The Lost Girl (Complete)

Chapter Fifteen - Pizza and Pepsi

Stepping out to confront the clumsy pizza delivery boy, Elias had to smile at the way the guy held his ground - when they were all together, the Blackbourne boys were a force to be reckoned with. Especially when it concerned someone they cared about.

Celestia had been a surprise and it wasn't hard for anyone in the family to see that she had no idea what family was meant to be but that wouldn't stop them. Each and every one of them had been raised to appreciate their blessings and to take care of those who needed it.

Their new cousin was a bruised soul with a soft heart and a hesitant personality - she deserved to have someone to call on, to defend her and make her feel as though someone out there cared about her.

Elias and his brothers hadn't needed their fathers to order them to envelope her into the fold, or for their mother to plead with them to try and make her feel welcome. She was theirs now and all the merrier if that care meant moving in, buying groceries or holding off suitors.

"You're really smooth," Dimitrius murmured, smiling slightly. "Do your brilliant lines usually hook them?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," The guy answered, looking between them warily. "I didn't mean any harm."

"Except to my fucking pizza!" Mason groused. "Keep that up and you'll end up a fat, pizza dude who can't see his own dick over his gut. If you're going to try and hit on chicks when you deliver shit, you'd be better off getting a job with Jenny Craig."

Shaking his head at his brother, Elias laid an unthreatening hand on the boy's shoulder as they backed him towards the delivery car. "Leave the girl alone and make sure that the others who share this route area also know that causing trouble would be unwise. We won't be so nice again."

The guy nodded his head, probably deciding that it wasn't worth it before he turned around without another word and began to hand out the rest of the food from the back of his car.

"Have a good night," He said at last, handing Elias the final bag of drinks before tipping his chin and walking around and jumping in his car.

Smiling again, Elias closed the door behind him after stepping back into the house, the sounds of his brothers arguing over how much Celestia should eat making him shake his head in exasperation. They may be determined to ensure that she had a place with them but there were no guarantees that she wouldn't snap and kill them all first.

The Blackbourne boys were just that good.

"I don't need six slices," Celestia cried in exasperation as he walked in to see them all crowded around the pile of boxes on one of the kitchen benches.

"You're skinny," Alexander pointed out, hands on his hips as he looked down his nose at the tiny female trying to slip the pizza slices back into their respective boxes. "We need to fatten you up a little."

Wanting to smack the idiot, Elias simply dropped the bag onto a spare space and picked up his own plate with a smile as Celestia began to chastise his brother. It was cute to see her toe to toe with someone head and shoulders taller than her while she gently explained why it was not acceptable to comment on a person's weight no matter the circumstances.

She knew that she was small but that didn't mean she wanted overbearing boys pestering her about it.

It was even cuter when she suddenly realised that she had an avid audience who were all trying to fight down smiles.

"I'm sorry," She finally murmured as she seemed to wilt underneath all of the attention.

"Hey, it's ok," Dimitrius replied, slapping Alex hard on the back of the head. "Maybe next time you can just do that. It works just as well."

"Fuck off, Dimi," Alexander grumbled, winking at Celestia before he ripped a loaf of garlic bread in half and blatantly split the pieces between his plate and hers. She didn't even get another chance to protest before he turned away towards the dining table.

"Pick a drink, Celestia," Mikael offered, trying to interrupt before they were introduced to little cousin's temper - he had a feeling that she would resort to trying to frisbee the pizzas out the window if that was the only option. "We've got Pepsi, Sunkist and Mountain Dew."

"Oh," She barely breathed. "I'd be alright with water if you guys..."

"EEERRR!" Sebastian buzzed loudly as though he were an alarm on one of those annoying game shows. "Time's up and you have now been disqualified from selections." He grabbed up a 600mL Pepsi and handed it to her. "This is yours. Please sit at the table now so we can begin on our binge of glorious processed meats, cheeses and unidentifiable sauces."

She giggled appropriately and picked up her stacked plate to take a place at the small battered table which had sat in the same spot for as long as she had lived.

It was a lesson for her after that - they were monsters! Bottomless pits who kept eating more, so much that she was sure one of them had to stop at some point to bring it all back up. She followed their example and used her fingers to pick up the slices and nibble along the very edges as she tried to find a flavour that she liked. Some of them were a little too rich while others had too many toppings which ruined the chance to be able to savour everything.

In the end she picked up a simple piece with tomatoes, spanish onions, cheese and a tangy balsamic glaze, chomping through it in a way that made Mason grin and call out a "Chew the shit out of that motherfucker!"

Of course that nearly had her choking but it was worth it - being able to bask in the knowledge that she wasn't sitting alone wondering exactly what she could cook out of thin air.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" Sebastian questioned, finally slowing down now that it seemed as though his hunger had been finally sated. "Oh, and someone needs to ring Mum or the Dads to let them know that we're here. We kind of pinched Archangel's bike and he probably won't be happy."

The older boys all seemed to freeze as they stared at Sebastian's guilty expression and Mason's flat one before Elias exploded. "You think he'll be upset?! You stole his fucking bike and rode it all the way across town without a fucking license, Mason. He's going to kill you and then us!"

"Seriously," Mikael continued. "Do you idiots never think before you do shit? You both could have gotten killed or arrested. God! Stone Cold will probably call the cops himself just to teach you idiots a lesson."

"They're not the only ones who need to be taught a lesson, dear brother!" A new voice complained from the doorway, the female tone making Celestia jump as she ducked around broad shoulders to see Avery and Sofia in her kitchen with their hands on their hips.

"How dare you all sneak over here without us to bribe poor Celestia with pizza and..." Sofia paused to glance at the bench where the other food still sat. "Seriously, you only got a dozen mousses?"

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