𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐘

Chapter 11: I Miss Them.

"Welcome roomie."

I gave them a smug look, grinning wide, "Of course it had to be you."

"The one and only," They bowed, dark hair falling in front of their face. Aelin looked them up and down, noticing how they just came out of the shower, dripping wet and in a towel. It hung from their torso and the small droplets ran down their hard stomach.

Looking back up at them she scoffed, "Who knew? Dorian Havilliard, my roommate."

Dorian smirked at her playfully and walked to his cabinet, pulling out some clothes from his drawers. With his attention else where she took the opportunity to unpack the small number of clothes and items she packed for her stay here.

"Heard you triggered the fire alarm today," He said, and for some reason Aelin felt a sense of pride, despite her punishment tomorrow.

"Guess news spreads fast in Rifthold Academy, huh?" She laughs, starting to arrange the sheets of her bed. Her hands smoothed out the silky material and the thick cover that would engulf her while she slept.

It almost felt like a dream, and yet a nightmare. Being here, having all the food in the world, sleeping on a real bed that was not just filled with springs, and making friends. No. They weren't really her friends, no matter how much she wanted them to be, she wouldn't let it get that far. She wouldn't get too attached.

She stared at the bed in front of her, not going anywhere near it, still not believing how much she was getting, but did she really deserve it? Aedion applied for this school months ago, for the both of them, it was a slim chance they were going to get accepted. When they never heard back, they eventually gave up, until that letter that changed their lives.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," He chuckles, walking back to the bathroom to change. But right before he could take another step, the door to their room banged open startling them both so much that Dorian let out a tiny squeak.

Her cousin stood at the doorway, and even from a couple of meters away she could see the pissed expression on his face.

Here we go again.

"You," He pointed at Dorian and to the hallway, "Out."

"But I'm naked—" Dorian said but stopped when Aedion's eyes started to seethe at him and he sprinted out of the room bare chest. A few seconds later he closed the door, not too lightly and looked at her.

"Are you trying to get us kicked out of here?" His voice was dangerously low, and he took a couple of intimidating steps towards her.

Aelin just stared at him with a bored expression, waiting for him to say his lecture and be done with it.

"No, I was just having a little fun," She answered, adding a bit of innocence which Aedion did not fall for, at all. He stormed up to her and stopped so close that she had to strain her neck upwards to see his face.

"Fun?!," He growled, voice getting louder, "It's not fun Aelin when you work your ass off, stealing from people, to get the money to stay here, it's not fun when you spend your damn time trying to get away when we tried so hard to get to this point in the first place, and it's not fun because I had to find out my little cousin almost got expelled today, on the first day of school."

She sucked in her breath but didn't look away, she let him see her, let him look into her eyes and try to understand.

"I just don't get it, what's your problem Aelin? What's so bad about being here?" He continued, asking-pleading to finally get an answer.

"What's my problem?" She said in disbelief, hot, burning anger eating her up, "I don't know what my problem is! Okay? This place, this school, these people, I don't belong here Aedion. I can't just suddenly become a new person in one day, I can't be the person you want me to be. Maybe, it's not that I want to leave, maybe it's that I'm just not wanted," She let out a small whimper, "Just like Mom and Dad didn't want me."

She didn't move, and instead turned around and bowed her head to the floor. She felt tears threatening to spill but she bit her tongue and willed herself no to.

"Aelin..." This time his voice was soft, and he pulled her to his chest, wrapping his warm arms around her in a brotherly sort of gesture. Her legs gave out and she fell to the floor, knees hitting mercilessly on the wood and Aedion followed with her. They just sat there and... she cried.

Aelin couldn't remember the last time she cried, never over them, but hot salty tears spilled down her face one after the other and they wouldn't stop, her nose was runny but her cousins grip was tight yet comfortable. Protective, he held her in a way that made her feel safe, like everything was alright.

He pulled her up and set her down gently on her bed, "They're never coming back, but it doesn't mean you should shut out every person in your life that cares about you. We've been through so much already, and you're still so young. Take this as a chance to live a little, take some risks, trust me you won't regret it."

He squeezed her hand and got up to leave, she felt her eyelids droop down every so slowly, "Aedion?" Her cousin turned around, "I miss them."

He gave her a small smile, eyes turning distant, almost as if he were remembering something, "I know, and I miss them too," He flipped off the lights, "Get some sleep."

And she did. She dreamed of a lovely girl gazing at the stars, and the stars who gazed back.