Family

FIFTY-NINE

As soon as the sound reaches my ears, my feet are already moving out of the bathroom and down the stairs, anxiety creeping up my skin at the thought of something bad happening to Leo.

"Leo." Antonio breathes out from behind me, his eyes taking in the scene in front of us.

Leo is backed up into the counter, his body shaking and his hands firmly holding onto my pill bottle.

And the reason?

Our Uncle towering over him, his tattooed arms crossed across his chest and a blank expression on his face as his eyes assess our little brother.

Leo's scared eyes meet mine and I waste no time, my body rushing forward to put some distance between the two.

"Uncle." My tone carries a hint of irritation which I don't bother trying to hide as I glare at him.

"Alfonzo." He replies curtly, his gaze unwavering.

"Why don't you go and greet Dad first?"

"Maybe you ought to put on some clothes first." He raises an eyebrow at my appearance, chuckling slightly before giving one last glance to Leo as he leaves.

"Leo are you-"

He walks towards me and I waste no time in wrapping my arms around his shaking frame, rubbing a hand over his back hoping to soothe his shaking body.

"Its okay, nothing bad is going to happen." 

He trembles in my hold and my annoyance only rises, why were they here? Why now?

"Weren't they supposed to come tomorrow?" I glance at Antonio who doesn't reply, gazing at Leo with an unreadable expression.

"We just missed you a lot cousin!" A voice squeals as a body comes crashing into me from behind.

"Fuck!" I shout, shoving the body away from me as the welts on my back begin to sting at the impact.

My cousin stumbles backwards, staring at me with a hurt expression, "What was that for?"

"You shouldn't get in his personal space Sofia." Antonio reprimands her, his eyes darkening by the second.

She flinches at the look he gives her before storming out of the room, not even sparing Leo a glance.

"Are you okay?" Leo asks quietly, his tiny fingers wrapping around my wrist.

"I'm fine." The words are forced through the pain in my back as I try to conjure a smile at my worried little brother.

"Shall we go to the hospital?" Antonio asks, reaching into his jacket to grab his phone.

"I'm fine honestly." 

"Alfonzo you're not fine." He says in exasperation, running a hand through his hair as he looks at me, his eyes narrowed as I hesitate to form a response.

"I just need my medicine and I'll be fine." I mutter, reaching for the pill bottle in Leo's hands.

He opens his mouth but I wave him off, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and gulping it down after placing two pills in my mouth.

It leaves a sour taste in my mouth and I know I'm making one of those weird faces from the way Leo cringes, turning away slightly until I'm done.

"Let's go back to my room Leo." 

He nods, taking hold of my hand and leading the way out, keeping his gaze downcast as we pass by Antonio who frowns but doesn't say anything.

As we pass through the hallways, we just happen to stumble upon Uncle Enzo and Dad by the foot of the staircase, both wearing mirrored expressions that give nothing away as they chat in hushed voices. They immediately stop talking as they hear us approaching, turning their gazes to us but the expressions on their faces don't change.