Arya's POV -

"James!" I yelled in slight frustration.

He laughed, literally cackling like a hyena as he clutched his stomach.

It wasn't that funny.

I was trying to do my homework at the kitchen table but James was making it difficult!

He kept poking and tickling me in random spots whenever I'd try to write something down.

Or he would flick me in the head.

"Ow!" I yelped, clutching my forehead after receiving another flick.

The blonde man started laughing yet again before he stopped and his eyes went wide.

"What?" I ask as I narrowed my eyes at his face.

But then he gave me a smirk, almost like it was evil while I just stared at him.

"My my my, I guess you're not so innocent." He said before chuckling.

"W-What?" I asked again, but then I froze as he came closer.

"Those are some nice hickeys on your neck. I wonder who gave them to you." He sang lowly while I felt my neck heat up.

My hand slowly rose up and ran over the purple marks that had formed a few days ago.

"I-It's not..." I was speechless trying to come up with an excuse.

"Oh, there's no need to hide it." He said, laughter evident in his eyes. "I've already seen the proof."

My hands connected under the table as I tried to get away from this conversation.

"Can I just do my homework, please?" I mumbled and he opened his mouth again, most likely to continue teasing me, but then it shut.

He was looking at something behind me, but then the sound of a door closing caught my attention so I turned around.

Elijah was standing at the front door, taking off the jacket he was wearing. It was getting really cold out since it was nearing the end of October.

"Look who decided to show their face." James teased, and I watched as Elijah's eyes snapped to James before glaring at him.

His gray eyes then moved down to me. His glare went away but he still stared blankly at me.

At least he wasn't glaring, right?

Elijah made our way towards us and passed by, going for the fridge.

"Are you still angry?" James asked, and I feel like that's not the best thing to ask to someone if they are indeed angry.

"I was never angry." He replied, turning to us with a water in hand.

I decided to try and get my homework done since James was distracted by Elijah at the moment.

Elijah still intimidated me, but not nearly as much as before. I know he means no harm towards me if Rome and James trust him so much.

"Where's Rome at?" James questions.

"We just got done with training, he'll be up here soon."

"Ohh, boxing again?" James raised a brow, amusement in his tone.

Elijah's eyes turned into a cold glare once again as he looked at him.

"I thought-"

"Vuoi che ti rompa la tua fottuta faccia?" Elijah snarled at him, speaking in Italian so I was left startled, but I knew he said nothing nice by his tone and how James' face went from amused to unamused.

(Do you want me to break your fucking face?)

But then a question came from me, "Training?" I asked.

Both pairs of eyes snapped to me.

"What are you training for?"

There was silence as they glanced at each other. Were they communicating through their minds or something?

Elijah cleared his throat, "We're not training for anything. We were boxing just because it makes us stronger."

I hummed and my eyes went back to my homework, resuming in completing it.

I heard two small sighs but I ignored them.

The two friends continued to bicker back and forth, throwing words in Italian at each other which I assumed weren't very nice.

It almost annoyed me as much as James was when he was here alone.

This was a side of Elijah I hadn't seen before. It was almost...playful.

Even though Elijah seemed to have a cold facade, you could see the small warmth through his eyes if you looked closely.

It made me feel good that the two of them were close. I'm sure Rome was just as close with them.

10 minutes later I finished my assignment and relief filled my chest, I pushed my notebook to the side.

Elijah and James were still talking about who knows what, so my eyes drifted off to Elijah's face. Well, more like the scar.

It ran down the left side of his face down to the top of his cheek, and I couldn't help but wonder how he got it.

As if sensing my gaze, Elijah's eyes moved towards me and I quickly snapped mine back down to the table.

There was a bit of silence as both stopped talking, and I felt my eyes widening slightly.

"What is it?" I heard Elijah's voice ask, and I looked at him.

"I-I was just um," I stuttered, looking towards James to see him giving me an encouraging smile.

"I was just wondering how you got that scar." I said softly as Elijah shifted on his feet slightly.

"O-Oh! And if you don't want to tell me It's completely fine. You know, If It's personal or you don't wanna share. I know we don't know each-"

"A fight." He cut me off gruffly.

"A...fight?" I repeated slowly with big eyes.

He nodded, "I got it years ago." He shrugged before muttering, "Il bastardo mi ha affettato con un coltello ma poi gli ho sparato in testa."

(The bastard sliced me with a knife but then I shot him in the head.)

"Oh..." I responded, not paying attention to the Italian portion. "Are you okay now? It looks like it hurt."

"It wasn't that bad." He said and I watched as James gave him a smirk.

"Well that's good. I'm going to um shower, I'll be back." I squeaked, getting up and grabbing my notebook.

"We'll have my famous crepes tonight princess, how does that sound?" James asked and I smile brightly.

"Yes please!" My stomach rumbled at that thought before I turned and ran for the stairs.

I couldn't stop from smiling even more. Elijah and I had an actual conversation.

It wasn't necessarily about anything good, but it was still something. I didn't want to be on bad terms with any of Rome's friends.

After gathering my thoughts, I grabbed a clean pair of clothes and had a shower.

