Alone

Chapter XXIII (23)

-Luis' POV-
It had only been three hours but Risse had already gotten another four pages worth of information. We had all been sitting in the Tech Lab while we watched her and Caleb do their magic and honestly it was very intriguing, 'I mean, how did Risse even get this good? She did say she'd been doing it for years but Caleb has as well. What makes her so different?'

Soon enough the two of them had stopped working since technically their shifts had ended and so we all just talked amongst ourselves. "Man I can't wait for you all to meet my family. They are all kinda weird but I think you'll get along with them just fine." Risse giggled.

"What are they like? You know, having so many bothers and well your sister of course." Max asked, leaning in to hear Risse's answer. "Uhhh... well it can be quite draining. But I don't really see my older siblings all that much, you see we aren't all related. Obviously, we have two fathers but it's a lot more complicated than that." Risse talked slowly like she was telling a story to a small child but she still had lots of emotions in her voice and one of them was pain.

"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly confused as to where this would go. "Well you all know our father Kea Nox, his wife ended up leaving the Mafia life and he had helped her get out. So that left Cillian, Timothee and Natalia with their father, though they all still have contact with their mother. That's one of the reasons why none of them are taking the Boss position, along with the fact they don't get on well with their father." She explained, her hands moving in sync with her lips.

"And then we have Adam Nox, he lost his wife to cancer just after she had given birth to my youngest brother Finn. Wyatt and I are technically the middle children out of all of us as we are both seventeen. And then there's Ezra who's 15, meaning that he's too young to take the Boss position so that left me and Wyatt to take the leading positions... we're still not sure how we feel about it really." When Risse finished explaining she seemed rather glum so I offered her a warm smile and a tight hug.

"I-I have a favour to ask all of you..." Risse started again, causing us to snap our attention back to her and out of our thoughts. "What is it? We'll try and help the best we can, whatever it is." Caleb nodded strongly at his brothers statement. "I need your help to find my parents." She said, her face held a mixture of emotions, ranging from pride to longing.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Caleb asked, looking a little bit confused. Risse only laughed, "Obviously I'm not blood related to the Nox family. Though I am part Italian, I am also Filipina. There's a reason why my names hyphenated, Andrada-Nox. I am looking for my blood parents, not even Adam or Kea knows what happened to them and so I went looking for them myself when I was fourteen. I left Italy with a bodyguard but I sent him back when I turned sixteen."

"I've traveled all over Asia, Africa and Europe and have found nearly next to nothing that explains their disappearance. I came to America because it was next on my list... I need your equipment to find them, this stuff is even better than what he have in Italy... please... help me." We all looked to her, her eyes nearing tears.

"All you had to do was ask, at this point you are family and we do anything for family. We'll help you no matter what." I smiled at her and gave her another tight hug. "Thank you all so much, I really appreciate it." She giggled and hugged me back.

"I think we all need a break, so how about we go for a swim in the lake? I know it looks small but it's actually really deep, kinda like a pool." Caleb offered with a warm smile on his lips. "I like that idea, I'll grab us some towels then!" Max said as he jumped up from his spot next to Caleb.

"Uh...you don't need to get me a towel, I won't be swimming." I said quietly while trying not to look down at my seemingly very interesting feet. "Hey dude it's all good if you don't wanna swim, I'll bring some food and drinks for us too." Max patted my shoulder and walked out the door with Caleb on his heels.

"Welp I'm going to get ready, I'll see you down there! Love you Luis!" Risse then ran out the door, leaving me alone in the room full of computers and other devices.

"Why can't I just be a fucking normal teenager!" I yelled and kicked the desk with my foot, but immediately regretted my outburst as my foot lit up with pain. "Ah- Fuck!"

I let myself fall to the ground and sat with my legs crossed so I could hold my sore foot. 'Why... I've been so good... I don't what to feel like shit anymore! I don't need another fucking episode!' My thoughts started to consume me, making me fall into my dark memories.

"You're a fucking disgrace! You made me do this to you Luis! It's all your fault."

"I told them everything! I told Denver to say those things!"

"Your a whore, you know that Luis."

"You let your father fuck you."

"Freak."

"Whore."

"You killed your mother."

"Luis! Snap out of it!" I heard Max call out, desperation deeply laced in his voice. When I opened my eyes I was curled up in a ball, my knees tucked into my chest with my arms wrapped around them. As I untangled myself I said, "I'm fine Max, I'm okay now... thank you." My voice was considerably quieter than normal.

"What happened Luis? You seemed fine when we left?" Max asked while taking a seat next to me. "I-I just... I don't really know. I think it was... about swimming with you. I'm not like you guys Max, I can't do the simplest of things and not freak out about it! It fucking sucks!"

Max looked at me, a small smile on his face. "I know it sucks Luis, I really do. But... you have been through some serious shit and you can't expect to just bounce back, and if you did I wouldn't think you were human. It's probably not what you want to hear but it's the truth, healing is going to take some time." Max's words were calming and made me feel a little better, even if they really weren't what I wanted to hear.

"It's kinda funny really, I've talked to Caleb and Risse about this... you know... we use to be closer before Flynn happened, I hope we can be like that again..." I looked up to Max to see him almost start to cry. "M-Max! Did I say something wrong?!" I started to panic and my heart rate started to lock up.

"Hahaha! No Luis! You're fine... I was just happy that you opened up to me. I knew you didn't trust me anymore and I don't blame you, I'm just... really happy that we have a chance to be friends again." Max smiled down at me and wrapped his big arms around me for a hug.

HEYO!! I know this chapter is shorter than usual but I've kinda been having some writing block and I wanted the chapter to still be kinda good at the end so yeah. Don't for get to comment and vote!