“He is becoming like Theo.” Lucy continued. “Riley is worried because he is always tense. He is always looking for danger everywhere we go.”

I really didn’t notice any of that.

“I don’t think that he is becoming like Theo.” I sighed as I ran my fingers through her hair. “He’s always been protective.”

“Not like this, Noah.” Lucy said. “He is on edge all the time. Maybe you should talk to him.”

I took a deep breath and studied Lucy’s face for a second. She looked worried. Was it possible that Aiden did change and I just didn’t notice? To be fair, most of my attention was always on Lucy. I was still terrified that something would happen to her. I was still terrified that someone would take her away from me. I was still looking for danger everywhere we went. I couldn’t let anything happen to her again. I couldn’t let her get hurt again. I couldn’t lose her again.

Maybe Aiden did change and I didn’t notice.

“Okay, Sunshine.” I said softly as I pulled her to me. “I will talk to him.”

“Thank you, Noah.” she said as she wrapped her arms around me.

She didn’t need to thank me. I would do absolutely anything for her.

“What’s wrong?” I heard Theo’s worried voice.

I let Lucy go and looked up at him. He approached us with a worried look on his face.

“Nothing.” I said, giving him a small smile. “I can’t hug my sister because I want to?”

Theo rolled his eyes and sat down next to Lucy. He pulled her to him.

“I am to be included in every hug.” Theo said as he kissed Lucy’s temple. “I’m the oldest, and that’s a rule.”

Lucy chuckled, and I rolled my eyes playfully.

Theo smiled at me and looked at Lucy.

“Are you ready?” he asked her. “They will be here in a few minutes.”

“I am.” Lucy said. “Is this okay?”

She pointed at her outfit and looked from Theo to me.

She was wearing a light gray sweater dress, black tights, and black boots.

“It’s great.” I said, giving her a small smile.

“I wish Ezra gave us more information about this dinner.” Lucy frowned. “Maybe I should wear something more formal.”

“You look great, Lucy.” Theo said as he ran his fingers through her hair. “Don’t worry.”

“Well, I won’t look great if you two keep messing up my hair.” she sighed as she stood up and walked toward her bathroom.

Theo smirked at me, and I laughed.

Lucy came back into the room. She was combing her hair and glaring at us.

“Don’t laugh.” she said. “You always mess up my hair.”

“Of course we do.” I said, chuckling. “It’s our job.”

“We are your big brothers.” Theo added. “We need to mess up your hair.”

“We are triplets.” Lucy sighed, placing her brush on her desk.

“We are still older.” I said, smirking.

“By minutes.” Lucy said.

“Still older.” Theo chuckled.

“By minutes.” Lucy repeated as she leaned on her desk and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Older.” I repeated as I stood up and approached her.

I smiled at her before pulling her into a tight hug. I loved her more than anything else in this world. A second later, I felt Theo’s arms wrapping around Lucy and me.

“You already forgot about the rule.” Theo mumbled as he kissed Lucy’s temple.

Lucy and I chuckled. We broke the hug just as I heard the front door open.

“Shortcake!” I heard Dylan’s voice.

Theo groaned and rolled his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Lucy asked him as we started walking out of the room.

“They will try to convince you to go home with them again.” Theo mumbled, making Lucy chuckle.

“It’s a joke, Grumpy.” Lucy said softly as she took his hand in hers. “You know that.”

Theo gave her a small smile, and I shook my head, trying to stiffen my laugh.

Every time our cousins came over, they tried to convince Lucy to go home with them. It was a joke. We all knew it. Theo knew it. It didn’t stop him from freaking out every time, though. As if our cousins were serious. As if she would say yes. As if we would let her leave.

We came downstairs, and I saw our cousins and uncle waiting for us in the living room.

“Shortcake!” Dylan exclaimed as he reached out for Lucy.

She walked into his arms, and he hugged her tightly.

“I missed you.” Dylan mumbled as he kissed the top of her head.

“You saw me three days ago.” Lucy chuckled.

“That’s way too long.” Dylan said as he let go of her.

“You wouldn’t have to miss her if she came to live with us.” Carter smirked as he looked at Theo.

Theo sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t upset him, Carter.” I heard Liam’s voice behind me.

I turned around and saw Liam walking in with a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

“Where are grandpa and Ezra?” I asked my brother.

“Grandpa should be here in a few minutes.” Liam said as he handed the bottle to our uncle. “Ezra will be home soon.”

I nodded and walked to the couch. I sat down next to Matt, who was staring down at his phone. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he looked kind of worried.

“Is everything okay?” I asked him quietly.
He looked up at me and smiled.

“Of course.” he said, putting his phone in his pocket. “My friend is throwing a party tonight, and I’m worried that I will be late.”

I chuckled and shook my head.

“Stop laughing at me.” Matt mumbled. “It’s an important party. There will be a lot of chicks there.”

“Hey, I haven’t said a word.” I said, raising my hands in surrender.

“I didn’t tell you to stop talking.” Matt said. “I told you to stop laughing.”

I smirked at him just as the front door opened.

“Grandpa!” I heard Lucy’s excited voice.

I turned around and saw my grandpa closing the front door. He had a huge smile on his face.

Our grandpa was on a business trip, and we hadn’t seen him in three weeks.

“Oh, my little girl.” grandpa said as he hugged Lucy tightly. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Lucy said softly.

“Hi, guys.” grandpa smiled at the rest of us before kissing the top of Lucy head.

“Hi, grandpa.”

“Hi, dad.”

All of us said at the same time.

Grandpa looked back down at Lucy and smiled just as the doorbell rang.

“They are here.” Liam said, making the rest of us look at him.

They?