War

Chapter Three

A/N -  some familiar faces in the first scene ❤️

~~~

┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓
Marco
┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛

"Does this give me the vibes of a mysterious person with a double life?", I stared at my cousin blankly, deciding whether or not to entertain his stupid ideology.

I thought against it.

"You look like you lost a fight", I sipped my black coffee with a grimace, once again questioning why my older cousin consumed such a toxic drink on a daily basis. He said the same about my obsession with peppermint tea, and the two of us were too stubborn to buy the other's preferred drink.

"You look like you were jumped", Isabella, one of the only tolerable family members I had, laughed at her twenty year old brother. Xavier was sporting a black eye and busted lip, two things that I'd expect to see on his twin brother's face instead.

"I was jumped- on the ice", he raked a hand through his black hair and jumped on the counter, "part of the sport, little sister".

"You couldn't pick a different one?", she reached up and pressed the bruise gently, he still winced regardless, "has Addy seen your face?".

"You say that like she's gonna look at me in horror- do I look that bad?", his blue eyes landed on me and I smirked into my mug, not even remembering why I'd ended up here in the first place.

"Hideous", I nodded, cocking my head when Caleb entered the room, "do t-shirts not exist?". The entire top half of his body was covered in ink, more than me, more than anyone I knew; it was a miracle that his best friend Theo still found space to add more.

"You're asking me?", he gestured to my three-piece black suit and laughed, "are you sure it's not glued to you?".

"You're hilarious", I deadpanned, checking my watch, "where's Zane?".

"Somewhere to be?", Xavier mused, "he's upstairs with Nix". I don't know why I asked.

My cousin had fallen victim to the unfortunate sickness otherwise known as love, and had been glued to his partner Phoenix's side for the past two years. Of course I was pleased to see Zane happy, but entrusting another person with every aspect of yourself? Not for me.

"Just wondering", I adjusted my cufflinks- two coloured Tetris blocks today- and cleared my throat, "is this what you all do? Sit here and do nothing?". I was met with three blank expressions.

"We're not all on weekly killing sprees like you", Caleb replied, pulling his sister into a headlock which she just stood there and accepted, "some of us like to relax".

"Relaxation is overrated", I waved a hand just as Zane and Phoenix entered the room, "how kind of you to bless us with your presence". My cousin rolled his eyes, kissed his partner's temple, then manoeuvred over to the coffee machine.

I was in two minds to take a hammer to it next time I was over.

"You seem..stressed", I wasn't giving off anything that portrayed that at all, but Zane was as perceptive as I was- meaning he was a pain in my ass most of the time.