"𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐞."
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Alyssa, Alessandro and Alessio Smith have gone through hell.
They've been fighting to survive from the moment they'd first opened their eyes. Six...
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"WHAT THE FUCK happened in there?" Ale hisses from behind me the moment the girl's footsteps have retreated from our hearing.
I turn around hesitantly, remembering how I'd met her in the first place. I cringe at the blood seeping into my back. Swallowing, my lip quivers as I turn around, coming face to face with Ale. His eyes instantly soften. Instinctively, he inches closer and cups my cheeks, concern swarming his features.
"What happened?" he asks again, more delicately this time, tone quieter. I purse my lips, readying myself to recount what had happened in the restroom when there's suddenly a hand pressing into the lower of my back. My body jolts forward at the unexpected pressure on my agitated wounds and my chest slams into Ale's, whose hands shoot out to catch me around the waist before I can topple us both over.
"Fuck, Ally," Ale breathes out, fingers curling into my hips as he regains his balance. I squeeze my eyes shut, pain spreading along the length of my back like a wildfire.
I hadn't realized how badly it hurts earlier. I'd been too full of adrenaline to really notice it but now it's like there's a thousand little needles piercing my open flesh and digging into the sensitive tissue beneath my skin.
It feels like hell.
I inhale shakily, trying to compose myself. San hovers closely, an air of tension emitting from him that suggests self degradation as his mind tortures him with the knowledge that he'd just caused me pain. Tentatively, I reach a hand behind me, searching around for him as the pain slowly begins to ease up. Noticing my efforts, he quickly offers his hand to me and I wrap my fingers around his wrist, encasing his pulse which pounds far too quickly for my liking.
My grip steady on him, I proceed to guide his hand to my hip, needing the warmth his palm provides against my skin.
"I...I don't want to hurt you," he whispers when his hand shows resistance to my actions. There's confusion in his hesitance, surprise at the unexpected reaction to what is usually a calming gesture - the warm hand on my lower back. And his words are so soft spoken, I have to swallow before I speak up again.
"It's just my back." My voice equals his.
They both suck in sharp breaths of air. But San caves, letting me lay his hand on my hip. His touch is so gentle, I can't remember the last time he'd been this afraid of touching me.
"Ally," Ale mumbles. I raise my head to lock eyes with him. He doesn't want to repeat himself a third time but he doesn't need to. His question lies heavily in the air around us without him having to utter a single word.
I sigh quietly, careful to not inhale enough air for my lungs to expand against my ribcage and for my sensitive back to come into contact with San's chest. "There were some girls," I murmur, eyes dipping down to the white collar decorating my brother's neck. I watch as his chest lifts with a long, anxious breath, a vein straining against the side of his neck. "They said some things and I backed up, and-" I almost cringe at the disappointment in my voice.
