Found and Forgotten

Chapter 15

Zeta POV

I lay awake, staring at my ceiling. Sleep anxiety is hitting hard. I'm really just not in the mood to deal with a nightmare. 

Matteo walks in. He looks like he's ... been crying? Weird. Why is he here?

"Hey Matteo. You okay?" I decide to ask.

"Yeah. I'm good Z." He replied followed by a pause.

"Xander told us everything" he states. He was crying because of me? Ugh.

"You don't need to cry because of me Teo. I survived" I tell him.

"You shouldn't have had to. You should've been here with us. Maybe then you wouldn't have gone through all that and we wouldn't all be strangers to one another." He's right, but can't change the past now.

"Can't change the past now. No point in dwelling on it" I voice my thoughts.

"True. Anyway, we decided that we will all take turns sitting with you till you sleep to help. And don't take that as pity, we want to be there for you. We would've done this earlier if we'd have known." Normally, I'd fight this and tell them I'm fine, but the extra sleep has been nice, even if it's not much. I nod in response and mutter a "thanks."

"Also, even before we knew everything, we decided that we'd each like to spend a day with you to get to know you better. We haven't been the best brothers and we know we have to do better." Huh. This should be interesting.

We make small talk about their trip and what I did with Xander while they were gone until I drifted to sleep.

I'm sitting alone outside in the rain. It's my 10th birthday. I have a fresh black eye and I'm locked out for the night. My foster parents are punishing me because I accidentally served food that their guest was allergic to. They asked to speak with me in the kitchen where they discreetly punched me and shoved me out the side door. They threatened that tomorrow the punishment will be worse. I tried to find shelter in the woods to weather the storm, literally. I shiver both cold and scared until I pass out from exhaustion. I wake up and it's still raining. I'm running a fever and can't feel my toes. I have to go back if I want to live, as long as their punishment doesn't kill me. I enter the room and am yanked into the dining room immediately. My foster parents push me into a chair. I see a plate in front of me, but I'm too out of it to recognize what's on the plate. 'Eat' my foster father commands. As I bring the fork to my lips, I smell it. Lamb. I'm very allergic. I try to refuse the food. "You want to embarrass us and serve our guests something they're allergic to? Now pay the price. Eat it now. I take a bite, hoping the reaction won't be too bad. Moments later I'm gasping for air.

I shoot up feeling like I can't breathe. It's only 4 a.m.  I'm not sure what time I eventually fell asleep, but it was around midnight. Ugh. That was one of the worst days of my life. They stabbed me with an EpiPen after minutes of not breathing properly. I was sick for two weeks.

I decide to take a long shower and get ready for the day. Massimo is taking me out today. I wonder where we are going to go. I'm both excited and nervous. Massimo seems to care, but his lack of emotion can make him intimidating. Plus he's quiet and I'm awkward, not exactly the best match. I put on my leggings and a band tee, and finish it off with my black converse. I leave my fair down after drying it. I play on my phone for a bit until I decide to go get breakfast.

When I reach the kitchen, Massimo, Enzo, Xander, and Gianni are there. Gianni and Xander look to have just worked out. I remember now that Xander told me they have extra training for being mean to me. I don't love that I'm the reason they're punished, but it wasn't my decision to punish them. When I look at Massimo, I see that he's in normal people clothes: jeans and a tshirt. My eyes bulge at the sight. He's always in a suit. I was starting to think he slept in them too.

"You own normal clothes?" I ask, exaggerating my surprise. Gianni rolls his eyes. Buzzkill. Xander snorts and even Enzo cracks a smirk. "We all had that reaction" Xander informs me. "Well for what we are doing today, I didn't think a suit was appropriate it." Massimo says, ending with a shrug of his shoulders.

Curiosity filled each and every cell in my body. "What are we doing today?" I ask.

"It's a surprise" is all he says. Damn. I hate surprises. Well good surprises are nice, but I'm too nosey and impatient for them most of the time. "When are we leaving?" I ask.

"Right after you sit and eat. Here. I made cinnamon French toast" he replies. I sit and a plate of three giant pieces of French toast is set in front of me. It looks amazing, but I feel a slight guilt that I won't be able to finish it. Massimo, as if sensing what I'm feeling, says "Just eat what you can, I'm sure one of the garbage disposals known as our brothers will eat what you don't." As I begin eating, the twins come down to join us.

Soon I'm sitting in the passenger seat of Massimo's car. He won't tell me where we are going. We are silent for a little, but Massimo breaks it. "Do you like being with us?" He asks.

After some thought, I reply honestly. "Yeah. It was a big adjustment, and I felt like a burden to you guys. I still do sometimes, but I appreciate the effort you guys are making."

"Right. We haven't been the best brothers. You are our top priority, we just didn't show it. But that is going to change. I'm very thankful you're giving us a chance. And just so you know, Im always here if you want to talk. I don't know all you've been through, but you aren't alone anymore" Massimo says sternly.

"Right. Thank you." I say awkwardly.

"So tell me about yourself." He says.

"What do you want to know?" I reply.

"Hm. Favorite color?" He asks

"Green. You?"

"Red. Favorite animal?"

"Elephants" I reply. I swear I see a slight smirk on his face at that. I wonder why.

"I like lions the most probably" he responds.

"Dream job?" He asks.

"Data analyst for an NFL team. But MLB or NHL teams would be amazing too."

He seems surprised by that. "How did you become so interested in sports?" He asks.

"I always liked them. It's the only TV I really got a glimpse of in my foster homes. Then, my adoptive father was a huge fan of all sports. It was kind of our thing together." I reply with a smile, thinking of so many good times with my dad.

I was so distracted by our conversation, I wasn't paying attention to where we were until Massimo told me we are here. As I looked out the window, my whole face lit up with a huge smile.