Chiara Daveys is living a good life in England - if you ignore her constant struggle with food, lack of a guardian and how she's constantly working to pay the bills.
At 17 years old, she's been unaware of her 6 brothers who have spent the 14 years o...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I took Alexsei's frantic plea from yesterday to heart. His wide eyes and unusually pale face was a cause for concern in itself.
I don't know what Chiara said but if it was enough to cause my best friend to worry then it must have been concerning.
I sit in her room now, we're both scrolling on our phones. I'm hoping she doesn't notice the way I keep glancing at her, not paying any attention at all to whatever is displayed on my screen.
That's how I notice the fact her eyes keep closing before she blinks them open.
"Are you tired?" I ask her gently, turning my phone off.
"Huh?" She - again - blinks her eyes open.
"Do you want to go to sleep?"
"No," she sighs and shakes her head, "I don't want to waste my day away."
"Chiara, you're exhausted," I try to reason but all I get in response is a hum.
"Go to sleep," I tell her.
"I don't want to waste my day," she repeats.
"It won't be a waste," I shrug.
She stares at me for a long moment, but I don't give in, "promise you'll wake me up after an hour?"
"I promise," I reply, crossing two of my fingers out of her sight.
"Okay," she replies before putting her phone down.
Soon enough, she's sleeping. Roland comes up onto her bed and walks around a bit.
"Gently, boy," I whisper to him.
He stares at me before committing to a spot by Chiara's feet.
"There you go," I stroke his head.
Obviously, I let more than an hour pass by.
She's been asleep for over three hours when she starts to stir awake.
At the first sign of her waking, I quickly place my head down on the pillow too and pretend to also be asleep.
I can't be sure, but I assume she picks up her phone and checks the time.
"Shit," she whispers.
I, a brilliant actor, 'wake up'.
"Noah, that was way over an hour," she scolds, puffy eyes and wild hair.
"Sorry, sorellina, I must've also fallen asleep. And, hey, twin telepathy woke us up at the same time," I grin, pressing my forehead against hers.
She lets out a reluctant grin before pushing my head away.
I lie back against the pillows and sigh, "I'm already very late for school so I'll stay home today."
"I might try to go tomorrow," she says quietly.
That catches my attention.
"Chiara, do not force yourself to go."
"I'm not, but, I have to at some point, don't I?"
I shrug, "none of us would ever make you. And, we all have enough money to live the rest of our lives very comfortably."
"I don't want to do that," she shakes her head gently, "especially after Florence."