After about 20 minutes, I was refreshed and ready to dry my crazy hair.

I followed my normal routine and once that was done it was around 6pm.

Heading back to my room, I gasped slightly at the sight of Rome sitting on my bed.

His green eyes glanced up to mine and he gave me a gorgeous smile before standing up.

"Hey baby," He opened his arms up and I walked right into them, sighing in content.

He hugged me tightly while I took in his amazing masculine cologne.

"How are you, hm?" He asked, running his hand up and down my back.

"I'm good, I just finished doing my hair." I mumbled with my face tucked into his chest.

"I can see that." He replied, twirling a curl around his finger.

I pulled back a little, "Elijah said you and him were boxing, you're not sweaty?" I asked with a small scrunch of my nose.

He chuckled lightly and cupped my face before pressing a kiss to my nose, "No, I just had a shower as well."

"Ohh," I nodded and looked up at him.

He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before pulling away. I pouted.

"What?" He said with a smirk, but then his eyes darkened as he looked at my neck.

His ringed hand came up and trailed slowly around the marks while I blushed.

A gasp escaped my mouth when his hand came around my throat, squeezing softly.

His eyes were almost pitch black.

His lips trailed over my cheek while my eyes closed in pleasure.

"You're so beautiful." He mumbled as he collided our lips.

"N-No...you're so beautiful."

He chuckled and pulled away, releasing my throat. "I'm beautiful?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, clutching his hand and swinging it back and forth. "And your eyes are so pretty." I added and he laughed again, his eyes twinkling down at me.

"Mm, did you get your homework done?" He asked to which I nodded, "Yes, though James was distracting me the whole time."

He rolled his eyes, "He's always a distraction."

I giggled, "But then Elijah came and started talking with him so I was able to finish it."

All of a sudden he bear hugged me and pushed us onto the bed making a laugh escape me.

"Rome!" I yelled making him smile innocently and press kisses all over my face.

After a few minutes of kissing we ended up holding onto each other while lying down.

I traced the tattoos on the top of his chest that were exposed through the black tank top he was wearing.

My fingers then played with the silver chain hanging around his neck as he watched me in silence.

I bit my lip before speaking my mind, "Anything new about my parents?"

He stiffened slightly, "No, nothing yet."

Swallowing, I glanced up nervously at him. "Do you have any leads or anything? Any ideas who did it?"

He sighed before pulling me closer. "Baby, I told you my men and I would take care of it."

"B-But you're not telling me anything!" I exclaimed, pulling away slightly.

"You do know something, don't you?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes at him right as his jaw clenched confirming my thoughts.

I balled my hands into small fists as I sat up and stood in front of him as he got into a sitting position.

"What do you know Rome? What happened to them?"

He didn't respond, his jaw became tighter if that was even possible. I would normally awe over his perfect jawline, but right now I was focused on the other matter.

"I don't know what happened to them, we're still looking."

My mouth parted slightly before my eyes began to sting.

"You-You're lying..." I whispered, my heart beating erratically. He's lying. He's never lied to me before, right?

"W-Why are you lying?" My voice cracked slightly as I stared at him, watching his brows furrow.

"Arya I-"

"Tell me what happened!" My voice raised slightly, anger and sadness radiating off of me in waves.

He looked like he was at loss for words. A look I never really saw on his face.

Right as I thought he'd tell me the truth, his eyes became dark before he slowly stood up in front of me.

"I told you we don't know anything yet."

My lip wobbled at his response, one lone tear trailing freely down my cheek.

I watched as it landed onto the floor, and I heard Rome mutter a slight curse before he was brushing past me and out of the room.

I stared at the floor in disbelief before more of my tears began to flow freely.

I ran to my bed and shoved my face into the pillows before letting out a loud sob, trying to muffle it.

He lied.

He lied.

He lied.

More sobs escaped me as I slowly pulled my face away from the pillow.

My blurry vision slowly moved over to my backpack hanging on the desk chair.

If he wasn't going to tell me where they were, I'd find them on my own.

Getting up, I wiped at my cheeks furiously, trying to get ride of the tears before walking towards my bag.

Unzipping it, I poured out all of my school items onto my bed before grabbing my water bottle and tossing it inside.

I threw my purse inside, an extra hoodie, and any other small things it could carry.

I went to my closet and put on a sweatshirt, and then my sneakers.

I'm not coming back until I find them.

I know I'm thinking irrationally with no plan intact, but I'm not going to just sit here while mama and papa could be in danger.

Everything was hurting. My heart was squeezing painfully because of Rome.

I can't believe he lied to me.

Zipping up my bag, I threw it over my shoulder and then put my hair into a ponytail.

I grabbed my fully charged phone and placed it in my pocket.

Taking a shaky breath, I creeped outside of the door and shut it softly behind me.

I could hear noises coming from downstairs.

If I was going to get out without them hearing, I'd have to sneak out through the back door.

Going as slow as possible down the steps, I made it down without being noticed and made my way through the living room.

As I reached the back door, I could still hear conversing in the kitchen as I reached for the doorknob.

One last tear fell down my cheek before I opened it and made my way outside into the cool night air.