Forever His

Chapter One: Stella

I awoke to the harsh sound of my alarm, urging me to wake up. I groaned and shut it off, nuzzling further into my blanket, not wanting to leave the warmth and comfort of my bed. I cuddled the stuffed bear that was in my arms, the familiar softness of the plushie providing me with a feeling of warmth and security, something rare to me.

I heard my father's voice calling through the door, his fist rhythmically pounding against it.

"Stella, wake up!" He shouted, "If you're not downstairs in five minutes I'm busting this door down and dragging you out!" I heard his angry footsteps pad downstairs.

I really wish I had my own apartment.

I grab my phone and look at the time. "Shit!" I curse out loud, hurrying to the bathroom to get ready.

I splash cold water over my face and brush my teeth, studying my reflection in the mirror for a bit. My hazel eyes are bordered by dark circles, my long black curls a mess, a stark contrast against my pale face, extenuating the dust of freckles over my cheekbones and my nose.

I finish brushing my teeth and run a comb through my hair, hurrying out of the bathroom to get dressed.

I grab a black sweater and a pair of jeans, finishing the outfit with my favorite pair of high tops. I find a small backpack and throw in some clothes, my wallet, sunglasses, my charger and my earbuds. I grab my phone and make my way downstairs.

"About time you get your lazy ass out of bed," My brother remarked, causing me to send a quick glare his way. "Why do girls take so long to get ready?"

"Leo, do you ever shut up?" I glare at him again. Anger filled his brown eyes and his round face contorted into a look of hatred.

"Stella," My mother interrupted. "Be nice to him. He's your little brother."

My mother looked at Leo with a tender look on her face, the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile as she stared at the child they actually wanted. She turned her attention to me and glowered, a look of utter disapproval displayed on her face.

Story of my life I remarked to myself. Nobody in this damned family actually loves me. I sigh and grab a cup of coffee, throwing it into a travel mug as my parents hurry to get everything ready.

They explained to my brother and I that they had an urgent meeting to attend in France and that we were taking a family trip. My brother and I would be staying at a luxury hotel while they arranged the details of said meeting. My brother and I would have our own hotel rooms.

Everyone had already packed their bags the night before, so that was covered. All that was left was to hurry to the airport.

Great, I thought. A long, miserable airplane ride surrounded by my family. Yay.

My father ushered us all out the door and we all piled into the car, the thrum of the engine roaring to life as we made our way to the airport.

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The airplane ride was miserable. I got stuck sitting in commercial while my parents and brother sat in first class because "there wasn't any room in first class".

Just fucking great.

Luckily I didn't have any seat mates, but I was sitting behind a family with a couple of kids that wouldn't stop crying. I have to endure this hell for seven and a half hours.

I reached down into my bag and grabbed my earbuds, hitting shuffle on my favorite songs. As the familiar introduction to Nickelback's How You Remind Me started playing, I closed my eyes and tried to relax, losing myself in the words and the melody of the song.

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Someone jostled me, bringing me back to my reality. I opened my eyes to the unwelcoming sight of Leo shaking my shoulder violently.

"We're about to land," he stated, shaking me a little more just to piss me off. I rolled my eyes and shrugged him off of me, putting my earbuds back in my bag and getting ready to leave once the plane has landed.

A male voice comes over the speaker and instructs us to fasten our seatbelts because we are about to land. I hear the *click*'s of seatbelts around me as the plane starts to decend.

It's kind of an uneasy feeling, the decent making me feel like my stomach is currently in my throat. I swallow, trying to get the feeling to go away. Annoyingly, it doesn't.

I feel the slight jerk of the plane and hear the *skiiirt* of the tires against the runway, a sigh of relief escaping me.

Finally the ride is over.

When the plane comes to a complete stop, people around me stand up and stretch, some waking seat mates and others grabbing luggage from the overhead compartment.

I grab my backpack and stand up, looking around for my parents and my brother.

I see them and start walking towards them, mumbling a few "excuse me" 's as I go. When I join them we all start making our way out of the plane, entering a huge airport.

Everything was glass and steel. The walls were constructed of large panels of glass lined up side-by-side, the floors reflective.

My family and I walked to the baggage claim. They snatched up our luggage and we made our way outside, my dad gesturing for a taxi.

Luckily, within the first few seconds, a black car pulled up and a middle aged Uber driver stepped out, offering to help us with our luggage.

"Merci," My father said, thanking the driver as we got into the car. He then said a string of French words I didn't understand, but I assumed he was giving the driver a location to take us to.

I put my earbuds in and zoned out the whole drive.

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