Imagine Us

Chapter 47: I've Made Up My Mind

I stretched myself awake lying down. It took me a few minutes to really wake up and when I opened my eyes, I opened them to an empty bed. It was just me. I looked around the room and saw that Caiden wasn't here anywhere - not even in the bathroom. He must have went down to have dinner. The wall clock read six-thirty PM.

I freshened up and made my way to the ground floor. Jonathan was eating noodles.

"Hey, Jono."

"Heyyy, Alexa." He slurred.

"Geez, you sound horrible. Stomach still hurts?"

"Yeah, kinda." He pouted.

"You shouldn't be drinking, Jonathan - as cliche as it sounds. You're only fifteen."

"Yeah, I know. Jacob and Caiden got so mad and beat my ass to bed."

"Mm. I heard. How much did you drink anyway?"

"Two bottles." He mumbled.

"Goodness. Everyone around you may be drinking but I know you know better than to copy them. They're much older than you, Jono. I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound like a mom but it sucks I couldn't hang with you today. I leave tomorrow." I frowned.

"Alexa, I'm so sorry."

He got up and gave me a hug. I rubbed his back. "It's okay. No one is going to tell you off for doing stupid teenage stuff so let me do it to you for the first and last time."

We laughed.

"Do you really have to leave?"

He leaned on the bench, folding his arms and frowning.

"It's what everyone else thinks is best."

"And what do you think is best?"

...

I bit my lip and sighed. "I just don't want to be a liability anymore."

"But you're not, Alexa. You're not a burden. You've changed the boys for good." I mentally gasped at the statement. "It's nice to share the load of lightening the mood in this place. You know how much it sucked before you got here? Chase was always out with different girls every week. He said he just wanted to have fun but it was obvious that it was his way of drowning personal sorrows. Noah? I'm sure you've heard of his girl he had to leave just to keep her safe and so he can join the rest of his family and friends in defending the Corleone name. I could tell it destroyed him. 'Til this day, Alexa, he has to find ways to keep himself busy. And Caiden was always getting into street fights if we were out in public and someone pissed him off. He spent half his day everyday destroying punching bags that he'd go through a new one every week. He lived for the blood on his knuckles, Alexa." My eyes and jaw were so wide at this point. Not to be naive or anything but, was it actually that bad? I think I'm going to tear up.

"And what about you Jonathan?"

...

He looked to the ground and shuffled his feet. "Ever since Jacob and I lost dad, we've sorta drifted. The reason why we can't stay in the same place is if one of us dies, the bloodline can't die either." I gasped and cupped my mouth. How deep does this shit and seriousness run?! "But it changed us, man. And what sucks is that we saw it coming. Dad was always putting himself on the frontline for us and mom. Caiden saw how fucked up it made everyone when he died. But since then, Caiden has also really stepped up as our leader. He's the strongest one. But it's like he's compromised most of his human emotions for it." 

My heart is breaking.

"Where's your mother now?"

"She's at home overseas with her family. My Dad's from here and he moved her over but she doesn't want to stay anymore." Oh my. "We were supposed to go with her but Jacob and I just refused to run away from this whole mess. We'd feel like cowards. It pretty much broke my mom's heart but we told her we'll catch up. We'd just clean a few things up and head over." He sighed. "That was over a year ago. She's still waiting. I know Caiden misses her too. She was his mother figure but now that she's gone too, Caiden's  forgotten all womanly nature. You know, caring, loving, kindness, all that. But since you got here, you definitely remind him a lot. I can see it in him even though he's a rock ninety-five percent of the time."