*Flashback: When Arya was 9 years old*

Arya's POV -

"Papa!" I giggled, trying to push myself on the swing in our backyard.

He gave me a smile from the bench he was sitting on.

"Papa come help me! I can't push myself." I pouted, giving him my best puppy dog look.

He laughed and stood, "I guess I can help you."

"Yes! Help please!" I called again and he came behind me to push me on the swing.

"Higher!"

"Okay but only a little, the last thing we need is for you to fall." He said and I nodded before he pushed me more.

"Arya!" I heard mama call me.

My eyes shifted towards the back door to where mama stood with a hand on her hip.

"Yes mama?" I asked and she placed her other hand on her hip.

"Did you get your homework done? You know that always comes first."

My eyes widened slightly as papa stopped the swing so it was barely moving at all.

"N-No not yet..I only have a little left though. I just wanted to play!"

"What's going to happen when you get older and just push the work aside? You won't succeed in anything."

"Honey," Papa said firmly, giving mama a stern look.

"What? I'm just stating the truth. We want you to get into a good school when you're older."

"Okay," I whispered, looking down at the ground.

"Now go up to your room and finish it, don't come back down until you're done, understand?"

I felt my eyes stinging, but I blinked a few times to try and get rid of the tears attempting to fall.

"Yes mama, I understand." I replied, getting off the swing.

I was about to head for the house but Papa gently grabbed my arm and leaned down,

"She just wants you to do good in school is all, she doesn't mean to be harsh on you kiddo."

I nodded and walked towards the house, trying to ignore the look of disappointment in mama's gaze.

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*When Arya was 13 years old*

"Mama!" I called, racing into the kitchen after school.

I had a big smile on my face because of the news I had. Earlier in the week I had a big test in my math class.

"Yes Arya?" She asked, turning to me from the the stove in the kitchen. She seemed to always be cooking or cleaning.

"You know the test I had in math before? We got our results back today!"

"And? What did you get?" She raised a brow expectantly.

I unzipped my backpack and pulled out the paper before handing it to her.

Mama placed the spoon in her hand on the counter before grabbing it from my hands, her eyes zeroing in on the score at the top.

I placed my hands behind my back, waiting for some sort of reaction from her.

"A 90?" She asked, reading off of the paper.

I nodded, "Yes, I got an A!"

"Barely," She muttered, handing it back to me with a small hint of frustration in her eye.

I frowned before looking at the paper myself. It was an A. She was angry?

"Is-Is that not good?" I asked lowly.

"You may have gotten an A, but it needs to be higher next time. You were this close to a B."

"Oh," I whispered, placing the paper back in my bag.

"Dinner will be done in a few hours, why don't you go study for now to assure you get an A on your next tests." She turned away from me, picking up the spoon and mixing whatever was inside the pot.

I tried to ignore the pain in my chest from her words. I thought she would be happy.

"Okay mama," I finally said after a bit of silence, turning to head for the stairs.

Right as I reached my room, I couldn't stop the few tears that ran down my cheeks from her words.

*End of flashback*

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Arya's POV -

It seemed like my dreams were mostly about mama.

There was always something negative in her eye whenever she talked to me about school.

Anger.

Frustration.

Irritation.

One of those emotions was always there no matter how much I tried to make her happy.

Nothing was ever good enough.

Maybe nothing will ever be good enough.

I had wished papa would stand up for me just once throughout the years.

But he always gave me the same excuse.

"She only wants what's best for you." Is what he'd say.

It didn't help the pain that always grew inside of me whenever she said I had to do better.

But now I couldn't even try to do better.

Oh god, they're dead. Both of them. Ivan said he killed them.

No. No. No. They can't be dead. They can't!

I need them! I need them after everything! I need them despite all the suffering they've put me through.

After all the suffering mama has put me through!

I thought I had seen a light ahead of me in this dark place. I tried to reach for it but then it began to get smaller and smaller.

"Arya!" I heard a voice that seemed so far away, but it was angelic.

I wanted to hear that voice on repeat.

"Arya, please wake up sweetheart. I need you."

They need me? The beautiful voice needs me?

"Come back to me baby, I'm here and I'm never leaving you again."

I wanted to listen to that voice so badly, I wanted to follow it.

I tried, I tried so hard to grab onto it. To lock the melody into my heart.

But I couldn't, I felt myself moving backwards instead of forward.

"Arya?!"

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Bright lights. They weren't dark. They were light.

Blinking a few times, I adjusted to what was shining down on me.

I stayed still for several seconds, trying to wrap my head around where I was.

But then I heard that familiar beeping noise.

The hospital.

Raising my head, I was met with a searing pain which made me lower it back down onto the pillow.

