|Doppelgänger| Five Hargreeves

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔𝟒

 Sloane sat at an armchair by the unlit fireplace in the room, fixing her own dress, while I looked at myself in the mirror, holding the satin dress up to my body. It was honestly beautiful, and after Sloane was kind enough to adjust the size, it would fit me perfectly for the wedding.

_"Do you like it? I can adjust it a bit more if you think it won't fit right."-She asked, raising her eyes towards me. I gave her a wide smile.

_"No need! It's perfect, thank you. Do you need help with anything else?"

_"Oh, the bouquet. I got some flowers from the lobby downstairs but I didn't have the time to arrange them. If it's okay, can you?"-She signaled with her head to the flower stems sitting on top of the fireplace.

_"Already on it."-I said, carefully laying my dress on top of the couch and approaching the fireplace.

The flowers seemed to be white carnations, which perfectly matched with the wedding. It was a great coincidence that she found those in the hotel. I started to gather and arrange the flowers into a bouquet as best as I could, trying not to damage the petals. We were both in comfortable silence, but it was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

_"So it's official. My ears are broken, and the idiot with knives really can't sing."-I looked to the side to see Ben entering the room. I didn't think much about it, but Sloane did mention the boys were having a bachelor party.

_"Diego. You know his name is Diego"-Sloane defended my brother and her soon brother-in-law. I smiled to myself at that.

_"Whatever."

_"Maybe you should try and be nice to him and the others. You've always liked Y/n, and she likes them."-I shrugged when I heard her mentioning my name, and decided to add something.

_"Most of the time, at least."

_"And why would I do that?"-Ben stood in front of Sloane. I tied the flowers together at last, and approached her as well, showing her the bouquet so she could approve.

_"It's perfect. Look, as much as I'd love to work out your anger issues right now, I have to get back to this. The wedding is in an hour."-She showed me the cleavage of the dress in her hands, wanting my opinion, and I gave her a thumbs up.

_"Fei is dead."-Ben retorted. He was clearly upset about everything happening.

_"Yeah. I know. And so are the others."

_"Oh, so that's it? You're just gonna turn your back on the Sparrow Academy? I mean, you heard dad. We have training to do. Something big is about to go down."-I'm not sure if I was supposed to be hearing that conversation.

_"I wish you were talking about my wedding."-Sloane sounded disappointed at her brother. She continued to do her stitches.

_"Okay. Sloane, listen to me-"-Ben sat on the couch in front of Sloane, barely avoiding my dress.

_"No. You listen to me. I'm sorry they didn't invite you to the bachelor party."-She grabbed his hands, looking at him seriously but with certain care in her eyes. I decided to take a few steps back and let them talk. I could still hear them, though.

_"I don't...I don't care about that."

_"Yes, you do. You care more about being invited to the bachelor party than you do Fei or the others. Or even saving the world."

_"That- That's...That's crazy."-It was very clear to tell just from his tone that Sloane was completely right in what she said.

_"Is it? You and I, we've never been alone. It's always been the seven of us. Now it's just you."-Ben scoffed at hearing that, and let go of her hand.