Lions ~~~ An Adopted by Skillet Fic (COMPLETE)

Falling Inside The Black

Korey woke me up the next morning with the promise of a good breakfast. The promise of that was enough to get me moving, but Chloe's meows moved me to help her get "ready", even though I knew neither of us would be leaving the house for a very long time.

I walked down the stairs, holding Chloe. I needed to feed her before I got my food. I got into the kitchen and saw John in there, dancing in an apron and eating chips while he cooked. I found myself smiling a little bit, but after realizing there was a slight ache in my shoulders I knew I was still tense. 

John noticed me standing by the pantry, "Morning Aria." 

I waved slightly, grabbing Chloe's formula and putting it on the counter. I grabbed a bottle and filled it with water and set to work getting the milk made for her. 

Korey came down a little while later as I was feeding Chloe. She kissed my forehead and walked over to where John was finishing up breakfast. As she was making herself a plate Alex came down, followed by Xavier soon after. John made the rest of us plates, and we all went to sit at the table (after I put Chloe back upstairs in her room).

The first few minutes were silent, but John started talking suddenly, "So, people are starting to figure out that Aria is our kid." I knew this talk was mostly for Alex and Xavier, but I couldn't help but blush as they looked at me. Alex reached her hand out, and I held onto it quickly. "The three of us were planning on recording a video explaining what is going on, but I feel like if Aria is okay with it you two could be in it as well." John's eyes trained themselves onto me. I nodded quickly, just wanting him to stop looking at me (which he did). 

"When are you going to record?" Alex asked, biting into a piece of bacon.

"As soon as we're done here," Korey said, "People are just going to keep freaking out until we do."

I nodded, "Yeah. And, in case you can't tell, I don't like attention." The comment made everyone laugh, making me smile.

We continued to just talk after that, the subject of the video becoming a little taboo. Alex and Xavier didn't want to even think about it, I think. Korey noticed this quickly and made sure that we ate fast, trying to get the video done as soon as possible. 

The video was done and uploaded to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and literally anything that the Cooper's could access. Within half an hour the tweets and tags and comments had all exploded.

Apicess omg congrats!!

vaqueso she looks so pretty!

berameme is she single?

slayhatga I'd date her 😍

All of those (and other vaguely creepy) comments filled social media. By the end of the day, a ton of news outlets had begun to report on it.

We sat at the dinner table, eating comfortably. I was silent, listening as John made the fiftieth pun of the night. I smiled a little as Alex and Xavier groaned, their heads hitting the table. 

I could feel my phone buzz in my lap, so I picked it up to see what was happening. It was a Facebook notification, in the Skillet group I had joined.

I gulped, putting my phone away for the time being. However, as soon as I was allowed, I rushed up to my room.

I pulled out the device, unlocking it and scrolling through the notifications. People had been tagging me on a specific post, talking about who I was and how lucky I was. I sighed, looking to see that people were jealous and that they thought I was ugly now. That the Cooper's shouldn't have adopted me.

I texted Spencer since I had his number.

Me: 
Hey

Spencer:
Hey kid. You okay? I saw the video

Me:
Honestly, I'm not feeling the best. A lot of people have been
commenting and saying I don't deserve any of it.

Spencer:
You should know that's not true

Me:
It doesn't stop them from seeing that it's not 🤷🏻‍♀️

Spencer: 
Do you want me to come over? We can watch
whatever you want to watch

I thought for a moment about the idea of him coming over. It would be nice to see him again.

Me: 
I'm alright. Maybe tomorrow

Spencer:
Is that code for "just let me sleep?" 😂

Me:
Sure 😂

Spencer: 
Alright, I'll let you sleep. Goodnight Aria

Me:
Goodnight Spencer 😊

I sighed and changed my focus to YouTube, where I saw one of my favorite YouTubers had uploaded. I was about to click on it when there was a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called softly. Alex peeked in, then came in quickly and closed the door.

"You okay?" Alex asked, sitting next to me in bed.

I shrugged, picking up Chloe and holding her against my chest. She purred, nuzzling closer to my neck. 

"Want a hug?" Alex asked.

Without a word, I leaned onto Alex's shoulder. She wrapped her arm around me, keeping me warm. I felt at ease here. Like nothing could get me. Slowly my eyes closed, and my heart slowed down as I eased into sleep.

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I woke up a little while later shivering. Looking around, I noticed that I was on my bed, but my blanket was on the floor. I must have had a nightmare. 

I got out of bed and picked it up, easily climbing into bed and wrapping myself up in it. But... something smelled horrible. I looked around once more, not seeing anything. I shrugged and laid back down, deciding to try and sleep again.

"You don't deserve this."

I shot up, "What the heck?"

"You were a mistake."

I looked around, "Who's there?!"

Something hit my window, and when I went to go look I saw a mob down in our yard.

"KOREY!" I stumbled backward and into someone. Quickly I turned, but what I saw scared me. John and Korey stood there, and both looked pissed.

"They're right," Korey said.

I started to shake my head, "Please... I'm happy here, please don't take me back."

"We have no choice," John said, walking forward.

I realized something suddenly. I was dreaming right now, wasn't I?

My eyes flew open, and I gasped. I was laying down, and it looked like Chloe was in her bed. I sat up slowly, trying to remember everything that happened. Alex wasn't next to me anymore, so she must have gone to bed at some point. I tried to remember what I could about the dream.

I looked over next to me to see the blanket on the ground. An uneasy feeling rose in my chest as I slowly picked it up. I picked up my phone and turned it on, seeing that it was 5 AM. I groaned a little bit, falling back in bed.