Everything felt numb, but as my head turned slightly to the left my heart sped up.

Rome was sitting there in a chair with his head resting on the hospital bed.

His hand was gripping mine gently.

Everything was coming back to me now by just looking at him, and the tears began to freely trail down my face.

He was okay.

Rome was okay.

A small sob escaped my mouth as I weakly moved my other hand to his hair, brushing through his black locks.

As I glanced at his face, I could clearly see the dark bags under his eyes.

How long had he been here for? How long had I been here for?

I continued to run my hand through his hair, savoring the soft feeling.

He shifted slightly in his sleep before a small hum vibrated through him, making the tiniest smile appear on my face.

My hand travelled down his face, trailing over his pretty features.

I wanted to see those forest eyes.

And it was like he heard me because a small groan escaped his lips before I saw his eyes fluttering. He was waking up.

My eyes continued to look at him before his peeled open slightly, his lashes fluttering.

His body shifted and he raised his head off the bed, and I couldn't help the small giggle that escaped my lips from the cute confuzzled look on his face.

Rome's eyes widened before they snapped to me, a bunch of emotions running through those pupils.

He looked at me in disbelief before his face tightened and he moved towards me.

"Arya," He whispered, his arms wrapping around my shoulders slowly.

My tears continued to flow as I hugged him back, ignoring the pain in my stomach.

I could feel his shoulders shaking slightly as no more words for spoken. We just continued to hold each other.

After a few minutes he finally pulled away, and the sight of his eyes watering had my chest tightening.

His thumbs slowly rose to my cheeks, wiping away my tears as he looked over me.

He leaned in again and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead as I cherished the feeling.

Pulling back, his thumbs continued to graze over my face,

"You have a lot of explaining to do." I said weakly. His eyes took on a nervous look before he nodded.

"I know, baby. I'll explain everything I promise." He assures, tucking some hair behind my ear.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked.

"My stomach hurts." I admit and he nods before pulling out his phone to text someone. Most likely Wyatt.

"Is...Is everyone okay?" My hands shook at the thought of any of them being hurt.

"James and Elijah are both fine." Rome says, cupping my face in his hands.

"I'm-I'm so sorry, Arya. This is all my fault." His features scrunch up in pain, his eyes beginning to water again.

Shaking my head, one of my hands reach up to grab lightly onto his wrist. "It's not your fault."

"It is, I should have just told you-"

"We can talk about that after." I cut him off, and his eyes softened.

"I just...I want to see James and Elijah. They're okay?" I question again.

"They're both unharmed, I'll text them to come in here as well, is that fine?"

"Yes," I muttered and he did so before looking back at me.

"I promise I'll tell you everything after Wyatt checks over you injuries, okay?" His eyes look desperate, and I could tell he feared that I would be angry at him.

I am angry. But I'm also sad, I'm confused. I just didn't have the energy to show it right now.

"You will." I affirm and he opens his mouth to say something else, but then closes it at the sound of the door opening.

"Arya, It's good to see you're awake, feeling okay?" Wyatt asks, entering the room.

"My stomach hurts," I tell him.

"Luckily the bullet did no major damage, but it did graze your side. I changed your bandage a little bit ago so it doesn't need to be replaced yet."

I feel Rome's hand slowly move towards mine, and I could tell he was still anxious on how I felt about the situation.

Interlacing my fingers with his, I saw his tense shoulders relax.

Wyatt walked a bit closer and looked down at his clipboard, "You hit your head pretty hard but no concussion, It will just hurt for a few days. Besides those two, you just have a few small bruises on your back and one on your chin."

My chin from when Ivan grabbed it and my back from when Oliver pushed me against the wall.

"Okay," I whispered so he knew I acknowledged the information.

"You'll need to stay here for a few days but once your wound begins to heal you'll be free to go. That's your worst injury."

Wyatt assigns me a few prescriptions of pills to take to help the pain before he leaves, stating he'll be back later to check on the bandage wrapped around my stomach.

Rome and I sit in silence for a few minutes before my eyes light up at the sound of Elijah and James walking in.

James had a big smile on his face while Elijah had no expression as usual, but he didn't look angry.

"Princess, how are you feeling? I heard what happened."

"I'm-" I pause to think for a second before looking at Rome just to see his eyes set on me.

"I think I'm okay," I look back at the two near my bed.

"I would come and give you a big hug but then I think Rome would have my head." He jokes and I smile slightly.

The air began to become tense.

There was a huge elephant in the room and I knew it was time to address it. All three of them were here.

Glancing down at my lap, I played with my fingers for a few moments before looking back up towards Rome and stating what's on my mind.

"You're in the Italian mafia?"