The Lost Girl (Complete)

Chapter Fourteen - The Delivery Boy

The next tremor to rock Celestia's small, lonely home was when she opened the door, believing that the knock had come from the pizza delivery person only to find a slim teen with an uncanny resemblance to her Uncle Silas slouching on the frame as he still managed to tower over her.

"Mason?" She exclaimed, peering out at the driveway to see an unfamiliar orange Vespa bike sitting behind the cars which had allowed the triplets and Alexander to invade her house. "What's wrong? Is everything ok? Your brothers are here if you need to talk to them."

He grimaced and ran a hand through his hair, "I figured but no. We're not here for them."

"We?"

Eyes lighting with a deep glimmer of amusement, he shook his head and held up a black backpack, "Can I come in, cuz?"

Moving out of his way, she glanced around once more, frowning before she shut the front door and followed behind as he stepped into the living room where the four other males were busy setting up the Xbox and deciding which game they were going to teach her to play first.

So, really, in a word, it was chaos.

"Yo, dipshits!" He greeted, giving them all them the middle finger when they groaned. "Shut the fuck up. I've got rights to be here too."

"And me!" Another, different, voice called as Celestia swung around to watch wide-eyed as her youngest cousin, Sebastian came thumping down the stairs as though he owned the place.

"Where did you come from?!" She cried, moving forward to cup his face and demand an answer. "Please tell me you didn't climb up and come through a window."

"Woah," He chuckled, patting her hands but slipping out of the hold. "It's totally cool. I've been climbing into things higher up than your bathroom window since before I could talk. The Joker has been passing on all of his ninja skills." He leant in close, "Because, well, he's getting on in years now and it won't be long until he has to retire from the whole business."

Celestia choked, "It's not funny, Sebastian. Parts of the house are beginning to rot and you could easily kill yourself if you end up going through the roof." Her heart was beating fast and panicked within her chest as she began to imagine exactly what might have happened. It was perfectly obvious that the once lovely home was slowly losing its life under all the disrepair and the damage it had sustained over the years from storms and her mother's lifestyle. "God, what would I have told your parents?!"

"Hey," Elias murmured, jumping up from his place on the carpet to gently lay a hand over the back of her neck. "Just breathe, chicken little. He's fine and now that we know all of us will be careful. Sebastian won't climb up there anymore until North has had a chance to look the place over."

"Oh no," She groaned, covering her eyes. "I can't ask them to do anything else especially when..." Catching herself before she blurted that she had vague plans to sell it off and move for college, she sighed. "They've already done so much for me. All of you have and I don't need to impose any more."

Mason giggled behind his hand for a moment before Celestia let loose a frustrated glare, "Sorry, cuz. Can't help it. Mum and the Dads don't take 'no' very well and I think Wolverine had plans to go through the place. I wouldn't waste your breath."

"Argh!" She cried, throwing her hands up as she looked around to find that the guys were all laughing and she suddenly realised that even though she was penned into a small room with six young men she didn't feel an ounce of fear or worry.

She actually felt happy...and cared for.

Interrupting her chance to complain more, a knock suddenly sounded on the front door, throwing them all into silence before a roaring growl came from Sebastian's stomach. He shrugged at their look of amused censure, "I'm a growing boy. Get over it."

"I'll get it," Celestia turned away from them to head back towards the door, her mind going through every possible scenario – had the pizza actually turned up or would the Pope be out there next?

She felt laughter bubble in her stomach as the knock came again and she took a deep breath before turning the knob and pulling the squeaky door inward.

"Good evening, ma'am," A boy of about nineteen greet her, his white teeth flashing in a wide grin. "I have an order for Blackbourne." His dark brown eyes slowly ran over her body before he frowned. "Maybe I got the address wrong. I have twenty half-and-halfers, eight garlic breads, four with cheese, ten large cokes and twelve chocolate mousses."

"Wha..." Her mouth fell open in shock. When they'd been talking about the pizza order in the kitchen, she hadn't thought that they were serious about the amount. "Are you sure it was that much?"

He nodded, "Sure am. I double checked before leaving the shop." He smiled with not a little charm, "You look too small to need that much food."

For a moment, Celestia thought that he whispered, "And gorgeous," underneath his breath but when he simply continued to smile, she waved it away and stepped out onto the porch beside him. "I have visitors although I'm pretty sure they mentioned expecting that some of it will be left over for later. I'll help you get it out of the car, if you'd like?"

"That would be great," He winked. "And I'd be happy to help you get through the food if you have too much sitting there when the guests leave."

Slightly confused, Celestia frowned but Mason suddenly came stomping out of the living room. "What the fuck, man? You always go around trying to act like a pepperoni pimp and offer to eat other people's motherfucking food?"

"Mason!" She gasped, biting her lip as she glanced between the two of them. The delivery boy seemed to narrow his eyes and straighten his shoulders as though preparing for a fight but Celestia carefully stepped in front of her younger cousin. She wasn't exactly sure what was happening but she knew when a fight was about to break out. "I'll bring in the food, Mase. Could you ask your brothers what they want to do about tableware and cutlery?"

"Actually, Lesa," Alexander interrupted, his footsteps measured as he and the other three Blackbourne boys moved to back Mason. "Why don't you take care of that and we'll help bring everything in."

Nodding slowly, she offered the boy a smile before slipping between her cousins and into the house. Surely the triplets would be able to diffuse Mason's griping anger better than her.

A/N: Photograph of Mason Blackbourne