Lila ✔

37I Come In

I did a small twirl in my body length mirror and smiled slightly as my skirt billowed out. I really liked this dress and I found it wasn't very revealing but still kind of suited me and I felt pretty confident in it.

My hair was down naturally simply since I didn't want to do anything too complicated with it and I had done my nails a blood red color. I wore a necklace with two intertwined hearts and a silver ring.

I had tried to do my makeup and it turned out quite well considering I wasn't very good at it. It was just a winged eyeliner and mascara but that was fairly advanced for me.

Holy shit I was hot.

Right. Time to go downstairs.

I took a deep breath, feeling kind of nervous about how this dinner was going to go. Would my brothers like Owen? Would they let me date him? I was pretty scared about what their reactions would be.

Glancing at myself one final time in the mirror, I walked out of my large closet and back into my room, immediately crossing it and going through my door. I made my way down the two flights of stairs and into the living room where my brothers were, all wearing jeans and polo shirts.

Brooklyn Nine- Nine was playing on the TV, but no one seemed to be watching it, instead just sitting in silence and keeping their focus on the clock on the wall which read 5:28. Only two more minutes to go.

I could practically feel how serious my brothers all were as I sunk into the spot on the couch next to Liam, my shoulders tense. Unlike my brothers, I tried to keep my attention on the TV, but I found my focus wondering constantly to the clock that was ticking away the seconds.

As often the case when you want time to drag out as slowly as possible, two minutes passed by a lot quicker than I hoped. I couldn't help but find myself wishing that the dinner was scheduled for 6 o'clock, or preferably next year. Just some other time that meant I didn't have to face this now.

But sadly, that wasn't the case, and the severity of the situation seemed to become all too real when the sound of the doorbell echoed through the house, breaking the tension in the room slightly as we turned our attention to the sound.

That was when I realised that someone had to answer the door, and I had a strong feeling my brothers wanted to do it. Glancing over at Liam who was sat beside me, my suspicions were confirmed. He was already in the process of standing up, his bottom already having left the couch.

Without thinking properly of the consequences that might have followed my actions, I quickly kicked my left leg out, making contact with the crook of his knee which buckled, causing him to collapse back onto the couch. I didn't waste anytime as I then proceeded to leap to my feet and run out the room and over to the front door, not bothering to watch my brothers reactions but hearing them thundering after me.

I grabbed the handle, knowing that it was already unlocked from when we went food shopping earlier, and quickly pulled the door open. Owen was stood there in black jeans and a dark grey polo shirt. He was wearing smart, black sneakers and his hair was gelled slightly. He looked similar to when we were on our movie date, and was extremely cute. But the sweetest part was the bouquet of flowers he had held in his hands.

"Hey Owen," I smiled at my boyfriend.

"Hi Stuart," he grinned in return. My stomach flipped slightly at the nerves painted across his face and in his voice. This dinner clearly meant something to him.

"These are for you," Owen smiled, holding out the flowers to me. However, before I could take them from him, a tall figure stepped in front of me and snatched the bouquet from his hands.

"These will look lovely in the toilet," Jayden said, smiling sarcastically at the boy in front of me. I instantly punched him as hard as I could in his arm, not even receiving a wince in return. Damn. I thought I was stronger than that.

"Now you can come in but your not allowed to be within two metres of our little sis otherwise I'll chop your balls off," Mason said, appearing behind me.

Owen smiled nervously at my oldest brother and nodded. "Okay, sir."

Obviously, Mason hadn't been expecting this answer considering how Owen had acted last time they interacted, because when I glanced at him from over my shoulder, he straightened up slightly and tried to mask the surprise on his face. "Good," he nodded curtly.

"Since nobody else seems to be inviting him, why don't you come in Owen?" Logan suggested although there was slight hostility in his voice. My boyfriend smiled slightly and stepped through the doorway into our hall.

"You look lovely," he smiled at me, causing my face to break into a grin.

"You look cute," I said in response, beaming at my boyfriend.

"Nuh uh. None of that," Cole chided, stepping in between us. I rolled my eyes at his protectiveness but couldn't help but smile slightly. I enjoyed this feeling of having people care enough to make sure that I was always ok.

Noah came and stood by my side, slinging an arm over my shoulder and nudging me in the direction of the dining room. "Stop ogling lover boy over the there and let's go eat," he whispered into my ear. Although Noah's tone was playful, I could still here the seriousness behind it so I obliged to him and walked into the dining room, my brothers and Owen following close behind.

The table appeared to have already been set, the places laid out and glasses of water stood in each place. There were also plates in front of every seat that had a large helping of lasagna served on them. I assumed mine was vegetarian.

"Owen, your seat is there," Mason said, nodding to the place at the head of the table. They really had to choose to put him there where everybody could easily see him and he was the centre of attention? That was cruel.

Owen nodded at my oldest stepbrother politely and then walked around the table to the seat, pulling it out and sitting down on the chair. Each of my brothers then went and sat down in each of their places, leaving me to have to sit in the chair furthest away from Owen.

Rolling my eyes at my brother's annoying pre planning, I collapsed into my chair next to Noah and took a long swig of water. The smell from the lasagne was making me extremely hungry, so, as soon as I placed my glass back down, I immediately lifted up my knife and fork and took a bite. It was so good!

The others seemed to also start and we ate in silence for a few minutes, the only sound being the clatter of knives and forks against plates. Finally, Mason broke the quiet. "So, Owen. We heard you like our sister." Ah. Straight to the point I see.

"Yes sir," Owen replied with a nod after finishing his mouthful.

"And what makes you think you're good enough for her?" Mason asked, cocking an eyebrow. That was actually kind of sweet. No one had ever said anything like that about me before and Mason's words caused a slight smile to break across my face that I quickly tried to hide.

"I didn't say I was. But that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy being around her and talking to her. She makes me happy. Aren't I entitled to feel that way? And besides, if she feels the same way about me, then you would be denying your sister so many opportunities in her life," he said, clearly showing how strongly he felt. This boy continued to amaze me.

None of my brothers seemed to respond for a few moments, before Jayden cut in. "You're a player," he said simply, not seeming to want to expand on his statement.

"I was a player," Owen responded immediately. "But I've barely even talked to another girl since I met your sister."

My heart warmed at this. Owen wa basically saying that he was prepared to change a part of him if it meant that he could date me. Even my brothers couldn't deny that he was willing to make changes if it meant that I would be his girlfriend.

There was another moment of tense silence before Mason broke it. "You can go out with her, just no sex, we don't want to see you kissing, you're not allowed in Lila's room without supervision and if you break her heart, that's not the only thing that will be broken," he said sternly.

I fixed my gaze on Owen to see his reaction, and relaxed slightly when he gave a polite nod.

"OK. And I promise I'll look after her."