Surviving the Nicholson Boys (Re-write)

twenty : castle

Song/title of the chapter: Castle by Halsey

"Sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise."

***

Everyone flipped shit once we walked back inside.

My "relatives" were furious. They were sending me death glares or whispering rude things as I walked by. Some were even yelling at me. I simply rolled my eyes, but had the biggest urge to tell them all to shut the fuck up because they had no right.

I knew I was being harsh, but it was the truth. They thought they could disappear forever and suddenly reappear because she was dead? I hoped they felt fucking horrible. I really hoped they did.

I sat down a table by myself and twiddled with my fingers. Two women, who I assumed were "friends" of my mum, looked down at me in disgust and whispered to themselves, probably about me.

I shook my head. Some voices were raised, and my head was beginning to pound.

I stood up and walked outside, being greeted by the warm summer breeze. I found a bench and sat down. Taking in a deep breath, I let it out soon after along with a strangled sob.

My eyes pooled with tears and I looked down at the ground, watching as my tears plopped on the gravel. I sniffed and wiped them away. I was tired of crying. Crying was all I did nowadays, and a part of me was sick of it.

But the part of me that wasn't got the best of me and I continued to cry. My heart ached and my head was pounding. I didn't care. Not anymore.

"Hey," the male voice startled me and made me look up. A dark haired boy stood in front of me, his green eyes filled with confusion and concern. He sat down beside me. "What's a pretty girl like you doing out here all by yourself? Crying, at that."

I shook my head at the cheesy compliment. "Please tell me you're not hitting on me?"

He gave me a goofy grin. "A bit obvious, hey?"

I cracked a smile and wiped the rest of my tears away. I had no more tears left to cry at the moment, anyway. As Nicky said, I was a lot stronger than I thought.

"It's a long story." I sighed.

"I have time." He shrugged.

"Is it really safe to tell my life story to a strange boy who had intentions of hitting on me?" I raised an eyebrow and he grinned at me.

"I don't have to be a stranger." He said and held out his hand. "I'm Noah. Noah Michaelis."

"Like Black Butler?"

Noah laughed. "Yeah, sure. Like Black Butler."

I suddenly got super excited and grinned at him. "Do you watch it?"

"No," he replied, "but my younger brother does. I think you and him would get along really well."

"Sure," I chuckled.

"I finally got a smile out of you." Noah gave me a gentle smile. "I saw you leave that funeral home in tears and felt bad."

I shook my head. "You don't need to feel bad for me. Shit happens."

He frowned. "Your loss?"

I nodded. "My mother."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

Noah and I sat in silence for a while. Finally, he spoke.

"You know, any other girl in your place would've told me to fuck off." He said.

I shrugged. "I guess I'm not any other girl, then?"

I looked down the road and could see a couple of the boys looking around.

I turned to Noah. "My people are looking for me. I gotta go."

He nodded. "It's okay. I didn't catch your name, though?"

"You can't catch something I didn't throw." I winked at him and he gave me a small smile before I walked away.

Nicky was standing by the curb. When he spotted me, he let out a breath of relief and headed over, giving me a hug. "Please don't run off like that."

"I wasn't far." I mumbled into his chest.

"Wanna go back inside?"

"I'd rather not."

"Aria, come on." He began. "They're your family."

I pushed myself away from him. I clenched my jaw. "Don't ever say that again. They are not my family."

"Aria–"

I shook my head. "No, Tanner."

He put his hands up in defence. "Okay, okay, fine. I'm sorry."

I started pacing back and forth. The word "family" kept echoing in my head and with every thought I became even more sick of them and myself.

Family. Family. Family.

Those people lost the title of family to me a long time ago.

"They're your blood, Aria." Nicky's voice rang in my ears.

I whipped around and stared at me, anger rushing through me. "Blood doesn't mean family, Nicky."

I took off my hat and ran my hands through my hair. I just wanted to go home at this point. I was over with this whole funeral already. I know it was my mother's funeral and I should've been more respectful. I should've been a lot of things today, to be honest.

Karolina walked out of the home. She scanned the area before her eyes landed on me. She let out a breath of somewhat relief. "There you are. Aria, there's something who wants to meet you."

"No." I said.

"This is important." She said. "This person is important."

I shook my head again. "No, Karolina. I don't want to speak to any of them."

She gave me a pleading look. "This is probably the only time you'll get the chance to see this person again. Please, Aria."

I blinked a couple of times before sighing and following her inside.

A group of people, mostly women, were gathered around a man, who was trying to push himself away from them. Once he finally stepped out of the crowd and his eyes landed on me, they widened. Mine widened as well.

We both had the same dark hair and same bright blue eyes. My breath hitched in my throat as he smiled. I knew that smile. I knew it too well.

Memories flooded into my mind of my early childhood. That smile would be there when I said dumb things, asked for hugs, watched movies with him. It would be there during all my "big" achievements for a three-year-old.

That smile both made my heart ache happily and my stomach twist in terror.

"Aria?"

I choked back a sob. "Dad?"