The things we never had

Chapter 15

After what couldn't have been more than 10 minutes of playing, Alex emerged from the clearing, looking slightly relieved to find us. He clapped his hands and announced, "We're leaving for the restaurant in 30 minutes. Start getting ready."

I glanced over and saw Rome, one of my brothers, rolling his eyes—something I'd noticed he did a lot, especially when Alex, our dad, gave instructions. Alex, as if sensing it, added, "Everyone. No exceptions. Go."

With that, we all started making our way back to the house. Grey walked next to me, and I couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are we supposed to wear?"

He thought for a moment before answering. "We usually go to this restaurant called 'η κουζίνα του Άδωνη.'"

"Sorry, what?" I asked, completely clueless about what he'd just said.

Grey chuckled. "In English, it's called 'Adonis's Kitchen.' It's a Greek restaurant, and the food is to die for. We usually rent out the place, so no worries about reservations or crowds. It's like semi-formal attire. Jeans are fine."

"Shit," I muttered.

Grey turned to me, intrigued. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't bring any jeans. Just tracksuits." I sighed, suddenly feeling like I hadn't prepared at all for this trip.

Grey smiled, not missing a beat. "Did you not look around your room?"

"I thought I did!" I exclaimed, feeling a bit embarrassed. "What did I miss?"

"There's a walk-in closet," Grey explained. "We had it fully stocked after we heard you and Atlas were coming back. There should be everything in it—clothes, shoes, the works."

"Oh," I said, genuinely surprised. "That's really nice. Thanks... a lot."

"No problem," Grey replied, his tone casual. "We wanted to make sure you had everything you needed."

As we walked back to the house, I couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. It was still strange to think about how they had prepared for us, and how easily they'd slipped back into treating Atlas and me like we had never been gone. It was nice, but also disorienting.

"Okay," I said, mostly to myself, "I guess I'll go figure out what to wear."

Grey smiled at me, clearly sensing my mixture of gratitude and uncertainty. "You'll be fine. Just... try not to take too long," he added with a smirk.

I gave him a playful shove as we entered the house, my mind already spinning about what this dinner would bring.

I walked into my room, searching for the supposed closet I'd somehow missed earlier. It didn't take long to find it—it was right next to the door, hidden in plain sight. Once you opened the door fully, it sort of covered up the entrance to the closet, which explained why I hadn't seen it before.

The closet was very similar to the walk-in one we had back home, probably a bit smaller but still fully equipped with literally every piece of clothing imaginable. Feeling too hot to wear jeans, I pulled out a short jean skirt and paired it with a Skims bodysuit. I slipped into my old Air Forces instead of the brand-new ones that were still in the box. No matter how worn they got, I couldn't let go of my old shoes. They were tied to a past that, for some reason, I couldn't fully leave behind.

Once I had everything on, I went to fix my hair. I had put it up in a bun earlier to keep it from getting wet in the lake, and to make sure all the straightening hadn't been for nothing. I quickly touched it up, smoothing down any stray hairs, feeling a strange mix of nostalgia and anticipation as I prepared for dinner.