Who am I?

Chapter 3

Gabriel awoke at eleven AM, his eyes blinking open and expecting to find it was all a dream, that he was still in the dingy dungeon-like basement with the torturous water dripping in the background. His eyes adjusted to the light of day, and he rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. When he became fully aware, he noticed the book had fallen to the ground, Emmet was on his phone in the corner on the room and Gabriel was resting his head on Jasper's shoulder.

"My, I am so sorry I hadn't ment to fall asleep on you!" Gabriel nervously jumped, apologising over and over again. Jasper shook his head, chuckling a bit at how worried the boy was over the situation. "It's fine, it wasn't nothin' bad." He froze as he listened to Jasper's voice, he hadn't realised it before, but now he could tell there was a southern accent. He'd never heard anything like it, and he loved the way he spoke.

Emmet burst out laughing. "Yea right it was nothing! That idiot didn't move a single finger when you fell asleep on him!" Jasper shot Emmet a glare, his eyes becoming darker for a moment, which silenced his brother. Gabriel looked a tad confused at their sibling bond. Why did he call Jasper an idiot? I'm pretty sure you're meant to be nice to your siblings.

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When Gabriel walked into the kitchen, he found Esme following a simple recipe, making him a nice breakfast of an omelette, buttered toast, baked beans, fried mushrooms and tomatoes, and four pieces of bacon. Already on the counter was a fresh cup of coffee, made the exact same way as yesterday. "Who is all this food for? There's so much but there's only one plate set on the table." He comments, slightly confused because it's a family of seven people -minus him because he's not a part of the family (yet)-.

"Oh, you're awake now Gabriel. I made some coffee for you, just like yesterday's. Give me two minutes and your breakfast will be done sweetie." Esme smiles warmly, looking up at him briefly before going back to making his breakfast. There's no way she's serious right? All that food, for me? I've never eaten that much in a day, let alone a week! "I-I... We-well... Thank you." He stutters out, a bit surprised. There has to be a catch... Like... I don't know, they're going to force me to clean the house of something later as payment for the hospitality?...

"No catch!" Edward shouts from the other side of the house, making Gabriel flinch slightly but then lowly chuckle at a thought. There's no way he knew what I was thinking, it was just a coincidence right? Hey Edward, yell something if you can hear my thoughts. Gabriel waited for a moment, but nothing happened. So it was a coincidence.

His train of thought was snapped when Esme placed a large plate of food on the dining table, as she walked past him. "Time to eat up, don't worry if you don't finish it." She says, again, smiling warmly at him. "You are too nice. Am I dreaming?" Gabriel murders to himself as he sits down, taking a small sip of coffee before starting to eat the large breakfast.

He wasn't used to consuming so much food so quickly, bit it was just so delicious he couldn't resist. A small portion of the food remained on the plate, but he ate so much he was sure he'd be sick if he took another bite. Jasper watched in the distance as Gabriel stood up, Esme insisting she can clean the plate but Gabriel assures her it's the least he can do for the hospitality. Jasper smiles slightly, watching as the boy looked so peaceful while tidying up a bit. He looked so peaceful, calm because no one is stressing-forcing him to clean.

"I've never met a man as pure as you in all my years." Jasper breathes out with a barely audible sigh, becoming conflicted with himself, growing more protective of the boy as he watched how gentle he was.

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Several weeks flew by just like that and with each passing day, he grew more comfortable with everyone, Gabriel would read and occasionally fall asleep on Jasper, help Esme with cleaning, eat different types of foods he's never had before, shower daily, and start having little 'study' sessions with Edward or Alice so he could eventually go to school. At first, learning so much was difficult for him, but eventually Gabriel got used to the routine. Carlisle would go to work, the 'kids' would go to school, and when they got back they would tell Gabriel what they'd learned so he could catch up when he started going. At some point, Emmet, Alice, and Edward started calling him 'Gabe' or 'Rie' to shorten his name when talking to him or others.

"Rie, do you think you're ready to go to school now?" Alice asked while braiding Gabriel's hair. His hair had gotten long because he could never cut it when he was locked up, but he planned on cutting it soon, so he allowed Alice to do his hair while she still had the chance. He shrugged his shoulders, unsure of the answer himself. "I don't really know, won't there be a lot of people? I'm not good with crowds. Ow!" He yelped when Alice tugged his hair a bit too harsh -jokingly- because of him moving while she was still braiding.

"You'll be fine me Rie, you'll have us! And we'll be by your side so don't worry. You know, Carlisle was thinking of putting you into school next month, but if you're fine with it, I can ask for him to do it next week." And just like that, she started rambling on about how he's going to enjoy school, but also complaining about how much homework they get given. When she finished braiding his long hair, he stood up and stretched his legs, that started to get pins and needles from sitting down for so long.

"But what if I don't have any classes with you? It'd be one, boring. And two, scary because you guys are the only people I know." Gabriel huffs, walking to a mirror and taking a look at his done-up hair. He liked it, but he'll have to cut it soon, so he thinks to enjoy it while it lasts. "I'll ask Carlisle to specify to put you in classes with us. There's nothing to worry about. Trust me." Alice hugs him, something he's become accustomed to since she's so friendly, and become his best friend.

As always, he picks her up and goes to the living room, Alice slung over his shoulder who had her arms crossed angrily. "You need to stop picking me up!" He says, lightly slamming her fists on his back. "But you're so short, I'd step on you otherwise." He chuckles, getting to the living room and tossing her onto the couch like a sack of potatoes. He ruffles her hair before going to the book shelf to pick out a book to read.

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"Guys, I don't wanna do this anymore." Gabriel whines for the hundredth time on the car ride to the school. It was Monday, clouds covering up the sky and rain coming down every now and then. What a perfect way to start the week. As the Cullen's car pulls up to the parking lot, Gabriel hit his head on the headrest Infront of him, groaning in absolute regret for agreeing to go to school early.

Alice drags out the poor boy, who just loosely followed while keeping his head down. He was the new boy in school, the shiny new toy, and he'd heard that the family -the Cullen's- had a reputation for being the 'weird ones', so that was a double hit right off the bat. There weren't that many people in the parking lock, but when he was dragged into the hallway by Alice, he immediately felt uncomfortable and claustrophobic with how many people were crowding the immediate area.

The whole day, people around gawked at the new kid, especially since he was with the Cullen's, and watched how close he was to an anxiety attack the whole day. Even though it was the first day there, rumors already spread that him and Alice were together because of how close the two were. When Gabriel found out, he just wanted to go home and sleep so he very quickly -litteraly- fell into his bed to forget how stupid all the accusations and rumors were. Highschool was already hell for him, but it got harder when Edward decided to interact with a certain human, effecting the family and Gabriel. What Gabriel didn't know was that because of the human, he was about to realise something he couldn't go back from.