Aria

Chapter 21

-Aria-

"Eat it."

I look wearily at the orange slices placed on my plate by Zeno. I did my best to finish the first portion of the meal but any more and I think I might just explode. 

He's been trying to get me to eat for the past five minutes after he noticed the leftovers on my plate.

Everything tasted amazing, it's just I'm not used to eating this much. 

After telling my brothers a bit about my past, I expected anger from them. Who would want to be by someone who had those negative experiences? But to my surprise, they were more gentle than before. Fully present and around to make sure I was comfortable, and for that, I could not be more grateful. 

Gabe seems to have noticed my uncomfortable expression and speaks out, "Zeno, don't push her," he then turns to me, "It's okay munchkin, if you're finished I'll pick up the dishes and bring them downstairs."

I nod eagerly and he gets up, chuckling.

Zeno huffs and follows along, carrying the rest of the plates.

I take a deep breath and stand up, leaning against the wall for some support. As I take a step towards the door Leo grabs a blanket and wraps me in it, "L-Leo what are you d-doing?" I say shocked yet with a smile. 

He leads me to the bed and places a large pillow on the bed frame. Pushing lightly on my shoulders I move to sit, leaning into the soft fabric. 

I'm not sure how but several pillows began popping into Leo's hands as he quickly got them to surround me. 

How do we have so many?

Now that he was finished there was an uncomfortable silence. What should we do?

Leo suddenly runs out of the room which startles me, leaving just Matteo and Alessandro.

A couple of minutes pass as I look around the room. The mattresses from earlier were stacked upon each other. The windows were covered by curtains and the lights in the room were dimmed.

I secretly tried to steal a glance at the two, failing as they were able to catch my eye. I lightly smile and turn away, looking at the patterns on the bed sheet.

Wait, how can I forget about the car?

I clear my throat and meet Matteo's gaze, "I-is the car damaged badly?"

Alessandro who was on his phone looks up as well and glances at Matteo.

"It's a bit roughed up but nothing to worry about." Matteo ends the conversation and looks at the door before getting up to leave.

Just then, Leo shows up with a big smile, carrying a dozen of things and dumping them as he neared the bed. Alessandro watches him take a seat before going out the room to pick up a call.

After a couple of minutes Zeno, Gabe, and Alessandro walk back in as Leo showed me the various snacks he brought for our "movie night/early morning."

Alessandro had a laptop in his hands and sat down with Zeno next to him. He held a stack of papers and seemed to be filling out some form of application on the top sheet. Gabe walked over and laid on the bed next to me, smiling as he watched Leo search for a movie on his laptop. He moved his hands to my hair and started to play with it lightly.

A couple of more minutes pass before Matteo walks back in, limping more than before. He walks closer and places the book and bracelets I made at the Center on the side table right next to me.

I lean forward, surprised by his kind gesture. Looking up at him I say, "T-thank you so much, you didn't have to bring them."

He shrugs his shoulders and leans against the wall.

I motion for him to sit, crisscrossing my legs so there's more room for him on the bed.

As he settles, I pick the 6 bracelets and offer them to him, I really hope he likes them! He looks at me with an expression I couldn't recognize, moving when he hears Gabe call for Leo.

He suddenly points at one and holds his right hand out. I place the rest on the bed and clip on his pick, smiling that it fit perfectly. Matteo kept on watching as I moved to offer them to Leo and Gabe. Leo excitedly jumps and places a kiss on my cheek. I feel the heat reaching my cheeks and laugh as I watch them choose their favorite charm.

I clip the bracelets on for both of them before looking toward my brothers who were working.

Nervous to speak out, I get up from the bed. Catching my balance, I walk to Zeno and Alessandro.

They look up as I approach them and I reveal the bracelets in my hand. "I-if you don't like them you don-" before I could finish my sentence they soundlessly held their arms out. I quickly rush to clip on the little gift so they could get back to work.

Once I turn to walk back to the bed, I see Matteo laying down.

"Hey, I want to watch with her!" Leo throws a pillow at Matteo who catches it and throws it back.

"The bed is big enough for all 4 of us to lay here comfortably, I don't know why you're arguing." Gabe sits up and motions for me to come over.

"Voglio essere accanto ad Aria!" Leo says pointing at where Matteo was sitting, who replies with, "Sono più vecchio."

Leo rolls his eyes and moves to sit next to Gabe, mumbling harshly underneath his breath.

I'm settled between Gabe and Matteo. Leo moves the laptop and gives it to Gabe who places it in his lap. We all lay back comfortably and start a movie titled, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". We were like that for a couple of hours, binge-watching the series nonstop. Zeno joined in the middle of the first one but Alessandro remained working.

As our third one was about to end, I could start to feel my sore shoulder and back. The numbing was ending now and I shuffle a bit to reduce the pressure. Feeling the need to step out the room I sit up on the bed, moving the blanket along with me. Everyone had fallen asleep but Matteo stirred a bit. Moving his arm to touch my hand. Hearing a throat clear, I turn and see Alessandro leaning forward, watching me from the couch.

"Why don't we step outside for some fresh air?"

I nod and he gets up, walking towards the bed and holding his hand out. I squint as I try to get up, trying not to wake the others. Taking his hand he lifts me slightly, bringing his other one forward to support my lower back. As I stand, trying to adjust, he watches quietly, making sure I was okay. Once I nod and smile, he lets go and steps away. Alessandro walks up to the door and opens it widely, motioning for me to come through.